Daily Tidbits

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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Taco Seasoning Mix

Printable Recipe

2 t. salt
2 T. chili powder
2 T. Smoked Paprika
2 T. flour
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. oregano

Mix together and store in a container. Use 2 Tablespoons to 1 cup of water for each pound of hamburger if you're doing tacos.

Holly's Note: 
I haven't purchased regular taco seasoning since I found this recipe. I love that I can use more or less, depending on the recipe and our tastes. The key to this being the best taco seasoning ever is to use Smoked Paprika. Seriously. I get mine at Costco and it adds the most amazing depth. 

Using a mason jar with the lid from a Parmesan cheese container makes it really easy to store and either spoon or shake into other recipes.

And as far as tripling or quadrupling to fill a mason jar.  I just add all the ingredients three or four times each.  I'm not a math person!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A Farmer’s Daughter – Recipes from a Mennonite Kitchen...Review

About the book:
Welcome to the warm and inviting kitchen of Dawn Stoltzfus, a young Mennonite wife and mother who was raised on a dairy farm where simple, wholesome food was a key ingredient of the good life. In A Farmer's Daughter, she opens up her recipe box, wipes away the crumbs and wrinkles from the well-loved recipes and shares them with cooks and food-lovers everywhere. She offers us over two hundred delicious recipes that reflect the comfort foods she learned to cook from her mother, the same hearty and creative recipes she made and sold at The Farmer's Wife Market.

Along with the simple, wholesome recipes for starters, main dishes, sides and desserts, readers will find charming stories from Dawn's Mennonite upbringing, tips and tricks for easy meal planning and preparation, and ideas for serving with flair. Anyone who loves to feed their loved ones hearty, wholesome meals will treasure this cookbook.

When I first received this cookbook, I went through it and tagged all the recipes I wanted to try.  One of those was the sauce from Barbecued Meatballs.  I had some pork ribs that I wanted to get used and so I dumped them into my crockpot with a doubled recipe of this sauce.

1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
2 t. yellow mustard
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t. liquid smoke
1/8 t. pepper

Now the original recipe states to combine all ingredients, heat and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat.  The sauce also stores well in the refrigerator for 3-4 months.

I didn't cook it, nor did I save any to refrigerate for later.  I mixed up a doubled version, poured it all over the ribs and let them cook in my crockpot for about 8 hours.  They were divine.  My family decreed that this was their new favorite bbq sauce.  Very mild, yet smooth and flavorful.

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This is just a great cookbook.  Most, not all, recipes show serving sizes and all require every day ingredients you probably have on hand.  I love the little anecdotes and the "And Another Thing...And Another Thing" notes at the end of many recipes where she shares additional hints or suggestions about a particular recipe.

There is a great section in the back about Do-It-Yourself recipes.

She makes French Toast like I do, with cinnamon and vanilla.  So much better than plain french toast!

Available October 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Thanks to Donna Hausler of Baker Publishing for the opportunity to review this book.  You can learn more about Dawn Stoltzfus here.  You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 10/12

* * * *
4/5 Stars




Monday, October 22, 2012

The Amish Family Cookbook...Review

About the book:
From the table of bestselling author Jerry Eicher and his wife, Tina, comes this warm and inviting peek into an Amish kitchen. From the family dinner table to the largest potluck, you'll find comfort in such wholesome and hearty dishes as:

Baked Blueberry and Peach Oatmeal
Mamm's Dinner Rolls
Cheesy Potato Soup
Amish Upside-Down Berry Cake
Pumpkin Cream Cupcakes

Complete with recipes from Jerry's beloved novels, Amish wisdom and humor from the Plain people, you'll be sure to laugh, pray, and eat robustly with The Amish Family Cookbook at your side.

I love that this cookbook has a spiral binding for it to lay open flat.  Yay!  The recipes are all family friendly will ingredients you are likely to have on hand.  Serving sizes are given inconsistently, which is frustrating as many recipes are also meant to serve crowds.  It's nice to know at a glance, if a recipe serves 6, 8, or 24.

I enjoyed the Amish proverbs shared in the margins.  My favorite?  "Listening is fifty percent of our education."

A charming cookbook with good, down-home recipes that are sure to please any family.

Thanks to First Wild Card and Harvest House Publishers for the opportunity to review this book. You can learn more about Jerry and Tina Eicher here. You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 10/12

* * * *
4/5 Stars