I feel that desserts get the short end of the stick at Thanksgiving. At least, they kinda get the cold shoulder from me.
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I feel that desserts get the short end of the stick at Thanksgiving. At least, they kinda get the cold shoulder from me.
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Our little sweet Bean turned 1 just two weeks ago… how has it already been that fast?!?
We had a wonderful time with friends and family as we celebrated at home the weekend before her birthday.
It meant so much to us that our families came up to visit and celebrate, with my mom and dad traveling from Florida, my brother and sister from CT, and Price’s family from central NY and NH.
Oh, this melts me.
Our farm theme party had cupcakes that were decorated like apples, a veggie patch (crudite platter), muddy tracor wheels (chocolate dipped Oreos), haybales (rice krispie treats), chicken feed (popcorn), Ham and Cheese Sliders, cheese and crackers on our piggy cutting board that Price’s dad made, and chili to serve on top of corn bread muffins. We decorated with a custom made poster, some bales of hay, and burlap banners. Plus, I cut out some barnyard animals from the cricut, placed them on the bookcase that morning, and forgot to put up. Story of my life. ha!
As much as Autumn enjoyed all the action she still needed her afternoon nap so we then sang to her and cut the cake for everyone to enjoy. An hour later, she woke up happy & refreshed to tear into her wonderful, generious presents.
I really wish we had more pictures, we were just having a blast that I kept putting down the camera and enjoying it all instead of snapping pics. I always struggle with getting the right amount of pictures with everyone and being a part of the action.
Then on her actual birthday, I brought a cake with her to daycare to share with all her little buddies there. I made a golden yellow cake with a pink buttercream frosting. I heard a full (loud) report from the kids when I went to pick her up that they loved it. And got to see a little video of them singing ‘Happy Birthday to You’ in english and spanish over and over again. She was all bouncy and clapped along. She just loved being in the spotlight that day.
And just because we wanted some pictures of Autumn with some cake, I went to a local cupcake shop down the road from my office and got her a carrot cake cupcake.
We set her up with that cupcake, and her cute little birthday hat that she recieved as a gift, but she since she had just inhaled more than an avocado for dinner she wasn’t too interested in anything besides the frosting. Which worked out fine as Price and I then split it. ha!
We had such a fun time celebrating her birthday. Autumn loved the extra attention from her family, friends, and daycare buddies. Oh, the singing, she couldn’t get enough of the singing. Oh little kids, they kill me!
I always told myself that I’d never have a fake Christmas tree.
It just didn’t jive with me. I couldn’t imagine not going to buy one and the smell. Oh, the smell is the best part!
But…
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I have a funny story.
It happened on Saturday, but it all starts with something that happened on Thursday. Kinda. Sorta.
See, on Thursday our wonderful dog walker emailed me asking for me to call her. She wanted to let me know that Kemper’s left eye was all puffy. Not the eye actually, but all around it. Top and bottom lid. My poor bug eyed dog was even more bug eyed. It looked like he was punched. Well, a trip to the vet later, he was having an allergic reaction to something. Nothing in his diet or in the environment changed. Nothing that we could think of. So, he had to get a benadryl shot and keep taking it 3x a day for 3 days, plus pepcid for his stomach as allergic reactions will often upset their stomach. (The things you learn.)
Fast forward 24 hours to Friday night and my stomach starts itching. No big. It’s the winter. My skin is dry.
Then it’s Saturday morning and my feet and hands start itching. My hands get splotchy and a bit puffy, enough to take my ring off. So while Kemper is getting Benadryl dose I take a pill too. What the hell is going on!?!? Anyway, Autumn and I then go grocery shopping. Enough of a distraction for me to stop scratching my palms. By the time we got home it was time for Autumn’s nap so I put her down and then got the perishables away. I was crashing so I figured I’d take a 5 minute catnap, or maybe a 15 minute nap. I’m usually great at getting myself up at a certain time, but I didn’t do so well as I woke up at 10.40. And panicked. Why? Because I had to make mac and cheese to bring over to our friend’s house for 1pm. I sprung up and stumbled into the kitchen while freaking out ‘How did you let me sleep so late? I gotta make mac and cheese. We are never gonna get to Mark and Allie’s on time!!!” “Umm, we’re going there tomorrow…” And so there we were. So I took a deep breath, stumbled back to the sofa and fell back asleep.
