Rosh Hashanah and New Year

Sorry, no recipe this time.  I just have some thoughts on the new year and some Jewish traditions.
I have never been a big new years person. The thought of a fresh start hits me more in the fall than in January. So, I have always been confused as to why it means so much to some people.  Resolutions and parties have never been my two favorite things.

But, as a fan of the Maccabeats, I have found their "Book of Good Life" video (found below) a bit compelling. I have always been interested in other religions and Judaism has been a particular interest since it is the faith that mine has grown out of. And while for the most part our religions are different (I don't believe I can earn a place in God's grace. Thank you Jesus!) there are many values we can bring from their beliefs and festivals.

The Maccabeats are from Yeshiva University and have put together an a Capella group that sings some traditional Jewish hymns as well as current songs with the words changed. They have two songs about Hanukkah, one about Purim, and one about Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur.

Rosh Hashanah is the New Year on the Jewish calendar.  There is a sort of celebration while everyone becomes excited for the new year. This is followed by the Days of Awe. This is a week of looking inward to see how you have, well, failed in the past year to be the person God has made you. This is then followed by Yom Kippur which is the day of atonement. After a week of self reflection and change, you are then cleansed of your sins.
(Please note, I am not Jewish nor have I ever been. This is my understanding of the holidays after some classes and limited internet research.)  

In the "Book of Good Life" video, there can be presented to Christians a new look on the purpose of new year. Instead of making quick resolutions that are usually focused on weight or personal health, let's take the days between Christmas and New Year's to really reflect on what we can do to make ourselves better people that do more for others and draw ourselves closer to God.

Let me again reiterate, I am a Jesus believer and follower. I believe he has died in my place and offered me atonement with God. Thank you Jesus for offering me grace and mercy!  And, thank you Maccabeats for making Judaism a bit more understandable
Maccabeats "Book of Good Life"

Empanadas

Make these.  Make these now.  I was skeptical about them, but Todd had wanted some Empanadas from this place down the street.  So I thought I was use the recipe in the Hungry Men book and it was a hit.  We made them Saturday night before I had to babysit and Todd had to cater.  They were perfect for some on the go dinner.  I made the pastry dough and the filling so here is the recipe for both!

Dough
Ingredients:
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temp.
4 oz of cream cheese at room temp
1/4 cup of heavy cream
1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions:
1. Process butter, cream cheese and cream with a mixer.
2. Add the flour and salt and make it into a ball.
3. Divide into 2 pieces and flatten between plastic wrap to chill for 30 minutes.
4. Roll it out and use a bowl 5 inches across to cut circles.  It should make around 10 circles for empanadas.

Filling
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, choppped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon cumin
3/4 cup of pimiento-filled green olives, sliced
3/4 cup raisins
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Several dashes of hot sauce
2 large eggs, separated
Pastry rounds

Directions:
1. Cook your onions and peppers in your olive oil over medium high heat for 3-4 minutes.  Raise the heat to high and add your beef.  Cook until browned.
2. Add cumin and cook 1 more minute.
3. Stir in the olives, raisins, honey, salt, pepper, and hot sauce.  Cook until the meat is golden brown, the liquid has evaporated, about 4 more minutes.
4.  Cool the mixture completely and then stir in egg whites.
5. Preheat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet.
6. Place about 1/4 cup of the filling on one side of the dough circle.  Wet the edges and fold over.  Crimp with a fork and repeat until filling or dough is gone.
*If you want, freeze the empanadas at this point and you can make them in the future.
7. Place the empanadas in the fridge to chill for a few minutes.  Poke twice with a fork and then brush with the egg yolk.
8.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.  Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
*If you want to make appetizers, just use a 3 inch bowl for the circles and 2 teaspoons of the filling.

I would make these everyday if I had the time.  We each at 4 of them in about 15 minutes.

This has been the winner from this cookbook so far.  The dough was flaky and had that cream cheese kick to it.  The filling was delicious and spicy.  We did leave out the olives and raisins, but I made add the raisins next time.  (Don't even come knocking on my door, olives.  You are not welcome in this household.)  Like I said, we loved it and it was perfect for on the go dinner.  I may make some to freeze so we can have an easy dinner some night.  

