Is Soup season back already? Grandma's Kitchen

 

 

Rained all night the wind was almost cold, this morning dawned very gray. It feels like late October!
The trees are still green,there are still ripening tomatoes on the vine, and the pumpkins haven't started to ripen yet!   This has be wondering, OK worrying.   But weather, as my readers know is a bit different, just enough to notice ,here in the Piney Woods

 

Unless i have something planned for dinner each day, i don't have a plan for  dinner, i always ask what everyone wants.   They seldom agree.  I should have known, but today was different.  Just knew that the answer would be soup or stew.  Yup! should have known. 

My feeling is that soups and stews are meant to warm body, soul and mood.  Also that leftovers, family approved ingredients and occasionally gourmet touches, can be part of a great pot of soup or stew.   If you add too many left overs, well someone is going to notice.   Even if you try to disguise it with a bit of  your own creativity.

 

Ingredients

• 3 pounds beef stew meat
• 2 - 14 ounce cans beef stock
• 2 1/2 cups celery diced
• 1 medium onion chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup corn starch dissolved in 1/4 water
• 2 - 12 ounce packages of Reames Frozen Home style Egg Noodles

Instructions

• To a pan over medium heat add beef, beef stock, celery, and onion. Generously salt and pepper.
• Cover and simmer for about an hour, until meat and veggies are tender. Stirring occasionally.
• While meat cooks, prepare your egg noodles per the package instructions. Or make your own homemade egg noodles.
• When the meat is tender, add corn starch/water mixture and stir, the sauce will thicken in just a few minutes.
• Drain and add the noodles, combine with meat mixture.
• I love mine just like it is, but my hubby tops it with sour cream!

 

 

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I was handed this recipe, and have no idea who wrote it, but it looks good.   And remember that you can always make it your own version with some omissions and or additions.   

 

Happy stirring! 

 

 

 

a few thoughts about Lughnasadh

  What a beautiful day!

 Today celebrate the "first harvest"!  When our ancestors harvested the first grain of the year.  Made the first truly fresh bread of the year, they celebrated with friends and kin, sharing a meal often including fresh bread made from the grain harvested in this "first harvest."

Lammas and  Lughnasadh  are both celebrated on August 1st.  Lammas is Anglo-Saxon in origin and focuses on the first harvesting of wheat and the baking of bread made from it.

 

 Lughnasadh is Celtic in origin, and draws it's name from the god Lugh.  The Celts  emphasizes a broader  celebration by including celebration of  the abundance of the earth. 

 Lugh is the master of skills, practical every day skills,like farming. skills in battle, strategy and combat, and skill  in arts, crafts, games and strength. 

Lugh was also the Master of ingenuity,which was essential to survial.

 We in our modern world are used to fresh foods, including fresh bread.  But, in those times grain was stored in vessels of were made  from anything from animal hides to hollowed out tree trunks, Ingenuity was the key to survival.

