Pasta Fagioli

After a cold day on the farm, this does the trick!

  (photo by Christine)

Ingredients

• 1 cup ditalini, uncooked
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 carrots, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 small can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
• ½ small box of frozen spinach, thawed (or fresh spinach)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper                                
• 4 cups water                                                                                               
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Cook pasta in boiling salted water.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.
3. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook until tender (approx 15 minutes), stirring occasionally.
4. Add garlic and cook for one minute (be careful not to burn the garlic).
5. Add beans, tomatoes, spinach, salt, pepper, and water and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
7. Stir in drained pasta, cheese, and parsley, and heat through.

Pinterest Addiction

I'm addicting to Pinterest.  Thanks Lindy!  Pinterest is a virtual pinboard.  It lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To start your own pinboards you might need an invite.  Let me know if you want one. 

Here are some neat things I'm finding.  Come join us!

So many neat ideas!

Cuties that make me smile.

I love windows.

Pinterest

Invite me please!

Sharing a Great Find: Kevin & Amanda

A blog I really like has just posted an awesome recipe for Crispy Shrimp Pasta with gorgeous pictures and easy instructions.  I'm drooling and I know you will be, too.

Kevin & Amanda have so many fun categories to explore, and I bet Miley and Howie will become fast favorites of yours.  You'll have to visit to see who these wonderful little lovebugs are!  I'll warn you...they are adorably addicting!  :)

I love when I find a good blog and I just HAD to share.

Nectar Recipe and Hummingbird Migration




This is a little friend I rescued last summer.  Remember all of our garage visitors?  Snakes and toads, oh my!

The first 2011 hummingbird sighting in our state was reported yesterday.  Time to get the feeders out!  If you don't remember how to make your own nectar, here is the recipe I use:

• Boil 2 cups of water for a few minutes
• Add 1/2 cup of sugar.
• Let it cool and fill the feeder.

      Basically: 4 parts water / 1 part sugar

Check out this neat site for migration maps or become a citizen scientist!

Hummingbird - Journey North

Which kind of hummingbird is in your area?  We only see Ruby-throated  here.

Chocolate and Mint Grasshopper Pie

How about Grasshopper Pie for St. Patty's Day?

Here is Eagle Brand's easy version: (obviously this is a quicky not-from-scratch style recipe, but it IS last minute)  :)

Ingredients

• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3 to 4 drops green food coloring
• 16 fudge mint cookies, coarsely crushed
• 1 1/2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (6 oz.) prepared chocolate crumb pie crust

Instructions

• BEAT cream cheese with electric mixer until fluffy in large bowl; gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth.
• STIR in peppermint extract, food coloring and crushed cookies. Fold in whipped topping. Pour into crust.
• CHILL at least 3 hours. Garnish as desired. Serve chilled.
• Top with chocolate shavings, additional cookie pieces or mint leaves.

Perfect Lemonade

I didn't know what we were missing
until we made our own!

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
• 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice 
• 3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

Method

1. Make a simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved.

2. Juice 4 - 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.

3. Add juice and simple syrup to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water to the desired strength.

If it is too sweet add a little straight lemon juice.

Serve with ice and sliced lemons.

Serves 6

I found this recipe at SimplyRecipes.com

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

Oreo & Fudge Ice Cream Cake

Here is a great summer cake using ice cream sandwiches!  This recipe gets 5 stars from over 1300 people at the Kraft Kitchen website.  I found it a few years ago in Southern Living Magazine. It is easy and no heating up the kitchen! The kids and I made it for Father's Day yesterday and the biggest problem we had was not eating all of the ingredients along the way.  Slice it thin; it is rich! 

Serves 12

What you need!

1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed

1 tub  (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

8   OREO Cookies, chopped

12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches

24-inch long piece of foil

What to do!

POUR fudge topping into medium bowl. 

Whisk in 1 cup of the Cool Whip. 

Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. 

