Category Archives: Recipes

Pear Crumble

On our previous property we had a pear tree that produced lots of pears and this is one of the recipes that I made to use some of the pears up.
 This is a simple to make recipe with the preparing of the pears taking the most time in the process.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 2-1/2 cups quick oats
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup melted butter
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (may be omitted)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 cups pears, peeled, cored and chopped (this was about 13 pears)
  • 1/3 cup white sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
  3. Mix together first 6 ingredients to make the crumble portion.
  4. Sprinkle the chopped pears evenly with the mixture of white sugar and cinnamon.
  5. Press half of the crumble mixture onto the bottom of the pan all the way to the edges.
  6. Top the crumble with all the prepared pears evenly.
  7. Sprinkle the remaining half of crumble mixture over the pears evenly. You can press down lightly.
  8. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes.
  9. Serve warm or cooled with ice cream or whip cream or just as it is.

You can cut this recipe in half and bake it in a 8 or 9 inch square pan.

Friday in Spokane

The main reason for our weekend stay in Spokane was to watch our granddaughter compete in the annual Irish Feis at the Convention Center. The Feis would begin at 8am on Saturday. We arrived to Spokane on Friday late morning and did some of our usual shopping before we ventured all the way into the Downtown area. Our first stop before we would check in to our hotel was the MAC~Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. This museum is in an older historical neighborhood of Spokane. The houses surrounding the museum were all quite grand.

There was a special exhibit on called Iron and Honor: The Art of Knighthood

The contents of this exhibit were a collaboration from Italy.

On the grounds of the museum we spotted this small statues in bronze on our way to the Campbell house (mansion) and Carriage House which was open for visits on this Friday.

They are called ‘The Return of the Four Leggeds”

The historic Campbell House was built in 1898. The greatest advancements in technology were included like indoor plumbing, hot and cold running water, electricity, central heat and a telephone. The Campbells lived in the house with their servants for 26 years. In 1924 the house was donated to the Eastern Washington Historical Society.

What a grand entrance hall! The house is approximately 13,000 square feet on three floors.

This reception room was a bit out of place for the design of the house in general. It did make us say, Wow. “Mrs. Campbell received callers on Thursdays in this room. It is decorated in the French Rococo style and has silk moire and gold gilt on the walls.”

You can see why the pink room seemed out of place in contrast to all the other ground floor rooms.

Up the grand staircase to the bedrooms. There were a few other smaller staircases going up and also down to the basement rooms.

We had a nice chat with the docent who was sitting in the kitchen. It was interesting to read the hand written menu courses for a typical evening meal. Fourteen courses! The cookie recipe is one that the house serves during their special Christmas openings for tours.

We ended our house tour in the Carriage house where the electric car is housed and a lot of history and displays are available to read and on videos to watch.

At this point on Friday our room was ready at the hotel. We drove to the hotel and checked in. I used a mobile key entry for the first time and was quite proud of myself that it worked. After freshening up we walked to Tavolata for dinner. A little Italian theme happening with the Italian Knighthood exhibit and then an Italian dinner. This walk along Spokane Falls Blvd. gave us a few moments to experience the Good Samaritan story (we did not identify as the Good Samaritan on this walk, we moved to the other side of the road).

We enjoyed this meal celebrating Greg’s birthday again. We would recommend this restaurant especially at Happy Hour with same dinner portions at a lower cost. After dinner we had a pleasant walk back to the hotel.

Our Colville kids arrived to the hotel after dinner and came to our room to visit and to say goodnight. Early to bed to rest up before a full day on Saturday.

Greg’s Birthday Hodgepodge

This year Wednesday Hodgepodge has landed on Greg’s Birthday. We will be celebrating simply today and more grandly on Friday in Spokane.

Our lovely hostess, Joyce, has another batch of Wednesday Hodgepodge questions mixed up for us. Thank You, Joyce!

1. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?  On a scale of 1-10 how much of a fan are you? (10 is never miss a game and 1 is I’m just here for the snacks). Who’s your team? If you’re playing along today, but live outside the US feel free to sub your feelings about futbol for the more American sport of football. 

I like college football. We have 3 graduates of the University of Washington in our family so we are always ready to cheer the Huskies on. They beat their cross state rival on Sunday at the Apple Cup. My favorite sport is soccer/futbol. I keep up with English Premier league and of course I follow the Seattle Sounders. I’m a 10 for soccer and a 5 for football.

2. What’s something you currently have a game plan for managing? 

I am trying to clean up my blog, long story. I made great headway over Labor Day Weekend while I had the time. I don’t know how long it will take but I’m committed to getting the job done. Some of the posts on my blog from the past have disappeared and I’ll be reposting the ones that are more dear to me here and there under the heading of Blog Restoration.

3. Do you like chicken wings? Hot, mild, or some other flavor? What’s a must have food for you on a tailgate menu? I know tailgating isn’t as big of a thing outside the US of A as it is inside the US of A, but you can also answer the question this way-what’s a must have food for you at a sporting event viewing party? 

I do like chicken wings with moist towelettes handy. Hot dogs/brats and beans or mac and cheese sound like something good on a tailgate sturdy paper plate! For watching Fall or winter sporting events at home a big pot of chili, cornbread and chips and salsa is good and easy.

4. Teams typically have strict playbooks they follow. What is one unwritten rule or piece of advice in your ‘life playbook’ you think everyone should know?

Just one? I wrote this quote down from J.C. Ryle this week and it serves this question well.

“We must not pretend we are wiser than God.”

And from a recent sermon by our Pastor; “We don’t practice sin, we fight it!”

5. This is the week we remember and mourn all that was lost and changed on September 11, 2001. I always include a spot for bloggers to share anything they’d like to share about 9/11. Share as much or as little as you like. 

On 9-11-2001 We were living in Kenmore, Washington. We put this flag on the side of our home that faced the street. We really didn’t know what else to do.

It was so surreal, so shocking, so disturbing and it changed our world as we know it.

I have a full post set to publish on Friday in remembrance of this day 25 years ago.

6.Insert your own random thought here. 

Back to the birthday boy. Today he is 73. I like to think he’s catching up to me but come March I’ll still be a few years ahead of him.

Photo Above from a couple years ago and photo below several years ago with our middle son.

Today, on his birthday, he is with our middle son helping him to fell trees and loading those logs into the truck for firewood. They are in the Colville National Forest. Greg has the gift of service.

Yesterday I made this treat for him. It’s his favorite. It’s my recipe in the Mennonite Girls Can Cook, Celebrations Cookbook. We will enjoy that treat today at some point.

Looking forward to visiting and reading more answers to the questions or prompts.

Avocado Mango Salsa

To bloggers using blogger.com, for some unknown reason my comments will not publish. I’ve visited several of you and the same thing happens. Hopefully the issue will be fixed soon. I type my comment, hit publish and it stays in publish mode without doing anything. Bah Humbug. 
Update! Looks like blogger fixed the glitch. I’ll be around to catch-up!

This fresh salsa made from mangoes and avocado will add a different layer of flavor for your enjoyment. It is full of fresh ingredients that taste delicious with tortilla chips.

Ingredients:

  • 2 avocados peeled, pitted and chopped into bite size pieces
  • 1 ripe mango peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
  • 1 bunch of cilantro chopped
  • 2 tablespoons red onion minced
  • 1/2 jalapeno seeded and minced
  • Juice from 1 lime
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Gently mix all ingredients together and enjoy with tortilla chips. This served 6 people as an appetizer.

