Nubs the Dog

Today I read the amazing story of Nubs the dog. I don't want to ruin the story but it was wonderful. A dogs love and devotion can be found from here to Iraq. I finished the story with a tear in my eye for all dogs that need an owner to love.

The amazing story of Nubs the dog.

Chai Shortbread

11/2 C all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
Dash of ground cloves
Dash of fresh ground black pepper
3/4 C powdered sugar
1 egg
10 T butter, softened
1 T ice water

1. Mix flour and spices together with a whisk in a small bowl.
2. Beat egg and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
3. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture an mix until crumbly. Sprinkle dough with 1T of ice water, toss with a fork. Divide dough in half, shape into a tube, wrap,  and refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 375.
5. Unwrap dough logs. Carefully cut into slices bake on a lightly oiled baking sheet for 10 minutes. Cool.

Cheese Ravioli

WOW! this one turned out to be delicious. It takes some time but it well worth it in the end. I used a recipie I found on food tv and changed it a bit. You can serve the ravioli with any sauce you like.

Ravioli Dough
4 eggs
3 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C water
Ricotta cheese filling (see below)

Mix 4 eggs into a large bowl and add the flour a cup at a time. Add the water and mix. When it becomes difficult to mix knead the dough on a floured surface. Knead the dough until it becomes elastic and smooth.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for about 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.

Cut the dough in half, cover the reserve with plastic wrap. Roll out the dough. I do it by hand with a rolling pin and cut into small pieces as I go but if you have a pasta machine you can use that instead. When I have rolled out 2 little squares I place a heaping teaspoon of filling in the middle of one square and top it with the other.

To ensure that they stick together put a little olive oil on my finger and very lightly oil the inside edge of one square. Push out the air with your fingers and use a fork to seal together.

Cook the ravioli in plenty of boiling water for about 10 minutes. Ravioli will float to the top when cooked so be careful not to overcrowd the pot. Gently remove from the water when done and top with your favorite pasta sauce and grated cheese. I like to eat them with just butter, simple and delicious.

Ricotta Cheese Filling
1 C ricotta cheese, well drained
1/2 C shredded mozarella cheese
1/2 C shredded parmesean cheese
1 egg
salt and pepper
Parsley flakes
Mix all of the ingredients. Chill in the refrigerator for a few minutes to allow the filling to firm up.

Knitting Problem?

Love it :-)

English Muffin Bread

This might be the easiest bread I have ever made. It requires no kneading and rises only once. It makes excellent toast with butter and jelly if you like. I highly recommend this recipe.

Cornmeal

6 C all-purpose flour

2 packages active dry yeast

1/4 tsp. baking soda

2 C milk

1/2 C water

1 T sugar

1 tsp. salt

1. Greast 2 8x4x2 in loaf pans. Lightly sprinkly pans with enough cornmeal to coat bottom and sides, set pans aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine 3 C of the flour, yeast, and baking soda; set aside.

3. In a medium saucepan heat and stir milk, water, sugar, and salt just until warm ( 120-130 F). Using a wooden spoon, stir milk mixture into flour mixture. Stir in remainin gflour.

4. Divide dough in half. Put dough in prepared pans. Sprinkle tops with cornmeal. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

5. Bake in 400 F oven about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove bread from pans. Cool on wire racks.

Faschnacts

This recipe if from my great-grannie Krause She lived to be 90 and I can remember enjoying her donuts as a little girl.
I used a large glass and the top from an oil bottle to cut out the donut shapes. I did make a few without holes and they turned out very good. For my first attempt I cut the recipe in half.

2C milk
1C sugar
1/2 C shortening
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 C mashed potatoes
1 1/2 pkg. dry yeast
1/2 C warm water
3 eggs
8C flour

1. Scald milk and mix milk, sugar, shortening, salt, and potatoes. Stir and set aside to cool to lukewarm.

2. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 C warm water and let stand about 5 minutes.

3. Add yeast to potatoe mixture and then add mixed eggs.

4. Add flour slowly and mix.

5. Put into greased bowl and let rise until it doubles.

6. Punch down and roll out into 1/4 in. thickness. Cut into donuts and lay out on a floured surface. Allow to rise again until doubled.

7. Fry donuts in 1 1/2 in. shortening (375 F)

8. Remove from pan and allow to cool on wire racks or paper towels.

Ty rules playland. He had such a good time at the playland at Chick Filet. It was a good day!

Little stinker

Word of the Day: Continue

An antonym of the work continue is to lay off. Well that's what happened to me, after 19 years at the same job I was abruptly laid off. No warning just laid off on a Thursday morning. I got in my car and went home in tears. What do I do? I have always worked, ever since I was in high school I have had a job.

As the days pass by I realize that this is a little more difficult than I would have expected. don't get me wrong, it is wonderful to be able to sleep late, and catch up on all of the things that need to be done in the house. The difficulty came to me when I realized that I have defined so much of myself by the job I had. When we meet someone for the first time the first question we usually ask is , "What do you do?" Well, what do I do?? that is what I am trying to figure out.

Corn & Barley Salad

2 C cooked barley
3 ears cooked fresh corn cut from the cob or 2+ C frozen, thawed, drained.
1/2 C scallions, thinly sliced and chopped
1 large tomatoe chopped
1-2, 4 in. fresh hot chilies, seeded and minced

Cook barley and cool, add the corn, scallions, tomatoe and chili pepper and toss well.

