Winter Fiesta

Well, after being a lazy bum most of the week I decided to end my doldrums by cooking two new recipes (Mexican stuffed shells and Tomatillo Guacamole) last night for dinner.

And they turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself!

Mexican Stuffed Shells

(found on Pintrest)

4 servings

1 lb ground beef

1 package taco seasoning

4 oz cream cheese

14-16 jumbo pasta shells

1 1/2 c. salsa

1 c. taco sauce

1 c. cheddar cheese

1 c. Monterey Jack cheese

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Brown ground beef, add taco seasoning and prepare according to the package
• Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted, blend well. Set aside and cool completely. (You may be tempted to eat what's in the pan, but wait, it gets better!)
• Cook pasta shells according to the directions on the package, drain. Set shells out separately so they don't stick together.
• Pour salsa on bottom of 13x9in baking dish. (make sure you have a really good salsa, as a lot of it soaks into the shells. I have yet to find a salsa at the grocery store, or even a recipe for one that I really love. And as much as I HATE corporate dining, Carlos O'Kelly's has the best salsa.)
• Stuff each shell with the meat mixture and place in pan, open side up.
• Cover shells with taco sauce (now, it says taco sauce, but I like enchilada sauce better, so I use that, and it still turned out to be delicious.)
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 min.
• Add cheeses and bake, uncovered 10-15 min
• Top with green onions, black olives, sour cream, more salsa, whatever your heart desires. We didn't top it with anything and it tasted wonderful.

Tomatillo Guacamole

(found in Skinny Dips)

Makes about 3 cups

Vegetarian

4 tamotillos, papery husks removed, halved lengthwise

2 large plum tomatoes, cored, halved lengthwise, and seeded

2 tsp. canola oil

2 large hass avocados, halved, pitted, and peeled

1/2 c. chopped cilantro or coriander leaves

1/4 c. diced red onion

3 serrano chilies, seeds and ribs removed, minced

2 tbsp. lime juice

1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt

• Prepare medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill/barbecue, preheat a gas grill/barbecue on medium-high, or place a stovetop ridged grill pan over medium-high heat.
• Brush tomatillos and tomatoes with the oil. Place the tomatillos and tomatoes, cut side down, directly over the fire. Cover the grill and cook, turning once, until dark brown grill marks appear and they are tender, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into 1/2in dice. Set aside. (I didn't do any of that. Mostly because I'm lazy. I skipped right to the dicing of the tomato and tomatillos. It still turned out wonderfully, I just thought I would include these directions for the more ambitious ones out there!)
• In a medium bowl, mash the avocados until chunky. Add the grilled (or in my case, raw) tomatillos and tomatoes. Fold in the cilantro/coriander, onion, serrano chiles, lime juice and salt. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately (definitely followed that part!)

Anyway, hope you enjoy. All in all, it only took me about an hour. I made the guac while the shells were cooking.

Hope you have a Merry New Year!!!!

ASOS Awesome!

A little while back I found this great british clothing website called ASOS (they now have a US version). It can be a little pricy, but they have great sales. Well, today, I found a little thing called ASOS Marketplace.

People (with great style!) SELL (and, like me) BUY vintage clothes through this marketplace. So, you get one-of-a-kind pieces at some really great prices (okay, so my examples aren't that cheap, but there are a lot of clothes that are inexpensive) (the only setback is the shipping, presumably because the clothes are shipped from all over the world). When buying make sure you translate the UK sizes to US sizes. Here are a few things that caught my eye (all photos from asos.com):

Vintage 1960s Maxi Dress $53

1970s Green Leather Clutch $48

Flecked Faux Fur Swing Coat $51

Lanvin 50s Classic Sunglasses $85

Vintage Swimsuit $13

Usually I like to keep these things to myself so I can selfishly keep all the good clothes just for me. But, seeing as it's the holiday season, I will share this amazing little marketplace with you, and wish you Happy Holidays and Merry Shopping!

Fa-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la

I love this time of year. And here is a list why:

1. I love that my house smells like a cedar tree (well, because Ike and I hiked 2 hours to find our cute, imperfect tree).

