Laura Secord Chocolates

During Easter I wanted to make my mother-in-law something special.  She loves the Buttercream candies at Laura Secord's so I made her these.  She told me not to lose the recipe.  You know sometimes it is not what you do or how you do it or what you give or how you give it, it is the thought that goes into it.

Laura Secord’s

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1 can eagle bran milk

2 tblsp corn syrup

3 lbs icing sugar

1/3 lb softened butter

Vanilla

Stir this mixture together.  You can add almond, maple, coconut, instead of vanilla.  Make small balls and put on sheets and chill well.

Melt in double boiler

1 cake chocolate (8oz)

1/3 paraffin wax

Dip chilled balls in chocolate.  Makes 4 lbs of chocolates.

Note:  2.2 lbs = 1 kg

Homemade Pan Rolls

Well as you can probably tell tonight's supper consists of Fresh buns and Home made soup with apple muffins for dessert.

Homemade Pan Rolls

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Ingredients

3 3/4 cups bread flour, divided
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 (.25 ounce) package rapid rise yeast
1/2 cup warm water (120 to 130 degrees F/50 degrees C)
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted

 

Directions
In a large bowl mix together 1/2 cup water 2 tsp sugar and yeast.  Let stand for about 20 minutes.

Then add milk, sugar, shortening, salt and egg  and 2 cups of flour. Beat with electric mixer on low speed for about 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Place in greased bowl and turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Dough is ready if indention remains when touched.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half; cut each half into 24 pieces. Form the pieces into rounds. Place the rolls close together in two lightly greased 9 inch round cake pans. Brush with melted butter. Cover and let rise in warm place about 30 minutes or until doubled. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 18 minutes, until golden brown.

Apple Muffins

 Now this recipe is very good, but I make 12 muffins out of it, it says six but they must be very big.  I also use the apple sauce version I find it has a much better moisture and flavor.

Apple Muffins 

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Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
2 apples - peeled, cored and chopped Or 1 apple and 1/2 cup apple sauce

1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease six muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. Stir together 1 1/2 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, baking powder and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix in oil, egg and milk. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling to the top of the cup.
3. In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix together with fork and sprinkle over unbaked muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Vegetable and Beef Soup

Well again today it is raining and damp outside so I have decided to make home made soup and home made buns for supper it is just that kind of day.  Well this morning there was no skunk in the trap so maybe I have gotten the little buggers.  Two days and two skunks later and the trap is empty, which is good I will leave it for a couple more days and hopefully that will have it for this year.


Now this soup can be made either on the stove or in a crock pot I have done it both ways.  If you do it on the stove keep it at a low temperature and you may have to add a little water.  Of course on the stove it does not take as long a time as in the crock pot.  You can add any kind of vegetables I use this recipe as a base and add anything I want to it peas, rice, or noodles are good.  I do not add the rice or noodles together just substitute one for the other.

Vegetable and Beef Soup

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1 lb ground beef

5 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1 clove garlic diced (optional I do not use it)

1/4 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp parsley flakes

a sprinkle of thyme

1 (28 oz) can of tomatoes

1/4 cup rice

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup carrots

                     celery (I put in a tsp of celery seeds)
cubed potatoes
corn

                     shredded cabbage (optional I don't use it)

Brown ground beef and onion.  Drain off the fat, combine all ingredients in a crock pot or big soup pot and simmer for 1 hour on stove or 4 hours in crock pot.

Sheppard's Pie

Well it is raining here again today, so I thought tonight's supper would be Sheppard's Pie.  Just to let you know, I reset my little skunk trap and yes again this morning I caught another one.  Yeah me.  As a side note I have put one of those turn thingies into the ground and attached a long leash to it that goes right up to our front door so that I can attach my litttle pom to it and I don't run the risk of her or I getting sprayed again. This is another of those recipes that you can make two or even three at a time and freeze the rest for another day.

Sheppard's Pie

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 1/2 lb hamburg

1 tin corn or frozen corn

1 onion (small)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

mashed potatoes

Cook hamburg with onion, then add corn and mushroom soup.  Stir it well and  place on the bottom of a casserole dish.  After you have cooked and made your mashed potatoes place them on top of the hamburger, corn mixture.  Bake 350 for 30-40 minutes or until well heated through.

Easy Spahetti Sauce

So to start things off today I made homemade spaghetti sauce for another day and then I freeze, before you go all crazy and say oh that’s way too much work, it is no different than opening a can of spaghetti sauce.  Trust me this will taste so much better, than the canned stuff and you may never eat canned again.

Easy Peasy Spaghetti Sauce

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2 bottles of home canned tomato sauce (or if you must 2 (28 oz) big cans of crushed tomatos)

1 good tablespoon crushed garlic

2 pinches of Italian Seasoning

1 good tablespoon oregano

2 tsp basil

¼ cup dried onion flakes

1 tsp sugar (takes the acid out of the sauce)

I also add a pinch of celery seed

You can also add some green peppers if you like, I do but they don't know it.  I put them in the blender and crush them and then add it to the sauce they never know what they are eating.  I hide good things everyday into their food.  Of course they hate green peppers, onions and such so I grind them up and mix them in, they never know.  Of course if they read this they will.

