Category Archives: Mennonite Girls Can Cook

Caramel Pecan Cookies

Caramel Pecan Cookies
These might seem a little involved to make, but they are worth it.

Basic Butter Cookies for Crust:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
    Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer (preferably fitted with paddle attachment) or 6 minutes with a hand held mixer. 
  2. Beat in egg and vanilla. 
  3. Reduce speed to low, then add flour mixture and mix until just combined.
  4. Grease a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan, then line with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on both ends, and grease foil.
  5. Press dough evenly onto bottom of baking pan, using plastic wrap on top to prevent dough from sticking to your fingers. 
  6. Chill until firm, about 20 minutes.
    While crust chills, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
    Bake crust until golden brown, about 30 minutes. 
  7. Cool in pan on a rack 20 minutes. (Leave oven on.)

Caramel pecan topping:

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups pecans (1/2 pound), toasted, cooled, and coarsely chopped

To make topping while crust cools:

  1. Cook sugar in a 2 1/2 to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt.
  2. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar is melted to a deep golden caramel. Tilt pan and carefully pour in cream (caramel will harden and steam vigorously).
  3. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved.
  4. Remove from heat and stir in butter, vanilla, salt, and pecans.
  5. Immediately spread topping over cooled crust and bake until bubbling, about 20 minutes.
  6. Cool completely in pan on rack, about 2 hours.
  8. Run a heavy knife under hot water, then wipe dry and cut confection into 2-inch triangles, diamonds, or squares.
  9. Caramel pecan cookies keep, layered between sheets of waxed paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.

Adieu to Summer Hodgepodge

A summer sea scape dinner party to celebrate the end of summer from our deck in our former home. This is also a nod to Addy’s creative under the sea outfit at the Feis. (End of post)

It’s time for Wednesday Hodgepodge and Joyce has a fresh batch of questions to prove it.

Dinner parties were mentioned in one of our questions so here are a collection of dinner parties from the past with the Mennonite Girls Can Cook in Canada.

1.  Are you more life of the party or more party pooper? If your answer is somewhere in the middle which side of the middle do you lean towards more? 

I think I’m a little above middle, more toward life than pooper. 🙂 I might be one of the first ones to say goodnight these days.

Birthday party, beach party, cocktail party, dinner party, charity fundraiser, surprise party, costume party, garden party, Christmas party, reunion...what’s your favorite kind of party? 

Dinner party and Christmas Party are my favorites!

2. Cheese, wine, and balsamic vinegar all improve with age. What would you personally add to the list? 

Personally I believe human beings, relationships, marriage, and friendships should all improve with age. Most importantly, my faith and trust in Christ should improve with age and I should be more like Christ each new year. This is challenging and humbling and something I’d never attain to without the Holy Spirit, our Helper.

3. How do you feel about your birthday? How do you want to be celebrated? Or don’t you? 

I enjoy my birthday regardless of fanfare. I do enjoy having special meals with loved ones to celebrate my birthday. I’m past needing or wanting gifts other than good times with family and friends. A card or note or text is gift enough.

4. What remarkable feat, interesting piece of trivia, or historical event occurred on your birth day and month? Not necessarily your same birth year, just the same date/month. 

March 14th: It is Pi (π) day, 3.14.

In 1942 Anne Miller became the first American patient to be treated with Penicillin on this day.

5. Share two good things about your life right now. 

Right now my health is good (I do have some typical old lady aches and pains) and my life in the country is good. I’m where I’m supposed to be. It is so good to be in the same town as our grandchildren.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

On Friday I’ll share more about Addy’s first Irish Feis!

This outfit isn’t representative of an Irish Feis but it played a special role in a creative dance challenge (Water, Under the Sea) at the end of the festival (feis).

Puff Pastry Treats

Here are some very easy recipes using puff pastry that I buy from the freezer aisle at the grocery store. These puff pastries come in handy when you need a fast and easy dessert or appetizer or even a breakfast treat.

I got this first idea from the Pioneer Woman and since apples are always in abundance I decided to start with an easy apple puff pastry treat.

