Friday, August 31, 2012

Foodie Penpal-- Package from the Barefoot Baker

The Lean Green Bean

It's my second Foodie Penpal reveal, and this month, I was excited to get a box of goodies from Emma at the Barefoot Baker!  Emma just came back from a six-week internship in Spain and shared lots of goodies from her European adventures.


Her letter details each piece of the package and why she included it.  I received loose tea with rooibos, chocolate, and orange flavors- yum!!  Mini-nutella (she said that Italians were obsessed with it) could be my favorite part-- we have a jumbo size nutella in our pantry :)  There was also instant espresso from Italy, and her favorite granola bars, teas, and other great healthy snack food.

I can't wait to try all these new things.  Thanks Emma for the great package!!!!

My package went to Sarah, so check out her blog for more details!  Want to be a foodie penpal??  Click on the picture above for more information!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Buffalo Chicken Tenders

It's back to school time in Virginia!!!  I don't have kids in school, but I start a graduate class next Monday.  My favorite meal growing up (okay, still one of my favorite) are chicken fingers.  Being from Buffalo and loving chicken fingers, I saw this recipe from Alida's Kitchen and had to make it.  Some close runners up include chicken fingers with ranch breading and another one with crushed up cheez-its.  This was a winner for last night's dinner :)

Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders


Ingredients
2 tbs whole wheat flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp minced onion
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
1 pound chicken tenders/ chicken tenderloins
1/2 cup hot sauce
1 tbs butter, melted

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.  Set aside.

Use three bowls.  In one, combine flour, garlic powder, paprika, minced onion, and salt.  In another, mix the egg whites.  In the last, add the breadcrumbs.


Working with one tender at a time, dredge chicken in flour mixture, then dip in egg whites, followed by  bread crumbs, making sure chicken is coated, and then place on prepared baking sheet.  Repeat.

Bake for 20 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Meanwhile, whisk hot sauce and butter.  Once chicken is done, remove from oven and drizzle with hot sauce mixture, making sure to flip to get both sides.


Serves four.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Fried Green Tomatoes

More tomatoes!!!  This time, they are green.  One of my favorite movies is Fried Green Tomatoes, but can you believe that I have never eaten a fried tomato.  Seriously.

The CSA basket came with gobs of green and red tomatoes, so I decided to try my hand at green tomatoes.  I didn't have all the ingredients at home, but since the recipe I used was already adapted from a Paula Deen recipe by her sons, I figured I could adapt it a bit too.

I thought they were tasty, but of course, I had nothing to compare it to.  Oh, and see the last picture in the post- now I know why you should only fry green tomatoes and not red ones :)

Fried Green Tomatoes




Ingredients
1/2 cup low-fat whipping cream (original recipe called for buttermilk)
1 egg white
10 drops hot sauce (about 1/2 tsp)
1 cup cornmeal
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbs vegetable oil
3 large green tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 1 1/2 pounds)

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a large cookie sheet with nonstick spray.  Combine whipping cream, egg white, and hot sauce in a medium bowl. Mix cornmeal and salt in another bowl, like a pasta bowl. Dip the tomato slices into the liquid mixture, then into the cornmeal, gently turning to coat.


Heat 1 1/2 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the tomato slices in a single layer and cook until browned on one side, about 4 minutes.

Transfer the slices, browned-side up, to the cookie sheet.


Lightly spray the tomatoes with nonstick spray. Bake until the tomatoes are golden brown on both sides, about 8 minutes. Serve hot.


Whoops- here's a picture with the red tomatoes.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Italian Beef and Green Bean Casserole


I received a dutch oven from two of my cousins at my bridal shower (#3) and never unpacked it (along with tons of other gifts that were in the corner of my dining room).  I finally did and had to use it immediately!  In my fridge, I found ground beef, eggplant, and green beans....I did a google search, found a recipe that mostly had the ingredients, and away I went.  I present Italian Beef and Green Bean Casserole.  It's adapted from Jan's Sushi Bar, and it was very tasty.  Hope you enjoy it!

Italian Beef and Green Bean Casserole


Ingredients
1 lb ground beef, preferably grass-fed
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 large onion, diced
3 minced garlic cloves
2 cans (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 tsp dried basil (or 1 tsp fresh)
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 green pepper, sliced
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half
Parmesan cheese


Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Heat dutch oven (or skillet that can go in the oven), and cook ground beef until it is almost cooked, breaking it up while cooking.

