Valentine's Day Cookies

This year for Valentine's Day, I decided to be ambitious and volunteer to send in sugar cookies for Ellie's class party at school.  I'm sure her teacher didn't mean for me to make them (and honestly I have nothing against those thick, soft sugar cookies at the store... they are delicious), but I've been having the itch to use my creative side lately but haven't had much of an outlet.  So, I made my first real attempt at "fancy" sugar cookies.

First I did a "trial run" the weekend before Valentine's Day, making sure the actual cookies turned out well, and making sure I knew how to work the royal icing.  Here's my batch from the first attempt.  I think they turned out pretty well!  I made another large batch and let the kids and Garrett get in on the action next:

Garrett was actually really good!  He made these next two:

And then here was my final batch for the party.  They aren't perfect, but I'm still a beginner so there's that.  I'm sure those second graders really appreciated all my hard work (haha).  I don't usually go "above and beyond", especially for elementary parties, but this was really fun and I'm excited to make more sometime soon.  I just need to buy more cookie cutters!

When we lived in Florida, one of my friends in the ward started making these sugar cookies with royal icing, and she started having "cookie parties", basically a girls' night at her house where everyone would just decorate cookies and chat.  Sadly, I never made it to a party, but I'm totally going to steal the idea and attempt to have a cookie party at my house one of these days.  I really need to reach out and make some friends here.

In the kitchen

Here are some things we've eaten lately:

Quinoa, black bean, & corn tacos.  Fantastic!  I used salsa instead of canned tomatoes, and I didn't add the coriander because I didn't have any.  But other than that, I followed the recipe perfectly.  I highly recommend it - it's a great vegetarian meal and makes great leftovers.  I had mine over salad greens to make it like a taco salad and it was really good.

Pesto Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Roasted Brussels Sprouts. I also highly recommend this one... even the kids loved it.  I sauteed the Brussels sprouts instead of roasting them, but other than that I followed the recipe.  I used a "spicy chicken sausage with jalapenos" from Trader Joe's.

I used this method to make black beans and it turned out well.

Pesto Ranch Crockpot Chicken.  This was good too, and the kids liked it.  I always love a good crockpot recipe!  I used boneless skinless chicken breasts instead, since that's what I had on hand.  Served it over angel hair pasta.

Coconut Red Lentils.  Another great vegetarian meal, served with jasmine rice.

Quinoa Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.  I loved this.  The only things I changed in this recipe were that I used spinach instead of kale (didn't have kale on hand), and I used real butter instead of butter substitute.  Oh, and I left out the almonds because I didn't have any. 

Best bread ever

Garrett gave me the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day for Valentine's Day. I asked for it, promising that my gift to him would consist of... well, bread. One of my goals for this year was to master the art of baking artisan bread.

This bread is amazing. The book is amazing! The authors tell you exactly what to do in order to get the kind of bread you would expect to get. It took some practice, but I think I finally got it down (the main recipe, anyway. I haven't branched out too much from that yet).

Looks great, doesn't it?? It tastes even better than it looks.

How To Make Sushi

I love sushi.

I love all kinds of sushi - cooked or raw, store-bought or restaurant-made, or even homemade. I love it all. I could probably eat sushi once a week for the rest of my life, if that was possible.

The most popular kind of sushi is probably the California Roll. It's very basic, and not scary at all (there is no raw fish)! When Garrett and I were dating we used to make California Rolls for dinner sometimes. It's a great activity for couples or families who want to be more involved together in the kitchen.

Ingredients:
Nori sheets (seaweed - this can be found at WalMart)
1.5 cups sticky rice (you don't have to buy the expensive sushi rice - short or medium grain rice is fine)
1/6 c Rice vinegar
1 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
Imitation crab
1 cucumber
1 avacado

Cook the rice according to package directions.

While the rice is cooking, peel and cut the cucumber into thin strips, cutting out the seeds. Slice the avacado as well. If you have the thick legs of imitation crab, cut these lengthwise as well so they aren't too thick. Here, I have also cut up some asparagus that I needed to use up. California rolls don't have asparagus, but I thought I might try some in some of the pieces. That's part of the beauty of sushi - just throw in whatever sounds good to you.

When the rice is done cooking, transfer the it onto a plate to let it cool. While it's cooling, combine (in a small bowl) the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt, and heat through until the sugar and salt dissolve (just stick it in the microwave for a minute or so, or heat it on the stove). When the sugar and salt dissolve, sprinkle the vinegar mixture into the rice, stirring until it's all incorporated together. This gives the rice a little kick so it's not too plain-tasting.

