Backwood Creations

Fried Potatoes

Soo the main dish was yummy too and recipe will follow but my husband and son loved the potatoes so they take priority.

Fried Potatoes

Ingredients:

1. 2 large Russet Baking Potatoes
2. 1t Fresh Ground Sea Salt
3. 1t Fresh Ground Black Pepper
4. 1t Dried Rosemary, crushed
5. 2 Brown Paper Lunch Bags

Directions:

• Heat oil in a deep fryer or frying pan to 375 degrees F.
• Slice potatoes about 1/4"-3/8" thick.
• Fry potato slices a handful at a time (took me 3 or 4 batches) and fry for 5 minutes.
• Put seasonings into brown paper lunch bags.
• Drain potato slices on paper towel, put promptly into brown paper lunch bag, fold over top 2-3 times and shake. Repeat until all potato slices are cooked.

Chicken with Tomatoes, Spinach, and Capers

Ingredients:

1. 3 Chicken Breast, baked and sliced
2. 1 small Onion, sliced thinly
3. 1T Olive Oil
4. 1 14.5oz can Stewed Tomatoes Italian Style, roughly chopped
5. 1t Garlic, minced
6. 1T Capers
7. 1/2t Fresh Ground Black Pepper
8. 2C Spinach, roughly torn

Directions:

• Heat Oil in a large skillet over med heat and saute onion until transparent, about 5 minutes.
• Add tomatoes, garlic, capers, and black pepper. Stir well to combine.
• Place chicken strips on top of tomato onion mixture.
• Top chicken with spinach. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes until spinach is cooked.
• Stir until combined and serve.

Painted Bread

On Friday night I checked out one of my favorite blogs Progressive Pioneer. On Fridays she has started doing a Make and Do. I've been inspired to do at least one of her Make and Do projects. Last Friday she linked over to Chef Tess Baeresse. I was needing to bake some bread, so why not have painted bread?!?!

I started by baking the bread; Caraway-Rye Bread from Better Homes & Gardens cookbook (minus the Caraway seeds). Then I got to making the "paint". I followed Chef Tess's instructions, but it didn't quite come out right.

First this happened:

See the white? That is popped barley. I picked a few out and had my son try them. He said it was good and asked why I was feeding him popcorn (he is allergic to corn); I told him it wasn't but it kind of was like popcorn. I tried "popping" some in the microwave, but it didn't work.

I continued to toast the barley until it was almost black and then added the water, "steeped", and then drained. What came out was this thickish brown liquid that resembled gravy. I tried to paint some on to the bread, but it didn't really do anything maybe a light yellow color that was hard to see.

So I went to the pantry and found a can of beets that probably wouldn't be eaten any time soon and dumped it and a can of water into a saucepan. I let the beets and liquid cook down until the beets were pretty light in color. I then took the beets out and continued to cook the liquid until it was fairly thick (coated the back of a spoon). It worked out fairly well to get a magenta color. My husband was a bit worried when I said the color was from beets, but I tried the "paint" and it didn't taste like beets just sugar.

My son insisted on having a train on one of them and I so happened to have a train cookie cutter which I outlined using the "paint". I did the flower using a cookie cutter too.

My new knitting obsession ...

Back in February I went to town and picked myself up a learn how to knit kit. I had watched my friend do it for awhile and figured if she could do it with two kids, pay attention to the plot of a movie, and even do it while reading that it couldn't be that hard. Luckily I started while still in town with her to yell at me not to think too much; I was having problems tying a slipknot. I caught on and now I would knit all the time if I could, but I can't. You remember that "headache" aka boat dodger that I posted about. The last two weeks I've had an excuse though and the last 3 days an even bigger one. I had to finish this project before tomorrow nights Birthday party for the recipient. I adapted a child's poncho pattern from the learn how to knit book to what I could do and wanted. I think it turned out really good and hope that the recipient will like it too.

A couple other things I've made:

A pixie hat for me.

A stripped hat for my son.

I've also discovered a website called Ravelry. They offer TONS of knitting patterns for FREE and I've been having a lot of fun browsing the site and growing my project folder. Now to finish the dodger and compile a list of what I want to do, when it needs to be accomplished, and organize it in time line order. Luckily I will be on a sailboat for 10 days next month and can hopefully get a lot of knitting done!

Chicken Fried Venison Steak and Smashed Red Potatoes

So the recipe originated from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook, but due to the lack of spices that I'm noticing the recipes having it has become my own in a sense. One thing is I added Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and Paprika. Then I used Venison Steaks rather than beef cubed steaks. So here it is:

Chicken Fried Venison Steak

Ingredients:

1. 1C All Purpose Flour
2. 1t Black Pepper
3. 1/2t Salt
4. 1/2t Dried Thyme
5. 1/4t Cayenne Pepper
6. 1/4t Paprika
7. 1/2t Onion Powder
8. 1t Garlic Powder
9. 2 Eggs, beaten
10. 1/2C Rice Milk
11. 1 packaged stack of Saltine Crackers, finely crushed
12. 1 Venison Roast, sliced into 1/2" steaks

Directions:

• In a large shallow container combine first 8 ingredients. In another large shallow container combine Eggs and Milk. Pour Cracker crumbs into another large shallow container.
• Dip each steak into Flour mixture, then dip into Egg mixture, and then coat with Cracker crumbs. Let stand for 10 minutes.
• Preheat Oil to 375 degrees F.
• Fry steaks, 1-2 at a time, 4 minutes a batch. Drain oil from steaks on a wire rack.

