Spaghetti Pie....and dessert of course

Spaghetti Pie is one of my all time favorite recipes to make. My mom has made this for us since we were young. I've altered it a little since then but it will always remind me of when I was a kid.

I made this last night for the Rescue Squad dinner so the recipe is tripled but I'm going to give instructions for one batch.

First take 1.5lbs of ground beef (or half sausage like I do), some chopped onion, chopped bell pepper, about 2tsp of Italian seasoning and 1tsp of garlic salt and put it in a pan to brown.

Brown for 20 minutes:

All finished:

While the meat is browning cook 12oz of spaghetti al dente. Nothing is worse than mushy pasta.

Dump the pasta in a bowl with 1/2 C of Parmesan cheese, 3Tbsp butter, and 3 scrambled eggs(Duck eggs are the best for cooking!)

Pour into greased baking/pie pan. Top that layer with 1 1/3 C of cottage or ricotta cheese.

DRAIN the meat mixture and add on top of pasta and cheese.

Top with pasta sauce(8-16oz to taste) and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle 2C Mozzarella cheese on to and bake for another 10 minutes. Voila!

I serve with garlic bread and really enjoy my leftovers. I know you guys won't believe me but it really is good cold the next day. Speaking of....its about lunch time!

Mac McQuown - Marine Walking

Yesterday I was honored to meet Mac McQuown. This is a Marine walking over 15,000 miles to raise awareness for veterans. He stayed at our Rescue station last night and ate dinner with the rescue squad before our meeting.

Mac was polite, gracious, and has a long road ahead of him. He sat around and told his story and answered hundreds of questions from all of us. Mac struck out for Wake Forest FD this morning and tomorrow he will head to the Capital and stay at Station 1 Raleigh FD.  He is heading to FL on this leg of the trip. He projects it will take about 5-6 years to finish this mission. His goal is to raise awareness for veterans and raise money for homeless veterans.

Since its tax time if you are looking for somewhere to donate this year I can't suggest a better place!!

To read Mac's story, donate, or keep track of him by GPS go to:
http://www.projectfoot.org/marinewalking.htm

Homemade Butter

Nothing beats homemade butter! I make mine with raw cream but you can use full fat heavy cream from the store.

I'll be the first to tell you that I'm a cheater! I use my wonderful counter-top mixer. Pour in at least a pint of cream.You'll want the cream to be at LEAST room temperature but I typically put it in a bowl of hot water for 10-15 minutes. The warmer the cream the better the fat separates.

Turn the mixer on Medium and cover with a tea towel.

Let it run until you hear it start to thicken. The first time you make it you'll run and check on it every 5 minutes....this is normal. I have found it takes anywhere between 15-30 mintues.

You'll see the butter clumps:

Once you get as much butter as you can then you will strain the butter. KEEP the left over milk...you now have fresh buttermilk and personally I go ahead and bake 2 Buttermilk pies. It makes a world of difference.

Then put your "paddle attachment" on the mixer to form the butter and rinse it. Run it for about 2-3 minutes to squeeze any excess buttermilk out.

Pour in about 1.5 cups of ICE water and mix for another 2-3 minutes. Strain the butter. Repeat until the water is clear. Salt to taste.

Use the paddle to form a ball. Then put in containers for the refrigerator or freezer.

Chicken goals

Lately I've been looking for a nice large breed of chicken to mix with some of my bigger rooster to have a self-sustaining flock. Where the girls will lay eggs and the boys will grow out on rich food and end up in the freezer.

I haven't had very much luck finding the hens that I want. I found one last week but sadly this morning I went to feed and she was dead. :( I'm not sure what happened and there is nothing wrong with any of my other chickens. I have a feeling she was just too big.

On a lighter note I was at the auction Sunday and found a STUNNING pair of Splash Orpingtons. I lucked out and they sold within my price range. He will be great over any hens that I find. Right now he is with my Delawares.

