Apron Strings

Yesterday afternoon, I stumbled across a sewing magazine with instructions on how to make three different kinds of vintage aprons. I had some free time and an urge to sew something so I pulled out my box of vintage fabric scraps and started piecing some colors together! I absolutely fell in love with the first apron pattern (far left in above picture) because it looked so feminine with the ruffled pocket and ruffles on the bottom. A sewing we will go....

Mom helped me dig through my huge pile of mismatched fabrics and, with her excellent eye for color coordination, came up with these three matching fabrics which I love together (probably because they're pink and green :)! I am really happy with how this apron turned out because normally I am terrible when it comes to following unfamilliar sewing directions. :) I absolutely love wearing aprons! Does anyone else or is it just me? There's just something about putting on an apron that makes everyday tasks more enjoyable! This is so silly but this morning I was actually planning today's outfit to match my apron! :)

This afternoon I was inspired after reading about Hannah's recent bread making post! I had always wanted to try making those beautiful artisan breads and thought I'd try my hand at it today.

I found this recipe on Panera Bread's website after Googling "artisan breads". I made their Three Cheese Bread but with two kinds of cheese because we didn't have any Asiago cheese. We're having soup tonight for dinner so I thought that would go nicely with the meal. Next, I really want to try Hannah's recipe for Italian/French bread! Is anyone else starving? :) ~Alli

Philly Cheesy Pizza Dip

Last night, we tried out "Philly Cheesy Pizza Dip" for our Friday family fun night. It was an immediate hit with our family! Doesn't it remind you of Christmas with the red and green? Mom found this recipe in the new issue of Food and Family by Kraft. That is a great magazine by the way, and the subscription is free! Inside are some delicious and cheap recipes like this one!

Philly Cheesy Pizza Dip

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 C pizza sauce
1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
2 Tbs each chopped red and green peppers
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Spread cream cheese onto bottom of 9 inch pie plate. Cover with pizza sauce; top with remaining ingredients. Microwave on high for 2 minutes (we baked ours in the oven at 400 until hot and bubbly) until heated through. Serve with Ritz crackers.

Makes 2 cups

~Alli

A Very Chocolaty Birthday

Today is Mom's birthday! Because today was a special day, she was treated like a queen, of course! Instead of cake, we thought we'd try a new dessert for a treat after her birthday dinner. I decided to try making little chocolate bowls with chocolate mousse inside... a dieter's nightmare! I had seen some fancy chef make this dessert on a cooking show and I have been longing to make it because it looks so elegant!

Okay, I got off to a rough start. :) In order to make the chocolate bowls, you melt chocolate and then dip an inflated balloon in it to make the bowl shape. When it hardens in the refrigerator, you pop the balloon and...voila! Well, I was not thinking and dipped a balloon in piping hot chocolate fresh out of the microwave! KABOOM! There was chocolate all over the kitchen! I think I still have some in my hair. :) So, if you want to make this dessert, please make sure your chocolate has cooled!
To make the mousse: Whip a carton of whipping cream with a mixer or a whisk (the chef held three whisks together and whisked the cream making it go a lot faster!), melt some chocolate in a separate bowl (I used a bar of Baker's chocolate), then pour the whipped cream, a little bit at a time, into the melted chocolate. The chef added a scoop of whipped cream to the chocolate first to temper it and cool it down a little bit before adding the rest. Then you fold it together...not too much or the whipped cream will loose its fluffiness. Then, I scooped the mousse into a plastic baggie, snipped a corner, and piped it into the chocolate bowls. We had raspberries sprinkled on ours, but you could also use strawberries.
Mom's bowl :)

Oh another thing...if I were going to make this recipe again, I would make the bowls a lot smaller! This is a really rich dessert! It was very good though, and it is a recipe that is definitely going in the recipe box. :) The "queen" enjoyed it! Happy birthday Mom! We love you!

Black Bean Chowder

Ever since last Tuesday, I have been feeling a little "under the weather" with a tremendous craving for soup. :) Mom's homemade chicken and rice soup is always an automatic comforting food to me when I'm sick so I have been eating that all week! Along with chicken soup, I have also been craving another one of our favorites for lunch today : Black Bean Chowder.

We found this great recipe a few weeks ago from the Girotti's blog. It is absolutely fantastic and requires very little prep work. This recipe to us has a little Mexican feel to it with seasonings of cumin and chili powder. We doubled the ingredients this time so that we will be able to eat it for dinner tonight and have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. We have this meal very often in our house because it's so cheap, fast, and easy make! Please check out the recipe found here on the Girotti's blog...you will love it! ~Alli

My First Pound Cake!

Yesterday, I decided to try making a pound cake! I was shocked when it actually came out of the bundt pan in one piece. :) Usually when I flip the cake out of its pan, the good part of the cake is left stuck where it shouldn't be. :)

The recipe I used came from one of Paula Deen's cookbooks, Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics, and it is definitely NOT fat-free (but it's really yummy). The recipe was for just a plain vanilla pound cake but I decided to add some fresh blueberries to the batter for a nice summertime touch.

