Did You Know?

Did you know that if you cut brownies with a plastic knife they'll cut super smooth?

Every time I make a pan of brownies I'm in love with how they look...

Until I cut into them.

As I drag my knife through said brownies the chocolaty goodness gets all drudged up.

Morphing my beautiful pan of brownies in an ugly mess.

Enter Carla.

She recently let me in on her secret of cutting pans of brownies with a plastic knife.

Smooth as butter.  

Nice clean lines.

Pretty pan of brownies.

I will admit I'm anxious to try this out...I might need to make some brownies soon.

 I also wonder if one could put a light coating of butter, Pam, olive oil, or some such on a regular knife and get the same results. 

Let's try it out, shall we?

Everyone to your kitchens!  

It's brownie time.

I thought it might be a good idea to give you an update on our soap making endeavours.

Over the past few weeks, we've made a few more batches of soap with the intention of giving bars out as Christmas gifts (and to of course keep some for ourselves!).

First, we made our regular soap recipe but used a snickerdoodle scented fragrance oil to make it a bit more christmasy. It is the most delicious smelling soap my nose has ever sniffed!! My husband and I have random cookie cravings every time we get a whiff of the stuff.

The next time we got together, we made 2 batches of soap (actually we made 4 and 2 the last time because we decided to double the batches to make thicker bars). The two batches we made were again our regular recipe with  pine tree and peppermint scented oils. To me, it smells like just like Christmas. I just love it, and keep lifting the lid on the soap to let the scent fill my kitchen. It is just wonderful.

We also tried a new recipe, called "Queen of the Nile". This one is an oatmeal, milk and honey soap. Here is the recipe:

198 grams sodium hydroxide

12.8 oz distilled water

1 pound olive oil

3.5 oz wheat germ oil

1 pound coconut oil

14 oz palm oil

1.5 oz beeswax

1/2 cup oatmeal

6.4 oz buttermilk

12 grams grapefruit seed extract

10 teaspoons honey

7 teaspoons pure essential oil or fragrance oil

Here is where I am going to tell you some things we learned while making this soap. We learned that things don't have to be exact. I take on this theory when I am cooking. I never follow a recipe exactly, I almost always substitute or add or subtract or simply come up with something based on what is in my fridge at the time. We sort of had to take this method on with the Queen of the Nile soap because we ran out of one of the essential oils and had to add some extra wheat germ oil and olive oil to make up for it. We also felt the soap needed more oatmeal, so we just added some and we even added more fragrance oil to make up for the not so sweet smell of the wheat germ oil. Anyway, we were a bit nervous because the first few times we made soap we felt we had to follow the directions exactly for fear of ruining an entire batch of soap. Even though we have yet to cut and use the soap, just by looking at it now, it looks (and smells) like perfection.



Our Winter White pine and peppermint soap, and our Queen of the Nile soap.



Our Snikerdoodle Soap - can you smell it?!

Happy Birthday, Meredith!

Dear Meredith,

Happy Birthday!! I have been so privileged over the years to call you my friend. Remember when we first met? You were interviewing at the center and we went on a buggy ride!! Who knew then that 'the new girl' we were interviewing would go on to become one of my best friends??

Over the years, we've shared lots of things...tons and tons of chocolate, Starbucks runs, a carpool to work, a classroom, an insane amount of exasperated glances, an unbearable number of hours spent in faculty meetings, our fair share of Harry Potter analysis, and a billion laughs. Now that I don't see you at work everyday, I enjoy swinging by on my days off and hanging out with you and Gabe. I love our trips to Starbucks, the zoo, whatever. When we get together, I always have so much fun. I never knew on the day you interviewed that we would share such a great friendship.

And, since you got me into How I Met Your Mother, I have to say that we're like the main characters who can communicate whole paragraphs and concepts through facial expressions. I remember entire statements and remarks being conveyed through looks we shot each other across the classroom, or in those amazingly fun meetings. :c)

You and I have had discussions about the nature of family before, and I know we both agree that there is a family we are born with, and a family we choose. Not all family are friends, but many friends are family. I have been fortunate enough to consider you family for a long time, and I want to thank you for welcoming me into yours. I especially love being an Auntie to Gabe, which is a role I absolutely cherish and am honored to hold.

Happy birthday!! I love you, dearest!

Love,
Sondra 

Happy Birthday, Meredith!!

So, I have to admit that when I first met you, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of you. I remember that there was some sort of accident and you were stuck in traffic so I was sent to cover in your classroom – which I had never been in before – so I didn’t know the babies, parents or teachers! When you got to work – you were so nice and sweet and thanked me a million times, I remember thinking – who is this girl?! I think I had unfortunately assumed that since you were so nice – you must be a phony.

After getting to know Sondra, and then through her, getting to know you, I quickly learned that you really are just that sweet and nice and wonderful. It is refreshing to know somebody like you, who, always takes the higher road, very rarely spouts any negativity, and faces all of life’s challenges with beauty and grace.

I hope you have an amazing birthday Meredith, you deserve it!!

Lots of love,
Nicole

Mere,

Happy Birthday, Lovely. Mere, you are one of the most amazing people I have ever known, and knowing you has taught me so many things about the type of person I want to be...

