D'Artagnan is one cool beek

Cooking again... Mexican Lasagna

I found this on Pioneer Woman's site, but I must warn you....  scale the recipe back.  You can feed the Duggar family with this as written!  Here's the link, photos to follow:
Pastor Ryan's Mexican Lasagna

When I have photos, I will tell you how it tastes, too!

Happy Memorial Day weekend, and thanks to all the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, and to all the heroes that continue to sacrifice for us.

 

As promised, here is a photo of the finished dish.  The hubs and I each tried it, garnished with sour cream and our favorite hot sauce and we hereby declare it YUMMY!  And really...  it's in a pan that covers most of my stove top, and will easily slice into 25 or more servings.

Pretzel Rolls!

I always look forward to picking up pretzel rolls from the Bread Basket Bakery when I visit my Dad in Sierra Vista, AZ.  Unfortunately, they don't travel well and there is no Bread Basket in Lake Worth, Florida.  I have been threatening to learn to make these myself for some time now.  Finally, I have made a batch.  The recipe below is Alton Brown's, and I made a couple modifications.  First, I used unbleached whole wheat flour.  I like the effect, but I will probably stick with white flour for the next batch.  Second, as you can see from the photo, I did not twist my dough into pretzel shapes.  I divided the dough into 16 balls for rolls.  Next time, I will divide into 12 balls for larger rolls.  Hubby approves just the way they worked out, but IMHO he is somewhat biased. 

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt 

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.

Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan. (If you want rolls, divide into 12 to 16 balls at this point, instead of rolling out ropes.)

Place the pretzels  (or rolls) into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. 

   

Easter Bunnies!

B

Because you can't have Easter baskets without bunnies, I stitched together some softie bunnies from materials I had on hand.  I will post the finished baskets next.  Happy Easter, Everyone! 

Easy Ciabatta Bread

There is no excuse for not having fresh bread, especially if you are fond of those artisan loaves they charge so much for at the bread chains and supermarket bakeries.  I have made a few of these loaves now, and they are very popular in our house, so here goes:


Ciabatta Bread
1/4 tsp. yeast

2 cups warm water (tap warm is fine)
4 cups of flour (I use whole wheat, but use what you want)
1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and swish it together.  Combine flour and salt and mix in with the yeasty water.  You should have a loose dough that is about halfway between batter and dough consistency.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and leave in a warm (not hot) location for 8 - 12 hours.  After that period of time, your dough should have roughly doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400F and prepare your pan.  A cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat works well.  Pour the dough out onto the pan and you should have an oblong shape.  Top with your choice of topping, such as herbs and grated cheese, or leave naked.  Feel free to be imaginative here.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until done.  Remove and let cool for at least ten minutes before slicing to prevent a collapse.  Enjoy!

(The two loaves pictured are from one batch.  I divided it so I could top them differently)

Lemon Rolls

Here is the link to the recipe for those wonderful lemon rolls I made a few days ago...  I substituted whole wheat flour, which made for a slightly heavy dough, but you can follow it exactly if you like.  The whole pan disappeared pretty quickly, so I would call it a success.  Get ready for LOADS of lemony flavor!

Sticky Lemon Rolls

Buffalo Macaroni and Cheese

Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and CheeseFood Network Magazine
7 Tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the dish
Kosher salt
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce, divided
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2-1/2 cups half-and-half
1 pound extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 7 minutes.  Drain.

Meanwhile, melt 3 Tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the chicken and garlic and cook 2 minutes, then add 1/2 cup hot sauce and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 more minute.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in the flour and mustard with a wooden spoon until smooth.  Whisk in the half-and-half, then add the remaining 1/4 cup hot sauce and stir until thick, about 2 minutes.  Whisk in the cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, then whisk in the sour cream until smooth.

Spread half of the macaroni in the prepared baking dish, then top with the chicken mixture and the remaining macaroni.  Pour the cheese sauce evenly on top.  Put the remaining 2 Tablespoons butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave until melted.  Stir in the panko, blue cheese and parsley.  Sprinkle over the macaroni.  Bake until bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes.  Let rest 10 minutes before serving.  Drizzle with some wing sauce for color.

Garnish with even more wing sauce, blue cheese and sour cream if you like!

I used regular old seasoned breadcrumbs, and forgot to add the sour cream.  I will let you know the verdict from Hubby.

An Early Valentine

I am working this weekend and my love will be out of town, so we are celebrating the holiday of lover's today! My sweetie brought me some luscious yummies from a latin bakery, and some beautiful flowers.  

 

Not to be outdone, I whipped up a little something for him, too! I started by ordering really cool custom M&Ms candies and stitching together a little heart softie.