2. I love that it is now acceptable to watch all of my favorite Christmas movies (now for a sub-list of my top 5)

1. White Christmas (I LOVE to watch Vera Ellen dance!)

2. All the claymation movies (especially Rudolph!)

3. Miracle on 34th Street (the one with Maureen O'Hara)

4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (mostly because of cousin Eddie)

5. The Family Stone (not a classic, but for some reason I love it! mostly because of Craig T. Nelson and Luke Wilson)

*Alternate: It's a Wonderful Life ( it really can't be left off)

3. I love finding the absolute perfect gift for my friends and family (or making them the perfect gift.)

4. Tis the season for parties!!!

5. There is pumpkin flavored everything! (just made a pumpkin roll Sunday night and it is practically gone!)

6. I can pull out my Bing Crosby Christmas CD.

7. I get to see my wonderful family.

8. Eggnog!

9. The fact that it is my niece, Kennedy's first Christmas!

10. Oh yeah, and this....

He proposed....while I was wearing sweatpants and only one sock and my glasses....he must really love me.

Happy Holidays!

H & Mmmmmmm

I. Love. Shopping.

I love clothes. I know it is wrong, but I do. My favorite things to buy are shoes and coats. I even buy shoes that I probably won't wear very often (or ever) because they are pretty. I would buy these shoes in a second....

Photo courtesy of urbanoutfitters.com

if I had somewhere to wear them. Manhattan (Kansas, not New York) offers very few places warranting glittery platform boots (God I wish I could have been around for Studio 54 in its heyday!). If someone could invent such a place in Manhattan (again, Kansas, not New York), I promise I would be there every night (in something glittery).

Well christmas is just around the corner, and what could be a better christmas gift to me from the universe than the opening of H & M in Kansas City. Yes, that's right, an H & M only 2 HOURS from me!!!!! In fact it opens this week!!!! Actually, I think it opened today!

So, here is a glimpse at some of the things I will look into purchasing once I make it up there. And I'm sure it will be pure madness, sweet, sweet madness..... (all the following photos are from hm.com)

Again where would I wear this? It's appropriate for subbing for a first grade class, right?

Napkins, Little Napkins

As you are about to see, I'm not the best sewer.

I love to sew, especially when all I have to do is, well, sew. I hate patterns and ironing, so I seek out projects that require neither. This project technically called for ironing, but I conveniently skipped over that step, and it turned out fine.

Anyway, I'm home alone tonight (Ike is working on the house) and after cooking some homemade tomato soup and pear cobbler for dinner tomorrow night (aren't you proud of me for not doing this post on food!!) while watching "Halloween" (I mentioned I was home alone right? Oh, and I've been reading Stephen King's "Carrie" all day!). Well, by the time "Halloween" ended and the soup had simmered, I decided to tackle this project....I'm making my own napkins.

Ike and I try to be as environmentally friendly as we can, recycling, not using a dryer (we hang our clothes to dry year round), reusing what we can (paper, zip lock bags, etc), trying to use the A/C and heater as little as possible, you get the point. So, when I saw a DIY project on how to make napkins out of old sheets and pillowcases I was super jazzed.

So, I got on Etsy.com, found a ton of sheet scraps, ordered them and tonight I put my (lacking) sewing skills to the test.

Ike has this great old sewing machine that belonged to his grandmother (mine is in storage, along with about everything I own expect my couch and clothes and a few odds and ends). I managed to figure it out, and after many broken threads (and Wilco & Co on Pandora as my soundtrack), this is what I came up with....

.....Tiny napkins (don't they look more like coasters?!). I think they are really cute (pay no attention to the crooked seams!), but I think I might need to rip apart some more sheets and make napkins (BIGGER napkins) that we can use with a little bit more ease.

So, when I invite you over to the new house for a dinner party, please be patient with my tiny, tiny napkins!

Sunday Dinner Thursday Night

Okay, so I'm back to food....again.

I can't help it. When I cook something delicious and simple, I love to share it. Do any of you use these recipes? I would love to know. Anyway, here is what I cooked for Ike and his dad for dinner tonight...

Steak! Not just steak, jumbo steak! (to all of you vegetarians, ignore this carnivorous part).

