Tuesday, December 29, 2009

FRESH BREAD

It doesn’t get much easier, or fresher, than this:

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I made this recipe (cut in half) last night and was surprisingly impressed with how simple it was and how good it turned out.  This recipe only took about 10 minutes of actual work, and the kneading part was really easy because I just used the kneading hook on my Kitchen Aide.  I think I need to tweak the recipe a bit (I used EVOO instead of normal olive oil, and the taste was definitely a little too strong, especially for a breakfast bread), but otherwise, it was PERFECT!

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Oh yeah, notice the gorgeous plate my sister got me for Christmas??? Thanks Christy!SONY DSC

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Product Review

We are at the airport on our way back from a wonderful Idaho Christmas (more on that in a later post), but before we board our plane, I just wanted to mention a fun product review I get to do for  www.cookware.com sometime in the next week for so.  They have some really fun products, including the fun one I’ll get to play with and some Rachel Ray Cookware that looks like it would be fun too!

Now just because blog posts are more fun with pictures….here is an adorable picture of my new little cousin in an outfit her dad wore 30 years ago!!!

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Monday, October 12, 2009

to my fantasy football team.

I am proud of you for scoring 119 points this week, even though it resulted in a loss.  You played well, you stayed strong, and while it may have been a loss this week (following your previous 4 losses), I have faith that one day you will actually win.  There might be a bit of re-organization this week, but trust me (if you can – after 5 consecutive losses) – it will result in a stronger team.   I’ve made some poor choices – such as dropping Ginn and Fasano – who others doubted, and I myself also doubted (hence my dropping them) – and they proved us all wrong this week with a strong showing in the Dolphins game.  For your sake, my dear fantasy football team, I hope that the decisions I make will continue to let you be one of the highest scoring teams in the league for the rest of the season.  We still have a chance.  We can still prove the league that we are a threat.  I WILL TAKE YOU TO THE PLAYOFFs……just hang in there with me for a few more weeks.  Thanks again, Katy’s Coffey House, for having such a good showing this past week.  I’m proud of you….even though it resulted in a loss….again.

Friday, September 4, 2009

peanut….peanut butter (and jelly)

well, actually – no jelly, but that song came to mind anyway…(don’t tell me you dont know the peanut butter and jelly song!)

I was craving something sweet, peanut-buttery, and simple to make, and once again one of my favorite bloggers came to the rescue again!  if you haven’t already checked out the pioneer woman’s tasty kitchen yet – you are missing out!

Magic Peanut Butter Cookies!  Three ingredients (1 c peanut butter, 1 c sugar, and an egg), 10 minutes, and a little hope [i was kind of skeptical that this would actually work] SONY DSC

They turned into delicious cookies…

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And after a couple each for joel and I, they promptly got packaged up and taken over to our neighbors as a thank you for the plums.

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Thursday, September 3, 2009

summer plums

One of our neighbors gives us a bunch of fresh plums right from their tree every summer.  We always eat a couple of them, but never seem to make it through the bag before the [nasty] fruit flies seem to get them….soooooooooo this year I decided to try turn them into a jam (emphasis on try). 

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I loosely followed this recipe, here are a few of the modifications I made:

I didn’t peel the plums.  This was MY BIGGEST MISTAKE!  The peel is the worst part of the plum, and gives the jam a slightly bitter taste (but maybe that is just my initial opinion base on using it as an ice cream topping…we’ll see what I think after putting it on something else).  I just cut them into halves/quarters, threw them into a food processor, and dumped them into the pot.

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I didn’t use pectin (we’ll see how much they firm up…it might be worth running to the store to pick some up next time), and I think I didn’t use quite as much sugar as the recipe calls for, but again – I loosely followed the recipe, which means (don’t tell Joel this part) that I don’t really measure things.  The only ingredients were plums, lemon juice, cinnamon, and sugar.

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When I canned this (and when I can blackberry jam), I didn’t boil the jars after putting the jam in them.  I put the lid on, turn the jar upside down for about 5 minutes, and then flip upright to cool – and wait to hear the sealing POP (normally 5-10 minutes after flipping right side up). 

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Served over [very melted] ice-cream….

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Sunday, August 23, 2009

fun with pictures. in mirrors.

 

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k: oh yeah – i forgot to tell you – look at the camera in the mirror.

 

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j: just take the picture already!

 

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k: hahah i got you talking

 

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k: just one more

 

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ummm….not sure about this one… 

 

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k: almost there

 

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GOT IT! Kind of….

Saturday, August 22, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

 

Thank you for everything you’ve done for me - I love you! 

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another painting day…

We’ve been painting the outside of our house….for…ummm….the past week and a half. (on and off…).  It has turned into a much bigger project than we expected…..but today it turned into some fun self portraits. my camera makes all projects more fun!

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another big project today….blackberry picking!!! there are SO MANY blackberries in our neighborhood….we try to pick a ton and then freeze them to use all winter.  we’ve picked about 6 gallons between yesterday and today!!! (one gallon today came from our backyard!)

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Goode Got Married!

We headed back to Idaho this weekend for our friend’s beautiful wedding.  Here’s a quick recap.

Reunion of the roommates:

 

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Some great toasts…

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A little pre-cake cutting rug cutting. Is this a tradition I don’t know about???

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Saturday, July 11, 2009

Spicy Vegan Potato Curry

I made another delicious meal tonight.  I think I’m on a roll this week!

This is the Spicy Vegan Potato Curry from Allrecipes.com, with some modifications, of course.  The recipe calls for garam masala and cayenne pepper.  I had neither, so I left the garam masala out completely, and substituted a sprinkle of chili powder for the cayenne pepper.  I added half each of a chopped zucchini, chopped summer squash, and chopped red pepper and I completely left out the can of peas the recipes calls for.  I served mine over wilted spinach and served Joel’s over brown rice. 

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I thought it was delicious, but could use a little spice (maybe the garam masala would do the trick – if I knew what that was :-) ).  Joel thought it was good, but need an animal added….so maybe next time I’ll add chicken. 

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