Good food!!

I have had so many people ask me what I was going to do when I retired.  They all said they knew I would get bored.  I cannot ever see that happening as there are so many things I love to do.  Cooking is one of those things.  Below are some of the things that I have made in the last couple of weeks. 

 I made Jon some more donuts the other day and sprinkled them with powdered sugar.  They turned out so nice and were delicious.  I love my Wilton donut baking pans.

My Mom was known for her pies.  She made the best butterscotch pie in the world (I am sure most of us feel that way about out Mom's cooking).  She used only lard for the shortening in her pie crusts and they were so flaky and tender.  I have tried her recipe over and over, but my crusts are never as good as hers.  So, I did some research on the web and I found a recipe (and video) that uses lard and butter and I love it.  It is much easier to roll out and it is very flaky and tender.  Everyone loved this butterscotch pie. 

The meringue turned out pretty good too, but  I found a recipe that adds little corn starch to keep it light and fluffy, so I think I will try that next time.  Have any of you made a meringue that uses cream of tarter and corn starch?  If so, please let me know what you think of it!

 

 

This is Mom's famous Rhubarb Cream Pie Recipe that my family loves (all but Jon).  It is so yummy.  We especially love it with ice cream.  I only bake a few in the spring, but right now I am trying to freeze some rhubarb to see if that will allow us to have pie after the rhubarb season is over.

I hope to bake another one next week to take to Lori as she loves them as much as I do.  How about you, are you a Rhubarb Cream Pie lover???  If not, what is your favorite pie?

 

 I can add the recipes to this post if anyone needs them.  Just let me know.
 

Butterscotch Pie
I prebaked the pie crust for 10 minutes (using pie weights)
1/4 cup real butter
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
3 large egg yolks, separate eggs
(reserve whites for meringue topping)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 (9 inch) pie crusts, prepared
(baked and cooled)
meringue SEE RECIPE BELOW
3 large egg whites
(reserved from pie filling recipe)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions
1 Preheat oven to 350°.
2 Stir brown sugar and butter in a saucepan until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cook 2-3 minutes longer on low-medium heat, and then remove from fire.
3 Beat egg yolks.
4 In separate large bowl, mix flour with 1/2 of milk, until smooth. Then add beaten egg yolks and salt and mix well. Blend remaining milk with this mixture.
5 Add flour mixture to saucepan with sugar/butter mixture and cook on low/medium heat until thickened (anywhere from 30-45 minutes), stirring CONSTANTLY.
6 Remove from heat and blend in vanilla extract. Stir CONSTANTLY until well blended and slightly warm and then pour into a prepared (baked) 9" pie crust.
7 Top pie with meringue (recipe to follow).
8 After meringue is spread on top, Bake at 350° for 12 to 15 minutes, or until meringue is golden. Cool for 10-15 minutes.
9 MERINGUE: 3 egg whites (reserved from pie filling recipe), 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, 1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar, 6 tablespoons granulated sugar.

10 With a mixer, beat egg whites with vanilla and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff and glossy peaks form and all sugar is dissolved.

11 Spread meringue over slightly warm filling, sealing to edge of crust. (Then bake and cool as directed above.).


BAKED DONUTS - Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten

Ingredients

• Baking spray with flour, such as Baker's Joy
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• For the topping:
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 doughnut pans well.
Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined.
Spoon the batter into the baking pans, filling each one a little more than three-quarters full. Bake for 17 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then tap the doughnuts out onto a sheet pan.
For the topping, melt the 8 tablespoons of butter in an 8-inch saute pan. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Dip each doughnut first in the butter and then in the cinnamon sugar, either on one side or both sides.

 

And the winner is~~~

And the winner is~~~

  You can see all last weeks challenge entries by clicking here!

This week's winner was chosen by a random drawing and

Dorothy is this week's winner.  
 

Congratulations Dorothy!!!!!

 

 Thanks to those of you who joined us for last week's challenge

I will be sending Dorothy a badge for her web site and Terri will be sending a gift from Joan's Gardens.
 

 You can see Dorothy's pretty card by clicking here!   Notice how she used white ink on the embossed edges.    If you haven't left Dorothy a comment yet, please do so. It is always nice to read how others enjoy our cards.

