Saturday, June 2, 2012

Amish Saturday, Derek's Birthday Party, New Plants in the Garden

Baked goods and homemade sweets at the Amish Bulk Food Store.  For local readers the address for this is 18383 N Turner Road, Cuba, IL 61427.  Open 8 - 5, closed Sunday and Wednesday, fresh baked goods on Friday and Saturday April 1st to Thanksgiving.  You can also order baked goods all year.  Fresh donuts first Saturday of every month.  Please note that I asked before I took the pictures at the store and dairy, I would not have taken them without their permission.

Section with bulk items, you can get 50 lbs of flour, sugar, oatmeal or you can purchase those items and lots of others that they have bagged up.  They have lots of spices and they are very reasonable.  I get almost all of my spices there and this is where I get most of my items to make soap.  In the first isle (where the gentleman is) they have all sorts of jams, dried food items baking items.  I just love this store and the people are so nice and friendly.

Some of the cows at the dairy farm.

Beautiful cow.

Derek's birthday party.

Derek at his party.
This morning we went down to the Amish store, dairy farm and the nursery.  They were out of lye and 50 lb bags of flour and will have some more in 2 weeks.  I picked up a few items I needed and will go back in 2 weeks to get the flour and lye.  One of the boys from the dairy was at the store when we were there and he rode back to the dairy with us.  We got 10 gallons of milk and we will separate it tomorrow morning and will make some butter and will make some cheddar cheese on Monday.   We then stopped at the nursery and I got 4 egg plants and 4 acorn squash plants.  We got back home and picked up Ian and went to Tony and Renee's for Derek's birthday party that was at noon.  Came back home and Brandon came to spend the night.  Dug up the spot to put out the plants then cleaned out the chicken coop and put fresh straw in the coop.  I put the straw from the coop around the new plants and also around all the other plants and around the pine trees, nice free mulch/fertilizer. 
Later, take care.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Freezer Cooking Day

Started my day about 7 and finally sat down at 2.  I mixed up 4 double batches of dough to make Ham and Cheese Buns; Cheeseburgers with Mushrooms and Onions Buns and Pizza Buns.  My first double batch of dough was made exactly as the below recipe (the recipe is a single batch) the second I used wheat flour instead of rye flour and the 3rd and 4th double batch I used 10 grain flour instead of the rye.  I put 5 buns in each freezer bag and have the following in the freezer:
6 bags of Ham and Cheese
2 bags of Hamburgers with Mushrooms and Onions
2 bags of Pizza Buns
1 bag with variety
and 1 bag with 2 Ham and Cheese Buns.  So I made 57 buns total.  I had enough dough for more but ran out of meat so I made a loaf of mozzarella cheese bread which we will eat with the leftovers we are having for supper.
I also baked 2 loaves of cinnamon raisin bread, I figured I was baking and had a mess so why not.  I have been wanting to make some but just never find the time.  I will freeze one loaf for later.

First batch of dough, making the Ham and Cheese

I cut the cheese the night before so I would have everything ready to go.  I used homemade mozzarella and home made farmer's cheese; you can use what ever kind of cheese you want. 


Dough cut into 16 portions and flattened with hand.
First put on some ham; I used deli sliced black forest ham and add the cheese and then more ham.


Ham first and then some cheese.

Then add more ham.

Stretch the sides up to form a bun.

Put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper seam side down.

Hamburgers


I cooked the hamburger patties the night before, I added salt, pepper, garlic powder, dehydrated mushrooms and dehydrated onions to the meat before I cooked them.  You can add what ever you like to the meat or just leave it plain.
Cheese first and them the hamburger patty.

The sides were stretched to form a bun.

This is the first batch after about 35 minutes, they are ready for the oven.

This is the pizza bun.

For the pizza buns I used homemade Italian sausage that I added some dehydrated mushrooms, onions, peppers and some pizza spice that I get at the Amish store.  I also made these up the night before.  You add only 1 tsp of pizza or spaghetti sauce, cheese and then the patty.
I ran out of meat so I flattened out the rest of the dough, added mozzarella cheese and rolled it tightly to form a loaf.

Here it is and ready to go in the bread pan, seam side down.  I sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on the top.

This is the double batch of dough for the cinnamon raisin bread.  I used a recipe from a blog I follow.

I patted each piece out with my hands.  Note that I put the loaf pan at the end of the dough so I know how wide to flatten it out.  I then spread some butter on the dough.

Sprinkled the cinnamon sugar and raisins and rolled tightly.  Put it in the pan seam side down.

I know you are saying "What"?   As things were baking I was doing the dishes and happened to look up and out the window and there was this deer out in the field for a long time so I went out back and took its picture.  See doing the dishes dose come with some rewards.

Everything all baked and cooling.  When it was cool I packed them in freezer bags and put them in the freezer.

2 loaves of cinnamon raisin bread and the cheese bread we are having tonight.  I should have split the dough into 3 parts and made 3 loaves of the cinnamon bread.  It raised over the sides of the pan so I'm sure it would have made 3 medium loaves instead of 2 giant loaves.



Ham and Cheese Buns

2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup medium rye flour
1/2 cup instant potato flakes
1 cup warm water

Put all ingredients in Kitchen-Aid and kneed for 10 minutes.  Drizzle with olive oil and put into a bowl, cover and let rise until double in size, about 1 hour.  Flour work surface and turn dough out and kneed for 1 minute.  Divide into 8 pieces, form each into a ball and then flatten out each piece into a disk.  Stretch each disk to about 4" in diameter.  In the center of each piece put a piece of ham, piece of favorite cheese and then another piece of ham.  Pull up the sides of the dough to meet in the center and press to seal the seams.
Place the buns seam side down on baking sheet, cover and let rise for about 35 minutes.

If you are making these for later then bake in preheated 325 degree oven for about 40 minutes until barely browned.  Remove the buns from the pan and cool.  When cool put in freezer bags and freeze.  
On the day you are going to eat them, thaw and bake in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes until nicely browned.

If you are going to eat now then bake at 350 degrees until brown about 35 minutes.

For Pizza Buns or Cheeseburger Buns I add wheat flour instead of rye.

For Cheeseburger buns put a precooked hamburger patty with a slice of cheese on the disk of dough and follow the above directions.

For Pizza Buns put a precooked Italian sausage patty, cheese and your favorite pizza topping on the disk of dough and follow the above directions.

You could also make Shredded BBQ Pork Buns, Italian Beef Buns or come up with your own filling by using this same method and dough.

My daughter Renee makes the Ham and Cheese buns and the Pizza Buns and her son Derek will eat them cold.  These are very easy and you can make up several batches and finishing cooking them when needed.  These make a wonderful quick meal on those days you don't feel like cooking.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Are You Jealous??

Just came in from gathering eggs and picking some supper from the garden.  The peas are from my daughter Renee's garden, the Yukon Gold potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes and pepper are from mine.  This is only June 1st and most years I am doing good to have everything planted.  With the wonderful warm spring we had I was able to get things in early.  Can hardly wait until supper.

Peas, Yukon Gold potatoes, red lettuce, green lettuce, sweet banana pepper, tomatoes.

Soap and Rugs to the Shop, and 2 Convenient Mixes Made

Renee and I took our stuff to the shop this morning and have already sold some stuff.  Before I left I made up a batch of the below Brownie Mix and Quick Mix that I posted the recipe for yesterday.  It rained all morning and now it is just windy out.  I have all the ingredients out of the freezer for some freezer convenient cooking that I am doing tomorrow.  I love to have those items for days that I don't feel like cooking or just to darn lazy to cook.  I will post recipes for those items in the next few days.

Brownie Mix

6 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 teaspoons salt
8 cups sugar
8 oz unsweetened cocoa powder

In a large bowl mix all ingredients, store in airtight container.  Makes about 15 cups Brownie Mix.

