Frantic Friday!

Brrrrrr, it’s a cold start to Friday morning! Drew lit the kerosene heater in my shop so I don’t turn into an icicle while I’m creating gift baskets, getting his packages ready for him to load and trying to make some order out of stuffing the crates to take to the first indoor market of the season. It’s our usual Friday with a twist!

Remember, if you are out and about in downtown Lexington tomorrow, the Lexington Farmers’ Market is now in Victorian Square where it is warm and inviting! We’ll all be there from 8AM until about 1PM. I’m thrilled to say that we talked one of our fellow farmers into selling this year. Johnny Kriegel of Lone Oak Farm will have fresh veggies and fruits available. He’s the one we get those delicious Yukon Gold taters from! He also had one of the best sweet potatoes (he says they are yams!) that I have ever tasted…Red Garnet. BTW, what’s the difference between a yam and a sweet potato? If you know please fill me in…I know I just love them whatever they are called!

Drew is going to start the indoor season without much sampling headaches. He’s going to be handing out (and selling) popcorn seasoned with our Good’n Garlicky so that means we actually get to sleep in until 4AM tomorrow!!! I have to admit that it will seem funny not waking up long before the roosters start to crow. Something tells me that the extra 2 hours of sleep will make us both want to stay in our warm bed!

Seen as how there’s nothing more than sprinkling some Good’n Garlicky on your buttered (or butter sprayed) popcorn, how about another warmer up recipe for the day.

Bayou Chili

1 lb ground beef

1 lb smoked sausage, quartered and cubed

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup onion, diced

1 cup green pepper, diced

2 cans of beer

1 lb frozen corn

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained

1 30 oz. Can chili beans

4 Tbsp Chili Season’n

1 29 oz can tomato sauce

1 cup frozen okra

1-2 lbs. Peeled, raw shrimp

In a large (7 qt. Or more) pot, brown ground beef; remove and drain well. Set aside. In the same pot, over medium heat, cook the sausage for 5 minutes. Add the celery, onions & peppers and saute’ for an additional 4 minutes. Return beef to the pot and add the next 7 ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes…stirring occasionally. Remove lid, continue simmering for 1 hour or longer…stirring occasionally. Add shrimp and cook for 5 more minutes or until shrimp is pink and thoroughly cooked.

I promise you this is a good one! Enjoy and have a great day.

 

 

Tuesday To-Do’s

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my “me” day yesterday. Sometimes it’s just good for the soul to take a day and spend it under the covers. I did manage to wash my face and brush my teeth but that’s about all! Guess I better give me a full scrub today! HaHa

Today is going to be a label printing, basket filling, bath salt making day. We’ve only got a few more weeks of the farmers market left and we’ll be moving indoors at Victorian Square this Saturday so we’ll need extra stuff! Unfortunately they are predicting rain and possibly snow so that means we’ll have to put everything into tubs to get them indoors without ruining them. Our dried herb seasoning and the gift baskets do not do rain very well. The transition from the outdoor market to the indoor market is always a challenge. It’s so much easier to just pull up to the curb and start hauling the goodies out. Indoors we have to carry  the stuff for a block or else arrive an hour early and hope that the Starbuck’s on the opposite corner is not very busy so we can locate a parking spot. We have been known to drive around the block a few times in hopes that someone got their latte and is ready to pull out. With the price of gas that could be an expensive maneuver this year!

Our friends at Caros placed a good size order yesterday so we’ll be packing that today too. We love our restaurant customers. It’s always so nice when they even tell folks that they use our seasoning. Don’t forget that if you happen to be in downtown Lexington during the day, it’s a great place to have a wonderful breakfast or lunch. Plus, the diner atmosphere is worth the trip.

How about a good warmer upper recipe for today.

