Ozark Trail Bars

I'm on a mission to find a recipe after having Stone Mill's Ozark Blueberry Trail Bars yesterday. My Mother-in-law and I had a 10 o'clock appointment with AARP's free tax preparers at the Boys and Girl's Club in South Fayetteville. She was anxious to have her taxes done, we always worry we're going to have to pay... don't we? She got good news/bad news, the good news is she didn't have to pay and the bad... she didn't get any money back! Oh well, we felt rich somehow when we left there so we headed for a quick lunch at Stone Mill's Bakery and Cafe down on Gregg Street.

They are famous for their whole grain breads and have a delicious menu of homemade soups and sandwiches. It was a cold, blustery day so we both chose a bowl of Chicken and Dumpling soup. It came with two chunks of their crusty French Bread and butter, YUM! The soup was so good, little pinches of dumplings in a thick golden broth. I just know there's a Grandma back there in the kitchen making this one!

Since we were good and just had soup, well kinda good since we both scrarfed down the buttered bread... we decided we'd try the delicious looking Ozark Trail Bars that we saw in the bakery case as we ordered our soup. It was a little hard to look away from the giant iced cinnamon rolls, but they were the size of my hand and I can only eat so much! I went back up to the counter and ordered a mixed berry bar for me and a blueberry bar for Mom. They menu says they are made with whole wheat, rye, barley, oats, and spelt flours. In fact most of their breads are made without any fat, eggs or dairy. Now I'm on an Internet search for a recipe and it's not easy. Anyone have an idea how they did this magic trick... they were out of the this world delicious!

I didn't take my camera, but a quick Google search and I'm finding pictures that "look like" the bars, just not the healthy ingredients. Then I had the bright idea to see if anyone had posted a recipe to Pinterest. Lots of great recipes to try, even its not THE one!

Famous people who may or may not be celebrating a birthday...

Here's a fun little test for you guys to take, see if you can guess who these famous people are!  I'll give you a few hints- 

Likes fava beans...

Loves shoes, anything that is pink or sparkles, just found out she's going to be a Nana this year...

Made Evoo a household word...

Can't get no satisfaction...

Famous judge...

Voted by Time Magazine, Most Influential People in the World...

Stays fit writing her name...

Deal or No Deal...

Can carry a note...

Happy as a Waterboy, Wedding Singer or Big Daddy...

Started as a Pretty Baby...

Still has that same goofy smile... OK, did you guess them right?

Anthony Hopkins, daughter Stephanie who just happens to be celebrating a birthday tomorrow, Rachel Ray, Mick Jagger, Jennifer Lopez, George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones-Douglas, Howey Mandell, Celine Dion, Adam Sandler, Brooke Shields, Eddie Murphy.

Have a Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Walnut Bread

It's a new year and I'm up for some new experiences. I want to stretch myself a little, think outside the box. Monday morning I pinned 2 recipes on Pinterest, one for Snickerdoodle Bread and one for Pumpkin Walnut Bread. When I went back to them later in the day, I realized they were both vegan, no eggs. That worked out great since I had used my last two at breakfast! Joy the Baker's recipe had walnuts, Bakeaholic Mama had Snickerdoodle streusel. Decisions, decisions, which one to make? Starting my "living on the edge" lifestyle had to begin right here. I left out the walnuts, used honey instead of maple syrup and opted for the streusel topping! This makes 2 big loaves, one to eat and one to share! To print the recipe, just click the title...

Vegan Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Bread

makes 2 loaves
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, or just under two cups
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey (replace with maple syrup for vegan)
1/3 cup water
FOR THE  STREUSEL TOPPING:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, I doubled the butter to make it extra-good (replace with oil for vegan)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place a rack in the center of the oven.  Grease and flour two loaf pans and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a medium bowl, carefully whisk together pumpkin puree, oil, honey and water.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold all of the ingredients together.  Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl well, incorporating all the dry ingredients.

Divide the dough between the two greased pans and sprinkle with the streusel topping.  Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from the oven.  Let rest in the pans for 15 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack. Delicious served warm with a smear of butter!

