So I've been spending a lot of time on the internet lately. With all the food blogs, netflix, hulu, facebook, and who knows what else I can find, it is seriously a wonder I find the time to...you know...put on pants and things. Anyway, I've become quite obsessed with my little baking projects and decided that I wanted to learn to make (of all things)...Crackers. Don't ask why. I have no idea.
Anyway, I made some crackers yesterday and they were delicious! And quite addictive, I might add. A handful of them didn't get quite crisp enough (I didn't cook them long enough and they ended up more like pita bread). I think that everyone should make their own crackers...although I do admit that it was a slightly labor intensive process.
The basic recipe I found here. The website is about sustainability and implementing it in their own life (by making just about everything themselves). It's pretty cool. Anyway, here is how I made the crack(ers).
2 cups of plain flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons softened butter
approximately 1 cup of milk
Add the first three ingredients in a food processor and blend. Slowly mix in the milk until it forms a solid ball of dough. Roll out on a lightly floured surface until very thin (the dough should be pretty dense so it's easy to do this). Then, I sprinkled seasonings I wanted on the crackers (for me it was dried rosemary and garlic salt) and roll the rolling pin over it once more to smoosh the seasonings into the cracker. Prick the dough all over with a fork (to keep it from bubbling up) and roll into cracker shapes with a pizza roller. Bake at 300F for 15-20 minutes, until slightly browned.
I also made a quick hummus dip (I LOVE HUMMUS), as well as chopped up quite a few veggies to pop in the freezer since I had the food processor out. It was pretty fun, and tasty. Yea, crackers!
In other news...well I don't really have other news. I've been baking, and working out, all week. (They counteract one another!) We've had all our Christmas shopping done for a while now (thank you, online shopping) so no stress in this household as far as that goes! Christmas eve day we'll spend with my mom's extended family, I think we're doing a big brunch this year and a gift exchange. We're going to go to Midnight Mass, spend Christmas morning at my parents', then head up to Indy and hopefully be there by mid-afternoon to spend time with Chris' family. Should be a good time!
Oh! I almost forgot! I'm getting a haircut today. Not just any haircut, mind you. My first haircut in more than a YEAR AND A HALF! Yeah, crazy I know. I might donate some of it, because there is a ridiculous amount. But thanks to Mr. Internet, I now know that Locks of Love only gives 10% of their wigs to cancer kids (it mostly goes to kids with alopecia areata, which I agree is a lifelong condition but I feel like they're sort of false advertising) and they actually sell/throw away about 80% of the hair they receive, because apparently they get too much hair and can't handle it all or something. There are other hair donation sites but apparently if you want to do some good they really just want money. I don't think they want my hair, either, because I had the highlights put in it a couple months ago. Anyway, I'm going to go and offer it but we'll see what my hair-lady (stylist? dresser? cutter?) has to say. Either way, I'm going to weigh less tonight! Hopefully there will be pictures to come.
Finally, I leave you with a holiday story I found while reading the internet this week (sorry I don't know where the original post went!):
My four year old son walked up to me yesterday while I was setting the table for dinner.
"Uhm" he asked hesitangly"Is it too late to add things to my Christmas list?"
"I think so," I said, eyeing the three feet of snow piled up outside the window.
"OK," he said resignedly and then looked out past me, deep in thought. "Dad can we run out to the store and buy a whip?"
"Why?" I asked.
"Uhm. I put a lion on my Christmas list but I forgot to put down a whip. And if the lion shows up and I don't have a whip we could all be in trouble."
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
special brownies
So....what have I done for the past month?
I seriously have no idea. I've done my best as a "stay at home wife" while Chris goes to work all day, I sit around, play on the internet, watch TV, occasionally work out, and get dinner and the house all cleaned up before he comes home! It's a tough life, I gotta tell you.
We went on a few interviews, which I will not say much about in case anybody google searches me and finds this...not that they would...but you know. I've been to a couple community programs in Cincinatti, U of Louisville, and Wake Forest. I have a few more scheduled for January. The dinners have been delicious, and hotels have been pretty awesome as well. I think we're a little glad to be off the road for a couple weeks, though, because it was getting tiring.
I've been trying out plenty of new recipes but nothing too amazing...except for this soup. I had to make a few changes because I didn't have everything but it was pretty much perfect! My version is below. This soup is thick, sweet, and spicy and strangely reminded me of a curry (I think it would be awesome ladled over rice!).
Sweet Potato Peanut Soup!
2) While the potatoes cook, heat the oil in a saucepan, add onion and cook until it begins to brown. Add the garlic, then add all the spices. I added a touch of water so it wasn't so thick and pasty.
3) Add the sweet potatoes and peanut butter and stir until PB melts. Enjoy!
