How we got started making Minestrone Soup. Many years ago Sarah and I volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. Several of our friends and family were volunteering to help build houses. She was too young to work on the houses so we volunteered to cook lunch during the week college students were working on the houses. We made crab pots full of this soup and served it with sandwiches. It worked out so well that after that we made it for youth group events, feeding the homeless, etc. through the years. And still make it today.
We started with the Betty Crocker Recipe of Minestrone for a Crowd
1carton (32 oz) Progresso™ chicken broth (4 cups) or 4 cups water
4cups tomato juice
1cup dry red wine or water
1tablespoon dried basil leaves
1teaspoon salt
1/2teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4teaspoon pepper
2cups uncooked rotini, mostaccioli and shell pasta
Steps
1
Spray 8-quart nonstick Dutch oven with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; cook about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender.
2
Stir in remaining ingredients except pasta. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 45 minutes.
3
Heat to boiling. Stir in pasta. Return to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 10 to 15 minutes or until pasta is tender.
Redding Version
Substitute additional chicken broth for the tomato juice occasionally.
I omit pasta for those gluten intolerant.
Add a couple of yellow potatoes, and some fresh spinach leaves, and use fresh herbs when available, a can of garbanzo beans, and red beans and 1/2 cup of yellow lentils.
Many people make gingerbread houses this time of year and I think it’s a wonderful tradition. I love the smell of gingerbread. I do not make the gingerbread houses though.
Since the 1990’s I have made little graham cracker houses with my kids at Christmas time. I think my mom gave me the idea to do these. I make the houses and have them decorate them with candies. My daughter in law calls these candy houses. We still continue to do this though they are grown.
For the Houses
I buy the rectangular graham crackers. Make sure you do not get the stacks. Some brands are better for this than others. This year the Walmart Great Value brand has been the best. They are not as fragile. It had less broken crackers to start with and not a single one broke during the construction. And they are less expensive.
The Honey Maid graham crackers are much thinner. Whole packages were already broken before the box was opened. They were a bit frustrating to work with.
A regular size box of graham crackers will usually make 3 houses if none break.
HINT: I use the broken graham crackers for crumbs, which I can use to make peanut butter balls or graham cracker crusts.
Put Your House On Cake Boards or Cardboard Squares Covered with Foil
Prepare your boards for the houses. I use cake boards or cardboard covered with foil. You can decide what size you want to use. This year I used 12 inch diameter cake boards. Sometimes I use squares or rectangles. Some of the kids like to do elaborate “yards” so they like having some space to decorate outside the house.
Frosting Recipe:
The royal frosting or “glue” only takes three ingredients.
Meringue powder, powdered sugar, and water.
I use Wilton’s recipe.
4 cups of powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons meringue powder
5 Tablespoons warm warm
Add all of these to the mixer bowl. I use my Kitchen Aid. Beat on low for 7-10 minutes. If it is too thick add a Tablespoon of warm water. This is the consistency I use for the houses.
Royal frosting (“glue”)
After this is made I cover it with a damp towel until I am ready to use it. It will get crusty and crunchy if you leave it uncovered. Covering it with plastic wrap may work too.
Assembling the Houses
To make the houses you need 8 whole graham crackers for each house.
Pieces for the house (missing the two rectangles for the roof).
I use a serrated knife to gently saw the ends of the houses. Don’t press too hard or you will break the cracker. Gently keep it from moving while you saw. If you look in the photo you will see that I have made a line from the edge of the middle horizontal line to the top of the vertical line .
I cut one set at a time. When you are done cutting a set you are ready to assemble.
Fill your decorator bag with frosting. Decide where to position the house on the board. Also whether you want the ends joined to the inside of the walls or outside.
Squeeze a line of frosting the length of the graham cracker. Place one graham cracker standing up. This year I put the ends on the outside so I put frosting on the cut triangle piece and added it to the first wall. Next I added the other wall and finally the second triangle piece.
The Roof
When this is done you will need a roof. Since the walls are on the inside the roof can be a little tricky. I let the house set for a minute and then I add a line of frosting to the inside of the triangle on each end and a line of frosting to the top of the wall. I gently add the first half of the roof. You may need to gently press the house to get the walls adhered or straightened. If one is tipped out a bit you can slide a knife down from the roof and gently slide it into position.
Next repeat for the second half of the roof. Gently press the tops to try to make them meet. If there is a gap at the top add a line of frosting to each side and add a squiggle of snow to cover the gap. If you have a problem it can be fixed.
I’m sorry I didn’t take any photos of the assembly process.
