"I've fallen in love many times...always with you." ~Author Unknown
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Best. Sugar Cookies. Ever.
photo courtesy of flickrWell - at least the best ones that I've ever made.
I'll be the first one to admit that I'm not the most experienced cook in the world {my husband, however, is a rockstar in the kitchen}. But I can bake. And even though I consider myself to be a stellar baker and have mastered many Martha Stewart recipes {grating frozen butter, anyone?}, the one recipe that has always eluded me has been sugar cookies.
Sugar cookies...SUGAR COOKIES! They're about as basic as it gets. Believe me, I've told myself this many times. As simple as it sounds, they just have never tasted as good as what I remember them to be growing up. I secretly think my mom might be trying to sabotage me by giving me a bogus recipe.
So, I think I've finally found a brand spanking new recipe I can live with. Thank you Paula Deen. I found this little miracle on FoodNetwork.com and you can partake in its glory here. I did change one thing...I used this buttercream frosting instead of the suggested royal icing. The texture of the cookies was perfect...not crunchy but not too doughy and soft. And the buttercream frosting was out of this world...sweet but not sickeningly sweet. A perfect balance.
Now, with the whopping 4 sticks of butter that went into these cookies, I don't think I'll be whipping them up every weekend. But I'll definitely be filing this recipe away in for holidays and any other day where a sugar cookie is in order.
Sugar cookies...SUGAR COOKIES! They're about as basic as it gets. Believe me, I've told myself this many times. As simple as it sounds, they just have never tasted as good as what I remember them to be growing up. I secretly think my mom might be trying to sabotage me by giving me a bogus recipe.
So, I think I've finally found a brand spanking new recipe I can live with. Thank you Paula Deen. I found this little miracle on FoodNetwork.com and you can partake in its glory here. I did change one thing...I used this buttercream frosting instead of the suggested royal icing. The texture of the cookies was perfect...not crunchy but not too doughy and soft. And the buttercream frosting was out of this world...sweet but not sickeningly sweet. A perfect balance.
Now, with the whopping 4 sticks of butter that went into these cookies, I don't think I'll be whipping them up every weekend. But I'll definitely be filing this recipe away in for holidays and any other day where a sugar cookie is in order.
Valentine's Day Goods
I didn't do as big of a product blowout for Valentine's Day as I had hoped...but we did make some pretty good little items to spruce up your gift-giving {and best of all - you can use them after Valentine's Day!}
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Winter Hiking
We had a nice big snowstorm this weekend...which makes for perfect winter hiking {one of our favorite activities}.
I thought I would share a few glimpses of our Saturday...
I thought I would share a few glimpses of our Saturday...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Waffles and Iced Vanilla Frappes
I'm a sucker for New Years' resolutions. I always make a huge list and then end up completing only a few of them {or none at all}. This year I'm trying to make good on the resolutions I made. One of them was to learn to cook. I'm not a total dunce in the kitchen, but most of the things I make come straight out box. I want to learn to 
prepare and present food. Not only that, I want to learn to do it in a manner that fits into my busy life.
This morning, I figured I would tackle a traditional breakfast of waffles. I received a waffle maker as a bridal shower gift about 5 years ago, and I'm embarrassed to say that its only made its way out of the kitchen cabinet once. 
photo courtesy of flickr - my waffles didn't even look close to this
So, if your a novice cook like myself, here are a few lessons I learned this morning. If you're an experienced cook - feel free to snicker away.
1.) Make extra batter - the first few waffles you make will inevitably come out torn, burned, charred...you name it...until you get the hang of removing the waffle at the right time.
2.) The steam - I read that the natural time to take out the waffle is when the steam stops rising from the waffle maker. However, I think what it really meant is when the steam slows down . If you wait until the steam stops your waffle will be burned. When the steam starts to slow down - that's when to remove the waffle.
3.) Don't fill up the entire waffle maker with batter! It will spill out the sides and make a gigantic mess. One ladle full of batter seemed to work okay for me for medium sized waffle maker.
The other thing I made this morning was Iced Vanilla Frappes. No - not from scratch, but they sure did taste yummy. I used this On The Go Vanilla Latte mix. Instead of just mixing with hot water, I used the powder with some milk and ice in a blender and viola - a drink that rivals the Starbucks Frappuccino.
prepare and present food. Not only that, I want to learn to do it in a manner that fits into my busy life.This morning, I figured I would tackle a traditional breakfast of waffles. I received a waffle maker as a bridal shower gift about 5 years ago, and I'm embarrassed to say that its only made its way out of the kitchen cabinet once.
photo courtesy of flickr - my waffles didn't even look close to this So, if your a novice cook like myself, here are a few lessons I learned this morning. If you're an experienced cook - feel free to snicker away.
1.) Make extra batter - the first few waffles you make will inevitably come out torn, burned, charred...you name it...until you get the hang of removing the waffle at the right time.
2.) The steam - I read that the natural time to take out the waffle is when the steam stops rising from the waffle maker. However, I think what it really meant is when the steam slows down . If you wait until the steam stops your waffle will be burned. When the steam starts to slow down - that's when to remove the waffle.
3.) Don't fill up the entire waffle maker with batter! It will spill out the sides and make a gigantic mess. One ladle full of batter seemed to work okay for me for medium sized waffle maker.
The other thing I made this morning was Iced Vanilla Frappes. No - not from scratch, but they sure did taste yummy. I used this On The Go Vanilla Latte mix. Instead of just mixing with hot water, I used the powder with some milk and ice in a blender and viola - a drink that rivals the Starbucks Frappuccino.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
i {heart} thursdays
Top 10 Reasons why I love Thursdays:
10. It's almost Friday.
9. It's pizza night in our house - which has recently been made even better by our new Presto Pizza Maker {maybe the best invention EVER}.
8. Steve Carell.
7. Pizza Night also means wine night!
6. It's almost Friday.
5. If Tyson has enough wine, he'll watch Grey's Anatomy {although I think he secretly loves it as much as I do}.
4. My {usually severe} case of the Mondays is like a far distant memory.
3. A few months ago I would have been sitting in a classroom from 6-10pm...not the case anymore my friends!
2. There's really no limit on the bottles of wine for Wine & Pizza night.
1. Did I mention that it's almost Friday?
Sunday, January 3, 2010
My New Favorite Decoration
I have the very fortune luck of having a husband who gets me the BEST Christmas gifts {and birthday, and anniversary, etc}. This year he totally outdid himself.
If you've followed this blog, or taken a gander at our Etsy shop, you have probably gathered that Tyson and I have a bit of an allegiance to City of Canton. Sure it has along way to go and it's by no means perfect, but it has great history and great potential.
Which brings me to THE GIFT. Tyson found a picture taken of the City of Canton's skyline in 1913. Then be built a marvelous white oak frame around it and so became the birth of my new favorite home decor item that is now the staple of our family room. Check out some different angles below:
If you've followed this blog, or taken a gander at our Etsy shop, you have probably gathered that Tyson and I have a bit of an allegiance to City of Canton. Sure it has along way to go and it's by no means perfect, but it has great history and great potential.
Which brings me to THE GIFT. Tyson found a picture taken of the City of Canton's skyline in 1913. Then be built a marvelous white oak frame around it and so became the birth of my new favorite home decor item that is now the staple of our family room. Check out some different angles below:
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