Hard Boiled Eggs // from the Jennifers 2024

"From the Jennifers" you say?

Yes Sir - OR - Yes Ma'am!

All 3 girlfriends my husband dated right before dating me 26 years ago were named Jennifer!  And now my chicken ladies are named after them.  

I have 10 chicken ladies this go-round and I am pleasantly surprised at the size of their eggs since the eggs were TINY when they first started their laying production this spring.

Summer time I could find 8-10 in their house.  Now that we are in full "winter" for Houston it's more like 3-4.  Less daylight and colder temps creates natural changes to their habits and cycle.

Just enough for our little family of 3 lately!  

Bret Annalese has named us the survivors.  :0)

Surviving with urban-farm eggs isn't too shabby...

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Put all the eggs you want to hard boil in a pot

(Farm-fresh eggs should be washed/rinsed first...)

Cover with water +3 inches of water 

Bring to a boil 

Turn off your stovetop, cover your pot with a lid and let the eggs sit in the boiled water for 15 minutes 

Immediately drain all hot water and rinse with cold water 

Dump a bunch of ice on top 

❤️🥚❤️

Let them chill in the ice and water bath until the ice melts off

Dry a bit and put them all in the fridge

Use and eat as needed

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Click Link FOR:       Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS  

Better Than HEB Homemade Tortillas

Friend who recently moved to Dallas from Oregon:

"Do you have HEB in Houston?"

ME:

"Yup!"

Friend who recently moved to Dallas from Oregon:

"Have you ever had their butter tortillas???!!!"

ME:

"I have!  A long time ago when I could still eat gluten... They're so GOOD! (I miss them.)"

Friend who recently moved to Dallas from Oregon:

"Sometimes I get home and I realize I've eaten ALL the tortillas..."

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

3  cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2  teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup bacon grease, cold  

(OR 1/2 cup butter

OR   1/2 cup lard

OR   1/2 cup shortening 

and in that order of preference)

1 cup hot (very hot) water

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

INSTRUCTIONS:

 
In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. 

Cut in the bacon grease (or other fat) with a fork or pastry blender until the big chunks of bacon grease (or other fat) are broken up into a fine crumble and incorporated into the flour mixture. 

Add the hot water and stir until combined. 

Work the dough into a ball.

Keep the dough in your mixing bowl and knead the dough about 2 minutes; adding more a 1/4 cup more flour at a time if needed to take away the stickiness. 

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 15-20 minutes. 

Pinch the dough off into pieces slightly larger than a golf ball. 

Work the dough into balls and then press down lightly to form a round roughly the size of your palm.

With a rolling pin or large drinking cup, roll each round out into a circle about a 1/4 inch thick. 

Repeat with the remaining rounds. 

Place the tortillas onto a large HOT cast iron skillet. 

Cook just until light brown circles appear. 

The longer these cook, the crispier they become so adjust you cook time and temp as needed - I like mine slightly floppy especially if I plan to use them for a quesadilla and plan to cook them up again.

  
Wrap in a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm oven until you have finished cooking all of the tortillas and are ready to serve. 

Serve warm or at room temperature.

If there are any leftovers refrigerate and reheat on your cast iron skillet.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Click Link FOR:       Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS  

Jo's Hummus Dip

If you’re wanting to take this to a potluck or munch on at home with a big group: drizzle olive oil and lightly sprinkle with paprika.  

If this is for your own munching, keep in an airtight container in your fridge for up to two weeks. If it starts to dry out, add a little water and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil

Funny thing... I had a reminder of WHY this blog started in the first place today.

The reminder was that this recipe was NOT in my digital file.  A file I had worked on and compiled from the beginning of my married life 22 years ago...  

And not only that, a file that I only have NOW because I asked a handful of friends if they had an emailed copy of my recipe collection of favorites.  This particular recipe was not in that email copy because it wasn't the most up-to-date version of it.  What I have now on my computer is missing about 1/4 of the recipes printed and in my: Jo's Recipe Book of Favorites.  

