~ All Around The Cottage , and naan revisited

 All around the cottage.... flowers on the kitchen table....

 sun shining through the windows.
It's a beautiful day here at Mill Hill Meadow.
We had a gorgeous, summer-y weekend, baking and rain showers, and putting in new plants.

 Do any of you long time readers remember my kitchen at the Cottage on Main?
Filled with lots of red, and gingham, and farmhouse touches.

 My kitchen {in any house that we've ever lived in}, is a place I love to spend time in.
 I love to be in my kitchen baking and cooking, with my family gathering.

The first time that I made naan, it was in the kitchen at Cottage on Main.
We love naan!
I've been making batches of naan here in the kitchen at Mill Hill Meadow.

 The recipe I am using now, is different than the recipe that I used at Cottage on Main.
That older recipe used yogurt, and this newer recipe does not.

Here's the new recipe for naan.....

Simple Naan :
1C. warm water
1/4 C. sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 T.  milk
2 t. salt
3 1/2 Cups flour
1 T. dry yeast
* Add ingredients in order listed above to bread making machine. When dough cycle is finished, divide dough into 12 equal balls and roll out into rounds.
Preheat oven to 500* degrees. Place large cookie sheet in oven, as the oven is preheating.
Place naan on preheated cookie sheet, in preheated oven, and bake naan on each side for about 3 minutes or so, or until done.
* Edited : I forgot to mention that when you bake the naan, your oven rack should be placed in the highest position in your oven. I make naan so frequently, that it is just something I do automatically, but if you've never made naan before, you might need to know this :)
I've modified the recipe to be made in my bread machine, but the recipe could also easily be made in a kitchen mixer, or by hand.  It is a really good recipe!
I've also made garlic/rosemary naan simply by adding granulated garlic and rosemary to the flour before adding all the other ingredients.
I've also made Maple Cinnamon naan, by replacing the sugar with 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, and decreasing the milk to 1 T. and adding 1 T. of ground cinnamon to the flour before mixing.
Maple Cinnamon naan is delicious warmed in the microwave then a smear of whipped cream cheese on top.
* Edited.. also, when making Maple ~ Cinnamon naan, cook naan at 475* degrees, instead of *500 degrees, because the maple syrup caramelizes at a lower temperature than sugar. Also keep a close eye on the baking process... it may not take as long as regular naan.

Attitude of gratitude:
~Feeling thankful for a cozy home. Feeling thankful for a home that is filled with family and good conversation, and good food.
~I'm grateful for the rain that we've been receiving. All of our new little shrubs, perennials, and annuals are doing so well this summer, and we are trying to establish new borders along the new fence so the rain is really a blessing.
~I'm SO grateful that our son, Spencer was with me this past week; I had a tire blow out and he was able to change the tire for me. Then, the spare started going flat as well..... it hadn't been used in years and so the bead on the tire wasn't sealed. I was able to get off the highway, and he aired up the spare and we continued home. Two new tires will be put on our Tahoe this week! I feel so blessed that we were safe and sound, and that we didn't wreck.

Blueberries, Muffins, Mysteries, and other thrifty finds.

 Have you read "Town in Blueberry Jam"?
It's just one book in a series of books from Berkley Prime Crime Mystery books.

I really enjoyed it!

Plus, I had blueberries on the mind.  We had just bought a huge container of blueberries at Costco.
Seemed like a fortuitous find; this book and the others in the series.
So, on Sunday, we mixed up a batch of delicious blueberry muffins {the best recipe I've ever tried... I might add.}

Noshing and reading ensued.

                                 {picture is also click-able to view original recipe and source}

Ingredients:

Original recipe makes 12 muffins                    

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 pint fresh blueberries - rinsed, drained and patted dry
• 2 tablespoons white sugar

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Directions

1. Position rack in the middle of oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray the top of a muffin pan with non-stick coating, and line with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, 1 1/4 cups sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix together 1 3/4 cup of the flour and baking powder. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated. Crush 1/4 of the blueberries, and stir into the batter. Mix the rest of the whole blueberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of the flour, and fold into the batter. Scoop into muffin cups.
3.  Sprinkle tops lightly with sugar.

