Joy in the Kitchen!

My Dad grows leeks in his garden.  I am a happy recipient of a few of those leeks!  Now I have to be honest with you, I doubt I would have seen these in the produce section of the store and longed to buy some... at least not until Mom brought me some of her Cream of Leek Soup!  YUM!  Today the family enjoyed this soup so much they suggested we grow our own leeks this year so we could have this soup more often! In case you aren't already familiar with leeks, they are a member of the onion/garlic family.  They have a thick stalk and very little "bulb", unlike the large bulb and small top of a regular onion.  They have a very mild onion flavor.   Cream of Leek Soup is a wonderful first course soup, or with a side of crusty bread, would be a nice main dish soup. Cream of Leek Soup 4-6 medium leeks 6 T. margarine or butter 3 T. flour 2 tsp. chopped chives, optional 1/2 tsp. salt 6 C. milk or light cream 6 cubes or 6 tsp. of chicken bouillon  ...

We love Alfredo Sauce on noodles, however, right now I've got a bunch of potatoes stored that need to be used.  I figured we could do our usual alfredo sauce and some chicken tenders and settle that over some real mashed potatoes for a nice potato bowl.  It turned out terrific! You could use a bottled alfredo sauce, but it's really pretty easy to make your own if you have the ingredients on hand. Easy Alfredo Sauce 2 C. half & half or a mix of heavy cream and milk OR 2 C. of evaporated milk 1 C. milk 2 T. butter 3 T. flour 1 clove of garlic, minced 1/2 C. Parmesan cheese, grated salt and pepper to taste Saute the garlic in the 2 T. of butter until it softens.  Mix in flour and make a roux.  Add milk and cream slowly, stirring constantly over medium heat until all milk is added and sauce starts to thicken.  Add Parmesan cheese and stir until it's melted and blended in.  Salt and pepper to taste.  The sauce thickens as it cools.  If it's thi...

Last week we let the children (who still live here at home) suggest their ideas for family goals for the year.  I was pretty impressed with the ideas they came up with!  In fact, there were so many good ones, we decided to have 3 goals.   The goal connected with the picture posted above is last (but not least).... but I'm going to list all of our goals and be accountable to more than my family at home. 1.   Get up 10 minutes earlier so we can read scriptures in the morning.  (evenings are sometimes hectic and we were struggling to be together to read) .... This would not have been my choice for a goal!  I have a hard time getting up in time to wake the kids for school as it is!  However, the past week the kids have popped right out of bed and gathered in the living room to read.  AWESOME!  2.   Have a Family Home Evening Chart.  We're pretty good at having FHE, but I tend to give the lessons & choose the treat and onl...

Okay....  so this treat platter hardly constitutes repast, however, we ate enough of it to count it as a meal a few times.   This was a fun year for cookies and candy.  I had a lot of help from Dave and the kids.  Dave is the Fudge King around here.  I've never made a batch in my life... he does a fabulous job!   The caramels are a recipe from Dave's Grandpa.  They turned out soft and chewy, just as I like them! Going around clockwise - starting at "12"... and not counting the caramel chocolate dipped pretzel sticks... Divinity Christmas Sugar Cookies Cracker Toffee Caramels Chocolate Nut and Craisin Clusters Peanut Butter Fudge Snowballs (better known as Mexican Wedding Cookies) Pralines Dave's fudge was done in a mini pie tin and is in the center of the tray wrapped in red cellophane.  This was my first year having success with pralines.  They were FABULOUS if I DO say so myself. (and I DO!)  We also made pinwhe...

Time to start making cookies for Christmas!   I don't know why Double Crunchers are reserved for Christmas treats around here, but that's almost the only time we make them.  These have a cream cheese chocolate filling spread between 2 oatmeal crunchy cookies.  Delicious!   This recipe comes from Dave's Grandma McKinnon.  She made all sorts of cookies and candies!  An amazing cook.   Double Crunchers 1 C. flour  1/2 C. shortening 1/2 C. brown sugar 1/2 C. sugar 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. vanilla 1 egg 1 C. quick oats 1 C. crushed cornflakes 1/2 C. shredded coconut (optional) Cream shortening, sugars, and egg.  Add vanilla and all other ingredients.  Mix well.  The dough will be a little crumbly.  Using 1 tsp. of dough each, shape 2/3 of the dough into balls.  Put on greased cookie sheet.  Flatten with the floured bottom of a glass.  Bake 8-10 minutes at ...

' This year we are excited to go to my parents house for Thanksgiving Dinner.  We've been on an every other year schedule since we've been married, one year with my family, the next with Dave's.  It sounds like it will be a smaller gathering this year... about 27 people.  Seventeen of those people are my own children and grandchildren.  :)  Our little family is growing!  Next year we'll be excited to join with Dave's side of the family to celebrate! I like to organize my week so I'm not doing all the prep Thanksgiving morning.  Tuesday I'll start on pie crusts, cutting bread into cubes (I baked bread and froze 2 loaves to save for this) for stuffing, dicing and shredding veggies.  Wednesday I'll bake pies, make carrot cake, and peel and cut up potatoes. (I just keep those in a large plastic bucket of water and put them in the garage until I'm ready to cook them Thursday morning - it stays just under 40 degrees out there right now - just like ...

  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 ...