Where is my Laundry Soap Recipe????

Why is it that no matter what I am making, at the last minute I seem to have a problem finding my recipe!? Today the topic is Laundy Soap! I Need to Make Laundry Soap... and where is my recipe? Well I thought it'd be on my blog... but noooooooo....I see one version on Jillee's website but mine is slightly different - I adjusted it to not make quite a Year's Worth!... I originally wrote it on the back of an envelope... now where is that envelope?? Gone! But I managed to keep notes on the BOXES of the ingredients, so I have it figured out now... Here Goes:

Laundry Soap
1 bar Fels Naptha - grind up in food processor
1/3 box Borax (25 oz)
2 cups Super Washing Soda (18 oz)
10-1/2 oz baking Soda (approx)
3/4 - 1 cup? Oxyclean

The recipe on Jillee's site also included some fabric Softener crystals, which I finally found at Dollar General, but to my dismay they were NOT unscented... so I can't use them. I will continue looking for some unscented ones, but meanwhile I'm told I can add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the wash in the fabric softener compartment to soften the towels.. Ok.. trying it today.

Meanwhile, I cut up my bar of Fels Naptha, fed it to the food processor along with some Oxyclean and began adding the list of above ingredient to my laundry soap jar. But just as I added some of the lovely white powder from the box, what tumbled out ...but these little red baking chips! WAIT A MINUTE!! I don't keep baking chips in my soap powder boxes??!! Ahhh, but the sneaky little mice who carried them off thought it would be a good place to store them!! RIGHT! Now I get to dig each and every one out of my jar!!!

That was a chore... but I got it done, and now we are set for 6 months of laundering...Yay!

AHA!!  A friend of mine (whom I had emailed the link to last year) sent me the link I had sent her!  Here it is. This is a smaller 'trial' size batch so you can see if it works for you, but it works for my jar!

Ham 'n Noodles

Generic Picture of Ham N Noodles

It's Ham 'n Noodles day!! I haven't had this in ages, at least not made the way we used to make it at home with Mom. This was one of the dishes she had me make for dinner and time it to be ready when she and my dad got home from work. Do you think I could remember that recipe? ... No. So I have been searching the internet for a recipe that looks familiar... and found one today that I'm going to try. I actually found 2 recipes, and was thinking of merging the 2 together, although that doesn't always work for me... We'll have to wait 'n see.  I'll post a pic here after it comes out of the oven and IF it tastes good, I'll even come back and post the recipe!  Check back in a while!
-- Ruth

OH Fudge!!

Yup, it's Fudge Season! What? You didn't know there was a "Fudge Season"? Oh, come now... where have you been hiding? Seriously, when Christmas is close, it becomes cookies and candy season and my specialty is Fudge! Lots of varieties too, not JUST chocolate!

I love to experiment with different flavors. So far this year, I have made Chocolate, Peanut butter, Toasted Coconut, Cranberry/White Chocolate, Peppermint, Coffee, and Pumpkin.

Favorite? Well my favorites are the 1st 3 listed above. Toasted coconut is such a nice change from the typical chocolate and peanut butter and I toast the coconut myself. I had a batch I made for sending off to family, and I kept only 3 pieces for myself; ends really. Knowing my resident family doesn't like coconut I figured that was enough for me. However, last night, I found out my husband "accidentally" ate a piece of the coconut, thinking they were nuts of some kind. Apparently he LIKED it, because when I went to the kitchen to snag a piece for myself, it was ALL GONE! Wow... He knows I like coconut and yet he made a trip back to the plate to finish off the last piece. I'd say that's just rude.

...and then she said....

Check out the awesome cookies I made! That's not very humble, I know, but they just sort of evolved, it's not like I planned them... well, OK, I sort of planned them, but not the way you think. I saw some similar on Pinterest, but when I 'clicked through' on the picture, it never led to a recipe! I think that is fairly rude, if you ask me. So I decided I could figure it out on my own. Thankyouverymuch!! And I guess I did! First, an old recipe I have used for years, to make the cookie part. I made these yummy peanut butter cookies which you could make with your eyes closed. And as it happens, they are also Gluten Free too! Totally unintentional, but it works! (My Gluten intolerant neighbor loved them!)
The recipe is so easy you'll say, "What??" Ok, here it is:

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

That's IT! See ... I told you! And.. You don't even use a mixer! Just measure out the 1 cup peanut butter, then add 1 cup sugar & the egg. Then stir with a fork til it's all blended.

Then, I used a cookie dough scooper to make sure the balls are evenly sized. Place on the cookie sheet ( I use a silicone baking sheet, but parchment will work nicely also). Using a fork dipped in sugar, I do the criss-cross press into the peanut butter balls for the 'typical' look of peanut butter cookies.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes and cool. Makes about 18 cookies, more if you go small. If you make them smaller, you may want to check their progress a bit sooner.

