Leafy Greens

We've recently learned about kale and all of its amazing health benefits, and over the last couple of weeks have been incorporating it into our meals. I made kale chips twice - once using an online recipe's recommended amount of oil (which ended up being way too much), and once with an oil reassessment. The second turned out ten times better than the first, and next time I might sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top and see what magic happens in the oven.

Kale is an excellent salad green. Its sturdy nature means it can withstand heavy dressings and multiple add-ins without wilting. Costco has a wonderful kale salad right now that my mother-in-law, Sweet E, got me hooked on. Kale and thinly sliced cabbage with pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and dried cranberries on top, plus an incredible poppyseed dressing. I was lucky enough to have it every day for lunch last week, and I loved it so much it's on this week's lunch menu as well. So refreshing, so very tasty.

Today I was feeling very lazy, but I wasn't in the mood to just pick something up. I needed a quick and easy yet veggie-friendly addition to the rotisserie chicken I had picked up this morning (oh rotisserie chicken, let me count the ways I love to eat thee). Then I remembered I had a bag of pre-washed, pre-cut kale in the fridge. Such a smart purchase on my part. Enter recipe for Sauteed Kale.

If you don't have a bag of prepared kale, don't worry. It's really easy to get it prepped. The main thing to remember is that the center stalks are pretty much inedible (unless you're planning on cooking them down to a manageable chew level), and all you have to do is either strip the leaves from the stems with your hands in one fell pull, or just cut the leaves off of the stem. Once this is done, tear the leaves into reasonable bite size pieces and submerge in a bowl of water to dislodge any dirt that might be on the leaves. Rinse, dry, and your kale is ready for use.

I saw some shallots at the store a couple of days ago and thought, "I wonder what those taste like." These little purple-red onion babies seem to be the sophisticated older sibling to the rustic red-white-yellow onion triplets. As far as I'm concerned, it's like an onion and a garlic cross pollinated to create this little guy. Maybe it's what I'm cooking, but in the end the shallots tasted exactly the same as a yellow onion. So if you don't keep shallots on hand, you're not missing out on much. Just dice up one of your onion triplets and get ready to throw it in a high-walled pot. In that pot (the high walls will come into play in a minute) drizzle some oil and about a half a tablespoon of butter. I find that even though an all oil composition would be healthiest, I really love the flavor butter adds, so I just 90%-10% the oil and butter and call it mostly healthy. Oh, and I've noticed you don't need all that much oil either. A surprisingly small amount can cover three to four cups of raw kale.

To that oil, add some red pepper flakes (a little goes a long way) and some thyme. I find that thyme really brings out the earthy nature of the kale, and while I don't use this particular herb all that much, it definitely works here. I also like to put some salt and pepper in now - this way I know that the salt is evenly distributed throughout the oil, and will therefore be evenly distributed across the kale. Throw in those shallots or onions, and let them cook just about all the way through. Quick fun fact: shallots lose their purple color as they cook. Once it's all gone, you're ready to put in that kale.

This is where those high walls make a difference. The higher the sides of the pot, the more delicious kale you can eat later. The picture above has a 5 quart pot and what the greens will look like before their cooked. Stir or fold the kale several times, or until the volume has noticeably decreased. Make sure every piece is covered with your flavor-packed oil, and that those shallots are evenly distributed as well.

This is what the greens will look like after everything is coated. The leaves are super shiny, and they have wilted to just about half their original volume. Give one of the leaves a taste, and see if it needs more salt, or if it needs to be steamed a little longer because it's still a little crunchy. Otherwise, you're all done. Pair with some kind of protein, or just eat as is - kale is surprisingly filling for being a vegetable.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a super detailed recipe for Sauteed Kale. For the rest of the day, I'll be cheering for my fantasy football team which needs at least twenty more points if I'm going to beat my opponent for this week and have a perfect 3-0 record to start the fantasy football season. If Peyton Manning has another seven touchdown performance this week, I promise to eat lots of tasty kale for the rest of forever.

Sunday Morning.

I don't remember how I found this, but yesterday I came across the most scrumptious cupcakes I ever did want to have magically appear in front of me. They're called Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes.

From Bakingdom. 

Please excuse the drool, I honestly can't help it. This is a chocolate cake recipe infused with exquisite coffee flavor. Once baked, you scoop out a portion of the cupcake, pour in some homemade salted caramel, and replace the removed portion. Add coffee whip cream, drizzle more caramel on top, and finish with sprinkles. I can't stop looking at these and wondering why in the world H. thinks they would be too rich to eat. Also, those little cupcake cups are adorable!

Yesterday I made the mistake of asking H. to help me clear out the dishwasher while I was busily making dinner. He ended up putting the forks in the knives spot, the knives in the spoons spot, and the spoons in the forks spot. When I went to get a spoon for my yogurt, I almost cut myself because I wasn't looking. He also put all of the cups away without stacking them inside one another. This translates to lots of cups taking over our cupboard space, which really threw me off. The best part was he did all that on purpose, just to mess with me. Maybe I'll put green food coloring in his eggs and bacon on Monday.

I found something on the interwebs today that really made me giggle (H. says that is difficult to accomplish). It's 'Business Cat': a picture of a cat in a suit and tie with intermittently funny captions, and so far this is my favorite version. There's a whole slew of pictures on the main site, but some are better than others, so don't expect tip top stuff every time.

