Fresh From the Oven

French Silk Pie

2009-04-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

I'm always asked to bring dessert for Easter, and I'm happy to do it. It needs to be sugar free for my parents, which adds an extra challenge, so I have to get a little more creative. I normally make a glazed strawberry pie, which is fantastic, but I wanted to try something new. Yesterday I made my first French Silk pie. It was incredible, if I may say so myself. I used this recipe from allrecipe.com: French Silk Pie III I decreased the butter to 1 cup, as suggested by the other reviews, then I used Splenda in place of the sugar. I used real eggs, we raise our own eggs, so I don't have to worry about freshness, but I would recommend using pasteurized egg product if you have health concerns or are just worried about salmenila. The pie turned out perfect and was enjoyed by all. I can definetly seeing it be repeated.

Apricots

2008-07-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July everyone. I hope everyone is having a fabulous and safe holiday. It's been a fun and relaxing day for us. I have been busy getting ready for the farmer's market which is tomorrow. I can't decide if we will be run over with customers because it's a holiday weekend, or if no one will show up because it's a holiday weekend.

We have discovered that we have two apricot trees out our house. We moved here last August, so we didn't know what all we had. Later, after it gets cooler, I will be outside picking lots of apricots. They are beautiful. Now to figure out what to do with them all. I do plan to take some to the market tomorrow, and hope someone else knows what to do with them. I like apricot pie, and will make some of that. If you have a favorite apricot recipe, please share it. I will have lots of apricots to experiment with.

Zucchini

2008-07-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

It is zucchini season at our house. We are picking about three per evening, but it will pick up even greater very soon. Tonight we had zucchini fritters for supper. After supper I made blueberry zucchini muffins and they are yummy. I thought I would share my very favorite zucchini recipe though, Chocolate Zucchini Cake, it came out of the Inman Kansas Centennial Cookbook. I will be making this tomorrow in mini bunt cake pans. When the cakes are cool I will put them on a plate and sprinkle them with powdered sugar and take them to the farmers market. But for those of you not close enough to come buy one, here is the recipe.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 oil (I use apple sauce)
1 3/4 sugar (Splenda will work)
Cream these three ingredients together.
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 sour milk or sour cream
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 1/2 cups flour
4 tablespoons coco powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup nuts (I usually leave these out)

Cream together the first three ingredients. Add the eggs, vanilla, sour milk and zucchini to the mixture. Add together the flour, coco powder, soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the batter. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Grease 9 x 13 pan, pour in cake batter. Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

Enjoy!

Brownies

2008-06-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

I went to the farmer's market today. I tried taking brownies, as a few people had suggested. They were a huge hit. I think people really enjoy a small indulgence. I made cocoa brownies, from scratch, throwing in a cup of chocolate chips, to make them extra good. I made them in a 9x13 pan, and cut them into 12 squares. I sold each square for $.75, which seemed to go over very well. I also made a double batch of cowboy cookies, they sold well also. I had quite a few loaves of bread and some zwieback, they didn't sell as well today, but it's so hot here, I'm wondering if that's not the problem. We have a smaller farmers market here in our town tonight, the other one is 12 miles away. I'm planning on going tonight, I have two pans of brownies in the oven right now, and plan to make a batch of scones when they are done. Enjoy!

Back to the Vet today

2008-06-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is Pepper. She is a mix of something or another, but she is well loved. A friend of our found her in an alfalfa field, she had been dumped. He picked her up and took her home. We got her the next day. We are guessing she was about 4 weeks old at the time, she was so tiny. She has had fabulous health, until the last two weeks. Last week we were to the vet because she didn't feel good, she had a fever and was miserable. Got her some meds and she was doing better. Then two days ago, her hips weren't working like they were suppose to. She was in pain and had a lot of trouble getting up and down. I was terrified it was West Nile, because these are the symptoms for a horse. Took her to see Dr. Matt today and he said no West Nile. She dislocated her pelvis, how she did this we will never know. He did some chiropractic treatment for her, and she is about as good as new. We also got her some anti-inflammatory meds. He said to keep her from being too active. I'm not sure how you keep a farm dog from being too active. Hopefully she is on the mend and we won't have to go back to see Dr. Matt until her shots are due again.

I've also been crazy busy getting ready for tomorrow's famers market. Looks like tomorrow will be a great day.