Becka's blog

We have had unusually cold weather here the last few days. Today it was just on the verge of freezing and very windy with rain all day. We live right near a road which is slightly elevated and we heard on the news tonight that it had iced and portions of the road were closed because of downed trees. It's a good night to stay home and get some things done around the house.

I've been wanting to post this recipe for baked fruit for a while. It's a nice recipe to have on hand because it can function as a dessert or a side dish. You can make it with either regular brown sugar or the Splenda brown sugar if you are cooking for a diabetic.

Pear-Apricot Bake

2 Tbsps. butter or margarine
1 16 oz. can of pear halves, drained
1 16 oz. can of apricot halves, drained
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Cream or ice cream

Melt butter or margarine in a shallow baking dish in a preheated 350 degree oven. Arrange fruit, rounded side up in the baking dish. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 30 mins. Serve warm with cream or ice cream as a dessert or plain as a meat accompaniment. Makes approximately six servings.

Enjoy and stay warm this weekend!

Becka

As many of you know, we had some snow and ice this past weekend. Rob and I stayed busy around the house working on a variety of little projects. One thing I have been doing this past month was trying to get a little more organized.

Many bloggers spent the month of January trying to feed their families from the pantry and freezer. I decided to join the crowd and at least try to organize and use up some of my freezer food. I removed all the food from the freezers (I have two refrigerators with freezers on the top), cleaned the freezers, got rid of a few items, and then tried to put things back in a better organized fashion. I used an idea I had gleaned from Brenda about storing like items individually bagged and then put into a larger bag in the freezer. I now have bags of nuts, cooked chicken, cooked ground beef, etc. I also made an excel chart to help track what I have in the freezers. I keep a tablet on the refrigerator and mark down what goes in and what comes out.

Another area that I have been working on organizing is my fabric stash. I got a lot of ideas from the Quiltville website. I have been working on cutting my scraps into strips and ironing and folding larger pieces of fabric so I can more easily see what is on hand. This is something I hope to continue working on as time permits.

After reading Deb's post about starting in on an on-line quilt-along I found some fat quarters that I thought would work for this project and have been making a few blocks. I recently bought a free-motion quilting foot and hope to practice on this little project.

Have any of you been cleaning and organizing any corners of your home this winter?

Becka

I bet you didn't think I could possibly do another post on ideas for using pizza dough, did you? Actually I have two more. I don't make these nearly as often now that the kids are grown and out of the house, but they are both really good.

One thing that you can do with the dough is to make pigs in a blanket. For ten hot dogs I would use about half a batch of the pizza dough. Just cut the dough into ten pieces, roll each piece into a "snake" and then wrap it around the hot dog (make a cut down the length of the hot dog to prevent it from bursting in the oven) and place it seam side down on a baking sheet or stone. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 mins. or until browned.

The second idea is for Ham and Broccoli Loaf. For this you will need:

one recipe for pizza dough
2-3 cups cooked broccoli, cooled and chopped into bite sized pieces
2 cups cubed ham
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsps. melted margarine or butter
1 tsp. poppy seeds

Grease a cookie sheet with sides (jelly roll pan) or spray a pizza stone. Roll out half of the dough to fit the pan or stone. Layer the broccoli, ham, and cheese on this crust. Roll out the remainder of the dough just slightly larger and place on top of the filling. Crimp the edges together like you would a pie. Brush the top with the melted butter and sprinkle with the poppy seeds. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 mins. or until golden brown. This makes about six main dish servings. It reheats well for lunch and is a good way to use up leftover ham and broccoli.

DD Nora asked if I would post the recipe I have been using for a no-knead (artisanal) pizza dough. Here it is:

Artisan Pizza Dough (makes two crusts)
3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 Tbsp. yeast
3/4 Tbsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsps. olive oil
1 cup plus 6 Tbsps. very warm tap water

Place all ingredients in a bowl with a lid (I use Tupperware). Stir together thoroughly with a spoon or spatula. At this point you can place it in a warm place for two hours (I put mine in the microwave with the light turned on) or place it directly in the refrigerator. Do not put the lid on tightly -- just rest it on top of the bowl. The two hour rise will help to develop the flavor in the dough, but sometimes it just won't work into the schedule. After the two hour rise refrigerate the dough.

The dough will be ready to use in about 24 hours. It will be stickier than the usual pizza dough. Just coat it will a little flour and be patient as you work with it. The convenience of having this dough in the fridge will be worth a little fussiness. Your finished pizza will look a bit more "free form" and "artisanal". Throw those terms around and your family will be impressed! (Just kidding!) This dough will keep for about a week in the refrigerator, although I think it works better if you don't keep it more than three or four days. Sometimes I just make the crust and pre-bake it and keep it for a couple of days or if I won't be using it for awhile I wrap and freeze it. So, give this a try sometime -- all you have to lose is a little bit of flour.

Becka

This past year I found some cute gift ideas on various blogs that I read from time to time.

I made some tea wallets for some friends and family members who are tea drinkers. They were fun to make and hopefully will be useful for the recipients. I hadn't made covered buttons in quite a while and found that the little tool that you use to help cover the buttons (it is included with the button forms) has been greatly improved since I last made some. I found this tutorial for the tea wallet.

I also made some table runners for a few people. I took a class at one of our local fabric stores to learn how to make these, but I was able to find some instructions for the basic technique at this source. These were fun to make and I hope to make myself one for next Christmas!

Here are a couple of pictures of completed table runners:

Here's a close up:

I don't always have time to make as many gifts as I did this year, but I started early and enjoyed making them.

How about you, dear readers -- did you make any gifts for Christmas this year? I know of one family where the siblings all make something for each other each year, rather than purchasing something. They have become really creative and learned some new skills over the years.

Becka

While we were in Michigan in December Rob, Mark, Katie and I spent a day at the Henry Ford Museum (which is now just referred to as "The Henry Ford" on the literature they give you.) I had been to Greenfield Village a few years ago when I was up visiting with Megan and her first grade class, but the last time I visited the museum was when Megan was in a stroller.

One thing I noticed that has changed in the quarter century since my last visit is that there are a lot more interactive exhibits now. There seem to be more things that are of interest to children. Katie was a little dismayed to see that they had some of the toys on display she had played with as a little girl!

Here are a few pictures of things that we saw that day:

There was a large special exhibit of things built from Legos, such as this dragon:

There was a model of downtown Detroit made from Legos complete with a running train:

There were many, many old bicycles, cars, airplanes, and trains, such as this one:

We saw the chair that Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot:

They also have an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile:

Here is a boy experiencing what it is like to be a hot dog:

You can actually eat a hot dog in the museum but we chose to eat lunch at the Michigan Cafe instead:

We saw many, many other interesting things at the museum. I would definitely encourage you to go if you are ever in the area. It is very well organized and enjoyable.

In my next post I want to show you something I made for Christmas.

Becka