Anniversary

While Todd finishes his level on Mario, I will write a quick blog post.  It's mostly a braggy post (like they all aren't a little bit) so I do apologize.  But, Todd and I have been married a full year!  That may have been the fastest year of my entire life.  We got up and made breakfast together before church and now we're headed out to dinner at our favorite Mankato place.  It's not Chipotle.  I will leave you with what has become my favorite photo of the two of us from our wedding.  And I have many more recipes to share.  I promise they are coming.

Marie! The baguettes! Hurry up!

Mom, I made this post earlier today before the previous one.  We think alike.

Todd had planned to make Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches for dinner last Saturday.  I was very excited because I have recently grown fond of those.  Meat, cheese, and onions; where can you go wrong?  Anyway, Todd decided to make them last Saturday night and I was happy to help out the best way I could.  I made bread.

Lately, I have been using my "Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook" more.  (For a LOST party last night, I made the fruit dip that was so good.)  We've used it for French toast and pancakes before, but that's about it.  I was looking through it last week and saw they have very basic bread recipes.  So to go with our sandwiches, I made a French Baguette.  It was really pretty easy and didn't take too much time out of my day.

Ingredients:
5 1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
2 packages yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups warm water
Cornmeal
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 Tablespoon water

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups of the flour, the yeast, and salt.  Add the 2 cups warm water to the flour mixture.  Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.  Beat on high speed for 3 minutes.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead in enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic.  Shape dough into a ball.  Place  in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease dough's surface.  Cover; let rise in a warm place until double in size.
3. Punch dough down.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough into four portions.  Shape each portion into a ball.  Cover; let rest for 10 minutes.
4. Lightly grease two baking sheets ; sprinkle with cornmeal.
5. Roll each dough portion into a 14x5 inch rectangle.  Roll up, starting from a long side; seal well.  If desired, pinch and slightly pull ends to taper them.
6. Place shaped dough, seam sides down, on prepared baking sheets.  In a small bowl, stir together egg white and water.  Brush some of the egg white mixture over loaf tops.  Let rise until nearly double in size.
7.  Preheat oven to 375.  Using a sharp knife, make three or four diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across each loaf top.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Brush again with some of the egg white mixture.  Continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes more or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped.  Immediately remove loaves from baking sheet.  Cool on wire rack.

The photo is not great, but the taste was.  This bread was so good!  And even though it sounds like a lot of steps, it doesn't take super long.  Definitely worth making again.

If you are wondering about the reference in the title, go here.

Not in Real Life

As I am bored at work and getting the after lunch sleepies, I decided to go through my usual website checks.  One includes People.  I'm not going to apologize and hope you will not judge me for going there.  Anyway, I came across this photo of someone's kid.  She's 23 months, so a little older than Annie, and wearing a cute, but totally unrealistic outfit.

What 3 year old wears a mini skirt, a scarf around their neck, and shoes with no socks?!  How long did it take her to complain about her feet hurting and start feeling constricted by the scarf?  How fast after that photo was taken did she rip it all off?  Corrie, how long would Anne had kept any of that on?  Or mom, any of your daycare kids?  They probably wouldn't.  I don't even wear my converse shoes without socks.  You can't play in those.

Anyway, excuse my rant.  Just dress your kids so they can play.  Keep an eye out in the next two days for gardening stories and French Baguettes.

Maybe We Are Hippies

At Crossview Covenant Church, we have a community garden at our Howard Drive building.  Todd and I just bought in for one of the plots.  What have we done?  I have this dream of having fresh veggies to eat while we here until August and gaining valuable knowledge to start my own garden in the distant future when we own a house.  I think these may be ridiculous.  We know nothing about gardening and even less about growing food, not just flowers.  So, if you have any advice, let me know!  We're going over today after work to check it out.  I mostly just want fresh green beans all the time.

Chili in a Bread Bowl

Fellow RWHS graduates, tell me this was not your favorite meal the wonderful lunch ladies made.  My wonderful mom made me a lunch everyday, so I never ate it.  But, I remember begging Erin Ulrich for the top of her bowl if she didn't eat it.  Those bread bowls were to die for and the chili (although it's not my favorite) was so good according to those around me.  People waited patiently for Tuesday lunch to roll around so they could indulge in such a delicious lunch.

