Antique Island for the Win!

 There are pros and cons to living in a 166 year-old house. 

The pros are the built-in charm of an old home. Solid hand-hewn timbers that frame the house, old red cedar floors that never hold their finish, and the blending of old with new, like when we put in a new first-floor full bathroom three years ago and left a corner of a support beam exposed. 

Just think of that, a home that's withstood winter's wrath, summer storms, spring floods and a couple of lightning strikes on the catalpa tree in the back yard.... and it stands still, a testament to workmanship and the love of owners. 

Now, raising six kids and Farmer Dave losing his job at the downturn of jobs in the Rochester market some thirty years ago put a dent on the wallet, so things went undone for a bit.... and now the kids are raised, I've got a fun mid-life career and we've got our wonderful pumpkin farm, but we still have to go bit by bit and the kitchen is a case in point. See the kitchen is underneath the upstairs bathroom... a bathroom that's managed to leach water into the kitchen ceiling multiple times over the years, and I can't remodel the kitchen (It's 70+ years old and yeah... needs a remodel!) until that bathroom is done because that's silly... but that bathroom couldn't get done until we had a bath on the first floor because weeks without a shower wasn't on my short list... so project one (downstairs bath) is done... project two (remodeling 70+ year old upstairs bath that is too awful to share on the World Wide Web) is this winter...

And then in a couple of years, we move to kitchen. 

But in the meantime, the most amazing thing happened. 

I bought an island from a wonderful woman on Facebook. Vera had posted a small, rustic painted hutch bottom months ago and I liked it but it was too small... well then in December she posted this:

It's just over five feet long and about 26" wide/deep. And it has cupboards! And drawers! It's the bottom to an old pecan hutch she refinished and I was so happy to get it... because it's big and it is a life-saver in this somewhat old and not well-laid-out kitchen... but don't get me wrong, this kitchen has served us well for over 30 years... it's just that we're a big family and the kitchen was designed for a family of four in the 1950's.... and I'm a baker. Bakers bake. It's what we do. So this is a huge help to me for organizing baking supplies!!! 

Pie pans in one side cupboard... and this is like half of them, the other ones are in use! 

Little cutting boards in this drawer... Off the counter top!!!!

Muffin pans and bread pans in other side cupboard... and my stash of chips because I guarantee you, Farmer Dave will never bend over and look into a baking cupboard! :) A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do and Farmer Dave loves potato chips! SHH... don't tell him where they are! 

The main cupboard... all of my big baking pans, cookie sheets (air bakes and a new variety I'm trying this winter) Pyrex casseroles (that used to be on the highest shelf and I needed a stool to get to them) and layer cake pans. And a sifter that doesn't fit in a drawer. So it's hanging out with the cake pans.

PHOTO BOMB of people playing Sequence, a fun tile game with a deck of cards.... Team Matt/Zach won this one. And the next. And maybe a third. #brats.

Look at this! :) BIG GRIN! These used to live in a big basket on my counter and now here they are, tucked into a drawer and not one bit crowded!  

The two BIG drawers! All my baking and canning utensils are tucked in here!

Scissors, tape, knife sharpeners and staplers.... all off my counter now. Oh, hallelujah! 

This is like the world's greatest organizer... and when the kitchen gets a facelift in a couple of years, this cool cabinet stays here, somewhere because it's awesome.

I am giddy!!!!! I have ten square feet of clear counter space. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!!

So that's my major kitchen improvement... and I couldn't be happier.

Sometimes it's the little things (compared to kitchen remodel!) that make the biggest difference! 

What would you change in your kitchen if you could?

Multi-published, baked-goods lover Ruthy Logan Herne loves her life, loves writing beautiful stories of faith, hope, love and redemption and is totally gobsmacked by how amazingly generous God has been to her in so many ways, including adult children that like her most of the time! #BONUS! :) Friend Ruthy on Facebook for more of her free wisdom, visit her website ruthloganherne.com and/or email Ruthy at loganherne@gmail.com where she is proud to say she still answers her own email... because she kind of thinks that's how it should be done. 