Tonight, we ran to the grocery to grab a few things for dinner (This sweet potato-spinach-chickpea curry, actually - sensing a pattern?) when Chris and Patrick found these:
So I baked some brownies, topped it with some frosting, and there you have it. Now you know why I am about to weigh 400 pounds. At least dinner was healthy.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons cocoa, unsweetened
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons cocoa, unsweetened
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
You know how to make brownies. Cream the butter and sugar, add the other liquids, then add all the powdered stuff (but blend all the powders together before pouring it in. I don't know if that really makes a difference or if it's just a ploy by dishwasher-makers to get you to use more dishes. I do it anyway.) Bake at 350 in a greased 13x9 pan for, oh, maybe 20 minutes. What do you do with all those 20 minutes (other than wash dishes?)?? Read on!
3 tablespoons butter, softened
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons milk
Mix the butter and peppermint, then add part of the powders and part of the milk, alternating until you have frosting. Smear all over brownies and enjoy with a glass of ice cold milk.
Yeah, I know you want some.
I seriously have no idea. I've done my best as a "stay at home wife" while Chris goes to work all day, I sit around, play on the internet, watch TV, occasionally work out, and get dinner and the house all cleaned up before he comes home! It's a tough life, I gotta tell you.
We went on a few interviews, which I will not say much about in case anybody google searches me and finds this...not that they would...but you know. I've been to a couple community programs in Cincinatti, U of Louisville, and Wake Forest. I have a few more scheduled for January. The dinners have been delicious, and hotels have been pretty awesome as well. I think we're a little glad to be off the road for a couple weeks, though, because it was getting tiring.
I've been trying out plenty of new recipes but nothing too amazing...except for this soup. I had to make a few changes because I didn't have everything but it was pretty much perfect! My version is below. This soup is thick, sweet, and spicy and strangely reminded me of a curry (I think it would be awesome ladled over rice!).
Sweet Potato Peanut Soup!
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1 T canola oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 T chile powder
- 1 t cayenne pepper (or to taste)
- 2 t ginger
- 1 t ground allspice
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
2) While the potatoes cook, heat the oil in a saucepan, add onion and cook until it begins to brown. Add the garlic, then add all the spices. I added a touch of water so it wasn't so thick and pasty.
3) Add the sweet potatoes and peanut butter and stir until PB melts. Enjoy!
Tonight, we ran to the grocery to grab a few things for dinner (This sweet potato-spinach-chickpea curry, actually - sensing a pattern?) when Chris and Patrick found these:
So I baked some brownies, topped it with some frosting, and there you have it. Now you know why I am about to weigh 400 pounds. At least dinner was healthy.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons cocoa, unsweetened
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons cocoa, unsweetened
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
You know how to make brownies. Cream the butter and sugar, add the other liquids, then add all the powdered stuff (but blend all the powders together before pouring it in. I don't know if that really makes a difference or if it's just a ploy by dishwasher-makers to get you to use more dishes. I do it anyway.) Bake at 350 in a greased 13x9 pan for, oh, maybe 20 minutes. What do you do with all those 20 minutes (other than wash dishes?)?? Read on!
3 tablespoons butter, softened
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons milk
Mix the butter and peppermint, then add part of the powders and part of the milk, alternating until you have frosting. Smear all over brownies and enjoy with a glass of ice cold milk.
Yeah, I know you want some.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
pie and cookies
Instead of working out to relieve the stress of my impending interviews, I have resorted to what I do best: baking.
First, a delicious blackberry pie (made from freshly picked blackberries we got this summer at Kateri's parents house and have stored in the freezer since then). There is really no recipe for it because I just sort of made it up as I went along. It has a lot of blackberries, a decent amount of sugar, some lime juice, and maybe some flour and maybe cornstarch. I was worried it would be runny. It wasn't. It was delicious.
Today I made some chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Yea! Here is the recipe, I halved it so I wasn't such a fatty, and I invited Patrick over for some brain food since he has a physics test tomorrow.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Katie the Housewife
I hope everyone had a lovely thanksgiving. Mine was sort of a bust, since I came down with a miserable cold right before all the festivities, and so I was knocked out on sudafed and ibuprofen the entire time, and didn't feel very festive at all. It was nice to see the family (and they got to see all our wedding pictures!) but I really was pretty anti-social throughout the whole thing. I'm finally feeling about back to myself (aside from the occasional goopy nose, but I can live with that - I am considering pediatrics after all!) and SO glad. I think the biggest problem with being sick was that I had absolutely nothing to occupy my time. Nothing to study, no projects to finish - and the fact that I felt like my sinuses were going to explode out of my face every time I moved didn't really help with the motivation.
Apparently I need some hobbies. I used to have tons, but med school sort of zapped them out and made them seem less useful (at least some of them). Now my creative outlets typically turn to baking or cooking endeavors since they're sort of "practical," you know, you can eat them when you're done. Maybe I can start baking Christmas cookies or something. Hmm.
