Just call me Ma Dean!

I undertook something this weekend that I have been planning to do for a while. Weeks ago my mom asked me to look up how to make butter. She use to do it way back in the day but apparently those brain cells have evaporated. So I relied on my old friend Google to give me/her the details. It was as simple as I thought it was going to be. Seriously... simple... with tasty results.

Let the world hear me now... I made Butter! And that butter will land right on my hips after it passes my lips!

To make butter:

1. Add heavy whipping cream to a blender. Let it sit out to room temperature first. Now most recipes call for a pint, I just used the cup that I had leftover from a different recipe.
2. Blend on the lowest/slowest setting you have. Do NOT go to a higher setting or else you will end up with whipped cream. For a while your mixture will look very much like whipped cream, but stay patient. Mine took 10 minutes start to finish. Some websites say half an hour.
3. Scrap down the sides of the pitcher every once in a while. My mixture would thicken up and the blades would make a "bubble" which meant there was a thick outer layer that was not being blended. Enter spatula.
4. At about 10 minutes in my mixture separated into defatted liquid (called buttermilk, not at all like commerically available buttermilk) and THE BUTTER ( which had all the fat, thank goodness!)
5. Drain off the liquid and then I blended a bit more to make sure I was getting out as much liquid as possible.
6. Now at this point you can drain your butter into cheese cloth, squeezing out any excess buttermilk. And then you can rinse the dense butter ball under cold water... but I didn't do either and my butter was still mighty fine butter.
7. Put your new butter in a bowl/crock/container. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze till you need it.

Seriously, it was easy. Hardest part was ignoring the blender sounds for 10 minutes. I felt a little like Ma Ingle's channeling Paula Dean. I will happily wear that combo hat again!

Rainbow Roots

A cold winter morning with a warm cheery friend at the Farmer's market is a great way to spend a Saturday.  Kim and I were out the door with the dawn, on the grounds early to tour the stands with local roasted coffee in hand. The bell rang and the stands started selling!  I brought home a RAINBOW of veg.

• Rainbow carrots
• Red, Yellow and Orange Beets
• Rainbow Swiss Chard
• Parsnips
• Brussel Sprouts
• Red and White Spring Onions

There is a new vendor at our farmer's market that made my heart pitter patter, a PIG vendor. I brought home some Czech style bacon and have an order in for a nice pork belly and English style bacon in two weeks. He also has sausages, homemade mustards, pickles, and is playing around with even more bacons. Hmmmm, I am in oinky heaven.

I rounded out the bag with a fresh loaf of Ciabatta and a loaf of Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough. Of course a sit down and chat with a chocolate croissant made the morning perfect. :) Happy meals are in the works.

Cause you still have to eat!

Earlier this summer a friend loaned me every single Jen Lancaster book on the market. I kinda let them sit on a shelf for a little while because I was finishing up Eat Pray Love and ummm, something else that I have all ready forgotten about. But in need of reading material the other day, cause I was going to be sitting by the pool watching boys be crazy in the water, I picked JL's Such a Pretty Fat out of the stack at random.

I was actually finding myself agreeing with the author's personal weight/diet struggles right away, and any one who can say her dog likes tossed salad and writes with footnotes is sure to be a fun read. Slowly through the course of the story I found myself agreeing with her love of food, seriously cheesey chips with guacamole and jack's salsa is heaven sent, and then found myself agreeing with her slow decline into self pity over her weight. And then you get to the point where she jumps on every diet bandwagon and I kept on nodding my head in agreement, because I HAVE BEEN THERE.

And then I lost her...

Because she started talking about her workouts and how her shoulders are now squared off and she has "strongs!". And I couldn't relate.

Now, hold the brakes for a second, I am not seeking pity for my belly fat, just saying that I could no longer relate... BUT she had an epiphany in her story about a day after I had my own personal health epiphany.

And I have found myself easily making healthier choices, easily able to resist the candy box raids, easily willing to eat Fiber (which still is kinda evil) because of this epiphany and the results that I know I will get if I change things (and I REALLY want those results). And then I thought this tonight as I made dinner.

"Just because I want to lose weight and be overall in better health, doesn't mean I have to torture myself with dieting. Cause I still HAVE to eat! Hello, food is a good thing cause it keeps me ALIVE! (duh!) But I can at least eat GOOD tasting healthy food in smaller sizes. And that my friends is not torture."

Someone remind me of this inspired thought next week when I want to blow through a can of Pizza Pringles.