Each little house will be different. These are not for magazine or instagram photos. These are for happy kids, making memories, and spending time together. I hope you have a great time making messes and memories with the kids in your life!
Other Ideas
I have done these with senior centers and libraries. I make up all the little houses and the seniors invite the kids in their lives to bring candy and decorate the house. For the libraries the kids sign up for the program and the library provides the materials. Great Fun!
Here is a great recipe that my family has used for a long time. Tried and True! My daughter Sarah and I had a great time making these and sharing them this week. I thought you might like to try it too! Enjoy!
Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Balls
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 sticks of margarine or butter softened
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
1 lb. milk chocolate melts (chocolate coating)
Directions:
Combine the peanut butter, margarine, powdered sugar, and graham cracker crumbs. Shape into small balls and dip in prepared chocolate and place on waxed paper covered plate and refrigerate until glossy.
Or you may want to use a small peanut butter cup mold and put a small amount of melted chocolate in the bottom of each cup and push a peanut butter ball down into the chocolate and top with a small amount of melted chocolate to cover the ball. Let set in the refrigerator a few minutes until glossy.
Gently remove from mold and place in paper cups or on your tray.
Today is Pi Day! Do you know what Pi is? In basic mathematics, pi is used to find the area and circumference of a circle. Have you ever memorized Pi? When my children were at home they had fun trying to memorize the first 100 digits of Pi. Maybe you are like me and prefer to memorize pie recipes. This occupied them for hours.
I am not sure who holds the record in my house but according to the Pi World Ranking List the world record for reciting the most digits of pi belongs to Suresh Kumar Sharma of India, who recited pi to 70,030 decimal places in 2015. It took him 17 hours and 14 minutes! That’s a long day of work.
Do you want to try this with your kids? For fun check out the bottom of the page for the first 100 digits of Pi. Maybe you can make pie while they work on this today. Here’s my signature pie recipe.
Signature Desserts
Another thing we did as a family was eat Blueberry Crunch Pie. Almost any holiday or special occasion called for it! Chances are if you have visited my house you have tasted the yumminess of Blueberry Crunch Pie. This accidentally became my signature dessert. That’s how memories are made many times by accident.
Blueberry Crunch Pie is a quick dessert to make. In fact I can make it in less than 30 minutes. While the crust bakes I mix the filling and then it is all ready to go as soon as the crust is cooled. Sometimes I cheat and put the crust in the fridge or freezer to cool it faster.
Blueberry Crunch Pie
Version 2
A few years ago I made a little change to my recipe. I still use the same ingredients I just tweaked it a bit. Below you will find the Blueberry Crunch Pie Version 2 Recipe. When my children were home I doubled the recipe.
Recipe
Blueberry Crunch Pie Version 2
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup self rising flour
1 cup nuts (divided – save 1/4 cup to sprinkle on top)
1 stick margarine softened
11 oz cream cheese
1/2 lb. powdered sugar
1 can blueberry pie filling or homemade
Whipped topping 16+ ounces
Instructions:
Layer 1 — Combine flour, nuts and margarine. Press into 13×9 pan, bake until lightly browned about 15 minutes at 350° F or until lightly browned. Let cool.
Layer 2 — Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar. Stir in a cup of the whipped topping. Spread on cooled crust.
Layer 3 — Spread 1 can blueberry pie filling ( or homemade) evenly and gently over layer 2
Layer 4 — Spread with whipped topping
Layer 5 — Sprinkle with nuts.
Do you have a signature dessert? Please share it in the comments or email it to me! I love reading recipes!
Try Memorizing 100 Digits of Pi for Fun!
Here are the first 100 digits in case you want to memorize them today!
Yummy Pumpkin Bread. Okay, so you know how some days you wake up and just want a specific food? This morning as I turned my water on for tea I just knew I needed some Yummy Pumpkin Bread to go with it. I immediately started making some. There was no arguing with myself I was going to have pumpkin bread.
Out of my stashed recipes, I found this recipe that I am sure came off the back of a Libby Pumpkin can at some point in the last 40 years. As my computer is dying a slow death I have been backing it up with Time Machine and revisiting years of saved files and recipes, this is one of them.
As you may have guessed the pumpkin bread is now in the oven and my house has a wonderful smell drifting through it. And later I will enjoy it with my tea!
Yummy Pumpkin BreadYummy Pumpkin Bread
Here is the recipe you are waiting for! Try it and let me know what you think. Please feel free to share your favorite pumpkin bread recipe because sometimes you just need pumpkin bread to go with tea.
