Hat!

I made a hat for my sister for xmas.
It was my fist project that used decreases & double-point needles.

It's absolutely gorgeous and I didn't want to give it up.

But I did, and she loves it.

Toasted Coconut Failure

*pout*

Turkey Stuff

Adam and Tara both love this, and I make it for them but I won't eat it.
Usually it's made with tuna, and then we call it Tuna Stuff.

Recipe:
Egg noodles + 'cream of' soups (cheddar and chicken/celery)
+ crushed cheese nips + cheese (whatev) + meat

Construction Breakfasts

Homemade egg-sausage-cheese breakfast biscuits for Adam.
Tastier than fast-food, cheaper, and healthier too.

Turkey with Herbes de Provence and Citrus

Recommended by Sarah.
Recipe can be found here.

Dino Bites

Southwestern Eggrolls

These are sooo fun to make.

You'll need:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 can of white corn
• 1 can of black beans
• A bag of frozen spinach
• 16ish oz pepper jack cheese
  

Put it all together like this:

At this stage, the mix should be almost completely -dry-.

Add a little kick to it.

Ooh, gooey.

This is the fun part... wrapping them up.
Practice makes perfect!

Brush with egg and bake at 350 for 15ish minutes.

Pie!!! (with Sarah)

Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup shortening

Combine salt, flour and shortening with a pastry cutter 'till it's all in little pea-sized bits. Add 4-5 tablespoons icy cold water. Stir together with fork. Roll out crust, or just press into a 9" pie pan. Or tiny tart pans. Or whatever you've got lying around. Evenly distribute pecans over bottom of pie crust.

Filling:

1 cup light brown sugar

2/3 cup Golden Syrup

2 tablespoons rum

4 tablespoons butter

3 large eggs

1/4 cup cream

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups Texan pecans, toasted

In a medium saucepan, heat the brown sugar, Golden Syrup, rum, and butter until boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool until tepid. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk the eggs. When the boiled syrup has cooled, beat in the eggs, salt, and cream. Pour over pecans. Bake at 350 for 45ish minutes.

Pecan Grub

Eeeew!!

Happy Birthday!!! (x3)

I did a LOT of baking over the weekend.


Dad's cake-
Reese's peanut butter cake with milk chocolate topping.
He's 40-something. I should know an exact number, but.. oh well.
Too many to match in candles, anyway.

Adam's cake.
He's 28 this year! Yikes...




Bottom layer: Double chocolate Ghirardelli brownie.

Center layer: Homemade blondie brownie with butterscotch chips

Top layer: Caramel Ghirardelli brownie.

... and it's all held together with cream cheese icing.

Alex's Dinosaur-themed birthday cake.
The #5 candle is on top of the chocolate volcano.
The shiny bits are the waterfall and lake.
The palm trees are made of pretzel rods and icing.


I made some yummy eggnogg french toast too,
but there's no picture. Boo hoo.

Carrabba's Chicken Bryan

This is my favorite dinner ever. EVER.

Photo from Carrabbas.com

Serves: 6
Prep. Time: 0:55

1 Tbls. minced garlic
1 Tbls. minced yellow onion
2 Tbls. butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup cold butter - sliced (OR 2/3 cup chicken broth)
1 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
extra virgin olive oil - for brushing
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
8 oz. goat cheese - room temperature

-Sauté garlic and onion in 2 Tbls. butter in a large skillet over medium heat until tender.
-Stir wine and lemon juice into skillet, increase heat to medium high, and simmer to reduce by half.
-Reduce heat to low and stir in cold butter, one slice at a time.
-Stir in tomatoes, basil, kosher salt, and white pepper; remove from heat; set aside.
-Brush chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.
-Grill chicken over hot coals 15 - 20 minutes, or until cooked through.
-A couple of minutes before chicken is done, place equal amounts of cheese on each breast
-Spoon prepared sun-dried tomato sauce over chicken.

Pumpkin Muffins

I looove these.

Meat Loaf Cupcakes

This is one of Alex's most favorite dinners:

He likes to help mix it up: ground tukey, onion, seasoning, bread crumbs, and an egg.

20 minutes in the oven, and they are done.
Behold, the starry deliciousness!

White Bean Provencial Soup

We are trying very hard to eat healthy, so we tried something new.

I'm not a big fan of beans, really. Or mixes. But I'll try anything once, so..




Here's the start- garlic and olive oil.

+ celery, onion and white wine.

+ chicken stock.

+ spice packet and raw chicken. Very green!

+ beans, brought to a boil.

Reduce heat, simmer for a loooong time.

Two hours later.... ta-da! We have soup!

I was shocked to find that is was very tasty!!
I think we'll be having stuff like this more often.

Spooooky sodas.

Halloween-themed sodas:
Candy Corn, Lemon Drop Dead, Gruesome Grape, Strawberry Slime.

Mashed potatoes.

Alex made yummy buttery garlic mashed potatoes all by himself.

Pie Pumpkin.

Scooping out the guts...

Ninja!!

There's a ninja on the frozen turkey lid.

Calzones!

Pizza dough.

Thai chicken filling.

Spicy mozzarella and Italian sausage.




Ugly, but so tasty.

Spicy chicken, rice, and peas.

Italian sausage and cheese.
Mmmm.... melty and delicious.

Raspberries and Nutella for dessert.