Hard Day & Tonsil Post #2 & New Diet Recipe

Tonight we had our first official new "diet" dinner, which is honestly not all that new to us, but it's one of our standards. Alex has been really upset about how much of his favorite foods he can not have, well it is pretty much everything. Doing a bit more digging online I have found that he can have cheeses and some cream sauces but infrequently (no more then once a week for both the sauce and cheese). This new diet is very heavy in fresh veggies and fruits (that are not citrus) which is a good thing, but Alex has his Dad's anti-veggie outlook. :)

On to the recipe!

Applesauce Porkchops, wild rice with quinona and steamed green beans.

Applesauce Porkchops
3/4 C Applesauce unsweetened
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 finely diced garlic clove

Combine all the above ingredients together for the sauce. I just mixed mine in a 1 cup measuring cup and set aside.

Brown pork chops in a heavy bottomed skillet, with pepper on both sides. I added olive oil to the pan and a small bit of butter ( sorry I can't help it, butter in moderation is not a problem and it can add so much flavor). Brown both sides, lower heat and top with sauce. Cover and cook on medium low heat for 20 minutes.

I served with wildrice/quinona mix and steamed green beans. The chops have sauce on them, but don't miss out on the sauce that has browned in the bottom of the pan, it was yummy.

Alex didn't mind this dinner, but unfortunately his tummy is a bit upset so he didn't eat much more than the chop.

In the summer I can't wait to try a variation of this on the grill with grilled veggie kabobs!

*********
On to the Tonsil part of the post. I just checked on Alex and he has a bit of a fever, which we have to get rid of ASAP since he can't go into surgery with a fever, they will rescheduled it. I dosed him with Tylenol and have popped him into the shower to steam it out. Ibuprofen and aspirin are a huge No-no right now since they are both blood thinners and Alex can't be on them before his surgery. Here's hoping the Tylenol will do the trick, it isn't as effective as Ibuprofen for Alex.

**********
Today was even more of a hard day for Alex. We went over to my parents house for a little bit today so Alex could see his Poppa before his surgery and to play with the neighborhood kids. When I went across the street to get Alex to head home, I discovered that he had accidentally stepped on a baby bunny hiding in the yard. Alex was holding the bunny in a yugioh tin and the poor thing was barely able to breathe. All the kids were upset and Jenny the Mom was just trying to keep her 4 from hysterics. Alex and I told the kids we would bring the bunny home and take care of her.

Poor Alex was so upset that she was hurt, he felt it was his fault and was having a hard time looking at it as an accident. The bunny died on the way home which I figured was going to happen because of the way she was breathing. Casey met us at the door, his Daddy sense was on high alert and we immediately loved on Alex and hugged him up trying to cheer him up. Out behind our fence line Casey dug a hole and we have a small funeral for the bunny, said our prayers, and painted a rock with RIP and a cross.

Needless to say it has been a very hard day for Alex. I know he feels at fault for the bunnies death, but we just try to remind him if all the bunnies that the dogs catch in the yard each year and that accidents happen. He has become very attached to the idea of wild animal pets in the last couple months, I think it has been stemming from the books he has been reading.

Anyways, lots of bunny prayers were sent to heaven today. And more prayers for Alex too.

A new Grocery List

This family loves pizza and spaghetti and oranges and chocolate.

This family is cutting out the pizza and spaghetti and oranges and chocolate.

This family has a kiddo who has been diagnosed with acid reflux (a different kind then what we see on TV). So most of our food choices have to change.

The easiest way to find a "diet" that will work for Alex is to look up GERD diets for children. Alex has all ready declared that he is going to miss salami and marinara sauce the most. I don't think he realizes that Root Beer is on the No-No list as well.

I am pretty excited because it is warming up, which means we can try out a bunch of new things on the new grill. We are going to get so much better! Casey and I just have to adjust our default cooking though. We need a new basics list.

Today, we are making our grocery list for the next two weeks. Weeks that include a new family "diet" and weeks that include Alex's recovery.

Lots of green foods!

Lots of soft foods!

Lots of new foods.

I am going to start posting some new "diet" menus and recipes to help me keep track of it all.

This morning, I prepped the crock pot for a big batch of beef stew! Not exactly the lean meat that the diet plans refer too, but it is a type of comfort food for Alex, and it is not tomato based. :)

Risotto, the new way to meditate.

Tonight's dinner was fabulous! It was creamy and cheesy and spicy sweet and perfect. The minutes spent stirring the risotto at the stove were a great way to destress and zone out after a hectic afternoon at the doctor and then rush hour traffic. Recipe is from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazines, Nov 2006. I made some changes which I put in bold.

*******************************************
Ingredients
Serves 4
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, in juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 small onion, finely chopped
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine ( I didn't have any so I just added some of the tomato broth mixture at this point)
1 bunch flat-leaf spinach, (10 to 14 ounces), washed well, tough stems removed, chopped (about 7 Cups) I only used about 5-6 oz and I didn't bother trimming stems
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (optional)
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
In a small saucepan, combine tomatoes (with their juice) and 3 cups water ( I used fresh chicken stock it made a HUGE difference). Bring just to a simmer; keep warm over low heat.

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add sausage and onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up sausage with a spoon, until sausage is opaque and onion has softened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add rice; cook, stirring until well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine; cook, stirring until absorbed, about 1 minute.

Add about 2 cups hot tomato mixture to rice; simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes. Continue adding tomato mixture, 1 cup at a time, waiting for one cup to be absorbed before adding the next, stirring occasionally, until rice is creamy and just tender, about 25 minutes total (you may not have to use all the liquid).

Remove pan from heat. Stir in spinach, Parmesan, and butter; season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately (risotto will thicken as it cools), and sprinkle with additional Parmesan, if desired.

Just slap it on your ass and say Dessert is served.

I made you something today my friends. It is moist and airy and creamy and yummy and soft. And it is an original Nicole recipe.

Banana Cake with Sex Frosting

Be prepared to love this, and eat it, and frost your body with the icing for your someone special to lick. Seriously, who knew banana cake could be so sexy? Okay here goes with the how to:

Banana Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 stick room temperature butter, REAL butter
• 1 3/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 medium bananas that are REALLY ripe, mushed
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla ( I use vanilla paste, which is fantabulous!)*
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt

The Making:

1. Cream together the room temperature butter and the sugars. Mine came out crumbly, but very soft to the touch.
2. Add in the eggs, banana mush and vanilla. Beat until well incorporated.
3. Combine in a separate bowl the flour, baking soda and salt.
4. Add to the wet mix in small batches, beating till combined in between. ( I personally, just dumped it all in at once, but that was only because I did it on accident).
5. Poor into a 13x9 cake pan that is sprayed with Non stick bake spray.
6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Really you need to test it to see if a tooth pick comes out clean. So your time may vary.
7. Cool completely before frosting, I know this is the hard part, but you don't want this frosting to melt. Trust me on this step.

The Sex Frosting**

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. room temperature Cream Cheese. MUST be room temp!
• 1 stick room temperature butter, once again real butter.
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar ( I just eyeballed half a bag, if not a little less)
• 1 TBSP Vanilla
• 1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream ( Milk is not a substitute in this recipe, because you want this to WHIP up).

The Making:

1. Cream together the Cream Cheese and Butter.
2. Add the Vanilla, beat together.
3. Add the powdered sugar, beat till incorporated, scrapping the sides of the bowl every once in a while. You don't want to end up with caked on walls of sugar. Ewww.
4. While beating on high speed, add the Heavy Whipping cream in small batches, till you have the consistency you want. I let mine whip away on high speed for a minute or two. You want lots of air in the icing. But don't over whip or else it will start to firm up.
5. Apply to cool cake or body parts.

Seriously folks, my goal with the icing was to make a Cream Cheese Whipped Cream. And this is IT! The icing is amazingly light with a subtle taste. I wanted to avoid the standard Cream Cheese icing that you could spackle a wall with. Just a small warning, you will have HUGE amounts of icing, meaning you could easily ice a two layer cake and still be able to lick the bowl.

Enjoy!

* I buy my Vanilla Bean Paste from William Sonoma. And then I add it to everything I can.

** Okay, so I didn't set out to make a sex filled recipe, but ummm, licking this icing off my fingers and my cake fork was great. Plus any icing that can make Cream Cheese sexy is on my top 10 list. This is probably in my top 3.

I do declare it's a no Zombie Toy Day.

The beginnings of dinner: carrots, zucchini, crock neck squash, asparagus, and snap peas.

Yesterday at 5:05pm, I declared it a No Zombie toy 24 hour period, meaning we were not allowed to watch TV ( zombie inducing), play any video games ( including the DS and Wii), or play on the computer( except for an hour this morning for me to get work done, and a couple of 5 minute snatches to check emails) till 5:05pm tonight.

All tossed in a tablespoon of olive oil and herbs de Provence.

It went over surprisingly well, there were no tears or angry words or pouts, just a question of what shall we ever do?

Our veggies were paired with a small brisket sandwich and an hour of cajoling for him to finish.

So we made a very yummy and filling dinner, set up the ipod to fill our ears, we started laundry that had been languishing, cleaned up rooms, ordered the kitchen and watched the thunderstorm as it rolled in and brought some much needed rain.

The bowl of melon was huge, the boy was cute and the game was oh so fun.

After dinner and the rain, we headed to the library because it was open late last night. We filled our bag with books, came home and challenged each other to Guess Who while we ate up some watermelon.

This mornings fill, Bolthouse farms Mocha Cappuccino and Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread.

I find myself up early this morning because I had to fill the pool before the pool guys come to repair a leak we have. But I wouldn't have been up if not for a small bout of insomnia last night, which luckily had me up when the power went out in the entire subdivision. I climbed out of bed at 1am, peered down the dark street that was flooded with full moon light, fetched my cell, set an alarm, and drifted off to the sleep while listening for the fan to come back on, a sure sign that power had returned. But instead I woke before my alarm, dragged the trash to the curb, made something to fill my belly, and find myself here while waiting for Alex to wake.

A Recipe Collection

I have been reorganizing the pantry over the last couple of days. It got way out of control during Alex's birthday weekend, I have no idea how that happened. This time I focused on the appliances side of the pantry. I have been culling out what we don't need, like two extra crock pots, and what we haven't used.

One thing that took up a lot of prime real estate in our pantry is my cook book collection. Which I use, but only a fraction of the library itself. Slowly I have been moving my most used cook books out to the hutch in our dining nook. Yesterday I moved it all out there, removing the books that I never use.

Here is the space, three shelves of books. A handful used much more than others. I am going to pay attention to the books that I am not using, and weed them out, because really what use are they.

My top shelf: The Cooking with Jamie book is a new acquisition from Christmas. Gotta love the Brits! Which moves me onto the Nigella books, every single one is well used and loved.

My Second Shelf:Front and Center, the cooking bible, The Better Homes Big Red Book. Seriously, any new cook starting out needs this book. They update every couple of years to current food trends. My moms has Salisbury steak in it. :) The illustrated Cookbook is a great resource for HOW to cut, chop and work in my kitchen. It's ancient and there are plenty of newer versions out there. But really who wants to pay $75 for a reference book. The Nourishing traditions book on the far right is a FABULOUS resource for how to make anything and everything from scratch. She is hardcore against processed foods and believes in a protein and fat loving diet, but if the Apocalypse every happens, I will know how to make ranch dressing from scratch.

My third Shelf: Joie de Vivre is not only a great introduction to French cooking but a joy to read. Of course everyone should have the spiral of Crockpot meals. But my favorite thing on this shelf is the Cooks Illustrated magazine for American Classics. Best magazine I have ever bought, that issue alone is amazing!

And inside the cabinet on the left I have my pile of magazines and Everyday foods. Plus my recently rebuild recipe folder. Previously this pile was messy, rarely used and had print outs of various recipes all over the place. I sat down and filed all paper recipes into paper protectors and put them in the binder. Eventually I will go through the magazines and rip out and file the recipes I want.

While weeding out books I stumbled across this Vegetarian cookbook that I had forgotten all about. I snagged it from my mom probably 16 years ago. It is so 70's, but full of great veggie recipes.

The TOC is awesome, really you can make so much just veggie. And with a whole chapter devoted to Cheese, I knew I needed to keep this book around.

But this final paragraph in the introduction had me laughing my ass off. You know a cook book is from the 70's when there is open pot references and even food recommendations for munchies.

A frugal conversation

I spent some time with my moms neighbor on Friday. Jenny is a wife and mother to four kids, whose husband just had a 20K drop in pay due to cut backs in the automotive industry. Jenny needed to know how to eat cheap, good, and live a bit more frugal. Enter Mormon mom of 6 from the cul de sac and Me! I will be sharing Robbie's tips as soon as we can get together again, she is sick with another pregnancy, you will love her tips! Like how to make a roast chicken feed 7 for two meals. ONE CHICKEN!

Anyways, here are my tips!

1. Shop in Bulk. Costco is my bulk source of choice. We have been members since it was called Price Club. Even with just our family of three, we SAVE so much money shopping wisely there. Typically we pick up these door busters: Milk ( $2.55 a gallon), Eggs ( Always around $1.80 for 18), Block cheese( don't buy the preshredded crap, it is covered in a wax, and block is a much better value per pound), dog food ( 40Lbs for $20), toilet paper ( yeah you have to store it, but come on, who looks under your bed anyways?), all laundry products ( use only half the recommended amount, I swear you won't notice a difference and it will last you FOREVER!), ground beef cubs ( 5 lbs for $10, 90/10 fat), and garbage bags. We rarely buy produce, besides potatoes, breads and meats at Costco. I will pick it up if there is a coupon that month or a special occasion, but mostly we pass the meats up due to storage space. Costco is also a great source for sheets, comforters, certain clothing items, kitchen wares and appliances, and bath items like shampoo. Seriously worth it!
2. Meal plan. Now Jenny all ready meal plans, but she also has a tough situation with her husband, he wants a restaurant type meal at every meal. Meaning, full cut of meat, side, veggie, and salad. No casseroles or meatless items. I say, SUCK IT UP, he can totally get by on one night of grilled cheese and soup. So plan your menu, at least dinners, for the week and try to stick to it. If you can make a cut of meat stretch to two meals, AWESOME! For example, Roast a chicken one night, and then save the carcass to make chicken noodle soup with the next. Simple and Easy.
3. Shop from the sales. Now where we live we can not unfortunately take advantage of price wars between groceries. We pretty much have one grocery, Target and Walmart. So we always look through the circulars to see if there is items we can add to our menu for the week. Also, we ALWAYS look through the meat case for mark downs not published, and our store has meal deals. Don't buy what you won't use!!
4. Budget. Keep a grocery budget for the month. Jenny is trying to stick to a $450 a month budget for a family of 6. She can totally do it now, because her kids are little, but might need to adjust it as they go through growth spurts or if they are out of school. For instance, Alex is eating SO MUCH right now due to a growth spurt. Well I am not going to say No to him, so I have planned on buying more milk and lunch meats. Because an extra bowl of cereal or a ham sandwich does him good and won't destroy our budget.
5. Get your family on board! Which means, remind them all the time, that there is a budget and things will have to change. Jenny for example has never bought canned OJ concentrate. She always bought a jugged name brand. Well with a savings of $4, BUY the concentrate! Buy bagged cereal versus boxed, it tastes the same anyways. Start serving sandwiches at lunch, not full meals.

More to come later after I have talked to Robbie. She is the QUEEN of FRUGAL Meals. I can't wait to share her tips with you!

I've got something to say.

I've got something to say, and that something is that a bowl full of Spumoni Ice Cream can sometimes be the perfect thing to blog about.

I was thinking of posting, but I kept thinking of things that I am not ready to blog about, things like a January Listed, and the pictures we took downtown, and friends, and family, and neighbors, and our itty bitty birdy friend.

But I wasn't ready to talk about those things. So you get Spumoni.

BEHOLD!

Big bowl and Big spoon.

Right, so whats the plan?

So it's Sunday, what are we going to do?

First have a bit of spicy kettles...

And a bit of brew too...

Some paper to get the news and coupons...

And of course a British invasion from Nigella and Shawn...

Archie's worried face needs a snuggle...

And Betty just wants to chill on her couch...

While we bake up some homemade cheese pizza...

And let Alex inspect the Basil.

Right, sounds like a plan.

Birthday dinner thank you

Oh my tummy is saying a big thank you to Casey.

Oh my mouth is thanking him too for the fabulous fare he gave us.

Oh my heart is happy and full and loved.

Thank you Mister Man for a fabulous birthday dinner, it was perfect, the feel was so very me, and the vegetarian platter was worth it.

*********

Casey took us and my parents to a Very Nicole restaurant for dinner today. In fact it is being featured on the food networks Diners, Drive-thrus and Dives this month and it was perfectly hippie, organic, tasty, and spicy. Lovely food was had all around from the Melt Down sandwich to the grass fed beef burger to the spring mix grilled apple salad. So yummy. Such happy food. Especially with a pear cider and a restaurant dog to pick up some tasty scraps.

Oh happy times.

Life is Good.

Heaven's To Betsy, it's the start of Strawberry Season

My local farmer cart guy sold us 6 crates for $5! Can't beat that! And local produce no more then 50 miles from home, even better.
Best way to eat fresh strawberries, dipped in whipping cream with a smidge of sugar. Perfect.

My Favorite LeftOver

I roast a whole chicken about every other week, nothing beats it for dinner. But once you remove the breasts and drumsticks (dinner fixings here), what is there to do with all the leftover meat? Chicken Salad! Trust me that there is no kind of Chicken Salad like fresh roasted chicken salad. Forget the canned crap forever!

Yummy goodness.

My favorite part is biting into a grape. Sweet bursts!

Chicken Salad Recipe

Pick all the meat you can from the chicken carcass, or use two to three fresh baked chicken breasts. I have even used the Astronaut Chickens you can get from the grocery.
Add a handful of Red grapes and Almonds Slivers.
Chop two stalks of celery.
Enough Mayo to bind together, but not too much!
And a liberal grind of pepper and salt.
Mix.
Eat.
Enjoy on bread, salad greens, or by itself!

So great!

One an hour, or so...

I started off Friday with the best intentions of showing you my Friday in a series of hourly shots. And, ummm, dear readers... I only got so far. And it seems that my day involved lots of cooking, which it usually does on Fridays.

6:00am Blog reading, Daily Coyote is a great way to start the day.

7:00am Pup feeding time/play time. Isn't Jenna getting BIG?!

8:00am Nicole Feeding time.

9:00 am Start the bread dough and spy on Archie eating.

10:00am Cinnamon Coffe Cake. Yum.

11:00 am - 1:00pm Loads and Loads of Laundry

2:00pm - 4:00pm School activities with Alex.

5:00pm Shoved two lemons up a chicken's bum, because it tastes good.

5:00pm con't. And made oven fries.

6:00pm Tastey Chicken, look at the crispy skin and lemony butt.

7:00pm Made our 8 year old eat all on his plate.

8:00pm Picked chicken clean for Sonoma chicken salad. Which was fabulous of course! Found hidden wishbone, and won the pull.

9:00pm Cleaned up the rest of the house and checked on the BBQ pork I made Casey, as well as made a batch of rolls to put said pork on. And entertained neighbor with coffee cake and tea.

10:00pm and later... airport trip and sleep much much later.

The End

Saturday Eats

Saturdays in our household are treated foodwise as the day for a "Sunday" dinner. It is the day before Casey leaves on business trips. It is the day to cook home comforts, to throw open the windows and watch the puppies sniff the air catching wafts of kitchen treats. I take pride in the cooking I do for my family. I enjoy the entire process from recipe searches, to shopping, to prepping, to cooking, to waiting, to eating, and even the clean up. I love the fact that my husband thanks me for his Saturday meals and compliments me by saying my food is always better then where ever we eat out. My dad has even started bragging about my cooking, and having that come from the Master Foodie, it means alot.

Last night was Chicken Spaghetti with Reese's and Smore's cookies for the diabetic coma part of the night. Today is dark chocolate brownies, bacon cracker wraps, and a pot roast. Food comforts for my boys. The dogs usually get some sort of treat out of it, today was the silver skin from the roast pan fried and toasty.

I can not take full credit for my home cooking. I get alot of recipes from google searches and of course Nigella books. One of my favorite books is Joie de Vivre, don't be intimidated because it is about French cooking. It is all simple basic techniques, with tasty foods. One of my absolute favorite places to get recipes is from the Pioneer Woman. Every simple blessedly delicious thing has been awesome. Go try her out, especially the Chicken Spaghetti, damn it is good. Oh and the Bread Pudding!

Hell Ya I Bake Buns!

First you throw together the ingredients for your dough into your bread machine. Mine is old, like pushing 15 years, but I know it and it knows me and we get along really well.

Then you prep your baking sheet, Silpats are a must, I ruin two a year, horrible I know, but when you forget and cut a pizza on it, you just must accept that a new one will come in your stocking. Don't forget to let the egg sit out till close to room temperature, you need it for the glaze.

Oh Dough Bliss, once the machine does it's mixing, and kneading, and rising and punching down, you can turn out your beauty to a floured surface. Mine was a second baking sheet with flour tossed around because every other surface in my kitchen was busy holding dirty dishes.

Then you get to the fun part, shaping them into a rounds and logs.

Cover and place the dough in a warm place, then sit and pet the Betty and knit till they roughly double in size.

Oh yeasty Gods you worked your magic ...

Brush with the yolk wash and scatter with sesame seeds, which we passed on this time.

Fifteen minutes later, once they have exited the oven you have these yummies.

Perfect for dogs, or sausages, or burgers, or chicken patties. Yum!