We cook: Pumpkin Bread

I made two big loaves of pumpkin bread yesterday, loosely following this recipe.  All I can say is YUM.  I love pumpkin bread...although between the pumpkin bread and the pumpkin beer I drank, I think that my stomach is getting confused and thinking that it's fall already.  I've been craving apple cider : )

Ingredients

• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-1/2 cup sugar
• 3-1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
• 3-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg. F
2. Mix pumpkin, eggs, oil, water, vanilla, and sugar
3. Separately, combine all other dry ingredients
4. Stir dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture
5. Pour into 2 greased 8" x 4" loaf pans
6. Bake for 60-70 minutes at 350 deg. F.

Bread is done when a toothpick or knife comes out clean.

 

DH Moves In (Part 3)

After a few weeks of slowly bringing DH's stuff up little by little, DH and I finally rented a moving truck and brought up the rest of his furniture and other items this past Wednesday.





















Oh my goodness do we have a lot of stuff.  SO. MUCH. STUFF.  I am very excited to have him here but this is possibly the biggest organizational challenge I have ever faced.  We both lived alone previously, have a whole new set of wonderful wedding presents, and are pack rats that do not want to throw anything away.  To give you an idea, we have:


3 tv stands/tables
2 beds
2 couches
1 bowl chair
1 futon
6 bookshelves
1 mini fridge
1 actual fridge
2 microwaves
5 coffee pots
4 sets of cooking pots...and so on

Our apartment has looked like this for a little while:

I know we are blessed and that it is better to have too much stuff than too little stuff, but it is kind of laughable trying to combine all of our furniture into one apartment.  We do not want to sell a lot of it because we may be living separately again temporarily if DH goes to medschool.  The apartment set-up is coming along but is far from done.

Our mini "accent wall" of knickknacks and collectibles:

The new bowl chair pillow and DH's giant comfy couch:

Our mug wall (because I love mugs and have too many to fit in 1 whole cupboard):

Other random update:  DH got his MCAT scores back! He did very well and I am very proud of him : )

We cook: Barbecue Pork

This is the first thing that we cooked with our slow cooker.  Being from SC, DH was very excited to make barbecue and I have to say it was delicious!  This was rather time consuming, but not very complicated and it made enough food for us to have 16 servings of meat (when eating about 1 sandwich worth at a time rather than stuffing your face...which is hard not to do with something like barbecue).  We've eaten half of the meat with dinner for a week and the other half is in the freezer.

DH bought about 5 lbs of pork.  I'm not sure how much it cost, we were hoping to wait for a slightly better sale but were too excited for BBQ!  Still, $15-$20 for 16 meals worth of meat is not too bad : )

YUM!

Ingredients

• Boston Butt Roast
• 1/4 cup water
• Onion
• 1 bottle of your favorite Barbecue Sauce
• Salt & Pepper

Instructions

1. Cut onion in half and place halves in crock pot
2. Add water to crock pot
3. Put pork on top of onion halves and salt and pepper the top slightly
4. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour
5. Cook on LOW for 7 - 9 hours.  You know it's done when it is tender and easily pulls off of the bone/shreds and is not pink.
6. Remove meat, pour out fat, onions, and grease, and clean the pot.
7. Shred the meat with forks and put the shredded meat back into the cleaned crock pot
8. Add barbecue sauce (we used 1 full bottle of sauce but you may want slightly more or less depending on preference and how much meat there is)
9. Cook on low for 1 hour

If you want to freeze the meat, make sure to portion it into sizes that you will want to thaw together.

Bowl Chair Repair

I have an old bowl chair that I got when I was about 12.  We bought it from Wegmans and I was very excited about it.  It has since traveled with me from apartment to apartment, partially because of its light weight for transport and partially because I didn't own much furniture.  About a year ago, my roommate's cat had trouble getting to its new litter box location and set up using my bowl chair instead.  Sadly, we didn't notice for a couple of days and try though I might, I could not get the thing clean through washing or scrubbing.  The pillow to my bowl chair has therefore been sitting unused in the corner, waiting to be fixed.