Season with the salt and pepper and add onion and green pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened.


Add the garlic to the pan, and stir and cook for another minute until the ground beef is completely cooked through.

Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes.


Add the eggplant and green beans.  Cover and place in the oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender and the green beans are tender-crisp. Serve topped with parmesan cheese.


Thursday, August 23, 2012

Maple French Toast and Bacon Cupcakes

Is it breakfast or dessert?  I think it could be both :)  My friend made this for a cookout last weekend, and I loved them so much, I had to share them on the blog.  I mean, what's better than bacon in a cupcake and mixed through the frosting?  Nothing.  Seriously, nothing.

Oh, and if you haven't noticed, I've stopped counting points for a while (see recipe below...haha).  We ate and drank whatever we wanted on our honeymoon, and I came back eight pounds heavier.  I know I need to get my embarrassed butt back to the Weight Watchers meeting and back to bootcamp, but I haven't done it yet :(  Maybe next week-- okay, seriously, I need more motivation.

But back to bacon!!!  Here's the amazing recipe from the Food Network.

Maple French Toast and Bacon Cupcakes



Ingredients

Cupcakes
1 cup flour
1 cup cake flour
1 box instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs potato starch (a little harder to find, check specially grocery stores)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp  nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup  light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup half-and-half, at room temperature
1/2 cup chopped cooked bacon (about 5 strips)

Glaze
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tsp cinnamon
3 strips bacon, cooked and chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line12-cup muffin tin.

In a separate bowl, combine the flours, pudding mix, baking powder, potato starch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

In another  bowl, cream the butter and sugars with a mixer on low speed until combined, 6 to 8 minutes. Gradually mix in the vanilla and egg whites. Scrape down the sides of the bowl; continue mixing until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture in small batches, alternating with the maple syrup and half-and-half, mixing after each addition and ending with flour. Mix until the ingredients are just combined. Fold in the bacon. The batter will be thick.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup about 3/4 of the way. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool completely.

While cupcakes are cooking, beat the cream cheese and butter with a mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add the confectioners' sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon; beat until combined. Spread on the cooled cupcakes; top with chopped bacon.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Roasted Tomatoes

The Sunday before our wedding, Austin went into the kitchen and came out hours later.  Here's what he presented:


Huge brownie points to the future hubby (as if I wasn't going to marry him in 6 days anyways)!!  Sirloin steak and tomatoes from the CSA and toasted couscous.  There is nothing better than a meal like this on a Sunday afternoon.

Hope you enjoy this simple tomato recipe that Austin found and adapted from the Food Network.

Roasted Tomatoes



Ingredients
24 large cherry tomatoes (in red and orange), halved lengthwise
3 tbs olive oil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Arrange the tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut sides up, in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle the garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper over the tomatoes. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tomatoes are concentrated and beginning to caramelize. Serve warm or at room temperature.



Sunday, August 19, 2012

Brown Rice and Zucchini Casserole

Zucchini is coming out of our ears, so when I saw this recipe after logging onto e-tools, I printed it out immediately for dinner that night.  Recipe was good, not great.  If I were to make again, I would add more seasonings and maybe even some ground sausage.  The recipe below reflects the changes I would make.

Brown Rice and Zucchini Casserole


Ingredients
3 medium zucchini, shredded through the large holes of a box grater
2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cup cooked medium-grain brown rice, cooled to room temperature
1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1 Tbs fresh, chopped basil
3 oz low-fat mozzarella cheese
1 Tbsp all-purpose whole wheat flour
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1/4 cup breadcrumbs, mixed Panko and Italian style
2 Tbs Parmesan cheese
1 pound Italian sausage (casings removed)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown Italian sausage, drain, and set aside.

Toss zucchini and salt in a large colander; set in the sink for 10 minutes. Rinse well to remove salt. Squeeze it by handfuls to remove all excess moisture. Transfer to a large bowl.

Stir in the eggs, brown rice, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, flour, lemon zest, thyme, basil and pepper until well-combined.  Add Italian sausage and mix well.

Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Spoon and spread the zucchini mixture into the pan. Mix the breadcrumbs and Parmigiano-Reggiano in a small bowl; sprinkle evenly over the casserole.


Bake 25-30 minutes.

