recipes – countrygirl-lifeonthefarm

Striper Fishing

They brought home four beautiful stripers and memories they’ll have for years to come!

And we’ll have several fish dinners from the filets.

These fish were over 20 inches long and heavy. I froze eight bags of chunks this morning and put them in the freezer. We love them deep fried but plan to try some on the grill as soon as the weather warms.

Eddie fileted them on Sunday morning and I like to soak them in ice water for at least 48 hours to get rid of the blood. They were all snow white this morning when I sliced them into good cubes and froze them.

Does anyone out there have a favorite recipe for fish that you would like to share with me? When I’m ready to cook them I take them out of the freezer and soak them several hours in salted water. Then I get my deep fryer heating and make a smooth batter of seasoned flour, paprika, eggs, milk and old bay seasoning. I dip the cubes in a separate bowl of seasoned flour, then into the batter and then into the fryer until they’re golden brown. It’s some really good eating!!!

New Recipes

I’ve added new recipes to my cooking tab if you’re interested. Have a great night!!

Bread Pudding

I have two friends that asked for my bread pudding recipe a couple years ago and I’ve procrastinated long enough. The recipe is on my recipes page above! One of these ladies may come to visit on Friday and if so, I’ll have a new batch ready for her visit. Sorry no photos to share with it but it looks something like this when it comes out of the oven. Image result for picture of bread pudding

Imagine it with vanilla ice cream, whipped topping or even caramel sauce!! This is one of the easiest desserts in my kitchen!! My mom and both grandmothers made this when we were small and we thought it was the best and only dessert in the world. I love it for breakfast now with some warm milk poured over it.

Recipe Pages Updated

Fall is in the air and cooler weather keeps me in the kitchen making comfort food.

I’ve added a few more goodies to my Recipe Page if anyone is interested. Hope you will enjoy them as much as we do! They include Pumpkin Pie Squares, Steamed Asparagus, Grilled Chicken Salad, and Pumpkin Cookies.

The Garden is Empty (almost)

We’ve cleaned out the garden and everything has been stored, frozen or canned. Hubby did till up a few spots and planted some turnips as a winter crop. He loves them boiled and with almost every meal. I like them raw!!

We harvested several small pumpkins and four large ones. The small will adorn the entrance to our house and the large ones I canned.

I washed them good on the outside, split them in half, scooped out the pulp and seed and then sliced them to make peeling easier.

I diced them up in 1-2 inch pieces and put them in an old canner. I put one quart of water over them to cook on the stove on medium low heat.

They need to cook slowly to keep from sticking/scorching. I don’t add any seasoning until they’re to be used for pies, cookies, or pumpkin bread.

Once they’re tender enough to stick with a fork, I drain off the water and run the pumpkin through my sieve. It’s very important to get as much water out of the pumpkin as possible before mashing. I usually let the pumpkin set in the sieve for about 15-20 minutes so the water on the pieces will drip out. Dump this water out before pressing.

I love this sieve and it works great for all vegies and fruits.

It's beautiful and ready to go in the jars. I use pint and quart jars because of the different recipes. — It’s beautiful and ready to go in the jars. I use pint and quart jars because of the different recipes.

Quickly add the pumpkin to the jars, clean the tops of the jars and add the lids & rings, and tighten. I process them in the hot water bath for 20 minutes.

Out of the four pumpkins, I canned six pints and three quarts. I can’t wait to start baking with them. My pumpkin recipes will be added to my Recipes From My House To Yours page tomorrow.

I hope you can enjoy your garden harvest as much as we are. With Hurricane Matthew charging up the coast and a cold front moving in from the northwest I’ve used some of our harvest today to make a big pot of homemade soup!!! It’s suppertime!

Recipe Page Updated

I spent most of the morning organizing my recipe box and wanted to add some of the Christmas treats to the Recipe Page of my blog. Hope you enjoy some of the treats I make throughout the holiday season.

Successful Striper Fishing Trip

Friday night a week ago hubby accepted an invitation to go Striper Fishing with a friend of ours. They left around 8:00 p.m. and headed for the lake and caught these beauties before the rain storm ran them off the lake.

