everyday beautiful

Homemade dish soap

So they stopped making my favorite non toxic dishwasher soap (method tablets from Target) which I have blogged about before here.  So I am on the search for a new one.  Do you have any suggestions?  In the mean time I found this site with recipes for making homemade dish and dishwasher soap.  Has anyone had any luck doing this?   

 

Wanna make homemade doughnuts??

Don't these look perfect?   And yes they are homemade!!! See recipe here!

Red White and Blue Desserts

Looking for the perfect dessert to bring to the picnic this weekend!  Here are a few recipes that looked oh so yummy!!!

 

Red, White, and Blueberry Trifle 

Red, White, and Blueberry Cheesecake Tart

Red, White, and Blue Parfaits

Rhubarb = Summer

Rhubarb signals summer in my neck of the woods.  It is that consistent plant that always comes up year after year!  And there is always plenty enough to share with friends and neighbors. We recently got a big bag from my dad's garden and i set to making my Grandma's Rhubarb sauce.  It is so easy and yummy.  We have had it as an evening snack by itself and served over ice cream!  And a few more!

Grandma's Rhubarb Sauce

4 c rhubarb cut in chunks

2 c strawberries

1 c sugar

Add fruit to pan and cover with water then add sugar. Boil until sauce consistency.  Cool and serve!

Find of the year... non toxic dishwasher soap!!

I was so excited and relieved to have found this product.  I had been searching for a non toxic detergent for the dishwasher ever since the baby was born.  I tried a few but they all had less than spectacular results.  My favorite used to be Cascade because it does such a good job but with all the talk about how bad it was for you I didn't want it around when i started washing baby bottles and such!  It sounds like legislation will be banning phosphates used in cleaning products in a few states, minnesota being one of them by 2010.  But until then I wanted to do without the phosphates, dioxane, chlorine bleach, formaldehyde, and caustics. This method cleaner found at Target, works so great!  You have to try it out!!  I told everyone who would listen when I found that it worked so thought I would share it here!!

Christmas Traditions

Annual Cookie Exchange Christmas Party with the girls!  This year I made eggnog cookies for the exchange and they turned out really well.  If you like eggnog you will love these!  

Eggnog tea cookies

2c AP flour

2 t ground nutmeg

1/2 t table salt

2 sticks unsalted butter softened

3/4 c sugar

1 egg

2 t vanilla

for the icing:

2 c pdrd sugar

2 T unsalted butter softened

1 T milk

1/4 t rum flavoring or 2 T light rum

Mix flour nutmeg and salt together set aside.  Cream 2 sticks of butter in another bowl until smooth.  Add egg and vanilla.  Beat until incorporated, then mix in the flour mixture just until blended.  Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.  Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and put on prepared baking sheet 2" apart.  Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until firm to the touch and light brown on the edges.  

Pumpkin Pancakes Recipe!

I love breakfast for dinner and I am on a pumpkin kick!  Can you tell??  Maybe because its fall...maybe because i got 3 huge cans of it from Sams Club.  This is a great use for those leftover cans of pumpkin from Thanksgiving.  I freeze my leftover pumpkin in 1/2 cup portions just for this easy breakfast or dinner.  I love this one for dinner, with bacon and OJ.  The pumpkin makes it more nutritious than regular pancakes.  Try it out..i think your family will love it!

Pumpkin Pancakes (my friend Marissa's recipe)

1 C flour

3 T sugar

1 t. baking pwdr

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t salt

3/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1 egg

1 c buttermilk (1 T white vinegar+ milk to equal 1 c and let stand a bit)

1/4 c canned pumpkin

2 T butter, melted

Stir dry ingredients together, mix wet ingredients together.  Add to dry and mix! Enjoy!

Not your traditional Pumpkin Pie recipe

Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart!  I made this recipe a few years ago and loved it.  It is so yummy and not as heavy as the traditional pumpkin pie.  The bananas are very mellow, just a slight banana taste.  The recipe is from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.  Can you tell I like her!  I am going to bring this one to Thanksgiving dinner this year.  This recipe makes two tarts, and if you want to cut down on a little of the work you could use prepared graham cracker crusts.  I think this is a big winner over those heavy pumpkin pies!  Ina says "people go nuts for it"!

For the Crust

2 c graham cracker crumbs

1/3 c sugar

1/4 teaspoon grd cinnamon

For the Filling

1/2 c half and half

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree

1 c light brown sugar. lightly packed

3/4 t kosher  salt

1/2 t cinnamon

3 large egg yolks

1 pkg unflavored gelatin

1 ripe banana, finely mashed

1/2 t grated orange zest

1/2 c cold heavy cream

2 T sugar

Oven at 350 degrees.  Combine graham cracker, sugar, cinn, and melted butter in a bowl and mix.  Pour into a tart pan and press evenly into sides and bottom.  Bake for 10 min and cool to room temp.

For the filling, heat the 1/2 n 1/2, pumpkin, brn sugar, salt, cinn, and nutmeg for 5 min( she says use a double boiler). Whisk the egg yolk in a separate bowl and add a little hot pumpkin mixture to heat them.  Then pour the eggs back into the double boiler and mix well.  Heat the mix for another 4-5 min until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly.  You don't want the eggs to scramble. Remove from heat.

Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 c cold water, add that, and banana, and orange zest to the pumpkin mixture.  Set aside to cool. Whip the heavy cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar and whisk until firm peaks form.  Carefully fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture and pour into the cooled tart shell.  Chill for 2 hours or overnight.

This is really yummy!  You have to try it!

Homemade Apple sauce... Baked in the Oven!

Its still apple season, and as promised...I tried out a new apple sauce recipe!  It is from the Barefoot Contessa and you bake it in the oven!  Kinda different!  I think the key to a good apple sauce is using a few different types of apples.  I know there is butter and sugar in here but there is still all the vitaminy goodness from the apples!  It will make your house smell amazing and it is really yummy!  The only thing i might change is less of the citrus.  It has a strong citrus flavor, but still really good.  I found this list of other recipes for your fall apples too!

 

Ingredients

• 2 large navel oranges, juice and zest of
• 1 lemon, juice and zest of
• 3 lbs granny smith apples (about 6-8 apples)
• 3 lbs sweet red apples (about 6-8 apples)
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Directions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. 2

   Place the zest and juice of the oranges and lemon in a large bowl. Peel, quarter and core the apples (reserving the peel of 2 of the red apples) and toss them in the juice.

3. 3

   Pour the apples, reserved apple peel and juice into a nonreactive Dutch oven or enameled iron pot.

4. 4

   Add the brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and allspice and cover the pot. Bake for 1 hour or until all the apples are soft.

5. 5

   Remove and discard the red apple peel. Mix with a whisk until smooth and serve warm or at room temperature.

Friday Etsy Finds... Spices

Small Thai Spice Kit by Purpose Design

Salt and Pepper Cellars by Rae Dunn

Ginger Spice Tea mix by Blue Dog Kitchen

Whole Cloves by Layla

Cinnamon by Moon Flower Herbs

Magnetic Spice Rack by Purpose Design