I was sharing a bowl of soup and crackers with Jordan when he decided that his snack mix would go better than the crackers.  I started making this mix up when Meredith was here last, and Jordan asked me to keep making it.

It is really easy.

You go to a bulk foods store and buy Rye bagel chips, garlic bagel chips, and plain bagel chips, alphabet pretzels, sesame sticks, and flax seed corn chips.

Then you mix them all  together

in a big container,

and close the lid.

You can also play around with the pretzels and spell out your name and then photograph it.

This is really good stuff- I just made this container on Friday and already it is showing lots of space at the top.

First of all, my house smells delicious!

I am making a Chicken, Lentil and Garbanzo Bean Soup that I found here.

It is called Moroccan Spiced Lentil Soup.

The first time I smelled sesame oil cooking , I thought it was strong and overpowering.  Now, my taste buds have educated my nose and it makes my mouth water!  I substituted sesame oil for the olive oil in this recipe because I  like sesame oil with these ingredients better.

On a different subject, that still concerns scent;

I have found enough Lavender wands to share with everyone in last week’s contest.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the funds right now to send them all in the mail.  So, if you want one and can come get it or would pay for the postage and handling, you may certainly have one!

These are available on a first come- first serve basis.

Cynthia already picked hers up.

Some of these are from last years harvest, so they are already quite dry- but since the lavender is tucked up inside the wand, if you roll them gently between your palms, the scent comes wafting out quite happily!

And- on a different subject altogether-

I started knitting again.

I have been so bad.

A friend of mine asked me to help her finish a purse project last year, and I just this week did it.  SHAME!!!

I really wanted to help, but I couldn’t even get my head into the idea of knitting at that time.  I am a binge knitter.  All or nothing.

One time I made 50 scarves in a 2 week period.  I just sat there knitting all day.

I had so much else to do, but I couldn’t STOP KNITTING!

Anyway- enough confessions.

But, as I said, I’m starting to knit again.

What crafts are you addicted to?

MARTHA! 

It was a random drawing.

Six names on identical cards.

Folded and placed in a hat.  Jordan chose one, eyes closed – and it was Martha.

I have a couple I made last year and I made two additional ones this year.

So I’m going to try to send out a couple more. 

This was fun- I really like giving STUFF away!

Congratulations, Martha!

So far, 4 people are eligible for the drawing- Elizabeth,Kim,Cynthia and Lilly-you are still welcome to comment (please continue- I like hearing from you!)- but you are all in the drawing as of today!

Martha and Jill need to comment once more to be eligible.  I am open until Friday, midnight.  Then I am going to pick a name out of a hat and let you know on Saturday who won! 

I’m still looking for anyone with lavender they aren’t going to harvest.  If I find some I’ll make more wands for all of you.  Anyway- just thought I’d let you know where you stand.

Or actually only one- The Oak Cupboard in Smithville.

This is where I buy my flour.

And a lot of other STUFF.

Sometimes it feels like my life consists of  STUFF, the getting and transporting and messing about with and putting away and ultimately disposing of STUFF.

This is some of the stuff I bought today.  Some will be sent to Meredith- some stuff will be used in the making of cookies- some stuff will be put together into a bagel and pretzel kind of snack for Jordan.  The rest is just stuff.

This is a commercial crust guard to keep your pie crusts from burning.  It is $4.95 and can be used several times.  It is basically more STUFF. This is a whole shelf of Halloween candy- colorful and rather inexpensive.  More stuff- but I didn’t buy any of this stuff.

And here, is yet another teapot.

Bought at The Oak Cupboard.  Placed on my tea table in the living room.

Yep- you guessed it!  More STUFF!

I’m a rather cluttered and confused individual.

And I collect STUFF.

What do you collect?

  The trees are turning,

and people are trimming off the dead and dried branches.

Atnd leaving them at the side of the road.

But just in a leisurely walk around my neighborhood, the air is so humid and the

temperature is in the 80′s- which is hot in my book.

I know it is hotter elsewhere- Portland, Oregon was 95 degrees, yesterday.

But I’m looking at pumpkins-

and thinking it should be cooler.

