Saturday, January 1, 2011

Seriously simple, seriously delicious.

One of my Christmas presents this year was a free range chicken(thanks dad!). I want to thank my friend Jules for giving me the recipe for the perfect roasted chicken. It turned out juicy on the inside and crisp on the outside. I think this picture makes it look like some predator ready to jump out of the pan and eat me. Which just makes the meal all the more awesome.
Want to know how I did it?

Roasted Chicken:
- massage the clean chicken with paprika, salt, and olive oil
- stuff something fragrant into the cavity...organic lemon or orange or an onion or shallots or garlic, you get the picture
-cook breast down, in a preheated 400 degree oven 15 min/pound
-the chicken is done when a meat thermometer says so
Seriously simple, seriously delicious.


I made these cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. I got the recipe here. Be careful, it makes a huge batch of addictive fattening deliciousness. I didn't have maple extract so I topped mine with a cream cheese icing.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Rudolph's Hide Away



Last year I got the brilliant idea to assemble and decorate a Gingerbread House. It turned out to be more of a shack than home. This year,while visiting a friend's home, Jasper found himself admiring their popsicle stick reindeer and stable. Looking for something to fill the endless no school hours, we made a trip to Micheal's and dug out the hot glue gun. Joe and Jasper had a great time constructing the reindeer and the stable, while I turned a bridge into a sleigh.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I Love Molasses



I love molasses, don't you? It's what makes plain boring white sugar that much better. It pairs with ginger to create a taste of home and comfort. Added to cornmeal it makes the best damn pudding in the world.

Here are a few of my favorite molasses recipes. The first two I've tried and the last one is on my must make list. Do you have a favorite to share?

Craving Molasses Cookies posted on Chickens In The Road. A fun website with lots of great recipes. I made these cookies for Sylvia and Jasper's teachers this year, along with my husband's best ever chocolate chip cookies, and placed them in a cute little holiday mug. Sylvia made individual name tags with a little personal note for each one. This is the first year we've made stuff for the teachers and I have to say it felt really great.

Indian Pudding
from the Simply Recipes site. The First Unitarian Church in our town has a Wednesday night dinner and religious education night. Not usually frequenting churches(for fear of burning up) I was hesitant to join my dad when he offered to take us. I found a lovely, open congregation of people who were there to celebrate life regardless of a person's individual spiritual path. Even the education classes where cool...I could choose from Yoga,meditation, The Bible for Skeptics, book club, among others. They had creative classes for the kids and I even signed my daughter up for a year long class about sexuality. Seriously. Then, to top it all off, the little old man who made dinner made this pudding. It was like he knew I'd be there and wanted to be sure I was sucked in ;)
While I can't promise a spiritual awakening upon tasting this, I wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibility either.

This last recipe is one I have yet to make. However it was the impetus behind this post. I 'liked' this site on facebook and everyday I am rewarded with a new and lovely recipe. Today's may be tonight's dessert. Molasses Custard from Nourished Kitchen.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Water Kefir

Great Kefir making resources at Heal Thyself.
Check out this video to get started.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Great blog post by Vicki Noble.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Crafts anyone?

I'm not the craftiest person, but I LOVE looking at other people's projects and dreaming about doing them myself.

I ran across this blog today.... Frugal Family Fun ..... and instantly added this to my list of crafty sites to visit.
Not only is she crafty but her colorful and fun photography is enough to bring me back for more. Check out her toilet paper roll owls.

What's your favorite crafty blogs?