Milk Tart

So recently I have been desiring a milk tart. I just never get the thought when I have the time to make a pie crust and the filling and so on. So finally this evening we ate a milk tart. I about put the recipe card away when I was getting started because I really didn't know how much I should bite off for my baking evening since it was already 6pm and I hadn't made our supper, just had the tortilla dough made up and resting and a vague idea about what was going to go in them. (Turkey, beans, salsa and corn cooked together with guacamole is what it turned out being - very good). I still had a pumpkin pie to make, and a double batch of graham crackers. Bea also created an apple pie when she came in and saw the extra crust.

This recipe goes back a ways in my history. When I was about 11 or so a family from South Africa lived near our community for about a year on a farm that a missionary in S. Africa owned. They were a really sweet family and it was fun getting to know them. I taught their daughter Zoe piano for a little bit even. One of the times their family came over for supper Wendy brought Milk Tarts for desert. They are a mild treat but something about them really endears them to me. I am sure you will like them too, if you try them. I probably shouldn't share this recipe because the last few times I have made it, it has been very weepy and I am not sure why, I don't remember hers being weepy and I don't think mine always have been either. Although I hadn't made them for years until I thought of them last year or so, for some reason I can't remember.

I tried to make them on Tuesday when I made Bobotie also from South Africa. I thought we would have a proper ethnic meal from another continent. But it was not to be, I had too many places to be.

I guess Thursday is a good day for making milk tart, too. You can probably make them anyday of the week you wish. 

I think I will give you the recipe now.

Milk Tart

Scald 2 cups milk in a sauce pan with some cinnamon in it.

Remove from heat,

Gradually stir in 4 Tablespoons of sugar

                           6 Tablespoons of flour and a pinch of salt

Whisk this all up until it is well incorporated 

Return to burner on medium heat and heat stirring regularly until it is thick and bubbly,

Remove from heat again.

 Put 2 Tablespoons of butter into the milk and mix well.
Allow to cool for a bit,
then add 2 well beaten eggs.
Stir well.

Pour milk mixture into an 8 inch pie pan lined with a pie crust and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake in a hot 425 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 10- 15 minutes, or golden and set.

In other news, Travis is achy and happy tonight, the last two days we have added to our wood collection nicely so we shall be warm next winter. Always a good feeling to be prepared.

Good night,

~Anna

Recital Bars

Beatrice had her recital yesterday evening and I was to take a sweet treat to share afterwards. Not really in the mood for baking once I remembered my responsibilities yesterday afternoon I thought of this recipe only because of the appropriateness of the name Recital Bars. They are also very quick and simple to make making them a perfect treat for more than just when you are going to a recital.

I haven't shared a recipe here for awhile so I thought I would give this one to you. I got the recipe out of our church cookbook. It was submitted by someone who plays music for her profession so I suppose she had her share of recitals over the years.

Recital Bars

These are pretty sweet, it wouldn't hurt to cut the sugar down a bit. You can't too much or they won't stick correctly though.

Melt together:

1 cup butter

1cup sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

Stir in :

4 cups oatmeal

Pat in bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan that is greased, bake for 12 minutes at 350*. Allow to cool and set for a bit.

Melt together: 

6 ounces chocolate chips. (I used more than this, this time)

2/3 c. peanut butter (I never measure this, too messy :)

Spread over oatmeal base.

Allow to set for a bit and cut into small squares. Serve whenever you are ready for them. 

I also have a recipe for funeral bars so someday if I need them I might share that recipe with you, too. Fun names.

Luckily Bea performed yesterday evening because while she was brushing her teeth last night she rested her hand in the door jam of the boys room and got her fingers rather mushed. They are working fine today but we did have our worries about them for a bit.

