What's On The Menu? 6

On Crooked Creek "Mr. Ed" has designed my newest logo for  

What's On The Menu?

 Didn't he do a fabulous design? As I was getting our dinner out of the oven, "Mr. Ed" place the serving fork and spoon on the table to surprise me! Delightful!!!

What's On The Menu?

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Garlic Parmesan Cheese Italian Bread

Pound Cake with Mixed Berries

Iced Tea

With temperatures cooling from triple digits to double digits ~ it was time to turn up the heat On Crooked Creek dining choices!!!

Stuffed Bell Peppers hold some precious memories for "Mr. Ed" and I. My maternal Grandmother, a restaurant owner during the post war days, taught me to make this tasty dish my first year of our marriage.

That same year, "Mr. Ed" and I accompanied his (our) family to Kansas City for a day at the American Royal. My dearly loved father~in~law ordered. . . stuffed peppers.

Although my dearly beloved mother~in~law was the best yeast bread, angel food cake and sugar cookie baker in our county . . . she had never made bell peppers. Our very next garden harvest season ~ I taught her to make stuffed peppers. I don't know who was the most pleased ~ we ladies ~ or the men. Treasured memories!

Bread is one of my dietary indulgences!

Garlic Parmesan Italian Bread is my signature bread On Crooked Creek.

Garlic Parmesan Italian Bread:

1 loaf of Italian Bread, sliced

1 stick butter, unsalted and room temperature

1/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. dried dill weed

1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes

Using a herb mortar bowl, grind the dill weed and the parsley until a fine powder consistency.

In a small bowl, combine the grated parmesan cheese, garlic powder, dill and parsley until well blended.

Slice the Italian Bread on the diagonal.
Butter the slices and spoon on about a tablespoon serving size on each slice.

I usually work on two slices at a time and put the slices face ~ to ~face; rebuilding the slices back into a loaf as I work.

Wrap the loaf in aluminum foil and place on a cookie sheet. Dot the top with remaining butter and parmesan mixture.
Place in a 350 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

Serve hot from the oven.

The last of this weeks Pound Cake sliced and topped with select frozen berries thawed to room temperature.

On Crooked Creek, as we set the table and begin our dining, we always stop to give thanks. . .

What's On The Menu?

On Crooked Creek is joining our gracious hostess Yvonne @ StoneGable for On The Menu Monday! Be sure to stop by for menu inspirations for your own family along with recipes, tips and more! Make or bake some treasured memories of your own!

www.stonegable.blogspot.com

 What's On The Menu? Serving ware delightfully switched to mimic the internationally recognized sign for restaurant.

Until next time. . .

Chicken Or The Egg?

Dear Ones,
You've often read that ageless question, "Which came first. . .The Chicken Or The Egg"? Well, On Crooked Creek the answer would definitely be...The Egg!

Over the past year, I've watched all the Chickens, Hens and Roosters that come across my screen. Ladies, believe me when I say that I am thrilled you all love and adore your poultry. But having had the worst experience ever with a Hen, her Rooster and their Chick made me decide long ago, never~to~never go into that aspect of home decor accessories.

It all began with a stay at my paternal grandparents home at age six. They lived on a three~quarters of an acre place on the side of a hill in the outskirts of Kansas City. We visited them regularly and I loved my Grandmother. Grandpa scared me to death!

Grandmother had taken us out to feed the Chickens and gather the eggs from the Hen House. Cute little Chickens would run around all over the ground where Grandma and I had thrown out their feed. I thought they were just the cutest things! The Hens weren't in the Hen House when we took the eggs from the nest. No big deal. . . just take the eggs and put them in Grandmas apron.

The only place I had ever seen eggs in my life was in the cold keeper of the grocery store or our refrigerator. Gathering eggs was a big deal to this toe~headed six year old tom~boy. Did I ever tell you that my MoMa gave me a nickname when she married my Dad. Can you guess what it might have been? She told me I acted so much like him that we could have been twins. Dennis is my given nickname from MoMa. As in. . .Dennis The Menace.

While all the grown~ups were drinking coffee and discussing the events of the day, we children were urged to go outdoors and entertain ourselves. Playing hide~and~seek with only one other sibling soon grew unsatisfying. There was only one tire swing. Being the youngest, I always had to "wait my turn." So~o~o, I decided to go gather a few more eggs!

Off I headed to the Hen House. Of course, there weren't any eggs...Grandmother and I had already gathered all from the nests earlier that day. But, wait, Grandmother forgot those under the lamp!!! I reached under the lamp to get the egg, but man was it hot! I dropped it on the dirt floor of the Hen House and it sounded like a firecracker going off on the Fourth of July!

Inside the egg wasn't a yoke like those I'd seen MoMa break for cakes. Instead, there was something that looked like a tiny, wet, chicken. As I bent down to examine the broken egg shell and it's contents closer, I was attacked by the Hen. Ladies, I don't know who hollered louder the Hen or me. One thing I do know is that noise coming from the Hen House brought two males running to our aid. One was her Rooster, the other, my Grandpa!

By the time we were all separated, I had been flogged. NOT by Grandpa, mind you, by the Hen. She had jumped up on my neck and was scratching and pecking for all she had in her being. Her Rooster had come running to her aid and was on my back when Grandpa sent him into flight.