Here are a few more pictures of the 2 new ones:

Pot Roast - No Knife Needed

I have finally mastered to make a Pot Roast recipe that doesn't end up dry, tough, or flavorless. Btw, Food Lion has chuck roast on sale this week! This isn't a recipe you can make in 30 minutes. Time is what makes this Pot Roast wonderful. It isn't labor intensive though so you can get it started then do other things while it cooks!

Step 1: Pick out a nice 2.5-3.5lb chuck roast. You will want one with a decent amount of fat. Fat = Flavor. The one I made today was 2.81lbs. I used my medium dutch oven. Pour about 2 Tblsp of Olive Oil in the bottom of the pan and turn the burner on medium.(you don't want to ever go over medium with cast iron). Preheat oven to 325.

Step 2: Liberally season your roast with salt and pepper on both sides. Once the olive oil starts to smoke put the roast in the pot and let it sear for 4-5 minutes. Flip and sear the other side for 4-5 minutes. This really gives you a lot of flavor.

Step 3: While it is searing cut up your veggies. 2 onions quartered, 4-5 carrots cut into bite size pieces, 3-4 stalks of celery cut into bit size pieces. Go ahead and put these in the pot around your roast.

Step 4: Once both sides are seared and your veggies are in pour in 1.5C of beef broth and 1.5C of red wine. (I get the $3.50 wine) Toss in 2 sprigs of rosemary, 2 springs of thyme(or 1 tsp), and 3 bay leaves. You can tie these, put them in cheesecloth, or just look out for them later. Bring to a boil. Cover and put in the oven.

Step 5: Find something else to do for a while. I've found it turns out best if you let it cook for at LEAST 1 hr per lb.

Step 6: Once enough time has passed you can check to see if the roast is ready by trying to lift it out of the pot. If it falls apart. Its READY!

(Btw, I LOVE the bamboo utensils Mom got me for Christmas)

Step7: Take roast out of the pot and put on cutting board or plate then tent loosely with aluminum foil while you finish.

Step 8: As soon as the pot roast was out I put the pot back on the burner and turned the heat to medium. I wanted to reduce the sauce so there was more flavor. It cooked for the 20 minutes it took me to make Brown Rice.

Step 9: Brown Rice is wonderful. Since you will have left over beef broth lets use it! For 1C of rice pour 1.5C of beef broth, 1/2 C water, and 2TBS of butter into a sauce pot. Bring to a boil. Pour in 1C of rice, reduce to Med/Low and cover. Do not touch it for 20 minutes. Fork the rice when done and serve. 

Step 10: Plate all the food. Use some of the juice around the veggies as dressing for the roast....or just pile it all together like I did. Don't forget to take your catalog/recipe book picture!

Chicken Updates!

My young girls are finally starting to lay. That egg on the left isn't that color...stupid cell phone quality picture messed it up. Its actually very light brown.

This morning I was gifted with an egg from one of my very young Delaware pullets.(young girl chicken) She laid a very small evenly brown egg. Hopefully she will keep this up!

This past weekend I went to the farmer's market in Raleigh to get some veggies and pecans. I mentioned to the lady with all the pumpkins/squash that I had chickens and would be happy to take any bruised/unsellable produce from her. I didn't expect anything but was VERY thrilled when I left with over 40 lbs of greens, squash, and pumpkins!! My girls have a lot of good eating to do.

Looks like homemade chicken soup will be next on the blog recipes. I have a racist rooster (he attacks all the white chickens) and another rooster will be heading to the stock pot this week. Hopefully it gets a little nicer outside so I can do it today...if not it will be Friday.

I got an AWARD!!!

I have just been informed that I have won a blog award....its my first! Thank you Rlilbitofcash for picking me!

The rules of the award are as follows:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award
3. Pick your five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs!


Some of my favorite blogs:
1.Range to Range - I love reading about the adventures you have out in the middle of nowhere!
2. From Seed - Fellow chicken lover and superb kitchen skills!!!
3. Vets Behaving Badly - Fairly new blog but I think its going to take off like wildfire!
4. Adventures in Colt/Filly Starting - I love reading about Rose!
5. The Perfect Horse - I like the thought process here!