Newborn - Wise Men Still Seek Him - Alex Boye’s Christmas Original Music

Valentines Boho Necklace

It's been awhile since I've had a moment to share my goings on. Life has a way of taking us on a roller coaster ride on occasion, but fortunately for us, it hasn't been a bad ride. Now that we've finished with the Christmas rush, we can sit back and enjoy family, friends and what the season is really all about, love and giving. Interestingly enough, Valentines is just around the corner, another day to show that special sweetheart in your life how special they are.
Here's a bit of trivia regarding Valentines Day.
Saint Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated on February 14 and  is celebrated in many countries around the world, although not a holiday in most.
St. Valentine's Day began as a liturgical celebration one or more early saints named Valentinus.  A popular account of Saint Valentine of Rome states that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians. According to legend, during his imprisonment, he healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius. An embellishment to this story states that before his execution he wrote her a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell.
The day was first associated with romance in the circle of Geoffery Chaucer in the High Middle Ages,  when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering sweets and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). In Europe, Saint Valentines Keys are given to lovers "as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart"<sup>.

You can give a one of a kind Valentine this year, hand crafted with love and attention to detail. You will find this piece in my etsy shop at Simply Sheryl's</sup>  

Gingersnaps for a Tasty Tuesday

Years ago, when I was a wee one, Mom would make all sorts of cookies. One of my favorites were what the C&H Sugar Co. called gingersnaps. I suppose they would snap if you cooked them long enough, but regardless, these are chewy, spicy, yumilicious. I did a little experiment with the recipe because well, I just wanted to. So I traded flaxseed meal for the egg, and added 3 T. water. The texture was wonderful, and Nature Guy says they are "too" good, probably because we are both trying to shed a few pounds and cookies are not a diet food. That's okay, we just need to not inhale the whole batch in one sitting right? So I will give  you two versions of the recipe and you can decide which you like better. The mixing and baking is the same for both recipes.

Gingersnaps    Bake at 350 degrees   Yield 4 dozen

1#  Original Recipe
3/4 c. shortening       1 c. sugar        1/4 c. molasses        1 egg          2 t. ginger      1 t. cinnamon           1/4 t. salt        2 t. baking soda      2 c. flour  

#2  My Recipe
1/4 c. coconut oil       1/2 c. butter       1 c. sugar         1/3 c. molasses       1 T. flaxseed meal+ 3 T. water     1 T. ginger        2 t. cinnamon       1/4 t. ground cloves       1/4 t. salt        2 t. baking soda
1/2 c. whole wheat flour        1 1/2 + 1/3 c. flour    

 In a medium size bowl cream fats, sugar and molasses until light and fluffy. Add egg or substitute (flaxseed meal and water) and blend well. Sift together dry ingredients and stir in until well mixed. Chill for one hour. In a flat bowl add about 1/2 sugar. Pinch off part of dough to make a quarter size ball and roll in sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.  Enjoy!                                                                

Halloween Fun and Goodies

 Not wanting to steal the thunder of our Witches of Giggleswick Blog Hop, I am post my ebay and etsy items for the time being over here. I linked the give away to the above blog hop so click on it and see what you can win.

So this handsome fella is available on ebay right now. Just click on HUNGRY JACK

This cute little hand sculpted candy cup can be found at ETSY

Spicy Mixed Veggie Relish

Look at all that veggie goodness! pickling cukes, carrots, celery, onion red and green bells and roasted peppers all soaking up a delicious syrup of sweetness and spices. 

As usual I didn't follow the recipe, mostly due to lack of all the right veggies, but hey, I had surplus of things that needed to be used so it's all good. I doubt that anyone will be picking the relish apart....lol.

I used brown and white sugar and a combo of cider and white vinegar and added a pinch of cloves to bring the flavor level up and wow, it's good! (I'm practicing showing confidence. How am I doing?)

With all that being said, I will share the recipe I found and my changes. Either way, I think this recipe is a winner for hotdogs, burgers pulled pork sandwiches, tuna or potato salad. Anyone else getting hungry?

