Heirloom Petunias - Onion and Garlic Harvest - Pumpkin Sheet Cake

It is a  very cold morning here; our first hard freeze (28° for three hours).  We will sink down to around 26 by daylight.  I meant to get some rose cuttings...may be too late for that.

So far the heirloom petunias I grow have been improved by the cold....I will see what this does to them when I go out to milk this morning.


This is a little patch that reseeds itself  right by the garage door.  I just leave them be and we walk  around them.
These are growing outside the back porch door among the late lettuce I planted.  I just tossed the seeds out during the summer.

They are such a carefree plant...no hybrid ruffly things for me!  I love the simpler blooms of all heirlooms the best.

The lettuce is still good too.

If I have shown this picture before, forgive me.....I didn't want to look it up...I did gather all the cured onions and garlic a couple of weeks ago and got it stored in a freeze-free zone (the milk parlor).



The onions will be gone long before winter is over...the garlic might last forever (it will go bad before then).

I made the Pumpkin Sheet Cake as promised and we kept out 4 pieces and the rest is in the freezer for the Holidays.and iced and cut into squares.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

1 can (16 oz.) pumpkin

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs lightly beaten

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat pumpkin, sugar and oil together. Add eggs and mix well. Combine flour, b. soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to pumpkin mixture, mix well. Pour and spread over a greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or done.

Cool and then frost with cream cheese frosting.

Frosting

1 pkg cream cheese softened (3oz)

5 Table. butter softened

1 teas. vanilla

1-3/4 cups powdered sugar

3-4 teaspoons milk

Chopped nuts (optional)

Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and mix well. Add enough milk to get the right spreading consistency. Frost cake and sprinkle with nuts.

Yield 20-24 servings.

Coffe Cake for Sunday

Yesterday was our first cooler day in a very long time. We had just a few drops of rain.

I milked. Willow is way down in production. I think it is due to the extreme heat and dry conditions. Most cows will not graze out in the sun and I don't buy alfalfa to feed her when we have grass even though it isn't the best forage right now. The name of this game, is to have good,raw milk without it costing us more than store milk.

I made one of our favorite coffee cakes. This recipe is found on King Arthur's website and I have made it several times. I don't use a tube pan but I do use my spring-form pan. That means you have to increase the baking time by about 10 minutes. I always test with a toothpick first.



Cake
1/2 cup shortening*
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream

Topping
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Cream shortening, sugar and eggs. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream.

Grease and flour a regular-sized tube pan**. Spread half the batter in the pan, and sprinkle with half the topping mixture. Repeat with remaining batter and topping.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake tests done. Cool 10 to 15 minutes, and remove cake from pan. Place cake right-side-up (topping up) on a plate to serve.

*I usually use a butter-flavored shortening, or margarine.

**I make this in a 9 x13-inch pan if it's for family, and just serve it right from the pan in squares.

Note: This coffeecake is also delicious made with plain or vanilla yogurt, or buttermilk. If you bake it early in the morning, you can carry it outside for an al fresco breakfast before work!

If you make this in a 9 x 13-inch pan -- a handy, stable size for transporting to picnics or potlucks -- be aware that you'll have to spread the batter quite thinly to cover the bottom of the pan. Spoon half into the pan, using a rubber spatula to spread batter out evenly; sprinkle on half the topping; then drop the remaining batter, in spoonfuls, on top. Don't bother to try to spread it around; just sprinkle with the rest of the topping. Cake will puff up and look fine by the time it's done.
Nutrition information per serving (1/20 of recipe, 51 g): 188 cal, 9 g fat, 2 g protein, 10 g complex carbohydrates, 14 g sugar, 1 g dietary fiber, 31 mg cholesterol, 137 mg sodium, 45 mg potassium, 1 mg iron, 52 mg calcium, 41 mg phosphorus. Note: using lowfat yogurt or lowfat buttermilk in place of sour cream will lower fat to 7 g.

My Note: I always use butter when it calls for shortening.

We have decided this is the year to replace our l970's era carpet in the living room and bedroom. DH wants the new shag which will always be the 'old' shag to me.
We had it in our first house! Nothing is new under the sun.......
We are going for a darker, blended color tweedy thing so DH's coffee dribbles won't drive me insane. It is hard for me to make decisions so I will probably just let him select it. It will make our old living room furniture look so bad....I am hoping to replace most of it next year. "Lord willing and the creek don't rise" as Mom used to say.

We have nothing planned for the holiday. I really should do some real housecleaning for a change.

Snow - Company - Spaghetti Cheese Bake

Well, we awoke to a dusting of snow on the ground and another 30° early morning. I shook ice out of a daffodil yesterday morning. It rained almost all day on Saturday and by early Sunday there were little ice pellets in the double Erlicheer daffodils.

We had a really good weekend. An internet friend from Iowa was working in Missouri and swung by (way out of her way) to visit a couple of forum friends in southwest Missouri. It is a Farm forum that I have been a member of for several years. She is about our son's age. She is just a delightful person and was such an easy guest. We talked her into spending the night. I didn't want her driving back to town in a dark rainy night to find a motel. The only negative was the awful weather. All she got to see of the farm was from all the windows in the house. I hope she can come back during the summer. I promised her an ATV tour over the farm.

I served a spaghetti casserole that I hadn't made for some time. It makes a large pot so would be good for a crowd or to take to a potluck supper or to just divide and freeze for a later day.

Spaghetti Cheese Bake

Preheat oven to 400°

Ingredients:

l lb spaghetti
1 bay leaf
1 large onion, chopped
1 to 2 lbs hamburger
1 small can chopped green chilies, not drained
1 med can sliced black olives, drained
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 quart tomatoes
1 lb mozzarella cheese shredded
salt and pepper to taste
butter and oil
Boil pasta with bay leaf in salted water. drain set aside.

Saute onion in small amount of butter and oil until very soft not caramelized.

Add hamburger and cook done, but not browned. Add mushrooms, olives, and chilies.
Stir well, add tomatoes, stir and heat through. Dump in spaghetti and mix well. I use tongs to lift and blending, try to get the ingredients all evenly distributed through the pasta.
I taste at this point for seasoning. I just added a bit of salt.

Pour into greased casserole, Spread cheese over top. Bake 30 minutes until the cheese is browned and crispy at edge.

Note: I like to separate out some into freezer containers and freeze for a later easy meal. I wait to spread fresh cheese on then. I also think you could cut the recipe in half.



This picture was taken as an afterthought so had been refrigerated. The casserole is not quite that firm.

Happy note: The peppers are coming up at last; I was getting worried.