These are so pretty and so were the flowers-

and Cynthia ,of course!

But we just picked up some jack-o-lanterns and pie pumpkins

and put them on the front porch.

Then I came inside and turned up the AC- and now I’m going to take a nap.

Yawn- this is hot and humid weather.  Yuchkkk!

Whoever  first said “easy as pie” was a liar.

And all of us who have repeated it over the years are just as bad.

Pie Ain’t Easy!!!

       Sometimes, the pie fairy hovers over your shoulders and all goes quite well.

Most of the time, the fickle little guy is hurrying off somewhere else and your pie dough falls apart, or is too tacky you add too much flour and it becomes doughy.

However, I have finally found some small success in making pies and I’d like to pass it on.

First of all- if a recipe says knead gently, THROW it away!

I bake bread,  you cannot knead gently.  And you cannot knead pastry AT ALL!

EVER!!!!!
In fact , don’t even use a spoon, use a fork.

Second, always use ice cold water.  As in -put ice cubes in your water.

Third- ask around for a recipe that is almost fool proof.

(Not that there is such a thing, but some recipes are better harder to mess up than others.)

Fourth- use pastry flour if you can find it.  It’s a softer flour and allows for a much flakier crust.

And lastly- pray.  I do not say this lightly.  I have been baking professionally, off and on for the last 30 years. and I very rarely bake anything that I don’t pray over.  (My niece’s son is just learning this verse- I Thessalonians 5:17- only he learned it – pray without seasick- LOL!)  But if you are praying without ceasing I find it easier to pray over whatever you are doing.  For me it has been a preponderance of baking.  So I think you SHOULD pray when you bake- don’t question- just do it!

Here are two recipes that are almost foolproof.   One is from a MS cookbook that Allyson always makes, and it contains lots of butter.

Double crust pie dough

2 1/2 cups flour    

1 cup butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup ice cold water

Cut butter into flour and salt mixture with a pastry blender, until the butter is in very small pieces and incorporated with flour.  Add ice water and mix gently with fork.  Push together into 2 disks and refrigerate after wrapping in plastic wrap.

Don’t worry if you don’t pick up all the flour.  DO NOT knead it to pick up the rest of the flour. 

The next recipe I got from a lady at church many years ago.

Funny thing- I forgot about it until I read the same recipe here in reference to church ladies!   But then I looked it up and use it when I’m making pot pies or quiche- I like it better with heavier ingredients.

Pie Crust- vinegar recipe

4 cups flour

1 3/4  cup shortening

1 TBS sugar

2 tsp salt

1 TBS vinegar

1 egg

1/2 cup ice cold water

Basically, you just do the same stuff you did for the first  recipe, except you add the egg and vinegar to the water and then  mix gently with fork.

( If you went to the link, you will have noticed by now that she says to knead it a little-  don’t listen to her- this is MY recipe from a lady at church, and you shouldn’t knead it.  Not even a little.)

After you have refrigerated it for about an hour.  Take out one piece and flour your surface like a blizzard.  Then rub flour all over your pin and roll the dough to the outside.  Never roll inwards- it is really confusing and will give your pie wrinkles.

Next make sure the dough is about 2 inches larger all around than your pie plate.  Then fold the dough- gently into fourths- and place it into the plate and unfold it to fit. If it tears, you can piece it back together-

PRAY that it doesn’t tear!

Crimp around the edges and fill.

I had some frozen quiche filling,

so I added egg and half and half and swiss cheese and made a quiche with the vinegar pie dough.

Here is a neat trick I just figured out with foil to keep the edges from getting too brown.  I had been making a crust guard with foil- fitting strips around the edges and slightly crimping them to keep the foil from falling off.

BUT, if you use just a square of foil-

torn slightly in the center-

and keep tearing the foil-

from the center outwards, it is a lot easier and works just fine!

You already knew that, didn’t you?

Here is the quiche and a pumpkin pie I made with the butter dough.

So- that’s my story about pie dough and the many trials and failures I’ve had.

And that, my friends, is the truth.

And it wasn’t easy either.

He’s done.

  I braided his tail and added a ribbon.