Now, I usually like to buy the large square sheets of nori, but for some reason I've been having a hard time finding them in the store lately! WalMart still sells the half sheets, so that's fine too. However, with the half sheets, it's hard to roll the sushi up all the way after you've added the the rice, crab, cuke, and avacado. So, we're going to make the sushi rice-side-out. This is how the restaurants do it, and it makes for a better presentation. It is easier to roll it with the rice inside, but since we have the small sheets that won't really be possible.

Ok, we're ready to roll (haha).

Lay a sheet of nori on a plate and, with a spoon, spread the rice over it, smoothing it flat to cover the entire sheet.


Now is the time to sprinkle some sesame seeds on top, if you desire. I didn't this time, but you can do whatever you want.

Now, carefully pick up the sheet and flip it over onto a piece of seran wrap (so the sticky rice is laying on the plastic).
Next, lay your crab, cuke, and avacado across the front of the nori, near the edge closest to you.

Ok, now this is the hardest part. It is MUCH easier if you have bamboo rollers, but mine are lost. But it's possible to do it without them, and I'll show you how! Carefully pick up the front of the nori, with the seran wrap under it, and roll forward as if you are folding the nori over the insides.

Continue rolling the nori, carefully pulling off the seran wrap as you go so that it doesn't get rolled into your sushi! When you've rolled it all up, pick it all up and squeeze it tightly so that the roll is tight.

Then, completely remove the seran wrap and slice into pieces! If you look at the picture below, you can see that there is still nori sticking out on the edge, because when I was spreading the rice I didn't spread it all the way to the edges. That's fine. Sometimes you may even have pieces of crab, cuke, or avacado sticking out the sides. I actually love when this happens - I just trim off the edges and eat them! Then, just proceed to cut the sushi into pieces.

Serve with soy sauce for dipping (I recommend Kikkoman brand) and, if you are really brave, some wasabi paste (but don't add too much.. it's very potent).

Flashback Friday - Easter 2005

So I decided that every Friday I'll do a little "flashback" and write about past experiences, funny stories, etc. It would be a fun way for people to get to know me better, plus it's always fun to remember funny stories and experiences. This first flashback is from Easter 2005. A little background information: Juniors at BYU, Garrett and I were living in the Provo house, Mike was living in the studio in the back, and Emma and John were newly engaged. We decided that we would all have Easter dinner together, and Emma and I would do all the side dishes (rolls, salad, deviled eggs, dessert, etc) and we asked Mike to get the ham. I told him that I would cook it and everything, but we just wanted him to get it. So, Sunday rolls around and I ask Mike for the ham because I need to put it in the oven. At this point I had been looking forward to yummy brown-sugary, syrupy ham all week, so I was very impatient for Mike to bring it upstairs. So, I remember I was laying on the couch waiting for Mike, and finally he comes upstairs, opens the back door, and tosses the ham to me. And it's LUNCH MEAT. Okay, it's not thinly sliced lunch meat, but it was a little 2-3 lb. chunk of Hormel ham, the boneless kind you slice for sandwiches. I was SO sad... luckily, I was able to slice it up, concoct a brown sugar syrup to pour on top, and heated it up in the oven. It wasn't exactly the kind of ham I was envisioning, but it actually ended up being just perfect. The End.

I hope you like Flashback Friday. Next week's story is about Mike too... it's also pretty funny.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

There are some traditions from growing up that I hold sacred, and one of my favorites is having corned beef for dinner on St. Patrick's Day! Mom always made this New England Boiled Dinner of corned beef & cabbage. YUM! I've been making it on my own every year since I moved out - I have always loved it! This afternoon Garrett called me from school because his friend had brought corned beef for lunch today, and Garrett was sad because he had forgotten about this tradition (he was worried I had forgotten, too). He was very excited when I reassured him that there would be a big pot of traditional Irish food waiting for him when he got home. I also made some really good Irish Soda Bread to go with our corned beef, and it tasted great, too!

I'll admit... we didn't wear green today, and we didn't go to any parades or look for 4-leafed clovers. But I was NOT going to skip out on making this dinner! Thanks Mom, for passing this tradition on to me. Garrett loves it as much as I do!

Lobster Dinner!

Alive & kicking!

For our wedding anniversary in August, Garrett's parents gave us a gift certificate for a lobster dinner for two. And today, we finally got around to using it! It was GREAT!! We got FOUR 1-1/4 lb Maine lobsters, two bowls of clam chowder, and half a pound of jumbo shrimp, with cocktail sauce. The meal was just ordered yesterday, and overnighted to us. YUM!

