1. I got free air for my tire that I thought was just low due to the cold coldness.
2. When I realized the problem with my tire was indeed a, leak the tire place fixed them for free.
3. I was right in front of the tire place when my check engine light went on.
4. They were able to diagnose the engine problem at the tire place.
5. My car isn't going to blow up if I drive it while I wait for the parts to come in.
6. Car repairs are cheaper than a new car payment.
7. Blockette was super well behaved at the "car doctor"
8. The folks where I got my car looked at were really awesome and let Blockette look at the car when it was up on the lift.
9. coupons. (I love coupons!)
10. a major save on a dessert disaster (I'll blog more about that later.)
11. steady paychecks
12. Finishing another Christmas gift project.
13. Finding a gift for Blockette that was seemingly impossible to find.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Cran Sausage Stuffing Revisited
I made my favorite cranberry sausage stuffing this year for Thanksgiving. Even though I've posted this recipe before, I thought it was worth mentioning again considering the few tweeks I made this year.First, I used whole wheat hot dog buns. I froze them and defrosted them to help in their drying process. I also popped them in the toaster, to get them crispy. I only left them in for a short time, not long enough to brown them. Hot dog buns have a tendency to be on the gummy side and this really helped alleviate that problem. If you like gummy stuffing then that is not an issue for you. Me, I'd rather lick the bottom of the inside of my garbage can.
Second, I used white grape juice instead of red. It is very hard to find "Red" grape juice. Most grape juice is purple. I don't even know why the recipe specifies red grape juice. Well I had some white grape juice, (made from concentrate) and I figured I'd give that a try. It took longer for the liquid to reduce, but I think it tasted better than the red stuff that wasn't from concentrate. Easier, cheaper and tastier? A triple win!
Finally, I used cherry flavored cranberries instead of the normal kind. Yeah. Do this. It makes the whole dish even better. It was a total accident. I thought I had bought the plain kind. A very happy accident that I will repeat from now on.
Also I made a full batch and made it in a 9x13 pan. If you like gummy (gag) stuffing cook it in a smaller dish. The thinner you can get the stuffing, the crisper and yummier it will be. Now don't misunderstand what I'm saying, the bread was not so crisp that they were croutons. The bread was just slightly crisp. Like lightly toasted bread. Cook it how you like it though. I won't give you any grief...unless it is gummy stuffing...then I will make the noise that a cat makes when it is hacking up a fur ball.
A final note...reason 4, 063 that my daughter is an alien from another planet. At thanksgiving she said, "Mommy this stuffing is OK but the stuff we had at church was better. " I asked and they had stove top...gummy stove top. :::shudder::: Alien. From. Another. Planet.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Fennel, Apple and Radicchio Slaw
This is the salad I made for Thanksgiving. I am so behind that maybe I will have Thanksgiving stuff posted before Christmas....then again...maybe not. Anyhow The recipe comes from a blog called What Would Cathy Eat.Mrblocko agreed that this is more slaw like than a salad. Maybe because when you slice up the radicchio it looks like shredded red cabbage. Radicchio tastes nothing like red cabbage. Radicchio is very bitter. I always forget this.
The salad was almost too bitter for us. All three of us were very unsure whether or not we actually liked the salad. Then, I had a brilliant idea. Raisins. Raisins totally saved this salad. Their sweetness really offset the bitterness of the radicchio. I don't have an exact amount for the raisins. I just sprinkled a few on top of our individual portions.
Because it was only three of us eating this huge salad, we were sick of it by the time it was gone. (In fact, I distinctly recall both Mrblocko and Blockette cheering when I dished out the last bowl for myself.) I did poll the family and they agreed that they would eat it as a side dish again. Next time I will add about a teaspoon of sugar to the dressing , and saute the shallots. I think this will also help cut the bitterness. Besides raisins, I think dried pineapple or mango flavored pineapple would also be tasty. I might give those dried fruits a try next time as well.
Fennel, Radicchio and Apple Salad from What Would Cathy Eat
1 medium head radicchio, cored and thinly sliced
1 large or two small fennel bulbs, sliced paper thin with a mandoline, fronds reserved
1 large crisp, sweet apple (such as Cortland or Gala), unpeeled, thinly sliced with a mandoline
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (use a gluten-free variety if you are gluten sensitive)
1 small shallot, finely minced
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Combine the radicchio, fennel and apple in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, shallot, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Pour half of dressing over veg and stir to combine. Taste, and gradually add more dressing until it’s to your liking. Garnish with fennel fronds and pecans. Serves 4-6
Monday, December 6, 2010
Crock pot Mashed Potatoes
I don't know what happened to the photo of my mashed potatoes. I could have sworn that I uploaded it. Nope and silly me, I deleted all the thanksgiving pictures from my camera. Wasn't that smart?
