Mosquitos, Chiggers, and Ticks - Oh, My!!

Bethany asked for my insect repellant recipe, so I thought I'd post it here. It's adapted from Cindy Lonergan's recipe. :-)

In a one-ounce bottle, combine almost 1 oz olive or almond oil (this is your base - leave room for the essential oils and you can add more base oil later if desired) and 5 to 10 drops of each of the following essential oils: bergamot, citronella, eucalyptus, geranium, lemongrass, patchouli, peppermint, pine needle, rosemary, spearmint, tea tree.

You don't actually need ALL of these - they can be expensive, especially if you are buying them all at once. I've never had geranium oil in my supply, and just recently found pine needle oil, so I had never included it before. The two I definitely use a full ten drops of are citronella and lemongrass, and then fewer drops of whatever others I have on hand.

After combining them and before each use, roll the bottle gently to mix the oils well. Suppsedly you shouldn't shake essential oils - that's what I've been told. Just rub a few drops of this blend on arms, neck, ankles, at waistbands, etc. Obviously don't get it in your eyes, and don't ingest. It's a good healing oil for bites, too.

Also, here is Cindy's chigger-and-tick repellant powder: Put flowers of sulfur, also known as sublimed sulfur, into a sock. Stitch or rubber band close. Pat on arms, legs, underarms, panty lines, bra lines, pants legs, and shoes before heading out. When I got this from Cindy about ten years ago, she said she found the sulfur at Wal-mart. I haven't looked for it recently.

Have a healthy bite-free summer!! :-)
Love, Mom/Mardeana

Buttermilk

Hi Folks, here is my buttermilk recipe. And I must say it's awesome! It's not the really quick version with adding lemon or vinegar to milk, but the texture and taste is better. So depending on what you want/have time for, this may be for you. What you need: * 1 quart jar, sterilized. This is really important, don't skip this step. 4 cups 1% milk or greater. No fat= no buttermilk :-D 1/4 cup of buttermilk Method: Take your quart jar washed and dried and place in oven @ 200 degrees for 15 minutes. You can leave in the over to cool or remove to cool. I have to take it out, other wise I turn it back on and get the jar too hot :-s . Just be sure it's cooled off before you do this next step, I've ruined a few jars with out thinking...! Add 1/4 cup buttermilk to jar, then add just under 4 cups of milk. I just eyeball it to the level of the first ring of the jar where the lid screws on. Place the jar somewhere warm and where it won't be disturbed for 24 hours. It needs to be above 65 degrees. The warmer it is and the less it is jostled the quicker it will set. After it has set (it will be thick and have the consistency of yogurt or really thick buttermilk, either way is fine) place in fridge and you're done! The beauty of this is once you've started the buttermilk, there is never a need to buy more. Just use 1/4 cup of the buttermilk you've started and keep going! I buy a 1 cup container of buttermilk to start with and it makes a gallon! It keeps in the fridge for quite a while, too. If there are any questions, leave them in the comments!

Pumpkin Cookies

These turn out very soft, almost muffin-y. In fact, they make me think of those "muffies" at Panera - the tops-only of muffins... Anyway, with reduced sugar and whole wheat flour, and perhaps with more nuts, and without the icing, I'll serve these for breakfast! :)

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. brown sugar (I use 1 c.)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon rind (I used juice)
2 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. pumpkin
1/2 c. nuts
3/4 c. raisins

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs. Sift and add dry ingredients and pumpkin. Add nuts and raisins. Bake at 375 for 12-15 min. Cool and spread with icing -

4 T. butter
1/4 c. pumpkin
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. lemon rind
salt

I haven't actually made the frosting...

This recipe works great with banana too - I think banana and pumpkin are almost interchangeable, consistency-wise. Elijah loves them too!

Frosted Peanut Butter Bars

Think "Reeses Peanut Butter cookies!" I just made these last night, and yep, I think I'll make them again. I only made 1/2 recipe, though.

1 c. butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 c. packed brown sugar (I reduced this to 1 c.)
1 c. sugar
2 1/2 c. creamy peanut butter, divided (reduced fat or generic brands are not recommended...)
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 c. quick oats
2 c. all purpose flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugars, add 1 cup peanut butter, egg, and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Spread into greased 15x10" baking pan (for 1/2 recipe, I used a 10" springform pan - made it more like a pie, but it works!)

Bake at 350 for 13-17 min, or til golden brown. Cool slightly on wire rack, about 12 minutes. Spread with remaining peanut butter and cool completely.

Chocolate frosting:
6 T butter, softened
4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. baking cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
6-8 T milk

Combine all ingredients, adding only enough milk to make it spreading consistency. Spoon over the peanut butter layer and spread. Cut into bars - makes about 3 dozen.

Hot Pink Hummus!!!

Or Electric Purple... It all depends on how big your beet is! :)

Wrap a beet and an unpeeled clove of garlic loosely in foil. Roast at 400 for about 45 minutes or until beet is tender. Remove skin from beet and garlic.

Process with 15oz can of white beans, rinsed (or garbanzo beans), the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/4 c. olive oil, and 1 tsp. salt. Makes about 2 cups.

Ok, now for my tips - my beet was probably about 2" diameter - didn't think it was THAT big, but we got the electric purple version. Also, use a fork to test the beet for tenderness - I kept waiting to be able to squish it, like a baked potato, and it never got there. My clove of garlic burned up, I left it in so long. If you like the garlic flavor, you probably want to use more than just one clove - it wasn't very strong, and I would have preferred a little more garlic flavor to balance the beetiness of it - but that may have been different had I used a smaller beet!

Cornmeal Crust

Hi Everyone!

Are you ready for a recipe blitz? :) I figure it's about time I get on here and post some new recipes - I only have about a half dozen that I've been wanting to share!

First up I wanted to post this crust I found when I wanted to make a Mexican style pizza - I love the crust, and used it to top a Mexican style pot-pie, too! I may even try making it alone, just pita-bread style - not sure exactly what I'll do with it then... just eat it maybe...

Cornmeal Crust

1 1/2 c. flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 T. sugar
1 1/4 tsp. dry yeast
1/4 tsp. coarse salt
3/4 c. warm water
1 T. olive oil
1/3 c. cornmeal (think you can stretch this to 1/2 c. if you really like the corn-ey flavor!)

Combine 3/4 c. flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Add water and oil and beat. Stir in cornmeal and the rest of the flour, and knead til smooth and elastic - about 5 min. Cover and let rest 10 min.

To make pizza, have the oven preheated to 450:
Spray baking sheet with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Press the dough into a 14x10" rectangle and prick with a fork. Bake 8-10 min, or til edges just begin to brown. Top with 1 c. Mexican cheese blend, 1 1/2 c. chopped cooked chicken, diced tomatoes, and chopped yellow bell peppers, and another 1 c. Mexican cheese. Bake another 6-8 min.

To make pot pie, only make 1/2 crust recipe and have oven preheated to 375:
Layer in a pie plate - thick layer of chopped meat with a little broth (seasoned as desired), 1/2 can of drained corn, 1/2 can rinsed black beans, and layer cheese. Top with rolled out crust, crimp edges, and bake - about 20 min (I think!) until top is dry and beginning to brown.

This is how I made a pot pie - you can definitely add tomatoes or whatever else sounds good! My broth didn't thicken at all, so you may want to serve it in bowls or dust the bottom with flour maybe, to make a thicker broth.

Enjoy!