March 3, 2017 - Good afternoon, the weather was gorgeous Thursday with all the nice sunshine. The wind was a little cool but other than that it is a wonderful day. March brings with it the promise of gardening and warm, sunning days. I think East Texas can say “Spring is here!” There is usually a cool spell near Easter but I truly hope we don’t see any cold weather again for the year. I think the prediction for the rest of the week is sunny with showers Saturday, Sunday, and Monday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the high 50’s and low 60’s. Perfect for this time of the year.
Take the opportunity to drive around the county and see nature at its best. This time of the year is just beautiful with nature proudly showing off all its colors.
If you haven’t planned your spring garden yet now is the time to start. There is nothing better than garden-fresh vegetables and you will be amazed at the flavors, so difference from what is in the grocery stores. Now is the time to get the tomatoes, squash, peppers, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, and zucchini in the ground. Oh, don’t forget the potatoes. I get so excited this time of the year but I promise I am not planting a big garden, just basic stuff.
Recipes:
Tea Cakes recipe was shared by Merle Howard (They were great!)
Tea Cakes
½ cup buttermilk – let set to room temperature
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Baking powders
Pinch of salt
1 ¾ cup sugar – I add about 2 Tablespoons more to measuring cup
1 cup of real butter
2 eggs
4 cups of flour
Instructions: Mix the buttermilk, soda baking, baking powders, and salt and let stand and rise. Blend the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs 1 at a time to butter/sugar blend. Begin to add the flour and buttermilk alternately to the butter/sugar mixture. Start and end with flour. Mix well and pour into container and let stand in refrigerator for a couple of hours.
To cook, preheat oven at 350 degrees. Spoon some of the cookie mix onto floured surface. At this point you want to level and flatten the dough some. Kneading is not necessary but you may want to use the rolling pin to level.
Cut out cookies and bake. You will adjust your cooking time to the size of the cookie. Set timer for about 9 ½ minutes and see what you think. The tops should not be brown but you should see a little browning at the edge. For crisper cookies let the tops brown slightly.
Crock Pot Meatloaf
Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 C milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 slices bread, crumbled or torn into small pieces
1/2 C diced onion
1 envelope dry Ranch Dressing mix
1/2 C ketchup
Directions: Mix eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and bread crumbs. Allow to soften (about 20 minutes). Combine this mixture with ground beef, onion, ranch pack, and ketchup. Mound in a greased crockpot. Cover the top of the mixture with additional ketchup. Put the cover on and turn crockpot on high for 15 minutes, then reduce to low and cook for 7 hours.
Parmesan Upside Down Baked Potatoes
Ingredients:
7 red potatoes, washed and cut in half
2-3 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
garlic powder
sea salt or preferred salt
1). Preheat oven to 400F. Melt butter in the bottom of a 9×13 glass pan. 2). Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and seasonings over butter. Place potatoes cut side down and sprinkle more seasonings on top of potatoes. 3). Bake for 40-45 minutes or until cooked through. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before serving.
