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Cooking 101 and Girl’s Night

June 6, 2013 at 1:23 pm (Family, fun & food!)
Tags: Food, Recipes, bacon, Fun, girls night, flank steak, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts

Last night was girls night at my house. Mike, my husband had to work so it was a perfect night to have some girls over. Some of my friends have asked me to teach them to cook so I set up stations with written instructions and all items needed to complete there task. It didn’t work out as well as planned because they all got there at different times. My friend Maggie who knows how to cook got to make salad:

Maggie picked lettuce from my garden and threw a salad together in minutes. ”Master Chopper” is her new kitchen name!

Emily was helping with the sweet potato wedges. A pinterest recipe I found. Thank you Amy!

Grilled Cilantro-Lime Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

3 sweet potatoes

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 tsp finely grated lime zest

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 cup canola oil {I used extra virgin olive oil}

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

Place the potatoes in a large pot of boiling water and cook until fork tender. Let cool, then slice each potato into eights lengthwise.

Preheat grill to medium heat. Mix 1 tablespoon salt, lime zest, and cayenne pepper in a bowl.

Brush the potatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place on the grill and grill on all sides until golden brown and cooked through {about 3-4 minutes each side including the skin. You may need to cook shorter or longer on each side depending on your grill, but just make sure the potatoes are fully cooked through}.

Transfer to a plate or platter and sprinkle with lime-salt mixture and chopped cilantro.

**you can also do this on a cast iron grill pan.

I had a bread station also but I did that one myself. I took bread and sliced it added butter to both sides and garlic salt. Then I grilled it.

Before the girls got there I had marinated 2 Flank Steaks.

Spicy Flank Steak

One 2 to 3 lb. Flank Steak

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup brown sugar

2 TBS of spicy sesame oil

4 good size fresh garlic cloves minced

2 TBS of fresh ginger peeled and shredded with lemon zester or cheese shredder

1 TBS of red pepper flakes (use less if you want it less hot)

Use a small bowl and add all ingredients together to make marinate. Use a 9×13 dish for the meat and cover with marinate. Marinate for at least 3 hours. You can even mix this up a day before and marinate the meat overnight in the refrigerator. After removing the meat save marinate.

Grill on each side 6 to 7 minutes for medium and longer for well done.

When you bring the meat in from the grill, let it rest for about 5 minutes.

Slice thin and cut against the grain of the meat.

Cook marinate in a small sauce pan. Boil on low for 5-7 minutes and serve as a dipping sauce of pour over the steak and serve. Serves 4 to 6 people depending on steak size.

We also had Goat Cheese Bacon Brussels Sprouts

From what some of the girls said my 101 class was not basic. I heard questions like…”what is parboiled? It should be called half-boiled. What’s in that? Why do you do that? Do you chop the stems too?” It was fun! The meal I made was basic to me but not to them. Their basic is “cooking 3 turkey sasuages in olive oil (said with a very southern accent) and a can of green beans”. Wow! I really need to figure out basic!

Our dinner was awesome! I learned that Emily is not a fan of steak…..

Needless to say we had a blast of a night! This one kept us all laughing the entire night with her comment and southern accent! I laughed so hard I cried and my stomach hurt. Sometimes I couldn’t breath from the laughter!

Thank you girls for so much laughter! I will work on the “basic” cooking for next time and if you ever go to London and your stomach is weak….don’t eat the curry chicken!

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Strawberry picking……not today!

June 5, 2013 at 2:23 pm (Family, fun & food!)
Tags: chocolate chip cookies, Fun, lemons vs lemonade, office party, sandwiches, Telestrations game

Today our office staff was going strawberry picking. This was our second try at hitting the fields for some wonderful, sweet, red strawberries but the wet fields kept us out again. So we had to come up with a plan and fast for some office team building fun. We put on our party thinking caps and headed up the attic stairs to see what we could find. Mike found fun hats and flower leis while I found a chalk board and corn hole. Our team is so awesome and we all switched gears from strawberry picking to corn hole. “The Brains” were the office staff…minus me. “The Muscles” were the carpet techs….minus Zach Brown.

Guess who won?

Yes the muscles beat the brains!!!! But the brains did much better in our next game:

What a fun game! If you don’t have it….you need to buy it!

We had homemade chocolate chip cookies with coffee while we played my new found game.

Everyone was such a good sport and went with the plan for a great morning party! Rachel even played in a dress. She does have on shorts in this picture.

This all goes to say when you are handed lemons…..make lemonade or in our case a party.

Everyone left with one of these 5 inch sandwiches with everything on it for lunch!

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It’s That Time Of Year Again…..And No It’s Not Christmas

May 30, 2013 at 9:04 am (Family, fun & food!)
Tags: canning, Family, Fun, jam, memories, Rudd Farm, strawberries, strawberry picking, sugar

It is strawberry season!!!! This means a lot of picking and eating. Cohen and I have been twice already and plan to go again. I have been in vacation mod since I had a week on the beach….

