Gah! Damn you Pier 1 Imports weekly email!
I am in love with this chair! ...and the throw pillow pictured on it!
So cute!!!
http://www.pier1.com/Josette-Chair
Also in love with every item they show in the Related Products section.....sigh.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
What's in a chair?
http://www.pier1.com/Josette-Chair
Also in love with every item they show in the Related Products section.....sigh.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Icing on the Cake
Disclaimer: NO, I am not looking at wedding cakes already! I get a daily Real Simple magazine email and today's HAPPENED to be about weddings. So there.
But I am so in love with the lace pattern on this cake! It is so gorgeous; it looks like real fabric lace.
Loving the flowers and texture on this one, too. I love that the flowers are more modern-looking; not your average roses.
To check out the rest, go to:
http://www.realsimple.com/weddingcakes
Monday, February 7, 2011
Be Mine
I always get excited to do Holiday-themed craft and baking projects with Kylie.
Valentine's Day is no exception.
I took her to the store to pick out valentines to give to her classmates. We settled on puppy and kitty ones that come with temporary tattoos, as she decided she could not give her first choice of Princess valentines to the boys. (And I wasn't about to buy 2 different packs of 32!)
She addressed about 6 of the "To: and From:" all by herself from her class name list before she got bored. We will try and finish the rest on Tues and Wed or next weekend :)
Next on our list will be heart shaped cookies next weekend, and making homemade valentines to give to relatives and to hang on the windows as decoration.
But for February, it has cupcakes with huge conversation hearts on top!
The cool thing about all these recipes is the decorations look so complex, and you wouldn't think of trying to duplicate them. But, then you see the explanations of each, and they are actually so simple!
These are just a heart cut from a thick piece of pound cake, dipped in frosting, and plopped on top of a cupcake. Then decorated with red frosting. I like this!
Superbowl Chicken Wings
So, here is the recipe I tried in the crock pot for Superbowl Sunday.
...I am now 0 for 2 with the crock pot.
I think my downfall was using frozen chicken wings, because the ice on them became water, I guess, and the result was pretty much BBQ soup.
I should have defrosted them and dried thoroughly, before adding them to the crock pot.
I usually don't usually use frozen chicken, but you know how I feel about meat on the bone that still resembles what it came from (ick!!), so I really didn't want to buy fresh and have to cut the wing joints in half, etc. (double ick!)
Now, I know....
But here is the recipe.
Joe still ate several of them, and said they were good ( ...yeah, I don't eat wings ;) ), they just had to be dipped in BBQ sauce/hot sauce/ranch because all the sauce washed off in said soup.
After he ate a few, I drained most of the liquid, added more of the sauce mixture, and put it all in a large skillet to reduce.
This worked pretty well, and resulted in a nice sticky wing coating....before I went to watch a Superbowl commercial, and burned half of them ;)
Epic Fail.
It was fun buying cumin, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce for the first time though. I plan on finding lots of new uses for them,
...I am now 0 for 2 with the crock pot.
I think my downfall was using frozen chicken wings, because the ice on them became water, I guess, and the result was pretty much BBQ soup.
I should have defrosted them and dried thoroughly, before adding them to the crock pot.
I usually don't usually use frozen chicken, but you know how I feel about meat on the bone that still resembles what it came from (ick!!), so I really didn't want to buy fresh and have to cut the wing joints in half, etc. (double ick!)
Now, I know....
But here is the recipe.
Joe still ate several of them, and said they were good ( ...yeah, I don't eat wings ;) ), they just had to be dipped in BBQ sauce/hot sauce/ranch because all the sauce washed off in said soup.
After he ate a few, I drained most of the liquid, added more of the sauce mixture, and put it all in a large skillet to reduce.
This worked pretty well, and resulted in a nice sticky wing coating....before I went to watch a Superbowl commercial, and burned half of them ;)
Epic Fail.
It was fun buying cumin, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce for the first time though. I plan on finding lots of new uses for them,
Spicy Chicken Wings
Ingredients:
20 chicken wings
Ingredients:
20 chicken wings
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons prepared mustard or spicy mustard
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Louisiana hot sauce to taste
Directions:
Rinse chicken wings and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut off and discard wing tips, then cut each wing at the joint to make two sections. Sprinkle wing pieces with salt and pepper; place wings on a lightly oiled broiler pan.
Broil for 10 minutes on each side or until they are browned. Transfer chicken wings to crock pot.
In a bowl, combine barbecue sauce, honey, spicy mustard, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, and Louisiana sauce. Pour sauce over chicken wings.
Cover and cook for 3 to 4 hours
Serve with ranch dip if desired.
1 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons prepared mustard or spicy mustard
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Louisiana hot sauce to taste
Directions:
Rinse chicken wings and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut off and discard wing tips, then cut each wing at the joint to make two sections. Sprinkle wing pieces with salt and pepper; place wings on a lightly oiled broiler pan.