Still to come, another chicken recipe from Hungry Men, and Chicken Satay from our Alton Brown cookbook.

Fried Chicken

Oh man, this did not turn out well.  Well, I didn't think it was that good, but Todd seemed to think it was okay.  Let's start from the beginning.

Ingredients
1 quart of buttermilk or milk
2 Tablespoons Tabasco
1 3-4 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces (or 2 chicken breasts cut in half like we did.  Advice, pick a cut with a bone in it.)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups peanut oil, vegetable oil, bacon fat, or lard.

Directions
1. In a 9x13 pan, combine milk and hot sauce.
2. Soak your chicken at lease 10 minutes.  We did it overnight.
3. In a plastic bag, combine flour, salt, and peppers.
4. Shake chicken in flour in shifts and shake off excess flour.
5. In a cast iron skillet (or dutch oven since that is all we have), heat 2 inches of oil.
    -Test oil by tossing in a popcorn kernel.  When it pops, it's hot enough.
6. Turn the heat down to medium and fry chicken, leaving 1/2 inch between pieces.  Fry in shifts if you have to.  Leave it undisturbed for 15 minutes, lowering the heat to prevent excessive browning.  Turn the pieces and cook another 15-20 minutes.
7. Remove from oil and drain on rack.  Place in 200 degree oven to keep warm.

Looks okay with the potatoes and green beans, but...meh.

We used 2 chicken breasts cut in half.  Don't do this.  Buy chicken breasts with bones in or other cuts.  Also, this is not spicy, despite the presence of Tabasco and Cayenne pepper. Add more of either if you want it to be spicy.  Lastly, I forgot to turn the oil down for the first side of my first 2 pieces.  They were what she describe as "excessively brown" and tasted like charcoal.  But my second two pieces turned out better.

Overall, it was a let down for my first frying experience and my apartment smelled like butt.  However, maybe my new knowledge will be put to use for a special Christmas morning donut or something.  And maybe, once I recover from the burnt taste, I will try this again.

We're Back!

For real this time, because I have challenged myself with something new.  You want to hear?  Of course, because I'm semi interesting and chances are if you finally got around to checking my blog, you are really bored. So I will assume you have nothing better to do.

So, when Todd and I arrived home from our vacation to Colorado (which was amazing.  Why do I live in such a crappy place?) I had a new motivation to start cooking again.  Larry at Living Hope Covenant mentioned that my now very old food photo album on Facebook was wonderful and he enjoyed seeing how well we learned to cook.  So naturally, I needed to find a new challenge since we have become complacent with our 10 favorite dinner recipes.

The new challenge:

To use one cook book a week to make dinner every night.  The dinners must be as follows.

2 chicken nights

1 beef night

1 soup night

1 pasta or salad night

Saturday is pizza and Sunday is leftovers.

Also a plus, if all the food is around $40/week.

We kicked the challenge off with Mad Hungry by Lucinda Scala Quinn.  This book is all about how Quinn taught her boys to cook and what she cooked them.  Monday's meal was her Pantry Bistro Salad.  Starting easy; it's hard to screw up salads.  

Ingredients

1 head of Romain lettuce

5 strips of bacon

1/2 white onion

2 poached eggs

Olive Oil and Red Wine Vinegar

Directions

1. Cut your bacon into small bits as to fry them faster.

2. Saute your diced onion and bits of bacon in a small lug of olive oil until caramelized and crispy.  Place on paper towel to drain.

3. Cut and wash your lettuce.  Place on paper towels to dry.

4. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and attempt to poach 2 eggs.  I failed massively, so I ended up frying them over easy and over hard.

5. Salad...Assemble!  Lettuce, bacon and onions, egg, and drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar.

I made this because I thought Todd would like it, as I am not a huge egg fan.  But I must say, we both devoured this.  Partially because we were eating dinner at 8:30, and it was delicious.  The only changes we made were fried instead of poached eggs, and a yellow onion (because that's what I started cutting up and I wasn't going to waste half and onion!)