With water that is that clear and warm sunny breezes it is hard to return from paradise to reality again. I have been procrastinating my strawberry jam making.

While driving home from the shop yesterday Cohen and I spontaneously decided to go pick strawberries. (Sorry Leslie). We picked 3 baskets full.

The strawberries are beautiful and I had a great helper! We do always pick at Rudd Farms http://www.ruddfarm.com/directions.html.

We then went home and got to work! I let Cohen use a knife and cut the hats off with me. He of course thought that was the coolest thing ever! Mom and dad don’t let him use a knife. He did a great job at it.

We worked the entire afternoon on making jam and I hope it is a memory that he will always remember. Yes it takes longer with Cohen but it is worth the memories!

He was also a great masher! We took turn cutting hats off and mashing.

He is a great helper! We also had to sterilize the jars and lids. I used some of my old jars and screw on lids but I had to buy the flat lids because you can only use them once.

I boiled them in a hot water bath and used tongs to touch them with so that I didn’t contaminate them. Bacteria is the worse when canning. It can spoil all your hard work so I was very careful. I did have to sanitize a few things twice due to my little helper.

Then off to the cooking of the strawberries.

I tried to have somewhat of a system.

My recipe:

4 cups smashed strawberries

4 cups fine white sugar

4 Tablespoon Pectin (You can buy at Wal-Mart or at a grocery store)

1/4 cup lemon juice

In a wide bowl, crush strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of mashed berry. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar, pectin and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C). Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch head space, and seal. Process in a water bath. If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don’t bother with processing, and just refrigerate.

I made 17 cups of strawberry mash from the 3 baskets I had which made 20/16 oz jars of jam. Most of you do not want to make that much so here is a smaller recipe:

1 cup strawberries mashed

1 cup fine sugar

1 TBS Pectin

1 TBS lemon juice

Just double, triple or whatever you need. I think you can back down on the sugar some. It was a lot of sugar.

I used a 1/2 cup measuring cup to put cooked strawberries in to the jars. It is a bit sticky and messy so make sure you have plenty of wet towels to wipe off jars.

Then off to the hot water bath…..

I used tongs to remove the hot cans but you can buy a tool for that.

You have to let the jam come to room temp before refrigerating. The jam will solidify over night. Store the extra cans in your pantry or give as gifts!

We ate it over ice cream for dessert when it was warm. We also ate if by the spoon because it was so yummy! So get those strawberries picked and make some jam…it is way better than store bought and it is made with love and memories!

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Clear Blue Waters and Warm Sunny Breezes

May 22, 2013 at 9:07 pm (Family, fun & food!)

I have to say this is my favorite place to be!

More next week!

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Burger Sliders Anyone?

May 13, 2013 at 2:32 pm (Family, fun & food!)
Tags: asian burgers, bacon, bacon cheese burgers, beef, birthday, birthday party idea for adults, burgers, cheese, Family, Fun, Recipes, sliders

This past weekend was a busy one at our house! We had a birthday party on Saturday night, Mother’s Day on Sunday afternoon and an engagement party Sunday night! Whew…It was a whirlwind!

It was our daughter’s 29th birthday so I decided to have a slider burger bar for our party which meant lots of prep for me. But since I love to cook I had a blast with it. I did sliders (which means small burger) so we could have variety instead of just a hamburger.

I made an Asian Burger, Mexican Burger, Bacon Cheese Burger and a Black Bean Burger. Of course with special sauces to make the flavors even better!

The two favorites were the Bacon Cheese Burger and the Asian Burger so I thought I would share the recipes with you. I got out a lot of different spices and fresh everything to get started.

I put a sticky note by each bowl to write down what I was putting in the burgers so I could pass it on to you.

Here is the Bacon Cheese Burger Recipe:

1 pound of lean ground beef

1 pound of 80/20 ground beef

2 eggs

1/3 cup bread crumbs

½ teaspoon garlic salt

Pepper

1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 package of bacon

Mix meat together. Add eggs and bread crumbs. Mix well. I use my hands. Then add all other ingredients except bacon and make small size hamburgers. Wrap each burger with bacon. Grill for 4-5 minutes per side on medium. If burgers are big you may need to add time. This recipe made around 14 sliders. I used dinner rolls as buns.

Sauce:

1 TBS of honey

2 TBS whole grain mustard

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce

Uncooked:

The Bacon Cheese Burger toppings were: lettuce, tomatoes and onion with the sauce.