4 apples cored cut in half and sliced.
1 cup brown sugar
Dash of salt
Juice of half a lemon
1 sheet of puff pastry thawed
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix brown sugar, salt and lemon juice together.
Prepare apples.
Gently mix in the apple slices with the brown sugar mixture.

Place sheet of puff pastry on parchment paper lined sheet pan.
Cut the pastry sheet in half
Arrange apple slices down the center of each sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden
Sprinkle the pecans over the apples on each half sheet of apple pastry.

For an extra treat drizzle with your favorite caramel sauce that has been heated.

Tomato, Tarragon & Cheese Puff

1 sheet puff pastry
2 cups grape tomatoes, sliced.
1-1/2 cups of your favorite cheese grated (I used Gruyere)
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/4 cup tarragon or basil leaves, roughly chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place sheet of puff pastry on parchment lined sheet pan.
Use a fork to punch holes all across the surface.
Scatter the tomatoes over the pastry.
Salt and pepper the tomatoes.
Top with your cheese choice.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake until pastry is golden brown, approx. 20 minutes or longer.
Let stand 5 minutes and then top with the roughly chopped tarragon or basil.
Slice and serve immediately.

This could be a meal for two or an appetizer selection for a small group.

This weekend is a full one and I’ll be away from my computer for a good spell of time. I’ll catch up with y’all next week!

Banana Blueberry Bread

We had a blueberry bush on our property in Kenmore and while we lived there I decided to combine some of the fresh berries with banana to make this loaf.

Ingredients:

  • 2-1/2 cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup walnuts
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup soft butter
  • 1 egg
  • 2 medium ripe bananas, cut up
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 3/4 cup fresh blueberries

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In medium bowl, sift together the flour baking powder and salt, set aside.
  3. Using a blender chop the walnuts and add them to the flour mixture.
  4. Put the sugar, butter, egg, bananas and milk in the same blender container that you chopped the walnuts in.
  5. Blend on medium for 15 seconds or so stopping the motor to push the bananas down if needed.
  6. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix for a few strokes then fold in the blueberries and mix carefully till well moistened.
  7. Pour batter into greased loaf pan, 9x5x3.
  8. Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
  9. Cool on rack.
  10. Serve warm with butter or cream cheese.

Yield: 1 loaf

The Road We Traveled

Our route for this one day road trip took us along Hwy 395 north across the Columbia River and then along the Kettle River to Boulder Creek Road. It was about 25 miles to Boulder Creek Road from home and then another 22 miles on Boulder Creek before we dropped into Curlew at Hwy 21. The Boulder Creek part of our trip took us over the Kettle River Range. In Curlew we crossed the highway and continued on Kettle Road along the Kettle River north to Customs Road crossing the Kettle river and continuing north to the Midway Border Crossing. This was another 16 miles.

There were warning signs along the road about range animals.

Approaching the highest elevation of our journey we met up with a slow full cement truck but luckily he pulled off a little after the pass and we were on the road alone again.

This section of the range was devastated by a fire in the recent past.

Back in lower elevations we dropped into Curlew.

We drove through the historical section of the little town.

It was very sleepy with no one about and few businesses still in operation.

Back along the Kettle River we continued up to the Border crossing.

We got to the tiny border crossing way too early so we circled back to try to find some spot that might include some restrooms.

Hooray for Beal Park and their humble offering.

The reflected views on the Kettle river were nice.

The Kettle River begins its journey to the Columbia River at Holmes Lake in British Columbia. It first enters the U.S. at Midway in Ferry County, Washington. It then loops down, south east, to Curlew, WA.; then heads north east to Danville, where it crosses back into Canada. The Kettle River then re-enters the U.S. at Laurier in Stevens County, where it proceeds south to join with the Columbia River, near Boyds, Washington. 

Back to the Border and we were the first crossing of the day. I wonder just how many crossings they encounter?

