Challenge: Cowboy Kickin' Soup

I like cowboys.  I like their work ethic.  I like their look.  I like their appetite. 
I also like love my boyfriend, who could pass for Daryl Singletary if he had a sweet hat:

      

(photo from google images- Daryl Singletary)

Alright...so...what do cowboys have to do with my cookbook challenge?   Well, the cookbook I used tonight is full of recipes that are "cowboy approved".  How do I know?  It is Texas Cowboy Cooking by Tom Perini.  The man is not only the owner of Perini Steak House, and a steak genius, and the author of the cookbook, but he is a cowboy.  So, who would know better what cowboys like to eat than an actual COWBOY.  

Amazing.  

Now, when I think of cowboys and what they might like to eat, soup is NOT the first thing that comes to my mind.  However, I like soup.  And I had previously frozen some butternut squash.....that worked perfectly for this dish!  Plus, with the little kick in the pants that this leaves in your mouth, it is indeed: Cowboy approved!

Winter Squash Soup

By: Tom Perini

3 pounds of winter squash (butternut, delicata, Hubbard, or even pumpkin)  

1 Large unpeeled onion, halved

2 Tablespoons Oil

1/4 cup water

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup milk

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (the cowboy kicker)

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon salt

(I also added a shake or two of sage)

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  Oil the cut surfaces of squash and onion and place them in a large baking dish cut side down.  Bake at 350 until tender and soft, about 1 hour (note: I had already cooked my squash and froze it, so I did not do this part.  Because of that, I simply sauteed my onion in olive oil.)  Remove from the oven and allow to cool until vegetables can be handled.  Scoop out the squash pulp (<3 that word) and place in food processor.  Remove the papery outer skin of the onion and add cooked onion to the squash.  Puree vegetables until smooth.  Add a little broth to make a smooth mixture.  Place the pureed squash in a saucepan, add the remaining broth, milk, and seasonings.  Simmer for a few minutes to allow flavors to blend.  Serve with a spoonful of cream, sour cream, or Cre`me fraiche.  (that is my favorite ending to any recipe....serve with some sort of cream....please!!!)

Now, I am no professional food blogger or anything....my pictures are just pictures of what my food looks like right before I consume it.  What you see is what you get kinda deal.  However, I was lucky enough to have my amazing food stylist friend visiting from out of town.  Love her. Love her style.... honored to be her friend and laugh with her....and also....eat with her!!! 

Nicole workin' some sour cream and pepper art :)

She makes things beautiful....she makes life beautiful!!!

This soup was super yummy.  Loved the texture.   Really liked the flavor.  The red pepper gives you a little cowboy kick in the pants.  The sour cream apologizes for the slight kick.  It tastes nice the day after a blizzard!  

Enjoy life.....eat good food!!! 

Old Fashioned Ginger Cookies

You wouldn't believe the post I've been "post"poning because of a weird funk I've been in...and you don't get to know about that for a bit longer...because I've decided to get over my issue, then discuss it later, with much laughter.  To stop putting things off, just because they are not perfect. 

That's all....even though some things are not perfect, including most of my life, which feels a bit out of control these days...these cookies...are perfection. 

This recipe is from a church cookbook and my Great Aunt Evelyn submitted the recipe....my Great Grandmother Grace most likely made these cookies for all 13 of her children...wonder how long a batch lasted...I could seriously just sit down and eat three of these babies and not look back. 

It's a shocker that I love this recipe...because I NEVER use shortening....but, it's key here...an old school secret for great molasses cookies :) There are just some things you don't change...like your great grandmothers molasses cookie recipe...that's sacred.

My favorite part is the cracks....they are just such beautiful cookies...then my other favorite part is that they are SO soft.  Seriously delicious!  They taste like Fall....Fall perfection.  If all attempts at perfection have failed you: try these cookies....no really, you should! 

Old Fashioned Ginger Cookies

1 1/2 cups Shortening

2 cups sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup dark molasses (I used black strap for the first time tonight...it's good)

4 cups flour

4 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cloves

Cream shortening, add sugar and continue creaming.  Add eggs and molasses; beat well.  In a separate bowl, whisk flour, soda, salt, and spices together, add to shortening mixture, mix well.  

