Green Tomatoes Fried/Pie/Cake

With the cooler temperatures our tomato plants have a lot of blooms but won't produce any more tomatoes and the tomatoes we have won't ripen. So it is time to clear out the garden and till it for the winter. I pick all the green tomatoes to use in several different ways. Fried green tomatoes is our favorite, but I have also tried Green Tomato Pie and Cake. You can find pictures of both below. The pie does not taste like tomatoes but a little like apple pie. You would never guess that green tomatoes are in the cake and it is also good.
My daughter posted both of these on her blog,  From My Tiny Kitchen,  last year and you can find the full recipes there.


Fried Green Tomatoes

Wash the tomatoes off. Slice thin, I use my mandolin. Salt and pepper the slices.  Mix an egg and milk and place your tomatoes in the mixture. Mix flour and cornmeal, I use 1/3 part cornmeal to 2/3 part flour and add salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder and a little bit of sugar. Seasoning is a personal choice, this is what my family likes. Coat your tomatoes and shake off excess flour.

Either fry them in a cast iron skillet or a deep fryer. I have done both but this time I used my deep fryer because I was also frying catfish.  

Green Tomato Cake
http://frommytinykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/11/green-tomato-cake.html

Green Tomato Pie

http://frommytinykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/11/green-tomato-pie.html

I will be posting this to Gold Star Wednesday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Mommy's Kitchen and Foodie Friday.

Canton Texas-Flea Market

Last  September  my daughter, sister and I went to Canton, Texas for First Monday Trade Days. It is the world's largest outdoor flea market/ craft fair. It was such an enjoyable experience and one I want to do again! It takes place the  Thursday through Sunday before the first Monday of every month.  Every month there are 7500 booths full  of furniture, crafts, collectibles, antiques, clothes, jewelry, holidays and so much more. There are two sections, one with new items and the second section is the flea market. Both enjoyable. Some of the booths were inside but most were outside. Some of the items I bought: a black Christmas tree, a cast iron dutch oven, and a silver heart pendant, see what I mean about having a little bit of everything!

Helpful Hints:
Wear comfortable shoes and clothing
Take a bottle of water
Buy or  borrow a cart to carry all your packages
Take snacks
Go early morning, not as many people
You can't see it all in one day

We stayed in the best bed and breakfast named Mt Pisgah's Tara Bed and Breakfast.  It was clean, well stocked with toiletries, food, dvd's everything you may want or have forgotten. When we plan another trip we will definitely try to stay here again.

My sister has celiac disease and they even provided food suitable for her.

There were two bedrooms, each with two twin beds. There was also two full baths.

I will be posting to Gold Star Wednesday

Devilish Deviled Eggs

I saw these in a magazine and thought they would be cute for Halloween. Very easy!

 Hard boil your eggs, cool and peel off shell. Using the natural flat bottom of the eggs, cut off enough so the egg stands up straight. Cut just enough off the top to get to yolk. Using knife cut opening bigger and spoon out the yolk. Make your deviled egg mixture to your liking. Fill your eggs. Using a red bell pepper cut slivers to make your horns and insert. I colored one of the eggs with red food dye.

I will be posting this to Gold Star Wednesday

McCormick Spice Kits -New Product

I was given one of these as a sample and it took me awhile to use it.  I really didn't think it would be very good and gosh how lazy was I to have everything already measured out for me. I was surprised! Both that I have tried are good, I have found them in my Wal Mart  spice aisle for $1.88.

I think these would be handy for a camping trip or if there is a different spice you would like to try without buying a whole bottle. These would also be good for a bridal shower gift, house warming gift or to give someone who just needs a pick me up. Give the spice kit and all ingredients in a casserole dish/ bowl wrapped in a tablecloth.

Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Potato




Chicken Lime Chicken Fajitas


I will be posting this to Gold Star Wednesday, What's on the Menu Wednesday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday and Foodie Friday

Painting on Burlap

I wanted to try painting on burlap for a long time and finally got around to it. It was easier than I thought and
a lot fun.

