Pumpkinnog

4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon 

2C. whole milk
1 C. heavy cream

1/4 C. pumpkin puree
1/3 C. bourbon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp. vanilla

4 egg whites

With your stand mixer, beat egg yolks with 1/3 C. sugar until sunny yellow and sugar is dissolved.  In a two quart sauce pan, heat milk, cream, pumpkin puree, and pie spice until warm, but not boiling. Remove from heat.  Mixing quickly (speed 4) and pouring slowly, temper eggs by adding warm liquid to mixing bowl with eggs.  After combining, pour mixture back into sauce pan, and heat to 165*.  Remove from heat, add vanilla, and bourbon.  Refrigerate mixture for several hours.  When you are ready to assemble drink, whip egg whites with 1 Tbs. sugar until still peaks form.  Fold egg whites into your custard base. Garnish drinks with nutmeg.

Orchid

My orchid finally bloomed!! I was able to take a better picture with assistance.

Bourbon Chicken

Surprisingly not made with bourbon.

2 lb. chicken breasts cut into small pieces
1 Tb. olive oil
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes or 1 tsp. Siracha
1/4 C. apple juice
1/3 C. light brown sugar
2 Tb. ketchup
1 Tb. cider vinegar
1/2 C. water
1 Tb. cornstarch

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned. Remove chicken. Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well blended and dissolved. Add chicken and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes uncovered. Serve over hot rice. Sprinkle with green onions if desired.

Blue Christmas

This summer I wrote an article on the saddest songs ever written, but I excluded Christmas songs.  They have their own unique way of making you feel alone and sad during what should be a happy time of year. The count down:

12. "Christmas In Jail" Leroy Carr
Old blues song lamenting decisions "The blues come fallin', they fall like drops of rain,  I've got to spend my Christmas locked up in jail again"

11."The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot"
Time are tough when you are poor, and even harder without a Dad. Ouch! "In the street, he envies all those lucky boys, Then wanders home to last year's broken toys. I'm so sorry for that laddie, he hasn't got a daddy. The little boy that Santa Claus forgot."

10. "Fairytale of New York" Poguesis
The basics of the song are about a drunken man thinking back to past Christmas celebrations while incarcerated in a New York City jail. "Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed, You scumbag you maggot, You cheap lousy faggot, Happy Christmas your arse I pray god it´s our last."

9. "Same old Lang Syne" Dan Fogelberg
The tells the autobiographical story of meeting a former love on a snowy Christmas Eve. "We went to have ourselves a drink or two, But couldn't find an open bar. We bought a six-pack at the liquor store, And we drank it in her car. We drank a toast to innocence. We drank a toast to now, And tried to reach beyond the emptiness, But neither one knew how."

8. "Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)" Sufjan Steven
This original song depicts simmering anger and sadness during the holidays. "This time of year you always disappear, You tell me not to call, You tell me not to call, And when the door is closed you're wearing different clothes, Or hiding in the paper, pretending not to hear."

7. "Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas)" John Denver
Nothing as depressing as addiction. "Please daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas, I don't wanna see my mamma cry. Just last year when I was only seven, now I'm almost eight as you can see. You came home a quarter past eleven, fell down underneath our Christmas tree."

6. "Hard Candy Christmas" Dolly Parton
A hard candy Christmas is when the family is so poor that all they could afford was a penny bag of hard candy to give their kids.  This is more of a general distress song, but lyrics count. "Fine and dandy, Lord it's like a hard candy Christmas. I'm barely getting through tomorrow. But still I wont let sorrow bring me way down."

5. "If We Make It Through December" Merle Haggard
Well Christmas has been cancelled because of lay offs. Wonderful. "I got laid off down at the factory, And there timings not the greatest in the world.  If we make it through December every things gonna be alright I know. It's the coldest time of winter and I shiver when I see the fallin' snow."

