  We had the drawing last night and our lucky winner is Kelly from Texas. Kelly has been notified and has responded and her package of short bread mix and cookie cutters will be heading her way. She even ordered soaps to throw into the box! Thank you, Kelly!! Oh!! And to make it even better, Kelly informed me that her birthday was yesterday – the day she won! So Happy Birthday too and Congratulations!! Couldn’t make it any more perfect a pick! And just a little announcement – The Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™, our Prairie Blessings soaps and our rolling pin covers have gone international! We can now ship these items to Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Austrlia. More countries will be added soon. So, for those of you who have inquired regarding international shipping, it is now available! Later this evening, I will be posting a new appetizer recipe so stay tuned!  |
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We Have A Winner!!
December 20th, 2012
The “Toity” Without The “Hoity”!
December 14th, 2012
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Just 5 days to go!! Don’t forget to comment to enter this month’s giveaway for the treats pictured above. Just in time for Christmas: Shortbread cookie mix and a set of cookie cutters to make a cookie Christmas tree!! I told you in my last post that I would put up some “finger food” ideas for the holiday entertaining season and this is the next in that list. Hope you can use it!! A long time ago, an employer took me and friends to a restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was quite an experience for a younger person who didn’t have two pennies to rub together. There were no prices on the menu and so I have no idea how much the meal cost. However, I’ll bet that the bill would be considered astronomical even today! Appetizers were ordered first and I chowed down on the Crab Louis on crackers. I had never had caviar and made a pig of myself. As has always been my habit, I took mental notes of the tastes and the ingredients as the flavors slid over my taste buds. I have no clue what I had for dinner and dessert. I just remember the appetizers! And of course, when I went back to the real world of the lowly, young wife of a farmer, I experimented until I created that appetizer to use for my own entertainment occassions. It may seem like a bit of work, but the neat thing is that you can make the sauce days ahead of time and just keep it in the frig where the longer it sits, the more the flavors combine. You can cook the crab ahead of time or you can use frozen claw meat or lump crab meat. Assembling the treat just takes a matter of minutes so it’s all in the planning! You will impress your guests and they will think that you are really posh. Do we use that word anymore??? For a lighter version, you can use light mayonnaise and the low-fat half and half. And if you think that I spent a bunch of money on caviar, think again! Shhhhhhhh. It was on the top shelf at Walmart with the canned oysters, canned shrimp and canned tuna!! That means that anyone can serve the “Toity” without it being so “Hoity”!! Ingredients: Louis Sauce: 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 Tbsp heavy cream (or half and half) 2 Tbsp Heinz Chili Sauce 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1/4 tsp shredded, fresh horseradish 2 Tbsp finely chopped green pepper 2 Tbsp finely chopped green onion 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice Other Ingredients:  In a small mixing bowl, add mayonnaise  Add cream  And chili sauce, worcestershire sauce and horseradish  Add chopped green pepper and green onions  Pour in 1 Tbsp lemon juice  Mix all ingredients together until sauce is smooth. Place in the refrigerator to cool. May be made several days ahead of time. This sauce is very good as a substitute for tartar sauce with fried or baked fish or shrimp.  Steam enough crab to make one cup of meat when cracked. For a quicker preparation, frozen lump or claw meat is acceptable too.  Shell the crab using kitchen shears and a nut pick.  Place crackers on a plate and put a small dollop of sauce in the center of each cracker.  Toss one tablespoon melted butter with the crab  Put a mound of crab onto the cracker and into the sauce.  Place another small dollop of sauce on top of the mound of crab  Add a small mound of caviar onto the sauce.  And there you have it. Tasty appetizers!! |
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Virginia – Texas – Oklahoma – Whatever!