The biggest one weighed a little over ten pounds and the other two were just a little less. Vince caught two and Eddie caught one but Vince had been fishing for them all summer and had enough in his freezer to them for the winter.

The next day Eddie took them to his “professional” fileter and this is what we got.

The first night i took 1/2 a filet, cut in 3″ squares and soaked them in salt water for about 30 minutes. Then I poured a package of cornmeal muffin mix in a ziploc bag, poured about 1/4 cup of Old Bay seasoning in the muffin mix, sealed it and shook like crazy to mix it all really well. Then I melted a stick of butter in a skillet and melted it to sizzling but not burning. I poured the salted water off the filets and dropped each in the cornmeal mixture, zipped up the bag and shook to cover completed. I let it set just for a second then shook again and popped them in the sizzling butter. When golden brown on the bottom, I flipped the pieces and started sizzling again. I tuned them about three times and then took out and placed on a paper towel covered platter. I served this with baked beans, coleslaw and a baked potato. Best fish I’ve made in a long time. The next day hubby fixed the same meal but instead of skillet he used the new deep fryer I bought him for Father’s Day and it was absolutely DIVINE!!!

My big question–when you going striper fishing again?? 🙂

We froze the rest of the filets for future dinners and Heather got a few on Tuesday when she came to visit.

Recipe box and cookbooks

My handmade (by hubby) recipe box is filling up. I’ve been doing lots of purging in my home for the last year and one of the things that’s going is cookbooks!! I love cookbooks but they take up so much room. I’m going through all of my cookbooks and putting my favorite recipes and recipes that I think will be good on 4×6 index cards. I’ve already gone through about 20-25 cookbooks but have about three times that to go through. I also inherited from my mother-in-law boxes full of Taste of Home and All-Recipe magazines which I’m currently going through. As I go through the magazines, I tab what I want to save and after I have 5-10 magazines tabbed I write down the recipe and pass the magazine on to my daughter, who passes it on to a friend and it goes and goes and goes. I’m doing the same thing with the cookbooks. We all enjoy the peaceful time going through them and getting new ideas for family meals. I’m keeping a couple of the cookbooks given to me by my mother and special friends but now my kitchen shelves will have space for the “old treasures” I’ve collected for so many years.

This cookbook was my Mom's and bought when I was very young. I still use lots of the recipes. — This cookbook was my Mom’s and bought when I was very young. I still use lots of the recipes.

This cookbook I purchased while working with the Craig County Farm Bureau Women's Committee. It's out of print the last I checked but love giving it as a gift. Wonderful cooks in Virginia. — This cookbook I purchased while working with the Craig County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee. It’s out of print the last I checked but love giving it as a gift. Wonderful cooks in Virginia.

A girlfriend that used to live in Georgia presented this to me many years ago and it's my "go to book" when looking for something new and different. It has NEVER_FAIL recipes. — A girlfriend that used to live in Georgia presented this to me many years ago and it’s my “go to book” when looking for something new and different. It has NEVER_FAIL recipes.

These two cookbooks I use for canning and for “old-time” recipes.

Recipes from early 1900's. — Recipes from early 1900’s.

For those canning instructions that aren't used every year. — For those canning instructions that aren’t used every year.

Now I’m trying to decide is I need a larger recipe box from hubby or another one the same size. I love the barnwood construction and works great in my very country kitchen.

A very comfortable and easy to use room in the house.

Wood cook stove used mainly in the winter months.

I have a 18″ high stack of Taste of Home and All-Recipe magazines beside my chair in the living room awaiting my transfer of recipes to cards. I have 9 cookbooks with tabbed pages to do the same thing with. I’ll have plenty to keep me busy at night while watching TV with hubby.

My Recipe Box

I love to cook and have collected cookbooks from all over the place and from everyone. Finding the storage for all of them has become a challenge. Hubby made me an adorable recipe box from some barnwood and I’ve started taking my favorite recipes from all of my cookbooks and giving the books to my daughter, granddaughter and friends.

This is the first box he made me but all of the recipes I have won't fit in it. — This is the first box he made me but all of the recipes I have won’t fit in it. It’s a 7 x 7 inch box.

The recipes I have won’t even begin to fit in this little treasure so he made me this one.

