Author: QuiltLady

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & RECIPE LINKS week 24 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.162

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

GOOD MORNING dear friends. Summer is quickly approaching and I still have so much I want to do for spring! The weather has FINALLY turned nice here on a consistent basis and I have FINALLY packed away the flannels and jackets. Though I do have a sweatshirt in the car for those places that are now cranking the air conditioning so high it’s like a meat locker.

Highs in the mid 70’s with lows in the mid 40’s – my FAVORITE combination of temperatures! So today will be my most comfy levis, a plaid blouse and flip flops.

I’m adapting a new attitude and trying extremely hard to NOT to let the idiots, blowhards and the like affect me. The “changing of the guard” is going to be hard for me to adapt to at the Eagles. Those few “in charge” as of June are either repeats from the past with serious egos and attitudes that aren’t good leaders or they tend to drink too much and spout off orders and rude comments to people or they have zero idea what it’s all about. Worse yet are the ones who were talked into filling a vacancy so we can keep the doors open, yet they aren’t either qualified to fill the slot, too easy to be pushed around by the blowhards or they don’t know how much work it will be and here we sit waiting for it to all fall apart, because it has before with these same people in charge. I am prepared to turn in my duties and find new avenues to donate my time. A couple friends and I had “bets” on when the first would fall. I wish we’d actually bet money. My bet was for 1 week and the first of the five resigned last night. 🙁 Sad, but true.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I have a load of sheets to do and a pile of ironing
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS / PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS Taco Tuesday, Eagles Bar and Kitchen Shopping
  • PROJECTS & TRAVELS Drinks and pizza at a favorite winery with a friend on Friday, find a matching fabric for some quilted place mats I’m working on, buy a birthday present for a close friend. Make reservations for the day before and after a trip we were recently gifted at the end of the month.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m working on a summer menu plan for some lighter dishes.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • AMAZON PRIME ~ Time Changer, From Time to Time, Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop
  • CABLE ~ Cooking shows ~ Summer Baking Championship, Girl Meets Farm, Mary Makes It Easy, Best Bite in Town

I went from not reading at all to having 3 books at once going. I’m reading Marie Force’s State of Suspense, Jana DeLeon’s Baskets and Beignets as well as Philippa Nefri Clark’s The House at Angel’s Beach.

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
 CHICKEN CAESAR PASTA SALAD
 PERUVIAN CHICKEN with SALT & VINEGAR POTATO SALAD
 GRILLED CHICKEN PEACH SALAD
 CORN/YOYO CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR or YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN
 OUT
 STRAWBERRY JALAPENO CHICKEN with SALAD
 BRUSCHETTA GRILLED CHICKEN and SALAD
DESSERT
 
 
 
PECAN BARS

PAN FRIED PORK CHOPS with BACON SOUR CREAM SAUCE ~ BLOG 366.159

PAN FRIED PORK CHOPS with BACON SOUR CREAM SAUCE
4 slices bacon, diced
4 boneless pork tenderloin chops
1/2 cup AP flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon paprika
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
1 shallot, diced
2 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1 tablespoon butter

  • Saute bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain on paper toweling.
  • Season flour and cornstarch with paprika, FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
  • Add butter and avocado oil to the skillet.
  • Add onions, sauteing 2-3 minutes.
  • Add garlic, sauteing another minute.
  • Arrange onions and garlic around the edge of the pan.
  • Dredge pork chops in flour mixture, shaking off excess.
  • Add pork chops to pan, frying on each side 4-5 minutes (based on chop thickness) until cooked through.

SAUCE
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup chicken bone broth
1 teaspoon FRESH lemon thyme leaves

  • Plate chops and keep warm.
  • Add broth and thyme leaves to skillet, heating through.
  • Whisk in cornstarch, simmering until sauce begins to thicken.
  • Turn off heat and whisk in sour cream.
  • Fold in bacon pieces.
  • Serve cream over chops.

PEACH or STRAWBERRY EARTHQUAKE CAKE ~ BLOG 366.158

I found this recipe on Facebook originally and it looked so intriguing I just HAD to try it and am so glad I did! You won’t be disappointed either. The original recipe called for strawberries, but we LOVE it with peaches too. The picture on facebook is quite deceptive also – they evidently added a great looking glaze that isn’t included in their recipe. I will be adding the glaze below from now on.