Serves 8, 4 points a serving (without meat).

Friday, August 17, 2012

Risotto in a Lemon Cup


When I saw this recipe while perusing the internet, I knew I had to make it....it's so cute!  Risotto in a lemon cup; yes please!!  I love the presentation of this and hope you do too.  It's adapted from the Food Network, based on what was in my pantry and fridge.

Risotto in a Lemon Cup


Ingredients
2 cups low-sodium beefbroth
2 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon
1/4 diced onion
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 Tbs grated Parmesan, plus 1 Tbs
2 tablespoons skim ricotta cheese
1/2 a lemon, zested amd juiced
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 lemons, for serving

Directions
In a medium saucepan bring the broth and 1/2 cup water to a simmer. Cover the broth and keep hot over low heat.

In a medium, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the shallot and saute until tender but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the butter. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes.

Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of the broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter, 2 tablespoons of Parmesan, ricotta cheese, the lemon zest and juice, and the salt and pepper.

To serve, cut 1/4-inch off the bottom of each lemon so they stand on their own. Take 1-inch off the stem end. Using a grapefruit spoon scoop out the flesh of the lemon and discard. Fill each lemon with about 1/2 cup of risotto. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Chili-Cheddar Grits with Grilled Corn and Tomatoes

Austin cooked again!  I was super stressed leading up to the wedding, so he did such a wonderful job making me feel supported by cooking and doing other housework too.

With this recipe, the pictures are not what they it should really look like, but the taste profile is absolutely there!  Austin ended up pureeing all the veggies together instead of just the tomatoes, making it a grit soup.  Whether it's grit soup or more chunky veggies, you're still going to gobble this meal down :)  This is another recipe adapted from Fine Cooking.

Chili-Cheddar Grits with Grilled Corn and Tomatoes


Ingredients
3 medium ears fresh corn, shucked
1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. medium plum tomatoes, halved
2-3 summer squash, peeled and quartered
salt and black pepper
1 cup quick-cooking (not instant) grits
4 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
4 oz. extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (about 1 cup)

Directions
Lightly rub the corn with 1 tsp. of the oil. In a medium bowl, toss the tomatoes with the remaining 2 tsp. oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Put the corn, squash and tomatoes, cut side up, on the grill and cover (or in a grilling pan on the stovetop). Grill, turning the corn occasionally (don’t turn the tomatoes), until the corn is browned in places and the tomato skins have darkened and the flesh has softened, 8 to 12 minutes.

Set aside 4 tomato halves for garnish and put the remaining tomatoes in a food processor; pulse until smooth. When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut the kernels from the cobs.

In a heavy-duty 4-quart saucepan, bring 3-1/2 cups of water and 2 tsp. salt to a boil over high heat. Whisk in the grits, chili powder, and the tomato purée. Bring to a boil and stir in two-thirds of the corn kernels and the scallions.

Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, partially covered and stirring frequently, until the grits are tender and thick, about 5 minutes. Add the cheese and a few grinds of pepper; stir until the cheese melts. Divide the grits among 4 soup bowls and top each with a tomato half and some of the remaining corn.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Our CSA provided us with the world's biggest cabbage.  What to make?  I thought of coleslaw and sauerkraut....I'm not a fan of sauerkraut, and Austin doesn't like either.  I hate having food go to waste, so a little big of googling, and I found a recipe from Skinny Taste.  It was hearty, delicious, and hardly tasted like cabbage :)  There was also so much cabbage that I made 2 casseroles, 1 for dinner that night and 1 for the freezer.  Enjoy!

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole



Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 tbs finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp Paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
1 extra large head green cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 can (14.5 oz.) petite dice tomatoes with juice
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups low-fat mozzarella cheese
1 green pepper, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two large glass casserole dish with non-stick spray. (My dish was 13" x 9").

Heat a large frying pan on medium heat; add ground beef and cook until it's browned and cooked through, breaking it apart as it cooks. Remove ground beef and set aside.


In the same pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, chopped onion, green pepper and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic, thyme, and paprika and cook about 2 minutes more. Then add the diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and ground beef. Add water to the pan. Simmer until it's hot and slightly thickened, about 15-20 minutes.

While it simmers, cut cabbage in half, cut out the core, and remove any wilted outer leaves; chop the cabbage coarsely into 1 inch pieces.

