Monday, July 27, 2015

Curry, Painting and the Kiddo Turns Two!

So if you haven't noticed I've been a little MIA for awhile now... Shortly after my last blog post our home unfortunately caught on fire and our life has been so chaotic! We are in the process of rebuilding right now so we are currently living in an apartment. When the whole thing happened I was tired and stressed out trying to find a place to live that would be comfortable for us until our home got repaired. I was on my third apartment showing of the day and the place looked fantastic! Sign me up! The day we moved in I mentioned to our nanny that I needed to go grocery shopping for the little guy and she said "Did you notice you don't have an oven?" Say what?!?! An oven is just one of those things that you would think comes with any living space. I walked in and was like, largish living area, check! Bathtub for the kid, check! Largish television for the hubby to watch sports on, check! Apparently I overlooked the oven ha ha. There is a shared oven for the building to use but depending on the day and the time there can be a line up. So...I've gotten creative with stove top meals!

My lovely friend Maria over at Paperiah (who by the way is seriously talented, check her out) shared this yummy Red Thai Curry recipe with me.  It is SO DELICIOUS! It was even husband approved and I've made it twice now. The only thing that I changed up was I used fresh chicken instead of frozen chicken tenders. I cooked them in the peanut oil and them set them aside to finish up the rest of the recipe.



This little guy turned two last week. Yes two!



I mean seriously? Two? This is all flying by way to fast for me. I asked him if he had fun at his birthday party and he goes "No" I said "You didn't have any fun?" and he goes "Nope". So that's new phase we are going thru ha ha! I don't even think he realizes what he's saying no and nope to.

I've been trying to pick out paint colors for our house for the last two weeks now. I have the hardest time committing to a paint color! The colors can look totally different depending on the lighting and even the time of day, morning versus night. I mean I know it's just a paint color but that's currently what I'm stressing out about right now. Silly I know. But...I'm off to the paint store again right now. I'll let you know if I decide on anything! Wish me luck! 




Tuesday, October 28, 2014

October Traditions

I am like a 4 year old when it comes to holidays. During October I love going to corn mazes, pumpkin patches, drinking hot apple cider and carving pumpkins. And I've been dragging my husband to these events for the last 12 years. :) He's a trooper! But he did admit the other day that even though doing these things might not be what he wants to do at the moment but once he gets there he has a lot of fun and looks back later with happy memories. I'm not sure if our kiddo will remember the younger years of these traditions when he gets older but I'll remember the look on his face when he sees something for the first time.

Last year my hubby was busy and I wanted to go to the pumpkin patch so I called up one of my friends who has a child who is just 6 weeks younger than ours. She was totally excited to go so we drove out to the country and hung out with our kids for a few hours. There was a photographer there taking pictures and I of course just had to have one! As you can see I have a huge grin on my face and Jaxson was less than thrilled.



This year when we went it was pouring down rain and extremely windy. The wind actually got up to 60 mph and knocked out our power for three days. But like true Washingtonians we were going to make it rain or shine! When we got to the pumpkin patch the same photographer was there from last year that had taken our pictures so naturally I needed him to take our picture again and this time my hubby was there! So we sat on the wet hay bales in three layers of clothing all coated in mud. And this year again Jaxson did not disappoint with the picture! 



I'm a little worried that he might be the class clown once he enters his school years... If any of you live up in western Washington I would highly recommend checking out The Farm at Swan's Trail in Snohomish. You could literally spend all day there! They have a corn maze, hay maze, pumpkin patch, petting zoo, apple picking, great bbq'd food and I could go on forever! 


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Just A Little Birthday Gift

One of my closest friends Maria had an upcoming birthday in May so I decided to make her a quilt. I had started quilting when I was pregnant with our kiddo because I thought it would be fun to make a baby quilt. Keep in mind I had never used a sewing machine in my life and I am a perfectionist...my little man's quilt turned out great and I had also made two other baby quilts for some other friends so when I spotted this Graphic 45 themed fabric I immediately thought of Maria! She was on the Graphic 45 design team last year and the fabric was one of her favorite lines. So I thought to myself "Sure I can bang out this queen sized quilt in a month!" Since her birthday was in May I figured starting in March would give me plenty of time. Ha ha!