EARTHQUAKE CAKE

1 white cake mix prepared per box directions
1 cup fruit pieces, chopped
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetened and toasted coconut flakes
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, chopped

  • Preheat your oven to 350°
  • Grease a 9 X 13 baking dish.
  • Fold the chopped strawberries into the prepared cake mix.
  • Pour batter into the greased baking dish.
  • In another medium bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese, melted butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.
  • Drop spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture over the cake batter in the baking dish.
  • Sprinkle coconut flakes and white chocolate pieces evenly over the top of the batter.
  • Bake 40-45 minutes until the cake is set and the edges have turned golden brown.
  • Allow the cake to cool COMPLETELY before serving. As it cools you’ll notice a beautiful cracked, earthquake cracked effect on the top, with delicious pockets of cream cheese and strawberry throughout. Top with additional chopped fruit if desired.

NOTE: Change up the fruit flavor as desired, peaches, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or cherries work well also.

GLAZE (optional)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon PURE vanilla extract

  • Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla.
  • Drizzle over cooled cake and let glaze harden 10 minutes or so before serving.
  • Transfer to serving platter and serve with FRESH blueberries or berry of choice 😀

This is what it looked like on facebook.

BBQ BEEF PATTIES & ASPARAGUS RICE ~ BLOG 366.156

I found both of these recipes in one of the several old recipe boxes I found during a recent antique store expedition. They were quite good, after bringing them forward 50 years or so 😀

BBQ BEEF PATTIES

BEEF PATTIES
1 cup bread crumbs
1 1/2 cup whole milk
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
2 cloves garlic, FINELY minced
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3/4 pound LEAN ground beef
1/4 pound QUALITY ground pork

  • Preheat oven to 375.
  • In a large bowl pour milk over bread crumbs and let set 5 minutes.
  • Add garlic, onion, beef, pork and Worcestershire, minimally mixing until well blended.
  • Shape into 6 patties and place in large baking dish.
  • Pour sauce AROUND the patties.
  • Bake uncovered 45 minutes.

SAUCE
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup jalapeño ketchup
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped green onion

  • Combine all the ingredients in a small sauce pan, stirring to blend.
  • Heat until sugar is dissolved and sauce is heated through, but do NOT boil.

ASPARAGUS RICE PILAF

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
3 1/4 cups homemade chicken broth
3/4 pound asparagus, trimmed
2 tablespoons butter
3-4 LARGE green onions, minced
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
1/2 cup FRESHLY grated Parmesan cheese
FRESH thyme leaves

  • Blanch asparagus in boiling water for 2 minutes.
  • Drain and rinse in cold water until cool.
  • Cut spears into small bite size pieces.
  • Melt butter over medium heat in sauté pan.
  • Add onion, sautéing until softened.
  • Add rice, thyme leaves, FRESH ground salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 15-20 minutes until rice is tender and moisture is completely absorbed.
  • Remove from heat and fold in asparagus and Parmesan cheese.
  • Serve immediately.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & RECIPE LINKS week 23 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.155

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

GOOD MORNING! Can you believe we are in June already? This year is zooming by! There is so much I had hope to have already accomplished by this time, yet here we are almost to summer and I haven’t. For me, it was our lack of a real spring this year and the “extended” wintertime that seems to be holding me back. 😂 At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.🤣 I do have the garden beds planted FINALLY! and yesterday’s rain seems to be helping them settle in quite nicely.

We had quite a bit of rain yesterday and a much cooler temperature. Today is supposed cooler still (than normal), but at least sunny and then we should be getting much warmer by the end of the week. Spring temperatures are FINALLY here. I’m still carrying a light sweatshirt in the car at all times because it takes all day to get to the warmer temperatures 😂

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING Laundry and cleaning are up to date 😀
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have no pending errands or appointments this week that can’t wait. I do need to get the tires rotated on my car and address a brake squeal that shouldn’t be happening because they are pretty new brakes 😀
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS Because I don’t have many actual errands, I’m hoping to get a bunch of paperwork handled.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I found some OLD, really OLD taste of home magazines in an antique store and will be going through them  in hopes of finding some new and fun recipes.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • AMAZON PRIME We’ve been re-watching WAREHOUSE 13 ~ it’s been so long that it feels new again, but with characters that feel like family 😀
  • CABLE We ran across an old Hitchcock movie that starred Jimmy Stewart called ROPE which was kind of fun on a rainy Sunday morning.

