Tribute to Doree

I met Doree today, at the flea market. She is a 78 year old lady who makes fabulous fudge, divinity, and other goodies. Doree had peanut butter fudge on her table and I could not resist. I completely admire a woman of her age who still makes homemade candies, and has the ambition to go out on a chilly day to sell them. Her business card for Bonnell's Candies has artwork of a heart and a butterfly on it. It seems very fitting to her personality. I hope to find her at the market again. The chilly wind cut my visit short today.

I brought home a few treasures from the flea market today. Among the treasures are, some great cookbooks, delicious snacks, and best of all the inspiration I gained from Doree. The world is a better place because of people like Doree.

She tells me that her peanut brittle recipe is an Irish recipe. I will be buying some of that the next time we meet.

Doree's crystallized ginger and candied kiwi. Also, a few chunks of delicious fudge made their way with me.

I love meeting people who make a positive impact on me. Telling this story is my way of paying tribute. A tribute to the type of peaceful lady that I hope to be someday.

Train Ride Today

The silence a train creates late at night, is a lullaby sound that entrances me. City trains sound different from a rural train. A rural train is further away, and the whistle carries across the empty fields. This is the silence the train creates. Sleep.

Our train today

My Easter day was spent aboard a slow moving train rolling through the rain. I sat in the diner car. We had brunch. Lovely day.

Four courses were served. Sitting aboard and being served lunch was the best part of the meal for me.

The topic of trains is an unusual one here at Columbia Creations, however this nostalgic feeling inspired me to write about my train ride. I'm not intending to endorse a product or service. The link below is a good starting point to introduce the world of trains to your world.

The station where we boarded.

The National Railway Historical Society is a good place to start if you are interested in finding a chapter of this organization near you. It really is an adventure.
The rain on Easter added charm to our holiday.

Happy Spring

Rain gutters worked over time on Easter 2011

Saturday our weather cooperated just in time for the egg hunt. Each family who came for lunch took home the thinning of my chocolate mint.

Soy Prune Bread

Tell me, does your Soy Prune Bread look like this? The topic of  Soy Prune Bread isn't a hot conversation on the internet so, I am left to assume that mine is just right. The top of the loaf is perfectly level. Is that what Soy Prune bread is suppose to look like? I can tell you this, the taste is so incredibly complete that I may have found a new comfort food.
My Woman's Day Book of Baking copyright 1977 doesn't include a photo with the recipe.

Soy Prune Bread



1 cup of pitted dried prunes (I used cranberries also)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sifted soy flour
4 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder *
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
3/4 cup of sugar
1 egg
4 tsps. lemon juice
4 tsps. grated lemon rind
1 1/4 cups of milk
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Soak prunes in water to cover for 1/2 hour. Drain and cut in small pieces.
Mix together the three flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Beat egg in a separate large bowl. Add prunes and remaining ingredients to the egg. Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir only until blended. Spoon into well greased 9x5x3 loaf pan. Let rest free from drafts for 20 minutes. Bake in 325 degree oven for 50 minutes. Cool for a few minutes in the pan on a wire rack prior to turning it out to cool completely on the rack.

My first attempt at baking this  I may have had several minor errors. After making the changes, I am really happy with the flavor. I think my loaf pan was too large and that may account for the flat top. Or maybe it's suppose to be flat.
Whatever. It tastes great. I love the lemon.

Did you know that if you run out of baking powder (like I did the first time making this bread), you can make your own. In the Home Made cookbook by Sandra Oddo I read how to do this.

* Baking Powder is made of:

 One part baking soda to Two parts Cream of Tartar.

I like the Woman's Day cookbook. Still tinkering with the Home Made book.



Won't you be my neighbor?

The garden bench in the shade. This is my haven on a hot day of gardening.

The neighbors pond. Mister and I went for a walk down our road, and saw the ducks.

The peaceful life.

L*O*O*K  the peas are growing.

I made prune bread today. Really it was delicious. Next time I make it (and it's perfect) then I will take a photo and give you the recipe.

See, we could be neighbors. Close enough to town, far enough from town, to find solitude.

Strawberry Nirvana

Chocolate filled strawberries were the sweetness of the day. Do you ever get a hunger to make something, then discover an ingredient is missing from your kitchen stash? The strawberry nirvana recipe requires heavy whipping cream. The heavy whipping cream gives the final product a glossy creamy texture. Heavy whipping cream was missing in my stash.

 Don't use skim milk as a substitute. I did that today.

The flavor is still good, appearance is lack luster without the cream.

 I took a photo despite the appearance. It's not the best picture, I tweaked it, just to make it look a little more appetizing. We love these. Hell, everyone loves these when I serve them.

Strawberry Nirvana

24 to 36 medium strawberries

1 cup (6 ounces) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup powdered sugar



Remove the stems of strawberries and hollow out part of the berry. If you want the strawberry to sit upright then trim a small sliver from the bottom of the strawberry to make it flat. I skip this part.

Place morsels and cream in a small, microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 10 seconds and stir. Microwave at additional 10-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Let cool slightly.

Place cream cheese and powdered sugar in small mixing bowl. Beat until creamy; stir in chocolate mixture.

