Naan bread and Butternut Squash Sauce over Pasta

I'm not very good with yeast breads. I think maybe I'm just not patient enough to let them rise properly. But naan bread is one I can make. Add a Tbsp of yeast and 2 Tbsps of sugar to 1/2 cup warm water. Let is sit and get foamy (5 minutes, max). To this add 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 cup clarified butter. Kneed this with enough four to make a good dough; about 3 minutes. Put it in an oiled bowl and let it sit an hour.


For the pasta sauce, I started with 2 onions, sliced, cooked slowly in butter until very soft and carmalized. I added garlic, 2 tsp rosemary and 2 tsp salt. To this I added a jar of the butternut squash I grew and canned this fall. And then 3-4 cups of half and half. Don't let the creamer boil- or scorch or the flavor will be changed. Once the squash is re-softened and the creamer is warm, put the sauce in a blender and blend until smooth. Once it is smooth, add 1/4 cup onion and chive cream cheese.



Mix this with your pasta of choice in an oven safe dish. I put fried onions over top before baking (20 minutes at 400)



After the dough rises, make 6 seperate loaves and put them on oiled cookie sheets. These bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.



Finished dinner- it was amazing!!

wavy scarf

I took a break from all the charity knitting I've been doing to make myself this Scarf. Of course, I couldn't stick to the pattern. I cast on with size 7's and did the first two increases with those needles but then switched to 9's when I did the last group of stitches. Also I did 4 rows of the first 120, then I did 5 rows of the 240 and 6 rows of the 480. I really like how it turned out. I didn't get it done in time for the party I was making it for, but I'm sure it will be worn and I'm going to make another in a sparkley white.

Glazed Pear Cake

Yesterday I wanted to make a "dump" cake with some of the pears I canned this fall. I was getting so frustrated looking for recipes online because every one of them called for a cake mix instead of giving a recipe for making a cake. So I pieced a recipe together and it worked out great!
First I greased the bundt pan and lined the bottom with drained pears (save the syrup!!) For the cake I used my basic muffin recipe and just added some spices (2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp each of ginger and nutmeg).
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
mix and then add:
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup pear syrup
1/4 cup cooking oil
Pour this over top of the pears and bake at 350 for 20 minutes (may take just a bit longer)
Let it sit for a few minutes and then un-pan it and let it cool completely.
The Glaze:
Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a sauce pan. Add 2 Tbsp pear syrup and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Stir and bring just to a boil. Then add 1/3 cup powdered sugar and let it boil for one minute. Pour this over the cooled cake and serve.

mod podge christmas + button ornaments

I found this vintage "little Golden book" at a resale shop and picked it up over the summer. I had an idea for some Christmas ornaments and today put the pieces together.


I got the base of the ornament premade from Joann's. I used the cover of the book, which was harder cardboard, to make the template for the ornaments.




I traced pictures from the book to use as the pictures for the ornaments. I loved how the pages were discolored from age and the pictures were so dated.



I had to make some of the pictures fit by cutting and piecing the pages around. Then I used mod podge to glue the pieces on.




Then I put a good thick coat of mod podge over the top. This has to dry well and then it gets clear and shiney. Repeat for the back side. I tried to have one whole picture on one side and then a picture with the text from the book on the other side.


I also made this button ornament today copied after a picture I saw on Pinterest . I used two pieces of wire thread to thread the buttons together, twisted the top into a hanger and added a bow. I love it!

Canning 3 Sister Stew

I slow cooked pinto beans, acorn squash, carrots and celery over night. Then I added some sliced cherry tomatoes and sauted onions and garlic with sage. I let that cook another couple of hours. Then I added just a little frozen corn (it was all I had).
The "Three Sisters" traditionally are squash, corn and beans. They are named that because they grow well together and use each other to florish (ex.the beans grow up the corn stalk).
I canned this in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes.

Canning Butternut

I was expecting much more butternut than I got out of this plant, but I heard others say it was a bad year for squash. But I am still looking forward to some Butternut Leek Soup this winter! I wanted to make sure the squash would last so I decided to can them. This is a pretty simple process. I cooked the pieces for about 5ish minutes and then canned them in the liquid they cooked in.

green tomato macintosh apple salsa

I made this at the end of the season last year with tomatillos too. I cut up the green tomatoes left in the garden.

Added about half as many macintosh apples.

Then onion, twice the garlic a normal person would, and some hot pepper.

I cooked this down with cumin and red pepper flakes and a bit of salt, sugar, and cider vinegar.