Our Saturday - a Dutch Baby and some yard work!

This morning I tried out a recipe I got from my blogging pal, JoAnn Creamer (thanks JoAnn!), for a Dutch Baby, basically a big baked hot cake. I was so easy and delicious, I have to share.

Dutch Baby

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Fifteen minutes before baking, preheat a cast iron skillet in oven at 425 degrees F. Place butter in skillet and place in oven until butter is melted. Swirl around to coat sides.

Whisk together the milk, flour, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. slowly pour batter into buttered hot pan. Bake for 15 minutes - reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake another 8-10 minutes until pancake is well browned. Cut into squares (or smaller pieces for the young ones), and serve with your favorite syrup (we had ours with pure maple syrup and maple bacon). Tip: I made two for the five of us as my largest cast iron pan was 8 in. square.

Danny thought it was excellent, and it gave George enough energy to mow the back yard. This pancake has some magic in it I tell you!

Apple Julep

One of our favorite places in Tennessee is the Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge. Their signature drink is the Apple Julep. The recipe goes something like this:

1 quart apple juice

1 cup orange juice

1 cup pineapple juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

mint sprigs (optional)

Mix all of the juices in a 2-quart pitcher and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve over ice and garnish with a mint sprig if desired. This is a nice way to mix it up for the juice drinkers.

Sweet Grass Diary, Thomasville, GA

The pic above is one of the Green Hill cheese from the website of Sweet Grass Dairy (see our links on the right side of the blog). Sweet Grass Dairy is an all natural goat dairy farm whose sister farm (owned by the parents of Sweet Grass' owners) is an all natural cow dairy farm. All of the cheeses produced from these farms are sold in Sweet Grass' shop on Hwy 19 in Thomasville, Georgia. This particular one is my favorite. Most like a Camembert, it is a soft, buttery cheese that is mild and delicious. If you ever get a chance to go to Thomasville, you must stop here.

And in broad daylight, too!

Evidently, we have a family of armadillos in our neighbor's yard. We see them every once in a while at night, but today they were out when I got home from work. The nerve! Off to the store for some mothballs...

Aren't you glad this isn't your seasonal allergy treatment?

Harley's allergies flared up this weekend, and her trip to the vet was more than she bargained for. Poor thing...

You leave me speechless...

Since I didn't get any pics of George with the kids yesterday (he was taking the pictures), I'm going to pull from the past for this entry. Here are some special shots to show just how wonderful a father George is. Honey, I love you so much, and I am blessed that you are the father of my children! I thank God every day for you.

Happy Father's Day

What a wonderful day! Today, Father's Day 2009, is the day that Megan was baptized. George, Zachary, Danny and I, all of her grandparents, her Aunt Debbie and Uncle Blair, and most of her cousins were at church to celebrate with her. She chose Father's Day because she wanted it to be a special present for George, and he was the only one who got to go back with her (which is why the pictures are so good). Afterwards, we had a cookout and later in the day, we went to Masa for some great Asian food. It was a very good day.

Monticello Watermelon Festival

We just got back from a really hot Monticello where they hold an annual watermelon festival. We left too late to catch the parade, but we got to taste some watermelon lemonade, see the Marine Corp band perform (Amazing Grace was beautiful), and eat pizza at the local pizza place to get out of the heat. George got some good pictures, including one of the Jefferson County emergency services personnel in action, cleaning up a terrible accident that occured right after the parade. All in all, we enjoyed ourselves, but it was a little hot. By the way, did I mention it was hot?

Spinach Dip

This is my absolute favorite Spinach Dip recipe. Great with veggies or tortilla chips, but best with King's Hawaiian bread.

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out
1 15oz container sour cream
1 loaf Hawaiian bread

Mix the first three ingredients together, and place into a covered container in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Hollow out the center of the loaf of Hawaiian bread, making a wide bowl. Place "bowl" on a platter. Cut removed bread into bite-sized chunks, and place around the "bowl". Place dip in the "bowl" and serve.

Dawn's lemonade

This is my spin on lemonade. The basil makes all the difference!

6 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 basil leaves
1 cup lemon juice (I prefer fresh-squeezed)

Place 2 cups water, sugar and basil in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until sugar is dissolved to make simple syrup. While heating, place 4 cups water and lemon juice in a 2 quart, non-reactive pitcher. Remove basil leaves and add syrup to pitcher. Stir and serve over ice.

The Creamer Family Chex Mix

We LOVE this recipe for Chex Mix, adapted from the original by George's mom. The real treat is the Peanut Butter Captain Crunch - so bad, yet so good! Thank you, Carolyn!

Ingredients:

6 Tbsp of Butter

2 Tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce

1 ½ Tsp of Seasoned Salt (Lawry’s Seasoning)

¾ Tsp of Garlic Powder

½ Tsp of Onion Powder

3 Cups of Corn Chex

3 Cups of Rice Chex

3 Cups of Captain Crunch Peanut Butter Crunch

1 Cup of Peanuts

1 Cup of Pretzels

Method:Heat oven to 250˚. In a large, ungreased roasting pan, melt butter in oven. Take the pan out and stir in seasoning salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and Worcestershire Sauce. Stir until ingredients are dissolved in the butter. Gradually stir in Corn Chex, Rice Chex, Captain Crunch, peanuts, and pretzels until all is evenly coated.

Bake for 1 hour. Take the pan out of the oven every 15 minutes and stir the ingredients. When finished, spread the ingredients on paper towels until cooled. Store in an airtight container.

Our Stay-cation #3 - Tifton, Ga

Yesterday, we went to Tifton to visit the National Peanut Museum and the Georgia Agrirama, a living history museum village set in the 1800s. It included the historic Tift House, and many other historic buildings from around Georgia. It was hot and sunny, and we got some good pics before we melted.

Our Stay-cation #3 - Old City Cemetery

George and I took a little trip to the Old City Cemetery in Downtown Tallahassee. It is hard to believe that it was on the outskirts of Tallahassee when it was established (1829). We got some beautiful shots, and I captured my mountain man on the day before he shaved his beard!