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Good Things

written by katrina 3 Comments

Just a few items that are making me smile these days…

1. Paula Deen’s Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread, with or without nuts. We’ve been getting zucchini in our weekly CSA boxes. Lots of zucchini. We’ve grilled it, we’ve breaded it, we’ve topped it with parmesan cheese. But the truth is, the best way to eat zucchini is in the form of Zucchini Bread. It’s like a bread that’s actually a vegetable. A vegetable filled with chocolate chips. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) At this very moment, I have five zucchinis sitting in my fridge. Several of them are going to find their way into this recipe this week (I leave out the orange zest, in case you’re curious). And our freezer will be filled with yummy chocolate-vegetable-bread goodness.

2. A few months ago, I posted about my new desk, which I still love. And recently, my husband hung an awesome modular pin board above it (see my Instagram photo). I love it. I’m slowly filling it up with pictures, a monthly calendar printout, forms for school, Bible verses I want need to internalize, and anything else that needs to be displayed or kept handy. Call me weird, but several times a day, I just look at my pin board. Yes, I like it that much. I’m sure the novelty will eventually wear off, but for now, it’s one of my favorite things.

3. Sweet Tea Mio. I’ve been attempting to drink more water. I’m not always very successful, but every day, I try again. And after I get tired of “plain old water,” I turn to my stash of Sweet Tea Mio. [Mio calls itself a "Liquid Water Enhancer," which sounds a bit pretentious if you ask me, but hey, it does the job.] It’s calorie-free, but one squirt in my glass makes my water taste a tiny bit like sweet tea. (It could never compare to real sweet tea, but when you’re going for healthier…you take what you can get.) I’m sure that because it has color and flavor but no calories, it probably also has some chemicals I’d rather not know about. But perhaps it’s marginally healthier than a Diet Coke. Maybe. And it’s helping me drink more water, so it works for me.

4. The new “Ready” foundation from bareMinerals. I am not usually a person who gets excited about makeup. But this new foundation is pretty awesome. I’ve been using bareMinerals for several years because it’s light, quick to apply, and doesn’t cause breakouts (which in my opinion, shouldn’t be an issue for someone my age, but alas, it is). This new stuff is all that, and has way better coverage. It now has a permanent spot in my makeup drawer.

5. This Origami Workstation Case – for iPads and bluetooth keyboards. Confession: I love my iPad. I love using it to surf the Internet, play mindless games, read books (on my Kindle app, of course), check email and/or Facebook, and look at photos. But I’m not too crazy about typing on its virtual keyboard. I mean, it’s fine if you’re just writing a quick reply or status update. But for any serious typing (such as, for example, a blog post), it’s just not practical. I have a bluetooth keyboard that works well with the iPad, but I didn’t have a good way to set them up together while remaining super-portable — until I found this case. It holds the keyboard safely and then, when you’re ready to use it, it also converts into a stand for the iPad. Perfect for a morning at Panera. Or Starbucks. Or at the kitchen table while enjoying some Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread.

***

What recent discovery has you smiling?

Posted on September 11, 2012 and Filed Under: Food, Random Home Stuff, Tech Stuff 3 Comments

Hobby Focus, Revisited

written by katrina 12 Comments

Back near the beginning of this year, I wrote a post about my intentions to be more intentional in the area of hobbies. I talked about how I’m a dabbler, and that while there’s nothing wrong with dabbling, I thought it would be nice to devote some more focused time to a few hobbies, to dive a little deeper, to see if a hobby (or multiple hobbies) would become more of a passion — something in which I could excel.

So. How has it gone?

Very much like you might expect, if you remember that at heart, I am a dabbler.

I did choose a hobby for January and another one for February.

And I did devote more time to those hobbies than I might otherwise have done.

But…I did still feel restless, called to dip my toe into other hobby waters, discontent to stick with just one. I made progress, but not as much as I had hoped, perhaps.

January’s hobby was knitting.

The good news is, my husband got a scarf out of the whole deal, and he seems to like it very much. He wears it regularly and has told me on numerous occasions how glad he is that I made it for him. I know that if I hadn’t been very deliberate about setting aside time to knit, the scarf would never have been finished. It would still be “in progress,” and most likely sitting — in its unfinished state — next to my favorite seat on the couch.

I also made a hat for C.(13). While he thanked me and seemed pleased, I know it’s not a great hat. It was a rather plain hat (since I have rather plain skills when it comes to knitting). And my fitting and finishing abilities are greatly lacking, so it’s a little big and not the most sturdy of items.

Finally, I began a baby hat that promised to teach me a variety of knitting skills since it contains multiple panels, all done in different stitches

Notice I said I “began” a baby hat. It is unfinished. What can I say? January ended and I was on to the next hobby. I do still plan to finish the hat, but I’m not making any promises as to when.

