Easter's On the Way!

Easter is nearing! Spring is almost here!

I'm considering offering to host an  Easter lunch for my hubby's family. Last year it seemed as if there was a lot of hurt and confusion as to who was invited to what so if we host that means I'm committed to inviting a large amount of people into our small apartment. I know not everyone would come but I want everyone to feel welcome.

On my break today I started brainstorming recipe ideas for either an Easter brunch or lunch. To jump start my thinking, I text ed my family and friends and asked (the obviously poorly phrased):

What foods do you think of when you think of Easter?

The responses:

My little sister: Reese eggs! (Yum-O!)
And after clarification: Ham and Au Gratin Potatoes or Potato Salad

Lyric: Deviled eggs, mac n cheese, black eyed peas

K10: Eggs, ham, white cake

Banana: Eggs. Marshmallows. Pastel sweets
To which I replied: Sounds great. We'll have scrambled eggs, marshmallows and lavendar cake.

I guess I should have clarified that I was looking for menu ideas.

What are your favorite Easter dishes? Would you rather cook/eat a lunch or brunch?

The Ma'am Controversy

What you talking 'bout Willis?

Let me 'splain.

There seems to be some confusion up here about the word "Ma'am". People seem to think its an insult, being the opposite of "Miss".  I overheard a co-worker say she feels old when someone calls her "Ma'am".  I can see where they might be confused. But it ain't so.


Naw.

"Ma'am" is a designation of  respect, and when used in a certain tone of voice, among friends, it is a term of endearment.

Now, if I were to get short and snippy, and THEN refer to you as "Ma'am", thats an insult but not the kind you think it is. I'm trying to insult you while still remaining within the limits of polite society. I'm not calling you old, but a witch.

Even though you might be.

But thats not the everyday usage.

In the everyday sense, the word "Ma'am" does not convey age, but authority, position, rank or simply respect.

It's not a four letter word. Except technically.

It's not "Yes Miss", until you reach a certain age or can no longer deny your "wrinkleyness". Its "Ma'am", as soon as someone feels the urge to show you respect, whether it be a child or a customer-service oriented cashier.

I've been called "yes ma'am", since I was around eleven or twelve.

AND I LIKE IT!

And if you don't, well, maybe you should spend some time down in God's Country....

You know, down below the Mason-Dixon line :)






(I see I'm not alone. Check out this cute t-shirt.)

Cooking Through Christmas

I bought this awesome Christmas themed cookbook from Taste of Home for $10.

They are a ton of great recipes...some new takes on old favorites and others new altogether to me. I've compiled a list of recipes I want to try. I've numbered them and plan on testing as many as I can. I've chosen the first one: Date Swirl Cookies! The recipe follows below. If you'd like to pick the next one I test be the first to comment with a number from 1-329. There are a few other recipes I will post but you can chose the next to be made.

I didn't get a picture because they flew off the table at work.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups pitted dates, chopped
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 cupss all purpouse flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:

In a saucepan, combine dates, 1/4 cup sugar, water, nuts and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirr constantly until thick. Let cool.

Beat butter, brown sugar, egg , egg and remaining sugar. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Chil for half hour.

Roll dough on a floured surface into a 1/4 in thick rectangle. Spread with date mixture. Start at the long end and roll up like a jelly roll.

Wrap with waxed paper, chill for at least 4 hours.

Remove paper and slice (1/8-1/4 inch). Place on a greased baking sheet, around 2 inches apart.

Bake 375F for 8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack

Made 3-4 dozen.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes for Breast Cancer Awarness

We had a "Pink" themed bake sale at work. The money raised went to a breast cancer patient. We also had a dress down day where we could wear jeans and pink for $5 and that money also goes along to the patient.

I made these pink lemondae cupcakes from a lemon sponge cake recipe and topped them with sprinkles, almond crunch and toasted coconut chips (Dang brand, I think you can get them at Wally World. They are super yummy!)

 

 

Its' begining to look a lot like Christmas...in my kitchen!

I love baking.
And Christmas baking is the best. Because it allows me to use my passion to celebtate the birth of our Savior.

