A Favorite Winter Photo

Wishing you all
a Happy
and a Safe New Year!!!

Making Plans...

"Santa Consulting Globe"
by Norman Rockwell

The Saturday Evening Post Cover
December 4, 1926
courtesy of
Norman Rockwell Museum

 

 

 
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!!

Best Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Best Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
(File Photo)

It's that time of year! The time of year to bake a batch of Best Sour Cream Sugar Cookies!  You know, the sugar cookies that are made with sour cream and there's also a hint of nutmeg with every bite.  I have been baking a batch or two of these cookies at this time of year for ... well... 4 decades.  Four decades?  You may ask that question. It is true! 4 decades.

These cookies are just the best!  The easy part about baking a batch is that the dough is prepared one day- on Day 1. Then wrapped and placed in the fridge overnight.  The next day- on Day 2- take out your rolling mat, your rolling pin, cookie cutters and colored sprinkles.  You are ready to go!  Every year before the holidays I bake a batch in December.    

After baking and the "taste test" has happened some of the delicious cookies are placed in our cookie canister.  Not too many.  Most are stacked and placed in freezer bags to be labeled/ dated and stored in our freezer.  The cookies are so yummy, we do share them with family members. 

At this busy time of year I am sharing a post with the ingredients and the recipe here.  Click to view.

Add sour cream to your grocery list to bake a batch of these delicious cookies!  If you do not have Nutmeg, add it to your list, too!  If you do not have a chance to bake a batch in the next few days, bake a batch next week! These cookies are truly the Best Sour Cream Sugar Cookies!

Enjoy!
Yummy! 

Cranberry Bread

Cranberry Bread
tastes as good as it looks!
(File Photo)

Cranberry Bread! Oh yum! The delicious dessert or snack that is prepared using fresh cranberries.  This is another treat that is quite often served at this time of year.  Sure, it can be baked at other times of the year, but this is the time of year when I bake it.  

The fresh cranberries are rinsed in cold water and coarsely chopped.  I use my mini food processor to do this.  The ingredient orange juice gives this bread a great taste.  

This Cranberry Bread tastes best when completely cooled.  It is also easier to cut into slices.  However, it does not freeze well.  That is usually not a problem though, because it tastes so good.  In a few days all of the slices are enjoyed.

Click here for the the complete recipe for Cranberry Bread that I had written in the past.  Add this to your "to bake" list!

Plan on baking a Cranberry Bread in the next two weeks!  Bake 2 and share one with family and friends. Every bite of each slice will be enjoyed!

Enjoy!
Yummy!

Turkey a la King

Turkey a la King
(File Photo)

Do you have a few pieces/ slices of roasted Turkey in your fridge?  Yesterday, we enjoyed Turkey a la King for dinner!  It's that very easy meal to prepare and tastes oh so good!  It is very similar to a Turkey Pot Pie.  Pieces of roasted Turkey are combined with mixed vegetables in a creamy white sauce and it is served over toasted bread.  It's that easy to prepare!

Click on this link for my recipe for Turkey a la King!  

Most years I rewrite my recipe to share, but this year the weekend is moving quickly, so I am sharing my previously posted link. 

It seems to be a tradition that the day after Thanksgiving we always enjoy Hot Turkey Sandwiches and the next day Turkey a la King is on our menu.  Tonight? We will be enjoying Turkey Soup with carrots and potatoes with the last of the remaining Turkey chunks.  Yesterday, I prepared Turkey Broth.  I used the Turkey Broth instead of canned Chicken Broth in the Turkey a la King.  Some of the broth is also packed away in our freezer, too!

Enjoy!
Yummy! 

Thursday

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Bread

Butternut Squash Bread cooling!
(File Photo)

Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner!  Butternut Squash will definitely be a veggie that will find a place on our dinner table.  That orange colored veggie is also an ingredient in a delicious bread.  You guessed it! We will also be enjoying Butternut Squash Bread on that day and over the holiday weekend.  It is so good! 

The recipe is easy!  Cooked, mashed, cooled Butternut Squash is used.  This bread can also be frozen after it cools.  So, bake one or double the recipe and bake two this weekend. After they cool wrap in foil and freeze.  They will be ready to defrost and enjoy on Thanksgiving Day!

For the recipe click here!    

Enjoy!
Yummy!

Apple Bread

Apple Bread cooling!
(File Photo)

Apples are a favorite fruit in our household!  In autumn the fresh crops of apples are so good.  Slices of this fruit are a great snack, too.  Desserts made with apples are also favorites of ours and one of our favorite desserts is Apple Bread.  It has a very simple name, but it is packed with flavor.  Fresh chunks of Apples along with Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Orange Juice are tasted with every bite of a slice of this dessert bread. 