 Grains do loose their flavor, and/or turn rancid with time, even with out modern storage methods and i feel sure they had that problem despite their best efforts.  

~~~ There was no credit given for this recipe, i tried it we liked it.

"first harvest' begins

we have waited for this day 

 OH! smell our fresh bread

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wishing my readers a bounty of blessings 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

favorite things of Christmas

I think this is just about the strangest year I have ever experienced.  so many people started decorating for Christmas  back at Thanksgiving, well that would be me in an average year, and this surely isn't an average year.   Anyway I am still decorating my tree. Decking my halls, but no baking this year, I am just plain tired of homemade goodies.  Did I really just say that??  I fear so.  There used to be a shop like this on the way to the Mall...yes there was a time when one had to drive across at lest two or thee counties to get to a Mall, Always stopped here on the way, there were  walls of cookie cutters, a pickle barrel with real good pickles in it,  random wood turnings, penny candy and Christmas decorations on the second floor all year long.   There was something refreshing about going there, even though it didn't have air conditioning, it did have a bench on the front porch with a donkey painted on it also one with an elephant painted on it.   On top of my kitchen cupboard is a red and white  tin cup, that i bought there and  I still use  for coffee. 

 

 

Those summer drives seem decades away, probably because they are.  

 I love to see Christmas lights.  Snow just makes the evening more perfect, well for those of us who aren't traveling anyway.    Traveling on Christmas Eve is exciting, seeing friends and family, and sliding down the highway sideways, and don't forget the beautiful light displays...and the presents are pretty nice too.  

This year Christmas Candoliers are in all of the windows in our house, each is on a  timer.   Watching the snow start to fall as night overtakes the day is my reward.  Watching the Christmas lights come on  across the valley in our tiny town is my   delight.  the winter ahead is  gray and cold, but tonight filled with sparkles.

Finally I want to share a version of my favorite Christmas story with you.  Wish I could remember the name of the book that  I first learned about this legend in. It's subject was a collection Christmas trees with decorations inspired by different countries.  Paging thru it I noticed that the tree from Czechoslovakia was covered with beaded spider webs and spiders.  In that version the spiders decorated the tree, while the impoverish family slept, with strands of silver and gold webs.

Do I have a spider or two on my tree?  Of course, beaded spiders and beaded webs, and toward the end of the season may-be a real spider or two.

T

 

a quick ramble and a guest blogger on cooking essentials

One thing i love about living out here in the PineyWoods is not living in town, which also one of the things I don't like about it.   I try to be organised and get everything I need....make a list....check it twice.....get distracted....yup! you got the idea.  

Baking powder is an essential !  But if you are  forgetful, easily distracted like me, or fussy like me and only use one brand which most stores don't carry, and don't want to fill outa big order for amazon...oops! see what I mean.   Anyroad, here some good info that I HAVE tested out.  My personal preference is to make only what I will use that day.

Quick ramble, think that's an oxymoron...see told ya I get distracted easy.

Homemade Baking Powder Recipe

Posted by Kelly | Bread, Real Food, Real Food Issues and Guides, Sauces, Dressings, Dips, and Broths | 28 comments

This post may contain Affiliate Links. Thank you for your support!

Yes! A Homemade Baking Powder Recipe! Did you know you can make baking powder yourself?  “Why would I?” you may ask. Well, simply said…

1. It’s frugal
2. You gain some extra knowledge on how to do something yourself
3. It only has 3 ingredients!
4. AND you stay away from baking powders with aluminum.

4 great reasons right off the bat, right off the shelf, or whatever other expression you want to use. 🙂

What are the 3 Ingredients?

1. Baking Soda
2. Cream of Tartar
3. Arrowroot Powder (or organic cornstarch)

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Cream of Tarter

What is it and is it ok to use in my Homemade Baking Powder Recipe?

Cream of Tarter is potassium bitartrate – or tartaric acid that has chemically reacted with potassium hydroxide.  Kind of like how oil is busted open and transformed into soap through a chemical reaction with sodium hydroxide,  tartaric acid is transformed into a type of  salt when combined with potassium hydroxide.
Crazy enough, it is found naturally in wine barrels after fermentation or at the bottom of wine bottles over time.
Commercial Cream of Tartar is scraped off the barrels, heated, and then pulverized and processed.  As far as I can tell in my research, what is used to process it is a type of sodium and then carbon.  It seems as though it has been kept pure without any bleaching and other harsh agents. Thumbs up!
In your grocery store, Cream of Tartar can be expensive, thus eliminating the frugal part of making baking powder yourself.  But if you want to make your own baking powder in bulk and store it for use indefinitely, then buy Cream of Tartar online or at a local store that sells it in bulk. I’ve bought mine from Amazon HERE.

Why Arrowroot Powder?

Arrowroot powder is a natural alternative to today’s GMO cornstarch.  If you don’t have Organic Corn Starch, then grab some Arrowroot Powder.  Use in your baking powder, gravies, and any recipe that calls for cornstarch.
You do not need to add the arrowroot powder if you are making a small batch to use right away.  The arrowroot powder works to absorb moisture so that you can keep your baking powder in an airtight jar and store on the shelf.

Homemade Baking Powder Recipe

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5.0 from 6 reviews

Homemade Baking Powder Recipe

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Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

Make it Yourself! Frugal, Easy, and Healthy with no aluminum

Author: Kelly - Simple Life Mom

Serves: 4 tsp to 1lb

Ingredients

• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp arrowroot powder

Larger Batch (Makes 2 cups or 16oz)

• ½ cup baking soda
• 1 cup cream of tartar
• ½ cup arrowroot powder

Instructions

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1. Combine all ingredients and store in an air tight jar in your cupboard.

It’s really that simple!!