Shape into balls about 1 1/2 inch diameter (I actually make mine bigger...I use the big cookie scoop) Roll in sugar. Place 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet (I make 9 per pan) Bake at 350 for 10 minutes...or if you make bigger cookies, 13 minutes.  Until they crack on the top. 

Eat one of these while they are still warm!  Drink a glass of milk, if you're into that...make it Whole milk if you are naughty like me!  

Never to be the Same...

On July 1st my life was drastically changed.  Never to be the same.  At 4:30 am my father had a massive heart attack.  After being worked on for quite some time at home by paramedics, he was taken to Do Co hospital, then airlifted to St Cloud.  After 56 hours of intense waiting, testing, sitting in the hospital, it was pronounced that my father had brain death....absolutely no activity.   

That was it.  Just like that my world changed.  The last time I talked to him was Thursday night at dinner.  I tried to remember what I said...I can't.  It was nothing of importance, because when you don't know someone is going to die, you don't go out of your way to tell them anything important. 

Because of my personality, I went into survive mode...protector mode, strong mode...mostly for my mother.  It hurts so bad to see her hurt.  The next week is so intense.  You just sign papers and say yes or no....and Thank you to lots of people who care for you.  Then you go back to "normal".  Work, eat, sleep.  People ask you how you are and you say "good", forgetting that you are not at all well.  For some days, I would forget it happened and then go through the shock all over again. 

It hurts the worst right now.  This very minute.  I haven't cried too much the last few weeks and now it seems like I can't stop.  I miss him bad.  I miss cooking for him.  Dinner was a big deal in our house...I hated missing it...and Dad didn't like me to miss it either, since I cooked most of the time.  Every night after dinner, he would push his plate away from him and say "That was very good, thank you."  Just like that.  He would even say that when it wasn't good at all. 

He was a the biggest supporter of my baking business.  Every time I would bake...be it for a birthday party, wedding, or the farmer's market, he would come in the kitchen and say "which one of these is mine?"  Sometimes when I would cook, he would sit at the island in the kitchen on the bar stool and just watch me.  At the time, it was funny to me...that he would want to watch me...but now, I miss it. 

The truth is, I've read plenty of books about grieving and I have a degree in Counseling...but you don't actually know until you are there.  I also have been comforted by scripture, but it still hurts.  And....even though 800,000 people have told me that they are here for me, I still feel completely alone.  No one can miss him like I do. 

Hello, Cupcake.

A part of me wishes I could be a dainty southern belle.  I actually enjoy when southern ladies call people "sweetie, sugar, or darlin."  I would preferably call my significant other (once one of those exists in my life) something to do with food and just as cute as those sweet southern ladies...like Peaches....or sugar...or hey...how about cupcake? 

I understand that as I type these words, I'm decreasing the chances of actually finding someone....but really what hard working man doesn't want to come home and be called peaches by the love of his life...

Alrighty, moving on.  I LOVE to cook.  I LOVE baking cupcakes.  A lot.  I have a special friend...her and I are always on the lookout for a good cake recipe.  So, when she and her love decided to get married, the cake was a major decision.  We had always joked that we would have to make each others wedding cupcakes, because ours are the best, knowing that would be difficult to achieve since we would also be in each others weddings, she and her love went in search of a cupcake good enough to put in the masterpiece of a display that he was about to make...

Fortunately for me, the cupcake tasting just didn't meet up to her expectations....so...I was honored to have my cupcakes appear on the big day.  This wedding, every aspect of it, was out of this world...I mean divinely put together...so to be a part at all was a blessing to me!

Oh the choices of what cupcakes to have at your wedding...well, this was a unique wedding, as it was a brunch reception.  So, the flavors that Nicole picked were so yummy...just the thing you'd want to finish off a delicious brunch!

