Saturday, February 26, 2022

Thursday, February 24, 2022

LADIES FOR LUNCH AND PRAYING FOR THE UKRAINE

 On a snowy day today I had some
ladies for lunch.  I told them we
were doing knock off food today 
because we had 2 things  which are knock
offs from Applebee's and a knock off Chocolate Pie from what used to be
 called Bishops Cafeteria back in the day.

The first thing we did was pray for the
Ukraine today and I ask you to do that
too as this is such a perilous time.


So here was my menu that I am sharing:

Oriental Chicken Salads with Honey Dressing

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Chocolate Cream Pie


I just got finished cutting the rest of the
pie and my husband and I agreed we
best send the 2 large leftover pieces 
over to the neighbors as we will be
tempted beyond belief.


left to right at top: Judy, Rosemary, Bernideen and Jenni


So here are some recipes for you if you
like yummy things like this:

Spinach Artichoke Dip which serves 6

1 10 Oz pkg frozen chopped spinach
cooked and drained, 1 pkg 8 oz cream cheese, 1 can 14 oz artichoke hearts, drained and chopped,, 1/2 cup mayo, 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese/1/2 tsp garlic salt
Combine all and bake 350 degrees till hot

Serve with warmed tortilla chips


So here is the Oriental Chicken 
Salad Recipe which I would say
 is my version since I have
changed it so many times:

Slice very thin:  2 cups Napa Cabbage,
 1 cup regular cabbage, Chop: 4 cups romaine, 3 cups leaf lettuce, 2/3 cup shredded carrots, 1 cup of sliced almonds 
and 1 cup of Chinese noodles 

Grill 2 large chicken breasts grilled first
and sliced into strips

Combine above but sprinkle almonds
 and noodles on last on top and add 
sliced grilled chicken

Here is the dressing which serves 8: 
 3/4 cup honey, 1/4 +2 Tb Rice Wine Vinegar, 1 cup mayo, 4 tsp dried mustard, 1/2 tsp sesame oil


Now for the Knock Off
Bishops Cafeteria Pie

Crust: 1 1/2 cups crushed cinnamon graham crackers mixed with 1/2 cup melted butter pressed on the bottom of a deep dish pie pan
bake about 5 minutes at 375 degrees
 & now cool

Pie Filling
1 quart quality vanilla ice cream soft,
2 cups heavy whipping cream, 2 pkg small chocolate instant pudding, 2 squares unsweetened chocolate melted

combine all above in a heavy duty mixer (such as kitchenaid) Add the melted chocolate last.
mix well and pour into pie shell.

Decorate the edge as desired by whipping 
up 1 cup heavy whipping cream mixed on high with 1/3 cup of powdered sugar - mix until stiff  I usually shave some chocolate
curls off and sprinkle but forgot this time

This is best refrigerated overnight.

A special thanks to Christian friends Rosemary, Judy and Jenni for letting
 me take photos!

Saturday, February 19, 2022

INSPIRING GARDENS OF ENGLAND

In recent years,  I began to watch YouTube
videos about gardening and found so
many interesting ones. It has inspired
me again this winter as I enjoy watching
so many of these.

I thought I would share some today.  One of the many beautiful homes dating to the 17th century is Barnsley House in Gloucestershire,  England (now a luxury hotel) and in the 1950's Rosemary Verey and her family moved there.  After she raised her children, she began creating the gardens that became so famous. Rosemary
lived from 1918 to 2001



about Haddon Hall



The next one to share is
Haddon Hall in Bakewell, Derbyshire
which is a English Manor House from the
11th century with additions in the 13th and 17th century (English Tudor) and after fires
in the past,  parts are still there from the 15th
century.

The gardens were created in the
early 1900's


called A Walk Through Time


 This home has been in the 
same family for over 900 years!


As you go to these sites you quickly see
that other vidoes are numerous and
I hope you have time to watch some.

Friday, February 18, 2022

COOKIES, TEA AND BOOKS

 Winter is such a perfect time to go back and
take a fresh look at some of those great
books you purchased in your past.

I have been enjoying reading many
of mine and had forgotten how
much they were capable of taking
me on a journey.



I baked us some Oatmeal Cookies
earlier today and they are big ones.


This first book above left is "The Heart of England" and is one 
of the older Victoria books from 1999 which is wonderful.  I started reading the first pages and was smitten with interest.  The book on the right
(Tea Time Journey's) is old too and has wonderful recipes.


I have shared this book. before.  It was
written by Kathy Thiessen and is in my
opinion, one of the loveliest books around.


This book (above) is full of recipes, seasonal
and everyday decorating ideas,
history and love of family.




I am sure you have
some books on your shelf that you have long forgotten about - we just do that it seems.


"The Heart of England" has so many
interesting chapters including this one
about the Bronte sisters. (below)





My friend, Lou Ann gave me this
recipe back in the 80's and today I
made large cookies so the recipe
made 17 cookies:

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes for small or 11 minutes for large cookies

Mix: 1 C brown sugar, 1 C white sugar,
3 C oatmeal, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 C flour
Mix: 1 C melted butter with 1 tsp vanilla
and 2 eggs
Add: 1 Cup raisins (I used mostly
dark and the rest yellow)

Mix dry and moist ingredients and
raisins,  Shape into balls and press down on
parchment paper lined cookie sheets.  Don't over bake.

We got some fresh snow yesterday:

Thursday, February 10, 2022

OLD HOUSES OF LIBERTY, MISSOURI

 Today after a Dental appointment
for my husband in Kansas City,
we drove around Liberty, Missouri.
We wanted to check out a few of the
 very old homes in the area.




I Loved this blue one below right 
with the Gothic type
windows.  I could imagine
a white picket fence around
it with lots of flowers.
 

others:





This home was under
renovations:



So the downtown was your familiar
4 block square of old buildings with 
what we assumed was a courthouse
 in the middle.



This building below is now used for the
historical society and is dated 1877:


As we came around the square and turned
the corner we saw this old bank. 
The sign said that this was where the
 Jesse James gang did their first daytime
 bank robbery
in 1866.



It is now a museum:


Wednesday, February 2, 2022

SCONES, SNOW AND FRIENDSHIP TEAPOT

 I love this sweet little teapot that I
am sharing with you today.




And it was not made in China so
that's saying something because it
was made in the good old USA.



I first saw a picture of this teapot
in a book years ago.  A darling book
came out by a Christian writer, Patsy Clairmont. 

  I had ordered some of 
these books to sell at my shop (back 
in the day) and one of the  chapters 
was a sweet story and sentiment regarding
 these teapots.  Having written over 35
books, Patsy is still a popular
speaker now at age 76.


  So years ago, I gave a friend the book for her birthday. When my birthday rolled around, she gave me the teapot pictured
in the book which is the one I am
sharing about today.


I later found one of these teapots for my friend.  In fact, over the years I have bought several others and some that were very inexpensive because they were chipped or
not perfect so they have found a place
out in the garden.

So today since it was snowing, I decided to bake some scones that I have featured
before numerous times over the years:

Lemon Cream Cheese Scones:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour,  1/4 cup sugar,
 2 Tb grated lemon peel, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/3 cup cold butter diced, 4 oz of cold cream cheese diced, 1 egg, 1/3 cup buttermilk, and I add 1/4 cup lemon extract to make for an ULTRA lemony taste.

 lemon juice to brush on scones and
sugar to sprinkle on top - before baking

400 degree oven using a 2 1/2" scone cutter
with the dough rolled out at least 5/8" thick

Bake for 12 minutes convection or
16+ regular oven

You have probably baked scones and
it is your usual procedure here:  dry ingredients mixed first, then wet items added and then cut in butter and cream cheese





So this is also a bit of a tribute to my friend who made sure life was full of adventure and fun and always lived her gift of giving.




Kathilee Champlin               
 November 1, 1952 -
June 9,  2012