Anniversary '11

6/13/09

We had a great Anniversary weekend! I should have been working on prints, but instead I laid by the pool, went to the farmer's market, out to dinner and a movie, another dinner... it was great! I've been catching up on my printing today, but I also had time to make us an Anniversary cake! Kevin made us an awesome dinner the other night and a delicious breakfast! Here are the recipes...


Kevin's Seared Yellowfin Tuna
Ingredients
2 thick yellowfin tuna fillets
blackened seasoning
2 T. honey
1 T. balsamic vinegar


Directions
Preheat grill on high. Season fish with blackened seasoning to your taste. Sear on first side 4 min. Whisk together honey and balsamic. Brush on fish and flip. Brush other side. Sear only 2-3 min on the other side.


Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple
Ingredients

3 T. coconut milk
1 1/2 T. sugar
1 T. milk
2 eggs
4 slices bread
cooking spray
sliced pineapple
honey
handful toasted coconut (do not leave this out!)


Directions
Combine first 4 ingredients in a shallow dish. Coat both sides of bread in mixture and cook toast over medium/high heat. I just used a cookie sheet to "grill" the pineapple. Broil them in the oven about 5-7 min on each side. Make sure you watch them. Drizzle toasts with honey, top with pineapple and toasted coconut. I also added the coconut in between the toast layers too.


Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Filling and Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients

1/2 cup choc chips
3 T. butter
1/4 cup+2 T. sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup+2 T. flour
2 T. cocoa powder
1/4 t. baking soda
pinch salt
1/4 cup+2 T. water
6ish strawberries
2 T. strawberry jam
2/3 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 t. water


Directions
Preheat oven to 325. Melt chips and butter slowly in microwave, let cool to room temp. Beat in sugar, egg and vanilla. Combine baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and half the flour. Slowly add to mixture and mix well. Add remaining flour and water and mix well. Pour into a small 6" cake pan and bake 30-45 min. Let cool completely. Meanwhile slice strawberries and mix with jam. Torte the cake (aka:cut in half) and spread the strawberry mixture in between the layers. To make the icing beat cold butter on high until smooth. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and water. Beat on high 3-5 min until fluffy. Ice cake. Cool in fridge for at least an hour.


Notes
If you don't have a 6" cake pan you can double this recipe for cupcakes. Just adjust the oven temp to 350 and cooking time to 20-25 min. OR you can quadruple it and make two 9" cakes (that way you don't have to torte them). Temp at 350, 35-50 min. I made this little cake for our Anniversary! 

We like cake!

PS My first sunflower is blooming! How appropriate! 

cinnamon roll and submission saturday

Done! I love the wood piece. I'm not all that excited about the print, but maybe it's because I've been looking at it all day everyday for like 6 days now. They are sent in, so cross your fingers. I'll find out the 18th if I got in. 

Reality

Now

And we made cinnamon rolls this morning. They were super delicious and quick since I made the dough last night.


Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 t. active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 egg
3 cups flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins


Icing Ingredients
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 1/2 T. butter
1/4 t. vanilla
2 T. milk


Directions
Warm milk in a saucepan until bubbles start to form around edges. Remove from heat and add butter. Stir until melted. Add water and cool until lukewarm. Add sugar and yeast and let stand 10 min. Add salt, egg and 2 cups of flour. Stir in remaining flour a little at a time. You may need to add a little more to get the dough to pull together. Knead on a floured surface until springy and elastic. Roll out into a 12x9 rectangle. Mix cinnamon and sugar. Brush butter onto dough leaving about 1/2 inch edge dry. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture, nuts and raisins. Roll toward the dry edge. Seal seem with water. Cut with a sharp knife or fishing line into 12 rolls. Place into a well greased baking dish. Cover with plastic and let rise for 1 hour. This is the point where you should put them in the fridge if you're making them the night before. Preheat oven to 375. Bake 20-25 min. Meanwhile combine frosting ingredients. Add more milk to reach desired consistency. Spread over warm (not hot) rolls. 
Enjoy!!!

weekend pancakes x2

I made breakfast yesterday and today... I am definitely putting something important off. But my distractions make for good breakfasts :)  I'm assuming everyone knows how to cook pancakes on a griddle or in a skillet. So I didn't type that step out. Hope you don't mind. If it is something that you have trouble with, let  me know and I'll be happy to explain. Both recipes make about 6-8 cakes depending on how big you make them. Enjoy!