I attempted to make this lunch for dinner last night.  I wanted to use my new dutch oven while Jon and Faye were here, and show that I can take care of their son by giving him good food every night if I wanted to.  I do want to, I'm just lazy.  So I made the bread bowls, and found a 30 minute chili recipe online.  Bread bowls turned out great.  Chili was a let down, so I won't be making this exact recipe again.

Ingredients
1 yellow onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 lb. ground beef
1 can kidney beans, drained
chicken stock
salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon

Directions
1. Heat some oil in your pot.  I used the dutch oven, but it could be a normal pot.
2. Dice the onions and mince the garlic.  (Check out my new. fancy cutting terms)
3. Saute your garlic and onions for 3-5 minutes, until tender.  Throw in some salt and pepper.
4. Add your ground beef and break apart with a fork or something.  Work around until browned.
5. Add the kidney beans and chicken stock.  Add enough stock until it's the amount of liquid you want.
6. Add some more salt and pepper, to taste.  Then, add a tiny dash of cinnamon.  Taste it and add cumin until it's the taste you want.
7. Scoop it into the bread bowl and sprinkle a tiny bit of cheese on top.

It was okay, but not great.  I liked Todd's vegetarian chili more.  I think I might do that one next time, which has peppers in it and you mash the beans a little to make it thicken up, but add some meat to it.  We're not hippies.  Jon and Faye liked it (or were polite and said they did), so it will have to do.

In other news, we are for sure moving to Chicago next year for Todd to finish Seminary.  It was always likely, but we found out last week he was awarded the Kern Scholarship, which pays his tuition for the next 3 years.  With that scholarship, and not having to worry about taking out loans, it's a definite yes to us moving there.  Our friend Greg also got the Kern, so they will take all their classes together and go on the retreats together.  That means girls' weekend for Stef and me! We also heard back from the housing people this week, saying they should have us placed in an apartment around June 1st.  We can then move in anytime during August.  So, praise God for providing and thank you for your prayers about all this.  Next, we need to find me a job and then we are good to go.  I just need to figure out what I want to do.  Someone told me culinary school.  I told them that doesn't make money, it makes me pay money.  Plus, no.

Anyway, enjoy your RWHS cafeteria meal.  It's super yummy. Also, I talk about Greg and Stef a lot so here is a photo, so you can have a visual.  She looks like Anne Hathaway and is way to good looking for Greg.  But, Greg may be the nicest guy in the world, so it balances out.  (Read into that what you will.)  Here they are at her brother's wedding last fall.

Dutch Oven Confusion

Todd and I have finally gotten a dutch oven!  It is a gorgeous cast iron and enamel, 3 quart, blue dutch oven from IKEA.  Guess how much it was.  $40!!  Yes, still a lot of money for youth interns, but pretty cheap for a dutch oven.

While I'm super excited to have one, I have no idea what to make first in it (after seasoning it).  I've been online all afternoon looking for something good to christen it with, but can't decide.  I thought I was close with corn bread, but the only recipes I found had real corn.  I don't do real corn in corn bread.  I want they stuff that is horrible for you with no trace of real nutritious value.  So, if you have a dutch oven recipe you would like to share, I am open to suggestions of things to try.

Growtivation

Todd and I have grown to love our church in Mankato and will be sad when we leave. However, this video made me think a little of how much of a production our Sunday morning is. And, it made me think about every church a North Parker urged me to "check-out" when I first got to Chicago. Anyway, don't take it too seriously, just enjoy the hilarity of it.

Sunday's Coming Video

Seriously, neither Jesus nor I will judge you for laughing at it.  And, if you have yet to experience a church like this, come visit Todd and me in Chicago next year.  We'll take you to Willow Creek.  Also, make sure to check out the awards it's won toward the end of the video.