COWBOY RED BEANS’N CHICKEN SOUP

2 LB. DRIED RED BEANS

2 LB. BONELESS CHICKEN BREASTS

2 TBSP HERB’N COWBOY “DIVIDED”

3 1/2 QTS. CHICKEN STOCK

2 TBSP OLIVE OIL

2 RIBS CELERY, DICED

1 MEDIUM ONION, DICED

1 EACH GREEN AND RED BELL PEPPER, DICED

SOAK BEANS OVERNIGHT IN WATER. USING 1 TBSP OF HERB’N COWBOY, SEASON THE CHICKEN BREASTS EVENLY ON BOTH SIDES; COVER AND REFRIGERATE FOR AT LEAST 2 HOURS. GRILL CHICKEN ABOUT 6 MINUTES ON EACH SIDE OR UNTIL FIRM. DRAIN AND RINSE BEANS. IN A 6 QT POT, COVER BEANS WITH STOCK AND BRING TO A BOIL. COVER; REDUCE HEAT AND SIMMER FOR 1 HOUR. SAUTE’ VEGGIES IN OLIVE OIL FOR 5 MINUTES. AFTER CHICKEN HAS COOLED, DICE INTO 1/4″ PIECES. ADD CHICKEN, VEGGIES AND REMAINING 1 TBSP HERB’N COWBOY TO THE BEANS. BRING TO A BOIL; COVER AND SIMMER FOR 1 HOUR. REMOVE LID AND SIMMER FOR AN ADDITIONAL 45 MINUTES OR UNTIL BEANS ARE DONE. STIR OCCASIONALLY. SALT TO TASTE. THE LONGER IT COOKS THE THICKER IT WILL BECOME!

Sorry about the CAPS…I’m still in my lazy mode.

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday.

Monday Morning Blahs!

Oh what to do on a rainy Monday morning! Maybe bake some bread. Or I could make some muffins or cookies. Nope, I need to work out some frustrations so I guess it will be bread. Somehow the kneading makes me feel better. Do you ever feel like that? Try making a loaf of wonderful homemade bread, it does wonders for you.

Drew is doing inventory today so he’ll be out in the kitchen all day and I can work inside at my own pace. I love when that happens. Now don’t get the wrong idea, I love working with Drew but a few hours on my own is like having a vacation. We’re together 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can only look at another human for so long without needing a break. HaHa!

Maybe I’ll wash the curtains..maybe not. I might just give the dust bunnies a good swipe or maybe I’ll let them live a few days longer. I guess I could try to make some order out of the spare bedroom/junk room. Can you tell I really am not looking forward to the rest of this day? Maybe I should just curl back under the nice warm covers and take a “me” day! Hey, I did clean out the kitty boxes already so I have done something useful. Yup, a nap sounds perfect to me.

I do want to share one thing with you before I head back under the covers. Drew fixed some shrimp last night that was wonderful. I couldn’t believe how simple it was. He took some of the Wild Caught Georgia shrimp that we had frozen and tossed it with some Smoke’n Season. Then he sauteed it in the skillet with a bit of oil and a quarter of a can of beer…he drank the rest!!! Let the beer reduce and then add some butter and Country Bob’s sauce. It will glaze the shrimp and you will be wanting to smack your granny as they say in our neck of the woods. lol The best part is you can get a coupon for a free bottle of Country Bob’s by going to their site at http://www.countrybobs.com/. If you have never tried this do yourself a favor and take the time to get the coupon…it’s wonderful! We realize that our seasoning is great but sometimes you just need a little extra. Country Bob’s is the answer!!!

Now that I have you all drooling, I’m going to take my nap. Have a good day all.

Planning for the final market day!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! We did our usual Thursday chores, printing labels, making seasoning and then a few extras like cleaning out the gutters, laundry, etc. Funny how holidays become mundane when you have no family around. We both had to admit that we missed the smells of our moms cooking the “bird” on Thanksgiving morning. We even shed a few tears thinking about our families. But, we quickly remembered to count the blessings that we do have and we’re both thankful for the memories of past years.