For Brownies:
1/4 cup butter or margarine melted
2 eggs well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups Brownie Mix
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Mix all ingredients, pour into a greased 8 inch square pan, bake 350 degrees 30 to 35 minutes.

For Chewy Chocolate Cookies:
1/4 cup butter or margarine melted
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/4 cup water
2 1/4 cups Brownie Mix
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix first 3 ingredients until blended, add the rest of the ingredients.  Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes at 375 degrees.  Makes 36 cookies.

Brownie Mix ingredients

Quick Mix ingredients

Brownie Mix and Quick Mix all done and ready to out in the fridge, I use painters tape to label the containers and also I put on the directions for making brownies or cookies and biscuits or dumplings.  The quick mix could also be used in any recipe you have that calls for that store bought product that has all the additives we don't need.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Rags for Rugs All Cut and Ready

I spent most of my day sitting at the table under the pergola cutting strips for rag rugs.  I finished everything and now I need to tie the strips together and then roll them up in balls.  It was so nice out today so I took advantage of the nice weather.  This past weekend it was in the 90's, today in the low 70's and tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 50's and finally we should get some much needed rain.
Renee and I take our stuff to the shop tomorrow, really anxious about it.  Was going to see about picking some raspberries that they found on one of their 4 wheeling trips but with the rain in the forecast that doesn't look promising. 
I know I said I wasn't making plans anymore but Friday I plan on making some ham and cheese buns, hamburger in the buns, pizza buns and need to make up a batch of Quick Mix (like Bisquick).  I keep a batch of Quick Mix, Corn Bread Mix and Muffin Mix in the refrigerator all the time so I have it to make up when needed.  I'm not sure where I got the recipes for all this stuff but I will share all of them one at a time.  Today I am sharing the Quick Mix recipe.

Quick Mix

8 1/2 cups of flour 
4 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups instant nonfat dry milk or dry buttermilk powder
2 1/4 cups vegetable shortening

Mix all dry ingredients together, with pastry blender or heavy duty mixer cut in shortening until mixture resembles cornmeal in texture.  Put in airtight container and store in cool dry place (I keep mine in the spare refrigerator).  Makes 13 cups of Quick Mix.

For Biscuits:
3 cups Quick Mix and 3/4 cup milk or water.  Mix, drop by spoonful and bake on a greased baking sheet at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

For Drop Dumplings:
3 cups Quick Mix and 3/4 cup milk or water.  Mix and drop on top of stew, chicken and noodles or soup.  Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

You can use this mix just like you would use Bisquick.


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Family

Sunday we got together to celebrate Brandon graduating from 8th grade and yesterday we got together at our house to celebrate Memorial Day.  We had wonderful food and had some nice family time.  Both days were unseasonably warm but on Monday we had a nice breeze and we have lots of nice shade trees so it was tolerable.
Today I finished 2 rag rugs that I had started and did several loads of laundry.  Nothing wonderful planned for the week; might make and freeze some ham and cheese buns later this week.  It is supposed to be cooler later this week so it will make a nice time to do this.
Later, take care.

Ali

Ron

Caleb

Gina & Ronnie

Me

Tony

Blossem

Ian

Derek

Brandon

Reagan

Hannah

Kartel

Renee

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Hot

These last 2 days it has been unseasonably hot.  Usually at this time of year it is in the 70's and 80's; it has been in the 90's for the last several days.  By this coming Thursday it is going to be in the 60's.  Crazy weather and not a very good chance of rain.  My yard has cracks it in everywhere.  Ron will have to water the trees tomorrow night so we don't loose them.
Went to Renee's house today for Brandon's graduation party.  The kids all got in the pool and had a nice time.  I just tried to find a little shade and sat crocheting a rag rug.  Tomorrow everyone is coming over to our house, it is going to be in the low 90's but it will be windy which will make it a little more tolerable.
Later, take care.