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I've been wanting to get some new chicks, but knew that it wouldn't be as easy this spring since the weather isn't acting like spring yet.  I am not the only one who wasn't ready to bring them home yet, our local supplier is having a hard time getting them out of the store. But, last weekend we went to town and I saw these adorable little fluffy chicks. I brought 6 of them home.

First day home, somewhere around a week old.

This chicken is a few days older than the one above.

 One Week Later....  Look how fast they grow!

This little girl didn't want to play nice with the camera, but she enjoyed sitting on my shoulder!

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Spring Bean Salad

Who's ready for spring?? I am, and I am ready for some spring flavors. I love meatloaf and mashed potatoes, spaghetti and meatballs, but I am just ready for some lighter flavors, textures and so very ready for some in season produce!

It's a little to early for fresh local produce here, but it will soon arrive. In the meantime, I threw together a light, refreshing, tasty bean salad. You can really tweek this to whatever is in season, and how much time you have on hand. Have time to make your own beans, go for it! I typically don't have the patience. The recipe that inspired this salad called for watercress, but that is not yet in season here, so I used baby spinach. But go ahead, use whatever "green" sounds good to you!

Spring Bean Salad (Adapted from Happyolks)

3 15 oz can beans (kidney, garbanzo, butter, great northern - any combination)**
1 red onion, sliced thinly
3 c. baby spinach, rinsed and drained
2 lemons
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. celery flake***
Salt
Pepper

Drain and rinse beans. Add to medium bowl. Add red onion and baby spinach to beans. Juice lemons; add juice and extra virgin olive oil to beans and veggies. Toss lightly.  Season to taste, with salt and pepper. Let rest in fridge overnight for best flavor. Toss lightly before serving. 

**The firmer the bean, the better it will hold up. The great northern beans, somewhat melted into the salad.

***If you like celery, slice up a stalk or two and use in place of the celery flake. I am not a celery girl, so always use "celery flake" as a substitution.

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Onion Bacon Jam

As much as I love bacon, I really don't share much bacon with you on the blog. Guess I am a little selfish that way! I want to share a new food with you today. Onion Bacon Jam. It is delicious above, and beyond, what I have words for at this moment.  When I took this to work, to share it's awesomeness, I was getting a little scared they were going to eat it all up, and I wouldn't have any for our burgers that night. See, I am selfish with my bacon!

Besides sharing a new recipe with you, I want to share a new blog with you. Kristine has been getting settled into her new home at Real Food Girl: Unmodified. She's pretty cool, kinda quirky, and really smart! She's showing us ways to make recipe's a little bit healthier. Not by cutting out the foods you like, but by making 'em with better ingredients. And, to top it all off, she is a trained chef!

I love to bake and cook, but I have lots of room to improve on the quality of my ingredients . . . . .  LOTS o' room, I know this. But, this gal has you think about things you didn't before. I shop at my co-op regularly, but I have never bought these ingredients. My big reason for shopping at the co-op has been that I love to shop local. I would rather have the food that was grown/made in my own state instead of in Timbuktu. In respect of this recipe, I bought the ingredients her way . . . . . . . Let me tell you that the bacon I bought there was the best I have ever eaten . . . .  And the onions were amazing. I bought some extra onions while I was there, and the they sat on my shelf for a while before I got back to them, and you know what? They weren't spoiled like the ones you get at the big stores, that sit on your shelf for a week and then go bad. Score! That's some money saved right there!

Please go check out this amazing blogger. Something else about this crazy lady who I share a name with, we went to high school 2 miles away from each other! I am sure our paths have crossed before, but didn't meet each other until blogging.

Recipe found here:  Onion Bacon "Jam"

I could have put the recipe here for you, but I think it's better for you to go to the original so you can learn how to make your onions up all GBD. ( You have to go to her site to see what "GBD" means.  :) )

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Spring Please!!!

Today is a photo update for you of what is going on outside of the kitchen!

The ladies are anxiously awaiting spring, however they have finally learned to tolerate the snow. 

Some fresh green grass would make them so happy, but until then produce from the grocery store will do.

This snow pile is a reminder to save until July when I am tempted to complain about the heat!

 

 To help break up the winter blahs, we went on a road trip yesterday. We normally stay pretty local, and a road trip means crossing the border and going into Minnesota. This time we went to Wisconsin Dells and Madison. Question from Truckin' Man: Does everyone else share dorky pictures?

We shopped at Tanger Outlet Mall where I found these adorable rooster measuring spoons!

 One of the awesome things about Wisconsin is cheese stores! Coming home, I found a Carr Valley store, was in one of the towns we were traveling through. Yeay!!!

Have a great week everyone! I'll be back with a new recipe soon!

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Mexican Meatball Soup

I have been craving Mexican - Tex Mex - Southwest flavors so much the last couple of weeks.  I am sure it has something to do with the never ending winter, and tasting flavors from warmer places are a form of therapy.  What is better than enjoying these flavors?  Enjoying them in a soup!  I had pinned this Mexican soup a while ago.  Soup, plus the therapy of my favorite flavors.  Win, win!

It was a bit challenging getting a few of the ingredients in my local town, so I had to finish up my shopping when we went to the "big" town over the weekend.  Who knew it was so hard to find ground turkey in the middle of farm country. And, Queso Fresco, not an option either. 

This was a lovely soup with amazing flavor.  Truckin' Man was not able to enjoy this one with me, a little to much heat for him.  So, I took some into work to share, and my love of spice and flavor was appreciated!  These meatballs may make another appearance in other dishes, they were just so packed with flavor, and perfect texture.

Mexican Meatball Soup  (Slightly adapted from:  Bev Cooks)

1 1/4 lbs ground turkey
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp chili powder
1/3 c. finely crushed tortilla chips
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 chipotle peppers, in adobo sauce (adjust for less heat if needed!)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cups salsa  (fresh is best!)
32 ounces chicken stock
 
Optional For Garnish:
Avocado
Queso Fresco or Pepper Jack 
Cilantro


In medium bowl combine turkey, scallions, cumin, chili powder, tortilla chips, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix until combined, but do not over work the mixture.  Roll mixture into balls, about 1 inch diameter (I made 2 dozen).  Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add meatballs to skillet and brown all over.  Set aside.

In blender, combine the salsa and the chipotle peppers. Pulse until liquified.

Heat large pot over medium heat.  Add the tomato paste, and stir for one minute.  Add salsa and chicken stock to pot. Bring to a boil, add the meatballs, lower heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.  

Garnish as desired and enjoy :)

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Lemon Honey Cake

Truckin' Man's birthday was yesterday. I always like to do my best and make the day special for him. Gift selection was unusually challenging this year, but I finally figured out the perfect gift. It would take to long to have it shipped, so I would have to go shopping. But, the weather did not cooperate with my last minute shopping, and when you live in the sticks, you are often at the mercy of the weather. . . . . Well, at least during the winter. I ended up finding some other gifts in my local town, he was happy, and that is what matters.

His birthday cake is very important to me.  A cake means so much to him, so I want it to always be special. Rather than a traditional birthday cake, I wanted to make a lemon cake this year. Lemon cake is his all time favorite, problem was I had never made a lemon cake from scratch. Did I resort to a box? Just make something else? After searching through my favorite baking blogs, I found "THE" recipe. The one that caught my attention, the one that I felt he would love, was from Janet at From Cupcakes to Caviar with the winning recipe of Lemon Honey Cupcakes.  I didn't have time to test cupcakes versus cakes, so I checked with Janet on her thoughts.  With her help, I made what I believe is hands down, the best cake I have ever ever baked. Truckin' Man agree's, he absolutely loves this cake. From the sounds of it, I didn't send nearly enough with him in the truck today. Ooops!

Lemon Honey Cake (Adapted From: From Cupcakes to Caviar)

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder 
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. light sour cream
1/4 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. lemon extract
3 Tbsp grated lemon zest
1/3 c. lemon juice
3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. honey
1/4 c. sugar
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9x13 cake pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper and sides of pan.

In mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Set aside.  In a small bowl, whisk sour cream, milk, lemon extract, lemon zest and juice until combined.  Set aside.  In large mixing bowl, beat butter, honey and sugar with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until blended. 

With mixer on low speed, add in half the flour mixture,mixing until combined.  Add the sour cream mixture, mixing again until combined. Beat in remaining flour mixture, until just combined.

Pour into prepared cake pan.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes,  until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool. Place a wire cooling rack on top of the pan. Flip the cake and pan over and let the cake slide out onto the rack. Remove the pan, peel off the parchment paper and allow the cake to finish cooling.


Lemon-Honey Frosting 
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 c. honey
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
1 1/2 Tbsp grated lemon zest
4 c. sifted powdered sugar
7 to 8 tsp lemon juice
Few drops yellow food color


In large mixing bowl, combine butter, honey, lemon extract and lemon zest with electric mixer until creamed, about 2 minutes. On low speed, add in powdered sugar until blended. Gradually add in lemon juice.  Add  few drops food color, mixing until mixture is fluffy and pale yellow. 

Enjoy :) 

Printable Recipe

Happy Birthday Truckin' Man!!!  

(Please excuse the pink birthday candles) 

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The Farmer's Daughter's Cake

Sadly, some of my cookbooks get neglected. In trying to get the dust off of one of Gram's cookbooks this week, I pulled out one by Maida Heatter. After reading about her and the awards she has won, I was excited to try one of her recipes.

The recipe that caught my eye was the Farmer's Daughter's Cake. It is different. No oil. No butter. But, it has cream! Maida's thoughts on the name of this cake was the recipe was perfected on a dairy farm where cream was in abundance. It really was a yummy cake, delicious flavor and moist. One that needs to be eaten soon though, on day 2, it was drying out already. Although, that could be my house and the season, since I could just go sit in a tub of lotion right now to try and hydrate my skin.

I thought the frosting was lovely. Ever since I have gone away from the can's of frosting, I have fun trying out new recipes. This one was especially fun and different in how the recipe has you pour it on. 

The Farmer's Daughter's Cake (Source: Maida Heatter)

2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. whipping cream (not whipped)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter an 8 x 8 cake pan, dust all over lightly with fine dry bread crumbs. Lightly tap and shake out any extra crumbs.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.  In medium bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer.  Add in vanilla, and almond extract.  Stir in sugar, mix until combined.  Beat in cream and lastly, add the sifted dry ingredients, and beat on low speed only until mixture is smooth.  Pour into prepared pan. Smooth top if necessary.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until cake just begins to pull away from sides of pan and toothpick inserted in middle of cake comes out clean.  Remove from oven, and let stand for 5 minutes, then cut around the sides carefully to release, and let stand for 5 minutes more.  Invert cake onto wire rack, and let cake stand upside down to cool.  When cool, transfer to cake plate or cutting board.  

Old Fashioned Chocolate Icing
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 c. milk
1 1/3 c. granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp, plus 1 tsp unsalted butter
1 t. vanilla extract

Place chocolate, milk and sugar in small, heavy saucepan over medium high heat.  Stir until chocolate is melted and sugar is dissolved.  Do NOT boil.  Remove from heat and let stand for one minute.  

In small bowl, stir yolks lightly, just to mix. Gradually stir in about half of the chocolate mixture, then add yolk mixture to remaining warm chocolate mixture.  Cook over low heat, stirring, for one minute.  Remove from heat.  Pour mixture into medium bowl, and stir in the butter and vanilla.  Let stand until cool.   Once cool, beat icing at high speed for 10 to 15 minutes (Use lower speed if icing is splashing to much).  Beat until mixture is smooth, shiny, and paler in color.  

Slowly pour half of icing onto cake.  Let stand for a minute.  Slowly, pour half of the remaining icing onto middle of cake, push with a spatula into directions necessary. Wait another minute.  Pour remaining icing onto top of cake.  Push it to the edges just so you get a little bit of icing to run over the sides.  Let cake set for a few hours for icing to set.


Printable Recipe



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