The Bacon Cheese Burger:

The Asian Burgers:

1 pound of lean ground beef

1 pound of 80/20 ground beef

2 eggs

1/3 cup bread crumbs

½ teaspoon garlicsalt

Pepper

1/3 cup Teriyaki Sauce- I used a Lawrey marinate sauce

1 teaspoon hot sesame oil

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 Tablespoon of fish sauce

1 green onion chopped

Pinch of ground ginger

Mix meat together. Add eggs and bread crumbs. Mix well. I use my hands. Then add all other ingredients and make small size hamburgers. Grill for 4-5 minutes per side on medium. If burgers are big you may need to add cooking time.

Wasabi Mayo Sauce:

1/4 cup mayonnaise

¼ cup Greek yogurt

1 to 2 tsp of prepared wasabi

1 TBS soy sauce

Uncooked:

I then froze my burgers because I prepared them 3 days in advance so I could spend time with my family and not be cooking the entire day. I also prepped the veggies that we put on top of the burgers.

The Asian burgers had: Caramelized onions, jalapeno slices, snow peas sliced thin, grilled pineapple, lettuce from my garden and the wasabi sauce.

I had a hard time getting a picture of the finished burger because eveyone was eating the but I caught a few.

There were so many toppings and 4 different sliders so I had to write down what I recommended for each burger.

These guys are serious about their food!

I also served a fresh black bean corn salad with mango,grilled corn on the cob and Amy brought a wonderful pasta salad.

I forgot to write that recipe down but it is easy. Just throw a bunch of fresh veggies, cup of frozen corn and olive oil with balsamic vinegar. If you need a recipe email me or leave me a comment and I will get you one.

For dessert we had a pound cake with blueberries, strawberries and cool whip.

It was a great night with great food and lots of laughing. That is my favorite kind of party! I challenge you to try one of the burgers this week. It is warmer outside and so get out there and use your grill creating wonderful food for your family.

Silliness happens:

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Sandwich Making 101

May 7, 2013 at 8:36 am (Family, fun & food!)
Tags: avocado, bread, cheese, feta, Italian dressing, lettuce, lunch, prosciutto, red onions, sandwiches, tomates, turkey

When I say we are having sandwiches for lunch some may think of turkey & cheese, peanut butter and jelly or one of the everyday sandwich combo’s. But at our house when I say we are having sandwiches everything in the refridge comes out. I like to see what type of tower I can make with the most popping flavors.

I start with 2 pieces of good bread, some sandwich meat and good cheese (Feta cheese is very good on a sandwich too but a little messy). Then the fun begins! I love fresh! So get the lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, cukes, avocado and anything else you have out and start slicing.

On this sandwich I also added Prosciutto. Sometimes I use bacon and we all know that everything taste better with bacon!

It doesn’t take very much mayo and mustard. Just enough to cover the bread lightly and I always offer an Italian style dressing to go over the sandwich right before serving.

Adding all these flavors together really make you want to eat a sandwich for lunch. In the summer I pick my own tomatoes and lettuce .Fresh basil leaves are awesome too. You would not believe the flavor basil gives to a sandwich! So load up that sandwich at lunch time! Make it interesting and big! With summer knocking at our door steps there are tons of veggies you can purchase fresh at the local farmers market, grocery stores and Super G. You could get all your veggies in one sandwich for the entire day.

So try this combonation:

2 slices of good bread

sandwich meat

bacon (optional)

good cheese

lettuce

tomato – sliced thin

red onion – sliced thin

cucumber – sliced thin

avacado – sliced thin

Add whatever condiments you like! Let’s make sandwich making tasty!!! These sandwiches went to our office and were enjoyed by our staff and they loved it! Something so simple but so good!

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Kitchen Bloopers I Have Made

May 2, 2013 at 8:45 am (Family, fun & food!)

I was looking at Pinterest today and found this sweet article. I know I have made a ton of these mistakes and thought it might help you. The list is really good and will make perfect since of why things did not turn out well.

Go to this site to read the list of bloopers in the kitchen!

http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/cooking-questions-tips-00400000064986/print-index.html

I hope this helps you to become a better cook in the kitchen!

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More Flowers

April 29, 2013 at 2:05 pm (Family, fun & food!)
Tags: flowers, grow, planters, plants

I told you last week that I also planted flowers at our office. I did the same thing with replacing dirt to 3/4′s way and then adding flowers. After placing flowers I filled in with more dirt to keep the flowers in place.

I used some of the same type as I did at home.

The taller plant is a vine flower that I hope grows over our awning. I have one on each side of the building.

I bought these planters at an antique shop and they were $145.00 each at first which was too much for me. I waited a week or so and they called me and I got 2 of them for $125.00. I love them! They are a little rust so I do not add dirt to the planter. I put plants in smaller black plastic planters that some plants come in and place them in the container. i use blocks to make them taller in areas. The problem with this is they dry out fast so I have to make sure I water them or at least check them every day or so. I really love all these colors together.

With all the rain we have had everything is growing well even at home. This hostas has tripled in about a week. Amazing!

