My 4 minutes and 15 seconds of fame.

This past week was a whirlwind of Sweet Teagan's activity. We were invited to be interviewed for a live segment on WREX TV13 out of Rockford. I had little (OK NO IDEA) what the angle of the interview would be, but was able to think fast on my feet at 6:20 am and not embarrass myself too much.

Strangely, the interviewer didn't see the point of an interview about soap prior to my arrival. I set up the most colorful soaps with a few full soap logs, a few scrubs in little stacks, a basket of bath bombs and one of lotions. The set started to smell like a soap store. The cameras started to roll and the interviewer picked up a few soaps to sniff while speaking. Once she opened the Peppermint Eucalyptus and gave a nice long sniff she became a believer. She called over the weather girl and they both oohh's and aaah'd until the end of the segment.

I was asked to not leave until after the show ended because everyone wanted to shop. OK. No problem. While they rifled through the 50 or so types I brought along I was invited to be a vendor at the Stateline Splendor Bridal Expo in 2 weeks. Eeeek. I was gearing up for the annual Garden Fair and had not planned for a Bridal Expo! What a great day!

I will be embedding the interview on the web store.

Tweeting - The Old Fashioned Way

I'm an old-fashioned girl at heart. Though technology has supported me and my family for the past few decades I have to face my country roots. "Tweeting" to me means birds. Actual birds.

Spring has officially arrived in Woodstock (just don't look out the window this weekend as the last snow of the season falls!). With Spring comes new life. We have officially doubled our laying hen flock. About a week and a half ago we added 3 Araucaunas, 2 Barred Rocks and One Rhode Island Red. This past Week we added 2 Buff Orpingtons and 2 more Araucaunas. It amazes me how fast these little buggers grow! The first bunch is more than double the size of the group we got only a week later! How is that possible?

My little girls are spending the rest of the cold days in a protected area in my second office. Even though that office is nowhere near a window, I hear tweeting non-stop. It makes my heart smile.

A New Chapter To My Destiny: Sweet Teagan's

For the past couple of decades I have toiled away, like many people, earning money for someone else. When I 'retired' last year I needed something to keep my mind sharp, so I started a small business. I took a hobby that I loved, soap making, and built an honest to goodness business.

The process brought back many years of college education and work training. I'm the CEO, CFO, CIO, Marketing Manager, Ops Manager, cleaning crew and everything in between. The hours are long, the pay low and the intrinsic rewards priceless. The most recent accomplishment that makes my dear Sweet Teagan's seem 'real' is the web store: http://SweetTeagans.com.


It amazes me to watch web visitors from all over the world browse my site. Admittedly, the first time I saw a guest online I had a feeling of panic. What am I doing?!?!?!? Then the comments and orders come in and the link gets forwarded and I remember what it's all about. Good or bad I make the decisions. So far it's all good.

Take a chance. You never

Talking Turkey

It almost seems sacrilegious to talk about turkey in March, but I had one left over from Christmas. I was proactive last November and purchased two fresh Amish turkeys: one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. We ended up going to the in-laws in Ohio for Thanksgiving, so I ended up freezing BOTH fresh turkeys. We did roast one in the traditional fashion for Christmas, but the Thanksgiving bird was just taking up space in the deep freeze.

After thawing slowly in the refrigerator for about 3 days, I propped him up on a can of beer and slowly cooked him on the Weber grill. It took about 2 1/2 hours for the 11 pound bird to cook. He came out golden brown, crispy skinned delicious. I didn't brine this one, so he wasn't as moist as I would usually like. I also didn't do anything to spice him up - very unusual for me.

After cooling overnight in the fridge we carved off all the 'good stuff' for sandwiches, soups and pot pie leaving the unsightly naked turkey corpse. That stuff has not fulfilled its full turkey destiny - yet. Into the stock pot with any vegetable scraps it went covered with just enough water to ensure it all swims. Then, as Chef Anne Burrell chants, "BTB-RTS-STS" - bring to boil, return to simmer, skim the scum. After simmering for a couple of hours the bare bones are sent to the trash while the little bits of meat go to the dogs. The rest is strained off reserving the liquid for some special stuff!

Turkey Stock
I cannot believe how many people spend good money on stock that is loaded with preservatives and salt. It is so easy to make your own that there's really no need. The plus for me is it falls into the Waste Not Want Not category. Make chicken, beef or pork stock using these same steps.

Ingredients:
1 turkey carcass
any vegetable scraps you have around (we save onion skins, celery tops, carrot peels, whatever is around)
Water to barely cover

Process
Dump it all into a stock pot. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer for a couple of hours. Cool a bit. Strain stock into smaller containers to use/Chill/freeze.

If you're feeling adventurous (or if you forget it's on the stove like I did) simmer the strained juice for a while longer to concentrate the flavors.

What's Turkey Stock Good For?
Use it in place of water to cook rice, beans, lentils, barley (get the picture?)
Make soup
Make gravy for Turkey Pot Pie (that's for tomorrow folks!)

Be happy!

Crock Pot Braised Pork Chops

For those people out there who don't have time to cook, or cannot afford to eat healthy food because it's sooooo expensive, here's another recipe for you. Keep in mind that I treat food recipes as starting points. Sometimes when the mood strikes I will modify quantities and sub out ingredients.

Tonight we enjoyed Crock Pot Pork Chops. I purchased a bulk package of pork chops a couple of weeks ago and froze portions in vacuum sealed bags forgetting to brine them. To me, defrosted pork chops seem to come out dry if not brined - that is UNLESS YOU BRAISE THEM.

Ingredients Used:
3 boneless pork chops
1 large onion
2 apples
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
2 cups Chicken broth
1 cup or so red wine (it was on the counter, so why not?)
2-3 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
Fresh ground pepper - to taste
A handful of shredded red cabbage (it was in the fridge and looked pretty...)
3-3 large carrots, peeled cut in half

Step 1: Brown pork chops in sautee pan in a little oil (I used Olive). Get a nice caramel color on both flat sides. Transfer to crock pot

Step 2: Sweat onions - in the same pan the chops came out of. Lightly sweat - not caramelize. Put that into the crock pot.

Step 3: pile the rest of the stuff in. No particular order. Just make sure the chops are on the bottom.

Step 4: Cook long and slow all day long. It will be ready when you get home. We actually started it late on Sunday and realized too late that we didn't get it started in time. I cooled the crock, chilled over night then put back on the heat for a few hours today.

We didn't make any sides for this, but a nice egg noodle or rice would be nice to soak up the broth. I could have reduced the liquid as a thicker sauce, but didn't. It was bowl slurping good as it was. The whole dinner (with plenty left over for lunch tomorrow) totalled about $10.00. This was FAR less money than any fast food place for dinner and sooooo much healthier.

Enjoy!