If any picture from thanksgiving were to get accidentally deleted, I'm glad it was only this one. The potatoes didn't look any different than any other mashed potatoes. They were just a bowl of creamy starchy goodness.
These potatoes turned out a bit runnier than I prefer, but that may have been because I had to bump up the cooking from low to high in order to insure that the potatoes were mashable by the time the rest of the food was done. I still can't figure out how the turkey wound up fully cooked a full hour ahead of what it should have been.
Even though the potatoes weren't "stick your spoon in the bowl and have it stand up on it's own" thick I didn't hear any complaints from the peanut gallery. The leftovers, and this recipe makes a lot of mashed potatoes, were eaten up happily. At one point I commented that Blockette, who has never expressed an interest in mashed potatoes, was scraping the last bits of potato off her plate with her fork. She replied, "Yeah, I like these potatoes mom. I just don't like the potatoes at IKEA." Um. OK. A weird reply, especially since we've only eaten at IKEA once. Then again, if you know my kid, she is a weird one. (Yeah, I know, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.)
This recipe was chosen specifically because it was prepared in the crock pot. I didn't want to have to do a lot of babysitting in the kitchen over thanksgiving, and I figured a dump and go recipe would be an awesome way to do that. It was. I'll make these again for a big meal where lots of dishes are being made on the stove at the same time. It's a great way to free up a burner so all your food can arrive warm on the table.
The recipe can be found over at lynn's kitchen adventures.
p.s.I wasn't going to say anything, but I've changed my mind at the last minute. Someone commented over at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures sort of poo-pooed this recipe. They complained that the potatoes looked lumpy and that the sour cream and cream cheese took away from the natural flavor of the potatoes. My reply to that is, so use a hand mixer to blend the potatoes so they are smooth, and omit the sour cream and cream cheese. I don't know anyone who can get smooth mashed potatoes without an electric beater. I happen to like lumpy mashed potatoes. I also like my potatoes with sour cream. Yes, the calorie count is high with this recipe, but this is not an every day sort of recipe, and Lynn never claims this to be a "healthy" recipe. If you want "healthy" mashed potatoes, don't add anything and swap out half the potatoes for cauliflower.
Crockpot Mashed Potatoes from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures
6-8 potatoes
1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth
¾ cup milk
½ cup sour cream
4 ounces cream cheese
Peel potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch chunks. Place potatoes in a crockpot with chicken broth and milk. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until potatoes are tender. When potatoes are tender mash well with sour cream and cream cheese.
If any picture from thanksgiving were to get accidentally deleted, I'm glad it was only this one. The potatoes didn't look any different than any other mashed potatoes. They were just a bowl of creamy starchy goodness.
These potatoes turned out a bit runnier than I prefer, but that may have been because I had to bump up the cooking from low to high in order to insure that the potatoes were mashable by the time the rest of the food was done. I still can't figure out how the turkey wound up fully cooked a full hour ahead of what it should have been.
Even though the potatoes weren't "stick your spoon in the bowl and have it stand up on it's own" thick I didn't hear any complaints from the peanut gallery. The leftovers, and this recipe makes a lot of mashed potatoes, were eaten up happily. At one point I commented that Blockette, who has never expressed an interest in mashed potatoes, was scraping the last bits of potato off her plate with her fork. She replied, "Yeah, I like these potatoes mom. I just don't like the potatoes at IKEA." Um. OK. A weird reply, especially since we've only eaten at IKEA once. Then again, if you know my kid, she is a weird one. (Yeah, I know, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.)
This recipe was chosen specifically because it was prepared in the crock pot. I didn't want to have to do a lot of babysitting in the kitchen over thanksgiving, and I figured a dump and go recipe would be an awesome way to do that. It was. I'll make these again for a big meal where lots of dishes are being made on the stove at the same time. It's a great way to free up a burner so all your food can arrive warm on the table.