4. "Down in Yon Forest" English folk song
It is a mystery to me how anyone could ever have read/heard the Corpus Christi Carol and decided “Hey, that would make a great Christmas carol!” But apparently someone did, and with a few twists and tweaks a song about death and mourning become a song about birth and joy. The song is still relatively close to the 16th century text; a few chorus have been added and the last stanza has been substituted with verses dedicated to the birth of Christ.  The most chilling verse is: “Under that bed there runs a flood:
The bells of Paradise I heard them ring:
The one half runs water, the other runs blood:”

3. "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid
There is no snow in Africa. "And the Christmas bells that ring there, are the clanging chimes of doom.
Well, tonight, thank God, it’s them instead of you”

2. "Christmas Eve Can Kill You" The Everly Brothers
Homeless on Christmas and no family left to go to. "And forget about the stranger in the cold. And Christmas Eve can kill you when you're trying to hitch a ride to anywhere. And as I walk I'm singin' to myself, Oh Silent Night "

1."Christmas Shoes" Newsong
The song's story about a little boy wanting to buy his dying mother the perfect gift. "Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please. It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size.  Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time. You see she's been sick for quite a while, and I know these shoes would make her smile.  And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight"
Seriously? Did anyone think there would be a #1 Most depressing Song EVER? Didn't think so.

M&M Shortbread

1/2 C. powered sugar
1 C. butter, soft
2 C. flour
1/2 C. M&M's to make this M&M shortbread

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Beat together the butter and powdered sugar.  Slowly add the flour (about a half cup at a time), mixing a bit in between each addition.  The mixture will look crumbly at first, but the dough will come together after a few minutes.This dough should not be sticky.  Gently mix in the M&M's with a spatula or wooden spoon. Turn dough onto a lightly floured silicone baking mat or parchment paper and roll out to a 1/4" thick rectangle. Using the parchment or baking mat, life the dough onto a baking sheet (leave the parchment or silicone mat as the lining). Cut dough into 24 squares with cookie cutter set you got for Christmas last year. Bake for 20-25 minutes until edges begin to turn a light golden brown. Let cool completely. on a wire rack. Drizzle the melting candy over top and sprinkle with additional M&M's if desired.

Candycane Suckers

1 box (40) miniature candy canes
1 bag white chocolate candy discs (melt in microwave pastry/candy bag)
sprinkles!
sticks

Do not touch candy canes immediately after removing them from oven.  Do not use your finger to smooth out the (boiling hot) candy melts. Do not freak out and try wiping the chocolate on your 350* cookie sheet.  This project probably requires adult supervision.

Holiday Decor

.

My favorite aunt made these lovely holiday decorations.

Spiced Pecans

spiced pecan recipe, pecan pie recipe (using 1 C. spiced pecans)

Apple Pie

400* 30-40 minutes.

Calendar

Countdown to the holidays with this adorable calendar.  There are 25 reusable tins filled with chocolate and caramels on a magnetic chalk board. I love it.

Soap

Pumpkin Scones

Scones	Vanilla Glaze	Cinnamon Glaze
4¼ cup flour	1 cup powdered sugar	1½ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup sugar	2 Tbsp heavy cream	½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt		½ tsp allspice
2 Tbsp baking powder		2-3 Tbsp heavy cream
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cloves
¾ tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
¾ cup butter, cold, cut in cubes
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions

1. In small bowl, mix the pumpkin, heavy cream and egg with a whisk. Set aside.
2. In mixer, using paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and spices. Add in cold butter cubes and mix until crumbly. Slowly add in pumpkin mixture and mix until thoroughly combined.
3. Divide dough in half, and form the dough into a 12x5 inch rectangle. If it’s too sticky, using hands, mix in enough flour so it is easier to shape.
4. Cut dough into triangles by making three vertical cuts (you should now have 3 rectangles. Cut each of the rectangles by making an X, I use a pizza cutter. Then make ONE horizontal cut across the center. You should have 18 triangles.
5. Place each triangle onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 13-15 minutes. Repeat with other half of dough.
6. Cool on rack. Make sugar glaze by whisking the sugar with heavy cream. Using a brush, paint the tops of each scone with the glaze.
7. To make the cinnamon glaze, whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. Pour into a ziploc bag and cut the corner. Drizzle the glaze over all the scones. Allow to dry (about 15 minutes). Eat and enjoy!

