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Jam and Cream Cheese Braid

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JamandCreamCheeseBraid

This is one of my all-time favorite recipes to serve for brunch or a Sunday morning breakfast.  The Jam and Cream Cheese Braid is also beautiful for Holidays!  My grandma used to make this on Christmas and it quickly became a family favorite.  I tend to make it quite often because it’s SO easy and looks like you spent hours in the kitchen.

The recipe involves yeast, but DON’T be afraid!  I know working with yeast can be intimidating, but all you need to remember is that yeast likes the same temperature that we do.  When you are dissolving it in water, you want to use water that is the temperature of bath water.  If it’s too cool the yeast won’t activate and rise.  If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast.  Test your water with your finger.  If you wouldn’t set foot in a tub of water that temperature, adjust it until it feels just right.

Jam and Cream Cheese Braid
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
1 loaf 20 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 loaf 20 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Jam and Cream Cheese Braid
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
1 loaf 20 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 loaf 20 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: loaf
Instructions
Bread
  1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Combine Bisquick, egg, 1 Tbsp sugar, and yeast/water mixture. Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead until it is no longer sticky. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Roll the dough into a 14"x9" rectangle.
Filling
  1. Combine the 8 oz package of cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar. Spread down the middle third of the dough. Cut lines on each side of the dough at 1 inch intervals. Fold each strip over, alternating sides.
Baking
  1. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Spoon jam down the center and bake for another 5 minutes.
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Vegetable Beef Soup

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I was scrolling through my blog last night, looking for a recipe, and ran across this post from 9 years ago. Wow! NINE years. I think I was blogging before blogging was cool. And then I kept blogging when blogging wasn’t cool. Now, I’m just waiting for it to come back in style again. It was funny because we just had homemade vegetable beef soup and homemade bread the night before, for dinner. It’s still a classic.

Here’s the post!

It’s the perfect Fall meal. There’s nothing better than homemade soup, and vegetable beef is a family favorite at our house.

 

I’m always a little surprised when my kids gobble up their soup. Look at all of these veggies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t use a specific recipe when I make this soup. I just start chopping up a few veggies. My kids like carrots, beans, and potatoes, so I put a little more of those in the crockpot. They don’t like celery as much, so I only use about 2 stalks. Once all of the veggies are chopped, I add water and beef bouillon. I add as much as I need to fill up the crockpot. Then it cooks all day.

Sometime during the day I cook up a little stew meat and throw that into the pot too. Finally, about 30 minutes before dinner time, I add about a cup of barley.

 

 

 

 

 

 
Add a loaf of homemade bread and this is the perfect meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Fall!

The Kitchen Update

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Well, this post is 15 years in the making. We finally had the kitchen professionally done. We hired a local company called Keystone Kitchens for the cabinet refacing and another company called Building Interiors for the quartz and backsplash.  I love the dark cabinets with the contrasting white counters and sink.

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We bought the open shelves from Wayfair and the hanging pot rack was already there.

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I didn’t have plans to get a new faucet, but my son convinced me that we needed a new faucet with the new kitchen. I’m in LOVE with the one we found.

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I’d say it’s a pretty good upgrade from the bright blue tile and orange-ish cabinets that came with the house we purchased 15 years ago.

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Our DIY attempt at a kitchen update held us off for a while. About 10 years ago we sanded and stained the cabinets and had some granite tile put in. I did love the look, but the cabinets were starting to fall apart. We definitely needed the cabinet refacing.

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I love how light and bright this feels!

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I’m a happy baker!

 

 

Calendula Salve Recipe

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Hey, friends! I have a fun new crafty gardening project for you today. I made some Calendula Salve and I’ll share the recipe with you.

First off, you need some Calendula flowers. I bought some seeds online during our quarantine and planted them in my small garden. They are doing well, but no flowers yet.

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Fortunately, my son got a job as a loader at Flower World. I’ve been spending a bit more time there lately (hello discount!) and they had a few Calendulas in stock.