And that is why you should buy NON-DROWSY Benedryl. Noted.
Now it’s time to discuss this amazing side dish.
For this month’s Secret Recipe Club post I was given Sarah’s blog Curious Cuisiniere. Sarah shares her adventures; whether it’s in the kitchen, traveling or her recent bakery position. It all makes for well balanced blog with wonderful recipes including the one I chose for this months SRC.
Sarah shares hundreds of recipes, thankfully all very well organized. I enjoyed browsing through them as she shares a unique range of dishes from all different cultures. As I had been focusing on Thanksgiving recipes I picked her Apple and Mushroom Wild Rice Stuffing as it sounded easy to make – just about 30 minutes- and really flavorful with the layers of flavors from the apples, mushrooms, raisins, and, of course, the wild rice.
This Apple and Mushroom Wild Rice Stuffing is the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving. It’s off the beaten path which will make for a tasty alternative to stuffing but goes great with roasted turkey or other fowl. The earthy texture and filling taste of the dish makes for a hearty side for tummy and palette. The wild mushrooms mixed with the apples and long grain rice are a wonderful combination.
I changed things up a bit by using fresh mushrooms, as opposed to canned. But the recipe was so great that there was little personalizing needed. I did garnish the stuffing with chopped pecans and dried cranberries but you can leave it plain. Or you might even want to add some pecans into the rice. I love pecans but Autumn doesn’t do too well when nuts are mixed into things. She just spits them out. ha!
Makes roughly 2 quarts
Ingredients
Process
Inspired by Curious Cuisiniere
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Check out all the other great Secret Recipe Club posts this month!
And be sure to check out my 3 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!
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MAYDAY PEOPLE!!!
We are now less than a week from Thanksgiving. It’s the Super Bowl of food. I’m sure I could come up with something about how the QB is the turkey and the special teams is dessert, but that would be ridiculous as there are times when I barely understand football and, well, it’s just lame. Oh, look I did it… I’m lame.
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November 2014
Dear Autumn-
As every month, nay, as every day passes I am constantly pinching myself that you have been brightening up our lives for how ever long it has been at that point.
We couldn’t believe that you were arriving a week earlier than scheduled. Oh, sure, we always knew they could have moved up my C-section or even that I would go into labor before the 25th, but we had that day circled so that’s what it was going to be! Wrong!
So there I sat dumbfounded saying ‘sure… today works…’ when my doctor told me that they wanted to move things up a week. But, maybe, I couldn’t fit in that day? The hospital would call me later to let me know if you were arriving that night or the morning of the 19th. La-la-la. So I headed back to work to just wait for the hospital to call. I didn’t want to miss out on working that day as I wanted to eek out every bit of maternity leave that I could. So there I am packing up my desk and tying up loose ends when the hospital called at lunch time to ask if I could be there in an hour. Umm, no! Well, there had been a misunderstanding as to who was calling me when related to fitting me in. Whoops.
Anyway, I run out of work (forgetting my coat!) and meet your Dad at the train to get a cab ride home. We threw stuff in a bag – see so unprepared. And left as fast as we could to arrive at the hospital. Surprisingly, we did make good time considering how crazy things had just been.
Thankfully, we breezed through the hospital check-in and head up to the delivery floor to start the process of getting paperwork filled out, IV’s in, getting undressed and in a gown. Oh, Dad had to get dressed up in scrubs too! Before we knew it they were ready for me to head to surgery. Oh boy!