...Working in your room I learned about the kind of teacher I wanted to be. You taught me so many things in our short time together in your room, I think of your amazing composition whenever those darling kids of mine get a little too darling.

...Seeing you interact and care for me and your friends showed me the type of friend I should strive to be for others. Compassionate and ever ready to love.

...Watching you with Gabe has taught me so many things about being a mother. Most simply; You are the type of mother I long to emulate.

...Talking about faith and watching your journey has (on more than one occasion) given me hope, convicted me, and forced me to look at my life through a different lens.

I've been meaning to tell you for awhile, and your birthday seems as good a time as any: Thank You. Thank you for always being there when I need something, for being such a lovely example of what it means to be a beautiful, young, striving, Christian Mother. Most of all, thank you for trusting me with some of your story. I appreciate what it takes to let someone see the hard times, mistakes, and hurt. Let me assure you, the parts of your story that may not be pretty and all shined up for the world to see are the parts that make me love you all the more. They only stand to show your growth and beauty in more brilliant light. You are lovely, Happy Birthday.

~Meg 

Bad Math

Ink Pen Plus Dryer Equals Disaster

That was my problem a few shorts weeks ago.  Either my husband or I had left an ink pen in a pair of pants.  (I won't tell you who it was....but feel free to guess.)  I have a strict rule at my house regarding laundry.  I will do all the laundry, all the time, requiring minimal help from Steve...so long as each of us empties our own pockets.  I don't check pockets.  If you have papers, chap stick, money, rubber bands, or anything else in your pockets it's your responsibility to empty them before sending them down the chute.  Your pants, your job.  Well, one of us failed.  Seriously.

The pen made it through the washer.  But not so much the dryer.  There was ink everywhere.  I mean E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E-!

So I looked up how to get ink out of a dryer.  There were tons of suggestions.  I went for easiest.  Which, unfortunately, was not so green.  I soaked a white towel in bleach and tossed it in the dryer.  I ended up needing to repeat this process about three times.  But it worked.  All ink is gone.  I simply needed to wipe down the dryer with a few damp towels after I was done bleaching it.  There was dry bleach residue all over the barrel of the dryer. 

The only change I would make if this situation occurred in my house again is the following: using an old any-color towel versus a perfectly good white one.  All that bleach ended up eating through my bath towel turning it into a holey rag.  Oh well.  :-)

We're Baaaaaaaaaaaack! [Hopefully]

I don't have much to talk about at the moment (I'm actually trying to get kids to nap, and am not even at my house. So this needs to be a little quick). As you can tell, we HHH Gals have been a bit out of touch lately. We've been a busy with our own things, to say the least. But we haven't forgotten about all of you...if there are, in fact, any of you. I for one have had tons of things in past month or two that I've wanted to share with you guys. I'm excited to get a few things up and going. Keep in touch, keep checking back, we're going to give you some new stuff pretty soon. And hopefully, things will remain calm for your faithful HHH girls. Calm us means more updates for you. :-)

We're Back in Action

So, we've been away from the blog for a little bit.  The past 6 weeks have been the usual mix of life for each of us: some weeks were better than others, some moments were fantastic, others...not so much.  We decided to get the blog back on track and we look forward to further postings.

Since I last wrote, my husband and I renovated our kitchen!  After we finished, I couldn't believe that we didn't change everything years ago.  When you think about it, the cliche of the kitchen being the heart of the home is really true.  You're in there multiple times a day, making messes, chopping things up, simmering sauces, cranking up the oven, wiping down counters, soaking pots and pans, etc.  The kitchen sees an enormous amount of activity several times a day.  My feeling is, we're in there so often, we might as well enjoy it.  I think that's why I started to fall in love with cooking over the past few years. A lot of times it's easy to look for ways to stay OUT of the kitchen...making excuses for lack of time to cook and eat, blaming being tired or exhausted from the day on always eating out.  When cooking becomes a hobby, being in there is simultaneously a joy and an amazing way to relax.  I've said it before, but when I'm in the kitchen, I'm happy.  Chopping, peeling, prepping...all of it is soothing to me instead of a burden.  Pretty much everything Carl and I make is from scratch, and really, at the end of the day, I don't feel like I'm spending thousands of hours in the kitchen in order to achieve that.  To me, making homemade things is natural and easy.  And really, I think of it in the same terms as I consider making a cake from scratch versus using a pre-made mix: if you're going to be cracking eggs, firing up a mixer, and using a spatula to pour batter into pans, why not just add a few extra steps and make everything from what you already have in your pantry anyway? Plus, and this I discovered only a few years ago...a cake from scratch actually tastes like cake.  To me, cake from a box doesn't taste remotely like cake.  A few extra steps, and the taste difference is enormous.  By the same token, I'd rather do a few extra things in the kitchen and end up with food that is homemade and has a minimal amount of processing and additives.

While renovating the kitchen, I also discovered how much I've grown to depend on our own cooking versus grabbing take-out.  The kitchen was out of commission for about 10 days, which translated into 10 days worth of ordering out and going to restaurants.  I was ready to lose it.  There's only so much take-out I can deal with anyway.  Typically we grab a pizza or something on Fridays, but the rest of the week, we cook.  Having to eat out for every meal for such a long time started to get repulsive much quicker than even I anticipated.  I truly felt like I was just ingesting crap and I started to crave vegetables and fruit, which are of course very hard to come by when you're ordering out.