We enjoyed seven and a half hours with our friends at a campground about 1.4 Kilometers from the border crossing (that is under a mile) before we turned around and reversed our route home. (I shared our time with more photos here)  Those hours seemed to pass quickly. The campground was situated along the Kettle River. This road trip seemed centered on the Kettle River.

Our border crossings coming and going were both pleasant exchanges with the agents.

We saw more of the fire damage on our way home.

We were across the border by 4:30 pm and home by 6pm. It was a good full day.

To Canada!

On Friday the 29th of August we left early for a little road trip to Canada to meet up with a couple of the Mennonite Girls and their husbands who were camping close to the border in Midway, B.C. We traveled new roads to us.

Instead of deer, we were on the lookout for cattle along Boulder Creek Road.

Today I’ll share the destination and the time with our friends and tomorrow I’ll show more of the sites along the way.

Our route was well marked. In the near future, I’ll share what we learned about Ranald MacDonald, too.

We knew this small border crossing closed at 5pm but we didn’t realize it didn’t even open until 9am. We were early so we tracked back to the little town of Curlew and we were pleased to see this sani-can!

Thank you, Beal Park, for your facilities.

We were back at the border crossing at 9am and were welcomed into Canada with a tip that we should be back to the crossing at 4:45pm to insure that the border wouldn’t be closed.

We found Lovella and Judy’s campsite which was about 3 minutes from the border and it was so good to see our friends face to face.

The table was set for our breakfast together.

Judy and Lovella served us a feast!

After our delicious breakfast we played a few rounds of Skyjo!

We had a good catch up time and we might have solved some world problems.

We had another fabulous meal together that we called linner before we said our goodbyes and headed for the border!

Our Linner even came with dessert, fruit filled perishky!

It was such a nice time together but it was time to wave goodbye and head to the border.

Thank you, friends, for your hospitality at your home away from home.

We crossed the border after a nice chat with the border agent and made it home by 6pm.

Saturday was a stay at home and relax day. Sunday we were in church and afterwards stayed inside because of smoke from a few fires burning in our area.

We can’t see our beautiful mountains.

These fires are about 12 miles north of us.

This photo above is from our county fire agency. The fire is in rugged areas that are hard to get to. We are hoping all the agencies and volunteers fighting these fires make progress today. Such hard intense work.

Another photo from Northeast Washington Fire Information Group. This was the caption for this mornings briefing;

Crown Creek – Blackhawk Mtn Fires
Good morning from Fire Camp in Colville and 0600 morning briefing. About 550 crews have arrived to help engage and manage the fire, with more crews arriving throughout the day. 550? That is about 10% growth for the city of Colville.
What an amazing turnout!

Today is Labor Day here in the USA and Canada and we also welcome September! School in our area will start tomorrow and Awana starts on Wednesday.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Apple Walnut Crisp

Apple Walnut Crisp

Ingredient:

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1-1/4 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
  • 3 cups apples – peeled, cored, then sliced or chopped
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Lightly grease an 8 inch square pan.
  3. Combine brown sugar, oats, flour, nuts, and butter in large bowl.
  4. Place half of this crumb mixture into pan and press down.
  5. Cover this layer evenly with apples.
  6. Sprinkle the apples with the white sugar and cinnamon.
  7. Top with remaining crumb mixture.
  8. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream and enjoy!

Happy Monday everyone.

Swinging with the Hodgepodge

Our son, Josh, golfing at St. Michaels golf club in Scotland before we visited St. Andrews.  Our dear DIL, Laura is the photographer.

Since Joyce informed us that August is National Golf month, I’m adding some photos of some favorite golf shots involving our family.

It is Wednesday and time to post answers to Joyce’s weekly Hodgepodge questions.

1. August is National Golf month…do you play? Do you enjoy following golf? Have you ever been to a professional tournament? 

When our kids were in high school and I was part of the PTA, we raised money by serving at snack bars for a professional tournament in our town at the Inglewood Golf Club.

In 2024 while travelling in Scotland with Josh and Laura we toured one of the most famous Golf courses in the world, St. Andrews.

