Category Archives: Homemaking

Recipe Round Up ~ Snackalicious Super Dishes

Just in time for this year’s Super Bowl on February 3rd, Pensieve is hosting Snackalicious Super Dishes and Rebecca Writes’ January’s Recipe Round Up in one lip-smacking, crowd-pleasing carnival and YOU’RE invited!

Here’s my contribution. A wonderful Chili from one of my favorite cookbooks!

 

Mount Rainier Chili (serves twelve to fourteen)

Ingredients:

1 pound Great Northern white beans, rinsed and picked over
2 pounds boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups onion, chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 – 4 ounce cans chopped mild green chilies
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1- 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
8 cups chicken stock
1  12oz. can beer
3 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded and divided

sour cream
salsa
fresh cilantro leaves chopped

Soaking time overnight. Place bean in a large, heavy pot. Add enough cold water to cover by at least 3 inches. Cover and soak overnight.

Place chicken in a large, heavy saucepan. Add cold water to cover and bring to a simmer. Cook until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and cool. Remove skin and cut chicken into cubes.

Drain beans into large colander. Heat oil in same pot. Add onions and saute over medium-low heat until translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, green chilies, cumin, oregano, cloves and cayenne. Saute 2 minutes. Add beans and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 4 hours. Add additional water if necessary. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and bring to a simmer before continuing.) Add chicken, beer and 1 cup of cheese. Stir until cheese melts. Ladle chili into bowls. Serve with remaining cheese, sour cream, salsa and cilantro leaves to sprinkle on top.

This is a wonderful white chili from one of my favorite cookbooks from the Junior League of Seattle, Simply Classic. I recommend this cookbook highly because every recipe I have made from the book has been wonderful.

To see more recipes head over to Pensieve’s here.

Show & Tell ~ Wedding Shower Favors?

Ellen b. is not known for being one to sit around making crafts. In fact I have a reputation for being not so crafty. That however does not mean I never get inspired to try to make something “cute”. I was inspired by Vicki at Windows to My Soul when she posted a great Christmas gift idea. A whisk stuffed with candy kisses wrapped in cellophane and tied with a pretty ribbon. On the card she wrote “Whisking you a Merry Christmas”.

I decided I wanted to do the same thing but with smaller whisks and for a New Year’s Gift for my Mom, Sisters and Nieces since we weren’t together on Christmas but we are having dinner together this week. These would also make great party favors for a wedding shower. Here’s the process I went through to make these.

 

The whisks were purchased at Business Costco in Washington State. They were very reasonable ($2.25) for the small ones.

You gently pull apart the whisk and gently stuff the head with Kisses.

You can use food wrap to seal the head of the whisk or you can buy that fancy cellophane that you use for making gift baskets.

Tie the bow on with a gift card and you have a cute gift or party favor. Fun all around…

Here’s how they looked at the place settings for our dinner.

For more Show and Tell head over to Kelli’s!

Home Made Pizza

So I made my trip to Trader Joe’s last week and got inspired by their “Almost whole wheat pizza dough”. From the dough I made my way to the fresh mozzarella, then to the pizza sauce, next came fresh basil, fresh roma tomatoes, and mushrooms. Couldn’t leave without an onion and garlic. I love onion and garlic. Put it all together…

Throw it in the oven. I don’t own a pizza stone but if you have one use it. While it is baking toss together a fresh salad.

 

And Enjoy! Bon Appetit!

Vareniky the Bagdanov Way ~ Russian Recipe

The Ladies got together to make Vareniky together at my niece Debbee’s house. Look at those cute aprons on Michelle, Melissa, Debbee, Letty, and mom! I want to say at the top here that this recipe is for a lot of vareniky. So you’ll need to do the math and cut it down. This recipe makes about 40 or 50.

Vareniky

  • 6 eggs
    1- 1/2 C. half and half
    1/2 C Sour Cream
    1 T. Oil
  • 1T. Salt
    3 T. sugar
    Flour sifted (at least 8 Cups)

Extra cube of butter and half and half for sauce at the end…

Sift flour. Make a hole in the center of the flour. Combine eggs, half n half, sour cream, salt, and sugar. Beat until combined. Pour into the hole of flour. Mix and knead adding flour until dough stays together. Dough will be very soft.

Filling:

3 lbs. farmers cheese or hoop cheese
2 eggs
1 t. salt
3 T sugar

Beat all ingredients together until combined.

Roll out flour mixture. Cut circles about 3″ in diameter. Put about 1 heaping teaspoon of the cheese in the center of the circle. Fold in half and pinch ends together then flute with finger. Place the vereniky in boiling water until they come to the surface and float. Drain and cool. At this point they may be frozen.

This is what they are suppose to look like. Just remember this one was made by a pro!

That’s the cheese mixture in the bowl that you fill them with.

This is the boiling step.

To serve, place vareniky into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Melt one cube of butter and pour over vareniky. Heat up half and half and cover the vareniky with the half n half. Bake at 375 degrees until the half n half boils. Serve with sour cream and preserves or syrup.

