Latte in the afternoon

Okay... So it's Saturday morning and you have a hankering for
a latte. Or maybe its Saturday afternoon and you want a yummy
rich coffee but your up to your elbows in a craft project?

The point is you don't feel like leaving the house to go wait
in line and drop a 5 spot for a coffee drink.

I have a good solution for you.

You can use regular coffee or instant. 

It doesn't matter, both will work.

In the microwave heat up about 4 oz of half and half.

In my microwave one minute is perfect.

Whole milk and skim milk work to, but will not be as 

rich tasting.

Now put a lid on and shake it vigorously for a count of 60.

Pour it in to your favorite mug and fill to the top

with coffee. Hint: I've been known to make my instant coffee

with only milk. 

Disclaimer: this is what I do in my microwave and my mug... 

All microwaves are different and of course the size of the mug would matter. 

Play around with it and see what you come up with. 

You can even go all crazy and get some of the flavor syrups that they have. 

No, its not Starbuck's, but there is something to be said for 

drinking a wonderful coffee, in your favorite mug, on your porch,

while the birds are chirping and before its 110 degrees out. 

I'm just saying. 

Have a great Saturday! 

Z Chips

Hey there! 

Interested in a SUPER easy and HEALTY snack? 

Ever tried Zucchini Chips? 

One of my favorite restaurants serves them and I love them!

They are such a great replacement for regular chips. 

Here's how I make them.

Slice your zucchini super thin. The thinner the better!

This is the perfect time to get out that mandalay (veggie slicer) that you never use.

Place them on a lightly sprayed piece of parchment paper.

Then lightly salt and pepper. I also sprinkled paprika on them.

Go light on the seasoning. They shrink .... A LOT! 

See what I mean?

Bake them for about an hour (or until crisp) in a 225 degree oven. 

This is about 4 zucchini. 

And, Yes! I ate the whole bowl. 

I didn't do this because I'm on a diet right now.... but these are fabulous 

dipped in ranch.

Your welcome!  :)

Yum! Pink Cupcakes

Hi Cupcake!

So, I got my latest Romantic Home Magazine and it had the cutest recipe for 

Enchanted Rose Cupcakes

I just had to try them. 

Here is my effort. I added my edits in purple parenthesis.

I hope you find it helpful.

1 box French vanilla cake mix, such as Duncan Hines

1 package (3.4 oz) French vanilla instant 

pudding and pie filling, dry such as Jell-o

1 cup Water

1 cup oil

4 eggs

1 batch buttercream frosting (pale pink)

*Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line the cupcake trays with paper liners and set aside.

*In a large bowl, beat the cake mix, pudding mix, water, oil and eggs
on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until all the ingredients are incorporated.

*Using a cookie scoop (for mini cupcakes) (or an ice cream scoop for reg. cupcakes) 
place one small scoop of cake batter into each paper liner, filling about 3/4 full, dividing
evenly between the cupcake trays to create a perfectly even batch of cupcakes.

*Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

*Let cool in the trays for 5 minutes.  Then take the cupcakes out of the trays and
allow them to cool completely before decorating.

*Meanwhile, make the butter cream frosting. (the recipe in the magazine is a very basic butter cream and confectioner sugar recipe) Add pink food coloring until it reaches the
desired shade.
 (I added 3 drops of red and thought the color was to pink. Add one drop at a time
so that you don't ruin the color) 

*Prepare the pastry bag using a Wilton 1M tip and fill. 

(I don't have a pastry bag nor a tip, so I frosted them the old school way)

*Starting from the center of the cupcake top begin to squeeze the decorating bag, using consistent pressure, and in a clockwise motion, swirl around to create a rose. 

Here is my review... 

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

I took them to work and they were gone by 10:00am!! 

Perfect with coffee, these little cakes are moist with out being heavy. 

They were actually better the second day. 

I'll be joining Marty for Inspire Me Tuesday

Hello Blueberry... Meet Mr. Biscuit!

 

 Who doesn't love blueberries?

