Blog Exceeds 50,000 Views

Tags

000 views, Amish/Mennonite, baking, Basketry, Blog Exceeds 50, Canning, chair caning, cooking, recipes

This weekend my blog exceeded 50,000 views since it was started April 2009! While not as many as other major blogs, I have seen a steady increase in views each year since it was started. I am happy for everyone that finds the things I write about useful.

Since it was started in April 2009, it has went through many changes, in the beginning it was primarily to promote my handmade baskets and chair caning, then as times changed many of my customers and readers wanted to know about canning, preserving and dehydrating (all of which I have always done until the last year) when I was forced out of my apartment of 14 years.

Also since I am from an Old Order Mennonite background, and love to cook, everyone wanted me to share Mennonite and Amish recipes, which I would still love to do, however for the past 7 months that has not been a possibility as the place I am living is just too small to fix the food, and take the pictures for the posts. This has really presented problems for my blog posting.

Though I am looking forward to the coming months, during which I am sincerely hoping things will be improving and once again I can go back to writing for the blog as in the past.

As of today, the blog has had  50,148 views, and is now averaging right around 2,000 views per month.

The top 12 posts during the past 30 days have been. You can tell the holidays are right around the corner as the recipes have seen a sharp increase in views, as people are getting warmed up the the cooler days of autumn and baking and cooking are increasingly on their minds.

If you have any questions or comments on these or any of the other posts feel free to leave a comment. I will respond to your questions.

Home page / Archives 
423

OLD FASHIONED FLAKY PIE CRUST

233

APPLE & SPICE SIMMERING POTPOURRI
97

OLD FASHIONED “REAL” POUND CAKE
85

LEMON POUND CAKE–CLEAR LEMON GLAZE

69

OLD FASHIONED APPLESAUCE CAKE
61

Ribbed Baskets 2

49

Hand Made Cards – Autumn is in the Air

49

CUCUMBERS & ONIONS IN VINEGAR WATER
47

FRESH APPLE/OATMEAL CAKE w/ CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
39

SLOW ROASTED PULLED PORK BBQ
38

Fibonacci Sequence Used in Basketry
36

OATMEAL CAKE w/ BROILED COCONUT ICING

33

 

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AMISH FRIENDSHIP STARTER

Tags

Amish Friendship Cake Starter, baking, flour, Food, milk, pancakes, sugar

Over the past 6 months or so I have had several people ask me if I could give them the recipe for Amish Friendship Starter, we have made this already with several variations.

The only problem with it, is that when the time comes for friends to give the starter to, when you divide it up, is that all your friends disappear if they are not cooks to begin with. I will have to say, that it is sad that so few people seem to cook these days, or at least enough, that something like this is to special for them to handle. To those that prepare meals everyday it is just a run of the mill recipe like baking bread, cakes or pies.

The starter is easy, I liked to make it when the days are short and dark during the winter for something different to do when you don’t feel like running around outside.

I found that it was easier to make the bread/cake from the starter and divide the bread/cake into several pieces and give the starter with it., along with instructions on how to make the bread.

We also had a version which I cannot locate now that you added a different kind of fruit to the starter every couple of days with sugar, so you ended up with a fruit cake. I will try my best to find and post this also in the coming weeks.

I will add here that this does make a nice starter to make and share over the Thanksgiving / Christmas holiday season when there are lots of people baking and cooking, that sometimes don’t always cook through the year.

AMISH FRIENDSHIP STARTER

3 cups Flour

3 cups Sugar

3 cups Milk

DAY 1 –

In a glass or plastic bowl combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, stir with a plastic or wooden spoon (DO NOT USE METAL OR ELECTRIC MIXER)

Cover bowl usually with a paper towel, wax paper, plastic wrap or cloth.

Keep at room temperature, DO NOT REFRIGERATE!

DAY 2, 3,& 4

Stir mixture once each day, using wooden or plastic spoon.

DAY 5

ADD 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, stir

DAY 6, 7, 8, & 9

Stir once each day using wooden or plastic spoon

DAY 10

ADD 1 CUP sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, stir, Remove 3 cups of starter, give 1 cup each to three friends, keep the rest for yourself.