Mix all ingredients together and cook on a low heat for 15 minutes, I mean like on 3 or 4 on your dial.  Then add your cooked hamburger.  Don't cook your sauce for hours, I find the sooner you eat it the better it tastes, the flavors don't get lost in the cooking or vaporized away.

While your sauce is cooking, bring well salted water to boil ( I add about 1/4 cup of salt to a big pot) and cook your pasta, when the pasta is ready, serve with the sauce.

Lasagna

So after our few days of living in the dark ages, with no power or phone.  The girls have decided they want mommys' home made lasagna, so here is what I made for supper.  I also made the pizza dough recipe and made bread sticks they could dip with the extra sauce that was left.  The best thing about making this Lasagna is that I usually make a double batch.  One to freeze uncooked, and the other one for tonights supper.  So one day when I am to busy (poof) I have supper that I can just throw in the oven.

Now a little bit about my day today, we have had a skunk problem, if you don't live in an 130 year old farm house you may not get this, but the little buggers get into the crawl space below our house and make themselves a little home.  Then when one of the kids go racing threw our house or the furnace goes on, now not every time but usually once a week or month they let fly.  So yesterday I got a live trap to catch the little bugger.  This morning I woke up to a wonderful surprise, there he was in the cage.  Now to drive him somewhere where he can live happily.  But before I could do that I let my little pom out to go for a pee, I had her on a leash but as I was shutting the door she saw the skunk, yanked the leash from my hand and headed straight for the cage, barking the whole way with me running behind her yelling noooooooooooooo.  To late we are both covered in skunk piss.  So into the house I go mix up some baking soda and hydrogen peroxide with some water and cover us both and let it sit for 5 minutes, then off to the shower the both of us went.  Hopefully they don't notice tonight when I go to vote.  My husband has not come home yet so I am not sure if I still smell like skunk.

Lasagna 

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Ingredients:

1 1/2  pound lean ground beef 1/2 cup minced onion 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes 1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste 1/2 cup water 1 tablespoons white sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

2 tsp oregano 2 tsp salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 12 lasagna noodles (If you use the no cook kind add at about  1 1/2 cup of water to the sauce) 2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta cheese 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.	In a Dutch oven, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, 1/2 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2.	Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine  cottage cheese or ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  If you want you can use the no cook kind of noodles that makes it even easier.
3.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4.	To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the cottage cheese or ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5.	Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Apple Crisp

After days with no power with no power I finally got to cook in my oven last night.  So I made a family favorite Apple crisp.  We had pork chops and potatoes done on the BBQ and for desert we had....

Apple Crisp

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1 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup rolled oats

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup margarine

Mix all ingredients except the margarine.  Melt the margarine and mix with the dry ingredients.  Place 4 cups pealed and sliced apples into a 9 X 13 pan.  Cover with crumb mixture.  Bake at 350 for 35 - 40 minutes.

Souvlaki

I have to admit that Thursday night we had hamburgers and hotdogs for supper, after a day of lugging water from our pool to the upstairs so we could even flush the toilet I had, had enough, so I opted for the easy way out.  I love living in the country but sometimes having a well is not such a good thing.  Because when the power goes out you have no water.  Oh by the way for lunch the chillins had crackin dinner done on a camping stove.  Note to self, do not use propane camping stove in the house the carbon monixide monitors will go off.  Which is a good thing it alerted me to get the kids outside and the stove and to open the windows.

Friday night though I made Souvlakia, or a version of it.  In a large pampered chef stoneware rectangular baker.  I place right on the BBQ grill and then turn the BBQ on so as not to shock the stoneware.  Yes even without power or a stove I can still cook.  I mixed up the meat and let it set all day, I then cleaned and cut up six (6) potatos and mixed them in as well as some green peppers then I placed the whole casserole on the BBQ on medium heat and in 30 minutes supper was ready

 

 

Souvlaki

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1 cup olive oil or vegetable oil

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 bay leaves

freshly ground pepper

2 onions

juice of 2 lemons

1 garlic clove crushed

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tblsp oregano

3 green peppers

12-18 small mushrooms

small tomatoes

 

In a large bowl, combine oil, lemon juice, wine, garlic, bay leaves, salt,  and oregano.  Mix well and add the meat, pepper, and onions.  Marinate for up to 24 hours.  Two hours before cooking add the peppers and tomatoes.  BBQ or put under the broiler.  These are just great.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

So for the last 3 days yes three days we have been without power, phone and yes even cell service.  Totally cut off from the world.  We were situated in the middle of the bad storm that passed through southern Ontario.  Finally today we had our power restored.  Yea to Hydro One, those guys have been working non stop since Thursday at 1:00 in the afternoon and the power was not restored until today at Saturday at 4:00 pm. So what did we eat in the last 3 days you ask.  Well Friday morning my kids came running in saying they were going to starve.  The novelty of not having power was dawning on them.  Thank goodness we live in the country and there was lots to do.  So Friday morning there I was on our deck whipping up chocolate chip pancakes which both of my kids say they were the best they ever had.  Now I made these pancakes on a BBQ friddle sprayed with pam.  My kids could not believe I could make breakfast on the BBQ but I did.

