Expanding the blog...

So... I know, I promised to start posting new recipes, but I have been on another track lately. I'm still cooking! Someone has to feed all these teenagers. But cooking isn't the only thing we do from scratch. We live life "from scratch". From the essence of nothing. As children we think our parents never gave us enough wisdom to get us ready for the real world and we make all our own mistakes starting our lives "from scratch". It's not that they didn't give us the tools we needed it's that we thought we knew it all.

I found myself starting a million different things from scratch over the last 40 years. College, parenting, marriage, divorce, dating after divorce, letting my kids grow up and move out, remarrying a wonderful man, and letting that man turn my backyard into a farm!

I want to incorporate all these new beginnings into my blog because life is from scratch no matter how prepared you think you may be for it. A couple of years ago my son said I should start a blog. We bounced around some names; moms manic musings was in the mix! But I think since I already have this one started we can turn it from just cooking into loving, living, cooking and building our lives from scratch and yes we will still have recipes!

Here's one that is sure to be a crowd pleaser that I found floating around Facebook. I made some changes but I've included the original link I used below.

Bacon Shots

Ingredients:

Bacon- 2 packages

Keilbasa- 2 packages

Brown Sugar- about 1/2 cup

Cajun Seasoning- how hot do you like it?

Bourbon- 1/2 cup or so

Cut both packages of bacon in half. Lay flat in a baking dish and pour bourbon over them. Let soak 2 hours or overnight. 

Cut the Kielbasa into 1 inch pieces and wrap with bacon leaving a "cup" at the top. Place on a cookie sheet or back in the baking dish with the bourbon. 

Mix brown sugar and Cajun seasoning together and using a teaspoon fill the "cup" you created with the bacon and Kielbasa. 

Bake in a 400 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes until bacon is crisp.

Notes: you may want to spray the bottom of the pan with non stick cooking spray. They delicious 'lil snacks do stick a little.

Here is the original link

https://www.facebook.com/OneCountry/videos/1457010711018359/

Stay tuned for deliciousness

I took a break. Too long of a break.

But in the meantime I got engaged. Got married and moved to a new house. In the weeks to come I'm going to be polishing up my camera and getting things set up so I can start blogging again. I've been cooking and baking and I'm hoping to have new recipes to put up here for all of you to enjoy!

You will have to keep guessing at what comes next!

In the meantime.... Did you know?

OCTOBER IS:

• American Cheese Month American Cheese Society
• Cool Food for Kids Month (National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association)
• Cranberry Month (USDA Proclamation 2002)
• National Apple Month (October) [US Apple Assoc]
• National Applejack Month
• National Caramel Month (Nat’l Confectioners Asn)
• National Chili Month
• National Cookbook Month (many cooksbooks are published in time for the holiday season)
• National Cookie Month
• National Country Ham Month (National Country Ham Association)
• National Dessert Month
• National Eat Better; Eat Together Month
• National Farm to School Month (National Farm to School Network)
• National Pasta Month (National Pasta Association)
• National Pickled Peppers Month ?
• National Pizza Month
• National Popcorn Poppin' Month (In 1999 Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman proclaimed October as National Popcorn Poppin’ Month)
• National Pork Month (October became known as Pork Month because it marked the time of year when hogs were traditionally marketed).
• National Pretzel Month ?
• National Seafood Month (a few years ago it was temporarily moved to June as a marketing experiment, but was then moved back to October)
• National Spinach-Lovers' Month
• National Tomato Month
• Non-GMO Month (Non-GMO Project)
• Vegetarian Awareness Month (North American Vegetarian Society

Find more fun facts at www.foodreference.com  

Penne Chicken Alfredo Pizza

What you need:

1 pizza crust thawed at room temperature

1/2  lb of penne, prepared

1/2 cup-1 cup diced cooked chicken

Alfredo sauce, homemade or store bought, about a jar and a half

garlic

olive oil

Shape you dough into a large circle, about 14" across. Lightly oil the dough and add fresh or powdered garlic to taste. Add Alfredo sauce to within 1" of the edge. Top with chicken and penne noodles. Add more sauce and sprinkle with Italian Seasonings for a little color. Bake in a 400 degree oven until the crust is browned.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

The kids loved these! 

