Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Prayer of Thanksgiving


From time to time I take my robust good health for granted.  This morning I was visiting with my mother (over the phone) while she was busy with last minute Thanksgiving preparations.  She was telling me about her upcoming travels and the many things that needed to be done in the next few weeks.  One of the items on her "to-do" list was making dinner for a local family.  This family is gracefully walking through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  Dad is a pastor, mom is a homemaker and schools her 6 children at home.  They live a quiet, simple and wholesome life.  And mom has inoperable cancer.  The oldest child has accepted the mantle of womanhood and is schooling and caring for her younger siblings, while she cooks, cleans and runs the home.  Two nights a week, in an effort to ease this young lady's burden, my parent's church provides a meal for the family.  It is a small gift, but a gift born of love.

As we prepare for Thanksgiving this year, we will be giving thanks for the bountiful health we enjoy.  But as we give thanks, we will also remember those that are walking a very different path.  We will thank God that He is caring not only for the healthy but especially for the sick, the tired and the weak.  He truly is The Great Physician.

I Needed the Quiet
 
I needed the quiet so He drew me aside
Into the shadows were we could confide
Away from the bustle where all day long
I hurried and worried when active and strong.
 
I needed the quiet, tho at first I rebelled
But gently, so gently, my cross he upheld
And whispered so sweetly of spiritual things
Tho weakened in body, my spirit took wings
To heights never dreamed of when active and gay
He loved me so greatly he drew me away.
 
I needed the quiet.  No prison my bed,
But a beautiful valley of blessings instead
A place to grow richer, in Jesus to hide.
I needed the quiet, so he drew me aside.
 
Alice Hansche Mortenson
1944


A beautiful Thanksgiving to you all.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Boasting Rights


Once again Miss Serenity has hunting boasting rights.  She is our most faithful hunter (she LOVES it) and has been rewarded with a buck that is even bigger than last years catch. 

This year Serenity hunted in an open field with no discernable cover.  In order to get into the field before the deer came up the draw, Serenity borrowed Sir Knight's ghillie suit and SSG and staked out her little plot of land just before evening overtook the daylight. 

First, the doe's ventured into the field, grazing while their ears twitched, alert for possible danger.  Satisfied that there was no immediate threat, a buck gracefully trotted to join his harem.  Two hundred yards away, Miss Serenity followed the buck in her site.  Adjusting the windage, she slowed her breathing, set the first trigger and then gently squeezed the second trigger.  Two ragged steps and a somersault later her trophy lay on the ground. 

Within minutes, Serenity had called home and Sir Knight, Master Hand Grenade and the two little children were by her side, preparing to gut her kill and haul him home (she shot him just across the road from the shouse).  An hour later, he had been gutted, skinned and hung in our shed.

As evening fell on Little Shouse on the Prairie, Miss Serenity regaled us with her newly minted hunting stories and we thanked God for His wonderful bounty.



Sunday, November 16, 2014

Rubber Cake - The Quintessential Survival Cake


During my childhood in the hinterboonies of the American Redoubt, when our family wanted a quick chocolate fix but we had nothing in the pantry, my mother would throw together one of our favorite cakes - Rubber Cake.  I'm not entirely certain why it is called Rubber cake, since it doesn't have the consistency of rubber, but it is one of the most interesting cakes in my recipe box.  My understanding is that it was developed by an ingenious housewife during the depths of the depression when resources were scarce.   Necessity is the mother of invention! 

This cake requires no dairy - butter or milk - and is leavened not by eggs but by vinegar and baking soda (I know - vinegar in a cake!).  The result is a moist cake that is perfect alone, sprinkled with powdered sugar or frosted.  Our favorite way to serve this cake is warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!!


Rubber cake is not the least bit crumbly so it is perfect for the lunchbox as well as afternoon tea.  Another benefit?  It is mixed and baked in the same pan - no other bowls to get dirty!  Because it requires no fresh ingredients, Rubber cake is the Quintessential Survival Cake.

Rubber Cake

1 1/2 C flour
1 C sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 T cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda

Sift together above ingredients into a 9" cake pan (or double the recipe and use a 9"x13" cake pan).  The pan does not have to be greased or floured.

Make 3 wells in the mixture.

Put the following in the separate wells;

6 T vegetable oil in one well
1 T vinegar in one well (I use white vinegar)
1 tsp. vanilla in one well

Pour 1 C of water over the top and mix well.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Serve cold with white, caramel or chocolate frosting.

Three indentations

Filling the wells

One overflowed a bit!

All mixed together

Just out of the oven

A lovely way to end the day!

Monday, November 3, 2014

Fantastic (Oven) Fried Chicken



Recently Maid Elizabeth came across a recipe for oven-fried chicken, thought it looked fabulous and asked me to work it into our dinner menu rotation.  She, along with Master Hand Grenade, had been craving fried chicken for awhile but knew that it was like pulling teeth to get me to make it for dinner.  Although I like fried chicken (minus the grease) I don't like making it - so fried chicken is a once a year (at the most) rarity at our house.  Elizabeth's oven-fried recipe looked remarkably good, and easy, so I put it on the menu and eagerly anticipated giving it a try.

Since our first oven-fried chicken experiment, we have had it every other week - without fail!  It is that good!  We love it piping hot, fresh out of the oven, and we love it cold the next day (or later, after dinner has been digested) for lunch.  It is crunchy and tasty and not the least bit greasy (which I really like).  Best of all?  It's relatively quick and very easy.

Generally I just cut up chicken breast to make this dish, however that is pretty decadent.  I think that a cut-up fryer would work equally well - I would just bake it a bit longer.

We love this chicken with mounds of fluffy mashed potatoes and chicken gravy, but it would be just as wonderful with potato salad or whatever suits your fancy.

Fantastic Oven-Fried Chicken

4 or 5 Chicken breasts (I cut each breast into about 3 pieces)
10 T butter

Breading mixture
2 C flour
1 tsp. salt
2 T seasoning salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 T + 1 tsp. paprika 

3 eggs + a splash of milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place the butter (cut into chunks) on two large baking sheets and put into the oven to melt.

In a bowl combine the flour, salt, seasoning salt, pepper and paprika.  Mix well.  Measure 1/2 of the mixture into a plastic bag, leaving the other 1/2 in the bowl.  (You can forgo the plain salt if desired).

In a separate bowl whisk eggs and milk.

Put the strips of chicken into the plastic bag with the flour mixture and shake until well coated. 

One at a time, roll a coated piece of chicken in the egg mixture, roll in the flour mixture in the bowl (this will coat the chicken twice) and place on a cookie sheet.  Continue with all of the chicken pieces.

Take your baking sheets out of the oven once the butter has melted and transfer the coated chicken to the baking sheets, leaving space between each piece.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes.  Gently flip each piece and bake for another 10 to 12 minutes. 

Check to make sure the chicken is cooked through (this can vary depending on the thickness of the chicken pieces) and bake another 5 to 10 minutes, if needed (don't over bake - the chicken will dry out). 

Removed to a plate lined with newspaper or a paper towel to soak up any excess grease.  Serve immediately.

Butter on the baking sheet

Chicken cut into large chunks

Two bowls, one with egg and the other with breading

A bag of breading to coat chicken the first time

Place coated chicken on hot baking sheet with melted butter


Turn chicken

(oven) Fried chicken!