Random Thoughts No. 25

Gosh, I haven't written one of these "Random Thoughts" post in awhile. They are so fun because I can just share whatever I want and it doesn't have to have a theme or anything. It's a little snapshot of what's caught my attention lately … and it's a great distraction from all the packing and cleaning I should be doing.

1. I've been binge watching the BBC's "Robin Hood" (2006-2009) on Netflix. Nice cast, good action, a love story -- yes, yes, that's all well and good. But I'm way more interested in Sir Guy, played by Richard Armitage. He is so bad, so so bad. He also makes for a pretty hot dwarf. 

2. I recently picked up "Outlander," published in 1991, on a whim. It was so good. I didn't know until after I read it that the book was recently turned into a TV series on Starz. I look forward to watching it and reading the rest of the series by Diana Gabaldon. 

3. Often, I try a recipe found online and it doesn't live up to the hype and never does it look like the picture. But every once in a while, I find a winner. These cream cheese chicken taquitos were delicious! The boys didn't eat them (well, Will ate two bites, said it was great, ate one more bite and said never mind) but my husband Chris ate three helpings! Three! I ate about that much myself too. Since it's a crockpot dish, very easy to make too. Perfect for a Taco Tuesday. 

File under why not? Candy corn pancakes

Everyone is talking about apples. No really — everyone. Julia's Bookbag, Design Mom, SouleMama to name a few. So much so that I could't take it any longer and made praline apple bread yesterday. I subbed cream cheese for the sour cream which was okay but not life changing so not planning on doing that again (picture and recipe if you follow the link. I promise it is delicious and even more so if you have the right ingredients on hand). I thought about taking a new picture of the apple bread (mostly because I forgot I already had) but too late now because it's gone. 

But I did take a picture of the candy corn pancakes I made last weekend. When Joseph was three, he woke up everyday asking for candy. EVERY DAY. I am not kidding. It was infuriating because dude, in what world do you think you will get candy for breakfast? You're lucky you get your Lucky Charms. (Which, those days are numbered. Tried of him only eating the marshmallows. Come on, that leaves hardly any for me!) 

He's stopped asking every morning for candy but man, last weekend he was really, really wanting the candy corn sitting on the counter next to the chocolate chips waiting their turn to melt into yummy pancakes. So I thought, let's make a candy corn pancake. That should satisfy the demanding tyrant at my elbow. HA, yeah right. Joseph was not going to try it. But I did. And surprisingly, it was not bad. The candy melts just enough that it tastes like the syrup is in the pancake instead of drizzled on top. 

Here's what I did — First, I did not mix the candy corn into the pancake batter. I laid out of few candy pieces on the griddle and then spooned batter on top. I know, easy. So easy that I'm sure I am not the first person to make these. 

Would I make them again? Actually, the answer is yes. A nice treat for Halloween morning or just any fall morning. What do you think? Would you try them?

How does it grow? It don't

Every year I think, this is the year. The year we till part of the backyard and plant a ton of stuff. And once again, all I've managed is a couple of containers. Basil and peppers ... And they're not even looking that good. No blooms, little growth. At least our tomato plants produced enough for a sandwich last summer. Maybe next year ...

Now this is a garden! Amanda of SouleMama and her family are slowly creating a homestead in Maine with sheep, chickens and maybe one day a cow. The kind of life that sounds so romantic to me. We love to eat the okra grown in Mississippi each summer at the grandparents. And my grandfather — he had a half acre full of corn, green beans, peas, strawberries and more. It was full of chemicals too because those were the pre-organic days. No telling what I ate with the veggies but they tasted so good. Just thinking about those days in garden with him makes me happy. Maybe next year ...

Random Thoughts No. 24

Oh, hi there. Still here. Well, not here on the blog but here in general. No one does a good job of explaining how adding a child, and then another to your life really can make it busier. Consider laundry — just going from a couple to a family of four doubles the amount of laundry (or more depending on how much spit up and potty accidents a child has). Each kid has their own schedule of school and events, plus the never-ending cycle of laundry and errands, plus mom or dad or both have jobs, and hey maybe mom or dad or both want to have a little bit of life beyond the kids. Life gets busy.

