Recipe Blog Hop

 

The time has come that I finally look into the eye of the beast and tackle it.

I can't cook. I hate to cook. It is boring.

I do enjoy home cooked food though and unfortunately my amazing chef of a husband can't just be my full time stay at home husband. Dang it I need to make that happen ASAP.

This is what I need and I propose. All my readers and friends are going to help me play a game. I want you to blog about your easiest, most delicious, and preferably crock pot friendly meal and then send me the link.  I don't want a pinterest recommendation- I want your recommendation complete with pictures and testimonials. Then I will try it out and we can laugh and how bad my turns out.

Good idea?  Today this is what I am trying, found it on pinterest and don't know if it will turn out. It is in the crockpot as I type.

Crockpot! 1 cup pineapple juice 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup light soy sauce 2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins. Cook on low 6-8 hrs.

I am promised this is supposed to taste great and fall apart in my mouth.  I will let you know.  Please post your recipe on your blog and then post it in the comments so we can all try your recipe out :)

OohLaLa! Apple, Cheddar, and Thyme Galette

Doesn't this look insanely yummy.  Since I don't cook (as you can read about HERE and HERE) I am going to ask Paul to kindly make this for me.  What a great dish for the fall. I realize it is only August, but I am already thinking of all things fall (pumpkins, soup, crisp air, autumn leaves). Jo at Little Jo Home I guess great minds think alike.

The recipe can be found on Fresh 365 blog.

PS.  Who does the cooking in your house?  Did anyone else marry an amazing chef to save them from the horrors of the kitchen?

Peach Cobbler-for Aimee

If you don't frequent Pioneer Woman for amazing recipes then you should. This recipe is for you Aimee, I can't wait to try the cobbler.


here is a link to other peach treat ideas as well. Click here.

Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce

Added by Ree on July 19, 2009 in Desserts, Fruit Desserts

5.00 Mitt(s) | 3 Rating(s)

I don’t know what to say. This is Gee’s recipe, and it’s so good.

Brace yourselves, people.

• Related Blog Post
• Print Recipe

• Prep Time 20 Minutes
• Cook Time 45 Minutes
• Difficulty Easy
• Servings
• System US Metric

Ingredients

• 5 whole To 6 Whole Fresh Peaches (best When Not Overly Ripe Or Soft)
• 1 cup Flour
• ½ cups Sugar
• ½ cups Light Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
• ½ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 1 stick Butter (1/2 Cup)
• ½ whole Lemon
• 7 Tablespoons Real Maple Syrup, Divided
• 1-½ cup Whipping Cream
• 3 Tablespoons Light Corn Syrup

Preparation Instructions

In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, light brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt using a fork or pastry cutter. Cut butter into small pieces and gradually add to flour mixture until evenly mixed.

Peel peaches into a bowl. Add the zest from half a lemon. Squeeze juice from lemon half and stir in with peaches and zest. Add 2 tablespoons real maple syrup to peaches, stir well.

Pour peach mixture into a small pan (8” or 9” square) and cover evenly with crumb topping. Cover with foil and bake at 350ºF for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until crisp and brown on top.

Maple Cream Sauce:

Pour whipping cream into a saucepan. Add 5 tablespoons real maple syrup, 3 tablespoons corn syrup and stir over moderate heat until thickened and reduced by about one-third, approximately 15 minutes. Refrigerate mixture until it is cold and thick, or set the saucepan into a small bowl of ice (the ice will melt and turn into ice water). Stirring your mixture, it will cool and thicken in about 15 minutes. Drizzle sauce over peach crisp. Serve warm.

Attack of the Escalator 3... Eddie Bauer

We received the refund check yesterday and a gift card for $100. Sadly not $200 like I had wished for, but hey it is $100 more than we had the day before. Paul has already gone online and found a winter jacket that he wants.

Thanks Eddie Bauer for being so efficient and easy to work with regarding this accident. If you are reading this and are unaware of what I am talking about then see

Attack of the Escalator 1
and
Attack of the Escalator 2

Have a Happy Weekend. I know we will enjoy our last weekend of freedom, we must enjoy it, because for the next 14 weeks we have grad school. Starts on Monday. Yuck and yeah-- depending on how you look at it.

Here is a yummy recipe to make this weekend.

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars. click on picture for recipe. YUM.

I succeeded at Cooking

Well when I say cooking, does making homemade ice cream count?

I wanted homemade ice cream on Sunday and kind of made up my recipe, cause I didn't have whole milk so I used almond milk.

I used a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

Homemade Oreo Ice Cream

1 Cup of Almond Milk
2 Cups of Cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
lots of oreos

Whisk together the almond milk and sugar until the sugar dissolves and then stir in the cream and vanilla.

Turn on ice cream maker and pour mixture into the freezer bowl and let it churn for 20-25. Add oreos for the last 5 mins of mixing.

And then eat it!!!

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

This may sound sick, but it is actually very delicious.

This is my dad's favorite cake and he requests it every year for his birthday and I thought I would share it.