Yup, that concludes this Sunday's interlude.

Quick Crustless Quiche.

It occurred to me while I was making quiche tonight that I never actually posted a picture of it. That's about to be remedied. I love that you could add anything into this, and I keep telling myself I'll mix it up the next time I make it, but this version turns out so well that I don't want to mess with it. I originally found the recipe on this website.

Crustless Quiche 
- cheese (I use Colby Jack)
- 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. flour
- 1 1/2 c. milk
- green onions, chopped
- mushrooms, chopped
- turkey sausage, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a glass pie pan or quiche pan. Chop ingredients for filling (green onions, mushrooms, turkey sausage). Grate cheese, strew across bottom of pan. Place filling ingredients on top of cheese.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, milk, and salt until well combined. Add flour, and whisk until just combined. Do NOT over-whisk (there will be flour lumps). 

Bake for ~35 minutes. Quiche should be firm throughout. 

And, as always, don't forget the garlic powder! As my father-in-law says, "Garlic powder goes in everything." Except desserts. And drinks. And ice cream. But seriously, don't forget it.

Edit: Do not use a quiche pan. I bought this one from BB&B, and the quiche was crawling up and over the sides of the pan. I ended up putting a baking sheet underneath it, but not before some of the cheese got pushed out and onto the bottom of the oven. Next time, I'll definitely be using that glass pie pan.

In daily news, I finally got a picture of a squirrel! I was on my way out to the car when I hear some rustling behind me. I stopped, and so did the movement.

Their camouflage ability is incredible.

Munch munch munch.

Someone had dropped saltines all over the ground in the parking lot, and this little guy had stolen one and started his getaway plan when I walked by. I was amazed that he held completely still while I pulled out my phone to take a picture. Well, he was nibbling on the cracker. Once I'd taken the money shot, I took one step away from him and he moved like a lightning bolt down the sidewalk. I'm not sure if he was scared or if it was just the heat from the cement that made him move so fast.

Tesoros Aquáticos.

That's Spanish for aquatic treasures. Which perfectly describes these rustic yet simple fish tacos.

I can only eat two, but I wish I could eat more. 

Here you can see the fish a little better. Mmm, mmm, fish.

 Delicious Fish Tacos with Cucumber-Dill Sauce

- frozen fish (we used flounder, but any fish you like will do)

- seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, creole)

- olive oil

- cucumber

- sour cream

- dill

-ranch dressing

- lemon juice

- cheese

- salsa

- avocados (optional, use to make guacamole)

- uncooked flour tortillas

Thaw fish completely, then pat dry. Season fish on both sides, and place into a hot pan with olive oil. Cook fish on each side (~10 min). 

Remove outer skin from cucumber. Dice or finely chop the cucumber, then add a generous amount of sour cream, followed by a little ranch dressing, some dill, a little lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Adjust ingredients until just right. Grate cheese into a separate, small bowl.

In a pan (with some cooking spray), cook flour tortillas until they are just golden. Transfer to a plate, and let cool for a minute before assembly.  When ready, place a fish filet on cooked tortilla, and add cheese, cucumber sauce, and salsa (or guac).  Enjoy!

This is easily one of H.'s favorite dishes that I've made on my own (without an actual family recipe). While they are simple to make, it doesn't hurt to have a helping hand with the cucumber-dill sauce. Or with the tortillas (H. is resident Head Tortilla Chef). The only other reason we don't make these more often is because it would be difficult to put them in H.'s lunch for work. I wouldn't want him having a soggy lunch. But a la carte, these are fabulous. Definitely cooked enough fish for lunch tomorrow, so all we have to do is fire up some tortillas and heat up the fish. 

Happy cooking adventures!

Italian Stallion.

The next time that I make these, I'll be utilizing the man sitting on the couch watching the game. The end product was delicious, savory, and I would make these again in a heartbeat, with one alteration. Oh, did I mention these were low-fat? Also, can I please, please, please have the longest title award?

Faux-Ricotta "Cheesy Sea Shells" Stuffed Pasta Shells with a Hearty Meat Sauce
Meat Sauce
- 1 lb. super lean ground beef
- 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 3 cans diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- salt
- basil
- tomato paste (optional)

Stuffed Shells
- 1 box (12 oz.) jumbo pasta shells
- 1 container (24 oz.) fat-free cottage cheese, drained if necessary*
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 garlic cloves, or 1 tsp garlic powder
- roughly 1/4 c. milk *

Make sauce. Place tomatoes in food processor and pulse until smooth. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until softened. Stir in ground beef, and work soy sauce into beef. Add tomato paste, garlic, and cook until fragrant (1 min). Stir in processed tomatoes and salt, simmer until slightly thickened (~20 min). 

Cook shells. Meanwhile, in a large pot, boil 4 quarts of water. Add 1 Tbsp. salt and pasta shells, cook until al dente (12-15 min). Drain shells, transfer to a baking sheet, making sure to separate shells from one another gently.

Make Filling. Place cottage cheese, mozzarella, garlic (or garlic powder), and milk into food processor. Blend until relatively smooth, then transfer to a large plastic bag. Cut one corner of bag, then fill each usable** shell with cheese mixture****. 

Assemble. Spread a thin layer of meat sauce on bottom of baking dish. Arranged filled shells (seam side up) over sauce. Spread any remaining sauce over shells***, along with any remaining mozzarella that you didn't fancy munching on. Cover with foil, bake until bubbling around edges (~18 min). Let cool, then serve.

* I drained my cottage cheese thoroughly. But when I started to blend it with the mozzarella cheese, the lack of liquid made it difficult to get anything blended. First, I added sour cream, but then I realized it would need a little bit of milk to really get anything done in that blender. Moral of the story, if your cottage cheese is swimming in water, drain it. If not, don't worry about it.

** These shells need to be drained and separated as soon as humanly possible. As I separated the shells and placed them on the baking sheet, I ran them through a little of lukewarm water. This made sure that the shell's outer layer didn't stick to the inner layer, which helped with I was filling them. Even though I was very careful with the shells, there were a couple that just ripped, and were essentially unusable. It's like dying eggs at Easter - somebody's gonna drop an egg, so accept it and keep on trucking.

*** I am a skeptic and only used two cans of diced tomatoes instead of the recommended three. At the end, I only had enough meat sauce to cover the bottoms of the two dishes I used to bake the filled shells. Next time, I'm definitely using three cans. Oh, and if you decide not to drain them, just be forewarned that you will have water bubbling up in the finished product. Tomatoes are like a Sham-Wow.

**** I had a bunch of cheese mixture left over. Probably enough for five or six shells (which, coincidentally, is the number of shells that didn't make the cut). I have no idea what you should do with the leftover cheese stuff.

All in all, really freaking good. The only part where I got tripped up was during the filling process, because you need to have a steady and gentle hand. Next time, I'm splitting the cheese mixture between two bags, and getting H. to help me out.

Goodnight, people!

Chicken Party!

I'm jumping the gun here a wee bit, but I wanted to get this recipe up for tonight's chicken dinner. It smells good already, and if everything keeps chugging along, it'll turn out nicely.

Edit: Here's the picture of our wonderful meal tonight.

Fiesta Chicken and Rice
- 4 chicken breasts  (we have 3 on hand)
- olive oil
- 1 cup rice
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (super spicy, use with caution)
- 1/2 can diced tomatoes (or other tomato equivalent)
- 1 3/4 c. chicken broth
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 4 green onion stems, sliced thin


Season chicken with salt and pepper, place in medium-high heat pan with olive oil. Cook until golden brown on one side* (4 min). Place chicken on plate, remove any large bits of fat from pan.


Add onion, rice, and 1/2 tsp. salt to skillet. Cook until rice is lightly toasted and onions start to soften (3 min). Reduce heat if rice toasts too quickly.


Add garlic, oregano, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Cook until fragrant (15 sec). Add tomatoes and chicken broth, and scrape the bottom of the pan for clingons. Place chickens back in pan, nestled brown side up, and transfer any juices left on the plate to the pan. Cover, reduce heat, and cook until chicken is cooked through (12 min). 


Remove chicken from pan and place on a cutting board, loosely tent with foil. Stir rice, and add extra water if needed**. Cover, cook on low heat until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed (12 min). Slice chicken breasts into 1" pieces. 


Remove skillet from heat. Arrange chicken breast pieces on top of rice, and sprinkle cheese and green onions on top. Cover and let stand until cheese melts (5 min). Serve with margaritas and a slice of satisfaction.


* Original recipe says brown on one side. I did that, then turned them over and cooked the raw side for a few short minutes. I didn't like the idea of raw chicken going into rice and onions.

** Original recipe only uses 1 1/4 c. chicken broth, but once I took the chickens out to cut them, I noticed that the rice in the pan had already sucked up all of the available liquid. I added more water, but I would have liked to add chicken broth. Thus, I upped the amount of broth you need to 1 3/4 c. in the ingredients list, which is about how much I ended up using.

There were a couple of ingredients in here that we didn't end up using. One was green peppers - I like peppers, but H. doesn't, so we skipped those. I would probably get one of those cool green/yellow/red pepper combos they sell in grocery stores just to add some neat colors to the rice. The second ingredient was beans - H. wanted refried beans, and mixing that into the rice would just yield pasty rice. So we're having those on the side.

And that's all for tonight. Enjoy!

A Taste of Greatness.

Edit: For some reason, there's a whole bunch of space between the lines that are italicized. I'm trying to fix it, so bear with me. Don't elephant with me, though.

So much time, so little to post. Wait, scratch that, reverse it.

I painted something for my grandparents that I rather like, although there are elements of it that I wish had turned out better. Maybe if I let it sit around a while longer it will magically right itself. It's probably not that responsible, though. Anyways, here's a painting of our mountains and a pretty accurate color of the sky.

It's 11"x14", so midway between small and decently sized. 

I'm particularly proud of the detail on the mountains. /paintbrush flex

It is much more difficult to sign something while using a brush.

H. thinks that one day, many years from now, my great-grandchildren will take a piece of my artwork to Antiques Roadshow to have it appraised. The ones signed Anna could be worth $300k, while the ones signed Chuck could be worth $50k, because there will be an abundance of the latter. Or the other way around. As for me, I'm fine with anything above fi-dolla (that canvas was $1, which means 400% profit what what?)

As I'm writing this, I'm consuming the end-all be-all in fruit delicacies. Applesauce, people. Homemade gold. I kind of want to get some more of these apples H. doesn't like just to make more of this super-duper sauce.

These are 250 ml jars (approximately 8.45 oz.) filled with dreams.

Here's the recipe I followed, which is super calculated and exact in all things. Also, a good recipe deserves a good name.

Rooty Tooty Fresh 'n Fruity Applesauce
- 5-6 apples 
- a couple squirts of lemon juice
- a smidge of sugar (no more than a 1/4 c.)
- a pinch of cinnamon

Peel apples, core, and cut into manageable slices. Put slices into a mixing bowl, and sprinkle lemon juice, cinnamon, and sugar onto apples. Mix together. Place contents in a pot, cover, and cook on low heat for 1 hour. When slices are easily destructible, either mash or blend, then store. 

Lemon juice cuts down on the richness of the applesauce, and also prevents the apple mush from getting very brown. I added very little sugar to the mix, and it turned out wonderful. It was probably closer to an 1/8 c., but depending on your apples you might need to add more. A teensy bit of cinnamon since H. is very sensitive about these things, and you're off! The interwebs said to use a potato masher to grind up the apples, but I'm much more advanced (lazy) so I used our Ninja blender. Pulsed those apples a couple of times, and BAM. Perfect applesauce. I did this while they were still piping hot, which I might not do next time. I don't want to stress out our Ninja with scalding hot apples.

Last night I made BLT Pasta. The recipe called for a pound of pasta, but there was no way the ratio of bacon, spinach and arugula, and onions to pasta was going to be any good. So I only used 3/4 lb., and went with the rest of the recipe.

Bacon for dinner? Yes, please.

BLT Pasta
- 3/4 lb. fun-shaped pasta
- 12 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 decent sized onion, diced
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 10 oz. spinach / arugula
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- grated Parmesan cheese, for topping
- croutons (optional)

Boil water for pasta, and heat pan for bacon. Start bacon once the pan is hot enough, and remove to a plate with a paper towel. Leave bacon fat in after each batch. Once water is boiling, add pasta. 

While bacon and pasta cook, dice the onion, halve the cherry tomatoes, and roughly cut the spinach/arugula into quarters. Once all of the bacon is cooked, remove some fat* and cook the onions and garlic in the remaining bacon fat. Chop the bacon into quarters. After onion has softened, lightly wilt the greens. Salt and pepper to taste.

Strain pasta, add a little butter, salt, garlic powder for taste. 

In a large bowl, mix everything together (including the tomatoes), and serve with Parmesan and croutons on top. 

* I used turkey bacon instead of the real deal. The brand that I bought gave off little excess fat, so I only took out a small amount before adding in the onions. The onions soak up all of that exquisite bacon flavor, and are the second best part of the meal (next to the actual bacon).

I didn't use the croutons - I forgot, and after thinking about it I don't think this meal needs any extra flavor or carbs. Also, our garlic was a little green on the inside, and didn't quite cook all the way through, so there were a few spicy moments during my meal. H. didn't notice at all, which goes to show he'll eat anything with bacon in it. Actually, he probably did notice and thought I put creole seasoning in it.

I will say that since there isn't any sauce element in this dish, I thought that it would be a little on the dry side. I was going to add a little more olive oil to the finished product, but thought better of it, and I didn't notice once I got started eating. If you want a more saucy pasta, I would recommend adding a bit of the starchy pasta water to the onion-spinach-garlic mix. But that's just a theory.

And while I'm modifying this recipe to pieces, I might as well add that next time I'm cooking the pasta in chicken broth. You know I'm flava flava-licious.

So there you have it. Step One in my 14-Day New Recipe Program. I found a website that has a slew of recipes that I'm dying to try (no really, I'm starving). The only catch is that the website has a membership service, and for now I'm on the 14-day free trial. I've cancelled the automatic steal-your-money membership, and have started saving some of the more interesting recipes. Tomorrow morning, we are having pigs in a blanket.

Now tell me that doesn't look divine.

H. requested that instead of hot dogs, we use bratwursts. That led to the idea of bratwursts for dinner tonight. I don't think I could have said yes fast enough.

Until the next post, I'm Chuck, signing off. Be kind to one another and eat your vegetables.

Uno Año Mas.

First annual birthday post! Somehow, I don't think I'll forget to post about my birthday from here on out, but someone remind me if I don't, eh?

Yesterday was my official birthday, and even though I had a pre-birthday party while H. and I were in Texas, I wanted to make a little cake for the occasion. I knew exactly what I wanted: a lemon-almond cake. Turns out a lot of almond cake recipes use almond paste or blanched almonds, but I didn't feel like running around outside on my birthday. I finally landed on this Swedish Almond Cake recipe and edited it to my liking (substituting 1/4 c. whole wheat flour for all purpose flour, using butter even though the commenters tell you not to, etc.) including adding some lemon juice drops to the batter. After baking and cooling, I iced it with whip cream and promptly took many pictures.

Oops! This is a pre-icing photo, complete with the box of chocolates
H. got me, and a flower that didn't quite make it into the vase.

The pie plate was the perfect thing to ice on.

We didn't have any candles, so I used a match.

A peek inside the cake!

I forgot to take a picture of a slice of cake. Well, I say "forgot", but it was really that I inhaled that slice like a good whiff of helium. The cake turned out light and fluffy, and the slight hint of lemon cut through the richness of the whip cream. In other words, super delish omg.

For two consecutive days it has rained after H. gets home from work. The first day there was a little rain and a lot of wind (50 mph), and yesterday there was a lot of rain and a little wind (30 mph). There were actually road closures this morning from all the rain last night, and we've got rain in the forecast for the next couple of days. That makes the temperature no higher than 100 degrees, and I am super excited about that. We might even go hiking if the temp stays in the 90s (maybe I should ask H. before I plan that).

Clouds cover the mountains. While we get rain, they get hail.

Pigeons huddled together to hide
from the rain.

On the news last night there was a story about a flower that opens once a year (and not necessarily every year), and if you wanted to see it in person you better get your hiney down to some place or other. I wanted to go, but I feel like these time lapse videos are a pretty good second since it was raining something major.

Cereus Time Lapse (professional)

Cereus Time Lapse (home-grown)

Such beautiful flowers! Although I don't think I could wait five years for one to bloom and possibly miss it overnight.

So far, I've gotten one rejection email from a hospital that I applied at. I'm not really all that down about it because (1) people kept telling me how awful looking for a job is, and (2) I didn't feel I was actually qualified for the job, but I applied anyways just to see. Coincidentally, H. got another call from some company that wanted to interview him for a job.

I've been diligently cleaning things up around here (more so than everyday stuff), and I finally got the desk all cleaned off. What better thing to do first than put flowers on it?

It will stay this clean forever (fingers crossed).

These birthday flowers that H. got me smell absolutely
divine. I never knew I loved the smell of eucalyptus!

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. 

One more quick update for you all - my wedding flowers are growing! Right now they're just in the green leafy stage, but upon closer inspection there are a couple different types of leaves, which means different flowers. Since we were gone for the 4th, they all started crawling along the dirt towards their light source, so I think it would be detrimental to them to turn around the window box at this stage. In short, they'll be crooked, but hopefully they'll still flower.

I thought there would be more,
but I'm happy with my little harvest.

One was smart enough to crawl over the edge of the box.
We'll call him Leo, as in Da Vinci.

Well, I think that about wraps up my birthday-day. I wish I didn't have to wait 364 days for the next one!

Nonessentials.

Blogger's been down the past couple of days. Which is good, because I had nothing to write about. It was a surprisingly slow week here - turns out if you plan your meals for the week you don't have to waste time going to the grocery store every other day. Speaking of meals, I recently made a lasagna that gave us three days worth of meals. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we ate lasagna. Okay, okay, maybe we had smoothies and waffles and french toast for breakfast. But the point is, here's my beautiful lasagna:

 

Things I learned from this lasagna: (a) don't put a Béchamel sauce into a lasagna because it just doesn't work; (b) any white wine you used in the first few steps of deglazing the beef-containing pan will stick around in the beef no matter what else you add, and will taste odd when everything is put together; (c) use more pasta sauce. While the end product was delicious, I wish I had thought about the pasta sauce before I cooked it. At least I've got experience for next time!

Oh, and you guys remember those Red Lobster biscuits that I made about a month or two ago? I made them again, and instead of real eggs I used egg substitute in an attempt to be healthier. The biscuits ended up flat and mushy, and I had to cook them for a ridiculous amount of time just to get the mush out. They weren't big and fluffy at all, but we'll still eat them because they are pretty darn delicious.

For dessert (read: anytime snack), we've been having spritz cookies.

 

I am aware that these are traditionally a Christmas cookie - or at least in my parents' house they are - but you have no idea how delicious these little guys are with just a little bit of sugar sprinkled on top. It's insane how addicting they are. It's also insane how many cookies the original recipe makes. Seven to eight dozen cookies. I had to halve it, then halve it again just to get a reasonable amount of cookies. Turns out if you quarterize it, you get exactly one tube's worth of cookie dough (here, tube refers to the tube in the actual cookie press). Very manageable, but you need 1/4 of an egg. Thus, the egg substitute.

Aaaaaaaand now I can't stop thinking about dessert-like things. I guess I'll just have to bore you with some super-cute recipes.

Mini Boston Cream Pies | Design*Sponge

How cute is that? And it looks like it would be super easy to make ... if you had nine arms and a ton of counter space. But I'm sure it tastes divine.

Pulled Pork Sandwich | Design*Sponge

No, this isn't dessert, but I dare you to tell me this doesn't look mouth-watering. Maybe it's the fact that there's no barbecue food out here, or maybe it's because I almost considered Jack In The Box and their new Bourbon BBQ Steak Sandwich for lunch. One day, when we're not living in an apartment that prohibits barbecue, I'm going to make the best darn pulled pork sandwiches ever to grace the desert.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls | Design*Sponge

These have a high degree of difficulty to make, which is enough to ward me off from actually attempting them. They do, however, remind me of the Thai restaurant nearby my parents' house that makes absolutely delectable spring rolls, accompanied by a peanut sauce that disappears fast.

Yes, it is lunchtime. Yes, I am going to go eat the rest of the lasagna and biscuits. No, I can't share any tasty things with you. Not until they invent smell-o-vision, that is.

Groovy.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I hope those flowers that H. sent you lasted until today. : ]

Before I get to the rest of this post, H. just showed me something that I think you will all enjoy. Especially if you've played Portal. (Someone show this to Dad!)

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming. 

I would like to point out that on the right-hand side of my blog there is now a section called "Labels", with a sub-heading of "Recipes". If you click on the word "Recipes", it will bring up any post I have written that contains a recipe. So have at it!