That's a long way of saying this blog here is not at the top of my to-do list. But I'll still check in from time to time with pictures of the boys or crafts. Now that school is out, I'll have a little more time to squeeze in some writing. Today you get some random thoughts ...

How cool is that AWESOME image there?! My mom had a small embossing label maker — it was so so fun to play with. Would love to find it. Mom and I don't throw things away so one of us has it somewhere. While I look, you can go to this site and generate your own images just like the real thing.

This nearby "yard show" is on my to-do-eventually lists! Unfortunately, it's been on my to-do-eventually list since we got to Birmingham and that's 10 years ago. One of these days ...

Like chocolate? Like pie? I made Jessie's Hot Fudge Pie and it was fight-over-the-crumbs good! No really, go make this pie then come back and thank me.

Okay, that's all I got for you.

Doughnuts!

This picture? The real reason for this post. 

My boys love doughnuts (okay, so does momma!). Nothing like the "Hot Now" sign at Krispy Kreme to lure us in. We even have a Krispy Kreme in town where you can watch the donuts being made. For the easily entertained like me, it's some fun! But sometimes I don't feel like driving (or paying) for the yummy goodness. And darn if the boys aren't sick of hearing "we can make those ourselves" when they ask for something at the store. So I rooted around the Web and found a fairly easy sounding recipe for a cake-like donut. We made them and ate them all. YUM!

Then trouble hit. I went to make the donuts again and the Web site with the recipe was gone. Vanished.  Wouldn't load. Now, there are hundreds thousands gazillons of recipes on the Web so finding another one wouldn't be difficult. BUT, the recipe I found first had this amazing chocolate glaze that tasted just like Krispy Kreme chocolate glaze!!!! Eat-it-straight-from-the-jar-with-a spoon good!!! I was not happy about losing the recipe for the glaze. A couple of week later I found that I HAD written down the recipe on a scrap piece of paper (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I'm screwed if Pinterest disappears!). REJOICE! So I'm sharing it here so I don't lose it again. And because I know you need some chocolate glaze in your life too.

Easy peasy cakey donuts

2 cups Bisquick*

2 T sugar

1 t vanilla

1 egg

1/4 cup water

a little bit of cinnamon

a tiny bit of nutmeg

*According to Wikipedia, one cup of Bisquick can be substituted with one cup of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of oil or melted butter.

I didn't write down any of the instructions so basically mix everything together, roll out on a well-floured surface and cut out doughnuts/holes. Heat oil and fry (here's where a deep fryer would come in handy but I don't have one). They will cook very quickly so keep an eye on them and flip! Let cool on paper towels. Pop them in a bag with cinnamon and sugar to coat or cover them with chocolate glaze. 

Chocolate glaze 

2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate

3 T butter

1 cup powered sugar

3/4 t vanilla

2-3 T hot water

I didn't have the squares on hand so I used 3 small handfuls of chocolate chips and it turned out fine. Melt the chocolate and butter on the stove. Remove from heat, add remaining ingredients. Try not to eat the entire pan in one sitting. 

ENJOY!

Random Thoughts Valentine's Edition

I made Chris some whiskey candies. Got the recipe at Olives for Dinner but left out the hot sauce. It was my first time making a hard candy and it was fairly easy. Washing the dishes coated with hard candy shell was the hardest part. Not sure if the candies have enough flavor. I think I will experiment with other liqueurs. I spy with my little eye a bottle of Grand Marnier hiding in the bar. 

Paste magazine has a list of the Top Anti-Valentine's Day films. Most I haven't seen. I think I would add "Mona Lisa Smile" since Kristin Dunst's character gets exactly what she deserves while getting exactly what she thinks she wanted, her Mrs. Degree (but no happy-ever after). However, if I was going to sit down to watch a soppy, sweet type of love story today, my choice might be "Stranger than Fiction" or the BBC miniseries "North & South" or "A Room with a View" or "Pride and Prejudice" (Colin Firth preferred but Matthew Macfadyen's not bad). So basically, any English period drama. 

Isn't this sweet? I got the idea in my head and took the boys to my friend Julia's paint it yourself pottery place (Actually name is Do*It*Yourself Crafts and it's awesome. You should go.). On one side is a thumbprint heart with handwriting by Will. On the other side, Joseph added some paint in blues and greens making the pendant reversible. Just a happy for this momma who loves anything they create (even when I'm the one making them create it). 

This morning, Rice Krispies treats and lego jedi light saber valentines were successfully delivered to Will's classroom. Followed by heart-shaped sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting and you're dino-mite valentines for Joseph's classroom. (Oh yes, I'm THAT mom complete with the stereotype of frosting the cookies minutes before leaving for school). So now I have a messy kitchen and lots of cream cheese frosting to keep me company as I clean up. If you are still looking for Valentine's Day ideas, check out my Pinterest board. Lots of ideas and free printables. 

Seems lots of folks have a love-hate relationship with Valentine's Day. My wish for everyone is that we all find some joy today in ourselves and in those around us we love. Hugs to all y'all.

A cup of cheer

What? You say it's February 2013? I'm still catching up on my December posts ... 

Besides, are you only thirsty in December? I think not.

I'm big on tradition, especially Christmas traditions. So every year I make Ruby Wine Punch. Sometimes for an event but usually just for me. Two Christmas-es ago I made some, bragged about it on Facebook and had two friends ask for the recipe. I thought, hey I'll just post about it and they can get the recipe off my site. So I did it the very next day. Here it is, finally. 

I haven't shared many recipes on Pretty Little Nest because I haven't felt enough ownership to claim the right to publish. But this recipe for Ruby Wine Punch has been in the family now for three generations. My thanks to one Mrs. Morrisson for sharing it with my grandmother.

Ruby Wine Punch

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

6 inches of cinnamon sticks

1 tsp whole cloves

dash of salt

2 cups burgandy wine

1 quart cranapple juice

Combine water, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a saucepan; bring to a boil stirring constantly. Reduce to simmer 10 minutes until clear like syrup. Chill (wine and the cranapple juice should be chilling in the fridge as well). Combine with wine and cranapple juice. Serve. If serving in a punch bowl, go ahead and get fancy with an ice ring of cranapple juice. It is rather sweet so you can add ginger ale/sprite or cut back on the sugar. 

Notes from me: I made 2012's version with a cheap dry red and cran-pomegranate juice. Not the same so sticking to the recipe next time. Try to strain the punch while pouring into a cup. No need to ruin Christmas by choking on a clove. AND if you put the punch back into the cranapple juice container CLEARLY MARK the container before someone pours the "juice" into a cup for your four-year-old. Just saying. 

Do you like those wonderfully vintage Christmas glasses? Score at the thrift store! Even better, got six of them marked way less than they should have been. Double score!

Sticky Will Toast

A long Random Thought ago, I mentioned Sticky Will Toast but without pictures.

 How about we fix that with some Instagram love. 

Ingredients are simple — bread, peanut butter and marshmallows. 

Toast until toasty. Wipe sticky mess off happy little faces. 

Owl cupcakes

By now you may have noticed I haven't been able to do more than short little posts here and there this year. Here's another one ...

Aren't these cute?! My neighbor Christine made them for her daughter's recent birthday. I think she found the idea on Pinterest because Christine loves the site as much as I do. I'm posting the picture here so 1. I remember how Christine did it when I go to make some and 2. So I can pin this image on my little birdies board. 

