🔥Around the Campfire (week 45)

 Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap of what happened at camp last week:

Posts ~

11/1: 🔥week 44

11/2: flamingo donut cake

11/3: tip-sy tuesday: pumpkin spice cookies

11/4: chicken with sun-dried tomato cream sauce

11/5: MSIH: west coast chili and a trophy

11/6: Brooke decorates phone cases

11/7: pickled green beans

What's Cooking ~

• leftover cheesy potatoes with ham, roasted broccoli
• chicken sausages, white beans baked in marinara, green beans
• grilled chicken, spaghetti squash with marinara, caesar salad
• grilled tuna, greek salad (tomatoes, cukes, feta), roasted garbanzo beans
• broccoli and cheese quiche (costco), green salad
• burger salad

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy:

• read the last 2 books in the Charley Davidson grim reaper/p.i. series by Darynda Jones. I loved this series and I will definitely be re-readiing them! I might even put them on my Christmas list (there are 13 of them!)
• while putting away Halloween stuff I decided to sort thru all of the costumes I have, make a list so I'll easily know what I have next year, and also a list of what is needed to make costumes out of all the little random bits (i.e. there's a pirate eye patch and a gold hoop earring, but nothing else...etc.) 
• also while putting away Halloween stuff I got a little side-tracked and started sorting and organizing other parts of the basement. Yep, the basement is now torn up and I have a new project at hand! 

Hope everyone had a good week - stop back and see more projects, recipes, and whatever else I think of to make at MMDC! Bye!

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor

Pickled Green Beans

My sister went with Ronda to her parent's house to make dilly beans a few weeks ago and she brought home a couple jars - and they are so so delicious we wanted to make more on our own...but do you think we could find a time to get together and make them? So I woke up this morning and decided to attempt it on my own! I don't have Ronda's family recipe but I googled and got tons of ideas, I went with this one but changed it a bit - I'll give you the original recipe and then my notes below. 

2 1/2 pounds fresh string beans
2 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
2 cups water
1/4 cup salt
1/2 pound garlic cloves, peeled
1 bunch fresh dill weed
1 pound small spicy red peppers
3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

Sterilize 6 half-pint jars with rings and lids and keep hot. Cut string beans to 1/4 inch shorter than your jars.

In a large saucepan, stir together the vinegar, water, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. In each jar, place 1 garlic clove, 1 sprig of dill, 2 red peppers, and 1/8 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Pack string beans into the jars so the are standing on their ends.

Ladle the boiling brine into the jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the tops. Wipe top rim of the jar so no moisture gets captured under the lid. Seal the jars with lids and rings. Place in a hot water bath so the jars are covered by 1 inch of water. Simmer but do not boil (approximately 180 degrees) for 10 minutes to process. Remove from the pot. Cool to room temperature. Tests jars for a good seal by pressing on the center of the lid. It should not move. When jars are cooled you should hear a "pop" to signal the lids are sealed. Refrigerate any jars that do not seal properly. Let pickles ferment for 2 to 3 weeks before eating.

notes: 

*I bought a 2 pound bag of beans and made the brine according to the directions and didn't have enough so had to make more. Because the original brine cooled down while making the additional, I dumped what liquid I had poured over the beans in the jars back into the pan so it would all be hot at the same time. 

*I couldn't find small spicy red peppers so omitted them. 

*I put 2 garlic cloves in each jar, along with the fresh dill, a pinch of mustard seeds, and the red pepper flakes. I read somewhere to lay the jars on their sides and lay the dill along one side before adding the beans - it looks pretty in the jar that way instead of laying at the bottom. 

*I got 3 (12 ounce) jars and 3 (8 ounce) jars from 2 pounds of beans.

original recipe from 'The Book of Doing' by Allison Arden

Phone Cases by Brooke

I love this easy and economical idea from Brooke to decorate phone cases, here's what she did in her words:

Hi everyone! So today I wanted to show you how I make my phone cases! So some phone cases are very expensive and I don’t know about you but I don’t want to drop $35 on a phone case!! So my mom and I do ours like this and it makes them super cute and they’re super inexpensive! I just have a clear phone case and a pack of any stickers. And instead of peeling the stickers off and sticking them on the outside of the case, I keep the sticker backs on and just place them where I want them on the back of my phone, then put the phone case on! So cute and so easy and you can make it whatever you want it to look like!! :)

My Sis is Hungry: West Coast Chili

Guys I have a funny story to share, although it's about chili which really isn't that funny but a text exchange between me and my sis had me laughing out loud and I so have to share.

I made my regular ol' chili the other day and had a bunch leftover so took some out to Jen (not to review, just to share it); later she asked if I wanted her to review it because it's good and I said sure, I'll take a review even tho I've posted the recipe in the past. So she sends me this:

Some people like fall for Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Me?? I am in for the sweaters and the soup.  Does chili count as soup? I say yes.