My failed poached egg.  I know when I'm bested.

The final product.  Add salt and pepper and some bread.

Tuesday's Dinner:  Fried Chicken

Pesto Grilled Cheese

Well, I think we all knew that blogging was not my strong suit.  But, I have thought up one of our favorite recipes as of late that I haven't shared yet.  It was a recreation of one of my favorite lunch sandwiches at Dunn Bros in Mankato.  I'm not sure it is as good, but it's pretty close.

Pesto Grilled Cheese

Pesto:
Fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
1 clove of garlic

Directions:
Chop up your garlic
Pulse your basil leaves in a food processor or chop them up
Add your garlic and olive oil to the processor
Pulse until paste like consistency

Grilled Cheese:
Make a grilled cheese, but add pesto on the inside of both pieces of bread.  It's not hard.

Obviously, not my picture.  It's pretty delicious, and great with some soup for dinner or by itself for lunch.

Well, we'll see if I get to blogging more.  I do have a great bagel recipe I told Travis I would put up.  Otherwise, I don't get to cook much anymore.  Todd has, however, made a wonderful tortilla soup and chicken and wild rice soup the past few weeks.  Be on the look out for those!

Life

My mom has convinced me to start blogging again.  She thinks I have more to talk about than cooking.  I'm not so sure, bu we'll give it a whirl.  Since it has been awhile, I will need to catch you up in categories.  If you don't care about a certain category, feel free to breeze right on by.

Home life:
I am enjoying watching Todd in school.  He is doing a great job in his classes, making good impressions with his teachers, and has lots of opportunities to help other learn Greek.  I am very proud of him for how much work he has to do.  Lord knows I have no desire to do any of the stuff he is doing right now.
Our apartment is pretty good.  Mom and Dad just saw it, and so have William and Adrienne.  If you want to know about our little Chicago place, just ask them.  It is not nearly as nice as Justin and Vonny's basement place when they lived here.  Of course, Vonny could make any place cute.

Work life:
I found work!  I'm working at Ravenswood Manor Child Care Center.  It is a modest daycare closer to downtown, but still on the north side of the city.  It's surrounded by a super cute neighborhood people have dubbed a suburb within the city.  We have three classrooms, two for infants and one for toddlers through age 3.  I am in the toddler room everyday.  I really love it.  There are 15 kids total in the room, with 3-4 adults.  I love my five kids that I am responsible for.  They are, for the most part, really good everyday.  They love to read and cuddle.  I like going to work with them.

Recent Events:
Well, our Mankato youth group came down for a weekend trip that I was planning.  It actually went really well, I think.  I'm not sure Chris would agree.  We spent time with Mission Year, JPUSA, and New Community Covenant Church as well as North Park and downtown.  I think the group had a lot of fun, but the chaos of the weekend really got under Chris' skin.  A plus, we got to see Mike, the guy who replaced us, interact more with the students.  It was encouraging seeing him doing well with them.  I know we were only there a year, but it's nice to know our sweet kids are taken care of.  Here is a nice picture of some of my favorite students right before I left.

Matt Schilling, a college friend from Boston, came to visit a few weekends ago.  And although it was far too early to start Christmas celebrations, we went down to the Disney Holiday Parade since Matt was looking forward to it.  It was a lot of fun, just pretty cold.  And when you are short, big parades from the back of a crowd are not that fun.  But it was nice to spend some time with Matt.  I guess someday we'll have to sacrifice a bit and make a trip to Boston to see him.  How terrible (please sense my sarcasm.)
While walking back to the El from the parade, I realized we were on Michigan Avenue with no traffic and beautiful lights.  Hello photo op!

And it the last bit of news, P-Marc is back!  He has returned to the Wild and has scored a goal in the process.  I love him.

Wrap-up:
So life is good.  Just plugging away with work and school.  I don't get home from work until 7pm, so Todd has dinner waiting for me.  Hence, not as much cooking going on.  But, I am thinking about making stromboli tonight.  It's basically pizza rolled up, but we'll try it out.  Look for the upcoming Chicago Symphony event and shenanigans in the currently falling snow in Chicago.

Trips to Exotic Cheese

So no, the cheese I am about to talk about is in no way exotic.  However, this was my first experience with it, so  I will say it is exotic to me.  The exotic cheese is...Pepper Jack!  This may be the cheese that bridges food differences in my marriage.  I have used it twice this week, on both Mac and Cheese and Pizza.

First, the Mac and Cheese.  So you make this by making noodles and a cheese sauce, combining the two, and baking it with bread crumbs or more cheese on top.  And if you are my Grandma Joye, you put potato chips on top.  What a genius!  Anyway, you can see the original recipe here.  This week, I just substituted half the sharp cheddar cheese for Pepper Jack.  It gave this sauce a much needed kick.  We didn't bake it or add anything on top.  We just mixed and ate for dinner once and then again for lunch one day.  With our lack of income, repeat, fatty meals are a frequent happening.  (Though the stress of no job has made me stop eating and therefore loose about 10lbs since being here!  I guess some good does come from unemployment.)

Well, today Todd and I went grocery shopping.  I love grocery shopping here.  We walk the mile down to Andy's Fruit Ranch, load up on cheap, delicious produce, and walk it all home.  We have been spending, pretty consistently, about $30/week on food.  Not bad!  Back to the point.  We go grocery shopping and need pepperoni for pizza tonight.  Problem!  Andy's does not have many brand name anything and is missing some stuff that people would not consider staples of your menu.  Hence, no pepperoni.  Since I did not want to drive all the way down to Jewel once we got home, I decided to put the remaining Pepper Jack on the all cheese pizza.  Best decision I have made all week.  It had a little kick like pepperoni, but without all the grease and questioning of what you are eating!  So when you need a kick for your pizza, go with the Jack.

Otherwise, not much else is happening.  We are loving being in Chicago.  We are making friends and hanging out with Greg and Stef a lot.  Todd is loving class and doing well.  We have a wall covered in Greek flash cards and a white board.  Could life be any better?

I don't know who the bigger nerd is, the one studying Greek, or the one that finds the previous one quite the stud?

I get you, Tina Fey

I don't know if you have seen Date Night, or knew about the introvert book I was reading, but the two came together quite nicely last week.  Tina Fey's character says something along the lines of this...

"Phil, I don't dream about having an affair.  My dream would be to get a hotel room and just sit.  I would love to sit in the quietness.  I want to sit in the quite and eat my lunch with no one touching me.  That is my dream."

Tina Fey, the introvert in me gets this character.  Will that make me a cold/distant mother?  Most likely, just one that doesn't want you to touch her.

Frozen Pizzas in Chicago

Hello everyone!  We are getting settled into our apartment in Chicago.  It seems about as big as our old one, but the second bedroom space is cut up and put other places so there is only one bedroom.  Which is funny, because now is about the only time we could really utilize an extra bedroom.  We have a friend staying with us until he finds a job.  No biggie because he is really outgoing and easy to live with.  I just feel bad he has to sleep on the couch every night.  Anyway, believe it or not, I have a pseudo recipe for you.

As you may know, Saturday night is pizza night.  We pushed it back to Sunday this past week and had all our old friends over.  It is so nice to have these people back with us.  I didn't think friendships were as important until I was away from them for a year.  I'm glad I don't have to leave for 3 years.  Back to pizza.  Click here to see the thin crust recipe we use.  The awesome thing you can do, as Corrie has told me, is make a frozen pizza out of this.  So nice and costs about $1.00 for each mini-pizza you make.  Here is what you do.

1. Make the pizza dough as normal
2. Preheat oven to 425
3. Cut into four equal size balls to be rolled out.
4. Roll out (I say roll, but I mean use your fingers) two of the balls into personal sized pizzas.
5. Bake until crust just barely hardens up.
6. Remove and let cool.
7. Top with sauce, cheese, and whatever else you want and wrap in plastic wrap.
8. Put in freezer and wait for a craving.

