It's the most wonderful time.....

Once again here we are... Hustling, bustling,  shopping for the perfect gifts for those we hold so dear... Yes my shopping is done and the lights are on the tree.... White Christmas is on tv (yes the Bing Crosby one)  and my thoughts wander back to holidays with my mom and dad..... I get very nostalgic this time of year, and I try very hard to continue the special customs that my mom had.  It's the best way to share a tiny bit of my mom with my grandchildren who never got to meet her.   What are your traditions?  Whatever they are, I hope your holidays are filled with love and happiness....     

With love, 

Charla

In The Kitchen With Judy

It's a special Saturday morning on Redstone Farm!   My 2 grandsons spent the night with us and were excited to help in the kitchen this morning!  We decided that French Toast and ham slices would be our breakfast! 

    Our "French Toast" recipe is very simple...2 eggs, salt, pepper and milk all mixed together as Brylan calls it.. And Zac says dump bread in it.    The crowning moment was pouring original Griffins syrup all over our toast! Well as you can see, it was a great breakfast on this cool, damp October morning.... And remember.....GO POKES! And Boomer Sooner!

It's nearly Fall!! In the Kitchen with Judy

It's nearly fall!! Watching Laurie make my "Boo" door decoration and talking about my fall photo shoot coming up, it got me in the mood to bake.  Laurie found a recipe that looked yummy, so with it being a lazy Saturday afternoon, I decided to try my hand at some pumpkin cupcakes.  I will say that this recipe makes a heavy cupcake.  But... It is yummy!  If you are a pumpkin pie fan, you will like this!  For the topping, instead of traditional cool whip, I made cream cheese icing.... It was a good choice!   

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In the Kitchen with Judy

     This is the day The Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24.  This is one of my very favorite verses in the Bible.. So how did I rejoice and be glad? First I attended worship services this morning and then I celebrated by cooking!  It's what my mom did every Sunday my entire life.  She was such a wonderful example of what a Godly person should be.  

     So what was on the menu today?  Stuffed Tortillas, that's what!  And they were yummy.  I started off with very very lean hamburger ( 96% meat 4% fat),

Added onions and red peppers ( I cheated and used the frozen ones)

Salt to taste and 1 tablespoon of garlic pepper..1 can of Rotel tomatoes.... .. Added a half package of hash browns, put the lid on the pan and let it simmer....

Heated flour tortillas in the microwave..... Shredded cheese on the tortilla, added meat mixture, rolled them up and eat!

     They were sooooooooo good! And made enough to have leftovers tonight!!

In the Kitchen with Judy (& Hinley)

I've had a visitor in the kitchen with me today ... Someone wanted brownies, but I discovered that I did not have any brownie mix.  Rick said to just make them from scratch, so I did.... It was easy,  easy,  easy! I don't think I will ever buy brownie mix again....  And just so you know..... Hinley was a great help! Now we are ready to watch some COWBOY FOOTBALL!  GO POKES!!

In the Kitchen With Judy.... Birthday Request

It's time to celebrate Laurie's birthday! She will be 25 tomorrow! Where has the time gone? She is all grown up, married and has her own daughter.... But just like Holly and Amy, she too wil always be my little girl.... 

 In our family we celebrate everything (nearly).... So mama's recipes come out! Today it is her "from scratch" Devil's Food cake... I did do a slight variation to the icing by adding pecans.... I'll let you know what the Teel/Gilleland experts think!  Happy Birthday Laurie Dayle!

#5 In the Kitchen with Judy

One of the things I have always admired, was the hidden talent of canners.  First it is their bountiful gardens that I admire.  What can not be eaten fresh, must be preserved for later on.  So how is that done??? Well for a girl who grew up in a grocery store ( my parents and Aunt & Uncle were owners of Teel Grocery ), gardening was in the produce aisle.  

     My canning skills are nil.  But I have have friends whose green thumbs produce wonderful gardens and they are terrific canners!  Every year Jeff and Emily Upright inspire me.. So, I have decided to become a gardener.... Of sorts..   I have 6 tomato plants, generously donated to me by my friend, Michelle Miller..  Little did she know, they would go through many trials to be able to produce 3 tomatoes... You read right... 6 plants, 3 tomatoes! 

      So off on my "canning" adventure... First... I discovered a refrigerator pickle recipe on Pinterest ... Isn't that where you discover everything?   Second, I put out the word that I needed cucumbers. And John Long came to my rescue! So now I have these cucumbers laying on the counter.. I've got to do something and not let them go to waste.  I gathered up everything I needed.. And I had everything, everything but rings for the jars.  I knew I had some... Somewhere ..from  the pickles Jeff and Emily had made me last year...  And of course they were right where they should be.... In the toy box!  My granddaughters like to wear them as bracelets!

     Now after cucumbers are washed, sliced and packed in jars, it's time to pour the pickling juice over the 7 quart jars.   Lids and rings are on and jars are now in the fridge!  A small prayer that they turn out!   Stay tuned!  I'll let you know whether it was a success or it's back to the drawing board aka the grocery aisle......

In the kitchen with Judy...#4

Another evening in the kitchen... This time spaghetti and meatballs!  Anyone who knows me, knows that it is very unusual for me to make meatballs for my spaghetti.  I thought I'd just do it for tonight.... And they were delicious! But I'm going back to making my meat sauce ... Same amount of meat and same seasonings... We just like it better that way!

