Reading (Kinda)

After the urging of about a gazillion friends i started reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I must say i wasn't impressed with the first chapter. I felt a little lost and out of the loop.

Now i must say that i am only on chapter 3. I have found it hard to get into it like i normally do a book. By the beginning of the second chapter i was more into it but apparently not enough to make me want to read like crazy (as i normally do when i find a book that captures all of my attention).

I will finish it. And i think inevitably i will like it. I just wanted to throw this out there and see if it is just me. Have any of you found it hard to get into? Did you enjoy it in the end? Have you read the whole trilogy?

I guess i will let you know when i finish how it went.

Hot Kitchen

I have rediscovered my love of cooking!
The last couple months i have had some extra time on my hands (another story all together) and throught that extra time i have started cooking a lot.

Lots of large, hardy, filling meals. Meals like my mom use to cook. Meals that warm both the heart and soul.

I dare not call my food soul food but for me it is all the things soul food are meant to be.

While i have always used Food.com to find interesting and new recipes i have found that i like blogs more. They are more personal and more comical entertaining fun.

One of my favorites is The Pioneer Woman Cooks. If you havent been introduced to The Pioneer Woman, Dee Drummond, you have been missing out. She not only cooks, Dee blogs, homeschools, feeds cattle ranchers all day and night, crafts, travels, raises kids, perfects photography, and has her own show on Food Network!!!!

She is a true superwoman, but you would never hear her admit that. She gives moms like me hope and a guiding light. And did i mention her cooking is A-MAZING!!!!

A few weeks ago i stumbled upon another foody treat through another blog. And it was love at first reading.

Jamie Cooks It Up is a delightful blog filled with delicious recipes and relatable stories. Jamie is a very down-to-earth mother of 5. She has been blogging Since 2009 and all though i dont think i can believe it she says she couldnt cook a lick when she got married.

These two ladies have taken up about 95 percent of my food board on Pinterest (and if you dont know what that is ask somebody cause its amazing).

So point being is i am cooking like mad. Making things i didnt know i had in me. Filling my family's bellies and hearts with warmth and love.

Its a great feeling!

Easy Homemade Doughnuts

Igredients:

Frozen yeast rolls
Powdered sugar
Sprinkles
Vanilla or almond flavor
Milk

Layout how many ever rolls/ doughnuts you want to make. Put 12 per sheet pan an spread them so they have room to rise. Cover then with plastic wrap and let them rise according to the package directions.

Start heating your oil. Uncover your risen rolls. Use a shot glass or something about that size (I used a medicine cup that came off the kids motrin lol) cut the center out of the rolls. At this point they will deflate. Don't worry it doesn't affect the outcome.

When the oil is ready (I use one of the holes to test its readiness) put in a couple doughnuts at a time. It will only take a minute or so and then flip it over to brown the other side. Once the whole thing is golden brown take it out of the oil and place on a cooling rack for about 5-10 minutes.

While your doughnuts cool you can make your icing. Pour about 2 cups of powdered sugar in a bowl. Put in about a tsp of vanilla or almond flavor an whisk in milk til you get a silky texture. It shouldn't be too thin so add the milk slowly.

Once your doughnuts are fully cooled dip them in the icing (I use my fingers for this but u can use forks or any utensil you like.) I dip one side for things I am putting sprinkles or powdered sugar on and both for a regular glazed doughnut. Make sure you lay the dipped doughnuts back on a cooling rack so the excess icing can drip off. Add your sprinkled or powdered sugar as soon as you dip them and get them on the cooling rack so it will stick.

And enjoy!!!

Hope you like them!!

I Never Told Anyone

I have a deep desire to live in the country.

Not like out a small tree lined lane, but really out in God's country.

I want there to be no other houses for miles. I want there to be wide open views of mountains, tree, and maybe a lake.

I want to get snowed in during the winter. Sit by an open fire place with hot cocoa and a warm blanket.

I want to be able to walk bare foot during the summer along a well worn trail. I want to smell the fresh air (even if it makes me sneeze uncontrollably).

I want to live off the land as much as possible. I want to hunt deer and raise my own cattle and chickens. I want a horse, large and graceful, to ride and be a companion and confidant.

Part of me wants the silence of no modern technology, while part of me screams are you nuts.

I want to retire to this place. Maybe when my children have their own life, their own kids.

Or maybe it is just a fantasy. A silly dream that will never be realized.

But I hope not. I pray that one day this dream can come true.