A New Puppy!

I don't think Maggie-Cat will ever forgive us.

Meet Sam! In this picture, he's looking a little woozy. It had been a day of huge changes for him: A couple strangers came along and took him away from everything he had ever known. Earlier that day he had gotten his second round of shots. And he was having his first car ride, fighting sleep the entire way.

Sleep finally won.

Sam is from Nebraska, the state immediately to our south. I don't know about you, but when I think of Nebraska, I think of homesteading, the Oregon Trail, and prairies. We had been through southern Nebraska on I-80 a few times, and we were familiar with the Omaha area, but to pick up Sam, our route took us through the Sand Hills.

We followed Nebraska State Highway 2 from Alliance to Sam's home near Grand Island. The road follows the railroad (originally laid out in the 1860's) through the Middle Loup River valley. The rolling hills and the winding river were beautiful and we saw huge flocks of Canada Geese. It was early in their migration, and I can just imagine what this area will look like in a few weeks...

Because that's when the Sandhill Crane migration starts!

Or watch this video for a quicker look:

I'd love to visit the Sand Hills during March to watch this spectacular sight!

The biggest thing about our drive through Nebraska, though, was the variety of the scenery!

Most of us expect the prairies to look like this:

And there is a lot of this flat land there, but the majority is rolling hills. Then in the northwest corner of the state, you have the Nebraska National Forest.

A National Forest in Nebraska? Definitely!

Beautiful, isn't it?

But back to Sam. The biggest question we faced was: how will Jack take to this newcomer?

Well, after a day together they were down to this:

And a little of this:

And poor Maggie is hiding in the closet.

But things will change. Sam will grow and get bolder. Jack will learn that playing tug-of-war with another dog is great fun. And Maggie will set her boundaries.

Until then, it's "Oops! Another puddle!" LOL!

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and growing family. When she isn't writing, she loves hiking in the Hills or satisfying her cross stitch addiction.

You can find Jan on Facebook, Jan Drexler, author, or her website, Jan Drexler.com

Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes and a Surprise Addition

Our church has a ministry to cancer patients and every year, right around Valentine's Day, we host a banquet for those patients who are well enough to attend, along with their caregivers. It's a night of encouragement, fun, and, of course, food. This year, the colors are black and gold, so I wanted to create a special dessert that showcased those colors. This is what I came up with. 

Chocolate Salted Caramel cupcakes. This was a test subject I made ahead of time, hence the polka dots. For the banquet, they'll have plain black wrappers. I'll tell you more about these in a minute.

So, you may or may not remember that we lost our sweet Golden Retriever Dixie back in October, leaving us with just our little Maddie. But Friday, this little guy wandered up to our house, hungry and thirsty. 

Met Marvel. He looks bigger here than he really is. He only weighs ten pounds and the vet tells us he's about two years old, so he's done growing. 

We have no idea where he came from. He had no collar, no microchip. Then again, out here in the country,  people rarely choose their pets. Instead, pets usually choose their owners. Uncaring people have dogs and cats they don't want, so they often take them for a ride and dump them somewhere, which is what we suspect was the case with this little guy. So, it looks like he's here to stay.

Maddie isn't all that thrilled, however, she is coming around. She just wants everyone to know that she's still top dog. 

Now back to the cupcakes. Since I knew I was going to use the salted caramel, I wanted a nice rich chocolate cake and this one was perfect. Lots of chocolate flavor.

Then I topped it with my usually buttercream icing, which is 4 cups sifted confectioners sugar, 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, 1 tsp vanilla and 1-2 tablespoons milk to thin as needed.

Now for the salted caramel. 

I found  this recipe at Sally's Baking Addiction and you can get it here. It's not difficult to make, though it does take time, more than the ten minutes stated in the recipe. But the result was a beautiful and delicious salted caramel which was then drizzled over the cupcakes.

Simple and delicious with a pretty presentation. Exactly what I wanted.

The banquet isn't huge, but it's an event meant to take the attendees minds off of cancer and treatments, have some fun and mingle with others. It also serves to inspire hope and share the good news of Jesus Christ. And those two things are something the world could use a lot more of.

