New Homeschool Cabinet and Deer Jerky

I have to say that I am so thrilled with this project. I love to take old furniture and fix it up and use it for what is was intended to be used for but I really get a kick out of refinishing a piece and re purposing it.

This TV cabinet used to be popular but most people have gone to the big flat screen TVs and they won't fit in these old cabinets. This make them easy to find and fairly cheap. I bought this one for $125.00 and when I was looking on line or in furniture stores for a new cabinet or looking into having one built they were $1,000.00 and up.

All I did was sand it down with my palm sander then paint it black and sand it here and there to distress it. (I like that look) Then I varnished it and let it dry.

My husband removed the inner parts that were for the TV and installed two shelves and a new back. The TV backs have a big hole in them for the old style TVs to stick out. We actually had a big enough piece of Masonite board left over from the cabinet I redone for Portia's closet a couple of years ago. It is just like this one but we installed a clothing bar and painted it a distress yellow/beige. It is very cute and make a really nice piece of furniture for her room.

It's big and black, I have a lot of black furniture in my house and I love it.

 

 It gets a little messy inside but as you can see it gives us three deep shelves and three drawers. The best part is that at the end of the day all the folders and binders go into the cabinet and the doors close and everything is out of sight............For us this is really nice because we don't have a class room.  We do school at the table in the dinning room or at the table in the family room which is really one big room along with the kitchen.

I feel so clever!

 

 

We also made Deer Jerky

 

My husband has made deer jerky for as long as I can remember something like 25 years. I have never really liked it much. (strong for me) This time I asked if we could do some experimenting with the brine recipe.

His calls for Worcestershire sauce and I never really like the taste of it. He was nice enough to go along although the whole while he is saying his recipe could not be beat.....:o)

 

The meat is cut into strips and soaked in a brine for 24 hours. Two of the racks we did in one brine and the other two the brine that he has used for so long. I used a mallet and pounded the meat that I was using in my recipe before it went into the brine. Then it is smoked.  All we have is a small Lil Chief smoker but it works pretty well. I was thinking that a nice one might make a great Fathers Day gift......My husband smokes beef briskets at Christmas time and it is absolutely the best thing you could ever want to eat! The whole family RAVES, I'm not kidding. Even the kids love it.

 This is Tia, she is my new dog that I got last year......she is really hoping that she is going to be looked upon with favor and given a little deer meat treat......

 The meat is place in the smoker and the wood chips are heated be the burner on the bottom. He uses three trays of wood chips and then the meat stays in the smoker until it is done.

Tomorrow he is going to smoke a pork roast to make pulled pork for lunches. mmmmm

 

Here are the brine recipes that we used

 

 

This is hubby's secret recipe:

 

4 C. water

                                                             1 1/2 C. Worcestershire sauce  (I had to look on the bottle to spell it)

1 C. soy sauce

1/4 cup Tabasco sauce

1 C. sugar

1/4 C. salt

 

 

Mine:

1/4 C. salt

1 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. molasses

2 C. water

2 TBSP black pepper

 

Of coarse He still thinks his is best but he did say that mine was really good.....Me? Mine was awesome!  So good, I really liked it and I was right, it was the Worcestershire that i was not liking.

Guess he better get another deer this year. :o)

 

Blessings to all and remember, keep your eyes on the Lord, he will keep your feet from stumbling!

 

 

My Favorite Turkey Brine | The Pioneer Woman Cooks | Ree Drummond

AHHHH, its that time of year, time to make plans for our Thanksgiving dinner. I love to make things special for my family and love to try new recipes. My family is very traditional though so some old family favorites will always be included ( green bean casserole) I have wanted to try brining a turkey for several years now so this year I am going to give Pioneer Woman's recipe a try.

In years past we have smoked our own turkey, roasted it the traditional way and even deep fried it in a turkey fryer (very tasty and moist), but I have never tried marinating my turkey in a brine. I have heard from friends that have tried it and they all tell me that it is wonderful.

This year I am feeling a bit festive so I'm going to give this a try.
I love Pioneer Woman and her recipes, I have her cookbook and use it often. ( I collect cookbooks) I also go to her website often for inspiration.

My Favorite Turkey Brine The Pioneer Woman Cooks Ree Drummond

The Gathering of Friends my favorite cookbooks

I was so excited last weekend when DeWayne and I were invited over to some friends house for dinner, Mike and Debbie Jones are great friends of ours and we try to get together once in awhile. Some times we meet at a restaurant or at each others home. This time we went to their home.   Their home is beautiful, it looks like something out of a magazine. They don't have grandkids yet and their kids are all grown so their house is immaculate! Debbie and I have been friends for nearly 30 years and our tastes and interests are very much alike so we have fun inspiring each other.

Well was I surprised to find out when we got there that she was making dinner with her new volume #3 of
The Gathering of Friends cookbook.......I didn't even know it was out yet.

I'm the one who showed her my cookbooks (volume #1 and #2) and she fell in love with them.....she ordered hers and since then we have both given them for birthday gifts and wedding gifts......everyone loves these cookbooks!!!

Michelle Huckstable, the woman that wrote them is also and interior decorator and the photos in her books of beautiful rooms and beautiful tablescapes are very inspiring. She also has the same taste in decorating as me and Debbie do so we get tons of ideas for our homes from these cookbooks. (who would have ever thought you could get decorating ideas from a cookbook?)
Thanks Michelle!!!


