Peanut Butter Brownies: Recipe #2 from Sunday Dinner at Grandma's

Mother's Day was the perfect opportunity for me to make not one, but two recipes from Gooseberry Patch's Sunday Dinner at Grandma's as part of the Gooseberry Patch and The Real Farmwives of America and Friends In the Kitchen partnership.  Since recipe #1 was slightly nutritious, I had to go with something sweet for recipe #2:  Peanut Butter Brownies

Ingredients
1/3 c. shortening
2 T. baking cocoa
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 t. salt
1/3 c. creamy peanut butter

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt shortening and cocoa together.

Cool; transfer to a medium bowl.

Stir in sugar and eggs.

Add flour and salt.

Mix well; fold in peanut butter.

Spread in a greased 8"x8" baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Enjoy!  (These brownies didn't make it 24 hours at my pig pen.)

Special thanks to Gooseberry Patch for providing me with this great cookbook to try and share with you. If you would like to purchase this or other cookbooks, please visit their store. If you would like to see other great recipes, check out www.realfarmwivesofamerica.com .

Easy Mandarin - Spinach Salad: Recipe #1 from Sunday Dinner at Grandma's

The Real Farmwives of America and Friends are always up to something in the kitchen, at their house, and on their farms and I am so proud to be one.  Earlier this spring, they announced their In the Kitchen partnership with Gooseberry Patch.  Thanks to that partnership I received not one, but two of Gooseberry Patch's Sunday Dinner at Grandma's cookbooks.  One for me to cook 10 recipes from over the coming months, and one to give away to one of my lucky readers after I've made my 10 recipes.

Well for our Mother's Day celebrations with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and our respective families, I was able to make not one but two recipe from Sunday Dinner at Grandma's.  The first one came from the Garden Patch Sides & Salads section:  Easy Mandarin - Spinach Salad

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs. baby spinach
2, 11 oz. cans mandarin oranges, drained
2 1/4 oz. pkg. sliced almonds, toasted
Italian salad dressing to taste

Combine the spinach, oranges, and almonds in a large salad bowl.  Before serving, drizzle with salad dressing.

It appears this salad was a hit as this was all that was left.

 Special thanks to Gooseberry Patch for providing me with this great cookbook to try and share with you.  If you would like to purchase this or other cookbooks, please visit their store. 

If you would like to see other great recipes, check out www.realfarmwivesofamerica.com .

Farmer Fridays - My Mother's Day Tribute

Well last year at this time, some of our corn had been in the field for a couple of weeks as we planted our first corn field on April 16th.  This year has not gone so well and we have yet to plant the first seed for 2012.

The Farmer and his parents just keep busy doing all kinds of odd jobs around the farm to keep themselves from going crazy from all of the rain.  (If only we could send the rain to our friends in Texas that so desperately need it.)  Let's face it, just like our homes, there is always something to be done at the farm and there is never a dull moment.  We just prefer certain jobs to others and this time of year we want to be planting corn and soybeans.

Since there isn't much action on the farm in terms of planting, I thought I would dedicate this Farmer Fridays to my mom in honor of Mother's Day.

As you know, The Farmer is the 4th generation of his family to farm and raise pigs in our county.  Although I didn't grow up on a farm, my mom did and she made sure we had a great appreciation and love for agriculture and pigs in particular as she was from a pig farm, of course.  So it is very exciting for me to be raising my kids on our family's pig farm.  I just wish my maternal grandpa was here to see it.

Any ways, my love of pigs comes naturally.  Besides growing up on a pig farm, my mom and dad showed pigs in 4-H. My mom was quite successful bringing home many purple ribbons in her 10 year career.  (For those of you not acquainted with the 4-H program, a purple ribbon is the pinnacle of success and the ultimate goal.)

Just a few of her purple ribbons

As I was looking through some of my mom's 4-H pictures, I ran across an essay she wrote her last year of 4-H at age 19.  Here's an excerpt:

"4-H is a great organization that encourages family togetherness.  I joined 4-H because I wanted to belong and share experiences with my family and community.  My interest in 4-H Club work began and developed by helping my family on the farm.  I was eager to help in any capacity.  


My interest in swine developed by helping with the farm chores.  I started by helping feed our hogs and cleaning the feeding area between the barns.  Everything did not always go smoothly.  Such as the day I was helping my dad with some sows and I had to take a flying leap, head first, over the fence; or the day I was trying to stop a pig and he ran between my legs.  With the help of my father I eventually exhibited responsible and independent behavior in caring for our hogs.


By working with my pigs, I learned the importance of organization and management in the swine business.  Raising hogs is a business that requires hard work.  I learned early to be alert, observant, and to take orders.


Hogs are important to my family because they are the source of our income, food, and way of life."


Truthfully, I don't know if I could say it any better myself.

Our likeness even goes one step further as my mom even gave a cooking demonstration on a local TV station during her 4-H career.  Although I've yet to give a cooking demonstration on TV, it appears she was ready for The Real Farmwives of America and Friends In the Kitchen with Gooseberry Patch partnership years before it existed.  Additionally, I think her recipe would have made my list of Links I Love for a Mother's Day Celebration if only she had blogged about it back then.

Big Sissy carrying on the pig showing tradition... she gets it from all 4 sides of the family.