How did this blog start from an emailed copy of that digital file?

Let me fill you in:  A few years into life here in Texas, our computer crashed (albeit with the helping hand of the Handsome Bret Sr. using a keyboard command meant ONLY for MicroSoft Windows).  ALL files were lost, ALL music, ALL photos and ALL videos were gone, and gone forever.  

I decided if I had to re-type my recipes, I might as well start a blog to do it and therefore be able to have my recipes with me where ever I go.

NO advertising on my blog though... I don't like it.  It's so distracting (and quite honestly annoying) to what you're trying to read or while looking through recipe photos.  It's not worth the 5$ it might make monthly.  

For ALL y'all (and me included) -  You're welcome.  :0) 

3 cans (15 oz) chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup AND 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup * lemon juice
    (* keep out 1 Tablespoon until ready and 

    taste hummus before adding  

    ...and add in only if needed)

4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 heaping teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
3/4 teaspoon paprika


In a blender OR food processor - combine all ingredients at once.

Blend on LOW speed until smooth.

Stop the blender OR food processor and push ingredients down towards the blade as needed to keep the ingredients moving through the blade.

If the mixture is too dry and/or mixture is getting stuck when moving through the blade:  ADD 1-2 more Tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil.

Taste. 

Add little garlic, salt, pepper and/or lemon juice if needed.

CHILL.

Serve with fresh veggies and pitas OR store in a covered container in the fridge and use when wanted as a dip or sandwich spread.

Makes right around 3 cups of hummus.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Click Link For:    Baking with Natural Yeast - Pitas

Click Link FOR:    Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS  

Blog Post Dedicated To:

Payton Olivia Davis

(who did not believe me when I told her
I used to make my OWN hummus
all the time and never bought
it from the store... )

Muddy Hot Chocolate Mix

NOTE:  Large quart jars hold 6 servings, 
and pint jars hold 3 servings. 
In total this recipe makes 24 servings.

Baby, it's cold outside!  Okay... it isn't right now in Texas, but I'm sure it's cold somewhere!  And once in a while, it does actually get cold enough to have hot chocolate.  

This one is my favorite.  It is very similar to a hot chocolate I used to buy in Twin Falls, Idaho from a coffee house that made their own Mexican Hot Chocolate with a touch of cinnamon.  

Mine offers three (yes!)  THREE different kinds of chocolate... FOOD  IS  LOVE ...and your tastebuds will be feeling the love for more than a few servings if you decide you'd rather not share.

5  1/2  cups powdered milk 

5  1/2  cups sugar 

3  1/2  cups cocoa powder 

3  1/2  cups chocolate chips - Milk Chocolate and DARK Chocolate (60%-75%)

2  TABLESPOONS ground cinnamon 

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Mix well with a wooden spoon and then store in a dry, airtight container. 

To make the hot chocolate, simply add 1 cup of water per 1/2 cup of hot cocoa mix. 

Heat water and added hot chocolate mixture in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring consistently with a whisk. 

Heat until hot, but DO NOT boil.

About 6 to 7 minutes.

OPTIONAL:  serve with marshmallows (because you're having hot chocolate...). 

NOTE:  6 ingredients...
3 of them are different chocolates!
You're welcome.

(I never measure...
it's just one regular bag of milk chocolate chips
and one bag of EXTRA DARK chocolate chips)

COSTCO sized baking cocoa powder because 3 1/2 cups is a lot. 

When I am done combining all the ingredients,
and there are no remaining pockets of sugar or dry milk,
I will transfer the hot chocolate mix into my storage/gifting
container using serving size measuring cup.

Using the actual serving size amount
is ideal when I get
to the bottom of my mixing bowl.

I usually only have a few extra
Tablespoons to distribute among my jars
- these are pretty darn close-to-exact-amounts.  

NOTE:  Large quart jars hold 6 servings,
and pint jars hold 3 servings.
In total this recipe makes 24 servings.

If you do decide to share this loveliness, 

make sure your gift has instructions.

ENJOY!   :0)

Click Link FOR:        Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS