Autumn Bouquet

 

Today I share an unusual autumn bouquet, not with the autumn colors that are on fire and brilliant. I love autumn colors, and I love the season; it is my favorite. I discovered something new to me this year. If you cut back flowers in July when they look really scruffy, they bloom beautifully in late September and October. 

So I give you an autumn bouquet in purple. A calm bouquet for a season of change. Today I thought it was best to just share a pretty picture. My heart is hurting for the southeast and Florida today. Bless all of those affected. 

In Victory,
Sherry

Comfort Food Sides

I can't believe I haven't posted some of the most basic food on this blog in the 15 years I have been blogging, but I have missed a few essentials and I have have been looking at what we eat lately and asking myself, have I ever posted this? I have not posted these three sides ever. We eat the mashed potatoes and green beans with every Sunday dinner type meal I serve. The corn is more of a summery side, best with fresh corn from a local farm.

Basic Mashed Potatoes (Instant Pot)

1 1/2 -2 pounds of potatoes of choice (usually for us it is russet)

1/2 cup -3/4 cup whole milk 

(sometimes, like on special meals I have been know to use heavy whipping cream instead.)

3-4 tablespoons of real butter

salt and pepper to taste

 

Instructions:

Peel and cut in half your potatoes, placing them directly in the instant pot. When they are ready pour in 1 1/2-2 cups of water. Lock the Instant Pot and cook on Manual for 6 minutes. When finished you can quick release or wait till they have depressurized and pour the water off into a colander. Place the potatoes back in the pot and pour in your milk, add butter, and seasonings. Whip with a hand held mixer till creamy. If more milk is needed add it slowly not to make them soupy. I always add an extra tablespoon of butter on top of finished potatoes to melt. It is not called comfort food for nothing! 

Green Beans

1 pound of fresh green beans, washed and trimmed

enough water to cover the beans 

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

Place your green beans into a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer to cook. How long? Now this is where it gets controversial. I like to cook my beans where they are still crisp, but a lot of people want them cooked a lot more than that. So you can cook them as little as 6 minutes or up to 30 minutes. At 30 minutes they will be falling apart but still look like a green bean. Ha! Drain off the water and season with salt pepper, and the butter.

These can also be made in the Instant Pot. Place beans in the IP and cover with water. I set the Instant Pot on Manual for 6 minutes and again some people will want them cooked longer. Drain off water when done and season with salt, pepper, and butter. Serve hot.

Southern Fried Corn

Now if you thought my green beans were controversial, you haven't seen anything yet. My grandmother made this corn and I make it like she made it. I grew up in a southern state of mind. We had southern meals all the way. The food was always fresh from the garden even in the winter because "she put food up." This would have been corn stripped off the cob and flash frozen for the freezer.  I don't grow corn but, I will start with frozen corn. It is the freshest way to get it. 

12 ounces of frozen corn

2 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup sugar (A lot of recipes say 1 tablespoon of sugar, but I put 4 tablespoons; which equals 1/4 cup)

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Place the butter in a 9-inch hot skillet and let it melt. Place the corn in the melted butter and stir till coated. Add salt, pepper, and sugar as desired and cook 15 minutes on simmer. Serve hot.

Comfort food should comfort you and be the foods you love most, and probably grew up eating. I am saddened to see that many people have gotten away from the hot home-cooked meal. A hot meal is comforting. You need a hot meal. 

What is your favorite comfort food?

*Disclaimer: If you have been on a certain diet. Please feel free to substitute; for example: stevia for sugar.  I would never cook this way for a person with a medical condition. I would use appropriate substitutes for the medical condition. I have cooked that way also and will continue to do so.

In Victory,

Sherry

Fresh Herb Basket

It is time again this month to do an herb project from The Herbal Yearbook. For September, I choose to make a fresh herb basket. It is for giving or for using in your own kitchen. 

Pick your herbs and gather your supplies. 

supplies:

basket

3-5 herbs of your choice

damp paper towels

parchment paper

string

recipe card (if giving)

any other items that will go with to give as gift (ex. herb stripper)

I have gathered my herbs: rosemary, marjoram, oregano, thyme, and sage. I am taking the cuttings of my herbs and wrapping the lower stem with the damp paper towel. 

After securely wrapping the stems, I place a square of parchment paper around the end of the herb. I have it folded here down in triangles on each top corner. Just like your making a paper airplane. 

I wrap the parchment paper completely around the damp paper towel and twist the bottom.

Then I flip the twisted part up and behind and then tie with twine.

When finished, it looked like this. My grandmother showed me how to do this when I was small so I could take the flowers I picked home.