 

Who doesn't love biscuits?

 

 Blueberry Biscuits

Yield: 12 biscuits

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven at 450 degrees F. Grease baking sheet. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening with a fork. Stir in milk just until flour is wet. Fold in blueberries. Drop by large spoonful onto greased baking sheet. Sprinkle tops with sugar. Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes or until done.

Strawberries and Cream Cookies

Hello Cookie!

I love you!

I'm going to change the name of these cookies to OMG cookies.

 Because everyone that tried them said "Oh My Gosh!"

 And because: Oh My Gosh! They are so easy!

Strawberries and Cream Cookies

The original post where I found this recipe is here.

Thank you Shelly of Cookies and Cups.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg, plus 1 yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup chopped dried strawberries
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. In bowl of stand mixer cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. scraping sides as needed.
3. Add in egg and yolk and beat until mixed well. Add vanilla.
4. With mixer on medium mix in your baking soda, baking powder and salt. Beat for 30 seconds until combined.
5. Turn mixer to low and mix in flour until evenly incorporated.
6. Stir in strawberries and white chocolate chips.
7. Place by heaping tablespoon or cookie scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes until edges are lightly golden.
8. Allow to cool on a cookie sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Note to self:

store airtight for up to 3 days... but they won't last that long anyway! 



I'm Joining:

Share Your Daily Cup
Imparting Grace

Common Ground

The Charm of Home

French Country Cottage

A Delightsome Life

My Romantic Home

Short Rib and Barley Stew

So! I hear that a big part of the country is suffering a horrible cold spell.

I'm sorry! 

I hope you are taking care of yourselves.

I thought that I would share my recipe for Short Rib and Barley Stew that I found (here).

This is such a hearty, DELICIOUS soup.  I hope you will try it.

I have made this 3 times now and every time it is wonderful. 

I have tweaked the recipe a bit here and there to adjust it to our taste. 

Plus it calls for Marmite... what is that? Has anyone ever heard of this ingredient?

My understanding is that it is something that ads an intense salty flavor... 

Anyway, I could not find it anywhere, so I added extra Soy Sauce. 

That did the trick! 

So here it is. I hope you like it!

• 2 pounds boneless beef short ribs, cut into 1-inch chunks
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 medium carrots, split in half and sliced into 1/2-inch chunks (about 1 cup)
• 2 medium ribs celery, split in half and sliced into 1/2-inch chunks (about 1 cup)
• 1 large onion, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups total)
• 1/2 teaspoon marmite
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 medium cloves garlic, grated on a microplane grater (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 quart low-sodium chicken broth (preferably homemade) 
• ( I use canned chicken broth and I have to add almost twice what it calls for)
• 1 (14.4) ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cups loosely packed kale leaves, roughly torn

Procedures

1. Season short ribs with salt and pepper and toss in a large bowl to coat. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over high heat until smoking. Add the beef and cook without moving until well-browned on first side, about 5 minutes. Stir beef and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until browned all over, about 10 minutes total, reducing heat if bottom of pan begins to burn. Return meat to bowl and set aside.
   
   
2. Return pan to medium-high heat and add carrots, celery, and onion. Cook, stirring frequently until vegetables begin to brown, about 4 minutes total. Add marmite, soy sace, garlic, and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
   
   
3. Add broth and scrape up browned bits from bottom of pan with wooden spoon. Add tomatoes, barley, and bay leaves. Return beef to pot. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce to lowest possible heat and place cover on pot, leaving lid slightly ajar. Cook, stirring occasionally until beef is completely tender and barley is cooked through, about 2 hours. Stir in kale leaves and cook, stirring constantly until wilted, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, or for best flavor, chill and refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 5 days.

Soup of the Day - Artichoke Sausage Soup

 It is finally time for soup!

The weather has finally broken and soup actually sounds good. 

 Here is a simple and hearty fall soup.