Every summer my parents buy a steer at the county fair (with another couple, or maybe two, because that's a lot of meat!). They have it butchered and are stocked with meat for probably the whole year. And It. Is. Good! It could probably stand on it's own, but I marinated it anyway. Here is the recipe for the marinade (thanks to the Pioneer Woman AGAIN).

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1/2 cup Cooking Sherry

3 Tablespoons Honey

2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil

2 Tablespoons minced Ginger

3 cloves minced Garlic

1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

You mix it all together. Put your steaks (we used two enormous steaks, and this was plenty) in big zip lock bags, pour the marinade over it, seal and let it set for 3-5 hours (I did it for 2 hours and it was still great).

After you're done you can strain all the garlic, etc out of the marinade, add 1/2 cup of water to it in a saucepan and boil for 10 minutes. It made a great dip for the meat.

(Somehow I had cooking sherry and sesame oil in the pantry. Who knows why?!)

Next, the roasted potatoes. Even easier.

I chopped up a bunch of red potatoes, put them in a bowl and tossed them with 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and a package of dry ranch dip. I put them on a baking sheet and baked them for 35 minutes at 450 degrees.

And finally....the Peach Cobbler.

Here is a link to the recipe.

This meal reminded me of the dinners my mom cooked for us on Sundays growing up. Complete comfort food. Noticing a pattern?

However, I don't think she had a shot of whisky while she cooked....

Lil' Seester

So I just read a post on The Pioneer Woman website (I can't get enough of her recipes) that talked about her sister and the special bond that sisters have. It got me to thinking about my sister, Rachel.

You see, Rachel is pregnant and due to have her first child and the first grandchild of the family on or around November 13th.

Rachel is about 2 years younger than me. We grew up in the country (along with my younger brother, Kellen) so we were left with only each other to play with. And let me tell you, my siblings made great playmates. We played house, Barbies (even Kellen, who always wanted the red-headed Barbie), we put on plays, created haunted houses in the barn, went exploring down at the creek, and did weird stuff like spin around and around in the living room until we were too dizzy to walk.

This portrait of our childhood may have you picturing us skipping into the sunset holding hands. Oh, no. We fought constantly. We used to pull Rachel's hair incessantly, and she jumped on me once nearly breaking my collar bone (my poor mother!)

Once I got to junior high and then high school, I did my own thing. We shared friends, but still fought all the time. And then something happened....we grew up. Suddenly, my sister was cool and so much fun to be around. We would get dressed up and go out together, go to the movies together, or just sit around an watch Lifetime movies (all day long!) She has seen me through some of the toughest times of my life, with a kindness and honesty that only a sister could show.

Rachel and I lived together one last time for about a year and a half when I moved back to Manhattan to go to school. While we still had a few fights, I feel like we became closer than ever, and when she moved to Kansas City, it broke my heart.

In the last few years, Rachel has seen a lot of change in her life. She got married and moved back to Manhattan (while I'm thrilled about this, she kind of misses her big city life). And, as I mentioned, probably the biggest change of all, she is going to have a baby.

I can't even begin to express the kind of happiness this brings to me. Not only to have a beautiful new niece, but to get to see my sister (one of the smartest, funniest, most gorgeous women I know) become a mother. It's not going to be easy, especially when her husband is sent back to Afghanistan next year, but if anyone can do it, she can. Through all the changes in her life, I have seen a strength in her I couldn't have imagined.

Those of you who have a sister (or a brother) and share the kind of bond I share with Rachel, understand that there is nothing in the world like it. It is a bond that will carry us through the rest of our lives.

I'm so proud of you sissy!

PS I love you too Kelbell!

I heart Bill Cunningham

I just finished this documentary about Bill Cunningham, one of the first (if not THE first) street fashion photographers.

I can't say I've seen very many people live their lives with as much passion and truth as Bill Cunningham seems to. He finds so much beauty in the world around him that he very rarely is seen without a smile on his face (or a camera in his hand).

It seems he lives his life with the purpose of showing the rest of us the beauty that can be found in so many different types of fashion without a hint of pretension. He has little time for the importance the fashion industry often puts on celebrities or the fanfare surrounding fashion shows or collections. He is there for one purpose and one purpose only. He loves fashion. He loves clothes. He found a way to live his life doing exactly what makes him the happiest. Photographing beautiful clothing.