To make to eat, just heat oven to 425 and let the cheese melts and the pepperoni is cooked.  Todd and I shared one last night and it was delicious.  I made some for Greg too, but I'm not sure he or Stef have eaten any yet.

Sadly, no picture.  I will have to leave you with a photo of our amazingly stuffed moving truck.  Thank you John and Kent for figuring out how to make it all fit.

Cheese Sauce

So while at our farewell lunch for work at Grizzly's (pretty yummy I may add), the Food Network was on.  Not having cable, I was drawn into Rachel Ray's raspy vortex and was not let go since she was making some sort of Mac and Cheese.  Her's was with a cheese sauce, pancetta, bread crumbs, and lots of fresh grated cheese.  Keep in mind, I know all this from watching and only that since I could not hear the television.  So if that's not what it was, it was some variation of things that look like those.  Anyway, seeing this, I wanted to go home and make it myself with less of the pancetta and bread crumbs and more of the sauce, noodles, and baking it under the broiler for a few minutes.  I haven't done this yet, but I made a cheese sauce from un-fancy (in-fancy?) things in my kitchen.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheese, such as cheddar or swiss
• Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour, being sure to combine it with the butter very well, to make a roux. Let cook, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes. Do not let it darken. Gradually add the milk, about 1/4 cup at a time, whisking or stirring vigorously to incorporate. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until thickened and just starting to boil, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as desired.

Recipe taken from www.terriskitchen.com.  It's what I made, just explained better.  Sadly, no photo.  I poured it over my noodles and then ate it too quickly.  Sorry!

Well, it's off to make dinner.  I just woke up from a three hour power nap.  I say power nap since those are to replenish just a little bit of sleep you didn't get the night before.  I was at a junior high ADD haven since Thursday and returned today.  Yes, three hours qualifies as "power nap".  I will leave you with a photo of the chaos since there is none for the cheese sauce.

Gotta love youth ministry!

Unemployed

Well, it's official.  I'm not a student of any kind, though my constant debt reminds me that I was at one point.  And, I am no longer on the payroll at Crossview Covenant Church.  I am unemployed.  Yes, we still have a two day trip this week, a youth Sunday to pull off, and one more Bible study, but that's all volunteer work.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  One the one hand, it's nice to know I made it through the year without harming anyone or failing at too many things.  On the other, I feel as though now I should always have everything in order in all aspects of my life (which is not currently happening) so therefore I am failing at something big.  Like I said, I'm not sure how I feel about it all yet.

Well, here are so photos to leave you with.  Sorry, no recipe this time.  If you want something delicious though, check out Corrie's blog.  I want that brown butter tart!  The photo is of my brother, William, and me at his concert over River City Days.  He pretty much rocked the house.

Okay, I lied, sort of.  Here is a link to a recipe I have been wanting to try.  Lemon asparagus cheese spread, thank you Eatin' on the Cheap blog.  Just wait until next year.  With all the friends in Chicago and workable kitchens, we're planning leftover swaps.  Everyone makes whatever they want during the week and one night, we switch everything around.  I should get some new recipes that way.  I love having friends!

Basil Stir-Fry

It's so yummy and from my new, FREE cookbook.  It a Martha Stewart Everyday Food cookbook, so as Todd said "Take everything with a giant spoonful of salt."

Ingredients
1 Large Chicken Breast
1 T cornstarch
vegetable oil
1 small onion
2 Bell Peppers
6 Garlic Cloves
Thai Basil leaves
Rice Wine Vinegar
Soy Sauce
Cooked rice

Directions
-Pat dry the chicken and cut into strips.  Coat in cornstarch seasoned with salt and pepper.  Pour oil into a frying pan and heat it up.
-Let chicken brown on both sides and cook until almost done.  Take out of pan.
-Wipe pan clean and heat oil in pan.
-Toss in cut onion and peppers.  Let cook for 5 min.  Then throw in crushed garlic and cook another minute.
-Add chicken and add vinegar and soy sauce to taste.  Add some water if it's too salty for your taste.   Let simmer with cooked rice and basil leaves.  Serve it up!