It was scary to head into surgery on my own but I had to get all prepped before Dad could come in. In the end, it didn’t take to long (or so it seemed) to get my spinal and get all set up before he was right by my side. As things were about to begin I told him to talk to me so that I would be distracted from the surgery, like anything really could really distract me, but I just wanted something to kinda take my mind off the rapid firing that my brain was doing as I was trying to listen to your first cry.
And there it was at 4.59pm.
I felt the biggest relief to hear that. The most beautiful sound in the world.
And yet, I was still so utterly nervous. Not because you were born, that was amazing. But because of your omphalocele. The team of doctors that were waiting your arrival checked you out and basically said that it was no big deal. What?!?! That was such wonderful news. It was so hard to believe still. We had been prepped that there there was a chance that we wouldn’t get to hold you for a few days if the omphalocele was complex. But there you were, all wrapped up, getting handed over to us while they completely my surgery. I was so petrified to touch you, but it was the best feeling ever at the same time.
That feeling has never left. I’m usually afriad I’m screwing up along the way but seeing you grow and learn along the way really is the best feeling ever. You are beautiful but you are smart, funny, and charming. You are a flirt, waving to everyone at the grocery store. You love the attention. You are such a happy baby. And a fearless one. Half the stuff you try to climb over makes me so nervous. I know that once you are walking you will be off running. Until then you are a lightening fast crawler. I think you get all the engery from all the different foods you happily eat. At least you do a good job of burning it off since you are still so ‘danty’!
The past year has been amazing. I know that next year, and all the ones to follow, are going to be wonderful. You are such a lovely little girl. Our Bean. Our Autumn. Our Little Chicken. Our Doops. We love you so very much.
Love,
Mom
Tuesday is Autumn’s first birthday. {Que freak out}
So we are hosting her farm themed party tomorrow.
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When we were visiting Raleigh, North Carolina back in September we enjoyed some really great meals throughout Research Triangle area. There are so many wonderful places to eat that we had a blast. One place in particular had an awesome brunch.
Based upon some reviews and suggestions we went to Top of The Hill in Chapel Hill for brunch. Brunch is one of my favorite meals and obviously, my favorite dish is Eggs Benedict. And Top of The Hill, aka TOPO, did not disappoint!
Typically, we would not order a ‘starter’ of biscuits but Autumn can happily eat them so we ordered them. So, of course, we snagged some pieces of the light and fluffy biscuits too. Although they were buttery I felt it was super important to add some butter on top as well. Plus some jelly. When in Rome?
We also did get a cup of fruit ($3.99) for Autumn as well.
Sweet tea and a sweet baby.
Price ordered the Chicken and Waffles ($9.99). It is becoming the signature dish that he has been ordering lately.
He thought it was really good as the boneless chicken breast was really tender under all that crunch. The coating was on the sweet side, which went well with the belgian waffle. He remarked that he enjoyed how airy the waffle was. Two thumbs up.
Sadly, we arrived at right when they open at 11 and they don’t start serving alcohol until noon so we didn’t get to enjoy some brunch cocktails or their on-site brewed beers. The selection looked great so it was disappointing but you just can’t break state law!
I love Eggs Benedict but I love when restaurants change things up and play on the components of it. Which is exactly what TOPO did when they created the Cajun Pork Benny ($8.99). Their version included 2 cheesy grit cakes, Cajun pulled pork, 2 poached eggs, a beer cheese sauce, which were served on a bed of arugula, and lastly topped off with fresh salsa.
Each element was executed really well. I loved the spice and seasoning in the moist pulled pork. As well, the creamy, thick beer cheese sauce has a really nice spice to it. Of course it was made with theitr own beer. That went really well with the pepper arugula. I typically look forward to homefries but the arugula was nice instead as it added some nice crunch to each bite.
The best part of the Cajun Pork Benedict were the cheesy grit cakes. They were cheesy, creamy, and crunchy. Imagine croquettes but 10x better. The grits were cooked perfectly and they were formed into the cakes and gently fried. Be still my heart. I made sure I had a bit of the cheesy grit cakes with ever bite.
