Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

I find having a sink full of soapy water best to have around 24/7 that way if you have sticky hands or dirty dish you just drop them in to soak for wash when ever as well as not have to worry about trying to turn a handle with hand issues. I have been working on finding a list of quick bread recipes to have on hand as my go to recipes.. I started with this basic recipe and went from there I did a few substitutions as I always do..

1 cup of oil= replaced with 1 cup applesauce
3 cups of white sugar=replaced with 2 cups of white & 1 cup of light brown
Spices-used pumpkin pie spice & 1/4 tsp ginger

Preheat oven to 350 *F



Other ingredients used in the recipe.....




I picked a very large mixing bowl since I had not made this recipe and didn't want a nice mess with a small bowl.




1 can of pumpkin
2 cup white sugar
1 cup of light brown sugar
1 cup applesauce




I prefer to crack the 4 eggs into a separate bowl & scramble them together before adding them to any mix I am making.




The water and the baking soda I measured out into small containers for better camera shots




In a second bowl mixed the following items together well....

3.5 cups of all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

After the pumpkin sugar mixture is blended together



Slowly I add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix well with a hand mixer. At the end I use a spatula to mix well in-case I missed any flour mixture that stuck to the bottom of the bowl. ( YES there was both sugar & Flour not mixed in well ) See why I used the spatula :O)




See the pretty mix = to me it looks like a bowl of Mustard :O)




Lined 18 muffin cups and 4 loaf pans to start. Still not sure how much this batter will yield or how many muffins or loaves.




The muffins were done in 20 mins- 25 mins.




The bread took 1 hour to be done and not gooey.


Verdict: DD Loves them and this will be a keeper recipe..

Yummy....Buttery Soft Pretzels

This recipe started off with a very intimidated ingredient "YEAST" even I have been for years been intimidated by this ingredient however I really wanted to learn to use this ingredient as well as I really wanted to make homemade pretzels to both save $$ going out to eat them at my local pretzel place which for a bag of pretzel bits for around $5.00 a bag. Recipe




Step 1
Large bowl since I was not sure if the yeast mixture would bubble or grow to large or do any thing at all since I have never used it



Step 2

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast (2 packets removing 2-1/4 tsp from each packet ( to yield correct amount)

• 1 teaspoon white sugar

• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
  

Step 3

Let sit for 10 minutes after mixing the 3 ingredients together after about 3-5 mins tiny little bubbles will start bubbling to the surface and the mixture will thicken.



Step 4

While waiting for the yeast mixture prep the other ingredients
Starting with 1/2 cup white sugar




Step 5

Add in the 5 cups of flour ( Next time I will only add 4 cups first) then add the extra 1 cup slowly as well may not need all the flour as recipe states



Step 6 Mix the ingredients up well



Step 7 Adding in 1 tbsp of oil



Step 8 Make a well in the dry ingredients



Step 9 Add the oil and the yeast mixture into well created




Step 10

You guessed it it's time for the messy part mixing all the ingredients up well.



Step 11

Mix all this together was a challenge so we decided to dump in onto the counter to mix it better.



Step 12

Still mixing , mixing and mixing plus added in 2 tbsp of water extra as suggested in the recipe if the mixture is too dry ( IT WAS VERY)



Step 13

Oil a large bowl since not sure how much it will rise...Drop in your dough ball and roll it around in the oiled bowl to coat well.



Step 14

Cover with plastic wrap.. Since my house was not what I assumed was warm & it was in the late evening hours & winter time I decided to turn the oven on 235 *F and place the dough bowl on the burned to heat/rise for 1 hour or until double in size.



Step 15

We (my dd & I ) decided bite size piece were better then huge full size pretzels so we divided the dough into 12 piece balls to make it easier to work.



Step 16

Create nice long snakes when I was a kid I was the only one who couldn't get even snakes right lol they just decided to stay fat and short




Step 17

Mix in another bowl the following ingredients

1/2 cup baking soda

4 cups hot water

Step 18 Give your pretzel bites a little bath in the soda water



Step 19

I used parchment paper in place of a greased cookie sheet ( didn't need the extra mess :O) spread out your pieces.



