Biscuits for Conner

Today I had guests for brunch. Renee,our adopted daughter and her boys came up to raid our garage for a tag sale. Well we would have been looking thru boxes and boxes of stuff from my Antique Shop but Jon took my car this morning to work and I forgot the key was in that car. So instead we got some books out of the bedroom for the sale and a few other things. One thing I had a hard time parting with was an Indian bedspread. I bought a few years ago in a church sale and it is all plum colors. It is thin cotton just perfect for hot summer nights.Funny thou I never used it. I just look at it.I hope somebody buys it and enjoys it. I really loved it but I have NO place to put it.like I said I love it but it doesn't go in either bedroom. My grandmother  had one in her cabin in Vermont . She used it to cover an old couch.I have such fond memories of that cabin. just before Renee and the kids came I whipped up some biscuits and scones.I had some sefrising flour I wanted to use up.I made 10 biscuits and 6 scones with raspberries.Guess what i have left! Right nothing not one crumb nada none. I guess it was the right thing to make. Conner loves his biscuits with lots of butter and dips them into honey Yum.Andrew loved the scones .

Here's the recipe
Biscuits
2 cups of self rising flour
1/4-1/3cups of shortening cut into the flour
1/2-2/3 cups of buttermilk or cream
Cut the shortening into the flour work it till its crumbely
add the buttermilk slowly and work the dough with a fork
pat it out on a Floured surface then cut the biscuits out with a cutter or a round water glass
bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-30 minutes watch to see how the bottoms brown.
Serve with jam or butter and honey

Trying to keep everything updated

Well, here I am from the other side again. I just read how my wife baked date bars at 11:30 last night and I forgot to take them this morning. Oh well, I didn't even see them this morning and had no clue they were there. I guess it doesn't matter, I should have known, I guess. Anyway Heidi tells me last night that she is worried that I am not sleeping well, but then she is up at 11:30 baking. I guess that all makes sense if you don't see it from the guy's point of view.
Please, I am not trying to critisize or anything, just looking at the different points of view. Kind of like the guy I saw in a store last Christmas looking for a last minute gift for his wife, and he is holding a jar of cosmetic wrinkle cream!!!! I gently told him that is was a mistake and he said, "but she is always saying she needs to buy some . . .". The guys that learn to stay married usually get lucky and figure out these stupid mistakes before it is too late, or they have a wife that knows that her guy is just a little dumb sometimes.

peanut butter cookies

These cookies melt in your mouth and are easy to make. My mother use to make them at least once a week and all the kids from the center(Winchester Center) would somehow know when she was baking . We would sit outside on the grass with all our friends and eat these cookies and drink cold lemonade.

Peanut Butter Cookies

heat oven to 375degrees
mix in a large bowl the following:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup shortening
 cream these 3 ingredients
now add 1 egg
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
1/2 teas. salt
1/2 teas.baking soda
1 and 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 teas. vanilla
beat it all together then roll it in balls and then in granuated sugar then take a fork and press them down crossways
place on cookie sheet  make sure to leave space in between because they spread
Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 15 minutes watch them toward the end so they don't burn

Sometimes I double the batch because they are so good and last well in the cookie jar if I hide the cookie jar

Homemade Salsa

A couple of weeks ago I made salsa for my niece's graduation party from college. What a fun time. They live in Falls Village Ct. a small community of lovely old homes and loving neighbors.  The morning of the party we went to a wonderful church sale in Washington Ct. I bought some wonderful fun things and it cost me hardly anything. I found Beth some wonderful wooden stamps for her card making, some pillows for my couch books. a beautiful bowl for the salsa to take to the party and a wonderful orential type rug for the kitchen. Since I knew that i would be away that morning I made the salsa the day before. This gave it time to season also. here's the recipe I hope you enjoy it!
Homemade Salsa By Heidi
6 to 8 ripe tomatoes cut up and crushed in the food processor
2 ribs of celery cut up fine
1 large red onion chopped
1/2 green pepper chopped
1 jalapeno pepper with the seeds taken out use according to your taste
a hand ful of cilantro chopped
salt to taste
1 teaspoon of cajun seasoning or creole seasoning
1 can of green chilis diced optional
For those who have a food processor you can do this all on grind.
if you don't you could use a blender for smashing up the tomatoes
Mix all together and let it sit in the refrigertor till cold.
Wow delicious with chips or vegetables

We made soap today

Today is Sunday and we are trying to learn the process of making soap. I figure if my 92 year old aunt can make it so can I. The first batch we made came out pretty good and needs to cure one more week. The only thing we learned from our mistakes last week is don't use an agate canner with chips in it because when you add color the color changes.Today we used a stainless steel pot and made a smaller batch. The color is beautiful . We used lavender scent and purple shaved crayon for the color.The color is fabulous. It smells like my Grandma's bathroom when I was little. .Jon was a mad scientist  in the kitchen mixing the shortening water and lye. We did a cold process method. When we get better at this I would like to try goats milk. We are making this for our church fair in September and for Christmas presents.
Well its a work day so I will add more tomorrow.H and J

Saturday Afternoon

Well as you can see, Heidi has not yet had a chance to post anything. She took a look today while I was at a Fund Raiser for the Robotics Club. She did not know how to post a new entry. I will get to show her this weekend. In the meantime. . . . .


I have a recipe to offer. Heidi has some amazing dessert recipes and one for a chocolate cake that is one of the best I have ever had. The praise is not just because she is my wife but according to many other people it is a wonderful cake. I have a little competitive streak because Heidi often just brushes my recipes aside because "you can't cook like that" is something I hear all to often. I have come up with a recipe for a Lemon Cake that is, according to many, one of the best they have had. Take a look below: It can be almost any Lemon Cake mix but I picked Aldi's brand because I'm cheap!

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Lemon Cake Special
1 box Aldi's Baker's Treat Lemon Cake Mix
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Veg. Oil
1/2 cup Mayo
1 package Instant Vanilla Pudding mix
1 cup 1/2 and 1/2 cream
1/3 cup light cream

Mix all ingredients together in Kitchen Aid Mixer at medium speed until smooth

Grease a 10” X 10” X 2” cake pan

Pour cake mix into pan

Bake @ 350 deg. For 35 – 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

Let cool

Confectionery's sugar with light cream mixed to make a glaze consistency. 3/4 teaspoon lemon extract and 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract. Start with about a cup of Conf. Sugar. Slowly add the cream until it reaches the consistency of a really thick drizzle. Then add the extracts and beat well.

Drizzle over cake when cool.

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Now to get back on track with what my day was today. Went to the Torrington Farmer's Market and set up a booth for our Robotics Club and its Fund Raiser. Just to let you know, this is not just a little local club. It is formed by an organization called F.I.R.S.T. which is an acronym for, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.
Had a pretty good day. The weather is GREAT today, about 82-84 with a nice breeze and really low humidity. Heidi is a work until 8:00pm and then I pick her up and we go for our weekly Blizzard at Dairy Queen then home to watch a DVD, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Heidi's at work tonight

Well I'm back again. I went to where Heidi works and showed her the initial blog. She seemed to like it so this might work after all. So, from the other side now. I'm home alone and had a light dinner and a GREAT piece of carrot cake that Heidi made for her Mom's birthday, which is today. She is 85 I think. Wacky as a J Bird. I'll let Heidi explain her better. Once I hear how she describes her I will know how much I can say without getting into trouble, one of my major pastimes. I have lost most of the pictures we had before the virus took our hard drive to that bit bucket in the sky. I will get some pictures taken and get them posted. I am sur that our daughter will be ringing in from time to time too.
Have a great night all.
H&J

Where do we begin?

My wife Heidi has told me she would like to write a BLOG. Foolishly I asked a few questions and now here I am getting it ready for her to do "her thing". The name of the blog comes from me as I will be sounding in with comments from " The Other Side" which is me. She will have all kinds of stories and tons of recipes, really good ones, and odds and ends of comments from her daily life. This will include a part-time job, a slightly neurotic mother, an engineer type husband and the antics we go through to survive in a downsized economy and home(condo) where we both feel it is too small and with wacky neighbors.

At this time I am learning about how to get this thing up and looking half way decent because if I don't Heidi will never touch it, she can be a might particular. That's about all for now until I get her started this weekend. We hope to garner some followers and maybe I can get her to put in enough recipes so I can copy them into a cookbook. I have been trying to get her to do this for ages.

So long for now from "The Other Side"
H&J