Well apparently with all of the excitement of moving DH in and setting up the apartment, yesterday was the day.  It took me about 7 hours, but I think a good 2-2.5 of those hours was spent standing in Joann Fabric trying to pick a material.  Does this happen to anyone else?? I really think that the hardest part of most of my projects is picking a pattern/yarn/fabric that I know I will be stuck with.  These were my top two choices:

After talking to DH, I ended up going with the more colorful fabric.  It is technically an outdoor fabric and I like the idea that if we ever have a porch, we might end up using it out there. There were other fabrics that I liked better but they were significantly more expensive for the volume of fabric that I needed.  This fabric was 54" wide and only $20 a yard (compared to a lot of the upholstery fabric selling for $35-$40).  It was on a 50% off sale and I used an extra 20% off student discount.  So it only ended up costing me about $28 for over 3 yards!

Rip the seam apart to separate the material.  

Place the two pieces of fabric down - right-side-together - and place the old piece on top as a template.  

Trace the outline, pin the pieces together and cut off the extra material in the corners.  Sew around your traced outline, leaving about a 10 inch gap.  

Pull the material through the gap so that the material is right-side out.  Ta-da!

Now for the long part.  Sort out all of the stuffing that is bad and throw it away.  Pull apart all of the good stuffing into small fluffy pieces and stick them inside of the pillow.  Add additional stuffing that I had lying around.  This part took about 2-3 times as long as the actual sewing but if you do not pull all of the stuffing apart it will be lumpy and uncomfortable.  Finally, fold the open ends in and CAREFULLY sew the pillow closed right along the outside edge.

The finished product:

So glad it's done! The pillow ended up a little larger than I expected but its very fluffy and I'm glad to have my reading chair back.  The original pillow had a bunch of spots where the pillow top and bottom were sewn together.  I haven't decided whether I want to add those to this pillow or not. 

We cook: Roasted Almonds and Almond Butter

This is another "recipe" that I made just because I happen to have a lot of something. ALMONDS.  I bought a giant bag of almonds forever ago telling myself that they would be a healthy snack...turns out I don't love snacking on almonds.  So yesterday, I learned how to roast and butter almonds.  It is very simple and can hardly be called a recipe, but I was excited because I got to try out my food processor for the first time : ) To roast almonds, I placed them on a cookie sheet in a single layer and baked them for 15 minutes at 350 deg. F (turning the almonds once about half way through).  I had heard a lot about roasted almonds on other blogs, but the difference between roasted and raw almonds seemed pretty minor to me.  Maybe I am missing something.Next, I put the roasted almonds into the food processor and started grinding away.  Pictures of the progression are below.  You can apparently make nut butter without roasting the nuts, but the roasting is supposed to make them a little bit easier and faster to grind up and also give it a "warmer" flavor??  I roasted them because I was scared of breaking the food processor the first time I used it.

Note: at this point, I removed half of the almonds and ground them in two batches because I realized that I had started with too many.

I was surprised by how well the consistency turned out.  It's just like peanut butter but tastes like almonds.  One blog I read said that homemade nut butter is good for about 2 months in the refrigerator.  I wanted to add some honey to sweeten the spread a little bit but the same blog said that adding honey, sugar, or maple syrup was fine and to add it near the end of blending but that doing so shortened the shelf life to a week or two.  I don't think that I will eat it that fast, so I am just drizzling honey on top of the spread when I eat it.

Afghan Crocheting

In light of all of the baby gift posts, I thought that I would add a general post about crocheting for anyone who may be interested in learning to crochet.  There are a lot of different things that you can make, but I have always preferred making afghans.  I taught myself how to crochet from a book when I was 13.  It can be time consuming and more expensive than you may realize, but I really love the afghans that I have made.  All but 1 (which I kept for myself) has been given as gifts to my family members or my then boyfriend (now DH).  And everyone has told me that they love them.  Several have asked for one specifically.  I know many people who have heirloom afghans from their grandmothers or great-grandmothers and I hope that some of mine become that eventually. 