Three time Carol Award finalist 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, one sassy pup, 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 a mindyobenhaus.com.

 

Moving: my own personal treasure hunt

Jan here, happily ensconced on Heaven's Back Porch...

Jack on Evening Deer Patrol

I was reminded this summer (over and over again!) that moving is never easy, no matter how well prepared you think you are! It's been a rough go since the beginning of April, and we aren't done yet!

But we're getting settled in. Jack is establishing his own place in our abbreviated family (empty nesters!) And I'm making headway on my next book with the deadline of October 1st.

So, even though I should be writing instead of chatting here at the Cafe, I have to tell you (again) about this fabulous drink I discovered about six years ago.

Why now? Because I found my french press and bag of cocao nibs in the back of a cupboard when I was packing in June, and found them again when I was unpacking a week or so ago! I told you that moving is a treasure hunt! I've fallen in love with this drink again. (My first post about brewed chocolate was from 2013 - you can read it here.)

Basically, this drink is hot chocolate, but made like coffee. I have never learned to like coffee - although I make up for it with my addiction to Earl Grey - but this stuff is...well...South American Ambrosia!

When I first discovered brewed cocao, I drank it straight. Now I add a teaspoon of stevia sweetener and a tablespoon of cream. YUM!

You can buy cocao nibs on Amazon here, but I found my most recent bag at my favorite bulk foods store, E&S Sales in Shipshewana, Indiana. I paid $1.14 for a pound. Yes, you read that right!

I brew the chocolate in a french press reserved just for this drink.

Four tablespoons of ground cocao nibs, about twelve ounces of boiling water, and 12-15 minutes brewing time. You can use the cocao nibs two or three times, so go ahead! Brew as many batches as you want!

And did I mention how healthy it is? Antioxidants and everything!

And it is so chocolaty!

I think I'll go brew another cup right now!

Meanwhile, like I said, Jack is settling into our home and our lives. Here are some gratuitous puppy pictures:

He's a fluffy, friendly little guy who loves to play and cuddle. But he's still a baby. He spends much of his day like this:

Next spring he'll be grown enough to hike with us in the Hills, but until then it's eating and sleeping!

Jan Drexler spent her childhood dreaming of living in the Wild West and is now thrilled to call the Black Hills of South Dakota her home. When she isn’t writing she spends much of her time satisfying her cross-stitch addiction or hiking and enjoying the Black Hills with her husband of more than thirty-seven year

A New Puppy on the Farm

I am addled.
I admit this.
There is nothing else to really say, but I love dogs.... Not more than my grandkids, mind you. I'd risk my life for them.

But that's another blog for another day.

The dogs, on the other hand, are my good buddies and they are so happy to see me when I get home.

They love me with unconditional love. How many people can you say that about?

Not so many.

But the dogs' love is so filled with trust and hope. I love it!

We said goodbye to Mick, our first stud dog.... He'd been living the life of leisure with Mandy and Paul and Mary Ruth, but we knew the end was drawing near and it did. I said goodbye to a good old friend.... and we cried.... and we brought him home to bury him on the farm next to Maddie, the Golden we lost to cancer at age six.

Mick lived a full, long life. Maddie's was cut short. The words "The sharp knife of a short life" were what I felt when Maddie died. To lose her so unexpectedly, at such a young age....

And our Libby, the beautiful chocolate brown Standard Poodle who gave us several litters of puppies is 11 and a half now, and she's fought cancer twice... and we know it's just a matter of time.

But while she's still here to teach a young dog good manners, we drove to Lancaster, to a lovely family there, and bought "Lark" who has been renamed "Hearthside's Miss Maggie Mae".

She's like a dust mop of strawberry blonde waves.... We are so excited to welcome her here to the farm and she likes her crate, loves walks, does not like the leash, and has not had an accident in the house.... and all systems are "go"! She doesn't whine or fuss... and she's already learned to stay down, no jumping.

That's amazing for three days, which means she's smart because I'm barely average as a dog person! :)

She is our big news for this week... and we love her to pieces. She's got Mick's coloring but no shedding, and if we do decide to breed her to Jeter when she's older, what a fun bunch of puppies that would be...