Ta ta,

~Anna

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was kind of the main baker growing up and I did a lot of baking to keep up with our family's ravenous appetites, especially Peter's. He often needed a sweet treat when he returned from an afternoon spent cross country skiing. In northern Minnesota you can burn a lot of calories doing that. Items with chocolate were his favorites, all of ours really. So this recipe was adjusted years ago to fit our family of eight and I have continued to adjust it as my baking style changes, like adding whole wheat to it for the last ten years. So here you go, my
Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

2 cups butter
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dry milk
2 cups brown sugar ( I often fill a 2 c. measuring cup 1/3 full with minced dates and then put the brown sugar over top of this to add a little more nutrients to the cookies)
4 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs

Place this all in a large mixing bowl and then beat together until thoroughly creamed and mixture is fluffy. Then add:

1 cup oatmeal
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups whole wheat flour

Mix this well and add:

2 cups white flour
12 ounces of chocolate chips

Mix this well.
Drop onto greased cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart and bake at 375* for 7-10 minutes, until they are nicely browned and set.

When they have cooled a little, remove from cookie sheet.
♪This recipe makes a lot, I am not really into counting cookies but I think it might make about 8 dozen. Enough to last a few days or more around here.
♫ I sometimes make the dough the night before and bake these for breakfast. I figure with a glass of milk and some fruit on the side they are a fairly balanced diet. When I do that I also sometimes use oil for 1 cup of the butter. It is cheaper and depending on what health food group you are listening to it might be better for you. Once I have it mixed up I cover the bowl and store it in the fridge until I am ready to put them onto their cookie sheets for baking.
Happy Baking!
~Anna

Honey Whole Wheat Muffins

This month we have been enjoying fresh raw honey and also as a special treat honey in the comb from Abbi's honey bees. It has been a special treat that we have enjoyed on our bread with butter, in tea and even by the spoonful (the honey comb). It has certainly been a sweet and sticky treat! This morning however we branched out and had it in baked goods. Chocolate chip muffins were requested for breakfast so that is what we had, or the children had. Travis and I had chocolate chip muffins minus the chips and they were delicious. These are plenty sweet enough to be used like a cupcake and served with a little frosting to dress them up. The original recipe prior my modifications came from my Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. It is my regular go-to cook book that my Grandma Cleone gave me for Christmas in 1991. It is getting very dog-eared and worn but I continue to use it regularly. It has all the basics in it.

Honey Whole Wheat Muffins

The orange zest adds a just-right touch to the honey flavor!

3 cups Whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 beaten eggs

1/2 cup kefir

1 cup milk

3/4 cup oil

1 1/2 cup honey

Zest of one orange

optional: mini chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl stir all of the dry ingredients together.

All at once add the liquid ingredients, mix together well.

Line or grease 30 muffin cups. Fill with batter 2/3 or so full. If you wish to have chocolate chips in yours add about a tablespoon to each batter filled cup.

Bake at 385○ for 18 - 20 minutes.

Serve warm and enjoy!

~Anna

♥ If your family is smaller that mine you can easily half this recipe or 1/3 it as I have tripled the original recipe for our family's needs. They should keep well for a few days, too, in your refrigerator, I wouldn't know since we finish them to quickly.

Coffee Vanilla Bean Cookies

I love to drink coffee and I love vanilla so this should be a win-win cookie. It really is only a win but I do want to write down the recipe in case I ever feel the need to make them again, which is quite possible. They are very tasty. They hold up pretty well too, for storing. I took some four days after I made them to lunch with some lady friends (not kids, although they like them to) of mine and they all thought they were pretty good, so they do keep pretty well.

A few years back I was reading a blog called I am Mommy, I think, and she had a sugar cookie with coffee in it recipe she put up. I finally tried it this winter, but at the time I didn't have a coffee grinder and used pre-ground coffee from a can and we weren't too thrilled with the results so I tossed that recipe. Now this past week when I was messing with both the vanilla beans and putting away our coffee I thought about that recipe and decided I would try it again only now I couldn't find it so I came up with this one. Which was a winner in our book. I hope you like it as well. The basic recipe came from Margaret's Betty Crocker cookbook called Brown Sugar Refrigerator Cookies.This is what you need to make the cookies.

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 1/2 cup white flour

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

I doubled the recipe and used 4 cups whole wheat but I think a little less whole wheat would be better.

