I tried a new dish tonight. It has an interesting mix of ingredients but they really all worked together. A very tasty dish and definitely one I'll make again.


German Beef and Barley Bake

1 pound extra lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cup pearl barley
4 slices bacon, diced
3 cups tomato juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 to 4 cups sliced green cabbage
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

In large saucepan over medium heat, sauté ground beef, onions and garlic until beef is browned. Pour off drippings. Add barley and bacon; sauté 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in tomato juice, salt and pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Stir in cabbage and caraway seeds. Spoon mixture into 2-quart casserole. Bake in 350° F oven 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese melts. Makes 6 servings.

So far I've made five soups.  I think I'm going to start putting together a cookbook of the recipes I like, with the modifications I've made to the recipes of course.  I'm not sure if I'm going to post the actual recipes here or just email them to anyone who wants one.

Anyway, the first two soups I made were cheaters...meaning I made them from pre-packaged mixes.  The first was was a corn chowder.  Absolutely fabulous so I need to find my own recipe for it.  The second was a mushroom and wild rice soup.  It was just ok which is disappointing since I love mushrooms and wild rice.  

The first soup I made from scratch was a Bean and Barley soup.  I used pinto beans and pearl barley.  It was fabulous with the exception of it was a bit too salty.  Couldn't figure out why until today when I realized I put in too much chicken base in my broth.

The second soup was made yesterday.  It was Bean w/ Bacon.  I'm considering it largely a fail.  It is way to bland for one thing.  It also uses potatoes and I've come to realize I don't like potatoes in soup.  I don't like the texture or bland taste of them cooked that way.  Maybe I need to dice them up into much smaller pieces.  I'll have to try that.  But, I also need to look for another bean w/ bacon recipe.  I do have to say the smell of the onions sauteing in the bacon grease was heavenly!

Today's soup is a Curry Barley and Lentil soup.  It is a total win!  It was quick and easy to make and has wonderful flavour.  I've not actually had a bowl of it yet but I have tasted it.

I've determined I need another stock pot.  Only having one is a pain though I suppose I could use my pressure cooker pot.  I also need to start replacing my herbs with fresher ones.  Don't think I'm ready to start growing my own herbs and drying them and such.  The other thing that would be useful is to learn how to use knives to cut up things quicker.  I have such envy of chefs when I watch them just chop away so fast you can't even hardly see it.


Monday's cooking adventure is going to be Bean and Cheese Burritos and maybe a German Beef and Barley Bake that sounds yummy.


But right now I hear today's soup calling me.....

I have been horrible about updating here.  Though I don't suppose it matters since no one reads it except my sister!  There's really not been a whole lot of excitement going on though.  I went to my parents for Thanksgiving.  I had a few friends over for dinner for Christmas.  I stayed home, curled up on the couch and watching movies for NYE.  And that pretty much sums up the last couple months.  I really need to get back out and start dating again.  Easier said than done.  

One new thing I've started doing is experimenting with cooking with beans, barley, lentils...all that kind of stuff.  Mostly been soups at this point but I have to say, I find making a soup from scratch to be very satisfying.  And most of the things I've tried have been pretty tasty.  I'll do another post that talks about the recipes.  Don't want to bore everyone who's not reading my blog and isn't interested in cooking.

I've also decided I want to learn to can.  Great way to save money, especially since I don't have a whole lot of freezer space to keep things.

I need to go see how the soup I have on the stove currently is doing.  I promise I'm going to try and blog much more frequently.  Maybe someone will actually start reading then.

Yes, I know its been way too long since I've updated.  The end of one FY and the start of another is just an insane time around here.  Even my purse making has suffered.  Though I have gotten two others made.  A fourth one, of my own design, is in process as well.  Maybe I'll try to finish it up this week.  The biggest difficulty I've had with these purses is sewing through multiple layers of fabric.  My sewing machine is a very basic one and its not liking the thickness at all.  Anyway, here are the other two purses I've completed.


The first one was inspired by the Cheshire Cat.



This is a fancier one and I was messing around with a different sillouette for the pocket.




I need to work a little more on improving quality before I look at taking orders.  Already have a couple people who are interested.


In other news, I'm getting ready to start the kitchen facelift.  So I'm sure there will be plenty of blogging and pictures of the progress of that.  I'm excited about it and would have started already but I'm having a Halloween party and didn't want the kitchen tore apart for that.


I'm sure there's other mindless drivel I've left out but I'll think of it later and fill you in on it!

I've been looking for some kind of crafty type thing that I might be able to do and sell on Etsy.  Thing is, I don't like things that take too long to make....and read "too long" as something much longer than a day.  So I picked up a purse pattern and material while visiting my sister.  I cut it out last Thursday evening and sewed it last Friday evening.  There were a few difficulties with it but it went together fast and that's a good thing.  And I have to say I am quite pleased with the end product.

Let me tell you, dating in your 40's isn't an easy thing. I blame this on my parents. They had me when they were young so I have young parents....they're only 66. This creates a problem for me in the dating world.

Hang on, I promise you'll see the connection between my parents' age and my dating life.

I have certain requirements for the men I'm willing to go out with. Intelligent, sense of humour, honest, financially stable, no full-time custody of small children (hey, just being honest here) and within a certain age range.

I can't go too young in men. Younger guys just don't really appeal to me and by younger I mean pretty much under 40. I would consider someone 38 or 39 but they'd have to be pretty exceptional. My upper limit is about 55 and that's stretching it for me. See, here's the problem; I simply can not twist my brain around the idea of dating someone who's closer in age to my parents than he is to me! There's just something totally icky about that. Well, unless he's really old and filthy rich and willing to leave it all to me. I'm all for that! But I don't see that happening so I'm stuck with the 55 thing. This means my pool of eligible men is limited to a short 15 year span of 40-55. Let me tell you, that seriously restricts the options. If my parents had waited until they were in their 30's to have me then I'd have another 10 years worth of men I could choose from!!!

So, you see, dating difficulties are all my parents' fault.