Some of the blankets I've made so far (in the order that I made them): 

For My Brother:

For Me:





































For My Mom:




















For DH:

























For My Dad:




















For My Sister-in-Law:

























For DH's Sister:

For My Niece:

























I normally crochet a blanket - which takes me between 6 months and 1 year - and then not crochet again for a year or two...and then pick my needle back up and make another blanket.  They are very time consuming, especially if (like me) you make gigantic blankets that can cover a queen sized bed.  DH calls them 2 person blankets : ) 

In all honesty, it is easy to get a bit bored of them towards the end of a blanket, but I'm always excited to start a new project.  I have trouble sitting still when I am stressed, and I find that having something like this to keep my hands busy while I relax really helps.  

SO...some thoughts:

• Do not be intimidated to learn on your own if you don't have someone to teach you.  I think that it's actually much easier to teach yourself from a book that to learn from someone else, though admittedly it is nice to have someone to ask when you don't understand the instructions.  There are tons of instructional books.  I find the ones with cartoon pictures, like this, easier to understand that the instructions with actual photographs.  There are also a lot of youtube videos to watch if you get confused, but I wouldn't recommend learning from videos only.
• The yarn will feel differently when its a blanket than it does in the skein.  Make sure you like how it feels/how soft it is when it is crocheted into a pattern before you buy $100 worth of yarn to make a giant afghan.  Also, try not to get half way through an afghan before you realize you don't like how the yarn feels.  How soft the yarn is makes a big difference in whether or not people will actually use and love the finished product.  I made this mistake with my first few blankets.  SO...there are often little crocheted or knitted swatches on the yarn isle to let you see how the yarn looks and feels when used.  Pay attention to these.  You can also buy a single skein to practice on and check to see how it feels when you use it.  Find a brand or two that you like and stick to it.  I've used a brand called Simply Soft on a lot of my afghans.  It is not super bulky or warm and does not hold patterns as obviously as other yarns but it's very soft and silky in blanket form, has a nice color selection, and holds up well when the blanket is washed in the washing machine.
• Depending on how long it takes you to finish your project, it may be difficult to match the color of yarn when you go to buy it a second or third time.  I normally buy all of the yarn required for a project at the beginning to avoid this frustration.  Also pay attention to if the yarn has a "dye lot".  This is the batch of yarn that was dyed together.  For some yarn brands, if you do not get skeins from the same dye lot then the colors may not match perfectly.  I have never had this problem with Simply Soft.
• Make sure you like the color choices and pattern. This may be obvious, but it's really disheartening to get to the end of an afghan and not love it.  Take time when choosing your yarn and pattern.
• Weave in yarn ends as you go. This one isn't necessary but will save you a lot of headache.  When you end or start a new piece of yarn, take a couple minutes to weave the ends in.  If you do not, on some patterns you will "finish" your afghan only to realize that you have 5 or more hours of yarn weaving to do before you're actually finished.
• On your first afghan, choose an interesting pattern.  I know many people choose to do something very simple, like a wave pattern on their first big project.  You can probably handle a pattern slightly more difficult than you think that you can.  Almost all crocheting is various combinations of three steps:  insert the hook, yarn over, and pull through.  Most of the complicated patterns come from various combinations of these three things and the hard part is normally just reading the directions for the first time.  Remember, you will be working on the project for a long time.  Choose something that you won't get bored with and that you will like when you finish...that's what makes crocheting fun after all.
• Be wary of blankets that work in panels.  How big or small your project ends up is dependent on the type of yarn, the size hook, and also how tightly you hold the yarn.  Often, new crocheters struggle with keeping a consistent amount of tension on the yarn.  This means that if you work a blanket that is separate sections and are later sewn together, those sections may end up being different lengths.
• Do not pick fancy lacy yarn with all sorts of fuzz or baubles hanging off.  They are a pain to work with.  I suggest starting with a normal sport weight or worsted weight yarn.

Have Fun!