Things I learned during my month of knitting:

  1. Knitting can be a relaxing way to spend an evening. It gets me off my laptop and is a nice way to pass the time if I’m hanging out with someone who is watching TV.
  2. I have no desire to knit large items. Afghans? No thanks. Sweaters? Nope. Any knitting I do will most likely remain small-scale: hats, scarves, etc.
  3. I do not have a deep and abiding desire to master knitting. It’s true. While I enjoyed the process and the results, I didn’t approach my knitting with zeal or excitement. I think it will remain, for me, a nice pastime, something I’m glad to know how to do, but not something I truly love.

On to February…

February’s hobby was bread-baking.

I do not have a bread machine at this time, so I divided the month between using the method from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and making sourdough bread from a starter I purchased from King Arthur Flour. The results of both approaches were yummy and satisfying. I’m growing more confident in baking with yeast (something I feared for many years), and my guys were always excited when another freshly-made loaf came out of the oven.

IMG_2555.jpg

Unfortunately, I like bread. A lot. And a fresh loaf is practically irresistible to me. I want nothing more than to slice it and slather it with butter. All of it. Which, as you might imagine, would not be the healthiest choice I could make. So admittedly, as the month went on, the frequency of my bread-making lagged a bit. But only because I was trying to make wiser food choices…and sometimes that required me to not make bread.

Things I learned from my month of bread-baking:

  1. I genuinely enjoy baking. I knew this before, but this month of extra baking just reinforced it. I definitely get more fulfillment from a loaf of bread than from a knitted baby hat. Don’t ask me why; I just do.
  2. Baking with yeast isn’t so bad. Yeast doughs can be a bit temperamental, but if I don’t get hung up on precise times and volumes and doubling and so on, and just work with the dough a bit more…I can still get very good results.
  3. I think my guys prefer bread to knitted products as well.

March is just around the corner. So what is next for me?

It’s an aspect of the hobby I kept dabbling in during January and February (while I was supposed to be focused on knitting and baking): Photography. I haven’t been able to put my camera down. One reason is because I’ve committed to doing a “picture a day” scrapbook again this year. But another reason is that I really do want to improve my photography skills. It’s something that interests me, appeals to my detail-oriented nature, and allows me to better capture life with my favorite people.

I’ve already taken an online class in basic photography, so in March, I’m going to explore “post processing” a bit. In other words, I’m going to learn more about how to use Photoshop to enhance the color, white balance, contrast, etc. in the photos I take. I must admit, I’m rather excited.

Maybe this hobby — the one that’s been calling to me so far this year — will be the one I settle in with and stay with for a while. We’ll see.

Posted on February 28, 2012 and Filed Under: Craftiness, Everyday Life, Food, Photography 12 Comments

Casserole Wars

written by katrina 12 Comments

No, I am not using this post’s title to refer to a new show on Food Network.

Instead, I am referring to a quiet little war that brews in our house.

It’s a battle between me and my five-year-old.

Here’s the breakdown:

I like making the occasional casserole. I like casseroles because they typically require few pots, pans, and baking dishes (i.e., less clean-up for the win). I like them because they make it easy to sneak veggies onto my kids’ plates. I like them because, while there is great variety in the world of casseroles, they rarely require fancy cooking techniques, and they fit into busy mom-life pretty nicely. Easy to make ahead, easy to store as leftovers. Basically, the benefit list is long.

L., my five-year-old, adamantly dislikes casseroles. I can’t seem to get a straight answer out of him as to exactly why he doesn’t like casseroles. I know it’s not the veggies — he’ll often happily eat whatever veggies I serve. And I don’t think it’s related to the flavors — I try to keep things tasty without being “too adventurous.”

To be honest, I think it has something to do with the fact that in a casserole, all the food is combined into one dish.

L. prefers to have the different parts of his meal — the meat, the veggies, the additional starch or other items — to be conspiciously separated upon his plate. No touching allowed!

And in a casserole…it’s all touching. It’s all intermingled. Quite simply, it’s impossible to separate.

As a result, L. is not pleased.

We’ve fallen into a routine wherein I make a casserole every couple weeks — after days and days of doing the whole “food conspicously separated upon the plate” type of meals. The thing is, 3/4ths of the people who live here actually like the casseroles I make, so I’m not prepared to just give them up because of a certain kid’s food preferences. And yet, despite the fact that we only put very small amounts of the food/casserole on L.’s plate, and despite the fact that the casseroles are so rare, and despite the fact that I truly try to make the meals kid-friendly…L. is still not pleased.

He knows better than to complain loudly about food Mom prepares. But if you could see the look on his face — the look of sadness and distaste and do-I-really-have-to-eat-this-horribly-combined-food — you would see that my attempts at converting him to a casserole-lover are failing.

L.’s preschool teacher has been wonderful about encouraging the kids to try new foods, or even old foods that they think they don’t like. She tells them that tastes change as kids grow, and even if they don’t like something the first time…or the second…or even the third…well, who knows? Maybe they’ll love it the 15th time they try it!

Now, if we tried to explain this same principle to L., he wouldn’t believe us. But he does seem to believe his teacher.

In fact, just last week, L. gave Tomato Soup another try (soup is another “not-so-great” food in L.’s book). After finishing an entire [tiny] bowl of soup, he admitted that this time was definitely better than the last time he tried tomato soup (“Last time I felt like throwing up after I ate it; this time I didn’t.”) See? Improvement.

So I guess I’ll just keep making the occasional casserole, despite any looks of horror they might inspire, and hope that next time…or the time after that…or maybe in the year 2019, L. will finally look at me and say, “You know what? That casserole wasn’t so bad.”

Posted on February 27, 2012 and Filed Under: Family, Food 12 Comments

Turkey Trepidation

written by katrina 6 Comments

So.

I have not made many turkeys in my life.

I think the grand total is 2.

For the vast majority of my 30-some years, we had Thanksgiving dinner at either my mom’s or my in-laws’. Both my mother and mother-in-law are very good cooks, and I usually showed up with some kind of side dish or dessert, feasted on all the delicious preparations, and didn’t think beyond that happy little routine.

Those two turkeys I mentioned above? One year we found ourselves having a quiet Thanksgiving, just the three of us (this was before L.(5) was born, obviously). I bought one of those turkey oven bags and just followed the directions. The turkey was “fine,” but nothing special. Another year, we ended up just having my mom over. Chad and I attempted the famous Alton Brown turkey. While it was good, it seemed that the stoneware pan we used (as opposed to the metal sheet pan called for) didn’t cook the underside of the turkey enough (a fact we didn’t discover until the carving process was just about done). No one got food poisoning, but I was more than a little nervous.

In recent years, my in-laws have taken to spending the cold months in a warmer climate, and we often don’t see them until Christmas draws them back home. And with my extended family growing, if we’re spending Thanksgiving with my side of the family, it makes sense for us to host the gathering. Which is no problem at all…except that the turkey-prep usually falls to the hostess.

Let me interject that I know my mom would be more than happy to come to our house early on Thanksgiving to prepare the bird and start the roasting process. But I want her to be able to enjoy a leisurely day.

And besides. It’s about time I learned to cook a yummy turkey, don’t you think?

So a couple weeks ago, I began my search for The Perfect — And Also Foolproof — Roasted Turkey Recipe.

I wanted one that was, naturally, delicious. A little different. Easy. And did I mention foolproof? I’m not bad when it comes to baking, but my cooking skills are just mediocre.

Finally, I settled on this one: Maple-Roasted Turkey with Sage, Smoked Bacon, and Cornbread Stuffing.

Here’s why:

A) It got a lot — a whole lot — of five-star reviews, many of which mention easiness, differentness, and yumminess (see above).

B) It involves bacon. And let’s face it: Even if everything else goes completely wrong, bacon can make things better. Right? That’s what I’m counting on.

So as I type this post, there is a turkey thawing in my refrigerator, sage growing on my windowsill, bacon chilling in the fridge, and more fixin’s for a Thanksgiving dinner stashed in random places throughout my kitchen.

Here’s hoping everything goes well!

Do you have a foolproof turkey recipe? Are you chief turkey-maker in your family or does that job fall to someone else?

Posted on November 22, 2011 and Filed Under: Food 6 Comments

It must be fall

written by katrina 5 Comments

pumpkinsI’ve purchased many pumpkins in my life, but they’ve always been for carving or other decoration purposes. And when I want pumpkin for baking purposes, I’ve always relied on good old canned pumpkin.

But since our CSA gave us several small sugar pumpkins last week, I decided that it was finally time for me to make my own pumpkin puree. It’s not really that hard. Time-consuming, yes, but easy. Here’s the process I followed:

1. Thoroughly rinse outside of pumpin to get rid of dirt and other gunky stuff.

2. Cut pumpkin in half vertically. Scoop out seeds and stringy stuff. (Save seeds and roast them later w/ butter & kosher salt!)

3. Place pumpkin halves flesh-side-down in a 9×13 baking pan. Add water to come 1/4-inch up sides of pan.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes, until pumpkin flesh is soft and scrapes easily away from skin.

5. Scoop out flesh into large bowl. (I used a cookie dough scoop.) Puree the pumpkin until smooth. (I used a stick blender, but you could also use a food processor, hand mixer, etc.)

From what I’ve read, you can refrigerate this puree if you intend to use it within 3-5 days, or put in freezer bags, squeeze out excess air, and freeze for months.

It looked like good pumpkin puree, but the real question is — does it produce yummy baked goods? I put it to the test this morning with pumpkin muffins:

muffins

The verdict in our house? YUM. I’m pretty sure these muffins will be gone by the end of the day.

Just one reason I love fall.

Posted on October 1, 2011 and Filed Under: Food 5 Comments
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