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon vanilla beans

I used vanilla beans that I had already had soaking in vodka for about 1 year so they weren't as powerful. If you are using fresh beans I would say don't use the liquid vanilla. You be the judge though.

To get the beans out of the pod I cut it lengthwise with my kitchen scissors and then used a teaspoon to scrape down the middle and collect the beans that way. It goes real easy.

1/4 cup very finely ground coffee.

We get our coffee beans from Feed My Starving Children and really love the flavor!

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

This is how you make the cookies:

1. In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and egg until nice a creamy. Stir in the remaining ingredients until mixed well.

2. Shape dough into a 1 1/2 inch diameter log on a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap and refrigerate 2-12 hours. I wouldn't go any longer for fear of your coffee getting bitter flavored.

They just need to be cooled until they are firm enough to hold their shape.

3. Heat oven to 375○ F.

4. Unwrap log and slice into 1/4 inch slice. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Then I dipped a glass in sugar and flattened each one a little more. Making sure I put plenty of sugar on it to give it a nice sparkly look.

5. Bake for 6-9 minutes or until browned lightly. Cool 1-2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet.

I frosted some of the cookies with a glaze of powdered sugar, vanilla beans and half and half. I thought that added a nice touch but it didn't really affect the flavor. The icing dried hard so it was good for stacking.

Enjoy,

~Anna

P.S. If you don't have a coffee grinder I bet you could get what you need from a coffee shop.

Sundays

Last Sunday we took a bike ride to a local park. We wanted to because we like to take rides on pretty, sunny Sunday afternoons, but also because a friend of Beatrice's came over that afternoon from church. The first thing she told me when we got into the van is Travis won't have to help me learn to ride the bike anymore because I learned how now. As soon as Travis got in she told him also. So it was a fun thing for her to share with us.

The cool activity on this ride (aside from Tea sharing her new skills) was a guy at the park with his kids and birds. He kept whistling every once in awhile and they would stay near by him. I think being able to train them that well is pretty cool. He said he has another one at home that does a few more tricks. He has had him longer. I was happy watching from afar, but as soon as Malia saw them she went to check them out. The white one is a fiddlederoo, afigilreuu or something pigeon and the yellow one is a love bird parrot. The parrot likes to stay in the trees and the pigeon is happier on the ground and they both seemed to be happier in Margaret's hair. She has a very sensitive scalp and was not too happy to be their favorite landing perch. It was funny though.

Beatrice was smitten for the next few days and kept begging for a bird, any bird, one that would be hers and she could care for. Then for some reason since I wouldn't let her have a bird (they stink and I do not ever want one to live in my house :) she decided that a pig would be fine so she had Travis looking on craigslist for pigs. No luck. Except for a guinea pig which we all agree they stink (except for Bea).

Can you find the Love bird?

This Sunday we had a couple over from church that have been coming for awhile but we have never had over to our place. The food was fine, but I tried a Lime Cheese Cake Recipe and it was REALLy good. They were so sweet and thankful to come. It was fun. I have been really trying hard to be ready to have a decent dinner on Sundays ready so we can invite a family over every Sunday Travis is able.

This morning Gregory was the first one up besides me and he got all dressed for church right off. Often he fusses about needing to go to church and hasn't wanted to go to class for a really long time. So that was neat that he got ready so perkily. Then he got out the bowls and spoons and cereal and milk for everyone and started eating his breakfast. (This is the only morning of the week we do that but to get to church on time I want the kids to eat as soon as they are up) Once Gregory got all set up at the table he asked me if it was morning church and I said yes. He said, oh, good because then we will have friends over afterwards. That made me feel so good. Then at church he went to class without me asking him too, or anyone!

I like Sundays!

~Anna

Our Week, so far

This week we have had sweet, surprise visitors around our place. At three months this one is not afraid of strangers and is perfectly happy to give lots of sweet smiles.

Margaret can't take enough pictures of Jaten.

We got to take our first bike ride of the year on Wednesday to play at the park. It was down right hot out on March 31st! Such pleasant weather to be out and about! I made gluten/dairy free rumpledoodles for snacks this week. They turned out quite good although a bit dryer than they would normally be. I used rice and corn for the flour.