We cook: Lemon Blueberry Bread

Since I for some reason have 3 bottles of lemon juice in the fridge and have been making blueberry everything, I tried a new recipe: Lemon Blueberry Bread.  I didn't make the glaze because I don't like my breads super sweet and I didn't add the nuts because I didn't have any.  Also, I didn't have any actual lemons, so I added extra lemon juice in place of the lemon zest.  I was hoping for something similar to banana bread or pumpkin bread that I could eat for breakfast or lunch, but the result was much more similar to pound cake.  It is quite tasty but it is much denser than I expected and does taste more like a dessert than a breakfast.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 4.5 tbsp lemon juice
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg. F
2. Beat butter, sugar, lemon juice, and eggs together.
3. Separately, combine flour, baking powder, and salt
4. Alternate adding dry mixture and milk to the egg mixture while stirring
5. Fold in blueberries
6. Pour into greased 8" x 4" loaf pan
7. Bake for 60-70 minutes at 350 deg. F.

Bread is done when a toothpick or knife comes out clean.

We cook: Ricotta Cheese Appetizer with Blueberries

The first time we made this appitizer, it was on fancy ciabatta bread when we had guests over and I forgot to take a picture.  Later that weekend we made it a second time on toasted sourdough bread (in picture).  DH went a little OCD with the blueberries this time : ) While the sourdough didn't look nearly as nice, the flavors worked fine!  This easy appetizer was tasty and looked quite fancy on nice bread.

Simply spread ricotta cheese on the bread, top with blueberries, and drizzle honey over the top.




















I tried to find a recipe to link but each one I can find right now (link) has extra steps like making a lemon ricotta spread and roasting the blueberries.  I'm sure that that would be good, but honestly, I thought it was delicious in its simple version too!  I think it's ridiculous how hard it is to find a bare bones recipe sometimes. I like experimenting, but sometimes just want to know if I can whip something together without buying more than 1 or 2 extra things (See Quiche Recipe).

The ricotta cheese that I bought didn't have any preservatives and specifically said to eat right away once opened, so after we finished with the appetizer I put the left over ricotta cheese into the blender with frozen blueberries and some sugar (amounts to taste) and poured the blended concoction into Pyrex bowls to freeze.  I got the idea from here and I quite like the result for a late night snack.

We cook: Baked Peaches

Another super quick and easy recipe that I have decided to love is baked peaches!  We made these for dessert when we had friends over because the peaches were not quite ripe enough to be sweet and delicious on their own.  The result is basically peach cobbler without the cobbler.

 

Ingredients

• Peaches
• 1/2 tsp Butter / peach half
• 1 tsp Brown Sugar / peach half

Instructions

1. Preheat oven the oven to 375 deg. F
2. Wash and half the peaches.  Remove the pit.
3. Place each peach half on a cookie sheet skin-side-down
4. Add butter and brown sugar to peach halves
5. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 deg. F

We cook: Breakfast Quiche

This is one of my favorites.  I made a quiche on Saturday and have been eating it for breakfast all week.  I don't understand why some people are afraid of cooking these.  It can be SUPER easy to make a basic quiche.  The only thing to be careful of is that if you use too many ingredients that release water (like spinach and tomatoes) the quiche may not set as well.  

Ingredients

• Pie Crust (I use the pie crusts that come in the metal tinfoil pan in the freezer section of the grocery store, but I really need to upgrade to an actual pie pan)
• 5-8 Eggs (my pie plate holds 5 eggs.  If you aren't sure how many you need, start low and then add extras later if needed)
• Milk (optional)
• Salt & Pepper (optional)
• Extras (in this quiche I put 1 diced tomato and some slices of Emmentaler Swiss Cheese)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg. F
2. Crack eggs into a bowl; add a small amount of milk, salt, and pepper; and mix as if you were going to pour them into a frying pan for scrambled eggs 
3. Cut up Extras (tomato and cheese) and place them in the bottom of the pie crust
4. Pour scrambled eggs over the top.  The pie crust should be filled up to the top (it doesn't rise much at all)
5. Bake for 35-45 minutes at 350 deg. F.

Done!  I have found the timing to be variable depending on how big the pie plate is and what extras I've added.  Just check the quiche occasionally.  It is done when you can stab it with a knife and the knife comes out clean.

Warning:  The hardest part of the entire process (especially if you're using a flimsy tinfoil pie pan) is transferring the quiche to the oven.  It is very easy to spill and eggs are obnoxious to clean up from an oven.