My sister showed up to walk today with the unexpected gift of chili.  YAY! Lunch!! Covid working from home for 6 months has left me bored of bagged salad for lunch so I would have gladly eaten whatever anyone brings me… but today my sister raised the free lunch bar with this chili.  YUM.  Nothing weird or special. Probably won't win a chili cook off , but just good chili.  Big hunks of meat gave it substance, just enough spice to make it flavorful without turning off anyone who doesn’t like “hot”, just a good solid chili.  Loved it. 

If I was actually ever going make chili for myself I would give this one a try!

Sure, that's a fine review, although the 'probably won't win a chili cook off' annoyed me - so I went to my keepsake box of memento's, took a photo, and sent it to her: 😂

"Fogle Chili Bash 1st Place"

She wrote back: Touché. I hope you're gonna post that on the blog cuz it's hilarious.

 

Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

This chicken with sun-dried tomato cream sauce recipe is from eatingwell.com, and even tho that should mean it's 'healthy' it does have cream in it so it's a little higher in fat (18.9g) but low in calories (324 per serving). And it's delish. And quick and easy. That's a lot to ask for in a recipe hahaha. We loved this and I will def be making it again!

• 1 pound chicken cutlets
• 1/4 t. salt, divided
• 1/4 t. pepper, divided
• 1/2 cup slivered oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, plus 1 T. oil from the jar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 T. chopped parsley

1. Sprinkle chicken with 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Heat sun-dried tomato oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165 degrees F, about 6 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add sun-dried tomatoes and shallots to the pan. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Increase heat to high and add wine. Cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the liquid has mostly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and stir in cream, any accumulated juices from the chicken and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper; simmer for 2 minutes. Return the chicken to the pan and turn to coat with the sauce. Serve the chicken topped with the sauce and parsley.

click here for original source 

Tip-sy Tuesday: Pumpkin Spice Cookies

This was such an easy change up to a pumpkin spice cookie mix that I figured it should be a 'tip' and not an 'actual' recipe!  Simply add some chopped dried cranberries and a handful of butterscotch chips along with the ingredients called for on the package. Using my small cookie scoop I got 43 cookies (they took 9 minutes to bake fyi). The plain mix is really good, but the additions made them even better and it made me feel a little better about whipping out cookies made from a mix hahahah. 

Flamingo Donut Cake by Brooke

Hey guys! The other day was my aunts birthday. she does not like cake.. but she does like donuts! So I made her this flamingo donut cake and flamingo donut holes!

 I just bought a case of a dozen glazed donuts and donut holes. And the flamingo decorations (which were also candy btw) were from Michaels! I put 4 donuts in a square 2x2 then put 4 more on top of those. Then I took the last 4 donuts and put pink sprinkles on top of them and put them on top of the cake. Then I took the flamingo head and put it in between the two donuts on top. And then I used frosting on the bottom of the plate to stick the wings down to the plate and leaned them against the donuts. Then the donut holes I just put on a plate and stuck the flamingo pieces in the top of them! I thought this was super cute and the donuts were delicious!!

Jill here: can I just say how much I love this kid? She knows me so well - and I could not have asked for a more perfect birthday 'cake'!! Funny thing happened when I wanted to save the flamingo head and wings for future use - when I washed them off they started to melt!! I didn't realize they are candy (I knew the little flamingo picks were edible but didn't know about the big pieces!); so after some frantic jumping around yelling 'they're melting, they're melting' we blotted them off quickly and set out overnight on waxed paper and they are still usable for next time - crisis averted LOL!!! Thanks again for this amazing 'cake' B! ❤️

🔥Around the Campfire (week 44)

 Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap of what happened at camp last week in case you missed anything:

Posts ~

10/25: 🔥week 43 (oops, I just realize that I didn't do a week 43! my bad, I'll add one a little late!)

10/26: pop tab earrings by Grace

10/27: tip-sy tuesday: storing seeds

10/28: zombie brain cheese ball (re-run)

10/29: witch hat cupcakes (re-run)

10/30: brain hemorrhage shots and pudding shots (re-run)

10/31: braised short ribs in tomato bbq sauce

What's Cooking ~

• baked mostaccioli, olive garden inspired salad, beer bread
• blackened salmon, couscous, sautéed zucchini
• sauerkraut supper
• steak, veggie tots, everything bagel chopped salad
• sausage and veggie stir fry
• sloppy joes, cheesy potatoes, greek build-your-own salad bar

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• spent more time getting outside stuff wrapped up while the weather isn't too cold, pulled out the still blooming marigolds from the garden - I gave them a few extra days since they were doing so good but it's turning colder and expecting a few flurries so it's time for them to go. That's the last of the gardening I had to do.
• made myself a troll costume for Halloween that literally took me 20 minutes to make! I'll show you how simple it was to do so you can keep the idea on hand for the next time you need a quickie costume (it helps that I have short hair and when it's standing straight up I have troll hair without even much effort LOL).
• Read 2 more of those girl grim reaper/p.i. books that I'm working my way thru the series. I only have 2 more to go to finish - they are slightly addicting!

