Sunday Musings . . . . May 30th

Good Morning to you all. I wanted to jump on here and write a quick post before the day got away from me. It will be a busy one for us (or I should say me) today and after I've jumped off here I probably won't be on again today. We are headed to my inlaws this afternoon for a cookout :-) We'll be celebrating Papa's birthday and the end of school year for Kristen (still counting the days til Summer break, only 3 1/2 more to go!). Before that though I need to go clean up the kitchen, then shower, then head up to Kohl's and take something back for Kristen. We bought her some new tops and t-shirts yesterday but one is a bit small so she wants the larger size so she can wear it today and 'dress-up' for Papa's birthday (I'll be sure to get some photos, she's looking so grown up these days).

I've really enjoyed this week because hubby took the day off on Tuesday (or was that Wednesday? I forgot to take notes again!) and we went out to lunch together. We tried a new Chinese buffet near us. It was wonderful. I love Chinese food but there isn't any close by to us. If there were I'd be ordering take-out on a Friday night more often than is good for me ;-) But it's nice to know we have a good buffet now just a 10 minute drive from us. Jason surprised me again on Friday when he decided to take another day off :-) And it dawned on me that day t(he didn't know at the time) that it was the 15th anniversary of the day we first met back in England! It was rather nice that we got to spend the whole day together again AND had lunch out AGAIN! (my waistline is not thanking me).

See the basket of veggies above - that is what we harvested from the garden today. I didn't update my garden blog last week (although I did take the photos as I usually do each Sunday) so I took photos today and will need to do two posts (week 7 and 8) later tonight or tomorrow. I'll let you know when I get it done, things are improving out there and it's so exciting when you can go out and pick things to eat on a daily basis.

We were thrilled earlier this week when we realized some of the plums on the tree were ripe. We picked them that very evening and ate them, juicy and warm still from the afternoon sun. Even Kristen tried them, although she didn't like the skin because it was a little 'tart' (which is what I love about plums). And as you can see from the basket, we finally got broccoli. I can't wait to cook this and let Kristen try it. Broccoli is her favorite vegetable, she has it with just about every meal. I must be honest though I'm half expecting her to say she doesn't like it because it 'tastes different'! I'll let you know.

Well I hope you are all enjoying your Memorial Day Weekend. I'm sorry I haven't posted as much this week or gotten around to visiting your blogs and saying hi. I miss doing that and hope I can find time next week to get back to it. Have a wonderful Sunday.

hugs....

Blogging time. . . .

This week has just flown by yet again and I find myself struggling to find time to blog. It's not so much because of knitting now for my Etsy shop (which I am still trying to do) but I offered to sew some new patio chair covers for my neighbor Cheryl and it's taking me longer than I thought. Once they are done I hope to find more time to get back on here a little more often. In the meantime, Melanie has given me a cute 'versatile blogger' award. I need to list 7 things about me and then pass on the award to some other bloggy friends.

Hmmm? I've done '7 things about me' before so these may be repeats, but here goes. . . .

1. I was born in England and moved to the States in 1998 with my hubby Jason (who is from CA).

2. I still have a very thick accent. Most people think I'm from Scotland, that's because I am from the North of England, near the borders of Scotland.

3. I have a twin brother! My Mom was 38 years old when she had us, (already having 4 other kids before us ranging from age 14 to 3) and I thought that was REALLY REALLY old. . .

4. until I had my first (and only) baby at age 37!

5. I started wearing glasses at age 20 then moved on to contacts and wore those (for distance) for the next 25 years or so, then 2 years ago I got brave enough to have Lasik Eye Surgery!

6. I still need glasses to see up close now (to knit and read). . . . it's an age thing, and I feel like an 'old lady' when I peep over the tops of my reading glasses to watch tv (while I'm knitting)!

7. I love fresh fruit and vegetables much more than fast food and burgers. Once Kristen filled out a little book at school telling things about her Mommy, it asked what is Mommy's favorite food. . . and she put 'salad' :-) I'm hoping to influence her with my healthy eating habits but so far she won't even touch a lettuce leaf!

