[Gossamer's Scrapbook] The Ethereal Canyon I

[Gossamer]

The Price Of Living In The Evergreen State
Taken last night in central Washington near the town of Twisp

[Ball]

That's frightening and yet amazingly breathtaking

[Gossamer]

To All The Haters Out there


This sign is for you if you've been super critical, made negative comments/reviews, jumped to conclusions or assumptions about things you know nothing about, have acted childish, or have just been a down right selfish or mean...

Yea... you know who you are.

[Gossamer]

My Fortune Cookies think I'm charming!

[Trickster]

One of the best fortunes ever!

[Gossamer]

Tuna Noodle Stroganoff Casserole
You guys seem to like easy recipes so here's another one.


(This is a borrowed image, mine is still in the oven.)

I'm making a tuna noodle stroganoff casserole from a recipe a guy at work gave me. It looks and smells incredible. I fiddled with it a little because it didn't seem quite 'right'. I'll take pics after it's out of the oven in 45 minutes.

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can tuna (used a pouch)
1 C grated cheese
1/2 tsp salt & pepper (added more pepper)
1/2 C Mayo
1/2 C sour cream
3/4 C Milk
2 tsp Parsley
1 tsp lemon juice
8 oz Pasta (used egg noodles & doubled to 16 oz)

Cook pasta, drain, throw all the other ingredients in, mix. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake 45 minutes. Add extra grated cheese on the top if you want.

So when I got this all mixed up, the double noodles were creamy, not dry looking, and looked like the perfect amount. The original recipe calls for throwing this in a 9x9 pan and baking it (which seems small?), but I put it in my ceramic cast iron pot and threw it in the oven (the same one I boiled the noodles in). It made about a half a pot full... this is a huge soup pot one so that's a fine amount. This taste tests as yummy and delicious. We'll see how it looks out of the oven. Also, I am not a big fan of frozen peas. Some people think peas belong in tuna noodle stuff. I agree, but only when they are fresh from the garden - not out of the frozen freezer section of a grocery store. So go pea crazy if you got some and like them. This one is pea free because my peas aren't gonna be ready for a while.

[Gossamer]

Some Other DIY Recipes

Hersey's Syrup
If you don't use Hershey's Baking Cocoa you
are cheap as hell and can't call it Hersey's Syrup.
You'll need to call it Cheap As Hell Chocolate Syrup. Mkay?

You'll Need:
1/2 C. Hershey's Baking Cocoa
1 C. Sugar
1 C. water
Dash of salt (be sure it's JUST a dash!)
1 tsp. Vanilla


In a medium saucepan, combine first 4 ingredients over medium heat, whisking well. Bring it to a full Boil and boil it for exactly for 1 minute (no longer), whisking or stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, cool for about 3 minutes and then add the vanilla, stirring well to incorporate throughout. Store the homemade syrup in tightly capped bottle. As you can see from the photo a dressing cruet is the perfect size for this recipe. This mix is slightly thinner than the kind you buy in the store, but mixes great in milk for delicious rich chocolate milk. It can be used in the same manner as it's store bought counterpart because this is a tried and true CLONE recipe.

White "Elmers" School Glue
This can be eaten, used as paper mache,
or used as it was intended for... glue.

Combine the following in a small saucepan & bring to a rolling boil:

3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoons white vinegar

Blend the following in a small bowl:

1/2 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup cold water

Add the cornstarch mix slowly to first mix. Stir constantly. Remove from heat, Cool, transfer to Covered Container and it Let stand overnight before using to cure. I like this recipe cause no horses were harmed in the making of this particular glue.

Bagels
Please people. Make these yourself. Fanfuckingtastic.

:
4 C. Bread Flour
1 T. Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 T. Vegetable Oil
2 tsp. Instant Yeast
1 1/2 c. Water 120-130F

Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt, yeast in your Mixer or by hand if you don't have one of those fancy ones. I don't. I do everything by hand... cause I'm cheap and can't afford a $600 mixer even though I drool over them and they now come in pink (wtf stop tempting me!). Add oil to the water and pour into the mixing bowl, mixing until smooth and creamy looking. Add remaining flour and continue to knead with the dough hook for several minutes until the dough is uniform and smooth. This takes about ten minutes by hand. Do it when your pissed. Dough therapy is great.

Cut dough into 8 equal size balls & let set for 15-20 min. Dough will puff up like like bloated corpses!! Preheat oven to 425F. Roll each of the dough balls into a long "snake" until it will wrap around your hand, forming a circle. Fuse well, then roll with the palm of your hand. Do not make your circles small, or when the bagels rise the babels will close and look like fat tummies with outtie belly buttons and that grosses me out. Let them rest for 20 minutes. In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil, grease a large sheet pan. Boil the bagels on each side for 1 minute, let them dry for a moment then place on oiled sheet pan. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, flip bagels, bake for additional 10 minutes.