I used fresh pumpkin instead of real pumpkin and I also used white 

chocolate chips with the chocolate chips. You can access the

original link here. It came from All Recipes.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10740/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies-iii/ 

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm

Parmesean Stuffed Little Necks

So my cousin lives on the Island and sometimes he brings us clams! Well this last time we ordered a whole bushell.... That's a lot of clams! I had no idea what to do with them all, so I made chowder, stuffed clams and Joe and the kids and family and friends ate the rest of them steamed or raw.

What you need:

About 2 dozen little necks

1/2 cup parmesean cheese, grated

1 cup bread crumbs

2-3 Tbls oregano, finely chopped

2-3 Tbls parsley, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cup chicken stock

2-3 Tbls olive oil

red pepper flakes to taste

Preheat the oven to 450.
Place the clams on a sheet tray and put them in the preheated oven for 2 to 3 minutes or until the clams just begin to open. Don't cook them!
Using a butter knife pry the clams open and remove the top shell. Pull the clam away from the bottom shell and place it back in the bottom shell.

Preheat the broiler.

In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, oregano, crushed red pepper and some salt. Add the olive oil and stir until combined. Add chicken stock until the mixture is quite wet. Taste to check the seasoning, add more salt if needed.

Pack each clam full of the bread crumb mixture. Pack the bread crumbs down and really secure the edges. This will help the clam stay moist.

Place the clams on a sheet tray and add about 1/2 cup of water to the tray. This will also help the clams stay moist. Put the tray under the broiler for 5 to 6 minutes until the bread crumbs are brown and crispy.

Chicken Hunter Copycat Dinner with Broiled Zucchini and Squash with Dill Sauce

So there's this little place I love to eat. It's called Arkville Bread and Breakfast... I love Jack's food! Went in for lunch one day and got the "Chicken Hunter" special. Breaded chicken smothered in gravy with muenster cheese and bacon on a rustic baguette. Amazing!  And it got me thinking what can I do at home? So on the first try I didn't add the cheese and bacon but my picky eater asked if we could always eat our chicken like that! So thank you Jack for the inspiration and next time maybe I'll add cheese and bacon to ours! Oh and not to down play the zucchini and dill sauce. It actually made the perfect accompaniment to the chicken that I have decided to call the Chicken Huntress! LOL Enjoy!

What you need:

Chicken Huntress

4 skinless boneless chicken breast

2 packages brown gravy (make according to directions on package)

flour

eggs

bread crumbs

My chicken breasts were huge so I sliced them in half and ended up with 8. dredge your chicken breasts in flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. Place in a 9 X 13 baking dish and cover in gravy. bake at 350 until the chicken is cooked through. We made extra gravy for after we got the chicken on the plates too!

Dill Sauce

1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh dill
1 small clove garlic, grated
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
 salt

 black pepper
zucchini
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat broiler. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, dill, garlic, and lemon juice. If necessary, thin with water. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.Trim ends off zucchini. Cut in half crosswise, then cut each half lengthwise into 4-6 spears. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.Place zucchini in a pan and broil until tender but not mushy, about 10 minutes. Remove from broiler.Serve zucchini warm or chilled with yogurt-dill sauce.

Canned Venison

This is a pantry staple in my house! And being that it is full on hunting season I wanted to share. There are so many options for canned venison once you have a cupboard full of it. Chili, stew, pan fried with gravy and onions, add to sauces. Use your imagination!

Start with some fresh venison. Make sure you get as much fat as possible off. Cut it into small pieces. I leave a few pieces with minimal fat for flavor. Venison is naturally low in fat content. 

Using clean canning jars fill right to the brim. Do not add water! The venison will make it's own juice. Using a butter knife push the meat down to get rid of as many air pockets as you can. If you so desire you may add a pinch of salt.

Variety: fill the jars with layers of meat and potatoes, garlic, salt, pepper and other spices. It becomes a meal in a jar and once put through the canning process can be opened and eaten with out heat. ( I prefer to heat mine)

Put you lids on snugly and process for about 90 minutes at 15lbs