Busy in the Kitchen Thursday

Haven't had pancakes for many months. Today was the day and lunch was the time. Thank goodness for Aunt Jemima - so easy - so good - no fail! (Should I keep the box when it is empty since her smiling face has been removed from the newer boxes now? (That was a mistake in my view!!)  Two large ones for lunch and one more to save. Of course I have real butter and maple syrup for toppings. 

This morning I took a 5lb. bag of frozen white meat chicken strips from the freezer and broke it down into 8 small baggies. It will make these be easier to access when I want a few. I dumped the entire bag into my handy-dandy blue tub and did the sorting and bagging and popped all back into the freezer. When I was doing this, the power went off and the stand-by generator kicked in! Love that generator! The left-over small pieces were then put into my stove pot, topped off with water and simmered all afternoon, along with some pepper, garlic, onion, and celery powder. Later on I added a blurp (my word) of Gravy Master and a few teaspoons of corn starch dissolved in cold water to the mix and simmered it some more. I will use some for supper. My taste test was really successful. The next step of course, is to bottle up and store some in the freezer. I think it will go good with mashed potatoes! What a feeling of accomplishment!

After the rain, a doe and fawn came for a drink from the lake.

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Hang It!

"Silly Spiders" are clinging to the web and spin and swing out on the porch beams with "Redman," "Elmer," "Cardinal," "Wired Vase," wind chimes and pine cone mobile. Can you tell I like hangups?

Yes, each critter has only 8 legs but I had to use flash on the dreary day and shadows show.

Baked skinless and boneless chicken thighs for dinner, marinated, then baked in my "special" homemade Louisiana Bar-B-Que sauce. Side dish potato salad. Just getting in the mood for warm weather here. 

Before Baking

Three eaten, three saved for another day...

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The B's

Pecos Bill's BBQ chicken and bran muffins with dried cherries! We are livin' high!

The Devil made me do this!

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Recipe as you Requested

EASY!  DELICIOUS!  EVERY TIME!  NO FAIL! 

Spinach is the most labor intensive one, and is still easy! Even kale is wonderful. I usually use left over meats and vegetables so it is even simpler to make. You don't even have to put anything in it! My mother used to make a "cheese soufflé" with no crust which was similar.

     Quiche

noun

1. a pie-like dish consisting of an unsweetened pastry shell filled with a custard and usually containing cheese and other ingredients such as vegetables, seafood or ham.

Spinach Quiche

• 1 Prepared pie crust
• 1 (10 oz) box frozen spinach
• 8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (or chopped roasted)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used x sharp cheddar + mozzarella)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. If your frozen spinach is not already thawed, thaw it in the microwave per box directions. Drain the spinach in a colander while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Place sliced mushrooms in a skillet coated with 1 teaspoon olive oil or nonstick spray, add the garlic, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Turn the heat on to medium-high and sauté the mushrooms until they release all of their moisture and no more water remains on the bottom of the skillet, about 6-7 minutes.

While the pie crust is pre-baking for 8 minutes, whisk together the eggs, milk, and parmesan cheese until combined. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Blot and squeeze the rest of the water out of the thawed spinach. After 8 minutes, remove the pie crust from the oven and spread spinach on top. Add the cooked mushrooms and shredded cheeses. Pour the egg mixture on top. If desired, sprinkle the top lightly with more parmesan cheese and/or salt and pepper.

Bake the quiche until it is golden brown on top and the center is no longer jiggly. Depending on your oven, this will take anywhere between 45 minutes - 1 hour. Mine took 50 minutes. Use a pie shield to prevent the pie crust from over browning, if desired. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. This quiche makes great leftovers! Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Baked quiche freezes very well, up to 2 months.

Kale

Kale

Spinach and Chicken

Spinach and Chicken

Again and Again

I win! I make the best quiche. Mr. says so! I say so!

This is spinach with pre-cooked Perdue chicken breast pieces. It was wonderful and we topped it off with brownies. 

Comfort food for cold weather.

