Bless My Heart I Married A Yankee

I have been making pumpkin butter for some time.  This butter is quite good and I am not a pumpkin fan.   Better yet it is so easy to make.  I used fresh pumpkin to make my own pumpkin puree.  You can buy pumpkin puree.  I also have some puree in the freezer and chunks of pumpkin canned.   Since I started with fresh pumpkin  I started by cooking it in the microwave and then chopping it up and placing the pumpkin in my crockpot. I had to cook my pumpkin for a while longer before it was soft enough to make the puree.  Once it was I used my immersion blender to puree it up.   Add the spices and sugar. Then allow it to cook down. If you are starting with already canned puree, place this in your crockpot and allow to warm.  Then add your spices and sugar.  You want the puree warm to help melt the sugar and blend the spices.  This is where my recipe gets a bit dicey.  Per safe...

I love making sourdough bread.  I try hard not to eat too much of it though.  But it is so much fun to make and give to friends. I have played around numerous times with my starter, making various bread.  From focaccia, sandwich, cinnamon rolls, sweet bread, pizza crust but it has been a while since I used some whole wheat flour.  I decided I wanted to play around and see what I could do.  First, I was going for getting the correct ratio of whole wheat flour to bread flour.  I did not want the bread to be too dense.  In the past, I have had that issue and I personally was not fond of it but others were.  Second, I was going for a crunchy crust.  Which meant I had to create some steam in the oven.  Last but not least, I was going for different shapes.  I think I nailed all 3.  As I mentioned this recipe is sourdough and the starter I used was a potato flake starter.  If you do not have a starter  click h...

CHICKEN CACCIATORE  This is by far one of my favorite meals.  It is especially good on a cold fall or winter's night.  The warmth of this dish will spread heat through your body to keep you nice and toasty.  Who is kidding it is just so good that you can eat it on any day.   In Italian cacciatore means hunter, with onions, peppers, herbs, tomatoes, and wine.  Of course, you have to add plenty of garlic.  Normally this dish is made with braised chicken or rabbit.  Yes, rabbit.   In this recipe, I used bone-in chicken thighs with the skin left on.  However, I do plan on using rabbit the next time I make this dish.  Which will be sooner than later.  I honestly can not say just how delicious this meal is.   If you have the option use the best ingredients you can.  If you can use fresh do so.  The quality of this dish is stepped up by using the best ingredients.  I used ho...