Knitting in Public: Otherwise Known as Yarnoholics Anonymous

My husband is always telling people about my "knitting club."  There is no membership requirement, other than showing up, and we have a great group of ladies and one very cute sixteen year old young man named Caleb.  Our "Yarnaholics Anonymous" group meets Wednesday afternoons and Thursday evenings at our local yarn shop, Magpie's Cottage in Sheboygan Falls, WI.  This week in honor of World Wide Knit In Public Week, we took it outside!

We gathered at Settler's Park in Sheboygan Falls under the gazebo on the banks of the Sheboygan River.

That's Sheila, Joann and Bonnie.  Joann is wearing her "Group Therapy" outfit.

We brought cookies for the cookie swap.  You can find the recipe for these Coffee Crisps by clicking here.

Then we knitted. 

Here are some photos of what I worked on.  

The yarn is "Chakra" from Mango Moon. It was handspun and beaded in Indonesia and proceeds from the yarn help provide safe shelter, health care and educations to families in Nepal & Indonesia.

The yarn has a nice drape.

And the color will really make my green eyes pop!

Did I mention the most important  thing for knitting in public?  An easy pattern!  At Yarnaholics Anonymous we like to chat, and it's important not to have too much counting or keeping track to do.    It's called "Chakra Scarf" designed by Paula Zenick, the owner of Really Knit Stuff in Tallahassee, FL.  It was a free pattern with the yarn, and requires little concentration.

The perfect project for World Wide Knitting in Public!

Did you Knit in Public this week?

The Real Housewife of Sheboygan County

The First Food I Ever Cooked: A Walk Down Memory Lane

When I was young I received a cookbook from a teacher friend of my mother's, Mrs. Espy.  She taught high school English.   I have tried in vain to find this cookbook, as I know I would never give it away, but to no avail.  The cookbook was especially for kids, and used kitchen appliances such as the toaster oven, the "fry-daddy" and maybe the "Presto" hamburger maker - remember those?

Mrs. Espy had gone through the cookbook and written little notes in red pen, such as "These sound delicious!"  "I can't wait to try these!"  And next to some recipes, she just drew a smiley face.  This was my first experience with a cookbook, and especially one of my own.   The recipe I remember making was Biscuit Pizzas, and I think I remember it went something like this:

Ingredients:

1 can of refrigerator biscuits

tomato sauce

cheese

Instructions:

Pat out biscuit dough until it forms a flat round.  Top with tomato sauce and cheese.  Place in toaster oven (or real oven) for time recommended on biscuit can.

That's it!  

In honor of Mrs. Espy, I made them again, but "doctored" them up a little.  They were a big hit with the hubby, and I'm sure P-Nugget will like helping make them when she's big enough.

Mrs. Espy was a very nice lady, and when she passed away, there was an auction for some of her belongings.  My mother acquired some Southern Living cookbooks from the auction, and sure enough, Mrs. Espy had written little notes on the pages.  Now when we look at the cookbooks, we think of her.  I think this is the reason that I make notes in my cookbooks and on my recipes - someone will have my books someday (maybe little Mary-Claire) and with my notes, the books will have just a little more personality.

I still buy kid's cookbooks, and I recently bought the Sesame Street one for Mary-Claire.  The Emeril's is an autographed copy from a few years back:

I can't wait until she's old enough to help me pick something out!

What was the first thing you remember cooking?  I'd love to hear!

The Real Housewife of Sheboygan County

No Recipe? No Problem

I am still participating in the Dinner On A Deadline project, and our homework for this week was to cook without a recipe.  Ten years ago this might have been a problem, but after taking a 14 week Basic Food Prep class at the local community college, I became much more comfortable in the kitchen.  Now I see ingredients as a starting place, instead of relying on a recipe for everything.  Yes, I still try recipes, but I don't fret if I don't have all the ingredients.  Sometimes, the best meals come from just winging it!  

