Brothers.... A Slightly Wordless Wednesday

God gave me a little brother to teach me about life.
He loves and aggravates me
And gives me strength and strife.
Little brothers are special as can be.
So don't mess with my little brother
Or you'll have to deal with me.

Please visit here and here for more Wordless Wednesday.

Caramel Monkey Bread...Betcha Can't Eat Just One

A quick gooey caramel version of the classic monkey bread. It doesn't last long at my house... I couldn't even get a picture of it before someone dug in! :o)

Caramel Monkey Bread

4 tubes refrigerated biscuit dough

2/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix 2/3 cup white sugar with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl with a lid.
2. Open 1 can of biscuits and tear each biscuit into 3 pieces, placing the pieces in the sugar/cinnamon mixture.
3. Put the lid on the bowl. Shake until the biscuit pieces are well coated with cinnamon sugar, then put the pieces in an ungreased angel food or bundt cake pan.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for each can of biscuits, adding another 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon into the remaining sugar before opening each can.
5. Melt butter and stir in brown sugar. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over the prepared biscuit pieces.
6. Bake 35-40 minutes, until golden brown. Cool 5-10 minutes and invert onto serving plate. Prepare for the onslaught of famished monkey bread eaters.

Please visit Tasty Tuesday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday for lots more delicious recipes and tips.

Thankful for this pretty clematis vine...

what do rednecks eat...

So, I'm not sure if this is what rednecks really eat. But we just had to try this recipe. It has tater tots on top!! We kinda like our tots around here.

Redneck Casserole
1 (28 ounce) can baked beans

6-8 hot dogs

4 cups tater tots, approximate

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Set your oven to 450.

Dump your can of baked beans into a casserole dish. You can mix pretty much anything into the beans that makes you happy. Sour cream, ketchup, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, hot sauce, etc. Or leave 'em plain. Plain is good. Set the dish aside.

Slice up your hotdogs and throw those into your casserole dish. Mix until dogs are well coated with baked bean sauce.

Sprinkle with cheese. Cover the bean and dog mixture with tater tots. Use as many as you'd like. Just try to cover the mixture completely.

Bake for 1/2 an hour or until tater tots are golden brown.

Redneck Casserole is completely done when the cheese is melted, the tots are golden brown, and you just can't take it anymore -- dig in!

Delicious. We capital l-o-v-e loved it!

Bon appetite my fellow rednecks.

The original recipe is from Recipezaar and was posted to Kitchen Stewardship's October Fest.

Cherries!

I am trying my luck with fruit trees in our little yard. Really, any kind of tree is a big gamble here due to the extremely windy zone 4 winters. Fruit trees are an especially big risk because of late snow and frosts, often even in June.

So after much research I purchased 2 semi-dwarf apples, 1 apricot and 1 cherry. They all made it through their first "Siberian" Wyoming winter (yeah!) and are looking healthy, which is a cause for celebration, but this Surefire Cherry already has lots of fruit on it!

I love that tree :o)

Look What My Camera Did!!

My camera actually took some great photos! I have just a hand-me-down point and shoot camera. That crazy camera and I are always going round and round :o) It sometimes takes several days and dozens of photos to get a couple good enough for my Etsy items. Very tiresome.

So when I took these photos of grand babies Nolan and Skyleigh at the park, I fully expected them to be a flop. It was hot (and by hot, I mean at least 70 :o) and they were in constant motion. What a surprise and a blessing that they turned out so cute! Maybe I won't give up on ye olde hand-me-down camera just yet.

July Challenge

The SHE team monthly challenge theme for July is summer melons! I had a lot of fun making melon related items for the challenge:

Watermelon placemats in a set of 4 from PrairieCottageRose.

Matching watermelon coasters for PrairieCottageRose.

And for Puddintoes, this soft melon/lemon baby blankie with a flower applique.

Look for other great melon inspired items by using SHEteammelonscha in Etsy handmade search!

Now here is where I need the help of all my muses out there! The theme for August is 'Back to School' and I don't have a single idea. Nope. Nothing. So if you have a great idea for a rag quilt, crochet or primitive folkart project for the back to school theme, please leave me a comment. If I choose your idea you will receive 10% off in the shop the item is listed in!

Civil War Pancakes

Not being a culinary history expert, I don't know if this recipe really originates from the Civil War era. Whether this recipe has been around that long or not, these pancakes are so easy and delicious. Don't let the oatmeal fool you! They are very light and tender.

They need to be started at least 4 hours before you will be cooking them. Mix the buttermilk and oatmeal and let them soak for at least 4 hours, but overnight is much better. In the morning add remaining ingredients and cook them like regular pancakes. The batter also makes great waffles!

Stand back, so you won't be caught in the stampede of hungry pancake eaters :o)

Civil War Pancakes

2 cups buttermilk

1-1/2 cups quick oatmeal

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sugar

Additional milk to thin batter, as needed

Mix buttermilk and oatmeal in mixer bowl. Allow to soak at least 4 hours or overnight. In the morning add dry ingredients, eggs and oil. Mix well and thin with additional milk, if needed. Enjoy!


This recipe can be doubled or tripled. Flash freeze any extra pancakes on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, remove and store in a zip bag or plastic container in your freezer. Reheat in microwave, oven or toaster oven. This freezer method works for any kind of pancake or waffle and makes a fabulous quick breakfast!

Visit Tasty Tuesday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday for more great recipes!