See, yum!

Todd made this one by himself which was so nice.  We need to use up food since we are moving so this was a good way to get rid of spices and sauces.  We'll have to do a lot of improve cooking over the next few days.

For mom and Corrie, here is a better photo of Stef's dress.  It was mermaid with a nice sparkly ribbon around the center and train.  Add the pearls and sparkly veil and she looked quite bridal.

They were walking back down the aisle and she forgot to take her flowers with her.  I still had them and her mom gave me a mean look!  Like somehow it was my fault.  Hello, if we don't practice it in rehearsal, how is she supposed to know.  Ah well, I was so pumped my friends got married, I didn't even care.  But now looking back on it, it hurts.  She looked at me and motioned for me to give her the flowers, despite the fact she and Greg were half way down the aisle.  What would ruin the moment more, no flowers or crazy bridesmaid?  

That's what I thought.  Crazy bridesmaid will always distract.  Think before giving me a dirty look.

Pepper Eggs

Well, so much to update on.  I have two weddings and a recipe for you.  First, the recipe.

I recently found this on another blog, but I'm unsure where.  Many of my nights consist of blog hopping, finding new recipes that I have yet to try.  So I came across this very easy breakfast and have since made it for Todd twice now.  According to him, they are great; I have yet to try them.

Ingredients
1 Bell Pepper (I had green)
2 large eggs
Pat of butter
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. Cut the top stem and bottom bumps off the pepper and scoop out the seeds.
2. Cut the pepper in half so you have two circular pieces of pepper.
3. Let a pat of butter melt in a frying pan over medium heat.
4. Place pepper in pan and crack 1 egg inside each pepper circle.
5. Let egg cook, and then gently flip each pepper over to cook the other side of the egg.
6. Cook to your liking and season with salt and pepper.

This is technically eggs in a hole, but with peppers instead of bread.  But you can then put this on toast and have quite the complete breakfast.  How often do you eat a veggie with breakfast?

Now, the weddings.  First, our friends from CBC, Breann and JC, were married on July 23.  They started dating a few months after Todd and I, and they are adorable together.  It was a gorgeous outdoor wedding with a fun dance and great time spent with friends.  Here is a photo from her photographer December Orpen.

Next, Stef and Greg are married!  They were married July 30 in another beautiful outdoor wedding in Michigan.  It looked like it could have been in a magazine it was that perfect.  And for all the time Stef and her mother spent on it, it was a much deserved day of everything coming together.  We had a great time seeing old friends and getting ready to have a married couple for friends.  It kind of stinks when you are one of the first of your friends to get married.  Anyway, formal photos are not up yet, obviously, but here is one of the wedding party.

All in all, it was a good summer for weddings (and for cooking).  I will try to try some more recipes, but not promises.  It turns out leaving your job and packing up an apartment is a little time consuming.  Anyway, I will try.

They Say It's Your Birthday

It's my birthday too!  So here's a song for me, and a photo for you.

What a difference 24 years can make.  Always born great though and I think my rubby ducky friend would agree.

Flat Stanley

My 3rd year of college, my roommate was an Elementary Education major.  She had lots of little projects to do that looked like more fun than my exegesis papers.  One of her projects was "Flat Stanley".  This is a project started in 1995 by a school teacher.  You color and cut out this man, Stanley, who is a two-dimensional character. You then make a journal keeping track of all the places you take your Stanley.  You can learn more about it here.

I have seen Flat Stanleys out and around before, but my favorite came just this last year.  My friend Erin and I were at a Wild vs. Flyers game at the X.  During the second intermission, I looked around taking in the great seats Dad has for season tickets.  I look down, and there is this probably 4th grade girl with a Flat Stanley!  She brought him to a Wild game.  Before she could take a picture of him, I snapped one, just because it's so cute.

I love that a kid thought enough to bring Stanley to a Wild game.  I hope my kids are that cute someday. 

