Butter, Sunshine, Hearts, Pictures, Recipe

Our butter experiment turned out, but the kids get no credit for that. James was so excited to make butter like the Amish people do, but he was not so much on the work part. Also, he was disappointed that I couldn't manage to come up with a butter churn for our experiment. Instead, we used the jar/marble method. James shook the jar for approximately 47 seconds, while Katie shook it for a bit longer. She was a little too exuberant, though, and I had to take it away for fear she would launch the jar through the window! After about 25 minutes of shaking, all we had was whipped cream, so I cheated and put it in the blender. Wow! I have made butter once or twice before, but it is quite amazing to see how all the sudden the butter just appears. (Or, perhaps, I am easily amused.) And guess what? It tastes just like butter. Amazing.


In other news, we are spending this SUNNY, WARM day lounging around, playing outside, and eating all manner of Valentine's themed food. Having kids is a nice excuse to do all the fun Valentine's Day stuff. James declared, after eating the scones, that they were 'so, so good and I could each these for hours and hours!!' I'll post the recipe at the end.

Sun!! Happy, happy sun!

Look, its real dirt!!

The snow is starting to melt!!!

My littlest Valentine!

He liked the scones

Drawing pictures in a sunny spot

Another happy customer

Oatmeal Biscuit Scones

1 1/4 C. flour
1 C. rolled oats
1/4 C. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. (one stick) butter, chilled
1/2 C. dried cherries, chopped (or cranberries or chocolate chips)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 C. buttermilk (plus extra for brushing)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond flavoring
Sugar for sprinkling (I used raw sugar)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk dry ingredients together and cut in butter til coarse crumbs form. Stir in cherries. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, vanilla and almond. Add to flour mixture and stir to combine. (I added a little extra buttermilk at this stage) Pat into a circle on a sheet of parchment paper or a greased pan. Cut into wedges (no need to separate them) and brush with buttermilk. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 18-20 minutes, til lightly browned.

Two Recipes

Both are good. One is good for you.

Stevie’s Peanut Butter Crunch Cake

(From a friend in CO)

1 pkg. Yellow cake mix

1 C. peanut butter

½ C. packed brown sugar

1 C. water

3 eggs

¼ C. vegetable oil

½ to ¾ C. EACH, chocolate and peanut butter chips

½ C. peanuts, chopped

In a mixing bowl, beat cake mix, peanut butter and brown sugar till crumbly. Set aside ½ C. for topping. Add water, eggs and oil and mix on low till moist. Beat on high for 2 minutes. Add ½ C. each, chocolate and peanut butter chips. Combine remaining chips with crumb mix and peanuts. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. (I think its even better the next day)



Serious Whole Wheat Bread

1 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour
2 Cups unbleached white flour (Or you can use more WW flour, or part oat or spelt flour)
1 1/2 Cups old fashioned oatmeal - NOT quick cooking oats
2 heaping tsp. dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 heaping TBlsp. wheat gluten
3 TBlsp. wheat germ
2 TBlsp. oat bran
1 TBlsp. sesame seeds
1 TBlsp. poppy seeds
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/3 Cup sweetener (Honey or Molasses, or a combination)
1/3 Cup olive oil
1 2/3 Cup warm water


Put water, sweetener and yeast in a bowl. Let sit til foamy. Add everything but 1 or 2 cups of flour. Stir well and knead remaining flour as needed. Knead for about 10 minutes. Put in a greased bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Let rise til doubled, about an hour. Punch down, put into two greased bread pans, cover and let rise again.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes til it starts to brown and sounds hollow when you tap on it.

Mmmmm....Cookies

Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cherries and White Chocolate Chips

2 ½ C. flour

1 tsp. EACH, baking powder, baking soda, and ground cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Set aside.

1 ½ C. butter, softened

1 ½ C. brown sugar, packed

2/3 C. sugar

1 TBS. vanilla

2 eggs

¼ C. milk

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugars and vanilla till creamy. Beat in eggs and milk. Gradually add flour.

2 C. rolled oats

2 C. white chocolate chips

1 C. dried cherries

Stir in oats, chips and cherries. Freeze batter if desired. Bake at 375 degrees 10-14 minutes.

**Dried cherries are really good, but you can also use craisins. Also, I made these last night with dried pineapple instead of the cherries. They turned out really good! Jeff ate one for breakfast.

Dr. Haffly's 'Magic' Brownies

No, its not what you think. These aren't magic in the traditional, uh, sense. They are magic because they were quite possibly the sole reason I passed 7th grade algebra. You see, math is not one of my gifts. I had the most awesome teacher in seventh grade, Dr. Haffly, who was very patient with my math antics. He spent long hours trying to teach me fractions and percentages. He tried to so hard to teach me his methods. Much to his dismay, I never really got the percentage bit. To this day, and you can laugh at me Math Nerds (Merry Jo!), I divide the number by 100, then multiply by the percentage number I want to figure. I actually do know how to do it the right way, but its a habit now. To sort of 'smooth the way,' I made my teacher some brownies to help earn myself some...he, he...brownie points. Really, the brownies had nothing to do with my passing or failing, but they have since become legend. I have even shipped them cross country. Dr. Haffly has sadly passed away, but the brownies continue to have a life of their own. I have made them so many times I have the recipe memorized. And just in case you need a little help passing your math class, or just want to eat some darn good brownies, here is the recipe:

Dr. Haffly's Magic Brownies

1 C. flour
2 C. sugar
1 C. crisco
4 eggs
3/4 C. cocoa
1 C. chocolate chips
2 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt

(...and chocolate chips and peanut butter for topping)

Mix all ingredients together. Yes, there is only one cup of flour. (No one said these are good for you, they are just plain good.) Bake in greased 9 by 13 pan for 25 minutes or so, till done. These are fudgy brownies, by the way. Then...and here is the magic part...when they get out of the oven, sprinkle the top with a couple handfuls of chocolate chips. Then, drop spoonfuls of peanut butter about every two inches apart, more or less. Note: I actually buy a special jar of the extra-creamy, partially hydrogenated type peanut butter for these....the natural peanut butter is not as good for this purpose. After you add the dollops of peanut butter, sprinkle on some more chocolate chips. Let sit for 5 or 10 minutes. The chocolate chips and peanut butter will start to melt. Spread and swirl it around with a butter knife till top is evenly covered. These are really good warm, and really good cooled. Just make sure to share!

A good recipe...

I just made this recipe for the first time this week, and it is so good! Thought I'd pass it along. It comes from my friend Erin's Mom:

Anita's Cranberry Coffee Cake

8 oz. Neufchatel cream cheese
1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
2 1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. cranberries
1/2 c. chopped nuts

Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. Beat together the
cream cheese, butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients just until mixed (it will be tough if you over-mix the batter). Spoon into a greased bundt pan and bake @ 350 degrees for about 1 hour (until it tests done with a knife).

Comfort Food

Last night Katie got to try a good ol' Cheyney family recipe for the first time: Chicken Poppyseed Casserole. This stuff will make any one of us Cheyney/Groves go running for the kitchen. Its not gourmet, but it is so good. We always requested it for our birthday dinners. Now, Jeff loves it, James loves it (he ate no fewer than 4 servings!), and Katie loves it! She kept lunging for my plate when she had eaten what she had in front of her. That being said, I thought I'd post the recipe here today, in case any one wants to try it.

Chicken Poppyseed Casserole

4-5 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up (or use a whole chicken...I think whole chicken has more flavor)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (muy gourmet, no?)
1 cup or so of sour cream
55 Ritz crackers, crushed (of if you are too lazy to count, like me, just use two sleeves)
1 stick of butter, melted
2 T. poppy seeds

In a large bowl, mix together soup and sour cream. Stir in chicken. In a seperate bowl, mix melted butter, cracker crumbs and poppy seeds. In a greased 9 by 13 pan, layer crackers and chicken, starting and ending in crackers. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or till bubbly. Voila! You have just made the stuff of legend.

Dad's Gut-Bustin' Good Stuff

Don't let the description fool you. This stuff is really good! Make it at home, or when camping. It is really good, although just a tad high in fat. But who's counting! :)

Enjoy at home, or while camping.

1 bag of frozen Tater Tots

1-2 green peppers, cut into bit sized pieces

1 onion, chopped

4-8 garlic cloves, whole (or more, depending on if you like garlic)

breakfast meat, such as sausage or bacon, or both

butter

In a large dutch oven, brown meat of choice. Remove meat and use remaining grease to fry onions and peppers. Throw meat back in, along with the garlic and tater tots. Add a few tablespoons of butter. Put lid on dutch oven and bake in 350 degree oven or over fire till tater tots are cooked thru and everything is nice and yummy. Eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner!


***And a side note: I made coffee cake this morning for breakfast. James told me 'I want more Happy Birthday." Meaning, Happy Birthday, we have cake....so cake must be called Happy Birthday! I wonder if he thinks we are singing to the cake when its someone's birthday?

Strange But Delicious Recipe: Tex Mex Pumpkin Patties

When I first saw this recipe I thought it sounded gross. Then I thought is sounded interesting. Then I decided to try it. They are actually really good and I have made them quite a few times now. We have them with tomato soup, or salad, or for a snack. We also add a dollop of sour cream on top. Check it out here. PS. Like how I used my fine china for the picture?!

In other news, Katie made her first semi-successful attempt at pulling herself up today! She pulled her whole body up on the cedar chest and had one leg underneath her, but couldn't get the other one in line. Where has the time gone? This girl's gonna be walking before I know it, at which point I think I will curl myself up in the fetal position and have a good cry. Time goes too fast!

James' Favorite Food: 'Pan-teets'

If James had to be trapped on a deserted island and only bring one food with him, I'm pretty sure he would pick these. He asks me almost every morning for 'pan-teets.' His latest favorite is Shredded Apple. And Grandpa Cheyney, every time I eat them I think of you, because when I used to eat pancakes at your house you used to tell me, "If you keep eating like that you're going to get fat." he he he

5 Grain Pancake Mix

2 C. all-purpose flour

2 C. whole wheat flour

1 C. cornmeal

1 C. quick oats

1/2 C. wheat bran or 100% bran flakes

6 TBS. sugar

2 TBS. baking powder

4 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. salt (or less)

1 tsp. nutmeg

cinnamon if desired

Layer or mix and store in airtight container. For one batch of pancakes, whisk together ¾ C. buttermilk or milk (more or less depending on the consistency you like), 1 egg and 1 tsp. vegetable oil (optional: I never add it). Stir in ¾ C. to 1 C. of mix just until combined. Makes six 4” pancakes per batch. To mix things up a bit, throw in any of the following:

a shredded apple

a mashed banana and cinnamon chips

shredded zucchini

1/3 cup or more of canned pumpkin or mashed butternut squash

a big handful of blueberries

a big handful of raspberries

some chocolate chips