The Old Man in the Bib Overalls Takes the Plunge!

Well, he finally went and did it!  The Old Man in the Bib Overalls, (Rev. Jim, aka James Kaiser - me!) has gone and got himself a Facebook page!

I wasn't sure it would ever happen, but it did!  Now you have another opportunity to see what's on my mind and see who cares!

(That's me on the left, with Doc Baker)
It's listed under "James Kaiser".  If you like it, let me know.  Thanks. 

Farmer Boy Recipe - Hoe Cakes

I'd be surprised if the Ingalls or Wilder families didn't make these, even though I don't find any reference to them in Laura's writings.

I came across this recipe in my large collection of family hand-me-down recipes.  From what I know, "Hoe Cakes" got their name way back in the 18th Century, when farmers would stop their work in the fields and fry these up on the back of a hoe blade!  That's pretty creative!  Now, mind you, I didn't say it was very sanitary!  And I can't figure how they would have been able to get them to cook properly over an open fire or without all the ingredients in this recipe - I guess you'd have to be pretty hungry to attempt it!  But this recipe is just "modern" enough to attempt - even though it's probably just over a hundred years old itself! (And you don't need a hoe to make them!)

Farmer Boy Hoe Cakes

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup of Cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 Tablespoon of sugar
• 1 Cup of boiling water
• 1 egg
• 1/2 Cup of Milk
• 1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 2 Tablespoons of Butter, melted

Directions: Place the cornmeal, salt and sugar in a bowl.  Pour the boiling water over it. Cover the bowl and let it sit for 15 minutes.  Then, beat the egg in the milk and add to the cornmeal.  Sift the flour and powder into the mixture.  Beat in the melted butter.  Let the batter sit for a few minutes.  Then, with a medium hot spider (wrought iron skillet) with bacon grease or oil in it, ladle the batter, by about 1/4 cup.  Cook for about 1 minute on the first side, (till bubbles set on the edges) then another 1/2 minute on the other side.  (these cook a bit faster than regular flour flap jacks!)

Serve warm, as you would with regular flap jacks.

These are vesatile enough to use as a breakfast item, or as an alternative to cornbread or cornbread muffins as a side dish to any meal. 

Sister Freda, (Almanzo's cousin, who lives in my house) says she made these her whole life (she's 90 yrs. old now!) and she always enjoyed them served with a pad of butter and maple syrup poured on top!

I hope you'll try this recipe and then leave a comment here, letting us all know what you thought of them. Thanks.  The Old Man in the Bib Overalls

"Life was not intended to be simply a round of work, no matter how interesting and important that work may be. A moment's pause to watch the glory of a sunrise or sunset is soul satisfying, while a bird's song will set to music all day long." Laura Ingalls Wilder

An Uncle George Recipe!

This recipe comes by way of Sister Freda, (Almanzo's cousin). 

When she was growing up, her family raised sheep.  She says, her Uncle George did all the cooking at their sheep camp.  Uncle George was a real cowboy - punching cattle, herding the sheep, and doing the cooking.   There, in the sheep wagon, he would prepare their meals.  Usually it would be a meal made from what they had packed and brought with them.  But sometimes, they would come up with other ingredients to go with what they already had packed and brought along.  As Freda remembers, most meals had some kind of beans, along with other things.  When you're out doing hard work like that, you need a good, hearty meal to keep you going.  This recipe represents a typical meal that they ate, out on the praire.

Uncle George's Cowboy Meal

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups of dry Pinto beans
• 1 gal. canned hominy or about a qt. of dry corn kernals
• 1 Cup Walnuts, ground up
• 1 Cup Corn meal
• 1 Cup pumpkin or sweet potato, cubed

Directions: If you are using the dry corn kernals: Put the corn kernals in a dutch oven 3/4 of the way full of clean water.  Place the dutch oven over your hot coals or wood ashes of your camp fire.  Boil for about a half hour.  Wash the kernals and remove the skins.  Put back in the pot and boil again, till soft. (Maybe about an hour - increase your time, if you are in the high country!)  Once the corn is soft, add the pinto beans, uncooked.  Cook with a lid on the pot, for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, till tender. 

Place the shelled Walnuts in a flour sack and pound with a good-sized rock or mallet.  Mix the Walnuts with the corn meal.  Add this mixture to the corn and beans.  Bring to a boil.  (Add more water as needed.) 

Finally, throw in the pumpkin or sweet potato.  Cover and cook, till tender.

You may wish to add some salt & pepper and maybe even some nutmeg & sugar.  Again, this was a meal made on the fly - so use what you have and what you like!  "Yippee, Tie, Yi!"