Tonight I started with this:

Lettuce Leaf Basil from my herb garden

then found this in the pantry

Heated it up like this  (over low)

Deglazed with this

And ended up with this

Tasty

The Great Pantry Experiment: 2010 Spice Oddysey

My Dinner On A Deadline homework this week was to organize my pantry.  I have been meaning to do this for a long time, and had even planned on taking "inventory" at the beginning of the year so I would know exactly what I had.  It took this homework to finally get me in gear.

The project started on Monday with the spice cabinet and the pantry, then continued on Tuesday with the refrigerator and freezer.  I threw spices away that no longer "smelled" potent enough, and threw away some items that had "use by" dates from 2006.  The silken tofu might have still been good, but I decided not to take any chances.  I also entered into my computer, by category, what I have, so that when I'm in a desperation dinner sort of mode, I can scan my inventory list and make up a recipe.

The second part of the homework was to make dinner based on some of the pantry items I found, and pair them with one splurge item to make dinner.  These are the items I decided to utilize:

I have had the Red Curry Paste for a loooong time, but it had never been opened, so I figured it was fine.  I wasn't sure what to do with it, but there was a recipe on the side for Red Curry Shrimp, and I just happened to have ALL of the ingredients.  I couldn't remember why I bought the coconut milk, but figured I'd give it a go.  

 The recipe called for 1-2 Tablespoons of curry paste, but due to my hubby's sensitive stomach, I used only 2 teaspoons.  It was still so spicy we both had to have a glass of milk (two for him) to cool the heat! The flavor, however was fabulous, and I will be making this again - just with a little less curry paste!

I served this over brown jasmine rice, made in my trusty rice cooker.  Besides my fancy electric tea kettle, probably my favorite kitchen appliance.  Shrimp - the big ones, were my splurge item here, although I do try to have them on hand as they are quick thawing and take only a few minutes to cook.

So, The Great Pantry Experiment is complete and here are a few tips:

1.  Organize things according to how you use them - for example, I have all my baking staples, i.e. flour, sugar, etc. together.  Some things are even in a pull out bin for easy access.  

2.  Place like things together - mustards, vinegars, oils, Asian sauces 

3.  Label & Date things in your freezer - I do this, but am still guilty of forgetting to use things.  Now at least I know what I have!  I threw away some wickedly freezer burned meatballs I made well over a year ago.

Pantry Staples I just HAVE to have:

Pasta

Jarred Pasta Sauce (good quality- no high fructose corn syrup stuff)

Eggs

Rice - several varieties

Cheese (I do live in Wisconsin)

Hope you have a great Memorial Day.  My assignment for next week is to cook without recipes, which is what I do most of the time, so let's see what I come up with!

The Real Housewife of Sheboygan County

Dinner on A Deadline: Week 2

Granted, my posts have gotten less frequent since the baby arrived, but I am still committed to Dinner on A Deadline.  Homework for this week was "planning."  Never my strong suit, being a right brained, creative type, but like Frank Sinatra, I did it "My Way."  

At the beginning of the week I had the conversation with hubby on scheduling - what nights will he be home and what nights he has meetings or other obligations.  He told me he would be home Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday, and on Tuesday we would have our big city friend, Rufus, joining us and it's a tradition that they barbecue.  Easy enough.

Now, to scan the freezer.  We had chicken, and steak.  Perfect for barbecue.  I have a simple marinade that I use for chicken.  I know I could use a bottle of italian dressing, but have you read the ingredient list on most of the bottles?  I swear I can't pronounce most of it, so I have a basic marinade I use and "doctor" it up depending on what herbs I might have around.  Here are the ingredients for the basic marinade:

Olive oil - I don't use Extra Virgin here because it's just going to get cooked. Save the good stuff for your salad dressing!

Vinegar - here I used White Balsamic, but be creative - if you're grilling pork, an apple cider vinegar would be nice, or red wine vinegar is good for flank steak

Salt - here is used Mediterranean Sea Salt, but Kosher is great, too

Pepper - I like freshly ground

My proportions are as follows - there is no science to this

A "count" of olive oil for each piece you are grilling - i.e. 4 pieces of chicken, you pour as you're counting 1, 2, 3, 4  (I made this up, but it works)

I did about double the count of vinegar - it pours slower, but really did it until it equaled a little over 1/3 cup  (again, NOT science)

Salt - about 7 cranks on the grinder (if I were using Kosher I would have used 1t. for this amount)

Pepper - about 7-8 turns of the grinder

There's a reason recipes say "season to taste"  It's OK to "wing it!"

Add any herbs that might go with what you are grilling - in the summer I love basil with this, but also know that the marinade is good just as is, extremely cheap to make and takes almost less time than opening a bottle of salad dressing, and you know EXACTLY what's in it!

Next, I pour this over the chicken in a plastic bag and let it sit for at least 30 minutes like this:

You can even mix the marinade in the bag if you like!

Next for the steak - here's my trick.  I watch for beef tenderloin to be on sale at our local market - no kidding, I think I got this for $3.69/lb.  Then, have the butcher cut it into filets - thickness of your choice - I usually do about an inch, which makes for a perfect serving size.  Then I portion into quart size freezer bags and take out what I need.  I also label them so I know how many are in the bag and when I froze them....

Oops!  These have been here a while, but guess what, they were surprisingly fresh looking when thawed, so luckily no freezer burn.  All the more reason to plan your dinners!

A tender cut like this gets simple treatment - a little olive oil and salt & pepper.  That's it.

I tossed a mixed green salad with strawberries & goat cheese, used a basically the same mix for the marinade for the simple salad dressing and we were set!

Uncle Rufus was a happy camper!  And so was Mary-Claire!

My Wednesday dinner was shrimp from the freezer, linguine from the pantry and jarred pasta sauce.  Not fancy, not pretty, but I did it!  And we liked it!

Now awaiting my next assignment from Dinner On A Deadline!  

Have a great weekend!

The Real Housewife of Sheboygan County

The Dinner on a Deadline Project

I happened upon this post the other day, and it got me thinking about my recent dinner endeavors.  I am a person who finds a lot of satisfaction in cooking, however since I became pregnant last summer, and now that I have given birth, I have been slacking in my culinary duties.

Luckily, I have a husband who doesn't mind, but I do know how much he appreciates when I go the extra mile.  We tend to eat healthier, more balanced fare, and there is something to be said about knowing exactly how your food is prepared.  

So, upon reading the post from Married With Dinner, I decided to get back in the game, food wise.  It really doesn't take that long, so I have committed to taking the fish, pork, chicken, beef, or whatever else I might need out of the freezer at least three times per week and putting a healthy meal on the table.  It really doesn't take that long, and although it may not always be pretty, it's better than some of processed stuff we have been eating too much of.

Here was last night's meal, which was truly a hit with my family.  

We started with this:

Just a simple green salad with tomatoes, a sprinkling of parmesan and some Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette, although I do make my own dressing frequently.

We proceeded to the main course

From Southern Living May issue - click here for the recipe

Spicy Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Blackberry Sauce

Very easy, and very tasty.  For some reason I tend to forget how easy pork can be to prepare, so it doesn't get into the rotation very often.

We rounded out the meal with just a smidge of leftover mashed potatoes & stuffing from the night before.

Finally, a simple fruit cup for dessert:  fresh pineapple ($2.79 at Costco!), strawberries, blackberries and some cut up Clementines.  

Project Dinner on a Deadline has begun!  

Hope you try it!

The Real Housewife of Sheboygan County

Our St. Patrick's Day Celebration!

We started celebrating St. Patrick's Day last night with this dinner

 Beef & Guinness Stew from Cooking Light March 2010 (click for recipe)

 Mrs. O'Callaghan's Soda Bread

Yummy!

For breakfast, we had these!

Guinness Spiced Muffins and they were excellent! 

Everyday in our house, the Irish are celebrated in some form or other.  We both have Irish blood:  My family, the McBrides came to this country pre-Revolutionary war, so we don't know much about which part of Ireland from which they emigrated.  Hubby's family, the Conways & the Jennings are still mostly in Ireland - County Mayo, and his grandparents met in Chicago after arriving here in the 20th Century.  

We celebrate by welcoming our guests like this:

And no matter what the decor, I'm sure we will always have this displayed somewhere

And let's no forget how we try to "play" each day

And finally, we can't forget our dog "Paddy"

He brings lots of fun to our lives!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

The Real Housewife of Sheboygan County

Hot Biscuits for Lunch

I have been thinking a lot about biscuits this week since reading this post over at www.browniesfordinner.com.  It's hard to find a good biscuit up North, and I spent so many years in the South that biscuits were taken for granted.  You could get a decent biscuit at a drive-thru--Chik-fil-A Chick-n Biscuit, anyone?  A southern girl's favorite breakfast!

So, when I read that post, I immediately went to her source recipe over at the Homesick Texan's blog. The recipe is very easy and requires few ingredients.

I did have to run out for buttermilk, but was happy to see that they had the pints!  These biscuits took about 30 minutes, and that includes clean-up and 12 minutes of baking time.  Here are mine right out of the oven:

Mine didn't turn out as "high" as I thought they might, but I do think I may have rolled them a little thin, as I ended up with 17 biscuits and the recipe says 10-12.  The more the merrier, right?  I think I'll freeze a few for later!

I eat mine with butter & honey!  My brother eats his with butter and a HUGE pile of grape jelly.  How do you eat yours?

Healthy Soup to Warm You Up from the Chill

Unfortunately our above freezing weather has come to an end.  It almost felt like Spring for a few days!  When the temperature drops, soup always fits the bill.  I ran across a recipe in Monday's USA Today, which I adapted and made for dinner last night.  It was easy, tasty, and best of all less than 200 calories for 1 1/4 cups, and 9 grams of fiber.  I added some cornbread and a little citrus for dessert, and it was a filling and hearty meal.  I hope you like it!

Black Bean Soup:

Ingredients:

1 small onion

1 T Chili Powder

1 t. ground cumin

2 15 oz cans of black beans, drained & rinsed

3 c water (or I used 2 c chicken stock & 1 cup water)

1/2 cup prepared salsa (I used Tostitos Medium Chunky)

1/4 t. salt

1 T. Lime Juice (I omitted, as my lime was shriveled!)

Sour Cream & Cilantro for garnish if desired

Directions:

Saute' onion in 1T. canola oil for 2-3 minutes, then add chili powder & cumin

Add beans, water or stock, salsa & salt.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat & simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in lime juice.

Puree' 1/2 the mixture in blender or use hand immersion blender

Garnish if desired & serve

Makes 4 servings 1 1/4 cups each

The taste was great and can be adjusted to suit different heat tolerances, via your chili powder & salsa choices.  It was a little thinner than I thought it might be, so next time I may only rinse & drain 1 can of beans and use the other as is!

Today will be my first knitting class at Magpie's Cottage.  Now that I've adjusted to my crochet hooks, let's see how it goes with two needles!

Wish me luck!

The Real Housewife of Sheboygan County

Home-Made Takeout: Lighter General Tso's Chicken

Towards the end of the year I wasn't cooking as much as I'd like.  Not sure if it was due to the pregnancy fatigue, or just laziness on my part, but I enjoy cooking, so have vowed to try to cook at least three times per week when my husband isn't traveling.


I have developed a taste for Asian food - sushi, Thai, Chinese - and one of my favorites is Chang's Spicy Chicken from P.F. Changs.  The big problem is that P.F. Chang's is over an hour from us, so it's definitely a special occasion thing.


I was happy to find this recipe (click on recipe) from Martha Stewart last year, and have made it several times.  It's easy, tasty and lighter than a lot of take-out.  I serve with long-grain brown rice cooked in my trusty Sanyo Rice Cooker ( Sanyo ECJ-HC55S 5-1/2-Cup Micro-Computerized Rice Cooker and Slow Cooker, White), and it turns out perfectly every time.  I usually make a little extra sauce, and yesterday added shredded carrots for a little more color.  You can cut back on the crushed red pepper flakes if you don't like it too spicy.

Also, the rice is served in my new piece of Fiestaware.  I love the color and the pattern on the side of the bowl.  Very pretty!

Good luck!  I hope you try it the next time you're craving take-out!


Stay Warm,


The Real Housewife of Sheboygan County