I buy the thin artist canvas panels from Hobby Lobby when they are on sale or I have a coupon. I used brown burlap but it comes in other colors that could be used. The possibilities are endless. This one is 8x10 but any size could be used.

Using my glue gun I mitered the corners and glued the burlap to the back of my canvas.

I used my Cricut to cut out a design and then traced around it with a pencil. A sharpie would have been easier to see but, I was afraid I would make a mistake.  So I ended up winging it some on the painting. I  printed off lettering from my computer and tried using carbon paper onto the burlap, that didn't work. So I cut around the letters and traced them too.  I have found children's coloring books to have great pictures that can be traced and copied. They are usually a simple design which is easier for tracing. I use Apple Barrel paints and lightly spray it with a clear matte aerosol sealer.

Here is another one I recently made.

Using a ruler and pencil make diagonal stripes or any other design you want on your board. Paint. I hot glued the leaves, mum etc just to add something to it.



Since it was the plain board carbon paper worked to copy my words, which I copied from my computer.

I made this one for my grandson, this one is the 12x12 inch size.


 Thrifty Thursday

Cornbread Baked in Bell Peppers

I recently saw these prepared on a TV cooking show and thought it was a must try. They turned out very tasty. It went well with stew and would be great with homemade chili. We ate pepper and all. I used green peppers but orange or yellow could be used and so could Pablano peppers.

I usually make cornbread from scratch but I used a mix this time for convenience. I prepared it according to the directions on the box but added 2 tablespoons pimentos and 1/2 cup cheese. I box of cornbread mix filled 4 halves of the bell peppers.

Rinse off peppers. Cut your bell peppers in half, take out seeds.

Fill your bell peppers, place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  You want the tops to be golden brown and the inside not to be doughy.

I will be posting this to Gold Star Wednesday, Foodie Friday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Charlie and Chocolate Factory with Homemade Tootsie Rolls

I had planned to do a child's book every month for my  "R is for Reading"  book club. But time has gotten away from me, I hope to make it a part of my blog every month.

 My husband and I are starting our 17th year of homeschooling this year and reading has been a big part of our schooling. It is something we have all enjoyed. My book for this month is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This is a very entertaining read that inspires your imagination to go wild. It was written by British author Roald Dahl in 1964.  It is set in a candy factory and involves 4 children and their parent/grandparents. It shows gluttony, greed, deceit and dishonesty but it also shows love, honesty and true kindness.

Mr. Dahl wrote a sequel  Charlie and Chocolate Factory titled  Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. He also wrote James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Matilda.


I recommend you first read any book you are going to have your children read. I did and sometimes would underline words to start a vocabulary list. When they came to a word I had underlined, they would write the word down in a notebook, look up the word and write the meaning down.

Activities for a book club or for a small group or even a single child:

Make Homemade Tootsie Rolls (recipe below)
Have a Bubble Gum blowing contest
Have each child write a report, making up their own candy or candy making invention
Make and serve cabbage soup
Make a house similar to a gingerbread house but using Hershey candy bars
Watch one or both of the Willy Wonka movies.

  Projects can be done with one child or with several. Being set in a candy factory Homemade Tootsie Rolls was the perfect activity. The dough can be made ahead of time, the students can roll it out themselves. They can make any shape.

Ingredients

3 cups powered sugar

3/4 cup powered milk

1/2 cup corn syrup

2 squares melted chocolate

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix ingredients, stir well.

Knead well

Form into rolls and cut in to sections for Tootsie Rolls


I will be posting this to Foodie Friday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday and Gold Star Wednesdays.

Skoy Cloth Give away

My life as a domestic nerd    http://adomesticnerd.blogspot.com/2010/10/yay-its-giveaway.html                          is offering a great give away. It is a product I was not familiar with but looks to be a handy one.  The name is  Skoy Cloth  http://www.skoycloth.com/  Skoy cloth is 100% biodegradable, absorbent, re-usable, and European made.