We lost two more of our dear friends last week. We’ve missed seeing “pappy Raggard” at the market because of his illness. Now we can only offer our support and condolences to his son, Ed, after he lost his long battle. On Friday night we had a funeral service at our pet cemetery. Our sweet Skitty kitty lost his battle too. They will both be missed.

This Saturday is the last day of our outdoor farmers market and then we get to move indoors to warmth next week! We also feel odd when the market year ends. It means the lean winter months are coming and we’re normally trying to hang on until April comes along and we get to look forward to the opening of a new market season. This year is a bit different. Our market has changed its pricing structure and it will cost us double to set up. We’ve got to come up with some major, for us, $$$ before the end of the year. Doesn’t look like that will happen so we’ve got to figure out what we’ll be doing next year. If we can’t afford to join again next year we’ll sure miss our customers and our farmer friends but maybe it’s time for us to move on to something new. Only time will tell. We do have some thoughts in our pea brains and all you can do is try to move onward and upward. Wish us luck in our future endeavors!

Sorry to say that I do not have any special recipes from our feast yesterday to share with you…we ate shrimp soup for our Thanksgiving Day dinner! It was a cold, windy and rainy day so grilling the shrimp outdoors just didn’t seem like fun. I headed to the kitchen with a can opener to attack a can of Campbell’s Cream of Shrimp soup, add a can of milk to some sauteed celery and onions. Then a good pinch of Good’n Garlicky and some precooked shrimp and simmer just enough to heat it through. We dunked some wonderful homemade sourdough rolls from Cedar Ridge Farm and we we’re happy campers!

Hopefully, now that things have slowed down a bit, I’ll be posting more often. Hope you all have a wonderful Black Friday! We’re packing for the final market tomorrow so you’all get the bargains for us!

 

 

A Proud Salute To Our Veterans!

Today is the day that we should all raise our hand in a salute to the fine men and women who help to give us the freedom that our nation was founded on. I speak from experience when I say that not only should we salute the actual service member but also the families that stand behind their soldiers. I was married to an Army helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war. I know what it feels like to sit and wait for the mailman to deliver those cherished letters. I know what it feels like to go to bed at night and know that my husband might not make it through the night. It is a sacrifice that many cannot handle and my thanks and gratitude go out to all of those who are home and waiting for the safe return of their loved ones. I would also like to thank my ex husband (now deceased) Delbert J. Jackson for his service to our country and for opening my eyes and my life to a world that I would never have known without him. My thoughts and prayers are with all of our military and their families on this, their day.

I was trying to think of an appropriate recipe to post today and my mind immediately went to one of my dad’s favorites. I can remember laughing when my mom prepared it because it was so simple and to my dad it was a feast! I have no idea where the recipe, if you can call it that, came from but we always called it “G.I. Hash!” Nothing like any hash that we eat nowadays but that’s what my family called it. Maybe my dad ate something similar during WWII. I really don’t know but it is good, no matter how yucky it sounds.

So, here is the recipe for G.I.Hash in memory of my wonderful dad, Lars T. Mord…

1 lb. Ground beef

1 can sliced potatoes, drained and rinsed

1 can beef gravy (my mom always used Franco American!)

a handful plus of frozen peas

salt and pepper to taste

Brown the ground beef and drain any excess grease from the skillet. Dump the potatoes, gravy and peas into the skillet. Cover and simmer until warmed through. We always had a buttered slice of plain old white bread with our bowl of “hash!”

I have to admit that we usually add a bit of Good’n Garlicky when I prepare this now. I’m not sure if Drew enjoys it as much as my dad did but he tolerates it when I feel a bit of nostalgia tugging at my heart. Bless you Drew for putting up with my childhood memories.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and please remember to honor our service men and women today, even if only for a proud snappy salute.

Today is for you, Paul!