H. and I are getting into a groove with planning out what we'll eat for the week, then buying groceries to support those ideas. On the menu this week we have lasagna, pizza, and soup. Each of those should last for two days, excluding the pizza. We're gonna gobble that up.

I learned how easy it is to make french toast yesterday. Eggs + milk + vanilla + cinnamon = french toast. I thought it was loads harder than that! Turns out H. has a fondness for french toast that I didn't know about, but will now exploit. Recipe found here: French Toast Corners.

GO MAVS GO! I willingly accept that I might be a bandwagoner. I never really cheered for the Mavs before, although I never cheered for any basketball team before, either. Heck, I haven't even watched a full basketball game in my life. This is still true - I usually miss a couple minutes here and there of these play-off games. It's just not in my Em-Oh to watch an entire sports game unless it's the Rangers (swoon!). Or the Stars. Hockey makes for great entertainment. And I suppose I did watch an entire football game at some point. ... okay okay, so maybe I just don't want to watch a whole basketball game. It's the constant back-and-forth that gets me.

As I look at my Bookmarks Toolbar in Firefox, I see links to sites that I will probably never visit again. Looking at wedding websites just isn't fun anymore, now that I've experienced the best wedding evar, mine. I realize that I'm extremely biased, but so is everyone. Whenever I look at posts picturing other couples, I just don't get as excited as I used to. I suppose that's a good thing, but now I don't have a lot to occupy my time with in the apartment. Yes, I could clean for the eight or so hours that H. is at work, but who realistically wants to do that? If it weren't so hot outside, I might go for a walk or something. I will admit that I'm a little nervous being in the city alone, though. There isn't much crime around where we are, but you never know.

When I'm not looking for a job, or figuring out how to become a US Citizen (more on that story when I talk to the Social Security people), I would like to paint. I started sketching out those mountains, and I bet it's time to put brush to canvas. I need one picture of the mountains with the light that I sketched them in, and then I can be on my merry way. H. keeps asking when I'll finish that, too.

I cannot wait until I get some of those wedding favor wildflowers! My gladiolas are definitely dead, and while I'm a little sad that we couldn't make it work, I'm going to blame them for growing so tall. Would it have helped if I had staked them? Maybe a little, but I would have had to really take care of them to ensure that they never toppled over. This time, I'm picking non-fussy wildflower seeds. Those couldn't possibly grow to be as tall as gladiolas, right?

Oh that reminds me! Now that it's full-on springtime and the earth has moved slightly on its axis, we get the slightest bit of sun on our balcony. Not a huge achievement, but if I wanted to, I could plant something outside that loves shade and a little bit of sun. I hear direct sunlight is good for things that grow. Previous to this, the only sunlight we got was the early morning sun coming through the office window. We'd have sunlight for about three hours, and then nothing. And don't'cha'know, that little bit of sun heats up that room like a sauna? Even with the blinds drawn closed? It would be marvelous if I could put plants outside on our balcony and seal off that nasty, temperature-increasing sunlight. I'm thinking fitted sheet with an elastic outside seam to cover up that window. All of the heat would stay inside the sheet, wouldn't it? And I'm sure Walmart has a cheap sheet.

And if gardening on the balcony doesn't work, I could always do this:

"Kokedama" String Garden | Design*Sponge

Yeah, I don't really get how that works, either. How does the dirt not end up on your floor? Well, at least it looks fancy. Probably smells like earth, too.

Have a great Mother's Day!

Quiche Capiche.

Before I get to the happy-go-lucky stuff, I need to get something off my chest. From those brilliant minds of yours, pull out the memory of me entering in this DIY contest over on a wedding website. Turns out they only showed entries made by professional photographers, the website's vendors, or their blog's internet friends. I'm mostly pissed off about the fact that they made it sound like they would include their readers in the contest. My mistake. I guess I have to have an Etsy shop for veil headpieces or something to even be considered. Whatever. At least I'm not so stupid as to enter a wedding favor that consists of making a CD of music you would have to buy on iTunes and distributing it as a thank you. Copyright infringement much?

Aaaaaaaaaaaanyways. I initially wanted to post about my super secret bridesmaids gift project, but that's all I'm going to tell you. HA! They're a secret, people! I will tell you that I had a little bit of trouble with the first one, but I got the hang of it, and then the others weren't that bad. I'm really selling these gifts, aren't I? Well, I'll give you the Chuck Guarantee that they're super cool.

It's hard not to lose hope over these gladiolas that won't bud. I read online that they'll start budding around 90 days, and it's only been around 60 days, but when I told the florist that I was trying to grow them out here she laughed at me, then apologized and explained that they probably won't get enough sun. I am going to politely disagree, but then again, she does work with flowers for a living. At the very least, the air in the apartment is getting filtered.

Troubles with the hotel representative abound! Here's a shorthand of what we talked about.

"So I'm buying (x) dollars of wine from the hotel for the day-of."
"Oh, okay. I'll take that out of the (y) amount that you are spending to rent the room."
"That sounds great!"

I thought she meant (y) - (x) = an amount smaller than (y). When I was talking to H. about this interaction, he pointed out she probably meant that the wine will be included in the price to rent the room, leaving me with just (y). I tried calling her today, but didn't get an answer back (shocking, I know). I'll call her again next week and figure out the price of the room, plus what exactly $300 worth of a "sound system" entails. I would like for it to include more than two speakers, plus a hookup so we can play music off of an iPod or iPhone or something. But you can't always get what you want.

