We Like Making Our Own Stuff

I purposely made extra meatloaf so that I could try this recipe out, it sounded so delicious.  It combines two of my favorites:  meatloaf and fried breading. The recipe should be useable for any meatloaf, as long as it holds its shape once chilled, so that it can be sliced and breaded.  The recipe we use is my husband's, and it came from his Betty Crocker cookbook .  He has modified it over the years, perfecting it for our family's tastes (the most important modification is the topping--ketchup, bbq sauce, and honey). So, the next day, when your leftover meatloaf has chilled into a firm lump, you can slice it up, bread it, and fry according to the recipe.  I served the meatloaf with a basic beef stock gravy, but I would imagine that a white country gravy would be just as tasty.  It also would be delicious served on homemade buns for sandwiches.  The recipe can be halved, double, tripled--whatever you need to do to get the right proportions for the ...

Are you a procrastinator like me?  There's nothing like last minute.  Luckily, time crunches can inspire great ideas. This Valentines Day card is very simple, requires minimal supplies, and above all else, is creative and handmade.  The ultimate display of affection is assembling something with your own massive, callused, hairy hands. All you will need is: Heavy paper (Use what you have:  card stock, a cereal box, a manilla folder, even construction paper will work in a pinch) Newspapers, magazines, junk mail (Anything with lots of big letters printed on it) Scissors Glue Markers  The assembly is quite simple: First, fold the heavy paper in half to form a card. Next, cut out letters from newspapers and such to make a message of your choice.  Since the card has a ransom letter look to it, you may want to make your message pretty ransom-ey. Cut out hearts from any kind of paper you'd like.  I used a combination of construction p...

It was one of the first things I learned when I began making my own soap; I read it in books and on the internet: "Always keep a jug of vinegar on hand when you are working with lye.  Vinegar neutralizes lye." Soapers, have you heard this?  Do you practice the habit of keeping vinegar nearby when you make your soaps?  So did I, until recently, when I read an interesting post on a soap forum, and then decided to research the claim myself.

Soft and fluffy, these buns are great as a side with salad, to use as sandwich rolls, hamburger buns, or even just eaten buttered as a snack.  I take advantage of my bread machine's dough cycle to make these buns, but they can just as easily be made with a mixer or by hand. When making any bread recipe, you may need to slightly adjust the amount of flour or milk added, depending on the humidity levels in your home.  If the dough looks too dry, add a little drizzle of milk; conversely, if the dough is too sticky, sprinkle in a little more flour.  The dough should form a smooth ball and be springy to the touch.  As my husband says, "It's all in the dough ball!" Everything Buns ( Click for Printable Version ) The Dough: 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons milk 1/4 cup honey 3  tablespoons melted butter 4 cups bread flour 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons fast acting yeast The "Everything" Topping: 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoon water sesame seeds poppy see...

This recipe for deviled eggs is great for anyone who doesn't like or is avoiding mayonnaise.  These deviled eggs are pretty enough to put out for Christmas dinner, but also fast and easy enough to make for a weekday snack.  The method used to hard boil the eggs also ensures nice, yellow yolks--no unattractive green.  This recipe is easily doubled, tripled, etc...

I'll be honest, the only reason I made my own freshly ground taco seasoning is because I ran out of chili powder on taco night (the most sacred of nights).       I had a container of dried ancho chiles that had been sitting around for quite some time though, so I thought, why not grind them up into chili powder? Since I also have all kinds of dehydrated goodies, like onion flakes and sun-dried tomatoes, I decided to dip into my stash and freshly grind all sorts of things.  I used a mortar and pestle for some ingredients, like the cumin seed, but found it to be too difficult to grind the peppers and tomatoes that way, so I switched to the coffee grinder for those.  I ground some uncooked white rice in the grinder before and after the spices so that my taco seasoning wouldn't taste like coffee, and my coffee wouldn't taste like taco seasoning. This recipe is great for those who like to preserve their food by dehydrating.  The type of chile...

Ask me to finely dice an onion, and I'll do it.  Tell me I have to strip the leaves off a huge bunch of thyme, and fine, it's done.  Command me to peel five pounds of potatoes, and your wish is granted!  But ask me to roll out a pie crust, and you can kiss my apples. For some reason, rolling out dough is probably my least favorite kitchen task.  I don't make cut out cookies, perfectly round biscuits (only drop biscuits), or fancy pie crust.  Rolling out dough generally turns into a sticky mess for me, so I avoid it. But you know, sometimes, I miss pie. My good friend pie.  So now, I make a press-in-the-pan pie crust so that pie and I can spend time together.  It's very simple--I haven't screwed one up yet--and tastes just as good as a rolled out crust.