The book I am using for the craft idea suggests giving this as a gift. If you have friends that are foodies and like to cook with fresh herbs, this is a great idea. 

This is how my basket looked when finished. I added a card with an idea of making herbs de Provence, herb scissors, and an herb stripper. I am saving my herbs for a project for next month. 

I have really enjoyed making projects from this book to gain more knowledge and practice using my herbs. Do you have herbs you use from your garden?

In Victory,

Sherry

Drying Roses for Display

I added more roses to the garden this year, and I decided to try drying a tiny bouquet for winter photos. 

It is really easy to dry roses. I have found the best way to get a nice look is to hang them upside down.

I have used a rubber band to hold the flowers together, and it works well. I have used this method before.

This is the same flower about two months later. They are now all dry and ready to style for any photos.

They make a nice addition to my tea tray. I think I need a bigger bouquet. I might still have time to harvest some before winter. 

In Victory,
Sherry

Warm Autumn Spice Mixes

 
I cook from scratch and usually don't need a baking spice mix, but when I do, I hate having to stop and look them up. So I am posting them all here in a handy reference and also posting them at the Victory Cottage Cookbook for a baking reference. I love baking in the fall, and this spice recipe list is one of the reasons it is so cozy, warm, and wonderful! 

Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix

3 tablespoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice

Place all ingredients in a glass jar with a tight seal. Shake to combine. Store in a cabinet for up to two years. (Makes almost 1/4 cup.)

Apple Pie Spice Mix

4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Place all ingredients in a glass jar with a tight seal. Shake to combine. Store in a cabinet for up to two years. (Makes a little more than a 1/3 cup.)

Gingerbread Spice Mix

3 tablespoons ginger
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Place all ingredients in a glass jar with a tight seal. Shake to combine. Store in a cabinet for up to two years. (Makes a little more than 1/3 cup.)

Allspice Mix 

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

Place all ingredients in a glass jar with a tight seal. Shake to combine. Store in a cabinet for up to two years. (Makes about 1 1/3 tablespoon.)

Cinnamon Sugar Spice Mix

1/2 cup white granulated sugar 
2 tablespoons cinnamon

 Place all ingredients in a glass jar with a tight seal. Shake to combine. Store in a cabinet for up to two years. (Makes 10 tablespoons or a little over half a cup.)

If you are missing cloves in the ingredients, it is in the allspice. They are all made of very similar spices, just varying amounts of each. I tried to make this easy for a pantry restock and without the need to go out and buy an odd spice you hardly ever use. 

I have set up my mother's baker's rack in my cottage corner for autumn baking. I have been choosing the essentials deemed worthy of going here. What are your fall baking essentials? 

In Victory,

Sherry

Cranberry Orange Cookies

 

I made these cookies this weekend and they were a real popular treat for my family! They were gone in 24 hours. This is a soft cookie with a cream cheese icing that highlights the flavors of cranberry, orange, cream cheese, and butter. The recipe made 24 cookies.

Cranberry Orange Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies

 Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon plus or the zest of 1 orange

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup of dried cranberries, rehydrated

Orange glaze:

2 tablespoons of cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon plus orange juice (juice of 1 orange)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Measure out your dried cranberries in a small bowl and boil some water. Pour enough boiled water over them to cover them and let them set at least 30 minutes. This will rehydrate your cranberries and make them more palatable.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl add sugar, orange zest and rub the orange zest into the sugar with a spatula until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Beat the orange zest and sugar until light and fluffy, a couple of minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add the flour mixture, mix until incorporated. Fold in the cranberries by hand. 

I used a medium cookie scoop and scooped out the cookies as balls and placed them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake them for 13-15 minutes. Let the cookies cool some before moving them to a cooling rack. They are a soft cookie, sort of cake like.

To make the glaze, mix the sifted powdered sugar, (I sift because I always get lumps in my powdered sugar) orange juice, softened cream cheese, and vanilla together with a hand held mixer till smooth. You want to get a really soft consistency although it doesn't really drizzle. I put it in an icing bag or a zip loc bag with the end cut off to pipe on the cookies. The icing stays soft and you can't stack the cookies on each other. You have to store them flat. If you want an icing that will harden you will want royal icing. The original recipe (see link below) had that type of icing. Just make it with orange juice instead of lemon.

Store in an airtight container. I did not refrigerate these cookies and they were fine for 24 hours on the counter. If you want them to last longer or you think they won't be eaten right away I would refrigerate them. They will last in refrigerator for up to a week.

Recipe adapted from: What Megan's Making

And of course, have them with tea! I love baking in the autumn! 

In Victory,

Sherry