Food time! I made a kickass quiche for dinner yesterday. I really wanted to dig into it for lunch today, but instead had a tuna salad sandwich. The best part about this quiche is it doesn't have a crust. It's crustless! I found the recipe on this website, which seems to have nothing to do with the rest of that blog but whatevs. I accept your fantastic quiche despite your boring blog! But seriously, the best part is probably the cheese at the bottom. I thought you had to put a decent amount on so that it would form the "crust", but you really don't. Unless you want to eat heaven. The quiche I made included colby jack cheese, mushrooms, fully-cooked smoked sausage, chopped spinach (previously frozen), and green onions. Lemme tell ya - definitely substitute a regular onion for green onions. Those things really made it special. I followed the egg filling part to the letter, but I didn't understand why you had to melt the butter if you were just going to add cold milk to the bowl next. I was worried that the little lumps of butter that didn't mix would ruin the quiche, but my fears were unfounded. It is the best quiche ah ever dun made. It's also the first quiche ah ever dun made. I might upload a photo of it tomorrow before my belly claims it.

Currently, the Rangers are beating the Yankees 5 to 2. Also, we broke the Yankees record for the number of double plays they grounded into - the record is now six. Six! Six times the Yankees hit into a double play tonight! Very exciting baseball, if you ask me.

Don't tell Dad I said this, but Russell Brand is actually funny. If you're unsure about who I'm referring to, Russell Brand is this dude.

Completely weird and weird and British but also kooky. He kind of gives me the heeby-jeebies just looking at him. He is also Katy Perry's husband (yeah, wow). Today, he was on the Rachael Ray show, and as I sat there in my workout clothes wondering why the heck he was invited to her seemingly A-class show, something suddenly happened. I laughed! I can't find a video of him on the show, but trust me, he was honestly funny. I promise you I laughed more than once out loud, not just a chuckle either. I'm willing to give him a second chance.

That's all for tonight. Time to make tilapia!

Top Secret.

What I am about to tell you is highly confidential. Even NASA doesn't know about this. If questioned by the CIA, your response will be, "I know nothing of the sort", using a British accent. It makes you sound smart.

Alright. Here it is.

Nutella Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting. Oh my goodness. I need to find me some Nutella before everyone starts snatching them up. I certainly hope they're available in the desert. But seriously, this recipe makes me want to buy a muffin tin and a thousand little spring-colored cupcake liners.

One more day before the weekend. Oh how I love Fridays!

Lobsters & Lace

I tried out a new recipe last night, something called Cheese and Herb Puffs off of Rachel Ray's website. Instead of making thirty or so teeny tiny little puffs, I just spooned a good amount onto baking sheets, making about twelve of them. Little did I know that they would really really puff up in the oven.

H. and I ate two a piece last night, and even though it ruined our dinner, it was totally worth it! I'm trying to go easy on them today, because otherwise H. won't have anything for dinner tonight. Mwahaha. I'm definitely positively absolutely fur shur that these are the biscuits at Red Lobster, by the way. Actually, these are lighter and fluffier than their biscuits, which makes them awesomer.

Speaking of awesomer, on one of the wedding blogs I look at for ideas of what not to do what to do at our upcoming wedding, I found this drop dead gorgeous lace-inspired cake.

Wedding Photo Shoot by Sedona Wedding Studio

It doesn't even have any flowers! I'm imagining asking for this on my cake would result in upping the price by about a hundred dollars, but it is pretty to look at, isn't it? I thought I would have a problem with the half-layers in between the lace layers, but somehow I don't.

This next cake has a lace detail that is a little harder to see at first, but I like the idea of impression in cake frosting.

An Eclectic Chicago Wedding

Without the flower, and with a different color of band around the cake (dusty pink, perhaps?), this would be a super pretty cake. I like the subtle detail, and I wonder if this would be less expensive than piping, since all the cake baker has to do is press lace up against the frosting and make an impression. Amirite or amirite?

I cannot wait for Spring to officially arrive on Sunday!

Bouquet Finalists (Also, Dessert!)

In the neverending search for the most fantastic wedding flowers, I believe we have a couple winners in the bunch. I know I've already posted these, but here they are all in one post for easy referencing.

1. Light pink bouquet. This contestant features some sort of flower in wonderful shades of pink and orange and purple, and prefers long walks on the beach.Why yes indeed there are some roses tucked in there, although I think an all whatever-this-flower-is bouquet would be very lovely, as the different shades provide lots of life to this arrangement.

2. Orange bouquet. This contestant features its use of multiple types of flowers (dahlias, succulents, those little beady things) as well as a range of colors. To the question of whether I want succulents, I don't mind them, but I don't want them all over the place either. I'm coming from the desert where we have cacti all over the place here, and I want actual flowers for my wedding. I have heard that dahlias are on the expensive side, so if we chose this color of bouquet, we might have a different flower as the main attraction.

3. Sweet pea bouquet. I love love love this bouquet. Maybe it's the flower itself, maybe it's the color, and maybe it's the fact that it's a nice small bouquet and nothing too huge. I would really like to know the price for an all sweet pea bouquet, and I hope that it isn't extremely expensive.