Chocolate cakes with Chocolate Sour Cream frosting

Chocolate Cakes with Espresso Frosting (my favorite)

Vanilla Cakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting

Vanilla Cakes with Strawberry Frosting

300+ cupcakes.  9.5 glorious hours in my kitchen.  (seriously my favorite place to be)

I actually really enjoy the entire process of making large quantities of things.  I never enjoyed math like algebra and geometry...but I like figuring out measurements for food (and balancing my checkbook) I always said that I liked real life math...maybe that's why I got a degree in Finance!  So, I figured out the amount of ingredients I would need for this undertaking...I must say, I love living in a small town and I enjoy seeing people I know every time I go to the grocery, but I must admit, I felt like they needed an explanation as to why there was 10 lbs of butter, flour, and sugar in my cart...and that I was standing there waiting for the lady to come back from the backroom where she was retrieving 12 lb of coffee for me.  Since grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do...it was a good time!

It's important to start off as well, with a good cup of coffee...here is my butter and my coffee...a glimpse into my joyful day of baking (starting at 6:00 am, unheard of for me):

There is one Chocolate cake recipe that I can always count on...I've made it for years...and anyone can make it...it's on the back of the Hershey's cocoa box.  I thought it was fool proof, but I've heard that some folks have not had such luck with it...I actually made it and entered it into a contest...winning blue ribbon!!

Chocolate Cake (blue ribbon Chocolate Cake)

2 c sugar

1 3/4 c Flour
3/4 c cocoa

1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

1 1/2 Tsp Baking soda

1 Tsp Salt

2 eggs

1 Cup milk

1/2 c oil

2 Tsp Vanilla

1 C boiling water

Here is a secret...I do this cake differently than I would any other cake.  Because I did it this way before I knew how to make cake, really.  I put everything, except for the water in my mixer and mix it...I mix it for 2 minutes, while my water is getting to boil in the microwave.  After two minutes, I take the water out and fold it in.  That's it.  No kidding. Bake cupcakes @ 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes. 

White cake is a whole other story...hard to find a good one...one that is moist and tasty.  I feel like I have found it indeed.  In a book called Organic and Chic.  This recipe is altered a bit..simply because I'm not very organic.  Honestly.  

Blanca Cake 

Inspired by Organic and Chic (Sarah Magid)

2 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt 

1 1/2 sticks butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup while milk

7 egg whites

Put the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  

In your mixer, beat butter and 2 cups sugar on medium speed until fluffy 

In a small bowl (I use my glass liquid measuring cup) combine vanilla and milk.  

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk mixture.  

In another bowl, beat the egg whites with the remaining 1/4 c sugar (I use my hand mixer for this, since I'm not cool enough to have a second mixer bowl for my kitchenaid) You beat these until they are shiny with some peaking, but you don't want to overbeat.  

Then, you fold these into your cake batter, after you have taken a spoonful of the cake batter to taste...it's so buttery yummy...and at this point, it doesn't have raw eggs in it.  Be careful, you need to have some left for the cupcakes.  You only fold these in until incorporated....never over fold...that would be crazy.  

Bake at 350 Degrees for 20-24 minutes.  

Careful not to fill your cupcakes too full, these babies rise quite a bit.  

So first you bake all the cupcakes...and realize how much easier this process would be if you had more than one oven...and if any of your ovens were convection ovens...and then you keep baking...24 cupcakes at a time...you smile...and drink more coffee!  

Once all of your cupcakes are cooling, you look to frosting action!  My favorite part...My favorite frosting is one that is not too sweet (thankfully that's the kind Nicole likes too...so I was so excited to make it) it is a whipped vanilla buttercream as the base for 3 of four of my frostings.

Whipped  Vanilla Buttercream 

(Inspired once again by Organic and Chic)

2 sticks butter 

 1 cup sugar

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla

First I make the flour part, because for this recipe it has to cool.  (I have since the wedding actually started cooling it in the mixer, instead of waiting it out in the fridge)

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, flour, and vanilla. Wisk it constantly (using a small wisk works best so stuff doesn't get stuck in the pan) on medium heat until it boils, reduce the heat and let it cook (still wisking) just until it has thickened. *Just do your best on getting it to boil...it burns easily* the important part is getting it thick.  Cool this mixture to room temp.  

In your mixer, cream the butter and sugar on high for 5-7 minutes.  

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat it to death...seriously, watch the amazingness of the texture it creates.  Then grab a spoon...try it out.. very yummy.  

For the Espresso frosting:

Add a lot of finely ground espresso and mix

  YES, real espresso.  

For the Strawberry Frosting:

Add homemade strawberry sauce or strawberry jam...taste to make sure the level of strawberriness is what you want, be careful not to alter the texture of your frosting too much, you don't want it runny.  

For Vanilla Bean: 

Add Vanilla Bean Paste

I would recommend having one base for Multiple frosting's when doing big batches....makes it so much more simple. 

Chocolate Frosting 

(called Dark Chocolate Secret Frosting in Organic and Chic)

Cute that she calls it secret because her husband doesn't like sour cream...but since he doesn't know there is sour cream in it, he loved it...it makes it SO yummy)

8 ounces unsweet chocolate

1 stick of butter

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla 

pinch of salt

2 1/2 c powdered sugar

3/4 c sour cream

Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler...or however you want.  Set aside to cool

In your mixer, combine the chocolate mixture with vanilla and salt on low speed.  

Slowly add the powder sugar, mix on low until combined.  

Add the sour cream, increase the speed to medium and beat until thick.  

You should put this on immediately and then if you put it in the fridge for a few minutes (15) it will set up nicely. ..Or if you live in Minnesota, you can put it outside in it's box for a November wedding!!

With the help of my mother in the boxing up process (she used to box up baked goods for a living), I was done in just enough time to shower (was covered in flour, chocolate, frosting, and who knows what else) and make it to the rehearsal dinner that evening. 

The results: SWEET success.  They were so great!  And they looked so pretty.  And people were talking about them all day!  I sound obnoxious...but seriously, making something that someone loves for such a sweet memorable day, I have never felt so accomplished in my whole life.  It meant so much to me to be involved!

Yep...those are leaves...my cupcakes got to hang in a tree...beautiful!

This final pic basically sums up the entire post...the greatness of cupcakes.
I saw one child take a cupcake, lick the frosting, then decide he doesn't like chocolate and put it back in it's leaf.  However, this precious girl, I'm sure ate all of the cupcakes she took...I believe it was 5.

The last three pictures (and the one below) were taken by an extremely talented photographer, Stacy at Radiant Design who happens to be this beautiful little girls Mommy...you can find her work here.  Serious amazingness and super duper fun.

A beautiful day...a beautiful couple... an extraordinary friendship.

 

It is Well With My Soul

On Thursday March 3rd, I went to a celebration.  A celebration of a man's life.  A dear man, whom I've known all my life.  He was my Great Uncle.  Don't get me wrong, I don't enjoy funerals, but this was so overwhelmingly beautiful....every person in the room knew that he was in Heaven....with Jesus.  Knowing this truth about someone you love is so reassuring, so refreshing...it's all the more reason to celebrate his life, with a pain in our hearts for our loss, but a joy overtaking that pain, because of a life lived for the Love of God. 

An exerpt from his obituary:
"He loved Farming, farming, farming, and fishing when he wasn't farming.  Herman touched many lives by his faithful walk with God, despite many trials.  He had a great love for his family, a wonderful sense of humor and what fun he had playing games.  His greatest joy was knowing that his family lived for the Lord." 

I do recall Hermie wanting to help with the harvest well into his elderly years....that drive to grow things and harvest them, it was in his blood.  My fondest memory of Hermie was during a church service when he had told the pastor that he wanted to sing a song for special music.  He didn't get up on stage, they brought him the microphone and he belted out (literally) the most beautiful (scruffy) version of Amazing Grace I'd ever heard....despite not hitting one note, it was evident that he was singing about a Grace that was indeed AMAZING.  As I sat in the row behind him, alligator tears graced my cheeks.  God's grace was never more clearly presented to me than in that song that day.   

