Guess what time it is?

CHRISTMAS COOKIE BAKING TIME!

Holiday Cheer

So this is pretty much about nothing at all except for the fact that I wanted to share that I was bummed out that I had to clean the house today (because tomorrow shall be spent baking baking baking) and then I turned on the Music Channel on my TV an tuned ino "Classic Christmas". I feel much better now that I am dancing around my living room to pretty Christmas music while cleaning. Makes for a much nicer experience.

That is all! Merry Happy Everyone!

Impromptu Nachos!

Yesterday Uriah and I picked up some mexican take out at Salsarita's. It's basically like Chipotle or Moes. If you've never had the wonders of somewhat fast mexican food, you should investigate it. You won't be disappointed.

Anyway, Uriah got Rice&Beans as the side to his burrito (that had rice and beans in it.. poor choice, Uriah). Needless to say, we had some rice and beans left over and decided to keep 'em in the fridge with the best intentions of eating them. We always do that but rarely actually eat something like that.

So, today Uriah comes home from work and is looking for a snack. He's going to use the rice and beans as a dip with tortilla chips. Me, being the "Nacho Queen" as Uriah so nicely put it, had the idea of making nachos with the rice and beans, chips, salsa, cheese and sour cream. It was a grand idea. I love it when I can take what was going to be a run-of-the-mill/mundane snack and turn it into something that you would order at a restaurant.

Moral of the story: next time you have leftovers, get creative and you might just make something amazingly delicious!

I only wish that I had some jalapenos or something equally spicy and delicious to put on top.

Festive!

When Uriah and I shot our Christmas Card, we used a few yards of christmas fabric as a background. Well, I couldn't just fold it up and never look at it again so, I decided to make an apron (I know, I know, you're shocked). I decided to try to make a "butcher-style" apron to switch it up a bit sooo I made myself a pattern and got started.

For some reason, this apron gave me a super hard time but I got it together after a while. It's pretty but the proportions seem a little off. It's very long and the pocket is in a bit of an awkward place but, it'll do the trick of keeping me realatively clean while I'm baking all of those cookies for my mom's party. :-)

This picture really sucks. I should totally stop using my iPhone when I have multiple professional cameras at my disposal

This only used up 1/3 of the fabric that we have leftover so, I see a few more tries in my future.

Adobo!

No, no... not "Adobe".

Adobo is a delicious filipino dish! It's more or less meat (and maybe some veggies is you want), a ton of garlic, onion, soy sauce and vinegar. I realize that won't sound too appealing to most but I promise you... it's delicious. I've made it from scratch before and it turned out great but the other night I made it using a seasoning packet by Mama Sita's! 

I love making food from scratch but you can't overlook a good shortcut. Just disolve the packet in 1 cup of water and marinate your meat (for me, it's chicken and potatoes), then cook the meat in hot oil, add in the marinade and cook until it's all done/tender.

Uriah is filipino so this is like his comfort food. Also, it works well on a cold day because it's all warm and hearty (like stew).

I wasn't planning on posting anything on this but it turned out so well that I took a picture of Uriah's plate (this was his "round two" plate). It's not a pretty picture and his plate is all messy but, if you could taste it, you could definately overlook that. ;-)

Snap, Crackle, Pop

I had to go to the DMV today. It wasn't so bad (because I got there at 8am) but then when I got home, I noticed that they had spelled my name wrong on my license so, I had to go back. I had a lot of rage due to this but I swallowed it up when I got back to the DMV (where they then had to do EVERYTHING over again... Ugh). Anyway, after I left the DMV (for the 2nd time), I was in need of something to do to unwind (and a good little sugar rush). I decided to make some Rice Krispy Treats!

I'd never made them before but they seemed easy and all of the ingredients basically cost $2 soooo I went for it.

It was more challenging that I anticpiated. Those mama-jamas are sticky! Anyway, I got the hang of it and they turned out as anticipated.

I cut the treats into shapes with cookie cutters and I used "cookie icing" to decorate them and they kind of look like a small child did it. Oh well, they still taste good.