Cookbooks Under the Christmas Tree

 

It's been a while since I've bothered looking at any new cookbooks. You guys tease me a lot about my "innovations" in cooking, but the truth is, I've never been much for following recipes. I use them more as a jumping off place.

I imagine the same will hold true with these two cookbooks my daughter requested for Christmas, but the recipes and photos are so amazing that I just wanted to share them with you.

 I had ordered the Oh She Glows for Dinner months ago as a Christmas present, but I liked it so much that I kept it for myself and  sent another one to Maine for my daughter. The recipes in this book just beg you to try them.

There's a recipe for butternut squash, sweet potato and red lentil stew that looks gorgeous! It reminds me of some of the dishes I've experimented with. The recipe for that one is can be found here.

I LOVE mashed potatoes, but the carbs leave me needing protein, so I'm intrigued to try her "Sneaky Protein-Packed Mashed Potatoes." *hint - it involves chickpeas.

There's a smoky black bean veggie burger recipe and something called Sloppy Glows that seems like a lentil-based version of Sloppy Joes.

And so on.

But leave some room for dessert, because here comes Rachel Conners.

Rachel's Bakerita cookbook is just so beautiful! It inspires me to want to make all the things.

If you want to get an idea of some of the recipes, you can check out her website - bakerita.com

I could get lost over there. I'm particularly intrigued to try her recipe for London Fog Tea Latte. Doesn't that sound just perfect for curling up with on a winter afternoon?

There's a recipe for Chocolate Strawberry fudge and one for a grapefruit tart that is simply a work of art!

I could go on raving about all the fabulous recipes, but why don't you go Look Inside yourself - Bakerita

You can even read some of her inspiring story. I'll admit, I immediately felt a connection when I read these opening lines.

Yup. That would be me.

Honestly, after reading these cookbooks, I just want to go shopping and cook amazing foods all day!

How about you? Did anything jump out at you?

Also, I'm excited to say - ONLY TWO MORE DAYS BEFORE MY BOOK RELEASES!!!

Texas Witness Threat

White Mac & Cheese

 So I'm trying to find a recipe for a white mac and cheese.

Wanna know why?

Because I used to love, love, love that macaroni and cheese IN A CAN.

It might be because we couldn't afford to buy it, or because it was a rare thing to have at a neighbor's house, but gosh... I loved the stuff! 

So I grabbed a recipe off the internet last night and it had great reviews... It's supposed to be like Panera's mac and cheese.

I have never had Panera's mac and cheese. I've had their broccoli soup. It was good. I've had their bagels... not as good as a couple of local bakeries, but I find that's generally the way with bagels. Somehow the locals do it better.

And this mac and cheese is good. Really good. I cut down on the macaroni because there were only three of us eating, and that made it too saucy. You probably didn't know there was such a thing!!!!

I should have cut the sauce in half. My bad.

But other than that, we liked it. I thought it was a little too thick. I'd either sub in one more cup of milk for the cream or cut the flour in the roux, but it was delicious even with those caveats. 

The recipe is HERE ... 

And I didn't change a thing but I would thin it a little more and I used Farfalle (bowtie) pasta.

I'd go with Celentani or elbows next time. Or shells. But I didn't have those in the cupboard, so...

 

And from the canine side of the farm, here is Maggie (Goldendoodle) with her newest feline BFF "Milky Way".... The cat is just like her cousin Pumpkin. They hop into Maggie's area and cuddle with her. It's our very own peaceable kingdom here on the farm!

And this is one from pre-Christmas week .... Brody and Mary wanted to soak eggs in vinegar. So we did... The vinegar breaks down the minerals in the shells, making them SOFT... and that was weird! And leaving them out doesn't rejuvenate the calcium. They stay soft and awkward looking. Clearly God knew what he was doing when he made the shells hard!!!

Kitchen science is a fascinating past time! 