I just ordered volume #3  of my favorite cookbooks of all time....:o)

I have quiet a collection of cookbooks and I love to cook, set a pretty table and have family gatherings.
I started doing dinner parties a few years ago for adult birthdays....I set the table with all the pretty stuff I have collected, tall stemmed cut glass water goblets, colorful place mats, cloth napkins, candles and my red toile dishes that I bought at TJ Maxx (love that store). My mother has even gotten in on the fun and picked up some nice pieces she has come across at yard sales.  SO FUN!!  I also do a nice table for Holidays. Its a great creative outlet for me. The birthday person gets to go through my "The Gathering of Friends" cookbooks and select their menu. With all the grandkids there are 10 of us so I set two tables, one for the adults and one for the kids. I think I have tried most of the recipes in volumes 1&2 and I can't wait to get #3.

So if you like to cook like cookbooks and pretty tablescapes go check out these cookbooks and buy one...... I bet you will love them too!  warning though you'll want to collect them all :o)


Blessings!
*Susan*

Orange Rolls

I love the smell of fresh baked bread in the morning. Especially these orange rolls or cinnamon rolls. mmmm , I love the smell of the yeast in the breads. I also love the look on every ones face when they wake up in the morning and come into the kitchen because they smell something good. ("Now that's what I'm talkin bout ya'll, it just don't git no better then that!")

Sorry, I was born in Texas and sometimes I just blurt stuff like that out. Anyway.......Here is the recipe, enjoy!


Out Of This World Orange Rolls

2 pkg dry yeast
1/4 C. warm water
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. sugar
3 eggs beaten
1 C. warm water
4 1/2 C. flour
2 tsp. salt


soften yeast in the 1/4 cup warm water


In large bowl combine butter, sugar, eggs, the 1 C. warm water and salt. Stir in yeast then 2 1/2 C. of flour. Beat with mixer until smooth. Add the rest of the flour and mix well. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (1 hour).

Punch down, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next morning about two hours before baking divide dough into 2 sections and roll out on a floured surface to 1/2 in. thick. Spread with a thick layer of softened butter and sprinkle with grated orange rind. Roll each section up just like you would cinnamon rolls and cut into 1 in. slices. Place on greased baking sheets, cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes until they look nice and puffy.


Bake at 350 for 11-12 minutes
Frost while still a little warm


Frosting:
1 1/2 C. powered sugar
1 TBSP grated orange rind
2 TBSP orange juice concentrate
3 TBSP butter

Beat well with mixer and spread on warm rolls.
(I used my Kitchen-aid stand mixer until I burned it up...:o( good thing it was still under warranty and they are sending me a new one....Red, of course!)

I have used this dough recipe for cinnamon rolls before and they were wonderful.
Also I have used the dough right away without refrigerating over night and that worked just fine too. I have not made these with fresh whole wheat flour but I am going to give it a try. I would think that you might still want to use part all purpose flour but I'm not sure, I will have to experiment with it and see. If you try it before I do let me know how it works for you.


Try these sometime, your family will love them.
Happy baking!

Blessings!

Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares | The Pioneer Woman Cooks | Ree Drummond

This is a great recipe......My family ate the whole pan in two days.
These are much like lemon bars but I like the crumb topping and the crust better.
I love the Pioneer Woman Cooks. I have her first cookbook and I have used recipies from her blog several times....I use her cookbook a lot.


Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares The Pioneer Woman Cooks Ree Drummond

Someone's in the kitchen with Grammy someones in the kitchen I know

Ok, I won't sing..........The girls had fun making (and eating) "French Muffins" from their French cookbook " Ratatouille".

Jayda, Portia & Paris

Paris is the littlest and always wants to get on the counter to help with the cooking.

Chicken & Bow Tie Pasta

I love to cook but even more I love to bless my family.
My husband however is a picky eater and does not like a lot of ingredients that most people like. It makes it hard to be creative and I love being creative too. So when this recipe for Chicken & Bow Tie Pasta came up in my bible study I knew he wouldn't go for the feta cheese. My father had a birthday coming up so I decided to stop at the store and get all the ingredients for the dish and make it for him on his birthday. My mother got right into the act, she too loves to be creative and try new things. I even took my No Other Gods book with me to the store and opened it up on my cart to use it as a shopping list. I had to laugh and thought of Beth Moores story about her doing that and the people at the store looking at her like she was crazy.

The dish was great I had fun and best of all, my father was blessed!
I will post the recipe for those of you who are not doing the No Other Gods study but might like to try the dish

BECKER'S PASTA

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 lb. bowtie pasta
2pkg. sun-dried tomatoes, softened and cut into strips
1 whole head of garlic (minced)
1 can pitted black olives (chopped)
16 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup pine nuts toasted

Slice chicken into bite sized pieces and saute with sun-dried tomatoes and minced garlic until chicken is cooked through. Cook pasta according to package directions. In large bowl, mix crumbled feta, pine nuts, and chopped olives. After the chicken mixture is done add it to the dry ingredients and toss. When pasta is cooked, add it to the rest of the ingedients and toss again

I found that this serves 4 generously! for a large family you could just double the recipe

Ready to serve! Serve with your favorite bread and dipping oil
Enjoy!