Decided to not knock myself out with the picture since they are not the most beautiful things ;-)



Pogi Project!

So the other day Uriah and I went to the fabric store to pick up some supplies for our Christmas Card Photo Shoot (which has yet to happen) and I decided to pick up some fleece remnants to make some dog toys for my favorite pup (and his doggy cousins and friends)!

Pretty simple project, all I needed was a template (I chose a bone), fleece and some fluff to stuff the thing with. It turned out pretty well (for a 10 minute project)!

Pogi seems to like it. He hasn't even destroyed it yet!

Gearing up for Christmastime!

My mom gave me the task of making cookies and other yummy treats for her Christmas Eve party that she has every year. Being in charge of the sweets at Christmas is pretty stressful (because let's face it, it's the goodies that are the most important).

So, with the weight of Christmas on my shoulders, I decided to try to get cracking on trying out some festive cookie recipes. While I was searching the web, I came across a recipe by Ocean Spray, of all companies, for Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

They sounded delicious and relatively simple so I gave 'em a whirl. I've actually never made any kind of oatmeal cookie so it was kind of an adventure (I spent a good deal of time in the grocery store searching for the ingredients haha).

They turned out pretty well but I like my cookies to be a little sweeter (Uriah usually comments that most cookies that I make are "too sweet"... as if there is such a thing). I suppose these are more for the adult cookie-lover.

yummmy yummy yum

  

If I knew you were coming, I'd have baked a cake!

I tend to bake goodies when we have guests coming. As luck would have it, we have some guests arriving tonight! I've been dying to try this recipe for "spicy pumpkin cake with chocolate chunks" and visitors (especially bachelor visitors) give me the perfect excuse. Also, I won't wind up eating the whole thing by myself... which is always a concern. I am a serious fat kid in hiding (ok, maybe I'm not hiding all that well).

Although spice-type cake is probably my least favorite type of cake, it's still cake and therefore still delicious.

I meant to take a picture of it but, I ran out of time and then I cut it before I remembered that I wanted to take a picture. Pretty much a photo fail all around.

Bag it up!

Okay so, I made these a while ago and planned on using them as gift bags for all of the handmade goodies that I will be gifting for Christmas but, with the recent addition of the potholders, these will be much too small.

The reason I'm even posting this at all is because it was my first foray into button-holes on my machine. It was ANNOYING but I eventually figured it out (after much swearing).

Potholders Potholders and MORE Potholders!

Yesterday I was browsing the internet looking for something to sew because I had a lot of "scrap" fabric leftover from all of the aprons I've been making. I found a lot of potholder tutorials. A lot. So, after reviewing some of them, I headed off to the fabric store to get some insulated batting and when I came home, I got crackin'!

As for most projects, my first attempts were decent but not stellar. They'll be good to use in my own home (in fact I used a set last night to pull my chicken out of the oven). Turns out, they work better (meaning keep my hands from burning off) better than the ones I have that I purchased in stores. I was very hesitant to use them at first.

Anyway, so it will seem that everyone will get matching potholders to go along with their aprons!

Deck the Halls!

With home-made adorable-ness made with scrap fabric!! Wahoo!

This is actually twice as long but, I couldn't find a place that I could hang it so I just did the half. Please ignore the lingering Halloween decoration... we are slow to put stuff away around here.

I found this little project while searching the interwebs for things to do.

It's HERE at a fabulous little blog that I've found called MaggieMakes.

She posts lots of tutorials and inspires lots of craftiness. She also has a flickr page so, you can see lots of photos of all of her projects.

Just so you do not think I'm decorating far too early for Christmas, I have to admit that I took down the stars after 24 hours of appreciating my handiwork.

PS- I also made that "leaf art" in the frames

Bargain BBQ

Yesterday, I bought a Boston Butt Pork Roast (I have no idea why it's called a butt... from all of my research, it's a part of the shoulder?). Anyway, it was 99 cents a pound (essentially 1/2 price) so, I found the smallest one that I could (6lbs) and threw it in my cart!