So, there you are, 7 (probably boring) things you may or may not know about me. I will just leave this open to anyone that wants to join in. Hubby has taken the day off work tomorrow, I will try to get on here and post again but I'm making no promises ;-)

Cooking with PW - Onion Strings

Melanie picked PW's Onion Strings for this weeks recipe. Let it be known that for some reason I have an even worse fear of frying with hot oil, than I do baking with yeast (see my post on Cinnamon rolls) so I wasn't really looking forward to trying this recipe! That's not to say I didn't want to eat the onion rings or 'strings' as PW calls them. I love onion rings but rarely will I eat them and I NEVER make them at home - I remembered why after making these ones!

It's a simple recipe though, first take a large onion and slice it very thin, then pour over 2 cups of buttermilk and let sit for an hour.

Then take two cups of flour, add salt and a little cayenne pepper. When you're ready to fry, add some of the onions to the flour to coat them, then tap off the excess flour before immersing in to hot oil!

this is the part I don't like, the oil always seems to splash me!

after a few seconds though they settled down and fried up nicely. I had burgers grilling on the grill outside but managed to keep an eye on these babies at the same time. It did take a few minutes for them to brown - not just a few seconds which I was expecting from what PW had said about watching them because they turn brown pretty quick. I did this in 3 batches.

and voila. . . . here they are

I could have eaten the plate full but I resisted and I grilled burgers so we could 'top them off' with the onion. . . .

Verdict: I just love onion rings so these were a hit in my book, but would I make them again, probably not, not for a very long time anyway- the reason being is the whole house stinks of yucky oil after you've made them. I made these last night and I came in the house today and can STILL smell oil a little. The oil in the pan is always gross afterward too and I never know what to do with it. Jason said I just had to pour it down the sink, which I hate the thought of but had no other choice really. Most certainly delicious, Kristen loved them and she doesn't even like onions!! but not something I would ever make on a regular basis.

Sunday Musings . . . . May 23rd

Wow, it's Sunday and I'm actually posting my Sunday Musings! Wonders will never cease! This week has gone by really fast, I hope the next two are just the same. Two weeks is all we have left at school before Summer break starts. I can't believe it but I can't wait either. No more getting up at 6am during the week ;-) I love the lazy relaxing mornings spent in our pj's and not having to go to bed so early. Of course when we get to the end of Summer it means Kristen has to start a new school and make new friends.... but I know we'll be ok with that. She doesn't get upset now when we mention it - deep down I know she'll do just fine.

So, what were we up to this week? Not much really. I think I need to start keeping notes, isn't it amazing how you can forget so easily what you did at the beginning of the week? Or perhaps we did nothing so that's why there's nothing to remember!

I did go out on Thursday to my monthly book club meeting. This month we read 'The Art of Racing in the Rain' written from a dog's perspective. The dog was named Enzo and it was a really nice read - an 'easy' read as I call books like that. One's where it's easy to get in to and get to know the characters, where the sentences don't run on too long and where the story line makes sense (unlike some books I've read and could mention, but I won't). And as always it was fun getting together with my group of lady friends :-)

On Friday we had a spaghetti dinner out on the balcony. I wanted to wait until it was getting dark so we could light candles and make it like a little Italian Bistro.... by the time we sat and ate it was nearly 9pm! But that was ok, none of us were that hungry until then. Here's Kristen and Jason sitting on the balcony waiting for supper.

Can you make them out, it was pretty dark out there by then (click on the picture to enlarge)

and here's the table all set for us.

of course we had to let our baby boy join us too - he could smell those meatballs and was going crazy :-) It was a lovely evening out there, we had Josh Groban singing in the background too. We will have to do this more often, perhaps next time just have hors d'oeuvres and a cocktail ;-)

For those who haven't seen the front of our house, the balcony is upstairs at the front and is accessed from our master bedroom. Here is a picture above so you can see what I mean. If you click to enlarge you will see the bistro table to the left, and in the right hand corner I have a garden set, sofa and two chairs and a coffee table (I have an outdoor rug up there which you can't see in the picture). Perhaps I should take more photos up there and take you on a little tour next time :)

Today I will be busy knitting! I am thrilled that all of my cloths have sold. I have two more packages to mail out tomorrow and am busy making more cloths to include with one of those orders. After that I will hopefully be able to list a few more on my Etsy shop. Thank you again for all of your encouragement and kind words.... and of course thank you SO much for your orders.