This specific fabric was so busy that coming up with a design concept as well would have been a little out of my reach so I just followed one of the patterns from the fabric designer. My first step was to cut everything out, I am not going to lie this took me a few days. :) There was a lot to cut! Don't they look all pretty lined up together?


Once I had all of my pieces cut I made all the block for the center of the quilt. These took a little less time and I was able to piece them together in two days, around 4 hours of when the kiddo was napping. I hadn't tried out this particular block before so it was a fun learning experience.


This is what they all looked like after I finished trimming off the ends. Sorry for the poor picture quality, I took the picture at night.


Once I had all the blocks assembled I gave myself a mental high five thinking I'm making a ton of progress. Then I decided to lay the block out of the floor before I starting sewing them in strips to piece together. When they were all placed out on the floor in front of me I realized how huge this monster was going to be and I had a ton more work left ahead. This was the point where I started laughing hysterically and sent Scott who is Maria's husband a text with the below picture. 



Next up was piecing the block together in strips. Again I was amazed by my quick skills, it only took me about 5 hours to put them all together. I'll admit at this point with all my hard work the thought did cross my mind to keep the thing. lol Sorry again for the blurry photo.


Once I had the whole things pieced together it was time to quilt it. This part I find the most time consuming because I check and double check to make sure there aren't any wrinkles in the fabric and then I pin all the layers together. Of course I have to have all my pins evenly spaced and all facing the right direction! :) At the end of this step my fingers were hurting from the darn safety pins, I think I used around 150 of them to sandwich everything together. 




Once I quilted the whole thing it was time for the binding. This process has to be done by hand so I normally watch a movie or four while I'm doing this to make the time pass quicker. You can't see me working on the binding in this picture but I just thought the colors were so pretty with my pin cushion! ;)


Finally in August I had this monster put together and it looked awesome! The colors and patterns look amazing in person. 


Here is a picture with a little peek of the back of the quilt. I love the peachy color of that fabric!


All in all it took me 6 months to finish this quilt, but there were large time stretches in which I didn't work on it because I didn't have the time. I wrapped it up the day before Maria was headed up for a visit so I was able to give the quilt to her as her belated birthday gift! Here she is with it!


She was so excited to see it when I gave it to her which made me happy because she is always making the most beautiful gifts for her friends and family. Seriously check out her blog, she does!







Wednesday, September 17, 2014

2014 Challenge?

To be honest, I've missed two weeks for the 2014 challenge and have had literally no time to post anything in months!!! My husband was just out of town and I had to hold down the office by myself, do interviews for a new nanny, try to work from home and had the little guy 24/7. I don't know how single working mom's do it, so kudos to those of you that are! Although I had all of that on my plate I decided since my husband was gone for six days it felt like six weeks of unlimited free time to myself after the kiddo went to bed so what did I decide to do? Relax? Pfft! Of course not relaxing is overrated! I decided to completely redecorate a room in our home, paint and everything.

First I had to do prep work, remove nails and cover with putty, fix hole in the wall my husband put there because he decided he wanted to run the phone line from the room next door into this one...


Then I had to test the paint, I'll be honest when I put it on the wall I was so used to the typical beige color all home seller use to paint every room I was a little skeptical.


But I decided change was good and that I needed to stick with it! Plus there was now a giant tiffany blue swatch on my wall and a hole covered with white spackle so there was no turning back! In retrospect I probably should have moved all the furniture out of the room while attempting to paint but I knew the little dude would get into everything so I just crammed everything into the middle of the room. This is where going in the gym five days a week paid off! :)


Super messy I know, don't judge! When I finally get everything up on the wall I take an after picture. At least I got the painting done right?