Easy Blueberry Loaf

This is a quick easy bread to make using Bisquik or another pancake and baking mix

Ingredients:

1 egg
3/4 cup of sugar
1- 1/2 cups milk
3 cups Bisquik mix
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup finely chopped almonds
3/4 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan by greasing it.
Beat the egg and add the sugar beating until well combined.
Add the milk and Bisquick mix and beat well.
Stir in almonds and almond extract.
Carefully blend in blueberries.
Pour batter in prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 50 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean, ovens vary so check at 45 minutes. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes and then remove from pan onto wire rack to continue cooling. Slice and enjoy.

 

Mac and Cheese Salad

This macaroni salad can be served hot or cold and it can also be kicked up by adding cooked and seasoned ground beef to make a more hearty meal.

Ingredients:

  • 16 ounces of small elbow macaroni cooked in well salted water
  • 5 ounces of crumbled feta cheese
  • 4 ounces grated fresh Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup or more of fresh baby spinach julienned
  • 3 green onions chopped
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Bring a big pot of water to boil with a good amount of salt.
  2. Add the elbow macaroni and cook to a nice al dente stage.
  3. Drain water and add a little olive oil to slightly coat the elbow macaroni.
  4. Immediately add the feta and Parmesan cheese while macaroni is still hot.
  5. Add green onions and spinach.
  6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Toss and serve hot or you can refrigerate to serve cold at a later time.

If you want a more hearty meal instead of a nice side dish add some cooked seasoned ground beef to the salad and top with a little more Parmesan cheese. If you want the dish to be cheesier just add more feta and Parmesan cheese. You can also add more green onions or spinach. It’s up to you and your taste buds.

Easy Pasta Meal

In the carefree summertime it’s good to have a few no pressure, no fussing meals to fall back on.
This simple meal takes less then 20 minutes to prepare and can be served up with a simple green salad and some bread. Here’s my carefree pasta meal.

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounce package pasta of your choice
  • 24 ounce jar of Alfredo or other sauce of your choice
  • 1-2 cups ground turkey or chicken, cooked fully
  • 1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup sliced green onions/scallions
  • 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
  • fresh grated parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Cook 12 ounces of pasta of your choice in salted water to al dente and drain.
  2. Leave in pot.
  3. Add a jar of Spaghetti Sauce or your favorite sauce to the noodles.
  4. Add the cooked ground chicken or turkey.
  5. Add fresh chopped tomatoes and chopped green onion.
  6. Add fresh sliced mushrooms.
  7. Cook all ingredients together until sufficiently heated through.
  8. Season to taste and serve with garlic bread.

A Lemony Hodgepodge

Our lemony day lilies in their glory.

Joyce has some fresh squeezed questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. Do your goals and dreams energize or exhaust you? Elaborate. 

If I had unrealistic goals or dreams, I would probably be exhausted. These days I have simple goals and dreams and they energize me. I like to plan and I love a good plan. Truthfully, I get a little melancholy if I don’t have anything to plan.

2. July 23rd is national lemon day. Are you a fan of this flavor?

I am a fan of lemon flavor.

What’s a favorite dish or beverage you enjoy that calls for lemons? 

I really enjoy this salad dressing that calls for fresh lemon juice.

Lemon curd is a favorite to enjoy on scones or in pastries.

3. “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade“…is this something you’re pretty good at managing? Have you had to do this recently? If so tell us about it. 

Yes, I’d say I do pretty good at managing but that is because of knowing who holds the world together and who is the author of life. I’m in His hands.

Recently when our heat pump stopped pumping out cold air we managed with other tricks of the trade by cooling our house down overnight into the morning. We also bought a tower fan that moved the air for us quietly.

4. Something you love that is lemon yellow in color? 

I like the lemony border on these plates. We don’t have a lot of lemony things in our home. I love the lemon colored day lilies that pop up in early summer in our yard.

5. How would you describe your attention to detail? 

When it comes to planning a trip, planning a meal for company, planning how to set the table or planning holiday decor, I’m all about the details.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Speaking of Lemons, this memory of our Grands with a Lemonade stand at their Granny’s birthday party was so sweet to revisit.

Hope your summer days are filled with refreshing treats like lemonade.