And that's it from the farm today... An okay recipe from a really cute website, weird eggs and cat and dog besties... We are so blessed!

And toss in a new .99 novella available on Amazon or on KU! Great suspense story... and a great price! 

DECEIVING DEATH AVAILABLE HERE! 

Inspirational author Ruth Logan Herne loves what she's doing... and often pinches herself to see if it's real because how could this possibly get better? Really cute kids, healthy family and a job she's longed to do all her life... Puhlease, God is good! You can find Ruthy hanging out on Facebook, or visit her website ruthloganherne.com or email Ruthy at loganherne@gmail.com where she actually answers her own email and loves to hear from readers. Wishing each and every one of you a blessed and happy New Year!!!!

Pumpkin Bread for a Small Crowd

Happy New Year!

I share photos of our sunsets so often that I thought you'd like to see one of our sunrises. This is the view from the top of the hill behind our house. It's worth the climb!

But the problem with sunrises (and sunsets!) is that they don't last very long. In the few minutes it took for me to grab my camera and scoot up to this spot, the pink had faded. I'm just going to have to get up there earlier next time!

And now to today's recipe. First, a disclaimer. I love Mindy's "Pumpkin Bread for the Masses" (click here for that recipe,)  but sometimes it just isn't the right time to make it.

Case in point: Yesterday at church we had our usual New Year's fellowship instead of Sunday School. We normally have a small crowd on the last Sunday of December with families traveling to visit relatives, etc. And this year was no exception. My husband and I had volunteered to bring sweet breads (not sweetbreads) for part of the snacks and I planned on picking up a variety on Saturday.

Yup, you guessed it. On Saturday morning, there was nothing at the store but leftovers from Wednesday.

So I thought I'd make Mindy's pumpkin bread...and thought I remembered the recipe well enough to know we had all the ingredients at home.

But it was the day after Christmas. In my post-Christmas brain fog, I forgot that I could look up the recipe on my phone - duh! - and happily went home to make pumpkin bread.

When I looked up the recipe, alas! I was missing a couple key ingredients!

No worries. I went to my trusty 1980 Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and made an old favorite. I doubled the recipe to make enough. This is the recipe for one loaf -

Pumpkin Loaf - Jan's version

ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter

2 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup milk

optional:

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 cup raisins

In a medium sized bowl, stir together the dry ingredients.

With your mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar together, then add the eggs one at a time. When everything is mixed well, add the pumpkin and the milk and mix well.

Add the flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time until all is smooth. If you want to add nuts and/or raisins, stir them in now.

Pour the batter into a 9x5x3 loaf pan and bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes, or until done.

My loaf pans are 8x4x3, so I put my double batch of batter into 3 pans, and baked them at 350° for 50 minutes.

Cool, then wrap. Wait until the next day before slicing (unless you just can't wait!)

How do you like your pumpkin bread? With or without nuts and/or raisins?

Jan Drexler has always been a "book girl" who still loves to spend time within the pages of her favorite books. She lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her dear husband of many years and their active, crazy dogs, Jack and Sam. You can learn more about Jan and her books on her website, www.JanDrexler.com.

Merry Christmas from Yankee-Belle Cafe!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

Russian Tea Cakes - a Christmas Memory

I was commenting to my daughter the other day that this would be the first Christmas in over 3 decades that I didn't make these. #2020sadness

It's okay. I really didn't need all the butter and sugar, and I'll appreciate them all the more once I have a working oven again. And I figured that by sharing this post again, it was almost like having them since I can taste the remembered sweetness. 

Russian Tea Cakes

Butter Spritz cookies. Those were definitely a favorite with my girls when they were growing up. But somewhere along the line, the family favorite changed over from spritz to Russian Tea Cakes.

These super easy, delicious treats look like little snowballs.

They also camouflage themselves as pfeffernusse which means a lot of people pass them by, mistaking them for their spicier Dutch cousins. The better for those of us who know of their secret goodness!!!