I don’t follow golf except for enjoying photos of our sons or nephew from the golf courses they enjoy a round of golf at. Just this past week our son, Josh, enjoyed a course in Otsego, New York. Josh and Laura traveled for a Baseball tournament that Laura’s brother and nephew were participants in at Cooperstown Dream Park.

Otsego Golf Club was established in 1894 and is one of America’s oldest courses. it is located on the shores of Otsego Lake and just nine miles from Cooperstown, NY.

In 1904 the club was taken over by Arthur Ryerson who as history tells traveled to St. Andrews golf course in his lifetime. Ryerson, traveling back from Great Britain, died heroically in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

2. Astronaut Jim Lovell of Apollo 13 fame passed away this past Thursday. Are you interested in outer space and what’s happening today in terms of space exploration? If space travel became common in your lifetime would you go? How do you personally relate to the idea of exploring something vast and mysterious…does the idea excite you, intimidate you, or something else? 

I’m not leaving the earth until the Rapture occurs or until God calls me home. I do admire space travelers. I’ll stick to exploring less vast and mysterious places like abbeys and cathedrals and ancient towns.

3. Describe your communication style in three words. 

I might need 4 words. Better written than spoken. 

My spoken words can get jumbled and aren’t as clear to my intentions as my written words can be. I’m not a great verbal communicator.

Our present culture is so divided that I’m passive in my communication amongst those with certain ‘strong feelings’ about things that do not pertain to eternity. I’m amending what I said before here with the fact that although it is not politics that set the standard for salvation, there are moral issues in policies and laws that go against the Bible and will be a hindrance to peace with God. I do speak up about these issues that do matter and applaud others with a strong voice.  It does matter who you are spiritually.

I’ll still be bold in communicating things that matter eternally regardless of ‘feelings’. Every person in the human race has only two destinations eternally. The Bible is clear about these two destinations, heaven and hell.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

Jesus Christ will return to this world in judgement. The only way to be saved from the eternal consequences of your sin is to enter through the narrow gate, repenting (turning from your sin) and calling on the Son of God who gave his life for you, taking the penalty for our sins.

There was one door into the ark that saved Noah and his family from the flood. Similarly, there is only one door that can save us from eternal judgement. Jesus Christ is that door. The Bible states that now is the day of salvation. If you have not already done so, will you turn from your sins and call on the risen Lord Jesus to save you?

By faith, enter the only door that leads to eternal life today. Here’s a link that gives life saving information.

4. Do you have a favorite cookbook?

I’ll have to toot my own horn and say that the cookbooks that I’m part of with the Mennonite girls are my favorites, Mennonite Girls Can Cook, Celebrations by Mennonite Girls Can Cook and Bread for the Journey.

A favorite celebrity chef?

Jamie Oliver and Ina Garten are two celebrity favorites and I’m happy to say I’ve met both of them in person. We met Jamie Oliver at one of his restaurants in London and I met Ina Garten at a book signing in Kirkland, Washington at Sur La Table.

Do you watch any cooking shows on TV? 

I do enjoy the Great British Baking Show but we do not have Netflix so I haven’t been able to watch it recently.

5. As a child did you have any back to school traditions? If so, did you carry on those same traditions with your own children? Do you have any back to school traditions you’ve started on your own? 

Growing up our back to school traditions involved new outfits and a new pair of shoes to wear for school. Our children were given the option to wear something new for back to school.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

More golfing favorites.

dave and daniel

Our son, Dan, golfing with our dear friend, David Dickinson (1950-2016), who shared his love of golf with his sons and our sons. This was the day before Dan and Jamie’s wedding, June of 2015. Dave died a year later.

dave and daniel2

Our boys golfing with Jamie Dickinson, Dave’s youngest son and a best friend to our boys. This was just a couple weeks ago.

I can take great joy in vicariously enjoying golf through our loved ones experiences.

“Hit em long and straight, boys!”

