Babka

Made this sweet bread for the first time ever. I had heard of it, but never made it. The dough was fun to work with and turned out beautiful. My family really enjoyed this bread. The dough for me was a lot like that of sweet rolls. lightly sweet with a perfect chewiness. The chocolate swirl was the best combination for this delicious bread. I would make this bread again and again. This is a recipe from King Arthur Flour April Bakealong challenge. For the recipe and all the details visit link below.

                       www.kingarthurflour.com

                 Best Rib Eye Ever

A friend shared with us his secret to a delicious steak every time. It is a store bought merinade, that for me has been the only steak merinade I use. I've been using this marinade for about twenty years, and it has brought happiness into my life. I have not used any other merinade since trying this one, nor do I have any desire to try any other. For me the magic happens when you merinade your steaks over night. Place your rib eyes or steak of  your choice into a large zip lock bag, add half a bottle of the merinade. Let merinade over night or at less 2 hours turning bag whenever you go into your refrigerator. We prefer our steaks grilled, but cook to your liking. Perfect every time. Most grocery chains carry this marinade, it comes in "Original" and "Hickory Smoke" "Teriyaki" and "Hot and Spicy". We always use the original. I buy two bottles at a time, so that I always have it on hand.

Grilled to perfection

This steak was part of my Anniversary dinner, yum!

That included  a salad and homemade rolls

The merinade is "ALLEGRO"

                Check it out at www.allegromarinade.com

       Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

Winter is not quite ready to let go. We are still having some chilly weather. Today, I feel like some nice hot soup.

                Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

2 cups beef broth
2-3 pounds stew beef (I cut each piece in half)
1 medium onion ,chopped

Simmer the stew meat in the beef broth, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until tender. Adding chopped onion last 15 minutes.

Beef and Onions

1-15 oz. can tomato sauce
1-15 oz. can chopped tomatoes
2-15 oz. cans of peas, drained
2-15 oz. cans carrots, drained
2-15 oz. cans green beans, drained (I used kitchen cut)
1- 24 oz. bag frozen corn
5 medium russet potatoes, cut into small cubes
salt and pepper to taste

Using a large pot, set on medium heat. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, frozen corn and all of the beef mixture, including the liqiud. Simmer the the cubed potatoes, on medium heat, for 15 minutes, drain and add to other vegetables.

Carrots and Peas

Ready to serve

Plenty for sharing and enough for leftovers, sharing with family

      Future Guard For Our Chickens

Just brought this little (BIG) guy home last Saturday. We have named him "Cherokee" , he is nine weeks old and weights about twenty three pounds, has super large feet. He is a real sweetheart, is very soft and fluffy. Full grown he will weight about one hundred twenty pounds or more. He is doing great with the house training, no accidents so far. We have be taking him for lots of rides in the car, he is doing great with that, seems to like it. We have introduced him to the goats, horses and cow. We will be introducing him to the chicken in a few days. We hope to have Cherokee watch over our chickens, so that they can free-range safely. Cherokee is a Great Pyreness and is breed as a working dog.

Super Sweet

Large Paw

Long day, time for a nap

          Bringing Home New Baby

We drove about three hours total to bring her home. My new baby is two months old and weights about one hundred sixty pounds, she is a Hereford calf. We think she is beautiful. She is very tame, and loves being around people. We have only had her for a couple of days. She seems to be settling in just fine. Until she grows and puts on more weight, she will be keeping company with my four goats. She has nice dry hay to bed down in, she is out of the weather and also has an outdoor run, for sunlight and room to move around. This is my first calf, with hopes of expanding to a herd of six or seven. I hope to stay with the Hereford breed. We have named her "Betsy", she is eating hay, grain and drinking plenty of water. She loves having her neck scratched. If she hears your voice she moos, she's learning it's time to eat. I have been taking lots of pictures of her.

First night home, settling in

Meet "Betsy"

Dinner

Pretty face

                    "Elf"  Apron 
Got a three pack of aprons for Christmas. I wanted to paint one of them with an"Elf" theme. I used acrylic paints. Drew on my elf, my own idea, no pattern or image tracing. I like the way it turned out. Next time I will iron the apron before painting.

               Fajita Chicken Salad
My husband and I love Fajitas, so I decided to make Fajita chicken salads. I simply cut up some boneless chicken breast into small strips. Place the chicken into a hot frying pan with about two tablespoons of olive oil, about half way through the cooking time add green peppers, cut into strips and chopped onion. I used McCormick's Fajita seasoning mix (one package). Finish cooking until the veggies are tender. We used a roman salad mix, cherry tomatoes, broccoli spears, some shredded cheddar cheese and topped it off with prepared Fajita Chicken, and a sweet and sour salad dressing. So good.

My Mother-In-Law's Jello Fruit Salad and Butternut Pound Cake

I first tried this jello salad at my Mother-in-law's about twenty-six years ago. She always made it as part of her Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve at her home. I loved it the first time that I tried it, thou I was doubtful of the sour cream filling. I have had this jello salad many times over the years and have made it a handful of times myself. My husband is a big fan, of this light flavorful dessert. This past year he had helped my mother-in-law with an auto repair, instead of any type of payment, he requested his mom make him this jello salad. She made the jello for him and I have made it once since myself. My mother-in-law said that she had been given this recipe from a friend many years ago, she believes it was sometime in the sixties. She also shared with me that she had also been given a favorite pound cake recipe (Butternut Pound Cake) from the same friend at the same time as the jello recipe.
We have made the pound cake many times over the years, but I did not know they had came from the same source, at the same time. My mother-in-law said her friend had always enjoyed them together. No matter how you eat theses desserts I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

These pictures have been enlarged making them easier to read. Jello Fruit Salad, the original recipe has sour cream in it, not the cream cheese. I am not sure why my mother-in-law made this change she has always made it with the sour cream.

This one not as clear. Butternut Pound Cake. Start with a cold oven. 3 cups sugar, 1/2 cup Crisco, 2 sticks margarine, 5 large eggs, 3 1/4 cups flour (plain) all-purpose, 1 small can milk (evaporated milk) add water to make 1 cup, 1/4 teaspoons salt, 2 tablespoons vanilla butter & nut flavoring.