Pancakes

1 1/3 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbs sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 cup milk

3 tblsp vegetable oil

1/4 tsp vanilla

Mix together.  Drop by 1/4 cup fulls on hot pancake griddle or frying pan

Yield 10-12 pancakes

Variations of pancakes
Chocolate Chip pancakes - Make pancake batter as above and add 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Sour Milk Pancakes - Make pancake batter, using sour milk or buttermilk.  Reduce baking powder to 1 1/2 tsp, add 1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon warm water.

Blueberry pancakes - Make pancake batter increasing sugar to 1/3 cup.  Reduce milk to 1 cup.  Add 1 cup blueberries.  Cook slower and on lower heat than regular pancakes.
Apple pancakes - Make pancake batter increasing sugar to 1/3 cup.  Reduce milk to 1 cup.  Add 1/4 tsp vanilla. Add 1 cup grated or cut small apples.   1/2 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon warm water Cook slower and on lower heat than regular pancakes.

Fettucini My Take

 Fettucini

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In this recipe you can add any fresh vegetable that you would like or you can serve with none.  My kids love broccoli in it.  The other thing you can do is exchange the chicken for just about anything, beef, pork, whatever meat you like.

3 Chicken Breasts, cooked and cut up

3 tablespoons butter

1 small onion chopped up small

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup grated parmesan

2 cups heavy cream ( I use either table or whipping cream)

black pepper to taste

1 cup milk

2 tbsp corn starch

1. Start a large pot of abundantly salted water to boil and begin cooking the pasta. In a large saute pan, melt two tablespoons of butter over medium high heat. When the butter is foaming, add the onions and garlic and saute.  Once the onions are clear, add in the cream and Parmesan.  Continue cooking slowly add in the milk and cornstarch this will start to thicken the cream broth.
2. When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain and add the cream liquid and toss the pasta and contents until the butter has melted and coated the pasta.  Grind in black pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Pizza Sauce

Here is the excellent sauce that my kids just rave about.  It is great for pizza's, bread sticks and mozzarella sticks for dipping.

Pizza Sauce Recipe

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1 (28 oz) can tomatoes or crushed tomatoes

2 pinches of Italian seasoning

pinch of salt

3 tsp oregano

pepper

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp fresh garlic

Combine in saucepan mashing tomatoes, cook approximately 10 minutes just enough to marry the flavors.  When dough has raised 2 hours put on floured board and work out air bubbles.  Roll with a rolling pin thin to fit greased sheets.  spread sauce over dough adding chopped green peppers, mushrooms and whatever topping you like.  Grate 1 lb mozzarella cheese and put on top. 

Pizza Dough

I have made my fair share of pizza dough’s and my family considers themselves, pizza dough connoisseurs.  I have in my own way spoiled them rotten, they no longer like pizza delivery, they want my pizza and they would never consider eating a frozen pizza.  This recipe is their favorite; I also usually have to make a double batch so that they can have bread sticks as well to dip into the leftover pizza sauce that yes I make from scratch.

                                                         Pizza Dough

The Best Dough Ever

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Yeast  4 ½ teaspoons
Little bit of Gingerale or 7 up probably quarter can or half, its upto you.
2 Teaspoons of sugar
4 cups of flour
1 tea spoon of salt
¼ cup of olive oil (or any oil , I prefer olive oil)
1 ½ cup of WARM Water .

How to Make Dough:

Take a mixing Bowl . Put sugar first , then add yeast , wait for 5 mins so it can mix then add warm water in it, mix it well then add , salt olive oil ,gingerale or 7 up mix it well, then at the end pour the flour slowly and keep mixing till all the flour is mixed then mix for at least 10-15 mins . If the flour sticks to the bottom or the sides of the bowl then that means you have to add little bit more water. So add and mix till it doesn’t stick on the side. But the more you mix the better result you will get.

Take it out from the bowl cut it in to to pieces , make it round like and place it in something round which can be covered tightly and place it outside for 10 mins . After that place it in the fridge for the whole night because that yeast will make it rise, well it takes practice to be perfect on pizza making. The next day you will get Your perfect. Dough. 


Bake 425 for 20 to 25 minutes

You can also let it rise all day I make it at 1:00 in the afternoon and then let it rise till 3:30 then pat it down and make pizzas.