Pizza Puffs

I had been wanting to try out a recipe I saw on Noble Pig (a wine and gourmet food blog I stumbled upon) for quite some time. My fried Amber's housewarming party seemed like a great opportunity to make them! So I quadrupled the recipe, used a big muffin pan instead of a mini one, and made both pepperoni and cheese. It was very easy and pretty delicious.

This is the recipe for 12 normal size puffs:

1-1/2 cup flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/2 cup whole milk
2 eggs
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup) (I used provelone)
8 ounces pepperoni, cut into small cubes (about 1 cup)
1 cup pizza sauce
4 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

1) Pre-heat oven to 375 and grease muffin pan.

2) Mix flour and baking powder in large bowl.
3) Add milk, eggs, cheese, and pepperoni. Let stand for 10 minutes.
4) Pour into muffin pan, then bake until puffed and golden. This should be 20-25 minutes.
5) Warm pizza sauce in microwave. Sprinkle puffs with basil and serve with sauce.
There you have it. Simple and delicious! Great for a party or just a snack.

Organize Yourself!

Anyone who knows me knows that I thrive off of structure and organization. I'm always looking for better ways to organize and keep track of my schedule. A new challenge in my life is meal planning! I hate it, absolutely hate it. I spend hours online looking for recipes that husband and I both will enjoy, that are easy and somewhat healthy. THEN I start a grocery list. Then I have to back through and edit the list so the items are in the order of the grocery store. It takes FOREVER and I hate it. Here's the light at the end of the tunnel: Mealfire.com!

It's very easy to use. You can create your own recipes or add their little bookmarklet to your bookmarks bar. When you come across a recipe online, you just click the "save to mealfire" bookmark and it saves to your account! Once you have a library of recipes, you can just drag them to the day on the calendar that you want to make them.
Another awesome feature is that it creates a grocery list for you. Select the recipes on the calendar that you want to create the grocery list for and BAM!
And best of all...You can input the grocery store layout and then it will organize your grocery list based on the store's layout! There is also a handy mealfire app for iPhone. Now I love meal planning!

Sleeve/Gloves = Sloves

had such good intentions...then again, I always do. Recently, I was very excited about the prospect of acquiring a free sewing machine. They say to never look a gift horse in the mouth. I tried to just be grateful, really I did. At first, I was! That was before I tried to use said sewing machine. It's a beautiful antique from the 1930's, the kind that's in a table. The table has lovely cabriole legs and darling little slipper feet. And the sewing machine itself has very few things to change or adjust so it should have been quite simple. I invited Lexie over for a craft night. We made yummy Indian food for dinner and had plans to make these awesome sweater scarf things I saw on a blog. They were the perfect project for a beginner and they suited our taste just wonderfully. I had found a sweater for $2 at Value Village and cute cheap buttons at Walmart. We were set to go! And then we tried to use the sewing machine. It was a total bust. I think the sewing machine doesn't work, but Gabe just thinks it's a "user error". Either way, it didn't work out.

I had, however, seen another project I wanted to try, one that didn't require the part of the sweater we needed for the scarves: sloves! I folded the ends of the sleeves over like cuffs and cut the sleeves off of the sweater about midway down the arm. It was a man's sweater and the sleeves were WAY to big. So I cut them at the seam and took them in about an inch and a half. After I hand sewed them back up, I went ahead and used the buttons I bought for the scarf project and sewed them on the cuffs.

I think they are adorable and I have a friend who could totally pull them off. I, on the other hand, am not that trendy. Plus, I'm always in either work clothes or pajamas so I have no need for them.

Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes

tarbucks now makes flavored Via (instant coffee). I heard tales of using it in waffles and I thought I'd try my hand using it in cupcakes. The recipe is based on a caramel macchiato which is vanilla syrup, milk, and espresso topped with caramel.

For this recipe, I used:

-a box of Betty Crocker French Vanilla cake mix

-3 packs of vanilla flavored via

-2 packs of caramel via

-a tub of vanilla icing
Mix the vanilla via in with the cake mix. I first tried using two packets of via, but it didn't taste strong enough. The addition of a third packet definitely helped! Follow the instructions for baking the cupcakes. In the meanwhile, make the caramel icing!
I emptied the entire tub of icing into a bowl and mixed in one packet of caramel via. There was something off about the flavor and the texture was too crunchy. I took a second packet of caramel via and dissolved it with hot water in a demitasse cup and then mixed it all together. After that the icing was perfection! The texture and flavor were just right.
The first batch I made was bite sized. I have to say, I don't really like baking. But I enjoyed the adventure of creating my own recipe (even though I didn't make them from scratch) and they turned out really well!

Favorite Things: Bon Iver

'm trying to make Saturday "Favorite Things" day, so here's a second post for today.

If you don't know about Pandora, you have probably been living under a rock. In case you have in fact been living under a rock and don't know what Pandora is, they describe themselves as a music genome project. You tell them the name of a song or artist that you like, and they create a radio station that will play similar music. It is also the reason my iPhone battery dies so quickly. I can't remember which station started playing Bon Iver, but I'm thinking it was the Sufjan Stevens station. I took notice, but it wasn't until I heard Roslyn on the New Moon soundtrack that my attention was fully rapt. I could not stop listening to that stupid song; even after a million plays, I wasn't tired of it. So I downloaded Blood Bank and For Emma Forever Ago, two of his albums. I was NOT disappointed! Listening to Bon Iver makes me feel like I'm in a womb, warm and cozy and sleepy. It is perfect for hibernation of all sorts, whether it be the long winter slumber or an afternoon nap.

Husband and I have been listening to Bon Iver around the clock since it's been cooler. It just sounds like autumn music! If you haven't heard any Bon Iver yet, be sure to check him out. Our favorite songs are Flume and Woods .

Almost Fall Chicken (flavored) Soup

ee, I just can't be bound by rules. And that's what a recipe is. When I cook, it's a creative expression. At least, that's my excuse for not being a good recipe-follower. Lunch time rolled around today and not much of anything sounded appetizing. Today was a chilly day, so soup seemed logical. I was too hungry to go through the process of looking online for a recipe and risking me not having all the ingredients. I made my own soup with ingredients I did have.

And here's the recipe!

1) Bring some water to a boil. Measure or don't measure. Toss in some delicious Jamison's chicken flavored soup base.

2) While that is stewing a bit, chop one carrot, some onion, and a handful of broccoli florets.

3) Add onions, carrots, and some noodles since those take longest to cook.

4) Toss in some parsley, thyme, and basil.

5) When everything seems almost cooked, add broccoli.

Yeah, I'm not great with the whole measurement thing. It tasted really good though. That Jamison's stuff is a godsend. I like having the chicken flavor without having to have chicken. So, if you try this recipe and it doesn't work out...I guess you are not as skilled at eyeballing ingredients ; )

Favorite Things: Honey, Honey, Food for the Bees

ell, actually not just food for the bees. In addition to being a delicious way to sweeten up tea and lattes, honey has many health benefits. My favorite home remedy use for the sticky amber goodness? As a facial mask! After hearing about several of my friends raving about how it was clearing up and softening their skin in a big way, I decided to give it a try. I have noticed a huge difference in my skin. I usually try to cover my face and leave the honey on for 20-30 minutes every other day. It works wonders!

It's also one of two main fragrance notes in one of my favorite perfumes: L'Occitane's Miel & Citron (or honey and lemon for you non-French-speakers). Generally when I think of that combination, it makes me think of a cold remedy. But it smells absolutely delicious. It's both tangy and sweet, but well balanced. The honey softens the lemon's citrusy tartness. It's what I wore on my wedding day, so every time I wear it, it reminds me of that day!

Pre-Nesting

efore we could nest together, we had to spend 9 months planning, searching, buying, stressing...the whole lot of it! That lovely and most memorable phase of life that is being engaged. In those months, I did much to prepare for our wedding but little to prepare myself for settling down together. Oh, but I couldn't wait! I couldn't wait for the hype to be over so that we could find magic in doing ordinary, everyday things together. And now the waiting is over. and each day we take pleasure in cooking together, finding homes for all of our new things, and turning a boring white-walled apartment into a place we look forward to coming back too at the end of the day.

As I sit here on my old and somewhat smelly borrowed couch and look around, I see that we have quite a ways to go. But my untamed imagination sees all the possibilities and the apartment should know that I am a force to be reckoned with, and in no time at all, it will be a comfy cozy little nest for me and my lovebird.