Heat remaining olive oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven; add the cabbage and cook over medium-high heat until the cabbage is wilted and about half cooked, turning it over several times so it all wilts and cooks. Season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.


When the meat and tomato sauce mixture has cooked and thickened a bit, stir in the 2 cups of cooked rice and gently combine.

Spray casserole dishes with non-stick spray and the layer half the cabbage, half the meat mixture, remaining cabbage, and remaining meat mixture. For the first dish, cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes, or until the mixture is just starting to bubble on the edges.  For the second dish, cover with foil, wrap in saran wrap, and freeze.


Remove foil and sprinkle on cheese. Bake uncovered an additional 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to slightly brown. Serve hot.


Saturday, August 11, 2012

Guest Post from Sadie @ Frosting and Filigree


Hello Food Ramblers, my name is Sadie and I’m coming at you from a blog I share with my friend Carrie called Frosting and Filigree.  Elizabeth is off on some tropical island somewhere for her honeymoon so she asked me to guest post!

So this past weekend I was visiting my parents house and my mom told me her most recent dilemma.  My dad is an Olympic level snacker and he tends to covertly eat through the contents of the cupboard on a regular basis.  She says that if she doesn’t have actual snacks in the house like crackers or cookies, etc, he will turn to her cooking and baking ingredients.  If my brothers and I are not home, my mom typically cuts down on her baking and snack selection because she wants to limit temptation for herself.  But it’s clear that she’s shooting herself in the foot because it causes my dad to turn to her supplies of chocolate chips/Craisons/sunflower seeds/sliced almonds, etc.  She said she is often in the middle of a recipe and realizes that her supply of a necessary ingredient has been mysteriously depleted.

What was her proposed solution you ask?

“So Sadie, it would be great if you could bake some snacks for him this weekend, so he’ll stop eating my precious ingredients.”

I saw this as the perfect opportunity to try a Martha Stewart recipe that caught my eye the other day.  It looked too easy to pass up.  I thought it would be perfect for my parents because it’s not some ooey gooey cookie that would put them into sugar shock.  These bars basically seem like a thick version of graham cracker crust with almonds, and who doesn’t love a graham cracker crust!

Almond Graham Bars with Dark Chocolate


Yields 12 small bars Adapted from Martha

Ingredients
1 ½ cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups sliced almonds
Dash salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350.  Line an 8 x8 square pan with parchment or foil (this step is essential for this recipe, the bars stick!).
2. In a bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs with the condensed milk, salt and 1 ½ cups of the almonds.  Make sure the ingredients are well combined.  You might even want to let it sit a few minutes to make sure the milk has soaked through and coated the crumbs and almonds.
3. Press the mixture into the prepared square pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown.


4. When the bars are done, sprinkle on the chocolate chips and allow them to melt on top while the bars are still warm.  When the chocolate has melted, use an offset spatula to spread it evenly across the surface.


5. Top the chocolate layer off with the last ½ cup of sliced almonds and allow to cool completely before you slice them.



Thursday, August 9, 2012

Grilled Avocados with Salsa

Found this great recipe from Buns in My Oven- love to grill and it felt a little more tropical...like maybe I can eat it in Jamaica?!?

What do you think we're eating and drinking on our amazing honeymoon?  Post a comment below...

Anyways, here's this simple but great recipe!  We paired it with grilled chicken breast :)

Grilled Avocados with Salsa



Ingredients
2 avocados, halved and pitted
1 lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup salsa (homemade or store-bought)- we did store bought
salt, to taste

Directions
Preheat the grill to high heat.  In a small bowl, whisk the juice of the lime with the olive oil.  Brush the lime and olive oil combo on the avocado.  Grill for 5 minutes or until grill marks appear and the avocado is just warm.  Remove from the grill and fill the whole with salsa. Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Dinner Fail

Here's the end result of this dinner:


Yup, it was that bad :(  Weight Watchers has a recipe of the day, and a recipe for a mushroom and spinach lasagna was featured.  Sounds great to me!  I substituted kale (and cooked it more since it's a little tougher than spinach), but then followed the recipe to a T.

And look at the pictures...the recipe looks good:

pre-oven

post baking
individual piece
We took a bite and then another; I even finished my plate, but it hurt me to swallow each bite :(  Austin said nothing about the meal (he's a good fiance-- now HUBBY!) and asked what to do with the leftovers.  When I said the trash, he just smiled and agreed.  Sad face, but it happens.  I'm just glad it doesn't happen too often when I cook. 