MoMa was NOT happy with my behavior. Dad went to save the  "chickens" from Grandpa's wrath, but Grandma gently cleaned my neck and put salve on it while I laid my head in her aproned lap sobbing away!

A Provence couple with Rooster and Hen!

A Rooster bowl from "Mr. Ed's" childhood!



A Hen creamer belonging to my dearly beloved Mother ~in~Law.


I've gathered the only Chicken, Hen and Rooster things I possess, On Crooked Creek, to share with your today. I'll be visiting with the participants of  Heart Of The Home Party ~ Show Us Your Roosters And Chickens , with our sweetest hostess, Shelia @ Note Songs to see what lovelies you all possess. Your visits On Crooked Creek will be like Grandmothers salve. . .healing to my soul!

Until next time. . .

What's On The Menu? 5

Just another hot, sweltering day on the Prairie. . .

So~o~o. . .I baked some cookies!

One of my most enjoyable magazines is Tea Time magazine. While browsing the January / February 2011 edition, I came across a recipe for cashew cookies. I crave anything with cashews! ! !


"Mr. Ed" just likes nuts!

All the required ingredients are, basically, those in every household pantry.

Cashew Cookies

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup finely chopped cashews
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat brown sugar and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg, beating well. Add vanilla extract, beating to combine. set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating until combined. Add cashews, oats and chocolate chips, beating to combine.
• Using a 1 ~inch spring loaded scoop, scoop dough into portions. Using hands, roll portions into balls.
• Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake until edges are lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
• let cool on pans for 2 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.
• Store in airtight container.

 . . . and, yes, it makes 2 dozen cookies!

. . . 2 dozen cashew cookies! Exactly!!!

M~m~m~. . .


what better way to chase away a  hot, sweltering day on the Prairie than Cashew Cookies Under Glass?

Chasing away. . .

sweltering days. . .

. . .on the prairie!

Won't you join me dear???


Until next time. . .

www.stonegable.blogspot.com

On Crooked Creek is joining our sweet hostess Yvonne @ StoneGable for On The Menu Monday! Be sure to visit for menus, recipes, tips and inspiration for your family's meals!!!

Enough Said!

While making cashew cookies recently, I noticed that their was a stream of water all around the right side of the kitchen cabinet. I called "the resident plumber". . .  "Mr. Ed".

My expert plumber simply stated,

"The kitchen faucet is leaking".

"Mr. Ed's" solution for repairing a leaking kitchen faucet. . .

My solution for repairing a leaking kitchen faucet!


On Crooked Creek. . .enough said!


Until next time. . .

http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

On Crooked Creek is joining our dear hostess, Susan @ Between Naps On The Porch for Metamorphosis Monday! Be sure to visit all the exciting and inspirational makeovers going on in the Land of Blog!

Prairie Provence Dining?

Can there truly be such a thing?  Yes, dear ones, but only in the Land of Blog On Crooked Creek.

Come in from the heat and relax with my continuation of the French Country Theme On Crooked Creek. Today, I'm joining our gracious hostess Susan @ Between Naps On The Porch for Tablescape Thursday. 

I've removed two of the dining room chairs to make a cozy area for "Mr. Ed" and I as we dine Provence Style. I adore this new soft buttery yellow tablecloth from the Better Homes and Gardens line at our local Wal~Mart!

My dining room hues of reds, golds, and greens are complimented by the softness of this buttery yellow shade. My everyday dishes and flatware are paired with my red Provence place mats. Here I've placed my new red and tan country check napkin atop of the matching Provence napkin enhancing the French Country theme.

Layering is a trademark of tablescapes On Crooked Creek. I adore my sage green dishes with their scalloped rims! The golden over sized dinner plates serve nicely as chargers. The main reason I purchased this set . . . I fell head~over~heels with the handles on these bowls!

Thanks to the labors of the Master Gardener, "Mr. Ed", Sunflowers abound this time of year On Crooked Creek. The Sunflower Patch is just outside the dining room patio doors for our viewing pleasure. You are welcome to view the real Sunflowers here http://oncrookedcreekct.blogspot.com/2011/07/welcome-to-our-patch.html , due to allergies the ones on the table are faux.

This sweet Provence couple with the "harvest of their labors" is one I purchased from Home Interiors many years ago. I, sadly, admit these are the only Hens and Roosters I own.

This adorable little Hen belonged to my dearly beloved mother~in~law. It is a creamer. Mary was of English heritage and always drank her tea with cream! I set the Hen atop a Sunflower dish gifted to me from my daughter~in~law. "Mr. Ed" states she looks as if she's nesting.

Memories abound from this hand painted Rooster bowl from "Mr.Ed's" youth. I can't begin to list all the delicious foods served to him in this bowl. It is a treasured heirloom from his past, gifted to him by his Mother.

The Rooster bowl holds a pair of real peaches On Crooked Creek which will be eaten as soon as they soften.

The addition of my Sunflower pillow is to soften your stay On Crooked Creek as we enjoy Prairie Provence Dining. All too soon our visit has come, once again, to an end.

Until next time. . .




http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Be sure to visit all the lovely tablescapes @ Tablescape Thursday and be inspired to create an enchanted dining experience for your own home decor!