 

Then I swiped a great card idea from another crafter, and got to work customizing it just for my special guy. I started by making the base card from plain card stock.  It is made from two 4"x4" square pieces and four 4"x5" pieces.  The extra inch on the 4x5s makes for one inch hinges attached to a base square.  The second square covers the seams from the hinges.

Once you have the basic card assembled, embellish with patterned papers, charms, photos, ribbons, and the perfect message.  The origami heart on the front of the card is glued down over the ribbon tie which holds it in place nicely.

 

  

  

  

 

 

Have you made a BLURB book yet?

The hubs and I just got our BLURB book delivered.  It's an annual keepsake I compiled from highlight photos of 2009.  70 full color pages and over 200 photos in a hardbound 12 x 12 book with full color graphics on the cover for a little over $70.  As much as I love my scrapbooks, they are very time consuming to create, and let's face it, EXPENSIVE.  I will keep scrap-booking as time and money allows, but you can't beat about a buck a page for archiving your family's memories in a library quality book. We are really pleased with the way it turned out!

 

Sitching a Bluebird of Happiness

Well, sparrows actually....  two of them.  Right here on my boring black apron.

Thanks, Sublime Stitching for the adorable design! Nothing like a couple of happy little songbirds to brighten up a cold January day!

My Favorite Part of the Ham

My husband is a confirmed carnivore...  so when he saw a spiral sliced ham on sale for $1.29 a pound after the holidays, he could not resist the urge to "stock up."  We are not planning on any major gatherings or celebrations in the near future, so we divided it up for sandwiches and put most of it in the freezer.  I did not object to this purchase, even though I am not even slightly interested in gorging myself on anything, much less ham.  The reason I did not object is because a ham means a ham bone with some meat attached... and that means SOUP!  With a chill in the air and a ham bone beckoning, I cooked up a great big pot of ham and bean soup.  I love this stuff!  There is something comforting and calming about soup, and this is one of my favorite varieties.  Mmmmm.

ALMOST DONE DE-DECORATING

All of our indoor decorations are down, packed and stored in the attic.  There are still a few outdoor decorations left to pack up.  I must say though, the Hubs is a genius.  I was dreading lugging all those heavy boxes and containers up the attic ladder one at a time, when he hands me a rope to hang over an attic beam so we can pulley the stuff up there, me up in the attic, him giving the boxes a boost from below.  Worked like a charm!

DE-DECORATING

That's the word my Dad has given it. "De-decorating." It is so anti-festive.  If it were up to the Hubs, we would leave Christmas up in the house all year long.  I can see his point, after all, Christmas decorations remind you of the Christmas season, and of Joy and Peace, and of families coming together.  The colors and smells, and OH YEAH, tastes... are so mood enhancing!  Then again, leaving Christmas up all year would rob all of life's other celebrations. Besides, one of my little joys in life is opening up the boxes to decorate.  Every little item collected through the years is a memory, and each of them brings a smile to my face - some of them a tear to my eye.  You have to put the stuff away if you want to open it again next year.

And a word about feathered babies

My 3 1/2 year old Timneh African Grey parrot, d'Artagnan, is my baby.  Did I mention that he is 3 1/2 ? He also acts like he is a toddler, because in essence, he is.  This species of bird can easily reach the age of 50, and even up to 70, depending on his health and care taking.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint), his mental age will never surpass about 5.  He is an attention hog.  And he speaks. English. He says the standard parrot stuff....  "hello"  "Hellllloooooo" and he says other stuff.  Incessantly.  "What are you doing?" "What do you want?" "Pick me UP!" "PICK ME UP UP UP" "No BITING!" He says his own name.. I think he thinks it is my name, too.  He says, "Want some?" (His version of begging for table food), and "Sinbad! NO SCREAMING!  I'll spank your butt!" (Sinbad is my DH's yellow collared macaw.)  He will even mimic Sinbad's scream, and then say, "NO SCREAMING!" This is but a sample of d'Artagnan's antics.

Sounds cute, huh?  He is very cute, and I love him to pieces.  Just want you to know, if you are considering adding a long lived bird species to your family, that they require as much attention as a human toddler, and they are toddlers for their entire lives.  You will probably have to will your pet to someone who will properly care for them, because chances are, they will outlive you, especially if you adopt them well into your adult years.

What I did with all those bananas!

My DD gave me a lovely big bunch of bananas from her backyard tree, way more than my DH and I could possibly eat before they would spoil. 

I mashed most of them into two cup portions and put them in the freezer for later baking.  Some of them we ate, and with one two cup portion I tried a new (to me) Banana Bread recipe:

Peanut Butter and Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

I doubled the recipe to make two loaves, but I was not totally satisfied with the results.  Having said that, I should confess that I substituted butter for the vegetable oil, and added more chocolate chips than called for. The resulting loaf is not as pretty as the one at the above link, and it is tasty, but a little heavier than I like. The next use of mashed banana will probably go to regular old banana bread.