Sunday, December 28, 2008

Pita Pizza


I love homemade pizza! I was craving it tonight after church so I decided to make some. I used whole wheat pita bread as my crust because I didn't want to take the time to make my own dough. I topped it with basil pesto, fresh sauted mushrooms, garlic, chicken and feta cheese. It was really good...with a glass of wine or a beer it would have been perfect.

Treats!


So my parents gave me a great gift for Christmas. A gift card to the Fresh Market!! I had to stop on my way out of Macon Friday and make a few purchases. Hot chocolate, Elderflower water, scone mix, Kalamata olive tortilla chips, my favorite chocolate (Green & Black's) and granola planks (crumble up to eat as cereal). Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Wolf Sub-Zero Pro 48


I was looking at one of my older Gourmet magazines today and saw this refrigerator. I looked it up on their website and it didn't even have a price which means it's very expensive...I guess it doesn't hurt to dream.

Christmas With The L's

Traditional breakfast of Dunkin Donuts and Grapefruit


Fresh Market coffee and Christmas mugs for everyone

Timothy and his pinstriping kit

Phillip with his gift from me. It was a big hit with all the guys....we LOVE Steve McQueen!!

Among other things I received a good bit of parts for my car...a little bit closer to being finished!!


Newest Member of the Family


My brother Wesley recently got a dog. His name is Tank and he's 1/2 boxer, 1/2 pitbull. He is so stinking cute! I want to take him home with me.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

My Christmas Present from 119 Chops

My knife set from Chops for Christmas. Can't wait to use it!!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Did I Mention I Hate My Phone?

I currently have a Blackberry Pearl which I greatly despise. It will randomly delete all my call and text history. I will get notification that I have a text message or missed call but when I click on view it shows nothing. Today if I had anyone call or text me between 5 and 10 I have no record of it. It is very aggravating! I'm going tomorrow to change back to my old phone...it's not worth the extra $30 to keep the Blackberry even if it does have awesome gadgets.

Productive Day

Today was a regular Monday of washing clothes, cleaning and running errands. After I got most of my things done I headed to Charlotte's for some more projects. We made baklava and homemade apple sauce. It was loads of fun! I can't wait to try the baklava tomorrow.



The making of the apple sauce was super easy and fun. I just quartered the apples and tossed them in a pot to cook down. After they were cooked we put them through Mrs. Debbie's Squeezo which removes the seeds and skin. I've got to save up my money and get one of those. They list of things I could process is endless! This would be great during the summer to use for all the things I could grow in a garden.


Snow White and her caramel apple...it's almost as large as her head! I think she just licked all the caramel off and left the apple. :)

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Something New

So I've been bored at work for quite a while because I'm not learning anything new. It's frustrating when you do the same thing everyday and I'm not really advancing in my knowledge of my field. It's discouraging sometimes because there is so much to know and learn about in culinary arts and I feel like I'm stuck were I'm working. Anyway, I did get to do something new today!! It might not sound interesting to everyone else but I got to butcher a swordfish. No, not the whole fish but we do get these large pieces of meat that have to be butchered and cut down to portions we can serve. It was really fun and it made my morning a little more exciting. It made me want to go deep sea fishing...those things have some crazy thick skin. Yeah for learning something new!!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Clementines


I could have stayed in bed all day today. I think that I hit snooze 6 times this morning and because of it got up 30 minutes later than usual. Due to the ever changing weather in Statesboro I have been feeling bad since Tuesday...I think it's just a bad cold. Charlotte had me over for lunch today and we had some awesome soup as well as some amazing clementines. They were so good I had to eat 2. I'll be going by Harvey's tomorrow to get me a box!!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Something To Look Forward To

So the restaurant is only opened Wednesday through Saturday. It's nice because I get three days off, but the downside is that I work around 50 hours in four days. It makes for four very long days. About 2 months ago Charlotte and I started doing breakfast once or twice a week at the bakery. It's so nice to have something to look forward to on my long days. I usually have the french bread roll or biscuit with their raspberry jam and they have great coffee.


Monday, December 8, 2008

Brandy's Back To Blogging!!

My good friend Brandy has been without internet for the last few months so she hasn't been blogging. Her blog was one of my favorites and she just got her internet back this week!!! Welcome back Brandy! Click here to check out Kids Are Messy.

A Few Things I Love About This Time Of Year

Parties


Holiday Baking

Family All Home At One Time

Cold Weather Clothing

Christmas Music

Holiday Decorated Houses

Friday, December 5, 2008

Gingerbread


My gingerbread family from last year.

I love gingerbread and gingersnaps but I hardly ever make them. This happens a lot because growing up in a large family I could make anything and it would be eaten. Now there isn't anyone to eat my creations. I just need to do a better job of giving them to friends. Charlotte makes gingerbread cookies a lot this time of year with the girls. The first time I ever hung out with Charlotte was 2 years ago at Christmas and she was in the kitchen cooking gingerbread men with the girls. I was super impressed because it takes a lot of patience to cook with kids. I would like, one day, to teach cooking classes to children. Anyway (got off on a tangent) I really want to make a gingerbread house this Christmas. I have a recipe that we used in class to make a monster gingerbread house for a charity event. I'll have to round up some kids to help me. Can't wait!

Gingerbread House Cookie Building Slabs
(This dough can also be used to make gingerbread people and/or cookies)

1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons baking soda
1 tablespoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/3 cups light or dark molasses
9 cups all purpose flour
Icing Cement (recipe below)

Whip cream and vanilla until cream holds soft peaks. In a large bowl, mix sugar, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon. Stir in molasses and cream. Gradually add flour, mixing well. On a lightly floured board, roll our a portion of dough until it's flat but still thick enough to pick up easily without tearing. Place it on a greased and floured 12 by 15 inch rimless baking sheet.

Finish rolling dough on pan, supporting the rolling pin on equally thick wooden strips placed along opposite edges of the pan. Use about 2 cups dough for each 1/8 inch thick slab, about 4 cups for each 1/4 inch slab and about 6 cups for each 3/8 inch slab. If the cookies are not evenly thick, the thin areas bake darker in color and are more brittle.

You can bake up to 2 pans of dough at a time in 1 oven. Bake dough until fairly firm when pressed in the center-in a 300 degree F. oven. Allow about 1 hour for 1/8 inch thick slabs; in a 275 F. oven, allow about 1 3/4 hours for a 1/4 inch slabs and about 2 1/4 hours for 3/8 inch slab.

After 30 minutes, remove pans from oven and place pattern pieces close together on the dough; with a sharp knife, cut around pattern edges; lift off pattern and scraps. Return both pans to oven, switching their positions, and finish baking. Meanwhile, roll out remaining dough to make cookies and other special features.

When done, carefully loosen cookies with a spatula; cool on pan until firm, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Decorate and assemble structure with icing cement or wrap pieces airtight and store up to 1 month; cookies keep crisp longer, but do not taste as fresh.

Icing Cement
With and electric mixer, beat 2 large egg whites, 1/8 teaspoon cream of tarter, and 2 teaspoons water until frothy. Mix in 3 cups sifted powdered sugar; beat on high speed until icing is stiff, 5 to 10 minutes. Use, or cover up to 8 hours. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

No More Facebook!

Ok...I have decided to delete my facebook account. I personally think facebook has become quite ridicules and a waste of time really. I haven't really used it to keep up with people and especially now that I'm blogging there is no real reason to have it. The only thing I like about facebook is being able to upload pictures but I already have gmail where I can upload more pictures for friends and family to see. Click HERE to view my pictures.