Bagels

I am currently sitting in my totally uncomfortable office chair procrastinating putting together my lesson plan for Sunday School about Buddhism.  I really do love learning about other religions and these past 4 weeks of Sunday School have been great.  My handful of students that come are really engaging in what we are talking about and I'll be a little sad when we end this coming Sunday.  However, I am procrastinating because it's only 1:00pm and I feel like I have been here all day.  Also, I am giving the talk for tonight's junior and senior high.  And while I'm not nervous about it, I would love to go home, nap up, shower, and look somewhat nice for the 80 kids I'll be talking to.  Unfortunately, we have no clean clothes at our house right now, so I'm destined to look shlubby.  Ah, like they care.

Anyway, to prolong my procrastination, I will give you what you have been waiting for (Corrie)...bagels!  Corrie had told me a few weeks ago that I should try to make some and Todd jumped on board with that pretty quick. If Todd could, he would have me make nothing but bagels everyday so he would have a never ending supply.  He has done a good job rationing the bagels I've made him, but I see my Friday full of making more and doing laundry.  Back on track, here is the recipe from Emeril Lagasse (yeah, I never thought I would make anything of his.)

Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water, about 110 degrees F
• 2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
• 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal

Directions

Combine the water, yeast, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar in the bowl of an upright mixer fitted with a dough hook. Stir and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Gradually add 4 cups of the flour and the salt, and mix until the mixture comes together.

Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups additional flour 1/2 cup at a time to make a stiff dough, either stirring with the wooden spoon or working with your hands. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and no longer sticky, about 5 minutes, adding just as much flour as needed. (Dough should be heavier and stiffer than regular yeast bread dough.)

Grease a large bowl with 1 teaspoon of the oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until almost doubled, about 1 hour.

Remove from the bowl and punch down the dough. Divide into 12 equal pieces, about 2 to 3 ounces each, measuring about 4 inches across. Form each piece of dough into a ball. Roll each ball into a 4 to 6-inch log. Join the ends and place fingers through the hole and roll the ends together. Repeat with the remaining dough. Place on a lightly greased surface, cover with a clean cloth, and let rest until risen but not doubled in a draft-free spot, 20 to 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease a baking sheet with the remaining teaspoon of oil.

In a large, heavy pot, bring 12 cups of water and the remaining tablespoon of sugar to a boil. In batches, add the bagels to the water and boil, turning, for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Flip bagels onto the prepared sheet pan. Bake for 5 minutes, turn over and cook for another 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

So, this takes about 3 hours, once you mix it all, let it rise, roll it out, let it rise, boil, bake, boil, bake. I started this process at about 10:30pm. I was up until 2:00am making these and then cleaning up after myself. So Todd, it's a good thing you raved about them the next morning or I might have killed you (or kicked you in the knee, or something else a wife can do/withhold to an unappreciative husband.) And really, these are totally worth it the 3 hours, just start them earlier.

Also, I must shut down a nasty rumor started about me within my own family! Mom, Corrie, all others who may have heard, I do not own a stand mixer. Sure, I may be lazy and copy/paste recipes into the blog, but I mix all those bread products by hand. Bagels, pitas, bread bowls, pizza dough, all by hand. I look forward to and wait patiently for the day when someone finally breaks down and buys me a stand mixer (green or blue preferably, if you are wondering.) One upside, I can tell my arms are getting stronger from mixing all of these by hand. One downside, my right arm is stronger than my left since righty is my go to mixer.

Okay, enjoy making bagels! Or come to my house for some. Just, call a few days beforehand.

Food Trends

I guess I'm trendy.  I feel okay about that.  Click here to see why.  And I will include a photo, just because it seems rude not to.

We were pretty excited for a new Doctor Who episode.

Mother's Day

Unfortunately, I have trained myself to zone out when the sermon part of church comes around.  It comes from  years as a child of sitting, what I thought was politely in the pew, and not listening.  To make myself listen, I take notes every week.  By the time I teach Sunday School, I don't remember what the sermon was about anymore, but I like knowing I can look back in the notebook if there is something that I need to remember.  

Today's sermon was, obviously, about mothers.  We looked at Proverbs 31 and showed why this is not a checklist to see how you are failing as a mother, but instead an illustrative list (not an exhaustive one.)  So here are the four things that Pastor Kevin pulled out of Proverbs 31 that mark a good mother.  It's four "D" phrases.

