Tah Dah!

Finished Products 1 & 2....

My favorite! Finished Product 3!

Sorry about the funny pictures. I woke up at 4am and could not fall back to sleep; all the while, I was getting more and more sick - I could even feel when my lymph nodes started throbbing painfully. Sinus congestion and sore throat, plus painful lymph nodes = common cold, most likely. But it sucks when your body decides you need to wake up to feel/watch it all happen :) Sleep finally came around 8:30 and I slept until 10am! So much for waking up at 7!


Thanks to Kelsie for coming over and crafting it up with me! This adventure was one to remember! And, there are many more to come!!!!

I know its silly, but now I want to buy a new brown bag to go with the pink and brown key chain...

To Do Monday:

I'm making these this week!

Here are my fabric choices:

or

 I can't decide which ones I like best! Wish me luck! My mother-in-law is letting me use this:

 Doesn't it look cool? First, I'll have to figure out how to use it :) Watch for the after-post!

Hailey!

Congrats to Marianne and Brian! Cute little Hailey is doing so well! We took dinner to these guys Saturday night, and at 5 days, Hailey had already stolen everyone's hearts! Thanks for letting us come down! Hope to see you guys soon!

Thursday's Loves

What I love today:

1. Sunshine that sparkles through the leaves of the tree outside of my window..... I was lounging in my nook, or course.

2. Oceans 11, 12, and 13. Yes. I have these memorized. They're funny every time :)

3. Sushi.

4. The new dessert I tried tonight - Apple Danish. Homemade, from scratch. Oh. My. Goodness. If you want your mouth to water, cook this! I'll send you the recipe if you'd like! Its so simple and only uses 2 apples!!! I just used leftover ones from our trip back from Delaware.

5. Good music.

6. This blog I check out from time to time: Design Sponge!

7. That tomorrow is almost Friday :) (even though I didn't have to work today!)

What did you just love today?

Happy 2 Yr Anniversary to us :) I didn't post this a few weeks ago, but I just really like these pictures!

Thanks again Jalene!

Remember to post the things you loved today!

Tiny Tacos

Last night, I wanted to use some of that ground beef that we got - from that stellar purchase, mind you - and found this fun recipe!

You take 4 10" tortillas (flour) and cut them into 4" circles. Cook your ground beef, adding onion. Drain. Remove from heat. Then, add 8 oz tomato sauce; I also added freshly diced tomatoes (from the Bountiful Basket), Taco Seasoning (I add this sparingly...), and next time I'll add green onions - I think that would be scrumptious.  (It also recommends hot sauce, but I'm just a tiny bit of a wimp on that one.)

Then, grease a cupcake pan (I can't remember what they're really called?), I used crisco; and press the 4" tortilla cut outs into the pan, so they fold a little on the sides. Place 1/4 cup of the meat mixture into each tortilla, add a dallop of sour cream, and then top with cheese:

Then, bake at 350' for 25-30 mins, until edges just start to turn golden brown. Wha-la!

I think I'm going to add this to the list of fun things to make/eat with my kids. Did you know I have one of those? I even plan little science lessons to teach them. :)

If you make these, and get creative and add something new, let me know! I'm always looking to be a more creative cook!

Enjoy!

loving today....

Champagne Grapes:

I also loved this effect:

-Champagne grapes are the sweetest, tiniest grapes I've ever inhaled. They're so delicate and tantalizing, you just can't get them into your mouth fast enough! Which, of course, is the dilemma when eating champagne grapes: they're so tiny that you, in your haste, might squish a few. Regardless, they taste great off of your fingers too! Because they're so tiny, they're sweeter than regular grapes. According to my friend the chef, they grow these (not these particular ones) in the coldest regions of France, and use them to make sweet wines. I would bore you with the biochemistry as to why they're so sweet and the correlation it has to the cold, but then none of your would read this blog anymore.

I recently signed up for Bountiful Baskets, which is a great food-co-op (I like them all to be hyphenated), and gave us a large quantity of fresh fruits and veggies! It filled (and weighed down) our laundry basket! I would apologize for the picture, but it was so dang early in the morning, and I had to rush to work right after, so please enjoy anyway:

And its sideways! Sorry!

In other good news, we bought a bunch of steaks at a great price last night and ended up getting 6 lbs of ground beef (which I don't even eat a ton of anymore!) for $5. The steaks were like $16 for 16 lbs I think? Either way, I'm making Montreal marinated steak with corn on the cob tonight, at 8:30 pm, with a side of champagne grapes :) It's the closest I'll ever get to the real thing!

Meg's Thought of the Day

Click here.

Enjoy!

sunshine in my window makes me happy

Sunshine at the beach makes me happy, too!