Tenderloin

2 lb beef tenderloin
black pepper

Remove tenderloin from vacuum sealed bag.  Season with black pepper. Broil for 8 minutes per side for a total of about 25 minutes or until thermometer reads done.

Broccoli Salad in a bag

Empty contents into a bowl,  let sit for 10 minutes.

Box of scalloped potatoes
2 C. boiling water
1/2 C. milk
2 Tb. margarine

Combine in 8" x 8" casserole.  Bake 450* for 20 minutes until potatoes are fork tender.

Baby Bonnet

Pattern

Baby Pullover

Size 6 month baby pullover.  Pattern

Card ball

I have been clearing off my bookshelves and cleaning out my closets. I noticed I had an abundance of old greeting cards and wanted to do something special with them. A Greeting Card Ornament is when you cut out circles of the face of each card (20 for each ball) and then oragami them into triangles and glue them together. This is a birthday greeting ball.

More Gnome Cards

Fawn Lawn card

Archivers is going out of business at the Great Northern Mall.  Everything is 30% so I got some stamps and cards today. I colored everything with my Crayola colored pencils. I am pleased with the colors!

Cilantro Lime Rice

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup long-grain white rice

1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp. salt

First, you need to wash off the excess starch on the rice. This will prevent it from making a sticky mess. Put the rice in a your 2 qt. pan, run cold tap water over it. Once the pan is full of water, use your fingers to swish the rice around. The water will start getting murky. Gently pour this water out. Repeat this process till the water is mostly clear. This will take at least 4-5 washes. Now put in the water. Normally, a long-grain rice recipe calls for twice the amount of water as rice. Why then are we using only 1.5 cups of water? Because our rice has already been sitting in some water for a while, and has absorbed a bit of it. Moreoever, there is still some leftover water after you drained it, because no one can drain it absolutely dry. Put the pan on medium high heat. Wait till the water boils and starts bubbling. Now turn the heat down as low as you can, cover with the tight lid, and let it just sit there for about 15-20 minutes. Resist the urge to lift the lid and peek at the rice. After the 15-20 minutes is up, turn off the heat and let it rest another 5 minutes.

Dump cooked rice into large bowl.  Gently fold in remaining ingredients. I like to use the rice paddle that came with my rice steamer.

Pad Thai

1 lb package boneless skinless chicken
6 oz baby mushrooms
1 small head bock choy
1 ancient pepper, julienned
package Pad Thai sauce
Penzey's BBQ seasoning

2 C. cooked rice
1 regular carrot, diced
3 eggs
2 Tb. oil
low sodium soy sauce

Cook chicken, until not pink.  Season with BBQ seasoning.  Add mushroom, bock choy, and pepper. Saute until bock choy is wilted, mushrooms are soft, and chicken is 165*.  Add Pad Thai sauce. Turn off heat and set aside.  In a second pan, scramble eggs with carrots and oil.While egg is still moist, add cooked rice.  Chop up mixture to separate grains of rice.  Add soy sauce.  Serve stir fry over rice.

Beautiful October

Time lapsed photos of the sky above my workplace.

Magic Mouthwash

Magic mouthwash is used to treat mouth sores, sore throat, cankersores, etc.  I recently recommended it to a coworker because her thoat hurt due to allergy season.  I had to explain it to her because she never heard of it before, and then I had to scour the internet to find the recipe.  Maybe it isn't as popular as I thought?

