September 30th 2009
Editorial
Our Tuesdays have gotten pretty busy this year for some reason. I’m going to try to get the newsletter out on Wednesdays instead for a while and so far it’s working pretty well.
I had a great time at the blogging conference in Asheville last weekend. Learned quite a bit and made some great new friends, some of whom will be contributing to the HBHW website in the near future.
I came home to a a sick husband and child, but with a little TLC and some homemade chicken soup, both are much better and I got away with nothing more than a little cold.
I’m slowly catching up on emails, approving comments and such. Aside from that it’s been a pretty quiet week so far. Morning are chilly and feel like fall which is kind of nice. I can’t wait for it to get cool enough that I can cook some more stews. They just never taste right when it’s hot outside.
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
Inspirational Quote
“To have begun is to be half done; dare to be wise; begin!” - Horace
Ready to make a Halloween costume with your child? Homemade Halloween Costumes – no sewing required.
Reader Question
I’ve been trying to make fried chicken, but the breading doesn’t seem to want to stick. I’m using seasoned flour for the breading. It also doesn’t turn out crispy at all. How do I fix good, crispy fried chicken?
Amy
Hi Amy, excellent question. It took me quite a few tries to come up with a way to make really good fried chicken.
Start by patting your chicken dry. Then dip it in some flour. I like to use seasoned flour here. Next, briefly dip your chicken in egg wash. Allow most of the egg to drip off, then coat the chicken either in more seasoned flour or other breading of your choice (I’ve used anything from cracker crumbs to corn flakes).
Move the chicken straight into hot oil. Don’t overcrowd your pot and handle your chicken very gently.
Another option is oven fried chicken.
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
And to make it even easier, I’ll let you try it out for just a dollar for the first 7 days.
Here’s one of the recipes that were submitted this past week.
Triple Chocolate Fudge
* 1/2 cup butter
* 3 1/2 cups white sugar
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 can evaporated milk
* 32 large marshmallows
* 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
* 13 oz. Hershey’s Chocolate Bar
* 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
* 1 tsp. vanilla
* 2 cups chopped nuts
In very large saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, both sugars, and can of milk, stirring until the sugars are dissolved. Bring the mixture to a soft boil, cover the pan and boil for 5 minutes.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the marshmallows until they are dissolved.
Take the first chocolate and add it to the saucepan, stirring until melted.
Take the second chocolate and add it to the saucepan, and stir again until that chocolate is melted.
Then, add the last chocolate and do the same, stir until melted completely.
Now, add the vanilla and nuts and stir.
Pour mixture into a 9×13 or equivalent pan that’s been lightly coated with butter. Chill until firm.
And here are some of the other recipes that have been added in the past few days.
- Inside-Out Beef and Spinach Ravioli
- Green Fluff
- Taste of the Islands Chicken Skillet
- Angel Food Jell-o Confetti
- Simple Chicken Divan
All in all, we have over 200 new recipes in the member area already.
What else has been going on at the HBHW Club? We’ve been talking about using pressure cookers and other kitchen gadgets, being a “supermom” and of course we’re starting to think about Christmas and various frugal gift ideas. I’m sure you have a lot to contribute to the conversation. Ready to join us? Try The HBHW Club for only $1. We’d love to have you! http://www.hillbillyhousewifeclub.com/special.html
Featured Article
This week’s featured article is about using your own homemade cleaners for your home. Most of what you need to make these frugal cleaners is already sitting in your pantry.
Frugal Cleaning Tips – Being Frugal With Your Cleaning Supplies
Frugal Tips
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Do you have a tip to share? Fill out the submit a frugal tip form and I’ll be glad to add it to the site and share your tip in an upcoming edition of the newsletter.
Recipes
Here are some of the most recent recipes that have been added to the HBHW site. Enjoy!
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Do you have a recipe you would like to share? Click here to send it to me and I’ll be happy to add it to the website.
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, submit it here and I will post it in an upcoming newsletter. I’ll give you my input and other readers of the newsletter will have the opportunity to share their recipes and tips as well. So take a moment to post your questions and of course if you have a tip or idea for any question posted in this section feel free to leave a comment under the appropriate post.
I’m Looking For Requests
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I’m Looking For Responses
Below you will find some of the recent responses to the “I’m Looking For” Requests. You may also want to go directly to this section and browse through all the recent submissions and replies. To do so, click on “I’m Looking for” here, and start looking through them.
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Inspirational Story
THAT I A BETTER PERSON MAY BE
Author Unknown
Light that lies deep inside of me
Come forth in all thy majesty
Show me thy gaze
Teach me thy ways
That I a better person may be
Darkness that lies deep inside of me
Come forth in all thy mystery
Show me thy gaze
Teach me thy ways
That I a better person may be
Love that lies deep inside of me
Come forth in all thy unity
Let me be thy gaze
Let me teach thy ways
That I a better person may be
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
I have a frugal cleaning tip that some might not like. About 2x each year (in fall and spring) I clean my vinyl kitchen floor tiles with baking soda. I really have to get down on my hands and knees to scrub it, but I have tried every thing else to get out the dirt that stays in those scratches and dents and only scrubbing with baking soda works. Afterward, I rinse well, usually takes two times, then seal with Future acrylic floor wax. Hard work, but cheap and really great results.
On Fried Chicken
Everyone asks for my fried chicken, not bragging as I got the tip from my grandma.
First off I am giving away a family secret that when I am visiting my parents my brother always asks me to fix fried chicken, which brought in the family, neighbors, in-laws from both sides of the family.
The secret is to soak your chicken in warm water at least 1 hour before frying. All I use is flour, salt and pepper in a bag and shake, do not knock off any flour. Then fry in 1/2″ vegetable oil replacing when necessary. When placed in the frying pan I salt and pepper again I do not turn it until it is crisp on one side and then turn to the other side, then turning off and on till done.
On fried chicken.
I place my chicken in buttermilk to soak for a short while. I then lift it out and drain the excess. I dip it then in my seasoned flour. I then put the chicken into my preheated oil in the skillet. The oil comes up and over the chicken and I cook it for approx 5 minutes. I then lift out the chicken with tongs draining the excess oil back into the skillet. I then lay the chicken on an cake cooling rack which has been placed into a jelly roll pan and finish cooking in the oven at 375 degreees. This allows for nice crispy chicken with no greasy mess. You get the tast of fried chicken without all the extra calories as the grease has drained into the bottom of the jelly roll pan.
Joy
For the person looking for info on freezing homemade french fries:
I slice potatoes into fries, leave in cold water until all are cut up. Drain very well and dry with paper towels. Then cook for 3 minutes in batches, drain on paper towels until cool. Place in freezer bags and seal. When ready to use, just fry in hot oil 4-5 minutes drain and serve. I cut my fries thin, so a thicker cut would take a minute or two longer to cook.
I also use buttermilk for my fried chicken. However I soak the chicken overnight in the buttermilk (gives the meat a great flavor). My ‘secret’ is that I take the chicken out of the buttermilk, letting the excess drip off, dip in flour – THEN back into the buttermilk, and again into the flour. Then fry it up!
Double dipping in the flour makes a huge difference in it sticking!!!