December 10th, 2012
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Don’t forget to comment to enter this month’s giveaway for the treats pictured above. Just in time for Christmas: Shortbread cookie mix and a set of cookie cutters to make a cookie Christmas tree!! Tis the season to be eating…or that’s the way it is around here. Between Thanksgiving and New Years Day, Americans consume more calories than any other time of the year, but based on all of the holiday pastry baking going on all over the rest of the world, I’m thinkin’ we aren’t alone!! Office parties, neighborhood get-togethers, church luncheons and private bashes make up the months of November through January 1st, and finger foods and hors d’oeuvres occupy every hostess’ or host’s brain. Of course, these days, the fat content and calories are considered as well – maybe! I thought that for the next few posts, I would give you some of our favorite goodies that can be prepared either lower calorie or the good ol’ Southern way. I’ve been making most of these recipes for years of entertaining and they are easy and delicious. This first one was given to me by my friend, Mary, wayyyyy back in the late 1970’s. Having grown up in Virginia, Mary was proud of her state and her heritage and treated me to this concoction called Virginia Hot Dip. I loved it and immediately got her recipe. That IS the official name – however, if you are from Tennessee, you can call it Tennessee Hot Dip or from Michigan – it can be Michigan Hot Dip. I think that we should just label it as the 50 state treat that it is!! So here is the recipe. It takes all of maybe 15 minutes to prepare and then 20 minutes to bake. It can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator until just before time for serving, at which time it is baked and then served hot. Ingredients: (This recipe can be doubled, tripled, quadrupled and any other ‘uple’ you wish according to your crowd size) 1/2 cup chopped pecans (I use a little more) 1 Tbsp. butter (for low fat use 1 tsp) 1 8oz package cream cheese, softened (fat-free or Neufchatel is fine for lower calorie and fat) 1/2 cup sour cream (light sour cream works well too) 2 Tablespoons milk (skim or 2% for lower calorie) 1 Tablespoon minced onion 1 1/2 (2 oz) package Carl Buddig original sliced beef or any other dried beef brand 1/2 tsp garlic salt Directions:  Place cream cheese, sour cream, onions, milk and garlic salt into a mixing bowl.  You can make your own garlic salt by adding 2 Tablespoons of salt and 1 Tablespoon of garlic powder into a small jar and shaking to mix. These amounts can be increased proportionally for larger batches.  Cream ingredients until smooth  Slice and chop beef into small pieces  Add beef to the creamed mixer and mix well  Spoon mixture into a greased casserole dish. I use spray on olive oil to grease my dish.  Melt butter in a skillet  Add chopped pecans and lightly saute in the butter.  Sprinkle pecans evenly over the surface of the creamed mixture. At this point, the mixture can be chilled until it is ready to use. Just before time to serve, bake at 350º for 20 minutes and allow to cool just slightly before serving with crackers.  Yummy!! |
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Christmas Giveaway!!
December 5th, 2012
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OK!!! Time for a giveaway. Yes, it is. Tis the season to be jolly and that time to give stuff, right? Well, I think that you are going to really like this “stuff”! Leave a comment below or on any posts until December 19th and you will be entered to win a lovely set of cookie cutters that you can use to create the coolest cookie Christmas tree. But on top of that, you will also win a bag of our Aberdeen Shortbread Cookie Mix, which makes the most lucious and buttery shortbread and can be found at the shopping page. The drawing will be held on the 19th. So get to commenting and maybe you will be our lucky winner!!! Ho, ho, ho!! |
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Celebrating A Life
November 28th, 2012
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I’m listening to saved messages on my cell phone. Do you ever save the voice messages of the ones you love? I do. I don’t know why. I just do. And so, I just pulled up the latest message that I have from my dear Aunt Lois. I listened and laughed, through tears. “Heh girl. It’s your little old aunt, who lives in a little old house on a little old lot (my uncle’s voice says something in the background) – with a little old man he says! Well, you’re SUPPOSED to be available when I call. I’m not sure what to do with this!” Yesterday was the funeral for my precious Aunt Lois Wyrick. On Saturday, she died suddenly while having breakfast with the love of her life, my uncle, at their regular Saturday restaurant. The news was a shock to us all. Nobody is ever prepared for that kind of suddeness. She was 88 years young with a sharp wit, crystal clear memory and the will to go square dancing, though her body said, “I don’t THINK so”. Aunt Lois was an inspiration, an encourager, a teacher – the epitome of the strong, southern woman. She mentored many a young woman, always ready with a scripture and a life lesson. I was one of those women. She and I spent hours on the phone, and cheek to cheek when Mr. Fix-It and I would make the long trek to Georgia, discussing faith and life always with humor and laughter. She embraced our little Ellie dog and always asked if we were bringing her to entertain her. Ellie would lay at her feet, or at the feet of my uncle, and wait for a word from either one of them so she could pound her tail in appreciation.  