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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All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel
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.
…
Yesterday was my office’s bonus day. It’s a fun time to celebrate all the hard work that everyone does while getting some extra dough in the back pocket. There is a presentation to highlight the great things that happened to the firm, and our office specifically. As well, some fun awards are given out to different people and project teams. I received 2 awards but of course missed actually getting them as I had to slip away to pump. Figures!
Between having just recently hit my 5 year anniversary since starting this blog and taking a moment to reflect on my past year professionally and personally, I started to think about this blog and where is has come from and where I want it to go.
I’m so proud of all the recipes, photos, and stories that I have shared over the past 5 years. It’s been so much fun for me to document everything along the way. I’ve enjoyed making drink recipes, recipes for NASCAR races, and getting to rate my favorite breakfast food- eggs benedict! yum!!
While it has been fun I’ve noticed that over time I’ve been sharing more and more about food recipes and that was not my original intent with this blog. I love food. Oh boy I do, but I am more than that and the other sides of me is being left out in the blog recently.
So I’m going to, hopefully, start to blog more about what I have the urge to. Maybe I’ll just share my favorite summer shoes, some fun pictures, a house project, and some random craft that I’m so desperately trying to squeeze back into my crazy schedule. That will be more reflective of me.
I hope that you still come to check out my food posts, this year’s weekly pie posts, but also stop by to read about my way to do a garden planter or how to build a window cornice or my endless love for Sperry’s.
Well, I’m here sharing a great summer time grill recipe. I used Musselman’s Apple Butter in a fun, creative way to great a marinade and glaze for some yummy grilled shrimp. I never would have thought about using apples butter on shrimp but I have to say that the glaze I made for it was so dang good. I was pleasantly surprised!
I mean, I love Musselman’s Apple Butter, but there are just sometimes when you read a recipe and go ‘hmmm, is this really a good idea?!?!’. Let me tell you… in this case it’s a great idea!
I cooked the shrimp on my new grill pan that I placed on my grill. I could have even used the grill pan on my stove and in my oven to cook the shrimp but I couldn’t resist being outside. I used the fish grill pan that is part of the Wilton Armetale Gourmet™ Grillware line. Not only is it cute it is highly functional. It’s great for grilling and then directly serving your food in the same piece, making entertaining a breeze. As well, it keeps your food hot longer on the table. It’s easy to clean and it won’t. Even then it has a lifetime guarantee against breakage.
I could have out the shrimp on skewers but I find that they are pretty difficult to remove from the skewers later on. Using this Fish Griller made cooking a breeze as I was cooking with even heat and I didn’t have to worry about dropping my shrimp through the grill grates. I plan on using this grill pan a lot for batches of grilled vegetables, whole fish, and even inside when it’s crummy out and I still want to grill. Plus, they have one in the shape of a football. OMG! Perfect for tailgating!
Oh man, I just can’t get over how well the shrimp got grill marks from the grill pan. You can even cook the shrimp on a foil lined baking sheet by cooking in a 400 degree oven for 3-5 minutes, each side. But the saddest part about that is that you wouldn’t have these lovely grill marks.
I served my Citrus Apple Butter Glazed Grilled Shrimp with some freekah and grilled vegetables. I added a bit of parsley and red wine vinegar to the cooked freekah to give it some extra flavor. I think lemon juice would be a good alternative to the vinegar.
For the grilled vegetables I cut up some zucchini, red and yellow bell peppers, broccoli, red onion, mushrooms, and a bit of jalapeno. I mixed up some olive oil, water, salt and pepper, and crush garlic, which then poured over the vegetables. A quick mix and then I tossed them on my Vegetable Grill Basket, which was set upon a burner on high on the grill.
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Process
Adapted from Musselman’s
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And now the GIVEAWAY!!!!
You can win a large jar of Musselman’s Apple Butter, some recipe cards, and a Grillware Fish Griller!!
To Enter:
*Leave a comment telling me what your favorite things to grill is.
Get extra entries by doing the following:
Come back and leave a comment each time to get 3 extra entries. If you do everything you should comment 4 times total!
Contest Ends Sunday, June 22nd at Midnight EST.
Good luck but if you don’t win be sure to go to your jam/jelly aisle at your local grocery store and pick up a jar of Musselman’s Apple Butter!
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*This blog contains sponsored content. While I did receive complimentary products from Musselman’s and Armetale, these opinions are entirely my own.
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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.
Spring!!! Spring!!! Spring!!!
I can barely contain my excitement with Spring’s arrival.
It’s beautiful in the mornings and the late afternoon is great when I leave work. The nights are warmer now so we have been driving to the next town to go to the beach. It’s great to be out in the fresh salt air getting a bit of exercise right next to the waves. Autumn usually sleeps in the carrier Price wears and I have Kemper, who gets slobbery and sandy. I like to ask Price where the people are coming from when the planes fly low overhead on their approach to Logan Airport. He makes it up on the spot but it’s fun to imagine going there and taking the same trip over the beach looking down at other people walking their dogs. Moments like that are why I love Spring so much.
Oh, and the flowers. We can’t forget the flowers!
I’m really hoping that the bulbs I had in the front yard (technically our neighbor’s yard but she let’s me plant there) survived this horrible winter. I’ll just have to wait and see what happens with the lilies I planted. Thankfully the Pieris japonica (Lily-of-the-valley bush) and mini rose-bush I planted last year appear to have made it.
It will still be awhile until things bloom outside, but in the meantime I can enjoy the beautiful roses that Musselman’s & FTD sent me. Earlier this week a The Color Your Day with Laughter™ Mini Rose Plant arrived and ever since it has been brightening up our dining table.