4 oz children's Benedryl
6 oz Maalox
.5 oz benzocain


Mix equal parts milk of magnesia and allergy liquid together in a medicine bottle. Add benzocain and enough water to make the mixture easy to shake.  I found a 16 ounce bottle worked wonderfully.  In large doses Maalox acts as a laxative, so do not drink more than 2 Tbs; just gargle and spit to coat your mouth with numbing goodness.

Apple Sauce

4 large apples (I used Empire this time)
1/2 C. sugar
1 Tb. cinnamon

Use a vegetable peeler to peel the apples. Cut apples into quarters, then  use a paring knife to remove core bits.  Slice apples into small wedges.  Add wedges to microwave safe bowl, add sugar and cinnamon. Microwave until apples are soft (about 12 minutes).

Cinnamon Ornaments

1 C. school lunch style applesauce
1 1/2 C. cinnamon
1/2 C. white school glue

I've seen recipes without the glue, but I imagine the glue makes it more elastic and hold together better after it dries.  Mix ingredients together until it forms a brown smooth dough. Roll out to 1/4" thickness. Use cookie cutters to make designs.  Dry ornaments on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, flipping every few hours so the edges don't curl up too bad.  Use a straw or pencil to punch holes in tops of ornaments so you can hang them.  The dough will shrink as it dries.  The holes will get smaller.   Paint ornaments only after they are fully dried. 

Pork Tenderloin

2 Tb butter 1 small onion, finely chopped (1/3 cup)
2 clovea garlic, finely chopped
1 cup (4 oz) crumbled blue cheese
3 Tb coarsely chopped dried cherries 
3 Tb chopped pecans
2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 lb  pork tenderloin


 Adjust oven rack to middle position. Heat oven to 400°F.   In 8-inch skillet, heat butter over medium heat until melted. Add onion and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Remove from heat and cool about 5 minutes. In medium bowl, stir cheese vigorously with spoon. Stir in cooled onion mixture, cherries, pecans and thyme; set aside.   Place tenderloin on work surface with short side facing you. Use knife to slit in half lengthwise without going all the way through. Open pork like a book. Spread the cheese mixture in center pork. Close up pork and tie with kitchen twine to secure. I decorated my tenderloin with two strips of bacon and a sprig of rosemary. Season outside with salt and pepper.  Bake in heatproof dish for 40 minutes or until thermometer reads 155*F.

Green Curry

I recently bought this curry set at the grocery store.  You add your own meat and vegetables.  I added chicken, eggplant, asparagus, and cherry tomatoes. Super spicy, but wonderful.

Rigatoni

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 cans (15 Ounce Each) Tomato Sauce Or Marinara Sauce
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Dash Of Sugar (more To Taste)
1 cup Heavy Cream
Grated Parmesan Or Romano Cheese, To Taste
green olives
1 can drained artichoke hearts
1 bunch minced parsley

Heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for a minute or so. Pour in tomato sauce and add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Stir and cook over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir in cream. Add cheese to taste, then check seasonings. Stir in can of drained artichokes, sliced green olives, and parsley.  Serve over pasta.  Top with cooked butternut squash.

Pizza

Nini's Springerle Cookies

1/2 tsp. bakers ammonia (hartshorn)
2 Tb. milk
6 large eggs, room temperature
6 C. powdered sugar (1 1/2 lb)
1/2 C. unsalted butter (1 stick) room temperature
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. flavor
2 Lb. box sifted cake flour (Softsilk)
more flour as needed (I used about 1 C. more)

Dissolve hartshorn in milk and set aside for 30 minutes or more.  Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored (10 minutes).  Slowly beat in the powdered sugar and butter.  Add hartshorn and milk, salt, and preferred flavoring.  Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer to make a stiff dough. turn onto floured surface and kneed in enough flour to make a good print without sticking. Bake on parchment paper at 225*-300* until barely golden on the bottom 15-25 minutes depending on size of cookie.

I made 85 cookies.