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Timestamp: 2014-05-13 11:54:59 UTC

Challenge #13

I had the privilege of attending a Dream Weaver Stencil 2 day Certification class last week in Chicago.  It was a fun and a great learning experience using Dream Weaver Stencils and paste.  I want to share some of the ideas and techniques that I learned with you.

We made an idea book using all the different techniques so that it will be easy for us to remember what we did at this class.

 

 

 

Click on pictures to enlarge for better viewing.

 

I made this book after I got home. How fun and easy.  Have you all made books?

I had not done any that I can remember, so this was exciting for me.

The technique I want to show you is the Shadow Technique using Dream Weavers Regular Paste.

This is the inside of the book and it holds 4 note cards.

This technique shows using Dream Weavers Fern Die.

The left side I used  the negative that was left after cutting out the fern on the right.

The fern on the right used the tip that I shared with you last week, putting the double sided tape on the back of the card stock and then cutting it out.  This way you need not use any other adhesive to glue it down.

 

I also learned how to use the Kaleidacolor ink.  Did you know you need to push the button in to push the ink pads together and then when you are not using them, pull them apart so they don't bleed into each other?  I did not know this.  Don't they make a beautiful background?

 

This pictures shows the ink pads spread apart so they don't bleed into each other when not in use.

 

This pictures shows the ink pads pushed together so that there is no separation when using the brayer.

You push the little button like thing where I have type the instructions.

Be sure when you are finish using the brayer, that you separate them again.

 

Probably most of you knew this, but I did not so I wanted to share in case some of you did not know.

 

To get started, tape the Dream Weaver Cattail Stencil down with removable tape.

I masked off the sun and the lake as I didn't want to put them on this design.

 

Next, color in the stencil with brown.  I  ordered the ink and stencil brushes from Dream Weaver on Friday, so I had to use what I had (archival ink), which didn't work the best.  Dream Weaver ink is much better for this project.

 

Once that ink is dry, remove the tape and move the stencil slightly to the left and up. Tape the stencil down again. This will give you the shadow effect.

Then using Dream Weaver's Regular Embossing Paste, pull the paste over the stencil.

Let dry completely and then color.  You can use Pan Pastels or Splendor from Dream Weavers.

 

This is the finished project.  I absolutely love stenciling with Dream Weaver Stencils.  They are metal, and so easy to use.  If you are interested in purchasing some of Dream Weaver Products, you might contact Terri to see if she could order them for you at www.joansgardens.com
By the way, Wendy Vecchi's Paste is made by Dream Weavers.

                   I would love to hear from you on your thoughts of stenciling. 

 

A badge will be sent to the winner and Terri at Joan's Gardens will be sending a prize to the winner.

 

Here is what you need to do for this week's challenge!

You can make 3 cards this week

Below is what you need to do for this week's challenge

• Use a stencil (would love it if you tried the shadow technique, but it is not a requirement
• Combine 2 patterns of paper
• Can be a card, a book, a note....
• You must use a product sold at Joan's Gardens.  Also, mention that you are doing the card/project for Joan's Touch Challenge. It would be nice if you would add this link to your post: www.joanstouch.com

 

You will have until next Monday, May 19 morning 6:00 AM EST to link your project.

A winner will be chosen from a random drawing for week #13 and the winner of the challenge will be announced May 20

 

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Happy Mother's Day!

Oh how I miss talking to my Mom ....especially in the spring.

We spent so much time talking about our flowers, what was coming up, what we needed to move and on and on.  She gave me such a love for flowers and it was such a big part of our lives together.

We loved walking through each other's gardens and I sure miss that this beautiful Mother's Day morning.  Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!

 

Last fall I purchased 450 tulip and hyacinth bulbs and planned to get them planted before it turned cold.  After reading the instructions which said don't plant until after the first freeze, I waited.

 Then my brother got very sick and I left for Arkansas and spent a week there for his funeral. That was the week I could have gotten them in the ground.  When I returned home it turned cold and I got extremely busy selling Joan's Gardens.  So, before we left for Florida I stuck all the bulbs in the refrigerator for the winter.  When I returned home, I called the bulb company to see if I should plant them or wait till fall.  I was told to get them in the ground as they would not last till fall.

So, Jon helped me and we planted them,. hoping and praying they would survive.  I am so very happy to report they all came up and are either blooming or setting bulbs to bloom.  I am in love with them and so thankful for God's beautiful creation of spring flowers.  Below are some pictures to let you enjoy them too.