Now, lobster was my favorite food from the time I was 4 years old until I was about 20 (sushi has taken first place, but lobster remains a close second). But I have never really cooked lobsters on my own. Most of the times I've had lobster has been at Newick's (or "Lewick's", if you prefer :)), but occasionally for my birthday my parents would cook a lobster or two. However, I don't think I have ever watched them actually cook it... I didn't anticipate that it would start thrashing around as soon as I held it over the boiling water (lobsters should always be alive when you cook them). It scared me! Thankfully Garrett was there to help me out, although he didn't really know what he was doing either. I didn't have a stock pot big enough for even two of them, so we cooked them two at a time, in two different pots. Eating them was fun, too - I got to teach Garrett how to rip them apart and take the meat out. Part of me wished we had done this meal in August, though - tonight the shells were really sharp and tough, but at the end of summer, they are usually soft enough that you don't even need the nutcrackers. But, I will admit - taking the lobster apart and digging the meat out is part of the fun!

In the end, the meal was fabulous! It was such a treat to have a real Maine lobster dinner delivered right to our door. Thank you, Mom and Dad Woodbury!

Dropping them into the pot

Our table

Garrett digs in

The aftermath

Happy Chinese New Year!

Dumplings

Sesame Chicken

Garrett and I love Chinese food, so we didn't want to pass up the opportunity to make a special meal for the holiday! Usually we make sushi and fried rice (Garrett makes the BEST fried rice!) but this year we tried something a little different - Pork & Ginger Pot Stickers (dumplings) and Sesame Chicken and rice. We also made some steamed Chinese vegetables, but they were steaming when Garrett took the pictures. The Pot Stickers were GREAT! I was a little bit nervous making them, because I had to fry them with oil a little bit at first (I now try to avoid hot oil as much as possible) but it ended up being just fine. The Sesame Chicken wasn't as good... Garrett didn't particularly like the spiciness, and I wasn't a fan of the 5-Spice Chinese Seasoning that was in it (I didn't realize it had anise in it until after I put it in... Anise is a licorice-tasting spice, and I don't like licorice). But other than that, everything was great and we had fun making dinner together - it brought me back to the dating days! Ooh, and I got fortune cookies at the store for dessert, but I forgot to serve them! Oh well, we'll still eat them another time. I also forgot to have Garrett speak Chinese for me! Anyway, I really enjoy having Garrett help me in the kitchen, especially with the cleanup!

So, Happy Chinese New Year! It's the year of the rat, which must be some sort of good luck for me, since I was born in the year of the rat.Half of this symbol means "happiness". This symbol is "double happiness", which frequently represents marriage. :)

You're fired!

Last Monday was an awful day! For dinner I was making some egg rolls (which I was very excited about, by the way... they smelled SO good!) so I put about 2 inches of oil in a pot and put it on the stove, then I turned around and started putting the egg rolls together. When I was done, I turned around to check on the oil and there was a HUGE fire blasting out of the pot all the way to the ceiling! It was SO scary!! I didn't know what to do and I started freaking out... Garrett wasn't home and Abby was just playing in the living room area right by where I was. Anyway, I know you're supposed to put baking soda on a grease fire, but the baking soda is right next to the stove and I didn't want to go near there! And I couldn't turn the burner off because the burners are on the back of the stove. I grabbed Abby and started running to the neighbors' house for help, but their car was gone! So... I called 911 and told them what was going on but I was totally flipping out... it's so embarrassing to think about now. But I was so scared! Finally the fire trucks came. Not one, not two, not three, but FOUR firetrucks! I was out in the driveway waiting for them, so in all honesty I have no idea if the fire was even still blazing by the time they got here, but I think it was. Anyway, the kitchen cabinets above and around the stove are ruined, and so is the fan and light above the stove (thank goodness the fan wasn't going). The ceiling also has to be redone because it's all black, and pretty much all the rooms in our house have to be repainted because of the smoke damage (there was so much smoke!). Everything in our house had a layer of soot and ash on it, and it smelled bad too. So, yeah, this has not been fun! Wednesday morning an estimator came by and assessed the damage, then a cleaning service came to clean the entire house (it was such a hassle living in the soot and ashes, so getting a cleaning servicse for the entire house was great!) I mean, this is all just so awful, but I will not mind a new coat of paint throughout the house (insurance company will pay for all this). Thankfully the estimator said that they could probably match the cabinets, so that's good. I mean, it would have been nice to get new cabinets, but what a hassle that would be! And I don't mind my cabinets too much anyway.

But now I'm really paranoid to cook anything at all ever again! But that's ok because from the looks of things, I won't even be ABLE to cook for a while! I will say that I am crossing my fingers for a new stove, though... that would be great! Anyway, I'm just glad everything wasn't a lot worse. It could have been truly awful... instead, it's just a big hassle. And it's funny because for MONTHS I have been meaning to go out and buy a fire extinguisher... now I really will! And for anyone else looking to buy one, I recommend the "ABC" ones... they are good for any kind of fire, including grease and oil fires.