Sunday is our day of rest and normally we would have a large breakfast, usually what we call a “gut wadd’in” one. Eggs, biscuits, gravy and either sausage, country ham or bacon along with fried taters. Of course that means we just have to take a nap after eating and reading the newspaper. We’re not real sports fans and the TV seems to have nothing but rerun movies and sports of some sort so a nap is a good thing! Instead of our normal routine, today we will be taking a ride into the country to a small church to celebrate the life of our customer and friend, Paul. We will miss him and his contagious smile more than he would probably have ever guessed. His fiance’, Celine and her beautiful Irish accent need to know that we care.

No cooking today but I thought I would share what we are going to eat for breakfast today. A Hardees country breakfast and we’re using this coupon! http://www.hardees.com/coupon/country_breakfast.jpg Not exactly our normal breakfast but we sure appreciate Sherry, my frugal friend, for sharing the coupon with us so that we can not only save money but grab something to eat on our way to the church. We’ll see ya all at the Hardees in Nicholasville!

Saturday Sell’n at the Farmers Market!

It’s just about time to load our bundled up selves into Bernie and head towards to Lexington for the farmers market. He’s packed to the hilt! I can’t believe the amount of gift baskets that I did yesterday. There’s something for just about everyone and in every price range. Hopefully they will all find great homes today cause it’s that time of the month…you know when all of the big bills role in. EEK!

We’ve both got ourselves layered so we can peel the clothing as the day warms up. The corner of Vine and Upper is a windy spot and the cool (darn cold) air goes right through ya! Drew even packed a kerosene heater just in case the promised sun doesn’t come out.

Drew is busy out in the kitchen getting the Jamm’n Sweet Tater soup made. Ya gotta love a man who cooks, especially one who does it at 3am! He rolled over in bed, gave my butt a pat and whispered “it’s time to make the donuts!” That’s his standard remark every Saturday…guess he feels like a baker does starting his day off so early. HaHa He came in the house to get another cup of coffee and he had one of those not so happy looks on his face. Uh oh, something must be wrong. It’s the potatoes!!! He’s mumbling something about having another fine reason to shop at the farmers market…the “store bought” Yukon Gold potatoes are not gold, they’re plain old white taters! Hope there’s enough starch to pull the soup together without having to add something else. He’ll figure something out, he always does.

How about a recipe for something to enjoy while watching all of those college football games today…

DOGGONE GOOD “DAWG” SAUCE

2 LBS. GROUND BEEF

2 CUPS ONIONS,DICED

1 TBSP. BACON DRIPPINGS

1 CAN OF BEER

3 TBSP. CHILI SEASON’N

15 OZ. CAN TOMATO SAUCE

2 CUPS KETCHUP

¼ CUP YELLOW MUSTARD

 

BROWN BEEF, FINELY CRUMBLING IT AS YOU BROWN; DRAIN. SAUTE’ ONIONS IN BACON DRIPPINGS FOR 5 MINUTES. RETURN BEEF TO POT; ADD BEER AND CHILI SEASON’N… SIMMER 5 MINUTES. ADD TOMATO SAUCE, KETCHUP & MUSTARD. SIMMER FOR 1 HOUR….SERVE ON HOT “DAWGS!” MAKES 2 QUARTS

Hope your team wins!!!

Frantic Friday On The Farm!

We’re getting primed for the usual Friday crunch before the Saturday farmers market. For two folks who work all week trying to get just a bit ahead so we don’t have to rush around like idiots on Friday it always seems like the further we go the behinder we get! What happened to Wednesday and Thursday? I swear we worked on those days but it sure doesn’t look like we accomplished anything. Oh well, we’re used to frantic Friday’s!

I took some “fallish” oven mitts and stuffed a few packets of our seasoning in them, tied the pair together with a ribbon and a tag last week. They sold like hotcakes! Hey, they make great gifts for teachers, Sunday school teachers and just about anyone else that you might want a little something for. And, it’s gets our herb seasoning blends out to more folks to enjoy! So, that’s what I’ll be doing for most of the day today…stuffing oven mitts! I thought I’d fill a giant basket with them to display on one of our tables. I also figured that I can switch the seasoning if a customers wants something different in a certain set of mitts. Heck all it will take is a few minutes of my time to stuff in new seasoning and add some recipes. It’s worth it to see the smiles on our customers faces.