The lizard liked seeing the warm sunshine, just like us.

This morning I sent my eldest and Nic off on a ride with Travis at 3:30 am to sneak a ride. I expect them home in a couple hours. I hope they have made fun new memories. It ended up they needed to sit in the car quite awhile waiting for things to get organised in the office so I am hopeful they didn't have too much down time, but with their active imaginations it was probably just fine!

Talk to you later,

~Anna

Our Day, It was a good one

Our Family was hit by an awful stomach flu bug for about seven days this past week. It wasn't fun. But I am really enjoying having everyone healthy yesterday and today! We were finally productive people again. It felt good to get our schoolwork finished in one day and sleep all night long. Since it felt so good to get going I thought I would share it with you all.

This morning we,

put together puzzles,

did all of our lessons in the assignment book,

everyone took a turn practicing math skills on the computer,

We got our instruments practiced, and

We made a batch of pizza pockets. We baked one half and froze the other half for another day.

This afternoon, we went to the Como Zoo to look at our relatives. No actually we don't know anyone there. We went to check out the African livestock since we just finished studying that continent. I also always want to check out the sunken garden and see what is on display for the season. It was amaryllises and Asiatic lilies, plus lots of other fillers. The perfume was incredible from all of them. Very pleasant, not at all offensive like some flowers can be.

On the way home I swung by Rainbow to get the good deals for the week in groceries. I like to go on Wednesday because they double up to 5 coupons on that day. Well somehow I hit the jackpot and it doubled 8 of my coupons! Bringing my savings to 51% rather than whatever it would have been. I guess that paid for my buying each person an ice cream treat that was in the discount cooler for on the way home.

This evening I then taught 18 first through sixth graders a class reviewing Gideon. That may have been a few to many for that class. I am glad I will just be doing 1-2 the rest of the quarter.

I like Pretzels, Do You?

Last year just before Easter I was doing some blog browsing and learned from different places that pretzels are a traditional easter treat. I had never heard that before and I thought the stories to come up with that were quite interesting. The main one I remember was, Monks a long, long time ago would give pretzels to children to tell them the story Jesus hanging on the cross. Who knows if that is true but I enjoy trying to make things I have never made before, so I found a recipe and tried it. We like it and here it is for you to try. By coincedence the friend's house we shared our Easter dinner at last year served large chocolate covered pretzels as an afterdinner snack . So I shared my new found knowledge with her, she had, had no idea she was keeping a long held tradition :) Without further ado I give you my Pretzel recipe: 1/2 cup warm water 1 teaspoon honey 1 cup milk- warm 1Tablespoon brown suagr 1 Tablespoon yeast 3 cups whole wheat 1 cup all purpose flour 1 1/4 teaspoons salt Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and knead until dough is elastic. Add a little more flour if needed. Let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. 8 cups water 4 Tablespoons baking soda Bring water to a boil in a large pot and add baking soda. On a lightly oiled work surface, divide dough into 12 even peices. With your palms roll each piece into a long rope about 20 inches. Shape into pretzel shape by curving each end toward the center and overlapping them. Secure each end by pressing firmly. Place shaped pretzels in boiling water and let boil one or two at a time for about 30 seconds. Remove from water with a slatted spoon that drains well. Place on greased or lined baking sheets. Repeat process until all pretzels have been boiled. Brush tops of pretzels with: 1 egg white beaten with 1 Tablespoon water Sprinkle tops with salt and parmesan cheese, or cinnamon & sugar (our family favorite), or just plain old coarse salt. Bake in a 450* oven for 12 -14 minutes or until golden brown.

So whether you wish to make them as a tradition or just because you like to feed your family very yummy foods you really ought to try my pretzel recipe!

~Anna

Corndogs, My way!