Spicy Mixed Veggie Relish

Ingredients

For the Relish:

• 8 large cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced (about 2 quarts diced) (I used pickling cukes and minced celery, about half and half)
• 2 cups of chopped onion
• 3 green bell peppers, chopped ( didn't have all the peppers I needed so I minced some carrots to make up the difference.)
• 3 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 large can of pimento, drained and chopped, optional ( I didn't have this on hand but had some Anaheim peppers, 6 to be exact, that I roasted, peeled and minced)
• 2 tablespoons of kosher salt
• All told you should have about 3 quarts of finely chopped veggies.

For the Syrup:

• 1 quart of white or cider vinegar (I did half and half)
• 4 cups of granulated sugar (I used 1 1/2 c white sugar and 2 1/2 c dark brown sugar)
• 2 teaspoons of finely minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons of mustard seed
• 2 tablespoons of celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, or to taste, optional (I used 1/2 t. )

Instructions

In a large glass or plastic bowl, mix together the cucumbers, onion and peppers; toss to mix well. Add salt, stir, cover and refrigerate; let stand 6 hours or overnight, stirring occasionally. Drain well, but do not rinse.

In a large pot, mix together the vinegar, sugar, garlic, mustard seed, celery seed, and turmeric. Bring to a boil, stirring regularly until sugar is dissolved. Add in the drained vegetables and red pepper flakes, if using, return to a boil, reduce to medium and simmer for 30 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer relish into sterilized jars and top off with syrup. Seal, refrigerate, or process for canning. Makes about 6 pints.

To Process for Canning: Sterilize jar and lids. Prepare a hot water bath. Pack hot pickles and liquid into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles. Add lids and rings and process for 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Multi Grain Rye Bread for Autumn

Look at all that whole grain goodness, side by side with rich molasses and yummy sweet honey! Flaxseed meal, corn meal and whole oats were the start of what turned out to be a great bread for sandwiches as well as a great dunking bread for soup.

 The not so secret ingredient is rye flour, which rounds out the flavor in this dense but soft and filling bread.

I experimented by using coconut oil in place of canola oil. I always cut my oil measurement in half by adding applesauce, which has pectin that helps the dough rise and be soft and moist. This recipe will make two, and if you need to you can freeze one for later. 

Multi Grain Rye Bread

2 1/2 c. potato water, or tap water warmed up to about 100 degrees

2 T. yeast

1 c whole oats

1/4 c each corn meal, flaxseed meal and honey

3 T each coconut oil, applesauce, and molasses ( you can use 1/3 c oil in place of coconut oil and applesauce)

1 1/2 t. salt 

2 c rye flour

3 c each whole wheat and white flour

In a large bowl combine the warm water, yeast, oats, cornmeal, flaxseed meal, honey and molasses. Stir lightly and let sit for about 5 minutes, until the yeast starts to foam. 

Add the coconut oil, applesauce, molasses, salt and rye flour. Stir and then add 1 cup each of the whole wheat and white flour.  Stir again and then add the rest of the flour a half of a cup at a time, kneading as you go, until you get a nice smooth dough, about 10 minutes. Place back in the large bowl and then let rise until double in bulk. Punch down and form into two loaves. Place into large bread pans and let rise again until about an inch above the edge of the pans. Bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees. Enjoy!

Huckleberry Muffins

 We took a nice drive out Lostine Canyon the other night.

  Along with seeing gorgeous scenery and a herd of elk, we took a stroll down a path that led us to a huckleberry patch. What a great find! So we picked enough to come home and make some yummy treats such as huckleberry pancakes and muffins.

Here's my recipe for Huckleberry muffins. Enjoy!


1 2/3 cup white flour
1/3 cup whole wheat
1/4 cup each whole oats and flaxseed meal
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 1/4 cup almond milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
3 tablespoons butter, yes the real thing, melted
2 tablespoons oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients, including the egg. Slowly stir the wet ingredients into the dry, trying not to over stir. The rule of thumb I learned in Home Ec, oh yes, that was ages ago, was about 11 to 15 good swipes around the bowl. It doesn't matter if you have a bit of flour here and there not stirred in, unless there's a lot. The idea is to not over beat the batter so your muffins come out nice and soft.
Grease or line your muffin tin with papers. I use a regular ice cream scoop to divide the batter. Yield is about 12 muffins. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden on top.

Enjoy!