But right now she's our puppy... our new little friend. And that's about as sweet as it can be.

Multi-published inspirational author Ruth Logan Herne has just proven that she does love dogs.... she loves God even more! And she's particularly fond of her family most of the time, and those grandkids are the totes magotes, whatever that means.... friend her on facebook.... email her at loganherne@gmail.com or stop by her website at ruthloganherne.com. She loves to hear from readers and writers!

A Look Back to Five Years Ago... and Cinnamon Swirl Cake

Jan here, suffering from a little bit of spring fever....

Last Wednesday our temperatures reached 60° with sunshine, birds singing, and beautiful blue skies. Then on Friday, we got nearly a foot of snow.

MUCH needed moisture, so I'm not complaining...

Wynter loves the snow. This is in April 2013, during
a lull in a record-setting spring blizzard.

But it made me think of other spring snow storms, especially the one five years ago. That was the beginning of a beautiful summer with plenty of rain...and led up to our October 2013 blizzard that was so devastating.

And that took me to thoughts of what else happened five years ago...

This was Thatcher on his "choosing day," when we visited the breeder and picked out our my puppy. Wasn't he a cutie? He shares a birthday with Ruthy's Jeter, and both pups are turning five years old at the end of the month. Time flies!!!

Thatcher now - I love how his face
has changed!

What else happened five years ago?

You can order the e-book here:
The Prodigal Son Returns

My first book was released! Yes, time flies!

It was also five years ago this spring that I shared this recipe. I was looking for it the other day, wondering if I should make it for Easter brunch. I hadn't realized that it had been so long since I shared it here!

This is a gooey, buttery, almost pastry-like cake that is absolutely delicious! Expect to wow your friends :)

Cinnamon Roll Swirl Cake (Pampered Chef recipe)

Ingredients:

For the batter -
3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted

For the cinnamon swirl (think Cinnabon....mmmmm.....):
1 cup butter, soft to the point of being almost melted
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons cinnamon

For the glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
5 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla


In a large bowl, mix all the batter ingredients together except the butter. Once mixed, pour the melted butter slowly into the batter, stirring as you go (I had my mixer running on low as I poured the butter in). Pour the batter into a 9x13 baking dish.

Combine the ingredients for the cinnamon swirl, and drop onto the batter, then swirl with a knife.





Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes. Mine took the whole 40 minutes to become brown and done in the center. Don't try the toothpick test for doneness - the cinnamon swirl will remain sticky. Look for slightly browned cake on the tops and sides.

After the cake cools slightly, but while it's still warm, drizzle the glaze on top. 

And the best thing about this recipe? It only took a few minutes to put together!

Can you remember five years ago? What's the best thing that happened?

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and growing family. When she isn't writing, she loves hiking in the Hills or satisfying her cross stitch addiction.

You can find Jan on Facebook, Jan Drexler, author, or her website, Jan Drexler.com.

Super Bowl, Snacks and those Budweiser Puppies

Super Bowl time!

At my school this week, we're having our annual SOUP-er Bowl food drive. Each student dresses in favorite team colors or jerseys and they each bring in a can of soup to be donated to the local food pantry. I love this way of turning a national sporting event into something that will help people.

I wish I could send along some of the wonderful, hearty soups we've featured here at the cafe.

 Okay, so it's Super Bowl time for real this weekend. In our house, the mourning has finally lifted. I think my husband is secretly relieved he doesn't have to go through the nerves of his team playing. My daughter bought theater tickets for the two of them to see a play he's been really wanting to attend. She accidentally bought them for Super Bowl Sunday. That could have been a disaster DISASTER, but it all worked out in the end. He can see the matinee and then come home and watch the game..
I mentioned in comments a week or so ago, that I rarely have to make football snacks because nerves keep hubby from eating during the game. But everyone else will be eating so I thought I'd see if I could round up some healthy variations rather than the ones that leave you needing a week at the spa beginning Monday morning. I read a quote that said the average American eats a day's worth of calories during the game!!!

