Category : Kitchen

It’s a two day process. The first day you boil the potatoes and add everything but the flour. The potatoes then have to sit overnight to cool. I make my mashed potatoes as if I’m going to to be making lefse…that way if there are leftovers and I’m so inclined they are ready to go.

I use my Kitchen Aid mixer to stir in the flour. That mixer was our very first major purchase as a married couple even though we really couldn’t afford it at the time. I told Mr. G that I was going to need one to be as good of cook as my mom. I use it all the time! We’ve definitely gotten our money’s worth out of that machine.

t tuesday: lefse edition | Halles Hobbies

The trick to good lefse is rolling them very thin without using a ton of flour. Its a balancing act between having the potatoes to wet and sticky and having a dry flavorless lefse.

The thin lefse is rolled onto the turning stick (to the right in the photo) then placed on the grill. I got this grill at an auction almost 20 years ago for $7 and it was brand new still in the box! They retail for well over $100.

The lefse is cooked on each side for 1-2 minutes.

There is nothing low cal, low carb about this treat. I like just butter on mine before rolling and ~~inhaling~~ eating. Many use butter and sugar, some cinnamon sugar. It’s really a personal preference and usually a family traditional way to serve them.

Big J drove me to deliver some to a few special Norwegians around here yesterday afternoon. It’s always nice to see those smiling faces when I hand over this decadent treat. Makes the work totally worth it!

We’ve got freezing drizzle coming down today so I’m likely sticking close to home.

What are you doing today?

Around home | Blog | Kitchen

Holidays, kitchen, T Tuesday

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halleday

201511/10

T Tuesday: waste not edition

Here I am, once again, at dark thirty writing my T stands for Tuesday post in between getting kids up and making lunches. Perhaps of these days…weeks…years…I’ll get the habit of preplanning these things. I think it’s my personality though to wait and see where life takes me.

Today I wanted to share a couple of things I did this week to repurpose items that would have been thrown away or in this first case, composted.

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making apple cider vinegar. I’ve read numerous posts on this old fashion technique. Usually this time of year we have apples coming out of our ears from our neighbor’s trees. This year happened to be a poor production year with their trees.

I did have a couple organic store bought apples that we’re definitely past their prime. Not wanting to completely waste expensive apples, I decided to experiment. The recipes or tutorials I read used peels and cores but I’m certain that using the whole apple will work just fine. I sterilized my quart mason jar in the dishwasher then filled it with the chopped apples. I used spring water to completely cover the apples. A scrap of cloth was placed under the ring to allow it to breath. I placed it in our basement storage room while it does its magic. Hopefully by Christmas, I’ll have some homemade apple cider vinegar.

The second waste not piece of this post was using a paper scrap in an unexpected way.

The scrap started as a misprinted Christmas letter from last year. Then it protected my journal from paint and sprays, glues and inks.

t tuesday waste not edition | Halle's hobbies

Now it’s the base of a new art journal page. Who know where this page will take me.

Do you use any “throw away” items in unexpected ways? I’d love to hear about them…

Art | Blog | Kitchen

art journal, kitchen, scraps, T Tuesday

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halleday

201509/29

T Tuesday: National Coffee Day edition

I’m quickly linking up with Elizabeth and Bleubeard this morning.

Coffee for T stands for Tuesday works for me!

Before I head off for another action packed Tuesday I had to share with you my colorful carrots…

Look what happened to the purple ones when I peeled them!!

I’m not sure how often I’ll be participating with T stands for Tuesday in the coming months. Tuesdays are super hard for me if I want to do more than post and run. I hope you’ll still stop by from time to time…I’ll do the same for you…

Blog | Kitchen

coffee, kitchen, T Tuesday

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halleday

201509/15

T Tuesday: end of season edition

Ah here we are…the end of summer. Gardening is all but done. Leaves are turning and falling at a rapid pace around here. The birds and critters are frantically storing food for the long winter.

I ripped out the plants from the home gardens yesterday. I still have plants in my in-laws garden that will come out next weekend.I’ve been canning like crazy. More spicy beans and salsa. I’m really looking forward to breaking into those jars come the dead of winter!!

I also have to share my colorful carrots.

Aren’t they pretty!! I sampled a couple and they are quite tasty. These are going in my next beef roast dinner. YUM!

My important phone call I mentioned last week came but not with the results I had hoped for. Such a bummer!!! I really thought I had that job! I even had gotten a tour of “my work space” at the end of the interview.

BAH!! Anyway…moving on…

Since I don’t have a regular gig to go to, I’ll continue to do my on-call subbing. At least that leaves time for art!

I’ve actually done a bit of creating! Will wonders never cease! I completed one art journal page and just need to put the final touches on a second. Waiting for paint and glue to dry. The above page isn’t my favorite but I was just happy that I still had the drive to create.

I’ll be meeting with some friends for breakfast today…real casual. Likely head there after working out…seriously casual. :) Not exactly sure what the rest of the day holds for me…other than a shower. HA!

What are you doing today?

Art | Blog | Kitchen | Outdoors

art journal, gardening, kitchen, T Tuesday

15 Comments

halleday

201506/30

T Tuesday: Juneberry jam edition

Welcome to yet another edition of T stands for Tuesday hosted by Dr. E aka Elizabeth, caretaker of Bleubeard and Squiggles.

So what’s a Juneberry you ask? I love putting words in your mouth…makes me feel all powerful and full of myself.

But seriously…ever heard of a Juneberry? How about a Saskatoon berry? Or perhaps a Serviceberry? Until recently I didn’t know that they all happen to be the same thing. And even more so…we have a tree in our yard. Wish I’d realized that 12 years ago when it was much smaller!!

Of course they are much tastier when left until they are a deep purple…but you have to fight the birds for them.

I found several recipes online for Juneberry jam but decided to go with this low sugar version.

Isn’t it pretty!?! I ended up with a partial jar that went into the fridge for immediate consumption.

I’m not a big sweets girl…(unless it’s chocolate…which I’m allergic to but I’m willing to deal with the consequences occasionally but that’s a whole other issue)…so a slightly tart jam suits me just fine. Honestly I haven’t tried it on bread yet…just the spoon. Slightly tart and quite full of seeds. It will depend on if anyone else likes the jam if I bother with all the tedious picking again. It would be interesting to know if you could make wine or mead or some sort of adult beverage from these berries. More research I guess.

Speaking of research…can anyone help me with the name of this flower?

I believe it starts with a “C” but I threw out the handy dandy marker that came with the plant. I want to write it down so I can remember to purchase more next year.

I’m not sure what’s on the docket for today other than talking to my in-laws. The Twin Cities area got hit with some pretty big thunderstorms yesterday…large hail, winds and heavy rain. We got very little hail here and not much of it so the garden is fine. We heard reports of two inch hail in their area though. UGH..that would be awful!

I have to show you my rouge bean plants too…I did not buy climbing beans but 4 of my plants have decided to climb.

I’ll be putting in some bamboo stakes today.