Corn Bread Chicken Tenders

1/4 cup corn bread/muffin mix
3 tablespoons prepared ranch salad dressing
6 chicken tenderlions
2 teaspoons canola oil

Place corn bread mix and salad dressing in seperate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in dressing, then roll in corn bread mix.
In a large skillet, cook chicken in oil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.

2 servings

Mashed Potato Topped Hot Dogs

4 hot dogs
1 1/3 cups mashed potatoes (prepared with milk and butter)
2 slices process American cheese, cut into quarters
salsa and chopped green onions
Make a lengthwise cut three-fourths of the way through each hot dog. Open hot dogs and place cut side up on a baking sheet. Top with mashed potatoes and cheese.
Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Spread with salsa and sprinkle with onions.

2 servings

Sites while walking

Sun coming up. In the one picture if you click it to enlarge it, you can see 3 deer on the right side by trees.

More flower pictures

sedum starting to turn.
Cosmos in front of fence by the road
This sunflower is so tall!

Shed Addition

This is our addition. Concrete poured yesterday. We are adding on the same size as the other part. 28' X 30'----I think. Will be nice when all done and stuff is sorted and cleaned. Probably some Goodwill runs will come about.

Jumbo Walnut-Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1 cup butter or margarine melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla-butter-nut flavoring (I have just used vanilla)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 packages (10 ounces each)semisweet chocolate chunks
2 cups coursely chopped walnuts (I trade out with pecans sometimes)

Preheat over to 350. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla-butter-nut flavoring; beating until smooth. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, bakig soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, stir until a soft dough forms. Stir in chocolate chuncks and walnuts. Use 1/4 cup of dough for each cookie. Drop cookies 3" apart onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or untl edges and tops are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Wrap cookies individually in plastic wrap.
Yield about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

After they are cooled, wrap in plastic then wrap in a piece of orange tissue paper and tie with streamers. Make face with felt tip marker.

Nice for party favors or if kids are allowed to take treats for Halloween parties.

Balloon

Can see the fire in this one.

More Balloons

This picture has a few more balloons in it. Can click to enlarge picture. 5 in this picture.

Some Balloon pictures

These are not the best. Alot of balloons went to the west of us.

My Exercise (sometimes)

If you walk to the end of this dirt road and back it is a mile. We normally walk the dog down it. This is coming back towards our drive. The sun hitting the tops of the trees at the end starts my driveway. Quiet and peaceful. See deer and other wildlife at times.

Thomas

Thomas loves to climb the gate and play with the flowers. Hollyhocks are planted around it. This gate was my great grandpas and when he was moved we brought it home. Every few years I paint it. Has been there since '95. It stands in front of the garden and we plant flowers around it.

Gooseberry Patch

I got a letter today saying a recipe I sent in will be published in a cookbook coming out in Jan. 2010. 101 Slow-Cooker Recipes.

Green Beans

From the 5 gallon bucket of snapped green beans we got 40 pints canned and a big mess to fix for the get together we are having tonight.

Dill Pickles

Here are the pickles we got canned from the cucmbers that our friend let us pick. We pick them smaller for pickles. We have dumped some jars that didn't seal for some reason. We have of 46 quarts canned. (that is counting pints, and half gallons as quarts.) We like to have 60 to 75 quarts for the year but not this go around.

The recipe I use follows:

Dill Pickles
3 quarts water
1 quart vinegar (white)
1 cup salt (pickling)
Bring to a boil and pour over pickles to seal. Pack pickles into jars and put in clove of garlic, dill (I use it green), and alum. Alum use 1/4 tsp. per quart. Left over liquid can be put in fridge and reboiled again.

Was given this recipe in '86 by a friends mother.

Chocolate Trifle

A few people asked about this, so here is a picture of the finished item. I have made this for YEARS. It really goes together fast. Looks nice and people think you took alot of time with it. Usually no left overs.

Chocolate Trifle

This is what I do after changing a recipe that used devil foods cake and coffee.

1 brownie mix for a 13 X 9 size (can use any-depends on your taste for richer or not)
2 boxes chocolate instant pudding
heath bits
cool whip
pecans

Mix pudding and let it set up. Cook brownies as directed and cool completely. Break up the brownies and put a layer in the bottom of a trifle dish, layer some of the pudding, some of the heath pieces, cool whip and then few pecans if desired. Repeat layers.

So simple and people LOVE it!

The Speedy Little Devils were VERY good. Just a note. The mixture was very thick and my hand mixer burnt up. It was on its last leg anyhow. Everybody loved them and they were gone FAST! I used my hands and patted out the mixture thin like a burger and laid it over the cake mixture.

Speedy Little Devils

I am going to make these petty soon to take to work. I LOVE trying new recipes on co-workers. Haven't had a reject yet.


Devil's Food cake mix
1/2 cup margarine, melted
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
13-ounce jar marshmallow cream

In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly blend cake mix and margarine. Remove 1/2 cup cake mixture from mixing bowl and set aside for topping. Place remaining mixture
in a lightly greased 13 X 9 pan. Mix peanut butter and marshmallow cream together, spread onto crumbs mixture. Sprinkle reserved cake mix over all. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Makes 12 to 14 serving.

When I made these for work, evidently I didn't read the recipe right and for the cake mix and margarine I didn't melt it--just blended it till it was a crumbly and it worked fine. I also just sprinkled it across the top then.

The sunflowers are voluteers. Guess from birds.
Zinnias by the driveway.
Flowers in box on the porch.
DS and DH working with rafters. Had more neighbors stop by in the evening. Love to see them BUT guys aren't moving to fast when everybody comes!

Incredible Cobbler Mix

I am wanting to try this soon.

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla powder (I have only found this to order on line. Can't find it in a store yet.)
1 cup all-purpose flour
Mix together all ingredients until well blended. Store in airtight container. Give with the following recipe.

Incredible Cobbler

4 cup berries
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter, melted
1 egg
cobbler mix

Blend together beries, orange juice, sugar and cinnamon. Pour into a 13 X 9" baking pan. Combine butter & egg, add dry cobbler mix and stir well. Drop cobbler mixture by spoonfuls over berries in baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden.


A mixture I would like to give at Christmas with oversize mugs calls for vanilla powder. Guess I best be ordering some to try the recipe before giving as gifts.

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