Making due in a Pandemic - it's not 7-UP but it is Tasty!

A long time ago - not in a Galaxy far far away, I got a delicious biscuit recipe.  7-UP biscuits they are called and everyone who has them loves them!  I don't know where the recipe came from even - it could have been on the Bisquick box or a Pinterest.  I almost always have Ginger Ale - because we like Ginger Ale and use it for a lot of stuff - including these biscuits.

This past week though, being as how we are "hunkered down" to ride out the Corona Pandemic- I ran out of GInger Ale and Ginger Ale is not an emergency visit to the store so I had to make do!  We are pretty good at that around here.  I have a small supply of Mikes Hard Lemonade on hand to make "Mikes Hard Lemon Chicken" with (stay tuned for that recipe in another post).  So we substituted the 7-UP or Ginger Ale with Mikes.   

Mikes Hard Lemonade Biscuits

4 C. Bisquick baking mix

1 C sour Cream

1 C Mikes Hard Lemonade (or 7-UP or Ginger Ale)

1 stick of butter melted.

Preheat oven to 350*.  Mix the first 3 ingredients in a bowl and roll out to about 1" thick on a lightly floured surface.  Dough will be a little sticky.  Cut with a biscuit cutter - I sometimes use a small mouth jar lid.  Put the melted butter in the bottom of a 9x13 pan and put the cut biscuits on top of the butter.  Bake for 21 minutes or until tops are golden brown.  If you have more dough than room in your pan, just do up another pan.  The round pan above I used 1/4 C of butter in the bottom.  

The dough absorbs the butter just delightfully and we discovered we like the Mike's biscuits even better.  These make a lot of biscuits and they are great with gravy, honey butter or even stew!  Plan on feeding a crowd when you make them, but the recipe is easy to halve as well.

So don't be afraid to try new things, or to change up a recipe when you are in a bind, short a pinch, or just can't go to the store because of a Corona!

Enjoy and blessed be!

How much is 15 minutes - time enough - the quarantine episode

This pandemic has given us all something we have all longed for for years and years- Time.  We have time at home, and time with each other - even those of us who are working from home, both jobs, and making masks, and starting plants for our garden and the school garden have some time now.

Time that we aren't driving in the car, running here and there on made up excuses for why we need to go there.  Time that we aren't in the stores, looking at things and buying things and putting off spending time on hard things.  Don't get me wrong, there are things that cannot be put off, and I know that shopping and banking and driving does have to be done sometimes.  I know too, that this pandemic has given us some fear, loneliness, angst, anguish, grief and sorrow, but this pandemic has also given us time.

Time to get out those boxes of old pictures and go through them - scan the good ones onto the computer, laugh about the bad ones or the ones with the heads cut off, and the ones you cant figure out what they are maybe can go now, and make room for new pictures of "how I spent my Pandemic", or what I did during my "school pandemic".

Time to start that craft project - and maybe finish it, I know I am not the only one who has a lot of UFO's aka UnFinished Objects!  From the garden to the greenhouse and the shed, the kitchen, the office, the list goes on and on - not even counting the quilts I have started and yet to finish.

Time to start that garden - even if it is a few containers full of flowers or veg - green things make people happy!

Time to learn those computer apps that we didn't have time to dive into and use before - Facetime with your loved ones - host a Zoom meeting with them, connect and conversate.  Its not a hug from your loved ones but you will use these programs again.

New Cabbage Salad I tried - we like it - recipe will be posted soon!

Time to make those recipes that we set aside and say "Ill make that someday - for a special occasion!"  Make today that day - today is special!  You have survived another day of quarantine!  Make up your menu's for a week or two! I use the glass menu board shown below., and I make menu's at least a week ahead of time - most of the time two weeks ahead.  That way I don't have to go to the store often - which right now is perfect - every two weeks!  I make a grocery list as I do the menu's so its on the list.  If I know I won't make it to the store soon I make sure to have my first few menu items be things I know I have on hand.  Makes life a little easier and no one goes hungry.

Time to read those books that have been sitting, waiting for the Time to be right - to dive into another world and live vicariously through someone else's words.  Maybe to escape this world for a bit, maybe to learn something new, or maybe to learn about our people by what they are reading.

Time to learn about your loved ones - really listen to them when they tell you things, even hard things - because, as we are learning, we can do hard things.  And there will be HARD things with this Corona Virus Pandemic.  Very Hard things.  Things that we don't want to think about, talk about, or see and things that make us change the course of our lives.  We can do hard things, yes we can.  Just begin.

If we try though - there will be joyful things as well.  Memories made with people who love us.  Gas is cheap so when things opens up a little, maybe a road trip would be possible to a camping spot that has been wanting to be seen.  A picnic to see the swans in a nearly still frozen lake or river.  A trek on a new trail to somewhere, or nowhere.  Together - apart - taking time.

