A Few of My Favorite Things

Today, I feel the need to share just a few of life's simple pleasures.  I'll let them speak for themselves.

• Green Beans with Lemon Pepper.  I was introduced to this amazing combination by my sister-in-law's mother.    It's as easy as that--cook your green beans your favorite way (steam, simmer, saute, whatever) and then just toss them with some lemon pepper.  Fresh, tasty and way less calories than the butter I would usually use.
• iPhone "My Shopping List" app.  This handy, dandy app puts your grocery list in order by department.  Since I make my list by going through each meal for the week, it used to take me forever to do my grocery shopping---everything was on the list by meal.  Now, I simple put the item into my list on the phone and Voila!  Everything appears in it's correct category like meat, dairy, baked goods, fruits & veggies, etc.
• Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman.  Part parenting book, part cultural study, this book which compares parenting in the U.S. to parenting in France was funny, practical, and offered a little mental vacation to Paris.

• Onion and Rosemary Focaccia Bread.  I made this from the "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" book and it is delicious. 
• Sunny warm days.
• Bright Daffodils

On  slightly different note, I just read about this "My Favorite Things" party idea and would love to do one!  I love the idea of sharing all these little things with my friends!  Read more about it here My Favorite Things Party. 

Baptism Brunch

Baptism Day
 February 12, 2012

We recently celebrated our daughter's baptism and it was a wonderful day, surrounded by family and good friends.  Following the baptism service at our church, we enjoyed a lovely Sunday morning brunch at our house that gave me the chance to show off some new recipes (and include some old favorites!)

Pink roses for Charlotte and the baptism robe given by our church.

One of the things that made the brunch possible was my friend Melanie, who volunteered to be my kitchen witch for the morning.  Now, I had never heard of the term "kitchen witch" before.  Basically, it is a friend who comes over to your house and takes care of all the details of a meal which you cannot do because you are attending the event directly before (or I suppose they might also come so that you could be a part of something you were hosting). In any case, Melanie came over while we were at church to put the egg bake in the oven, slice and display all of the breads, adding the finishing touches to the table, and in this case, brought the dessert.  It was so wonderful to come home and, instead of rushing to get the meal ready, simply grab a plate and begin.  It took a lot of the stress out of the morning and I was able to really enjoy the time with my family.

To make the brunch special, I used a combination of favorites and then classed it up with a couple of what I would consider to be luxe additions. 

The Brunch Spread

Menu

Egg Casserole with Sage Sausage

Lemon Poppy Seed, Pumpkin and Banana Breads

Spinach Salad

Mixed Fruit Salad

Crab Cheesecake

Citrusy Champagne Sangria

Chocolate Truffle and Strawberry Cupcakes

Pecan Torte Coffee

Now, I don't know about you, but crab cheesecake and Champagne sangria are not "normal" brunch items at our house.  Especially considering that the cheesecake is garnished with creme fraiche and caviar, but these were fantastic additions that really added to the menu. My sister introduced me to the egg bake recipe a couple of years ago, and it has become a favorite.  It is easy to prep/make ahead and comes together very easily.

Laura's Egg & Sausage Casserole

INGREDIENTS

    * 1 pound sage pork sausage

    * 1 (8 ounce) package refrigerated crescent roll dough

    * 10 eggs, beaten

    * 3/4 cup milk

    * 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

    * 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

    * 1 teaspoon dried Italian Seasoning

DIRECTIONS

   1. Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.

   2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

   3. Line the bottom of the prepared baking dish with crescent roll dough, and sprinkle with crumbled sausage. In a large bowl, mix beaten eggs, mozzarella, and Cheddar. Season the mixture with oregano, and pour over the sausage and crescent rolls.

   4. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, then lower to 325 and bake for 20 more minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serves 12

One of my  favorite moments of the day was when my husband and I gave Charlotte her baptism gift. 

Putting on Charlotte's little bracelet.