When life hands you lemons, this pig pen tries to make lemonade

As you know a couple of weeks ago, I had to travel to the Big Apple for work.  The last time I had to travel there for work, the flights were fairly cheap.   So I got the bright idea that for her Mother's Day present, Big Sissy and I should take my mother-in-law to New York City as my expenses would be covered and we could all share a hotel room. 

My mother-in-law had been to New York City a few years ago so I felt like she would be comfortable getting around NYC.  Big Sissy, on the other hand, had never been to the Big Apple and I hope some day she realizes how lucky she was to go at age 7.  (I had to wait until I turned 30.) 

Any way, the first day of our trip did not start quite as planned.  Our flight got to LaGuardia early, but they would not let us land.  We ended up having to go to Pittsburgh for more fuel and then back to LaGuardia.  Needless to say, we got to NYC about 2 hours late.  Thankfully, my business meetings did not start until the next day so I was not late for anything work related. 

Big Sissy's  first request was to visit American Girl.  We have visited the Chicago store as a family a few times, but she was excited to go to the New York City store. 

After a hairdo for her doll Nicki and lunch in the American Girl Cafe, our trip was getting better.  The only thing that would have been better at this point was if I had remembered my camera.

I had brought my camera to NYC, but left it at the hotel when we headed to American Girl so the only camera I had to use was my phone.  Little did I know that this would soon be a blessing in disguise. 

  

 

We ended our first day in New York with seeing Mamma Mia on Broadway.  It was absolutely amazing. 

Over the course of the next day and a half, my mother-in-law and Big Sissy hit the city while I spent my days in meetings. 

They did the Gray Line bus tour so they really saw a lot of different parts of the city and took a lot of pictures.  They also went to the top of the Empire State Building and watched The Today Show live.  Big Sissy even got to talk to Matt, Ann, and Al.  She was on cloud 9 as I talked to them during my morning break to discuss our afternoon plans as my meetings ended at noon and we had a 4:30pm flight. 

When I arrived back at the hotel to meet them for lunch after my meetings, I could tell by the look of my mother-in-law and Big Sissy's faces that something was not good.  Long story short, in the process of trying to delete some of their not-so-good pictures of NYC, they deleted all 600+ pictures on my memory card.  (That would basically mean every picture that I have taken since Christmas forward including our trip to New York City.)

I was in complete shock and Big Sissy was balling hysterically.  I pulled myself together and tried to calm Big Sissy down.  In my opinion, we now had about 2 hours to eat lunch and recreate as many of the photo opportunities they had over the past few days. 

Big Sissy was devastated.  She tried to put on a smile, but that didn't last very long. 

After walking back to Times Square from our hotel, I decided we needed to eat lunch.  It took her some time, but thankfully after she started eating her Turkey Manhattan in Manhattan she finally stopped crying and agreed that we needed to take some photos. 

Of course at that point, we had about a half hour so we caught cab back to our hotel and Big Sissy took the following photos from the back seat of the cab. 

We may not have a lot of pictures to document the trip, but we loved The Big Apple.

And although it isn't quite the Big Apple, the Indiana State Fair runs until August 22nd and your chance to win free tickets runs until tomorrow night. 

Some things go as planned at this pig pen ... The Cheese Ball

Well my Mother's Day weekend plans for sewing with my daughter did not happen as the owner's manual to my brand new machine is missing and the dealer is getting me a new one... so our sewing escapades will have to wait.

The one thing that did go has planned was the lunch we planned for my mother-in-law.  We had pork burgers on the grill with various sides and desserts that my sister-in-law and I prepared.  The other thing that went has planned was the making of my cheese ball.  I don't know how, but over the years, it has become the appetizer that everyone asks me to make.  I'm sure you all have a dish like that so I though I would share my "go to" appetizer with all of you.

I was introduced to this cheese ball as a child as a friend of my grandma always made it.  I did not like it as a kid because of the green onion, but as an adult, I think it is pretty yummy.

The Ingredients
2 blocks of cream cheese
2 packages of Buddig's Beef
5 green onions
2t. Worcestershire Sauce
2t. Accent

And I almost forgot the 2 t. Accent as I made the cheese ball.  I think this might be the "secret" ingredient.

After washing the green onions, I use my kitchen shears to cut the green tops into small pieces and add them to a bowl.  (I absolutely love my kitchen shears.  They are probably my second favorite kitchen gadget as my Kitchen Aid mixer would be at the top of the list. )

Any way, then I cut the beef into strips and then into squares.  Add about 3/4 of the meat, reserving the final 1/4 as a garnish for the cheese ball. 

After the meat and onions are added to the bowl, I add the 2 blocks of cream cheese followed by the 2t. of Worcestershire sauce and 2t. Accent.  (Tip:  Regular cream cheese is best; however, reduced fat can be used, but the cheese ball will be much softer and harder to form a ball shape.  Do not use fat free cream cheese unless you want to make a dip vs. a ball.)

After all the ingredients are added, use you hands to thoroughly mix all of the ingredients. (Tip:  Take off all rings and your watch before using your hands to mix the cheese ball.  I usually just take off my wedding ring before I start on the cheese ball or inevitably I forget until I am using my hands to mix up the cheese ball.)

After the ingredients are mixed, use your hands to form a ball.

After the ball is formed, use the reserved beef to garnish the outside of the cheese ball.

Serve with crackers and you are ready to go.  (Tip:  I prefer Town House crackers with this cheese ball, but any kind will work.)

This really is a no fail recipe and very easy to pull together so at least something went by the plan for this past weekend.