This is a story about sausage.... and rolls.

What kind of people go to FOUR grocery stores looking for Sister Schubert Sausage rolls?

Apparently, Chris and I are that kind of people. Four grocery stores just so I could have sausage rolls and Cheerwine for dinner.

Crazy? Maybe.
Healthy? Absolutely not.
Delicious? Definitely.

xoxo

Cake in a Cup!

I eat yogurt for breakfast almost every day. My brand of preference is Yoplait- usually Yoplait Light. The problem is that for so long, there were only so many flavors. I can only eat harvest peach so many times before I get tired of it. So when I sent the Hubs to the grocery store to pick up more yogurt, I said "PLEEEEASE get me some different flavors!" So he did. He picked up flavors like Lemon Meringue, Raspberry Cheesecake and.....

Red Velvet Cake! It's not quite my Granny's recipe, but fro 110 calories in a cup, it's pretty darn good! The fact that I made an entire blog post about it should tell you how much I like it. You really should try it.

xoxo

Kentucky Fried Eew

About a week ago, Chris and I decided to be adventurous for dinner. I hadn't eaten at a KFC since I was in High School and was forced to on a band trip. So we decided to be brave and try that new chicken "sandwich." You know the one... the one that's just two pieces of chicken with bacon and cheese in the middle. The one that's supposed to look like this:


Doesn't look so bad, right? Well, if it had actually looked like that, we might have enjoyed ourselves, but instead, it looked like this:


Granted, that's after I'd had a few bites, but that doesn't account for the fact that it was soggy and greasier than anything I've ever eaten. We both left feeling more than a little sick and decided that waiting another 10 years to eat at KFC again wouldn't be such a bad idea.

So, what does this teach us? That the word "Sandwich" shouldn't be used on anything that doesn't include bread. And that sometimes, I make very poor food choices.

xoxo

Quiche!

*Note: I wrote this post and meant for it to auto-post Friday, but I clicked "save" instead of "publish" so, here it is. I also meant for it to have pictures, but we ate the quiche up before I could get it done... oops. Enjoy anyway.

I love quiche. I mean, what's not to love, right? It's like breakfast pie. My Mom loves quiche, too. Maybe that's where I got it. Chris and I had quiche for dinner twice last week... and we had plenty of leftovers. The greatest thing about quiche is that you can really add anything to it. Meats, cheese, veggies.... anything your quiche-lovin' heart desires!

Here's my recipe for über-tasty, super-simple, really-bad-for-you quiche...

You'll need:

• a quiche pan (a 9" pie pan works in a pinch)
• a pre-made pie crust. They usually come in twos... one for quiche, one for pie?
• about a pound of sausage. More or less. Any kind you like. (Hey, I never claimed my recipes were precise!)
• 5 eggs. Three whole, two yolks.
  
• 1 1/2 cups half and half (or whole milk, if you prefer)
• 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, grated (I just used the kind out of the bag)
  
• 3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• salt and pepper
  

Preheat the oven to 350° . Unroll your pre-made pie crust into your quiche pan. Stab the bottom a few times with a fork so the crust doesn't puff up when it's baking. In a skillet, over medium-high heat, crumble and brown your sausage. We used a locally made sausage in a casing, so we just made a slit down the middle and took the casing off, then crumbled. Drain the sausage well on some paper towels. Spread evenly in the crust. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the sausage. Now, crack your eggs into a bowl. Remember just the yolks of two of them. This makes for a richer, creamier quiche. Whisk them until they're mixed well. Add the half-and-half and whisk again until well blended with the egg. Add salt and pepper. I like lots of pepper, but some don't... add what you think you'll like. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage and cheese. If it won't all fit, just use what you can. No big deal. Put the quiche pan on some type of baking sheet or cake pan for stability. It's much easier to get in and out of the oven this way. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes, then check it. If the middle still jiggles, it's not done! Bake for another 8 minutes or so. The top should start to brown and it shouldn't jiggle. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes then dig in!

