Gooseberry Patch Cooking....

Oh My Gosh…..its Gooseberry Patch Cookbook review time again!!! 

Check out this new book:  101 Breakfast and Brunch Recipes.  

 It is packed full of your favorite morning time meals.  This book is dedicated to all the early risers who love to eat a homemade breakfast while watching the sun come up!!  Breakfast was always an important meal at our house growing up....it started the day off right whether you ate early or ate late.  I even love breakfast for supper!! 

 Here’s a quick rundown of the contents: Rise & Dine, Leisurely Weekend Mornings, Come to Brunch, and Corner Bakery.  Now doesn’t that just grab your taste buds and make you want to get outta that bed?  Well I’m going to temp you even further…….

Temptation #1

French Toast Casserole

1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup butter
2 cups corn syrup
1 loaf French bread, thick sliced
5 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups milk
1 t. vanilla extract

Garnish: powdered sugar, maple syrup

Melt together brown sugar, butter and corn syrup in a saucepan over low heat; pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish.  Arrange the bread slices over the mixture and set aside.  Whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla; pour over the bread, coating all slices.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Uncover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar; serve the syrup  if desired.  6-8-servings.

I made this one up one night and popped it in the oven the next morning and let me tell you….EASY and YUMMY!!!  But one thing’s for sure…..I did not need to add the powdered sugar or the syrup when it was done.  This recipe kinda makes its own syrup….no extra is needed.  Make this one up on Saturday night for a wonderful breakfast before Church on Sunday morning!

Temptation # 2

Fiesta Corn Tortilla Quiche

1 lb. hot ground pork sausage
5   6” corn tortillas
4 oz. can chopped green chilies, drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese
6 eggs, beaten
½ cup whipping cream
½ cup small curd cottage cheese

Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium heat, drain well.  Meanwhile, arrange tortillas in a lightly greased 9” pie plate, overlapping on the bottom and extending ½” over the edge of plate.  Spoon sausage, chilies and chesses into tortilla-lined pie plate.  In a bowl, beat together remaining ingredients.  Pour egg mixture over sausage mixture.  Bake, uncovered at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until set and golden.  Cut into wedges to serve.  4 servings

This is a very different twist to breakfast!!  Next time I make it, I want to kick it up a notch by adding chopped onion and bell peppers which have been sautéed in with the sausage.  Warning: be careful not to burn the edges of your tortilla crust as with any pie crust when baking.  Side note of opinion: add a little salt to the eggs!!  YUMMY to the TUMMY….especially served late morning.

Temptation #3
Apple Walnut Coffee Cake

Should I….. Should I not…. Share this recipe?  Oh my it is so good that you will want to buy the book just to get it!!!!  But, just to show you that this book is filled with some awesome recipes and I know you will want it anyway….I will go ahead and share it!  Do the happy dance with me!

You will need:

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
1 T. vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 t salt
½ t baking powder
1 t baking soda
¾ t nutmeg
1 T cinnamon
2 cups apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 cup of chopped walnuts

In a bowl, combine all ingredients except apples and walnuts; mix well. Stir in apples and nuts; pour into greased and floured Bundt pan.  Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes.  Increase heat to 325 degrees and bake an additional 20 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes and turn out onto a serving plate.  Top with Glaze before serving. Serves 16.

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 ½ T milk
½ t vanilla

In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients and drizzle on top of cake.

Now...has the temptation been enough?  I know I know.....you are so ready to go buy this book...well you don't even have to leave your seat or get dressed.  Just go here to Amazon  for your early bird pre-ordering with a discount, and you may also be eligible for free shipping.  Now who doesn't love a discount and something free??

Speaking of freeeeeee.....how about a give-away?  One lucky person will win a copy of this wonderful cookbook right here.

BUT here's what you have to do:
1) Leave your comment here on this post only
2) Leave your email address so I can contact you if you win
3) Have a USA or Canadian mailing address for shipping
4) Cross your fingers!!

~This giveaway will end on Aug 9 and the winner will be announced on Aug 10.
The only thing that will hold me up in the announcement or delivery of the cookbook will be if my sweet and precious little Miss Isabella decides to come early into the world.  Those grandbabies come first and thank you for understanding.  Thank you Gooseberry Patch and Good luck everyone!!