Summer Squash Soup - My Way

Bluffton Slaw Cutter

"Manufacturing one of the best Cutters and Graters in the world has been the goal of The Bluffton Slaw Cutter Company since it's founding in 1915.  This is achieved by hammered blades that wear sharp with use.  These tools are a life-time investment and are efficient, hand-operated and easy to use and clean.  The user controls the texture and thickness of fruits and vegetable by pressure and speed.  Major markets of the Bluffton, Ohio Company are the United States, Canada and Japan.

AKA/ Kraut Cutter: Fast-sweep pattern, speeds operation."

This 100 year old kitchen utensil once belonged to the Mister's mother and I use it regularly. I've sliced my thumb tip several times through the years and now remember to be very careful! My dishwashing basin works very well as a large bowl.

I have added one large chopped onion to the sliced squash.

All of my slicing and chopping was being done while the skins and bones from yesterday's barbeque chicken pieces were simmering on the stove to make the stock. I strained it with my old colander.

I sauteed in my old cast iron skillet. It sure smelled good in here!

I simmered the stock and vegetables for about 1/2 hour. 

The old blender was put to use after the mixture cooled down.

I had quite a cleanup but it was worth it! (You DO know not to wash your cast iron cookware in soapy water, don't you? )

The carrot/citron/poke cake I made yesterday went well with our bowls of the soup. No need to add shredded cheese or crumbled bacon. It is really very hearty! and tasty! I'll freeze the two quarts for another day. 

Don't forget to click on an image to view larger!

How to make Summer Squash Soup by Suzanne McMinn

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 pound yellow squash and/or zucchini, sliced
1 head garlic, peeled and chopped
5 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon seasoning*

*The recipe as written suggests lemon pepper, but you can choose any seasoning or herbs you like. I like it with crushed red pepper.

Saute onion, squash/zucchini, and garlic in a large skillet in the olive oil.

Add the chicken stock and simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Transfer mixture to a large blender–blend in batches if your blender isn’t big enough for the entire thing. You could also do this in batches in a large food processor.

Blend till smooth.

A little shredded cheese on top or crumbled bacon is really good with this soup. This soup would also be great with the addition of some cooked diced potatoes or chicken to make a more hearty meal. (Add potatoes or chicken post-blending.)

Recipe Source

Baking Boom

Once in a while the baking bug gets its hold over me and I easily succumb. Today I discovered I'm not the only victim to this bug, because my daughter, who lives nearby, caught it as well.

First it was the chocolate chip cookies that I made yesterday. They are almost gone already! They were large and chewy - just the way we like them.

Today I made a carrot cake - from scratch.

I added citron to my cake and have poked holes with the handle of my wooden spoon. It is resting in the refrigerator after I poured a mixture of sweetened condensed milk and cream of coconut over its top and into those holes. It will be just right to cut tomorrow.

This morning my daughter stopped in with a DOZEN of her homemade blueberry muffins! (with yoghurt) We ate three at lunchtime, and these are for tomorrow. I froze the rest. 

The Mister went to the parking lot in town where a local smoked barbeque setup makes delicious split chickens every weekend! No baking tonight. See? This is two halves. We don't much care for the dark meat so I'll pop them into a pot of water and stew them down - then pick off the meat, and save it and the broth for soup. I almost forgot to mention the beautiful yellow squash she brought from the garden and I'll make soup with that too.

This is how it's done!

Goose Egg

We found this note that was written on Wednesday, March 26 by our daughter, Missy, who lives across town. She always stops in the cabin to turn up the heater a few days before we arrive.  As usual, she left homemade foods for us. In the past she has left baked mac & cheese or a ham and potato casserole or meatloaf so I won't have to cook the night of our long ride back. She doesn't usually leave a note and we don't usually leave the bridge lamp on, either!

The soup was delicious, turkey vegetable, and we haven't yet tried the goose egg. The dozen of brown eggs were also nice to have. Her neighbor has her take care of the chickens when she leaves and she can have all of the eggs during the time. She has to hunt and find them as the chickens are free roaming and lay eggs everywhere. 

This is the goose egg.  

This is the goose and Missy.

Missy and the chickens.