I got this hostas from our daughters yard.I took one this size and used my shovel to split into 4 pieces then just dug a hole and planted. Beautiful!!! You can do this too!

I challenge you to plant something this week and watch it grow…..

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Flower Planting Time

April 26, 2013 at 11:20 am (Family, fun & food!)
Tags: blessed, flowers, gardens, lantana, lettuce, petunias, planting, summer, verbena

I finally planted flowers in the yard and in pots. I also have to plant flowers in pots that are in the front of our business so I have been busy planting. And lets just say the people who sell plants at the farmers market know my name. It is amazing how much money you can spend. I get so excited and buy a little of everything. I don’t grow from seeds so you can see the dollar signs flying!

When buying plants make sure you check the tag to see if the plant needs all sun, part sun, how big it will get, how far apart to plant, etc.. Also, ask questions. People love to share their knowledge.

This was my first load. I don’t have very much shade in my yard so these all work for me.

I planet a lot in pots and I place them around my porch and front steps. I take out all the old dirt and refill pots to about three fourth’s full with fresh dirt. Then I place the plants in the container and fill in the rest of the way with dirt. I do water them with Miracle Grow once a week until it gets really hot and then I drop back to once every other week. The container plants have to be watered more often than the ones in the ground because they are container plants. If you don’t water them they have no roots in the ground to find water. I water at least every other day but everyday when it is hot.

After the pots I move on to the yard. When you first plant it looks like you don’t have enough but remember “they will grow”. I will post more pictures later of the growth.

This is a track that runs by our driveway and I planted purple petunia’s and watermelon colored verbena’s.

In the front I planted yellow lantana, purple petunia’s, red verbena, sweet potato plant and some foliage plants. I love the texture that the colors and foliage plants give. I can’t wait until they grow so I can show you the beauty after they are bigger.

When I plant in the ground I dig a hole put the plant in and cover with dirt. Easy! I do not claim to be a master gardener but my plants do grow and look beautiful. If I can do this…so can you!!

Here are a few pictures of my pots and I can’t wait for them to grow to show you the difference:

I also picked the first fruits from my garden today. Lettuce:

I feel like I should build and alter and offer them back to God but instead we will just thank God at dinner when we eat them. We are so blessed to be able to plant and grow thing!!!

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Sewing A “Simple” Pillow

April 22, 2013 at 3:23 pm (Family, fun & food!)
Tags: DIY, fabric, Fun, pillows, sewing

Today I thought I would show you how to make a simple pillow. It has an envelope back and this pillow does not have piping or trim. I usually make my own piping and that will be another day.

For two 18 inch pillows you will need about 1 and 3/4 yards of fabric. If you are centering a flower or pattern you may need more. I did not center anything with these pillows and I used 1 and 1/2 yards of the leftover panel fabric. I was very precise in my measurements. I measured two 18 inch squares for the front and then two 18 inch by 28 inch pieces for the back. Make sure you figure out where you are cutting before you cut. I use a sharpie and draw on my fabric but you can use chalk or a fabric pen that washes off.

Then the backs 18×28

If you have a pattern in your fabric make sure you cut your fabric to match the way the pattern on the front is going.

After cutting your 18×28 piece of fabric fold it in half to where it is 18×14 and cut it in half. If you have a pattern make sure you put a pin in the fabric where you cut it.

Now that you have 2 pieces for the back of your pillow it is time to sew. First sew a “shirt tale” hem on each 18×14 inch piece. A “shirt tale” hem is a small 1/8 to 1/2 inch hem. I don’t even pin the fabric on this. Sew on the side where you cut .

Next you need to sew a 1.5 inch to a 2 inch hem. Using a ruler fold your fabric over 1.5 to 2 inches and pin. Now sew on your machine.

I put a piece of tape on my machine to help me stay in a straight line or I line it up with the lines on my machine.

After sewing you need to get your 18 inch square for the front and pin the backs onto the front piece. Make sure the fabrics bright colors are facing each other. After pinning it should look like your pillow is inside out. At this point also make sure your pattern are right.

The next step is to sew the pillow all the way around. Start sewing somewhere besides a corner. Never start in the corner. When you go over the areas where the pillow will open you may want to reinforce that area. And of course when sewing always use your reverse when beginning and ending.

And there you have it… a simply pillow. If you want to add pipping let me know by commenting and I will help you with that.

This is what the back will look like:

Just insert your pillow form and you are done.

Please leave any questions you may have and I will help you through this process. Happy sewing!!!

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lovethechefblog

Cooking 101 and Girl’s Night

Strawberry picking……not today!

It’s That Time Of Year Again…..And No It’s Not Christmas

Clear Blue Waters and Warm Sunny Breezes

Burger Sliders Anyone?

Sandwich Making 101

Kitchen Bloopers I Have Made

More Flowers

Flower Planting Time

Sewing A “Simple” Pillow

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