June 26th 2009

Editorial

This summer is turning out to be busier and crazier than I originally expected. I’m going to continue to do my best to create an issue per week for you, but as you can tell today, it won’t always go out on Tuesdays. Starting two weeks from now we are going to be visiting with relatives for almost a month (traveling quite a bit in between to see everyone). I should have Internet access throughout most of the trip and will do my best to continue writing the newsletter and answer emails in a timely fashion, but there’s a chance we’ll miss an issue during that time.

The Summer Cooking ebook is available for $5.00, all of which will go toward helping pay for the new server. My goal is to raise enough funds to pay for the server through the end of the year, so I can stop worrying about making those payments and concentrate on adding more great stuff for you to the website. So far we’ve raised enough funds to pay for the server for two months. If you haven’t gotten your ebook yet, consider ordering it today. It would really help out.

You can order your copy here http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/ebooks/summercooking.htm

Of course that’s not the only way you can help out. You may also want to consider joining the HBHW Club, or if spending money is not an option for you right now (I completely understand), consider helping in one of the following ways.

• Spread the word… tell your friends and family members about the Hillbilly Housewife website and invite them to join the newsletter.
• If you have a website or blog, link to a few of the articles or recipes on the website. If you’ve tried a recipe, write up a little review about it and link to the page with the recipe on it.
• If you are a member of an active forum or newsgroup, consider recommending the Hillbilly Housewife website were appropriate.
• If you belong to a church that is part of the Angel Food Ministry, let the person in charge of the program know about the free Angel Food Menus that are available right here on the Hillbilly Housewife website.

That’s it for this week. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions. Feel free to email me at susanne@hillbillyhousewife.com

Warm Regards,

Susanne – The Hillbilly Housewife

Sponsor

This newsletter is sponsored by my newest ebook – Simple Summer Cooking. Grab your digital copy today for $5.00 and help me pay for this fancy new server.

Inspirational Quote

If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders. – Abigail Van Buren

Reader Question

Hi, I read about the home made cleaning products—I had a question about the vinegar & water solution- is it antibacterial (disinfectant)?
Thank You,
Tiffany
Yes it is. The high acidity of vinegar kills anything from bacteria to mold. The stronger the solution, the more bacteria it will kill. Half vinegar and half water seems to work well for me.

I have never been able to make bread. I either am not kneading properly, or using too much flour, or both. After you mix all the wet and dry ingredients, how do you get your hands down in it without the whole mess sticking to your fingers????? I must have wasted 5 lbs. of flour or more trying to learn.
Barbara
Hi Barbara, making bread isn’t an exact science. Yes, your fingers will get sticky at first but as you incorporate all the flour into the dough it should turn from sticky into a smooth dough that easily comes off your hands and the surface you are kneading it on. The recipe should get you pretty close, but other factors like the particular flour and how much liquid it can hold and even outside factors like humidity can affect how much flour you will need. Start with what the recipe calls for and then keep adding flour by the tablespoon until you get a dough that isn’t sticking to your fingers.  Just be sure to incorporate all the extra flour well before you add more.

I have been making yoghurt for 1 year and I have never had any problems until lately the yoghurt has a pink skin and smell really bad after 24 hours in the fridge. The milk I use is freshly made powdered milk and I use a jar of yoghurt for the culture from the previous batch I had made, could the culture be to old. Help!!
Gayle
Hi Gayle, sounds to me like you got some bacteria in your culture that shouldn’t be in there causing your yogurt to go bad after a short time. I’d start with some fresh cultures.

News From The HBHW Club

This is a new section of the newsletter. Each week I’m going to share some tidbits of what’s going on at the HBHW Club with you. I hope you enjoy these extra tips, recipes and ideas and of course would love to have you join the club. As a HBHW newsletter subscriber, you can join for only $10 per month here:

http://www.hillbillyhousewifeclub.com/special.html

Here’s one of the recipes that were submitted this past week.

5 Layer Pizza Casserole

* 3 small (8 oz size) cans pizza sauce
* 1 lb flat noodles, your choice, cooked
* 2 lbs ground beef, browned
* 16 oz shredded Mozzarella cheese
* 4 oz grated Parmesan cheese

In greased 9 x 13 baking dish, layer (one layer each) the ingredients in the order they are listed above.  Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 40 to 50 minutes or until bubbly hot.  Let sit just a minute or two before cutting into it.Some other recipes recently added are:

• Toffee Candy-Bar Cake
• Lasagna Any Time
• Buttery Baked Parmesan Chicken
• Creamy Chicken Asparagus
• Easy Deviled Eggs
• Any Day Baked Bean Hamburger Casserole
• Tangy Russian Round-Steak
• Cream Cheese Ham Vegetable Casserole
• Spicy Skillet Franks ‘n’ Beer
• 4 Hour Stew
• Crispy Golden Oven Fried Chicken

All in all, we have over 100 new recipes in the member area already.