Accompanying Gravy

Ingredients:

1. 3T Olive Oil
2. 1/4C All Purpose Flour
3. 1/2C Rice Milk
4. 1C Beef Broth
5. 1/2t Black Pepper
6. 1/4t Garlic Powder
7. 1/4t Onion Powder
8. 1/4t Paprika

Directions:

• Heat Olive Oil in a large saucepan over Medium heat. Add Flour and stir to combine well. Cook for 10 minutes.
• Whisk in Rice Milk, Beef Broth, and Seasonings.
• Stir continuously until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat until ready to serve.

Smashed Red Potatoes

Ingredients:

1. 2lbs Red Potatoes, cut into 1" cubes
2. 2T Butter, softened
3. 2T Rice Milk
4. 1t Garlic Powder
5. 1/2t Onion Powder
6. 1/2t Salt
7. 1/4t Dried Thyme
8. 1/4t Paprika
9. 1/4t Black Pepper

Directions:

• Boil Red Potatoes until fork tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain.
• Add Potatoes to a large bowl along with remaining ingredients.
• With a hand masher or a pastry blender, smash and blend Potatoes until they are a consistency you like.

This meal was really good, everyone liked it. The venison was tender even though I didn't do anything to tenderize it before I coated it and fried it. I really liked the Smashed Red Potatoes though. It was a last minute thought. My bag of russets went bad, really bad, so I knew I was going to have to use the Red Potatoes but didn't have the time to roast them before dinner. I love the skin of Red Potatoes and knew I didn't want to skin and mash them up, so I just smashed them and added the seasonings I would have if I would have had time to roast them.

Guest Photo: My son saw me take a photo of my dinner plate so he had to also. I thought it was too cute not to share.

Alfredo Sauce Fish with Herbed Crust Pizza

If you read my dinner post from yesterday you then know that I went fishing and caught a Yellow Eye Rockfish. Later my son stated that we would be having the fish on pizza tonight. So I obliged!

Start making this dish by cooking your fish fillets in a large skillet over medium heat with a little olive oil. Season your fish with a little salt and pepper too. Cook until fish flakes easily. Roughly chop fish fillets and making sure to remove all bones.

While the fish is cooking start the Alfredo Sauce. Heat 3T Olive Oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 3T Flour and let cook for 5 minutes. Whisk in 3/4C Rice Milk, 3/4C Chicken Broth, and 1T Lemon Juice. Season sauce with 1/4t Black Pepper, 1/2t Salt, 1/2t Onion Powder, 1t Garlic Powder, and 1t Parsley. Cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and let cool until ready to use.

Prepare the pizza dough. Stir together 3C AP Flour, 2 1/4t Yeast, 1t Salt, 1T Sugar, and 1T Italian Seasoning. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add 2T Olive Oil and 1C Warm Water. Stir together until dough starts to form. Remove and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and no longer sticky. Spread out onto a greased pizza pan.

Assemble pizza by spreading out the Alfredo Sauce, then layering the fish, then toppings (I used diced red pepper and sliced green onion), and your choice of cheese (1/4 was without cheese and the rest was topped with Cheddar).

Bake pizza for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees F.

This was really good and I will definitely use my Alfredo Sauce with Halibut on Pizza next time. The Cheddar Cheese wasn't bad but I do wish that I would have had the Shredded Italian Cheese blend. Everyone was happy with the way the pizza turned out and I'm sure the last two pieces will be fought after at lunch time tomorrow.

Easter Dinner

We enjoyed a scrumptious Easter Dinner tonight. I'm starting to get into serving nice holiday meals even if its just for the 3 of us. Luckily tonight we had a dinner guest join us! Unfortunately, we didn't eat until almost 8 pm but hopefully the meal made up for it. I cooked a small boneless half ham and a small boneless leg of lamb along with mashed potatoes and sauteed asparagus. This picture is all the leftovers that were left.

The half ham was the easiest. I put the cut side down in a pyrex baking dish, opened a can of sliced pineapple, poured the juice over the ham, and then sealed the ham and baking dish with aluminum foil. Baked for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F.

For the lamb I placed the meat fat side up on a rack in a baking dish. I mixed 1/2C Red Wine, 1/2C Beef Broth, and 1C Orange Juice together and then poured it over the lamb. Baked for 50 minutes at 400 degrees F. At 15 minutes I turned the meat over. At 30 minutes I turned it over again and poured Honey Mustard Dressing over the lamb. At 40 minutes I checked the meat with a thermometer and it wasn't quite done, so I poured out the juices in the pan into a bowl and then repoured the juices over the lamb. I baked it for about 10 more minutes.