Artichoke Sausage Soup

• 24oz. Italian Sausage
• 2 28oz. Artichokes hearts, drained
• 6 14oz. cans of Italian plum tomatoes ( I used diced Italian seasoned tomatoes)
• 2 pkg onion soup mix
• 6 to 8 cups water
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1tsp. basil

Crumble sausage into pieces in soup pot; brown and drain excess fat. Dice artichoke hearts and tomatoes, add to meat. Add remaining ingredients, heat through. Makes approx. 8-10 servings.

Here is my advice... make it the night before. It is better the next day. Keep some in the fridge and freeze some too. We really like this soup a lot.

I'm joining Cindy for Show and Tell Friday

Old Fashioned Bread Pudding

 SO! 

Yes! You are right... it has been almost a week since I last posted. 

So sorry. 

We are in a crazy busy season here in our little corner of the world. I still miss being involved more in the blog-is-phere, but I'm having to make decisions and sometimes the here and now is more important. Some things are fun and good. Others well .... 

Lets just say... "We're building character these days." 

With that said....

Last Friday I was able to help with a Dinner and A Movie Event for the ladies of my church. I was in charge of the dessert bar which means that I did not have time to make anything home made. And I really hate that... but oh well! What I ended up doing was purchasing several Cinnamon Strusel Quick Breads from my local Safeway. They were okay.  I did have some left over though. So what do you do with that left over bread? 

YOU MAKE BREAD PUDDING! 

I went to my mom's old cook book and found this simple recipe.

5 slices day-old bread                                 1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter or margarine               3 eggs

1/2 cup moist raisins                                   3 cups milk scalded

1/4 teaspoon salt                                         1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Toast bread and spread with all the butter while hot. Arrange toast in a buttered baking pan. Sprinkle
with raisins. Stir the salt and all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar into the eggs. Add milk and stir to mix well. Pour over the toast and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Press toast lightly down into milk occasionally so that the toast soaks up most of the milk mixture. Mix cinnamon with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and sprinkle over top. Place dish directly on oven rack. Bake in a moderate oven (350° F)  for about 25 minutes until a pointed knife inserted in center comes our clean and top is an appetizing brown. Serve warm or cold. 5 to 6 servings.

As usual, I did change a few things.

I set aside some of the toasted bread and cubed it, then sprinkled it across the top. Also, because there was already a lot of cinnamon in the bread I just sprinkled sugar across the top.

 Look at all that nubby goodness!

 Crusty on the outside and moist on the inside!

 Simple ingredients combined to make some wonderful comfort food.

I was thinking... what if you did this with pumpkin bread or zucchini bread... 

Oh My!

I'll be sharing this yummy recipe for Foodie Friday!

Oh! P.S. I almost forgot to share... the movie was....

 The Inheritance
A 1997 Hallmark movie based on the Novel by Louisa May Alcott

Summary Provided IMDb
At the lush Evenswood estate in Concord, Massachusetts, Edith Adelon, a beautiful orphan, lives as the paid companion to the daughter of the wealthy Hamilton family, although they regard her as one of their own. Years ago, Henry Hamilton saved Edith from an Italian orphanage at the request of his long-deceased brother. Now, Edith is his daughter Amy's prized friend and confidante. As the Hamiltons await a trio of visitors for the annual Greens Cup horse race, Beatrice Hamilton asks for Edith's help in finding a suitable husband for a cousin, Ida Glenshaw, with one of two visiting eligible bachelors. But when it becomes clear that both the young men have affection for Edith and not Ida, jealousy soon develops, leading to malicious conniving and brutal backstabbing. Despite the growing love between Edith and one of the young suitors, because of their conflicting social classes, the couple is reminded time and again that their love can never be. The Inheritance is a story that centers on an innocent young woman's struggle to make sense of her position within the Hamilton household and in society, and the love she feels for her patrons, as well as for a young man she can never marry.

Ladies! This was sooooo good. Just what I needed to sweep me away from the hectic week that I had just spent. It is such a nice clean movie. The home and costumes are so well done. You will love it...
Let me know if you do watch it.