Murder in Montana

     Sometimes the homesickness can get overwhelming. My husband has a travel bug, he'd like to see the world. Not me, I'm happy living in one place. That is if that place is Montana. If you happen to live or travel up that way I suggest stopping in at The Dinnerbell Bakery in St. Ignatius(61262 WATSON RD Saint Ignatius, Montana 59865). This is also a great little place to stop in- Mission General Store. This is the home of  big sky, tall mountains and... Amish. Yes that's right. 

     Bought one of the cookbooks on a trip there with our home church one Saturday and have loved many many recipes from it. This is one of my favorites. Its one of those recipes that makes you feel proud to live where you live, to be a Montanan.

     So as per the previous components' recipes  I've given before and after the great hiatus you have everything at your fingertips for making your from scratch piece of heaven. Move over John Denver, you ain't got nothin' on the Big Sky State!

Sorry I must insert a few links here to share my love of my home state! YeHaW!

Ian Tyson - The Gift

Chris LeDoux - Western Skies

Hank Williams Jr - Montana Cafe

     

And now back to our regularly scheduled program....

Murder in Montana is a layered desert so you'll need one of each of these recipes made up:

Home Made Toffee Butter Crunch

Home Made Chocolate Cake

Home Made Whipped Cream

Home Made Chocolate Pudding

     In a LARGE bowl (glass is nice because it shows off the layering) begin with cooled and crumbled cake, next adding, toffee, chocolate pudding, and then whipped cream.Continue layering until the bowl is filled, ending with whipped cream. sprinkle a few cake crumbs and toffee bits on the top.

     Why is it called Murder In Montana? The toffee are the bones the chocolate cake is the dirt. Chocolate pudding is the mud, and the whipped cream is the snow. Now you know! Serve, and have the recipe handy to give out! This is a drool factor of at least 9. Enjoy!

--Jamie

MYO Home Made Laundry Products

Ok, So Ive got my never fail small batches of home made laundry soap. But there are those of you out there who have been holding back because they don't have or want to sit and grate soap bars for a half hour (you know who you are). So here to throw before you is an offering of something even simpler. Granted if you are looking for a sulfate free version this probably won't work for you, but It might be the tightwads saving grace for those who happen to be lazy energetically and/or motivationally challenged. This woman is a genius.

Also I have to admit that I am terribly lazy motivationally challenged when it comes to stain removal on childrens' clothes. I mean really why bother removing the stains out of play clothes to have them muddied, hand wiped, dripped and otherwise icked on at the very next wearing? Don't get me wrong, I take care of the nice clothes, and I teach my children to eat over their plates and use napkins. I am not one of the moms that put down drop cloths for the babies to encourage throwing food (babies can be taught to eat neatly too! Ive proven it with 5 of them!). But for me stain removal is about as abhorrent as making ice cubes. (yes really I hate making ice!) So when I saw a link on face book to this womans' blog I really reconsidered my challenges.

Submitted for your approval are three recipes from a site called One Good Thing by Jillee.

Home Made Laundry Detergent (superfast for those who don't do grate!)

Home Made 'Shout' Stain Remover (will be trying this one this week)

and Home Made 'Oxi-Clean' (not something I use much, but hey I have the ingredients so we'll try)

If you try them before I can report back- speak up and tell us how they work!

--Jamie