My Box Garden

Pumpkin Spice

For everyone that loves the warm spices of fall.....here is my favorite blend for your fall and holiday baking.

This versatile blend is flavor packed and can be used in pies, cakes, muffins, lattes, or anywhere cinnamon is called for.

  Don't be fooled by those Pumpkin spice "flavored" substitutes! 

       Way too many of these are chemical mimics!

  Start with good quality spices, fresh is best, if the stuff in your spice rack is more than two years old get rid of it and buy new!

• 4 Tablespoons Cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons ginger 
• 4 teaspoons nutmeg
• 4 teaspoons allspice
• 2 teaspoons clove
• 2 teaspoons mace
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom 

 Mix it all up in a small bowl and store in a airtight container.

Pumpkin spice waffles

Fall is here may as well enjoy the colors and flavors of the season!

Thanks for checking in and enjoy!

Potato Chips make me happy!

Sometimes after making things at home I wonder why I ever bothered with store bought!?!?
  My recent epiphany is in the Potato Chip department.

 Simple Russet potatoes, thinly sliced on a mandoline, soaked in cold water, then well drained and dried with paper towels.

 Deep fried in canola oil until golden brown, then seasoned with a lovely smoked seasoning blend!

 Look how happy I am!
Sometimes it's the simple things in life!

Some like it HOT!

This year's peppers are exceptional and abundant.

 A little cold smoke using sweet fruit woods and the magic of preservation begins.

 Some we made into a smoked hot sauce and canned.

Others went into the dehydrator for 12 to 24 hours.

We like to pack the dried peppers in mason jars for storage.

These are red jalapenos done into chipotles 

Going to enjoy the bounty of the harvest all winter!

valentines 2014

Adventures in candy

Just a quick post on my adventure in making some handmade Marshmallows today using Alton Browns recipe. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-marshmallows-recipe/index.html
Defiantly not a simple recipe but did turn out to be easier than I thought it would be!

 I used the pulp of one Vanilla bean instead of the vanilla extract, it gave me little flecks of vanilla throughout the finished marshmallows, which I liked!

Make sure your spatula is well sprayed with a pan spray before scooping the marshmallow mixture from the mixing bowl, it made it easier to spread into the prepped pan, work fairly quickly as it didn't take long for the mixture to start to set up...I used a 9 x 13 foil pan.

After 4 hours I flipped them out onto dusted foil and used a pizza cutter to cut them into pieces dusting after each cut.

After tasting these wondrous fluffy little bites, I know that Ive been fooled for all these years by those bagged cloyingly sweet globs that are known as Marshmallows, and will most likely never buy another bag of them again.

The recipe made a nice pile of marshmallows (40 to 50 pieces) and I noticed that the next day the vanilla flavor was much more pronounced!

Only a few spots left!

Here is the link Valentine’s Dinner at the Lamoni Community Center | Lamoni IA