Cooking Again

First thing on my mind is getting rid of the large header picture.....will work on that soon.

Good news!  after a phone call the sofa was delivered after 4pm yesterday.  If  I hadn't called, we would still be waiting.  How do businesses stay open with this kind of carelessness?

I was just looking at a l0-day forecast for us........not good.  Wednesday predicted high and low is 15 and 4°.  That seems awfully cold this early in winter.  the other days aren't much better.

I went to bed early (as usual) and DH told me that he had to put Sugar out for the night because she in after being let out before bedtime smelling strongly of skunk.  He even washed is jeans because she brushed next to them.....also  took a shower.  I couldn't smell anything on the back porch so we are good so far.  I haven't let her back in this morning yet.

She roamed some yesterday with the Beagle but they both came back home without DH having to take the truck to return them.  Hopefully they will start staying home.

Food

Nothing special, just our beef on those buns I made in the form  of hamburgers.....maybe some baked beans on the  side....no fries.

I also want to make apple tarts in the muffin tins.  My Sis  ( family cook) called to tell me about a new  thing she did.  I will give it a try and let you know how it goes later this morning.

I made them almostexactly as she did except I left out the chopped pecans.  It is basically just diced apples, a brown/white sugar/flour mix, about 1/2 tsp brandy per  cup and a dollop of butter on top.

I used one pie crust (my standby Nathan's Never Fail recipe) from the freezer and just cut into 8 pieces.  I didn't do anything fancy at the edges.

They were very good warm but even better at room temperature.


Temperature has dropped down to 14° since a high of 31 this morning........

Cooking Again

We have warmed up a little.  At least not freezing at night.  We are still having those cloudy, dreary days often with a drizzle attached.

Yesterday was supposed to be the delivery of "our" sofa........didn't happen; didn't receive a call either.  I will be checking today.  The La-z-boy man did come and repair the foot lift on DH's chair.
It now works like new.  He told us we were  wise to repair it.  It was built in 1991 back when they used real, soft leather and were built  better.  He said if we  bought a new one  we would have seen him within 6 months! What a sad state of affairs.

Cooking

Seems I can't  quit making bread.  I have a full loaf of whole wheat oatmeal in the freezer but saw a picture of Easy Tuscan Bean Soup with a slice of bread on the side.....I had white beans cooked and had all the ingredients, well almost all, and knew I wanted to make it with some of my 'go to' recipe of French bread on the side.  I was off and running.

The soup:


This was just a combo of onion, potato, carrots, broccoli (called for kale), tomatoes (my own canned), celery and the white beans.  The seasonings were salt, pepper, garlic and a touch of rosemary.

It also called for summer squash which I didn't have.  I may try to freeze some this summer just for soups.

The bread:



The recipe makes 3 large loaves but I make up part of it into buns.

French Bread (from newspaper so many years ago, I can't remember exactly)

submitted by:  Dorothy Swinney of Republic,Mo.
I wish I could tell Dorothy how much we have enjoyed this recipe and how many people I have shared it with.

3- 1/2 cups warm water
1/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup shortening
2 packages yeast
10-2/3 cups flour ( any flour will do)

Mix well in large mixer bowl.  Knead well (I use the mixer from start to finish).  Cover and let double in size.
Divide dough into three equal parts.
Rroll out to about 1/2 inch thick.  Roll up like a jelly roll, as  tight as possible, pinch side and ends tight.  Place loaves on greased cookie sheet and let rise again until double.  Note:  I use two sheets since the loaves will grow together if too close to each other.

Bake at 400° until golden  brown.  For  my range that takes between 40 and 45 minutes.

I have never had a failure with this  bread .  I did omit the salt once.....no one noticed!