1. Dear Old Dad

    -Dad's love and praise your hard work.

2. Domestics (cooking and clothing)

    -Do they keep food on the table and clothes on your back?  (Notice no cleaning in the duo of "C" words)

3. Disposition

    -They show any of these traits:  strength, dignity, optimism, wisdom, and industriousness.

4.  Deity

    -They take time to be with God.

Mom, I'm happy to say I thought of you (and not just because I had to) all through this sermon.  You are all of these things and more, including clean.  Thanks for all you do for us.  You did/do a great job making us better people and we're lucky to have you.  And I hope this post makes up for me not sending you a card.  

Maybe it's because she is my sister (and a good one at that), but I forget that Corrie is a mom too!  Cor, I think I can safely say that you are right up there with mom on these things.  Your kids wouldn't be as smart, good looking, or in love P-Marc without you there.  

So make sure to thank your moms.  I know for a fact that mom has gotten face time or a call from all of her kids, so I think she's pretty lucky to have us too.  And let's hope Kevin preaches something as good on Father's Day.  I don't want to look like I bias here.

Italian Fries

So, I know I said no posts until after I got back from Adam's graduation, but I feel bad that I have been promising these attempted and failed fries for a long time and haven't ponied up yet. So, here they are. If you remember, I made them when some friends came over for burgers, but didn't allow enough time for them to cook, and didn't have enough/the right kind of cheese. I will try them again and hope you will too.

Ingredients:
6-7 Idaho potatoes, peeled and slicked into 1/3 inch-thick French fry-style strips, soaked in cold salted water.
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon dried Italian herbs or some combo of dried oregano, thyme, marjoram, and basil
2 cups freshly grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup fresh parley leaves, finely chopped
4 Tablespoons salted butter, cut up into 6 cubes
Salt and pepper

Directions:
-Preheat the over to 400 degrees.
-Drain the potatoes and pat dry with paper towels. Spread 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil on each of 2 rimmed baking sheets and spread out the potatoes. Overlapping is fine.
-Sprinkle the dried herbs evenly over the potatoes. Liberally spread the cheese and parley on top. Drizzle the remaining 2 Tablespoons of olive oil over the cheese. Scatter the cubed butter around the pans.
-Bake until the potatoes are golden brown, rotating the pans after 30 minutes, for 45 to 50 minutes total. Use a spatula to lift off the potatoes with all the crusy cheese adhered to them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

The photo is taken from the book. Mine did not look nearly this good.

This recipe is from the cookbook Mad Hungry by Lucinda Scala Quinn.  It's a cookbook on how to make food for a bunch of boys.  Maybe it's because I think sweater vests are the cutest thing in the world, but I've always seen myself as more of a boy mom.   Maybe I'm just kidding myself and will suck at throwing footballs and dealing with broken things.  However, Faye was nice enough to get this for me for Christmas.  It's more tips on how to make enough food for cheap and easy things your boys can cook for themselves.  With 3 boys in her house, I bet Faye would have liked this book.  I think it will get used more often once we start expanding our family.  But until then, we'll keep trying easy side dishes from the book.

To remind myself of things to post, allow me to give you a preview of things to come.
Bagels
Whole wheat pita pockets
Spanish rice
Hummus (hopefully we'll be making that soon.)

Apology

I was going to write a quick post apologizing for the delay. But then I remembered that I hit a record number of post in April. So cut me some slack. I have been busy lately. Sure, I have been busy baking with many recipes to share, but that will be for May posts. I will leave you with a photo of the sugar cookies I baked last night for our JH small group coaches. I always roll the dough too thin, so they came out a little crispy. But, the buttercream icing is pretty good so hopefully it makes up for crunch cookies. I think you can figure out how to make sugar cookies (google!) so no recipe. Talk to you when I get back from Bemidji (Brother-in-law graduation)


See. Pretty yummy.

Update: Todd's funny quote today.
Me-"Sometimes Jamie and Adam (on Mythbusters) are awkward to watch."
Todd-"That's because of their sexual tension."