Merry Christmas to All!

Almond Sugar Cookies

A simple Merry Christmas to all of you in Blogland!  I have been thinking of you for weeks now, but with no extra time to write until today - Christmas Day!!

 

Being Danish, I love anything almond; especially pure almond - the real thing! These little cookies are a favorite of mine & the family.  I thought it only fitting to share the recipe with you today!

Almond Sugar Cookies

1 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract - the real stuff  - pure!
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Glaze

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract - pure!
4 to 5 teaspoons water

Sliced almonds!

Roll dough into 1" balls; place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.  Flatten to 1/4" thickness with the bottom of a buttered glass dipped in sugar.  Don't push down too far! 

Bake for 7 minutes at 400 degrees or until edges are very lightly browned.  Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet.  Cool completely.  Frost with glaze & decorate with almonds!

Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies!  Enjoy!

I hope you have all enjoyed a very special holiday with friends & family.  It is the most wonderful time of the year! 

 

Have a super New Year 2014!

Happy Memorial Day!

Hope everyone is celebrating with family & friends & eating all kinds of grilled delights!  We here in Iowa are cold, in lots of rain showers & some torrential downpours; half-planted fields are now drowning in lakes within the fields.  No, it has not been pretty around here in quite a long time.

But anyway - we had a nice visit from our new great-granddaughter who lives in Montana.  Isn't she cute - Jordyn Marie Jensen will be 1 year old next month!

I have been busy finishing up a scrapbook project for a granddaughter graduating in Texas next weekend.  Now time to get back to quilting projects that have been taking a back seat to the scrapbooking.

Wanted to share this recipe for BLT Macaroni Salad found on facebook.  We thought it was superb!

1. 3 cups elbow macaroni - cook
2. 5 green onions, finely chopped
3. 1 large tomato, diced
4. 1 1/4 cup celery, diced

Mix together & add.  Chill for at least 2 hours.

1. 1 1/4 cup mayonaise
2. 5 tsp. vinegar
3. 1/4 tsp. salt
4. pepper

1 lb. bacon, cook & crumble.  Add just before serving.


Enjoy & have a very Happy Holiday!

Harvest & Apple Butter - they just go together!

You know, sometimes this blogging comes very easily & other times - not.  Why is that?  I've been thinking about this for days now, the blog, I mean, but just this morning I feel like sitting down & typing.  Weird . . .

Anyway, in Iowa the combines are rolling across the fields already - most farmers are taking out the corn first this year ahead of the soybeans because of the dry summer.  Yields are so, so - obviously not going to be a bumper crop in most of the midwest.  But, God is still good, we have a crop to harvest & we are thankful.

My garden is just starting to produce - it has been slow with the dryness & it just doesn't seem to matter how much we watered, it is not the same as a good rain.  Cherry tomatoes & peppers have done good, as you can see, but I am still waiting for enough large tomatoes for canning.  I had some nice cucumbers at one time, then the vines just dried up & died - poor things!

My dear friend Kay sent a jar of the best homemade apple butter with me this summer, so I'm sharing her recipe.  She makes it in the crockpot!

Crockpot Apple Butter - begin early in the morning
    Fill a standard size (3 or 4 qt.) crockpot with finely chopped apples, peeled & cored. 
    Stir together & add - 4 c. sugar, 4 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. cloves & 1/4 t. salt
    Move the apples around in the crockpot to let the mixture sift down among the apples.
    Cover & cook 1 hour on High, then lower the heat & cook all day until the apples are dark.  12 hours or more.  (That is why she starts early in the morning!)
    Stir the mixture down once in a while.
    Boil small jars & lids with seals.  She used pint jars, but you could buy the smaller jam jars.  Fill the jars while they are hot & put the lids on; they will seal.  Also can be frozen.

Sounds so easy.  Guess I'll go make myself & piece of toast with apple butter & take a picture for you.  Doesn't it look delish!


Thanks so much for joining me today.  Have a great weekend.  The weather is beautiful & we have a wedding to go to; what a great day for a wedding!
 

Baby, It's Cold Outside!!

Don't let that little spot of sunshine fool you; it's very cold outside today; and the wind is not really even blowing.  Time to get out the gloves & scarves whether we want to or not.

Thimbleberries

I finally got my Thimbleberries Pumpkin Quilt up in the family room; this is one of my favorite quilts for the fall season. I can remember when I first saw this quilt; we were at the Thimbleberries studio in Hutchinson, MN & I had to make it.  I hear so many quilters talking about how certain quilts affect them like that; this was one for me & it's been years ago. . . would not want to figure out how many years it has been! Oh, but they've been good years with lots of quilting a part of them.


I have to share a new recipe I found at the Better Homes & Gardens site.  It's Pumpkin Fudge & it is awesome & easy to make.  Go to bhg.com & search for "pumpkin fudge."  Believe me, you'll want to give some of it away or take it to a bake sale or bazaar, because you cannot keep it in the refrigerator, it is just too tempting to have it so close for snacking.

Also, check out the Upside Down Caramelized Apple Pie; it is made in a cast iron skillet first on the stove top, then baked in the same skillet.  And, it, too, is delicious!  Well, you can tell what's on my mind today - eat, eat, eat!!

My favorite cucumber pickles!

If you are lucky, you have a garden full of fresh produce; however, I have only tomatoes, green peppers, & cucumbers, then the remainder of the garden is perennials to enjoy.

I wanted to share with you the best cucumbers recipe I've ever tasted & easiest to make.  They have the skins on & are sweet, just like I like them.  I got this recipe from my husband's ex-mother-in-law; she's a doll & we've enjoyed her visits to our farm in the past.  She loves to come to see her grandchildren & great-grandchildren who visit us, too.  We live in the northwest corner of Iowa & she lives in the northeast corner, but it's quite a trip for her to drive by herself since she's in her 80's.  I hope she is able to come for many more years.  Thanks for the recipe, Marian!

We just call them Cucumber Pickles!

16 cups of thin cucumber slices with skins  (about 8 medium size cucumbers)
1 cup sliced thin onions
3 T. salt
   Combine these 3 ingredients, then set aside for 3 hours.  Rinse & drain.

Meanwhile, mix together:  2 cups vinegar
                                     4 cups sugar
                                     1 t. celery seed
                                     1 t. turmeric
                                     1 t. whole mustard seed
                                     1/2 t. powdered alum

   Set aside for 3 hours, stirring often to dissolve sugar.

After 3 hours, pour over rinsed & drained cucumbers & onions.  Refrigerate for several days, then put into containers & freeze; can also just be left in jars in refrigerator.  These pickles are crisp & very good.