Yummy Pumpkin Bread
3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. each nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon
1 1/2 c. each granulated sugar and packed brown sugar
1 c. oil ( I used 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil)
2 c. canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1 c. each raisins and nuts (optional) ( I used 1 cup of chopped walnuts)
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and
spices. Add the sugars, mixing well.
***It is worth the sifting just for the memories. I have a sifter that looks just like the one from my childhood.
Using a sifter is worth it!
Mix dry ingredients with the oil and pumpkin, stirring until
well, combined.
Add eggs, one at a time, blending thoroughly. Pour into 2
greased and floured 9 1/2 x 5 1/4-inch loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until the tester
comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans.
I am not really sure where the 1933 biscuit recipe originated from. It has been in my files for many years. Yesterday I did something I have not done in years. I made a single recipe of biscuits! That’s an accomplishment for me! Below I will share the single recipe and then my Redding size batch that I used while I was raising my family.
A Little Family Trivia
This is not my grandmother’s recipe but I do remember seeing my mom and my grandmother make biscuits. They started with a huge bowl of flour and then made a well in the middle and added the ingredients and slowly mixed it by hand. I am not sure if they measured the ingredients beforehand or by instinct knew exactly how to make them. My dad called these pinching biscuits. Still makes me smile. If any of you have heard of pinching biscuits please let me know.
1933 Biscuits Ingredients:
2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
4 tablespoons butter or shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
about 3/4 cup milk
Sift flour once, measure, add the baking soda and salt, and sift again. This will make your biscuits lighter or softer. Cut in shortening or butter using a pastry cutter or I use my hands by rubbing the butter into the flour until it is like tiny pebbles. Add the milk gradually, stirring until a soft dough is formed. Turn out on lightly floured board and lightly “knead” for 30 seconds, enough to shape. Roll 1/2 inch thick and cut with 2 inch floured biscuit cutter. Bake on an ungreased baking sheet in a 400° oven for 12-15 minutes. Makes 6 biscuits.
Redding Family Ingredient Amounts
This makes a lot of biscuits! Enough biscuits in fact to feed 8 hungry boys and maybe a few girls.
8 cups flour
8 tsp. baking powder
16 tablespoons shortening
2 tsp. salt
3 cups of milk
For this Redding size batch proceed with the directions from above.
Enjoy your hot biscuits with honey butter or strawberry jam! Yum!
Below you can find a link to another biscuit recipe I have used.
I would like to share the Joy of Cooking recipe for Gingerbread Men. Joy of Cooking is the cookbook from my childhood. For the Christmas of 1980 my sister-in-law Linda gave me my own copy. My children grew up with Joy of Cooking in our home kitchen.
Many of the familiar recipes my children grew up with are found in the pages of Joy of Cooking. Here is one recipe for making gingerbread men or other shaped gingerbread cookies.
A few days after Thanksgiving we decided to make a little bit of gingerbread. It was a lot of fun!
Joy of CookingGingerbread Men
Preheat your oven to 350°
Blend until creamy:
1/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup of white or brown sugar
Beat in:
1/2 cup dark molasses
Sift:
3 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
Resift with:
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add the sifted ingredients to the butter mixture in about three parts, alternating with:
1/4 cup water
You may have to knead in the last of the flour if you are not using an electric mixer. I roll mine out on parchment paper and cut the gingerbread men out and place them on a cookie sheet on the parchment paper. Bake them for about 8-10 minutes depending on thickness. Touch the cookie and if it springs back after 8 minutes it is ready to cool on a rack.
I did a search for a gingerbread man and found this template which I printed and traced to make our men.
You are about to find out how to make Taco Bake without a recipe. For our Sunday lunch yesterday I decided to keep it simple and make Taco Bake. What is Taco Bake? Read on!
My friend Pam shared this with me many years ago. Thank you, Pam! Am I ever excited that she is moving across the country and will be a whole lot closer to me! (and a few other people).
Taco Bake is a simple casserole that is very filling and easy to adjust to your preferences. It is made with ingredients we keep on hand almost all of the time. Rice, beans, taco seasoning, meat and/or chicken and cheese. Have leftovers? Here is a great use for them. This is how I make Taco Bake without a recipe.
You may want to lightly coat your pan with oil or spray it with cooking spray. Any size pan will do depending on your family size. I choose my pan based on how many will be here to eat. If this is going to be a weeknight dinner I will use my 13X9 pan because James is always happy to finish the leftovers. Yesterday I used my giant heavy-duty 1/2 sheet cake pan I have used for years and years because I was expecting a family crowd.
Ingredients:
Rice, refried or cooked pinto beans, taco seasoning, meat and/or chicken, and shredded cheese.
Layer 1
First I layer cooked rice not more than an inch deep. You may use white, brown, long-grain, short-grain, whatever type you prefer.
Layer 2
Cooked taco meat or chicken. Have you noticed the price of beef? I was so shocked at the cost of the cheapest ground beef that I almost made it with chicken. In the end, I decided to combine ground turkey and beef. Cook the meat and drain and season it with taco seasoning. Spread this over the rice layer. This time I used 3 lbs. of ground beef and 3 lbs. of ground turkey. You can use any leftover turkey, chicken, beef, etc. Or make it vegetarian.
Layer 3
Refried beans or as I usually do cook some pinto beans or use some leftover ones.
Cover the top with shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese.
Bake in the oven at 350° until it is hot and bubbly and the cheese is melted. Now you are ready to enjoy it!
FREEZER MEAL – After Layer 4 you can cover it with a layer of plastic wrap and heavy-duty foil, label, and freeze. When you get ready to use thaw and uncover and follow the regular instructions.
Why am I learning to make a sourdough starter? I have spent years at home rearing children, homeschooling, cooking, laundry, etc. So this time in our history hasn’t been as hard on me maybe as some of you. But it has given me an excellent opportunity to explore possibilities. Extra time at home, what will I do? Using this time to learn some new skills and improve some old ones seems like a good idea.
What have I been learning? In my crazy artistic, ok maybe chaotic (it’s those 11 kids I’m telling you!) way I tackled several things I have been interested in for some time. Today I will tell you about my sourdough project.
Sourdough
The problem is I love bread! If I had to choose one food group it would probably be bread. What smells better than fresh bread baking? With a little direction from my friend Eleni Melirrytou, I decided to learn to make sourdough bread. That entails first making a sourdough starter. Yes, you normally can buy yeast in the grocery store. Maybe not during a pandemic. And maybe not in Africa. I know that you can buy a sourdough starter on Amazon. However, I want to learn the whole process so that wherever I am in the world I can make bread. This is a long process that begins with flour and water mixed and worked with for at least 14 days before you can have a strong enough starter to make your bread rise. You can make some pretty yummy sourdough pancakes with your throwaway starter though.
Work With Refugees
Do you remember the first time you ate sourdough bread? I don’t. I’m sure it must have been in Seattle in the 80s. The best sourdough I have ever tasted was made by my friend Eleni Melirrytou when she and her husband came to Nashville, Tennessee, to share about their work with refugees in Greece. Check out their website here. As with most functions with Christians, there was food! Not just food but amazing Greek food which included Eleni’s sourdough bread! Yum, makes your mouth water bread!
Northwest Sourdough
I need to learn how to do this, I told myself. I asked Eleni for recommendations and she sent me a link to a video by Northwest Sourdough and Teresa L. Greenway. There is a link for a free guide below the video. This video and the following ones got me started making my sourdough starter, pancakes, and eventually bread. Click on the link to learn how to make a sourdough starter using only flour and water.
One interesting side note is that I lived very close to where Teresa L. Greenway filmed these videos and I never knew what I was missing or what great resources were right next door.
Sourdough bread – My first loafSourdough bread 2Sourdough bread
If you follow this link you will find the recipe I used for my sourdough bread. Bake with Jack is a great teacher.
Who has ever heard of mayonnaise biscuits? I certainly had never! Read on for I am about to share the recipe. This year a friend of mine had a birthday. As is common his amazing birthday dinner was shared of Facebook complete with pictures. It was a dinner that made me jealous. Just kidding I was happy for Glenn to have an amazing birthday dinner after all he’s a pretty amazing guy. And he must have a pretty wonderful wife to do all that for him.
As I was reading the list of items on the menu something caught my attention. Mayonnaise Biscuits. I had to message Erica right away to find out if I could have the recipe. She was sweet enough to share her special recipe and a little bit of the story behind it.
Glenn’s mom used to make them for him and to make the story a little bit sweeter she got the recipe from her mom. I love to collect recipes and especially if they have stories behind them.
So today I will share this simple recipe for you to try.
Mayonnaise Biscuits
Mayonnaise Biscuits
2 c. Self-rising Flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Preheat oven at 375° and lightly grease a muffin tin.
Mix all three ingredients and scoop by the spoonful into a muffin tin each one about 3/4 the way full.
Makes one dozen.
Bake for 30 mins or until these golden brown.
These turn out to be very light.
I hope you enjoy them!! They are delicious! Thanks, Erica for introducing me to Mayonnaise Biscuits.
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