I went to play golf and tried to shoot my age, but I shot my weight instead. – Bob Hope

Tea ~ MGCC Cookbook

Welcome to Tea Time 2025. These posts will be about Tea Rooms we’ve been to, Teas we’ve given for friends and family, Church Tea events, and High Tea in restaurants from 2008 to the present. Tea in the U.S.A., Tea in England and Tea in Canada. Many of the Tea Rooms are no longer in business, which is sad.

Seventeen years ago today the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog was launched by Lovella.

The Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog began on June 7, 2008. I’m adding links to the beginning of the blog and to some of the anniversary blog posts from Lovella.

Here is Lovella’s post from our 1 year anniversary.

This was our third year anniversary.

Ten Year Anniversary Post.

The ten year anniversary post announced that we would not be publishing a recipe a day anymore on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog. Since 2018 recipes from the past have been refreshed and published.

This next Tea Time post was for our MGCC Celebrations book photos. It happened in July of 2012. There wasn’t a post about this tea because it would soon be featured in our 2nd Cookbook, Celebrations.

We gathered in Bev’s garden and set a tea table. We had all prepared several of the dishes that would be featured in our new cookbook to enjoy together.

It was a photo-op for the cookbook and for the promotion of the cookbook.

All the recipes for these tea delights can be found in our cookbook.

This time in our lives was a continuation of a whirlwind of activities stemming from the launch of our first cookbook and then our 2nd cookbook. We had book signing events from Abbotsford to Chilliwack and Manitoba and more events that stemmed from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Play in Indiana and Ohio.

Our last major publication was our devotional, Bread for the Journey, which was published in 2016.

My posts about this new journey publication are here and here.

Our day to day new recipe postings have ceased but our friendship our ‘Tenship’ continues. We have experiences and ties that will continue to connect us for the rest of our lives. Thanks be to God for His Providence in bringing us together seventeen years ago.

A Foray into the Hodgepodge

We have daffodils in two different areas in our yard. These burst open later than the ones I showed before. It’s always a surprise and joy to see them pop up and open their heads without any effort on my part.

Thank you to Joyce for coming up with the Wednesday Hodgepodge questions each week!

1. The Hodgepodge lands on National Picnic Day…will you celebrate? Do you enjoy picnics? Dining out of doors picnic or otherwise? What are three or four things I’d find in your picnic basket?

Typically, I am not a fan of picnics or dining outside. The temp and bug situation has to be just right for outside eating. I do like to picnic inside. Avocado, salami, baguette, pickled vegetables would be in my picnic basket.

2.  A time recently where you felt ‘antsy’?

Sometimes when I wake in the night and can’t get back to sleep I can get antsy.

3. As the saying goes…’when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’  Do you like lemonade?

I do enjoy lemonade.

When did you recently need to make lemonade out of lemons, figuratively speaking?

My meal planning and execution can fall into this saying. Making a meal out of limited supplies because I didn’t plan ahead.

4. Recently five ‘celebrities’ made a brief (ll minute) foray into space aboard Jeff Bezos Blue Origin rocket. Did you hear about this? Your thoughts? If money were no object is this something you’d like to do someday?
We know someone who works for this company. I should have asked him what he thought of this foray. I did hear about it. I would never want to do it. Their little foray was dabbling, more of a stunt.
5. Favorite thing about the ‘space’ you’re sitting in right now? 
I’m sitting in my morning space. The space I have my coffee and start the day with my Bible reading and devotional reading. My notebook is open and ready for any thing I feel like documenting. Then I transition into reading emails and blogs. I love the space because I can see part of our yard and the mountains in the distance and our books are all around me. The other thing that is close by are the recent artwork our Grands have created and photos of loved ones as prayer prompts.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

For April I’m challenging myself to an A-Z photo a day excluding Sundays and in addition to any regular posts that come to be.

Today is Wednesday April 23rd and we are on the letter T.

T is for Tea as in going out to a tearoom or friend’s home to enjoy tea or having high tea in the United Kingdom.

I have been fortunate to be able to enjoy some very nice ‘high teas’ and ‘tea times’. I’m going to have to do a separate post for my tea focus besides this shout out to the challenge here.

The lovely tea above was at the home of Lovella with most of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook several years ago.