I wanted to get her something pretty, special, and symbolic.  So after a lengthy Internet search I decided on a bracelet from Tiny Blessings.   I loved how it has her name on it.  The pearls represent that she is a "pearl of great worth" and the tiny jewels symbolize that she was "bought at a price."  She doesn't wear it everyday, but I think that makes it even more special.  I am also excited that the company offers resizing at a very reasonable price so that as my baby girl grows, her jewels will always fit.

All in all, it was an incredible day that I will not soon forget.  Check other these links for some of the other brunch recipes.

Crab Cheesecake
(recipe is for Lobster, but reviews recommended both crab and shrimp as well)
Citrusy Champagne Sangria
(I used raspberries for the pomegranate--our grocery store didn't have them.)
Ginger Pumpkin Bread

 

A Slice of Nostalgia

My mom was an amazing cook and baker.  She knew how to make a meal special and how to find great recipes.  I know that my love of cooking and appreciation for delicious, home-y foods comes from her.  For a long time I have searched for a banana bread recipe that was as good as hers--dense, moist, and irresistible with a slather of peanut butter.  Unfortunately, none of the recipes I tried came close.

Finally, it dawned on me that I knew which cookbook my mom's favorite banana bread recipe came from and I remembered to ask my dad to bring it to me at Christmas time.  Of course, this cookbook, being a church fundraiser cookbook, has SIX banana bread recipes in it.  I figured I'd just start with the first one, and cook my way through them until I found the one. 

Then, as I started to look at the recipes, one of them jogged my memory.  It called for 1 2/3 cups of bananas...and for whatever reason I knew that this was the one my mom used.  Of course I had made it myself when I was in high school, but who would have thought, when all of the recipes were so similar, that was the detail that would stick.  I baked up a loaf and, behold, there was the long searched for loaf of golden goodness.

So, here's the recipe, courtesy of Marie R. Hartman and the St. Vincent DePaul Parish Council of Catholic Women from Seward, Nebraska circa 1988.

Banana Bread

1 3/4 c. Flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. nuts (pecans or walnuts) chopped
1 2/3 c. banana, mashed
2/3 c sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 c butter, melted

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nuts.  In a large bowl combine the bananas, sugar, vanilla, eggs and butter.  Fold in the dray ingredients, stirring only to blend.  Pour into a greased and floured 9x3" loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until golden and toothpick comes out clean.

Ah, the perfection!

Spring on the Inside

The view from my kitchen this morning.

Well, it's a gorgeous spring day in Minnesota.  As one of my girls put it at Girls Group Monday night, "If Mother Nature was a real person, someone would have murdered her by now."  I think we are all sort of feeling that way.  But, I guess if we can't have spring outside, then the next best thing is spring on the inside--and it was definitely spring at our fundraiser for the Soul Sisterhood Retreat this weekend!

We had a sunny, although chilly, day for our fundraiser, but it was warm and fun inside.  We had a silent auction, bake sale, raffle, dessert buffet and a great speaker, Jessica Zuehlke.  Sixty-four people attended, and $2500 was raised to support our summer camp for girls.  It was wonderful.  Here's some of the highlights:

Our dessert buffet included cheesecake, peach cobbler, angel food cupcakes, Oreo truffles, lemon bars, raspberry bars, Oreo cupcakes, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cupcakes, brownie pops, Raspberry Truffle cups, and yogurt parfaits. Oh, and Chocolate covered strawberries.  There were probably other things as well, but I can't remember all of it.

We decorated the tables with vintage linens (from my personal collection), gorgeous clusters of daffodils, and we also gave each of the women who came a merit badge as a token of thanks for their support for the Soul Sisterhood Retreat.

The bake sale was not huge, but featured yummy goodies like banana bread and muffins, red velvet cheesecake brownies, lemon drop cookies, pumpkin bread, lemon poppyseed bread,  Raspberry bars and Oreo cupcakes.  (Some of the women brought home treats for their deserving husbands and children!)