Blasts from the Past

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Remember these? Percale sheets, smooth and silky... they came out of the dryer looking like they'd been freshly pressed. I never see percale sheets in the stores anymore. Wondering why did the trend go to 100% cotton that looks like a truck ran over it unless you do iron? We had these exact sheets, my oldest daughter nearly fell out of her computer chair laughing when she came across this post on Pinterest the other day! Psycho psychedelic daisies she called them... I loved the pink and yellow daisies, they were my favorite sheets. If I still had them I'd put them on the one double bed we have left and sleep in there in Hippie Heaven! 

I don't know what happened to them, I guess they wore out. It's only been 43 years since we married! That first apartment on Church Street in Fayetteville was so cOoL! We had avocado green shag carpet and burnt orange drapes. The only pictures I have of that apartment is our first Christmas tree, no people, just the tree. We had one of those little Kodak Instamatic cameras, the one with the cube flash on top but picture taking was way down my list of importance at that stage of my life! The furniture in this retro pic has the horrible Danish Modern that furnished our first place. Avocado green ruled the universe in 1970!

A few years later when we bought a house, we added a fireplace just like this. When it was on, it got so hot it became a fire hazard after about 15 minutes. So, basically, we didn't use it... it just looked cool. Shag carpet, yeah baby, and we had a carpet rake... did you have one of those?

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I don't know where my burnt orange fondue set went, 

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-or the melamine bowl that we used for popcorn.

I DO still have the dishes we started out with, a Noritake pattern called Sunnyside. It has yellow daisies and gold mums and always makes me feel hippy dippy happy! Guess what???? I just found more Sunnyside, you can never have enough... and a great site for treasures!

So, what have you hung onto that's now considered "vintage" (older than Methuselah)? Maybe a little contest to see who holds onto stuff the longest!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

How can I be this old and never known how to open a banana correctly?
Monkeys have been doing this all along.. 
you simply pinch the opposite end to open perfectly, no strings! Found this on Pinterest, my home away from home... you know what I mean. I pin and learn, pin and relax, it's not an addiction~ I'm preparing for a big test down the line!

This isn't the only thing, there are other things I've been doing all wrong...

Here's another DUH moment, basketweave your bacon for that perfect BLT! Just cut the slices in half and weave under and over, bake or fry and you will have bacon in every single bite!

So irritating when I boil eggs and peel away over half the egg white ending up with UGLY deviled eggs. For perfectly peeled eggs every time, just add a teaspoon of baking soda to the water you boil them in! 

Soggy tacos that break and fall apart ruining your fiesta? From America's Test Kitchen, a better way to make your taco. Just line your shell with a lettuce leaf... why didn't I ever think of that??? More tips on making the perfect taco when you visit their website!

I have a drawer full of gadgets for each and every thing I do in the kitchen. All I need is a pair of tongs to get that last drop out of those expensive lemons and oranges!

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Cutting cherry tomatoes one by one? Yes, that's how I do it too! A much faster way is to sandwich them between two plastic lids and you're done in no time!

One last tip and this is a good one... hate to peel potatoes? A quick dip in boiling water and the skins slip right off, who knew!

Saving time and money- thank you Pinterest!

Visit my Kitchen Secrets board on Pinterest

America the Beautiful

On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison, "it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles."

Many of us feel like this upcoming election is futile, incapable of producing any useful results. That kind of thinking wasn't a factor in the minds of any of the following Americans who made their dreams come true no matter the mountains they had to climb.

Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) In 1869 ,Heinz began packing foodstuffs on a small scale in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. It was there he founded Heinz Noble & Company with a friend, L. Clarence Noble, and began marketing horseradish.The company went bankrupt in 1875, but the following year Heinz founded  F Heinz, with his brother and a cousin. One of this company’s first products was tomato ketchup.

William Wrigley Jr. (September 30, 1861–January 26, 1932) Wrigley was a salesman and industrialist. Wrigley started his own business in 1891, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in Chicago selling Wrigley’s Scouring Soap. In 1892 Wrigley got the idea of offering two packages of chewing gum with each can of baking powder. The idea was such a huge success that he began marketing chewing gum under his own name.

Edison's To-Do List... AWESOME!

Theodore Roosevelt, then U.S. Vice President, delivered a speech at the Minnesota State Fair on September 2, 1901 in which included the famous phrase…”Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far”. He was referring to the idea of negotiating peacefully, but carry a “big stick”, or the military, for political power.

Presidents with direction and abilities to lead our country...

June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act, know as the Interstate Highway Act. Ike was convinced of the overwhelming need for safer and speedier highways. He had served as a young Lieutenant Colonel in the Transcontinental Convoy, and had seen the ease of German autobahns during World War II. The President also felt that newer, multi-lane highways were essential to a strong national defense.

October 1, 1890: Yosemite Established as National Park On this day in 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed a bill into law creating Yosemite National Park. This law decreed that about 1,500 square miles of public land in the California Sierra Nevada would be preserved for the public trust.

...and the foresight to preserve what was important.

“A garden for every child, every child in a garden.” -The United States School Garden Army On May 5, 1917, Herbert Hoover was appointed by President Wilson to be the United States Food Administrator.  The U.S. had just entered World War I, and Hoover mobilized Americans to produce and conserve food supplies.  Among the kitchen war efforts were Meatless Mondays and Wheatless Wednesdays.

Defining moments in our history where we pulled together as a nation, giving us a sense of pride in being an American.

Construction of the Empire State Building

After 14 years of construction, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York was opened to traffic on May 24, 1883. The bridge, originally referred to as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. It connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River with 1,595.5 feet.

What do all of these people have in common? They were all brave enough to make their dreams come true. It didn't matter that their goals seemed impossible, they just kept trudging on to achieve. Americans are like that, we believe we CAN and that will be our saving grace. We've got a lot of hard work ahead of us in the next 4 years, maybe in the next 20 to correct the mess we are in. But there has to be a starting point, I'm hoping we can begin November 7th.

*All photos and links can be found on America the Beautiful board on Pinterest.

Pumpkin Spice Donuts

I have a case of the cozies since the weather has turned off chilly, all I want to do is huddle by the fire and bake. Sunday was one of those days. We watched an old movie in the afternoon and then a few episodes of American Pickers. It didn't matter that we'd seen them before, we like that show. I resisted the urge to make anything sweet until sometime after supper... that's when I remembered a recipe that I'd posted on Pinterest for Pumpkin Spice Donuts. 

Pumpkin. Spice. Donuts. 

Those three words are dangerous all by themselves, but put them together and I have a "situation." It took 5 minutes to find the pin, roughly 10 minutes to make them and 12 to bake. They were delicious and tasted very much like that famous place with the sign that says "HOT DONUTS"... you know the one. Keep this recipe handy for the next time you are jonesing for KK, it'll save you a drive across town!

Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes
1 3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk
Coating:
1/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a separate bowl, combine oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk.  Mix well. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stir until just combined.  Fill muffin cups about 2/3 of the way full with your cookie scoop. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they test done with a toothpick. Mine were perfect in 12 minutes.
Melt butter in a small bowl.  In a different small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon.  After donuts are done and have cooled enough to handle, dip them in the butter and then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. 

*I had the cinnamon and nutmeg, but didn't have the allspice and cloves so I just added a rounded half teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice. Worked great since I'd already started the recipe and couldn't turn back at this point!

Made You Smile!

We all like to feel proud of our hometown, this one might be a little hard. But who am I to judge, this may be the best little place to live that ever existed!

And for this guy, his dog probably considers this "quality time!"

The things that make us smile, what tickles your funny bone?

Chris Farley ♥

Sad but true...

: ) Hobart!

Hope these gave you a chuckle this morning! All are pinned on Pinterest Made You Smile with attribution to those who posted! Join in on the fun...

Are you watching me?

We love to set outside in the summer, but this year's extreme heat has kept us indoors a big part of the time. There's just few things more pleasant than setting outside under a tree with a big glass of iced tea.

The only time now that we can enjoy the patios is late in the day, just as the sun is going down. I usually water the few flowerbeds that have survived the deer and the heat. I don't know which one has taken the biggest toll this year!

But sometimes I get a funny feeling, like I'm being watched...

I know, that sounds silly. We've lived out here on Granny Mountain 7 years now and there's nothing to be afraid of. Lots of times I even go up to the mailbox after dark. 

When the moon is out, you can see the deer standing right at the edge of the yard. They watch us closely... "Deer Buffet" starts when the living room lights go off! 

  I wonder who tells them that the coast is clear?

*All animal photos via Pinterest