Verry Blueberry Pancakes


Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 T. plus 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 T. sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 T. melted butter
1 cup blueberries


Directions:
Stir together flours, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in egg, milk and butter. Mix until smooth. Stir in half the blueberries. Cook over medium heat. Top with remaining blueberries and maple syrup.


Banana Oat Pancakes


Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas (1 mashed, 1 sliced)
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
3 T. vegetable oil
2 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. baking soda
dash salt
3 T. brown sugar
1/2 cup oat bran (if you don't have oat bran, just process some oats in a blender or food processor into a powder)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour


Directions:
Combine mashed banana, egg, vanilla, milk and vegetable oil. In another bowl combine baking powder and soda, salt, sugar, oat bran and flours. Slowly incorporate dry mixture into wet. Cook over medium heat. Top with banana slices and maple syrup or honey. 

lazy snowy sunday

It's snowing! It's all melting when it hits the ground, but it's supposed to keep snowing all day and tomorrow too. Sooo maybe a snow day tomorrow?! I hope so! Today has been lazy and great.


I was craving hash browns, but didn't want to go through the frying process. So I came up with this. When I come up with my own recipes, I usually don't measure anything. This is pretty fool proof, so I just estimated on the amounts. Feel free to change things and make your version.


Hash Brown Scramble
Ingredients: 
1 potato
about 3 T. diced onion
1 grated garlic clove
dash paprika and coarse salt
1 T. vegetable oil
handful grated cheddar and parmesan cheese
4 eggs
splash half and half
dash dried dill and parsley


Directions: 
Peel and grate potato on large grater. Put into a tea towel or paper towels and squeeze out excess liquid. Toss to combine potato, garlic, onion, paprika and salt in a bowl. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Add potato mixture and cook about 5 min. Stirring occasionally. Meanwhile beat eggs, half and half, cheese, dill, parsley and another dash of salt. Add to skillet cooking until egg is cooked through. Stir and flip occasionally. Top with more grated cheese.


Notes: 
You can also add veggies or meat into the egg mixture. Use what you have on hand. I was thinking tex-mex style would be good: black beans, red and green peppers, diced tomato or salsa. I didn't have any of these, but I did have avocado. So I diced those up and added them on top. It's really versatile, so add whatever you like. Enjoy! 

Not the prettiest thing, but it sure is tasty!

2010 holiday recipes

I know it's a little late, but I've had a few requests to post the holiday jar mixes I made for Christmas. Most of them are from this book that my mom in law gave me with a few of my own additions and changes. I also deconstructed a few recipes and made them into mixes. http://www.gooseberrypatch.com/ So here they are. Enjoy!

Turkey Noodle Soup Mix 
Ingredients: 
1/2 cup dried red lentils 
2 T. dried minced onion 
2 T. dried celery flakes
1 T. dried chives
2 chicken bullion cubes (crushed) or 2 T. granules
1 t. dill weed
1 t. celery salt
dash  garlic powder
1 cup uncooked whole grain egg noodles
1 bay leaf


Directions: 
Layer ingredients in a jar in the order listed. Slide bay leaf in the side. Attach instructions: Bring 8 cups of water to a boil; stir in jar contents along with 1 cup chopped veggies and 2 cups chopped cooked turkey. Simmer 20-25 min until veggies are tender.