Drew usually uses me as a guinea pig to test his new recipes. Believe me I do not complain about being used! He’s making his delicious Jamm’n Sweet Tater soup this week but he needed something more than just crackers to go with it. He’s been grilling corn cakes in front of everyone at the market so I suggested them again. Of course he wrinkled up his nose and gave me that look. Well, I won out in the end! He created a corn cake using our Pop’n Sweet and they really are good! A great pair with the sweet tater soup. So I guess I’ll be manning the money belt again tomorrow while he cooks. I asked him if he had a recipe for me to share with you all and I was informed that it’s nothing more than following the cornbread directions on the Martha White Yellow “Self Rising” Corn Meal package with an additional heaping tablespoon of our Pop’n Sweet added to the batter. He placed about 2 or 3 tablespoons of the batter for each cake onto a lightly oiled griddle and cooked them until brown on each side. I love corn cakes…they just don’t seem to crumble as much as cornbread. Perfect “dippers” for soups and stews! Plus, they sure tasted good this morning after I heated a few up in the “nuker” and slathered them in butter!

Anyone out there familiar with homegrown sweet potatoes? I need an opinion, please. I bought a beautiful sweet potato planter just so we had something green this spring when we entertained a few food writers at our farm. This thing grew to be a monster and we repotted it three times with a final resting place in a large metal trough. I pulled the plant out the other day because it looked terrible after the frost. Lo and behold there were about six very large potatoes. They are not like any sweet potato that I have ever seen…they are purple and when I cut into one the innards are almost white. I did a bit of research and found that all sweets are edible but I’m not too sure about this darling! It’s HUGE! I’d hate to be the one who causes our demise by serving the monsters at dinnertime. Can we eat this thing????

Well, I have some last minute printing to do and then I going to jump into a hot shower and don my long johns so I don’t freeze in the shop this morning. Hope you all have a great Friday!

Thursday’s doin’s

Brrrrr, it’s a cold one out there this morning! Well, it’s not really cold just a wee bit colder than we are used to. Let’s put it this way, I woke up at 2am for some darn reason and immediately put on the flannel jammies and heavy socks. I sure hope the day warms up because we can’t afford to heat my shop with the current price of fuel. I wait until the sun is shining and then work like crazy in hopes of warming myself up. In case you are wondering why I don’t bundle up while working out there, it reminds me of my days as child when my mom used to stuff me into a snowsuit! Surely you all remember those days…you walked like a movie monster. Your arms are thrown out from your side and there is no way that you can put them down where they belong! It feels like something laid an egg in your armpit! Don’t even get me started on the “pants” part of the outfit. Anyway, I am staying inside our semi warm home until it is fit for a human to function in the shop. An early morning nap sounds pretty good to me and I can see the bed calling my name!

Thursday is always a very busy day for us. I try to finish up the last of the label printing, Drew is getting the last of his blending done and we’re both getting ready to commence with the packing for the market. I think I’ll let him get the jars filled while I nap. I can always put the darn snowsuit on and work tonight!

For some reason the cold weather is not bothering two of our kitties. Binky, our deaf little white darling, and Louie, the black beast, seem to be wishing they were outdoors. I don’t think so!!! They look like bookends sitting on the windowsill. Sort of an ebony and ivory type of thingie!

I was trying to think of a wonderful recipe to give you today and the one that seems to be sticking in mind uses sweet taters! Of course that could be because we are using them in our market sampling this week. If you like sweet taters as much as I do and happen to be married to a person who only tolerates them this recipe is perfect.

