Our Eccentric Projects - Hobbes

My son is a Calvin and Hobbes fan so when dear hubby found a pattern on Instructables to make a stuffed animal Hobbes I was smitten and decided to make one.

The Hobbes took me a while to make since I hand stitched most of it, but I like the way it turned out, and I think my son did too. 

The pattern and instructions created by Seamster are very easy to follow, here is the link:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Stuffed-Hobbes-with-pattern/

If you check out the site, there are also accessories you can make...I'm thinking my son's Hobbes would like a new cape.

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Headed out the door with a pumpkin pie donation to the Ashville, Ohio, Village Chapel Election Day Dinner

My friend Kim organizes the Ashville, Ohio, Village Chapel Election Day Dinner every year.  This year she needed extra pies and cakes, so I whipped up a batch of pumpkin pies.  The church smelled so good when I dropped the pies off, no wonder the event gets bigger each year.  My friend Kim does such a wonderful job organizing this huge event while juggling her job, school and family needs.  What a blessing she is to our community.

My pumpkin pie recipe is based on the Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe (recipe at bottom of page), except I swap out one can of evaporated milk with a can of sweetened condensed milk and use 1/2 cup less sugar.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
4 large eggs
1 can (29 oz.) Libby's Pumpkin
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

2 unbaked 9-inch deep-dish pie shells

Add all of the ingredients to a a large bowl and mix until combined.  Pour into pie shells.
Bake for 15 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. and cover crust with crust sheilds.  (I use foil but it is a real pain, and really wish I would invest in the sheilds). Continue to bake pies for 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Cool pie for 2 hours then refrigerate.  Note:  The pies will be puffed up when hot and will relax as they cool down.



Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie
(recipe from the label)

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
4 large eggs
1 can (29 oz.) Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
2 cans (12 fl. oz. each) Carnation Evaporated Milk
2 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shells

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl.  Beat eggs in large bowl.  Stir in pumpkin and sugar spice mixture.  Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

Pour into pie shells.

Bake in preheated 425 degree F. oven for 15 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F. bake 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack for 2 hours.  Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Note: Do not freeze pie, as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.
*3 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice may be substituted for the cinnamon, ginger and cloves, however, the taste will be slightly different.

Southern Shredded Chicken

Dear hubby's specialty, and my day off from cooking :)  This chicken is melt in your mouth delicious.

We use shredded chicken for any recipe that calls for cooked chicken, but my favorite is simply adding barbeque sauce and making a tasty chicken sandwich.

Southern Shredded Chicken
1 whole chicken, guts removed
1/2 can of pop (Crush or Hawaiian punch)
wood twigs or wood chips
salt
pepper
onion powder
garlic powder
foil
propane grill

Preheat your gas grill by lighting one side on high, do not light the other side.

The set up, pictured left to right: a heat resistant pan or container with wood, (dear hubby uses wild cherry twigs), and a chicken grill stand with a pan to go under it, (dear hubby uses a cake pan).

Season the chicken cavity with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder.  Pull the skin back and season, then replace the skin.

Place the 1/2 can of pop on the stand and then the chicken.

Place wood on the lighted side of the grill and the chicken on the unlit side of the grill.  Face the chicken breast toward the wood.  Make a little foil hat for your chicken so it doesn't touch the top of your grill.

Close the cover of your grill and allow to cook for 45 minutes.

Rotate the chicken so the breast is facing away from the wood and cook for an additional 30 minutes. The grill temperature should be 300 degrees F.

Wow, this is spectacular chicken!  To make sure your chicken is cooked, the internal temperature should be 180 degrees F.

After the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull or shred the chicken from the bones.  Mmm, mmm, it's ready to use in your favorite recipe.

Baked Crispy Hash Browns

mmmm, delicious hash browns without the grease, a healthy alternative to fried, inspired by a Cook's Country recipe.

Baked Crispy Hash Browns

4 pounds of Russet potatoes diced
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons butter
1 1 /2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

optional: onion, seasoning to taste

Place a large rimmed baking sheet on oven rack set to the lowest position. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

In a large pan bring to boil 10 cups of water.  Add potatoes and baking soda and bring back to a boil and cook for 1 minute.  Drain potatoes and return to pot over low heat to evaporate any leftover liquid, shake as needed.  Remove from heat and stir in butter, salt and garlic powder.  Potatoes should be covered with a starchy paste.

Remove baking sheet from oven and drizzle with oil.  Spread potatoes in an even layer and bake for 15 minutes.  Turn the potatoes over and cook another 15-25 minutes until potatoes are browned and crispy.

Chicken Tortilla Soup from the Poodle Skirt Slayers

We are the poodle skirt slayers.

Two weeks ago, 12 ladies from church got together to make poodle skirts for the girls starring in our Christmas play.  3 lovely ladies volunteered to bring lunch, and we are so glad they did.  Our luncheon turned out to be lots of fun with great food and great company.   

My friend Dianna shared her sister's recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup...not because I was licking my bowl and begging for her recipe...they are just nice folks that way.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
~from Dianna and Debbie

2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
2 cans Cheddar Cheese soup
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
2 cans Cream of Celery soup
2(15 oz) cans Chicken Broth
1(15 oz) can Rotel tomatoes
1 cup Medium Pace Picante
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 packet of Taco Seasoning
4 cooked chicken breasts, cut in chunks
Tortilla strips

In large stockpot combine until smooth all cans of soup. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, picante, onion, taco seasoning and stir. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 hour. Add chicken chunks and simmer 1 hour.  You can also make this soup in a crockpot.

If desired add 1-2 cans drained mild chili beans, a can of corn, shredded cheddar cheese. At the same time you add chicken.

Note:  This makes a huge batch of soup so I made half a batch with low sodium ingredients and still had enough soup for 6 large bowls.

Here are the ingredients for my half batch recipe, using all low sodium products:
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup (hubby doesn't like cream of mushroom soup)
1 can Cheddar Cheese soup
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Celery soup
1(15 oz) can Chicken Broth
1(15 oz) can Rotel tomatoes
1 cup Medium Pace Picante
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 packet of Taco Seasoning
3 cooked chicken breasts, cut in chunks
2 cups broth (reserved from cooking chicken)
1 can black beans
1 can Bush medium chili beans
1 can of corn
1 Tablespoon chili powder
Tortilla strips
Cilantro for garnish

Same cooking instructions as above.

p.s. In just one afternoon, we managed to finish all 19? of the poodle skirts we were assigned to make :)

Our Eccentric Projects - Life Sized Angry Birds Game

Life Sized Angry Birds Game

This is a 2011 throwback project, stolen from dear hubby's Instructable page.

We were walking through Walmart when we saw some Angry Bird stuffed animal toys for sale. My wife and I looked at each other and said "we need to build a life sized Angry Birds Game". So, we bought some stuffed Angry Birds, some wood, various hardware, and rubber tubing and built a life sized Angry Bird Game.

Dear hubby made these from wood, and I painted them, oink!

Fun!

If you want to make your own game or just want to see more details of this one, check out dear hubby's project by visiting Instructables,  Life Sized Angry Birds Game

Our Eccentric Projects - 3 for 1, Garden Cart, Rain Barrel, Food Cart Art

Bonus day! Playing catch up on our eccentric projects, 3 projects instead of 1.

  Garden Cart

Push ze little cart

Hubby made an all purpose cart from an old lawn mower.  This homemade cart has a low center of gravity so it doesn't tip over going up and down our steep hills.  I like it way better than our store bought cart.

Rain Barrel

 I wondered where my garden hook went.

Yes, it's one of those containers.  This 300 gallon IBC container was filled with vegetable oil at one time and dear hubby bought it empty for $65.  He rigged it up to catch rainwater from our roof, then when needed, we use it to fill our pool.  This container is somewhat hidden from sight; even our neighbors can't see it. Whew! Bet they're glad. Yes, it's one big hulking eyesore, but over the long run it will save us some big bucks and is environmentally friendly.  Our well pressure is so low we have to pay someone with a big water truck to haul water for us. 

Food Cart Logo Artwork

Here is one of my projects, a logo in the works, with a watermark, for our son's food cart business, "Happy Puppy".

Thanks for stopping by today!