In the kitchen with Judy...#3

FRIED CHICKEN!   yep folks I attempted fried chicken!   My mom could fry the best chicken!  I used to try to fry a chicken, but actually it was a criminal act on my part!  My brother told me to never fry a chicken again and quickly put in a Chester Fried Chicken fryer in his deli/grocery store!   Well that business no longer exists and it's over an hour to Eishen's ( closest to my mom's I've ever found ) in Okarche, Okla....so..... I was hungry for fried chicken.... So out came my Paula Deen giant skillet (yep I love my P.D. Cookware) .... Now I did not fry a bone in chicken (that's where my "I can't fry chicken comes in) I fried chicken tenderloins.... Got the olive oil, salt,  pepper, flour and completely thawed tenderloins out.   1) rubbed all sides with olive oil. 2) sprinkled salt and pepper on both sides. 3) dredged in a light coating of flour.  4) salt and pepper again. 5) heated up the skillet with olive oil. 6) began the frying experience! 7). I think the big thing is to watch closely and turn when the coating on the first side begins to brown.  All in all I turned the tenderloins 3 or 4 times.   It turned out great! Tastes like my mom's (withOUT bones

of course... Still miss those chicken legs! .... But the real test was when Rick tried them..... And..... He has officially said he would eat them again!!! Success!!

In the Kitchen with Judy. #2

Once again I find myself looking for more of Mama's comfort food.  Tonight it is her Tacos!  You just can not beat homeade tacos.... So heat that skillet up! Grab the olive oil, corn tortillas and serve up some great tacos! ( just for the record, my Aunt Rosie also was a taco expert... As is her daughter in law, Yvette DePriest )

In the Kitchen with Judy

As many of you know, my mom left this life in 1988.  She was far too young and had so much more to give... and the selfish child that I am,  wants her back.  Two of the things that keeps her close to me are church ( she loved church, she loved singing and most importantly she loved our Lord) and she loved to cook.   When I am missing her more than usual, I often find myself in the kitchen (thus the title)  attempting one of her recipes.   Now for clear clarification... my mom did NOT use recipes... She cooked from scratch without any help.  She  could eat something and then go home and recreate it... One time we were in Duncan at WoolWorth's (long time ago) at their little café.  They had a strawberry pie... she had a slice.. figured out what she thought it was and of course went home and created it.. And it was better than theirs!  Anyway.... Here is her version of "Sexy Pie"... according to my daughter Amy, the original was called "Better than sex pie" and Mom did not like the title, so she renamed it! 
  Hope you enjoy!
 Sexy Pie       

Ingredients:   1 cup flour            1 stick butter    1/2 cup chopped pecans (PEE CAns or pa cons depending on your
                                                                                                area of the neighborhood)
                         1 cup powdered sugar        8 ounces of Philly Cream Cheese          1 Large container of Cool Whip
                         1 large Chocoalate Instant Pudding              1 Large Vanilla Instant Pudding     
                         1 chocolate bar, grated or a handful of semi sweet chocolate morsels


Crust:            1 cup flour, 1 stick butter   (double as you need it for larger batches)  chopped pecans
                       Mix together and press in pan.  Bake at 350* until golden brown.  Remove and completely cool


Filling            Layer 1:  1 cup powdered sugar, 8 ounces of Cream Cheese, 1 cup Cool whip
                                  Beat powdered sugar and cream cheese until smooth, add cool whip and mix thoroughly.
                                  Spread on top of COMPLETELY COOLED CRUST.

                       Layer 2        1 Large package of Instant Chocolate Pudding mixed as directed only use 2 2/3 cups of milk
                                            Spread on top of cream cheese layer

                       Layer 3        1 Large package of Instant Vanilla Pudding, mixed as directed, only use 2 2/3 cups of milk.
                                            Spread on top of chocolate pudding layer.

                        Layer 4         Cool Whip (enough to cover top)  Spread on top of vanilla pudding layer

                      The original recipe says to grate a chocolate bar on top for garnish... I am lazy... I sprinkled semi sweet chocolate chips 
                      on top!    

Daughters....#2

There is nothing sweeter than the expressions between a mother and her child.  This picture captures pure joy.  I have long been convinced that joy comes naturally.... Not something that has to be worked for.  Joy comes in so many different ways... From love of your family, to love for your fellow man, to a walk in Mother Nature's lanes, joy can be found everywhere....if we just take the time to look.  Now how you may ask, does this tie in with my subject of daughters? Webster says this about joy:

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/joy

a feeling of great happiness. : a source or cause of great happiness : something or someone that gives joy to someone.

I have been blessed in my life to experience this through my own daughters as well as through some who are "almost" mine.... 

If you have been blessed as I have been, you understand what I am talking about.

Daughters: more than just the female offspring...more than just the next female generation.... Daughters: my source of joy.

Daughters

Installment 2 is coming soon!

Daughters

I have been thinking a lot about the subject of daughters.  I have raised 3.  But to give you an idea of my beginnings, I wanted to share pictures of my grandparents. My paternal grandparents are Ernest and Birttie (Stelding) Teel  (1st pic) and my maternal grandparents are John and Nettie (Doss) Braswell.  They raised their children beginning in the early 1900's.  (My dad and mom were born in 1918 and both had older siblings)  in the weeks to come I will share different photos of the women in my life which of course are all daughters! I hope you will follow along.