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Once the plants have bloomed, pick the flowers. I cut the stem down to the next piece of plant growth, but then cut the stems off of the flowers to dry. I bought a dehydrator this year for my herbs and it works perfectly for this project too. I put the flowers in the dehydrator on the lowest heat possible, for several days. You really want your flower petals to be dry for this project so they don’t rot in the oil. That would make some really gross Calendula Salve.

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In this next picture, you can really see the difference between the dry flowers and the freshly picked flowers. Once the flowers were dry, I picked off all of the petals and put them into a Mason canning jar and filled it up with olive oil. I let that sit for about 2 weeks.

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After the two weeks were up, I strained the olive oil, discarding the petals.

In a double boiler, I melted one ounce of beeswax with 1 cup of Calendula infused olive oil. I let it cool a tiny bit and then added 40 drops of orange essential oil. I was planning on using lemon essential oil, but came across my orange oil first and decided to try it. Then, all you have to do is pour it into the little tins and let it set up. I’ve been using this on my hands lately. I wash my hands so much (because… Coronavirus) that they are really dry. I’ve read that this salve is great for cuts and scrapes. The Calendula adds a healing property. So there it is, folks. I hope you’ll give it a try. It was really easy and I’m happy to be able to put these flowers from my garden to good use.

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Calendula Salve:

1 ounce of beeswax

1 cup of Calendula infused olive oil

40 drops of your favorite essential oil

 

Happy gardening!

Farmhouse At Heart

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You guys, I recently fell in love with a magazine. It’s called The Farmhouse Movement. I stumbled across it online and I felt like it was written for people just like me. I don’t live in a farmhouse and I don’t live on a farm. I don’t have a barn or chickens, but I love everything about farmhouse life and I’m trying to implement many aspects of the farmhouse life into my own little suburban world.

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I’m going to share a few things this magazine says on the very first page of every issue:

*We believe there is a movement happening in our generation.

*We believe it is the epitome of days gone by.

*We believe that this back-to-our-roots movement embodies families moving toward sustainable options.

*Whether we live in a big city or a wide-open prairie, we are embracing natural products, mindfully made things, and the renaissance of lost arts and skills.

*We believe that our culture is coming full circle.

*We desire a more authentic lifestyle, similar to those lived out in the households of quieter times – where family values prevailed; ingredients were simple; mason jars, quilts, and shiplap were commonplace; neighbors were friends; and time well spent trumped task lists.

Friends, this is me. I swear they were inside my head when they wrote this. Do you believe these things too?

I subscribed to the magazine as fast as I could and even bought a few back issues. Picture a kid waiting by the mail box when grandma says she sent you a card with birthday money inside. That was me. I was checking the mail all the time. I could hardly wait to get my magazines. When they arrived, I poured through them and they did not disappoint. I saved every single one in a cute little wooden box in my family room. I usually don’t save magazines, but these felt more like books. Then, I got the letter in the mail. The letter that said, “Sorry, we will no longer be producing The Farmhouse Movement magazine.” Nooooooo!!!!!! I had just found my people and it was already over! They do have a website and the letter said that new things were in the works. I will anxiously await their next bit of work.

Then I ran across a new magazine. Farmhouse At Heart has many of the same ideas as the Farmhouse Movement. It talks about the sweet joys of homesteading, back-to-basics gardening, cooking, and crafting. All of these things are right up my alley. It’s part of a bigger company of magazines, which is ok. I really liked The Farmhouse Movement, knowing I was supporting a small business.

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So, I picked up Farmhouse At Heart and I was thoroughly pleased. It’s one of those magazines that comes out once in a while, but you can’t subscribe to it. That makes it much harder to get my hands on, but I’ll do my best.

To be honest, the farmhouse dream for me includes an actual farmhouse, room for animals (chickens, dogs, and bunnies), and enough space to have a large garden. My current garden is quite small and its sunlight is blocked by the neighbor’s large trees. Herbs and lettuce are my best bets in my garden space right now.