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Week 15 of My 2014 Challenge

I've taken a few cooking classes at Sur La Table and last year didn't get a chance to take the macaroon class. So this year I wasn't going to miss it! On the menu they had chocolate macaroons with raspberry buttercream, lemon macaroon with salted caramel buttercream and earl gray macaroons with chocolate ganache. My team was tasked with making the earl gray macaroons which at the time didn't sound all that yummy but I later changed my mind.

Earl Grey Macarons
 
7 ounces confectioner's sugar, divided
4 ounces almond flour
2 teaspoons finely ground Earl Grey tea, loose leaf recommended
4 large (4 ounces) egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
3 1/2 ounces granulated sugar
Wilton brown food coloring (optional)
 
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
 
Prepare the baking sheets with parchment paper
 
In the bowl of a food processor, fitted with a metal blade pulse 1/3 of the confectioner's sugar with the almond flour until a fine powder is formed. In a medium mixing bowl, combine with remaining confectioner's sugar and ground tea. We used a coffee ginder to grind up the tea. Then sift the mixture four times thru a fine sieve and set aside.
 
To make the meringue: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachement, whisk white on a medium speed until foamy. Gradually add granulated sugar. Once all sugar is incorporated and the mixture is thick, add the cream of tartar, scrape down sides of bowl and increase speed to high, whisking until stiff, firm, glossy peaks form.  
 
To complete the macaronnage step: Sift the almond flour one-third at a time over the egg white mixture and fold using a large spatula until mixture is smooth and shiny. Once all the almond flour mixture is incorporated, check for the correct consistency, as the batter should be nicely firm, have a glossy shine and drip slowly from the spatula. At this point if you want to color the macarons this is the time to do it.
 
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip (Wilton tip #12) and pipe 1-1/2-inch rounds on parchment-lined baking sheets. Gently tap the bottom of each sheet on your work surface to release any trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes. check for a slight crust to form on the macaron. The macarons should not stick to your finger when lightly touched.
 
Bake one sheet at a time, rotating halfway though, until macarons are crisp and firm, about 10 to 15 minutes. if the macarons are still soft inside, lower oven to 300 degrees, cover with aluminum foil and bake for a few more minutes. If the top of the macarons look crinkled, your own temperature may be too hot. Allow macarons to cool on baking sheets for 2 to 3 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.

Here's what they looked like coming out of the oven, some were a little too big and some were a little too small but I think we did good for our first time!


 
 
 
Salted Caramel Buttercream
 
 
1 pound granulated sugar
4 ounces water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
10 ounces heavy cream
2-1/2 teaspoons sea salt, preferable fleur de sel
8 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

Combine sugar, water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan with tall sides. Stir once to combine, then wash down the sides of the saucepan with a silicone pastry brush dipped in water. Cook on low heat until syrup comes to a boil, washing down sides of pan with the wet pasty brush as needed.

Increase heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil, gently swirling pan occasionally, until mixture turns a deep golden-brown color. To accurately test color, dip a heat resistant white silicone spatula into the mixture.

Removed caramelized sugar mixture from heat and slowly pour in cream, being careful since mixture will spatter. stir with a silicone spatula until smooth. Stir in sea salt. Transfer to stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment and mix o medium speed until cooled to 100 degrees. Reduce the speed to low and add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking after each new addition. Once all the butter is incorporated, return to medium-high speed and whisk for a few minutes until fluffy.

Remove caramelized sugar mixture from heat and slowly pour in cream, being careful since mixture will spatter. Stir with a silicone spatula until smooth. Stir in sea salt.

Transfer caramel to a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, and beat until cool. Reduce the speed to low and add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking after each new addition. Once all the butter is incorporated, return to medium-high speed and whisk for a few minutes until fluffy.

Put buttercream into a pastry bag and pipe onto the baked maracrons to create a sandwich.