While we're sharing cookbooks, let me show you the shape of the one this recipe comes from. It's so old (See copyright below) and tattered, and it falls open automatically to the Russian Tea Cakes page.

I love the introduction. (Click to enlarge.)

These are SO easy, I almost hate to give it away.

The recipe calls for:
1 cup of butter
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups of flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt (I never add this. I just use salted butter instead of sweet)
3/4 cups of chopped pecans

Additional powdered sugar to roll the cookies in.


So first you soften the butter. If you're in a rush, you can use the microwave (because this recipe is pretty forgiving). 

Cream the butter and sugar and add vanilla and try to avoid eating it all at this point because the dough is SO good.

Mix in flour, salt (if you're using it) and pecans.

This is where I also like to play with substitutions. Mini-chocolate chips work GREAT! I've been known to use rainbow sprinkles for colorful fun.



And this year I bought these.

Oh my stars.  I am going to have to find lots of excuses to bake with these babies!


So you roll them into little balls and bake at 400 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes. As soon as you take them out, you (carefully) roll the hot cookies in the powdered sugar. Once they've cooled, you roll them again.

And then you have something pretty like this.

The Betty Crocker website has a cool adaptation where you basically create a solid chocolate middle. Check that out here. Chocolate-Filled Russian Tea Cakes

FoodGawker has an entire page on possible variations. Ahhhhh. So many pretty cookies.

Russian Tea Cakes

Are there any traditional treats you're not doing this year?

One More Christmas Treat

 

Merry Christmas! Yes, Christmas is only three days away, but I have one more treat to share with you. If you've been hanging around the café for a while you probably know what that treat is. There are many things to like about this particular treat, but the best one is that it won't add an ounce to your waistline.

Today I'm sharing a recipe for my favorite holiday scent. It's easy, natural and makes your whole house smell like Christmas. Are you ready?

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 orange
• 1 lemon
• 4 4-inch cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 cup whole cloves
• 3-4 bay leaves
• 1 quart water

Cut orange and lemon into quarters. Combine fruit, spices and water in large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer as long as desired, adding more water as needed. Mixture can be covered and refrigerator for several days to be reused.

See, I told you it was easy.

Before I go, I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas. Yes, we ooh and ahh over the Christmas trees and the beautiful decorations, but let's stand in awe of the manger where the son of God stepped down from the glory of heaven to be born in a lowly stable, taking on human flesh. Jesus understands our pain and our grief as well as our happiness because He experienced them, too. He loves us so much and that is certainly something to celebrate.

Merry Christmas!

Award-winning author Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, two sassy pups, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com

The Winter Solstice is Special This Year

Regular readers of the Yankee Belle blog know the bloggers pretty well, don't you? Mindy is the Texas rancher, Cate is the teacher living in the middle of Brooklyn, Ruthy is the Upstate New York pumpkin farmer, and Missy is the sweet-as-a-Georgia-peach pastor's wife. But what about me? Well, Jan is the lover of all things Black Hills and a closet weather geek.

What? You didn't know I was a weather-geek?

No matter where we've lived, my eyes have always been on the sky.

Of course, in our new Black Hills home, there is plenty of sky to be watching!

I've been known to drive a hundred miles to experience a temperature inversion, or spend hours looking at weather maps. I'll go outside in the middle the night to feel what -15° is like, or bake in the sunshine on a 100° day to get my dose of Vitamin D (it doesn't take long!)

Now that we live in the country (wide open spaces and little light pollution,) I'm adding a bit of astronomy in a subheading under meteorology. A couple years ago, I started tracking the sunrise and sunset times in my bullet journal, along with the day's weather and phases of the moon. I'm slowly learning to recognize constellations (hello, Orion!) and have started tracking their nightly progress. 

One reason why I take the dogs out for their final nightly walk instead of my dear husband is to look at the stars!

All of this is an introduction about what I really want to talk about today! This is the winter solstice, and it's a very special day.

For the first time since 1226, tonight we will be able to observe a great conjunction of planetary alignment with Saturn and Jupiter - basically, a double star.