First up -

PopSugar.com has a recipe for Black Bean Hummus. With garlic, jalapeno, and tahini added to the black beans, there should be enough heat for even the most diehard snacker. Serve it with crackers or pita crisps.

Spicy Garbanzo Beans - I've seen these sold in bags at the store, but this is a "super" easy healthy recipe. All you have to do is rinse and drain a can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), toss them with the spice mixture, and bake for about 30 minutes.

A Spinach Dip that also uses watercress (Super healthy) and subsitutes Greek Yogurt for sour cream. If you want to really get carried away, there's a recipe for flaxseed crackers too.

Maybe you're looking for something sweet? One of my favorite recipe sites - Oh She Glows, has an amazing recipe for Almond Butter Dip (almond butter, maple syrup cinnamon - just imagine dipping apple slices into this at halftime)

How about making your own trail mix? Here are some recipes for

• Cashews, dried cherries, and dark chocolate chips
• Almonds, walnuts, dried apricots, dried cranberries, and milk chocolate chips
• Roasted almonds, dried ginger, and bittersweet chocolate chips
• Almonds, sunflower seeds, spicy wasabi peas, curry powder, and coconut flakes
• Pecans, raisins, dried figs, and peanut butter chips

Okay, now can we talk commercials.

I am SO disappointed that Budweiser is not doing any more of the puppies. I've modeled two heroes after these ads. The Budweiser ones are my all time favorites.

What are yours?  If you want to post a youtube link I'll edit them into the main post.


And please feel free to share your healthy super bowl snacks!





Adding in Ruthy's commercials:

Mary Jane's videos:

Jan's Meatballs

Covered dish, potluck, carry-in, pot-blessing.... There are so many words for one really cool thing we do at our churches:

We eat together!

There's nothing like it. Eating, talking, playing with each other's babies, watching the young people hang out while you wonder if romance is blooming...

...and all with that delectable fragrance of mingled delicious aromas of everyone's favorite recipes.

In all of our moving around the Midwest, we've tasted quite a few varieties of lasgnas, chicken casseroles, green bean casseroles, baked ham, sweet potato casseroles - not to mention the thousand different recipes for cheese grits!

But the one recipe I've been coming back to again and again (because I can throw it together in about five minutes on Sunday morning and let it cook in the crock pot at church) is this meatball dish.

And it's super handy, because you can either use convenient cans and frozen meatballs, or you can make it all from scratch.

Jan's Meatballs

Ingredients:

approximately 60 Meatballs

2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup

1/4 cup Sour Cream

2 Tablespoons Caraway seeds

The meatballs can be the frozen kind from Walmart (or any other grocery store).

Just make sure you buy the regular, not the Italian.

Or you can make your own using the recipe I shared last month: Tortellini Soup with Meatballs. You'll have to double the recipe to get about sixty meatballs. Be sure to cook them well before adding them to this recipe.

The Cream of Mushroom soup can be from the familiar cans, or you can use the recipe from last week's blog: Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup. 

Can you make homemade sour cream? Sure you can! Pour 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream into a cup and add about 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Stir, and then let it sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes (the longer you wait, the thicker it will get).

I can't help you with the Caraway Seeds. I buy mine from the spice section at the grocery store. ☺

Instructions:

Combine the soup, sour cream and caraway seeds in a very large bowl. Add the meatballs (frozen or not), and stir until all the meatballs are covered in the sauce.

Pour the mixture into a crock pot and cook on low for about 3 hours. 

That's it!

While you're making your meatballs, let's talk about spring. ☺

This is what spring looks like in the Black Hills. My dear husband and I went on a research trip to Deadwood, and came home through Spearfish Canyon on Saturday afternoon - absolutely beautiful weather! It was around 70° at home, but up here in the canyon it was a balmy 58°.

You can read about this scenic byway here: Spearfish Canyon

Yes, that white stuff is snow. There was about a foot of snow on the sides of the canyon, and several feet in the bottom.

But with views like this, who's going to be complaining about a little snow?

Spring flowers will get here in June! Meanwhile, we're expecting a winter storm over the next few days. We normally get our heaviest snowfalls in March and April.