Slices in the serving dish!
(File Photo)

This bread is so yummy that I always bake two of them at once.  If you are baking two at the same time, just remember to stagger the bread pans in the oven while baking the breads.  After baking and they cool, one of the breads is wrapped in foil and labeled/ dated and placed in our freezer.  It is a wonderful surprise to enjoy in a month or two.  This year during Thanksgiving Day weekend, the second bread will be defrosted and shared at our dinner table.  

For the ingredients and the recipe for Apple Bread- click here. 

In the next few days I will be baking 2 of them.  You guessed it!  One we will enjoy now and the second Apple Bread will be placed in our freezer!  This is a very moist bread that has become a favorite of ours over the years! 

*****If you plan to bake one bread, cut the recipe in half- use only 1/2 of the ingredients.  

Enjoy!
Yummy!

   

November 11

"The Homecoming G.I."
originally created for the cover of
May 26, 1945
THE SATURDAY EVENING POST
courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum

Today, on November 11 we remember and we honor all men and women who have served.

Thank you!

Butternut Squash Pancakes

Butternut Squash Pancakes
before adding maple syrup!
(File Photo)

 
👉 **Note to self for this weekend... make a batch of Butternut Squash Pancakes!!  

Now, there is 1 Cup of cooked/ mashed Butternut Squash in our fridge.  Today, a few more of these squash were prepped for our freezer and I saved out that 1 Cup.  I have plans!  Oh, I always have plans, but sometimes plans can quickly change.  However, this weekend Butternut Squash Pancakes will be enjoyed one morning at breakfast and the extra pancakes will be placed in our freezer.  

While enjoying the first bite of this pancake that is topped with maple syrup, the flavors of Cinnamon, of Nutmeg and of Ginger are quickly tasted.  The pancakes are also very light.  Did I mention that they are so good??

A few years ago I posted my recipe, so I am sharing the link.  For my recipe click here. 

The extra pancakes freeze very well, so we will be enjoying them on other mornings.  It will be great to take out the package labeled Butternut Squash Pancakes from the freezer and microwave them.  What a delicious breakfast!

Make a batch, also!  You will be very happy you did!

Enjoy!
Yummy!     

Freezing Butternut Squash

Freezing Butternut Squash
(File Photo)

Autumn brings many beautiful shades of red, yellow, orange and rust colored leaves.  Whenever we look out our windows, drive down our streets doing errands or take a walk in the neighborhood, it's a great treat to see all of these colors.  These days when we return home there is a bushel of orange colored Butternut Squash waiting in our garage.  Waiting? Yes, waiting to be prepped and then placed in our freezer.  

It has been a tradition for me (learned from my mom while I was growing up) that prepared/ mashed Butternut Squash freezes very well.  Growing up my family always had 2 large gardens and one of the gardens always had many Butternut Squash plants that produced a great harvest.  Prepping that veggie and freezing the mashed orange colored squash was part of the plan for food in the colder months.  No longer do I have any gardens, but my hubby and I purchase a bushel of this delicious veggie from a local farm.  

The process to prep it to freeze is simple.  The squash is rinsed under cold running water and dried.  Then, it is peeled, cut into chunks and steamed.  After mashing the drained squash it is placed in freezer bags, labeled/ dated and into they freezer they go.

Ready to be placed in our freezer!
(File Photo)

I have written posts with my complete directions for Freezing Butternut Squash in the past, so I am linking one here.   

You may not want to purchase a bushel of squash like we do.  However, do purchase a few of them to prep and freeze while they are available at road side stands and in the grocery stores, now.  Not only is this a delicious veggie at dinnertime, but I substitute it for pumpkin when baking.  I don't purchase canned pumpkin, but I use Butternut Squash in recipes.

It is so good!
Enjoy!
Yummy!           

Saving Marigold Seeds

Big Orange Marigolds

O.K., now that we have saved the Zinnia seeds it was time to also harvest the Marigold seeds!  In the Spring we purchased Marigold plants that would have BIG yellow and orange blossoms.  We had visions of beautiful brightly colored blossoms in our gardens.  Well, all did not work out exactly as we had wished for.  Our drought brought a reduction in outdoor watering in my town.  Still our flowers managed to do o.k.  The new mulch helped a lot! Unfortunately, the rabbits enjoyed dining on the yellow Marigolds! The yellow flowers and the green plants! The orange colored flowers- they did not bother with.  It sure was strange to see large plants with bright orange flowers next to very small green plants.  Transplanting 2 of the small plants into pots was a good solution to seeing yellow blossoms this summer!  They are doing very well.  Those plants were definitely survivors, so I decided to save some of their seeds.  

Once again, the process of saving Marigold seeds is easy:

The colorful flowers are snipped from the stems and placed in a cut down Kleenex box to dry out.  After they are dry, the dried seeds will be separated from the stems.  The Marigold seed is slender and black.  It is attached to the dried out brown petal.

