Snickerdoodles

Although I used to make cookies every week for Jordan's lunch (and a few for mine!) it has been a while since I've routinely made any. Since I had some free time this fantasticlly rainy weekend, I decided to whip up a batch of Snickerdoodles. I'm not sure if these are supposed to be a "Christmas cookie", but I make them all year round.

Here's the recipe (I divided it in half):

1 lb butter

3 cups sugar

4 eggs

5 1/2 cups flour

4 tsp cream of tartar

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

To roll cookies in:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cinnamon

Start by mixing up that fantastic amount of butter with the sugar. Then add the eggs and cream. Then I dump in all the dry ingredients and mix. At this point you can put the dough in the fridge for a while so that it is a little easier to work with, or be like me most of time and just make them right away. Form a ball with the dough, roll it in the sugar and cinnamon and then place it on the plan to bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Don't let them get brown, they are best soft (of course all cookies are!)

Grilled Sun-dried Tomato Chicken & Creamy Noodles

This recipe has been a favorite at the Miller household for quite a few years. It's almost always made for company, and is also an easy weekly meal. It's fast and tasty! and of course, it's made with cream so you just can't go wrong...

First of all marinate chicken in Sun-dried Tomato Salad Dressing. I use the chicken fillets so they grill quickly

While the chicken is grilling, I get to work on the pasta. Here is the recipe(I make a 1/2 recipe for the 2 of us):

1 pound penne noodles
6 tbsp butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

First set a pot of water and bring to boil. While waiting for that,  melt the butter. Then add the onion and garlic and cook until tender, about 5 minutes

Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to the directions.

Add the cream to the butter, onion and garlic and let simmer until thick, about 5 minutes.

Now here comes the fun part, toss the cooked noodles with the cream sauce and add the 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese! It's just that simple!

Don't forget about the chicken on the grill this whole time, making sure to turn it so it grills evenly.

And wala!

Salsa

It's been a little while since I canned salsa, but we are just starting to enjoy it! This year was great for tomatoes in Kansas (at least in my garden!).

Here are my tomato plants in early summer

I managed to put away many jars of salsa and a few of pizza sauce!

Here is my salsa recipe, credit to the Winkler Mennonite Bergthaler Church Cookbook - We're Cooking!

16 cups tomatoes (peeled)

8 cups chopped onion

8 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup vinegar

5-6 jalapenos (add more if you like it hot!)

2-3 green chilies

8 tsp salt

1 can (12oz) tomato paste

I chop up the onion, garlic and peppers in my food processor. I blend the tomatoes (Jordan likes his salsa to be thin). Mix together a boil for 30 minutes or longer, till slightly thick.

To can I bake the jars at 250F for about 20-30 minutes, and then pour the hot salsa in. Put on the lids and they seal everytime!

And they look lovely sitting in the cupboard!

Freezing Peaches

Finally used up the last of the peaches that I picked last week, although I pulled another 3 bags off the tree yesterday, so I guess it will be more pie for the freezer!

With the last of the peaches, I cut them, spread fruit fresh on them and then froze them

This super sized baking sheet was very handy, although it didn't fit them all....

This morning I took them off the baking sheet,put them in Ziploc bags and set them in the freezer. Ready for winter!

I also canned a few using my mother's recipe for the syrup, 1 cup sugar and 3 cups water.

Peach Pie

So many peaches, so little time! In an effort to use up ripe peaches I decided to make pies in bulk (and freeze peach slices, but that's another story).

First I mixed up my pie crust in my Bosch mixer.

Here's my pie crust recipe:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup crisco
1 tsp salt
1 to 2 Tbsps sugar
1/2 cup ice cold water

In a bowl, stir together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the butter and shortening. Cut the butter and shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add ice cold water, little by little, mixing as you go until the dough can be gathered into a ball. The dough should not stick (I added a little too much water, but it still worked).

Divide the dough into two portions, one slightly larger then the other. Roll between wax paper. Keep rolling until the dough is less than a quarter of an inch thick.

For the fruit filling, I used the recipe from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook cookbook.

For peach filling add 1/2 cup sugar, 3 Tbsp flour, 3 Tbsp tapioca. Tossed with peeled and sliced peaches.

Pour into bottom shell and cover with second crust. Brush top with beaten egg white. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes, then turn down to 350F and bake for an additional 60 minutes.

I doubled the crust recipe and stretched it to make 3 pies, 2 for the freezer and 1 for now!

Peach Platz

Tonight I started using the first of our peaches, and it seems fitting to start this blog with a recipe from Canda, platz!











After trying a new recipe for supper that as Jordan put it "did not taste good" I figured a good dessert was in order. After dishing it up I went to change the laundry and came back to 2 empty plates. I guess it turned out...

Here's the recipe (I divided it in half and made it in a 9" square)
Adapted from the Moose Lake Cookbook

Platz:
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp shortening
1 cup cream
1 egg
Fruit

Ruebel:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp butter
Cream

Sift flour, baking powder and sugar (I didn't do this!) Add shortening and mix with fingers (I used my food processor) until mixture is fine crumbs. Add cream and egg. Mix well and pat out on 9x13 pan. Here's what it should look like:












Put on a layer of fruit (I used peaches but you can use almost anything)

Mix Ruebel by adding sugar, flour and baking powder and rubbing in the butter. Then add enough cream to make coarse crumbs. Sprinkle thickly over fruit. 

Bake at 350 F to 375F for 25 minutes. 

And tada!

Getting started...

Due to my love of baking I'm starting a blog to share my pictures and recipes. My posts might not be routine, but will include many of the tasty things that I am attempting to make!

This evening I finally picked the peaches from my tree. The birds have been trying to steal them, so I figured it was time to get picking!

Here are the peaches sitting in my backroom:

Soon I will be turning these into wonderful things!