I sauteed the Asparagus in 1T of Olive Oil, 1C Chicken Broth, and 1t Lemon Juice.

The only thing I remembered to put Salt and Pepper on/in was the mashed potatoes. I didn't figure that out until now as I was typing what I did and the salt and pepper shakers never made it to the table either. I guess it wasn't necessarily missed, but I would advise you to remember to season the lamb and asparagus with a little salt and pepper.

Egg Carton Easter Basket

We had some friends visiting us over the past week and we did a few crafts with the kiddos. I have a LOT of egg cartons and besides making lint fire starters out of them I'm usually clueless. Except for this time! I wanted to do some Easter type crafts and a basket seemed like the perfect thing and since you usually put eggs in an Easter basket an egg carton would seem to do the trick. I cut the top off the egg cartons and let the kids paint them how they wanted too. One painted the bottom, one the inside, and my son handed the brush to me :( Earlier I had braided some yarn together to use as a handle and cut some green construction paper into about 1/2" x 6" strips. When the paint was dry I poked holes into two of the ledges of the carton and fed one end of the braid into each hole. I then used a needle threader to pull the individual yarn strands into the holes of a button and tied a knot underneath the buttons, this kept the handle from coming through and off the egg carton bottom. The kids then glued the strips of paper to the inside of the egg cups to look like grass.

The kids were even able to sit long enough to dye 2 dozen eggs!

Dodger Saga Continues ...

On Thursday my new sewing machine came in. My husband and I weren't satisfied with the way my household machine was doing on the Sunbrella fabric so we went middle of the road and got a Necchi heavy duty machine. Its really adjustable and mechanical versus my Brother computerized machine. I really like it and it reminds me a lot of my mom's machine that I learned on. Yesterday I sewed the top hem and then realized that I really couldn't do anything else until the fastener spacing was measured and fasteners put in. Weather wasn't cooperating yesterday, but today it was GORGEOUS. So it got done today and I was able to mark some more lines and take more measurements. I was able to get the sides and one half of the bottom hem folded and set with an iron. However I was whisked away to go fishing instead of sewing the newly made hems. Oh shucky darn! Luckily I brought home dinner for tomorrow, a nice sized Yellow Eye Rock Fish. Tomorrow I'll sew up the sides and straight bottom piece, measure and mark the fastner placement, and wait for my husband to put them in. I'm not looking forward to figuring out the bottom half that curves over the cabin top. I guess then I'll be done with the majority of it. Then we just have to figure out the placement and size of the window we want in it. Hopefully the other side will go smoother after I complete this side.

Stay Tuned: My son has deemed the fish I caught to be served on top of pizza. Should be interesting.

Volcano Cake

My son wanted a Volcano Birthday this year and by golly was I going to figure out how to give him one. With all the hugs and thank yous I've been getting from him I feel that I've succeeded. I used a jelly roll pan and made a yellow cake in it. Then I made a chocolate cake in a spring form pan and a flute cake pan. I put the flute cake pan cake on top of the spring form pan cake and then cut diagonal around both. I didn't use any frosting in between the two because my son is allergic to dairy and corn. I frosted the yellow cake that was still in the jelly roll pan. I then placed the Volcano on top of the frosted yellow cake. I was unsure of how to create the lava until the evening before. I knew I couldn't use frosting and so I made a strawberry glaze. I put sliced fresh strawberries on the top of  the Volcano and then drizzled the strawberry glaze over the top of the Volcano.

The yellow cake, chocolate cake, and frosting recipe came out of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Replacing cows milk with Soy milk. I got the idea of the strawberry glaze from the cookbook to but had to alter it a bit.

Strawberry Glaze

Ingredients:

1. 1 bag Frozen Strawberries, thawed
2. 2/3 C Water
3. 2/3 C Granulated Sugar
4. 1/4 C All Purpose Flour

Directions:

• Pour thawed Frozen Strawberries into a blender with Water. Puree until smooth.
• Mix Sugar and Flour together in a saucepan.
• Whisk in Strawberry puree into Sugar/Flour mixture and cook over medium heat.
• Stir continuously until thick and bubbly.
• Let cool.

The Strawberry Glaze is really good and was really simple. I put some on my leftover piece today and it would be good over ice cream or cheese cake too.

Weather Board

I made this weather board the other week. I found a chalk board and then glued black felt to one side. I then cut out weather representing shapes from white and yellow felt. Each day and/or when the weather changes I ask my son what the weather is like. He decides and then chooses the weather shape from the envelope to put on the board. The chalk board side is for him to draw what the weather is like, then write the weather, and then look up the weather and write a more descriptive weather report. Right now he is very interested in correctly doing the felt side, but more interested in just doodling on the chalk board side.