Well as you all know, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup this year.  Mr. Kane, the young 21 year old, got his name written on there (along with Sid the Kid's.  Does anyone else feel they could be doing more with their life?)  So naturally, the Chicago news is still talking about the big win since their last Stanley Cup was in 1961.  But, they have started a great tradition in Chicago.  Instead of "Flat Stanley", they now make "Flat Stanley Cups"!  It's so cute.  And to see something hockey related become a project for the city makes me pretty happy, like I can live in a place for 3 years that values my favorite sport (unlike Mankato.)  To see the story and photos, click here.

Food related news, I'm making a wonderful girly meal for some senior high students coming over tonight.  I'm so excited.  It's three girls that are just so sweet and I love spending time with them.  I'm making the same girly meal I made for Erin the first time she came to visit.

Need Sleep!

I am currently in my last hour and a half of a lock in at church.  I'm tired, hungry, gassy, and want to sleep.  But, I did have fun.  Todd is off to Colorado in two and a half hours (after being here with me all night).  He is going on the Freshman Pilgrimage until Saturday, July 17, which takes him up into the mountains of Colorado to white water raft, hike, and camp.  He's going to have so much fun utilizing his Boy Scout skills.  Erin Ulrich is coming over tonight.  I'm making pizza.  I'm so exhausted.

Beef Kabobs

It's time for more food!  I was in New London, Wisconsin this last week with Teenserve.  It's a mission trip organization that sets you up with a team of people you don't know and sends you out to someones house everyday from 8-3 to do whatever work they need done.  I had a great group of 5 others and we painted a house for a single mom.  They were so sweet and we had a great time.  On Thursday, we had another group join us so we would have a better chance at finishing this huge project.  Sadly, we didn't.  But, we were close to finishing and they were very thankful.  I had a very fun week with my crew and with the 9 kids we brought from Mankato.  That said, I am quite happy I am back home.

My pretty sweet crew!

This recipe is one we made awhile ago, before I left.  We were on a Mediterranean kick, and a meat and veggies kick apparently, so we tried these.  I think you can figure out how to make kabobs yourself, but the marinade for the beef is something to focus on.  Again, it comes from the wonderful Alton Brown.  We really do love him at the Spieker house.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless beef sirloin
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Special equipment: 4 (12-inch) metal skewers

Directions

Cut the beef into 1 1/2 to 1 3/4-inch cubes and place into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor combine the garlic, paprika, turmeric, cumin, salt, pepper and red wine vinegar. With the processor running drizzle in the olive oil.

Pour the marinade over the meat and toss to coat. Place in the refrigerator in an airtight container or a sealable plastic bag and allow to marinate for 2 to 4 hours.

Once you have your marinaded beef, add your cut up onions and peppers, pop them on the skewers, and grill them up.  We did it on the griddle.  You may want to try wrapping them in tin foil and then putting them on a fire grill, or let them get those pretty grill marks on them.  Any way is good.

Well, enjoy your summer grilling.  I was hoping our apartment next year would have a little back staircase so we could have a little charcoal grill.  No such luck.  We'll have to wait until we have a house, or just a nicer apartment.  But don't let that keep you from visiting us next year.  We'll still make you good food!

Maszjudatha

It's pronounced "ma-jUD-thah-dah" and it's delicious.  This is a dish Todd and I had at Brad Nassif's house, our senior seminar professor for Biblical Studies.  He is a smart man that loves his Lebanese heritage.  So, I assume this recipe is Lebanese or at the very least, middle eastern.  Nassif made this for us when he invited all the senior seminar students to his house toward the end of the semester.  Earlier this year, I emailed him asking for the recipe and have now gotten around to making it.

Ingredients:
1-2 yellow onions
1/2 bag of lentils
cracked wheat

Directions:
Nassif explained it best, so I'll let his words do the directing.

Take a half bag of lentils and bring to a boil and the lentils are soft to your taste.
When the lentils are about 5 minutes from being fully cooked, add one half cup (or a full cup, as you wish) of cracked wheat (burghl) to the boiling water.  Use "fine" or "medium" cracted wheat. (By the way, you may want to first rinse the wheat with cold water in a cup before adding it)
As the lentils are cooking, cut up one or two onions (however many you like) and glaze them in Virgin Olive oil in a pan.  Use just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.  Don't overdo the oil.  Cook the onions until they are golden brown or even slightly blackened.
When the lentils are fully cooked with the wheat, shut off the fire and add the onions.
Salt to taste.
Enjoy!