My eggs were bright and runny but just a tad over cooked.You might even say it was barely noticeable, but I do take note. However, I would always choose a slightly over cooked egg than under cooked so it wasn’t such a big deal. Plus there was enough of the cheese sauce to balance out some of the cooked yolk.
Grit Cakes– 20/20 pts
Pulled Pork– 18/20 pts
Poached Egg– 20/25 pts
Cheese Sauce– 23/25 pts
Arugla & Salsa– 8/10 pts
Total: 89/100 pts
And post brunch pics of elation and exhaustion.
100 E Franklin St #3
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 929-8676
Brunch is served from 11-2pm on Sundays
It snowed this past Sunday. #snovember
It’s the first week of November and I’m already over the winter. Done with it. But sadly it is not done tormenting me.
While I’ve written about how we are trying to eat more Paleo meals- meaning no pasta- I couldn’t resist making a big batch of sauce and some meatballs to enjoy with some – gasp- pasta!!! Sure, we could have had some spaghetti squash but I just couldn’t resist some stick to your bones food on the first day of snow.
And you know, what… it was damn good!!!
Maybe it’s my Italian half shouting from the roof tops but nothing beats homemade marinara sauce and meatballs. Seriously. Oh man, and to dip pieces of Italian bread into the pot of sauce… bliss. I think I just caught myself drooling a bit.
Side note- Autumn loves pasta and sauce. But I was working on making some garlic bread and gave her some bread that I dipped into the sauce for her. I turned back to my task at hand and .2 seconds later I hear her babbling away. The bread was gone! She just inhaled it and wanted more fast. In the end she ate a decent amount of bread with marinara sauce. Makes a mama proud!
Well, look no further than this recipe the next time you are craving some spaghetti with meatballs. Grab some Red Pack and get ready for an awesome meal. The marinara takes about 10 minutes of active cooking time and then you get to forget about it for the rest of the time.
The recipe below says to cook it for 6-7 hours total but if you can adjust your slow cooker to go at a lower temperature then you can extend that cooking time to 8+ so that you can prepare it and set it up right before going to work and then it will be ready for you when you get home.
And the meatballs are the coolest! They are stuffed with a mozzarella ball so when you cut them open you get some warm ooey gooey cheese that comes flowing out. Like lava, but you’d like this kind of lava. They might look intimidating to make but they take about an extra 15-20 seconds to make each one compared to regular meatballs. That tiny bit extra effort is so worth it.
I might just be able to survive this winter.
At least I’ll have some more marinara that I can easily prepare in the morning and it will be all ready when I get home. It will be so delightful to come up to a great smelling house and freshly made marinara.
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
For the marinara sauce
For the meatballs
Process
Adapted from Red Pack
This post is sponsored by Red Pack. I received product from Red Pack to make a recipe of my choosing. All opinions are my own.
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And now the GIVEAWAY!!
You can win a Red Pack gift pack that contains (2) 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes and (1) 28oz can of Red Pack sauce, wooden spoon, tote bag and recipe cards.
*You just have to leave a comment to the blog post. Write whatever you want. Simple as that!
To get an extra entry then tweet the following & come back here and leave another comment telling me you did.
“Enjoy!!! Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce with Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs & WIN @RedGoldTomatoes prize pack! http://wp.me/pzEAP-4Wh #giveaway”
Also, check out their Facebook page because they are giving away 2 slow cookers every day until Nov 12th. EVERY DAY!!! Plus there is a grand prize at the end too! One lucky winner will win a Slow Cooker grand prize package that includes a state-of-the-art slow cooker, a serving and braising tongs (total prize value estimated at $330).
See, they just really want to have everyone have a slow cooker so people can have a hot meal waiting after a busy school/work day. There are so many great soups, stews and casserole recipes they have on their site that you can enjoy too!
You wanna know what’s not a fun way to way up at 1.48 in the morning?
By ALL 5 of your smoke detectors in your house going off.
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