I can be sneaky

Last night I made steak, baked potatoes, and carrots with maple syrup for dinner. Well, that's what my husband thought anyway.

He however is slightly misguided. I did not make carrots with maple syrup; I actually made carrots vichy (carrots cooked in water, butter, and honey). He had no idea that he ate a dish with honey and liked it! As an aside, my husband has some food issues that are borderline blasphemous.  The fact that I was able to pull of the recipe is a victory.

I found the recipe while going through Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions, which is an excellent resource of nutritional information, culturing and fermenting, and recipes.

P.S. I didn't lie to him at all about maple syrup carrots. I just told him we were having carrots.

My New Toy

I picked up a new toy at Sur La Table a few weeks ago. It's called the Kuhn Rikon Cookie Press and it is so far a neat little gadget.

It comes in a clear plastic case, which I think might be one of the best features (Note: the case has rubber feet on the bottom to prevent slippage). I'm a huge proponent of storage cases primarily because I grew up with cluttered cabinets. You know the kind- you open up the door and plastic storage containers come spewing out at you seeking refuge.   I'll have to put up some pictures of my cabinets so you see just how much it bothers me...I have issues, I know.

Back to the Cookie Press...

I especially like this gadget because it comes with fourteen different plates for cookies and 6 decorating tips. I have not really gotten very into cake decorating. It something that I want to do in the future, and this was an easy way to get my feet wet. I also abhor the pastry bags. Does anyone else have flashbacks to royal icing oozing out the back of a pastry bag while putting together a gingerbread house?  I also enjoy multipurpose tools- more bang for the buck and less to store.

The press is made of both plastic and stainless steel. I like being able to see how much dough is left in a press, so for me the clear plastic tube is a huge plus. The really cool thing is that you only need one click for cookies, which makes making the cookies go really quickly. It's literally half the time than it would take if you were to use the old fashioned aluminum with the screw mechanism.

I picked this up for $30.

Deal of the Day!

I found these two items whilst doing some shopping:

1. Pie Weights (Beads) in a Jar- $4.99 at World Market. They cost $13.59 at Williams-Sonoma and $9.95 at Sur La Table. These are used when you make a pie crust and have to cook it before filling the shell. If you are a real cheap skate, you can just use pennies!

2. Bay Leaves- $1.99 for 1 ounce at World Market. I recently purchased 0.1 ounce of bay leaves at Whole Foods for $4.99.  I'm sure everyone will say "That's because Whole Foods is expensive!" And you may be right, but McCormick's is probably around $3.50 or so, and quite frankly I'm not going to run to Wal-Mart to purchase that if I don't have to.

A Must Have

I do want to share another book review with everyone out there in the interwebz. The book that I recently checked out from the library is entitled "The Chicks with Sticks Guide to Knitting."

It is absolutely fabulous! It teaches the completely, wet behind the ears, knitter how to knit by incorporating new techniques into each new project. The best part is there really aren't any bad projects in the book. The book begins with the basic garter stitch, and works its way through increases, decreases, constructing a garment, and even covers felting! I will definitely be adding this to my library.

My poor, poor fridge!

Do you ever get into a state of denial when it comes to the food in your fridge? Well, I do! It seems to come in waves where I get out of the habit of keeping the food moving and then I end up with a science project.

My science project for today was some leftover cabbage and potatoes from St. Patrick's Day. I know, I know, for someone who tries to be a good homemaker, I really dropped the ball (and a few comma splices!). Needless to say there were some fuzzy sections and strangely enough some pink discolorations. I probably could have extracted some penicillin from it. But, alas, it's fate was to go down the garbage disposal.

I now have a lot more space in my fridge. Funny how that happens...

Awesome Alert!

I did however make Dark Chocolate Cupcakes- a recipe that I found on Ghiradelli's website. I must confess, that I didn't know what to expect with the recipe. I did have mixed emotions about the frosting recipe based on the ingredients that went into it. I found the recipe here. Seriously scrumptious!

My mixed emotions regarding the frosting was well founded. It worked out to be a lot more like a ganache, which if that's what you like, it's great. I prefer something more like a frosting. I think I might try the frosting one more time because it's very possible that I misread the directions. Either way the flavor is there, which is the most important thing. This is a must have in any recipe collection!

I don't feel like posting...

...but I really don't have anything else that I feel like doing except maybe cleaning, knitting, or playing my flute. Unfortunately, it's a little late to play my flute. What can I say, I'm a considerate neighbor?

So, alas, I find myself catching up on some posts. I finally broke down and put up some pictures of my brown shantung (polyester :( ) dress that I made. It's a Simplicity pattern- if you like it let me know and I'll tell you the number. The pattern was actually fairly easy to work. I opted to put in an invisible zipper instead of a normal zipper. I prefer it, and believe that it's easier to do. The best part about it is that it's a fully lined dress. I love lined clothes- it's such a finished look. It definitely kicks up the sewing a notch or too! Oh, and this had ruffles to make the dress fuller! I love ruffles!

I also finished my Easter dress (New Look Pattern) today and have included those pictures in this post as well. Admittedly, the pictures aren't very inspiring and the dresses would look WAY better if they weren't on a hangar. I'm just in one of those moods where I don't even feel like putting forth that much effort. Going back to the dress...the dress boasts a lined bodice, invisible zipper, and cute lavender buttons shaped like roses to match the fabric (linen).

I know, I know

I have really been slacking! To my defense, however, I did have company for a few days including a 2 year old and a 4 year old.

It was a good visit. Lots of laughs and even some sewing! I helped my sister-in-law make a skirt. She was never taught how to sew and she has been learning with each project. I was so glad that I was able to help her leave the world of elastic waistbands behind and move onto zippers and more stylish waistbands!

I will be posting pictures of my brown shantung halter dress, as well as the dress I am working on for Easter Sunday. I am very excited about it! I haven't owned anything lavender in quite a while. My mom says it's a good color for me. The Easter dress is made out of a lovely linen that I picked up at Joann's.

More to come. Stay tuned!