Wash and pat dry fresh sweet potatoes. Cut them into “steak fry” type slices. Toss with a tiny bit of vegetable oil and then place into a plastic bag. Shake some of our Pop’n Sweet into the bag and coat the taters. Place them on a cookie pan and bake in a preheated 425 oven for about 10-12 minutes. Turn them over and sprinkle more Pop’n Sweet on them and return to the oven. Bake an additonal 5 or so minutes…just until they are tender. They will be soft on the inside and the Pop’n Sweet gets crusty on the outside. You get sweet and salty in each bite…heaven! BTW, Pop’n Sweet was created so that you could make your own kettle type popped corn at home but you can do so much more with it!

Hope you sweet tater lovers enjoy today’s recipe and maybe you might manage to get a convert with it too!   Talk at ya tomorrow!

WOW, it’s Wednesday already!

Am I the only one who hates to go and renew their drivers license? It’s not the bother of driving all the way to the courthouse, it’s the fact that I have to have another “mug shot” taken! The least they could do is use a camera that allows us to edit our photo so that we look semi human! I had to get mine renewed yesterday and I swear those 4 years have taken its toll on me. Where did that wrinkle come from? So, how come I can’t smile even the slightest while standing on the blue line? The funny thing is they give you four different pictures to choose from…how did that happen, you only took one picture and they still all looked the same…HORRIBLE! Oh well, the dirty deed is done for another four years and I just pray that I don’t have to show it to anyone.

Yesterday was election day on our neck of the woods so we headed out early to vote. Seems like they moved our polling place from the fire station to a church. I was always taught to keep politics and religion separate…guess not in our area! Anyway, trying to find the polling place is not easy when you live in an area with mostly country roads, some of which we never knew existed! Hey, it was a nice drive and we got to talk about what we wanted to happen in our state for the next four years. We agreed to disagree in silence after a few minutes. HaHa!

After voting we decided to take advantage of being dressed up in our “city” clothes so we went to town to do our weekly grocery shopping. All went well there and we even snagged a few bags of Halloween candy at greatly reduced prices. Somehow a bottle of wine sounded good to have with our dinner so we stopped to buy one. Geez, don’t know if it’s the fact that I am a blonde or that Drew now shaves his head and his brains seeped out but we forgot…it’s election day and you can’t buy liquor! DUH on our part. We each smacked the other one on the head and had a good laugh. You’d think they would allow us folks that were wearing the “I voted” sticker to buy some wine…heck we can’t change our votes after getting “liquored up” on that bottle of wine! Oh well, water is better for us anyway.

We had our usual weekly discussion on what Drew should prepare for the market sampling and we decided to take advantage of the wonderful sweet potatoes available at the market. So, this week’s sampling will be Sweet Tater Soup seasoned with our Jamm’n Jerk. I’ve already posted that recipe so I thought I would share a new one that I tried last night. I have to admit that I had never heard of “naan.” Could be because we really do not like Indian cuisine but this recipe intrigued me so I played with it. I have to tell you that it is good and I can’t wait to dunk them into some chili or a bowl of steaming soup. I can’t take credit for the original recipe cause I got it off of the internet but I will tell you what changes I made in order to use one of our blends in it.

You can find the original recipe here http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Naan/Detail.aspx?src=etaf I did add one tablespoon of sugar, as suggested, to the yeast to proof it. And, I added the ½ teaspoon of baking soda to the flour so that it would bubble more. Instead of using the minced garlic I added one tablespoon of our Good’n Garlicky. And when it tells you to brush them with butter I added a bit more Garlicky to the melted butter. They were great and very garlicky! The one thing I might change next time I make them is to hand pat then versus rolling them out…it might give me more air bubbles. A few of my Frugal Friends suggested this trick. I thank Mic for submitting the recipe to Allrecipes. It was a winner!

Well, Drew is pacing the floor behind me so that must mean it’s time to head towards the shop so that I can get his labels for this week printed out. Hope you all have a great day and I’ll see tomorrow.