Ladida

About a month ago I started my first garden and this morning I got to pick my first 2 strawberries! They were super sweet and awesome to know that my hard work is starting to pay off. Still not sure if anything else is going to grow, we had a bad frost and hail storm after everything else was planted.

Today is going to be a laid back and relaxed kind of day. D is sleeping and I have laundry to do. I need to get a lot done by Wednesday so that I can leave early Thursday morning for my little vacation to go see my mom. Hopefully the car sick puppy wont get too sick on the drive.

I have been toying with the idea of writing a cook book. Even if it is just for friends and family I think it would be fun to do and I neat way to share what I have learned with people.

Time do go change the laundry ( I know exciting day right?)

Procrastination

My mother will be in town next weekend for my Birthday. I should be cleaning my house. I really should fold the 4 baskets of clean laundry. I should probably put up all the Christmas related items. However all I want to do is go crawl into bed next to D and take a nap. I just do not sleep as well when he is on the night shift.

Okay I am throwing the pups out back and crawling into be with D. It is our anniversary today and its the only time I am going to get to spend with him.

Yah I know I kinda really suck but cookies make life better

I finally started working and somehow that manages to take up all of my time (who would have guessed?). While its not my ideal job for now it works with the options of being able to advance into what I really want to do.

Life is a bit hectic and I took a mental health day today because I almost walked out of work the day before yesterday, and truth be told I really do feel like shit and had I gone in I am beyond sure that things would have hit a wall and words would have been said. It feels good though to have a day to myself with now one at the house. I have actually managed to get the last of the wash into the machine and am getting it folded and put away as it comes out because I am not being distracted by the needs of someone of a pet.

Speaking of pets, the girls are as adorable as ever ever, even if we are still having potty issues. I finally had to get a rug out of the house because it is now pretty much ruined from the girls using it as a toilet and I am tired of cleaning it. We will try area rugs again in a few years.

I still have been cooking and mostly baking because the baking I can take my time with. I sadly have not been cooking much. I get something for dinner that can usually be thrown on the grill before I go to work and then D starts things when he gets home. I typically do not get home before 830, and by that time I really am in no mood to take pictures.

Still adjusting to not really knowing any one, but work has been good and I do feel a bit more social now than when we first arrived here.

One of my big comfort foods is oatmeal raisin cookies and these are the ones I grew up on. They are fantastic and chewy and just perfect to sneak a few for breakfast with a cup of coffee. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have over the years!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Preheat oven to 350° cooking time 10-12 mins

¾ cups butter

¾ cups Crisco

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

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½ cup milk

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

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2 cups flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

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6 cups oatmeal

2 cups raisins

Heat oven to 350°. Combine butter, Crisco, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add milk, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until light & fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter/sugar mixture and mix well. Stir in oats and raisins. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet (or use parchment paper). Bake 10-12 minutes.

Weenie... its whats for dinner

We are finally starting to settle into our new home and I have found the majority of my kitchen belongings. Still have about a dozen boxes here and there (as well as a whole room we are ignoring at this moment), but I can't really do much about those until we get power out to the garage and move the washer and dryer. We are having to move the washer and dryer out of my kitchen (um hello!!! why???) because there is no pantry. Yes I am serious. I am using a set of cabinets at the moment and I really would like those back! D ordered the cable to run from the house to the garage the other night and I hope it will be here in a few days. I am very very excited about this.

I have been doing a lot of baking and cooking over the last few weeks but have had to take a tiny step back because I GOT A JOB! I am a culinary demonstrator for a large grocery retailer here in the South. We have a program where we put together simple, tasty, inexpensive meas for families and we make it for them to see how simple it is and so they can taste it. I like this program and wish they had something like this when I was growing up. Oh boy I am super excited and it is going to be a huge help with finances around here. I am going to be working part time and I am more than okay with that. It is rough getting used to cooking again like I am.

Have I ever mentioned I have sucker written in so many ways right there across my forehead?

This is the reason why....

Meet Bailey! The newest addition to our little family. She is 8 weeks and a 3 pound mini Dachsund. How ever after spending a few days with her Pig would have been a better name. D has taken to calling her Belly instead of Bailey and its a good fit! This pup is the biggest mess and it is so funny watching her and our other pup run around. She can walk right under our other one!

Here are both our girls Bailey and Birdie. Sigh the amount of trouble in this one picture, you have no idea!

Life, Moving, and Shepherds Pie

I just crawled out from under my pile of boxes. We have moved to Prosperity South Carolina and what an ordeal that has been. When most people move its just from one house to another but we are that special breed that moved from two apartments one of which was in a different state (I had one for school and D and his room mate had one close to work) D's house and I had stuff stored at my moms house in a different state. We are still getting settled and all that fun stuff but we have a home now. We still don't have internet and probably wont be able to get a decent set up for a few years (we live in the middle of nowhere) we were able to get a card through D's cell phone and though it is a bit slow it is better than nothing. Now that I am settled I promise I am going to be better about posting.