This week we’ve been talking about meal planning, making bread and having babies.

Ready to join us? We’d love to have you! http://www.hillbillyhousewifeclub.com/special.html

Featured Article

This week’s article is all chicken. How to prepare it, how to cook it and most importantly how to get the best bargain when it comes to this excellent and very healthy source of protein.  Of course you’ll find plenty of recipe to try as well. Enjoy!

Chicken Tips and Bargains

Frugal Tip – Frugal Shower Tips

It’s summer and around here, even a few minutes outside here results in being sweaty and sticky. As a result we’d end up taking several showers a day and our utility bills and cost for soap and shampoo started would go up each summer. That got me thinking about what we can do to make showering more frugal.

1) Limit yourself to 1 shower per day.
If I know I have some work to do outside (i.e. in the yard), I do that before I take my shower. There is no law that says you have to take a shower first thing in the morning.

2) Turn the Water Off
Step in the shower, turn on the water to wet your entire body. Then TURN IT OFF while you soap up. Turn the water back on long enough to rinse off all the soap and shampoo.

3) Less Soap and Shampoo
Most of use use a lot more soap and shampoo then we actually need to get ourselves clean.

Frugal Tips From Our Readers

There is a roll of heavy duty towels sold in the automotive department of stores like Walmart that can be rinsed, dried and reused in place of paper towels.?I use to save my worn dish towels to use instead and just toss them in the laundry.
CJ

If you live in a humid area you probably don’t even need dryer sheets to avoid static cling. I only use them about 6 times a year (and then only use 1/3 of a sheet) because the humidity here is usually over 50% most of the time. Even if you live in an area with lower humidity you may not need them on rainy days.
Leslie T.

Featured Recipe

While Georgia is usually referred to as the Peach state, we actually produce more peaches here in SC. And since this is peach season, you can get a bargain on this delicious fruit everywhere you look right now. It’s what inspired this week’s featured recipe. Since it’s still incredibly hot around here, I mostly cook in the crockpot, thus the choice for a slow cooker recipe. Enjoy!

Peachy Crockpot Chicken

Reader Recipe

This week’s reader recipe was submitted by Rebecca W. Rebecca was blessed with an abundance of  whipping cream and quickly turned it into delicious homemade butter. Here’s the recipe.

Making Homemade Butter

I’m Looking For:

This section is going to be all about you. If you are looking for a particular recipe or a tip on how to do something, email it to me and I will post it in an upcoming newsletter. I’ll give you my input and will also post any suggestions other readers of the newsletter come up with. So take a moment to write me your questions and of course if you have a tip or idea for any question posted in this section feel free to send me that as well.

Here’s this week’s requests:

Like so many others, I really love stopping at Dunkin Donuts or similar places and indulging in a coolatta, but they are so expensive.? Does anyone have any similar/copycat recipes such as those?
nlegere

Hi Susanne – I love your newsletters, tips and ideas. Thank you for
providing them for all of us. I have celiac disease which means no wheat
products and have learned to cook very inexpensively despite this problem.
If you know of anyone who has the same problem and could use some tips/help
adjusting to this problem, I would love to help.

Sherri

I am a yankee from Brooklyn that married a fellow from the Eastern Hills of
Kentucky. Sounds like a movie, huh? LOL Anyway, he loved a pickled
vegetable mix from that region and I have searched all over to try to find
it. It was called mixed vegetables and he has not had it for so long that
he cannot remember what was in it except green beans, carrots and green and
red peppers!! All I know is it was more tart than sweet and he loved it.

Debbie

We are also still looking for responses to the following requests:

Dear Susanne, I would like to know if any of your readers have a recipie for strawberry cream cheese pie. This was a pie with tall peaks of creamy white filling that surrounded sliced strawberries. The filling tasted of lightly of cream cheese. It was whipped and very tall and the strawberry slices were suspended in it. The crust was a standard pie crust underneath. We used to eat it at a small diner in Belview Florida. Thanks Jen

When I lived in Jamestown, Ohio in the late 70’s; I used to have Sunday dinner at a restaurant and for dessert they had a Pineapple cream pie that was super delicious.  It was so good that I would call on Saturday and get them to make me a whole pie for take home.  I was hoping someone out there has a recipe for it.
Karen

I’m looking for a Pappadeaux clone recipe for Oysters St.
Philippe appetizer.  We’ve had this when in Houston & would love the recipe.  I
haven’t been able to find it on the internet or through requests on other sites.