Be Well and Blessed Be.

Broken Oven Blues

So THIS happened!!!  Yes - that is an oven that has been on fire that you are looking at!  The ends of that broken coil thingy go so hot that they flared up in the middle and broke and then burned bright like welding torches in me oven!

No!  I did not get pictures of the torch like flames going on in the oven  - I now wish that I had because a LOT of people and especially Reedo asked about it and how cool that must have looked!  It would have looked cool maybe if it wasn't trying to set my house on FIRE!

And I was too busy trying to help Chad put it out to stop and take pictures.  In the end he used a wet dish towel that is now a rag - with lots of holes burned in it!  We had to shut off the breaker to the oven - it had some kind of a short it seems.  Off did NOT mean OFF!

As you may know from earlier posts - we have a home warranty that covers appliances and the oven is definitely covered.  I loved this oven!  It has been said before during the multitude of times that Denali Appliance had worked on it that I will probably have to face that I will need a new oven soon.  My oven was at least 25 years old - we think - it was in the house when we bought it and that was 15 years ago!

I am not a fan of getting new necessarily if the good one that I know how to use can be fixed - I dont see the need!   Plus I hate to shop - especially for appliances - but alas - oven on fire equals new oven - no fix option.  Baking soothes me most of the time, shopping does not!  I actually didn't have to do a lot of shopping either because the home warranty place sends me model numbers of the items that match the replacement of mine so this was easy peasy!   

Here is the cookie dough that I was fixing to bake when the thing caught on fire!  This was pre-Corona luckily, so the replacement wasn't so tedious as it might have been otherwise.  The cookie dough went in the freezer, and I went about picking out a new stove!

In the meantime....  luckily I won a cupcake baker at a dollar auction about 10 years ago and I yarded it out and started making some muffins - my best breakfast food!  Carrot muffins and Morning Glory Muffins, and Peachy Poppy Seed Muffin (see Pinterest for recipes on those).

So here it is with the little cups ready to bake! 12 minutes later - Muffins - which I forgot to take pictures of!  They were delightful though!

Ta Daaaahhhhh!!  Here is the beautiful new oven!  Delivered and installed while I was at work!  I got the one that has the "convection bake" or just plain "bake" options and it has 5 burners including one warming one - for that gravy that needs to wait for the biscuits for a few minutes.  It also has two burners of the 5 that can be small or large burners depending on which way you turn the switch!

Here she is with all the packing tape and wrapping off of it.  Isn't it beautiful?

Why did I wait so long?

Inside the oven - lots of levels and racks!  So  a little note on convection cooking - you have to make the recipe at 25* less bake temperature than regular baking.  What I forgot was that we already ran the old oven on 25* less bake temperature because it always ran a little hot - one of its quirks..

So remember the cookie dough waiting to go in the oven?

Batch on the left is convection bake and batch on the right is regular bake - same temperature - just too low on the convection bake ?  We think.  I am slowly getting the hang of the convection thing - it is faster and bakes more evenly, but sometimes I like to roll "old school" and  just bake the treats!  

Happy oven - Happy Life?  Perhaps.

Blessed and Baking Be!

Stay safe and stay well!

Virtual Community Phase II - the Mask Making Pattern

Easy Mask with Filter Pocket

For each mask you will need:                                                                                     

1 piece 8” x 14 ½” (Mask body)                                 

2 strips 1 ¾” x 42”  (mask ties)                                   

2 strips 1 ¾” x 4 ½” (mask sides)

Once all the pieces are cut take the 8” ends of the large rectangle and hem them about ¼”.

Take the two hemmed 8” sides and bring them to the center of the rectangle as shown below, then overlap by about 1/2”.  Pin them in place catching only the overlapped layers of fabric.  You are working with the 14” side of the fabric now and the hemmed section should be parallel to you.

Start pleating the mask part  - bring the center section of the mask down and overlap it below the hemmed part by about ½” and pin into place as shown below.

Repeat above the center hemmed pleat – you should have three sections pleated now and your mask part should be about 4” – 4 ½” tall.  Pin into place as shown above.  Hit with a hot iron and set aside.

With your strips of fabric, fold in half and iron.  Open the fold and fold each long edge in to the center line, fold in half again and iron.  You are basically making bias tape at this point.  See above and below.

Once you have all the pieces folded and ironed, take the small little strips and wrap them over the short sides of the mask body.  You should have the center of the fold hugging the pleated edge of the mask as shown below.  Sew it on with your seam at the inside edge of the strip.  If you have extra fabric on the strip just trip it off.  It’s ok if there is a raw edge there – it will be covered by the tie.

This is what your mask looks like now with the pocket open.   See below.  When you pull the edges of the mask it pops back into the pleats!  So fun!