The rose buds are still pretty tightly closed but some are opening up. While that be disappointed to get a green bush without any roses in bloom, I think that is the best! It means that I get to see each one open up and the flowers last longer. More time to enjoy the bright pink flowers. Love.
Now is the best time to treat someone you love (or even yourself!) with a flower arrangment. FTD is giving my readers $10 off select flower arrangements. Check out the flowers here!
Anyway, let’s get to the yummy stuff featured in this post…
French Toast Roll-Ups!
These are wonderful, yummy breakfast treats. Quick to assemble, packed for flavor, and easy to eat. You can dip them into the usual maple syrup but the cream cheese based dipping sauce is so good.
I know Autumn is a long, long ways away form helping me in the kitchen but I think this would be a great kid’s recipe. They can help you roll out the bread, spread some apple butter on the bread and roll it up. I’m sure dunking them in the french toast batter would be fun for them too. Plus, I’m sure kids woul dhave fun dunking the french toast roll-ups into the dipping sauce. yum!
At work, we take turns bringing in breakfast on Friday’s. My turn is coming up in a few weeks and I am planning on making these guys because the recipe is super easy to multiply (or even halve), they are easy prepare so a large batch will be a synch, and easy to transport. I am planning on preparing them really early that morning, but I think they will be just as good to make the night before and then they can be reheated in the microwave at work.
Grab a jar of Musselman’s Apple Butter and make a batch of these. They are just so good!
Makes 16 roll-ups
Ingredients
For the dipping sauce
Process
To prepare the roll-ups
To prepare the dipping sauce
Sourced from Musselman’s
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And now the good stuff… the GIVEAWAY!
You can win a jar of Musselman’s Apple Butter and some recipe cards.
To Enter:
Leave a comment telling me what your favorite things about spring is.
Contest Ends Sunday, April 13th at Midnight EST.
Good luck but if you don’t win be sure to go to your jam/jelly aisle at your local grocery store and pick up a jar of Musselman’s Apple Butter!
And don’t forget to order flowers from FTD!! Save $10!!
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*This blog contains sponsored content. While I did receive complimentary products from Musselman’s and FTD, these opinions are entirely my own.
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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.
Now that we have unofficially hit summer, I’m gearing up to get ready for some BBQ’s this year. We always end up going to quite a few but I’m hoping that we do our fair share of hosting this summer as well. (Maybe we should buy a patio set? eek!) So I’m looking to get creative with our summer fare this year. We have great, fresh meat, fruits, and veggies at our fingertips so why not have some fun with them?
That there alone is justification to spend plenty of time on Pinterest, no? Oh, man so addicted to that damn site! But it’s so much fun to find interesting recipes to make on the grill or to serve along side of your burger, grilled sausage, or chicken. I love giving anything a try, especially if it’s a twist on something. After making a wing sauce with apple butter I’m all of trying anything because you can be surprised with anything. Really, apple butter in a wing sauce? Trust me, so good.
Well, when Musselman’s contacted me again to work with them so I can try a recipe that would be great for summer time BBQ’s I jumped at the chance. I browsed through their recipes and while their bacon baked beans and their BBQ sauces sounded great I wanted to make something that I could easily share now. So that means I turn to something I can bring into work… which means sweet treats! This recipe for Caramel Apple Crumb Bar would be perfect!
These were so easy to make and the result was a really good caramel-y apple packed bar. They were a hit with everyone that had a piece. Don’t you just love when that happens? 🙂 I swear I’ll be making these again but next time I’ll definitely remember to grease the pan this time. FACEPALM! Other than that a total success.
Makes 32 bars
Ingredients
Crust
Caramel Layer
Topping
Process
Source: Musselman’s
Last year I REALLY cared about the Superbowl as the Giants were playing the Patriots again. Being a Giants fan in Patriots territory is tricky but I had high hopes that the Giants would be able to beat the Patriots again, even with Patriots’ favored to win. Even if the Giants lost it would not have been that that horrible as the Giants had beat them in 2008, all the while ripping away their chance of a perfect season. But my fierce G-men won 21-17 so I did my happy danced that Sunday night and then called out of work Tuesday to attend the parade with Price and my brother. So awesome!!!
With my Giants not playing this year (boo-hoo!!) I don’t care about the Superbowl that much this year I still look forward to the game, the event, and the food. So with the Superbowl is less than 2 weeks away (which also means that we get our puppy in less than 2 weeks… but that is another story) I am starting to plan for what we will be enjoying during the game. There are so many options… nachos, chips and dip, quesadillas, chili, subway sandwiches, and much much more!
When I received my Musselman’s Apple Butter Packaged I flipped through the recipe cards and I immediately knew I had to make the Sweet and Spicy Wings. I am not a big fan of wings (just too much work!), BUT my boyfriend is. So this got me try to try something new and make him something that he would love. He really enjoyed the sweet and spicy flavor as it was not the typical buffalo wing. I made myself some chicken tenders and I loved them. I cooked them for half the time so when I went to flip the wings at the 30 minute mark I added the chicken tenders and then gave them a quick flip after they had been in their for 15 minutes. Everything was so quick and easy to assemble, however it’s not a last minute dish as it takes some time to marinate, but that planning is so worth it!!
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
Process
Options: Substitute fresh chicken tenders for the wings- depending on the size of pieces, reduce the cooking time to 30-35 minutes total. Broil or grill instead of baking
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And now the good stuff… the GIVEAWAY!
You can win a Musselman’s package including a jar of apple butter, a and recipe cards.
To Enter:
Leave a comment telling me what you are looking to enjoy during the Superbowl.
Extra Entries!!!
Come back and leave a comment each time to get 3 extra entries
Contest Ends Sunday, January 27th at Midnight EST. Good luck but if you don’t win be sure to go to your jam/jelly aisle at your local grocery store and pick up a jar of Musselman’s Apple Butter!
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