Credits: Graphics are Gooseberry Patch and Photos are mine! :)

And The GP Cookbook Winner is.................

.....and without further ado and a huge drummer roll....

Random.org number generator says:

#7 is the WINNER!!!!!!! 

#7 Tiffany & Chad said...

I love Fall and I love Goosberry Patch! I can't wait to experience this fabulous cookbook!

June 5, 2012 12:18 PM

Well Tiffany and Chad you get your wish!!  This fabulous cookbook will be coming your way soon!!

Congratulations and happy cooking with Gooseberry Patch!

Thanks to everyone who entered this lovely give-away and many thanks to the ladies at Gooseberry Patch

for allowing and trusting me to do the reviews and make these

fabulous cookbooks available to the readers and lovers of cookbooks!

Yall are awesome!!!

 

"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always."

~Psalm 105:4

The Harvest Table Give~Away

Harvest in June?  Yeah I know... we just set our minds into the summer mode…thinking picnics, vacations, swimming, beach time and lake time…..and NO more school for a while!!  So why am I here talking about The Harvest Table?  To shift your minds to fall….get you geared-up and ready for football, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and all the other wonderful fall and autumn heartwarming things associated with one of our favorite seasons!  But why?....you still ask….. Because there is a new Gooseberry Patch Cookbook out and ready for you! 

THE HARVEST TABLE…..it is jam packed with a bountiful collection of recipes, tips, wonderful ideas and stories!  There are recipes for tailgating, football watching, snacks, and all the way to the Thanksgiving spread….and don’t forget desserts!  I went through the book scouring the pages and marking them with sticky tabs.  I found a Pineapple Cheese Ball recipe that I WILL be making for my daughter’s baby shower in June; a Pizza dip, a Touchdown Pickle dip (how fun is that?), Halloween Popcorn balls that have candy corn in them, a cornbread dressing recipe and many many more! I have tiny green tabs sticking out all over the edges!!

I even found stories, tips, and memories posted at the bottom of each page.  One such story reflecting on home gardening and canning…something I can relate to!  Here’s a good tip for you this summer:  Make your own ice packs for your cooler.  In a gallon-size sip lock bag (I would use the freezer ones) combine 2 cups water, 1 cup rubbing alcohol, and 2-3 drops of blue food coloring.  Seal, leaving room for expansion and freeze.  They can be used several times over and over!

And for you fun crafty people who love glitter, here’s one for you: Lightly coat your holiday pumpkin with spray adhesive and dust with fine glitter. Try using those odd festive colors like purple and lime green or gold!! Fun fun!

And here’s one for all you Halloween cookie bakers that like to frost the cookies:  For orange frosting add 6 drops of yellow and 2 drops of red food coloring to a small bowl of white frosting.  For black, add 2-3 drops of blue food coloring to a small bowl of dark chocolate frosting!!  Now you are ready for orange pumpkins, black cats, bats and witches hats!!

This cookbook really puts you in the fall mood….I can close my eyes and smell the smells of fall….apples, cinnamon, spices, peanuts, grilling, the turkey baking in the oven….OH MY!  So I just had to go ahead and try out some of the recipes and share my thoughts with you on them.  

For this review, I will be making Upside-Down Apple-Pecan Pie, Signature Chocolate Cream Pie, and Ursula’s Breakfast Danish.  Yes I like pie!  I will be making the Pineapple Chess Ball later in June for the baby shower too and many others on down the road.

First up is the Upside-Down Apple-Pecan Pie

This is it before the inversion....too beautiful to mess with huh?

  But the secret here is to turn this bad baby out

 onto a serving plate for the surprise:

Voila'

A beautiful array of pecans and ooey gooey goodness 

cooked underneath the apple pie!! 

Apples and pecans make a great combination!

Next I tried a Signature Chocolate Cream Pie

for all you chocolate lovers...

It is a cooked custard-pudding pie using the

microwave which makes it quick and easy.

When chilled you top it with a  fattening yummy whipped topping made

from scratch using good ole whipping cream.

