Brielle'sWorld

One of my roommates wanted a good, hearty, sturdy whole wheat bread for meals. I threw this together: In a small bowl mix: 1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast into a few spoonfuls of water to activate it. In a glass measuring cup, mix: 1 1/2 c Whole Milk, warmed in a microwave or on the stove 1/2 c butter, melted in the warm milk 1/4 c Molasses In a blender or food processor whiz down: 1.2 c Granola,…

I made them for Ojo de Dios, pillows, horse tack, clothes…all kinds of things. I learned how when I was a kid, one of those things Mom taught us as she was making cool stuff for random projects or making things for holiday decorations. She just made things as a matter of course. So we do, too. One of my most recent projects was making a bench out of a broken queen bed. The break happened years…

It’s Thanksgiving. There’s only 3 of us, I want something akin to turkey but I don’t want to spend ALL DAY cooking and then dealing with leftovers. I bought 4 because they come in pairs so I will have 1 left over. All the trimmings, of course, but they’re easy and (even though I’ll be taking up all the pans in the kitchen) the clean-up will be fairly simple (probably just putting leftovers in…

A while back some lovely friends were moving and I ended up with their queen bed. A few years later it got moved into my large spare room so I could take in boarders and they’d have a place to sleep. A couple years after that new horribleawfulrotten roommates broke the foot board so the frame went out to the garage. Years later (just recently) an old roommate came back after travels and…

My roommate brought home a bunch of dinner stuff the other day. Last night my other roommate made spaghetti with Italian sausage and fried zucchini. Tonight I was going to make a roast but plans changed. As I started to sear the roast I realized that it was prepped differently. Suddenly plans changed and instead of roast beef I was making rouladen. Now I had to make a filling. I minced onions…

Making bacon in a skillet doesn’t take too long but it is dreary and the spatters can be both messy and painful. Got a rimmed baking sheet? Lay the bacon out on that and bake it. Easy, less mess, less standing around and you can be making something else (eggs, waffles, French toast…) while the bacon is baking. Lay the bacon out on the rimmed baking sheet. A 12 ounce package of thick sliced bacon…

Like brownies, only without the chocolate. A few weeks ago, when I brought brownies in to share, a coworker asked if I’d ever made blondies. I said no, but I’ve been meaning to so I’d make some soon. Now is soon enough. I basically used my brownie recipe without chocolate. This is something even kids can make and you can’t learn about the wonders of browned butter too young! Melt a stick of…

Just another impromptu dinner using up leftovers. Also, Andrew suggested this one, a rice casserole with chicken. I just made it happen. Cook the rice. over medium high heat bring 4 1/4 c water to a boil. When the water boils, add 2 c rice, stir briefly, turn burner down to medium and continue cooking. When it looks like this check to see if there’s still water below. If there is let it cook a…

Popcorn. One of those things you just gotta ave when watching movies…or other stuff. Hanging out on the porch is nice with a treat like popcorn, especially if you’re making holiday decorations by stringing popcorn and cranberries into garlands. Here in Arizona the weather is often nice enough to do this out on the porch, in the yard or on the lawn so the mess gets cleaned up by the birds. It’s…

Last week my roommate brought home apricots because they were on sale. I love apricots but we just couldn’t eat them fast enough! They were good just nomming out of hand, in cereal and even in salads. About 1/2 of them ended up going out to the chickens as they, one by one, got bad spots. *Heavy sigh* Well, today at the store there was a basket of apricots calling to me! I put it in my basket and…

It’s nice to be able to whip up something classy in no time when unexpected guests/family pop by or to make something ahead that’ll do for a few quick breakfasts on busy days. Quiche can be eaten hot, cold or room temperature, as a main course or side dish and washed down with your favourite beverage. Quiche is good for breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea time, dinner, appetizers, midnight snack…pretty…

Just something I threw together today Slice and fry up an onion until its caramelized. This will take a while. Once they’re almost done add some sliced mushrooms. This is optional but they’re yummy. Pull the onions and mushrooms to the side of the pan and add a can of Cream of Mushroom soup. Add 1/2 can of wine and mix it all together. Cut up a few slices of ham into cubes and add to the…

I slept in and decided to share an orange with the Parrot. Looking up I spotted a few Ball jars, so instead of tossing the peels in the compost, at least not yet, I put them in a Ball jar, filled it half full with white vinegar and started making a batch of household spray cleaner. Being mostly vinegar I expect it should be good on windows, too…unless the citrus oil comes into play later. We’ll…

Potpourris were more popular once upon a time and people who used them usually made their own. It’s not hard to make them yourself and the scents are not only customized to what you like, they’re more subtle and don’t hit your sinuses like the olfactory version of fingernails on a chalkboard. Anything you like can go into a potpourri. Dried fruit, spent flower buds or petals from a bouquet,…

I wanted to try a gallette, so I made one. Basically, it’s just a pie without a pie tin. You still make the pie crust but you put it on a sheet pan, fill the middle and fold up the sides to contain the filling. The filling can be savory or sweet, vegetarian or for meat-lovers. Since you don’t use a pie tin/pan for a gallette you now don’t have an excuse to not make pies. Crust: Tonight I just…

My last potato sprouted in the pantry. I didn’t want to waste it so I decided to try to make more potatoes. Usually I just plug them into an unused spot in the garden and keep adding straw mulch while they grow, then eventually pull the mulch off the mature plants and pick up potatoes. When the grandkids were small and I wielded the rake and the grandkids did the hunt and pick into baskets it was…

My roommate made fruit salad for the potluck at his weekly gaming thing. It was well received but he brought home enough for 2 pies, so I stopped at the store for pie crusts on the way home from my dentist appointment and got to work on the 1st one. There isn’t really a recipe, but I used: 2 deep dish frozen pie crusts, a bunch of fruit salad (apple, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries).…