During his funeral, all of his grandchildren (my cousins) sang Amazing Grace in memory of him...every verse.  When they got to the verse that sang "When we've been there ten thousand years, we've no less days to sing God's Praise than when we've fist begun."  It hit that he was there...he was just beginning his eternal singing...Praising the Lord who gave him life, gave him breath, and the ability to farm, fish, and have a family, a family that lives on the legacy of a follower of Christ.  It was a bit more quiet while that verse was sung, tears being shed, but great hope that someday we'll join uncle Hermie singing the joyous choruses of the Holiness of God, the greatness of His grace. 

There is something about Hymns.  Many people are revolting against them....but I LOVE them and can appreciate them so much more than most songs that have recently been written.  The lyrics are pure, simple, and continually pointing people to Christ.  Not speaking of how we feel, or what we need or what we want....

Read carefully the words to one of the hymns we sang at Uncle Hermies funeral:

It Is Well With my soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul. 

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

We read that through our eyes as often we do with so many things and not knowing the true history behind it...the man who wrote this, Horatio Gates Spafford, had lost so much.  His life was seemingly, from an outside view, in turmoil. I could tell you my thoughts on this, but you should really just go read the history behind this great hymn....it will take on new meaning.  He's not saying "I'm so happy, I'm so happy"  That's not at all what he means when he says "It is well with my soul"  It's a depth of knowledge of The God who nailed MY sin to the cross, not in part, but the whole of my sinfulness, with His Son, on the cross. And the promise of a day when He will come again...

 

Go here  to read the story about this song and the man who wrote it.  

 

I'm praying that I can more appreciate the "simple" things in life that are not simple at all...but deal with the complexity of a GREAT and HOLY God. 

 

One of the verses underlined in Hermies Bible, which was as worn as his old body lay, was Jeremiah 17:7-8:

 

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and has made the Lord his hope and confidence.  He is like a tree planted along a riverbank, with it's roots reaching deep into the water- a tree not bothered by the heat nor worried by long months of drought.  It's leaves stay green and it goes right on producing all it's luscious fruit."   

May your life and mine continue to produce luscious fruit...and might we say, not because of faulty hapiness, but because of GOD: It is well with my soul

Reality

Inspiration from My Utmost for His Highest Oswald hits the nail on the head:

We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing-- that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grown in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God's assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.

Often times we think that there must be this big elaborate plan for us...because well, we are who we are...and God must have something big in mind. We tend to focus and think about how great God has made US, instead of thinking about how great HE is. Truth of the matter, in the end anything great happening in our lives is because of Him, and we will fall before Him, seeing His great Glory...throwing any crowns or riches at His feet, even though it's not enough...

Look around...God is using today, working all things according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28), if you love Him....this is the big plan, that you would be sanctified (1 Thess. 4:3). Love God, Love others, these are the two greatest commandments...for NOW, not later!

Transition

There is so much change taking place in my life right now...most of it I don't even know the end result. It's the kind of change that makes you question who you are...NOT like why you were created, but more like personality issues.

Please excuse the fact (if anyone is reading this) that I am still trying to figure this thought out in my head...so it might not make sense to anyone but myself.

As humans we think we know what we want and what we like, and in reality I don't have that figured out in my life. AND it seems that as I "grow up" it's getting more confusing. (Yes, I graduated with a counseling degree)

Anywho, what I'm trying to get at is this idea...I just read this section in Francis Chan's book Crazy Love, which is phenomenal!

Each of us, to some degree, fools our friends and family about who we really are. But it's impossible to do that with God. He knows each of us, deeply and specifically. He knows our thoughts before we think them and our actions before we commit them, whether we are lying down or sitting or walking around. He knows who we are and what we are about. We cannot escape Him, even if we want to. When I grow weary of trying to be faithful to Him and want a break, it doesn't come as a surprise to God.

I desperately need God's grace and forgiveness for thinking that I know what's best...and for putting on any sort of persona to make others think anything different than just what I am. I need to be captivated by God's great love for me...not concerned in the least about what others think of me....if I am faithful to HIM, I am who I am...I am who He created me to be in the womb...I will do what He determined for me to do before the foundations of the earth!

I am overwhelmed...and scared....but still in the grip of God. In the grip of Him who holds the world in His hand...and that is a comfort...a scary kind of comfort.