Aunt Lois walked with me at a very tough time in my life and held counseling sessions with me from 850 miles away. She encouraged me to start my business and had not a few brilliant ideas. She gave me my first huge order and gushed over the presentation of the packaging. She always made me feel like I could do anything and that whatever I did and do is important. She let me know that she was proud of me and of the older woman I have become.  My aunt and I were partners in crime at antiquing. My poor uncle followed meekly behind us, clutching his wallet in fear. My aunt fostered my love of antique, cobalt blue glassware and had a collection that she proudly displayed in front of a window, so that it cast beams of blue across the room in the morning sun. Our personal contest was to proudly find the best bargain of the century and then convince each other that life would never be the same if one or the other did not purchase the item and carry it home, to the chagrin of our husbands. I would talk her into pieces of crystal that she would purchase for her crystal collection from which she always gifted many brides who were fortunate to benefit from Aunt Lois’ good taste. I also talked her into a dining room suite that was purchased for her granddaughter’s new home. That furniture wasn’t much to look at, but when the granddaughter got hold of it and plied the hereditary artistic eye of her mom and grandmother, that suite took on a new appearance which graced the dining room with beauty. Aunt Lois talked me into a set of hand cut stemware that I have treasured for years.  Of course, she – with her sense of humor – most recently talked me into another set of stemware which I’m thinking is a source of laughter for her now. I am at a loss at what to do with these things.  A prolific writer, Aunt Lois shared my love of writing and I have posted some of her writing here, as well as our experiences shared on our many trips to their home. She wrote for a Georgia publication and included some of my writing and experiences in her pieces. Between my aunt and my dad, who also has a gift of the word, I feel that I have been left a legacy of family history that assures that generations will always know the roots, the heritage, the stories and the humor of our varied and colorful family tree. There is no greater gift than written memories passed on from generation to generation.  I could write so much more, but suffice it to say that my aunt was well-loved and most admired. As I wrote on Facebook , “She accepted me lock, stock and barrel, warts and all. She loved me and encouraged me to not be afraid to make a leap of faith. She lovingly supported me in my walk with Christ, creating a bond of faith between us that gives me no doubt that she is having those discussions with Christ right now!!…Though I rejoice that Aunt Lois is at peace with God, is whole and not infirm anymore and knows the true peace and joy that we, as Christians, look forward to with yearning, I am still heartbroken and sad for her family, especially Uncle Ed, and for me, because a vibrant part of our lives is now missing.” Aunt Lois’ message on my phone ends with this: “Hope things are well. I love you much, honey. Bye”…..I love you too, Aunt Lois. Bye for now. |
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A New Meaning To Pot Pie
November 20th, 2012
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I know. I know. Where have I been? Did I fall off of the earth? Did I get swallowed by a giant batch of soap? Did I get discovered by Food Network? (I wish!) While none of these scenarios is probable, the fact is that I had a variety of much less exciting happenstances occur at once. First, as I left you last time, I had a house full of teenage young men who stayed with us for 7 nights as they campaigned for our state representative. It was rather hectic here. But on top of that, my eye disease decided to rear its ugly head and I was having a hard time reading or typing for very long. It’s just no fun when you see two of everything!! And then – more company and more cooking. And then – two canning classes and a case of hives and more double vision. All in all, with excuses aside, it all boiled down to one main culprit: Writer’s block!!!! Yep. My brain has been fried. I have not had one single thing to write about. I’d start, but the words wouldn’t come and when they did, there were two of each. Soooo, I gave up. I have now chilled, rested and used not just a few ice packs and I am back in business. And speaking of business, we had a winner for our Fall Giveaway, reader and FaceBook fan, Sue Feely won two packages of our Frontier Fixin’s bread mix. Next week, right after Thanksgiving, a new giveaway will be introduced just in time for Christmas! So be watching. With this being Thanksgiving week, a time for family, memories, gratitude and turkey, I thought that I would give you a way that I like to use my leftover turkey that is pretty tasty. The recipe originated from a cookbook that I’ve had for years and is evidently no longer in print, titled “Favorite Brandname Cookbook”. I tweaked the recipe for leftover turkey but use chicken as well and home canned chicken or turkey is really great in it. If you want to can your turkey after Thanksgiving and then use it later, this is a good way to use that, but straight off the bone is fine too. I like white meat in my recipes but both white and dark work well too. It’s all a matter of preference. In this tutorial, I am using chicken, but will be making it with turkey on Friday!! And just as a note, I use dehydrated celery, mushrooms and onions and they work great. Ingredients: 1 cup sliced carrots 3/4 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup diced celery 1/2 cup chicken or turkey broth 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 pkg turkey gravy mix (if using turkey for the meat) mixed with 1 cup cold water 1 cup sour cream 3 cups cubed or shredded chicken or turkey 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper Topping: 1 cup flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 eggs beaten 1/2 cup milk 1 Tbsp. chopped green pepper 1 Tbsp. chopped pimento 1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (sharp is good)  In a bowl, place the meat, either shredded or cubed. If using canned meat, it will shred.  