It's pretty cold outside in Charlotte today (by my Florida standards) and I thought that it would be a good day to make some BBQ in the crock pot!

I decided that 6lbs was too much BBQ and it would surely go to waste if I made the whole thing (being that it's just me and Uriah), so I chopped that sucker in half. I plopped 1/2 of it in my crock pot with 1/2 a large onion and some salt and pepper and decided to freeze the other half for another time. It still looks like a LOT of pork but that's okay because I'm a big fan of leftovers!

I closed the lid and started cooking it on low for 4 1/2 hours. After that, I noticed that it wasn't cooking as quickly as I wanted (dinner would wind up being at approximately 9:30pm) so, I cut it up into 4 pieces and turned the crock pot on high.

I cooked it on high for about an hour and then I removed the onions and poured about 1/2 of an 18 oz. bottle of Hickory BBQ sauce and approximately 1.5 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce over the meat, closed the lid and let it cook for another hour and a half.

Then, I shredded/chopped the pork up in the slow cooker and gave it a good stir. Cooked it on Low for another hour.

After all of that... it was ready.

I put some Tabasco sauce on mine (just a few shakes) and it was... delicious.

Best of all? Uriah loved it! He's not really picky but, when he really REALLY thinks that something is delicious, I can tell. He takes the first bite and his eyes get all big and he makes yummy sounds.

Big hit! And, really, it only cost (including the buns and the sauces) about $6. And, as anticipated, we have an abundance of leftovers. I'd say that's a (delicious) bargain!

Not your grandmother's sugar cookies

These are CHOCOLATE sugar cookies! I know, I know, they sound delicious. Well, guess what? They ARE delicious. They kind of taste like brownies but they are the texture of cookies and they are rolled in sugar (so they kind of sparkle). It doesn't get much better than that, people. It just doesn't.

I can't remember where I found this recipe, but I've made these cookies a few times now and they are always a hit.

If you want to make these yummy delicious treats, here's the recipe!

What you will need:

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

4 squares  BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

1-1/2 cups  sugar, divided

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

 

 

How all of those things come together:

 

MIX flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted (have patience). Add 1 cup sugar, egg and vanilla to the chocolate and butter mixture; mix well. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Refrigerate 30 min - 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.

 

HEAT oven to 375°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in remaining sugar. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets. (For thinner, crisper cookies, flatten balls with bottom of clean glass.) I like mine nice and fluffy so, I skip the flattening step.

 

BAKE 8 to 10 min. or until set. Cool on baking sheets 1 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

 

ENJOY!!

Redundancy!

Do you like seeing the same thing over and over? Yes? Good!

Finished another apron today!

I should probably take pictures of these with something other than my iPhone but, I guess I'm just lazy.

A legitimate photo shoot is pending.

Happy Halloween!!

Handmade Kitchen Couture

I've been busy lately (as reflected in my lack of posts). What have I been doing? I've been SEWING! I don't know how it happened but, the other day I just got the urge to bust out my sewing machine (I hadn't touched it in at least 5 years). I went to the fabric store, picked up some apron patterns and some fabric and decided to get to it! To quote the lady at the fabric store "Aprons are very popular right now!"

The first apron I made is definitely a "Monet". It looks good from a distance but not-as-good up close. I suppose it's still suitable for personal use but I definitely won't be gifting it to anyone.

The next apron I made was from a different pattern. Much more girly and all around adorable.

See? So cute. I love the dog fabric.

After my success with this style, I decided that I would stick to it and not revert back to the original pattern. I planned on making some more to give as Christmas gifts! Hooray! So, Uriah and I went to the fabric store (turns out they are all in the ghetto) and got some kitchen-themed fabric and I got crackin!

I had to cut a smaller pattern because all of Uriah's family is small and asian. So this next one is a size "small" (the first one that I made was a "large")

Love it! Uriah found this fabric. He's occasionally useful:-)

Perhaps if I become faster at making these, I'll start up an Etsy shop and make a bit of money. We'll see.

