2 cups all purpose flour, sifted ¼ cup extra fine granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 beaten LARGE eggs 2 cups FULL FAT buttermilk ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted ¼ teaspoon sea salt 1 tablespoon PURE vanilla extract 1 teaspoon QUALITY cinnamon
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda, whisking to combine.
Add eggs, buttermilk, butter, salt and vanilla, stirring JUST until combined. Do not over stir or you will have flat pancakes.
Set aside on the counter for an hour, or place in the refrigerator overnight.
Ladle ¼ cup batter on a hot non stick skillet, over medium heat, cooking until pancakes are golden brown around the edge and bubble appear around the edges.
Good Morning dear friends. I hope you had a beautiful Easter and are well rested. Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
LOL yesterday was supposedly in the high 40’s, but it was a wet and cold 40’s so still felt like a winter cold. They’re predicting an ALL OUT rain event tomorrow and even some snow flirtations on Wednesday, but then ALL OF A SUDDEN we’re supposed to FINALLY have spring like days in the 50’s and even a couple 60’s (but not nights) next weekend!
Needless to say I will believe it when I see it for any true warmth. I’ve yet to put away the turtlenecks and am still layering turtle necks and flannels every day 😀
Oh so much on my mind, but too much to really get into. I’m still a bit exhausted though I did take it easy yesterday for Easter and visited with my friend, Diana for quite awhile and sorted through the recipes she loaned me to make copies.
Things will stay fairly busy up until we go to hubby’s family reunion, but that should be a drop off point to a better form of normalcy once we get back.
Vanilla yogurt with homemade granola and FRESH wild blueberries with hot water
THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’ve still been battling the weather trying to clean up after the garage sale which was further complicated by some leaks, but I’m starting a spring cleaning inside and out despite the weather. By now I’ve usually already switched out the winter clothing for spring, but with the never ending winter this year I’m a bit behind 😀
GROCERIES & ERRANDS I’m still finishing the winter rotation on the pantry and freezer so don’t have too many groceries to pick up and no real errands this week besides the commitments to the Eagles for floor repair in the store room and normal Wednesday shopping.
PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS I’m still working on getting return phone calls from various people for work needing done and hubby’s upcoming eye surgery.
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING Anyone that knows me or has been following me for awhile knows that my greatest find in an antique store is old recipe boxes full of handwritten old recipes. I didn’t find these in an antique store, but they belong to a friend and had been her mom and grandma’s. I’m so privileged to have been given the chance to go through them and copy any recipes I want to try 😀 Thank you Diana! I’m working hard to keep them in the order I find them LOL even when that order makes no sense to me. See the pictures below. I’m going to use these recipes to make up the next several week’s worth of menus.
WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
AMAZON PRIME Saturday night we watched On A Wing and A Prayer with Dennis Quaid. It was pretty good. Oddly it seemed like an over acted “B” movie, but, I loved that it is based on a true story.
CABLE We also watched the NASCAR Dirt races at Bristol over the weekend. We also watched Operation Tokyo with Cary Grant. I’m also caught up on Tournament of Champions.
I’m about to finish SUNRISE COVE INN by Katie Winters which is #1 in a series. This leaves me with a dilemma on what to read next since I have several other series going 🙂 What to read next?
We’re doing things a bit backwards this week and starting with C.O.R.N. (clean out refrigerator night) as I’m doing spring cleaning and ALSO want to use us leftovers from Easter dinner which was simple, but plentiful 😀
4/10 MONDAY
4/11 TUESDAY
4/12 WEDNESDAY
4/13 THURSDAY
4/14 FRIDAY
4/15 SATURDAY
4/16 SUNDAY
DINNER
C.O.R.N. (clean out refrigerator night)
TEN PLATE SPECIAL from Diana’s collection
WILTED GREENS SALAD
WIN BAILEY’S HOT DISH from Diana’s collection
Y.O.Y.O. OUT
HAM & CHEESE POTATO CASSEROLE from Diana’s collection using leftover Easter Ham
HAM STEAKS with SWEET & SOUR BEANS from Diana’s collection
DESSERT
CARROT MARMALADE BREAD from Diana’s collection
Hubby got inventive with the Rummikub tiles between games.
HERBES de PROVENCE TOP SIRLOIN FAT CAP serves 6
Cook Time: 35 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
1.5-2 pound top sirloin cap roast 3-4 garlic cloves, FINELY minced 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence 1 tablespoon avocado oil
Set a roasting rack inside a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.
Sprinkle the salt over the garlic and form mixture into a paste.
Stir in the herbes de Provence and the oil, mixing all together.
Remove steak from packaging and pat dry.
Score the fat cap—cut diagonal lines across the surface of the fat in both directions so you have a cross-hatched pattern. Take care not to cut down into the roast itself.
Rub the meat all over with the rub.
Let the meat sit for 30 to 60 minutes to take the chill off and absorb the flavors of the rub.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Place a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and add enough avocado oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
Place the meat, fat cap side down, in the pan and sear for about 3 minutes.
Flip and sear on the other side for an additional 3 minutes.
Transfer the roast to the prepared baking sheet and place in oven.
Roast for about 15-20 minutes per pound, or until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 140°.