Broil for 10 minutes on each side or until they are browned. Transfer chicken wings to crock pot.
In a bowl, combine barbecue sauce, honey, spicy mustard, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, and Louisiana sauce. Pour sauce over chicken wings.
Cover and cook for 3 to 4 hours
Serve with ranch dip if desired.
So there.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Think Spring
While huddling under a blanket and drinking tea this morning, I got an email from Pier 1 Imports that gave me hope that spring and warmer weather are on the way! ...If only in the form of these adorable candles! These little hexagon-shaped candles are encased in beautiful stained glass type images of birds and flowers.
...I want all three!!
Hey, the email said for gift-giving....just saying.... ;) If you sent me one...I'd love it, haha!
Anyway, check them out!!
http://www.pier1.com/SixSidedFilledCandles
So there.
Oh, and for all those on the edge of your seat, I am going to make chicken wings in the crock pot on Super Bowl Sunday for my man, so stay tuned for the results!
...I want all three!!
Hey, the email said for gift-giving....just saying.... ;) If you sent me one...I'd love it, haha!
Anyway, check them out!!
http://www.pier1.com/SixSidedFilledCandles
So there.
Oh, and for all those on the edge of your seat, I am going to make chicken wings in the crock pot on Super Bowl Sunday for my man, so stay tuned for the results!
Friday, January 28, 2011
The Chronicles of the Crock Pot
OK, so FINALLY, I opened up the daunting crock pot box and gave it a try!
(Disclaimer: If you are used to using a crock pot, [read: apparently the entire world, except me] you will laugh in the face of this depiction, but it was my first time, so leave me alone. Just wait until I use the sewing machine for the first time. It'll go something like....wait. so, ....WHAT do I DO with this thing?!)
So, I literally have never seen one in action, so throughout the day I had visions of my house filling with smoke and burning to the ground, leaving something on and hot like that all day - like 12 hours, all day.
But. Through some great miracle, it worked just fine. (Cue your shocked faces...)
I am gone for so long during the day I have to use the 10 hour (low) setting, and then it automatically switches to the Warmer setting once it is done, so it stays....uh...you guessed it. warm, until we get home.
The problem with this is that there are only 2 (sometimes 2 1/2!) of us, so unless I want leftovers for a week, I can barely fill the thing up to the required "Half Full minimum" for proper cooking.
So because of this, the tiny, puny, chicken tenders I used, probably cooked way longer than they needed to, and some of the onions and sauce got a bit too dark (read: burned!).
But, it was a good first try. I give it a B+. (A on taste. Lose points for burning...). It smelled great, the chicken (tiny, wimpy, little pieces that they were) was still tender, juicy, and literally falling apart, and...one more time, all together now, Ladies and Gentlemen...the house did not burn down. Huh! Who Knew?.
I did have to get used to the fact that you need to prep all the ingredients the night before, so that in the morning, when you have NO TIME, you can just dump everything in. But I still had to plan to leave a few extra minutes in the morning to do this. But I get it, yeah, yeah, what is a few minutes, compared to the glory that is: walking in from a long day at work to have dinner completely ready for you? I know, OK? It is cool.
Now, thank you for listening to my wonderful tale. You have now earned a peek at my FIRST EVER CROCK POT RECIPE.
Syke! It isn't even a recipe. I literally used 3 (OK 5) things. And only used 5 because I felt 3 was just too few, haha.
*We had about 7 leftover raw chicken tenders (the smaller pieces of the breast) that I used.
*About 1-2 cups of BBQ sauce (I poured in a mix of 2 different varieties we had on hand, until the chicken was coated.
*Added about a 1/4 cup of water, because I was afraid the sauce would burn even more without it. But, ideally don't use it, because it didn't evaporate, the sauce stayed watery until I got home. But the chicken still got coated with the sauce, so it was fine.
*1/3 of a white onion, sliced (why not, I figured.)
* a squirt of ketchup (an ingredient in BBQ sauce. I felt I needed more ingredients, haha!)
* a drizzle of soy sauce (why not?.....)
Gave it a quick stir so all the chicken was coated, put the lid on, set it for 10 hours on low, and hoped for the best!
Before Picture:
(oops, forgot to take an After Picture, but....it looked about exactly the same.)
The chicken really was awesomely tender, and really infused with the BBQ sauce flavor. So I guess it was worth doing in a crock pot, instead of just after work on the stove for 10 minutes. (I'm trying, here!!!)
But, next time, I would use much larger pieces of chicken breast, so they don't shrivel up into oblivion.
(Some recipes call for bone-in chicken, which would stay more moist, but I don't do meat with bones or skin, nor dark meat. So. there.