It just barely fits on top of the pie safe.

My newest one is 7 x 16 inches long and it's almost full. — My newest one is 7 x 16 inches long and it’s almost full.

I’ve only went through about half of my cookbooks and I’m only putting my favorite, tried and true recipes in this box. As you can tell from the following picture it’s going to be a work in progress for some time. The wooden box at the end of the books on this shelf are recipes that hubby’s aunt had. I have a couple cookbooks I won’t give away because they belonged to my Mom and I would love to have a cookbook that my grandmother’s used but I seriously think all of their recipes were in their head and hearts.

My cookbooks are many and I've a long way to go transferring all the recipes from the cookbooks on top of the shelf and that's not all of them. — My cookbooks are many and I’ve a long way to go transferring all the recipes from the cookbooks on top of the shelf and that’s not all of them.

I also have a stack of written recipes I’ve collected over the years that have never been in a book. The more I think about this, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t write my own cookbook and maybe name it “Country Girl Cooks” or something simple like that!! That might be quite fun but very time-consuming. My recipe cards are all hand-written and in print not cursive writing.

The recipe cards are on 4x6 index cards and handwritten. — The recipe cards are on 4×6 index cards and handwritten.

I have about three inches left in the box and it's going to be a tight squeeze. — I have about three inches left in the box and it’s going to be a tight squeeze.

I guess I could make enough room on top of the pie safe for another one. Hubby is getting really creative on the project ideas I come up with. My recipes come from friends, family, family cookbooks, old cookbooks and concoctions I come up with myself. I do love to cook!

Seasonal recipes – Pumpkin

I love to cook and wanted to share a couple fall recipes we like. Hope you enjoy as much as we do.

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Bars

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 baking dish.

Mix the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin with a mixer until light and fluffy.

Pour flour, powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda into another bowl and mix.

Pour flour mixture into pumpkin mixture and mix until incorporated and smooth.

Pour the batter into the baking dish and level out the batter.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the dish or frosting.

Frost the bars when they have cooled — To make the frosting: Combine cream cheese and butter in a bowl and mix until smooth. Add the sugar slowly until you reach the desired consistency. Stir in the vanilla.

Summer Squash Casserole

2 lbs. (about 6 C.) yellow squash or zucchini

1 C. chopped onion

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 C. sour cream

½ C. butter or margarine

1 package herb seasoned stuffing (or 4 C. dry stuffing)

In a saucepan cook sliced squash and onions in boiling salted water for 4-5 minutes. Drain. Combine soup and sour cream. Stir in carrots. Fold in drained squash and onions. Combine stuffing mix and butter or margarine. Spread half of this mixture in a 12 x 7 ½ x 2 baking dish. Layer with vegetable mixture and top with remaining stuffing mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until well heated.

More to come. Enjoy!

Garden Harvest

I went to the garden yesterday morning and harvested this pan full of beautiful veggies. I’m afraid we are going to have to start watering the garden this week from our pond. The sun is bearing down and all of the garden is wilted by the end of the day. We got a really late start planting this year because of the rain keeping the garden too wet to plow and then to plant. Then the deer started eating the green beans again this year but we’re trying different things to deter them. I save all of the thin bars of soap from the shower and hubby shaved them and scattered them through the beans. That has stopped them for a few days but I read on another post that black trash bags tie to the fence was a good deterrent so I bout a cheap box and have the garden surrounded with them. When the wind blows the bags blow up and out and I’m assuming that’s what scares them. We will have a wonderful dinner from what I’ve already gathered along with some venison biscuits to top off the meal. The following is the favorite at our house to prepare the squash:

Wash and slice one or two yellow squash or zucchini. I slice them about a 1/4″ inch thick. I dip them in a mixture of one egg, 1/2 c. milk, salt & pepper, to taste. Then I dip them in seasoned flour until coated really well. I then place them in a iron skillet that has one stick of butter that is melted and sizzling but not brown. It takes about two minutes on one side, turn them over and fry the other side until golden brown. Take out of skillet and place on paper towel and eat up. They’re really crispy on the outside and sweet and firm on the inside. Hubby even loves them cold!!

Enjoy your garden and share with family and friends!!

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