Blue Jeans and Cotton Tees

Since he retired, my dad has taken over almost all of the bread baking at home. Nana shares his classic recipe today…

Papa Jim loves to make bread in our bread machine. This recipe is one of our grand kids favorite. When it’s just the two of us, we slice the cooled loaf and put the slices in a large plastic container in the freezer.  We can take out as many slices as we need, and heat in the microwave or toaster. It is also great as a late-night-can’t-get-to-sleep snack with a cup of chamomile tea!

But when the grand kids are here, it gets eaten hot as fast as Papa can slice it!

Papa Jim’s Buttermilk Bread
(for a bread machine)

Place ingredients in machine in the following order:

Ingredient: 2 lb recipe  |  1 ½ lb recipe

Buttermilk* 1 ½ Cups |  1 ¼ Cups

Margarine or butter, softened 3 Tbs.  |  3 Tbs.

Honey ¼ Cup  |   3 Tbs.

Salt 1 ¾ tsp.  |   1 ½ tsp.

White or Unbleached Flour 2 ½ Cups  |  2 Cups

Whole Wheat Flour 2 ½ Cups  |  2 Cups

Baking Soda ½ tsp.   |  ¼ tsp.

Active Dry Yeast 2 tsp. |  1 ¾ tsp

* Chilled buttermilk can be used (it does not have to be at room temperature)

I use powdered buttermilk mixed according to directions on can, but reduce water by 3 Tbs.

Use BASIC cycle and MEDIUM or LIGHT crust color. Do not use TIMER setting.

To make whole wheat flour, we purchase the wheat berries and grind in our electric grain grinder
.  Papa grinds up enough to fill a plastic pail and we store in the freezer.

My Mom benefited from our bumper apple harvest and used some to bake up my Dad’s favorite pie. I think you’ll enjoy it, too! Here’s Nana…

I found this recipe in a magazine years ago. Don’t remember which one! Papa Jim’s favorite pie is apple and after he tasted this one it became his very favorite apple pie! It has a creamy filling around the apples.

It freezes well, too. I cut it into individual pieces before freezing. This makes it easy to serve a “fresh” piece of pie for our meal or for company.

Papa Jim’s Favorite Apple Pie
(From Nana’s Kitchen!)
Yield: 1-10 inch pie

Crust:
1-3/4 Cups All-purpose flour
¼ Cup Granulated Sugar
1 tsp. Cinnamon
½ tsp. Salt
2/3 Cup Butter or Margarine, Cold
¼ Cup Cold Water

Combine the flour, cinnamon & salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until the mixture is coarse. Sprinkle in water and gather it into a ball. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12 inch round and turn it into a 10 inch pie plate. Turn under overhang and flute the edge to make it stand up. Refrigerate until crust is ready to fill.

Filling:
1 Large Egg
¾ Cups Sour Cream
¾ Cups Low Fat Plain Yogurt
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
¼ Cup all-Purpose Flour
2 tsp. Vanilla
½ tsp. Salt
4 to 5 Cups Peeled and Sliced Raw Apples

Beat the egg slightly in a large bowl. Stir in the sour cream, yogurt, sugar, flour, vanilla & salt until the mixture is smooth. Add the sliced apples, stirring gently to coat. Spoon mixture into pie shell. Set the pie on a cookie sheet. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes.

Lower the heat to 350° and bake for 40 more minutes checking to see if the apples are tender and the filling is set.

Prepare the topping while the pie bakes.

Topping:
¼ Cup Butter
½ Cup All-purpose Flour
1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
¼ tsp. salt
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts

Blend the ingredients and sprinkle evenly over the pie. Continue to bake at 350° for 15 more minutes or until lightly browned. Cool pie on a wire rack.

Be sure to refrigerate after it is cooled.

Options: You can substitute all sour cream instead of the yogurt or ½ cream cheese & ½ sour cream or ½ yogurt and ½ cream cheese. I have even put cottage cheese in the blender and used it when I did not have sour cream or yogurt on hand. You can use all brown sugar in the filling and the topping if you prefer (it works! We were out of granulated sugar and substituted.) You should use white sugar in the crust.

Until next time,

Nana

Cold weather has arrived making us hungry for a bowl of soup! Today Nana shares a yummy homemade tomato version. Inexpensive and delicious! Enjoy!

This could be called Senior Citizen Soup! It is similar to Campbell’s, but our grandchildren have discriminating taste buds and picked it out as different right away!

We pick our ripe tomatoes during the summer, wash them, take off the stem and bud end and any blemish, put them in a plastic freezer bag & freeze to use in the fall & winter.

You can use them in any recipe that calls for cooked tomatoes. The skins literally slip off when thawed.

We were telling our friends about our “stash” of tomatoes and they shared this recipe.