These are some of the silent auction prizes.  The quilt on the left is the one that I made for the event.  It received many oooh's and ahhhh's.  We also had homemade soaps, jewelry, a garden basket and other great prizes.  Everyone was so generous with their talents!

These were a sampling of the raffle prizes too.  We had cookbooks, gift certificates and some more jewelry.

This was our speaker, Jessica Zuehlke, who along with her husband wrote the musical The Church Basement Ladies.  She was so funny, personable, and encouraging.  She talked about her creative process and her writing, and how she creates the characters and the settings and action in her work.  She really encouraged people to just try writing.  One of my middle school girls (who is a writer and actress) even wanted to follow up with Jessica for advice.

All in all it was a wonderful afternoon and everyone had a great time.  I have to admit though...I really don't want to spend any time in the kitchen right now. 

Baby Love

This past weekend I was in Peoria for my sister's baby shower.  I am so excited about my new niece/nephew (I'm crossing my fingers for a girl!) and can't wait to buy it stuff and teach it funny things to say.
As my gift to little Baby B., I made him/her a quilt this winter.  The nursery is a gorgeous dusty turquoise color, with accents of orange, green, and brown.  It is totally Better Homes & Gardens. 
This quilt was so much fun and actually really quick to put together.  I sent it out to Karie to quilt, and then did my first ever machine binding (I normally do them by hand.)  Although I prefer the look of hand stitching the binding, the time saved really makes up for it so I will probably machine bind future quilts as well.

Here is the quilt.  This pattern is called "Tumbling Triangles" and is from the All People Quilt website.  You can find it here.

On a side note, I am always excited when I find another fun and interesting blog to read.  My recommendation for the week is The Taste Bud Diaries.  This fun little food blog is not only creative, informative and fun, but best of all is written by a friend of mine who just happens to be a 9th grader.  Her recipe for Orange Poppyseed Muffins looks delightful.  I may have to try them out this week...

The Taste Bud Diaries

A Taste of Summer

We are getting to that part of winter where it is really hard to wait for the thaw. We've been teased by a couple of nice days and then been plunged back into despair by late season blizzards and deceptively cold sunshine.  And, well, that's just life in Minnesota, really. 

On Monday, I was definitely longing for fresh breezes, green grass, and a taste of summer.  I decided that the perfect antidote would be peach cobbler.  With ice cream.  Mmmmm.  So, I used my recipe for "The Best Peach Cobbler Ever" and served it as our treat for girls group on Monday night.  It was greatly appreciated by all. 

Here's the recipe  (serves 8-10):
4 cups sliced peaches (I used frozen this time, but fresh are amazing!)
2 cups sugar; divided
1/2 cup water
8 tbs. butter (one stick)
1 1/2 cups  self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot, combine peaches, 1 cup of sugar, and the water.  Stir to combine and then bring it to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

In a 9x13" pan, cut butter into pieces and then stick it into the oven for a couple of minutes to melt the butter.

In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup sugar, self-rising flour, milk, and vanilla.  Stir until combined, then pour into the 9x13" pan with the melted butter.  Next, carefully spoon peaches on top of the batter.  Then, gently pour on all the syrup from the peaches. (It will look soupy---that's okay!  The batter bakes up over the top of all the syrup and peaches.)  Sprinkle the top with cinnamon.

Bake for 30-45 minutes until nice a golden.

Serve with ice cream. (It's best that way).  You can also make this recipe with blueberries or mixed berries.  I think the recipe was from the Food Network Recipe by Paula Deen.  Paula Deen's Peach Cobbler.  I did add the vanilla, and have made it with other fruits though.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This year, my husband and I didn't do Valentine's Day presents--mainly because he just bought me a new car. :-) But, I am not one to let a holiday go by without some sort of special treat for my honey, so I decided to bake some Valentine's inspired cookies.  Imagine his delight to wake up on Saturday to a whole cookie jar full of these gems!  Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Chip Valentines

Preheat oven to 375 degress.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (softened)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 bag white chocolate chips
1 cup red or pink M&M's

Instructions:
Cream together butter, white sugar, brown sugar,  eggs and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa power.  Then, sift flour mixture into the butter mixture and combine. (This dough is very stiff, so you will need some arm muscles!).  Finally, stir in the white chocolate chips and the M&M's.  Next, place tablespoons sized balls (I used a small ice cream scoop) on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes and then allow to cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before moving them to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.