Marilyn

I’ve been looking for a pecan pie recipe that has a
rather soft & sirupy texture…not the fairly solid/stiff one that
most recipes produce. I used to buy this pie years ago at an Isaly
store in Ohio. Not sure, but I think they said they were homemade by a
Mrs Smith. They were all delicious. Could this be the same Mrs Smith
that makes the frozen pies of today?? I don’t know – but I wish I had
the recipe for the one Isaly’s used to sell!!
Jade

And here are last issue’s requests followed by the recipes and ideas submitted since then:

My significant other talks about a frosting for brownies his mom
used to make when he was a kid.  I can’t get the recipe as she’s no
longer with us.  He describes the frosting as very chocolatey, smooth
on the bottom and crusty on the top.  I asked if she let it sit out
& he said it was like that the same day she made it.  Any help is
greatly appreciated!
Kathy

Here is one that I was given to me by a kind neighbor lady also named ‘Kathy’.

Frosting: Melt 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup cocoa, 6 tablespoons of buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla in a saucepan. Heat until bubbling. Add 1 cup pecans (optional). Mix in 1 lb. powdered sugar.* Pour frosting over hot cake.

* Kathy’s note: This is the original recipe. I have found that I like to use less of the powdered sugar — just get it to the consistency you like. It’s also sometimes necessary to sift the powered sugar so that it doesn’t lump in the hot mixture.

Hope this works for her.
Deanna

I’m not sure if this is what the poster meant, but this is a gooey frosting that crusts on top:

1 stick butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 box (2 lb.) powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
dash salt

Melt butter and remove from heat. Stir in evaporated milk and vanilla. Stir in sugar, cocoa powder and salt until smooth. Spread on top of brownies and enjoy!

–Geri
In the last edition, Cathys said her
husband loved the frosting mom put on brownies my mom did the same thing
what it was is 2 cups of sugar-3/4 cup milk-2oz chocolate-i used the
equivelent of cocoa-1 1/2 tbsp.corn syrup-pinch of salt-3 tbsp.butter 11/2
tsp vanilla cook to boil on low heat until it reaches a soft ball stage let
cool until lukewarm spread of brownies, its soft but will get the hard
shell on top… very good…
Maggs

In the newsletter I got today a reader, Kathy I believe, was looking
for a brownie frosting recipe that was crunchy on top and smooth
underneath. I suspect what she is looking for is the super simple
“frosting” you get by pouring a package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
over the top of the brownies the instant they come out of the oven -
maybe putting the pan back into the turned off oven to help the chips
melt. They will keep their shape, when they melt. Just spread the
chips smooth with a spatula when they are soft. Not frugal, but
delicious. This only works for real chocolate chips. If they are those
“chocolate-flavored” chips they will not melt.

rhiamom

I’m not sure, but this sounds like a frosting my mom has made for years & years.  It’s very chocolatey & dark (especially if you mix it by hand instead of with an electric mixer) & the top turns crusty quickly.  Leftovers are great sandwiched between graham crackers!

Hungarian Chocolate Frosting
5 squares Bakers unsweetened chocolate3 cups powdered sugar1/3 cup hot water1 egg (or 2 egg yolks)1 stick butter (or margarine), room temperature

Melt chocolate over very low heat, stirring constantly until smooth.  Pour into mixing bowl.  Add sugar and water all at once, blend well.  Add egg, blending well.  Add butter, one tablespoon at a time, stirring well after each addition.
Lesa S.

This is for the woman looking for the frosted brownie recipe for her
husband. I think he might be remembering something called Texas Sheet Cake.

1 cup butter
1 cup water
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
5 tablespoons milk
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 15×10 inch jelly roll pan.
1. Bring 1 cup butter, water and 4 tablespoons cocoa to a boil in a
large saucepan. While still hot, remove from heat and add 2 cups flour, 2
cups white sugar, and salt. Mix well. Beat in eggs, sour cream, and baking
soda. Do not beat too long.
2. Pour batter into greased 15×10 inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 375
degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of
cake comes out clean.
3. To Make Icing: In same saucepan, bring 1/2 cup butter or
margarine, 4 tablespoons cocoa and 5 tablespoons milk to a boil. Remove from heat.
While still hot, add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Beat well. Ice cake
while icing is still hot.
As it cools, the icing will develop a sort of crusty top but underneath
will be gooey. Even though this is billed as a cake recipe, we’ve always cut
it into squares and called them brownies!