In the mean time, I have a few more to make that will be dedicated as Christmas gifts so I'll have plenty of practice! I can't WAIT to give these to their intended recipients. I have a feeling they will be well received.

HUZZAH!

Uriah and I went to the Renaissance Festival yesterday and it was AWESOME!

Despite sitting in a line of traffic for an hour to get into the parking lot (still not sure why it took so long), we had an amazing time. I had never been to a Renaissance Festival before but Uriah had so, he was kind of like my guide.

The first thing we did when we got there? We sought out and devoured giant turkey legs! Ok, I didn't quite devour mine but I gave it a good college try... I have no idea where they find turkeys with legs that enormous.

Other activities included a Jousting Tournament in which "our Knight" won! Huzzah!

We also partook in an abundance of general merriment and silliness. Great fun!

We had a great time and can't wait to go again next year!

NASCAR!

This past Saturday, Uriah and I were invited to join one of my very best friends and her husband (and a group of others) for a NASCAR race! It was much more fun than we expected it to be. We had passes to get us down into the pits before (and some for during) the race. It was really fun and I would do it again tomorrow! :-)

12 photo panorama

Me and Aubrey in the pits pre-race

Me and Uriah in the stands with race in full-swing

All photos taken and courtesy of my amazingly talented husband.

An American Tradition

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Who among us doesn't have a happy little memory of baking Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies with our moms/grandmas/sisters/friends growing up? If you don't have this memory, I'm terribly sorry. There was nothing like licking the batter off of the mixer and then consequently, the bowl (and also sneaking a spoonful of dough when mom wasn't looking).

I actually haven't made these cookies from scratch with out my mom... ever. In college I'd just get the pre-made dough and bake it up. One of my roommates baked when she was stressed and always had the giant Costco sized tub of cookie dough in the fridge. You can definitely tell the difference between the two because the home made come out flat for some reason. Still delicious, just flat. I've googled some solutions to this problem so next time I can hopefully remedy the situation.





Home Alone

No, not the movie. Uriah went down to Orlando for business and left me and Pogi here all alone. Womp womp womp. It's really no big deal but while he's been away I've learned a few things about myself:

1. I am a slob when there's no one here to convince otherwise. I have not washed one dish since Sunday   morning. I will remedy this at some point today but honestly, it's not really bothering me to have a sink full of dirty dishes. Hence - Slob
2. I might be a little OCD about checking that the doors are all locked properly. This is a behavior that I've noticed on a small scale in the past but evidently escalates into full-blown-obsession when I have no man to protect me from the possibility of danger. My logical brain knows that locked doors will not deter someone who really wants to get into my house but, at least it's one more obstacle.
3. I think this may be along the lines of #1 but it's clear that I don't see showering as a necessary daily task. I showered today tho so, there's that.
   
   

It's really a good thing that I don't live alone because I don't think that it would be too pretty.

Charlotte Food Adventure - episode 2

One of the first things that Uriah and I do when we move somewhere new is we seek out the best sushi in town. We've been to 3 places so far here but we've picked our spot and now we're monogamous with Yama Asian Fusion in the South Park neighborhood.

What do we get when we go there? We get this:

It's called "The Love Boat" and as you can see, it's got a little bit of everything. You can't see but this also comes with miso soup and salad. It's not cheap but, as Uriah says "You gotta pay to play" and it's not super expensive by sushi standards.

Sushi is a really nice treat and this sushi is so fresh, it's an extra special treat. We even went there for our anniversary. 3 years of wedded bliss! Woohoo!

So the verdict is, if you are in Charlotte and you are looking for yummy sushi, you should check out Yama Asian Fusion. If you have a favorite sushi place, please share! We love foodie adventures!