Makes about 35 cookies.

(It is very convenient to buy just a small amount of the color of M&M's you want at a bulk candy store.  I happened to have a bag of Christmas M&M's leftover, so I just picked out all the red ones.  I guess I'll have to use the green ones for a St. Patty's Day treat!)

A little pre-Valentine's Day Festivity

I know, I know.  It's been way too long since I posted last.  It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks...a youth ministry conference at which I presented, a funeral, a retreat, and 8th grade curriculum that is fun but takes a lot of prep time.  Whew.  But, it is all over and I once again have some time to create and write. 

Last Saturday, a group of friends got together and did a little sewing.  Our project was a simple quilt-as-you- go table runner.  A few weeks ago I had found an adorable heart themed print at a quilt shop, and while not quite sure what it would become, I picked up a yard of it.  Well, it became the inspiration for this runner (with enough left over to make a pillow as well!).

Cute, huh?  If you want to check out the instructions, you can find them here.  I also was inspired to make some brownie pops from the Farm Chicks website as well---so delicious and easy peasy.  Here are mine,

I made these for our Girls' Group gathering on Monday, and they were a hit.  My husband liked them too. I am not sure what our project will be for next week, as we meet on actual Valentine's Day.  I asked the girls what they wanted to do, and they suggested I bring my husband for show and tell. Hmmmm...interesting, but I was thinking of something slightly more creative.  Any ideas?  I am toying with molten chocolate cakes or something equally decadent.

Last, but not least, I did have a little time last week to go antiquing with my friend, Jane.  I picked up a couple of vintage tablecloths.  I love their happy, springtime prints, but best of all, they will make awesome table coverings for a fundraiser for the Soul Sisterhood Retreat in April. 

I am especially in love with the yellow rose print on the right.  It has a little bit of pretty blue in it as well.  I can just see it set for a pretty springtime table with a vase of daffodils.  Ah, spring, you seem so far away still.  In any case, if any one of you (or your grandma!) are hoarding some of these tablecloths and would like to make some space in your linen closet, let me know!

By Bread Alone...

Baking is something that I enjoy, but I usually stick to muffins, cookies, quick breads, and those kinds of things because they don't take very long to do.  Seldom do I actually bake yeast breads.  However, for one of my Christmas presents that I chose for myself that my husband gave me, is a cookbook called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.  I have to admit, I was skeptical--yeast bread in 5 minutes a day?  Yeah, right.  But over the weekend I had chance to look at the book, and it really did sound super easy.  So, I picked up a few supplies (including an oven thermometer, pizza peel, and some yeast) and decided to tackle the first recipe.  Hello, easy!
The premise is that you mix up the large batch of dough (which with a stand mixer takes only a couple of minutes), then you refrigerate it.  Then, whenever you are ready to bake, you cut off a hunk of dough, shape it, let it rest, and the bake it off.  The dough recipe is designed to get more flavorful as it is in the fridge, and the other steps really do only take 5 minutes. (Of course, the rising takes a while and the baking as well, but you can do other things while those are going.)

Here's the dough blob in my refrigerator bowl. The amazing book is in the background.

Once you cut off the hunk of dough, you shape it (and for some of the other recipes you add in other spices, toppings, etc) and let it rest on the peel:

Then, after it is risen, you bake it on a stone with a steam bath.  What you end up with is a gorgeous final product with the perfect crusty outside, and delicious chewy inside.  A-MAZING!

Of course, it only took us 5 minutes to eat it too.  Here's where you can order the book:

Book: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertberg and Zoe Francois  

Artisan Bread in Five Website