   I was lucky enough to buy all the books in this series at the same yard sale.
And the price.... just a mere 50 cents a piece.
{Also found the Scentsy warmer for just $1.00}

I've been reading and reading since Saturday.
I am now well into the second book : "Town In Lobster Stew"
The books are fun reads, and clean reads. 

Another thrifty find, is the shorter plant stand.
Actually the tall stand was a yard sale find as well, found last year.
Who knows, before the summer's out, I just might luck upon another one.
I'd like a few for the patio, as well.

And.. a wreath.
A Fall wreath, for a dollar.  Couldn't beat that.
I've found that if there is something that I cannot use here at
Mill Hill Meadow, then it is something that Spencer {our son} can use at Dunravin {his home's name}.
So, it all works out.

One more thrifty find that I scored this past weekend... a nice sized wall sign.
I quite like it, and have decided that it should hang in our entry.
It's a nice welcome to our home.
Sets a nice tone.

Sooner than later, the yard sales are going to end.
The summer is quickly drawing to an end, the kids are gearing up for school, and classes and football are about to start at the local college.
Still....... overall , it's been a good year for thrifty finds.  Can't complain.

In my research on the Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries I found another series that sounds intriguing and fun to read.
It is the "Farmers Market Mysteries", by Paige Shelton.
Have any of you read that series?? 
I think I shall order the first few books, so that they are on hand, once I finish this current series.
Also... the same author did a series called "Country Cooking School Mysteries". That also sounds like a good series to read.

Attitude of gratitude:
~I'm grateful for multi grain bread toast, and fresh apple cider from the Big Red Barn.
Perfectly wonderful breakfast on this fine August day.
~I'm grateful that I've made pretty good progress on my goal to clean out both freezers. The kitchen fridge freezer and the deep freeze.  And, bless my family..... for they've been such good sports about eating my 'Clean out the freezer menu'!  Yay!! looking forward to getting both freezers stocked again, and organized for the winter months.

Simple Living ~ Daily Bread

 If you read my last post.. you would have read about me making Rustic Bread, and rosemary sea salt..
I have received requests for the recipes.
They are easy and fool-poof recipes.
If you already have these recipes, then you know what I mean.

Rustic Bread:
3 Cups lukewarm water--not too hot.
2 Pkgs. (or 1 1/2 TBSP.) rapid rise active dry yeast.
1 1/4 TBSP. sea salt
6 1/2 Cups all purpose flour.
Pour water into a large bowl, add the yeast and salt.
Stir in flour.
Mix until combined. No kneading is necessary.

                    (I leave my dough proofing on the griddle of our old Wedgewood stove)

 Cover bowl.
Let dough rise for 2 hours.
Stir dough down, and divide into 3
equal portions.
Round dough into balls, tucking ends under. Place on well greased baking sheet. Slash tops with knife and dust with flour.  Let rise 45 minutes. I put mine in the oven with a bowl of really hot water.
Leave the bowl of water in the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Bake bread in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cool on racks. Makes 3 round loaves.

 To make the rosemary sea salt..
you will need 4-5 sprigs of fresh rosemary, 2 Cups of sea salt, 2 TBSP. of ground black pepper.

 Strip the rosemary leaves off of the stalk and place in food processor.
Pulse to chop the rosemary finely
 Add the 2 Cups of sea salt and the 2 TBSP. of black pepper.

Pulse everything together in the food processor and store in a container of your choice.

This really is a good all purpose seasoning and the rosemary adds that little something special.
The bread is so easy and quick to make... it's one of those recipes that you can almost make in your sleep.
Happy Homemaking.

Attitude of gratitude:
~I'm grateful today to have been able to get out and walk.
I really have missed it, and I feel so blessed to have the ability.
~I'm grateful that we were able to haul off some yard debris to the landfill this morning.
Thanks to Spencer for always being willing to help me.
He knows how those limbs were buggin' me !