4. Pale bouquet. Originally, I wanted to have this lovely dusty pink bouquet, but now I think I would rather have the pop of color. What I do like about this bouquet, though, are the little wisps of grass coming out from underneath the bouquet. So I guess my question as far as pricing goes is how much would it cost to have a little green in the bouquet?

So the final order of the flower finalists will be 1, 3, 2, 4. (I would go back and edit it, but I think it would be more trouble than it's worth.) Once we get the prices on these guys, it'll be nice to finally have that piece of budget information.

And now for some dessert table inspiration.

White chocolate dipped marshmallows with colorful sprinkles. Brilliant! And how easy would that be to do? Superbly easy.

If this recipe was a little simpler, I would definitely want these cute dudes at the reception. White chocolate raspberry tarts, people. Delicioso.

So I figure it's only fair to show you guys what I would like to accomplish in a dessert table for the wedding. I haven't quite decided yet if I want the cake on the table, or if the cake should go on its own table, but here's an image that's close to what I'm envisioning.

 

If we keep the cake on the table, it should go in the middle, and then we have lovely desserts on various trays or platforms around it. There could also be those lovely fabric pomanders hanging above/behind the table. I think for clarity we should put either one sign with a list of everything on it or individual smaller signs (like in the picture) of the desserts, so that anyone with an allergy can be aware of what's in the desserts.

And that's that! Have a nice night!

I Love Superpowers

I caught a really great break yesterday. I received a phone call from a photography business representative - he was calling to tell me that I had won their monthly drawing, that I had won the third prize. I figured it was a scam, so I asked what company I registered with for the drawing, and he said the Davids Bridal in Frisco. Well, you can't get very much more specific than that, so I asked him what I had won. He replied that I had won $500 worth of services towards three separate companies ($500 each); towards a DJ, towards a videographer, and towards his photography business. He was genuinely surprised that I hadn't been notified by any of the other companies yet, and asked if I received the letter in the mail with the details about the prize. Would you guys mind checking if I received anything from Davids Bridal or Epic Photography?

I talked with someone from the DJ company, and they told me that the package that best suits ~50 people is $700 for the event (they don't do hourly rates). He also mentioned that the Hilton is on their preferred vendors list, which means $125 comes off of the original price, bringing our total to $575. H. suggested that I not mention the winnings until he had quoted me a price, just so they wouldn't give me the most expensive package. The man will hold the date until Tuesday, and then I'll receive a phone call from either him or their event planner to answer any other questions I have, as well as book the date if I would like to use their company. Essentially, we're getting a DJ for $75. And, their services that he listed sound extremely useful.

• We can create a Playlist for the DJ. Any song we want that they don't already have, they will purchase for us. Or, if we're less controlling, we can just let the DJ roam free with the music (using pre-approved themes like the 90s or 2000's or whatevs).
• We can create a Do Not Play List. Whichever songs we absolutely do not want being played at the reception (he used the chicken dance as an example), the DJ will politely decline to play if any guest requests it. "Sorry, ma'am, I must have left that at the office. Would you like to request something else?"
• No travel expenses, no setup fees, no tear-down fees, no tips. 
• They provide lighting, if we would like a certain mood or setting on the dance floor.

I'm seriously considering booking this company for the event. Their website is ridiculous to try and work through, but the email that the guy sent me has a list of all the awards/honors they received over the past couple years. They sound really reputable, and I can even tell the DJ to be all low-key and in the background, and not be one of those obnoxious loud DJ's that are in the movies.

Now for some pictures! I found a really cute idea that I'd like to try for the reception - these guys could hang from the ceiling in groups of two's or just by themselves, with different colors and sizes.

All it takes is some fabric, hot glue, and a paper Chinese lantern. The Paper Lantern Store has super good prices on the lanterns, has different sizes available, and the shipping is just $8. I'd have to see the space to know how many we'd use, but if we do one every couple of feet or whatever, then we shouldn't need more than ten per row. Alternatively, we could just have a few behind the wedding couple table, or we could put them at the entrance to where all the people will come in, or we can put them around the guest book area, or around the food area. Lots of ideas!

Instead of attaching the large pom poms to the ceiling, we could make a mini pom pom garland, and string that along the ceiling.

The only beef I have is that the last step uses thread to string them all together. I don't know how expensive thread is, but I've read a number of other DIY tutorials for various hanging things, and they use fishing line. It's clear, works like string, but best of all, it's strong - something I don't think thread would be when all these flowers are attached. But that's just me.

I'm considering having a dessert bar at the reception. Something that the guests can munch on before we present the cake. I haven't decided yet if we should ask the caterer to do it (I can't find a list of the desserts they offer), or if we should just go ahead and do this ourselves. If we baked things ourselves, we would need to freeze the desserts until the day of, and then just let them thaw out the night before or morning of. H.'s dad makes a mean chocolate covered peanut butter ball, and his brother makes a delicious Oreo ball. Those can easily be frozen and kept for over a week.

This recipe for Kahlua Truffle Triangles looks particularly appetizing. And the recipe claims that you can make these guys up to a month in advance.

So here's the deal - when I come back in April, I'd like to try out this Kahlua recipe and this Cheesecake Factory recipe, see how much it costs to make them, see how they taste, and decide whether or not to let the caterer do this aspect of the wedding as well. Alternatively to the cheesecake recipe, we could just buy those little cheesecake squares from Costco and set them out nicely.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Hope the snow finally goes away for you guys!