Hope you had a good week, and a fun safe Halloween. Stop back often to see more fun projects, recipes, and whatever else I can think of to make at camp! 

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor

Braised Short Ribs in Tomato BBQ Sauce (re-run)

I did a couple re-runs this week for Halloween ideas and said I was done with re-runs for now, but then I saw this recipe I posted 5/16 that was delish and now I want to make it again (I'm hoping you do too - or at least want to read about it again hahah!). 

I don't usually eat ribs (too messy and too much work!) but I saw a recipe that looked good so I thought I'd try to make them for company coming to Sunday Supper - ran it past Dave and he vetoed pork spareribs (too messy and too much work haha) but requested beef short ribs. Um ok, well then I had to find a recipe that looked good for those since I've never made them before! I found this recipe in a cookbook "American Bistro" and decided to give it a try - like how I experiment on guests haha? 

geez I have a lot on my plate! short ribs,
smashed potatoes, roasted carrots, broccoli
slaw, and a roll. Yum...I'm still full.

So...this is a delicious and pretty easy recipe that everyone loved. I served them with smashed red potatoes and broccoli cole slaw (2 other recipes I've never tried before and turned out SO good - I lucked out that the whole menu turned out so good! I'll post those recipes on another day).

I followed the recipe with a couple tweaks: I increased the meat to 6.35 pounds (to serve 8), only used one onion so Dave wouldn't freak out, added more carrots and 1/2 cup more of the tomatoes, bbq sauce, and beef stock. Forgot to garnish with parsley and it totally didn't matter.

One thing I will do in the future is to cook the ribs and sauce ahead of time and let it cool so I can remove some of the fat, short ribs are a pretty fatty cut of beef. I tried to skim off what I could before serving, it would have been much easier to do when it was cool and the fat rises to the top and hardens. Otherwise this is a great, flavorful recipe.

braise the ribs in a large nonstick skillet, then transfer to a dutch oven. then in the skillet saute the veggies.

after sautéing the veggies and adding the other sauce ingredients pour over the ribs in the dutch oven.

finished ribs in the sauce.

Ingredients:

• 5 pounds lean beef short ribs, cut into 3 to 4" pieces
• salt and pepper
• 3 T. vegetable oil
• 2 onions, thickly sliced into rings
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2" thick slices
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup bottled barbecue sauce
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 t. Dijon mustard
• 2 T. finely chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, season the ribs with salt and pepper. 
2. Preheat the oven to 325'. In a 12" nonstick skillet, heat 2 T. vegetable oil over medium-high heat. In batches, brown the ribs on all sides, using kitchen tongs to turn and brown them evenly, for 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the ribs with a slotted spoon, drain briefly on paper towels, and then place in a large, ovenproof Dutch oven or other heavy pot. 
3. In the same skillet, add the remaining 1 T. oil, increase the heat to medium-high, and brown the onions for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently and watching carefully so that they brown but do not burn. Add the carrot and saute for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes, bbq sauce, beef stock, and mustard and stir well. Increase the heat to high and simmer for 1 minute to mix the flavors. Pour the tomato sauce mixture over the short ribs and mix to combine.
4. Cover and bake the ribs for about 3 hours, or until the meat is very tender, turning the ribs every 45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with the parsley. Serve immediately.

Can be prepared up to 3 days ahead, covered, and refrigerated. Reheat gently on the stove top.

Serves 6

from the American Bistro cookbook

Brain Hemorrhage Shots or Jello Shots (re-run)

Last Halloween re-post - between the zombie brain cheese ball, witch hat cupcakes, and now a disgusting drink you should be all set for any Halloween get-together you might have! Originally posted 10/16:

Going to a Halloween party tonight and I asked what I can bring. Amy said to bring whatever I feel like making, but Scott goes "if you want to bring something I want it to be brain hemorrhages" - apparently a long time ago I made them and he still remembers it hahahah. I have a terrible memory and do not remember making them but he does so I'm happy to bring them! I'm hoping the reason I can't remember this is that my memory is just bad and it's not because I drank to many of them LOL!! Yes, they look disgusting but it's a Halloween party and I'm pretty sure that's the point - you might not have anyone that wants to try them cuz it's a gross looking drink, but it tastes good if that helps...be brave!

For each drink: put 1 ounce chilled Peach Schnapps in a shot glass and slowly add 1 teaspoon of chilled Baileys. Wait a second and it'll start to curdle which looks nasty. Top with a little bit of chilled grenadine.

Dekuyper's website has the ingredient amounts listed as 3/4 parts peach schnapps to 1/4 part irish cream (baileys) with a few drops of grenadine. It doesn't say to have them each chilled beforehand but I think it tastes even better cold. The picture I'm using is from their site since it's early in the morning and I don't want to make one of these right now hahah - but it should look like this!

Click here to see how to make brain hemorrhage jello shots if you'd rather!