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#SundaySupper: National Pizza Month

~ lk529 ~ 20 Comments

Did you know that October is National Pizza Month? If you didn’t, don’t be too bummed that you’ve missed 3 weeks of pizza goodness because the Sunday Supper crew and I have over 50 pizza recipes to help you celebrate these last 8 days properly. Just scroll past my recipe to see an array of pizzas to get you through every meal. A big thank you to Coleen of The Red Headed Baker for hosting this massive event!

Being born in Chicago, I’m pretty sure pizza runs in my blood, so how could I not participate in today’s event?! Growing up we had pizza every Friday night, finding a Chicago style thin-crust pizza place in Florida where we soon became good friends with the owners thanks to our regular status. I even baby sat their kids once or twice!

Sticking to my Chicago roots I decided to recreate the classic deep dish pizza that everyone associates with the Windy City.

However, I can’t miss an opportunity to say that my two favorite pizza places are actually Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder for their pizza pot pies and Aurelio’s for their thin crust pizza cut into squares like all pizza should be!

Back to our deep dish recipe. I found a Copy Cat recipe for UNO’s pizza and set to work.

I don’t have a deep dish pizza pan so I opted for my spring form pan. Cooking experience number one brought to realization that the dough recipe created too much crust for my size pan, making our pizza very deep dish indeed! So, I made it again and used about half of the dough for a much more perfect ratio of ingredients. The other half of the dough is sitting in my freezer itching to be baked into more sausage pizza goodness.

Copy Cat: UNO's Pizza for #SundaySupper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Copy Cat: UNO’s Pizza

Ingredients for crust:

  • 1 C warm water (105-110 deg F)
  • 2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
  • 3 – 3 1/2 C flour
  • 1/2 C corn meal
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 C vegetable oil

Ingredients for pizza:

  • 1 lb sliced mozzarella cheese
  • 1 lb mild Italian sausage, casing removed, cooked
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes in tomato sauce
  • 5 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
  • 1/4 C shredded parmesan cheese

Steps:

  1. Bloom the yeast in the warm water for 10 minutes. Place in the bottom of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add 1 C of the flour, corn meal, salt, and oil and mix until combined. Add the remaining flour 1/2 C at a time until the dough forms together around the hook. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl and cover. Allow dough to rise 45-60 minutes until doubled in size.
  2. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
  3. Press dough into a deep dish pizza pan, cast iron skillet, or spring form pan. Make sure the dough comes up the edges an inch or two. Cover and let rise another 15 minutes.
  4. Layer mozzarella cheese on top of the crust, top with cooked sausage and the garlic, spoon the tomatoes over the sausage (you don’t want all of the juices), sprinkle with basil and parmesan.
  5. Bake pizza for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 400 degrees F and bake another 20-35 minutes until the crust is golden and reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees F.
  6. Allow pizza to rest 10 minute before cutting so as not to find yourself under an avalanche of melty cheese.

*This recipe is adapted from grberk at http://www.food.com/recipe/pizzeria-uno-chicago-deep-dish-pizza-205279*

Copy Cat: UNO's Pizza for #SundaySupper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Breakfast

Appetizers

Condiments

Mains

Desserts

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out ourPinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

#ChoctoberFest: Cocoa Butter Granola

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Dislcaimer: I received products as part of #Choctoberfest for review. All opinions and statements are my own.

#Choctoberfest

I’m happy to be back for the final day of #ChoctoberFest to remind you it’s your last chance to enter the amazing giveaway thanks to our fabulous sponsors. One of those sponsors, Caveman Coffee, provided product that is the star of my recipe today.

caveman-coffee-logoCaveman Coffee was founded by three athletes (I can’t wait to share this information with my husband when we reunite this weekend!) who joined forces with a master coffee roaster from Albuquerque to create sustainable and naturally grown coffee. Their coffee beans are hand-picked and wet-processed before roasting.

In addition to coffee they have other paleo-friendly products, including Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter, and Green Tea.

cc-packageI received a bag of White Gold coffee beans and a bag of cocoa butter as part of #Choctoberfest. I’d never worked with cocoa butter before and was quite excited to explore its possibilities. I honestly didn’t even know what to expect! In my mind I was picturing something along the lines of a nut or seed butter (after all, cocoa is a seed). Contrary to my perception, cocoa butter is better used as an oil or dairy butter substitute, with a slightly chocolaty aura. The best part is that it’s a healthy vegan option that doesn’t involve coconut which I’m allergic to!