It was so tasty!  We made it with some pan cooked chicken for dinner, but it's great for lunch all by itself.  And I know what you are thinking mom, "Erin and Lentils?  What?!"  We should all know by know that I am much more willing to try new foods.  Although, this meal was especially brown, so a bit like old white food Erin.  Anyway, it was good!  You should try it sometime.  Now, I am off to make fruit dip for our small group.

Chocolate Chip Carmel Bars

Todd and I had our friends Brian and Kelly coming over for dessert and games last Thursday.  We had only decided on the plans the day before, so I was googling as fast as I could Thursday afternoon for a quick and simple dessert to make.  When I stumbled upon this, I knew I had found a gold mine.

Ingredients:

1 box of yellow cake mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup mini milk chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup Skor toffee chips

32 caramels
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 stick of butter

Mix together the cake mix, vegetable oil and eggs. Then mix in different chips. In a greased 9x13 pan, press half of the mixture. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. While that is in the oven, melt in a sauce pan the caramels, sweetened condensed milk and butter. When crust is done, pour sauce over the crust. Then sprinkle in chunks the rest of the mixture. Bake for another 22-25 minutes. Let cool before serving.      

Bask in it's caramel chocolate goodness.

Like I wanted, quick and simple.  The four of us put away about two rows of bars so the plan is to bring the rest of the pan to small group tomorrow night.  However, I think I may have put away a whole row by myself since then.  I can wait to get these out of my house!  I can't even pretend a single part of them are good for you.  Also, here is the blog I got them from.  It looks like she has lots of other yummy things too!


Excuse my dessert heavy posts lately, but Emily Staples wanted it, so I'm jumping ahead in my list of things to post.  I do have some dinners coming soon, I promise!

Chocolate Covered Peppermint Cream Candies

Oh, what a very long title.


We were having a bake sale at church this past Sunday and I wanted to help out since it was benefiting our youth summer trips.  It was the perfect excuse to make these candies I saw on "Eatin' on the Cheap" blog.  Thanks Corrie for posting the link to the entire blog on her blog.  Blog, blog, blog!


Peppermint Creams
makes about 9 dozen

1 - 7oz jar of Marshmallow Cream
2/3 c. softened butter
1 t. vanilla extract
3/4 t. peppermint extract
6 cups sifted Confectioners sugar
1/2 cup peppermint candies or candy canes
Dipping Chocolate ( at least a couple of bags, maybe more)


1. Beat cream, butter, and extracts well.
2. Gradually add in sugar until well mixed.
3.  Pulverize candy in a plastic bag with a rolling pin.
4.  Fold candy into cream mixture.
5. Chill for a couple hours.
6.  Roll mixture into balls or shape into molds.  I cut mine into thick squares.  Line them up on a wax paper lined baking sheet.
7. Chill again for a couple hours.
8. Melt chocolate according to package instructions.  Dip candies into chocolate.
9. Place on wax paper lined baking sheets to set.
10.  Drizzle white chocolate over cooled candies.

These were pretty easy to make, just time consuming.  And, don't try to make them in the summer.  The humidity will make it a little difficult for everything to set well.  These may become a special Christmas treat because of weather and availability of candy canes.  Otherwise, people liked them.  They all sold at the bake sale and the leftovers I brought to small group were eaten up pretty quick.  I do love bringing treats to small group.  It's a good ego stroke, which I probably don't need.  Also, click on the link to "Eatin' on the Cheap" to see a good step by step photo log of how to make these.


Well, lots of things to come, so be on the lookout for lots of new recipes.  Also, what do you think of the new look?  Food blogs are so trendy right now, that one of the new templates you can pick from is this food theme.  Also loving the labels I have finally starting putting on everything.  It's a good way for me to remember what I can make when dinner planning and grocery shopping.