YummY!!

Oh for the love of chocolate!!

...and last I tried Ursula’s Breakfast Danish

...I believe this one is going to be a favorite come-back-to recipe.

An easy cream cheese filled danish that you can make

fresh at home using refrigerated crescent rolls!

Top it off with a sugar glaze and pecans and it is so good!!

It was so easy to prepare and with a few tweaks

of my own of the cream cheese filling

I believe this one will be perfect.

So now that I have made your mouth water and have you in the mood for baking…..go order this book!!!  And after you do….don’t put in on the shelf and only drag it down in the fall….there are lots of scrumptious recipes that you can use all throughout the year!

And now for the give-away  …just what everyone has been waiting for!  Gooseberry Patch and I have teamed together to give you a chance to win this wonderful cookbook…..and as with any give away there are a few rules to follow.

SIMPLE BUT NECESSARY RULES FOR THE GIVE-AWAY

~Post a comment below on this blog post only

~You MUST provide your name and an email address if you are not posting a comment as a blogger (otherwise I cannot contact you if you win)

~Give-away is open for US and Canada only due to high postage costs….sorry guys!

~Give-away will close on June 25th and the winner will be announced June 26, 2012.  

 If you do not feel lucky and are not the winner or live outside of the US and Canada......don't fret!  You can pre-order  your cookbook here before they hit the shelves. 

You can go here to this link to order. Just click on this picture...it will take you to the Gooseberry website.

OR

 you can get a sneak peek inside at Amazon and a

great discount off the price for a limited time...

...so what are you waiting for.....GO!

 Get it…you won’t regret it!

Credit where credit is due:  graphics are from Gooseberry Patch and photos are mine!!

Have a great day!

Gooseberry Patch's Brand New Series

The first and most important reason for this post is my review for Gooseberry Patch. They have the cutest "little" books called Tiny Tips.  I will get to those in a moment. 

But first I want to thank each of you for your kind and heartwarming words throughout the past month.  This has been a very difficult time for our family…especially for my sweet daughter Holly and her love, Richard.  But we must now move on…carry on with things at hand.  We cannot pretend the pain is not there and it just does not go away but with each day we slowly learn to cope and heal.  Friends and family showing their love and support along with our Savior in Heaven has helped make this possible….and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Now for some of those matters at hand….Gooseberry Patch has once again entrusted me to do another review for them about some of their fabulous books!  Their newest books are called Tiny Tips…there are 4 in the collection:

Tiny tips for a Cozy Home, Tiny Tips to Make and Give, Tiny Tips for Get Togethers, and Tiny Tips for the Kitchen.  Trust me; you will want the complete set!! I will be reviewing Tiny Tips for a Cozy Home and Tiny Tips for the Kitchen!  These are adorable little books; great for sharing, adding to a special gift, stocking stuffers, or just a thoughtful gesture for someone special.  Collect them all! 

First up is Tiny Tips for the Kitchen…

A homemaker’s and Mom’s favorite place to be… well maybe for some of us anyway.  Cooking and working in the kitchen can be very demanding, but it should be a pleasure and any thing that makes it easier and simple is a big help.  In this little book full of BIG ideas, you will come across quotes like “Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.” ~Ernestine Ulmer must be a wise woman!  She’s my kind of fun woman!  And “The kitchen is the heart of the home, and the mother is queen of the kitchen.” ~Owen Meredith is a wise man don’t ya think? J

There are many helpful tips in the book; like using a skewer or even an uncooked strand of spaghetti for testing the doneness of deep cakes!  Now who would have thought!!??

This is one of my favorites and well worth using: Parchment paper is a baker’s best friend!  Oh yes it is!  This one is tried and true! 

Line your baking sheet to keep cookies from spreading and sticking and over browning on the bottom! Clean-up is a breeze.  Where to find it? …right next to the aluminum foil and wax paper in your favorite place to shop.

How many of you keep your tomatoes in the refrigerator?  DON’T…they will quickly lose their “just picked” taste.  Keep them on the counter or on your pantry shelf!  Now for your favorite hard grating cheeses like Parmesan:  Keep them fresh longer by wrapping them in a paper towel that has been moistened with cider vinegar.  Place it inside a plastic zip lock bag in the refrigerator.  The vinegar kills the bacterium that grows into mold.

