Joy in the Kitchen!

I love the frosting on German Chocolate Cake.  So carmeley and nutty and sticky and wonderful!  I needed to make some cupcakes for a birthday today and since there was no school, my girls had fun helping.   I love having the kids help in the kitchen.  They always want to to the fun stuff  like cracking eggs, or measuring sugar, or stirring.  I hardly EVER have a child beg me to help with the dishes or put ingredients away.  Hmmm...  For this recipe we needed 3 egg yolks.  My friend sent me a link to a video that showed an innovative way to separate eggs, and though I think just using the shell is easy enough, we gave this new method a try, just to see.  It was fun!    You can find that video HERE .  Essentially, you just crack an egg into a bowl and use an empty water bottle to suck the egg yolks up out of the whites.  It was pretty easy as long as you didn't break the yolk while cracking the egg.   Here a...

  We've had a few weeks of colds, coughing, and runny noses here.  The past week the 3 younger children had Hand-Foot-and-Mouth disease.  Not fun!  However, in comforting and treating my little sickies, I was thankful to remember some of the old remedies that help soothe symptoms. When I was small and had a cough, sometimes Mom would mix some honey and lemon together and give me to help soothe my tickly throat.  I have used this a LOT the past few years.  Sometimes, even with over the counter cough medicine, we just keep coughing.  I think the throat just gets so irritated it just can't quit!  I mix this Honey and Lemon Soother together and then every time we start to cough, we swallow a small spoonful.  It really does soothe and coat your throat and soon, the coughing is under control.  I did a little hunting around on the internet to see how everyone else used honey and lemon.... and actually found that someone had done a study on ...

I love Strawberry Rhubarb Syrup !  It's such a beautiful color and tastes fabulous on pancakes , waffles, or ice cream.  One of the best things about this recipe is that it doesn't use actual strawberries, but just strawberry flavored gelatin to create the traditional strawberry rhubarb blend of flavors.  So many people have nice rhubarb plants that go unused every year... mine included sometimes, don't be afraid to ask a neighbor if they have extra rhubarb to share.  I can't remember if I got the recipe from Mom or someone else, but it is my favorite way to use rhubarb.  I borrow my Mom's juicer to make rhubarb juice, but if that wasn't available, I would just cut up a good portion of rhubarb (cleaned and rinsed) in 1 inch sections, put it in a large pot, add 3-4 C. of water and simmer until the rhubarb gets mushy.  Strain that through a colander with cheese cloth and as long as you end up with 8 cups of juice - you're ready to go!  (I've had to si...

Home made Christmas goodies are half the fun of Christmas!  By the end of November I'm thinking about which candies and cookies I'll make THIS year.  Some tried before aren't favorites so we won't bother with them... some are so much tradition they're hard to get out of. :)   Like FUDGE!    My husband makes the best fudge!  I don't even attempt it... that's his territory & I just stay out of the way. LOL   Personally, one of my favorite verses in the Bible is Ecclesiastes 3:1....   it says "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."   In my own twisted interpretation of that, I figure we are just heading into the Season for Chocolate.   :) The photo above is from goody trays made 2 years ago.  (last year I had a 6 month old who loved to be held so not as much time to cook!... this year he'll just hang on my leg while I cook. lol )   We have on that t...

I know, I know, but not everything done in the kitchen is edible!  Several years ago on Frugal Families , someone posted about making laundry detergent.  At the time I thought "I" would never take the time to do that.  I figured I was getting a good deal on the detergent I was already buying.  I tried making the powdered version just to say I did - ICK.  It didn't dissolve in cold water and left white granules all over everything!  A few years later however, I saw a recipe for liquid detergent (probably on Frugal Families too lol ) and gave that a try.  IT WORKS!   I was surprised a few weeks ago to find a similar recipe at the check out stand of a local grocery store.  It listed the cost per load at  3 cents!  THAT is one of the reasons I've kept making my own liquid detergent.  There are only 3 critical ingredients (okay - 4 if you count the water) to keep on hand:  Borax, Washing Soda, and bar soap such as Fels ...

Mom used to make this for my sister and I when I was very young. Mom rarely colored my clay and it still worked great.  We used to make little tiny food shapes, like banana's, oranges, lemons, limes, and then let them dry and painted them. We used them for our Barbies. :)  My own children have spent HOURS being entertained with this play dough.    I'm sure there are recipes all over the place for this, but I want to include it in my blog so my married children with kids of their own can find it easily. This play dough will leave a light residue on whatever surface you play with it on, so I buy vinyl placemats (you can find them for around $1 at Walmart or I've seen them at the dollar store)  OR you could let your child color up a couple of sheets of cardstock and then have it laminated for a play mat.   We gather up a variety of "tools" to use with our play dough... cookie cutters, plastic knives, forks and spoons, scoops from baby formula, juice c...

Buttermilk Syrup is.... well, WONDERFUL!  As promised in my previous blog, here's our family's favorite pancake syrup.  We mostly make it on special occasions.  My brothers family started making this syrup a few years ago at our family reunion and now it's considered tradition.  :)   The syrup isn't as sweet as regular maple flavored syrup.  Give it a try... you may be as surprised as I was at how good it is! Buttermilk Syrup 1 lb. butter 1 pint buttermilk 2 C. sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp baking soda Mix all ingredients EXCEPT baking soda in LARGE pan.  Bring to a boil stirring occasionally.  Turn off heat.  Add baking soda and stir. (It will really bubble up in the pan when you add the soda)  Serve immediately with pancakes.

There is nothing better on a slice of toast than strawberry or raspberry freezer jam. This is not open to debate. LOL! I love the ease of freezer jam and especially I LOVE the fresh from the garden look and taste. I prefer to use MCP Pectin. I've tried others & MCP is just what I'm most comfortable with. I've used it so much I could almost make jam in my sleep. I just follow the insert in the box of pectin, but in case you need to know amounts before you run to the store, I'll post those here. You need: 3 1/4 C. of crushed berries (I just take the tops off, rinse, and then mash them with a potato masher if they're from the garden - if I bought berries from the store, I use my pastry blender to cut them up) 1/4 C. fresh lemon juice (I don't always put this in - but the jam sets up firmer if you do) 4 1/2 C. sugar 1 C. light corn syrup 1 pkg MCP pectin The directions are easy... mix your berries & lemon juice in a LARGE bowl. Add your...