Since our kitchen has been renovated and re-organized, we've been cooking non-stop.  Clambake Soup (a recipe that produces an enormous amount and has a list of ingredients a page long....it was completely fabulous to make and eat this past week,) Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork, Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches, homemade macaroni and cheese, omelets for breakfast, Fully Loaded Potato Skins for a party...the list goes on.  Today, I'm actually running out to the store in order to make 2 Mediterranean Cheesecakes, which is perhaps the most delightful appetizer I've ever tasted, the recipe courtesy of Meg.  It will require lots of chopping up and mixing, and the use of specialized equipment (springform pans.)  I can't wait to get started!

Super Easy S'more Pie

So, we had some impromptu family gatherings this weekend to celebrate my brother's 29th birthday and the fact that he was home visiting from Iowa. We went to my aunt's house this afternoon for a dinner cookout and I realized early this morning that I had nothing to bring - and no time to cook.

I tried to think of something simple, easy and yummy. I always stress about what to bring over to this particular aunt's house because she is a martha.. meaning her house is perfect, her food always tastes and looks amazing... so what does one bring to wow the martha herself...

Let me tell you... super easy s'more pie.. that's what.


I had the idea for this s'more pie this morning - I thought s'mores went with cookout food.. and even though I've never made it and didn't have a recipe, I thought it seemed fairly easy.


So this is what I did...

I bought graham cracker crumbs, mini marshmallows, 2 giant chocolate bars and marshmallow ice cream topping.

This is what I did:

I mixed the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and some sugar in a bowl until the crumbs were moistened. (You could just buy a pre-made crust - but remember we had a martha on our hands) So you pack the crumbs into the pie shell and bake it at 350 for about 8-10 minutes.

Then I took some of the mini marshmallows a spoonful of sugar and a little bit of the melted butter - but them all in a bowl and put it in the microwave for about 1 minute. I then mixed it up very well - it was super thick and sticky at this point. I also added a spoonful of the marshmallow topping. I bet you could go without this, but I didn't know what I was doing and just decided to add it. I spooned the mixture into the cooked pie shell - spreading it out as best I could. I then crumbled the 2 chocolate bars and spread the crumbs over the marshmallow mixture. I didn't think that looked "done enough" so I melted some more butter and stirred in some sugar and graham cracker crumbs and sprinkled the crumbles over the top of the chocolate. Then, I baked the pie @ 350 for about 18 minutes.

When I took it out of the oven it looked delicious! The chocolate was melty - you could see chocolate and marshmallow through the crumbly graham cracker topping. Yum!

Of course, the one downfall to pie is, you can't really test taste it before bringing it to the martha's house... so, I took a leap of faith and brought it with us... and it was a major success!!! It was just wonderful. It tasted just like a s'more. It made me think of summer and camping and bonfires and it was just incredible.

A Weekend of Plums

So, here we are at the end of the summer.  It's Labor Day weekend, and as a child, I used to pretty much hate this holiday.  It was hard to find any joy or frivolity in it at all, because, although it was certainly an extended weekend, school had already started and I'd be returning there the following Tuesday.  It was always difficult to approach Labor Day with the reckless abandon I'd jump into the 4th of July with.  Or any other holiday, really.  Labor Day to me was always a holiday that fell at the wrong time.


This, my friends, is one of the things I most love about being an adult.  Time sort of shifts, and months and occasions take on newer meaning since you aren't attached to a school timetable.  This Labor Day weekend of 2010 (how are we so far into the year already, I beg of you to tell me?) has been beautiful in Cleveland.  Chilly, perhaps, and brisk, which is a bright contrast to what I always associate with Labor Day: oppressive heat and humidity.  I think we got those two weather adjectives out of the way last week.  It routinely hit 90 degrees and going outside after noon was widely-regarded as foolhardy.  Now it's breezy and fall-like, and I'm wearing jeans for the first time in months, as opposed to skirts, dresses and capris.  Lovely!

To celebrate the end of summer, on Friday I decided to make some more jam.  I've already detailed here how I make jam, in this case, peach.  I decided to make another batch because summer fruit season is rapidly coming to an end.  I know I've talked about this before, but canning is funny because you're doing it in the heat of summer when you really can't stand to be over a pot of boiling fruit, or faffing around with piping hot glass jars.  In the cooler months of fall, when you would love to be inside messing around in your kitchen, it's too late.  You absolutely need to capture fruit at its freshest and most natural peak.


So, determined to seize the day, I made another round of peach jam.  There is nothing better than a late summer peach, in my book.  This batch of jam is exclusively for my pantry, where it will sit in cool oblivion throughout the fall, winter and spring, until I reach in and grab a new jar to top yogurt with, add to a Peanut Butter and jelly sandwich (thus elevating the kindergarten classic to a gourmet lunch) or use as a topping on ice cream.  


After making the peach jam, I set out to do some random shopping.  I went to Costco, which is dangerous.  My love for Costco runs way deeper than it probably should.  While there, I spotted a lovely, 4-lb box of...what else...Plums.  Immediately I recalled seeing a recipe for Plum Jam on my pectin recipe insert.  On a whim, I bought them.  So, for the second time that day, I made jam.  This time of the plum variety.

Pretend like, for once, this blogging program didn't switch my photos around from landscape to portrait.  Just imagine that, even though it's incredibly far-fetched and nearly impossible to visualize.  Ha! Anyway, here are the lovely plums.

Plum jam, to me, is genius.  The plums are soft enough to slice that they aren't a pain to prepare.  The only difference with other jams is that you have to simmer them for 5 minutes with water before you start making the jam.  AND this recipe yields a whopping NINE half-pint jars! Woot Woot!


Plums factored into my weekend again, when I had to think of a nice dessert to take to Nicole's house for a cookout on Sunday.  I briefly entertained the idea of making a cranberry white layer cake, the recipe I found and fell in love with in the current issue of Midwest Living, but I decided that would be a bit much for Labor Day.  As fall-like as it is right now, it's still early September and there will be plenty of other chances to eat cranberries and layer cakes up until Christmas!  I decided to use my favorite everyday cake, which I've also blogged about here in my Random Recipe buttermilk selection.  I got this cake from the fabulous Smitten Kitchen blog, and it's perfect.  I've used raspberries, blueberries and strawberries in it.  It's a light, moist easy cake that isn't fussy but tastes absolutely fantastic.  It reminds me of something you'd eat on a farm...on a nice plate of china overlooking the fields. (hey, don't get snippy with me about making far-reaching overtures about food...my grandparents actually DID have a farm in upstate New York, and some of my favorite memories as a child were eating food by the big bay window in the kitchen, which overlooked the corn fields and the horse track.  And then my siblings and cousins and I would go tear around the fields, getting into various forms of mischief and burning off all those calories.  Bliss!)


Anyway, even though I made 9 half-pints of plum jam, believe it or not, I still had several leftover plums.  Another plus to canning: you use a small amount to create a huge amount.  So, this time I decided to make the Buttermilk Cake with plums!  On that topic, you must check out a link to a plum cake on Smitten Kitchen.  I toyed around with the idea of making this one, but I don't have the right cake pan, and I really had a craving for this first cake.  She talks in a lovely manner about Plums and how they signify the end of summer and the beginning of fall.  Read about it, and make the plum cake yourself!, right here.  

How pretty is this?? Here is the plum version of the Buttermilk Cake.  This is just one plum that I sliced and arranged on top of the batter.  From this point onward, you sprinkle the whole cake with a tablespoon (or more) of sugar and then bake it.  The great thing about this cake is that the batter comes up over the fruit and bakes over it.  So you end up having a lovely surprise of fruit in the middle.  Like in this next photo...

Ta Da! Here is the finished Plum Buttermilk Cake.  Note that the batter came up over the plums and baked them right into the cake....yummy.  I hope this version tastes just as fabulous as the berry ones I've made, but I guess I'll find out at Nicole's tonight!

Avocado Love Part 2

Along with Meg, I am also experiencing a love affair with avocados. (Like the Avocado Green I'm writing this in?!)  

Avocados are simply amazing.  I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I had never tried them up until a few years ago.  That's when I went to my now-favorite restaurant, momocho.  This is a modern Mexican restaurant, and guacamole is one of their signature appetizers.  In fact, you'd be downright foolish to go to momocho and not sample it.  There's a basic guacamole which is fantastic, but then there are also more heavenly combinations: guacamole with goat cheese and tomato, with blue crab and corn, with pineapple and jicama.  I was hesitant about trying the guacamole at all, but my parents ordered a sampler on the first time we went to momocho and I fell in love.  Eating their guacamole is truly like eating the best thing in the world.  It is silky, flavorful and filling without being heavy.  It tastes so fresh.

Needless to say, after momocho, I fell in love with avocados.  I have since made my own guacamole at home on numerous occasions (pretty impossible to mess-up and insanely easy to personalize....mash your avocados, add salt, chopped onion, garlic or tomatoes and anything else you think would be fabulous! Don't forget to add some lemon juice so the avocados don't brown...)  

I have also been to restaurants where guacamole is a featured spread on the sandwich, instead of the ever-upsetting mayo.  I'm not a mayonnaise fan, and I doubt I ever will be.  But can I tell you how fantastic a layer of guacamole on a turkey, cheese and bacon sandwich was?? Thank you, bistro in Boston, for introducing me to yet another versatile use of the avocado!

I also eat slices of avocados on top of soup.  Layer some on top of a spicy tortilla soup, and you get cool and creamy mixed with hot and spicy.  Ahhhhhh....I need to whip up some soup as soon as it gets cooler!

And when Meg texted me that she was eating avocado gelato, my mouth immediately watered.  I am dying to try this! I've never had avocados in a sweet sense, only savory, but I can imagine how fabulous it must be.

Yay for avocados!

I Love

Avocados! 

I am completely in love with them right now, 

and will eat almost anything if one of the ingredients is Avocado.  

Anything.

Including.....Gelato!

I have a picture...in my phone.

Let's just say that Avocado Gelato sounds gross,

But is, in fact, amazingly

smooth,

creamy,

green, 

deliciousness.  

