A Fun Saturday

What a fun day this has been. As usual I got up early and went to the Market for my weekly fruits and veggies. I bought pears this week but haven't eaten any yet. I know they are going to be wonderful. I want to make a Pear Galette but I think I'll save that until next week and just eat them the way they are. I'm making an apple strudel tomorrow anyway.

I had lunch with some friends and we went into a jewelry store and browsed afterwards....and dreamed!! It is nice to talk and laugh with friends. We had a wonderful time.

My new Bon Appetit was in the mail yesterday and I fell in love with the cover recipe. It looks so good. It is Texas Beef Brisket Chili with Autumn Squash. My daughter got up this morning and said it looked really good and I should make it. I laughed and said read the ingredients. She does not like squash!!! So when she read the squash part she said Yuck, why can't you substitute potatoes!!! It really sounds good so I may try a different version or let her pick out the squash!!

Doesn't that look divine? Squash and all. But I love squash so it sounds good to me. I just took a pan of 5 layer bars out of the oven. so they are hot and bubbly. They are very easy to make. It is one of Paula Deen's recipes. She drives me crazy to watch but once in awhile I come across one of her recipes that is fairly good. A lady that I used to work with gave me this recipe a couple of years ago.
5-Layer Bars

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 stick melted butter

Mix together and press in 13x9 pan.

Sprinkle with in any order you wish

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup sweetened coconut

Pour 1 can sweetened condensed milk over top

Bake 350 for 30 minutes until they get brown and bubbly

Oatmeal Cookies

I decided to make some Oatmeal Cookies and wanted to try Anna's recipe....so I printed it out and read through all the ingredients and decided I had everything so to the kitchen I went. Well it went downhill from there. I had to put 2 T of dark brown sugar because I didn't have enough light brown sugar, then I didn't have enough cinnamon so added some freshly grated nutmeg. Then...I got to the raisin part and not one raisin could I find. So I added chocolate chips and chopped pecans. I also made normal size cookies instead of the giant ones!! I think it 's not so bad if I eat 4 small cookies, but eating one giant cookie seems like I'm overdoing it. So I kind of made Anna's cookies but added and changed a few things beyond my control. Next time I'll try to do better.

Kosher Salt

OK I know that isn't Kosher salt but I'll get to that in a minute. I couldn't resist taking the picture this morning. Anna and Bailey were looking through the patio door really wanting out to play. A squirrel was eating their oat grass that I grow for them. He was really enjoying it too. I was getting ready to go to work when I saw them watching something and when I realized what it was I put everything down and grabbed my camera.

OK now for the Salt. Mandy from The Vintage Kitten wanted to know what Kosher Salt is so I'm showing her what the box looks like we get here. Mandy if you can't find it there, let me know and I'd be happy to send you some. Like I said in my email all the stores carry it here in the baking area with the table salt, etc. I hope this helps.

Potato Au Gratin

This is the Potato recipe I promised and had a few requests for. Thank you all so much for being so nice. This is really an easy recipe. I've seen lots of variations but most of them you have to precook the potatoes or simmer them for awhile. Just make sure you slice these really thin. I use my hand held mandolin. I've also have a big one that is probably safer or at least I haven't sliced a piece of my thumb into the potatoes. (Yet) I actually did with the hand held one. It was not a pretty site. So if using a mandolin, please be careful. This recipe is so easy to adjust. I halved it last weekend but have doubled it for a large crowd.

POTATO AU GRATIN

1 garlic clove
4 large baking potatoes (I've used Yukon Golds too)
salt/pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups whipping cream

Butter a 13X9 pan
Smash a garlic clove and scatter in the bottom of baking dish
Peel potatoes and slice 1/8" thick
Layer in pan sprinkling with salt/pepper and a little freshly grated nutmeg
Pour cream over potatoes and tamper down
Bake 375 for 45 minutes. Tamper the potatoes down a couple of times while baking. Bake until golden brown and potatoes are tender.
If the potatoes are too thick they will take longer and of course they will get really brown without getting tender. The secret is in the thin slices.
I hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful rest of the week.

Flea Market Finds

Do you know what this is? It is an English tea strainer!!! And I love it. I bought it yesterday at the Paris Market I go to once a month. I think it is adorable. I also found a couple of aprons that were a steal so I couldn't pass those us.