Freda says they would lead the sheep for months from hill to holler and take them to market and do shearing and all that stuff!  Just imagine eating three meals a day at a camp fire all that time!  I know I'm spoiled - when I prepared this meal for her I made it with store bought beans and hominy!  But she said it tasted just like one of Uncle George's meals.  (Hope she wasn't just saying that to make me feel good :)

If you get the chance, come by my shop and visit with Sister Freda - she'll be happy to share some of her experiences with you.  (She has plenty of them to share - being 90 years old now!)

 

"The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies."  Laura Ingalls Wilder

If you make this recipe, please let us all know, by leaving a comment here.  Thanks.  The Old Man in the Bib Overalls

National Pecan Day! (4/14/12)

What could be better than Pecans?  Well, Chocolate Covered Pecan Clusters, that's what!  :)

You'll find these and other Nut Clusters at Laura's "Sweet Memories" (the shop).

There are also: Chocolate Covered Peanut Clusters & Cashew Clusters!

All these candies are handmade, right here, in the Ozarks - and are reasonably priced too!
I hope you'll stop by soon and take some home with you - well, you'd better buy some extra to eat on the way home too!

Let's celebrate "National Pecan Day"!
The Old Man in the Bib Overalls

National Licorice Day! (4/12/12)

At Laura's "Sweet Memories" (the shop) we celebrate Licorice every day that we are open!

Black Licorice Candy is made from the extract of the roots of the Liquorice Plant, along with a few other ingredients to make it sweeter.  It contains a natural sweetener, glycyrrhizin, which is 50 times sweeter than sucrose.  It also has some medicinal benefits; with a history going back to ancient times - some was even found in the tombs of pharaohs!  But, who cares? - it just tastes great! :)

It made its way to America, where it became a popular candy, around 1914; known as vines or twists.  Now, America's licorice is rated as some of the world's best! 

If you visit my shop, be sure to seek out my Black Licorice.  I have a few varieties, as shown here:

Let's all celebrate "National Licorice Day"!
The Old Man in the Bib Overalls

Famer Boy Recipe - My Easter Meal

Here, in Mansfield, celebrating with Sister Freda (Almanzo's cousin), I made a special stew today.  Sister Freda was born into a family who raised sheep & she was also a shepherdess.  So, I wanted to please her with some past memories and made a Lamb Stew.  What better meal to celebrate that special day, when we celebrate the raising from the dead of our Great Shepherd, the Lamb of God?
Not wanting to sound sacrilegious, but after eating this meal, one can't help but say, "Worthy is the Lamb"!

Farmer Boy Lamb Stew

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 medium sized onions, chopped

3 - 4 lbs. Lamb stew meat, cut into about 1 to 2 inch cubes

2 teaspoons of thyme

2 medium sized red potatoes, sliced

3 - 4 cups of water, or chicken & beef stock (combined)

1/2 teaspoon "What's This Here Sauce?" (Worcestershire Sauce :)

8 to 10 Fingerling Potatoes (nice variety)

1 lb. of carrots, sliced into 1 inch lengths

4 ribs of celery, sliced into 1/2 to 1 inch lengths

1/3 cup of Barley, pearled

1/3 cup of cream

salt & pepper

chopped fresh parsley

Directions: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  In a Dutch Oven, over medium heat, saute the onions till soft.  Add the thyme and meat.  Lithtly brown the meat, but do not cook it through. Mix in the sliced potatoes. Cover with the liquids.  Add the Fingerling Potatoes, cut in half.  Cover the pot and place into the oven to cook for 1 hour.

After an hour, add the carrots, barley, celery and the cream.  Cover the pot again and return it to the oven for cook for about another 45 minutes.  When cooking is completed, sprinkle on some chopped parsley.  Serve hot with some rolls.

I hope you'll enjoy this as much as we did!  It is a great meal anytime of the year!

If you make this, please let us all know, by leaving a comment here. Thanks. 

The Old Man in the Bib Overalls

Farmer Boy Recipe:The best meal I ever had!



Taste and see - the Lord is good!

Ephesians 2 : 8,9

The Old Man in the Bib Overalls

Farmer Boy Recipe - Stuffed Cabbage

This is another one of my handed-down family recipes.  I'm not sure how it got into my family, since I'm aware of it as being a Polish dish and none of my ancestors were from Poland.  Yet, here it is!  The Polish name for this is "Golomki".  The preparation is a bit involved, but the outcome is certainly worth it!