April 22, 2013

So. Make me jealous. How is spring coming along in your neck of the woods?

PS - I can't forget a throwback picture! Yesterday was Thatcher and Jeter's birthdays!!!! So we get a gratuitous puppy picture today, and maybe we can get Ruthy to share one of Jeter on Thursday ☺

There's my guy! He's four weeks old in this picture.

Crazy, Busy Fun and Mac & Cheese

This has been a crazy week, culminating with a birthday party this past Saturday. Of course, we didn't know it was going to be crazy when we scheduled the party, but hey... Sometimes you gotta roll with the punches.

My friend, Karen, was the first to arrive, determined that I should be properly attired for the event.

This wasn't quite what I had in mind, but at least she proclaimed me fabulous. :)

I hate having my picture taken with Karen. She's so tiny. 

And looks exactly the same as she did when we first met a dozen or so years ago. Disgusting.

So in planning this event I thought, "This is my party. I can have whatever I want." Of course, as usual, I forgot to take pictures of the spread. But then, when you're wearing pink antennas on your head, one can't be expected to remember everything. So I will have to tell you what was on the menu.

Texas Style Barbecue Brisket (you can find that recipe here)

Cowboy Beans

Grown Up Mac n Cheese (recipe to follow)

Various appetizers

Cupcakes

Ooo, that reminds me. I had to play with my cupcake corer again and made this fabulous raspberry filling. 

In a medium saucepan, I mixed together 2/3 cups of sugar, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, 3/4 cups of water and a teaspoon of lemon juice. Heat and stir until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in a 12 oz. package of THAWED frozen raspberries and fill cupcakes.

They were absolutely divine with buttercream icing. Not too sweet, with just the right amount of tartness.

But I digress. Cupcakes will do that to you. 

However, it's this amazing macaroni and cheese I want to tell you about. 

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 lb. elbow macaroni
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp. ground mustard
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. hot sauce (I used Tabasco sauce)
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 qt. whole milk 
• 8 oz. Havarti cheese, grated
• 1 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 12 oz. white American cheese, grated (at least that's what the recipe calls for. I see no reason why you  couldn't use yellow American)
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers, or similar, crushed
• 2 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 

Cook your macaroni in boiling, salted water for 6 minutes. Reserve a 1/2 a cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta and rinse under cold water and set aside.

Melt 4 Tbs. (half a stick) butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. You'll see that I used a skillet. Why? Because the font on the recipe was very tiny and I failed to break out my readers until later, so I though it said skillet.

Whisk flour, mustard powder, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and cayenne into the melted butter and cook, still whisking, for 1-2 minutes. 

Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking occasionally, until the sauce begins to boil and thicken, about 5 minutes. 

Reserve 1 cup each of the cheddar and American cheeses and set aside.

Stir the remaining American, Cheddar and the Havarti into the sauce mixture until the cheese melts.

Stir in the macaroni, adding the reserved pasta water as needed to make a creamy sauce. Personally, I didn't use any of the water. It was just fine without it. 

Salt to taste.

Pour mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan, or whatever you like. I choose my cast iron casserole pan.

Melt the other 4 Tbs. butter in microwave. Stir in the crusted crackers and Parmesan.

Sprinkle the reserved cheese over the macaroni.

Followed by the cracker mixture.

Cover with aluminum foil (I used a lid) and bake for 25 minutes.

Remove foil/lid and continue baking until browned and bubbly, about 20 minutes.

Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Now for you less-than-adventurous people, I again feel the need to say that just because there's a little hot sauce and a little cayenne, that does NOT mean this dish is spicy. Yes, it has a bit of a kick, but nothing that would make you say, "Hey, this is spicy." Not with all that cheese. It's merely flavorful. I promise.

It was a great evening, hanging with friends and family. All my kids and grandkids were in the house, along with some of my favorite people. Oh, and the dogs.

Maddie has grown quite comfortable in her new home. And she loves playing with our Golden Retriever, Dixie. You can ignore the fact that Dixie is baring her fangs. She's harmless. Maddie on the other hand...

Of course, all that play wears a puppy out.

Even sorting laundry can be very tiring.