Loved it.

I Will Never Again....

Buy Taco Seasoning.

I love Taco Seasoning.  Its great...on tacos {duh}, on chicken, mixed with beans and rice, enchiladas, I even use it for a few Master Mix salads.  Pretty much, I love the stuff.  Buuuuuttttt.....I don't use it very often.  Have you seen how much sodium is in the packets?  So when I do use it, I try to buy the "Less Sodium" option...even still, that's a lot of salt.

And since I don't buy the packets very much when I actually want to use one I occasionally don't have one.  

Now, I won't ever need another taco seasoning packet.

Here's the recipe I found this past week {and loved}

1 Tbsp. Chili Powder

1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp. Onion Powder

1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1/4 tsp. Dried Oregano

1/2 tsp. Paprika

1 1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Black Pepper

Now you know, or you should by now, I am exceedingly flexible with recipes.  For instance, I didn't have paprika, I didn't add salt, I added way more garlic powder than 1/4 tsp, and I also added more chili powder and ground cumin.  Oh, and Red Pepper Flakes.  I love things hot and I love things garlicky.

This Taco Seasoning was amazing.  It was truly wonderful, the cumin is what really makes it (that's also the predominant smell in the packet stuff, hence it being the predominant ingredient, it's the what makes taco seasoning taco seasoning...at least to me).

I have an empty chili powder spice container.  The recipe above makes enough for about one hefty use.  I plan on making enough to fill my empty container and keeping it in my spice cupboard for use whenever I feel like it.  Notice how I'm re-using too!  Yay Earth!  It's the little things. 

I love controlling what goes into my food.  Even if its something as little as the spices, or as significant as being able to opt out of sodium when I want.  Salt free spices are occasionally hard to find.  But salt free spice mixes are not hard to make!

Baby Necklaces? What!!

A few years ago while working at the child development center with Megan, Nicole and Sondra I had a mother ask me if it were okay if she brought her sons teething necklace to school.  My thoughts became really random: teething necklace? a necklace for a boy? choking hazard!!  I really liked this mom, but she was a little more earthy, more 'natural' than I thought necessary.  Little did I know just a few short years later I would be ordering my son a necklace too!

Now, let's set the record straight - I am NOT anti-medication.  I think medications were invented to provide comfort and good health for everyone.  However, I am a little hesitant to pump Gabe full of medications the second he seems 'off'.  To top that off, all of the recent pediatric medicine recalls makes me even more nervous about giving Gabe medicine when it's not a must have.

And then I remembered that parent, the all-natural one and decided to look up teething necklaces.  And boy was there a lot of information: information for, against and all about the benefits of amber teething necklaces.  After reading, re-reading and then joining discussion forums on the subject I decided to order one for Gabe. 

And boy has it worked!  Whenever his fingers start going in his mouth, or he gets grumpy on goes the necklace and then a short time later, my usual cheerful, easy-going babe returns.

Isn't he just the cutest, necklace and all!

Baby Gabe in his amber teething necklace

Gabe's necklace is made from round Baltic amber beads.  Amber is a natural analgesic that releases healing oils that help Gabe stay relaxed and calm while teething. 

There are so many amber teething necklaces out there and I looked and looked for the 'best' one.  For me the 'best' one would be the safest, most effective necklace.  Safest being that each bead tied on separately and a break away clasp; both to prevent any choking/pulling accidents.  Most effective would be ensuring the beads were actually amber and that the beads were round or oval and not chips, so that they would lie gently on his skin.

Here's one of the many links that I read while searching for the perfect necklace and I think I found it! Gorgeous looking, round beads that ease Gabe's teething pain! 

I will never say something is 'too natural' for me, because who knows what I'll decide to do years down the road.

Eggs in a Basket

So, this past week Carl and I visited my family in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls region.  We had a couple days off from work, so before we went out of town, we had kind of a staycation at home.  While at home last Saturday afternoon, I was watching the Food Network and saw a chef, Sunny Anderson, making Eggs in a Basket.  It looked so cute and so yummy --- a hashbrown crust filled with a baked egg, topped with cheese and bacon.  We decided to get the ingredients and try them out.

Here is the recipe, as copied and pasted from the Food Network Website:

Ingredients

• 3 large russet potatoes, peeled
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 6 slices prosciutto, about 2 1/2 ounces, chopped
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup shredded provolone

Directions

Special equipment: jumbo sized 6-cup muffin tin

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a food processor fitted with the grater attachment, push chunks of the potato through the chute to grate. Once all the potatoes are grated, put them into a piece of cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel and squeeze to remove the moisture. Add the potatoes to a large bowl, stir in the melted butter and season well with salt and pepper, to taste.

Spray the muffin tin lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Press the grated potatoes evenly into the muffin cups being sure the potatoes go up the sides and a thin layer and covers the bottom. Bake until the top edges turn light golden brown and the potatoes are cooked through, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl toss together the prosciutto with maple syrup and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and gently crack an egg into each cup. Bake until the egg whites set but the yolk remains runny, about 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove from the oven and set the oven to broil. Top the eggs with grated cheese and put the maple prosciutto on another sheet tray. Broil both until cheese melts, and prosciutto crisps slightly, about 1 minute.

