Two (plus 3) Shall Become One in Love

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 1 Corinthians 13:7-8

Recently my husband and I attended a wonderful event in the life of our family. We witnessed the joining of this man,

this woman,

and these precious children

together as a family.

 

Kasey and WC

May God be with you and bless you.
May you see your children’s children.
May you be poor in misfortunes
and rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
from this day forward.

 

7-Up and Tots

I recently came across two recipes that peaked my curiosity simply based on their names - 7-Up Biscuits and Zucchini Tots. Now I have heard of using 7-Up to make a delicious lemony cake. In fact that is one of my favorite cakes. However, I've never heard of 7-Up Biscuits. Apparently, this recipe and similar recipes have been floating around the internet for a while. So I had to try it.

7-Up Biscuits (adapted from All Recipes)

4 cups Bisquick

1 cup sour cream

1 cup 7-up

½ cup butter, melted

1. Place butter in pan and allow to melt in the oven as the oven warms up.

2. Mix Bisquick, sour cream and 7-Up. Dough will be sticky.

3. Slowly add a little Bisquick at a time while kneading the dough until it becomes easy to handle.

4. Cut out the biscuits and place on top of melted butter. Bake at 425° for 12-15 minutes or until brown.

The second recipe's name drew my attention simply by the word "tots." I'm a huge fan of tater tots and have even made homemade tots. The fact it used zucchini was a plus. I'm always looking for different ways to use this abundant summer veggie.

Zucchini Tots (adapted from Skinny Taste)

1 cup zucchini, grated

1 egg

¼ onion, diced

¼ cup cheddar cheese, grated

¼ cup panko bread crumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Place grated zucchini on paper towel and squeeze as much access water as possible.

2. Place in a bowl and add remaining ingredients.

3. Spray a mini muffin pan and fill each section with the zucchini mixture. Fill each section to the top.

4. Bake at 375° for 16-18 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Both of these recipes made the "keeper" lists in this house.

 Enjoy...

Expanding My Canning Skills

I have been a huge blog reader for years and years. I love blogs....cooking/baking blogs, craft blogs, knitting/sewing blogs, tech blogs, ed reform blogs and list goes on. My Feedly subscription list is long and can take an extended period of time to read. One of my favorite blogs is Food in Jars which is based in Philadelphia. On my recent trip to Philly to visit the Doctors, I was able to watch a canning demonstration by the writer of this blog, Marisa McClellan. She was making apricot jam at a Williams Sonoma store as well as selling her canning book, Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year Round. 

Needless to say, I purchased the book and it motivated me to try some new canning recipes along with my usual recipes.

 Such a pleasing sight to behold. Love it! Check out her blog and her book. Maybe it'll inspire you to do some canning.


Enjoy...

Pinterest in Action

I have been an active participant of Pinterest for several years. I love the fact that I can organize new recipes for easy reference as needed and refer back to ideas that I want to try. Recently I was going through my "Wanna Try" board and decided I was going to actually try some of the ideas. Loving the results so far...

Solar light

Framed Recipes from an aunt and my mother-in-law

I also tried a new recipe for dessert that I pinned awhile back. So simple and so delish...

Homemade Magic Shell (adapted from Whipperberry)

1 cup milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons coconut oil

1. Place in a microwave safe bowl, and heat on high at 10 second intervals until melted. Watch closely and stir at the end of each interval. The chips may not look melted when actually they are and you don't want to burn the chocolate.
2. Drizzle over ice cream.

Enjoy...

Snapshot of Summer

Summer arrived finally after a very unusual cool spring and yet it is coming to a quick end. Besides surviving a unusual wet summer, my time off has included traveling,

visiting with family and friends to celebrate a residency graduation (so proud of Kelli), an engagement (love it!) and a birthday,

 assisting on a Habitat House,

enjoying the food and music at the Festival of Discovery (BBQ festival),

 canning and freezing,

and of course trying many new recipes.Here are a couple of winners we have tried this summer.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
Barbequed Shrimp
2 lbs shrimp, cleaned
1 cup oil
1/4 cup chili sauce
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons lemon juice

 Mix the ingredients except the shrimp, Marinate the shrimp in the mixture for one hour at room temperature. Spear shrimp on skewers and grill 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

 Balsamic Glazed Chicken (adapted from Grill It)

1 whole chicken
1/2 cup honey
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper

1.Mix together the honey and vinegar and set aside.

2.Cut chicken into halves and generously salt and pepper the chicken on both sides.

3.On the hot side of the grill, sear the chicken skin side down for 5 to 1o minutes being careful not to burn the skin.

4.Flip the chicken and brush with the honey mixture and move to cooler side of the  grill. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Continue to flip the chicken, baste with the honey mixture, cover and cook for 10 minutes repeatedly until chicken is done.

Enjoy...

Bluegrass State

Recently made a quick trip to Wilmore, Kentucky for my nephew's college graduation from Asbury University. What a beautiful part of the country.

We stayed at a very unique place - Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill  - a restored 19th century Shaker community. So quiet and peaceful.

Enjoyed being with family and friends.

And, of course, we are very proud of the graduate.