I decided to make a granola using the cocoa butter, but my head is already reeling with more ways to use the product. I’m dreaming about some rice krispie treat action… Caveman Coffee suggest stirring it into their hot coffee for a mocha inspired beverage.

This granola is addicting and perfect for topping your morning yogurt with some fresh strawberries. It can be used in any way you’d use a sweet granola – in cookies or pancakes and atop ice cream. I tested it out as my morning cereal and while it does work, the min chocolate chips make it a little “odd,” but the oats were fantastic with the addition of cool milk.

Cocoa Butter Granola featuring Caveman Coffee Cocoa Butter for #Choctoberfest from Sew You Think You Can Cook

My boys quite enjoyed the granola as well. Even my Treat who doesn’t like oatmeal quite enjoyed the sweetened oats when paired with strawberries and vanilla yogurt. However, when given a cup to himself, Firecracker simply picked out the chocolate chips.

Cocoa Butter Granola

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 C cocoa butter
  • 1/2 C brown sugar
  • 2 1/2 C old fashioned oats
  • 1/2 C mini chocolate chips

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
  2. Place cocoa butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted. Remove from heat and stir in the oats, tossing to coat.
  3. Spread oats onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake 20 minutes, tossing halfway through. Allow oats to cool before tossing with the chocolate chips.

cocoa-butter-granola-for-choctboerfest-from-sew-you-think-you-can-cook

Don’t forget to enter our giveaway and be sure to check out the other bloggers who posted more chocolate recipes today:

#ChoctoberFest 2016: The Giveaway

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Choctoberfest-2015-1

Today marks the kickoff of #Choctoberfest. #Choctoberfest is a virtual event put together by The PinterTest Kitchen. Bloggers from around the world will be posting their favorite chocolate recipes, and you’ll get a chance to win some awesome prizes. It’s a two week event dedicated solely to chocolate! Sweet or savory, white or dark – it’s all good! What’s not to love?

Thank you to the sponsors who make #Choctoberfest possible! This year, Imperial Sugar is back as our Gold Sponsor. They have been a trusted name in kitchens since 1843, and their website is home to thousands of sweet recipes tested in the Imperial Sugar Kitchen. You can find Imperial Sugar on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, or join their Sweet Community so you can share your own recipes, save recipes to a virtual inbox, print Imperial Sugar coupons, and connect with other sugar lovers.

Imperial Sugar and our silver sponsors have banded together to offer a huge #Choctoberfest prize pack, which you can enter to win below! One lucky winner will be chosen at random to receive the following:

  • From our Gold Sponsor Imperial Sugar: 1 case of granulated sugar (40 pounds), 1 case of brown sugar (24 pounds), 1 case of dark brown sugar (24 pounds), 1 case of powdered sugar (24 pounds bags), and an Imperial Sugar red ruffle apron
  • From our Silver Sponsor Nature Nate’s: 32 oz. Raw & Unfiltered Honey bottle, Honey Syrup, Honey Packets, a Nature Nate’s T-shirt, various kitchen supplies, and $50 Amazon gift card
  • From our Silver Sponsor Barlean’s:16 oz Barlean’s Butter-Flavored Coconut Oil, 9.52 oz canister of Chocolate Silk Greens, and 8oz bottle of Essential Women Omega-Swirl Chocolate Mint
  • From our Silver Sponsor Caveman Coffee: 1 Bag of Coffee (you choice of blacklisted or sabertooth), 1 coconut MCT oil, and 1 Cacao Butter
  • From #Choctoberfest blog hosts The PinterTest Kitchen: 1 specialty chocolate gift pack (your choice of dark or milk chocolate), 1 tin (14 ounces) drinking chocolate, and Divine’s Fair Trade Gift Set

Enter now to win our #Choctoberfest 2016 prize pack! A winner will be chosen at random  on Saturday, Oct. 22, so enter by Friday the 21st to make sure your name is in the drawing:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Here’s a list of all of the bloggers participating in #Choctoberfest 2016. Visit any of their blogs to get delicious chocolate recipes throughout the event:

The PinterTest Kitchen • 2 Cookin’ Mamas • A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures • addicted 2 recipes • Amy’s Cooking Adventures • An Affair From The Heart • Balancing Motherhood • Body Rebooted • Bottom Left of the Mitten • By the Pounds • Canning and Cooking at Home • Coconut & Lime • Cook with 5 Kids • Cook’s Hideout • Cookaholic Wife • Cooking with Carlee • CopyKat Recipes • Cricket’s Confections • Crumbs in my Mustachio • Elisabeth Jean • Fairyburger • Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice • Family Around the Table • Fantastical Sharing of Recipes • Feed Your Soul Too • Feeding Big • Frankly Entertaining • Full Belly Sisters • Get the Good Stuff • Grumpy’s Honeybunch • Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks • Hostess At Heart • Ink and Sugar • Jane’s Adventures in Dinner • Join Us, Pull Up a Chair • Karen’s Kitchen Adventures • Kate’s Recipe Box • Kudos Kitchen by Renee • Kylee Cooks • Letz Eat • Life Currents • Life on Food • Making Miracles • Monica’s Table • Moore or Less Cooking Food Blog • My Catholic Kitchen • My Gluten Free Miami • Our Good Life • Palatable Pastime • Restless Chipotle • Seduction in The Kitchen • Sew You Think You Can Cook • Simple Food 365 • Southern With A Twist • Sumptuous Spoonfuls • Take Two Tapas • Tampa Cake Girl • Teaspoon of Goodness • That Recipe • The Crumby Cupcake • The Flavourista • The Food Hunter’s Guide To Cuisine • The Freshman Cook • The Pajama Chef • The Redhead Baker • The Spiffy Cookie •  Tramplingrose • Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen • Zesty South Indian Kitchen

I will be sharing a recipe for each part of your day throughout the course of the event: breakfast, snack, dinner, and of course, dessert. Stay tuned – and I hope you’ll check out everyone’s chocolaty offerings, too.

Tuesday Tattles #18

~ lk529 ~ 4 Comments

Tuesday Tattles

It’s time for my next Tuesday Tattles Library Edition. A couple of weeks ago I shared our favorite bed time and nap time reads.

Because it would be too overwhelming to put all of our favorites in one post, I’ve been struggling with how to break up the “day time” books. I’ve thought about educational versus just for fun. But, really, just about every book falls in that first category.

I then thought about categorizing the books between infant and toddler, but I don’t really believe that books aren’t for every age and stage at the under 4 mark.

13939534_10103960364290081_3975369332799635853_nMy book list keeps growing, too! As soon as I hit “publish” on the bed time books post, Firecracker decided to add even more books to our night time routine. He’s really putting my poor vision to the test by reading not as popular books by the nightlight’s glow.

Treat’s favorite activity is pulling books off of the bookshelf in their room, and now that he’s walking like a champ he’ll bring me a book or two. I’m not sure if he really wants me to read them because as soon as I crack open the cover and start reading he toddles away!

Okay, enough dawdling. Here’s what I’m picking to share with you today and there’ll be more to come soon.

10 of the Best Books for Babies | Sew You Think You Can Cook | http://sewyouthinkyoucancook.com


The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

tvhcI begin our library catalog with a classic. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a great book for teaching days of the week and counting. I actually can’t read this book without, in my head, reciting Joey Tribbiani’s days of the week monologue “Wednesday – when? what day? Thursday – the third day!” Ironically, this book became a favorite teething toy of Firecracker’s…

The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle

I continue with another board book by Eric Carle. The Very Lonely Firefly is a cute book that works for bed time due to its repetitive writing. It’s a hit with my kids because the last page lights up. Firecracker learned the words “owl” and “eyes” from this book.

Favorite Books for Babies | Sew You Think You Can CookDr. Seuss’s A B C

This alphabet book is the one I grew up on! My mom had (still does) this book memorized, and I do too. It’s definitely one of my all time favorites to read to my kids.

First 100 Words by Roger Priddy

If you want to be constantly impressed and amazed with how much your toddler knows, get him this book. My aunt gave us this book for Christmas and it’s gone with us on every vacation. As kids get older you can transition to quizzing them on vocabulary, asking them to point out different words/pictures. Eventually, they’ll be “reading” it to themselves.

Put Me In the Zoo by Robert Lopshire

My mother-in-law grew up on this book and introduced it to us. It’s a cute book that teaches colors, but also has an underlying theme of rejection, wanting to belong, and finding the perfect place to be yourself. We have the mini board book, which I know leaves out some of the fun, I’d be curious to find the full story and read more about Spot.

The Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz

This book version of the classic song has been in instant favorite with both of my boys. Firecracker still loves to read it and when I start reading it to Treat he comes running saying he wants to see, too. I never sang along with the book because I don’t need the song stuck in my head! The one exception is when Firecracker wants to read it before bed; I then turn it into a ballad and rock him back and forth as I sing.

Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? by Karen Katz

Another fun Karen Katz book, this one has flaps to lift to find baby’s eyes, mouth, and belly button. It’s a cute way to teach basic body parts as well as a little game of peek-a-boo. Surprisingly, it’s one of the few books that the boys haven’t completely demolished. Once Treat learns how to lift the flaps and play along with the book, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before it gets torn. Are any one else’s kids completely aggressive towards their library!?

Peek-A-Zoo! and Peek-A Who? by Nina Laden

Books for Babies | Sew You Think You Can CookPeek-A-Zoo was given to Firecracker for his first birthday and he loved it immediately. It was a book I could hand in him the car and he’d enjoy flipping through it. Because it was such a hit, before our last flight I bought the original for Treat. I’d venture to say it’s his favorite book! He actually laughs out loud at each turn of the page.

The Little Engine That Could

I’ll round out this book list at ten titles. This abridged version of the classic tale of never giving up was Firecracker’s favorite book when he was 16 months old. As his train related book collection has grown it’s been set aside. Not that it stops him from enjoying it on occasion. He even has the first four pages memorized. When he’s playing pretend with his trains I’ll hear him reciting “puff puff chug chug ding dong ding dong the little train rumbled over the tracks. happy train.”

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

#SundaySupper: Recipes for World Vegetarian Day

~ lk529 ~ 27 Comments

One weekend after church we decided to go for a relaxing walk to get brunch. After enjoying a new (to us) restaurant we explored the area some more.

We typically find ourselves in that part of town for dinner and all of the shops are closed so it was fun to pop into some cute kids boutiques and my new favorite kitchen store!

The store was having a cookbook sale and I became immersed in their table of beautiful books.

I was drawn to The Vibrant Table by Anya Kassoff. It’s a cookbook of vegetarian, vegan, and raw recipes. Not a cuisine I dabble in too often, but when the food photography displays such vibrant dishes I couldn’t put it down!

I’m excited to explore the world of vegetarian and vegan cooking more to add some diversity to our menu and cater to friends of ours.

Speaking of, when our friends welcomed their third child into the family I brought them this beautiful salad. I doubled the recipe for them and brought it over with the dressing kept in a mason jar for when they were ready to enjoy it. I was also sure to leave them with a copy of the recipe.

Naturally, I had to reserve a serving’s worth to photograph it! And then, I had to eat it! This salad is so bright and fresh, and satisfying with all of the protein packed legumes. As I’m not a huge fan of cucumber, I reserved my chunks for Treat to have for lunch the following day – they disappeared!

I will not hesitate to make this salad again.

October 1st is World Vegetarian Day and the month of October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, so the Sunday Supper crew, being led by Susan of The Wimpy Vegetarian, has many different ways to help get more veggies into your diet. Be sure to scroll past my recipe to see them all!

Strawberry Soba Noodle Salad

Ingredients for salad:

  • 1 pkg (9 oz) soba noodles
  • handful snow peas, trimmed
  • handful sugar snap peas, trimmed
  • 1 C frozen peas
  • 1 C frozen shelled edamame
  • 1 carrot, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced into matchsticks
  • 1 cucumber, chopped
  • 12 strawberries, sliced
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Ingredients for dressing:

  • 1″ fresh ginger, grated
  • 3 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 1/2 tbsp tamari
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 1/2 tbsp agave

Steps:

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook all of the peas for 2 minutes and then blanch in ice water. Drain and set aside.
  2. Cook noodles according to package instructions. Rinse under cold water.
  3. In a large bowl combine noodles, peas, strawberries, carrots, bell peppers, cucumber, cilantro, and sesame seeds.
  4. Make dressing: whisk together the ingredients. Pour over salad, tossing to coat. Serve.

*This recipe is adapted from The Vibrant Table*

strawberry-soba-noodle-salad-for-sundaysupper-from-sew-you-think-you-can-cook

Appetizers

Entrees

Sides

Desserts

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out ourPinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Tuesday Tattles #17

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

It’s come to my realization that I haven’t actually shared our favorite kids books! I know I’ve sprinkled them into some of Firecracker’s monthly favorites – a series that’s gone the wayside as he approached and passed 2.

As I started to list all of the books that we love I gawked at how long it was and yet how much I was leaving out. So, I’m going to do a few book series during Tuesday Tattles over the next couple of months.

I’m going to start with the best bedtime books. These are books that have helped lull my kids into naps or have become cemented into the bedtime routine.

our-top-8-books-for-bed-time-sew-you-think-you-can-cook

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

This title might seem like a strange one to include on a bedtime book list, but between 19-22 months I had this book engraved into my memory. Our bedtime routine always concluded with my son falling asleep in my lap while I rocked him and read Green Eggs and Ham. Not only is it a book to encourage trying new foods, its very rhythmic and repetitive script transforms into the perfect “lullaby.”

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat isn’t quite as repetitive as Green Eggs and Ham but I did develop a rhythm in reading it that turned out to be just the ticket I needed for nap time. (Back when Firecracker took naps.) It’s a long book for an active boy to sit through and we’d often only make it halfway though, never venturing into the part of the story with Thing 1 and Thing 2, before he’d drift off to sleep in my lap in the rocking chair.

img_0497Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff

Danny and the Dinosaur was one of my husband’s favorite books as a kid and my in-laws gave us the Danny and the Dinosaur 50th Anniversary Box Set before our cross-country move. I remember it being the first book I read in our new home. Just like The Cat in the Hat, Danny and the Dinosaur quickly became associated with pre-nap reading.

Steam Train, Dream Train Colors by Sherri Duskey Rinker

My mom found this book and Steam Train, Dream Train 1-2-3 for my boys for Easter. I used to keep them both in the car (the books, not the boys) and Firecracker would happily “read” through them, often finally falling asleep. I’m not sure when it happened, but the colors book found its way inside and is now mandatory bedtime reading. He even has the first page memorized. He doesn’t fall asleep reading this book, though. We often read it 2-3 times. Graduating from color recognition, he states all of the letters in the words at each turn of the page. I can recite this book for memory and can “read” it in the pitch black of night.

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img_2950Where Do Steam Trains Sleep at Night? by Brianna Caplan Sayres

Here’s another gem given to Firecracker by my mom. It’s a book that he was immediately drawn to. It’s a great book for little train lovers. The book describes different bed time routines for each style of train in two line poems about parent and child engines. My son loves finding the mouse “hidden” on each page.

The Goodnight Train by June Sobel

There had to be a unique train book that didn’t come from my mom, right?! We found this one in a cute children’s boutique nearby. I love the illustrations and whimsical feel. The Goodnight Train gets rotated with Where Do Steam Train Sleep at Night? at night. As a result, neither of them are memorized making it difficult to read when bedtime procrastination has left me not even a glow of sunlight.

img_3005Goodnight, Dragons by Judith Roth

Not every book can be about trains! I do have a second child after all. While we’ve had this book long before Treat came along, it didn’t get quite the attention or love until fairly recently. Goodnight, Dragons is, hands down, Treat’s favorite book. It’s the only one he’ll actually sit still (ish) for! What I love most about this book is its message: “Everybody needs a cuddle; maybe dragons more than most.”

If Animals Kissed Good Night by Ann Whitford Paul

The last book on my list is my personal favorite. It has cute little rhymes for multiple parent-child animal pairings as the day turns into night. But I think this book holds a special place in my heart because of the memories I have reading it to Firecracker when he was 12-18 months old: he was just learning how to kiss (a skill he is now way too aggressive with) and with every couplet read he’d turn and give me a kiss.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

Dutch Cream Waffles

~ lk529 ~ 3 Comments

No milk? No sugar? Want waffles? No problem!

These waffles can be made with only three, well if you count salt then four, ingredients! Eggs, heavy cream, and flour.

As my mother has pointed out to me on many an occasion, I use a lot of heavy cream in my kitchen, so it’s not uncommon that I’ll have run out of milk before running out of cream and when that happens, these waffles are a life saver. Sorry, Mom, I guess you won’t be making these waffles anytime soon. But, for the rest of you who may use heavy cream in your coffee, or simply have some leftover from another recipe, I highly encourage its use in this breakfast dish!

Four Ingredient Waffles (baby1) Sew You Think You Can Cook

We’ve made these waffles countless times already, and the photographs shared can attest to how long they’ve been a family favorite; look how little Firecracker is! These photos were taken before Treat was born! 6 days before, to be exact. Back when I thought I knew what wild was. I mean, seriously, he’s actually sitting in a chair and using a fork like a civilized member of society! Now I have two wild and crazy boys who can barely stay in a chair if they’re strapped in and to whom a fork is more a dangerous weapon than a tool used for bring food to one’s mouth.

Four Ingredient Waffles (baby2) Sew You Think You Can Cook

Dutch Cream Waffles

Ingredients:

  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 1 C heavy cream
  • 1 C flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Steps:

  1. Whisk egg yolks until frothy. Add the heavy cream and whisk until combined.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour and salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until incorporated.
  3. Place the egg whites in a large bowl and whip with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the waffle batter until just combined – do not over mix!
  4. Pour 1/3 C of the waffle batter into a greased waffle iron and cook until golden.

*This recipe is adapted from Tiffany at http://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/2015/01/4-ingredient-dutch-cream-waffles.html*

Dutch Cream Waffles: eggs, cream, flour, and salt | Sew You Think You Can Cook | sewyouthinkyoucancook.com

SRC: Nectarine Caprese Salad

~ lk529 ~ 12 Comments

newsrcbanner

It’s Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day! In the Secret Recipe Club, each participating blogger is assigned a blog from another participating blogger and secretly searches their site for something to recreate. The accompanying blog post then goes live on reveal day! So while I was immersed in my assigned blog, someone else was picking through mine! I’m so excited to be part of this group, to see what on my blog peaks other’s interests and to stumble upon new blogs and new recipes.

Tara introduced me to The Secret Recipe Club and ever since I was accepted into this fun blogging group I’ve been waiting for this day to come. The day I’d be assigned her blog, Tara’s Multicultural Table. (Tara was assigned my blog August 2014) When I saw my assignment pop in my email, I was on a walk with my mom and I literally yelled, “Yes!” and threw my arms up in the air. (You can go ahead and ask her! If you know her, that is.)

I have a dedicated Pinterest board to Tara’s blog so there wasn’t any stealthy searching for me to do this month. I’ve even commented on just about every post on her page in support of her incredible blogging career that’s blossomed over the past few years. Tara’s blog is quite different from mine and her dedication to her passion for international cuisine leaves me in awe. I don’t know how she keeps up with it! She is also the mother to two. Her kids love to join her in the kitchen and you can see fabulous photos of family bonding interspersed among stunning food photography.

Tara and I have known each other for 7-8 years, now. Our husbands were in the same ROTC class at Auburn and we were stationed in the FL panhandle together for 4 years. After that we parted ways and are hoping to be stationed together again soon!

Memorial Day 2015 we were able to reunite after almost a year apart at their home in the DC area. I got the opportunity to cook with her once again and witness her photography station. As if the timing couldn’t be perfect, we’ll be joining forces again this weekend when she comes to visit, I can’t wait for her to meet Treat! She is Firecracker’s godmother and we are godparents to Claire. The friendship we created in Florida has only grown while we’ve been separated, talking in one form or another almost daily.

tara&lauren

Okay, enough mushiness. On to the food!

I have made multiple recipes from Tara’s blog already, most posted on Sew You Think You Can Cook. There are even two or three dishes on my camera waiting for the right time to share them with you. I didn’t use those for today’s reveal though.

I gave Stuart a list of 4 things to pick from Tara’s blog: Burnt Honey Ice Cream, Carrot Cheddar Crackers, Nectarine Caprese, or Popcorn Tacos. It wasn’t until after handing him the notepad with the choices that I realized we got to try the ice cream first hand during our visit last year (we’re the friends mentioned for the tea she made in her review of the cookbook, too)! The popcorn tacos have been haunting my dreams ever since she posted them and you’ll be seeing them pop up here eventually (pun slightly intended). Same goes for the crackers, I’m always looking for ways to get more veggies in Firecracker’s diet.

Stuart decided on the caprese though, and I am glad he did. While it’s quite a simple option, it’s entirely delicious. Particularly when stone fruits are ripe and readily available in these summer months. I served this salad as a starter to salmon with roasted root veggies – quite the healthy night! I have decided, without question or fail, that I do not like yellow peaches. White peaches however are fantastic. I didn’t know if the same would be true for nectarines so I picked up both varieties. Turns out, I enjoy both varieties of nectarines but would recommend the yellow for this recipe. My knife cuts weren’t exactly restaurant worthy so I decided to layer my salad instead of stack it the way Tara had.

Nectarine Caprese Salad (1) Sew You Think You Can Cook

Nectarine Caprese Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 C balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2-3 ripe nectarines, sliced
  • 8 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
  • fresh basil, julienned

Steps:

  1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the balsamic vinegar and honey. Reduce by about 1/2. Set aside.
  2. Layer mozzarella slices and nectarine slices. Season with salt. Drizzle with balsamic reduction. Garnish with fresh basil.

*This recipe is adapted from Tara at http://tarasmulticulturaltable.com/nectarine-caprese-with-honey-balsamic-reduction/*

Nectarine Caprese Salad for #SecretRecipeClub from Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in The Secret Recipe Club this month click here:

Tuesday Tattles: 2nd Birthday

~ lk529 ~ 18 Comments

Tuesday Tattles

It’s finally time to share my Firecracker’s second birthday party, with you!

When we moved to California and became regulars at the playground I quickly realized it’d be a great place to have the kids’ birthday parties. I scoped out the venue for months to determine when would be the best time of day to throw a party at a public park, to figure out if it’d be allowed, and to decide which picnic table to claim. I then had to start asking around about how big the 4th of July got around here. The answer was a resounding “crazy!” So I knew that we simply wouldn’t be able to celebrate on THE day. (Good thing it wasn’t his 1st birthday!)

We celebrated on a Sunday at 10:30 am. Firecracker is only two weeks older than our friends’ son and so we did a dual birthday bash for the 2 year olds. Our guest lists would have been identical anyway. The party was attended by other families who moved out to California from Ohio the same time we did. And by happy coincidence, my dad had meetings in Los Angeles the following week so my parents came out for the party and my mom stayed out here to play and help with the kids while my dad was in his meetings!

IMG_9583I had originally planned (aka – when he was born I picked out his first four birthday themes) on having an Auburn themed birthday party. It was hard for me to change my mind, but I knew that my train obsessed toddler would much prefer a train themed party. So, I let go of my planning and switched gears.

This party was much smaller than his 1st birthday, so instead of ordering a cake, I decided to simply make cupcakes. I made 4 dozen cupcakes – way more than I needed. About half of them ended up in my freezer unfrosted. I displayed the cupcakes on Twizzler train tracks on our dining table. I made Busy Day Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes, my friend made the frosting for the vanilla cupcakes.

Cupcakes for a Train Themed 2nd Birthday Party

 

Down at the playground we set up a table with snacks. I cut out black circles and taped them to disposable aluminum loaf pans to create train cars. My friend had popsicle sticks which we used to create a track for the food.

A fruit train of pineapple, cherries, and red and green grapes was led by Orange Cream Dip and Chocolate Hummus. A veggie train of cherry tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, and carrots was led by Sour Cream and Onion Dip and Ranch. We also had a container of hummus. Salty snacks of pretzel sticks, potato chips, and “pigs” in a blanket joined the party, too. I traced a train cookie cutter to cut out the labels for the respective dips.

A train themed 2nd Birthday Party

After a couple of hours at the playground we moved the party to our place for grilling and cupcakes.

Decorations were fairly minimal too. I used the major Thomas and Friends character colors as my inspiration, blue, red, and green for Thomas, James, and Percy, respectively. I wrapped streamers around the banister for the stairs and tied some balloons on each end of the staircase. Balloons were attached to chairs at either end of the table were the cupcakes were displayed. Two sets (1 balloon of each color) of balloons were placed on Thomas the Tank Engine balloon weights and taken down to the playground to bookend our picnic table.

The biggest decorating endeavor was the Happy Birthday Banner. The banner was placed above our awesome 80’s style mirrored fireplace. I didn’t have a single hole puncher (I do now!) and couldn’t fit the train shapes in our stand 3 hole puncher, so my mom strung the banners together with a needle and thin yarn.

I found templates for a train engine, train car, and caboose through Google searching. I printed those out on colored card stock. I had two blue trains for the birthday boys’ names, a red train, and a green train. 4 red cabooses, and 19 grey train cars!  For the letters, I used the font Ariel. Three letters at a time were typed in WordArt at font size 96, then I sized the WordArt graphic to be 3.48″ x 8.81″, making sure the letters would fit inside the train cars, and then selected Rotate Flip Horizontal so that the text would be backwards. The words “2nd” and “and” followed the same method except that the WordArt graphic was sized at 1.52″ x 3″. The letters were arranged to look like railroad crossing signs and put on two 5″ yellow circles. Everything was cut out using a craft knife and adhered to the train cars using small glue dots.

IMG_9567

My attempt at getting a photo of the birthday boys with their cupcakes was a slight fail.

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SRC: Mini Pecan Pie Cupcakes

~ lk529 ~ 13 Comments

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It’s Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day! In the Secret Recipe Club, each participating blogger is assigned a blog from another participating blogger and secretly searches their site for something to recreate. The accompanying blog post then goes live on reveal day! So while I was immersed in my assigned blog, someone else was picking through mine! I’m so excited to be part of this group, to see what on my blog peaks other’s interests and to stumble upon new blogs and new recipes.

I had to chuckle when I received my assignment in my email this month. You see, for the past two reveals April of Angels Home Sweet Homestead was assigned my blog! For our themed barbecue/picnic reveal she made Mexican Street Corn Salad and for our traditional Group C reveal she chose Cinnamon and Honey Roasted Chickpeas. I suppose it was only fitting that I took my turn diving more deeply into April’s blog.

April’s philosophy behind her blog is fantastic. She writes:

I want to bring back a simpler way of life, where families sit down together to a home cooked meal and talk every day, growing as much of that food as possible with our own hands, and the old-fashioned art of canning that food too.

I just love that! While I can’t grow my own food – partly due to lack of yard but mostly due to lack of green thumb – I can provide home cooked meals for my family. After our 18 months in Ohio without a dining table, it was a goal for our California home to have a space dedicated to eating family dinners. Our large table fits perfectly off the kitchen (and doubles as extra counter space) and is set with two booster/highchair seats for my boys. We have finally gotten into a rhythm of dinner between 6-6:30 and I love it! Firecracker is reaching an age where he can recount the day’s activities to Daddy and I know that as the boys continue to get older, the stress of eating will give way to pure enjoyment and nurturing our relationships and bodies.

Seven recipes made their way to my secret Pinterest board from April’s blog including Fruity Breakfast Burritos, Restaurant Style Salsa, and Greek Yogurt Tuna Salad. I was going to show the list to my husband and have him decide what I’d make. But then I didn’t. Though I’m pretty sure I picked the “right” answer anyway.

While I was updating my planner this month I decided to take a peek at the food holidays for July. I was slightly surprised to see that National Pecan Pie Day isn’t in the fall, but it’s July 12th! My decision was made. April had on her blog, and a recipe that I’d saved prior, Pecan Pie Muffins.

Now, I’m not sure these qualify as a muffin. That’s why you’ll notice I renamed them cupcakes. Though I’m not sure if that’s accurate either. Muffins imply a little bit of healthiness. There’s absolutely nothing healthy about these sweet bites.I could say that pecans are a source of protein, but that’s really stretching it. I almost just called them Mini Pecan Pie Cups but without a crust I don’t think they qualify as pie.

Whatever you want to call them, they’re pretty delicious. (And that’s coming from someone who doesn’t care for pecan pie!) I ate two within an hour of them coming out of the oven – one to taste test and one as a snack during their photo shoot.

April made hers in a regular size muffin cup and got 6 of them, but I thought mini would be the way to go. I can’t have my husband taking only 3 to work, because let’s be honest, there’s no way all 6 would be leaving the house untouched. I’m glad I made them mini, too, because I don’t think I’d be able to eat an entire muffin of this dessert before my sweet tooth had enough.

Firecracker helped bake these treats, but he won’t be getting to try them – they’re simply too sticky and sweet for my 2 year old. Now I just have to send them with Stuart to work so he doesn’t see them sitting on the counter.

This recipe makes 24 mini muffins/cupcakes. I recommend baking these without liners, no greasing of the pan necessary – there’s plenty of butter in the batter. I was 2 liners short of 24 and those two cups were our favorites because the sugar gets all crispy and crusty on the edges. If you do use liners, not that they’re much easier to peel back if you allow the cupcakes to cool completely before eating.

Mini Pecan Pie Cupcakes

Ingredients:

  • 1 C brown sugar
  • 1 C chopped pecans
  • 1/2 C flour
  • 2/3 C butter, melted
  • 2 eggs, beaten

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, pecans, and flour. Mix in the butter and egg until combined.
  3. Divide batter evenly among 24 mini muffin tin cups.
  4. Bake 18 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.

*This recipe is adapted from April at http://www.angelshomesweethomestead.com/2011/01/pecan-pie-muffins.html*

Mini Pecan Pie Cupcakes for #SecretRecipeClub from Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in The Secret Recipe Club this month click here: