Keep Your Potatoes Fresh with This Trick!

I once had an older lady tell me to keep my potatoes in the refrigerator.  I looked at her skeptically, but now I'm a believer.  I got my potatoes out of my garden late August to early September, and just took one out of the refrigerator today, no wrinkles, black spots or growth!  You have to see it to be a believer.  I'm not saying this will work every time, but it will definitely keep them from growing legs in a week. 

Try it and let me know how it works for you.

Ganache Filled Greek Yogurt Cupcakes

Did you know that you can take any boxed mix of cake, and make it into something better?  (Better for you, tastes better, etc.)  You can add a cup of plain greek yogurt, and an extra egg, and it will have a nice tang, and still be moist.  Eliminate the oil.  That's how I made these cupcakes.

And for the topping and filling? Ganache.  For the chocolate lovers out there, if you haven't tried it, you won't be sorry you did.  You can make Ganache with any type of chocolate, but I prefer dark.

Ganache

8 ounces chocolate (choc chips are ok, as well as a bar of chocolate)
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

Break up your bar of chocolate into a bowl, add butter.  Heat your heavy cream in a saucepan until it starts to crawl up the sides of the pan, and pour over the chocolate into the bowl.  Wait a couple minutes before you stir, to let the chocolate soften and do its thing.  Take a whisk and stir gently until mixed well.  Allow mixture to cool before you use as frosting.  I piped mine into the cupcakes.

These babies are amazing, the yogurt gives the chocolate just a little bit of tang that you wouldn't normally get from a boxed mix.  Try it out and let me know what you think.

Day after Christmas Bean Soup

Day after Christmas Bean Soup

Bean soup always tastes good after that winter storm we got this Christmas.  I took all of our leftover ham (which I always seem to bring home from the Christmas family get together) and threw it in the soup, including the bone.

Chop up one onion, sautee in butter.  Add 1 cup of chicken stock.  Add four cans of Great Northern Beans, four cans of water and your ham bone.  That's all there is to it.  Boil it until you get your desired consistency.  Eat, and enjoy!  I always serve it with a great big hunk of bread.

Hamburger Bun French Toast

Okay, so we all run into this dilemma:  6 hotdogs in the package, 8 buns in the package.  We all end up with extra hamburger buns as well... especially after a picnic.  What do you do with the rest of them?  Well, you make french toast with them, of course!

Pictured with breakfast sausage.



I have found that 2 or 3 buns works best with 2 or 3 eggs.  My eggs are a little bit yellower than most because I have free range chickens.  Cut the buns up into cubes, soak in your egg and milk mixture, and toss them around on the pan like a scrambled egg.  I have found that this is waaay easier than making single slices as well as the other bonus:  no soggy pieces.  Let me know if you like it!

Sugared Almonds--Yum!

Sugared Almonds

These almonds were one of the most amazing, quick and easy projects that I made through the Christmas season.  Now that it's over (Thank God!) I'm able to share this with you.

I realize they look unappetizing on this pan, but trust me. 

 

 

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups raw almonds

 

Preheat oven 350 F.  Bring first five ingredients to a boil on stovetop, stirring often.  When it starts to carmelize and get nice and thick and gooey, throw in your almonds.  Stir them in on low heat for about a minute.  Then put them on a pan lined with wax paper or parchment paper in the oven for about 10 minutes.  Let cool, and enjoy their awesomeness.

 

I gave these to my dad for a Christmas gift, but everybody else enjoyed them too!  Try them out and let me know what you think.

Single Crochet Knobby Dish Cloth

The Single Crochet Knobby Dish Cloth

 

 

This is a variation from my last posting.  This dishcloth is done using a single crochet stitch--

 

 

sc-single crochet

ch-chain

 

 

row 1:  ch 15, ch 1 more to turn

row 2: sc 15, ch 1 more to turn

ro2 3:  sc, pulling yarn only through first loop.  dip back into chain, repeating same process until you have five loops on your hook.  pull yarn through all five loops.  do a regular sc through next chain and repeat every other chain so you have a puffy effect on your cloth. don't forget to ch 1 to turn.

row 4: sc 15, chain one more to turn.

 

 

I used the Peaches and Cream cotton thread you can get at any craft store or even walmart.  Happy crocheting, and let me know how yours turns out!

Knobby Dish Cloth

I love dish cloths.  They're practically free, reusable and you're always guaranteed they're clean.  I don't use mine any longer than two days.  Completely washable, and you can use it until they fall apart.

One thing I ran into was not having enough "scrubbies" on it like you would a sponge.  I still have a scrubber for heavy duty messes, but I find my dishcloths are good for all sorts of things (kid faces, cleaning the table/counters/dishes, etc.)

So here's my pattern to create the Knobby Dish Cloth in Double Crochet.

ch-chain
sc-single crochet
dc-double crochet
yo-yarn over

Row 1: Chain 20, Chain one more, turn.
Row 2: Sc 20,ch 2, turn
Row 3:  Half dc 6 times in one ch, yo, complete dc (pull yo through all six half dc), dc in next chain.  Repeat stitches until you reach the end of the row.  ch 1
Row 4: Sc 20, ch 2, turn.  Keep going until you've achieved the size you want.  I did a sc around the outside to finish it off.

A half double crochet is hard to explain without actually showing you.  Once you pull the yarn though once, instead of pulling it through again, you will dip back down into the same chain again, and it'll create a poof, giving you your "knobbies."  Leave me comments if you have questions, and I will try to answer the best I can.  Next up:  Single Crochet Knobby Dish Cloth.