Farm food

For the weekend with friends, us girls all bring plenty of snacks and food to cook - with a group of 16, we sure need it! This time, I brought my traditional sausage and English muffins for breakfast - I doubled the recipe and it worked great for two mornings' worth. I also brought plenty of salad for the two dinners we cooked at the house. Little trick to try - for a flavorful salad, add fresh herbs to the greens...I added a pack of basil and mint to this one. Its a nice flavor punch in an otherwise ordinary salad with tomatoes and bacon crumbles. In addition, I made a loaf of Trader Joe's Beer Bread - wonderful! It was really good with jelly in the mornings, but would be great with spaghetti with a little garlic sprinkled in. As a snack for this large group, I made my sis-in-law's recipe for delicious candied nuts...I doubled the batch but think that I should have quadrupled it for this bunch- they were a hit!

For Trader Joe's Beer Bread mix, all you need is butter and a beer!

Man, it sure did look good in the oven!

While the bread was cooling, my walnut, almond and pecan nuts were cooking.
Here's how to make some yourself!
Grease a cookie sheet with butter. Beat one egg white per bunch (I did two) until frothy and coat nuts in it. Mix with 1 cup of sugar, a little cinnamon to taste and 1 tablespoon of salt. Mix well with nuts, coating evenly. Spread on sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes, stir and bake 10 minutes more.

And here is the finished product...yum!