Tasty Tuesday

Last week on my 'other' blog I talked about some cupcakes I made. Then it hit me that I should put up the recipe for you here! It's not fancy or even traditional scandinavian, but it does fit in with the season here in the states.
Please, enjoy!


Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cupcakes:
1 box of yellow cake mix
ingredients listed on package, minus water
1 can of pumpkin puree
1-1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
Mix all ingredients together, and divide among 24 paper cupcake liners - batter will be thick.
Bake at 350F for 15-18 min until toothpick comes out just clean. Cool well while you're mixing the frosting.

For the Frosting:
2 packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp of vanilla
1-3 tsp of Cinnamon, as desired.
Whip them all together, adding the cinnamon until it has the right amount of cinnamony goodness for your personal tastes.
Pile onto cooled cupcakes & top with a candy corn, if desired.

They are tasty, pumpkin-y and fit well into my tastebuds with the fall weather.

Don't Mess With Mama!

A couple of weeks ago, my hubs informed me that one of my favorite birds had not only shown up for the year, but had already set up shop. OH BOY!!! I was a little worried when he described where Ms. Killdeer had chosen to place her nest. It's in the general area between my roundpen, and the fence. This could be problematic when it comes time to mount my horse.

Of course, the first thing I had to do was to go out & find the nest. Why not bring the camera with me? I do love these little birds! They are so cool!

So, camera in hand, I walked out, fed the horses, and removed the lens cap. Time to hunt for my little feathered friend. It was a frosty morning, so I figured she'd stay on the nest as long as she could to keep from getting them cold - boy oh boy. I got within 10 feet of her on the nest before she stood up. Then she hot footed it FAST a good 30 feet away to play her little dance. You see, because they have a ground nest, Killdeer mothers will pretend to have a broken wing to draw predators away from the nest.

What can I say? There are some excellent mama Killdeer out there. I have seen some excellent shows put on by these girls- one year, one of them even rolled over on her back crying like she was ready to croak any second! This one just wanted back on the eggs.

But she put on a pretty good act anyhow. So, I snapped a few shots of her doing her thing.... then I crept over just a little more, and snapped a pic of the nest. I like to know how many long legged fluff balls I need to watch out for. There are 4 dirty rotten cats that hang out here, and I didn't want to draw too much attention to the nest.

I can't wait to try to get pics of them. They are adorable!!! The other thing that was so cool about this mama - after I stood up to leave, she just kind of did a double take. Like 'what? no chase??'

Later in the day, I went out to start cleaning up the pasture of winter debris, and as I walked past her, she didn't even get up.

The following day when I rode my horse, she didn't get up. She just watched me as we tromped within a few feet of her, with hardly a care on her little feathered face. We walked over ground poles (also quite close to her) and she just watched us. I guess she figured out I wasn't out to get her.

When I showed Rosie last week, I peeked over at her to see if she was going to panic, but I tell you, I have never seen a Killdeer that was so relaxed in my presence. She just seems to know that I mean no harm. And I love it. She is so very cool.

Potato Bacon Soup

Here in southwestern Michigan, we have had one strange spring so far. Not strange for here, mind you - just strange in general. In the span of a month, we went from a semi-gradual warm up to record high temps for 3 days straight .... yep. We went to a semi normal 45 all the way up to 80 - 82. There were a few days of upper 70's both before and after the 80 days, but remember, this is April. The red buds have fallen off the trees and the leaves have been poppin' out and starting to green up the landscape. Lawns all over the whole area are starting to look like they might be expecting a trim soon.
My cozy winter fare days were looking to be numbered. About to make my springtime switch from thick hearty soups to brothy veggie filled ones. Then, the normal Michigan weather kicked in, and we got a little cold snap. 2 days ago, it was in the 50's. Tonight, our forcasted low is around 24. Good hard freeze. All those poor fruit farmers here in the midwest's 'fruit belt' are going to be taking a hard hit. Peaches, Cherries & Grapes will be hit hardest, I expect. But, that's not really here nor there for me. I don't farm fruit - at least not on a scale that I can't protect it.
No no.... the snow blowing in from the northwest this afternoon on big gusts simply made me crave a good hearty soup. Oh yeah. Something that is really 'guy friendly'. Something that you can have with a little homeade bread & butter & be happy. Something that can go good with beer - but doesn't have to. Something like potato soup .... only more manly. Oh, I got it... Add bacon.