3/4 cup Mayo
1 cup Sugar
2 cups Flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup water
1 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup melted chocolate
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

Place the dates and nuts in a bowl. Bring the 1 cup of water to a boil and pour it over the dates and nuts and let it sit. Cream the mayo with the melted chocolate, sugar, and cinnamon.

Creat flour mixture by sifting flour and add salt and soda and sift again.

Add flour mixture to the cream mixture and then add the nut mixture (do not drain-nuts and dates will absorb most of the water).

Bake in a 9x13 pan at 350 got 30 min.

We always top it with whipped cream, but I am sure ice cream or frosting would be yummy too!

Enjoy!

Macaroni & Cheese

So Paul, Jack, Charlie, and I are staying at our friends' house, the friends who got married this Sunday, and I know you may think it seems crazy that we are staying here and that we are probably more of a stress and burden than a help, but I am here to tell you that you are wrong.

So on Saturday-the day before the wedding- I was following Sam (the groom) around his house asking him if Anna (the bride) had mentioned if she needed help with anything, she wasn't home at the time, and he smiled and said "Yes. She wants you to make me lunch." I nervously smiled and said "anything you want," and he pulled a box of macaroni and cheese out of his cupboard and said "thank you, you are the best," and then went outside to work in the yard.

I stood there in the kitchen staring at the box on the counter and then to the stove and then to their pots and pans and then yelled "PAUL?" in a very forlorn and desperate voice. I heard loud laughter coming from the basement and Paul exclaimed that he was just waiting for me to call his name for help as he heard the whole conversation.

So alas, I suck at cooking and can't even make macaroni and cheese. Thank heavens for husbands that love to and know how to cook. Amen to that. I guess it is better than me trying to cook it and it ending up with shards of glass inside. (please see story "The PB&J")

The PB&J

I love peanut butter and jam sandwiches or lovingly called the PB&J. Eating one is a nostalgic experience bringing me back to my elementary school years. I prefer to use only the best ingredients: Whole wheat bread, crunchy peanut butter (I like Jif), and homemade strawberry or raspberry jam. The crunchy of the peanuts and the sweetness of the jam mixed with the heartiness of the bread is so yummy! It is also very important to cut the sandwich diagonally.

When Paul and I were first married, he had to leave for work pretty early, around 6:00 am. We had been married about a month and I felt like I should be a sweet little loving wife and make him a lunch to take to work.

I am not a morning person.

I stumbled out of bed and deliriously headed to the kitchen. I had recently purchased a gigantic jar of jam at the store and I thought I would use it to make him a "made with love PB&J". Well in the process of grabbing the jar out of the cupboard, the jar slipped through my fingers and shattered all over the ground. I was devastated. Paul was in the other room and asked what happened and I yelled back "nothing" and then I continued to spoon out jam from the top of the pile of shattered glass ( I figured if it didn't touch the floor it must be safe). I searched my jam selections for glass and it seemed okay. I made Paul's sandwich, threw in some treats, a hot love note (remember we were newlyweds) and packed it up in a brown paper bag and felt like I was just the best wife.

Around lunch time I got a call from Paul thanking me for his lunch and kindly asking "did you put glass in my sandwich cause I took a bite and it was a different kind of crunchy and I pulled out a big piece of glass from my mouth."

The moral of the story is that I don't make Paul's lunches anymore and will probably never have to make lunches for my future children. Yeah to the PB&J.

Interesting PB sandwich that I saw at a restaurant the other day and want to make.
Peanut butter and bananas and agave nectar on wheat bread

Does anyone have a better recipe idea?

Cupcakes for Dinner

In my fantasy life I am Julia Child with the ability to whip up the most decadent of treats and meals with ease and pleasure. Alas, as many of you many know, I am not a chef, or a baker or even a cook. I really hate doing it. I am not sure if it is that every time I try the food seems to not taste as good as when Paul makes it or that sometimes my cooking just really tastes horrendous.

So last night Paul wanted to make red velvet cake from scratch (honestly who makes anything from scratch) but it was kind of late and we were at the grocery store and I insisted on buying the Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix and Betty Crocker Cream Cheese Frosting, as well as, all the ingredients so he could make red velvet cake from scratch another night.

So my fabulous husband makes me red velvet cupcakes last night before going to bed and all day I have been eating them. So tonight for dinner Paul was busy at work and like I was going to cook anything, so instead I had cupcakes for dinner!


Mom, please don't be mad-- I did at least put a raspberry on top so I would get my fruit food group.

Happy Weekend! Eat a cupcake!

My Hot Baker

(I stole this post from Shari Stone, I liked it so much. All photos by Shari Stone)

The area of Herdon is a quaint place with little streets and lots of little shops. Paul makes bread at Great Harvest between the hours of 4am and 12 noon. He rides his bikes through the woods and through the dell each morning. So if you live in the area go say hi to him and his crew. They will give you a free slice of bread to enjoy.

This is the Kneading Team of Great Harvest of Herdon. Kyle, Sally, Paul and James. They knead over 1000 loaves a day. Next week with the holiday they will pick up the time and pace up to 1500 loaves.

Paul, the Baker Man and his Cinnamon Roll Bread.