Place cream cheese mixture into a plastic bag (or pastry bag) with a 1/4-inch-wide opening cut at one corner. Pipe mixture into strawberry cups, filling cups completely and then mounding mixture on top of each strawberry. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Serve and eat the same day.

Read about Strawberries that are growing in the garden.

This Day

Over the weekend my travels rewarded the book shelf with 3 interesting cookbooks. I peeked through the pages just enough to know that I had to own them. Flea markets finds are the best. Cookbooks at a cheap price can be hard to find. Even local charity thrift shops are asking 3 bucks or more for a used one. Which I suppose isn't outrageous if the book is good enough. Actually, this group of books haven't quite made it to the shelf yet. They are piled in the family room, along with an afghan I have been crocheting, and a pile of photos that are in need of scrapbooking. Ahh, I'm single tasking again these days.

The vegetable garden is taking shape.The peas have popped above ground. A nice row of romaine lettuce is taking shape. And the garlic, planted last November, is looking hardy. Aside from that, the soil in the garden is mucky. I'm longing to get my hands (and toes) dirty, get outside and plant some food.
We have three rows of broccoli planted but, no sign of growth yet.

Mister and I did a stroll around the property today. Lots of perennials have returned this spring. I have luck with annuals coming back year after year as well.

The chocolate mint has taken over the herb bed beside the house. Time to pass some of the cuttings along to others, or replant elsewhere. My parsley is looking wonderfully green. Chives are up. Oregano survived. Sage is looking a little shabby, it will bounce back though. Lemon Thyme is still rocking.

The cookbooks will probably gather a little dust before I get back to them. Spring is here and the garden awaits!

I read somewhere that Yellow is the mistress to Spring. Green is the Wife and yellow the mistress. Ha. I will never look at a forsythia quite the same now!

Benne Wafers

Thomas Jefferson loved the Benne Wafers. He grew Sesame plants in his garden at Monticello. Benne Wafers are composed mostly of sesame seeds and certainly his garden provided the best seeds for the his treasured cookies. I'll be planting seeds in my garden this year that were harvested from the gardens at Monticello. I decided if I'm going to attempt growing Sesame, I needed to learn new ways to cook with them. So, tonight I made the Benne Wafers that were so loved by President Jefferson and are still loved by southerners today.

Benne Wafers

1 cup sesame seeds
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Place the sesame seeds on an ungreased baking sheet and toast for about 10 minutes, watching closely, until lightly browned. In a large mixing bowl mix the brown sugar, melted butter or margarine, egg, vanilla extract, flour, salt, baking powder and toasted sesame seeds together until blended.

Drop dough by half-teaspoonfuls onto a lightly greased baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between cookies. Bake benne wafers in preheated 375° oven for 4 to 6 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cookies cool for about 2 minutes on baking sheets; remove from baking sheets to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cooled sesame seed cookies in an airtight container.
Makes about 72 Cookies

I will add a few comments to the recipe and say this... I greased the cookie sheet first time around and wow did the cookies/wafers spread. Experiment and see if you need to grease before getting to deep into the baking process. Also, I threw an extra handful of flour into the mix. ( that's a real measuring technique ya know, a handful).

After all of that, the wafers turned out delicious.

I'm wondering about harvesting the Sesame seeds this summer after they have grown. A whole cup of seeds goes into this recipe. How many plants will I need to grow to harvest a cup of these teeny tiny seeds?

Pick Pockets

In 2009 I pickled cucumbers. Yes, homemade pickles. Homemade isn't cheaper than store bought. Just tastier, and I know exactly what is in them. Check out the post from August 2009 to learn how to make your own pickles too.

This cookbook has sat around for a year. I never really read it. I almost slipped it into the going to the Goodwill pile. Instead, I used this recipe to make Pick Pockets today. The book will stick around for a little while longer. There are some off the wall concoctions in it.

Just to be safe... I only made 1/4 of the recipe. My skepticism insisted that I not waste the last precious jar of homemade pickles on something that might suck. The Pick Pockets didn't suck. The recipe instructs to wrap the pickles in the dough. I actually molded the dough around the pickle as if working with clay.

Next time, I plan to use the dough but, skip the pickle part and insert cauliflower. I love deep fried cauliflower. This looks like a healthy baked option for vegetables.

Interesting enough.

Lemon Thyme Grilled Chicken

Lemon Thyme Grilled Chicken

2 Tablespoons stone ground mustard

1/4 cup coarsely chopped lemon thyme

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

This is enough marinade to cover a 3-4 pound chicken.

In a large mixing bowl stir together ingredients and add desired chicken pieces. Make sure the marinade well covers all of the pieces and keep refrigerated for two hours. Fire up the grill and cook the chicken until it is done.

Chicken chilling in the marinade

This recipe is really good.

It's been adapted from The Herbfarm Cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld.

Lemon Thyme

I have yet to remove the dried leaves and natural debris around the Lemon Thyme growing in the small herb bed. The calendar tells me that it's spring, I know better.
Snow and or freezing weather will be lingering for a few weeks.
The warm weather when it finally arrives will intensify the flavor of this herb. My plant wintered well and seems to be ready to thrive for another year.
To wash this tender herb, I place them in a bowl of water, swish them around, and the herbs float to the top while the dirt sinks to the bottom.
I harvested enough herb today for a marinade. The lemon smell is amazing.