Colored Pencil Winter Scenes

 This week I have been learning how to use colored pencils to create winter scenes.  This was a class that I had purchased to learn this particular technique.  I never knew you could use a nail file to get loose bits of the colored pencil and then use either alcohol or gamsol with a cotton ball to move the color around.  I actually love the finished products.

First I gathered the supplies that I would need to make the 4 pictures that I will show below.  

SUPPLIES

Carson watercolor paper (140lb) 9x12 cut into 6 inch squares

Prismacolor colored pencils in shades of blue including lights, mediums and darks

Prismacolor colored pencils in white, black, and shades of gray

Gamsol

Filbert brush in size 4

Round brush in size 4

Masking paper

Dr Martin bleed proof white

Alcohol 

Gamsol

Cup of water

Sandy Allnock teaches the class.  She can be found on the Patreon Website. 

The first picture that we did was a wintery scene of birch trees.  I love using the masking paper to make the hills pop out and the bleed proof white has always been a favorite of mine when using watercolors.

The second picture that I made was a winter night with a large moon.  The trees are dark and casting a shadow and it is lightly snowing.  A mask was used for the moon and the landscape.  

The third picture was of a tree in the snow with a forest behind it.  I love this picture.  I want to paint it again and decorate the tree for Christmas.  I will post that pic when I have done it.

The fourth picture that I made is my least favorite.  It is a path in the woods in a very snowy area.  I am not sure why I like it the least but I just like the previous pictures better.  Let me know what you think.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my creations.

Hugs, Meg

Apple Cobbler

 My husband and I went to Apple Hill Orchard in Morganton (near our house) and picked apples last weekend.  The apples that were available now are Arlet Gala.  We picked a basket full of them. 

They are so good and fresh.  I love having fresh apples around to either cook with or just eat.  Apple Hill Orchard has 19 varieties of apples, all with a different picking time.  The apples are:  Gingergold, Premier Honeycrisp, Gala, Arlet, Honeycrisp, Empire, Mitsubishi, Jonaprince, Early Fuji, Jonagold, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Cameo, Stayman Winesap, Red Rome, Evercrisp, Fuji, Granny Smith and Goldrush.  This will be the first year that I will be able to go pick some of each variety.

Las night I made an apple cobbler from a mix of the two varieties that I picked.  The recipe was adapted from the recipe I found on Once Upon a Chef.  

APPLE COBBLER

6 large baking apples - peeled and slice - (3 Arlet and 3 Gala is what I used)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

7 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter, cut into small chunks

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

Make the apple pie filling - In a large bowl, combine the apples, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.  Toss until the apples are evenly coated.

Make the biscuit topping - In a medium bowl combine the 1 1/2 cups of flour, 6 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Whisk to combine. Add the pieces of cold butter.  With a pastry cutter, work the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the buttermilk.  Stir until just combined.

Assemble and bake the apple cobbler - Transfer the apple mixture to an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.  Using a large spoon, dollop the biscuit batter over the apples, allowing the filling to show through in spots.  Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of sugar over the batter.

Bake the cobbler for 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. 

Let the cobbler cool for 15 to 20 minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream, if desired.

Hope you enjoy!

Hugs, Meg

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

 It has been a while since I was able to post to this blog.  Well, I am now retired and I have decided to re-energize this blog.  I will be traveling, cooking and doing art more and wanted/needed a place to post everything.  Facebook just doesn’t appear to be the right place for me to post, so I am moving over to this blog and will be, hopefully, posting more consistently.

My first current post will be a Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie recipe that I developed.  I hope others will enjoy it as much as my husband and neighbors have.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

1 package Pillsbury Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb

2 1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

Zest of one orange

1/4 cup heavy cream

Sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put one crust into pie pan.  Line the inside of the dough with parchment paper completely covering the dough.  Fill the pie plate with dried beans.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Remove the pie pan from the oven, removing the parchment and beans.  Let the pie crust cool while you prepare the filling.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, flour, and zest together. Pour the mixture into the pie pan.  Cut the remaining pie crust into strips and lattice over the pie.  Brush the top with heavy cream and then sprinkle some sugar over the brushed crust.

Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temp to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes longer.

Remove from oven and enjoy with a big spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

Big Hugs, Meg

Dark and Stormy

I went to Nashville, TN for work in April 2018.  One of the nights they had a reception at ACME Feed and Seed, which by the way is a great place to go on the waterfront.  One of the drink specials that they had that night was called a dark and stormy.  I took a picture of the drinks so that I could try to recreate this.  When I go back to Raleigh, my husband and I went out to dinner at Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar.  I asked for a Dark and Stormy drink and they said they could make it.  Well, it was nothing like the one I had in Nashville.  In fact, I am surprised that I could even get the entire drink down over the course of dinner.