Have a blessed and beautiful Sunday.

Happy Friday

Hi everyone, hope you're all having a great start to your weekend! Friday seemed to come fast this week, which is fine by me. I can't believe we only have two more weeks left at school.... but yay, roll on last day of school - I can't wait!

I want to thank you all for your sweet comments in my last post. I was nervous about listing my knitted goods but I shouldn't have been, they are already selling. My thanks to sweet Judy, my first customer and to Richella and Melissa too - you girls are the best :-) So I have to get busy and start knitting more. I will keep you posted when I add to my little shop.

Look what we've been eating this week - green beans are ready :-) This is our second batch from the garden this week. I pick just enough each time for me and Jason. You can't get any fresher than this! I simply boil the green beans and spray a little butter spray on them before I serve them, they are so fresh and tasty. The cucumber beetles are all over the beans now but miraculously they are still producing the beans.

I posted an update to my garden blog earlier this week so HOP ON OVER HERE if you'd like to see what else is going on.

Have a great weekend. I'll be back Sunday with my musings (or that might actually be Monday)!

Taking the plunge. . . . .Woo Hoo!

Yes, I'm plunging in to the wonderful world of Etsy - All Things Hand Made! Those of you who know me well know how much I love knitting. I have been knitting since I was 8 years old when my dear sweet Mam had the patience of a saint to teach me.

I have always loved to knit small gifts for family and friends and after giving it many hours of thought I have now decided to start selling my little gifts. Of course I'm a little nervous, there are so many wonderful knitters on Etsy I'm sure I'll be lost in the crowd, but that's ok. I'm not out to make a ton of money, but more for the enjoyment of sharing my craft with those who don't (or can't) knit but want to buy that 'hand made' gift for someone special.

I have started small, making sweet little washcloth and dishcloth sets,. I listed the little pink set above yesterday and it has already sold! Over time (and certainly when the weather turns cooler in the Fall) I may add hats and scarves and mittens and lots of other things too - I have a lot of ideas, the key is finding the time to knit them all :-)

This is a big Woo Hoo day for me, so I am thrilled to link up to sweet Marla for her wonderful Woo Hoo Wednesday party. I am excited to share my news and hope you don't mind me blatantly promoting my 'new little shop' on here. I don't have much in it right now but please feel free to check it out HERE and let me know what you think.
Have a wonderful and happy Hump Day, and don't forget to check out the other great participants of WHW!

Aunt Iny's Prune Cake

Are you ready for another PW recipe? I picked the recipe this week and decided to make Aunt Iny's Prune Cake. Yet another recipe I was intrigued about. What would a cake with prunes in it, taste like? And what would Jason and Kristen think about it! You can find the full recipe at Ree's cooking blog HERE

So let's begin, first of all you boil the prunes to soften them then drain and 'mush' them with a folk....

You must be sneaky about this, if hubby or kids walk in be sure to hide what you're doing!

Set the prunes aside and make the cake... this was a nice simple recipe - mix dry ingredients together, then mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl, then combine the two together . . .

I was happy to read in the recipe that the batter should be lumpy at this stage - which mine definitely was . . .

next, add in the mashed prunes

and pour in to a 13x9 baking pan

Five minutes before the cake is cooked start making the caramel sauce. This is also easy . . .

just put your ingredients in to a pan and bring to a slow boil. You let it boil for about 5-7 minutes until it turns a nice caramel color (the recipes says you don't need to stir this, but I found you have to watch it or it could boil over. I had to keep lifting my pan off the heat so it wouldn't boil over the top) I actually did stir it a couple of times to kinda knock the 'froth' down!

it eventually will start to change color and not be so frothy.

here's the cake fresh out of the oven (I took the cake out while the caramel was still boiling so it rested for a just a couple of minutes before I was ready to pour, which seemed just right)

Let the pouring begin! I did stir the caramel a little before pouring just to try and get some of the bubbles out. And I did lick that spoon as Ree suggested :-) The caramel was delish, I couldn't wait to try the cake . . . .

and here it is - looking all yummilicious! What did it taste like?

Verdict: Kristen and Jason were out when this was ready so I tried the first piece on my own. I was expecting something very sweet because of the caramel I think, so I was a tad disappointed about the cake in that first bite! It was nice, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't sweet. Seemed liked I'd only put half the sugar in or something, but I knew I hadn't. Perhaps it's meant to be like that because the caramel is very sweet? Who knows! What I do know is that with each bite I took it seemed to get better :-) Yes there were bits of prunes in it still which I actually liked, it was like getting a bite of sweet gooey fruit when you got a piece in your mouth. The flavor of the cake is very similar to carrot cake because of the nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice, and it was very soft and light.

Overall I really liked it, but would I make it again - probably not. Jason liked it too and I served Kristen a small piece to have after she'd finished her lunch. I turned around and she'd already left the table having only taken a bite of the cake and left most of it. Later I asked her if she liked my cake and she said "no!" when I asked her why she said "it had something weird in it" - kids! sometimes there's just no fooling them ;-)

I'm linking to these great blogs today:
http://blessedwithgrace.blogspot.com/ for Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

http://beautyandbedlam.com/ for Tasty Tuesday

http://allthesmallstuff-cole.blogspot.com/ for Tuesdays at the Table

Sunday Musings . . . . May 17th

Monday again! and yet again I didn't get my Sunday post written up. . . . that's because I spent the day away from the computer and with my hubby :-) I was going to write last night but we watched a movie (2012, which I don't think is that good) and we still didn't finish it because it got late and I knew I had to get up at 6am!

So, here I am now all hot and sweaty! I just got back from my morning walk around the neighborhood. The sun is already high in the sky and HOT! It's already 73 degrees, going to be 89 today.

Last week was a quiet uneventful week really, so I don't have much to post about. Jason left on Tuesday morning to go work in Ohio for a couple of days. He was back very late on Thursday night (after midnight) so I didn't see him til Friday morning. Kristen and I just got on with our 'normal' week which includes gym class on Tuesday at 4pm and Piano lesson on Thursday at 4.30pm.

We enjoyed an evening sitting out front on Saturday night with the neighbors again. The kids love it when we're out there sitting around the porch with the tiki torches burning and candles lit (although I'm finding it hard to keep the candles lit if there is even the slightest breeze, so I will have to work on getting more 'lantern's. They are the only ones that don't blow out because they are completely covered in). On Sunday Jason and I worked in the garden a bit, but despite it being overcast it was still very hot and humid so we didn't stay out long. Jason took Kristen to the game store and she bought a DSi game and he bought a game for the PS3. While Kristen played with Emily on the front porch (they both had the same DSi game!) I sat and did some knitting on the sofa while Jason played his game. It was a lovely relaxing day.

Well, as I said, not much to share this week - not even a picture!!! I'll be back tomorrow with this weeks' PW recipe ;-) Need to head in the shower and then get up the grocery store today. Hope you all have a wonderful Monday.

I posted to my Garden Blog today - HOP ON OVER if you'd like to check it out. I'll be back on Sunday with my 'musings' :-) Enjoy your weekend.

Our First trip to Texas

I hope you won't mind if I share more old photos today. Outdoor Wednesday is a great opportunity to have another 'blast from the past' :-)

When we first moved to Texas about 6 years ago, we built a custom home in a beautiful gated community. These pictures were taken the year before we moved here on our first trip to Austin to check out home sites. This was the site we finally chose to build our house. The views were awesome, the sunsets amazing. Kristen was just over 2 1/2 years old :-)

She's holding her precious Pooh Blankey... or as she would call him 'Pooh Bang-ky'!