Mama's Pound Cake

2 sticks butter

1/2 C. Crisco shortening

3 C. sugar

5 eggs

3 C. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 C. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and shortening together. Add sugar, a little at a time. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Sift together dry ingredients and add to mixture alternately with milk, starting with flour and ending with flour. Add vanilla. Pour into greased and floured tube pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

- Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics

(If you want to, add 1-2 cups of blueberries to the batter. You can also add a dusting of powdered sugar over the top of the cooled cake for a finishing touch.)

Enjoy! ~Alli

Warm Winter Lemon Cake

Well it's not winter, but we thought we would give this new recipe a try. :) My grandma found this recipe off of kraftfoods.com, and she thought it sounded interesting. We both thought that you can't go wrong with cake and pudding together! It was actually really good, and I will definitely be making it again. If you don't like lemon pudding, the recipe says you can use vanilla pudding instead. Thanks Nan for the great recipe!

Warm Winter Lemon Cake

1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
2 cups cold milk
1-1/4 cups water
2 pkg. (4 serving size each) JELLO-O Lemon Flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake batter as directed on package. Pour into greased 13x9- inch baking dish; set aside.

Pour milk and water into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes and granulated sugar. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Pour over batter. Place baking dish on baking sheet to catch any sauce that might bubble over sides of dish as dessert bakes.

Bake 55 minutes to an hour or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes. (Sauce will thicken slightly as it cools.) Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Spoon into serving dishes to serve warm. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

Enjoy! ~Alli

Cookies Can Be Healthy?

Yes they can! A few days ago, I found a recipe for these healthy but fabulous cookies over at Tammy's Recipes. Even though this recipe is without sugar , the substitution of honey and molasses really fools you and you can't tell the difference! Our family is trying to cut back on our sugar intake but it's really hard to find sugar-free recipes. And when you do find one, the results taste like cardboard. This cookie recipe, on the other hand, is definitely a keeper!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cookies

2 C. whole wheat flour (I used unbleached all-purpose flour)

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/4 C. rolled oats

6 Tbs. butter, softened

2 eggs

1/2 C. honey

1/4 C. molasses (We didn't have any molasses, so I used an extra 1/4 C. honey instead)

1 tsp. vanilla

1-2 C. (total) chocolate chips, nuts, or sunflower seeds, optional (I used walnuts)

1. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, and oats. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, eggs, honey, molasses, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix, using hands if needed. Add any optional ingredients and drop by teaspoonful onto lightly greased cookie sheets, or, roll dough into balls and press lightly.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until cookies are done. Remove from oven, wait 5 minutes, and then remove to wire rack to cool.

Enjoy! ~ Alli

Soup's On!

A few days ago, I tried another new recipe from the Almost Homemade cookbook from the Gooseberry Patch! Here is their website if you want to visit : http://www.gooseberrypatch.com I just can't get over how easy these recipes are to put together. And the ingredients are really simple as well. Next time, I think I am going to double this soup and freeze it in Ziploc bags. This way, we can just toss a bag of it in the crock pot and be done with it! Voila!

Spicy Vegetable Soup

1lb ground beef (we used turkey)
1 C. onion, chopped
1 C. celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
30-oz. jar chunky garden style spaghetti sauce
10-oz. tomatoes with chiles (we used really mild)
10-oz. pkg. frozen mixed vegetables
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
10-1/2 oz. can beef broth
2 C. water
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Combine ground beef (or turkey), onion, celery, and garlic over medium heat in a stockpot; cook until beef is browned and onion tender. Drain; stir in remaining ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer for 1-1/2 hours to blend flavors. Serves 8 to 10. Enjoy!

~Alli

What's Cookin'?

Tonight I was able to try a new recipe from the Almost Homemade cookbook by the Gooseberry patch. It was a tasty and very simple chicken dish to put together, and we are definitely going to be making this one again! Even if you're not a big zucchini fan, it's really yummy! Here's the recipe, we hope you enjoy:

Zucchini- Stuffed Chicken

2 T. olive oil

2 C. zucchini, shredded (I diced ours)

1 onion, finely chopped

6 oz pkg. herb- flavored stuffing mix

3/4 C. water

1 C. shredded Italian-style cheese blend

8 chicken leg quarters (I used 5 whole chicken breasts)

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini and onion; cook and stir for 5 minutes, or until onion is tender. Remove from heat. Stir in stuffing mix, water, and cheese until well blended; cover and set aside.

Carefully loosen skin on leg quarters to form a pocket (or split chicken breasts to form a pocket); fill evenly with stuffing mixture. Arrange in a greased shallow baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear when pierced. Enjoy!

P.S.- Don't forget the vinegar on your greens! :)

~Alli