Top the eggs with crispy prosciutto and serve immediately.

So, like with most recipes, I improvised a little bit.  I typically love bacon or prosciutto and we actually cook with it a lot, but this time we were out of it.  We had plenty of eggs and cheese, so all I needed to buy were the potatoes.  I decided to skip the bacon this time.  I also used cheddar cheese instead of provolone, simply because that's what I had on hand.

These Eggs in a Basket were truly so much fun to make!  They look so pretty, and they're really filling.  When you bite into them, the hashbrown base is crunchy and a bit salty.  The egg is nice and soft (ideally you have the yolk still-runny, kind of like in an Eggs Benedict) and the cheese on top is simply amazing.  We ended up eating a couple for breakfast and then eating the rest for dinner.  These are one of those rare food items that would be great for any meal --- breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.  They were also easy to make!  And now...my photos.

Woot Woot! Okay, I forgot to take a picture of just the hashbrown bottoms.  Anyway, this is the picture of them with the eggs already baked in.  You'll notice that I baked them until the whites just cooked through.  They go back in the oven when you top them with the cheese, so you don't want to overcook them at this point.  Also, you want the yolks to be slightly runny anyhow!

 

And here they are covered with melted, yummy cheddar cheese! They would have been superb if a little bacon or prosciutto was added at this point, but I didn't have any on hand.  Plus, this would be a good version to serve to vegetarian people or to eat on Fridays in Lent. (for all you fellow Catholics out there....holla!)

And here is a finished egg in a basket out of the muffin tin! They come out surprisingly easy, as long as you remember to spray the heck out of the pan with a non-stick spray.  Look how cute they are.  Since you used a jumbo muffin pan, they're also a pretty big size, and the potato layer is fairly thick.  These will fill you up!  Enjoy!

 

Guess What this Bag is Made From....

Would you believe it if I told you this super-adorable bag was originally a pillowcase???  Looking at it, you'd never know, would you?

I've blogged before about the sewing and quilting prowess of my MIL and SIL.  Recently, Stacy, my SIL, told me that she found a pattern in a library book about easy sewing projects.  It involved making a bag out of a pillowcase, and she was making one for her and one for me! I was super excited about it.  I knew the colors would be purple and yellow, but that was as much as I knew.

Yesterday, we met for coffee after dinner and she gave me the bag! I was stunned...to me, it is such a cute design, so practical as a big bag to tote things around in, and overall just so sharp-looking that I simply can't believe it originated as a pillowcase.

This bag would be ideal as a grocery bag, a library tote, or a quick beach bag.  I plan on using it as a library bag and shopping tote.

Stacy bought the two pillowcases from Walmart to make the bag, but I couldn't help but think of circumstances where you could re-purpose old pillowcases and turn them into eco-friendly tote bags.  For instance, remember when you were little and you were changing the colors and designs of your room every couple of years? I personally had a Strawberry Shortcake room as a preschooler, and then I moved onto a series of purples and blues by the time I moved out of the house.  What if, instead of getting rid of all the different pillowcases I had as I upgraded bedding and designs, I was able to make these tote bags out of them?  Even a plain white pillowcase could be dyed with RIT to a suitable color and transformed into a stylish little bag.  But really, how cute would it be for a little girl to carry around her own library tote from a pillowcase she used to have in her room?  I'm not one for decorating in "character" themes for little kids --- there's not much I dislike more than the Disney princesses --- but once that little girl changes bedding, it would be super cute for her to carry around a princess tote bag.  Or a Dora tote bag.  Or a Yo Gabba Gabba! one.  I don't know, visit a store that carries children's bedding, and you'll see the possibilities are endless.

I think this is such a great way to re-purpose a pillowcase.  Because, typically I think, they get thrown away when you change sheet sets.  All of these sewing ideas make me think I REALLY need to get sewing lessons...I can't rely on other people to make all of these great ideas for me all the time...  Can I? (Just kidding...I need to learn!)

Steve and I are going from Cleveland to Cincinnati this weekend.  You know what that means...Jeni's

I am beyond excited.  Seriously.  Remember this?  Because I do.  And I can't wait.

I think I'm going to go with the Bourbon Buttered Pecan again.  I know, I know.  But I can't resist.  Also I'm going to try Brown Butter Almond Brittle.  And anything else they will let me sample.  

HEAVEN!

Sondra took this picture on our first (and only, thus far)

visit to Jeni's.  I'm taking liberties and blogging it myself.  

Errr......Sondra, in order to make up the fact that I totally 

just ripped off your picture, I will try my darnedest to take 

several pictures of Jeni's on this trip that will be just for you.