After a couple of weeks of audio books I’m having a tough time getting back into reading 🙁

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
 BBQ BEEF PATTIES & ASPARAGUS RICE
 SOUR CREAM PORK CHOPS & CORN TAMALITOS with GREEN BEANS
ORANGE TERIYAKI CHICKEN
 HONEY THYME PORK TENDERLOIN
 YOYO CORN your’re on your own or clean out refrigerator night
 BALSAMIC HERB CHICKEN and PARMESAN MASHED POTATOES
 JAMBALAYA & SALAD
DESSERT
 
 
PECAN BARS
 

We took a walk around the pond the other day and I found that the blackberries are starting to bloom. Hopefully they’ll be on time this year for the festival in August.

There is a neighbor who spearheaded a grant program to “build up” the pond. Unfortunately, most of us don’t share his vision. There are tons of construction changes (paving walkways where there used to be a well used path, tearing out the trees that lined the south side of the pond, adding pavilions and tons of concrete…) and upgrades going on that are disrupting the local neighborhood peace. Many of the animals aren’t happy either. The 9-10 swans that were living on the island are gone, literally just vanished, many of the birds are no where to be seen, we haven’t heard the frogs this year, the beavers that built this dam have lost most of their trees and vegetation in the area…

CRANBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE MACAROONS ~ BLOG 366.151

We found the most amazing bakery, The Baker’s Table, on our last trip and they made the BEST Cranberry White Chocolate Macaroons! I just had to recreate these delectable bites! I added the chocolate dip bottom as an option 😀 Just saying you can never have too much chocolate!And you can change the color to coordinate with holidays.

Funny story though is that they had very few left. I bought all they had and was telling my nephew about them at lunch. I told him I’d quarter them and bring them to dinner so everyone could try a piece. After lunch he took his daughter and niece into the village and was so proud that he found a bakery selling them. LOL he sent me this picture of my nieces eating MACARONS which led to a discussion at dinner about the difference between a macaron and a macaroon 😀

So, for those who don’t know the difference, a macaron is a sandwich-like cookie filled with jam, ganache, or buttercream.A macaroon is a drop cookie made using shredded coconut. Preparation for each of these cookies is incredibly different, even though they start out with many of the same ingredients. Not to mention the mouth feel and texture of the cookie itself.

CRANBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE MACAROONS – yields 2 dozen

3 LARGE egg whites at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon PURE vanilla or almond
½ teaspoon orange extract
pinch of salt
½ cup dried cranberries, FINELY chopped
1 tablespoon finely grated orange OR lemon zest
3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
4 ounces PURE white chocolate, grated (see notes)
Dipping chocolate (almond bark), melted (optional)

  • Preheat oven to 325°.
  • Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

  • Beat egg whites until frothy, then add sugar, extracts and salt, beating 2-3 minutes.

  • Gently fold in cranberries, zest, coconut and white chocolate.

  • Using a cookie scoop, press firmly into the scoop and carefully drop mounds onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart, making sure you have them nicely mounded.

  • Bake at 325°F for 12- 15 minutes until golden, watching carefully as they brown quickly.
Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet.
  • Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Melt almond bark in microwave at 30 second intervals until melted.
  • Dip cookie bottoms in chocolate.
  • Cool until firm on wax paper.


Note

  • Not all brands of white chocolate will melt. Be sure and check the label. In order to melt, the ingredients must include cocoa butter.
  • These cookies freeze really well, so you can make them ahead of time which makes them a holiday favorite. Store them in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.

Now, if you’re in a hurry here is a short cut recipe!

This recipe for coconut Macaroons made with condensed milk are moist, sweet, chewy and delicious. And when you add the white chocolate and cranberry bits your taste buds will thank you!

Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 25 minutes mins

Servings 30-60 depending on size

28 ounces sweetened coconut flakes
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon PURE orange extract
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup FINELY chopped white chocolate chips
1 cup FINELY chopped raisins
Melting chocolate

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat Mat. If using parchment paper lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl combine coconut, white chocolate pieces, cranberry pieces, zest and extract, stirring to combine.
  • Pour condensed milk over top.
  • Mix with silicone spatula until the coconut and milk are completely mixed and all of the milk combines with the coconut.
  • Scoop and press the mixture into the scoop to make sure it is tightly packed.
  • Place on the baking pan about a finger apart. They should not spread, so you can place them pretty close together.
  • Bake 15 minutes until the tops are golden brown.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, if you can wait that long.
  • Serve and enjoy!