I love our new house we have 5.5 acres and the previous owners had a garden. It is very very over grown but D and his brother went out and picked the tomatoes for me. Once it starts to cool down I am going to try and tame it but if I cant I am just going to kill the whole thing and start from scratch because I can not even tell what they have planted there.

Today is one of those great days where some how every one has it off. So D 2 of his brother and our room mate are all out in the living room with 2 TVs (I live in electronic hades 7 computers 4 TVs more game consoles and a remote control I have no clue how to work) and 2 i think x boxes playing a very loud game. I am taking refuge in my new kitchen trying to get it cleaned up and organized.

My dad and his wife are driving up to my Aunt and uncles this weekend in Bonneau South Carolina (another one of those small towns like where we are. and I am going to drive over with my puppy (who BTW is highly neurotic, has separation anxiety, lives on a lint and organic based diet and gets car sick it will be a fun 2 and a half hour drive) and meet them also. I am going to be making brownies and cookies and I will make sure to get those recipes and some pictures to share with you. Today though I have something a bit more on the savory side A delicious Shepherds pie.

Shepherds Pie

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 3 medium to large baking potatoes peeled
• 1 large onion cut into thin strips
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 Tbsp butter divided
• S&P
• 2 carrots grated
• 1 14 0z can beef broth
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 8 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen corn
• a few tbsp of milk
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Cube your potatoes and add them to cold (this makes the potatoes cook evenly) salted water. Bring to a boil and cook till for tender, then drain.

In a saute pan melt 2 tbsp of butter and caramelize down your onions. While your onions are caramelizing brown your ground beef draining off the fat. add in your grated carrots and onions once they are caramelized. Slowly add in the beef broth letting the meet soak it up and letting the broth reduce to almost nothing before adding in more, you will use the whole can this gives the pie a wonderful flavor. Once your meet has absorbed all of the beef broth add in your tomato paste, tomato sauce, peas and corn. Season with salt and pepper.

Add butter and milk to your potatoes along with salt and pepper and mash.

Pour beef mixture into a casserole dish. Top the beef mixture with your mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with Cheese. Bake in oven at 350 for 20- 30 minutes.

Purple Potato Salad

I found these beautiful purple potatoes when I was at the farmers market in Atlanta. They do not taste any different than a red skin potatoes. They make a beautiful display to make mashed potatoes out of these, sweet potatoes, and a regular white potato. I decided to make a potato salad to go with dinner tonight.

• 5-6 Small potatoes
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 2 TBSP dijon or whole grain mustard
• 1 TSP apple cider vinegar
• 1-2 TBSP Chopped Dill
• 3-4 Green Onions Chopped
• Salt and Pepper

Slice or cube your potatoes and boil till fork tender in Salted water. While your potatoes are cooking combine the rest of your ingredients. Once your potatoes are tender drain them and let them air cool for 15-20 minutes. Toss in the sauce and either serve warm or chill.

Chocolate mmmmm

All I have been craving lately are smoothies. I dont mind indulging in this craving because of all the fresh fruit I am getting. When berries go on sale at the store I buy a few packs. They freeze so well and I save them for when I want to make the wonderful treats espically in the winter when fresh fruit is a bit harder to come by. I will work on getting together a few of my favorites for yall.

I had some left over icing the other day and I was not to sure what to do with it. Throwing icing out in the world i grew up in was nothing short of a crime. I tinkered around with it and ended up making a wonderful truffle filling!

Since this was a left over I dont have a picture of the ingredients but the are

• 8 oz Cream Cheese room temp
• 8 oz Butter room temp
• 16-32 oz powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you want your filling)
• 8 oz cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz melted chocolate

Cream together cream cheese and butter until well combined. Sift cocoa powder. Slowly add into butter and cream cheese mixture. Sift your powder sugar. Add in the first 16 ounces and taste your filling. If you want it sweeter add in the last 16 ounces. Once combined add in the 8 ounces of melted chocolate.

With a one inch scoop make balls and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet that will fit in your freezer. Once the tray is full place in your freezer for about 20 minutes this well help you roll them into perfect balls. Once you do have them rolled pop them back into the freezer for a good 15 minutes. While they are in the freezer add 16 or so ounces to melt in a double boiler. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper.

To dip the truffles stick a tooth pick into the center and dunk them into the melted chocolate. Transfer onto the clean parchment. To get the tooth pick out twist it out it makes the least amount of mess. Once the Chocolate sets drizzle with the left over melted chocolate to hide where the tooth pick was inserted.