Something else I love

Where Women Create highlights "inspiring work spaces of creative women." I am just a little bit in love with their regular bits of beautiful artwork by women with a motivational theme delivered weekly via e-mail. The most recent by Lisa Kaus has me a little deeper in love.

Check out her website with beautiful pieces of art - some incorporating found objects, all elegant and inspirational. I think her work speaks to my love of items that have been loved and repurposed...a little nod to junky and a whole lot of elegance. How can that juxtaposition work? She makes it work beautifully.

If you are wondering about the bread experiment...it worked out very well. The knock-off pot held up to the heat and a beautiful rustic loaf of bread emerged. It was just as tasty and easy as promised. The crust is crunchy and flaky and the inside is soft and chewy.

My husband was skeptical of the whole process - even more so when he found the laptop open to the blog showing the four year old making the bread.

Next weekend, we make homemade whole wheat spaghetti.

Catching up on...cooking

Schedules have prevented me from trying new recipes, new kitchen gadgets, and just having time to make something that varies from the usual menu of meals. This weekend was a flurry of kitchen experiments.

Experiment 1: KitchenAid pasta press
Over the winter break, Jeremy and I caught up on DVR and watched an episode of Martha Stewart Living where she demonstrated (and gave away!) this little wonder. It is the latest KitchenAid attachment and makes spaghetti, large and small macaroni, bucatini, rigatoni, and fusilli. We found it on Williams Sonoma and Jer ordered it for our anniversary gift. It was back ordered for three months and arrived during my busiest travel time. This weekend, my dad and oldest niece visited and we tried out the fusilli with a homemade tomato sauce - delicious fresh pasta.

Experiment 2: Oatmeal cookies
Ok, so this is nothing new for me, but apparently, my husband has never eaten an oatmeal cookie. He said that they always sounded gross and they did not have oatmeal in Western Kansas. I think we converted him with this recipe that is chewy (even after sitting on a plate for some time) and crunchy on the outside.

Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups quick cooking oats
raisins or nuts (optional)

Directions
1. In a medium bowl, cream together white sugar, butter, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.
2. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda,and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. If you are using nuts or raisins, mix into dough, combining well. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.Makes approx. 36-60 cookies, depending on how large or small you make them.

Source: http://www.momswhothink.com/

Experiment #3: Ham and egg cups
Our chickens are producing so well that we have a lot of eggs on hand. While looking for a new breakfast idea, I found the ham and egg cup recipe on a blog

Ham & Egg Cups

Ingredients
12 slices of deli ham
12 eggs
grated cheese
seasoning
chopped basil

Directions
1. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray.
2. Line each cup with a slice of deli ham (I asked that they not be sliced too thin...and had rather hefty slices this time).
3. Break an egg gently into each ham cup. Season with salt and pepper...sprinkle with chopped basil (or chives or your herb of choice).
4. Bake at 350' F for about 15 minutes.
5. Remove from oven...and top each egg with grated cheese (cheddar or Parmesan)...and bake for 5 minutes longer.
6. Remove from pan and serve immediately.

I used ramekins instead of muffin cups. The ramekins worked great! I also increased cooking time by 5 minutes and the yolks were much more firm than they seemed in the picture, but still good. The ham we used was also much more thinly sliced and the edges were a little crispy (ok, burnt black), but easily removed.

Source: http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/

Experiment #4: No knead bread
The website promises that it is so easy a four year old can make it. I am feeling the pressure because the author even posted pictures of her four year old son making the bread! We are at the second proofing stage when the dough is napping in a floured towel. The recipe seems very straight forward and we will see if my knock off Le Creuset pot holds up to the 450 degree oven.

Fresh baked bread in approximately two hours!

Source: http://steamykitchen.com/168-no-knead-bread-revisited.html

Homemade valentines

Just wanted to show off my Valentine's Day card designs. I was inspired by Impress, a rubber stamping and paper company in Washington. Check out their website for some great card ideas and pay special attention to how they use punches.

The paper is all Creative Memories, including the cute floral paper ribbon - my new scrapbooking, gift wrapping and card making obsession.

Catching up and feeling overwhelmed

Overwhelmed might be the word of the season. Too much to do and too little time. However, the lengthening days are a welcomed reprieve from the cold and darkness. It begins to seem like we have more time to work through the growing to do list.

Our local produce market, Eastside and Westside Markets in Manhattan, had these beautiful leather bracelets on their counter during a recent trip to pick up our favorite locally produced honey. Masie and my mom picked the bracelets with the four small flowers and Masie selected the bracelet with the purple flower for McKenzy. These were my belated Valentine's Day gifts. (Catching up...overwhelmed...you get the idea.)

One of Jeremy's co-workers knit this beautiful scarf out of alpaca fiber from Scout, Blue and Manny. It is really lovely and so very soft. She did a beautiful job with the stitches and I am so happy to have something complete.

The great quail experiment

Today was the day I decided to prepare the quail. You might remember that my husband, dad, and father-in-law went hunting this fall. I, feeling unusually adventurous as a cook, asked for all of the quail and pheasant they shot. I was reading Julie and Julia and felt that is a twenty-something secretary in New York could master French cooking for a Julia Child's cookbook, I could figure out how to cook these birds.

Since nestling the birds next to my Tyson 100% natural chicken nuggets in the freezer (and then completely rearranging my freezer over the holiday break - twice), I looked up recipes on the web and asked around knowing that I could easily lose faith and eventually throw them all out.

I defrosted the quail overnight and then put them in salt water for several hours. We had an unplanned trip to my dad's to pick up hay for the alpacas, so I decided to fillet the breast meat off the quail and soak the small quail nuggets in salt water in the fridge until this evening. Anyone with any experience cooking wild bird suggested the salt water bath/brine to take out the gamey flavor.

This evening, I drained the quail, patted them dry with paper towels, and wrapped them half-slices of thick sliced bacon. A toothpick secured the bacon around the quail. They were placed on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and parchment paper.

I put them in a 400 degree oven and baked them for about 20-25 minutes, until the bacon was brown and starting to crisp.

I set them out on a paper towel to drain and then served them up to an apprehensive husband. During the preparation, he told me liked the ratio of bacon to "dove." I had to remind him that it was QUAIL, not dove and he shot them.

Once on the plate, it was a mini-stand off as we waited to see which of us would take the first bite. I started us off. We both agreed that it tasted just like bacon. So, with perhaps a tenth of the effort, I could have made a plate full of bacon and we would have served the same purpose. Except, I really liked learning about cooking a new food and I felt really brave carving up the birds this morning.

Now, on to the great pheasant experiment!

New Year Wishes

One of my favorite magazines if Mary Janes Farm. Her February/March issue is a delight, including the seven tips to tap into your own brilliance. Check them out and be inspired for a great start to 2010.

http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/SimpleSolutions/20-things_we_love-solutions.pdf

Winter Woolfest 2010

Mark your calendars for the second Winter Woolfest on January 9th, 9am-4pm at the Poppyfield Gallery, 514 Lincoln, downtown Wamego. The events include time to work on projects, mini-classes, demonstrations, and vendors. Learn more at http://wickedstitchyarn.com/Winterwoolfest.html or www.winterwoolfest.com