A Hater in Love with Gardens

I admit it...I'm a hater when it comes to yard work.  I have, to the best of my memory and knowledge, always hated plants, dirt, digging and weeding.  Shockingly, I am also no fan of flowers.  I prefer never to be sent them, as just looking at a lovely bundle of flowers provokes anxiety:  I look at them truly as ticking time bombs...how long will it take me to kill them this time?  You see, I have never managed to keep a plant alive for more than, oh, a week.  No matter what I do, it seems to be the wrong thing.  And that's just houseplants.  I have zero desire to spend my precious free time up to my ankles in dirt, coming across worms and heaven knows what else, in order to plant new flowers or spruce up the yard.  One of the main selling points for buying our condo, in fact, was the advantage that we don't have to do any yard work at all.  No, blissfully, a lawn company comes and takes care of all that for us.  They mow our lawns, remove our snow, and plant our flowers. (quite satisfactorily, I might add.) While I think flowers are pretty, I can't for the life of me imagine spending hours outside under the hot sun watering, weeding and preening.  I am a hater when it comes to gardening.

Enter this past week.  Carl and I visited Buffalo for a few days, where the majority of my relatives live and where I myself held an address for over a year during the early part of my college career.  We stayed with my aunt, uncle and cousin, who are simply the most amazing family you will ever encounter in your life.  I can't begin to tell you how lucky...how miraculously lucky...I am to be related to these people.  At any rate, yesterday morning, Carl and I were poking around their yard after doing the usual trip-errands like getting gas and visiting an ATM.  I went into their backyard, where I remembered my uncle used to grow sunflowers.  As a child, I vividly remember riding the swings on the swingset with my cousin as high as they could go, our feet nearly touching the enormously high sunflowers.  Well, it's been quite awhile since I was a kid, and I was pleased and delighted to note that the garden now bears all kinds of fruit and vegetables!! I was immediately enamored and took bajillions of photos.  

Imagine walking through a gate on an August morning and stepping into such a lovely garden.  Tomatoes to your left: cherry and beefsteak weighing down the vines.  Just below them, lovely and waxy banana peppers.  To the far corner of the garden, a huge raspberry bush blooms.  And directly along the back wall are grapevines.  Yes, grapevines!! My family has grapes growing in their own backyard, how awesome is that?? I took a photo of a bunch where one or two of the grapes even started to turn purple.

I imagined the possibilities of such a garden: imagine having an entire raspberry bush at your disposal! My aunt told me that, while this year most of the raspberries seemed to dry out, on most summers they have an overabundance to pick from.  And the grapevines were a suggestion of my cousin, who is now an adult and lives on the east coast, but as a young child brought up the idea of growing them.  Now, after growing for the past 20-some years, they serve almost as a privacy fence along the backside of my aunt and uncle's house.  Lovely.  

So, I am now in quite the quandary.  I hate gardening to the point of near wincing when I talk about it, but I want a garden like this!! However, I fully admit that I know it would wither and die under the supervision of someone like me.  Let's be honest...I'm also less than enthusiastic about starting such an undertaking on my own.  I know my good friend Akane has her own garden, and now that I know my aunt and uncle have a thriving one, I feel I can go to several people with what will undoubtedly be many insane and appalling beginner's questions.  But I can't do it alone.  So, dear friends...who wants to start a garden with me next year??? I say we go half-sies on everything...labor, start-up costs, seedlings, etc.  Then we can both reap the benefits, and I have less of a chance of destroying a new crop of plants.  We have almost a year to think about it.... any takers?? Any? Hello?

For now, as you mull over my once-in-a-lifetime offer, enjoy the photos of the loveliest garden ever.

Master Mix Salad

I, like many of my friends, have been on a salad kick recently.  This salad phase has somehow coincided with my discovery of several things that I used to hate but now like.  Namely Mushrooms and Avocado. I have been subjecting my husband to several throw together varieties of  salad slash burrito bowl slash stir fry.  Hence, Master Mix.  Throw in the basics, or just random crap and you'll have an amazing meal.  One that will last you an entire week, which is always a plus in my book.

My First Version of Master Mix Salad.

I sold this idea to Steve by telling him it would be "exactly like a Chipolte fajita bowl."  He bought it.  And while I didn't deliver on the exactly part, I sure tried.  Not only that but it was so amazing (in my opinion) that I am still trying to get Steve to eat the basic ingredients thrown together with a few different meat and veggie options.  I think he's growing weary, but I'm still loving this idea.  And since I cook, I win.  Also, he's only started growing weary after being served the same basic thing for three weeks.  A total win in my book.  Seriously, it was good.

Here goes.

