Sunday Dinner

The scent of chicken, wafting from the crockpot in the kitchen keeps bringing my children upstairs to ask when dinner will be ready.  Some days, one wakes up with extra energy and inspiration.  Today was one of those days for me.  I decided to fix a delicious Sunday dinner that we could share around the table tonight.  My mom used to make chicken and noodles often when I was a child.  It was one of my favorite meals she fixed, and I have many fond memories of sitting at the kitchen counter eating that very meal with my family after watching Growing Pains in the living room.  I called her this morning to get the recipe, but she wasn’t home.  Thank heavens for the internet.  I looked up the recipe for chicken in the crockpot, and found it on Tasteofhome.com.  Taste of Home is one of the coolest magazines ever, and I have rarely, if ever had a recipe that wasn’t simply delicious from there.  I will give them most of the credit, but the reviews said it was a little bland, so I doctored it up a bit, and I am making my own homemade noodles with my daughter to go with it.  If you want to make a heartwarming meal for your family, that cooks all day while you relax or work, the recipe is below.

First, make the noodles:

2 to 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon cold water

Directions

Mix 2 cups flour and salt in a deep bowl (for a little healthier version, I substituted ½ c whole wheat flour for ½ c of the flour). Make a well in a center of the flour; add eggs and water. Gradually mix with a wooden spoon until well blended.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Gather into a ball and knead on a floured surface until smooth, about 10 minutes. If necessary, add remaining flour to keep dough from sticking to surface or hands. Divide the dough into thirds. On a lightly floured surface, roll each section into a paper-thin rectangle (this took some muscle, maybe because of the wheat flour).

 Dust top of dough with flour to prevent sticking while rolling.

Roll dough, jelly-roll style. 

Using a sharp knife, cut 1/4-in. slices. Unroll noodles and allow to dry before cooking.

For the chicken and noodles, I put 4 cups water and one can cream of chicken soup in the crock pot, and mixed it.  I added ¼ cup butter, and one chopped onion.  Then I rubbed a chicken with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and sage, and place it in the slow cooker.   Next, I put a bay leaf on each side of the chicken, and turned the slow cooker on auto(high four hours then switches to low).  It probably needs to cook about ten hours this way.  Make sure it is done when it is time to eat, food safety is nothing to mess with.  When the ten hours are up, I will take the chicken out, and take a slotted spoon to the broth to make sure there are no little bones that have escaped.  Then I will turn the heat back up to high, and when it is nice and bubbly, I will add the noodles for about 15 minutes.  During this time, cut up the chicken, and add the boneless, skinless pieces back to the crockpot.  Some people eat this on top of mashed potatoes (total naughty comfort food style).  I think I may be naughty tonight and do just that, but a green salad should make it a little less devilish.  I hope someone makes this and enjoys it, and feel free to comment about one of your favorite meals growing up.

Vintage Word Of The Day

"Tattie Bogles"-potato scarecrows 
In Scotland, one would make a scarecrow, and use a huge potato for a face to discourage birds from eating their crops.

"Neep Lanterns"-turnip lanterns made by scooping out a turnip and cutting through the skin to create eyes, nose and mouth. A candle was then placed inside.  Does this sound familiar?  It is the original Jack-O-Lantern.

The "Neep Lanterns" and "Tattie Bogles" were often made by Scottish children around Halloween, not knowing they were carrying on the old tradition of placing skulls on poles to keep evil spirits away.

Jammin’

As Bob Marley sang, “hope you like jammin’ too”.  Perhaps he was talking musically, but I like jammin’ in the summertime with fruit.  My sister and I have a tradition where every summer, we get together and make jam.  She lives eight hours away, so we don’t see each other very often.  Jammin’ with her is a special time to enjoy one another’s company, while doing something productive and fun.  We even made up a fun little jam dance to help the jam “set”.   Below is a picture of my sister doing the Jam Dance.  Sometimes we laugh so hard, I just about pee my pants.  Unfortunately this year, we weren’t together in a location with a stove, so the Jammin’ didn’t take place.  I decided to make jam anyway in honor of my sis, after seeing her last week.  Although it was bittersweet without my sister, I did have some help from my two precious children.  I also took a pic of me doing the jam dance without her (shown below).  My sister may not have been there, but, hopefully,  she will smile when she receives a package in the mail containing her jam.