I tried to go on Weight Watchers to review/destroy the recipe, but they took it down...guess others ran into the same problem that I did-- the recipe was terrible!! :(

Monday, August 6, 2012

Too Much Corn (Part 2) and a Recipe

What a cliff hanger- you had to wait through the weekend to see what I do with all that corn...haha.

This week and the beginning of next week will feature recipes that Austin and I have made over the past month but haven't been blogged yet.  We are currently on our way back to Virginia and heading to Jamaica tomorrow :)  Expect some tropical blog posts soon!

But back to the kitchen!  Corn chowder is one of my favorites, so with an abundance of corn, of course we needed to make chowder!  This recipe is adapted from finecooking.com.

Summer Corn Chowder with Scallions, Bacon & Potatoes



Ingredients
6 ears fresh corn
scallions (about 10 medium)
3 slices turkey bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 jalapeño, cored, seeded, and finely diced
1 tsp. kosher salt; more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
3-1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1-1/2 cups)
1-1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup light cream

Directions
Husk the corn and cut off the kernels (I used a new gadget, and it rocks!). Reserve two of the corn cobs and discard the others. Trim and thinly slice the scallions, keeping the dark-green parts separate from the white and light-green parts.


Line bacon on cookie sheet and cook for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  Cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces.

In a 4 qt saucepan, melt the butter.  When the butter is melted, add the white and light-green scallions and the jalapeño, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Cook, stirring, until the scallions are very soft, about 3 min.

Add the broth, corn, corn cobs, potatoes, and thyme and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the potatoes are completely tender, about 15 min. Discard the corn cobs.


Transfer 1 cup of the broth and vegetables to a blender and puree. Return the puree to the pot and stir in the cream and all but 1/3 cup of the scallion greens. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for a couple of minutes to wilt the scallions and blend the flavors.


Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve sprinkled with the bacon and reserved scallions.


Saturday, August 4, 2012

Wedding Day!

Today is the day!  Austin and I are getting married!!!!!!!!!!!!  I don't think enough exclamation points can let you know how excited I am.  Pictures will be up soon enough (well, after the honeymoon), but I thought this post would be a good one to show what gifts we gave our parents as a big THANK YOU for getting us to this point.

I knitted our parents blankets.  I have been working on these blankets for more than a year, and I was thrilled when I finished them (granted that only happened 6 days ago).  Three blankets was a little bit too much to put on my plate, but they are done- and BEAUTIFUL (if I do say so myself...lol).

Here's the blanket I made for my parents.  This is it over my bed, so it was a pretty big blanket.


I made the blanket in three different strips and then stitched them all together.


The first stitch was the easier with slip stitches pulled over, the second a cable (I taught myself cabling with the help of youtube), and then another fancy stitch (I can't remember what it's called since I made these strips over a year ago...).

my parents were married 30 years ago, someone made them a cream blanket that they still have today.  I thought it was appropriate to make them one for the start of my marriage too!

Blanket for Austin's mom:



This blanket was done in a different orientation.  I cast on hundreds of stitches, so when the blanket was done, the strips were vertical instead of the traditional horizontal stripe.

Blanket for Austin's dad:

I did Austin's dad blanket in a modified rib in the manly colors of tan and brown :)

I hope that our parents really appreciate the gifts since there were made with lots of love!

DID I MENTION TODAY IS MY WEDDING DAY?!?!?!



Thursday, August 2, 2012

Too Much Corn- Part 1

What do you do when you have corn coming out of your ears?  There's a couple things I do-- one is cook...the other, of course, is to save.  My boss' family has a farm, and she came into work one day with her trunk full of corn.  I took many a ear, but then I didn't know what to do with it.


So I blanched and froze enough corn to take us through the winter.  Start with a huge stock pot of boiling water.  Husk all the corn and break into pieces.  I found this to be easier that boiling who corn cobs, and they're easier to stack in the freezer bags.

Boil corn for about 10 minutes.

Drain corn in colander and put into ice bath.  My ice bath was the other side of the sink with half cold water and half ice.


When the corn cools, put in freezer bags and store until needed.


Enjoy for as long as the corn lasts.  Considering I eat 3-4 ears of corn at a time, I don't think this frozen corn will last long :)