It's really simple, tastes heavenly, and I haven't met a guy yet that wouldn't at least try it. Killer fare, ya know? So .... here are the basics. I don't have a set recipe. You just kinda go with what works best, and for how many people will be eating it.
For a family of 4 - 6 people for dinner, or more than that for 'cups' at lunch time, try this:

Start with a pound of bacon, diced into bite sized pieces, and throw 'em in a big ol pot. Get them nice & browned & crispy, then throw in a good sized *not monster* onion all diced up, and let the onions turn clear - do NOT brown them!! (you can also use 2-3 leeks here, if you don't like the flavor of onion quite so much.... makes for a milder soup)
When the onions are clear, add in a few inches of chicken broth, and 3-4 cubed potatoes. Let cook for a while, until the potatoes are cooked through, then pull out your masher & smash about half of them. At this point you will want to add in some half & half or heavy cream. You can put in a little butter, if you feel it needs it - what the heck! Why not?
If you like it thicker, add more potatoes when you get to that point, as written, it's pretty thin. I like it thicker, and even have been known to add some flour to the mix to thicken it, or if I hit the liquid too hard, even some potato buds to thicken it up a bit.
Ladle it out, sprinkle on some chives, and more crumbled bacon, if you got it (or cheese if you swing that way) and make sure you have some good warm homemade (or like homemade) bread along with it. It is incredible.

Enjoy it, and please, let me know if you try it how it turns out!

Aftermath of Christmas

WOW. Those last few days snuck up on me so quick, I didn't get the chance to put up the rest of the cookies I wanted to share - I'm sure that my husband won't complain though. If I'm not baking anymore christmas cookies, then I must be done as he puts it "trying to make him fat". Sure. That was the plan all along, not christmas cheer or tradition - a conspiracy to make you eat your own weight in butter, sugar and almond. Riiiiight. This is what it was really about .....

Yep. It was all about the kiddos, and seeing as this was his first Christmas, and his first spritz cookies .... well. That's what counted in the cooking section to me, anyhow. Sure, my older boy got plenty of his favorites, but he wisely hoarded his in front of my tv with the door closed so no one could take his picture as he scarfed them down.

I'll be back soon with new ... wait, OLD scandinavian recipes again soon. Taking a short break from the cookie explosion that occured here not even a week ago.

Happy Holidays & Blessings in the new year!

Day 9 Christmas Cookies - Sandbakkelser

Sand Cakes are light buttery tarts that can be filled up with berries (lingon is my fave) cream, puddings - use your imagination, or keep them plain. They are delightful that way too!

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 cups of flour
1 tsp almond flavor
1 Tbs. almond paste

Heat the oven to 375*, and lightly grease your sand bakkel tins.
Mix up the batter as normal - butter & sugar creamed, then in goes the egg, and almond paste & extract, then the flour. The batter should be able to pull away from the bowl just a little bit when you ask it to. With floured fingers, pull off a tablespoon or so of dough, roll it into a ball and press it into the tin's bottom and sides. Do the same with the rest of the tins - just keep in mind different tins hold different amounts of dough.
Put them all on cookie sheets and pop 'em in the oven 10 - 15 min. You'll want to check them at just before 10 minutes and watch them carefully so they don't burn.
Remove from oven and let them cool a little before popping them out of their tins. Wait until they are totally cooled before you try to fill them with anything.

Makes around 30 tarts

Day 8 Christmas Cookies - Norwegian Goro

In contrast to an earlier cookie, we now have Norwegian RICH Man's cakes :D Named so because they contain such rich, expensive ingredients (well, for the time period, mind you) and because they require the use of a really fancy pants iron that was usually custom made for the families - not something my farmer ancestors could afford, but they sure look lovely . They have also been referred to as Norway's most beautiful cookie.

Goro:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla or almond

1 cup of whipped cream (at stiff peaks)

1 cup melted butter

1 Tbs. brandy (any flavor)

6 - 7 cups flour (start with 6, and if you need it, add the last cup later - you don't want it too stiff)

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Beat eggs, sugar & vanilla - fold in the cream & butter. Mix in brandy, sift the dry ingredients and mix into the batter. You want it to be about the same as bread dough.

Roll out the dough to around oh, 1/8 inch thich, cut to fit the goro iron.

NOW, put the dough in place on the HOT iron one at a time. It kind of works like a waffle iron at this point - an old fashioned waffle iron that needs to be flipped over. Do that. The whole cooking process should take 3 minutes or so on each side, until they are golden brown. Turn them out onto a cooling rack and cut them apart while they are still warm to keep them from breaking. Keep them in an airtight container, and enjoy!

Day 7 Christmas Cookies - Pepparnotter

Pepper nuts! Pfeffernuesse, Pfeffernussen, Pepperkaker, Pebernoder - it's all the same thing.
Pepper, nutmeg, and cardamom flavor this little treat

This is one of the oldest Christmas cookies in existence! They date back to medieval times when spices were only used for baking - pepper included. Just about every scandinavian country has their own little version of this little cookie, all of them fantastic. This particular recipe is Swedish in origin, cuz that's how I roll. They are hard and crisp, and have a little bite to them.

1/2 pound butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
**almonds or hazelnuts

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy (I think all my cookie recipes start like this) Gradually stir in the cream, then sift the dry ingredients together. Add dry slowly into the butter mix. Mix by hand until you have a soft dough that sticks together well. Chill the dough 20 minutes or so and form into small balls. Press a nut into each ball, and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350* for 18- 20 minutes or until firm and browned.
Makes apx. 10 dozen cookies

** Special note*** these cookies are very peppery and spicy when freshly baked. You may want to store them in tupperware for a couple of weeks to mellow before you dive in.