Paul kneading his orange cranberry size D loaves......................heheheheh! I don't know where he gets such skill cause I know he doesn't get that kind of full sized practice :)

Feeling Crafty

Paul and I survived Thanksgiving- luckily everyone brought some yummy food to share and Paul's mom cooked like Julia Child, so the food was fabulous. We had 20 people here, I guess 24 if you count all the kids too. We borrowed tables from the neighbors so everyone could fit in our family room. Thanks Shari for all your help!

Shari, Paul's mom, posing sexily for the camera while peeling sweet potatoes

The amazing 21 pound turkey bird

My Family Room filled from one end to the other with tables and chairs- real cozy!

I think we had at least 10 people at a time in the kitchen, lots of chaos, but lots of fun too.

Also, while Paul's mom was in town we did lots of sight seeing on the sunny days and lots of Martha Stewart type things on the rainy days. I sewed these pillow covers. For all of you who are laughing that I sewed, I want you to know that yes I own a sewing machine and yes I did these pillows all by myself. I also made window valences too! I know I know- amazing right?!

Here is my Christmas Tree- I love it. It is decorated like a May Pole. Shari did the ribbons and did a great job. I decorated the tree with all these old ornaments my Grandma Blanche Richards gave me as a little girl and added some fun colorful balls and such.

Also, check out my window valence in the background. Feel free to tell me how amazing I am. I hope everyone has their trees up and are ready for the Holiday. I am listening to Christmas music right now as I type this (Kristin Chenoweth's Christmas Album, song "I'll Be Home For Christmas" to be exact) sadly I wont be home for Christmas though. I'll be partying it up at Disneyland with my family after Christmas to bring in the New Year...Woot Woot...thanks Mom and Dad!

Love and miss all my friends and family.

xoxoxo

Model for a Day

Paul's mom, Shari, came in town to spend time with Paul and I and we have been having a great time. Yesterday we went to Harper's Ferry in West Virginia. Shari is a fabulous photographer and she took a couple of headshots of me and all of these photos in this posting. Tell me what you think...which one is good enough to use on my website for teaching?

Other Pictures of us at Harper's Ferry

We also saw the movie "Julie & Julia" about Julia Child and a so we had to go the Museum of American History to see Julia Child's kitchen.

Ruby Slippers Judy Garland wore in the "Wizard of Oz"

Smithsonian
White House

Obama's Body Guard

Church in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Oh by the way...did I mention that Paul and I are having 19-20 people over for Thanksgiving in Virginia. Yikes! My party got bigger than expected, but hey the more the merrier I say --as long as there is room for everyone. Thank goodness I have Shari here to help me cook, or else it would be a huge disaster or burned turkey and lumpy gravy. I will keep you posted on how it goes.

A new post is due...

I figured I've kept all you blog stalkers waiting in suspense long enough. Life is good, married to the hottest woman on Earth, have two kids(we call our dogs kids, less of a time commitment and much nicer), found out that I am so popular that 14 messages have accumulated since my last post(woo woooo), and found they sell mini frozen pies, of all flavors, at your local frozen food section. Just enough for one or two people. Life is good.

Here is a quick update:

January was cold, snowy, and I had fun. My better half would have rather gone South with the birds. Plenty of snowshoeing, summitted two peaks to snowboarded down, lots of deer, moose and elk. I found myself waking up to go back to school in an attempt to become smarter. We also took a quick trip to Colorado to visit some good friends. We went to a neat little town(Ouray) that is world famous for their ice climbing, so we checked it out from the so conveniently placed hot springs.

We skipped February for some reason, at least to my remembrance. I'm sure Leah would attest that in fact it did happen and we participated in many things.

March was the month I had been waiting for since last year. Although, our three year anniversary was an important date(March 5) it was slightly overshadowed by March 6th. Jack, our new puppy, arrived in the evening. After Vixen died, the breeder promised the pick of the litter the next time around. We gladly accepted his offer and are now paying for it. Lots of peeing and pooping in the house and razor sharp teeth. Also plenty of puppy breath and eyes that will melt your heart.

April is still here and I cant wait for it to be over. The semester is almost over, freedom until summer semester starts. Although, the month of May will be spent studying for the LSAT. Jack has gained over 15 pounds and growing fast.

He got his dunce hat off and now has taped horns for ears. I also quit working with Coldwell Banker and now work with a neighbor's company, Salt Lake Investment Co. Lots more opportunity and really enjoying the move. Leah has been revamping her schedule to accommodate more students...if you want a spot you should give her a call. We have been trying to cook more and have been exploring many types of foods and new recipes. If you have any you would like to share, please do.

Gardening has already started as I have turned our flowerbeds into greenhouses. We have a plethora of flowers, fruits and vegetables planted. It seems like all the work we put into that thing would would be able to survive through the winter, but I'm sure there is less than two weeks worth of food. But its fun nonetheless.

I finally finished Leah's music studio in the garage, pictures later. It looks pretty good, but I would definitely do things differently if I had to do it again. The best part is, with the rest of the garage I was able to make into a man lair.

This should satisfy all you stalkers for a while. If your lucky I might post before the month is over...