Farmer's Market Treats

Last Saturday was our first day at our new venue. We moved to the back parking lot instead of the park. There's so much more traffic now. It only made sense to move back there. We've been wanting to for a long time but the last market master didn't want us to for some reason. We now have a new market master and he was all for it. I had a table full of delicious goodies including our Indian Fry Bread which always sells out and Praline Brookies.

I made these cake pops to sell. The tasted wonderful, but the chocolate coating started melting because it was so hot. Everyone that saw them was impressed, but I only sold 3, go figure! The recipe is very simple (Thanks Bakerella!) Just bake a cake (any flavor). Using a 13x9 sheet pan is easiest. After it has totally cooled, shred cake into a big bowl. You can use a food processor if you like. Stir in 2 cups of cake icing (any flavor) and mix well. I had to use my hands. form into balls and place on a wax paper-covered sheet pan and pop into the refrigerator until set or freezer. Once everything is nice and firm, take out balls and push sticks in them. Dip them in melted candy coating (any flavor) and let dry standing up. I turned an egg carton upside down, punched holes in it and dried the cake pops on that. Worked wonderfully.

These are Sugar and Spice Donuts I made. I threw away the recipe because I decided I wasn't going to make them again. They were okay, but I have a killer Apple Cider Donut recipe that's much better. These were actually really good the next day after I heated them in the microwave for 30 seconds. I might try another donut recipe or I'll make some scones for this weekend. I have a couple of scone recipes I'm dying to try along with one that was a really good seller last year.

Storms

I love to take pictures of storms, especially lightning. Saturday, we went to C'ville so I could get a few supplies for baking. On our way back, we noticed the ominous sky. Going north, you could see how wicked the sky was and see all of the lightning. I told E that we just might beat it home. Well, we did, just barely. Coming up 15 we could see the bow in the clouds (the front of the storm) and it was just north of the house, but we were definitely going to get something. I tried to take pictures of it going up the driveway, but E was driving so fast and wouldn't slow down. Forgive the horrible pics, but you can at least get the gist of it.

This is as we were just turning in the driveway. You can see the edge of the storm. Where it changes from light to dark is the edge.

Here's another shot coming up the driveway. E was really flooring it! The dark clouds were so wicked looking. I was looking for rotation, but never saw anything.

Here is another shot coming up. The storm is already moving closer.

This is where the curve starts. The front was probably just above town at this time.

When we got home, we jumped out of the truck and unloaded it. I was able to get this shot in. I wish I had time to adjust the lighting and all, but I wasn't sure how fast the storm was moving. You can really see how wicked the clouds were.

We didn't really get any close lightning with this storm. The worst of it was just north of us. We did, however, get torrential downpours. It poured down for three hours and never stopped raining until Sunday morning. Our driveway was washed out in several spots and water was pouring out of the conduit pipe underneath the electrical meter. Something needs to be done about that because that can cause some serious problems! I wasn't too impressed with the storm, though. I was just in awe over the look of the clouds. I wish I had been home even 15 minutes earlier so I could've gotten some really good pics. Maybe next time!

Happy Anniversary to Me and Grilled Chicken Pasta

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary! I can't believe it's been that long already, yet I feel like I've known E forever. Tonight we are having dinner at Elmwood at Sparks. I'm excited! I've always wanted to eat dinner there. Todd and Carrie gave us a gift certificate so now we are "forced" to try it. :) I like that they try to keep their ingredients local. If anybody is ever in this area, you can check out their website at http://www.elmwoodcatering.com/. Oh, and they cater (obviously!) They catered our friends' wedding and the food was sooo good. I've had lunch there several times and absolutely love it, but now I finally get to try their dinners and I'm so looking forward to the ravioli. I've had my eye on that for several months now.

I made a really good (and very simple) pasta dish for lunch yesterday. I didn't take a pic, but the recipe is sooo simple:

Grilled Chicken Pasta

1 grilled chicken breast (seasoned however you wish), chopped
2 cups cooked whole-grain penne pasta
1/2 cup red grapes, cut in half
2 Tbsp celery, chopped
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 Tbsp fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Throw all of the ingredients into a bowl and stir. Enjoy!

