Author Archives: maryjane

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Want to STITCH some hostess goodness? The instructions for the goodies pictured here can be found in the 2010 April/May issue of my magazine, MaryJanesFarm. Here’s where you can order that back issue as part of a bundle.

Day 1: Hello ORGANIC twinkies!

Did you miss my recipes for ORGANIC hostess treats, whoopie pies, cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (you know what I’m talking about), etc. that were published in the 2010 April/May MaryJanesFarm magazine “Garden Secrets” issue?

With all the recent hubbub about Hostess going under, it felt like the perfect time to dig out my homemade hostess recipes and share them with you. Should you need a twinkie fix … and the company can’t provide or … OR, you want to eat an organic, better-for-you twinkie, I’ve got you covered. (I don’t want you going all Woody-Harrelson-in-Zombieland on me.) How ironic is it that the company who makes Twinkies, the yellow spongy cake that will supposedly last for an eternity, is going bankrupt around the end of the Mayan calender on Dec. 21st? Many people have taken this to mean it’s seriously the end of the world. I might make myself a foil hat and dance around while eating homemade ORGANIC twinkies! (My organic version doesn’t last forever anyway.)

While in my kitchen late one night in 2010, my first attempt to make a cream-filled “canoe” gave me fits.

But after two days and an embarrassing amount of not-quite-right cake that I fed to my compost, I finally got it right. It’s a recipe for only 8 treats (the indents in a NorPro canoe pan) because the key is how some of the wet ingredients are whipped just before you fold in the final ingredients. The second half didn’t come out of the oven as light and airy (because it sat on the counter waiting for its turn in the oven). So here’s my tip: Follow my recipe to the T, even my instructions to lightly butter the pan. Oil spray didn’t work as well. If you want to double the recipe, you’re going to need two pans so they can both go into the oven at the same time.

You’ll need a “Cream Canoe” pan (below, I bought mine on Amazon). The canoe pan comes with a 9-piece decorating set, perfect for injecting a creamy surprise inside or putting a swirl on top (stay tuned for my hostess cupcakes recipe coming tomorrow).

 

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Over the River

Over the river, and through the wood

To _____________ we go!

The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh

Through the white and drifted snow.

Photo courtesy of Gnadenalm via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

The featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Barbara Roberts!

Barbara Roberts, (Healthy Eating #2237) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a beginner level BakeOver MakeOver badge.

“Using MaryJane’s special recipe edition of her magazine, I tried out a few of her recipes for BakeOvers. Using what was at the end of the season from my garden, in a “must-go” manner, I put whatever I had in a base of sautéd garlic and onions and added crab meat which we had just bought. On top of that I put raw Havarti cheese which made it decadently wonderful

I took two of them (a dinner one and a dessert one) to two different Craft-in nights we had with the Farm Girls and let them try out the flavors.”

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Giving Thanks for Helen & Allen Butters

Remembering Helen

Helen Butters, 1920–2006

“When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of creation is completed inside us, the doors of our souls fly open, and love steps forth to heal everything in sight.”
— Michael Bridge

To gather my thoughts for composing what I would say at my mother’s memorial, I needed to create a space where I could work from my heart. Unbelievably blessed at birth—Helen Butters for a mother—I learned by her example how to find that place long before I was old enough to know what she was teaching me.

Before yoga and meditation and …

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Remembering Allen

Allen J. Butters, 1918-2003

With permission from Judy, Scott, Kent and Rex, my sister and brothers, I was honored to represent them at my father’s funeral and sketch the life of Allen Butters, our dear, sweet, playful, amazing father. I’d like to enlarge my father’s circle of friends and share his life map with you — my readers.

Thirty-four years ago, when I was pregnant with my daughter Megan and living on a remote ranch in Idaho, Dad and Mom came up to help out. During the first two days of their five-day stay, Dad got busy and oiled my sewing machine, my bike, really anything that had moving metal parts, mended garden hoses, dug potatoes AND carved his name in several discreet places for me to discover later on. Mom sewed baby clothes, mopped floors, did some canning, and helped me make cheese and butter with the milk from my cow. Underneath all my busyness, I was troubled and uncertain.

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