Ingredients: (makes 6 - 8 rolls - about 3 - 4 servings)

• 1/2 Cup of short grain rice (Raw!)
• 1/2 lb. ground Chuck Steak (twice ground works best)
• 1 1/2 lb. ground Pork (twice ground)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon Hungarian Paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 medium Yellow Onion (finely chopped)
• 1 egg (slightly beaten)
• 1 small can Tomato Paste
• 1 medium can (14 oz.) Tomato Sauce
• Kitchen string (or toothpicks)

Directions: In a large pot, boil about a dozen large cabbage leaves for about 60 minutes. (They need to be limp enough to roll up, with the meat mixture inside of them.)  In a large bowl, mix the meats, raw rice (don't worry, it will cook up!), salt & pepper, onions, and egg. (If you use your hands to do this, be sure to wash them before touching anything else!) In a bowl, combine the tomato sauce & paste and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare 11 X 13 inch baking dish, by filling the bottom with 1/2 inch of water.  Place a fire-proof trivet in it.

To make the cabbage rolls: Lay out a prepared leaf (outside down), place about 2 - 3 Tablespoons of the meat mixture in the center.  Beginning with the fat end of the leaf, roll it up and over the meat.  Tuck in the sides, like you would for a burrito.  Tie the roll with the kitchen string or secure it with a couple toothpicks.  Dip each roll into the tomato sauce & paste mixture.  Place each roll on the trivet, seam down.  Cover the rolls with the remaining tomato sauce and any leftover leaves.  Then loosely cover the whole pan with aluminum foil.  Place into the oven and cook for 2 - 2 1/2 hours.   Check occasionally to replace the water, if it has gone dry.  Remove from the oven and let rest a minute, cut the strings or remove the toothpicks, and discard the extra leaves.  Any extra sauce may be poured over the top as you serve them up.

Just smelling this cooking, brings back so many childhood memories for me!  I remember smelling it when I was outside playing.  I'd burst into the kitchen and ask, "Is it done yet?"  All I heard back was, "No, go play!"  After doing this a number of times, the answer finally came, "Yes, come sit down at the table."  What a lesson in patience!  I can't remember that it was served with any other side dish - this made the meal for me!  (But mashed potatoes or rutabaga goes pretty good, if you think you need a side dish.)

I hope you'll try this recipe and then leave a comment here.  Thanks.  The Old Man in the Bib Overalls

"The object of all education is to make folks fit to live." Laura Ingalls Wilder

Farmer Boy Recipe: PB&J

April 2nd is "National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day"! 
Now, over my lifetime, I've tried all different combinations of PB&J's - but these are two that I'm stuck on. (Pun intended!)
I've found that Pita Bread makes a great bread to make a PB&J sandwich.  You just cut it in half and then open it up and it becomes something like a pocket to hold the ingredients!  You can fill a Pita loaf with anything, but my favorite is PB&J. 
Pictured here is a PB&J made with regular peanut butter and another made with Chocolate peanut butter.  The jelly flavor I like best is Strawberry, followed by Concord Grape, or Black Raspberry, or Blackberry, or - well I guess I like all flavors of jelly or jam! :)

I think there is some unwritten natural law that says that you have to serve a PB&J with a glass of milk, but don't quote me!  And I think a person could survive starvation by eating nothing but these!  Anyway, I hope you'll join in the celebration and have a PB&J!  If you do, let us all know by leaving a comment here about what you ate.  Thanks.  The Old Man in the Bib Overalls

Farmer Boy Recipe - National S.O.A.S. Day!

What?  Yes, that's right boys & girls, it's "Something On A Stick Day"!  I don't know who thought that one up - probably someone who likes to visit those county fairs, where everything seems to be served up on a stick!  Anyway, it presented me with a challenge - to come up with something - and I did!

Farmer Boy Pinwheel Cookies

Ingredients: (makes about 2 1/2 dozen)

• 3/4 Cup of butter, softened
• 1 package of Cream Cheese (8 oz.), softened
• 1 egg, separated
• 1 Cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon of baking powder
• 30 wooden craft sticks
• 2/3 Cup of colored sugars
• 30 candy-coated chocolate pieces (M&M's or other)

Directions: In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, and the egg yolk.  Combine the flour and baking powder and mix all together to form a dough.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Divide the dough into two and roll out each to about 9 X 15 inches.  Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 3 inch squares.  Place each square onto an ungreased cookie sheet, a couple inches apart.  Lightly beat the egg white.  Brush each square with the egg white.  Press a craft stick onto the center of each square.  Using a sharp knife, cut diagonally from each corner to within 1/2 inch of the center of each square.  Sprinkle the colored sugar on each.  Fold every other point in, toward the center, and press to seal.  Place a candy piece in the center of each, over the folds, pressing each in place.

Bake for 9 - 12 minutes. (Don't let them over-bake!)  Remove promptly and leave on the sheet to cool and firm up.  Then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

I'd think this would be a good project to do with children.  Besides, you'd have some help cleaning up afterwards ... well, maybe! :)

The only problem I've found with these cookies is, that these pinwheels don't spin!  :)

If you make these, please let us all know, by leaving a comment here.  And sign up as a follower of my blog & tell others too!  Thanks.  The Old Man in the Bib Overalls