Here are some of the views from the site our house would be built on. The smallest lots in this neighborhood were 1 acre. Our house sat on 3 acres but most of it was hillside full of cedar trees.

I loved these pink clouds.

For my new bloggy friends I would add that we sold the house we built 3 years later when we had plans to move to Denver for Jason's job. We changed our plans and are still in Texas but we weren't sad that we'd sold the house. We soon realized after moving in that the taxes here were so high they were crippling us! We now love our 'suburban home' in our great little cul-de-sac :-) Don't forget to head over to Susan's blog and visit the other participants of Outdoor Wednesday.

PW's Lasagna

It's Tuesday, time to share this week's Pioneer Woman's recipe. I love that you are all enjoying my and Melanie's posts each week as we share how we made the recipe and what we thought of it. So far I'm loving this cookbook. If you love cookbooks but don't have this one yet, I would highly recommend you get it - soon :-) I never tire of looking at the pages, the recipes and the beautiful photography make a stunning combination.

So, this week Melanie's choice was lasagna, page 184 of the cookbook, or you can find the recipe HERE on PW's cooking blog.

first of all we're browning 1 1/2 lb of ground beef and 1lb of hot sausage (only I'm using just 1lb of beed and 1lb of regular sausage because I didn't want a 'spicy' taste to my dish, and I was worried the hot sausage might be too spicy for me!) Add 2 cloves of garlic then 2 cans of whole tomatoes. I have to say now that if I make this again I would use diced tomatoes. I don't know why you would use whole tomatoes only to then have to smash them all up, which actually took some time (and you're often left with some pieces being the green stalk at the top of the tomato!), before it looked like this. . . . .

this also has 2 6oz cans of tomato paste in it, and I've just added fresh basil and parsley from my garden :-) That's really all you do for the meat sauce.

next is the cheese sauce, and in this case PW uses cottage cheese (instead of the usual ricotta cheese) with eggs and herbs and some parmesan.

Once the cheese mixture is done you're ready to assemble your lasagna, assuming you've already boiled your noodles according to the box instructions. Here's where I messed up a little and got the layers wrong. Pw puts pasta, then cheese mix, then slices of mozzarella (the cookbook says to use grated but I had bought slices because her website said slices, and I was actually looking at it when I wrote down my ingredients I needed at the store). I put the meat on top of the pasta first by mistake, and then spooned on the cheese, then the mozzarella, then more pasta. And because I wanted the meat on top like Ree's recipe, I layered cheese again on top of the pasta, totally forgot the second layer of mozzarella!!! then finished with the meat sauce!

Ree's recipe says to top the meat with grated parmesan which I did, but then I still had a few slices of mozzarella I wanted to use so I actually placed 6 slices on top of the dish you see above. I'm actually glad I did - when I think about it, all the lasagnas I've made in the past were topped with mozzarella cheese so it's nice and melted and bubbly when it comes out of the oven..... and here's what mine came out like . . .

YUM!

Verdict: I made this on Mother's Day when my inlaws were coming over for lunch. I was thrilled to serve it with a fresh salad ALL from our garden. . . mixed salad with sugar snap peas and some radishes, and of course some yummy garlic bread too.

The lasagna was really easy to make and assemble. I've made lasagna with cottage cheese before but not for a while and I didn't even use a recipe, just remembered how a friend told me to make it. I'm glad I have a recipe to go to from now on though, and whenever I want to make lasagna (one of Jason's favorite meals!) I shall use PW's recipe. I liked that it had only 2 layers of lasagna noodles which was more than enough pasta for me and lots of meat and cheese sauce. It was excellent. Definitely a keeper!

I have to quote my father-in-law (or Papa as we lovingly call him) when he emailed me the next day to say thank you "The food was better than any Italian restaurant I have ever been too." How's that for a compliment.

If you love a good home cooked Italian meal you MUST try this!

Linking to:
Tuesdays at the Table

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tastefully Tuesday