We got to taste all the different macarons and fillings at the end but my favorite combination was the Earl Grey with the salted buttercream so that's the one I chose to share. The possibilities for different combinations are endless! I always enjoy taking classes at Sur La Table so I'll defiantly take another one in the near future, The pastry and baked good ones always catch my eye.  :)

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Week 14 of My 2014 Challenge

Told you I'd be back this week! I'm actually typing this as I'm on hold with one of the companies we work with. Get time where you can find time right?

For week 14 I went back to the Food Network, you're surprised right?! I decided to try Beef Stew with Root Vegetables. The prep work for this was very minimal which was nice if you're crammed for time. I followed the directions exactly except for the beer part...it said add one can or bottle of beer so I did. But I think they might have meant 8oz and I used 16oz. This resulted in our home smelling like a brewery for the day and also the liquid didn't evaporate off quite as much as I would have like towards the end so I had to take some it and out and add some flour....and then take some more out and add more flour. Hee hee. My hubby said that it was a little bland, but he likes everything with a four alarm spice. I thought it was pretty good and I could defiantly taste the beer, but again I sued 16oz instead of 8oz. You live and you learn! Next time I'll just go with 8oz. The unique thing about this recipe was that it didn't have any potatoes, instead it had turnips. Carter (aka the hubby) LOVES potatoes and he didn't even notice they weren't in there! I think he thought the turnips were the potatoes! I got a good giggle out of that one myself. I did not end up taking a picture of this one because well it just wouldn't have photographed well. Of course the photo on the Food Network website is A+. I did snap a pic of this cutie though


As I said the prep work for this recipe was minimal and quick which was nice since this little guy was opening all the drawers in the kitchen. He really likes his dad's candy drawer and at one point I looked away for seriously 10 seconds and when I looked back he had a bag of Skittles in his hand. Nice try little dude, but not for awhile!

Monday, May 12, 2014

Weeks 11-13 Of My 2014 Challenge

I've been a little absent with posting lately. Our house has been crazy! We've had back to back, to back to back house guests for over a month, work has been crazy busy and of course our little man keeps me on my toes! Even though things have been crazy I have managed to keep up with my one new recipe a week.

In no particular order...

I actually strayed from the Food Network for once and tried Asian Lettuce Wraps from All Recipes. I'm going to be honest before this I had no idea what Boston Bibb lettuce was. I was wandering around the produce section and there it was! This cute little head of lettuce in a plastic clam shell that was still alive! This recipe calls for a lot of ingredients from the international food section in the grocery store. I was also wandering aimlessly in that aisle for a few minutes but found everything I was looking for. I did not purchase the Pickled ginger though...there is something about pickled anything that just makes me want to cringe. Once again this meal was a huge hit with the hubby. He liked the ground beef but said next time I should use chicken so they were more like P.F. Chang's. Also next time I think I'll add some shredded carrots and maybe mushrooms. There are tons of things that could be added that would be delicious!

And we're back to the Food Network for Lasagna Rolls! The hubby loves lasagna but it takes forever to make so this recipe was a totally different and fun tale on it. I followed the recipe exactly except for I forgot to add the spinach because I forgot to defrost it! So I'll just use it next time :) I would suggest adding a little more olive oil to the pasta so it doesn't stick together. Mine did and I was afraid it might so I added a few more noodles when I cooked the pasta. Luckily I had just enough noodles since some of mine were a sticky mess. Also the last 15 minutes when it says to add more cheese I didn't add more Parmesan, it already had so much in it and it just seemed like it was turning into cheese overload. I was asked to make this recipe once a week so hopefully whoever you're cooking it for enjoyed it as much as my hubby did.

Next up is Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce from the good ol' Food Network! I think I should get some free swag for plugging them in here so much what do you think? ;) I wasn't quite sure how this would turn out but who doesn't love cheese and pumpkin so I figured how can I go wrong putting them together? The pumpkin flavor was subtle and fantastic! Since it was an Alfredo sauce it was very rich so I think next time I make it it'll probably be a side dish to a chicken dish. I did mange to snap a picture of this meal.



Alright that wraps up weeks 11-13. I'll try to pop on here again this week to post more. I need to catch up!