CHILDHOOD MEMORIES IN A RECIPE...

...every year I can't keep my memories from  trailing back to the sights, sounds and tastes of long ago Holiday Seasons.  That's how it is when you had a good childhood.  Approaching Thanksgiving and or Christmas my Daddy (actually my great-grand father) made his wonderful Brunswick Stew.  It was such an exciting time, and he always made a big production of the whole thing so it was more like an event. I remember the whole thing - opening all the cans of vegetables, the slow methodical cooking process, and of course us gathering around the kitchen table to savor his magnificent stew.  Oh how I loved my Daddy - he had a way of making the simplest things extra special.  Some years ago I came across a little cookbook that contained almost his exact recipe.  Everyone in my family agrees that it is a reasonable facsimile.  To continue his Holiday Tradition I make it every year - I've actually made it twice this year (I think it's a wonderful rainy day or cold weather comfort food).  My Daddy's stew was so good that other people in the neighborhood would ask him to make it for them too.  Mine hasn't reached that acclaim yet, but I have shared the recipe with several others who enjoy it.   My blogger friend Diane of "Remembering Oz" asked me to share it so here goes.

MY DADDY’S BRUNSWICK STEW

 1 – 2 pound Boston Butt

2 ½ to 3 Cups Water

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

1 Teaspoon Seasoned Salt

3 Bay leaves

1 can Diced Tomatoes (not petite)

1 small can Tomato Sauce

1 can Whole Kernel Corn, drained

1 can Sweet Peas, drained

1 large onion, chopped coarsely

3 Tablespoons Sugar

1 – 24 ounce bottle Ketchup

3 Tablespoons Worcheshire Sauce

Hot Sauce to Taste (I use half a bottle)

Place Boston Butt in slow cooker or pot on top of stove with just enough water to cover; add salt, pepper, seasoned salt, garlic powder and bay leaves.  Cook slowly until meat is fork tender.  Once meat is done, place on a plate or cutting board and shred with a fork or cut into bite size pieces.  Discard bay leaves but reserve liquid.

In a large pot add just a small amount (start with just 1 cup) of reserved liquid; the shredded meat, tomatoes, tomato sauce, drained corn and peas, onion, sugar, ketchup, worcheshire sauce and hot sauce to taste. 

Cook for 1 hour over low heat stirring occasionally so the stew will not stick to pot.  Add more of reserved liquid (in small amounts) during cooking time if needed or if you want the stew to be thinner.

Enjoy!!!

ONWARD FALL DRESS PALOOZA & A NEW DOLLHOUSE DELIGHT...

I'm still right smack dab in the middle of my All Out Fall Dress Palooza.  I think the party's waning, but I can't be sure of it, so I'm just continuing with the flow.


This Palooza started around Oct. 8th, and I've completed a dress a week since that time.  I did finish one other dress since my last post that I haven't published yet because I was torn about my level of satisfaction with it.  Howbeit, all is not loss - my friend Cecil was here today and helped me work out a few the dresses kinks.  I'll work on the alterations she suggested, re-adjust the back hem and the dress should then be ready to go.

In the meantime it was time to get started on my Mom's Birthday dress because I didn't want to procrastinate - cutting it too close to the deadline.  I emailed her a couple of pattern choices and a picture of the fabric then got right to work on it.  I finished it yesterday!  Mom's dress is made from - you guessed it - ponte de roma, a print this time. 

She chose the Vogue 8764, the same dress I made for myself just a few weeks ago.

I lined the bodice only on this dress too, but this time I also interfaced the V at the neckline.  I did this because the V on my dress was a little droopy.  The interfacing did the trick.  "Mom, rather than mailing I'll send your dress back when Pat comes to visit this weekend!"  Postage adverted.


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Now for a little Doll House Delight...

I am such a soup lover - for me it's the ultimate comfort food especially on a rainy fall or winter day.  Mind you, it didn't rain today, I just wanted some soup.  You wouldn't believe it, being the soup lover that I am,  the only soups I ever make are vegetable beef or my good old standby tomato/rice soup.  I did make chicken noodle soup a very long time ago - once when my daughter was a little girl sick with a cold.


I've been eying this recipe for more than several years, it sounded so good, but I guess I was scared to step out of my comfort zone to try something new.  Well, today was the day.  I'm having French Style Chicken Soup with 5 Cheese Texas Toast for dinner.
It took about 30 minutes to prep with an hour cooking time.  You know that I've been tasting along the way (what good cook doesn't?).  And all my fears have flown the coop because this soup is a hit!

Here's the recipe just in case you're a Soup lover too:

French Style Chicken Soup

(serves 8)

2 1/2 pounds Chicken, cut up into serving pieces
(I used three drumsticks and 6 drumettes)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium green pepper, sliced into strips
2 medium onions, sliced and separated into rings
2 cloves garlic, finely chipped
1 can (16oz.) diced tomatoes
1 (4.5oz) jar whole mushrooms, drained
1 can (10 1/4oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup apple juice
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Brown chicken on all sides in olive oil.  Remove from pan.
Saute onion, garlic and green pepper in olive oil just until tender.
Return chicken to pan with vegetables.  Add all other ingredients to chicken/vegetable mixture, bring to a slow boil.  Reduce heat considerably, cover and simmer one hour.

Enjoy...

DOLLHOUSE DELIGHTS

 I know that I posted a Chicken and Dumpling recipe before, but after trying a new one that my Mom found at Rhoda's Southern Hospitality blog I really think this one is better.  The fact that you actually make up, roll out and, cut your own dumplings truly makes this one homemade.   Rhoda entered her Mother Iris's  recipe in the Knorr BlogHer Cooking Contest earlier this year and was actually one of the winners.  I promise, it's not as hard as you might think and tastes delish, I had two bowls for dinner.

 Iris’s Homemade Chicken and Dumplings
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cooked chicken breast (bone in) chopped & shredded
Water (approx. 1/4 cup) Add water a couple of tablespoons at a time until consistency forms a dough ball. Add a bit more water as needed. When dough ball is pliable without being too sticky, time to roll out.
Cook chicken breast in boiling/simmering water until done. Pull from the bone and chop/shred. Set aside
Add 2 Knorr’s chicken concentrate stock to 7 cups of boiling water. Simmer until time for the dumplings.
Flour a flat surface. Press dough ball on surface and begin rolling out with rolling pin. Go from side to side, back and forth until a round circle is formed, pressing down all around to make the edges even and flat. Roll as flat as you can.
Begin cutting strips on one side of the circle (approx. 3/4″ wide) all the way across the dough circle. Then, cut strips the opposite direction until you have cut through the complete circle and have little rectangles of dough strips ready to cook.
As chicken stock is simmering, bring to a boil and begin dropping in the dough strips, one at a time until they are all in the pot. Stir them around with a spoon making sure they are not sticking together. Add a bit of the flour that is on your surface, this will thicken up the broth. Bring to a slow boil, then turn down to simmer for around 10-15 minutes. Then add the cooked chicken, simmer another 10 minutes until stock has begun to thicken.
Serve hot and eat! Enjoy!

Not much sewing on Saturday due to having to deconstruct the sewing room to get new rods hung, and then having to reassemble again.   But I am way over half way done with the second dress from my Fall Hit List.

VOGUE 8764

I'm making the long sleeved version and it's going very well.  All that remains to be done is the hemming.

 Here's to a GREAT week everyone...

JUST ANOTHER DOLLHOUSE DELIGHT, SEWING STILL TO COME...

...I've truly been in love with Italian Sausages I think since first tasting them who know how long ago.  I used to wait until the annual fall county fair to have one - or maybe two.  But last year at the fair they weren't that great so I decided to start making my own. You know the type - smothered in colorful peppers, onion and just a little bit of tomato sauce - on a big old hoagie bun.   Looks something like this in my big old cast iron skillet...

 ...and something like this on my sesame seed bun

Mmmmmmmmmm, smoking!  I'm a glutton for colorful food - I MUST have color on my plate, after all we eat first with the eyes.   

I don't need a recipe for everything, but I do like them for most things.  I modified Pat and Gina's recipe from Food Network - mine has fewer ingredients but I really love the results I get.

Dollhouse Italian Sausage with Peppers & Onion

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 package Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage (or flavor of your choice)
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 orange bell pepper, sliced
• 1 large yellow onions, sliced, (or colors of your choice)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1- 4 oz. can Tomato Sauce
• 5 Sesame seed hoagie rolls (or roll or bun of your choice)

Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the sausages and brown on all sides, about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from skillet and reserve.
Add onions and peppers to the skillet and saute until tender and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic. Stir in the tomato sauce. Cook for a few minutes, then add the sausages back to the pan. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce is nice and thick, about 10 minutes.
Serve on a nice hoagie roll
NOTE:  I've even gotten brave enough to try this with Beer Brats and they are just as wonderful!, no more waiting until fair time rolls around.
ENJOY!!!!

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P.S.  I'll be getting some sewing in tonight!!!

..It's not unusual for me to beg, borrow or yes, steal a good recipe to add to my DOLLHOUSE DELIGHTS collection.  As a matter of fact there are very few real originals, but rather those lovingly adopted, and later tweaked and modified to fit my taste and style.  I do have two rules about these types of recipes:

1. Give credit to the source;
2. Follow the recipe to the letter - at least the first time that I make it; and
3. After the third time you make it, the recipe is yours.   
   

I usually make this as a warm up dish during fall or winter, but I needed a little comfort food for my tummy after ingesting a bad MOCHA FRAPPUCCINO (won't tell you where I purchased it from) on Wednesday; so I thought Chicken and Dumplings would fit the bill.   I borrowed this recipe from Mommy's Kitchen quite some time ago, BUT because I like it, I haven't changed it at all - I just use less chicken. 

Chicken & Dumplings

3 - 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (cooled and broken into pieces) or

1 - Whole Fryer Chicken

1 - 10.5 oz can Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

2 - 14 oz Cans Chicken Broth

3 - Tablespoons Margarine

2 - Cans Pillsbury Refrigerated Buttermilk Biscuits

Flour

salt and pepper to taste

Cook chicken in about 3-4 cups water for about 30 - 45 minutes. Remove, cool and break into bite size pieces. Place both cans of chicken broth in a medium to large size pot. Add cream of chicken soup and bring to a boil. While mixture comes to a boil open biscuits and cut into pieces, and break your chicken into bite size pieces or shred. Add about 1 cup of flour to a small bowl and dip each biscuit piece into flour. Shake off excess, drop into hot broth one at a time. Continue with remaining biscuit pieces until you have dropped all of the biscuits into the broth. Using a wooden spoon or a spatula push the biscuit pieces down gently under the broth. try not to stir the mixture to much just every once and a while push the dumplings down into the broth. Cook for about 10-15 minutes and then add the 3 tablespoons of margarine and the chicken stir to mix and cook an additional 10 minutes. Keep warm and serve.

Turned out to be the perfect thing for my ailing tummy; think I'll take some for lunch today...

NEW BLOG FEATURE...FAYE'S DOLLHOUSE DELIGHTS

Just a little back story about the name of this feature:  

Some of you may already know that my given name is Linda Faye; but because there was another Linda in our family, I grew up answering to my middle name.  In addition, family and dear and close friends also dubbed me Fayedoll.  I've started writing cookbooks several times, but they never really took flight, so I thought I'd post some of my favorites here on my blog -as an added feature. 

Although mine is an "almost" dedicated sewing blog, I have been thinking about adding several features to showcase my other interests.  Today I'm introducing "Faye's Dollhouse Delights" -  recipes that I love and adore. 

...tis the season for fresh peaches.  I've made not one, not two but three trips to Lane Southern Orchards this season, not only to get fresh peaches, but for one of my favorite seasonal treats - Peach Cobbler.  Although I can and do make it at home myself, there is nothing like the aroma of it when cooked in mass quantities there at the orchard.

I love my own recipe (that I share below) but you can also find Lane's cobbler recipe here.  I'll swear, theirs looks and tastes just like mine.  If you are a cobbler fan maybe you'd like to try both recipes and compare for yourself.

PEACH COBBLER

1 large can peaches or 2 cups of fresh peaches

1 Cup Milk

1 Stick Margarine or Butter

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Self Rising Flour or Bisquick

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1 Tablespoon Corn Starch (optional, but I like it)

Melt margarine or butter in a 9" x 13" casserole dish and set aside.

In a blender add: 1/4 Cup sugar, flour or bisquick and milk.  Blend until thoroughly

mixed.  (you can also use a mixer to blend these ingredients). Set aside.

In a sauce pan,slowly heat peaches, vanilla, 3/4 Cup sugar, and corn starch

just until warm and sugar is melted.

Pour peach mixture over butter in casserole dish.

Pour flour/milk mixture over peaches.

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees until bubbly and lightly browned.

> Serve while still warm; great with vanilla ice cream.

Variation:  This recipe also makes other great cobblers; just substitute a can of blackberry, cherry or blueberry Pie Filling for the peaches, and leave out the 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla, corn starch, and do not heat the pie filling.

ENJOY!!!