Drizzle the salad with the following dressing:

1/3 C olive oil
3 T balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 squirt of mustard
salt and papper to taste
whisk all of the ingredients together

Biscotti

Delicious biscotti we enjoy with coffee in the morning or a treat in the evening.

1 1/2 C All purpose flour
1 tsp. aniseed
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 C sugar
2 T butter, softened
2 large eggs
cooking spray
3 oz. premium dark chocolate, coparsley chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Combine flour, aniseed, baking soda, and salt stirring well with a whisk.
Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, beat at a medium speed with a mixer until blended (about 2 minutes).
Add eggs, 1 at a time.
Add flour mixture tio sugar mixture bleating until blended.
Turn dough lightly onto alightly floured surface and knead lightly 7 times.
Shape dough into a 12 in. long roll.
Place roll on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; pat to 1 in thickness.
Bake at 350 for 30 min
Remove roll from baking sheet, cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. (Stop baking here for a softer cookie.)

3. Reduce oven temperature to 300

4. Cut roll crosswise into about 22 slices. Place cut sides down on a baking sheet. Bake at 300 for 5-7 minutes. turn cookies over and cook other side for 5-7 minutes. cook completely on a iwre rack.

5. Heat chocolate in microwave or in a heavy saucepan over low heat for 5 minutes. Dip cookies, top sides down in chocolate. Place cookie on a baking sheet, chocolate side up to cook. As an alternative drizzle chocolate over cookies.
Let stand 1 hour or until set.

Calories 83
Fat 2.2g
Protein 1.6g
Carbs. 14.6

Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2008 Cookbook

Sesame Peanut Noodles

Delicious, low fat easy recipe from Cook Yourself Thin on Lifetime TV. One important note: The noodles are great fresh, however they are not very good as leftovers.
Serves 6
Calories per serving 308

8 oz. whole wheat spaghetti

Dressing:
2 T rice vinegar
1/4 C low sodium soy sauce
1/4 C peanut butter
2 T grated ginger
1 T dark sesame oil
1 tsp. bnrown sugar
1 lime
1/2 C hot water

For assembling:
1/2 bag store bought cole slawmix
1/2 C rep pepper
1/2 C cilantro
1/2 lime squeezed
1/2 C apple
1/2 C jicama
1 tsp. sesame seeds
2 scallions julienne
1/2 C dry roasted peanuts, fro garnish
cilantro chopped for garnish
lime wedges for garnish

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and run under cold water.

2. To make dressing, combine all the ingredients into a small mixing bowl and stri together with a whisk. Add the dressing to the pasta and toss. stir in the coleslaw mix, red pepper and cilantro. Squeeze half of a lime over themixture and toss.

3. Add the remaining ingredients, toss, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Garnish with peanuts, cilanto and lime wedges. Serve.

Lavender Shell

This is an unfinished Lavender Shell. this is a pattern from another Maggie Sefton book called, Needled to Death. It was so easy, knit in the round. You split the stitches and work on the front than the back and join at the top. It will be a kind of a tank top.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe turned out so tasty I had to take a picture of it. The recipe came from the April issue of Country Living. I made a few adjustments and I will post my recipe as soon as I find the magazine.

Mittens in a Heat Wave

Can you believe I was knitting this mitten this weekend and the temperatures were above 90 degrees. Good thing Jason keeps our house so cool or else I would have certaintly melted.

I made this easy mitten in varigated baby alpaca. The pattern came from my latest read, Fleece Navidad by Maggie Sefton. I just love her books. I can't wait for the newest one to come out in June, it's called Dropped dead Stitch.

Eagles Green Vest

I finally finished the Eagles Green vest for JJ. I am proud to say that it is may be the best garment I have knitted so far. It fits JJ perfectly and it is very warm.

Butterfly & Flower Sweater

I have been slowly working on my first color project. The sweater is from my favorite knitting book, Knit 2 Together. It is slowly coming along and I can actually make out the butterfly. The rose has already been completely frogged but the second time around it is working out better.

Visiting little Ty on game day. He is a big eagles fan. He is getting so big. He just had his first day at day care/ pre-school. Such a big boy, and he's only 18 mos.

If a tree falls in your front yard and no one is there to hear it does it make noise?

We were expecting a friend and when he came to the front door he said, " You guys know you have a tree down in your front lawn...right?" Well we had no idea. There had been a lot of rain and the ground was soaked. We has a really strong wind come by and apparently knock down our 30 foot pine tree. We couldn't believe it missed both of our cars in the driveway and the mailbox. Amazingly enough we had the tree removed the very next day, a Sunday. We paid dearly for this speedy weekend service, but we both needed to get our cars out for work on Monday. Jason and I were not fond of this tree but we really miss it. We will be planting something in the spring. I think that will make a grand total of 10 trees we have planted since we moved in in 2006.

Doctor's Bag

My masterpiece is finally finished. This will be my new knitting bag.

It was very enjoyable to knit and quite a bear to put together. It is large enough to carry all of my knitting essentials and more...

The pattern came from the book Knit Two Together by Tracy Ullman and Mel Clark.