Black Walnut Gingerbread

Our black walnuts are falling. Unfortunately, the harvest is very small but fortunately, I have a lot of the nut meat from the bumper crop we had in the Fall of 2009. I love my deep freeze and the pantry. This recipe is from a cookbook from 1950, Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking so it calls for shortening. I still like to use it is the form Crisco. We try to eat fairly healthy so I’ll call a “Mulligan” on the shortening.

  • 1 cup Light Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Shortening
  • 1/2 cup Molasses
  • 1 cup Boiling Water
  • 3 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground Cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground Ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Eggs
  • 3/4 cup chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large mixing bowl cream sugar and shortening together. Add molasses and water and beat until well mixed. Shift the flour, baking soda, spices and salt and gradually add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture. Beat well after each addition of the dry ingredients. One at a time add the eggs. Then add the chopped walnuts. Lightly grease a loaf pan and dust with flour. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.   I like this loaf with coffee on a chilly Fall morning.

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Hunter Style Stew

This dish is a hearty stew for the coming cool seasons. Serve with crusty bread and creamy butter.

  • 2 pounds Beef or Bison Round, cubed
  • 2 pounds lean Pork, cubed
  • 3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
  • 1 small Sweet Onion, chopped
  • 2 large cloves Garlic, peeled nad pressed
  • 1 can (15 ozs) Whole Tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon Celery Seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon Caraway Seeds
  • 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
  • 1 medium head Cabbage, chopped
  • 1 can (15 ozs) Sauerkraut, drained
  • 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Sugar or Sugar Substitute

Over medium heat in a large pot heat the EVOO and brown the meat cubes. Add onions and garlic. Saute until tender. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Stir occasionally for 1 1/2  to 2 hours or until meat is tender. Discard bay leaf and serve stew warm.

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Okra Chowder

Although the most well known chowders have seafood in them, there are wonderful vegetable chowders that are so filling. Now, take okra. Some people love it nad some people hate it. We really love okra in all of its forms. This soup doesn’t freeze well for me so we eat it up in several days. I use a dehydrated soup mix to make it a bit faster to prepare.

  • 1 small Sweet Onion, diced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon unsalted Butter
  • 1 medium Tomato, peeled and chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried Thyme
  • 1 whole Bay Leaf
  • 1 tablespoon fresh Parsley, chopped
  • 1 quart Water
  • 1 packet (2.5 ozs) tomato vegetable soup mix
  • 1 package (10 ozs) of frozen sliced Okra or 10 ozs of fresh sliced
  • Sea salt and Pepper to taste

Over medium heat, melt butter in a 2 quart saucepan. Saute onion in the butter until tender about 8 minutes. Add tomato, thyme, bay leaf, parsley. Cook and cook for 5 minutes. add the water and soup mix. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir occasionally. Add okra and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove bay leaf and serve warm.

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Spiced Carrots

This is fast and easy side that will compliment almost any meat main dish. Made with a package of baby carrots it is even faster to prepare.

  • 1 package of Baby Carrots
  • 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Sugar or Sugar Substitute
  • 1/4 cup melted unsalted Butter
  • 4 whole Cloves
  • Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook the carrots in boiling water until crisp tender. Drain. Mix vinegar, sugar, butter and cloves. Warm the mix. Remove the whole cloves and pour the mix over the carrots. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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Bubble and Squeak 2

My friend, SueEllen, shared her recipe for Bubble and Squeak. Thank you! The original recipe came from a cookbook called, “Whole Foods for the Whole Family”. You can use the ingredient amounts from the first Bubble and Squeak to start and change them to fit your family’s taste. Experiment!

  • Sausage of your choice, SueEllen uses Turkey
  • Cabbage, sliced or chopped
  • Potatoes, cooked and chopped
  • Apple Cider Vinegar

 Cook the sausage in a skillet with EVOO. Remove from skillet and saute the cabbage in the same skillet. Add the potatoes. Return the sausage to the skillet with the cabbage and potatoes. Splash on the vinegar. If you like vinegar, add a bit more. Season to your taste. Let the mix brown and serve warm.

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Carrot Zucchini Muffins

These are great with coffee in the morning or as a midnight snack.

  • 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1/3 cup packed Light Brown Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried ground Ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine ground Sea Salt
  • 1 cup Whole Milk
  • 1/3 cup Orange Juice
  • 1/3 cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
  • 2 large Eggs
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup fine shredded Carrots
  • 3/4 cup fine shredded Zucchini

Preheat oven 375 F.

Grease six 3 inch crown muffin tins. In a large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg and salt.  I a small bowl mix milk, orange juice, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir the milk mixture into the dry ingredients.  Mix in the carrots and zucchini. The batter may be a bit lumpy. Divide the batter into the 6 greased muffin tins.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pan on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove from the tins and enjoy warm.

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Chili Con Carne

This is an easy dish that you can do on a week night. Yes, it does have beans in it and if my husband’s friends in Texas found we ate any kind of chili with beans, he would not be allowed back in Texas. But he makes chili with beans for me since I am from that unspecified North Eastern State. This is not one of our slow cook”chili” recipes but it does bring back memories of a fast dinner when I was in high school.

  • 1 pound ground Beef or Bison
  • 1 can (8 ozs) Tomato Sauce
  • 1 can (15 ozs) Dark Red Kidneys Beans
  • 1 tablespoon White Vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Red Chili Powder
  • 1 tablespoon dried Minced Onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Thyme
  • Black or Red Pepper to taste
  • Sour Cream, chives or Green Onions as garnish

Brown the ground meat in a large skillet and drain off the grease. Stir in all of the remaining ingredients.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Serve in bowls and garnish.

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No Internet Last Night

I’m sorry that I didn’t post anything last night but our internet went out around 4 PM central time and didn’t come back on until this morning. I’ll be posting during the day today and have my normal postings tonight. Thank you for your patience.

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website correction

I’m sorry. I need to double check my website links. The rodeo cook book link should have been www.bringemonhome.com  I’m sorry about any confusion.

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Rodeo Road Bars

This yummy snack was featured in a recent issue of Western Horseman. It comes from a cookbook called “Bring ’em on Home, authored by two rodeo wives, Bonnie and Kimber Beers.  A portion of the book sales will go to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund that helps injured cowboys recover. Please check out the book’s website www.bringemonhome.com . Also to learn more about the fund visit www.justincowboycrisisfund.com .

  • 4 cups Oats
  • 1 1/2 cups Oat Flour or Rice Flour
  • 2 cups shredded Coconut
  • 1 cup Nuts or Seeds, your choice
  • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 cup Raisins or other dried Fruit
  • 3/4 cup Canola Oil
  • 1` cup Brown Rice Syrup or Corn Syrup (warmed)

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients well. Stir in oil and warm syrup and mix well. Spread mixture in a rimmed 9×13 baking sheet lined with foil. Bake 1 hour or until browned. Cut into bars while still warm in the pan. Let cool completely before removing from the pan.

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