It's Here! Just in Time for Dinner

I'm very excited to announce that Farm Girl Country Cooking: Hearty Meals for the Active Family (WiDo Publishing, June 2013) is now live on the Kindle!

And at the Friends & Family pre-release price of $1.99! If you enjoyed my recipes from A to Z in April, they're all included along with many more, here. (Print release will be June 18.)

Seriously, it was as difficult and time-consuming to write a cookbook as it ever was to write a novel, only in a different way. Revising involved testing recipes and tasting. Lots and lots of tasting. I gained 8 lbs LOL. (I can laugh about it now because I've since lost it. Ha!)

But it was fun, loads of fun and if it does well, I already have another one planned....

Enjoy!

Although preparing regular family meals can be difficult, it is worth every effort. Dinner provides an opportunity to gather and refresh while spending time together around the table enjoying a meal.

The author has collected and tested the book's 100 recipes of main dishes, sides and desserts from years of experience cooking for a large family. Whether you are feeding a family on a budget or need ideas on menu planning, this cookbook is the perfect companion for the busy, working cook.

Hearty home-cooking using basic ingredients, plenty of fresh vegetables (and don't forget the bacon) you will return to these recipes again and again when planning dinners for your family or entertaining for company.

Yesterday's Dinner

If you've been following along my journey this month, you may have the idea that I put out a feast every night of the week for my family. No, not really. Although I do follow the "rule of three" because it gives a sense of satisfaction, even for a light meal.

Usually I cook 3 or 4 times a week, and the other nights we have leftovers, most often disguised. Yesterday's dinner might show up the next night as a casserole combined with something new, like a can of cream of mushroom soup LOL and then baked in the oven.

What's your favorite way of serving yesterday's dinner?

X Marks the Spot

I'm at a loss of a food beginning with X. And if there is one, I don't have a recipe for it in my cookbook. Therefore I'll use this opportunity to talk about X Marks the Spot. Or another way of saying --"Look here, this is what's important."

X Marks the Spot to find the treasure. My treasure is my family, and although preparing family meals isn't an easy task for anyone, it is so worth the effort. Dinner time provides a time for the family to gather and refresh, replenish, retreat from the outside world while spending time together around the table enjoying a meal.

It doesn't have to be a lavish meal. I believe in "the rule of three." That means if you can pull together three items, it feels like a meal. Take a bowl of soup, bread with butter and jam, and a glass of milk. That's a meal. It counts.

What matters is that food is set out, the family gathers, and magic happens. Not every time. Not all at once. But moment by moment, day by day, it adds up and then one day you look back and say, "Yes! It WAS worth it." Not just the meals either, but the whole thing of being a mom, having kids, raising them the best you can (although no one is ever as good a mom, or dad, as they'd like to be that's for sure).

And that's why I wrote my recipe book Hearty Meals for the Active Family. Because I believe in the value of home and family, and I believe that having regular family dinners together is key for uniting families. And that's where X Marks the Spot for me.

WARNING: the richest cake ever

I have a lot of cake recipes because with ten children, we had a lot of birthdays. Although prepared cake mixes are easy and taste fine, a cake from scratch really isn’t difficult to put together and makes the event seem more special. 

W is for Warning: What follows is the richest cake I’ve ever had in my entire life. I’ve always said it should come with a warning label, so here it is. With the butter and cream content, and the inch-thick frosting, it’s incredibly rich and should be cut into small pieces, no seconds allowed, and skip the ice cream. 

The main recipe uses pistachio pudding mix, with a variation given for Coconut Cream Cake, using coconut pudding mix. 

Pistachio Pudding Cake

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups flour

1 2/3 cup sugar

2 cups milk

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 small packages instant pistachio pudding mix

1 ½ sticks butter, melted

5 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven for 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13” pan, and also prepare a cupcake pan with liners. (This is too much batter for the 9 x 13” pan) so I make 8-10 cupcakes as well.) 

Add ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl and mix well at medium speed until thoroughly blended, for 2- 4 minutes. Stop part way through to scrape the sides of bowl. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 35 – 45 minutes. Frost when cool. I have never yet been able to keep the middle from falling on this cake, but no matter. This frosting recipe covers it so thickly that you don’t notice a sunken middle when you’re done spreading it. 

Pistachio Frosting

1 small package instant pistachio pudding

2 cups heavy whipping cream

3 cups powdered sugar

¼ cup butter, softened

Stir pudding into one cup of the heavy cream and let set for a few minutes. Then add remaining ingredients along with rest of cream and beat until fluffy. Spread onto cooled cake. 

Variations:

Coconut Cream Cake—Make as directed throughout, substituting instant coconut pudding mix for the pistachio, including the frosting recipe. After frosting, sprinkle top of cake liberally with sweetened, flaked coconut.