Now, don't be lame and take this recipe for granted. You can add any shit in here you want... cinnamon, raisins, seeds of all kind, go wild, Mkay? I'm a plain bagel lover, but don't be all snooty if this recipe isn't fancy enough for you. You'll love it and even though it seems complicated, its easy peasy.

Tortillas for Retards
Basic forgiving easy peasy recipe

You'll Need:
4 cups All purpose flour (or half white, half wheat)
2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
3 Tablespoons Solid Vegetable shortening (Such as Crisco)
2-1/2 cups Hot water

Place the flour, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a mixer, Mix well. Again, do I have to go over the 'by hand' thing again? Add shortening and mix until the mixture is crumbly. Mix on low while slowly adding water. Mix on low for 90 seconds or until well mixed.

Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured surface, knead until smooth, then Divide it into 2 equal portions. Cover with plastic wrap, set aside at room temperature for 20 minutes to let the dough rest. Divide each half into 8 equal portions. If you're in a hurry, you can skip this step! I do when I'm hungry and out of these on taco night.

Lightly flour a work surface and rolling pin.

Roll each ball into an 8-inch round. Stack rounds on baking sheet with plastic wrap between each tortilla. The plastic wrap helps keep the dough from drying out while giving it a chance to rest.

Heat a skillet or large frying pan over medium heat and fry each tortilla lightly on each side until bubbles, remove from heat, fill with your favorite filling and enjoy!

Ps. Dont worry if your tortillas aren't perfect circles. Mine look tarded sometimes but they are still delicious. Hence the name. Get it? Oh, no sense of humor? Okay.

Instant Sour Cream
Cause I never have that stuff unless
its outdated. Dunno why.

Use 1 cup evaporated milk, take out 2 Tablespoons then add 2 Tablespoons lemon juice and let set for 5 to 10 minutes. This way you don't have to read dates on containers in the fridge or discover mystery mold. I like this in cooking better than actual sour cream.

[Gossamer]

Forgot one...

English Muffins
Super cheap, super easy. Try it.
You'll be shocked at how yummy they are.

1 3/4 cups lukewarm milk
3 tablespoons softened butter
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, to taste
2 tablespoons sugar
4 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons instant Yeast



There are a couple different ways of making these, the old fashioned way- which is to proof the yeast first in a bowl of water until it foams and then continue with the recipe or, the "I don't have time to mess around & want the fool-proof" method; which is the one I'm about to share with you.

In your mixer bowl place half the flour, all of the sugar, all of the yeast and stir together until blended. Add the warm milk stirring well with a fork until smooth. Add the remaining flour and the salt. Stir until smooth, add the butter and continue mixing on low speed with a dough hook (or by hand if you don't have an electric mixer - we keep talking about this).

Increase the speed to medium-high and mix until the dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Or crank it out with your arm. This sucks. If you have slaves at home.. I mean kids... make them do it. Promise them TV time or something.

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it into a lightly greased medium size bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, up to 2 hours.

Once the dough has risen, knead it by turning the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and folding the dough gently over on itself in three or four places.

Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into small rounds and place on sheet pans that have been heavily dusted with cornmeal. Be sure to turn each muffin over in order to coat both sides with cornmeal.

Cover with a clean lint free cotton cloth and let rise until slightly risen, about 30 minutes. I always cover them with paper towels. This works just as well.

Preheat a skillet or griddle over medium heat and brush lightly with oil or shortening. Cook the English muffins until lightly brown on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Turn the muffins over and cook until golden brown, another 5 minutes.

Split the English muffins by pulling them apart with a table fork. Toast them just prior to serving. You know the drill.

If you think this is too much work, you can make "English Muffin Loaf" by baking the dough in a lightly greased loaf pan for 30 minutes at 325F. But this is for lazy people that don't want to grill their muffins. Get it? Nevermind. Let the loaf cool before slicing, but be sure to toast prior to serving. The loaf pan method works great for making toasted sandwiches for lunches.

These freeze incredibly well.

[Khida]

If you don't use Hershey's Baking Cocoa you are cheap as hell and can't call it Hersey's Syrup. You'll need to call it Cheap As Hell Chocolate Syrup. Mkay? Very true! I particularly like Hershey's Special Dark cocoa for hot chocolate.

[Gossamer]

My Week IRL Trying To Post As Goss & My PC