I think, with our current state of affairs (#pandemic2020), people are finding that they really are capable of doing things the good-old-fashioned way. Flour has been sold out for months at the grocery store. I haven’t been able to find yeast at all and finally had to do a bulk order and split it with a few neighbors. That tells me that people are baking again. Garden centers are still open because they sell vegetable starts and they are considered essential. They have lines wrapped around buildings to get inside. The local butcher is not taking large orders. They are limiting the amount of meat each customer is allowed to buy because they are selling out. Families are learning how to make their own cleaning products because the cleaning aisle at the grocery store is empty. We are sort of being forced to ask our grandparents how to do things (or just google it). Honestly, living through this pandemic is tough, but it makes me so happy to see families spending time together, bread being baked, and seeds being planted. We are getting back to the basics and I’m ok with that.

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Happy homemaking!

 

Snickerdoodle Cookies

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I decided that my Snickerdoodle cookie recipe needed some updated pictures today.  My brain has been playing tricks with me lately and movement is not my friend.  I was trying to think of things to do that didn’t involve reading, scrolling, watching tv, videos, excessive movement, or too much thinking. (#strokebrain)  Photography seems pretty harmless and I can type with my eyes closed, for the most part.  Plus, I just found out that my son’s girlfriend and family haven’t tried Snickerdoodle cookies.  Crazy!

Snickerdoodle Cookies
Print Recipe
These are super soft cookies that are easy to make and sooo yummy.
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Print Recipe
These are super soft cookies that are easy to make and sooo yummy.
Ingredients
Cookie
Cinnamon Sugar
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Mix shortening and sugar. Add eggs and mix. Add dry ingredients and mix. Using a cookie scoop, shape dough into balls. Roll dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture. I bake these cookies on a Silpat lined baking sheet, at 400 degrees, for 7 minutes.
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Happy baking, friends!

Applesauce Muffins

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Homemade Applesauce Muffins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every time I make these muffins (which is quite frequently) I have to look up the recipe, so I decided that it was time to put it on my blog.  Blogging kind of took a back seat when I had a stroke, so maybe this will jumpstart my writing and photography again.

I first made applesauce muffins when I was in junior high.  We made them in my Home Economics class and I loved them so much that I saved the recipe.  I think I kept that recipe for about 15 years and made them many times before losing it.  Over the years, I found a couple other recipes that did the trick.  Then, Pinterest came along and Rebecca, from Simple As That posted her recipe.  The recipe I use is basically the same as Rebecca’s, but I did make a few minor tweaks.

Applesauce Muffins
Print Recipe
Servings
24 muffins
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings
24 muffins
Cook Time
20 minutes
Applesauce Muffins
Print Recipe
Servings
24 muffins
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings
24 muffins
Cook Time
20 minutes
Ingredients
Muffins
Topping
Servings: muffins
Instructions
  1. Beat softened butter in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until incorporated. Stir in applesauce. Gently stir in dry ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. For the topping, wait until the muffins are cool enough to handle. Roll the top of the muffin in melted butter, and then immediately roll the muffin in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
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The biggest tweaks I made to Rebecca’s recipe are in the applesauce and the cinnamon sugar.  My mom makes our applesauce every Fall.  She adds cinnamon and sugar into the applesauce as she’s cooking it, so our applesauce has more sugar and more cinnamon than All Natural Mott’s Applesauce.  My family also likes a little more cinnamon in the topping, so I increased that.  There is also a pinch more salt than Rebecca’s recipe.  I guess it’s just personal preference.

My daughter has requested that I always make 24 muffins, instead of just 12.  Twelve muffins only last about a day in our house.

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We are lucky enough to have a friend share their farm fresh eggs with us.  This recipe calls for 4 eggs, so I’m happy to have plenty!

Farm Fresh Eggs

 

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The fact that I get to bake these in my grandma’s muffin tin makes my heart happy.  I remember baking cupcakes and muffins with her and thinking that this pan was so “old” and she should really get a new one.  Now, I’m so happy to have this antique pan. I’m glad she never replaced it.

Antique Muffin Pan

Applesauce Muffins

Happy baking!

Valentine Sugar Cookies

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We’ve been snowed in for days and days and days! I was thinking that some of my local friends might be in need of a new recipe to try. I’ve posted this recipe many times, but I thought it might need to move to the top of the blog for Valentine’s Day.  It’s my go-to recipe for any holiday or season.