That's pretty cool. Here's an article about it: Is it the star of Bethlehem? or This article from Forbes

Whether it is the star of Bethlehem or not, it's still a fantastic occurrence. Not a once in a lifetime event, but a once in a millennium event!

I just hope the skies will be clear tonight!

But the greatest thing about the winter solstice is that our daylight hours begin to increase. 

Starting tomorrow, the days will be a little bit longer and the nights a little bit shorter. Only about a 15-20 second difference at first, but then the sun begins its journey north, picking up speed as it goes until we reach the summer solstice. This difference isn't as dramatic the farther south you go, and I can just imagine what that yearly trek is like in Canada or Alaska!

You might have noticed that the increase in daylight just happens to happen close to our celebration of our Savior's birth.

Coincidence? I don't think so. 

Many years before Jesus' birth, Isaiah prophesied this:

John, in the first chapter of his gospel, tells us this:

Jesus is the light of the world. 

Have a wonderful Christmas week! 

Jan Drexler has always been a "book girl" who still loves to spend time within the pages of her favorite books. She lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her dear husband of many years and their active, crazy dogs, Jack and Sam. You can learn more about Jan and her books on her website, www.JanDrexler.com.

A New Kitchen Gadget

 Missy Tippens

Well, I've gone a little crazy and ordered a new kitchen gadget. :) Bagel makers/shapers!

It comes with a set of six. They're silicone, so you can do the boil and then bake method if you'd like. Or just bake them.

I really wanted to make bagels out of the Weight Watcher's two ingredient dough recipe (it uses self-rising flour and fat-free plain Greek yogurt), but I didn't get a chance to make it before this post. Still wanted to share the cool tool with you! Hopefully I'll be able to share before long.

Here's a recipe that's made of the same ingredients I thought I'd share today from the Recipe Girl Blog. The recipe mentions using a thick yogurt. My absolute favorite is Fage.

If you make them, please let me know! 

www.missytippens.com

Chocolate Cream Pie: A Herne Family Favorite!

 Yes, I'm repeating this because it's not only a family favorite, it's one of my favorite pies. 

You need one 9" pie shell baked or cookie... your choice! 

Dark Chocolate Pudding

3 Tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
dash salt
1/3 cup corn starch
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla

In 3 quart saucepan, melt butter. Remove from heat.

Mix all dry ingredients together. Add to butter. Mix with spoon.

Whisk in milk and eggs.

Return to heat, medium heat, stir or whisk until boiling. Boil and stir about one minute. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla. Chill Completely.

If you like the skin on pudding, don't cover it. But if you don't like the skin, take a piece of plastic wrap and place it right on top of the pudding while it's hot. The plastic wrap will keep the "fat" from rising and forming the skin, and you'll have skinless pudding when it's chilled!  Fill pie shell with the pudding.... and then if you want to top the whole thing with homemade Whipped Cream, here you go!

Whipped Cream:

2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar.

Whip at high speed until stiff.

I love it!  The homemade custard and then topped with whipped cream (homemade or from a can or if you love Cool Whip-type toppings, go for it!

I raised my children on Dream Pie.

You know the one. Or if you don't, I'll tell you. You take a mystery box of Dream Whip, whip it with cold milk (not fresh from the cow, raw milk won't work, and I'm not sure what that says about the chemicals in Dream Whip!) until it's stiff then add in a couple of boxes of dark chocolate pudding, 3 1/2 cups of milk and beat until thick.... And then pile into a prepared pie shell. Chill.

I loved the commercials for Dream Pies... and the magazines had them EVERY SPRING (lemon) and EVERY HOLIDAY (chocolate) So it wasn't until the kids were teens that I started making my own chocolate custard.

REVOLT!!!!!!

They wanted Dream Pie. 

I tried reasoning with them.

Nope. Dream Pie.

I showed them the list of mega-multi-syllable chemicals.

Still Dream Pie.

I scowled.