I've made Paula Dean's Ooey Gooey Buter Cookies for the cookie exchange at work and got some tasty goodies in return, including mini-gobs and caramel apple oatmeal cookies the size of my FACE.

Saturday night I made these super-cute reindeer cupcakes with red hots and pretzels:

 

And now I'm off to make a confetti cake!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....at work!

I work at a fabulous place owned by a really great Christian man. We had a door decorating contest between the four departments. My department went with a gingerbread house....and we tied for first place. Check it out

 

This is our gingerbread house! Its decorated with real candy and snacks.

 

Inside we set a Christmas scene, complete with a fire with real wood!

If you peek in the window you will see our family portrait that hangs above the fireplace.

'Twas The Night of Christmas

Last night was my girls' night in "Favorite Things" Christmas Party. We hada great time and I'll share more details about the party in my next post. But for now I want to share a little poem that I wrote to include in the favor bag.

‘Twas the Night Of Christmas

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

‘Twas the night of Christmas and all through the house,

 all the creatures were reverent, even the mouse.
 The baby was swaddled and tucked in with care,
 and the angels rejoiced that the Christ-child was now there.

A long journey it had been,

from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
On the back of a little old donkey, slowly rode Mary.
Though a virgin, the Son of Man, she did carry.

She was soon due,

but the rooms available were few.

The only refuge to be found was with the animals and hay.

The sign of a star, hung high in the sky, gave the objects below the luster of midday.

The shepherds traveled far from their beds,
while visions of angels and a Savior, danced in their heads.

The wise men also journeyed from afar,

sent out by King Herod, they followed the star.

Out on the street, there arose such a clatter,

Joseph sprang from his watch to see what was the matter.
The shepherds and Magi arrived to worship the newborn King.
Gifts of myrrh, frankincense, and gold, they did bring.

 

They played their harps and sang   
praises that proclaimed His mighty name.
Then the shepherds set out again,
to spread the good news to other men.

 

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Pretty Pots

My mother is an avid gardner so for Christmas I thought it would be nice to make her some pretty pots. I found inspiration on Pinterest. I got the idea HERE, and the below picture is  one of her examples.

I bought pots in three different sizes and sprayed them inside and out with clear acrylic sealer so that the pots can be used outdoors. I started with the smallest post and used outdoor modpode to glue the fabric on. I then pleated the fabic at the tops and bottoms of the pots so that it would lay flat. I mopodged the completed pots to make the fabric hard and water resistant. I also made sure that the pots' drainage holes remained uncovered.  I think they turned out cute!

 

The smallest pot was the hardest for me because there was so  much  extra fabric and it was causing what was glued down to wrinke. The second one I sat in my lap and rolled the fabric aorund it on a diagonal. I ran out of fabric 2about 3 centimeters early so I just cut a strip out of th extra fabric and overlapped it. For the third pot, I tried sittong it on the table. I modpodged a section and then wrapped the fabric, and went around section by section. This seemed to work the best. at the end I cut off  the surplus fabric at the top and then what was left around the inside of the pot. By the time I'd done the third pot I'd really gotten the hand of it and wished I had more pots to do!

Hershey Here We Come! Yum!

We went to Hershey this weekend for our anniversary getaway (although our anniversary isn't technically for a couple more  weeks). We took a tour of the chocolate factory, participated in a marketing taste test and watched a Hershey Bear's Hockey Game. Basically, we had a blast.

 

 

 

 

All of the  yummy candy!

 

The Hershey Cows

Making the candy...

Packaging the candy

All your favorites

Hardening the chocolate

Bird;s eye view of the bakery!

A Dessert I Don't Have To Feel Bad About

Craving something sweet?

Want something a little more balanced than a candy bar or half gallon of moose tracks doused in chocolate fudge and topped with homemade whipped cream?

Have you ever had Yoplaits whipped yogurt?

Okay, now stick one in the freezer until its the consistency of ice cream. I love the strawberry and chocolate with this.

Melt 1-2 Tbsp of peanut butter.

Chisel frozen yogurt of the cup and dump into a bowl. Top with a sliced banana, half of a crumbled granola bar (nature valley crunchy are best for this) and the melted peanut butter. You could also sub actual granola for the bar but thats all I had on hand.

You have a crunchy, sweet and salty dessert that is packe with fruit, dairy and protein.

Yeah I know, its still got a good bit of sugar  (from the flavored yogurt, pb and granola bar) but this is a DESSERT. Dessert without sugar is just dert. And you know thats what it tastes like too- DIRT.

Enjoy!

You Know Whats HARD?

Have you seen the title of my blog?

Theres a lot of truth in that I'm discovering.

Some friends and I are doing an 8 Week Get Healthy Challenge. I can eat the fruits and veggies- I love them. I can make myself do pilates and aerobis because in the long run I love them. I can drink half my body weight, in ounces in water. Because thats all I drink most days.

But to only eat sweets one day a week?!!!

ARE YOU INSANE?

My body runs on chocolate!
My blood may be paritally chocolate.
Thats why my eye are brown.

 Unless you ask my husband, he may give  you a slightly different reason.

Last week was week 1 of this makerachelwannajumpoffabridgeintoariverofchocolate thing we're calling a "challenge". And I couldn't do it. I couldn't eat chocolate just one day a week.

For goodness sakes I've had 3 different chocolate cookies today!

So Week 2 rolled around and I decided "cold turkey" is not for me. I want to be healthy and eat less junk. (Don't tell the Reese's I said that) so I am "weaning" myself off of what has become my "self-medication". My husband chews tobacco, I pop M&Ms like thier Vicadian.

Anywho, this week I'm allowed chocolate everyother day. And next week every, 2 days. Week4 every 3 days, and so on until I reach the point where I can go with eating it just once a week  or (gasp) not at all.

PRAY FOR ME.

(And my husband's sanity)


PS: Where have I been? I've been spending my writing time working on a book. I hope to post more often because I MISS YA'LL. (NO, I will not say you'ns. WILL NOT)

Devilishly Cute!

I have quite a few crafty friends. They have much more talent than I do, which is why a few of them have opened Etsy shops. One of my particular favorites is Shelly's shop, Devilishly Cute Designs.

I've known Shelly for a few years and she has helped me and gifted me with quite a few wonderful handmade things. She helped me do many of the decorations for my wedding.

One year on my birthday, she gave me a lovely bright red scarf with a green R on it. The scarf is nice and thick and warm and I get complements on it whenever I go out. Its so beautiful!



Most recently, she gifted me with a lovely, long, turqouise scarf. She knitted this scarf in front of me, but kept telling me it was for another friend of hers. I was mooning over this scarf. It was so pretty and sparkly and it matched my sweater just fine. And what do you know, she gave it to me for Christmas. I was so happy. 
And it happens to look a lot like this one, for sale in her Etsy shop!

She's also got some great wreaths, hair clips, and hats for sale. Go check her out and stock up goodies for gifts! Her headband holders are flying off the virtual shelf!

Stashbusting #12: Peppermint Biscotti

This was my first time making peppermint biscotti but it quickly became my favorite treat this year. I adapted this recipe from Taste of Homes Cookies cookbook. I say adapted because I could only get about 1/4 cup of my peppermints to crush so I basically left them out. It made about 3 dozen pieces.

Cookies:

3 eggs
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2.5 teaspoons peppermint extract
3 1/4 cup all purpouse flour
1 tsp baking powder
* 1 cup crushed peppermints (if you can crush yours!)


Frosting:
12 oz semis sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one a time. Beat in extract. Stir in flour and baking powder until well blended.If desired add in 1 cup crushed peppermint candy. 

Divide dough in half and roll out onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Move to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes.

On a cutting board, slice diagonally. Place cut side down on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes. Remove to wire rack and cool.

Meanwhile, melt chocolate and shortening, stirring until smooth. Dip the biscotting in chocolate. If desired, roll in peppermints or in sprinkles. Place on waxed paper until set.

Its Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Last week we put up a tree and decorated the house. Our tree looks so much better than it did last year. The only thing its missing is some tinsel. But buying some has proved elusive! I think if I drove out to Target I would have better luck but thats almost an hour away!

Tree!

Here's the postcard wreath I made!

Our stockings!

Snowmen given to us by a dear friend

Stashbusting #11: Carrot Cake Cookies!

While I have been failing to blog a new recipe every week I have actually been trying a new recipe every week. I failed miserably one week at quick and easy apple dumplings a few weeks ago. But this week I succeeded in making birthday cookies for a dear friend of mine-Shelly/Lyric (who also has a fabulous etsy shop I hope to be reviewing this week). Shelly loves carrot cake but I was aprehnesive about sending one through the mail so I started looking for ideas and I found this recipe at Eats Well With Others. It says it makes 18 cookies. I got 10 sandwich cookies and enough frosting for 20.

For the frosting:


8 oz cream cheese
5 tbsp butter, softened
2 tspvanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered  sugar

For the cookies:
1 stick butter melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup  sugar
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup all ourouse flour
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup quickoats
1 cup packed, finely grated carrots


1. Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.


2. Combine  together butter, sugars, and egg yolk in a large bowl. Stir in flour, ginger and salt. Add flour mixture to butter.  Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins.


3. Drop dough by tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto baking sheets. Bake until the edges are crisp, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

4. Make filling - combine cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on until well-combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Increase the speed and beat until smooth. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.



4.  Pair up cookies according to size so that they match. Frost one cookie, top with the other and press together.



Stashbusting Recipe #10: Apricot Yogurt Scones

This recipe comes from the Tribune Review. I took them to work but no one (well one person) ate them! They claimed they didn't like scones, didnt know what a scone was or didn't like apricots. Can you believe them? Scones are totally fab.

Glaze Ingredients:
1 cup confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Scone Ingredients:
1 cup roughly chopped dried apricots
2 cups flour
1tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsps butter cut into small pieces
1 large egg
3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup milk

Glaze Steps:

Whisk together all ingredients. Drizzle over cooled scones.

Scone Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400F andl ine a pan with parchment paper
2. Plump apricotsi n one cup of hot ater fir about ten minutes. Pat and set aside.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and sosa, sugar and cinnamon.
4. Cut the butter into the flour
5. Add the apricots and toss to coat with flour mixture
6. Add in egg, yogurt and milk. Combine well-until there is no more dry flour.
7. Scope out scones and drop onto baking sheer. Gently pat into discs.
8. Bake for around 20 minues. Once cooled drizzle with glaze.

Stashbusting #9: New England Style Pierogi Dinner

When you work seven days a week your days start to run together and Monday quickly turns into Tuesday. And its quickly becoming Wendesday....but here it is. This week's stash busting recipe from my Woman's Day Cookbook. As usual, the recipe is as I made it not as printed

Ingredients:


1 box of pierogis (potato and onion)
1 tbs cajun seasoning
1/2 medium head cabbage, shredded/torn
2 ears of frozen corn, cut in half
4 Italian sausages, sliced
4 tbsp butter

Steps:
1. Saute pierogis over low-,medium heat.
2. Meanwhile boil one cup of water and the seasoning.
3. Add cabbage, corn, sausages and 2 Tbsps butter. Cover and cook about 20 minutes, turning occasionall.
4. Add cooked pierogis to pot along with reaining butter. Toss to mix.

The verdict?

I loved it, and I'm not a big pierogi fan. I love cabbage, corn on the cob and butter so this dish was perfect for me.

Mike requested the leftovers for lunch (it beat out baked ham, homemade burritos, his momma's chili, and sweet bologna sandwiches) which is a pretty good rating. Its second to "When are you making  this again?" and on the opposite end of the spectrum from "Do you plan on making this again? And he's not a cabbage person.

Try it and let me know what you think. If you have it, the recipe calls for Old Bay instead of the cajun seasoning.

Stash Busting Monday #8: An Alliterative Snack

This week we had a lof of yummy meals, some tried and true favorties, a new recipe or two and a store bought deli made chicken pot pie. Which I consumed entriely by myself.  I also made salty sweet squares to share with my co-workers, which they ate entirely by themselves. In five minutes flat.

Salty Sweet  Shortbread Squares, as adapted from Marha Stewart Living

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cup salted small pretzels (I used Newman's Own High Protein Pretzels)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 stick butter
• 1.2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 bag semi sweet choc chips (Aldi brand!!)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease a small casserole pan.
2. Pulse 1 3/4 cup pretzwels in a food processor until powdery. Transder 1/2 cup to a bowl and discard the rest. Stir in flour and baking powder. Roughly chop (or pulse) remaining pretzels.
3. Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluggy. Beat in egg yolk and then pretzel flour mixture until combined. Mix in 1/2 cup chopped pretzels..
4. Press dough evenly into pan. Top with 1/4 cup choppped pretzels. Press slightly.
5. Bake until pale and firm aprox. 25 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool one hour
6. Melt chocolate with a double boiler. Drizzle over cooled shortbread. Let harden then cut into small squares.

Yumo!

Stash Busting Monday: Lucky Number Seven

We have ALOT of frozen veggies in our freezer, thanks to the wonderful but sadly terminated Angel Food Ministries. This week I was looking for a recipe that would make use of the veggies as well as delight Mike's picky tasty buds. I found the answer in my Woman's Day Cookbook. I'm posting the recipe as I modified it, not as it appears.

Roasted Fall Vegetables

• 1lb bag carrots, sliced
• 1 lb parsnips, peeled and sliced
• 2 medium beets, peeled and cut in wedges
• 1 medium onion, cut in chunks
• 9 oz brussel sprouts
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• red pepper
• ginger

Heat oven to 450F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil.

Combine veggies in a large bowl, lightly coat with olive oil. Toss with salt and pepper, crushed red pepper and dried ginger.

Divide between baking sheets and bake for 45 minutes.

The verdict? I am a new fan of parsnips! Mike liked everything in the mixture but the brussel sprouts, which I could have predicted because of their texture. Dinner received two thumbs up form both of us!

She's Not Talking to a Foreigner

In addition to cashering and freelance writing I work part time in customer service for a local paper. This mostly involves talking with irritable people for 7.5 hours a day.

Here is a most recent example, I swear this lady had an evil agenda when she picked up the phone:

Me: Company's Name, How may I help you?

Bitchy Woman: You sound like you're from a different state.

Me: (Opens my mouth to explain that I may sound far away because I've been having phone trouble)

BW: Where are you located? Are you even in PA?

Me: Yes Ma'am. I'm in Greensburg Pa.

BW: You don't sound like it.

Me: I'm sorry. How can I help you today?

BW: I want to order a subscription for a friend but I don't know if you have delivery there. She's in Friendlyville.

Me: I can check for you. Whats the zipcode?

BW: Are you even in PA?

Me: Yes ma'am, I'm in Greensburg.

BW: Do you even know where Friendlyville is?

Me (considers honesty as the best policy) : No, ma'am I don't.

BW: How are your from Greensburg and not know where Friendlyville is?

Me: Ma'am, I'm not from Greensburg but I am in Greensburg.

BW: You just told me you were in PA! What's the name of the Director of Circulation of the Pittsburgh Trib?

Me: Ma'am I don't know their name but there are some managers in my office, whose names I do know that I could transfer you to if you'd like.

BW: How do you not know their name?

ME: Just  a minute ma'am. I'll see if I can find out. (I place caller on hold and ask around my office. No one knows  the name of the Director of Circulation. The Director doesn't handle customer service but the technical side of circulation and is in  an office an hour away from mine) Ma'am I'm not sure what their name is.

BW: YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU WORK FOR?

ME: I don't know the name of the director of circulation ma'am. Would you like to speak with the director ma'am. I can transfer you.

BW: YES! I'M TIRED OF TALKING TO A FOREIGNER.

Yeah......I'm pretty sure she could use a field trip to Friendlyville. I