The recipe can be found over at lynn's kitchen adventures.
p.s.I wasn't going to say anything, but I've changed my mind at the last minute. Someone commented over at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures sort of poo-pooed this recipe. They complained that the potatoes looked lumpy and that the sour cream and cream cheese took away from the natural flavor of the potatoes. My reply to that is, so use a hand mixer to blend the potatoes so they are smooth, and omit the sour cream and cream cheese. I don't know anyone who can get smooth mashed potatoes without an electric beater. I happen to like lumpy mashed potatoes. I also like my potatoes with sour cream. Yes, the calorie count is high with this recipe, but this is not an every day sort of recipe, and Lynn never claims this to be a "healthy" recipe. If you want "healthy" mashed potatoes, don't add anything and swap out half the potatoes for cauliflower.
Crockpot Mashed Potatoes from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures
6-8 potatoes
1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth
¾ cup milk
½ cup sour cream
4 ounces cream cheese
Peel potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch chunks. Place potatoes in a crockpot with chicken broth and milk. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until potatoes are tender. When potatoes are tender mash well with sour cream and cream cheese.
Friday, December 3, 2010
A Special Friday post, just for Chad! Roasted Applesauce
Don't you feel special Chad? This post is just for You! I heard your applesauce turned brown. (Which I guess is better than red if you don't like monkey brains. And really in this crazy Zombie laden world, who doesn't?)
Anyhow...I happened across this recipe where the apples are roasted. The recipe comes from a blog called Southern Fried Curry and the photo on her site shows a more applesauce colored result.
Here is what my version looks like:
See...no brown or red applesauce! Roasting the apples exposes them to a higher heat and less time for the apples to oxidize and brown. This time the applesauce looked the same color as the stuff in the jar.
Cooking the apples in the oven will give you a chunkier applesauce than it's crockpot cousin.
Normally, I'm not a fan of chunky applesauce, but this stuff was really tasty. I suppose if I was really ambitious I could have run it through a food mill. We all know I'm not ambitious, I'm lazy. Besides I don't have a food mill. Even if you think you don't like chunky applesauce give this recipe a try in it's chunky state. Chances are, if I like it, so will you.
The recipe is rather vague with measurements. I used 1 T lemon juice and 2 T white sugar along with 10 smallish apples (gala and Fuji). I did not add salt or 5 spice powder. After I took the picture I did add copious amounts of cinnamon, and it did turn light brown. However, I add the same amount of cinnamon to the jarred stuff and it turns the same color.
There is only one down side to this recipe. The house just doesn't get that same wonderful aroma as when it's made in the crockpot. It makes sense though. When you cook the apples in the crockpot they are in there with all their spicy friends, releasing all kinds of delicious smells in the heat.
Roasted Applesauce from Southern Fried Curry
Oil, for greasing pan
8 apples, halved and cored (keep skins on)
Sugar, or honey, to taste
Lemon juice, to taste
Dash of salt
¼ to ½ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder (Taste first before adding more. A little goes a long way.)
Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a large sheet pan with a neutral-flavored oil. Halve lengthwise and core eight apples, leaving the skins intact. Arrange the apples cut side down on your baking sheet, and place the sheet on the rack in the center of your oven. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or long enough for the apples to start browning on the cut surface. (This is the delicious caramelization that you want.)
Remove apples from oven, and using an offset spatula remove them from the pan onto a plate to let them cool. Once apples have cooled, use a large spoon to scrape the apples out of their skins into a bowl. Mash the apples with a fork to desired texture. Add and mix in sugar or honey, lemon juice (usually just a generous squirt is needed), salt, and five-spice powder as desired. Or just be normal and add cinnamon – your sauce will fail to be anything but delicious. This sauce freezes well.
Anyhow...I happened across this recipe where the apples are roasted. The recipe comes from a blog called Southern Fried Curry and the photo on her site shows a more applesauce colored result.
Here is what my version looks like:
See...no brown or red applesauce! Roasting the apples exposes them to a higher heat and less time for the apples to oxidize and brown. This time the applesauce looked the same color as the stuff in the jar.Cooking the apples in the oven will give you a chunkier applesauce than it's crockpot cousin.
Normally, I'm not a fan of chunky applesauce, but this stuff was really tasty. I suppose if I was really ambitious I could have run it through a food mill. We all know I'm not ambitious, I'm lazy. Besides I don't have a food mill. Even if you think you don't like chunky applesauce give this recipe a try in it's chunky state. Chances are, if I like it, so will you.
