Dress Preview!

I'll post a giant detailed post probably on Tuesday, but for now here is a cell phone picture of my niece wearing the dress that I made for her!  But please note that it would not have happened without my mom's help!

Pizzaaaaaaaaa

I followed the recipes from John & Elana Talk About Food.

Let's check on the dough my boyfriend started:

And here are the carmelized onions:

Here is the final rise of the dough:

And the dough is rolled out and covered in Gruyere cheese:

 And here are the carmelized onions:

Done!  It was tasty, but I ended up adding garlic powder to more zing.

And I also made a sundried tomato and basil pizza:

Next time I used sundried tomatoes I'll put them under the cheese so they don't burn to a crisp :(

And here is my boyfriend's carmelized onion, gruyere, and chicken pizza:

Homemade Hummus!

I LOVE hummus!  The only store brand I like is Athenos.  But it is really expensive ($4-5 a tub).  I haven't calculated how much this costs, but I'd guess $1 at most.  The most expensive item is the garbanzo beans/chickpeas are 62 cents. 

Hummus

1 can garbanzos/chickpeas, RINSED
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
2-4 cloves garlic (depending on your love of garlic)
cumin, to taste
garam marsala to taste
pinch of salt

 

1. Please rinse your beans.  This lowers the salt content, plus that canning liquid is gross.

 

2. Put everything in your food processor.  I use lots of cumin. But sadly I was out of garam marsala (a delicious Indian spice blend).

 

3. Blend!  Then taste to see if you need to add any more spices:

 

4. Eat with delicious pita chips:

Pasta With Tomato Cream Sauce

I got this delicious recipe from The Pioneer Woman and you should go right here to see her pictures because they are much, much, much better than mine.  Also her blog is pretty much my favorite everrrrrrr.  (Every time I try to add her to my blog-roll at the very bottom on this site it doesn't work.  Conspiracy against Pioneer Woman?  I think so.)

1. Cook onions and garlic in olive oil and butter.  Next time I'll choose either butter or olive oil, I think both were unnecessary:

2. Add in two cans of tomato sauce (I used 1 can sauce and 1 can tomato puree because I wanted a thicker sauce):

 4. Mix it all up:

5. Add in some pepper and a bit of sugar:

6. Let it cook down for 20-30 minutes (check out that steam!):

7. Add in 1 cup heavy cream (I used 1/4 heavy cream and 3/4 half & half):

8. Swirl it around to make a gorgeous shade of orange:

9. Add in lots of parmesan cheese:

10. Add in your chosen cooked pasta and mix well:

11. Add fresh basil on top when you serve it.  Please, please, please do this step!  The taste of fresh basil complements the sauce PERFECTLY:

Pasta With Tomato Cream Sauce
from The Pioneer Woman

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 cans (15 Ounce Each) Tomato Sauce Or Marinara Sauce
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Dash Of Sugar (more To Taste)
1 cup Heavy Cream
Grated Parmesan Or Romano Cheese, To Taste
Fresh Basil, Chopped
1-½ pound pasta

Preparation Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for a minute or so.

3. Pour in tomato sauce and add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Stir and cook over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Remove from heat and stir in cream.

5. Add cheese to taste, then check seasonings.

6. Stir in pasta and chopped basil and serve immediately.

Pumpkin Apple Bread or Muffins

I know it looks like I put a giant pat of butter on my muffin, but I'm not crazy, I put a giant pat of CREAM CHEESE on my muffin.  The flash just messed with it.

 There are lots of pictures missing for this recipe and that's because my boyfriend and I started making these and then part way through I remembered, oh right!  I have a crafty blog and should be photographing this for a post.

Pumpkin Apple Bread or Muffins
recipe from food.com


3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree (such as Libby's)
4 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup apple juice (or water)
2 apples, peeled, cored, & diced

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray pans with Pam (2 loaf pans or 1 loaf pan and 1 muffin tray). Or be fancy with butter and flour.


2. In a small bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, & salt.

3. In a large bowl combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, applesauce, & apple juice until well-blended.

4. Add flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture.

5. Fold in diced apples.

6. Spoon mixture into loaf or muffin pans or both if you're indecisive like me. 

7. Bake for 60 minutes for loaf pan(s) and about 40 for muffins.

I want to learn how to knit

 so I can make this gorgeous scarf:

Overnight French Toast Casserole

Overnight French Toast Casserole
originally from food.com

12 pieces of bread
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 sprinkle of nutmeg
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

 

1. Spray 9 x 13 casserole dish with Pam:

 2. Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg:

3. Put 6 pieces of bread in the casserole dish:

4. Sprinkle them with the sugar mixture and spread evenly with the spoon:

5. Add another bread layer:

6. Sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the bread:

7. Crack 4 eggs in a bowl:

8. Scramble them and add a dash of vanilla:

9. Add the milk:

10. Mix in the milk:

11. Pour the eggy-vanilla-milk over the bread and evenly distribute using the spoon:

12. All ready for the fridge!:

13. After a night in the fridge:

14. After baking for 25 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered:

 
This is a fun recipe to modify.  If you have leftover cinnamon or pumpkin bread you can make it using that bread instead.  You can also insert fruit into the bottom and middle layers (it will dry out on the top layer).  I like to serve it with Crockpot Apple Pie Filling instead of using maple syrup or honey.