Bring On Lemons

I just received a text asking if I knew of any delicious recipes for a snowy day here in Wisconsin (its 50 below with the wind chills and schools and businesses are closed). So I figured it's a great day to share a delicious recipe for stuffing and pork chops! Enjoy! Stuffing: 1 lb pork sausage 1 T butter 6 stalks celery (chopped) 1 large onion (chopped) 1 loaf of slightly older bread (ripped into small pieces) 1 C chicken broth and a dash of each of the following to taste: sage thyme salt pepper Fry up the pork sausage on the stove top and drain off any excess grease. Add the onions, celery, and spices and fry them with the pork sausage until celery and onions are tender. While that's cooking, put your bread crumbs into a covered baking dish. Once the pork mixture is done, mix it into the bread crumbs along with the broth. Depending on the type of bread, you may have to adjust the broth accordingly. You want the mixture moist but not soggy. Right before baking, I...

Happy Harvest Time! Here I am in my little corner of the cornfield here in lovely Wisconsin. The nights are getting cooler and we are in the middle of many things, one of them being chopping hay and right around the corner will be the corn. I've been busy canning spaghetti sauce, corn, tomato juice,  ketchup, salsa, and applesauce. Next up comes the pears, more apples, pumpkin, and then we can start the process for sauerkraut. This is a busy yet rewarding time of the year. I'm first going to give you the recipe for this delicious caramel apple cake with cream cheese frosting and then I'll also give you the recipe for my homemade applesauce as well as the homemade caramel. You can absolutely make the recipe with store bought ingredients though - so don't be intimidated! This cake embodies everything fall to me - enjoy it with a steaming latte in the wee hours of the morning and start your day off on the right foot! Hugs, ~Crystal Caramel Apple Cake (aka Apple...

The air is getting crisp and the mornings call for a sweater. The beginning of the school year is upon most of us, and leisurely mornings will no longer be enjoyed during the week. Here are some back to school breakfast solutions that will hopefully simplify your mornings and bring a smile to the entire family! Most of these recipes can be enjoyed fresh as well as being frozen in individual servings to be heated up and enjoyed for tweens, teens, and adults! This post was the idea of a friend who called me this morning asking for breakfast ideas for her two adorable boys - so I apologize for the lack of photos. I'm usually much more prepared for posting...but school starts here in less than a week. I promise I'll add some photos to this post - or if you try the recipes and have photos of your own, please feel free to share them and I'll add them to the post (you can email them to me at: crystaljotto@gmail.com ) Healthier Muffins (or bread) Ingredients: 3 cups whole w...

So - I took a look at a recipe a friend sent me for rhubarb cookies and I tweaked it a bit to ensure I would end up with lots of fluffy melt in your mouth delicious cookies. So here goes: Ruby Doodle Cookies! 3 cups cake flour 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter, melted 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg 1 cup sour cream 2 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups rhubarb, diced Juice from 1/2 lemon (or approximately 2 teaspoons of lemon juice) Set aside another 1/2 cup of sugar and if desired, mix with chi latte mix (you'll use this to roll the cookies in) Pre-heat oven to 350 F and place rack in the middle position. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Step One: Measure and combine in your mixer the sour cream, butter, egg, and vanilla, mix well. Step Two: add salt, sugar, lemon, baking powder, and baking soda. Continue mixing well. Step Three: add rhubarb and again mix well. Step Four: add flour and mix. Batter should be easy to handle (you...

I'm at a bit of an advantage here - since I have access to free milk...but even with buying the milk at the store, this recipe is sure to save you some money on your next grocery bill. Our family of 6 goes through a LOT of yogurt, and I was sick of spending $20-$30 on yogurt, so we started making our own. It's nice to know exactly what your family is eating, and the whey can be used for lacto-fermenting vegetables, taking baths, softening skin, hair conditioner, etc... Here's the scoop: You will need: 8 C (that's 1/2 gallon) of 2% or whole milk 1/2 C original yogurt (non flavored and any brand will do) .... or once you make yogurt, hold 1/2 cup back and use as starter for the next batch a nut bag (if you do this often, it's worth it to have one...otherwise try a cheese cloth...or if need be, line a plastic noodle strainer with coffee filters) a crock pot with "low" setting a candy thermometer an oven a timer (I use the timer on my ove...

Recipes & Baking Instructions Snickerdoodle Cookies (yields about 3 dozen 3 1/2 inch cookies) These are some of Andre’s favorite cookies and an author friend wrote a great book about the missing snickerdoodles (ask Andre about it one day). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and use a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper on the middle rack of the oven. Sift together: ·          2C all-purpose flour (we like unbleached) ·          2 teaspoons cream of tartar ·          1 teaspoon baking soda ·          ¼ teaspoon salt (optional if you are following a low sodium diet) Beat on medium speed until very fluffy and well blended: ·          2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (1/2 pound) ·          1 1/2 C sugar Add and beat until well combined: ·  ...