Busy Time of Year!!!

With Thanksgiving now a memory, and Christmas approching rapidly, I am reminded of how short our days are! It seems I never have the time to do all that I want to do, but this time of year, I don't have time to do all that I need to do! I am knitting and crocheting in all of my spare time, leaving the cleaning for another time. I still have to make some home made soap for Christmas presents and baby shower gifts.... And, I have yet to put up my Christmas displays outside. With the help of the hubby and kids, we did get the icicle lights on the house yesterday, and the lights on the big inside tree.... Not moving as fast as I would like, but it is going to have to work, because I cannot add more hours in the day, and I love my life so much, that I wouldn't want to share it with a clone!

Home Made Christmas!

I am blessed to have a friend that is 95 years young, and she is teaching me how to knit and crochet! She has some beautiful work that she has done over the years, and I hope to be half as good as she is! I have made some baby blankets, baby booties and dish rags. I am pleased to say they have turned out great, so far! haha I am in the process now of making some Sock Monkey hats with ear flaps for my teenagers. They have an obsession with Sock Monkeys for some reason! I will add some pics of my work, at a later date, as some of the projects I have been doing are gifts for Christmas :) I am thinking of starting a new tradition with my family: At least 1 (one) gift must be homemade by the giver....Imagine the possiblities! I think it is a great idea. My kids may think otherwise, but hopefully, it will become a tradition for many, many years to come!

breakfast sandwiches

These are so good and hearty, you need a fork to eat them!

Grill bread (see recipie below) with butter, in a hot skillet, till browned on both sides. Sprinkle a little grated cheddar cheese on the top of the grilled toast and set aside. Cook a few slices of bacon (about 2 to each piece of bread).Place on top of the grilled cheese toast.  Fry an egg or two, and place on top, add a sprinkle of cheddar cheese on top, and you have a filling and delicious breakfast! You can top with picante sauce if you like. You can even top it with a second piece of toast to make it a real 'sandwich' but it is alot to eat!

thick and hearty bread

My family loves homemade bread, and this is a personal favorite. It is easy to make, and tastes great. It is a hearty bread, with a slight sweetness to it, which makes it versatile for almost anything.

2 c warm water
2/3 c of sugar
1 1/2 tea salt
4 tbl veg oil
6 c flour
2 tbl dry yeast

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water, and stir in salt and oil. Add the flour and yeast, and stir with a WOODEN spoon (im not sure why, but every time i use a regular spoon, it never rises right). When it is mixed fairly well, knead with your hands for a few minutes. Usually around 5 minutes or so, until the dough is 'elastic'. (if you have never worked with bread before, dont panic, this is easy!)
Cover, and place in a warm spot to rise to double. Usually takes 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the warmth.
Dump onto a floured surface and work the air bubbles out of it with your hands, usually just a minute or two of kneading. If you do not have a loaf pan, you can form the dough into a loaf, and place on a flat sheet pan, otherwise, I put into an industrial size loaf pan, or 2 regular size loaf pans.
Cover, and let rise to about double again.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until done. I like mine to be a golden brown, others like it a little more so.
When it is finished, take out of the oven, and let it rest for 5 minutes or so, then remove from pan, place on a wire rack, and cover till cooled.

We use this for grilled cheese sandwiches, french toast, breakfast sandwiches...I even make rolls from the dough sometimes, instead of loaves.

cleaning a stainless steel sink

I love my stainless steel sink, but every so often, it starts to show some stains from coffee, tea..etc...
The easiest way to clean it, for me, is this:

Wet the sink all over, then sprinkle with baking soda. Pour lemons juice into a clean sponge, and wipe the baking soda. Keep adding more lemon juice as needed. It takes care of stains and slight smells that may be lurking in the sink, and gives it a nice shine. Plus, nothing beats the sweet, clean smell of lemons :)

cowboy beans

This is another family fave. Put a pound of pinto beans in the crock pot with water. Cook as normal, (about 6-8hrs) but in the last 2 hrs, put in browned hamburger meat ( i brown mine with sweet onions), a can of green sauce (salsa verde) and a can of green chilies. I sometimes add 2 pkts of taco seasoning, or just some salt, pepper, cayanne and cumin...just depends on what i have on hand :)

I usually serve it with cornbread and fried taters, but tonight we did cornbread and spanish rice, (only because I was out of potatoes and refused to drive to town for them :)

Slow running drain?

If your drain is running slow, or you notice a smell in there, try this. I was told about this by a plumber, over 25 years ago, when the my washing machine drain was stopped up.

Put a pan of water on to boil. In the process, take 1/2  cup of baking soda and sprinkle in the drain, follow immediately with 1 cup of white vinegar or lemon juice. It will begin to foam and bubble up. After all the bubbling has finished, pour the boiling water down the drain.
I do this in my garbage disposal once a month, and it keeps it smelling fresh. I also use this in my washer drain (with a funnel, of course) once a year.