We've got a pair of Barred Owls that like the woods at the end of our street. I love hearing them call back and forth at dusk and then a little later before midnight. Joseph did NOT like hearing them at first but now it's all cool and he can step out of the house when it's dark. I would have thrown Joseph an owl birthday party but the idea didn't fly with the boys.*

*Go ahead and groan ツ

Ghost cupcakes

As soon as I opened my October 2012 "Family Fun" magazine, I knew the pull-apart ghost cupcake cake would be perfect for the Halloween party at Joseph's school. Cupcakes are just the right size for the pint-sized kids and don't require knives to cut and forks to eat. A problem for me was the magazine just had a picture, not instructions ... what I would have liked is a picture of what the ghost looked like under the icing. So I took pictures of my ghost-in-progress in case I'm not the only one. 

I think it turned out pretty cute. I made two ghosts for the school party and both disappeared very quickly. Now, if you would like to see how a professional makes this treat, visit Lindsay Ann at Dollhouse Bake Shoppe. (I didn't see her naked ghost until writing this post. I wish "Family Fun" had directed me to her Web site.) 

Happy Halloween!

Worth the trouble?

Last month I brought home some garden tomatoes from Mississippi. 

So many that I thought filling the freezer with tomato sauce was a great idea. 

Three hours later I had one messy kitchen. 

What was I thinking? That it would be a fairly easy project?! For one thing, all that work and time resulted in one measly cup of sauce. Now granted, it was a really, really yummy cup of sauce (recipe from Smitten Kitchen) that Chris and I enjoyed for dinner. The boys wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole, but that's nothing new. It was my first time making sauce and I had no idea that once you get rid of the juice and seeds, there's not much to a tomato. I give myself an A for effort. And the permission to keep enjoying the stuff from the jar.

When life hands you crumbs

I had three kids over on a recent Saturday (plus my two makes FIVE!) ranging in age from 8 to 2. As the afternoon turned into evening, I knew I would have to put something on the dinner table that was pleasing to all. Everyone likes pizza! 

I turned to my Pinterest cooking board Dinnertime! and found the recipe for Bubble Up Pizza Bites from the blog, Hey What's for Dinner Mom? 

For the recipe you need dough ... either bought or homemade. Being the overachiever I am, I made the dough using another Hey What's for Dinner Mom? recipe: Best Easy Homemade Bread. It was easy, even with five kids running around. 

The bread recipe made enough dough for the pizza bites and a loaf. Look how pretty the loaf turned out! One of my bucket list goals is to learn how to make bread ... consistently yummy, good-looking bread. The recipe definitely delivered in the looks department. But it didn't taste great — not blaming the recipe, I know it was something I did. 

I didn't want to waste the loaf so I used it to make bread pudding. Some of the best bread pudding I've ever had. People may give Paula Deen a hard time about her love of butter, but I enjoy her recipes. Just writing about that bread pudding makes me want a big slice right now. I'm going to need to come up with an excuse to make some soon. Well, today's Tuesday — that sounds like a good reason!

Any recipes you've tried lately and loved? Please dish!

A berry patch of our own

As much as we would like one, we don't have a real garden — just a few tomato plants, some strawberries that won't die and a rather nice rosemary bush. I dream of having a big garden like my grandfather. It was something to see but then, he was raised on a farm. I'm now two generations removed from the farm and my thumb is more brown than green (except when it comes to African violets. Those I can keep those alive). 

But we do have a very pesky "weed" thriving (THRIVING!) and striving to take over one side of the house. One that provides us with the u-pick experience just steps away from the back door. The birds get most of our wild blackberry crop but that's okay with me ... these berries are tart! At some point, we'll have to tackle the brambles with some heavy-duty gloves but for now, it's fun to share nature's bounty with the boys.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Recently, I went to the internet for a last-minute, easy-to-make recipe for a festival cake walk. Chocolate chip cookie cake covered in buttercream icing? Heck yeah!

I got the recipe from Culinary in the Desert, who based their recipe off Martha.

When I'm searching for new recipes on the Web, I like to type "best ever" before what I am looking for. Examples would be "best ever banana bread" or "best ever biscuits." My theory is that if folks are going to praise their creations that highly, the recipe might be worth a shot.

That's how I found Sweetnicks' The Best Buttercream Frosting Ever. I may never, ever make a different recipe of buttercream ever. It's that good. 

But if you know of a better recipe I should try, I'll be glad to do the research! I find cake is just an excuse to eat icing.

Let them eat cake!

My friend Vivi is getting hitched. So I pulled out my wedding magazines and have been drooling over flowers and cakes and especially, flowers + cakes! 

I cannot find an online picture of my favorite wedding cake off all time (pg. 249 Martha Stewart Weddings Winter/Spring 1998). But my friend Laura had a cake that was very similar so she shared this pretty picture.

Here's a more exotic, colorful version.

Can't really tell in this picture, but I think those are raspberries. 

Would be very easy to change to roses.

Here's a picture of our cake. It was the only one I could find but I'm sure there are better pictures somewhere. On top was a simple flower arrangement in a mint julep cup. I guess it would have been nice to have the cup monogrammed. Notice the cake had two layers, chocolate and vanilla. Chris is a big chocolate fan (budget tip: by incorporating chocolate into the cake we cut the cost of a groom's cake). To the right is a big platter of chocolate leaves to go with the fall theme. The cutie is my cousin Kathleen. She's now in high school!

Here is the cake from the most recent wedding I attended back in November. 

It does not fit the floral theme, but I wanted to include it ....

because it had the cutest little bride and groom birdies!

Cake tips for the bride? Want to vote for your favorite?

To see even more bright and colorful wedding goodness, you can find me on Pinterest. 

Recipe for orzo lovers

Chris has a real love for orzo salads. When I spied the recipe for Orzo Stuffing with Celery, Cranberries and Pecans on the back of the celery's plastic bag, I figured it was worth a try. Especially since Ants on a Log did not pass the Will snack test. I had to do something with all that celery (I was happy he did at least try the celery).

Orzo Stuffing with Celery, Cranberries and Pecans

from Dandy Celery 

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 cup diced onion

1 1/2 cups diced celery

1 1/2 cups orzo pasta, cooked in chicken broth, drained

3/4 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup sliced, toasted pecan or almonds (I used almonds)

3 tbsp. sliced fresh basil

2 tsp. lemon juice

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

First cook the orzo then move on to their instructions ...

1. Melt butter with olive oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, cook four minutes or until onions are translucent and golden brown. Add celery; cook four more minutes.

2. Combine orzo, celery mixture, cranberries, pecans or almonds, basil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in medium bowl; toss gently to combine. 

First reaction was that it needed something so I added a good helping of feta cheese. Not much that feta can't make better. Chris liked it. The recipe makes a huge bowl so I share the results with the neighbors and got thumbs up from them too. Served cold, the consensus was that the orzo stuffing was "refreshing." I'm happy to have a new recipe to take to potlucks. I hope you enjoy it too.

Here's something else you should try: Noodlehead's Thai Noodles. Anna shared the recipe on the Southern Institute for Domestic Arts and Crafts for Jenny's Meals Kids Love series. Sadly my kids didn't love it as much as Chris and I. Chris asked that the recipe be put into rotation. Now that is high praise!

Happy Passover

Here is a timely post about Passover from my friend Vivi. She actually wrote it last year but I messed up our communication so it waited patiently for the calendar to cycle back around. I will now turn the floor over to her to share two recipes — broccoli potato knish and flourless chocolate torte.


Vivi here: Last year we needed an extra vegetable for the table. We decided to be adventurous and find a new way to do broccoli. Vegetable choices are a bit more limited during Passover — legumes are out for Ashkenazi Jews like my family. (Sephardic Jews will eat them). So, that means no green beans, peas or lima beans. We already had asparagus. 


Broccoli is not my favorite, but what if it was crusted in potato knish? Google yielded this gem:

Ingredients:

   * 1 cup mashed potatoes
   * 1/3 cup matzah meal
   * 2 tbsp potato starch
   * 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
   * 2 egg whites or 1/4 cup Passover egg substitute
   * 1/2 tsp black pepper
   * 1/4 tsp salt
   * 1 cup fresh or frozen broccoli, steamed and finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl combine the potatoes, matzah meal, potato starch, onion, egg
whites, pepper and salt and knead together. Divide the dough into 6
balls and flatten each. Divide the broccoli evenly onto each circle,
fold over, and press edges to seal.