Mushroom Wild Rice Soup Mix
Ingredients:
1 package country gravy mix
2 vegetable bullion cubes (crushed) or 2 T. granules
2 t. dried minced onion
2 t. dried celery flakes 
1 t. dried parsley
3/4 cup quick cooking brown rice
1/2 cup quick cooking wild rice
3 T. chopped dried shitake mushrooms


Directions:
Layer in a small jar. First pour in gravy mix. Then combine bullion, onion, celery and parsley and layer on top of gravy mix. Add layers of rice and top with mushrooms. Attach instructions: Empty jar into large soup pot. Add 8 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 25-30 min. Stir occasionally until rice is tender. 


Notes: 
This was a favorite. We made it 3 or 4 times before giving it away as gifts. So we got the amounts pretty good, but if Kevin wasn't eating it I would have added twice as many mushrooms (maybe more). He doesn't like mushrooms, but he did like this. For leftovers just add a little water to thin.


Cranberry Orange Bread Mix
Ingredients: 
1 cup flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 cups dried chopped cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts


Directions:
Layer in a large jar flour mixed with baking powder and salt, then graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar, then cranberries, then walnuts. Attach instructions: Preheat oven to 350. Empty jar contents into a large bowl. Add 1 slightly beaten egg, 1 cup orange juice, 1 T. orange zest and 1/3 cup vegetable oil. Spread in greased 9x5 loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. 


Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
Ingredients:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raisins
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 1/4 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt


Directions:
Mix flour and last four ingredients together. Layer first five ingredients in a large jar in the order listed. Top with flour mixture. Attach instructions: Empty mix into a large bowl. Stir. Add 3/4 cup softened butter, 2 slightly beaten eggs and 1 t. vanilla extract. Blend well. Shape into balls and place on well greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 min.


Chocolate Chip Brownie Mix
Ingredients: 
1 cup flour
3/4 t. baking powder
dash salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped nuts(optional)


Directions: 
Combine first 3 ingredients in the bottom of a medium sized jar. Layer other ingredients on top in order listed. Attach instructions: Empty mix into large bowl and stir. Add 1 slightly beaten egg, 1 t. vanilla and 6 T. softened butter. Mix until completely blended. Pour into greased square baking pan. Bake at 375 for 20-25 min. 


Doggie Treats
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup bulgar cracked wheat
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 T. dry yeast
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 T. milk


Directions: 
Combine ll dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in 1 cup of the beef broth to form a stiff dough. Gradually stir in the remaining broth (dough will be very thick). Roll out dough on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness (use your muscles). Cut out dog bone shapes and place on a greased baking sheet. Brush tops with milk. Bake at 300 for 45 min. Turn oven off and leave treats in overnight (not sure why, but I did it because I was afraid of messing them up). Store airtight.


Notes: 
All the dogs loved these. I was so glad because I attempted cat treats and only 2 out of 6 cats liked them. I'm not sure what the yeast is for, because they never really rose. They stayed flat and crunchy like a cracker. But get ready for your entire house and your hands to smell like dog food. They stink. Use some good soap and light some incense because it's nasty. 


I hope I remembered all of the mixes I made. If I left anything out let me know. 

updates all around

Thanks to high amounts of caffeine and working in a coffee shop there are new recipes include Almond Crusted Tilapia and Pumpkin Pancakes. I've been rereading Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, so there are some thoughts related to that as well a nice sketch in doodles. 


Since all of our herbs have now been harvested there isn't much on our porch or in the garden besides some green vines. So we decided to plant some pansies this year. Last year we planted mums and they croaked in the weird Oklahoma weather. These are holding up better, and I think they look prettier too.

Found this weird metallic bug hangin
out and sucking on some fly guts...ew

It's almost Halloween...my favorite holiday! This coming weekend we are marching in the annual Ghouls Gone Wild OKC Halloween Parade as Flaming Skeletons. Our cousin Sean will be going with us this year. Here are some pics from last year. That's Kevin and I with Wayne Coyne! I'll post the new ones soon. :)
   


tunes: The Album Leaf "Into the Blue Again." This used to be my morning yoga music. I haven't listened to it in a while. Kevin was just home on his lunch break and put it on for me before he left. It's so soothing and great on this dreary drizzly day.

Oh and Pepper says hello