Sunday Dinner this Week

We painted the dining room this afternoon. I put the second coat on all the trim and baseboard to help Dan out. Then the only thing left is the primer on the bottom part of the wall so the wallpaper will stick. Put the chandelier up and this room will be done except for the carpet. Doing the happy dance here!!!! We will then have to put all the furniture back into the dining room in order to paint the living room and the computer room. This has been a project that has been going on since ....February. I should start a blog on our renovations. Anyway....about dinner. He BBQ steaks (strip loins). With it we had fried onions and cauliflower and the Crumb Top Cherry Pie.

Fried Onions

Medium sized sweet onion
milk
flour

Cut the onions as thin as you can
Place sliced onions in bowl and cover with milk. Let this mixture sit about 1 hour before you fry them.

When the steaks are just about done start the oil heating. While the steaks are resting start the onions.


Take the onions out of the milk and dredge them in the flour. Make sure they are well coated.


Place onions on slotted spoon and drop into hot oil.


Cook until golden brown. Remove from oil and place on paper towel sprinkle with salt. When you have enough onions fried for your dinner. Place on top of steak. And enjoy!!

Our Tomatoes from the Garden

The above is the Hillbilly Potato Leaf Tomato

The Tomato in front is the Cherokee Purple

Dan (my son) ordered seeds for tomatoes from the Seed Saver Exchange. They are heirloom varieties. The two I have pictured are called: Hillbilly Potato Leaf Tomato and Cherokee Purple Tomato. Both are really good tomatoes.

My Latest Cookbook Finds

Country Cooking: is A Canadian Collection of Favorite Home Tested Recipes it was published in 1996. I found the crumb topping for Dan's Cherry Pie in here. I found these two and the Mennonite cookbook at Southworks Antiques in Cambridge, Ontario.

Hooked on Mixes: The Quick and Easy Guide to Homemade Mixes. It was published in 1983 in Kitchener, Ontario.

I found the Baking with Julia at an Antique Warehouse in St. Jacobs, Ontario. While looking through a shelf of cookbooks I spotted it and put back the other two I was going to buy.

Mennonite Community Cookbook: Favorite Family Recipes. It was first published in 1950. The fifth printing was in 1953. Without realizing I seem to be collecting Canadian Cookbooks.
In this book there are a few pictures: under one it says "These old favorites - Stuffed Pig Stomach or Dutch Goose, Scrapple and Pickled pigs' feet or souse. Dan was not to thrilled to try these. It does however have a lot of good old recipes in it about 1100 in total. This was also at Southworks Antiques, Cambridge, Ontario.

And I bought all these Canadian Living from Bibles for Mission Thrift Store, Brantford, Ontario.
There are about 20 of them.

Crumb Top Sour Cherry Pie

We bought a pail of cherries because my son (Dan) wanted to make cherry jam. But, the renovations have been keeping him busy so he has of yet not made the jam. He did decide to make a pie. He wanted it to have a crumb top; so I went looking for one he could use. I just found a few older cookbooks which I posted about already and found a crumb topping for him. He found the recipe on Martha Stewart's page. You can find the recipe here.

Crumb Top Sour Cherry Pie

4 cups Sour Cherries
1 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Corn Starch
1 tsp. Cinnamon

Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup chilled cut up butter
1/4 to 1/2 cup cold water

Crumb Topping

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1-2 tsp. cinnamon

Prepare pie crust: Put flour, salt, sugar in bowl. Add butter and use pastry blender to blend mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Add water a little at a time until mixture comes together. Divide dough in half and make into a discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in frig for 1 hour.

Pie Filling: Combine Cherries, sugar, corn starch and cinnamon in bowl. Set aside.

Crumb Topping: Crumble chilled butter, flour, sugar and cinnamon together. Set aside.

On a slightly floured surface, roll one disk of dough into a 12" round about 1/8" thick. Line your pie shell with dough. Pour in Cherry filling. Then add Crumb topping.

Bake Pie 350 F for 20 minutes then turned down oven to 320 F for 25 to 30 minutes. We have a very hot oven, this is why a lower temp. Cool. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Sunday morning I got up decided to make cookies. Now what kind is the next question. We just bought a new jar of peanut butter (Jif). So Peanut butter cookies it is. Then I went through my recipes. I found a few different ones I have made. The one I chose was a recipe I was given from a friend I used to work with. After I had the batter made and ready to roll into balls, I thought I wanted them all the same size. A large cookie, so how was I going to obtain that....oh yes, my son sells on ebay I used the scale. Ok, onto the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cup flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Beat butter until soft
Add sugar gradually and blend until mixture is creamy
Add egg, peanut butter, salt, and baking soda: Beat this until well blended
Add flour and mix slowly until mix throughly
Add vanilla


Roll the dough into small balls. Place them on a grease cookie sheet. Press with fork dipped in sugar to flatten.
Bake about 15 minutes at 375 F

Sweet & Sour Pork Chops

I had to work over-time today. My son needed to go back to Home Depot for caulking and wood filler for the dining room redo. We bought a Pee Gee Hydrangea for the front garden. We came home and had to go to Wal-mart for a blind which they did not have, so back to home depot for the blind. Back home and he started working on the room. I decided to make dinner. I felt like Sweet and Sour Pork Chops with oven roasted potatoes with the Sweet & Sour Sauce over them too.

Sweet & Sour Pork Chops

Ingredients

3/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp. vinegar
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika

Add all ingredients to a saucepan. Mix well, and boil to reduce until the mixture is thickened about 1/2 the volume.

Bake pork chops at 350° for about 25 minutes. Add sauce to first side of chops and return to oven for another 5 minutes. Take out and turn chops over and add more sauce. Return to oven for another 5 minutes.

Honey Garlic Fried Chicken

With the Parmesan Potatoes I made. Dan made Honey Garlic Fried Chicken. And I would have to say they were amazing!!!

Chicken Drummets (the amount for your family)
1/2 quart buttermilk
Salt

Rinse the chicken and salt generously , set aside. Put the 1/2 quart buttermilk in medium bowl.
Add chicken to buttermilk and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Add 1 1/2 cups flour to large plastic bag. Add Salt, pepper and spices if you wish.

Heat oil in large pot. Enough to cover the chicken when added. Add chicken pieces to flour 5 to 7 cover completely with flour. Then add to heated oil and cook for 5 minutes take out set on plate. Add other half to flour and then add to heated oil cook for 5 minutes. Take out and set on plate. Then add first batch back to heated oil and cook another 5 to 7 minutes. Take out and drain on paper towel. Do the same for the second batch. When drained add chicken to medium sized bowl.
While they are draining make the Honey Garlic Sauce.

1/2 jar honey (250g)
1 clove garlic, crushed
soya sauce to taste

In small sauce pan heat honey, garlic and soya sauce until completely mixed and heated. Take the sauce and pour over chicken. Coat well, and serve.