Vacay included: Blue Rocks game, Ritas!, Hershey Park (an amusement park centered in Hershey, PA - from which I lost my voice; its still not back yet! haha), bowling, dinner with great friends, reunions at church, a canceled duet at church (haha-due to lack of voices), great shopping (no sales tax!), and game nights every night!

We are back in UT, and exhausted from all of the playing! Tonight: Dave Matthews Band concert (free tix!) Now to shower and tackle the laundry! More pictures to come later!

one day more!

I think I sing the song, "One Day More!" from Les Miserables every time I have just one day left of something...obviously.

So, today I am singing that song because.....


I only have 1 more day of work and then ========> We are flying HOME!!!!!!!!! (for a whole week!)

For the 1st time in 2 years! Plus, its our 2 yr wedding anniversary! hooray!

Happy Travels!

bakerella, take 2

So, today I was searching on Smitten Kitchen's website - have you seen that place? Its like heaven. I talked to my dad last night about the funny pie crust troubles I was having, and he told me that I should write a cookbook for chemists. I thought I just might. As I searched Smitten Kitchen, I realized that someone had already started! I made this today from her site:

The Nectarine Brown Butter Buckle!

Doesn't this look awesome!? Oh my, heaven. I never would have know about "brown butter" and how it could be created, but her chemistry directions are a necessity. I made this while on the phone....

Doesn't that just make you happy!? A little bit of nectarine sunshine to brighten the day....

A few left-overs never hurt anyone! I made my slices a little thinner than hers (on accident!) and got to keep the rest! Yum. I love nectarines. I like them a little raw, just before they get mushy-ripe. Everyone else thinks I'm crazy, but either way, that didn't matter for the recipe :) I just like to eat them raw!

45 minutes later, this is what sat before us.... Oh heaven, it was divine. Its like a rich, delicatessen version of peach cobbler, but with nectarines! Thanks to Melissa for letting me borrow a cup of whole milk and the 10'' springform pan! It made everything possible!!!

You guys have got to give it a try! Let me know what you think! Thanks Deb!

bakerella

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD

Over the past week, I've been in a baking craze! I have tried anything I've felt like eating, which has led to a lot of fun creations!

A few weeks ago, I really wanted soup! It was only 100 degrees in July, but I was craving a creamy, flavorful soup! So, I made this one:

Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

Sweet mercy, this was a divine soup! I'm so excited to make this again in the fall and have it with grilled cheese sammies or something. Ooo, this really will be a divine fall meal - it makes a ton!

I combined it with lemon basil potatoes (both have basil in them, so next time, I'll go with the grilled cheese! haha)

Next, I made peach cobler (no pictures! sorry!) and it was gone fast! Besides, it was probably the easiest dessert I've ever made. I loved it! So simple - and whoever posted the nice baking substitution for self rising flour, you deserve a hug :)

This weekend:

Isn't this dish divine? Tyler's grandmother passed it along to me, and I love the writing, and of course, the fun directions on the plate itself :) I wish we had more things like this in our era, but I would never give up the footnetwork.com site....

I was really craving apple pie for some reason, so Saturday-Sunday, I made apple pie! Why did it take me so long, you ask? Well, friends, I am a chemist. I am not a mind-reader of recipes.

Making pie crust - its a tricky business. I expect 'chemical-reaction' type directions when its something I haven't made before. "It feels like ____" or "It should look like___" in a recipe are such a help. The recipe I used (not the one in the dish!) didn't have anything of the sort. Which means, I tried making it 3 times.....

My grandmother makes a famous, fabulous pie crust that people are always talking about. I could not give up! So, we went out to eat Saturday night (with the apples sitting in their sugar/cider vinegar/cinnamon marinade) and on Sunday, I came home from church and tried again, using a different recipe, which still omitted the chemistry comments.....

And this is the end product! The crust worked, the apples were plump and juicy (and not too tart, according to Tyler), and it was divine! I could not believe it! The crust was the perfect flakiness, and it tasted just like grandma's! (I bet I have years to go until I'm that good, but I still felt pretty dang happy!) I like that you can see the apples ready to jump out of the top!

You can see that my edges aren't even close to perfect, but I'm still trying :)

This is the yummy inside view....served with vanilla ice cream, it could not be beat!

Of course, we had friends over for Sunday dinner, so I had to make sure the pie worked, so I was really happy when it did!  Sarah and Sterling came over for dinner with baby Eliza, and we munched on her delicious appetizers while the roast and pie cooked:

Sarah made delicious lettuce wraps with crab, rice, avocado, and red pepper - they were awesome! I loved the kick from the red pepper!

Eliza might not like getting snapped without warning...

But she did enjoy eating outside!

Quick recipe for the roast:
2 lb pot roast (bone in is great)
1 pkg Italian Dressing (dry)
1 tbs minced garlic
    ---cook on high in a crock pot for 6-8 hours, or until tender, serve with BBQ sauce on buns!

Thanks to Sterling and Sarah for coming over and eating with us!