I grilled the chicken and boiled the penne while I was getting everything else together. Yesterday I ate it warm and today I heated it up very slightly. It's okay cold, but much better warm. I seasoned the chicken with this new seasoning I got from Tastefully Simple. Oh, how I love Tastefully Simple. It's called Green Tea Peppercorn Seasoning. Divine! I'm having a party next month so I'm going to have to stock up on it since it's just seasonal.

For the basil, I only use fresh basil. You can use 1 tsp dried if you like, but it just doesn't taste the same. There's nothing like fresh basil. We still have a basil plant left from last year. Actually, we now have two. I cut a nice stem off the plant and rooted it. I didn't use any rooting hormones or anything like that. I just cut the stem, put it in a jar full of water and left it in the window sill. We don't get any direct sunlight in the kitchen so it only had indirect light. After a while you'll notice a slime ball growing where it was cut and then a few days later you'll start to see the roots growing. I'm so fascinated with all of this!

Anyway, I have lots to do. I have a lot of baking to do for Saturday and I have so much I need to plant in the garden. Will there ever be enough time to do everything???

Dried Cherry Coffee Cake

This was okay, but I think next time I won't use dried fruit. Fresh or canned fruit would be way better. Maybe this weekend I'll work on a rhubarb coffee cake, even though my rhubarb is the green kind and not the red kind.

Dried Cherry Coffee Cake

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup dried cherries, chopped
2 tsp cinnamon

Batter:
1/2 cup butter, soft
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups sour cream

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cherries, and cinnamon; set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until crumbly. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture and sour cream to the butter mixture, beating just until combined.

Spread half the batter evenly into a sprayed 13x9" baking pan. Sprinkle with half of the reserved sugar and cherry mixture. Repeat layers; cut through batter with a knife to swirl.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 28-33 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Cut and serve.

Coffee Lovers' Coffee Cake II

This is a recipe I got from Taste of Home. I accidentally changed it because I didn't pay attention to what I was doing and added too much butter. Nonetheless it was awesome. I think I'll keep the butter amount because I can't imagine eating it with any less.

Coffee Lovers' Coffee Cake II

adapted from Taste of Home

1/3 cup granulated sugar

4-1/2 tsp instant coffee granules

1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Batter:

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp walnuts, chopped

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, coffee granules and cinnamon; set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until crumbly. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to butter mixture along with sour cream. Beat just until combined.

Spread half the batter evenly in a sprayed 9-inch square baking pan; sprinkle with half the reserved coffee mixture. Repeat layers; cut through batter with a knife to swirl. Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 28-33 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm.

These are the ones on the left.

Squirrels Were Harmed in the Making of this Blog

Sorry, but I'm not gonna lie to you. That's just how nature rolls. It can be cruel sometimes, but on a lighter note, Dixie was very proud of herself!
Dixie caught a squirrel the other day. She was very, very proud of herself. She brought her prize home to me so I could congratulate her. She is weird like that. Kind of like a cat. Another weird thing about her is that she won't eat them! She treats it more like a prize, or toy. She sat there for hours with it sitting next to her. When I found out about it, she just picked it up and carried it closer to me.

This is the same dog that caught a mouse and gulped the entire thing without even biting down!! At first I was terrified the thing would scratch her throat going down or tummy, but after I calmed down and realized that it wouldn't be alive that long, I just worried about her having a tummy ache! Such a weird dog!

On another note, I got my first harvest of the season!! I had to thin out the lettuce so I had a bunch of baby lettuce for salads. I need to go out there this evening and do some more thinning if it ever stops raining!! Well, I can't complain too much because we need the rain and the temps have been nice and cool the past week! I love having an actual Spring. I can't stand Virginia Summers!

I made two coffee cakes this weekend, so hopefully I'll remember to grab the recipes and post them this week. I need to make a cake for the coffee shop so I'll probably be working on one the next couple of days. Thursday I have exams and that evening I need to start prepping for the farmer's market on Saturday. So much to do!!