 

Note: Upon looking around for some variations on the internet for the Amish Friendship Bread/Cake, I tell you I found so many great sites with variations including the one using fruit that I wanted to share some links to these sites with you.

Tasty Palettes – Amish Friendship Bread

Jane Doesn’t Blog – Coffee-Chocolate Cake (from Amish Friendship Starter)

How to Eat a Cupcake – Two Variations

Kitchen Bouquet – Amish Friendship Cake, Cornbread & Pancakes

Ice Water Cake

Tags

almond extract, baking, butter, Cakes, cooking, custard, Dessert, egg whites, egg yolks, flour, Food, ice water, layer pan, recipes, sheet pan, strawberry short cake, tube pan, Vanilla

It is really hard to believe that you can make a cake with Ice Water, but you actually can! My mother loved this cake  for Strawberry Short Cake, she always said it was like it was in between a Hot Milk Sponge Cake and an Angel Food Cake. It is denser and heavier than an angel food cake but still light. (if this make sense)

We always like baking this in a 10 inch tube pan, however the recipe calls for  two layer pans or a sheet cake pan. I am thinking the tube pan makes a little fancier cake than just a sheet or layer cake, as we never did ice this cake.

Since the cake calls for just egg whites, we always used the yolks to make homemade custards to go with the strawberries  to serve with or over the cake.

I am sure you will love this cake as much as we do.

ICE WATER CAKE

1/2 cup  Shortening (we use butter)

2 cups Sugar

3 1/2 cups  Cake Flour (we use regular unbleached)

3/4 tsp  Salt

3 tsp  Baking Powder

1 1/2 cups   Ice Water

1 tsp.  Vanilla

1/4 tsp  Almond Extract (if we have it we use it if not good with just Vanilla)

4  Egg Whites

Cream Shortening

Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy.

Sift Flour; measure and add salt and baking powder and sift again.

Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with Ice Water and flavorings.

Beat thoroughly after each addition.

Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Pour into greased, layer pans, or a sheet or tube pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (tube pan will take slightly longer about 40-45 minutes) test with a knife or cake tester.

An excellent white cake.

 

Sour Cream Biscuits

Tags

baking, Biscuits, butter, sour cream

Have you ever wanted biscuits, just to find out that you were out of shortening? However if you are like me and have a Costco near you, then you may have a 3 lb. container of sour cream in the refrigerator. Well you are in luck, sour cream is a great shortening replacer and makes fantastic biscuits!!

I actually prefer sour cream for biscuits now over any with shortening. They always come out light and fluffy, however upon looking through various cookbooks most from the 1930’s to the 1950’s, I found only one that had baking powder and soda, as most only call for baking powder, I tried it and and adapted it to the recipe below.

Sour Cream Biscuits

2 cups Flour

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Soda

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 cup Sour Cream

1 Tablespoons Butter (melted)

1/4 –1/3 cup milk, or 1/2 & 1/2 (I use 1/2 and 1/2)

Place dry ingredients in mixing bowl, and blend together, then add the sour cream, butter , then add the milk just pulsing the mixer to incorporate all liquids, just until mixed (continuously mixing make tough biscuits) in other words over working the dough .

Remove dough to a floured counter, or pastry cloth with added flour sprinkled onto surface, pat ball of dough out in a flat circle then roll out with a rolling pin. leaving it about 1/2 inch thick, cut out with round biscuit cutter.

If you do not have a biscuit cutter never fear, if you do home canning regular mouth and wide mouth canning bands make perfect cutters. a wide mouth band will yield 8-9 biscuits.

Place on buttered baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated 450 degree oven and bake 15 minutes, remove from oven when golden brown and brush the tops with butter.

Variations:

Savory Biscuits– add Italian seasoning to taste into the dry ingredients and mix together, Herbs de Province, or Thyme also make great biscuits

Parmesan – Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup dry Parmesan Cheese and mix together.

Dill- You can use dried dill to taste or freshly chopped dill chopped fine and mixed with the dry ingredients.