Gone Crackers

I know, you might think this is going too far,but,Making your own crackers is a very satisfying thing to do. It's right up there with baking bread,only not as time consuming or as difficult. I like the fact that once you have a little practice and imagination, you can have a different cracker every time you make them. So let's get cracking,sorry, I couldn't help myself.

The recipe is very simple. I found it in my Mary Jane Book Oct/Nov 09.

Start with 1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teas cream of tartar

3/4 teas salt

3/4 teas baking soda

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup water

1 medium egg

2 teas sugar

1 teas balsamic vinegar.

Mix flour,cream of tartar salt and baking soda in a bowl. I just run everything through a sifter and call it mixed.Add oil and stir until mixture resembles coarse meal . Add water till dough is formed. The remaining ingredients are used as a wash on the crackers.Just whisk everything together and paint on as you would an egg wash on a pie.pop in the Oven 350 15-20 minutes.Time will vary ,depending on how thick or thin you roll out your dough. You can just roll it in pie shape and cut in wedges or use a cutter or just tear into pieces.

When the dough is formed you can fold in anything you like into the dough or you can sprinkle it on after the wash.The rectangular ones are sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. The heart shaped ones have chopped rosemary in the dough and sea salt sprinkled on the wash.I've also done dill and garlic in the dough and plan on doing lemon zest /black pepper. Oh I also tried sun dried tomato and basil. Like I said,It's all up to you.The rosemary crackers were centered on my chicken noodle soup for Valentine dinner. It was a nice touch.

On the crafty end , my friend Betty and I have been putting our heads together to fund our addiction to wool and yarn and fabric. You know how it is . There are only so many things a girl can give up in these hard times and knitting and sewing are not one of them.Our first venture together are dishcloths. We are fortunate that the Barn has taken our efforts in and placed them right next to the Mrs Meyers dish washing liquid. I'll let you know how that works for us. Well ,I must be going.Today is soup day and my people are waiting for there lunch so I'll be back soon with a report on our efforts ..............said the hobbit

Just a little bit crazy

You often hear a phrase in New England . If you don't like the weather just wait a minute and it will change.The past few week have proved that to be true.

Going in to work last week,you had trees blown down everywhere.This is the driveway where I do the cooking for the farm .

We only had about an inch of snow but,we had 90 mile an hour winds which left many of my neighbors without power for days. We were the lucky ones this time around. We lost power for 4 hours and we were snug in our beds at that time so we hardly noticed.

I thought that wind might have down damage to my newly planted blueberry bushes. I went out to see if the branches where intact. Of course being just 1 year in the ground and having a bit of snow to protect them they did just fine. Then something caught my eye in the far end of the garden.

Look what was growing!!!A teeny tiny head of broccoli. Last year I struggled with grampy woodchuck,who constantly ate anything that made an attempt to grow on the broccoli stalk. I finally gave up and thought he had eaten anything edible to mankind. I decided to take a picture because I haven't found anyone with a 22 who will actually come and attempt to do grampy in. I have a shotgun in the attic but,I think that's a little too much power for me............said the hobbit

Everybody is doing it

Have you noticed that everyone is making their own granola? Do you think that the $6.00 a bag for approximately 2 1/2 cups of healthy cereal has anything to do with it?

So, this month I turned to the trusted Quaker Oats man to venture out on my own and create a personal granola. What was I thinking when I paid those outrageous prices for my healthy snack. I quickly googled granola and took the first recipe from "the New York Post"It was a disaster.Although the recommended ingredients all sounded wonderful,the recipe called for no oil,which I quickly discovered was essential to making a good granola.They suggested cooking the mix of fruit nuts and grains along with honey or maple sugar at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.Within 20 minutes smoke was pouring out of the oven and I had a burnt mess on my hands. Okay,scratch Mark Bitten off my list of knowledgeable chefs. In all fairness I was told he is a critic and not a chef.

So, I returned to my faithful cookbook The Barefoot Contessa,who suggested:

4 CUPS OF OLD FASHIONED ROLLED OATS

2 CUPS SWEETENED COCONUT

2 CUPS SLICED ALMONDS

3/4 CUP VEGETABLE OIL

1/2 CUP GOOD HONEY

1 1/2 CUP DICED DRIED APRICOT

1 CUP DICED DRIED FIG

1 CUP DRIED CHERRIES

1 CUP DRIED CRANBERRIES

1 CUP ROASTED UNSALTED CASHEWS

The oats coconut and almonds are put in a bowl ,the oil and honey are mixed and pour into the oats. Stir to cover and place on a cookie sheet. I suggest using parchment paper.

She suggested 350 degrees for 45 min.Already being a little gun shy with my last attempt I lowered my temp to 325 and decided to check after 25 minutes It was perfect at that time.

Allow to cool and stir in the remaining fruit and nuts.This is where the parchment paper comes in handy. Pick up the granola by forming a cone and pour into your container.No scraping with a spatula necessary .

And Voila a huge container of perfect granola there for the snacking.Of course I plan on trying other variations maybe a little spice like cardamom or orange zest mixed in with the honey and oil,chocolate chips and sunflower seeds should you have them on hand.The list goes on and on with endless possibilities.

For those of you following the ornament in progress,here is the latest attempt. OK but still not what I wanted. I decided the problem is my yarn. It's too heavy,4 ply,I'm use to making my ornaments a little more on the delicate side.
So off to the yarn store for a fingering weight. You wouldn't believe how many not quite right samples I have.............................said the hobbit

Getting ready for the holidays Part deux/Feb.

I know it seems early to be getting ready for Christmas,but,all you crafters know I'm doing the right thing. One gift,just one little gift can make a difference. It's that" you can do it" theory Everyone has a busy schedule so, we need to help each other out here.

I should have put something next to this sock so you could see how small it is. Sharlene our newly crowned sock queen has all these little bits of yarn leftover from her projects. In an effort to use up her stash she has made these "little socks" that will be just the right size to hang in the Christmas tree with a little something in them.

Now about the 2010 ornament This was the latest attempt but, I'm not happy with it. It looks ok however the connection of white to white(not shown)is just not like I want it to be. Hope I figure this out before Christmas gets here........said the hobbit

A great Valentine

Did everyone have a fabulous valentine day? Mine was just about perfect. First my boyfriend gave me these beautiful roses.
Then he took me to a favorite restaurant
where we had lots of Mexican food and of course a Margarita.MMMM not too shabby


This made him oh so happy.


He decided to blow me some kisses. Now wouldn't you like to have a sweetie like Aaron take you out for Valentine's? We had a great time.
Some of you have mentioned that finding gifts to make for your sons or grandson's is a challenge. You should hop over to this site I think she might be able to give you a few ideas. I'm rather fond of the tent she made for her boys. Let me know what you think?