Here’s another DON’T:  don’t add salt when boiling corn on the cob…it will make it tough!  Instead add sugar which will sweeten the corn to a taste you cannot resist!   Now I bet you did not know this either:  Baking soda can be used for removing soil, wax, and residue from fresh fruits and veggies.  When we purchase these at the stores, we never know what can be taking a ride on them…so we need to wash well.  A little baking soda sprinkled on the dampened produce with a gentle scrubbing will remove those little hitchhikers after you rinse with running water.  No need to buy those fancy expensive produce washes! YaY!

Here’s another money saver: Blend equal parts olive oil and lemon juice to create a polish that will make wood furniture shine. Just apply with a soft cloth and buff!  These are just a few of the many fabulous tips and quotes in this little book.  It’s so fun to learn these simple little tricks that it just makes ya want to go “Duh…why didn’t I think of that!”

Next up is Tiny Tips of a Cozy Home...

I love this little tipster! Lots of good little ideas that I love.  These books are filled with the cutest hand drawn illustrations.  I love Gooseberry Patch graphics!!  The various photos I have chosen here from the web, depict the tiny tips from their books.  For starters: Save discarded windows or purchase them at yard sales and make eye catching displays like this:

and this...

Are you a vintage Pyrex lover like me? 

Well show them off honey and use them too. 

Their colors and pattern make great displays as well as putting them to everyday use which brings back memories of Mama and Grandma!

 “If you were to ask me what is most important in a home, I would say memories”

~Lillian Gish

The simplest table decorations are often the prettiest. 

Use what ya got!

Decorate with teacups…the ways are limitless.

and even with vintage plates...

~~~~~~

Speaking of limitless….mason jars and old bottles…oh how I love them…especially the blue ones. 

 Fill them with flowers, threads, buttons, marbles, oh my!

You can even create country charm on your windowsill. 

Decorate with inexpensive trinkets and give your home that cozy vintage feel.

 Colorful glass bottles, kitchen gadgets, spools of thread

and even skeleton keys.

And who wouldn’t love to have one of these…

You can create your own cupcake stand from tag sale

teacups and saucers and plates. 

A little epoxy glue and your imagination and voilà!  You are so talented!

Pitchers filled with fresh flowers add charm to any room.

And who says eggs aren’t beautiful…fill a basket for

that perfect farm-style breakfast centerpiece.

Remember this…  “A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”

~ George Moore

Now that I’ve spurred your curiosity and gave you an appetite for decorating along with some helpful tips…here's how you can get your set of these Tiny Tip books.  Straight from Gooseberry patch here and here.  You know you want them!

And here’s one of Gooseberry Patch’s recipes I want to share with you…I have not made it yet….but it sure looks good!!!  It can be found in 101 Easy Everyday Recipes.  Enjoy!

Easy Skillet Lasagna

This recipe was shared with us by Terri McClure...she's from right around the corner, in Hilliard, Ohio! She writes, "My husband often asks me to make this recipe. And sometimes, he even helps prepare it! Tastes great with ground turkey too."

 1-1/2 T. olive oil

 1/2 green pepper, finely chopped

 1 onion, finely chopped

 1 clove garlic, minced

 16-oz. jar spaghetti sauce

 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained

 6 lasagna noodles, cooked and cut in half

 12-oz. container small-curd cottage cheese

 4 slices mozzarella cheese

 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté green pepper, onion and garlic until tender; drain. Transfer to a bowl; stir in spaghetti sauce and browned beef. In skillet, layer 1/3 of sauce mixture, half the lasagna noodles, half the cottage cheese, 2 slices of mozzarella and half the Parmesan. Repeat layers. Top with remaining sauce, making sure to cover all noodles. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes before uncovering and serving. Serves 4.

Until we meet again….Happy tipping, quoting, and cooking!

Credits : Photos are mostly from Pinterest, which I am addicted too, Google, and Gooseberry Patch!  A few of them are my own!