Generously coat a baking sheet with the cooking spray. Arrange the
knishes in a single layer and place the baking sheet on the bottom
rack of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes on each side. Serve hot.

I took some matzo meal, mashed potatoes and potato starch (no corn starch on Passover because corn is out). My mom cut — finely diced — an onion and we added it to the dough. Here's what it looked like:

We flattened dough balls, stuffed the knishes — to temper the broccoli taste, I added some spinach — and baked. People seemed to enjoy! One thing I would do next time is add some other filler to the inside. More salt or maybe egg and cheese. Yum.

One of my favorite parts of the seder is getting to cook with my family (From left, Vivi pictured with her sisters Debbie and Melissa). Every year we make a flourless chocolate torte. We first started this tradition five years ago with the recipe in Joan Nathan's "Jewish Cooking in America" (Fabulous, fabulous annotated cookbook. My other favorite FAVORITE recipe in there that is also kosher for Passover is chicken breast stuffed with shiitake mushrooms and sundried tomatoes).


No offense to Joan but I didn't love the grittiness that almond flour gives a chocolate torte. So we've been using this "Joy of Baking" version instead, which just relies on whipped eggs to give the batter some body. (One year I did this by fork!!! Lucky to have a whisk this year, but sadly no electric hand mixer. Part of making your house
kosher for Passover requires putting away everything that has touched any flour all year ... bye bye mixer).

Be careful with the springform pan when you take it out of the oven!! My mom had a mishap two years ago at the seder and we ended up with chocolate torte all over the kitchen floor. It was a really sad day. Good thing that there are two seders a year. We all watched her very closely the next year. If you take it out of the oven a little early, it's even more delicious.

Thanks Christina for letting me take over your blog for a day. Happy Easter, happy Passover, happy Spring, and happy cooking to all!


No, thank you Vivi! Happy Passover to you!

DIY Easter: Make favorite treats at home

DIY Cadbury eggs

Cadbury Creme Deviled Eggs

Cadbury Creme Filled Cookies

Homemade Peeps

Peeps a la Martha

Random Thoughts

I finally finished my egg garland. Pictures to come. I worked on it while watching TV which does slow me down. Throughly enjoyed the "Downton Abbey" mini-series from Masterpiece Classic. The ending left me wanting more though I'm going to have to wait a long time for season two. I plan to visit England one of these days. I would love to move there for a year. For now, I'm living vicariously through Design Mom who moved her family (six kids!) to France. 

As I type, Will is watching the Lego movie "The Adventures of Clutch Powers" for the third time. If you have a Lego fan age 4 to 8, rent it now. Age appropriate and funny. It's like they wrote it just for Will.

Volunteering my time this week to help a group of Tot Time moms put on a garage sale to benefit our wonderful library. If you are local, we have got an amazing amount of stuff this Saturday at Avondale UMC from 7 to noon. The gym is packed! Yes, I've already found some books to bring home.

I recently made meatballs using one of my new cookbooks "Mad Hungry." Big deal you say. I agree but it was something new for me. Watching the kids try new things every day challenges me to try new things too. Have you tried anything new lately?

New favorite snack

Joseph loves his bunnies ... here's the evidence. So I HAD to get him the Annie's Bunny Grahams. At first, he hugged the tiny bunnies and then made them "hop, hop, hop" on the table. Eventually, he tried one and LOVED it! Asked for them constantly and devoured the box (not in one day but close).

(He just came over to see what mommy was doing. Once he saw the picture, he ran to the pantry asking for  "bunnies!" followed by a happy dance.)

After the box pictured was empty, I opened the next box of bunnies, chocolate chip flavor, thinking if you liked the honey flavor wait until you try these. It did not get the same reaction.

Don't worry, very next trip to the store I got more honey bunnies. Happy dance!