The recipe is rather vague with measurements. I used 1 T lemon juice and 2 T white sugar along with 10 smallish apples (gala and Fuji). I did not add salt or 5 spice powder. After I took the picture I did add copious amounts of cinnamon, and it did turn light brown. However, I add the same amount of cinnamon to the jarred stuff and it turns the same color.
There is only one down side to this recipe. The house just doesn't get that same wonderful aroma as when it's made in the crockpot. It makes sense though. When you cook the apples in the crockpot they are in there with all their spicy friends, releasing all kinds of delicious smells in the heat.
Roasted Applesauce from Southern Fried Curry
Oil, for greasing pan
8 apples, halved and cored (keep skins on)
Sugar, or honey, to taste
Lemon juice, to taste
Dash of salt
¼ to ½ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder (Taste first before adding more. A little goes a long way.)
Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a large sheet pan with a neutral-flavored oil. Halve lengthwise and core eight apples, leaving the skins intact. Arrange the apples cut side down on your baking sheet, and place the sheet on the rack in the center of your oven. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or long enough for the apples to start browning on the cut surface. (This is the delicious caramelization that you want.)
Remove apples from oven, and using an offset spatula remove them from the pan onto a plate to let them cool. Once apples have cooled, use a large spoon to scrape the apples out of their skins into a bowl. Mash the apples with a fork to desired texture. Add and mix in sugar or honey, lemon juice (usually just a generous squirt is needed), salt, and five-spice powder as desired. Or just be normal and add cinnamon – your sauce will fail to be anything but delicious. This sauce freezes well.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Thankful Thursday 39
1. Christmas decorations are up.
2. I've got 90% of my Christmas shopping done. (I love Cyber Monday!)
3. One of Blockette's school friends is going to test out our church.
4. At least Blockette listens to me, even if Mrblocko doesn't. (I think he follows the school of thought that the stop signs with the white borders are optional.)
5. I portioned up and froze the rest of the turkey for use in other meals. (We were getting sick of Thanksgiving leftovers!)
6. Got to see my youngest nephew.
7. Blockette did an awesome job reading with Mrblocko for lighting the Advent calendar. (I was afraid she was going to be in one of her defiant moods...like the one she is in at this very moment.)
8. It's snowing and making everything beautiful and December-y.
9. I'm making great progress on my Christmas crafts. I may even finish early this year!(fingers crossed)
10. Mrblocko washed the breakfast dishes and took Blockette to school this morning so I could go to the grocery store and get some stuff done before Blockette came home from Kindergarten. Yay!
2. I've got 90% of my Christmas shopping done. (I love Cyber Monday!)
3. One of Blockette's school friends is going to test out our church.
4. At least Blockette listens to me, even if Mrblocko doesn't. (I think he follows the school of thought that the stop signs with the white borders are optional.)
5. I portioned up and froze the rest of the turkey for use in other meals. (We were getting sick of Thanksgiving leftovers!)
6. Got to see my youngest nephew.
7. Blockette did an awesome job reading with Mrblocko for lighting the Advent calendar. (I was afraid she was going to be in one of her defiant moods...like the one she is in at this very moment.)
8. It's snowing and making everything beautiful and December-y.
9. I'm making great progress on my Christmas crafts. I may even finish early this year!(fingers crossed)
10. Mrblocko washed the breakfast dishes and took Blockette to school this morning so I could go to the grocery store and get some stuff done before Blockette came home from Kindergarten. Yay!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Project #17 Poem Cross stitch
Oof. Well this guy is finished. I made it as a present for my best friend to give to her mom. The poem has many layers of meaning within their family, and the cross stitch has multi-generational symbolism to it.I don't know why this cross stitch gave me so much trouble. The stitching was the easy part. It was the charting and planning that was the difficult part. I think my area of expertise lies in the stitching and not the designing of cross stitch.
The cross stitch is huge...about 10x16 inches. I tried to make it as small as I could but it is a long poem so there wasn't much control over the size.
The flowers are from a book called Stitching Pretty. The flowers in the original pattern were pinky purple, but I changed them blue to fit the requested theme better. The flowers are probably my favorite part of the whole design.
I'm not 100% satisfied with how this turned out and I can't figure out why. Separately, I think the font, the layout, and color scheme look ok, but once they went from paper to fabric I started to like it less and less. I'm hoping this is only because the design is not my style. My best friend assures me that it IS her mom's style and she will love it. All I can say is she better...or I'm gonna shake my fist menacingly at her.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)