New lamb!


Just born this morning .
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A case of Scott's Liquid Gold


I buy old furniture.  Not restored antiques - beat up old furniture.  I like it.  I don't want to paint most of it, I like the look of wood.  Most of my furniture it purchased at the Beaver Run Consignment Sale - an Amish run auction to benefit their school.  (Although with what they must make off that auction, they could have a huge air conditioned building with full time paid staff..  not just the outside toilets and simple one room school they have..) 

I furnished my entire dining room - china cabinet, dry sink, buffet, two wing chairs, two end tables, a piano, and a dining room table with 8 chairs - for $100.  THAT kind of old furniture. Normally I bring it home, and use Scott's liquid gold on it, the wonder spray that makes scratched, dinged, dried out, furniture look...  rustic, but clean and nice.  

Last week I ran out of Scott's.  I stopped at our grocery store where I usually buy it - there;s no longer even a space on the shelf for it.  I tried Big Lots, where I sometimes find it, no luck.  Tried target - No Scott's.

Uh oh!  So in desperation I bought Old English in a spray bottle.   My living room looks clean..  but shiny.  It's oily, and the overspray on my walls worried me..  I'm not sure it will just dry up, and if it does't, my walls look like I was cooking with oil in front of them, and it splattered.  Not pretty.  I had to use too much of it - the spray was..  too much.  it did a great job getting in all the detailed nooks and crannies of my furniture, but to do so meant I used half a bottle just in my dining room.  And everything looks shiny - like a high gloss version of Scott's.  I think I'd like to use this once in awhile, IF it dries nicely, but for weekly polishing, it's way too much.

I need my scott's liquid gold!!  I went to the website today, and they do still make it.
  I think I'm going to order a case.  :-)
http://www.scottsliquidgold.com/scotts-liquid-gold/about.html
Update - 8 years later, you can just order it on amazon.
https://amzn.to/2Z7hvRN

Check out the great how to clean videos along the right hand side of the site above - how to clean antique mirrors, how to clean wood drawers, how to clean an antique sewing machine...

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https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/p/diary-of-housewife.html

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Chicken Marsala


This looked so pretty in my big baking pan right out of the oven..  but we dug in before I got a picture.  I put these two extra pieces on a plate for the photo, and it doesn't look nearly as good...  but trust me, it tastes good!   This is one of my favorite meals.  This is also one of those times where I adapt a "regular" recipe to feed a family of 6, with 4 teenagers.  When the recipe says "return chicken to the pan" I know I'm in trouble - to cook enough chicken for all of us in one pan is usually not feasible.  I'd need a bigger pan.  :-)

At the bottom of this post is Emeril's recipe, which is sort of what I used as my guideline, and has exact measurements, for those of you who cook with measuring cups.  I rarely measure - I cook 3 meals a day, every day, for this crew..  I can pretty much guess amounts.  For most things. I did measure out the wine and chicken broth, roughly, for this dish.  Well, I poured the bottle of marsala wine into a measuring cup, figured there was only 3/4 of a cup, roughly left in the bottle, then used the entire bottle.  That's my idea of measuring.

Heather's Chicken Marsala
Pound chicken thin
Add salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and garlic powder to flour
dredge chicken in flour
fry chicken lightly in very little oil (does not have to be cooked through)
Remove chicken to big baking dish
Add a little butter to the pan (it was sort of dry)  
Cook mushrooms (add a little wine if pan is still to dry)
Remove mushrooms with a slotted spoon, spooking over chicken
add Marsala wine (I used roughly 3 cups for 9 chicken breast halves)
simmer the wine until it is reduced, or thickened
Add 2 cups of chicken broth - I mixed a little of the leftover flour in to make more of a gravy
When thickened, pour sauce over the chicken
Put in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes


Emeril's Chicken Marsala

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Essence, recipe follows
2 (6 to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in halves and pounded thin
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
3 cups sliced mushrooms (cremini, oyster, shiitake)
3/4 cup Marsala
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped chives, for garnish

Directions
In a shallow bowl or plate combine the flour and Essence and stir to combine thoroughly. Quickly dredge the chicken breast halves in the seasoned flour mixture, shaking to remove any excess flour.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and cook the chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
 Add 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter to the pan and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are golden brown around the edges and have given off their liquid.
Add the Marsala wine and bring to a boil, scraping to remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
 When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock and cook for 3 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Lower the heat to medium and return the chicken breasts to the pan and continue to cook until they are cooked through and the sauce has thickened, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, add salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately.
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A Few Of My Favorite Soap Making Resources

A Few Of My Favorite Soapmaking Resources & Supplies

 Disclaimer - You should never, ever make soap until you have researched it and know what you are doing.  As much as I love to "wing it" - soap making it not a wing it activity.  

Basic Resources:

The formula for Crisco has changed since the early 2000s. It now incorporates a fair amount of hydrogenated palm oil, which is good for making soap. If you're using Crisco, be sure to know what kind you are using and and adjust your lye calculator accordingly. Most lye calculators have a setting for "old Crisco" and "new Crisco." If your label lists "hydrogenated palm oil" as one of the ingredients, use the "new Crisco" setting.

Soap Making Recipes:

This is the soap making book I started with.
Great, simple, recipes, with lots of herb additives.
It has a great format, and is easy to follow.

Simple & Natural Soap Making by Jan Berry is my current favorite soap making book.
My favorite book does change frequently - but this is a nice balance between the simple book above, and the very complex book below.  And it's pretty.  :-)
https://amzn.to/3t8Wrih

The other soap making book on my shelves.
This one is not as pretty as the Sandy Maine Book, it's more, well, like a BOOK than a magazine.  But it is SO full of great information, my copy  is marked with bunches of sticky notes. https://amzn.to/2QLfybp
Bramble Berry Project Ideas (Formerly The Soap Queen)
Bramble Berry is a supply site, and to inspire you to purchase their products, they offer great projects!
https://www.brambleberry.com/


Soap Making Supplies:


Soap Mold & Cutter
https://amzn.to/37vMQ4U
I have a lot of wooden molds, which I either grease with crisco or line with wax paper before using.  But silicone really is sooooo nice when making soap!
And these cutters are great!
You can make soap without an immersion blender.  If you do not mind stirring really hard for HOURS.  :-)
Seriously, this makes it so much faster and easier!
https://amzn.to/2FhEX7i

An accurate scale is an absolute essential.
Make sure it can measure in both ounces and grams
This is not the one I use, mine is a 20 year old postal scale - but this one looks nice, and is reasonably priced.
https://amzn.to/2QCwjFA
Lye is getting harder and harder to find - our grocery stores no longer carry it.
I can still find it at lowes, by the drain cleaners
Just be sure it is 100% lye - and nothing else added.
Thankfully, there is also Amazon Prime.
https://amzn.to/2FbwnXE



A nice selection of colors to start with - 
https://amzn.to/39B6jTx
I used to buy dried lavender at the health food store, to add to my soaps - but it's cheaper to buy it online now.  Here's an assortment of additives - 
https://amzn.to/2ZMmwku



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The Snow Geese in our back yard today -





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