In the video on Homemade Vanilla Extract from my previous post, I mentioned Cardamon Sweet Buns.  It was my first time trying this recipe and we LOVED them!  So much so that I wanted to share the recipe with you.  It is from the Bethel Lutheran Church cookbook in Hudson WI.  Recipe by Joyce Johnsen.

1/2 cup butter

2 1/4 cups milk (I used the whey from my homemade yogurt)

2 tsp. dry yeast

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp. ground cardamon

5 1/2 cups flour

Melt butter in pan; add milk and heat to 98 degrees.  (I wasn’t exact…just until warm but not hot.)  Mix in separate bowl the salt, sugar, cardamon, yeast, and about 3/4 of the flour.  Add milk and butter; mix well.  Add the rest of the flour gradually until dough does not stick to the bowl.  (No need to knead!!)  Cover bowl; let dough raise to double in bulk, in a warm and draft free place.  (About an hour for me.)  Form into buns.  (I got 24.)  Put on a greased cookie sheet.  Cover and let raise again to double in size.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  Brush with melted butter after baking if you want.

In other baking news, I totally made a flop of a cake yesterday.  Tony was so excited about it and even made the frosting himself while the cake baked.  He was very disappointed.  I think the problem was that I used whey from my homemade yogurt instead of milk.  Not sure why since everything else I have baked with whey has turned out perfectly.  After one bite, Tony declared the cake inedible and pushed it away.  I’m still eating it.  Go figure.   It’s gone.  ah-hem…

I have been wanting to make my own vanilla extract for some time now, and finally got it done today!  Not sure what took me so long and you will soon see it is VERY easy.   A couple additional comments below the video.  Oh, and I close with a dumb statement about enjoying your work week ahead.  Ummm…I hope you do enjoy it when it comes, but let’s just soak up the weekend for now!!

Homemade Vanilla Extract:  Vodka+Vanilla Beans

Untitled from Ingrid Barlow on Vimeo.

Couple things I forgot to mention:

–Store in a dark area while you let it “cook.”  I’m going to store mine under the stairs for 3 weeks and then check it.  It will be dark colored and smell like vanilla when it is ready.

–Once you start using it, you can just leave the vanilla beans in your container–no need to take them out!

–Some people say to split the beans before you put them in the vodka, others don’t.  I’m trying mine without splitting the beans first.

–My comments about alcohol…me just saying I really don’t think it matters what kind of vodka you use.  I think you can use whiskey or rum too??  (I just don’t want you to think I’m a teetotaler snob!)

Working on my cast iron finds. After watching a video online, I washed them in hot soapy water, dried them completely, and rubbed oil all over them. Then I put them in a 250 degree oven for 2 hours. I am hopeful it will work but might have to repeat the oil/oven step.  If you want to start using cast iron instead of Teflon pans, I know my father-in-law bought one that was already seasoned at Fleet Farm for like $10.  If mine don’t turn out I am totally doing that!

A couple benefits to cast iron:

Cooks evenly

Don’t have to worry about toxic Teflon from flaking off

Last forever!

You don’t have to wash them…well sort of…  

We were having issues with crayons being everywhere!! I had to do something about it. Something easy for Elias to help put them away in. Here’s my answer. I used my Zippered Pouch tutorial to help me. Took me about 15 minutes. Gotta love a project like that!

After the kids were in bed last night, I had to get some venison that was thawed ground up.  I was chopping away at silver skin when I thought you might be curious to see how I do this.  Or not.  I decided to ignore the fact that I was in my PJs, glasses on, not a lick of make-up, and untouched hair for 36 hours.  Wow, that sounds terrible!  All well.  I’m pretty laid back around here.   Here’s the short little video I did with the thoughts listed below the video.  Enjoy!

Grinding Venison from Ingrid Barlow on Vimeo.

–If you want to use venison, but struggle with the flavor (FYI:  that taste is MEAT!) try foods that have a lot of added spices to the meat.  Tacos.  Spaghetti.

–Venison is wonderfully lean!  We don’t add extra fat to it when we grind it, because why take something naturally healthy and make it bad for you??  Last time I checked, we didn’t need to add any more fat to our diet.

–You don’t need to cook the heck out of venison.  I think that is what happens a lot so it gets a bad rap.  When we make steaks they are medium for me and medium-rare for Tony.  It is melt-in-your-mouth TENDER.

–Really clean that meat up as best you can.  Any extra silver skin/fat/connective tissue–get it off before you grind!

–We make steaks, roasts, and ground from our deer.  One deer usually lasts us one year.

–Encourage the hunters in your family to provide meat for the family.  If they are paying for a license anyways, you might as well get your moneys worth.  Plus, it makes them feel good to have you excited about something they enjoy to do.