I thought I would share the recipe, along with some photos. Don’t pay attention to the messy kitchen, please….

2 cups milk

1/4 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons cinammon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups cubed bread (about 9-10 pieces)

3/4 cup raisins (optional)

In a medium saucepan, heat milk on medium heat until a foam forms over the top. Add the butter and stir until it is melted. Cool to a lukewarm temperature. In another bowl combine sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinammon, and nutmeg and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for approximately 1 minute. Using a mixer, slowly add the cooled milk/butter mixure to the egg mixture. Place bread in a lightly greased 1 1/2 quaet casserole. Mix half of the raisins and then sprinkle the remainder on top. Slowly pour mixture on top of bread cubes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Serve warm topped with Lemon Sauce.

LEMON SAUCE RECIPE

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar ( I added additional 1/2 cup powdered sugar)

1/2 stick butter (I added 1 tablespoon of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)

4 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice (I added 1 Tablespoon of Mexican Vanilla Extract)

Melt butter. Add powdered sugar and lemon juice. Stir. You can add water 1/4 teaspoon at a time to thin the mixture to the desired consistency.

So don’t poke fun at my Tinkerbell slideshow…I LOVE Tink!

I Do believe in fairies….I DO believe in fairies!

About an hour after dinner tonight, everyone was saying that they were still hungry….so I decided to make some homemade biscuits and gravy. I made a batch large enough for  breakfast tomorrow and then fried up our first taste of our local hog sausage. Yum!

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup buttermilk
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a bowl. Cut in the shortening until the mixture appears crumbly. Stir the buttermilk in slowly, mixing until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead. Roll out about 1″ thick. Cut biscuits and then bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 12-14 mins.

I have promised to post the recipe I use for my homemade laundry soap. Making my own laundry soap is not without scrutiny, nor rewards. My family thought Ihad gone bonkers when I began making my laundry soap. DD complained about everything from the scent to the new soap was “bleaching” out the colors of her favorite tee shirts. I happened to like the scent, as it had such a clean aroma to it and the reason her shirts are fading is that she wears the same favorite ones over and over…which means more washing…duh!

DH poked a slight bit of fun at me making my own “hooch”, but after I proved to him the amount of money I was saving, he hasn’t said another word. Correction, when my last batch failed to thicken, he made asked me what I did wrong..haha!

Today, I was going to make another batch and take photos to share, but I found that our water was turned off for the day. Okay, I cannot side step a quick rant here. Our city is undergoing a complete water system revamp..for over a year now. The town is divided into sections and assigned a letter…ours is E. On the post office door, the sections and hours that the water will be turned off are posted…however, I have learned not to depend on the validity of it. I had not check the television or the post office today and found, as I was putting a load of laundry in that there was no water. After a few words left my mouth, I turned the television on to find that the water is to be turned off in my section between 10AM and 4PM with the note An Emergency-Sorry. Holy Cow, has the day gotten away from me? Is after 10:00 already? A quick check showed it to be only 9:15 AM. ! Now my question is why even bother to post something, if it s not going to be correct?  {end rant}

Making your own laundry soap does save a considerable amount of money. I believe my initial investment was less than $20, and yet I have not purchased commercial brand detergent in several months. I still have plenty of my supplies left, and even have FELS NAPTHA Bars for sale at $4.75, which includes shipping.  I figure that I have gone through 40 or so bottles of detergent since I started this method and it boggles my mind, how much I have saved.

Anyhow, here’s my re-SESS-i-peee (recipe) for the laundry soap…it comes with no warrantees, gaurantees, or promises. I now make mine up in a double batch and fill several recycled laundry and vinegar bottles, but I suggest that anyone trying it for the first time to mix only one batch.

HomeMade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Fels Naptha Bar-Grated

1/2 cup Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

~In a large pot, add soap to six cups of water and heat on the stove, set at medium, until soap has melted.

~Add soda and Borax and stir until dissolved.

~ Remove from heat.

~Pour 4 cups hot water into a 5 gallon bucket.

~Add mix to hot water in bucket and stir. ( I use a recycled long piece of wood from a window shade.)

~Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water to mixture and stir until mixed.

~Allow laundry soap to sit for 24 hrs. to gel, stirring occasionally.

I use a little over 1/2 cup for regular loads of laundry. You can adjust as needed. Please note that this soap does not really produce bubbles. I have substituted other soaps for the FELS NAPTHA because I could not purchase it locally. Ivory soap, Zote, or homemande scented soaps work also.

If you decide to try this, let me know how your project goes.