I absolutely love this time of year, because after such a hot summer and NOT wanting to bake, cook or for that matter turn the oven on for ANYTHING, I'm in heaven!  I love making nisu but don't like the work it entails in making it.  I've been meaning to try this bread machine nisu recipe for so long and finally I made it.  It turned out great and I ended up making two loaves.  What I like about making two loaves is....

you can add frosting...

or not.

Bread Machine Nisu

1 can evaporated milk

3 eggs, slightly beaten

5 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar ( I used honey)

1 tsp cardamom ( I freshly ground mine)

1/2 tsp. salt

2-1/4 tsp. yeast

1/4 c. oil

Put on dough cycle.  On a slightly oiled surface form into a 20 inch loaf.  Rise.  Bake at 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

I have a couple of tweaks with this recipe.  I used honey instead of sugar and I freshly ground my cardamom.  Since we both love cardamom I added more, and next time I'll add even more, it just wasn't quite enough for us.  Since I added honey it seemed much more sticky than it should be so I added a bit more flour, probably about 1/4 cup more.

Okay, I need to confess, I was a bit confused looking at the recipe while the dough was rising and thought hmmmmmmmmm....A 20 inch loaf????  Again I have to confess, I've never seen a 20 inch loaf of nisu, I've only seen it made into braided loaves or rolls.  So, looking at the dough that I just took out of the bread machine, I thought that is going to be a big loaf of nisu if I braid it, so I made two loaves out of it.  They are a bit smaller than my other recipe that I normally use, but they taste just as yummy!

Alright, I hope you're not tired of these food posts I've been doing.

Sorry if you are, but I'm in HEAVEN!

With the weather getting cooler and the days shorter I enjoy making soup and having a warm bowl of soup with a fresh slice of homemade bread for dinner.  We planted kale this fall for the first time and I'm amazed at how good it tastes, it's the first time I've ever had it.

Life just doesn't get any better than this.

The nicest word there is!

First off please forgive me, I do not take good food shots.  I enjoy cooking and baking and I take photos of what I make, and sometimes just never post them, today I'll post what I have taken photos of.

Last night I made the Pioneer Woman's Potato Skins, and mine definitely didn't look like hers but they still tasted great.

The Pioneer Woman's Potato Skins

Blueberry pie and a blueberry tart cooked in our wood stove.

Blueberry Pie

Blueberry Tart

I took a challenge that our son put out to us, and that is no soda/pop for a month.  I am happy to say that I have not had any soda/pop since October 10th and going strong.  Then I found a recipe for a biscuit that has 7-up in them on Facebook.  I figured that soda/pop cooked or baked in a recipe didn't count ;0  I topped my biscuit with strawberry jam.

Breakfast-Dinner Biscuits

Not your traditional Pizza.

Stuffed Green Peppers

Homemade Tortillas

Well there you go. 

I hope I didn't make you too hungry.

I'm so excited to tell you what I FINALLY attended.  I've been wanting to go to a Na-Da Farm Event ever since Anne Marie started having them, so my daughter-in-law and I headed out to go see what we could find.  I found her blog way back and have been following her ever since.  I was also excited to meet a blogger who's blog I follow, and I'm not even sure how I had found her, probably from Anne Marie's blog.  Traci takes the most beautiful photo's and she's also from my home state of Illinois.  I still call Illinois my home state as I was born and raised there.  It was wonderful chatting with you Traci and I'll see you in the spring, and next time I'll remember the syrup ;)

Here are just some of the items I found, and each one has a place and purpose in my home.

The next few items I found on our way home.  The strawberry is a cookie jar and is not old, but I liked it since I have always loved strawberries, especially when I was a teenager I collected them.  I'm using this to keep the coffee grounds in.  I just put them in a zip-lock bag to keep the grounds fresh.  The bread box I'm not sure if I've ever posted about, I can't remember when I found that, but I do keep our bread in it.

I fell in love with this retro cart.  I use my bread machine all the time to make my bread dough and I just don't have any room on my counter for it.  This cart jumped out at me and it fits perfectly where I put it and I can keep our dehydrator on the bottom.

If you ever get the chance to attend a Na-Da Farm Event you will not be disappointed.

I can't wait to go in the spring.

Nancy over at A Rural Journal is hosting Leaves for Leontien.  Leontien is battling cancer and my thoughts, prayers, and lots of {{{HUGS}}} go out to her.

How are y'all (said with a Texas accent) doing this wonderful Tuesday morning?  We took a drive last Thursday to Minnesota to Grandparents day 2012.  We only have one grandchild left in the elementary school that celebrates grandparents day there, the other two have moved on up to the middle school.  We always have a nice time watching the kids perform, then visiting the classrooms and then on to the lunchroom for a delicious turkey dinner.

We headed back home later in the day, because my sister and parents were heading out for a visit.  My sister didn't like the photos of her so I put her dog Cleo in the collage instead.

I'll show you the beautiful bench that Jim made for me that matches great with my loom.  The wood is darkening up very nicely.  I used the bench while I did some quilting yesterday and it works great for that too.

Busy day today, I'm off later to get my hair cut and later I'll be laying out another quilt to pin so that I can get that quilted.

We had rain over the weekend and now the sun is shining and hopefully we'll get the last of the deck railings painted.  Trying to get things done around here before winter sets in.

Hope y'all have a beautiful day today.

While out in the woods with the goats I finally snapped some shots that I just never seemed to stop long enough to take.  It's like stopping to smell the roses, I just don't seem to do it often enough.

Hope y'all have a wonderful day today.

Isn't autumn/fall just beautiful?

Last Friday I traveled to Milwaukee Wisconsin to attend a Women of Faith event.  My cousin who has attended these events for years had invited me to go along with her.  I had such an awesome and amazing time.

I can't wait to go again.

Another awesome and amazing thing, well maybe not amazing, but it is awesome.  Is the shell lamp that I had the idea for, but Jim helped me put together, at least the electrical part of it.  I found two old jars tucked away in a box in our basement back in Illinois when we were packing up.  I decided to keep them not really knowing what I was going to do with them.  I also didn't really know what I was going to do with all the sea shells we collected when we were on Sanibel Island.  The jar is old and a bit rusty, but I don't care it has character.

I just love things that are awesome and amazing.

Don't you?