Next, I want to try some soup, and a yummy pesto chicken recipe a friend gave me. And I hear you can bake in these things, too. Oooh, and fondue!!
Don't forget I got a whole Crock Pot recipe book for Christmas, too! So, more to come...hopefully.
Crock Pot 101. So there.
(Disclaimer: If you are used to using a crock pot, [read: apparently the entire world, except me] you will laugh in the face of this depiction, but it was my first time, so leave me alone. Just wait until I use the sewing machine for the first time. It'll go something like....wait. so, ....WHAT do I DO with this thing?!)
I have big plans for using it, but I need a basic lesson first, because, literally, I have never used or seen one. Don't worry - my Mom is still amazing - even if she didn't have a crock pot or sewing machine ;) And I want her to teach me how to sew, but she doesn't live that close, so....maybe when the parents visit!!
So, I literally have never seen one in action, so throughout the day I had visions of my house filling with smoke and burning to the ground, leaving something on and hot like that all day - like 12 hours, all day.
But. Through some great miracle, it worked just fine. (Cue your shocked faces...)
I am gone for so long during the day I have to use the 10 hour (low) setting, and then it automatically switches to the Warmer setting once it is done, so it stays....uh...you guessed it. warm, until we get home.
The problem with this is that there are only 2 (sometimes 2 1/2!) of us, so unless I want leftovers for a week, I can barely fill the thing up to the required "Half Full minimum" for proper cooking.
So because of this, the tiny, puny, chicken tenders I used, probably cooked way longer than they needed to, and some of the onions and sauce got a bit too dark (read: burned!).
But, it was a good first try. I give it a B+. (A on taste. Lose points for burning...). It smelled great, the chicken (tiny, wimpy, little pieces that they were) was still tender, juicy, and literally falling apart, and...one more time, all together now, Ladies and Gentlemen...the house did not burn down. Huh! Who Knew?.
I did have to get used to the fact that you need to prep all the ingredients the night before, so that in the morning, when you have NO TIME, you can just dump everything in. But I still had to plan to leave a few extra minutes in the morning to do this. But I get it, yeah, yeah, what is a few minutes, compared to the glory that is: walking in from a long day at work to have dinner completely ready for you? I know, OK? It is cool.
Now, thank you for listening to my wonderful tale. You have now earned a peek at my FIRST EVER CROCK POT RECIPE.
Syke! It isn't even a recipe. I literally used 3 (OK 5) things. And only used 5 because I felt 3 was just too few, haha.
*We had about 7 leftover raw chicken tenders (the smaller pieces of the breast) that I used.
*About 1-2 cups of BBQ sauce (I poured in a mix of 2 different varieties we had on hand, until the chicken was coated.
*Added about a 1/4 cup of water, because I was afraid the sauce would burn even more without it. But, ideally don't use it, because it didn't evaporate, the sauce stayed watery until I got home. But the chicken still got coated with the sauce, so it was fine.
*1/3 of a white onion, sliced (why not, I figured.)
* a squirt of ketchup (an ingredient in BBQ sauce. I felt I needed more ingredients, haha!)
* a drizzle of soy sauce (why not?.....)
Gave it a quick stir so all the chicken was coated, put the lid on, set it for 10 hours on low, and hoped for the best!
Before Picture:
(oops, forgot to take an After Picture, but....it looked about exactly the same.)
The chicken really was awesomely tender, and really infused with the BBQ sauce flavor. So I guess it was worth doing in a crock pot, instead of just after work on the stove for 10 minutes. (I'm trying, here!!!)
But, next time, I would use much larger pieces of chicken breast, so they don't shrivel up into oblivion.
(Some recipes call for bone-in chicken, which would stay more moist, but I don't do meat with bones or skin, nor dark meat. So. there.
Next, I want to try some soup, and a yummy pesto chicken recipe a friend gave me. And I hear you can bake in these things, too. Oooh, and fondue!!
Don't forget I got a whole Crock Pot recipe book for Christmas, too! So, more to come...hopefully.
Crock Pot 101. So there.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Happy New Year!
Hey everyone!
Well, all the peppermint bark was given out and enjoyed! A friend even liked it so much she made some herself! Hooray! Inspiring others to be homemaker-y!
Well!
For Christmas I was very lucky and received, a crock pot!!! pots and pans, a new double boiler (hello next year's way easier peppermint bark!), and a sewing machine!!!
I can't wait to get cooking and sewing. So there.
I shall keep you posted with my latest experiments!
Well, all the peppermint bark was given out and enjoyed! A friend even liked it so much she made some herself! Hooray! Inspiring others to be homemaker-y!
Well!
For Christmas I was very lucky and received, a crock pot!!! pots and pans, a new double boiler (hello next year's way easier peppermint bark!), and a sewing machine!!!
I can't wait to get cooking and sewing. So there.
I shall keep you posted with my latest experiments!
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