New Favs That Don't Fit In My House

Starting with an ice luge from Urban Outfitters, $24, this would not fit in my house. Nor would my dog approve of it, he might actually be pretty scared by it! But my drinks wouldn't! Ha! You pour your drink down the luge, which the ice cools it as it glides down. The only problem that I can tell: What if everyone has different drinks?

Then there's the lovely oven mitt, $12. The ones that I have are gross green from Target. I think this would better serve my purposes of keeping my hands safe. That's what I would tell my husband anyway!

And of course, pies need to be cooked. Frozen, made, rolled, whatever. This tea towel ($8) will serve as a reminder of your holiday baking needs. For me, it's just fun and festive, I don't need to be reminded of another thing on my to-do list, thank you.

And a juicer. Everyone needs a juicer from Anthropologie, $12.95. I really need a juicer! The pattern reminds me of Marimekko designs (Finnish, which can be found at marimekko.com, I think, I just pulled that website out of my butt. It happens that I get lazy when I blog and don't really type the correct web site. There's google for finding web sites! Ha! Especially when I'm lazy!

And trust me, I'm pretty lazy today knowing that the long weekend is coming!

Enjoy!

PSH

Green Living? Oh, Yes, I Do, Kinda....

I am unable to give up my addiction to magazine subscriptions. Yes, I know. That's not very green of me, is it?

Cottage Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Cooking Light, Domino and Real Simple. That's a lot of freakin' magazines.

I devour them when they come in the mail. I pour over all the pages, some mags I save for months later only to discover that I missed some fabulous recipe that was in season in, well, May. And then I feel bad, tear the good stuff out and recycle the poor remains. Not so eco-friendly of me.

I pride myself on having clean drains (I used to have long hair and we have a Golden/Irish Setter mix) by just using baking soda & vinegar. AND I EVEN BOUGHT CLOTH NAPKINS. But somehow, I just can't give up holding a tangible magazine.

Ugh, well. Ugh. Maybe it's the artist in me. I want to smell it. I want to feel the nice smooth paper in my fingers. Ok, that's a little to raw - but come on, I love a new magazine!

And so I signed myself up for another one.

Green Living

And it's all online!

P.S. THERE'S CLICKABLE LINKS TO ALL THE GOODIES IN THE ONLINE MAGAZINE.

Here's the Winter 2008 issue.

Honestly. I just can't live without my magazines! At least one is online - hopefully the rest will follow to Flash animation and do some cool stuff.

PSH

Less Paper Clutter!

Opt out of getting a phone book from the Yellow Pages or White Pages.

Woo hoo, we finally have the option of NOT receiving one! Yea!

Oh yeah, and we finally don't have one just sitting on the floor beneath the kitchen island. I like recycling. And I like being able to opt out of all that crap.

PSH

Photo Stuff

I started putting together handmade cards a few weeks ago. Mostly of flowers and scenes from Brown County, Indiana. I'm selling them for $3 each OR 6 for $15. I have more listed on my Etsy Shop but to be quite honest, well, um, I haven't really had much time to figure Etsy out!

So, I've been busy trying to get everything together, keep the house clean, walk THE MONSTER and read. So in the meantime I've been keeping a list of recipes to make this weekend. Including a tarte of some sort, maybe some squash stuff, eh, who knows at this point, right? (Oh, yeah, and I'm going to a Thanksgiving but I don't know how I'm going to pack either! Or go tanning! Can you tell I'm freakin' out a little bit?).

It's time for vacation! (And I'll bring my camera, which means I will have a higher chance of taking pictures, woo hoo!)

PSH

Home with a Migraine

And yet I still bake because I need a smell other than our dryer sheets and dog. I didn't take pictures, my eyes are still too sensitive! Argh!

The easiest cornbread ever...

Honey Cornbread Muffins

Ingredients
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
Special equipment: paper muffin cups and a 12-cup muffin tin
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Into a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the whole milk, eggs, butter, and honey. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.
Place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Evenly divide the cornbread mixture into the papers. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.

Rosemary-Lemon Roasted Chicken With Veggies

A fabulous smelling and tasting dish for the Fall. And honestly, it's how I use up veggies! Just throw everything into a roasting dish with salt, pepper, couple tablespoons of olive oil and you're good to go!

Quarter onions and carrots, then toss into a "Pam-ed" ceramic roasting dish.

Don't chop the rosemary. Just leave it. That's the "cheater's way out." And trust me, you'll thank me for the tip!

Mmmm, crisp, bright lemons with the woodsy rosemary...

One of my favorite combos of flavors.

Set the oven to bake at 375.

Don't bother chopping any garlic. Just smash and toss into the dish.

Quarter potatoes. Again, just toss into the dish.

Season with salt and pepper. I use lots of kosher salt.

Quarter your lemons. Squeeze two over just the veggies.

Season the chicken.

Nest the chicken into the veggies and squeeze the rest of the lemon over everything.

Top with the rosemary, and again, season with just a pinch more salt.

Nest the lemons all around. Your house should smell just fabulous by now (and your hands probably won't smell like garlic too much considering that you didn't chop it).

Admire the rosemary smell and then just shove it in the oven. Turn with a wooden spoon about half way into the cooking time (35 minutes). If you're afraid of browning everything black, cover with tinfoil. Since I don't really care, well, I didn't cover with tinfoil and it didn't make too much difference.

It still turned out fabulous - just don't forget to flip, otherwise the goodies on the bottom won't brown and crisp like the should, instead they'll steam, which is ok, but the coloring won't be what you're looking for.

Enjoy!

PSH

Mediterranean Chicken Soup - Kind Of...

I didn't really have too much time. Nor power in my battery left for too many photographs. Oops. Oh, well. It happens, right??? Instead of following directions, I tend to go out on my own. Yesterday I attended a conference and we watched a NatGeo photographer try and tell us to be creative. For a photographer to tell non-photographers to be creative, well, let's just say that it's hard to translate to a cubicle. HA! I have to laugh...

Chicken, carrots, onions, celery, sage, capers, oregano, 2 bay leafs, salt & pepper. Plus, half cup of chicken stock (to start, you'll add 6 - 8 more cups chicken stock once cooked through...)
Add the brine too. It makes it nice and salty. Yum!

Plus sage & oregano, maybe only 1/2 - 3/4 tsp of each. No biggie. Whatever smells good!

Yum!! Add all into the crockpot, turn dial to low and leave it be for awhile.

Once cooked 7-8 hours on low, shred the chicken, add back into the crockpot. Bring 6 - 8 cups chicken broth to a simmer, add into crockpot and then you have soup. Freeze or serve, whatever! It takes great on a cold, rainy, Autumn day!

Enjoy!

PSH

Christmas: The List

1. A down comforter. One preferrably that has never been inside of a frat house.
2. Scissors. That can withstand the stupid plastic packaging that I hate.
3. A really good mop.
4. Mud resistant sheets (THE MONSTER's fault...).
5. A really good cookbook. With pictures.
6. Enough Pillbury's Best Flour to last for a year.
7. Enough Fleishmann's yeast to last for a year.
8. Free booze for a year.

Now I've gotten off track. Let's continue.

9. Aveda lotion. The kind that says, "Replenishing" Only the wife of a law student should need a lotion that's "Replenishing."
10. Tums.
11. The mittens that have the gloves inside, but you can flip up the mitten part on the fingers so you can pick up dog poo.
12. New shoes. Any kind at this point.

And the list will go on, but this is ok for now!

PSH

Samosas And Meet THE MONSTER

And so my fury with Blogger begins. After 4 drinks, I'm mightily frustrated and ready for, well, another drink. I'm making Samosas. Very easy to make, but very hard to blog. Yeah. That's me on a Monday! Actually, Blogger kept uploading the pics in a random order. So, after a few drinks, instead of being MORE frustrated, like I really should. Well, I'm not that frustrated anymore.
The Pantry. I have a closet for a pantry. I'm a proud Pantry Momma...
So you really begin Samosas by making mashed potatoes (or using leftover mashed potatoes). I happen to like Betty Crocker's. When I don't make them from scratch that is...
And butter. Please, use real butter in your mashed potatoes. It makes a difference.
The ingredients. For Samosas. I love curry. Doesn't everyone? Maybe not...
Ahhhh... Meet THE MONSTER. We've adopted a Golden Retriever/Irish Setter Mix in light of the death of our 11 year old Bimmer Dog. Trust me, there are times that I come home and have a total break down. The first weekend we got a sympathy card from the vet. OMG. I balled. Into THE MONSTER's scruff. And then I felt horrible, how could we get another dog and yet I was crying into THE MONSTER's fur? Well, we wanted to save a Golden. Bimmer Dog was something out of the ordinary. THE MONSTER is also out of the ordinary. Completely opposite personalities. THE MONSTER, though, is quite a challenge. As you can tell, he's curious. About EVERYTHING, but very easy going. Like me.
Then you'll chop the medium onion and toss it into a medium hot pan with 2 - 3 tablespoons of olive for approximately 8 minutes.
Say, "Hi MONSTER!!!"
And then resume the saute of the onion.
Feed THE MONSTER. Notice the mess he makes. He actually cleans up after himself. Maybe one or two pieces of food will be left. Did you know that we fee him close to 6 cups of high protein dog food a day? Or that I get up at 6 and take him for a 30 minute run every day? Um, yeah, that's THE MONSTER!!!
So we've skipped ahead. Darnnabbit Blogger. Add the mashed potatoes.
But before the mashed potatoes you add the curry.
AND BEFORE you add the curry, you add the peas.
But these are the almost finished samosas. Ok, so now this is kinda frustrating (STUPID BLOGGER), because you need to see the steps BEFORE. Ok, so after the steps BELOW have been completed, place on a baking sheet that's been PAM'ed.
Pinch the corners together.
Cut each circle of dough into 6 pieces.
AHA!!! Mix the potatoes into the onion, curry & pea mixture.
Isn't THE MONSTER a doll face? Yes, he is! He's so dang red. Honestly, what color is he? Brown? Red? Maroon? Gold? I think we got a Golden Gopher dog!! Great mascot...
THE MONSTER sleeps. After 45 minutes of fetch and a 1 hour walk at night. He finally sleeps. I forget what having a 1 year old dog is like. You're always on the go...
The finished Samosas.
And basic chicken. Sauted with McCormick's steak seasoning and saved for Chicken Pot Pies...

Quick & Easy Samosas

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
Kosher salt and pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
2 cups (about 16 ounces) refrigerated mashed potatoes
1 10-ounce package frozen peas, thawed
1 15-ounce package refrigerated piecrusts
1 jar mango chutney (optional)

Heat oven to 375° F.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the curry powder and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the potatoes and peas.

Unroll the piecrusts and cut each into 6 triangles. Place a heaping tablespoon of the potato mixture in the center of each piece. Gather the corners of the dough and pinch to form a point. Pinch the seams to seal. Transfer to a baking sheet.

Bake the samosas until golden, about 25 minutes. Serve with the mango chutney, if desired.

Enjoy!

PSH