Monthly Archives: May 2009

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday- Milk!

May 20, 2009

450px-milk_glassMy sister and her 6 kiddos came to the farm to spend a few days this week – bringing with them lots of energy and lots of food! I soon realized that our refrigerator couldn’t handle all the wonderful things she had brought.

So, I called one of the boys to bring up our Coleman PowerChill cooler. I love the convenience of an extra refrigerator on occasions such as this. He plugged it in, we filled it up and forgot about it…

…until noon the next day when we started to make lunch for the troops.I opened the cooler to grab the cantaloupes and was shocked to discover they were hot. Not warm, as if it hadn’t been running, but hot.

In the chaos of unpacking, dealing with the piles of duffel bags, sleeping bags, suitcases, and food, we had plugged our warm/cool electric cooler on in the warm function.

Our 2 gallons of milk and 2 cantaloupes had been “cooking’ all night long.

Oops.

Now what do we do with 2 gallons of warm milk and 2 cantaloupes? Would it be okay to just cool the milk back down and drink it? Kind of double pasteurized?  We weren’t sure.

It was time to call Mom (of course!) After she stopped laughing, she started brainstorming ideas.

We decide to cut up the cantaloupe, put in the fridge to cool down and eat it immediately. It tasted fine.

Mom suggested making chocolate milk with one of the gallons. It was brilliant! I put it in a pot on the stove, added 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of cocoa powder and a pinch of salt. After mixing it well with the immersion blender, I poured it back in the jug and put it in the fridge.

It chilled all night and the kids guzzled it down the next day!

One gallon down, one to go.

It was time to divide and conquer. We used some to make broccoli cheese soup for our lunch, some for the macaroni and cheese for the kids lunch, and the rest went into homemade vanilla pudding that we put in the freezer and made into pudding pops for the next day.

We did it! Nothing was wasted. Everything was used.

It is interesting to note that not one of us, my sister, my mom or myself, ever even thought of dumping the milk. We were determined to find a use for it because we had been taught from a young age that we should “Waste not, want not!”

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , , , | Comment (1)

Cream Cheese Double Chocolate Cookies

May 20, 2009

Cream Cheese Double Chocolate CookiesI am a soft cookie person. I love a cookie that is gooey and chewy as opposed to a crisp one.

These soft chocolate cookies were a winner! The cream cheese adds to the richness and helps keep the cookies moist.

The chocolate, of course, is what makes them so wonderful!

Cream Cheese Double Chocolate Cookies

3 – 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
1 – 8 ounce package cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3  large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounces chocolate chips
1 cup pecan pieces

Carefully sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together and set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together the shortening, cream cheese, and both sugars. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix well.

Add the sifted dry ingredients followed by the chocolate chips and pecans and blend well.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Be careful to not over bake these cookies!

Incredible hot from the oven! Fabulous when cooled!

Enjoy!

By Country Gal | Posted in Chocolate, Cookies and Bars, Cooking and Food | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Rhubarb Pie

May 15, 2009

Rhubarb Pie

Is there anything that says spring quite like rhubarb pie?!

The tangy tart stalks in a warm custard base between two flaky crusts is a treat after a long winter of canned or frozen produce.

I always use Mom’s recipe, a recipe she got from a good friend years ago.

Mom’s Rhubarb Pie

crust for a 2 crust pie
3 cups rhubarb, washed and chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 eggs.

Wash and chop the rhubarb into bite size pieces, set aside.

In a bowl mix the sugars, flour, and eggs. Add the rhubarb and stir to coat.

Put the bottom crust into a 9 inch pie pan and fill with rhubarb. Cover with the top crust, trim and crimp the edges the together. Cut a design in the top crust for ventilation.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes until the rhubarb is soft and the crust is lightly browned.

It’s delicious warm or cold, although my favorite is to eat it warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream melting over the top!

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Pies, Spring | Tagged | Comments (0)

The Great Dock Adventure

May 14, 2009

Dock

It was an engineering challenge big enough to excite any man.

A challenge that turned into quite an afternoon!

It started the other evening when our dock was sitting patiently on the side of the pond waiting to be installed for the season. A storm hit bringing torrential rainfall. The rain came so hard and fast that the overflow couldn’t handle it fast enough and the pond level rose quickly.

The next morning we found our heavy wooden homemade dock on the other side of the pond, completely turned around and sitting with one end on shore as if placed there.

That must have been some rain and some wind!

The dilemma was how to move this extremely heavy dock from the overgrown and inaccessible side of the pond where it was currently resting to the other accessible and mowed side.

It couldn’t be carried – it was too heavy.

It couldn’t be transported on a trailer – the tractor and trailer would never get to it.

Our only solution – float it.

No worries – my engineering husband and sons had a plan and an entire Saturday afternoon to try them out.

By the time the girls and I got there, all three of them had sheepish grins on their faces.

I discovered that they had somehow gotten the 4 wheeler through the underbrush and fallen limbs to the other side of the pond (the overgrown inaccessible side) – where no 4 wheeler had ever gone before.

Then the 4 wheeler had promptly died and would not start again.

What function the 4 wheeler had in floating the dock – I don’t know and I didn’t want to ask!

But they had managed to get the dock floated across – tied to the paddle boat with Dad laying on the dock to stabilize it while the 2 boys paddled. (Somebody was thinking ahead…)

So now they had the dock on the right side – but just floating in the pond with a rope tied to a tree to keep it there – and the 4 wheeler stuck on the other side.

Now how to get that heavy dock pulled in to shore and one end pulled up on shore – without getting their feet wet or hurting themselves.

Their answer – another machine! This time they used a tractor and a wench to pull the dock. I will admit to closing my eyes for this one.

They had the tractor facing backwards on a steep, muddy hillside just a little way from the swollen pond. It looked like an accident waiting to happen – and my boys were grinning from ear-to-ear!

Thankfully the dock was pulled to shore and secured temporarily.

Nobody was hurt.

Nobody got wet (well except for some damp socks).

The dock is back on the right side.

The 4 wheeler started again – after another paddle boat ride across the pond and some tinkering.

And I have 3 pretty pleased guys.

All’s well that ends well.

By Country Gal | Posted in Rural Realities, Spring | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Chocolate Cheesecake

May 13, 2009

Chocolate Caramel Peanut Cheesecake My wonderful children – knowing my love for chocolate – made me a very special dessert for Mother’s Day – chocolate cheesecake with caramel and peanut topping.

This was their first attempt at cheesecake and although it wasn’t as pretty as the picture in the cookbook, but it sure did taste good!

Chocolate Cheesecake with Caramel Peanut Topping

Ingredients:

Crust:

1-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup cocoa powder

Topping:

1 pkg. (14 0z.) caramels
1 can (5 oz.) evaporated milk
1 cup peanuts, chopped

Filling:

16 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup dark chocolate, melted

Directions:

Combine graham cracker crumbs, cocoa powder and melted butter. Press crumb mixture evenly on bottom and 1-inch up sides of a 9-inch spring form pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes. Cool.

Combine caramels and milk in heavy saucepan (or in microwave safe bowl and melt in the microwave). Cook over low heat until melted, stirring often. Mix in chopped peanuts. Set aside.

Beat cream cheese at high speed with electric mixer until light and fluffy, Gradually add sugar, mixing well.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla and melted chocolate, beat until blended. Pour over graham cracker crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and pour caramel and peanut mixture on top. Run knife around edge of pan to release sides.

Let cool to room temperature. Cover and chill 8 hours.

What a blessed momma I am!

By Country Gal | Posted in Chocolate, Cooking and Food, Desserts | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)