The Wilkes Team

This week most of the family is diligently attending a Hunter’s Safety Course. Joshua, Hannah, and I are staying home this week. We have had fun coming up with exciting things to do each night. This evening we decided to make an extra special dessert. Hannah put together the list of ingredients. They are: 1 Apple, 1 Pear (including the seeds), 1 thin Carrot, a small handful of corn, Pineapple chunks, and a box full of toothpicks.

With Thanksgiving coming right around the corner, all three of us decided to create our very own ‘Turkey.’ Using delicately sliced fruits and vegetables with toothpicks, we were able to construct a scrum-dilly-licious looking turkey. We learned some fun things about the turkey:

The frontal caruncle (the large growth that appears from the base of its bill) and the waddle (the skin underneath the turkey’s throat)change colors depending on their mood. When the male turkey struts around the waddle and caruncles become a bright red. When scared, the head take on a pale blue color. When the bird is butchered the head changes to a whitish blue.

The turkey demonstrates availability by preparing itself for the needs and demands of others. Early in the fall, the male turkey spends much time eating and storing up food in its body. Later in the fall, as the hens begin to lay their eggs, the male turkey sets aside his own agenda and needs so he may assist the ones he is called to serve. It listens for a yelp or cluck and then quickly runs to help. Later, after all the eggs have been laid, the Tom can begin to take care of his own needs once again.

That’s all for now – Joshua, Hannah, and Markie signing off!

Availability: Rejecting ambitions that hinder us from being where we are needed.  

7 Comments » | posted in Outside the Box, Recipes

Around this time of year as summer is coming quickly to a close and fall is approaching quite rapidly, canning seems to come to the forefronts of the Wilkes Team minds. Seeing peaches, apples, green beans, tomatoes, grapes etc. just seems to get us all excited about gathering and canning!

Before she passed away, Mommom ( mom’s mom) was always canning somthing and getting us to help her in the process when we were little. Grandpa and Grandma have told such fascinating stories about their growing up years living on farms and how they would provide just about all their food from off the land they tilled. We don’t want these next generations to lose these basic skills that our great grandparents and grandparents knew. We need to take action and ask them questions and seek them out and learn from them. 

Each and everyone of us are blessed with ones that have gone before us yet we seem to take them for granted. It is not until they are gone that we realize we did not take the time to glean from their wealth of knowledge. So lets take the time and learn from those who have gone before us! And if you have never learned to can fruits, meats and veggies here’s a great opportunity for you to ask your great grandma, grandma, or mom how they did it! I’m sure you will have a blast doing it, and maybe this could be your first recipie??

Peach Butter

18 medium peachers

4 cups of sugar

Wash and blanch peaches. Peel, pit, and slice in peaches in half. Put them in blender until  it reaches the consistence you want (Chunky to very smooth).

Put blended peaches in a large pot. Add the sugar. Cook until thick enough to round up on a spoon. As mixture thickens, stir frequentily to prevent sticking. Ladle hot peach butter into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch. headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 min. in a boiling-water canner. It yields about 4 pints. 

5 Comments » | posted in Family News, Recipes

Are you in the mood for a mouth watering sensation? Or something that just hits the spot? Then you are a candidate for this incredible dish!!

There has been number of requests for this incredible dish of chicken enchiladas so I thought I would put it up for you all to enjoy!

It yields about 6 servings (we usually double it) 

Cooking time: 1 hour 

  1. Make the sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of butter             

 6 Tbsp of Flour

2 Tblsp of Chicken base

1/8 tsp of white pepper

3/8 tsp of Garlic, granulated

1/8 cumin4 cups of milk, warmed

2 & 3/4 oz. of green chilies

Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Add chicken base and spices. Cook on very low heat for 5 minutes. Add milk while stirring with whisk. Bring to a full boil. Decrease heat to low and cook 2 minutes. Add green chilies. 

 2. Sauté 2/3 cup of diced onion. Set aside in a bowl. 

 3. Fill the tortillas!  

12  6″ flour tortillas

For filling the tortillas add the next 8 ingredients to onion in bowl.

3 cups of 1/2″ diced cooked chicken

6Tbsp (3 oz.) Sour cream1 oz. of green chilies

1 tsp. of salt

1/8 tsp of white pepper

1/4 tsp of garlic, granulated

1/4 tsp of Chili powder

3/4 cup (3oz.) Shredded cheddar cheese

  5. Add 2/3 cup of white sauce to filling.

Portion 1/4-cup scoops of filling onto flour tortillas. Roll up tightly!

 6. Assemble all into the 9″x13″ baking dish 

Pour 1 cup of white sauce in bottom of greased backing dish

.Placed filled tortillas in pan, seam side down.Pour remaining sauce on top of tortillas: 2/14 cups.

Cover with foil.

  7. Baking instructions

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 -45 min. or until hot and bubbly.

  8. Uncover enchiladas and add  1 1/2 cups of Shredded cheese to top. Then bake uncovered for 5 -10 min.

Extra sour cream and salsa make great toppings for it too!

Enjoy! 

4 Comments » | posted in Recipes

Ladies and gentlemen, we have an official anouncement to make! Though it cannot be traced back to an official date of origination, February 23rd hosts a number of special yearly traditions. Perhaps some of these not so well known yearly holidays were begun by eager farmers who were in great need of selling their crops (ie. National Potato Day or National Carrot Day ) or maybe by those with too much time on their hands (…….no comment please ). Nevertheless, February 23rd stands as official ‘Banana Bread Day.’

Our local weatherman, who we call up almost daily to hear his recorded daily forecast, informed us of today’s holiday early this morning. So in the spirit of good family fun and memory making, our favorite cook, Mom, baked up another one of her famous batches of banana bread (in the form of delectable, quaint muffins). So, with that said, my 4 favorite cooks would like to share one of their favorite recipies for Banana Bread! We’re sure you will enjoy!

Sunrise Banana Muffins (taken from one of Mom’s favorite cook books, the “No-Guesswork Cooking.”)

1. 3 Medium bananas (1 3/4 C. mashed)
   _____________________________
2. 2 Eggs
3. 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
4. 1/3 Cups Oil
5. 1/2 cup of honey (we actually did without on this today)
6. 2 Tbsp Buttermilk (this actually equals 1oz!)
   _____________________________
7. 2 cups whole wheat flour
8. 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
9. 1/2 tsp Salt
10. 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
    _____________________________
11. 1/4 cup Pecans (for those who prefer a more crunchy and nutty taste)

Now, Add all the wet ingredients (section 2) to your mashed bananas. In a seperate bowl combine the dry ingredients and then add to liquid mixture. Mix with a spoon until smooth. If using nuts, fold them into the batter at this time. Then divide the batter into greased muffin pans and bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Fun, A-peal-ing Banana Tid Bits:

Did you know that the banana is actually the world’s largest herb, and is a member of the lily family? (Luke 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow…)

For some timely advice on storing bananas, please visit our favorite family blog site, www.staddonfamily.com and go to the Banana Post!

May you enjoy many more fun Banana Bread Days!

Scrumptously Yours, The Wilkes Team cooks……and their eager supporters! “…every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”

 For more exciting information and pictures of the banana plant, go to Dole5ADay.

6 Comments » | posted in Recipes, Sunny-Side Up

This is a recipe Markie and I made for dinner. It was a fun way to strengthen our relationship. I usually double this recipe for our family. These biscuits are among our family’s favorite foods. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 C. Whole wheat flour

3/4C. Flour,all-purpose

1 Tbsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Salt

 1/4 C. Butter,cold

1cup + 1 Tbsp. Milk

3 Tbsp. Honey   

Procedure:

1.Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.

a. Cut butter into Tbsp-size pieces

b. Add butter to dry ingredients all at once

c. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender until the butter is the size of large peas.

2. Combine milk and honey.

 a. Add to dry mixture

b. Mix just until combined

3.  Pour a little flour into a bowl for tossing biscuits.

4. Scoop batter into flour, one biscuit at a time, and toss to cover.

5. Toss back and forth to remove excess flour.

6. Place in greased, 8″, round or square baking pan

7. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until well browned and cooked through.

This will make approximately 12 biscuits.

9 Comments » | posted in Recipes