This is my favorite. I love the blue and white. I also found this fall looking tablecloth and couldn't resist. Plus the price was right too!! The lady I buy my linens from only comes to a few of the markets so you have to buy when she does. Everything is freshly laundered and ironed. I can't imagine ironing those stacks and stacks of linens. I ironed it this morning and put it on my table. It looks so pretty.

That's all for this month. I told you I was being good!!! Today I am making a big pot of red beans and rice for dinner. All I have to do later is make cornbread and dinner will be ready. With these cool days it's fun to make comfort food. Last night we had meatloaf and au gratin potatoes. I'll have to post the recipe for the potatoes later in the week. They are so easy and delich!!! I also made some oatmeal cookies and I need to go clean up my mess. Martha would not like seeing my kitchen!!
Have a great Sunday!!

Happy Fall

I hope everyone had a good week and are finding time to relax over the weekend. I just got home from my favorite flea market that I go to every month. I'll post pictures of my new treasures tomorrow. I must admit I was a good girl and didn't buy half of what I wanted to. There are a couple of big ones coming up and I want to save some money for those. Sooo I had to be good. I did get a couple of lovelies though. I finally got my wreath out last night before I went for my massage....oh was it nice too!! 1 1/2 hours of just laying there being pampered. I always look forward to them. Do you get massages? If not you should really try it, there is nothing better.
I decided to decorate my cake dome this year. I turned it upside down and put cranberries in the middle stand and leaves and acorns around it. I think it looks very pretty. I have a small chest freezer and I think it looks lovely there.

Last weekend when I was making my carrot cake and had leftover pineapple and of course I grated a little too much carrot I decided to do something I don't usually do.

My Grandmother has been on my mind a lot lately. When we were kids she used to make a lot of jello salads and one of my favorites was with pineapple and carrots so I made one in memory of her. She has been gone many many years and I still miss her. Remember the one with red jello and fruit cocktail?

When I was growing up I always wanted to be as good a cook as my Grandma!! No one in my family really cooks so I guess I got some of her genes. The last time I made a meal for her I asked her if I was as good as she was yet and she laughed her silly little laugh and said I was getting pretty good but I needed to practice a little more. She passed away a few months after her Great Great Grandson was born. Jonathan is now 24 and I always wish they could have met. When I told her she was a Great Great Grandmother, she looked at me for a minute and said "Who did that to me" and laughed her silly little laugh. I miss you Grandma!!

Carrot Cake and Fall Decorations

Happy Labor Day everyone!! I hope you day is happy and safe. Especially our friends in Gustav's way. I received a message from my friend who lives in New Orleans and she is safe in Dallas. I will call her later today.

I was visiting Penny the other day and she posted about the "best carrot cake you will ever eat" so of course I had to try it and now you do to. It is really really good. Penny made a layer cake but since I had to transport it, I used my 13X9 pan.

Now where is my fork?
I decided to get out my fall flowers for my patio and put the spring/summer ones away. I am sooo ready for fall. I love this time of year with the cooler days and nights. Our leaves aren't changing yet, in fact last weekend when we went on our drive the Aspen were still green. I will take another drive soon so you can see the beautiful Aspen. They are breathtaking. Of course all this means snow is coming too and I'm not quite ready for that. But we have time before I start complaining about that. I actually like the snow because it leaves everything so white and clean and fresh looking.
When I went to Joanne's yesterday I picked up some new flowers to add to my water can. I decided my old ones needed some sprucing up.
I had a summer garland in the hanging plant holder and enjoyed it so I decided to put in some autumn leaves. Looks pretty don't you think? It is in a corner of my patio so live plants don't do too well with no sun.
One of my blogging friends was posting about candy corn a couple of weeks ago and I finally found some. I'll be making something later to show you.
I love my rubber spatulas!! I have spring, fall and winter designs that I get from Sur La Table. I put my spring spatulas away and got out my fall and Halloween designs. I'll have to show you my Halloween designs later. Too cute!!
A couple of blogs were posting about these cute pumpkins from Dollar Tree and when I was driving by one the other day I had to run in and see if they had some waiting for me. ....and guess what? They did. I think they are so cute. I have them sitting on my bookcase now until I decide how I'm going to decorate the house for fall. I have a fall wreath that I put on my fireplace I need to go find. Maybe later this week.
I am making bread this morning that I'll post about later in the week. We are having grilled shrimp and Panzanella salad later today. Some of the bread is for the croutons. A new recipe so I hope it turns out OK. If not, well you'll never hear about my bread!! And then again, you just might. A new recipe for the Panzanella too!!