And like all cats, he’s content to sit on a pillow in the sunshine.

I have had a bad tomato year.

For some reason, the container plantings of tomatoes I planted just didn’t do well.

But Allyson had a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes.

She has the best location right between her driveway and sidewalk.

So, they are in the way- and she is happy to share them with anyone willing to pick them (like me!).

I have used them in salads, and in just plain eating.  I put them in tomato tarts and marinated them.  And yet,I still have more cherry tomatoes.

I have also refined my cherry tomato handling methods.

First- only pick the ones that haven’t split yet.  Ripe, but not split.

Second- use as soon as possible.

Third- check often for the ones that have split after picking.

Fourth- use them first.

Fifth- peel off the skins before you cook them.

AND

Sixth- chop tomatoes coarsely and discard seeds.

Perhaps you already knew all of these methods.  I have had much better success in using these in recipes since I learned them.

Here is an original recipe for Braised Chicken and Cherry Tomatoes Italian.

Ingredients:

1 to 1 1/2  cups cherry tomatoes

1 cut up chicken, fat removed

1/2 cup Italian dressing

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, diced

3/4 cup chicken broth or water

2 TBS olive oil

1 lb. egg noodles or pasta, cooked

Method:

Marinate chicken pieces in Italian dressing- at least 2 hours in fridge.

Using large pot, heat on medium , drizzle with olive oil.  And sautee chicken until browned, turn over and brown other side.

Add onions to chicken and stir to keep from burning.  When onions turn translucent, add garlic and sautee for another 5 minutes or so.

Add water or broth, turn heat to medium low and braise for about 20 minutes, then add cherry tomatoes and cover.  Continue to braise for another 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so.

Make sure you follow the above cherry tomato handling methods-

you don’t want the skins to become little strings in the sauce and the seeds

will burn to the bottom of the pan.

It is really, really delicious- even Frank remarked on it several times last night.

And it used up a fair amount of cherry tomatoes, as well!

People are always telling me that I shouldn’t care if people comment or not. 

After all- I did say that I needed to write and this is a good way to do that and keep in touch and to mark and remark upon the happenings around me.

That is all true.  But I LIKE it very much when I get some response to my scribblings and odd photos.  And lately- there has been little or no comments.  I know I’ve moved around a bit and that can be disconcerting and that it has been a little difficult to comment, but hopefully, the bugs have been all worked out and now it is easier to comment and read.

Today, I wanted to share a craft I’ve been making for the last 25 years or so.  I saw some for sale at the Herb fair at Quailcrest and was rather disappointed in the quality and style.  So I made a couple of my own and dug up some that I had packaged for sale and gift giving over the years.  The give away is a fresh lavender wand and it will go to a blog reader who comments on at least 4 postings over the next week.  Once you qualify, I will have Jordan pull a name out of a hat and I will notify you here and then send you the wand.

Lavender wands (sometimes called lavender bottles) have  a long history.  At least since Elizabethan times, women in their still rooms have been weaving ribbons into the stems of lavender and enclosing  that wonderful scent into a small area where the fragrance of the flowers is preserved .

You start by picking an odd number of long lavender stems.  Then you match the area of blooms so that they are in a small bunch.  Choose a strong satin or grosgrain ribbon and tie a small knot at the bottom of the bouquet-close to the last blossom.

Turn the bouquet around in your hand.

Then gently, carefully – without breaking them, bend the stems down over the blossom heads so that it looks like the skeleton of an umbrella.  Make sure you do this evenly around the bunch so that the stems are all around the heads.

Then start weaving the ribbon over and under the stems.  Since you have an odd number (9,11,13) stems, you will be able to go around in a descending spiral and capture all of the blossoms within your wand .

Continue to weave, over and under, catching the one  you went under the last time to be on top on the next circle.

Depending on the size of your ribbon(nothing wider than 1/2 inch- 1/4 inch is optimal) and the number of lavender sticks you use, and of course the tightness of your weaving,  you should end up with something looking like these.

Or you could just comment and maybe win one of these beauties!

Don’t forget, you need to comment on at least 4 different postings to be in on the giveaway! 

Hope to hear from you soon!