Next I went to the ABC store in Raleigh, because that is what NC has.  Wish there was competition in NC for alcohol, but alas, there is not.  Alcohol is highly regulated in this state.  So I tried to find smoked rum.  Well, after 10 minutes of looking, I finally asked one of the guys working there.  He told me that they didn’t have smoked rum, and he had never heard of it, but all dark rum is inherently smoky because of the way it is distilled, etc.  Long story short, he showed me a few dark rums that he said other customers really liked.  Some of these were way out of my price range just to make a drink that I had in Nashville.  I finally picked a rum that I thought was a good deal, had a great name, and he had recommended.  I picked Plantation Artisanal Rum that is double aged and dark.  It has a really great flavor if you are looking for a dark rum.

The other ingredient that goes into a Dark and Stormy is Ginger Beer.  Now probably the reason I love this drink so much is that I love the taste of ginger.  Ginger Beer isn’t always easy to find, but Trader Joe’s has a great Ginger Beer.  It isn’t expensive and tastes great!

The third ingredient is bitters.  I do not have a picture of the bottle, but you can get bitters in any grocery store.  You must have this ingredient for this drink.  It really rounds out the flavor. 


Recipe:

Tall glass 3/4 filled with ice
5 dashes of bitters
2 shots of Rum
Fill the remainder of the glass with ginger beer

Peach Cobbler

I made this Peach Cobble last night, and didn't get a chance to take a pic until someone in the house had already dug in, LOL!  However, you can still get the idea of what this dish looked like.

I love the the taste of ginger!  Well, to be truthful, I love everything about ginger - taste, smell, everything.  The peach and the ginger are perfect together in this dish.  This is more like a peach cake than a cobbler, but it is so incredibly good.  This is a must try!

The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

4 cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
3/4 cups sugar - I use beet sugar or coconut sugar
Juice of one lemon, should be about 2 T
2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 tsp cinnamon

For the batter:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup King Arthur Whole Wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar - I use beet sugar or coconut sugar
1 T baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup whole milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place peach slices in a large bowl.  Add sugar, lemon juice, ginger and cinnamon.  Toss well to coat fruit.  Allow mixture to sit for at least 5 minutes.

Place butter in a baking dish (I use an oval stoneware Pampered Chef Dish) and warm in oven until butter melts completely, about 5 to 10 minutes.  In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Add milk and stir until a wet batter forms.  PLour batter over melted butter (do not stir).  Spoon peach mixture evenly over batter (do not stir).

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Bagels

BAGELS

If you are like me, and I think a lot of you are, you love bagels.  I can eat them in the morning with breakfast, at lunch as the bread for a sandwich, in the evening with my dinner - anytime and anywhere!

It is always nice if you can make items yourself since you know the ingredients and can make as many, or as few, as you want to.  These are easy to whip up and have just a few ingredients.  I originally found this recipe online and knew that it was a good one.

Ingredients:

1 cup King Arthur whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 beaten egg, with a tsp of water
Trader Joe's Everything Bagel Seasoning

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place parchment paper on a baking sheet.

In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt with a wire whisk.  Add the yogurt and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined.

Lightly dust the flour on a work surface and knead the dough on the work surface a few times.  Divide into 4 equal balls.  Roll each into a rope, joining the ends to form the bagel.

Top with egg wash and sprinkle with the Everything Bagel Seasoning.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.  Let cool 10 minutes.

 If you have an air fryer, preheat the air fryer to 325 degrees.  Once preheated, cook for 12 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

 The combination of strawberry and rhubarb has always been my husband's favorite.  I had never had it together until I married him.  I have to say, it is a combination made in Heaven!  Usually I make a Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie but this time I decided to try a crisp.  My husband loved it and even said he thinks he likes this better than a pie.  I have to admit, not having all of that crust, and having a crispy top layer, was my favorite as well.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

Serves approximately 8

Filling:

2 pints of strawberries, washed, hulled, and quartered
3 large stalks of rhubarb, pull off outer strings and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small orange, zested and juiced
1 T cornstarch
1/4 cup honey

Topping:

3/4 cup quick oats
1/3 cup King Arthur whole wheat flour
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 T melted butter

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine strawberries and rhubarb in a medium sized bowl.  Add the honey, orange juice and orange zest.  Toss.  Sprinkle cornstarch and toss again until fruit is well coated.

Butter a large round oven safe baking dish.  Pour the fruit mixture into the dish.

Mix the topping ingredients together in a small bowl and spread over the fruit mixture.

Bake 40 minutes until the fruit is bubbly and the topping is golden brown. 

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

I actually think this was even better the next day when it was reheated.

Enjoy!

Hugs, Meg