I am extremely inspired by Bill. He has a spirit that is infectious even through the computer screen. I can hardly imagine how in awe people must be who get to work closely with him. Especially because he seems hardly (actually not at all) to recognize his own greatness.

If you get a chance, I would really encourage you to watch this documentary. Even if you aren't interested in fashion, watch it to be inspired by someone who is truly living his life to the fullest.

Beware the Pear

I have a sweet tooth. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I have a sweet tooth that borders on obsession. If I see something with sugar in it (lots of sugar!) I have to eat it (or drink it). Even my favorite beer is sweet and full, full, full of sugar (Ace Pear Cider. But that's a whole other post).

So, you can imagine my delight when I got this little baby for my birthday (my whole family had to chip in, and I mean my WHOLE family...mom, dad, brother and sister.)

I originally got it in silver, but as soon as I saw how many colors this mixer comes in, I knew I had to have something with a little more flare. I narrowed it down to Pistachio, Pear and Persimmon. But as you can see, Pear won in the end.

Well, my birthday was about a month and a half ago, and tonight, I finally used this sweet little mixer. And boy, oh boy was it fun! Just look how cute it is!

But do you know what was even more fun? Eating what my lil' pear colored friend helped me make. This pumpkin pie with ginger snap cookie crust.

Okay, okay. I promise my next post won't be about food or anything related to food. But, the one after that is fair game!

Lovely Leftovers

I really love when what you make with your leftovers is better than the original dish.

I grew up on comfort food and lots of leftovers. The closest grocery store was about 20 minutes away from our house, so we had to use up what we had and just make due. This way of living lead to my dad's famous (or infamous) Egg Surprise. Scrambled eggs and whatever we had leftover in the fridge. Not separate. Oh no. Mixed in with the eggs. Yes, we had chili mixed into our scrambled eggs! Better than you would think.

So, a few days ago I made pot roast (I seared the roast on all sides and then added chopped up new potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary. I added water and wine [cabernet sauvignon] about 3/4 of the way up the roast. I cooked the roast at 300 degrees for about 4 1/2 hours). It was good, but nothing great. Usually when I make roast it is just so I can use the roast and veggies to make other things. And that is what we (or Ike) did for dinner tonight.

He made what he calls Pinwheels. Very simple. He made homemade biscuit dough and rolled it out, took the cold roast beef and spread it across the dough and then rolled it up, just like you would cinnamon rolls. He cut the dough roll into little discs like so.

He baked them at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes.

While baking these little discs of deliciousness, he took the beef broth we saved from the roast and made a simple brown gravy. About the time the gravy was ready, Voila! The pinwheels were ready.

We drizzled a little gravy over the pinwheels and a new delicious favorite leftover creation was born (at least to me, Ike's mom used to make them for their family).

Not quite as ground breaking as scrambled eggs and chili, but scrumptious none the less.

A Rose By Any Other Name....

I've never really cared for roses, at least not in bouquet form. They seem so....predictable. I much prefer wildflowers. Yesterday, all of that changed (at least me not caring for roses, I still kind of prefer wildflowers.)

Ike and I took Belle for a walk in City Park, taking time to stop in the rose garden next to the fountain. I took one sniff and I stopped. The smell. It brought up a very vivid memory of my Granny Bales (my dad's grandmother on his mom's side) and I standing next to her neighbors rose bushes eating gumdrops when I used to stay with her in Iuka, Kansas (I had to have been like 3 or 4. I have a freakishly good long term memory.)

It was a very happy memory (and also reminds me of the swing that use to hang from her tree in the front yard. I wonder if it's still there.) But, I digress.

And oh, the roses were beautiful. They were all so different, but still so alike in so many ways. Red ones, white ones, small ones, full ones, baby ones...you get the picture. I really think, at least for me, roses have to be seen in their natural habitat to be fully appreciated.

So, please, if you are in the neighborhood swing by City Park, and stop and smell the roses. You won't be sorry you did (especially if you go at dusk).

For those of you who can't make it down, here is a sampling of the roses I had the pleasure of viewing and smelling! (Sorry there are so many pictures, but I couldn't narrow it down. And I thought...It's my blog and my photos, I can do what I want!)

Enjoy! (Click on each photo to get an even better view.)