Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars.............

The other day, before the Great Escape  The Youngun requested some chocolate chip cookies.  Since I always like to experiment and invent new recipes, I decided to make up these bar cookies.  They were really good, and passed The Youngun test, and even harder, they passed The Man test.  The Man isn't much on sweets, except for ice cream, and he requested a couple of these bars heated up then topped with ice cream.  When I asked him how he liked them, I got The Nod, indicating they were good!  So, without further Ahh Doo, here ya go!

Beat butter and sugar til light.......

Add eggs and vanilla and beat well........

Then add in flours, soda, and salt. Mix well. Stir in oatmeal and chocolate chips mixing well.  This is a pretty "dry" dough.

(I didn't get a picture of this part, cuz I was on the phone with that darn sister of mine again!)

Press into 9x13 or similar sized pan.  This one is a bit smaller than that, and bake at 350* till center is JUST set.  Don't over bake these, and once again, you know the Goodwife doesn't time anything, so I've got no clue how long they baked...........

 

Looks good no???

Goodwife's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 pkg chocolate chips (I use semi sweet)

Beat butter and sugars til light.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.  Add flours, soda, and salt, and mix well.  Stir in oatmeal and chocolate chips til combined.  Press into 9x13 or similar sized pan (bigger makes thinner bars, littler makes thicker) and bake at 350* til center is JUST set.  Enjoy!

God Bless......................

Ozark Mountain Berry Pie..........

I've had this recipe in my recipe box for more than 15 years and this is the first time I'm making it!  I had to use frozen berries from Aldi, cuz I didn't have any "real" ones, but it's still yummy!

Combine 1 c sugar, 1/4 c corn starch, and a dash of salt and a dash of cinnamon.......notice the handle on this pan?  It's one of my favorite pans and I got it from Salvation Army.  The black plastic handle broke off, so Dad made me one out of wood to replace it!

Add in 3 1/2 cups mixed berries.  I used blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.  Stir to coat, then add in 1/2 cup water and 2 TBSP lemon juice.  Cook over medium heat till just the boiling point, and I forgot to get a picture of this step, but it will start to get nice and thick......

I also was talking on the phone with my sister while making this and forgot to get pics of making my pie crust.  All I have to say about pie crust is this........flour.........lard.........ice water........done!

Pour your filling into a 9" pie pan (of course with a crust in in) and then top with some  purty lattice if you want, or a plain crust, and bake it at 350* until filling is bubbly and crust is golden!

Mmmmmmmm, looks good huh?

I'm a busy girl this mornin', rendering lard, making bread and rolls for the freezer and of course baking this pie! 

Hope you've got some warmer temps and some sunshine this gorgeous Monday!

God Bless................

Goodwife Farm's Apple Cake with Walnut Streusel

Today, The Youngun is gone to Pop Pop and Granny Bob's, The Man is working, and I've been in the kitchen creating. 

I really enjoy making up new recipes.  (Unfortunately I also enjoy eating them, hence the width and breadth of my backside, but that's neither here nor there).  I've always done main dish type stuff on the fly, but this year I've been experimenting with baked goods.  Today I wanted to make an apple cake, and you can't go wrong with streusel, so here we go!

First........take 1 cup walnuts, 1 cup brown sugar, a bit of cinnamon, and 1/3 cup flour.  Toss that all together and then add in 3 TBSP of melted butter.....

Set the streusel aside and get your apples out.  Core and chop the apples but don't peel.  I used about 2 cups.  Add in 1/2 cup brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon.  Toss to coat and set aside......

Cream 1 stick soft butter with 1/2 cup white sugar.  Add in 3 eggs, beating after each.  Beat in 1 tsp of vanilla.

Sift 2 cups four, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp baking soda together.

Add flour mixture to batter alternately with 2/3 cup milk, beating after each and beginning and ending with flour.

Fold in apple mixture.

In greased bundt pan, sprinkle 1/2 streusel in bottom.....

Spoon half batter in pan evenly......

Top with remaining streusel........

Then rest of batter.........

Bake at 350* for 1 hour and 10 minutes (or until it's done, maybe longer, maybe less), remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then gently remove from pan.........and..........whalllah!

I put a powdered sugar glaze over it.

What's the verdict you ask??

It's DE-LISH-US!

God Bless..................

Blueberry Crunch Coffee Cake.............

For Christmas with The In-Laws last weekend I baked this cake.  It's really tasty and usually a big hit.  Lots of pics in this post............

Brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and there should be some chopped pecans in there as well, but I was out from all my Christmas candy making..........

Some soft butter and a pastry blender........

Yummy topping..........

Cream butter and sugar..........

Add eggs one at a time.........

Mix in dry ingredients alternately with milk......

Yummy cake batter...........

Grease a 9" springform pan............

Put 2/3 of the batter in the pan..........

Sprinkle with 2/3 of topping mixture.......

Top with blueberries..........

Pour rest of batter over...........

Sprinkle with rest of topping..........

Bake........

After cooling for 10 min, remove sides and sprinkle top with powdered sugar......then eat and enjoy!

Blueberry Crunch Coffee Cake

topping

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup soft butter

Combine first four and then cut in butter till crumbly.  Set aside

cake

1/2 cup soft butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cup blueberries

Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs 1 at a time.  Stir in vanilla.  Combine dry ingredients, add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.  Spoon 2/3 of batter into greased 9 in springform pan.  Sprinkle with 2/3 of crumb mixture.  Top with blueberries, then put rest of batter, then rest of crumb mixture.  Bake at 350* for 60-70 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes, remove sides, dust top with powdered sugar.  Enjoy!

God Bless..................

Ahhhh.............and General Schtuff......

Remember this post?

Well The Youngun and I went shopping and..........

All I can say is ahhhhhh.........heated mattress pads and flannel sheets for our family makes us all a happy clan!  The Youngun said it was like climbing into a hot tub!

Last Friday I made homemade bear claws..........

And then I ate one.....

And it were sooooo yum-dilly-ish-us!  Then The Youngun and I had to go up and help my dad so we took him and Granny Bob one and they said it were delish as well. 

Yesterday The Youngun and I finally got the Christmas tree up.

And while we were working on that I whipped up some homemade bread...........

and some chicken and noodles

I'm ashamed to say I used my bread machine AND I used store bought noodles.  The Youngun likes them better than homemade, poor cornfuzed child!  But the chicken used to be scratching 'round my backyard, so it was farm fresh goodness from my freezer.

Today we are off to Aldi to stock up on some groceries!  Hope you have a wonderful day!

God Bless............

Big Cookie!

My friend Shelly called me today around 1:30 PM. 

The conversation went like this......

Shelly :  What are you doing?

Me:  Playing around with my blog, enjoying my nice clean house

Shelly:  Well could you make me a giant cookie with Cookie Monster on it for tomorrow

Me:  Uhhhhhh sure!

So before I even got off the phone with her I had the cookie dough all mixed up!  I didn't have a pizza pan to bake the cookie on so I put the glass revolving tray out of my old microwave on the counter, lay two sheets of aluminum foil over it and plopped the cookie dough on top.  Then I covered the dough with two sheets of waxed paper and pressed the dough out. 

Then I just picked up the pieces of aluminum foil and put it right on the middle rack of my oven which I had preheated to 350*

This is what the baked cookie looks like....

I didn't have any powdered sugar so had to run to Pappy's Market (our little local grocery store which I LOVE) to pick some up, then went to get The Youngun from school.  After I got home I mixed up some icing, coloring some of it blue, some of it dark brown (cause I didn't have any black color) and leaving some white.  I had searched the web prior to this to find a picture of Cookie that I could use as a guide.  This is the final product....it's really quite large 15" across.

Not to shabby for a rush job! 

Till next time.............GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

Busy Busy Busy...

Been making lots of salsa with the last of the tomatoes. I also canned some vegetable juice, which is really tasty. Monday I made a huge pot of vegetable soup with rabbit meat in it and canned that up. It is delicious and will taste amazing this winter! I don't buy convenience foods because I don't like all the sodium that they typically have in them. This way I can just pop open a jar of soup and have a hearty healthy meal in minutes!

Since joining Weight Watchers, I've developed a lot of really yummy healthy recipes! Today I made some whole wheat pita breads which were delicious. I got the recipe from here http://www.tammysrecipes.com/whole_wheat_pita_pockets They were super easy and super super good! Yesterday I made some whole wheat tortillas and fixed myself some chicken fajitas for lunch. The tortillas were delicious as well.

Things are good here at the homestead. We got 25 meat bird chicks in the mail last week and just had a litter of rabbits born early this morning. Nothing tastes as good as food you've raised and prepared yourself!

I've started a new quilting project. I'm working on the piecing now. Hopefully will have it all pieced and ready to quilt by the time cold weather gets here.

Hope all is well at your homesteads!

Til next time GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

Baking this morning.......

I felt the urge to bake today so I made my Caramel Fudge Cake and my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread! They are both so yummy. The banana bread is actually pretty good for you, but the other is just death on a saucer! I cut it in tiny little squares and then freeze it. Then I take out a little square, put it in a 3/4 cup bowl, nuke it for about 30 seconds, and top it with homemade goat milk ice cream! YUMMY! The recipes for both of these are on my website http://www.goodwifefarm.com/

Hope you are all having a great weekend, with the people you love, doing what you love! Till next time......

GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM