There is nothing better on a cold winter night than a fresh-from-the-oven homemade meal. Comfort food, by its very nature, is required on those nights. Chili, meatloaf, lasagna. Now, I realize that people are busy, that spending an afternoon making dinner is not desirable. HOWEVER. This recipe is completely worth it. I promise. It doesn't have to take forever, but it will take a bit as you're learning the recipe. Once you've got it down, it'll only take about 20 minutes, tops, start to finish. Add in making the sauce, and you've got another 20 or so, plus oven time. Your family will love you for this. YOU will love you for this. Your hips may not, but even they can be placated by portion control. Without further ado, part one of how to make lasagna from scratch.
Read moreHalloween musings.
It's Halloween, and I find myself looking forward to a day of random, mundane chores, and a bit of work to prepare for tomorrow. Chris and I took Jonathan to a Halloween party last night, and so it really feels like the holiday has come and gone already, and this is just a normal Saturday. At this point, I'm wondering if it's worth it to brave the crowds to find random things like a better high chair/booster seat for Jonathan, throw pillows for the couch, and groceries for the week. We don't really get any trick or treaters in our complex, so Chris and I have been slowly snacking away at our 'just in case' candy, and I don't even know if I should replenish...just in case...
Oh well, should be a nice, relaxing day!
Pesto.
I had a rather large basil plant when I made this. It has since died, and I must start anew. If you have your own homegrown basil, this is a great way to use it. If you can get a lot for cheap somewhere, that's fine too. If you can only find basil in the super small, super spendy packages at the grocery store, this may not be how you want to use it...but who am I to say? This is a good condiment, and works great if you have some on hand to stir into cooked pasta for a quick dinner, or spread on a sandwich. I'm told there are other uses, but I haven't explored them yet.
Read morePlease don't lick the goat.
We recently took Jonathan to the zoo with his grandparents in Omaha. He LOVED it. I think his favorite part was the petting zoo, where he got to chase goats and chickens all over the pen. Thankfully he didn't try to eat anything off the ground there, but I followed him pretty closely just in case. He got changed immediately afterwards due to the...stuff...that was clinging to his clothes, but he didn't seem to mind.
And....I'm back.
Hello all. I've missed you! I've finally gotten myself organized and onto a type of schedule, so you can finally look forward to (semi) regular posts. Every friday by noon, I will do my best to have something yummy up for you to try out. As far as this area of the site, anything posted here will be bonus. A site redesign may be upcoming, but I haven't perfected anything yet, so we'll stay here for now. Hope you enjoy!
Sabbatical.
Soon after the last entry was posted, I was offered not one, but two jobs, both part time. Because of this, my life is so very different now! I am watching a friend's child three days a week, and on the weekend I am the interim choir director at my church. Because of this, my daily schedule is completely different from what I'm used to! My head is still spinning. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I'm doing both things, but it's an adjustment. Because of this, I've not kept up on my promise to blog more often. My apologies. Most weeks I am cooking more often, but it's usually simple things like baked chicken, or things I've already blogged about, like my lovely quiche. In any case, while I do have a few things I've lined up to share with you, it may be a bit before I get to photo editing and blogging again. Please be patient with me as I adjust! I will be back, I promise...
Until then, arrivederci, au revoir, and all that jazz. See you soon!
Baked/Shirred Egg.
I love this recipe because it's super simple, quick, and can be infinitely increased to feed however many people you need to feed, limited only by the number of ramekins or small baking dishes you have on hand. It also is easily varied, since you can throw in leftover veggies or meat, or fresh or dried herbs with the cream.
Read moreAnd life just got crazier...
Jonathan can walk. He's been building his skills up for a week, and today, he actually ran. He belly-flopped after about a yard, but he ran. He walks all over the apartment now, and can stand up in the middle of the room without help. I need to go baby-proof my countertops and the rest of the apartment that he can suddenly reach.
Julie and Julia.
I loved this movie. Here's the preview. I vaguely recall Julia Child's cooking show, having only seen it a few times, and not straight through. She was quoted often in my musical training, as a reference for using a nasal head voice, (C'mon, music geeks out there? Send up a cheer!) but unfortunately the underclassmen didn't even know who she was. (Blasphemy, I know.) Anyway, the movie is based on both her life, up to when she became famous, and the life of a blogger, Julie Powell, who cooked her way through Julia Child's first cookbook and blogged about it along the way.
This movie inspired me to do two things. First of all, to cook regularly again, and second of all, to blog about said cooking. I've been lax, and saying I'd get back to it, continued to put it off. While I can't predict the future, I can say this: I do so love to cook. This movie reminded me why. Why shouldn't I continue to share that with you?
There are a couple brief sex scenes (that reveal as little as is possible) and mild swearing, but otherwise, this movie is good 'clean' fun. Take a date night, go out with friends, or go by yourself, but GO. You'll love this movie.
Jonathan's Birthday Cake!
Happy Birthday Jonathan!
My son is one year old today. Crazy. For his birthday party, we had family down over the 4th of July and threw his birthday party then. Here are his cakes.
(You can see his second cake in the video at the bottom of the post.)
He makes this face whenever we give him new food. Usually, anyway.
See, he likes it!
Happy Birthday Jonathan!
P.S. Thanks to my hubby, Chris, for the photos and video!