A year older and even more fabulous

Happy Birthday Tory!

I can't wait to hear all about your weekend adventures.

Recipes of the Week

It happened again. I spent another weekend away working on the list. (I promise to share more on that later.) But luckily for you I planned ahead and tried out two new recipes to tell you all about. They lack pictures but trust me: they look good, taste good, and are worth a try.

Southwest Pinto Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayonnaise
Flavors of the Southwest are my favorite and this recipe did not disappoint. The burgers themselves were a bit of a pain to work with because the mixture is pretty loose. Do not skip refrigerating the burgers before cooking them. This did help firm them up a little. I might even pop them in the freezer for the same amount time to make them even easier to work with. We ate these as burgers but I think they’d make a really great appetizer. Next time I’d fry up mini-patties and serve them over a bed of greens, drizzled with the chipotle mayonnaise.

Chicken with Olives and Lemon
This recipe is great. All you have to do is toss some chicken thighs in an herb and spice mixture, arrange it in a pan, and pour a flour/broth mixture over it. Top with olives and lemons and as the dish bakes it creates it’s own flavorful sauce. It’s hard to believe such a small investment in time can yield such delicious results.

Another lap quilt

I promised my sister-in-law I would make her a lap quilt for her front room in her new house right after I made my mom's.  Well, her house isn't quite as new as it was, but I did finally finish the quilt and take it out to her on my last visit.  I was thrilled with how well the fabrics I chose went with her decor and recruited my niece and her side-kick Clifford to help me take some photos.

I used the pattern from Bend the Rules Sewing but increased the size to 50 inches square like I did the first time around. Our family is tall and I wanted to make sure someone could really cozy up under it.

Clifford wasn't really holding up his end of the deal, so Grandma stepped in for the final shot.  Can you tell that my love of red runs in the family?

Gone Hunting

I am so in love with this project. I HAVE to make one.

photo from Chronicle Books

Zzzzzz

The dudely would tell you I’m a picky sleeper, but that’s just not true. I just know what I like. I like it on the cool side and I like it dark, really dark. Cool and dark is not a problem in New England in fall and winter. Achieving the two in spring and summer, however, is a problem.

Cool is easy enough with the windows thrown open and the help of a cute, little window fan. However, that means I have to forgo the blinds being fully closed. This leaves a direct path from the streetlight to my sensitive eyeballs. This year I’ve thought ahead and done something about it.

Behold my new sleep mask. The pattern is from Amy Butler’s In Stitches. I did make a few changes to the instructions. The first was using just two layers of batting rather than the four suggested. It’s plenty dark enough and cuts down on the bulk in the seams. I also decided not to use ribbon ties. I just couldn’t see how they’d stay tied all night long and I didn’t want a bump on the back of my skull. OK, so maybe I’m a little picky.

What I went with was elastic hidden in a casing. I roughly measured my head, added an inch for the seam allowance, and ended up with a 12.5” piece of elastic. I then cut a piece of fabric for the casing at 1.5 times the length and 3.5 times the width of my elastic, sewed it up, and turned it right side out. Next I fed the elastic through the casing, pinning and aligning the edges of the casing and elastic. (This keeps you from losing the elastic inside the longer casing.) From there I followed Amy’s directions and found myself ready for any warm nights that spring and summer may bring.

Recipe of the Week

Recipe: Pappardelle with Smoked Salmon
Source: Cooking Light

Ingredients: *****
The ingredients on this list are great. The cream cheese and smoked salmon typically found on a morning bagel find themselves reinvented in a pasta dish. I chose to skip the tomatoes on this go around though. By the time I got to them they were looking very, very sad.

Preparation: *****
Boiling pasta is obviously pretty easy. What makes the preparation of this recipe really stand out, however, is making the creamy sauce. It’s nothing more than allowing cream cheese to “melt” in chicken broth. No heavy cheese. No stirring and stirring and stirring.

Taste: ****
This made a really wonderful Sunday dinner, instantly being added to my list of things to make again and again. There are two things I’d do differently though. First off, I’d sauté the onions longer than suggested. They were a bit too crispy for me. I’d also probably skip using smoked salmon in favor of using up leftover salmon fillet. By the time the dish heats through you’ve lost some of the great smoked salmon flavor. Better to save the good stuff for the bagels. Which got me thinking that this recipe is a great base for modifications. I could see using sautéed mushrooms with asparagus or broccoli, chicken, shrimp, or scallops instead of salmon, fresh herbs instead of dried. See what I mean? Adaptable. It just might help you clean out a fridge full of little bits of this and that.

Recipes of the Week

Here's a confession. I didn't actually make a new recipe last weekend. Why? I was busy working on no. 9 on my list. But that doesn't mean I haven't been trying an extra recipe here or there to share with you. It does, however, mean that there are no pictures since these were tried late on a weeknight when no hint of natural light could be found.

Oven-Fried Coconut Chicken

Wow! These were quite a surprise. Moist and delicious. If there are leftovers you'll be fighting over who gets them for lunch the next day. I have only one suggestion, make extra panko/coconut mixture or your last piece of chicken might be a bit under-dressed.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

Another better than expected recipe. The whole wheat flour was not too heavy in the pancakes so they remained light and fluffy, just like a pancake should. Because I never have buttermilk in the house I used the old lemon juice + milk trick. The lemon also helped give a light, fresh flavor. If you happen to have some blueberries around I'd throw some in. Blueberries and lemon are the perfect partners.