Serve with a grilled cheese sandwich. Sprinkle some cilantro or basil on top for a “fresh” taste or skip the grilled cheese sandwich and sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese. Yum!

Tomato Soup
From Alice Jones’ Kitchen

15 Washed & Cored Tomatoes; start cooking and bring to a boil.
5 to 6 Onions, diced
1 Red Pepper, diced
1 Green Pepper, diced
7-8 Stalks Celery, diced

Put the diced veggies in a separate pan. Cook until soft and onions are transparent.

Put them in a blender. (Use some of the juice from the tomatoes to help with the blending process.)

When tomatoes have come to a boil put through a colander. Put the juice back in the larger pan and bring to a light boil. Add ½ Cup of butter. Add blended veggie mixture.

In a separate dish mix:

¼ Cup Salt
1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Sugar

Put about a cup of the liquid soup in blender and add the mixed dry ingredients. Blend.

Add this mixture to the soup and continue to cook to a light boil.

Put into hot jars. Seal. Process in hot water bath 25 min for pints & 35 min for quarts.

(I use my pressure canner and process 1 minute @ 15 pounds)

This makes about 12 pints or 6 quarts.

You can serve as is by heating or add 1 cup of milk for a cream of tomato soup.

Until next time,

Nana

As we continue to move in and get settled, my mom has graciously filled in again as my guest blogger…

This is a staple in our freezer and my favorite! When you take a bite of this bread you know it is “healthy”! The crust is crisp, but the bread is tender.

We grind our own wheat from whole wheat berries purchased at the Amish Store. You could use purchased wheat flour from the grocery shelf, also.

We slice when cool and put in plastic container in the freezer making it possible to take out only the amount of slices we need.

I make up a batch of Honey Butter and store in the refrigerator so it is ready for use. Cinnamon Butter is also good. We were introduced to it at a restaurant that served it on baked sweet potatoes!

Multigrain Bread for Bread Machine
From Papa Jim

1 Cup Water (70° to 80°)
2 Tbs. Vegetable Oil
2 Egg Yolks
¼ Cup Molasses
1 tsp. Salt
1 ½ Cups White Flour
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
½ Cup Rye Flour
¼ Cup *Rolled Oats
½ Cup nonfat Dry Milk Powder
¼ Cup Wheat Germ (optional)
¼ Cup Cornmeal
¼ Cup Millet (optional)
1/8 Cup Ground Flax Seed (optional)
2 ¼ tsp Active Dry Yeast

*(We use old fashioned, but original recipe calls for quick-cooking)

In bread-machine pan, place all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select basic bread setting. Choose crust color & loaf size if available. Bake according to bread machine directions (check dough after 5 minutes or mixing; add 1 to 2 Tbs. water or four if needed.) Yield: 1 loaf (2 lbs) Use of the timer feature is not recommended for this recipe.

Honey Butter:
Mix ½ Cup Softened Butter and ½ Cup Honey
You can use real butter or any soft spread, but flavor will be different. Can be used on bread, toast, pancakes, muffins, carrots, & sweet potatoes.

Cinnamon Butter:
Add ½ tsp to Honey Butter.
Can be used on bread, toast, pancakes, muffins, carrots & sweet potatoes.

Here’s Nana with a delicious way to stretch your food budget. How do I know it’s good? We just enjoyed some tonight!

We purchase whole chickens and turkeys when they are a good price and cut them up into meal-sized pieces for us.

Then we take all the bony pieces and make a delicious homemade broth. Delicious fresh, its also wonderful to have in the freezer for those busy days or last-minute meal guests (hospitality!)

Homemade Chicken Soup
From Papa & Nana’s kitchen

Put the bony pieces (*ribs, back, wings) of chicken in a stock pot and cover with water.

Cut the following vegetables into chunks and add to pot:

2 med Onions
4 Carrots
2 Stalks of Celery (or 1 tsp. celery seed)

Add following herbs & seasonings:
1 tsp. Turmeric
2 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tsp. garlic powder

(You may substitute fresh herbs for any of these or 2 tsp poultry seasoning)

For additional flavoring we add:

1 cube or 1 Tbs. Chicken Bouillon

Bring to boil and simmer until meat is tender.

Take out pieces of meat to cool until you can pull it off bones.

Strain the broth and return to stock pot.

Taste. Adjust seasonings by adding salt & pepper and perhaps more bouillon.

Add chicken.

Add either noodles or rice and simmer until done.

(Amount of noodles or rice depends on amount of broth)

Serve or put in serving size containers, cool & freeze to reheat later in the microwave.

* If you want more meat, also put in a leg and/or thigh or breast.

You can do the same thing with a turkey, too!

Until next time,

Nana