If you want to make the jam I made last night, buy a package of Sure Jell powdered pectin and about 4 cups of your desired fruit.  The pectin has the instructions inside for cooked jams and jellies.  I did the blueberry last night, but I did substitute some rhubarb and strawberries for part of the blueberries.  They all go well together.  I sanitize my jam jars and lid rings in the dishwasher, then I dry them thoroughly.  I boil the sealing lids and dry them before using them.  When the jam is done cooking, I put it in the sanitized jars wipe the lids, and invert them.  They seal that way, and you don’t have to process them.

Whoops, I dropped a blueberry....don't worry, this won't go in the jam.

My lovely assistant helping pick out the stems.

 cooking and smashing

 Inverted jars

Do you have any fun summer traditions with family or friends?  Please comment.

St. Patty's Feast

Thursday is St. Patty's, and I have such a love for holidays, I am going all out.  While searching for dessert recipes, I found a yummy looking chocolate irish whiskey bundt cake on the following site.... http://www.chow.com/print/recipe/10892

What is going into our St. Patty's this year?  Corned Beef and Cabbage, scalloped potatoes, the above cake, and many fun games for the kiddos, and plenty o' Irish humor.  The corned beef is so easy.  You just throw it in the crock pot with onions, cabbage and beer, and turn it on.  It is ready at dinner time.  There are so many resources for St. Patty's games for the kiddos.  Here are a few... http://familyfun.go.com/st-patricks-day/st-patricks-day-games/, http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/holiday_themes/stpat_games.html

A great site for Irish Slang is http://www.irishabroad.com/culture/slang/irishslang.asp.  

A fun site for Irish Jokes is http://irishjokes.com/

Have fun, have a green beer, but be responsible, and celebrate a heritage who saw its share of opression  in the late 1800's.  No group was considered lower than the Irish in the 1850's.  Read about it at the following site....http://www.kinsella.org/history/histira.htm

And you can't celebrate the holiday without some wonderful Irish music.  So lively and delightful.  Go to Pandora.com and ask for St. Patty's mix, or celtic music.  It is so fun to listen to.

Hopefully I wasn't a dry shite in this blog, referrin you to a lot o sites....

Vintage Football

2-4-11  Ok, perhaps it is not girly or pink, but it is vintage.  Football has been around professionally since 1920, as the American Professional Football Association.  In 1922, it was renamed the National Football League NFL.  The Green Bay Packers have been and organization since 1919, and they became a professional franchise in 1921.  The Superbowl isn't quite as vintage, as it has only been played since 1967.  However, it is always enjoyed in this household as a time for family, snacks, fashion, and perhaps a microbrew or two.  I love the shirt above, as fashion for the Superbowl.  It can be purchased at teenormous.com.  As a snack, I love to serve traveling tortilla dip on a carnival plate, with some blue tortilla chips.  Just spread some beans, followed by some guacamole, then some sour cream mixed with taco seasoning to taste, and then sprinkle some cheese, tomatoes, and olives on top.  It is simple, wonderful, and totally Superbowl worthy.  Perhaps you could tune in Sunday around 4:30pm, and we can enjoy it together.

Superbowl Manicures and Homemade Bookmarks

2-2-11  Day 4 of being frozen in...cabin fever is setting in.  However, my daughter and I made some bookmarks together (two are shown below).  We also did Superbowl manicures.  Even  an extra girly girl can take part in the Superbowl with this idea.  Green Bay (green and yellow) or Steelers (black and yellow with red and blue accents) can be painted on to your nails and your can have a little rivalry with your friends, family or special someone.  Our family is divided 50/50.  My son and I are going for Green Bay (as you can see by my nails below), and daddy and daughter are rooting for the Steelers.  Both teams have been around for a long time.  Let the games begin. -Linda

Homemade Valentines

1-31-11  Tomorrow is the first day of February.  My children and I put together their Valentines yesterday.   Why not send out grown up Valentines to our grown up friends and family?  It is a tradition worth starting. 

Sunday Dinner

1-31-11  This morning, while chopping some vegetables for the crock pot in the pink strawberry apron my sister in law had bestowed upon me last Christmas, a marvelous sound echoed across the cold winter sky.  I stopped short...I hadn't ever heard that sound in real life...it was church bells.  Looking at the clock, I noticed it was 10am sharp. How had I lived in this town for six years and never heard it.  The sound was beautiful and melodic.  It was an unbelievable perk to a beautiful Sunday morning.  
  My parents are coming over this evening for Sunday dinner.  What happened to the tradition of Sunday dinner?  Perhaps it has gone by the wayside, but I think it is worth keeping up.  We have so many fun diversions in life these days, but carving a niche for Sunday dinner is well worth it.  Set out the china, put out some flowers, perhaps open a bottle of wine, and invite some friends or family...who knows where the evening will lead.
-Linda