Saved Marigold Seeds
(File Photo)

The dried seeds will be placed in business sized white envelopes that are labeled/ sealed.  I saved seeds from both types of plants- the plants with orange flowers and the plants with yellow flowers, so they were saved in separate containers. 

**Note:  In your garden as the flowers dry out on a green plant, you can also save these dried flowers. Just pull the dried petals off and save the seeds.  This skips the process of drying out the blossoms yourself!  

Happy Gardening!
Enjoy!              

Saving Zinnia Seeds

Our bountiful Zinnia harvest!
September 2022

It's apple season in New England! Pumpkins and Butternut Squash are now available, too!  That can only mean one thing.  It's time to save the Zinnia seeds from the plants that are blossoming in our garden. I save seeds from one year's crop to plant in the garden the next year.  It's the perfect time to harvest the seeds.  

The process is very easy:

Snip the colorful flowers (that are blossoming) from the green stems and place the cut flowers in a flat container to dry out.  I use cut down Kleenex boxes.  By sniping the fresh flowers I am able to choose what color Zinnias I am saving.  The boxes are placed on a shelf in our garage. The air circulates between the flowers and they dry out very well.  Some petals turn brown.

Colorful Zinnia flowers will be drying out.
(File Photo)

 
After they dry out, it's time to harvest the seeds from the dried out blossom.  Pull the petals from the short stems and you will find the cherished tear shaped seeds to plant in your garden the next year. I store the seeds in a business sized white labeled/ sealed envelope.  Usually, I need more than one envelope.  There are times when it is difficult to separate the seed from the dried petal, so I save "as is" and plant the seeds "as is" the following Spring.  It all works very well!

Tear shaped dried out Zinnia seeds
(File Photo)

After continually saving the seeds in September and replanting them, for about 5- 6 years, you will find the blossoms from the saved seeds getting smaller.  That is the clue to purchase commercialy packaged seeds from your garden center the following Spring.  After planting the new seeds and enjoying the beautiful colorful flowers, save the seeds again in September.

If you have Zinnias blossoming now, save the seeds for next year's beautiful garden!  It has been a tradition in my family- a tradition for decades.  Zinnias have always been a favorite flower!

Enjoy!
Happy Gardening!      

~Autumn~

~Autumn~

Autumn has arrived! The season of pumpkins and gourds. Today was the day to keep a tradition going! Purchasing a bushel of our favorite vegetable at Meadowbrook Farm in East Longmeadow. The veggie is Butternut Squash!  

Yummy! 

Craisin Raisin Apple Crisp

Craisin Raisin Apple Crisp
before adding the vanilla ice cream on top.
(File Photo)

In September when it gets a bit chilly here in Western MA I always think of baking an Apple Crisp! Actually, I think of baking a Craisin Raisin Apple Crisp and top it with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream before serving!  It's the dessert containing peeled/ sliced apples that is baked and has a delicious cinnamon nutmeg oat topping.  Did I mention that mixed in with the baked apple slices are puffed Craisins (dried cranberries) and puffed raisins?  The dried fruits absorb the moisture while they are baking and puff up.  At this time of year I use McIntosh and/ or Cortland apples.  During the winter season, sometimes, I use Empire Apples. 

This is definitely a tasty dessert made with apples and it does not require a pie crust!  It has been a family favorite for years!  A small scoop of ice cream or a small amount of whipped cream added on top adds to the delicious taste.  

I have posted my recipe many times in the past, so I am including my complete recipe here:

Craisin Raisin Apple Crisp Recipe 

Add apples- McIntosh or Cortland to your grocery list this week.  Read the recipe to learn if you have the other ingredients.  You probably do have old fashioned Oats in your pantry along with brown sugar, and the cinnamon and nutmeg.  If not, add those, too.  Plan on baking this delicious dessert soon!  It is so good!

Enjoy!
Yummy!                 

Late Summer Flowers

September!

A quick walk around our yard has me appreciating and enjoying the colorful flowers.  Soon, it will be time to save the Zinnia seeds!  

Enjoy!   

Freezing Green Peppers: Strips + Chunks

Green Pepper Strips
ready for the freezer!
(File Photo)

It's time!! Time to freeze Green Pepper strips and chunks! For quite a few years it's been a tradition with me to purchase the fresh local Green Peppers and prep them for the freezer.  No, I don't freeze the whole Pepper, I cut each Pepper into strips or chunks- discarding the pulp and seeds.  Then, the strips/ chunks are packaged into sandwich bags.  The closed sandwich bags are placed into freezer bags, labeled and into the freezer they go.  In the colder months it's great to reach into my freezer and take out a sandwich bag of prepared Green Peppers to add to an entree while preparing it.  

One day (a few years ago) I noticed that packaged frozen cut Green Peppers were located in the freezer department of a local grocery store.  In the summer this vegetable is plentiful at the local farm stands in my area.  So, the following summer I decided to freeze my own to use!  I learned it worked very well and it was not difficult to do.  

Purchase some fresh Green Peppers and prep them for your freezer.  Prepping a few at a time works well! 

Click here for my post with the complete directions!  

In the colder months you will be able to reach into your freezer and take out a small bag rather than purchasing a Green Pepper in the grocery store.

Enjoy!
Yummy!

       

Today-

~August 10, 2022~

 
Enjoying a beautiful August day today! No longer in a heat wave! Yippee!!!

Big smile!
Enjoying being outdoors!

Simply Delicious

Lime flavored Simply Delicious!
(File Photo)

For so many years I have been making this very easy dessert! Especially during the summer. Especially when it is
HHH outside. Especially during a heat wave!!! Simply Delicious is a light dessert that tastes so good.  It is so easy and hits the spot on a hot day.

There are only 3 ingredients in Simply Delicious.  Water, vanilla ice cream and a 3 ounce package of flavored gelatin. I use the JELL-O brand. 

Using the whisk!
Strawberry flavored
(File Photo)

The Directions are simple!

Simply Delicious
    2 servings

Ingredients:  

(1) Cup Boiling Water
(1) 3 ounce package JELL-O
(1) Cup Vanilla Ice Cream

Method:

1. In a large bowl completely dissolve flavored gelatin in 1 Cup boiling water.
2. Add in 1 Cup vanilla ice cream and stir.
3. Using a whisk continue dissolving ice cream. 
4. Pour into 2 dessert dishes or mugs.
5. Refrigerate for several hours.
6. Top with whipped cream when serving.  

Now, how easy can that be?  Strawberry, orange and lime flavors are our favorites! Add the ingredients to your grocery list and make this easy dessert!

Enjoy!
Yummy!

~Blueberry Torte~

~Blueberry Torte~
(File Photo)

There were fresh local blueberries in our fridge, so the timing was right! I had been thinking about baking a Blueberry Torte ever since the Blueberry Freezer Jam was ready to be placed in our freezer. That was about a week ago. Yesterday was the designated day to take out my springform pan and bake this delicious dessert.  I have learned it is very easy to cut slices to serve if I bake this dessert in the springform pan. The sides of the pan are removed while the torte continues to cool.  That pan comes in handy and is not only used when baking cheesecakes.

A few years ago I wrote a post that included the ingredients and the directions for this yummy dessert. Click here to view it.  

Ready to be placed in the oven!
(File Photo)

 
Yes, frozen/ defrosted blueberries can be used in this recipe. In my area the local juicy yummy berries are ripe now, so it is a great time to bake this. Quite often I save out 2 slices and freeze them, so we may enjoy them at a later date.  It is a wonderful surprise to open the freezer door to look for a special treat. And find slices of Blueberry Torte! 

Before serving a slice of this yummy Blueberry Torte, place a small amount of vanilla ice cream on top!  It is so good! Bake one this summer!

Enjoy!
Yummy!

~Blueberry Freezer Jam~

Blueberry Freezer Jam

The local blueberries are ripe! Oh yum!! Lately, I have been seeing blue. Well, blueberries to be exact. After purchasing the local delicious berries from a local farm on Friday, some were prepped for our freezer.  There was some snacking going on, too.  Fresh local blueberries are so good!! 

Saturday was designated "Blueberry Freezer Jam" day. I have been preparing Blueberry Freezer Jam for over 40 years!  Yes, that surprises me, too! Now, my freezer containers are different sizes and different shapes. Over the years I needed to replace some, so now they are varied in shapes.  Some are round and some are rectangular, but many of them now contain yummy homemade Blueberry Freezer Jam.

Growing up my family always made the traditional stir over a hot stove jams. Then, one day as I was rereading the directions for the "cooked" variety, I saw the interesting quicker freezer method.  I made one batch that year.  It was so easy to prepare and it tasted so good that is now the only  type of jams that I make.

I use CERTO liquid pectin.  The directions are found inside each box of CERTO along with 2 pouches of the liquid pectin. Follow the directions exactly. 

I also have my helpful hints to keep in mind when preparing Freezer Jams.  

For my additional hints about preparing Freezer Jams click here. 

Yesterday afternoon 3 batches of this delicious jam found its place in our freezer.  

We will be enjoying it!
Yummy!  

  

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell's Liberty Bell
American Artist Magazine
July 1976 issue
courtesy of the Norman Rockwell Museum

 

 

Wishing you a safe and a happy 4th of July!!