Springtime Farmhouse Quiche

My quest for Spring has brought me back to a favorite

dish that is good anytime, but I love it for a quick

meal to incorporate my abundance of farm fresh

eggs and tasty springtime Asparagus!

You can find my recipe for Farmhouse Quiche

here.

Tonight's version uses sausage and asparagus.

Quiche is one of those dishes that are so

easy to prepare, uses just a few basic ingredients

 yet is impressive enough to serve to

company. It is a lovely Easter Morning

Breakfast dish!

Joining:

 Kathy at A Delightsome Life

for

Home & Garden Thursday!

Deborah Jean at Dandelion House
for
Farmgirl Friday!

A quick lunch with ties to the past

My Grandma was ahead of her time! Back when I was a child, she would fix this for a quick lunch that seemed oh so special to me.  Kids love this sort of thing, and I still adore it today! Top Ramen wasn't even invented yet! (My kids would say, China and Chinese Food wasn't invented yet when I was a kid! :~O ) Good thing about the ramen ~ this is way better .

Here is her 'recipe'!

1 can Campbell's Beef Consomme Soup

1/2 package of Red Rose Gourmet Chinese Egg Noodles(found in the Asian Isle of the grocery store)

Chopped Green Onion

Mix soup according to directions on can ~ (one can water to dilute)

Heat consomme to gentle boil and add noodles.

Cook till soft.

Serve with topping of chopped green onion (and any other additions

as you would ramen soup ~ leftover bits of vegetables and meat or fish, but

I prefer it simple ~ just the way Grandma made it!)



Honey, Wheat and MultiGrain Bread

This loaf has lots of goodies in it.

One of our favorites!

1 1/2 C. Boiling Water

1 C. Rolled Oats

3/4 C. Honey

3 T. Butter

1 C. 10 Grain Cereal (I use Bob's Red Mill)

2 t. Sea Salt

2 T. Yeast

2 C. Warm Water

3 C. Whole Wheat Flour

4 C. Unbleached White Bread Flour

Vital Wheat Gluten

Organic Golden Flaxseed

Chai Seed

Pour boiling water over oats, in a large bowl, let stand 15 minutes.

On top of the oats

Add honey, soft butter, salt, 10 grain cereal, a small handful

of flax seed, a good sprinkling of Chai seed, let stand another

15 minutes without stirring in.

Dissolve yeast in warm water (2 cups). (I scraped out the

remaining honey from the cup and put it in the warm water

just before the yeast.) Let it sit for a few minutes to

get a bit foamy, then add to the oat/cereal mixture and stir together.

Add the Vital Wheat Gluten and the Whole Wheat Flour,

 one cup at a time, and mix well.

Add the White Flour to make a medium soft dough.

Turn onto a floured board and knead for 10 minutes,

or until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in a greased (I used Coconut Oil) bowl.

Grease top and cover with a towel.

Let rise 1 hour in a warm place.

(I use the oven with the light on)

Turn out of bowl and knead again for

a minute or so. Divide dough into 3 portions,

shape into loaves and place into 3 greased loaf pans.

Place the pans on a large cookie sheet, cover with a towel,

and let rise until double in size or about 1 inch above the

pan, about 1 hour.

Remove towel and place in a preheated 400* oven for 5 minutes.

Lower heat to 350* and bake for another 25 minutes,

until loaves sound hollow when tapped.

Turn out of pans and place on a cooling rack.

Brush tops with butter if you like.



Sweet Meat Squash

I have never been a big squash fan.

But I do enjoy eating what I've

grown in my garden.

This year I grew an abundance

of colorful squash and didn't

want to lose the opportunity

to preserve the harvest.

Below are

Rouge Vif D'Etampes pumpkins,

Carnival Acorn Squash

and

silvery blue Sweet Meat Squash

which my Dad was so fond of.

Last night I cooked up one of the Sweet Meat squash

for our evening meal.

It.was.good!

Here is what I did~

Because winter squash have a hard rind,

you will need to help your large knife

with a little persuasion ~ a hammer!

Cut/chop your squash in half.

Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp and

discard, compost, feed to your chickens

 or wash the seeds for roasting.

(Wash and completely dry seeds.

Toss 1 1/2 C. dry seeds with

2T. melted butter

1T salt, garlic salt or other seasoned salt.

Spread out in single layer on baking sheet.

Bake 275* for 15-20 minutes or until

lightly browned.)

Continue to cut your squash into quarters.

Place squash into a parchment lined baking

pan skin side up.

Bake at 350* for 30-40 minutes

or until easily pierced with a fork.

(Sorry, forgot to get a picture of this part)

Carefully remove from pan and scoop the flesh into a bowl.

(I let mine cool till easily handled without getting burned.)

I used and old fashioned potato masher to

'squash' my squash. ;~P

I set half of the squash aside for putting into freezer bags
and freezing for later use.

With the remaining squash

I added butter and brown sugar and

salt and pepper to taste and warmed it in the oven, covered,

and served.

~*~

There are a variety of ways to serve your squash but

this is how my Gramma did it so that is how I do it, too!

This squash also makes delicious 'Pumpkin Pie'!

Pear Honey

Today I picked pears

Tonight I will make Pear Honey!

~ Pear Honey~

Yield 12-16 half pint jars

8 cups (about 3 pounds) peeled, cored, and chopped pears

1 20-oz can crushed pineapple with syrup

10 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Mix all ingredients and cook until pears are tender and mixture thickens, approximately 30 minutes. Place in sterilized jars and seal while still hot.

This recipe comes from Kelli at There is No Place Like Home

(I process mine in a hot water bath canner for 10 minutes)

So good on hot biscuits, toast, waffles or ice cream!

These make really nice gifts, too!



The progress of a bean!

From Garden...

to kitchen...
to jar...

to Done!

9 quarts canned and ready for the pantry!

I'm heading out to pick more today.

:~P

~*~

Joining Jami for Tuesday Garden Party

and

Amy for Barn Hop #26

Thanks, ladies, for hosting these fun parties!

It's time for Mulligan!

At the peek of harvest time in the garden, my Grandmother used to make a creamy, vegetable chowder that she called Mulligan. We waited all year for this delicious soup no matter what the temperatures were outside. My Grandfather used to say it was good to eat hot soup on a hot day. After your tummy was full of good hot soup, you could go outside and the temperature would feel cooler.

Grandma never followed a recipe but just added 'a bunch' of this and a 'handful' of that, so these are general directions as when I make this I don't measure either. This 'recipe' is like making 'Creamed Peas and Potatoes' so if you have ever made that, you won't have any problem making this. It goes something like this ~
Scrub and cut up however many potatoes (we like new potatoes here) that you like ~ red or white, with or without the skins. Cut up some fresh garden carrots into nice bite sized pieces and add to the pot. Throw in one (or two) big handfuls of fresh green beans. Just cover with water and cook until almost tender. Add fresh or frozen petite peas. Cook just a minute to heat peas.
Pour off most of the water and add milk to barely cover vegetables. Heat slowly as the milk is easily scorched. Make a thickener of flour and milk and add to vegetables. I like to add some 'Superiour Touch Better than Bouillon' chicken flavor.
Season with salt and pepper.
Soooo good!