OH I almost forgot - wedding pictures! Yes, we finally got our wedding pictures! HOORAY! There will be plenty more up shortly (we got TWELVE DVD's full of pictures - I think Chris said there were about 2100 in all!) But our lovely photographers complied a little slideshow with music for us. Are you excited? I'm excited! Here's the link:
Apparently I need some hobbies. I used to have tons, but med school sort of zapped them out and made them seem less useful (at least some of them). Now my creative outlets typically turn to baking or cooking endeavors since they're sort of "practical," you know, you can eat them when you're done. Maybe I can start baking Christmas cookies or something. Hmm.
OH I almost forgot - wedding pictures! Yes, we finally got our wedding pictures! HOORAY! There will be plenty more up shortly (we got TWELVE DVD's full of pictures - I think Chris said there were about 2100 in all!) But our lovely photographers complied a little slideshow with music for us. Are you excited? I'm excited! Here's the link:
http://vimeo.com/7831286
If you couldn't tell, our photographers were AWESOME. Seriously. Amazing. I highly recommend them to anybody! Annie and Toby Varland: www.varlandphotography.com
I'm thinking of making a post with my reviews of all my wedding vendors since some were really awesome and some were a little sub-par, and I have tons of friends getting married who may appreciate it!
Anyway, now that I am pretty much a housewife, I'd better get started...doing whatever housewives do. Maybe I'll google search "hobbies" or something. Or maybe I'll waste more time on http://suggestoftheday.com/ ....maybe.
If you couldn't tell, our photographers were AWESOME. Seriously. Amazing. I highly recommend them to anybody! Annie and Toby Varland: www.varlandphotography.com
I'm thinking of making a post with my reviews of all my wedding vendors since some were really awesome and some were a little sub-par, and I have tons of friends getting married who may appreciate it!
Anyway, now that I am pretty much a housewife, I'd better get started...doing whatever housewives do. Maybe I'll google search "hobbies" or something. Or maybe I'll waste more time on http://suggestoftheday.com/ ....maybe.
Friday, November 27, 2009
The last of the pictures
Finally, Gregory's Rocket ship cake! Funfetti flavor with peanut butter cream cheese frosting!
We made the rocket launcher with rice crispy treats ... mmm!
The birthday boy!
On an unrelated note, here's the spread my aunt made for my bridal shower!
And the bachelorette!
We made the rocket launcher with rice crispy treats ... mmm!
The birthday boy!
On an unrelated note, here's the spread my aunt made for my bridal shower!
And the bachelorette!
Grandma's 80th Birthday!
Oh yea, I'm two for two today! Here's the pictures from her special day. I made four different flavors of cake - chocolate, italian cream, carrot, and chocolate chip! They were all delicious...
Hard at work:
My mom, my grandma, and I at her party - ready to eat cake!
Finally, the finished product!!
Grandma decided she wanted an iPod for her birthday. I hope I'm that cool when I'm 80.
My Aunt Susie made beautiful flower arrangements for the party.
My lovely grandparents, Flo and Joe.
Aren't they the cutest!?
The whole Smith family!
Finally, this wouldn't be my grandma's party without a picture of Max!
Hard at work:
My mom, my grandma, and I at her party - ready to eat cake!
Finally, the finished product!!
Grandma decided she wanted an iPod for her birthday. I hope I'm that cool when I'm 80.
My Aunt Susie made beautiful flower arrangements for the party.
My lovely grandparents, Flo and Joe.
Aren't they the cutest!?
The whole Smith family!
Finally, this wouldn't be my grandma's party without a picture of Max!
Train Cake
I found train cake pictures! Yea!!! So..for your viewing enjoyment...
First is the picture of me making the cake - it was "orange dreamsicle flavor"
Unfortunately it turned out as a heaping pile of goo, so I did my best to form it into the trainiest shape I could.
Since Chris wasn't around to take the photos in progress, we have to jump straight to the end product. I used Patrick's favorite candies - Twizzlers and Red Hots - to decorate. I even made a little "Patrick" driving the train!
That little "shocker" symbol (on the puff of smoke coming out of the train) is the hornblasters logo. If you don't remember this (or maybe I didn't even talk about it the first go round), Patrick wanted a train cake because he is the very proud owner of a train horn that he installed on his car. He now drives around honking his train horn at innocent people and scaring the pee out of them. While I find it a bit inhumane, Patrick finds this funny. He's an odd duck, but we like him that way.
First is the picture of me making the cake - it was "orange dreamsicle flavor"
Unfortunately it turned out as a heaping pile of goo, so I did my best to form it into the trainiest shape I could.
Since Chris wasn't around to take the photos in progress, we have to jump straight to the end product. I used Patrick's favorite candies - Twizzlers and Red Hots - to decorate. I even made a little "Patrick" driving the train!
That little "shocker" symbol (on the puff of smoke coming out of the train) is the hornblasters logo. If you don't remember this (or maybe I didn't even talk about it the first go round), Patrick wanted a train cake because he is the very proud owner of a train horn that he installed on his car. He now drives around honking his train horn at innocent people and scaring the pee out of them. While I find it a bit inhumane, Patrick finds this funny. He's an odd duck, but we like him that way.
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