Step 20 Bake in 450*F oven until golden brown about 8 minutes
I turned down the heat to 375 *F and baked 9 mins.




Step 21 EAT NOW!!! I added butter spray and kosher salt


Verdict : YUMMY.....Will make again soon...

Crochet Project Pod Case-Business Case

The pattern went together quickly once I figured out what I was doing. That can be the hard part for me is understanding patterns and the getting them to work.

Day in the life of a cat

Just watching the birds outside....



Nap Time to much bird watching......

Venison Roast

Got a phone call from grandma's house telling me we have lots of deer & elk in the freezer & you need to take some home... ( ME???) I have not had elk or deer in lets say a very long time if I would have to guess how long...I was maybe 15 year old I am ok are you sitting 37 going on 57... some days I feel this way..

Step 1

Pick a piece of meat from freezer.I open door of freezer to find about 25 white packages now to read all the labels and decide.(Pheasant/Elk/Dove/Deer)

Step 2

Pick only deer meat (I didn't want to get to adventurist)

Step 3

Locate a recipe since I have never cooked it before. This should have been step 2 but why think before your pick meat lol.





Step 4 The Recipe players

Venison Roast
Minced Garlic
2 apples
Green onions
Chicken stock- in place of bouillon/water- just in-case needed



Who was I going to Sell it to? Looking around see no-one but.....


Big help you are....:O)I know your wishing for a piece to accidentally drop....



Step 5

Remove the roast from the nice white paper (rinsed blood off) notice when placed in to crock-pot I still had blood issue (rinse again) then I removed the nice white twine holding the happy roast together as well.



Step 6

Added the apples and garlic cloves



Step 7

Green onions- place crockpot lid on and turned on from 9-5 no broth needed plus cooked this on low



Step 8

Used my large 6 qt crockpot was too big ( that is why the edges of pot are brown) since I just purchased the new little crockpot today however when I made this roast it was last week I am behind blogging...


Verdict: LOVED IT!!!

Thift Store Deal

Meet the newest member of my crock-pot family.
Picked up this beauty for only $5.99 at the local goodwill

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Step 1 The Recipe players are as follows:

1 cup of water
1/4 cup of apple juice= used apple sauce
1 apple diced & cored
2/3 cup of rolled oats
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup milk

Extra= flax seed

Step 2
Cored and diced apple

Step 3

Used a food processor due to I prefer minced apple pieces

Step 4

Small pot w/ 1 cup of water turned high to boil

Step 5

The 1 cup of milk and the 1/4 cup applesauce

Step 6

Drop the diced apple into water to boil



Step 7

Drop in the apple juice= used applesauce




Step 8

When the water mixture boils add the oats





Step 9

Add the cinnamon





Step 10

Watch it boil, it's that fun? When the mixture get thick about 3 mins



Step 11

Remove from heat and place in serving bowls



Step 12

Add in your extras= Flax Seed




Step 13

Add 1/2 cup of milk per bowl and serve

Verdict: The oatmeal was fine however lacking flavor will try recipe again using the apple juice and use applesauce as an extra ingredient..

Brussel sprouts that weird little vegetable that most people skip at the store due to "How the hack do I fix that?" Well that is what I thought as well so I picked up 5 little Brussels sprouts why 5 huh.!! well that is what I grabbed I only wanted a few to try plus since dd was not going to try them I only needed 5.
Now I arrived home w/ 5 little green guys in a huge plastic bag now what? Off to Allrecipe.com to see what I could find to help me cook these little guys up and make them taste!! The search yielded me 67 recipe to pick from I choose Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Verdict: Bitter read more reviews about removing the center stem (which is what cause it to be bitter) to late to fix my issue however minus the stem area which I skipped on the other ones Taste but I would suggest cooking slower on lower heat 350*F since the oil started to splatter all over.

Crochet Project Double Crochet Baby Hats

I found this pattern online for these baby hats..Aren't they just perfect for a new born. They whip up in less the 1 hour while watching TV.

Thrift Store Deal

Great Thrift store deals found this past weekend.

Cookie Scoop w/out a metal assist piece just prefect for scooping out cookies for just 25 cents.

Deep Dish Pie Plate for $2.00 I plan to use this to make chicken pot pies in :O) YUMMY!!