I have always loved corndogs, I think. I certainly have for the last 12 years or so. Back when I was a working out of the home woman and I bought more fast food type things I would buy corndogs individually packaged at Sam's and take them to work for my lunch. People would comment on my funny lunch, but that is what I liked. Now once in awhile I see them in the store and think about buying them but my practical side always says, No! so I don't but then a couple weeks ago I had an epiphany. I will make my own. Here is how I do it and we all like them a lot except for Beatrice who told me the other day "when I have kids I won't make them eat corndog muffins". So I guess she doesn't like them. So the recipe is: 6 Hot dogs cut in half ( the type of hotdogs you use really makes a difference to how many you need) If they are the longer type you probably can cut them into thirds) The breading: 1cup whole wheat flour 1cup corn meal 4 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoons salt 1-2 eggs (beaten) 1 cup milk 3tablespoons oil 3 tablespoons butter The method: Turn on the oven to 425*. Slice the butter evenly into 12 muffin tins. Melt the butter in the oven.

Mix dry ingredients altogether in a large bowl. Add egg, milk, and oil and mix it all up. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins about 1/3 full. Place 1/2 hotdog into each tin. Cover each hotdog with more batter.

Bake for 12- 15 minutes until golden brown and firm in the center.

Serve them with ketchup, potato wedges and spinach. A wonderful meal for sure :) You can use your favorite cornbread recipe and it will be just grand I am sure. For our family I double this recipe.

Happy baking,

~Anna

Rumpledoodles

Have you ever had a Rumpledoodle?

Well, neither had I until a few years ago.

When this young lady watched a Pooh movie and decided we really needed to

try the recipe at the end which they said was Pooh's most favorite food other than Honey.

It turns out that it is one of our favorite cookies, too.

So here, is our recipe for Rumpledoodles!

1 cup rolled oats (I didn't have rolled oats yesterday when I made them and used just plain old oatmeal and they turned out just fine)

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour (I use whole wheat)

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup raisins (I used craisins this time and you couldn't tell any difference from when I use raisins, at least Margaret told people they were raisins and I didn't tell them otherwise because they don't like Craisins in their food very well)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon baking soda

Mix all of this together well in a large bowl. Then add

3 tablespoons molasses

1/2 cup oil

3 tablespoons boiling water

1 egg

beaten all together.

Mix all of the ingredients together. The mix will be dry and crumbly but that is the way it is. Don't worry.

Heat your oven to 350*. Place tablespoonfuls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. You might have to kind of squish the mix together to get it to stay in cookie shapes on the pan.

I did anyways.

Bake them for approximately 10 minutes. Once they are set and getting a little crunchy on the edges is just about a perfect time to remove them from the oven.

Let the cookies cool on the pan for a minute and them remove.

They make an excellent accompaniment to a cup of coffee!

Let me know if your family likes them as much as mine does.

~Anna

How to make a graham cracker

To me these are extremely delicious. Maybe they aren't that amazing but they are really good and very easy, and if fat doesn't worry you they are really a nutritious snack. What it takes: 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (for a really crunchy cracker) or

1 3/4 cup whole wheat and 1/2 cup white flour ( for a more nabisscoey experience)

1/3 cup brown sugar 1 t baking powder 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 1/4 t cinnamon 5 T honey 1/4 cup water 1 t vanilla 1/2 cup butter- melted How we do it: Heart oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients all together. Then add the liquid ingredients. (A quick tip- don't measure the honey. You will just get the spoon all sticky. Just do 5 nice tablespoon size piles onto your flour mixture :) Stir this all well until a ball forms. Put dough onto a greased bar pan and spread with a greased rolling pin or your hands to cover the pan. Cut into 2 inch squares and and prick with a fork if you wish. Now place them in the oven and bake for 18 minutes at 350*. Turn the oven off after 18 minutes and leave crackers in the oven for another 20-40 minutes. This allows them to have a nice crunchy, crumbly, flakiness. Store them in an airtight container.

Let me tell you there isn't to much yummier than these with a homemade marshmallow warmed in the microwave for about 10 seconds!!! So yummy.

So enjoy them however you wish, with milk, hot chocolate or marshmallows. Just be sure to enjoy them. Blessings,

~Anna