Jack the Mummy....

Jack-o-lantern that is! We just finished carving this years big jack-o-lantern for Halloween. This year's theme was picked again by Taylor and is a "mummy". Not my favorite but most Scary Halloween stuff is not anyway. It turned out pretty good just two small errors as it was hard keeping the pumpkin together carving the different layers of bandages and the hands were especially tricky. The kids decorated their small pumpkins with stickers this year they we got at the pumpkin patch they look real cute too.

We had a beautiful day for carving and the kids just played and played in the back yard while I was sawing away. They were not too interested in the scooping the pumpkin"goop" as I hoped they would be. James was busy packing and working at the store so we did not save the seeds for roasting this time. Here is a photo from the camera phone of ole Jack the mummy!

Recipe of the Week

This week the recipe of the week comes from Caroyln Teague a cousin of mine. We recently attended Carolyn and her husband Jim's showing at an Art Gallery in Burlington, NC. This cake was served at the showing and it was wonderful. I have not made it yet but it is tried and true and yummy! Thanks for sharing Carolyn!

Carolyn’s Pound Cake


3-cup grandulated sugar

2 cups butter or Crisco (I use 2 sticks and 1 cup Crisco) (room temperature)

6 eggs at room temperature

4 cups cake flour (Swans Down)

1-cup sweet milk

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

½ teaspoon lemon flavoring

½ teaspoon Almond flavoring

½ teaspoon baking power


Beat sugar and butter/Crisco.

Add eggs one at a time, beat after each egg

Sift flour and baking powder together.

Add flour mixture and milk (a little at a time to mixture in cake bowl.)

Add vanilla, lemon, almond flavoring.

BEAT, BEAT and BEAT. Mixture should resemble a vanilla milkshake.


Grease a tube pan. Pour in cake mixture.

Put into a cold oven, bake at 300 for 2 hours. DO NOT OPEN DOOR of oven.


From: Ethel Ann Carter, Artist friend of Jim and Carolyn

Pumpkin Patch!

Here are photos from today's trip to the church Pumpkin Patch an annual tradition.

Recipe of the Week # 11

In honor of James' new birthday gadget the Wing It I am posting our new hot wings recipe. This comes from Frank's Red Hot Sauce Site and the back of the bottle.

Frank's Orginal Hot Wings

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 pounds chicken wings, split and tips discarded
1/2 cup Frank's® REDHOT® Cayenne Pepper Sauce (or more to taste)
1/3 cup margarine or butter, melted
Blue cheese dressing (optional)
Celery sticks (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bake wings 45 minutes at 425°F until fully cooked and crispy, turning halfway.
2. Combine Frank's RedHot Sauce and margarine in bowl.
3. Toss wings in sauce to coat completely. Serve with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.

Wing Sauce Variation: Toss cooked wings in 3/4 cup FRANK'S® REDHOT® Buffalo Wing Sauce.
Tip: Also great with prepared chicken tenders.
Alternate Wing Cooking Directions:
Deep fry at 400°F (HIGH) for 12 minutes or until cooked and crispy; drain.
Broil 6-inches from heat 15 to 20 minutes, turning once.
Grill over medium heat 30 to 40 minutes, turning often.

Mommy Guilt

Well yesterday was a day of fun with the kids but at some point I stopped having fun and so did Jamie. He took a little cat nap at the library and woke up too soon but too late to take a nap at home. Plus we all have slight colds so we were not feeling the best. Then when Taylor was getting into the chair at the beauty salon he had a meltdown. Sometimes it is not easy being a mommy.

I consulted my book Mommy Guilt see my previous post

My Witchy Girl

Isn't this the most glamourous little witch you have ever seen?

Recipe of the Week #10.

Good Gravy!!!

A good southern cook knows her gravies! My favorites are red-eye gravy which I choose not to indulge in except maybe once a year (if I am lucky to get it) and sawmill gravy which I also don't indulge in very often. I do however plan to make a cream gravy tonight with some fried pork chops. Since I will have the pan drippings from the pork I will be able to make a nice cream gravy, but here is one recipe that I use quite often when I don't have any sausage or meat dippings to work with. I like to serve this with rice or even mashed potatoes.

EASY WHITE GRAVY

4 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. flour
Salt
Pepper
2 1/2 c. milk

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour, salt and pepper; cook until smooth and bubbly. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling on medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir and boil 1 minute.

This can also be served over biscuits.

Recipe of the Week # 9

Fish Fry!

Well, one thing I never thought I would be doing in my kitchen is frying fish. That is something that I always left to Long John Silver or Captain D! When I was growing up my great aunt Kate and Uncle Rowe would come bring fresh fish from the coast and we would have a fish fry with the whole family. My aunt Mildred made the best hushpuppies. YUM! Well, I have not ventured to try the hushpuppies yet but I did try the fish this week and they were delicious. These are very simple.

We got the inspiration from the children's show "Cooking with Luis" on Noggin. James' mouth was watering for fried fish. So after getting my new electric sauté pan and consulting with the Southern Living web boards here is what we came up with.

Fried Fish

Thin fillets of mild fish (We used Whiting.)
Olive Oil
All Purpose Flour
Salt
One to two eggs for egg wash.
Panko Breadcrumbs (A Japanese Breading)
Three dishes for coating fish

Wash and dry fish fillets. Place flour and salt (to your liking) in one plate or dish. Crack egg(s) and whisk in bowl or dish. Pour generous amount of breadcrumbs on plate or dish.

Pre-heat some olive oil in pan or electric skillet. Add just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Coat fish in flour and salt mixture. Then dip in egg wash. Place fillets in breadcrumbs and roll so fish is covered with Panko.

Fry fish in olive oil over medium high heat until brown on both sides. Fish will be flaky when done.

Serve with lemons, malt vinegar, or tartar sauce.

"Children make you want to start life over."

This quote from Muhammad Ali came from a flyer at the Children's clothing sale I went to on Friday. It really resonates with me. I guess this is what people mean when they say they are "having their 2nd childhood" through their kids or grandkids.