• Saute some 
• peppers (I used green, and loved it.  Which is great because I'm normally an any-color-but-green kind of pepper gal)
• mushrooms
• black beans & kidney beans
• Garlic
• onion powder (or you could use real onion, but I don't like onions so I opted out)
• a splash or two of soy sauce
• olive oil
• and pretty much any seasoning that you want to get the flavor you told your husband you were trying for.
• Also, this is when I added in my Meat.  For the "Chipotle Fajita Bowl"I got out some hot sausage we already had cooked, diced it quite small, and threw it in the pan with everything else.  (I know that I keep saying Fajita Bowl, and then I put sausage in it, which takes out the Fajita part since I'm pretty sure that indicates chicken.  Maybe.  You could totally put chicken in it, I simply used sausage because that's what we had, and it was already cooked.  Also, when we actually go to Chipotle the only thing we ever get is a Fajita Bowl, so that's all I know to call it slash compare what I made it to.  Did that make sense?)
• Since everything is pretty much cooked you're just getting your veggies to the consistency you like them, and letting the flavors meld together, whilst heating everything.  So the Sauteing part should be fairly quick.
• Make some Rice (preferably in your amazing Rice Cooker.  I used to hate rice, because I couldn't make the dag gone stuff.  It never turned out right in the microwave, or the oven, or on the stove top.  I abhorred any recipe that called for rice.  Then Steve told me they had always had a rice cooker growing up.  I asked his parents for one as a Christmas gift a few years back and I couldn't be happier.  It is the easiest thing in the world and the rice comes out absolutely perfect every sitnkin' time.  It's magic.  You NEED one.  Seriously.  Unless I'm the only idiot out there that can't cook rice on the stove, in the oven, or in the microwave.  But I digress).
• Cut up some greens
• I loved, loved, loved simply shredded Romaine Hearts in this "salad."  Again, I was going for the Chipotle Fajita bowl, and I'm fairly certain they use something similar to shredded Romaine.
• You can also use any other lettuce you feel like, most recently we had ice berg and sweet butter greens, with just a few shreds of Romaine.  But then I was going for a more Salad-y creation that time.
• Make your plate.  Add in half and Avocado, smash everything together slash mix it all up on your plate, and you are ready to go!
• You could always add some salsa, sour cream, and/or cheese if you'd like.  We opted no to because we were trying to stay a bit on the healthier side.  I'm not sure how healthy this meal was, but it was amazing.

Like I said earlier, you can do anything you want with this Master Mix Salad.  Tonight I swapped out  kidney beans for butter beans.  Sausage for a white fish.  Added in some lemon juice and sage.  I cooked all my veggies and beans in a saute pan.  Then put the fish at the bottom of a metal baking pan and covered the fish with all of the veggies and beans.  I cooked it in the oven until the fish was done, and then assembled my Master Mix Salad according to my liking.  It was good stuff! 

Have fun cooking and eating and convincing your loved ones that this Master Mix is truly a delight.

CCC

A friend of mine just sent me a link, she said she thought of me when she read this article.  When I read it, I thought of HHH and you.  It's fun to see that small, crafty, operations are thriving.  Maybe we'll meet up at one of CCC's events, eh?  Or perhaps your lovely HHH gals will someday be vendors at said events.  Who knows?!?

Cleveland Craft Coalition

Mom's Sugar Cookies!!

My mom makes really awesome sugar cookies (at least to me, they are awesome). To be quite honest, when it comes to my mom’s sugar cookies – it isn’t so much about the cookies, as it is the love and fuzzy warmness I associate with them.

We always always always, make sugar cookies at Christmas time. We make trees and santas and snowmen, mittens, stars and candy canes. We have a ridiculous amount of Christmas cookie cutters – and every year we decide which special ones we will use. My mom typically does the baking and I do the decorating. I try to make every cookie unique – she thinks I’m crazy for this – but I love it. I even make little faces on each and every snowman.

These sugar cookies also make appearances at most major holidays. I remember coming downstairs on Valentine’s day and finding a plate of heart shaped cookies, opening care packages while I was away at school and finding a container full of pumpkins and ghosts for Halloween. We even made little wedding cake cookies for the favors for my bridal shower.

Most recently, I made pink ribbon sugar cookies for a co-worker of mine who has recently finished her breast cancer treatments. We had a surprise pink dessert bar for her at work.

So, I am going to share with you my mom’s sugar cookie recipe. However, as I’m typing this, I’m trying to decide if I’m going to add in all the little tips and tricks we’ve learned over the years, or if you should have to figure those out for yourselves, too.


Mom’s Sugar Cookies

Ingredients1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt


Directions
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Beat in eggs and vanilla.
Stir in the flour (one cup at a time), baking powder, and salt.
Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Roll out dough on floured surface (about ½ inch thick)
Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter.
Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.


The Icing
The icing is really simple. It is just your basic powdered sugar, vanilla and milk frosting. We usually color it. I can’t really tell you how much of what to use when – just fill a bowl with the powdered sugar, add a little vanilla and add milk (little by little) until you reach a desired consistency.

Alright, so I didn't give you all the tips and tricks, but I am quite certain that you'll figure it out all on your own. <3

Yummiest Salad Ever

Is yummiest a word?  If it isn't than it should be created to describe this salad.  I ate this recently at a friends house and while I have yet to make it myself, it was so good I've spent nights dreaming about it!

What makes up this scrumptious looking delight?  Well I'll tell you!

• 
  
  2 large Swiss chard leaves (fold and cut with kitchen scissors)
• 
  
  1 cup cooked quiona
• 
  
  cup of black beans
• 
  
  sliced cucumber
• 
  
  halved grape tomatoes
• 
  
  big bunch of cilantro (when I make this next time, I'll leave this out)
• 
  
  4 - 5 onion greens, chopped
• 
  
  halved olives (black or just green - I choose black!)

Drizzle the above with olive oil, balsalmic vinegar and a few drops of stevia.  Sprinkl with sea salt and pepper and ENJOY! 

And you will certainly enjoy this!  I was a bit apprenhensive because onion greens, cilantro and Swiss chard leaves would not go into my list of favorite vegetbales but combined with everything else, it was divine.  Tasted like a perfect summer day; yummy, crunchy, cold - just plain good!