I suggest eating this with some nice, slow-cooked grits and a cold glass of milk. Then have a salad the next day.

Regina and Insomnia Cake

I think it must be genetic. I mean, both of my Grandmothers do it. I couldn't sleep last night after a crazylong and crazypainful coughing fit woke me up around 2am (thanks to the almost-flu), and so I decided to bake a cake. I swear it runs in the family.

I present to you: Insomnia Cake. A chocolate angel food cake with a coffee-chocolate frosting. OM NOM NOM NOM!

It is so sinfully good that I couldn't stand to have the whole thing sitting on my counter, so I gave half of it to Chris to take to work with him tomorrow.

Also, I've been listening to Regina Spektor's new album.

And seriously? She never disappoints. Listen...

Heaven on a Plate

I have found the most perfect cinnamon roll recipe. This was posted by Emily at The Black Apple a while back and this is the fourth batch I've made in the last month or so. They're that amazing.
If you get the hankering for a tasty treat, try out her recipe. The only tweaking I did was to make 6 rolls from one recipe instead of 4. The recipe says you can make it only two, but I'm not sure I would try that. The first time, I made 4 and couldn't finish one. I've been making 6 ever since and they are so filling that it's all you need. Other than cutting back on the portions, I make them exactly as she instructs, and they are delicious.

Valentine's Day! (Finally)

Warning! This post is super image heavy!
Also, sorry the pictures aren't great. You try taking pictures while cooking a feast!

It's been almost a week since Vday, so I'll (try to) keep this short.

Chris is usually the "doer" between the two of us. He's good at planning what we're going to do for such an occasion. This year, I wanted to do something for him, so I planned a picnic. There was even a picnic basket. Unfortunately, it rained and we didn't really want to sit in wet grass, so we picnic-ed in my livingroom floor.

I made homemade chicken salad sandwiches on croissants (those weren't homemade) with lettuce and tomato. I love chicken salad but I rarely make it. So when I do, it's one of Chris' favorite things. I make a sweet version with grapes. I even slice the grapes individually; it's very involved, but very worth it.
Chopping the chicken, pre-salad.
All done! Yuuuuuummmmm!

I also got some goat cheese, jalapeno havarti- his favorite, wheat thins, grapes, and apple chips as side dishes.
Yes, that is a giant Easter teacup as a bowl for the grapes.

Chris insisted on a picture of me with all my hard work.

Then there was the cake. Now, I am very excited about this cake. Let me tell you about it.
I made an angel food cake from a box, which was supersupereasy, by the way.

Then I heated a bag of frozen raspberries in a small saucepan with about 3 tablespoons of sugar until they were mostly liquid and boiling like crazy. Then I let them cool a bit.

After the cake was cool, I cut the top inch and a half off the cake and set it aside. With my fingers, I scooped and pinched out a little "moat." I used the pieces I removed from the moat to fill in the hole in the middle.Then in went the raspberries! Then I carefully put the top of the cake back on, and made a really simple topping/frosting. I used my mixer and creamed 8oz of cream cheese, then added a big tub of whipped topping and about 3/4 of a cup of confectioner's sugar. Oh! And a little vanilla. Always add vanilla.

I wasn't really all that careful in my frosting. I just tried to get most of it on the cake. I like to put it all on top to start with then slowly work it down the sides. This topping was really easy to work with because it was so light and creamy since it's mostly cool whip anyway.

I threw a few fresh raspberries on the top. I spent nearly $4 on fresh raspberries, but when I got them home I realized that they were mostly molded. These were the only ones that were salvageable.
I call this masterpiece a "Bleeding Angel Cake." Why? Well, just look at what it looks like when you cut it!

If you attempt this cake, you should keep in mind that it does need to go in the fridge, since it has cream cheese and whipped cream in the frosting. Also, we learned that this is NOT a two person type of cake. It needs to be shared! A week later and we have over half left. The good news is that it's still just as tasty.