Next take the long strips (ties) and find the center of them.  I usually fold them in half and hit it with the iron so I can see the center.  Center that tie up in the middle of the top of the mask body and wrap the fabric around the top edge of the mask.  Pin into place – see below.  If you are using a nose piece – place it in the center of the top tie and pin it in at this point.

Starting with one end of the tie, fold the short end to the inside so the raw edge will sew into the tie as shown below (left), and then start sewing the tie closed on the long edge catching both of the folded in edges (below right).

See the end is folded into the tie so there will be no raw edge on the end of the tie.   Sew the tie close to the edge that had been the “open edge” and when you get to the mask body  you will just sew right across to the other side, remove the pins as you go (see below left).  At the other end fold the end of the tie inside and sew right across to close it.  Repeat with the bottom tie.  There’s your mask.

I cut out 6-8 of these at a time, in all different flavors and then just assembly line iron and sew.  Goes fast after the first one.  Use fun fabrics and color combinations!  Have fun and thank you for doing it!  Blessed Be!

Sprouting Hope - Forcing Spring

We are Hunkered Down, Washing hands and Sanitizing everything, watching news (or sometimes not), and hoping for Spring to come soon.  It's not!  We have at least 3 feet of snow still and it is getting into single digits at night still here in the Big Lake Burg which means we have to force spring a little by growing some sprouts!

We talked about our Salad Garden last week (read that here). Sprouts can add another level of flavor, texture and spice to your salad and they are simple to do!  Especially if your directions are to "Stay Home"!  

Start with a couple of wide mouth, glass jars and some sprouting seeds.  The above shown are Alfalfa, Mung Bean and Adzuki Beans.  These are a few of my favorites, but just about anything can be used as sprouting seeds - including radish!  I have also used my old seed as sprouts to "test" the seed stock - If I have a package of old seeds, Ill put a tablespoon in a jar and sprout it to see what kind of germination I might expect.  No germination means I don't bother to plant that seed.  I have not sprouted tomatoes this way - Im not sure I would like that flavor, but I have done broccoli, cauliflower, and even peppers this way, radish is spicy and delicious too.

Today we'll just work with the Alfalfa seeds to make things easy - and so my pictures can tell the story.

So take one of the jars, a ring and I am using a lightweight paper napkin as my breatheable cover.  They make kits you can get that are for sprouting and have rinse lids and such, but I am making do right now since I dont have my sprout lids (I used to have them and they are no where to be found).  Make sure the paper napkin fits loosely over the top of the jar but can still fit the ring on. 

Add about a tablespoon of seeds (give or take) to the bottom of the jar and add a couple of tablespoons of cold water to it.  You will also need a sieve of some type - something that you can rinse the seeds with  without them going down the drain.

Dump the seeds into your sieve and rinse under cold water for a few seconds.  The jug behind is one of my plant watering jugs that I refill as I'm rinsing so I'm not wasting water while rinsing seeds!

Dump the rinsed seeds back into the jar and add a couple tablespoons of cold water to the jar.  This is the soak.  You will only soak once on each batch of seed.

Should look about like this.  It doesn't look like much, but resist adding more seeds to the jar.  They make a big pile when they sprout and grow!

Put the napkin or sprout lid on the jar and loosely spin the ring on - like above.  You can use cheese cloth or other loose weave fabric for this as well.  It just has to breathe.  Set the jar in a cool place that is shaded - not in direct sunlight and leave for 8-12 (24 max) hours.

After the soak hours, rinse the seeds again in the cold water, dump back in the jar - you can see above how these have started puffing up a bit - ready to be delicious!

Repeat this rinse and drain process every day until you have a jar full of yummy sprouts! I often use about a quarter of them at a time and start my next jars of sprouts so I always have something.  Sprouting times differ depending on what seeds you are using - just like growing in the garden - radish and alfalfa are fast and the beans are slower.

You can see in the above picture that some of them are starting to sprout! This is day 3 of this batch. Keep rinsing, draining and checking them - should take about a week to get to edible salad sprouts (for alfalfa).

Couple of things to remember - if you forget for one day to rinse your sprouts - all good just continue as usual.  If you forget two days you might be ok - if the jar has a terrible smell though you have to start over!  If the water in the jar is milky looking, but doesn't smell  you are good to go - some of the seeds leach some starch into the water as they grow so it will turn the water milky.

There are also some great Youtube and instructional videos on this that you can look for and watch for more information.  SproutPeople has great information and products and there are also great kits you can order with seeds you might want to sprout also.  My seeds came from our local store All About Herbs and from Mountain Rose Herbs.  I think they both have the seed sprouting kits that you can get as well.

I hope that Spring is close for you, or that you can sprout some, and that you all are well and happy!

Blessed Be!