Place veggies, minus the peppers and pimentos, into a saucepan with 1/4 cup chicken broth, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add a little water if needed to keep from cooking dry.  Add sour cream to the meat  Add cream of chicken soup and turkey gravy mixed with 1 cup water to the meat and sour cream  Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper  Add vegetables  Add remaining 1/4 cup chicken broth and mix all ingredients well  Pour the meat mixture into a casserole dish. I am using a Pampered Chef stoneware deep dish baker here. Set dish aside.  In a bowl, add flour, salt and baking powder and stir.  In a separate bowl, lightly beat eggs and milk together  Add cheese and peppers to the flour mixture and toss until the cheese is totally incorporated with the flour  Pour egg mixture in with the flour mixture and stir well  By spoonfuls, place the batter mixture in a ring around the outside top of the meat mixture in the casserole dish. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes at 350º until golden brown.  It’s pretty and it’s good! Serve hot with a salad and you have a meal! |
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Supreme Pizza Soup
October 31st, 2012
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Don’t forget that today is the last day you can comment to enter our Fall Giveaway for the bread mixes!! Drawing is tomorrow!! I did a small show on Friday night in Edmond, OK and debuted the soaps. I was very pleased at the response and of course, the Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ was a hit. It was a fun time. Last night, I had to cook for 25 young people, and considering that over half of them were young men, I figured that was the equivalent of 40 mouths. Guys eat – alot – I know that well. And what better food to fill 40 mouths on a cool night than soup? But not just any soup. This had to be a soup that would please the taste buds of the potato chip munching, coke guzzling, pizza party crowd. I found a recipe online that looked interesting, but when I made it, I was left kinda blah. Just not much taste. It was pretty, but that was the most I could say for it. So, in my usual “Let’s just dump the frig into the pot and call it supper”, I took the recipe and made it my own.  By the time I was finished, I had pizza in a pot – and I might say a really, really, really big pot. I made close to 20 quarts. I figured THAT should hold them!! So here is the result of my craziness. I have broken it down into a more reasonable amount for you that makes enough for about 8 people. Oh, and just a side note, I used my dehydrated veggies instead of fresh. They worked great. Supreme Pizza Soup Ingredients: 3/4 lb Johnsonville Sweet Italian sausage (can use the turkery or chicken sausage too) 1/2 – 1 lb ground beef 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 medium green pepper chopped 1 small onion chopped 2 tbsp. minced garlic 8 cups chicken broth 28 oz Red Gold diced tomatoes with garlic and olive oil (other brands are fine too) 1 tbsp sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 can Hunts 4 cheese Spaghetti Sauce 2 1/2 cups large macaroni, farfalle or your favorite pasta Parmesan Cheese Note: You can thicken this soup with cornstarch and cold water if you prefer a thicker soup. Make it first and then determine if you want it thicker. Add cornstarch mixed with cold water into boiling soup, stirring constantly to thicken.  I actually started the day before because I was going to be making so much, but you don’t have to do that. I browned the Italian sausages on both sides in a large skillet and then placed them on a baking sheet to bake at 350º for about 20 minutes. They were taken out of the oven, cooled and then put into a plastic bag in the frig to cool all the way down. This makes them easier to slice. All of the sausages were sliced realatively thinly and put into a bowl and set aside.  Brown the hamburger, mixing in salt and pepper and fennel seed before browning.  In a stock pot, add all ingredients except for the Italian sausage. All of the herbs here were grown in our garden and dried and are so pretty in the soup! Simmer on medium heat for two hours. Bring to a low boil and add sausage and pasta. Cook until pasta is tender, stirring occassionally to keep pasta from sticking to the bottom.  Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of the soup. Add some Italian bread and you have a meal!! |
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New!! Handmade Goat Milk Soaps
October 23rd, 2012