Stir in chopped cookies.

ARRANGE 4 ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side on the foil.

Top with half the fudge and cookie mixture.

Repeat layers.

Top with remaining 4 sandwiches.

Frost top and sides with remaining Cool Whip.

Bring up foil sides, double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet.

FREEZE 4 hours or until firm.

Note:

The consistency of fudge topping can vary depending 

on what brand you purchase. If the fudge topping mixture 

is too thick to spread easily, stir in 1/4 cup milk.

Hummingbird Feeder Recipe

My mom asked me for the hummingbird feeder solution I make and it occurred to me that you might want it, too. I boil 2 cups of water for a few minutes and then add 1/2 cup of sugar.  Let it cool and fill the feeder.

Basically: 4 parts water / 1 part sugar

I love the Stokes Birding Blog and they have a nice post about it. You can see it by clicking here.  The Stokes have wonderful field guides and bird identification books which helped me to identify my first Blue Grosbeak earlier this month.  I, also, took a tip from another one of their posts about filling a suet feeder with fiber for birds to use for nesting material.  Lovebug and I did that together this morning.  It was fun mother/daughter time.  She took a couple of pictures for you...

Maybe I should make up some nesting balls using alpaca fiber for the Etsy shop.  Or maybe kits for families to do together... hmmm... off to think...

Oh My - Pie

I got the new Southern Living Magazine and it highlights PIE.  I LOVE PIE.  Pie Pie Pie! I have an awesome Open-Faced Fresh Blueberry Pie recipe...and it is almost blueberry season! I won a blue ribbon at the county fair in 2007 with it! But to confess...there were no other blueberry pies in the competition!  LOL It is still an awesome PIE.  Here is the recipe if you want to give it a try...  It is from the Pie and Pastry Bible. 

Open-Faced Fresh Blueberry Pie
4 cups fresh blueberries (I use 5) rinsed - and take off any little stems you find
1/2 cup water
2 tbls water
2 tbls cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
pinch of salt


Bring 1/2 cup of water and 1 cup of blueberries to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer stirring constantly for 3 - 4 minutes.  Whisk together cornstarch and 2 tbls of water. Stirring constantly add cornstarch mixture, sugar, lemon juice, and salt.  Stir 1 minute.  Remove from heat and quickly fold in the rest of the berries.  Spoon into a pre-baked pie shell and let sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours.  Serve with whipped cream (optional)


And if you need it:

My Basic Pie Dough Recipe 
Double Crust   - make a second pie for a friend or put in the freezer for next time!

Now I can't find a good pastry flour here so I have to make my own by mixing all-purpose with cake flour.  It works.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1 tsp salt
1 cup very cold unsalted butter
5 - 6 tbls ice water (only use what is needed)
1 egg white
1 tbls water

Mix the flours together.  Add the salt.  Cut the butter into small pieces and then cut it into the flour using a pastry cutter or two knives.  Add ice water one tbls. at a time until you get the right consistency.  Chill dough before rolling it out.  Roll out the dough to the right size.  Chill after rolling.  Keeping the dough cold and keeping the butter from melting while you handle it is important to having a nice flaky crust. Put the crust in your pie pan and flute the edges or pinch them or somehow make the edge pretty.  Weigh down the pie shell by using a piece of parchment and beans if you don't have pie weights. Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Remove parchment and beans.  Use a fork to prick the crust around the bottom and sides. Not too deep... you are just keeping the crust flat and not puffing up in places.  Bake another 5 - 10 minutes.  Cool 3 minutes.  Whisk an egg white with a tbls of water and brush bottom and sides of pie to seal the pie before adding fruit.  This "moisture proofs" the crust.  There you go!  Ready to use.  Once you make it a few times it is very easy.


Now you will be the queen or king of pie!

I have to make one for the neighbor that always drags the driveway after each rain, and the neighbor that watches the alpacas when we go away, and the neighbor that I share a birthday month with... ahhhhh PIE.