Menu Plan Monday and In and Around the Home This Week

Sunday: Tacos
Monday: Chicken Sausage w/ Peppers, onion and and potatoes (Easy, just fry up the peppers onions and potato slices in a little water, and lastly add the sausage which comes pre-cooked.)
Tuesday: Barbecued Chicken Pizza (minus the zucchini with the Mister does not like.)
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: Sweet and Sour Meatballs, salad and rice.
Friday: Fried Haddock, baby bok choy, mashed potatoes
Saturday: leftovers

On the Table: Whoopie pies! Some time ago someone asked for a whoopie pie tutorial. The good news is I was able to document the last batch I made, though I don't think it was the best batch. The cookies spread in the oven more than they ever had, and so they were very large and a little flatter than I like. The kitchen was very hot that night, I ended up opening a window. Perhaps the combination of the hot kitchen and the butter I used made the cookies spread. Since I don't make these often, I made a large batch. They freeze so nicely and last a long time. Well, they last until they are found, I should say. So I'll have the tutorial up soon.

Around the Home: What a relief to finish the quilted table runner, which was a gift for my mother. It was entirely machine quilted, which is still something I am new at and not very good! I can machine piece okay, but the quilting part was a bit of a challenge. I'm not eager to do it again anytime soon. It also didn't help that I made the runner up out of my head with no pattern. Anyway, now I can focus on getting spring/summer clothing in order. I already have a dress mostly sewn.

In the Garden: Lots of tidying up the flower beds, filling in soil, and planting summer bulbs. The front flower bed which I had intended as a perennial garden was mostly filled with annuals last year. As you can guess, it's a big blank slate again. But I really am filling it with perennials this year- day lilies, hostas, lavender, and viola.

In the Kitchen: We had some root beer extract laying around for some time, and I finally got around to making a gallon. It's so easy with the extract, you just need to add water, sugar, and yeast. This is the "quick" method, which still take about 2 and a half weeks. Here is how it went:

First I dissolved 1/4 tsp. yeast in a cup of warm water. Wait about five minutes for it to dissolve. In a separate container, mix a Tablespoon of extract with 2 cups of sugar in enough warm water to dissolve the sugar. Then, pour everything into a sterilized bottle. If you don't have a large gallon jug you can use a couple of large soda bottles with their caps.

Once your ingredients are in the bottle, fill the rest up with warm tap water leaving about 1-2 inch headway. Seal with the cap.

Keep in a warm place for 7 days, up to ten days if it is winter and your house is cool. Then, move to a cool, dark place for two weeks. Refrigerate before opening, and pour carefully so the yeast deposit stays at the bottom of the jug.