Remove from oven and rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
And for a bit of trivia, the consolidated history of Herbes de Provence. At first this herb blend originated in the Provence region in the south of France and just described a general multipurpose mixture of herbs grown in the Provençal region during the summer.
Then the blend grew in popularity and became a more defined herb mixture in the 1960s when Julia Child included a recipe for Poulet Sauté aux Herbes de Provence in her famous cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Julia Child is credited with defining the mixture into what we know today and adding it to the culinary lexicon of chefs all over the world. It was in the 1970s that the French brand Ducros began packaging and selling the herbes de Provence spice mix to customers overseas.
Today you can purchase premade herbes de Provence in grocery stores by many different brands, but making your own is super easy and allows you to personalize the blend of herbs and spices to fit your personal taste or the specific dish you’re cooking. Here is my preferred combination of herbs and spices.
Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
I bet you’re tired of hearing me tell you about YET ANOTHER winter storm blowing through 😀 But here we are in April and YET ANOTHER winter storm is blowing through! The news said this was the coldest March since 1954 and April is shaping up to follow. We are supposed to get cold and snow through Tuesday and then it looks like we MIGHT actually get a taste of spring around here.
Unfortunately, we have to go to a specialist appointment this morning an hour north of here. With the snow predicted we have actually packed a bag as a JUST IN CASE we get there and have trouble getting back.
We did have our garage sale this past weekend despite the weather (oh my we were sooooooo cold even in the actual garage with ALL the weather changes that kept blowing through) and did pretty well with it, but I’ve been wearing 3-4 layers EVERY day and at least through Tuesday will be no different.
COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED best describes where I’m at right now!I’m going to try and take some time for myself this week, but with so many things going on it may be hard to find that time.
A dear friend who care takes for her mother is a bit blue because of the progression of her mother’s condition and I worry about her – she tends to have way too much on her plate, but I’m keeping her and her mother in my prayers. She is actually going to be able to get away for a few days of warmth and sunshine and I hope that brightens her smile.
Another dear friend is under the weather with a troublesome stomach bug and she too has WAY too much on her plate also care taking for her husband, a move to a new house that needs everything and multiple Eagle’s projects!
Yet another friend from the Eagles collapsed at church yesterday morning and has been airlifted to another city for surgery this morning for a blockage to the brain. 🙁 I’m keeping her and her family in my prayers for a successful surgery and quick recovery. She was going to be cooking Friday night dinner at the Eagles. I was asked to fill in for her so will be making a grocery run this week that wasn’t planned, but I’m glad to be able to help out in this small way. I’m going to make a baked Chicken Parmesan with Fettuccine Alfredo with a Pineapple sour cream cake for dessert.
Hot water and a baby food squeeze pouch as we get out the door.
THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
LAUNDRY & CLEANING I have a load of sheets and towels to do as well as quite a bit of ironing that I’ve been putting off because they are all spring clothes I can’t wear yet anyway 😀 I also need to do a deep clean to put the house in order after the garage sale. Just about everything left from the garage sale needs to be boxed up and is being donated to the Eagles for their yard sale that will take place while we are at hubby’s family reunion. All the proceeds will be going to their scholarship fund.
GROCERIES & ERRANDS After hubby’s appointment today we will do lunch, and a few errands as well as the Eagle’s Chef Store shopping before heading home. I’ll do the shopping for Friday’s dinner while I’m in our local town doing the rest of the Eagle’s shopping on Wednesday.
PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS Other than the obvious bills that need paid, the roof leak and cat/house sitting for the neighbors MUCH of what was planned for this week will probably in ALL reality wait until next week. I also need to get caught up on the BLOG 365 recipe posts that are missing.
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING HA HAI’m so far behind I may never catch up 😀
WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
CABLE This week was so busy with preparing for the garage sale every night that we were lucky to get NASCAR and an old Ernest Borgnine movie watched.
I am in between books right now, but will choose one while hubby is driving this morning. 😀
CHOCOLATE SNAPS yield 2 dozen cookies Adapted only slightly from Cook’s Country
With crisp edges, chewy centers and crunchy sugary crackled tops these cookies are always a hit, but never more so than at holiday time.
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled (168 grams) 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (230 grams) 3/4 cup Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (300 grams) 1 tablespoon PURE vanilla extract 1 LARGE egg plus 1 LARGE egg yolk 1/3 cup granulated sugar
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or SILPAT mats.
Melt your butter and allow it to cool.
Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.
Whisk together brown sugar, vanilla, and melted butter until no lumps remain, scraping down bowl as needed.
Whisk in whole egg and egg yolk until smooth.
Stir in flour mixture JUST until combined.
Layer granulated sugar in a shallow bowl; set aside.
Roll 2 tablespoons dough at a time into cookie balls.
Roll each cookie ball in the granulated sugar to coat.
Arrange dough balls evenly on prepared sheets.
Press each ball flat until they are 2 inches in diameter.
Evenly sprinkle remaining granulated sugar over cookies.
Bake 15 minutes – 1 sheet at a time – until cookies are slightly puffy and edges have begun to set (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem undone AND THAT’S OKAY), rotate sheet halfway through baking time.
I am in between books right now, but will choose one while hubby is driving this morning. 😀