Charlotte Food Adventure - episode 1

My dear friend from high school, Tressa, was in town a couple of weekends ago and we went on a culinary adventure! I've heard through the grape-vine that Cabo Fish Taco in NoDa is a MUST if you live in Charlotte. I hadn't been yet and I was planning on taking Tressa to NoDa anyway because it's an adorable art district so, we went for it. Unfortunately, we went on a Monday and all of the shops and galleries were closed. Lesson learned, I suppose. Lucky for us, the restaurant was open and we were NOT disappointed. Tressa ordered some sort of chicken wrap (with a rice and beans side) that looked tasty and she vouched for it but when she tried my Lemon Grilled Tuna Tacos (with fresh fruit side), she said that it was defintely the winner. Hands down. I can not wait to go there with Uriah because I have a feeling that it's going to become his most favorite place.

Lemon Grilled Tuna Tacos at Cabo Fish Taco
taken with my iPhone

Halloween Craftiness

Yesterday after I was done baking some delicious peanut butter cookies, I did some crafting! Yahoo!

It's been a long time since I attempted any sort of craft. I did a lot of knitting in college but that skill was limited to scarves. They were awesome scarves but I never branched out to bigger and better things. I have the best intentions of making a blanket at some point but honestly, I don't think that I have the patience. I'm more of an instant-gratification type person. Which is why when I was reading my Taste of Home magazine and came across this craft, I was super excited. It's quick, easy and involves repurposing jars that at one time held pasta sauce, salsa and whatever else comes in a jar. So, after a week or two of saving jars (and eating more pasta than normal), I was ready to go! It kept me busy for the afternoon and I have some adorable stuff to show for it. See?

That's a Monster, a few Jack-o-Lanterns and a Ghost

Oh, and they liked the cookies too. Nom nom Nom

Peanut Butter Cookie Time!

Peanut Butter Cookies are not something that I enjoyed as a child and I haven't made/had them in my adult like that I can remember so I decided to make some today. In order to make these special old-fasioned treats, I used this recipe from The Joy of Baking. The recipe makes about 40 cookies so, there are plenty to share! They turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Here's a picture (to whet your appetite)! Yum!

Oh Look! A Picture!

We did a grown-up thing yesterday and bought a new mattress. I know I made fun a few days ago but in reality, we needed a new mattress badly. Today I woke up with out a back ache for the first time in a LONG time. Loving our new mattress.



This is my dog, Pogi. He also loves the new mattress. He loves everything and everyone. Except squirrels.

Why I tolerate football

1- It makes daytime drinking ok (this alone, could be enough)

2- Chicken wings, pizza and nachos are my favorite foods and seem to be a staple at any viewing of any game

3- It makes me giggle when the commentater says things like "DB", "Sack" and "Tight End" (in other news, I'm immature)

4- I don't actually care about football at all so I'm never upset when "my team" doesn't win



So, In conclusion... I get to drink during the day and noone will judge me, eat copious amounts of unhealthy, albiet delicious, food and giggle at grown, manly men saying words that they would never say otherwise. The icing on the football cake? No disappointment. Ever. Unless of course they run out of chicken wings or beer. In which case, I'm leaving. Haha.

Go Team Go!

Happy Columbus Day!

Now, go buy some shit!

Evidently the way to celebrate the "discovering" of North America is to purchase a mattress! Why? I have no idea... perhaps Mr. Columbus really liked to sleep. All I know is that there are a lot of sales this weekend on things to sleep on and there are a lot of commercials promoting said sales.

So there you go America! Let's celebrate a day off from work by buying some stuff! Oh, and just to be 100% American, let's binge on junk food too!

Housewifin' aint easy

Listen, being a housewife with no kids isn't easy... oh wait... yes it is. I usually sleep in, watch some trashy TV and either clean something or bake something while thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner.

Today I baked some Chocolate Sugar Cookies. They are delicious and I got the recipe from The Joy of Baking. They have so many yummy recipes. I also enjoy their Snickerdoodle recipe. I plan on making a lot more of their sweet treats so, I suppose, stay tuned (although I know you won't and that doesn't really matter). Next time, I will take some pictures to show you how delicious these treats are and how EASY they are to make.

Really, this blog is for me. Because I'm in a relatively new city and I don't really know anyone who I feel comfortable sharing with so, I guess I will just talk out there to the interwebs. I hope you enjoy, and if not... move along and don't hate.