Got nothing but wrinkles.

And so I still make Dream Pie. Did you know you can make it with Cool Whip instead of Dream Whip? SHH.... Don't tell. State secret!!!!!

But for people who love a non-chemical absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious pie, the homemade chocolate cream pie is the answer. Fortunately some of my children got married.

Their spouses love the real deal. The non-chemically-induced pie.

So one by one I'm gaining favor. Fortunately I am a very patient person. And I never give up.

I will win the war eventually while conceding many battles. And none of this "Oh, as long as they're happy" nonsense. 

You and I both know that they should come to the light! 

But in the meantime that just means there's more really good pie for me!

Multi-published inspirational novelist Ruth Logan Herne is blessed to be doing exactly what she always dreamed/wanted/hoped to be doing as long as the good Lord gave her enough time. 

Well here she is! With over 60 novels and novellas published, Ruthy loves chatting with people, sharing her stories, bossing folks around and takes her know-it-all nature to extremes at times, but if you dig deep...

REALLY REALLY DEEP...

She's nice some of the time and she loves getting to know readers. Friend Ruthy on Facebook, hang out here with her and some of her wonderful author buds, stop by her website ruthloganherne.com or email Ruthy at loganherne@gmail.com. And yes, she actually answers her own email... :) 

Homemade Caramel Pecan Turtles

 Okay, since everyone else has been focusing on sweets, I decided to share one of my favorite recipe posts.

One of my favorite candies is Pecan Turtles whether they come prepackaged like these

 or in one of those lovely boxes of Sees chocolates - these are called Pecan Buds.

My neighbor always brings me Sees as a thank you for taking care of her cats when she is away. Nice kitties. Even nicer neighbor!!!


So one of our very favorite holiday treats has always been the Butter Pecan Turtles recipe I got off the Land O Lakes butter box many years ago. I saved that battered old piece of cardboard for a very long time before it just disappeared (or possibly disintegrated).

Fortunately, there is Google. I found the recipe.

https://www.landolakes.com/recipe/17409/caramel-n-chocolate-pecan-bars/

(The site was really slow to load for me, so I'm giving you the recipe here.)

When I told my daughter I was doing it for this post, she remarked, "Oh, you mean those incredible bars I used to eat way too many of until I felt sick?"

Um, yeah. How's that for a ringing endorsement?

So, here you go -

There are two parts to the recipe. First you make the shortbread cookie part.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1cup firmly packed brown sugar
• ½cup Land O Lakes Sweet Cream Butter, softened (I always used salted)
  
  
  
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 3-quart bowl combine crust ingredients. Mix at medium speed, scraping sides of bowl often, 2-3 minutes or until well mixed and particles are fine. Pat firmly into ungreased 13 x 9 x 2" pan.
  
  *** Now you need 1cup whole pecan halves (not chopped) ***
  
  
  Then you have the caramel layer.
  
• ⅔ cups Land O Lakes Sweet Cream Butter(again, I used salted)
• ½cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1cup milk chocolate chips
  
  
  Caramel Layer: In a heavy 1-quart saucepan combine brown sugar and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until entire surface of mixture begins to boil. Boil 1/2 to 1 minute, stirring constantly.
  
  
  Now it's time to assemble:
  
  Sprinkle the pecans over the unbaked crust.  I know it says to use them whole, not chopped, but I liked them broken up. It seemed to allow the gooey caramel to cover them more.
  
  Pour the caramel evenly over the pecans and crust.
  
  Bake at 350 degrees  for 18-22 minutes, or until entire caramel layer is bubbly and crust is light golden brown. Remove from oven.
  
  This part is fun. Immediately sprinkle the chips over the hot bars. Allow the chips to melt slightly (2-3 minutes).  Then slightly swirl the chips as they melt; leave some whole for a marbled effect.
  
  Cool completely; cut into 3-4 dozen bars.
  
  Just try to wait until they're cool to eat them!
  
  A cookie that masquerades as candy! Can't beat that.