Caramel Apple

"Carmel" was a town in California of which Clint Eastwood was once mayor, caramel is a brown chewy sugar toffee.

1 bag Kraft caramels, unwrapped
5 medium apples
crushed pecans
melted, chocolate candy melts

Heat caramels with 2 Tb. milk over medium heat.  Stir so it doesn't burn.  Wash apples and insert Popsicle sticks.  The wax will prevent the caramel from adhering to the apples, so wash, buff, buff, buff.

Paint Chip Poster

I read on Pintrest that you can use a photo frame and paint chips to make a calendar.  I got the wrong kind of frame (didn't realize it was blue silk screened, but at .99 I was only thinking oooooo!) and turned it into a room decoration.  It can still be used with a dry erase marker to leave notes.

Blue Heron

Butterfly

Butterfly season!!! YAAAAAY. Oh and also, it is ragweed season.

More Exciting Orchid Updates

Lamb and Carrots

Ravioli

Mushroom stuffed ravioli with artichokes, green olives, basil, and blue cheese.

Petit Ecolier

DIY Swiffer Wet Jet Pad

Here's what you need to make your own reusable/washable Swiffer mop pad.

1 package of Gerber padded cloth diapers
2 foot strip of sew-on Velcro per pad. Just the soft side.
Sewing machine, pins, and thread
Scissors and measuring tape

Lay out your padded cloth diaper landscape style	Fold cloth into thirds. Bring down top, bring up bottom and pin.  Take the time to measure your thirds so that it fits the Swiffer mop.
Fold in half and cut on the fold line. You get two reusable Swiffer pads per cloth diaper.  Use a serger or a zigzag stitch to sew around the outside corners of your cloth.  It needs to be squared and secured.  Sew, trim, sew.  Be sure it will not fall apart in the wash!	You will only need the soft side of the Velcro (about 10 inches per side, 20" per cloth.  One package of Babyville diaper Velcro will be enough for two Swiffer cloths.)Measure 1" from the edge of the cloth diaper and pin on your strips of velcro. Make sure that with the other piece of velcro you pin it on top of the edge of cloth diaper that was folded over. You don't want the pad to have any flappy parts. This will secure the edge down as well as cover it up making it look a little better.

The pad is a little shorter in width than the actual mop. It really makes NO difference at all having it a bit shorter. It just has to be a little shorter if you want to be able to make two pads from one cloth diaper.  You can also make these pads from old towels using a similar sewing procedure.

Orchids

Another exciting orchid update for you.

Orange Shelf Mushrooms

Sulphur shelf (Laetiporus sulphureus) is also known as the chicken of the woods. It is an edible mushroom with a taste quite similar to lemony chicken. Individual "shelves" range from 2-10 inches across. It is most commonly found on oak trees in the lake summer and early fall. I did not sample any because I was not certain of what it was. Also, about half of the population has an allergic reaction to this type of mushroom, with cases being more pronounced in older mushrooms. Due to all of these factors, the mushroom should generally only be eaten when young, and one should always only try a small amount the first time.

Broccoli Salad

Salad	Dressing
3 heads broccoli	1 C. mayonnaise
3 Tb. red onion	2 Tbs. sherry vinegar
6 strips bacon, cooked, crumbled	3 Tbs. sugar
1/4 C. shredded cheese

raisins, craisins, sun flower seeds, whatever if you want it to have more crunch

Make dressing ahead of time. It is good if can sit overnight in the refrigerator. Cook and cool broccoli. Add toppings to taste.

Tortellini Bento

Taco Bowl

To make your own crunchy taco shell bowl, spray both sides of a soft tortilla with a small amount of cooking spray.  Drape the tortilla over an oven safe bowl or measuring cup.  Bake 375* for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Taco Bento

I got a new bento box from Whole Foods today.  Laptop Lunch Box.  There are multiple removable containers (some with water tight lids) that can be rearranged in various configurations.  I made loaded nachos for dinner.