SPEEDY STROGANOFF & OTHER INTERESTING THINGS :) :) :)

Hi everyone,

How are you all? Did you all recover from the Blogger blackout the other day?  I was starting to go through some blogging withdrawls. Everything is back up and running, so this post will be a little longer than usual.

First, here's a lovely lilac for you  :) :) The smell is lovely.

 THIS LILAC BUSH IS EASILY OVER 7 FEET TALL. IT LOOKS MORE LIKE A TREE, IF YOU ASK ME.  WHEN IT FIRST STARTED SHOWING BLOOMS, THEY WERE A DEEP PURPLE. EVENTUALLY THEY TURNED TO THIS LOVELY PALE  PURPLE COLOR.

Okay, I am just loving my Gooseberry  patch cookbooks. I have three of them so far. It is a very small, but very mighty collection. The one book I've been cooking A LOT out of recently is Gooseberry Patch's cookbook "Dinner$ on a Dime". You can click here and go to their website, if you want some more info.  

Oh, just so everyone knows, I am not getting paid for this. I'm happily sharing this information with you because I love this company and their product :) :) :)  I paid for the cookbook myself, because I really wanted a copy  :) :)

I REALLY ENJOY BEEF STROGANOFF. THIS IS THE PICTURE FROM THE THIRD TIME I MADE THIS. THE FIRST TWO TIMES, I FORGOT TO TAKE A PHOTO TILL AFTER I HAD ALREADY EATEN THE FOOD :) :) :)

My father and I are really making an effort to cook all our meals at home. Not only is it better for you, it also saves a lot of money versus eating out or buying pre -packaged foods. 

This particular day I decided to make the  Gooseberry Patch recipe for Speedy Stroganoff.  You can find it on page 7 of the Gooseberry Patch Cookbook "Dinner$ on a Dime".  

 SPEEDY STROGANOFF
(submitted by Connie Ferrell of Blanchester, OH )

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef 
1 onion, diced
2 tsp. paprika (  I left this out, since I'm not a paprika fan)
1 tsp. salt 
1/2 tsp. pepper
10  3/4 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
16 oz. container of sour cream
Cooked egg noodles

  In a skillet over medium heat, brown beef and onion; drain.  Add paprika (in my opinion, optional :), salt and pepper, stirring thoroughly.

Reduce heat to medium-low.

Blend in the mushroom soup and heat through.

Stir in sour cream. Serve over cooke noodles.

Serves 4

MY NOTES: I did change a couple of things in the  recipe based on preference and making sure to use what was on hand. I don't like paprika. I'm not a spice snob, it's just a taste that I prefer less over other spices.  The stroganoff sauce works great without it, too.  

Also the first time I made it, my father helped me. He forgot about the egg noodles, and he grabbed spaghetti instead. Well, it works  :) :) It's pasta :) :) :) It still tasted fabulous :) :) :) The second and third time we used spiral pasta.

You could also use another ground meat, if you don't eat beef.

This recipe is really super easy and very inexpensive. The meat was the most expensive item. That I purchased on special at the store. So depending on what's on sale, that might influence what you use :) :) I highly recommend this cookbook. Next time, I'll share the easy chili recipe. Oh, goodness, I was in chili heaven :) :) :)

In other news, here are  few things that I thought you might  get a tickle out of:

 HERE ARE SOME VINTAGE ITEMS I THOUGH YOU'D ENJOY.  I AM ALWAYS FINDING SOMETHING TO FEED MY LOVE OF ALL THINGS VINTAGE CHIC.

 The tin on the right is a real old-school Saltine crackers TIN. Yes, folks, you heard right, I said TIN . I found it at a yard sale for $1. It's practical and oh so cute. I'm thinking if the folks at the saltine cracker company started packaging their crackers in tins, they'd sell more crackers. My father and I are sort of "passionately discussing" who gets to keep this.

Oh, the soda bottles. Do those bring back memories. My local Fred Meyer store has an entire section of classic sodas.  So my father and I bought these three. He remembers  Bubble Up from his childhood. My dad's a father, so he thought "Dad's rootbeer" was cute, because it technically has  "his name" on it ;) :) The one in the middle, I've never had a sarsparilla soda.  So I had to try it. What are some classics that you love?

THE POSTAL SERVICE HERE IN OREGON IS HAVING A "STAMP OUT HUNGER" FOOD DRIVE TODAY. THEY ARE COLLECTING BAGS OF FOOD TO HELP FEED THE HUNGRY HERE IN OREGON. WE HAVE AN UNUSUALLY HIGH NUMBER OF HUNGRY PEOPLE.   

 It was really neat driving through town today, because almost everywhere I looked I saw white and yellow bags handing from mailboxes, sitting on sidewalks or on top of mailboxes. Every bag filled with non-perishable foods to help those who really need it.  It really is a beautiful sight :) :) :) 

HERE ARE SOME FLOWERS TO SEND YOU ON YOUR WAY TODAY. I THINK THESE ARE JUST GORGEOUS. THE PETALS HAVE RUFFLES. THIS PARTICULAR FLOWER GROWS EVERYWHERE HERE IN SOUTHERN OREGON. IT ALSO COMES IN MANY DIFFERENT COLORS. 

There are so many different color varieties of this particular flower.  Aren't they just gorgeous? I think I'd like to have these everywhere  . 

 Let's see. Here are some things I want to share with you later this weekend:
*More Gooseberry Patch recipes
*a recipe for avocado ice cream (intrigued? You'll have to stay tuned for that one)
*Plus two cute little yard sale finds. One for a quarter and the other FREE.

I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend.   Go visit a local farmer's market.  Make a craft project or whatever else makes your heart glad :) :) That's the news from Oregon today. Extra special love and hugs, Heather :)

CREPES ARE MY NEW FAVORITE TASTY AND CHEAP EAT !!!

Hi everyone,
Okay, so I finally made it back into the kitchen to make crepes. I got the recipe out of the Fred Meyer "Naturally Preferred" magazine. It's a free publication that is located in the natural foods section of my Fred Meyer store. It comes out once a month. It's chock full of healthy information etc. So I really enjoy this little freebie. Plus, when I scanned the pages and saw the crepe recipe, I knew I had to make some.  The  recipe was changed just slightly because I only wanted to use what I had on hand. Here's how it went.

FIRST ADD A 1/2 (HALF) CUP OF ALL-PURPOSE FLOWER.

 I still had a nearly full bag of Bob's Red Mill flour, so I used that. You can tell from the photo what type of flower I used.  I personally don't think it matters in this case. Although, it's literally been YEARS since I made crepes. If you make them often, please feel free to share your tips for yummy crepes.

NEXT, ADD 1/2 (HALF) TEASPOON OF GROUND NUTMEG.

Why nutmeg? That is a total mystery to me.  I will say it added a very nice subtle spicy note to the crepes. So feel free to include it or leave it out. I'm sure there's some sort of health benefit to nutmeg :) 

Also, I used a literal "tea spoon" to measure out the nutmeg and the salt. I don't have measuring spoons, so I had to eyeball it. It's more fun that way, anyway. Besides, if it worked for the pioneers, than it will work for me, too :) :) :)

ALSO ADD 1/4 (ONE QUARTER) TEASPOON OF SALT.

Sea salt is what I had on hand. I don't even remember why I bought this particular brand. It was probably the best value when I was at the grocery store. Sea salt is "saltier" then regular salt? That's how it is, right? In any case, I personally love sea salt :) :)

Okay, so now that you have those first three inredients, mix them together in a medium-size bowl. I didn't post a photo of that because  it didn't look very interesting. Once you've mixed those three ingredients in a bowl, grab another bowl and add these two items together:

IN ANOTHER SMALL BOWL, MIX TOGETHER 1 CUP OF MILK AND  TWO LARGE EGGS.

Now in the original recipe it called for fat-free milk. NOPE!!! I like whole milk. Or as we now call it in my  home "chubby milk".  Again, I think it's a matter of preference. However, I do think everything tastes better with chubby milk :) :)

Also, the eggs should be "lightly beaten". I'm not exactly sure what that means. It just means don't mix those eggs, like you're in a race to the finish line.

GRADUALLY STIR IN THE EGG & MILK INTO THE FLOUR MIXTURE UNTIL YOU ACHIEVE "BATTER" :) :) IT SHOULD LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THIS.

I didn't think to use a different color bowl. So it's hard to see what the batter really looks like. Those darker bits are the nutmeg.  The batter should be a bit runny. It will make great crepes.
The recipe said to let the batter sit for 15 minutes.  Although, you could let it sit longer. I had a recipe given to me by a real Frenchman years ago. In that recipe, it said to let the mix sit for 2 hours. That's really up to you. Oh, I can't find that recipe, so that's another reason why I tried this one today.

 I didn't have a non-stick skillet. Since I'm using what I have on a hand, my yardsale steel frying pan would have to work. So that's what I used.  I turned the heat to a hair below medium, to give the  pan a chance to warm up without overheating or burning what I was about to cook :)

I USED JUST ENOUGH COCONUT OIL TO COAT THE SURFACE OF THE PAN.

Coconut oil is great to cook with. In addition to smelling really good in the jar, it burns very CLEAN in the pan. It doesn't brown, so it's perfect for cooking on medium heat.  There are a lot of benefits to using coconut oil. So I've read, anyway. I'll try and post a really nice article I found about that later this week.  Coconut oil is expensive. However, you only need a minimal amount. So that's what I went with. Besides that, butter is spendy and I have to save that for other recipes :) :)  I didn't use a spray because I didn't feel comfortable doing that near a hot stove.
So I added a little bit of coconut oil before adding about 1/4 cup of crepe batter. I repeated that process for every crepe. Also note, that when I did that, I removed the pan from the heat. There's no reason in particular for doing that. It's just what I felt should be done :)
Oh, how did the crepes turn out? Really yummy. The first crepe turned out really ugly and three -dimensional:

THE FIRST CREPE WAS NOT PRETTY. HOWEVER, THE TASTE WAS NOT AFFECTED ONE TINY BIT. IT STILL TASTED DELICIOUS. 

 This is one that I made using the coconut oil to grease the pan. Oh, next time I'm going to add oil to the recipe itself. I think that will be easier and use less oil. What do you think? Also, my crepes turned out browner than what I remember. However, I think that was due to the fact that I was using a steel skillet.  What has been your experience using different cooking utensils?

After you add the coconut oil to the pan, add about 1/4 cup of crepe batter. Let it cook and set for about 1 and a half minutes. Flip it over and let it cook on the other side for about 25 seconds. This worked great. Although, even here, you can alter that according to your needs. You'll know, after a few, when it's set and ready to be turned over.

THESE WERE ALL OF MY CREPES, MINUS THE UGLY FIRST CREPE. THIS RECIPE MADE 7 CREPES FOR ME.

I did switch to butter for the last half of the crepes. It didn't make one bit of difference, other than a slightly saltier taste.  

Those are my crepes. They turned out great. You can fill them with sweet or savory fillings. Today my dad and I ate them plain. They were so good. Next time, I'll make a bigger batch. It would be nice to have some for the freezer.

Here's the original recipe as it appeared in the Fred Meyer "Naturally Preferred" magazine for May 2011. 

CREPES
(from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook - Wiley, 2011)

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fat-free milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1. Whisk together flour, nu tmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat together m ilk and eggs in a small bowl. Whisk m ilk misture into flour misture until smooth. Let stand 15 minutes.

2. Spray an 8-inch nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles in pan. re-stir batter: pour scant 1/4 cup of batter into skillet, tiltingh pan to coat bottom completely. Cook until top is set and underside is golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes.

3. With spatula, loosen edge of crepe and turn over. Cook until second s ide is loightly browned, about 25 seconds.  Slide crepe onto plate. Repeat with remaining batter, lightly spraying skillet before adding more batter, making a total of 8 crepes.

 So there's that particular recipe. I'll definitely be making more crepes later this week, and trying a different recipe.  They were so good...and I only wish I'd made more, because now I'm dependent on crepes :) :)

That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather :)

THE CUPCAKE COMPANY & RED VELVET CUPCAKES !!!

Hi everyone,
Oh, my word, I think I have fallen in love.... with cupcakes.  My birthday was yesterday.  I turned 30-something years old. It's funny, because I stil feel like I'm 18. Anyways, this story today goes back a couple of weeks.  One day my dad and I are out running an errand at the grocery store. I spot this new shop. It's a cupcake shop. So my dad treated me to a red velvet regular and mini cupcake. Here's a photo of what I ate today...so delicious.

Oh, goodness, this is the large cupcake. It's not too big or small. It is the PERFECT size and so tasty.  Ever since I found out that there was a cupcake shop moving into town, my desire was for a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting.  Would you be surprised that there was no cupcake shop in town until two weeks ago? Oh, I'm so glad that they  opened up.  I told my father that I wanted a red velvet cupcake for my birthday.  Today he bought me my cupcake :) :) This is my cupcake on  my red transferware plate. Doesn't the cupcake look absolutely delicious?  Oh, it tastes so good. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cream cheese frosting, too.

Okay, so let me go back a couple of weeks. A little over two weeks ago I noticed that someone had moved into this store front. It used to be a tanning salon. I'm not sure what happened to them. Anyways, I was praying that something good would  move in. This is the store front of The Cupcake Company as seen from the car.  Click here to visit their beautiful website.  There were a lot of cars at the shopping center today, so getting a better picture was a bit tricky. I'll try another time. Oh this place is just gorgeous inside.

Oh, this  place is so beautiful and spic-and-span clean. It's also bright and cheery with lots of windows to let in natural light.  So when my dad and I walked in, my dad immediately asked if I could take a couple of photos. The owners said "Yes"!!! That was really sweet of them. I always feel nervous about asking, but they were so gracious.  My father explained that I have a blog and that I wanted to write about the shop today. This is part of their menu board with  some of the specials that they offer throughout the week. They have a total of 24 different flavors. The display case had about 12 flavors for the day. 

Here are some of the luscious, decadent super tasty cupcakes in the cupcake case ;) :) :)  It is really neat to find out why people start new business ventures. The owners are a husband & wife team. One was involved in construction and the other one was involved in real estate. When the economy made a downturn, they decided to take a leap of faith and open a new business to earn money. They took a leap of faith!!! That is the short version of the story. I hope I got it right. The couple was just so sweet with the most precious, friendly smiles I have ever seen. The same goes for their beautiful, sweet assistant who rang up my cupcake purchase :)
There was something about their demeanor that prompted my dad to ask if they go to church anywhere. They  attend a local church here in Southern Oregon. It's a church that my dad and I first went to  when we moved to Oregon. So it was really neat and a blessing  :) :)  The shop, when you walk in, is absolutely delightful. It's so clean and bright. There are lovely tables that you can sit at to enjoy your cupcakes. They also have  coffee, too.  When you walk in, you can see right into the bakery/kitchen in the back room. Oh, it was so CLEAN...it was gorgeous. So I felt really good about what I was buying, because I knew that if they take such good care of their kitchen, the cupcakes are going to be delicious!!!  The owners start baking at 3 a.m. So not only are the cupcakes delicious, they're fresh every day :) :)

I have been dreaming of red velvet cupcakes for a couple of weeks. Here's a close-up photo of these gorgeous cupcakes.  The regular ones and the mini cupcakes. Oh,  isn't that great? There is something to fit every taste.  Not only can you pick and choose which flavors you want to eat, you can get regular and minis. The mini cupcakes are awesome because you can have  small taste that easily pops into your mouth. Then if you find a flavor that you like, you can get the larger one. In this case, my father bought me one regular and one mini cupcake. They were so rich and tasty, that I shared both with my father.  Oh, when you pick and choose your cupcakes, they are lovingly placed on one of these plastic trays like you see here.  The associate than asked us if we'd be eating here or taking them to go. We took ours to go, because we had some other errands to run.

Here is one of their beautiful sticker labels. The associate was very kind to let me have two. Isn't this beautiful? It is so well designed and the website is there, too. So please  pop on over and visit this local business. It's really sweet ;) :) :) Oh, I forgot to mention that one of the cupcake flavors that was also in the cupcake was was a  "Samoa" cupcake. Oh goodness, I'm in heaven. That's the flavor I'm going to try next time :) :)
Here are some photos of my beautiful red velvet cupcake. I ate the mini cupcake in the car. I couldn't wait till I arrived home. So the one that made it home is the regular cupcake :) :) Here are some various plate settings for this luscious tasty treat :)

It was such a gorgeous day today. It was overcast and bright/blue skies today. Oh, what made it especially beautiful was that it was just sprinkling ever so slightly. It was just gorgeous!!!! 

I was not paid to do this review. I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this particular business and their cupcakes. So I voluntarily gave this review in case any of you are ever in this neck of the woods. This is definitely a place that you want to come and visit ;) :)

That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather :)