Pickled Quail Eggs

We have seriously been considering buying and raising quail...would have meat and eggs, of course, I could not make any pets...would be WHO I was eating, and that would never do...that is why I had to give up the rabbits...One of our friends raises quail, so he invited us out to his farm to see his set up...the birds were so friendly, you could pick them up. He said they hatch out in 14 day...and lay eggs every place. I fixed us breakfast one morning with the gift of eggs that he gave us..I could not tell any difference in taste..Now size is another matter, I fixed us five apiece...iddy biddy eggs with iddy biddy yolks..had to laugh..thinking to myself, I need an iddy biddy egg turner...but we managed to have sausage, eggs,and toast. We decided to pickle the rest of the batch today...so funny...I learned I needed longer fingernails to lift off the tiny pieces of shell and membrane...Benny ate part of them, he is all thumbs, but we had a great adventure anyway.....
From the gift of the quail eggs.......



Trying to peel those little buggers....


To getting the job done....

And finally pickling them...


The reason they are a beautiful reddish pink color, is because I used part of the juice from the pickled beets I took to church dinner today..I always remember my Granny and to waste not, want not...so everything is used around here. I sometimes just make the solution clear with pickling spices..you will find the recipe in my old posts. I know we will enjoy eating them...I almost took a jar of pickled chicken eggs to the dinner, but Benny asked me to save them for him.....he loves them....And before I forget, our friend told us it takes 10 eggs to make a chicken egg.... Pickled Eggs 1 dozen hard boiled eggs Mix and bring to a boil, simmer for ten minutes: 2 cups vinegar 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 2 TBSP Yellow Mustard 1 TBSP Salt 1 TBSP Celery Seed 1 TBSP Mustard Seed 6 whole cloves Cool. Pour over the eggs. You can also add slices of onions from two onions if you wish. Cover and refrigerate overnight. These are soooooo good. I plan to add some hot pepper flakes to the next batch as we like hot things. Use a GLASS Quart Jar…..

Bread Pudding and Sauce

BREAD PUDDING
5 or 6 slices of bread
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Nutmeg to taste (I use just a little, pinch)
Cinnamon to taste (at least 1/2 teaspoon)
Tear bread into pieces and put in baking dish. Mix and add the
rest of the ingredients and stir well with spoon. Bake at 350 degrees
for approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour. You want it to "set".

SAUCE
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 TBSP flour
1/3 cup butter
Put all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil; boil for 3 minutes.
When the pudding is done, using a fork, poke some holes in the top of
it and pour the hot sauce on top.

You can add pieces of apple or raisins to your bread pudding...it is good !

Grits and Cheese Casserole

My friend Nez makes this...it is her mother's old recipe....and it is wonderful. I not only got the recipe tonight, I got the box of grits to go with it..can't beat that......

Grits and Cheese Casserole

1 1/2 cup grits (quick cooking)
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon savory salt
6 cups water
3/4 cup butter
8 teaspoons of Tabasco sauce (Nez says
she uses the whole bottle, a small one)
4 eggs, well beaten
1 pound shart Longhorn Cheese, grated
Paprika (Nez laughs and says she never uses it)

Bring water, garlic salt and savory salt to a boil.
Stir in grits slowly. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring
occassionally. when done, drop in butter. Stir well.
Add eggs and Tabasco sauce and cheese to hot grits.
Pour into a large, greased baking dish (9 x 13) and
sprinkle with Paprika for color. Bake at 350 degrees
for one hour...serve hot..


We also got to talking about making Scrapple with cooked
yellow corn meal...poured into a coffee can and sliced
for breakfast.. I told her I always added crumbled cooked
bacon to mine, some sage, and small pieces of diced ham.
She said she likes to add diced pork to hers and
at times she has used chopped beef. I laughed and said I loved
to slice mine and put it in hot bacon drippings to fry and add
a little syrup...she said she just fries hers..We love to talk
about recipes. We both love to cook.

Sourdough in Pictures

This is why I love my old recipe....my bread comes out every time..you still keep your sourdough bubbling away, but you always add a fresh package of yeast to your flour mixture you are working with for the bread...
Bread rising in the pan...I put mine in the oven with the light on ...makes a perfect, warm environment for it to raise...I also like to put a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of my pans...bread and rolls come out easier...



My friend Terri and her hubby have a hard time with pecans....so these are made just for them...no nuts....LOL



Ready to be taken out and the oven turned onto 350 degrees....ready to be baked...


And the finished product.....Yummy bread and rolls...my cinnamon rolls are filled with Pecans...One loaf of bread is plain, the other is cinnamon/sugar swirled inside for breakast toast or with hot tea...






SOURDOUGH STARTER


1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup Instant Potato Flakes

Stir all in a quart jar, cover and let ferment out of the refrigerator at least 48 hours. Refrigerate. Night before baking, take it out of the refrigerator. Take 1 cup of above starter and put into a clean jar, add the following to it:

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup Instant Potato Flakes

This is feeding the starter and will be for your next batch. I leave it out all day and refrigerate it that evening.

Put the remainder of your original starter into a large bowl and add:

3 cups water

1 cup oil (I use Canola)

3/4 cup sugar (I use only 1/2 as I don't like my bread sweet)

1 package dry yeast, dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water (I let it foam up before I put it in the batter, make sure it is good.)

4 teaspoons salt

9 cups flour (You may need a little more, make a stiff dough)

Pour onto a floured board and knead well. Put into a greased bowl and cover. Let rise until double in bulk. Knead lightly and make into 4 loaves. Put into greased loaf pans, cover with a dish towel, and let rise until double. (I put mine in the oven and close the door, the pilot light keeps it just right to rise high)

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Cool on rack, brush the top with butter, and remove from the pans.

To give someone a starter, feed, let out for 8 hours. Give them 1 cup, use 1 cup starter and keep 1 cup in the refrigerator. Then half the recipe and make 2 loaves of bread.

This also makes great Cinnamon Rolls. You cannot fail with this recipe, as each time you use the fresh packet of yeast. It is a very good recipe. Happy Baking.

For fluffy pancakes, add 1/4 cup of starter to your basic pancake mix. They rise so pretty and are so good.

Sugared Peanuts

I hunted all day for my recipe....I knew it was on one of my blogs....I am trying my best to get them all posted here, so I only need to visit here ....this recipe was from my friend, Wilma...she is a fantastic cook....
Every now and then you find a special treat you really enjoy. This week we went to listen to a group of young people performing violin music. They were wonderful. During intermission, homemade treats were sold for a donation and I picked a bag of sugared peanuts. They were so good, nothing like I had eaten before. I make peanut patties and peanut brittle, but these were exceptional. Recipe hound that I am, I hunted down the person who made them, lucky for me, it was a friend of mine ! She graciously agreed to bring me the recipe. I have waited and waited and tonight, at church, she brought it to me. I will definitely use this for Holiday times and in between. Lucky for us, we live in peanut country, so we have lots of nice, fresh peanuts available to us. This is the recipe, shared with love to you. Make it and enjoy !!


Sugared Peanuts

2 cups raw peanuts
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

Mix peanuts,sugar and water together in heavy saucepan
and boil over medium heat until liquid is almost gone (about
20 minutes). Spread the nuts on a greased cookie sheet and
sprinkle lightly with salt if desired. Bake at 300 degrees for
45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes to separate. Cool on
the cookie sheet. Store in an airtight container.

These are soooooo gooooood ! She said she used a little
more water as she likes to boil hers longer.

Chicken Fiesta Soup

I had to laugh...now I have my dear friend Karen hunting down those wonderful recipes in my absence...she is a true friend, sent me this recipe as I missed Singing last night at church...Janna is such a wonderful cook...we are so blessed to have such a great group of Christian Friends.


Janna's Chicken Fiesta Soup

2 lb block of Velveeta
2 cans Rotel
2 cans chicken broth
cooked chopped chicken (canned would work)
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can cream corn
1 can pinto, white, or kidney beans (she used pinto but thought the original recipe called for white beans; kidney beans would be good too)

Mix it all together in a big pot and let it simmer til the cheese is melted and everything's hot. You can add more or less of an ingredient to taste; she said it was very forgiving!

Pretty fast, easy, yummy and filling!!

Ranch Rolls

Anna brought these wonderful rolls to a dinner I attended, so I had to have this recipe. Anna laughed and said the recipe originally came from Charlene, who is a fantastic cook. I love good recipes, so thanks to you, Anna, for a sharing heart.

Ranch rolls

2 (1/4 ounce) packages dry yeast, dissolved in
1 cup warm water
7 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups buttermilk (dry may be used after you add the water)
1/2 cup vegetable oil


Directions: Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
1. In a large bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm water. 2. In the same bowl mix all the rest of the ingredients. 3. Let the bowl of dough sit for about 1/2 hour, but you do not have to--you can bake them right away. 4. Roll to 3/4" thickness and cut with biscuit cutter. 5. Make as many as you want; the rest can be saved for another time. 6. Place on ungreased sheet and bake in 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. 7. LEFTOVER DOUGH--store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks in an airtight container making sure there is enough room in it as it grows.