 Don’t forget to leave a comment to enter the Fall Giveaway, to be held on November 1st. The winner will receive two boxes of our Frontier Fixin’s breads just in time for Thanksgiving. I wanted to take a moment to guide you over to the shopping page for our newest addition to the product line – our own, handmade and all-natural Castile goats milk soaps. Our soaps are made with organic goats milk, fresh olive and coconut oils, hand purified tallow and pure essential and fragrance oils for an experience that softens your skin and soothes with the faintest hint of scent. Our small bars which weigh at least 2 oz are $3 per bar and our larger bars weighing at least 4 oz are $5 per bar. Mix and match for a unique gift for your favorite person this Christmas or make these soaps stocking stuffer surprises for your loved ones. Below are the four kinds that are available at this time. Be watching for our newest fragrances that are curing right now, such as English Rose Garden, Winter Balsam, Evening Jasmine and, just in time for Christmas, our earthy Frankincense and Myrrh, tied with gold ribbon! And remember, while we are working as fast as our fingers can take us, it takes 4 weeks for the soaps to cure and so it is first come, first serve until the next batch is ready.  Bathe in the earthy and intoxicating fragrance of Sandalwood and Patchouli. Real oatmeal flakes act as a light scrub in this cream colored soap.  This wonderful soap has the light and fresh aroma of Rosemary and Peppermint from essential oils with real, rubbed sage, grown right here on the farm, added as a soft scrub. Rosemary is supposed to be good for the hair and skin, as well as a mild analgesic for muscular pain. While peppermint is supposed to act as an anti-inflammatory.  This rich soap smells like a warm slice of spice cake with a dripping, sugar icing. Infused with Cinnamon Leaf essential oil, this soap also includes real powdered cinnamon and cloves with actual cocoa for a soft, brown color. You will have to resist taking a bite!!  Made fresh with whole lavender flowers grown at a lavender farm just 1 mile away, this soap has the fresh and Spring time fragrance of pure lavender essential oil. You will feel like you just stepped off of the English moor after using this soap! All soaps are handmade right here at the Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ digs. And for a unique wedding or wedding shower idea, contact us at creatingconceptsent@yahoo.com for custom gift soaps to match colors or a specific scent for your special event. Coming soon:
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Fall Giveaway
October 15th, 2012
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It’s time for a new giveaway and since it is Fall, I guess we’ll call it our 2012 Fall Giveaway! And since Fall means cool nights, football games and food, I’m thinkin’ fresh, hot bread is the order of the day. So, comment here or on any other post until Novemeber 1 and you will be entered for two large packages of our Frontier Fixin’s bread mixes. These savory breads are great with spicy cheese spreads, meats or pestos or just plain ol’ butter. So enter as many times as you wish by commenting!! Good luck. |
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How To Freezer Wrap Meat Like the Professionals
October 12th, 2012
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Today, we cooks have all kinds of new products to process the various meats that we love to store in the freezer. Electronic sealers, zippered freezer bags and machines that vacuum pack into plastic bags can be costly and, though they promise no freezer burn, often times, the frost and freezer burn still appear. I love my FoodSaver Vacuum sealing system, but I have to say, the tried and true wrapping in freezer paper, like I did at my job in the meat department many years ago, still seems to be the best way to preserve food in the freezer. In fact, if you really want to preserve your meats, you can vacuum pack them and THEN wrap them in freezer paper. I continue to wrap most of my meats in the wax coated freezer paper that can be found at any store. It comes in a large roll that is found in the same grocery section with the plastic wrap and aluminum foil and wax paper. The most common brand is Reynolds. I thought that I would show you how I have wrapped my meats for the past 35 years, having cut and packaged meat professionally after graduating college. (An art degree just didn’t put food on the table – let alone wrap it!!! ) What you need: Roll of freezer Paper Freezer tape or Masking tape Sharpie for labeling  Cut paper to at least 6″ wider than the object that is going to be wrapped. If you are doing large steaks, use two thicknesses of wax paper to place between the steaks. If you are wrapping small steaks or pork chops, chicken breasts, etc, lay the meat side-by-side with large end of the first piece of meat next to the small end of the second piece of meat. The freezer paper should be at least 6″ wider than the width of the two together.  Place the meat in the center of the paper. Here, I am wrapping one pound balls of ground beef.  Pull uncut ends of the paper up between fingers and match the edges so that they are equal and even.  Fold over and slide fingers across the crease to make flat and crisp  Continue folding and creasing over and over until your fingers are stopped by the meat inside the package  Press the flattened roll to the top of the package to make a flat seam  Turn package over to seam side down  Press finger tips into the end of the package to force down the top paper into the bottom, as done when wrapping a present  As in wrapping a present, fold the edges over to a point  Pull pointed end over to the back of the package and tape. Repeat process for the other end of the package  Turn the package over to the seam end and write the date and what type of meat has been wrapped.  Stack packaged meat and then carry to the freezer. Lay meats into the freezer in layers of one to two packages deep on several shelves until they are completely frozen. Stacking too much unfrozen meat into one area of the freezer keeps flash freezing from occuring and can make the packages freeze unevenly. Once frozen, you can move and stack them however deep you wish. |
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