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Valentine Sugar Cookies
Print Recipe
Servings
24 cookies
Servings
24 cookies
Valentine Sugar Cookies
Print Recipe
Servings
24 cookies
Servings
24 cookies
Ingredients
Servings: cookies
Instructions
  1. Beat butter, shortening, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix. Let dough chill in the fridge for 3 hours. Roll dough on a cutting board, lightly dusted with flour. I like a thick cookie, so I roll my dough slightly thicker than 1/4" thick. Cut in any shape desired. Bake for 7-8 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool and frost. For the frosting, my favorite is a simple powdered sugar and milk frosting. I pour powdered sugar into the bowl and add just a little bit of milk. Keep stirring and slowly add milk until you get to the desired consistency. If you want a thick frosting, add less milk. If you want a glaze, add more milk. I try to use as little food coloring as possible because DYE IS EVIL. A tiny little half-drop of red food coloring will make a nice pink. I also found an all natural food coloring on Amazon, by McCormick. You can also use a little raspberry juice to make a nice pink and then you don't need to use dye at all, which is good because DYE IS EVIL! (Ask me how I feel about food dyes in our foods!) Happy baking and Happy Valentine's Day!
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Classic Gingerbread Men

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Well, friends, this is my favorite recipe of all time.  There is nothing better than soft gingerbread cookies to make it feel like Christmas.  I could (and do) make theses any time of the year.  This is the recipe my mom always made when I was younger.

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They certainly don’t have to be in the shape of gingerbread men.  When I get the urge to make this recipe in the middle of summer, round cookies with plain icing is a good way to go too.

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Classic Gingerbread Men
Print Recipe
Servings
24 medium sized cookies
Servings
24 medium sized cookies
Classic Gingerbread Men
Print Recipe
Servings
24 medium sized cookies
Servings
24 medium sized cookies
Ingredients
Servings: medium sized cookies
Instructions
  1. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and molasses. In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time. Chill dough for at least 2 hours. Roll the dough, on a lightly floured board, 1/4 inch thick. Cut in any shape you choose. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 7 minutes, longer if you are using extra large cookie cutters. Frost with a butter cream frosting or a powdered sugar glaze.
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Happy baking!

 

The New Hot Cocoa Station

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I know it’s not really Christmas decorating time, but it’s certainly hot cocoa time.  Every year, I put my hot cocoa station on my kitchen table.  My husband doesn’t like moving it every night, when we sit down for dinner. This year, I decided to try something different.

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We have a cute little corner cabinet in our kitchen and I thought it might be the perfect spot.

**Side story… When we bought our house, 13+ years ago, the previous owner had this corner unit.  It was handmade by her grandfather and she loved it, but she had nowhere to put it in their new house.  She asked if I’d like to keep it.  Well, I love unique pieces like this!  It’s so cool that you can see the hand carving.

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I bought a bottle of caramel syrup and two different types of caramel.  My favorite type of hot cooca is Nestle Quick, made with milk.  (Ok, my favorite is actually from Williams Sonoma but I can’t afford that all of the time.  Nestle works well for the amount of cocoa I serve at my house.) I put that in the cute jar with the jingle bells.  We also have some snowflake shaped marshmallows from Williams Sonoma, and I added the candy canes at my daughter’s request.

Aren’t those mugs the cutest?  I picked those up at World Market.  I saw them on someone’s Instagram and knew I had to have them!  I’m gradually adding some Scandinavian touches to my house and these are perfect.  They are also very large mugs, which gets two thumbs up from my daughter.

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I stopped by downtown Snohomish the other day and spotted this little sign at Cinnamon Stick.  That was a no-brainer.  It needed to be the finishing touch on my hot cocoa station.

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So, here’s your shopping list:

  1. Hot cocoa mix
  2. Flavored syrup
  3. Caramel
  4. Candy canes
  5. Marshmallows
  6. Cute mugs
  7. A few decorations
  8. Empty jars
  9. A tray to house all cocoa related items

There you go!  This is all you need for a hot cocoa station.  I usually don’t have to go shopping to create my hot cocoa station.  Most of the time, these items are already in my house, but this year I really needed those mugs.  And who could pass up a tiny little sign that fit perfectly into the tray?

Happy decorating!  And happy cocoa drinking!