Sandy

I really enjoy the site and I look forward to every letter. I think I may have a recipe for the person who was looking for a chocolate frosting recipe that was smooth and creamy inside but had a crust on the outside. This recipe is one that I got from my Great-grandmother nearly 45 years ago. I hope it is what they were looking for.

Best wishes to All,

Deb C.

Canada.

FUDGE FROSTING

3 Tbsp butter
¼ cup milk
½ cup white sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 ½ cups icing sugar (confectioners’)
½ tsp vanilla extract

In a medium sauce pot mix the first 4 items and heat on medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and beat in the icing sugar and the vanilla. Spread immediately on the cake.
NOTES; this will cover the top and sides of a 9” round cake with a bit left over (unless you like it thick)

I found out about a month and a half ago that I have severe acid  reflux.
I would like recipes that do not use tomatoes, no citrus, very  little onion
or garlic.  I could use a little powder.  I also cannot  use any Chiles, or
cinnamon also.  All the above are triggers for the acid  reflux.

Cathy

This isn’t a recipe, but something that can help you feel better,
naturally. My dad recently had trouble with the same thing, and found that
drinking aloe vera juice was soothing, promoting healing. You can drink it
plain, or mix it into a smoothie, but not with hot beverages. Hope this
helps!
Melanie from Manitoba

I am looking for a goat’s milk shaving soap that I can make at home.  My husband really like using this when I had a source but that is since gone.  If someone has a “easy” recipe for this please ask them to pass it on.

Kathy
Marietta, SC

Lehmans.com has a selection of books for natural living. Some of them are
soap-making books. If you don’t want to buy them, you could look them up on
their website and check your local library for those books. One book will
even tell you how to make lye! One that might be of interest to you is
called *Making Natural Milk Soap,* a Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin, by
Casey Makela. It is published by Storey Publishing, LLC.

Melanie from Manitoba

I’m looking for recipes for cooking goat meat?
Michelle

Curry Goat
Ingredients
a.. 2 lb goat
b.. 2 large onions
c.. 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
d.. 2 Cloves garlic, chopped
e.. 2 Scallions, chopped
f.. 1 tbsp Allspice
g.. 2 tsp ginger
h.. 1/2 cup chicken broth
i.. 1 bunch herbs
j.. 2 clove garlic chopped
k.. 2 tbsp curry powder
l.. 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
m.. salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1.. Heat the vegetable oil and add the garlic, scallions, pepper, curry, allspice, chicken broth, and ginger.
2.. Cook for a 5 minutes then add the goat and remaining ingredients.
3.. Simmer in water for 1 1/2 hr until meat is tender.
This recipe was found at islandflave.com.

Nancy
http://sunnyislandbreezes.com

Inspirational Story

A CHILD’S 10 COMMANDMENTS

Author Unknown

1. My hands are small. Please don’t expect perfection whenever I make a bed, draw a picture or throw a ball. My legs are short. Please slow down so that I can keep up with you.

2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have. Please let me explore safely. Don’t restrict me unnecessarily.

3. Housework will always be there. I’m only little for such a short time. Please take time to explain things to me about this wonderful world, and do so willingly.

4. My feelings are tender. Please be sensitive to my needs. Don’t nag me all day long. (You wouldn’t want to be nagged for your inquisitiveness.) Treat me as you would like to be treated.

5. I am a special gift from God. Please treasure me, holding me accountable for my actions, giving me guidelines to live by and disciplining me in a loving manner.

6. I need your encouragement and your praise to grow. Please go easy on the criticism. Remember, you can criticize the things I do without criticizing me.

7. Please give me the freedom to make decisions concerning myself. Permit me to fail so that I can learn from my mistakes. Then someday, I’ll be prepared to make the kind of decisions life requires of me.

8. Please don’t do things over for me. Somehow that makes me feel that my efforts didn’t quite measure up to your expectations. I know it’s hard, but please don’t try to compare me with my brother or my sister.

9. Please don’t be afraid to leave for a weekend together. Kids need vacations from parents, just as parents need vacations from kids. Besides, it’s a great way to show us kids that your marriage is very special.

10. Please take me to worship regularly, setting a good example for me to follow.

Final Thought

That’s it for this edition of the Hillbilly Housewife Newsletter. I hope you’ve had as much fun reading it as I had creating it for you. I also hope that you have found the information helpful and useful. And by all means feel free to forward the newsletter to family and friends or even better, encourage them to subscribe to it.

Do you have a question, a tip, a recipe or a story you’d like to share with us? Email it to me and I’ll include it in a future issue. Can’t wait to see what you have to say.

Warm Wishes,

Susanne – The Hillbilly Housewife

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