My family traditionally has these for dessert on Christmas Eve when they get together. They are also a favorite for breakfast. The joy of receiving and eating these treats is always wonderful. I’m going to have to be in L.A. for one of the cooking parties so I can really learn how to make them and enjoy them in the future!

Photo Hunters ~ Delicious!

Delicious or as we like to say with a Russian accent Duhliscious!

 

This is the delicious baked treat we had over Christmas and New Years. I will be posting the recipe in the future for my Russian friends who don’t have this recipe (Roolyet) handed down to them.

For more Photo Hunters go see TnChick!

Christmas Tour of Homes ~ 2007

 Boo Mama is hosting a Bloggy tour of Christmas homes. Come join the fun.

Christmas Tour of Homes

Please do come in and enjoy my home at this beautiful Christmas time. Jesus has prepared the way for us to love and enjoy this season. There would not be a Christmas worth celebrating without Him!

The wreath welcomes you at the front door. Please do come in and make yourself at home.

I’ve been busy preparing for your visit.

From a Christmas past on to Christmas present…

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care…

and lighted garland is placed here and there…

Some Christmas decorations handed down from years gone by…

Now here’s a Caramel Pecan treat before we go any further. If you enjoy them you can find the recipe here.

Now to some tables set for my friends. First red and green on cream.

or how about gold with green?

Here’s the fun Christmas breakfast table set for the family with placecards and placemats from long, long ago.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my home. It would be so much fun to see you in person and share a cup of coffee, cocoa, eggnog or tea to go with the Caramel pecan cookies. We could sit by the fire and enjoy the lights on the tree. Blessings on your day touring other homes. Click here to continue your tour from Boo Mama’s.

Show & Tell Friday ~ Fun Christmas Table

Last year at the after Christmas sales I bought these great chair covers for half-price. Our everyday and breakfast Christmas table is casual and fun with Santa Bear place-mats from our daughter Katie’s 2nd birthday party 20 years ago.

The chair covers are Christmas hats with a little bells on the back of the covers that jingle when you move the chair.

For more Show and Tell head over to There’s No Place Like Home.

Soup-Tacular…because it’s cold, y’all

 

It's A Soup-Tacular!

I’m joining BooMama and others in the bloggy world for Soup-Tacular. If you’d like to see more soup recipes click here and enjoy the carnival…

I found this wonderful recipe in the Better Home and Gardens Hometown Cooking February 2000 edition. I tweaked a couple things.

Mexican Corn Soup (prep: 15 min. Cooking: 10 min.)

1 – 16 ounce pkg. frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
1 – Cup chicken broth (I used the whole can of chicken broth and just 1 cup of milk instead of two so I wouldn’t have a half a can of broth left.
2 – Tablespoons butter or margarine
1 – 4-1/2 ounce can diced green chili peppers
1 – clove garlic, minced
1 – Tablespoon snipped fresh oregano or l tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/4 – tsp. salt
1/4 – tsp. ground black pepper
2 – cups milk (I used one cup see chicken broth above)
1 – cup chopped, cooked chicken
1 – cup chopped tomatoes (I used a can of diced tomatoes w/jalapeno, med/hot)
1 – cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (4 oz.)
cilantro as garnish if you like it

[The soup is great with the full can of broth and tomatoes. I do not like half cans left over. ]

In a blender container combine half of the corn and the chicken broth. Cover; blend until nearly smooth.

In a large saucepan, combine corn puree, remaining corn, butter, chili peppers, garlic, dried oregano (if using), salt, and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir in milk, chicken, tomatoes, and fresh oregano (if using); heat through. remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted. Sprinkle with fresh parsley if desired (this is where I substitute cilantro instead)

Enjoy

If you’d like my mother’s recipe for a great pot of Russian Borsch click here.

WFMW ~ Last Minute Meal with What’s in the Pantry!

Here it is folks the easiest meal in the world that my kids have loved for years! They are adults now and they still like it. It’s pretty boring but you can spice it up a bit if you like by adding a little onion or garlic or more mushrooms. BUT we’re talking about what kids will eat (I think) and this is one they seem to eat without complaint.

Throw the noodles in salted water that is boiling. Cook them to al dente. In a bowl mix the tuna (I use one can of albacore and one can of the regular cheap tuna) and the cream of mushroom soup add garlic or onion powder if you want and add a little milk. When the noodles are ready drain the water then throw the tuna mix in and heat through. That’s it. I don’t even throw it into the oven. When the kids were little we always had a can of Green Giant corn niblets with it!

So this is such a beige meal you might want to add a nice green salad or green beans to make it look healthier! 🙂

You can also make a tuna melt with bread, tuna, and cheese. Serve it with a can of tomato soup!

Now here’s something for the adults to have after the kids finish the tuna noodle.

A PUMPKIN PIE MARTINI

3 oz. vanilla vodka, 1 oz. pumpkin puree, 1 oz. half and half, 1 T. brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. McCormick pumpkin spice

Shake all ingredients until well combined. Strain into prepared glass.  (wet rim of martini glass and dip it in brown sugar) pour combined liquid into glass.

Ok we tried this and it’s one stiff drink.  A nice shot of whip cream would be great too….

To see more last minute meals head over to Shannon’s at Rocks in My Dryer.