As for the presents, Chris got me this:
My very favorite print from The Black Apple. I'm getting quite the itchy "add to cart" finger because of it. I really think it needs a friend. But two is a weird number. I like things in threes, so I'm having a dilemma about that. We'll see. He also gave me a box of chocolates and a mini planter kit for outside my door. It came with soil, the planter and flower seends. It will be something for my gnomes to look after!

For Chris, I (of course) counted all the food as part of my present but since he's been reading biographies lately (I got him two Alan Alda books for Christmas), I got him Barack Obama's first book.

All in all, it was a very nice Valentine's Day. Did I mention how good that cake was? I'm thinking of doing it with peaches next time. Mmmmm......

Have a happy weekend, everybody. I'm going home and will come back with clean clothes and new contacts and glasses! Yay for vision! See you next week.

Happy Happy Friday!

I know, shame on me. I usually don't go a full week without a post, but I guess I've been busy.

Jessica came to visit last weekend and we definitely geeked out the whoooooole time. There was talk of crafting, books, Buffy and other TV shows, and cooking. (Oh my!)
We made the most amazingly delicious Pumpkin Cranberry Bread (according to this recipe).

We also had banana nut pancakes for breakfast.... er.... lunch Saturday. That isn't really a recipe, so much as me adding mashed banana and pecans to a bisquick mix, but they were delicious anyway.

We also fiiiiiinally exchanged Christmas gifts. I made her one of my oh-so-handy crochet hook caddys.


And she made me this.

You're probably confused. It's a Tardis iPod case made from plastic canvas and yarn. There's even a little place for my earphones in the top. Don't know what a Tardis is? Go here. In any case, it's amazingly cute and I love it.

I also finished my first drawing project and turned it in this week. Now we're on to another. I'll post pictures as soon as I have a little more done.

And now I'll leave you with the funniest video ever. Somebody posted this on Facebook tonight and I almost peed my pants laughing at it.

Happy Pre-Valentine's Day!

All New for the LDQ!

See what I did there? It rhymes!

I finally finished this piece for the LDQ! It took me a good three weeks, but I finally have my favorite lyrics from my favorite song (Romeo and Juliet by the Dire Straits) quilt-ified! This will run down the entire length of one side of the quilt. It's in two pieces, they're shown side by side here.
All those little letters were extremely tedious, but worth it in the end.

After all that tedium, I wanted a few "just for fun" pieces. This is what I did. Both patterns are from Elsie's Etsy shop.

That little lion makes me smile.

And finally, I made these little peach cobbler tarts the other night.This is pre-baking, but they didn't look much different after, just a little browner and less gooey. They were SUPER simple to make. Want the recipe? Here it is:

Ginger Vanilla Peach Cobbler Tarts

1 can of peach chunks
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of AP flour
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon ginger (Add more or less according to your taste, I like alot.)

Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl and divide among 3 or 4 ramekins (depending on their size). Don't worry about them overflowing, they won't rise that much. Sprinkle a little brown sugar on the top of each if you like, I did and it was tasty!

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until they aren't runny in the middle anymore. Wait for them to cool a bit then eat up!

Hope you had a wonderful Tuesday and will have an even better Wednesday!
Goodnight.

Gobble Gobble: The Post-Thanksgiving Recap

As this is our last Thanksgiving pre-wedding, Chris and I were at a crossroads about whose family to spend it with. Or should we just each go our separate ways? Well, since we hadn't seen my Dad's side of the family at all since we got engaged, we decided to go there. I baked pies. I wish I could say I had pictures of my family or something, but alas... I was too busy enjoying the food and good company to take pictures then. All I have are pictures of the pies. Does that say something about me?

This is the tastiest my kitchen has ever looked. I made two pies: a Sour Cream Apple pie and an Apple Butter Pumpkin pie.

Apples for the Sour Cream Apple Pie

The actual Sour Cream Apple Pie, with crumbly brown sugar topping.

And I saved the best for last... Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie.
This is the best pumpkin pie I have ever made or eaten. Another Paula Deen recipe to hang on to. Click here to snag it for yourself.

Oh and I almost forgot... before Thanksgiving, Chris' sister Emily came down to the ol' 'Boro to spend a few days with us. Chris has wanted a pet for a while but since we both live in apartments where pets aren't allowed, it had to be something small. So, as an early Christmas present, Emily got him a dwarf hamster. Here she is looking quite sleepy.
We named her Lucille and we call her Lucy. She's so small and cute. She likes eating, running on the wheel, pooping, and exploring the apartment in her purple hamster ball. Her dislikes include: being woken up or bothered in any way. Who knew hamsters were so persnickety? We even took her to Thanksgiving with us since we were going up to spend the weekend at Chris' parents house after.

Okay, that's the Thanksgiving lowdown. Stay tuned for more holiday fun!

Remember, Remember the 5th of November...

...the Gunpowder Treason and plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.


Our V for Vendetta night was so much fun. I wish I'd taken pictures of us making cookies. But here's a quick snap of the finished product. Note that all the cookies here are normal looking. I didn't include the ones that we were silly with (like the Mr. Potato Head-shaped smiley face).



I thought I'd also share my favorite little corner of my apartment right now. My sewing machine now has a permanent home for the first time. I can whip up something crafty any time I want! Also, I finally (more than 3 months after moving) got my Buffy action figures up. When Jessica was in town a few weeks ago, she helped me organize them. I know it's silly, but it's so much fun to do. Their tiny little accessories are just so adorable.
And look at the lights my Mom picked up from Target! I'm a little bit in love with them.

...and this is some of my magnetic poetry on the refrigerator. I just really love this and wanted to share it. Plain and simple.

Happy Thursday!

Strawberry Apple Butter Tarts

The grocery store had beautiful strawberries on sale yesterday, so I got some.
With them, I made these tonight:





I made four of these in my newly acquired ramekins (the ones I picked up at Goodwill a few weeks back), and they were soooo good. They were sweet and tart with a little crunch and tasted like fall. Yummy. I kind of wish I had limited myself to half instead of a whole tart, though. Oh well, tummy ache be damned!

Here's the recipe as best I can remember it (I pretty much made it up on the spot).

Topping:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon each: cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
a pinch of salt

Filling:
1 lb. (16oz.) fresh strawberries (sliced)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup of apple butter

For topping: combing oil and water in small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until it just barely bubbles. Stir in flour. It should be sort of crumbly at this stage. Remove from heat. Add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and brown sugar. Mix well.

For filling: slice strawberries and toss in a bowl with brown sugar. Mix in apple butter.

Divide filling among the ramekins (or you could use a pie dish). Top with crumbled topping and pack lightly. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes until filling is hot and bubbling and the topping is golden brown and crunchy.

I highly recommend a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top. Or at least a nice glass of milk.

Enjoy!

Pink Milk

For the record, this cereal:


makes your milk hot pink. It's not a bad thing, I'm just sayin'..... pink milk.

MMMMMM.... Pizza

I love pizza. I truly believe that it is the single greatest food created by mankind. It's easy, versatile, portable, and it feeds a whole group.
Here's the recipe for my favorite pizza. And hey! It's veggie friendly!



Spinach-Mushroom White Pizza

1 packaged pizza crust (any kind you like, as long as it's ready to be baked)
a jar of alfredo sauce (I like the garlic kind)
package of frozen spinach
mushrooms (I like baby 'bellas)
1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper if you like

Un-package the packaged pizza crust and pre-heat your oven according to the directions. Brush the pizza crust with olive oil. (Spraying it with cooking spray works, too). Spread about 1/4 cup alfredo sauch on the crust, top with as much of the mozz. cheese as you like, then add the mushrooms and spinach. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a little Parmesan cheese on top if you want a little something extra. Bake until the cheese starts to brown, slice and enjoy!