Now for the filling!! This was amazing. In a glass measuring cup, I poured 1 cup chocolate chips and melted them in the microwave, on high for 1 minute.

When it comes out, using a fork, stir like crazy until they are melted. Then add a drizzle, (maybe 2 Tbl) of Sweetened Condensed Milk and about the same of Heavy Whipping Cream plus 1/2 capful of vanilla. All of this should give you quite a fudgy consistency of chocolate. Drop a spoonful onto the top of one cookie and smash it down with another, making the sandwich. Eat. Enjoy!

We interrupt this silence with a blog post...

I actually saw that line on another person's blog and thought it so cute and appropriate that I had to borrow it! It has been a rather long break since my last post and I thought I'd better get back on this horse before I forgot how to ride!

Today is Labor Day... 2013 and we are going to have Fajitas for lunch! Isn't that American? well, we like cooking on the fire pit outside (ever since our BBQ grill blew up) and I came across a HUGE sale on flat iron steaks yesterday at the store... so they whispered "Fajitas" to me. That's it, pure and simple.  I am also going to attempt a cucumber salad today, first time ever... and I found a recipe online to start me off. Here it is, and I'll let you know later how it turns out!

Adrienne's Cucumber Salad

INGREDIENTS:

4 cucumbers, thinly sliced 1 small white onion, thinly sliced 1 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water 3/4 cup white sugar 1 tablespoon dried dill, or to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.

Toss together the cucumbers and onion in a large bowl. Combine the vinegar, water and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, and pour over the cucumber and onions. Stir in dill, cover, and refrigerate until cold. This can also be eaten at room temperature, but be sure to allow the cucumbers to marinate for at least 1 hour.

Kitchen Rules

The fact that I even have to type this out and hang in the kitchen is PATHETIC! but True...Feel free to ADD any of your rules to the bottom, in the comments area! I'd love to hear them.

~~ Kitchen Rules ~~

1. WIPE the counter clean EVERY time you use it, even pouring beverages or making sandwiches on a plate. (Ants can see what you cannot...)
2. If you are the only one eating, wash your dishes, dry them and put them away.
3. If we are eating together (2 or more) wash, dry & put away dishes together immediately after eating, including pots or pans on stove. (Best to soak them during eating to be easier to clean)
4. Wipe counters clean right after preparing food, BEFORE eating.
5. No open or partially used Foods, no Crumbs, no Drips left on counter. (One would think #4 would take care of this but...)
6. Wipe stove clean after every use, lifting up burner grates to get drip area. (This way it doesn't build up to a full blown chore)
7. When done washing dishes, clean any 'foodstuff' out of sink.

Holy Hannah! I made PIE!

Well, I don't really know who Hannah is... or whether or not she is Holy... but what I DO know, is that "I made PIE!!"  Now, that may not seem so great an accomplishment to you, but I have led a fairly full life of cooking and baking, and known to be fairly good at it... but NEVER have I made (or even attempted to make) a PIE! ...unless you count Pizza Pie! LOL... but seriously... Pie Crust is one of the things I was just SURE I couldn't make. Not because I tried and failed, but because I FAILED to TRY.

So a month or so ago I was sitting in the living room with dear husband and I remarked how I really would like to make a Peach Pie (my favorite) if only I had a pie crust. "Why don't you go make a pie crust for me?" I said to DH. He didn't respond...at least not at first. 10 minutes later he got up, went into the kitchen and asked where the flour was. "Why?" I asked him. He said, "well you asked me to make a pie crust and it requires flour." Wow! Why didn't he respond like that when I asked him to build a deck on the back of the house? Hmmm owell, little steps.

A couple hours later, we had Pie. I cut up the peaches and mixed with sugar and spices and added it to his amazingly normal looking pie crust and we baked it. WOW! It was great. I was totally surprised. For a week or two I was resigned to a life of husband made pie crusts with me assembling the fillings. But then the competition or the inadequacy got the better of me and I asked him if he'd show me how to make pie crust. Not only me, but my pie-queen-friend also wanted to know his secret/method. So she came over one day, and we assembled all our ingredients and followed his example and we three made 3 pie crusts with our own individual fillings. He made peach, my friend made strawberry rhubarb, and I made Apple-Pear-Raspberry. Awesome pies! (mostly)

After that day, I decided I could now whip up a pie crust at a moment's notice! What an awesome ability! Yesterday I made a Black Raspberry-Mullberry pie using berries picked in our backyard and today I have in the oven 6 little mini pies of the Peach variety, complete with lattice tops. (see below) Tomorrow will be another Black Raspberry and a Cherry pie also from our back yard cherry trees. This has opened up a whole new world for me... someday I may even try making a savory pie!