Tuesday Treat: Pita Chips

Okay, so today's Tuesday Treat is not a recipe. But I do want to recommend the pita chips found at the Dollar Store. There are tons of flavors and they are yummy! I'm sure they are available elsewhere if there are no Dollar Generals or Family Dollars or whatever near you. My favorite right now is Bacon and Cheddar. Yum!

Tuesday Treat: Favorite Snacks of the Great Scribblers

I ran across this awesome article/cartoon this weekend. Illustrator Wendy McNaughton, writer and illustrator of Meanwhile, pondered the snack foods that inspired some of the greatest writers. The article itself is very short. A single paragraph. The cartoon is the biggest draw of course. Did you know that Walt Whitman started every day with oysters and meat for breakfast? Um... yum? I guess. Check it out!

My newest snack inspiration is bacon and cheddar chips that I found at the Dollar Store. Oh such deliciousness! I still keep pretzel rods and Goldfish snack crackers on my desk (which is now in a bedroom instead of the den and/or dining room!!!). Baby Cat had a kitten on April 1st (what a terrible April Fools Day joke on us lol) and I've been doing my darnedest to keep Baby Cat out of my bacon and cheddar chips while she is "under house arrest" until the kitten is weaned. Huge struggle!

Do you have any new/old favorite snacks that help you focus on your work?

Tuesday Treat: Marinades

It is getting to that time of year... grilling season! I'm so excited. I love a good steak, especially after it has been marinated for a while. I found this awesome list of Cheap, Healthy Marinades from 2008. I hope all the links work. I haven't made my way through all of them yet. Check out the list to see if any tickle your fancy.

Marinades can be used to tenderize meat and to flavor it in the process. It can also be used to flavor vegetables too if you are feeling creative. All recipes are different but I'll tell you what I have been told about marinades. Keep in mind that I'm no expert, this is just what I have learned over the years.

First of all, you need to let whatever you are marinading age a bit before you use it. Fresh cuts are not always the best... but makes sure they aren't spoiled too. There is a fine line between aged and spoiled. You can use your normal tenderizing methods. The hammer and tenderizing salt are a go-to in my house. Take your frustrations out on a steak for a couple minutes. It is very liberating! After that, toss your cuts into a lined pan, completely covered with the marinade, wrap it up, and refrigerate it for anywhere from 4 hours to 48 hours. The longer it sits, the more time the marinade has to break down the tissue of the cut. Dispose of any used marinade once you drain it off of your cut (used raw meat sauce = bad).

The best steak I have ever had (seriously) was back in 2003 at a wedding in Alabama. My neighbor got a 5 gallon bucket, dropped a large amount of top sirloin cuts in, and covered it to the top with cheap, off-brand beer. That is literally all he did. He stuck the lid on it and put it in his cellar for the two days before the wedding and then fired the grill up right after his niece said "I do" to a goofy looking guy in a Hawaiian shirt. The food was incredible.

Do you have a favorite marinade? My mom is a fan of bbq sauce type marinades. I like Dale's myself. Or a crap ton of Soy Sauce. Lots of salt but yum.

Tuesday Treat: Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

I love peanut butter cups. Even the cheap off-brand ones. I like to freeze them and eat them real cold with milk. Maybe that is weird. Anyways, I made these for this past weekend events (yes, I got my deviled eggs... delish!). They were oh so yummy.

Here is the link.

Pretty easy to make. Flour, salt, baking soda, butter, white sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla extract, milk, and mini chocolate chips mix to make one of my favorite desserts. Give them a try!

Tuesday Treat: Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs

Easter is coming up and I hate holiday get-togethers. Drama, messes, and a house full of people. My anxiety levels go up just thinking about it. But what I do enjoy is the food. Well, some of it anyways.

One of my favorite family dinner staples is deviled eggs. I can't make them worth a damn (I fail at peeling the hard-cooked eggs) but my mom and my grandma can make deviled eggs that are out of this world. I found a recipe for bacon cheddar ones that I'm going to beg someone to make this year.

Tuesday Treat: Chocolate Pudding Cake

My editor Steven took on a project promoting an Italian cookbook and I got the chance to taste his cooking on Saturday. Simply put, he is a fantastic cook. We ate herbed chicken in a marinara-wine sauce. /drool Check out Booksteve Presents for his blog about his adventures in Italian slow cooking. While I was there, Steven told me about this amazing recipe in this book for chocolate pudding cake that is made in a slow cooker. Really. The book is Italian Slow Cooking by Ellen Brown.

If you want the recipe, you'll have to find one yourself... or buy the book! It is available in May 2012 and you can pre-order it here.

Tuesday Treat: Crayon Cake

I hope you enjoyed President's Day, working or on holiday. We had a lot of fun around here. Since the kids had a four day weekend from school, we started an art project using wax crayons, poster boards, and a hair dryer. It was a lot of fun. I got some video of it and the finished pictures. I will post at least the pictures later this week.

Today's Treat celebrates the fun that we had this weekend with a patriotic flare.

Crayon Cake!
So here are the directions (I assume you can figure the ingredients out on your own).

1.  Get a cake mix of your choice. We used a yellow cake mix. Let it cool completely. And I do mean completely. Otherwise it will crumble to pieces and will not work for this.
2. While your cake cools, mix 1 can of vanilla frosting between 3 bowls and tint two bowls with red and blue, giving you a bowl of red, white, and blue icing. Trim one end of 5 ho-hos to a point (to look like a crayon!) and set them on a wire rack one at a time. Microwave a bowl of icing for 5-10 seconds to make it slightly like whipped cream and then spread over the ho-ho. Make 5 blue crayons or 2 red 3 blue crayons, or 2 red 2 blue 1 white crayons, or 3 white 1 red 1 blue crayons... you get the idea. However you want to work it. Let those sit so they can harden on the wire rack.
3. While the ho-hos set, return to your cake. Make sure it is level first. Then, at one of the short ends, score out a half circle (give it a decent diameter, about 4") so that it looks like the open end of a crayon box. Using a sharp knife, cut out the half circle at a depth of about 1" and discard the half circle (or use it for some other mini-treat). Frost the cake in the white vanilla icing, including the inside of the half circle. Another can of vanilla frosting will probably be needed.
4. Place the "crayons" in the opening of the "box" and trim them to fit the curvature of the opening. Using a combination of the three colors, line the opening of the box and the bottom corners of the box (don't use white on white... you want it to be visual), the markings on the crayons which are the lines around the top and the crayon circles, and any kind of message you want to put on the cake where the brand would usually be at.

You can use candy strips (like licorice strips) to make the lines on the box instead of frosting if you'd like. Or you can skip the patriotic colors and go for a more traditional look. I got the original idea here and they used yellows, oranges, and greens. They also made a suggestion of using disposal zip lock bags as icing tubes, which I had never thought of before. Just put the frosting in, squeeze it into a corner and seal the bag, then snip the corner and voila, instant icing tube. We used real ones but that is only because we happened to have them. Not everyone has those just laying around the house.

Since we didn't take a picture, I'll describe our cake as best as I can. We used a yellow cake mix and made 3 red crayons and 2 blue crayons. We iced the cake in white frosting and then lined the open end with blue. The bottom corners were also blue with an additional blue line around the inside edge. We used white icing for the lines and circles on the crayons. We drizzled red candy stars into the blue corners and then throughout the white box portion of the cake. In the middle, we chose to leave it blank rather than write on it. It looked really cute and the kids loved it. They started eating it before I could get a picture. Or, I should say, our father started eating the cake before I could get a picture. Ha!

Tuesday Treat: Chocolate Trifle

Happy Valentines Day! Not that I celebrate V-day as it is intended usually. Ha!

Today's Tuesday Treat is for Chocolate Trifle, an easy to make, yummy chocolate treat. Make one for your loved ones tonight! It is that easy.

Ingredients:


1 package brownie mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding
1/2 cup water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 8oz. container frozen whipped topping (thawed)
1 12oz. container frozen whipped topping (thawed)
1 bar chocolate candy

Directions:

1. Prepare brownie mix per box directions and cool immediately. Cut into 1 inch sections.
2. In a large bowl, combine pudding mix, water, and sweetened condensed milk. Mix until smooth then fold in 8 ounces of whipped topping until no streaks remain.
3. In a glass serving dish, place half of the brownies, half of the pudding mixture, and half of the 12oz. whipped topping. Repeat layers. Shave chocolate on top as a garnish. Refrigerate for 8 hours before serving.

Ideas:

• Not a fan of chocolate? No problem, substitute caramel, vanilla, butterscotch, etc.
• Add mint for a seasonal/wintery flare.
• You can drastically reduce the sugar content of this by getting all sugar free ingredients but it also will reduce the yumminess.
• Make for your hunny and include a handmade card with a window box planter to get spring flowers started!

Tuesday Treat: Beer Battered Cheese Sticks

When I was younger, I walked to and from school every day. No, it wasn't up hill both ways. But it was a decent mile path each way. Rain or shine, frigid cold or sweltering heat, drifting snow, or flooded streets be damned, we walked to and from school every day until we got drivers licenses. And cars. Since I worked at the library, it took me considerably longer raising the funds so I walked well into my Junior year of High School. Most of the time, I didn't mind. Why? Because just before reaching the school, I passed a dairy bar. On the way to school, they were closed. But on the way home, they were open for business. My favorite items were the pizza hoagies and their cheese sticks.

Now, these cheese sticks were the mother of all cheese sticks in my opinion. They were perfectly golden brown, about 2/3 the length of an un-sharpened pencil, as big around as a quarter. They were greasy, messy, and 100% unhealthy. And $4 for an order of 5. I picked up an order a couple times a week to eat during my walk home. It occurs to me now that I might have raised the needed funds a bit sooner had I laid off the cheese sticks but oh well.

To my disappointment, the dairy bar burned down to the ground sometime near the end of my Junior year I think. I've never found another place that makes cheese sticks like this place. I've searched for recipes countless times but always seem to find ones that make puny cheese sticks that end up tasting like cardboard. Until now.

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground white pepper
1 cup beer
4 cups safflower oil
1 egg white
1 pound mozzarella cheese sticks (frozen)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and white pepper. Gradually pour in the beer. Whisk briskly. Cover and allow mixture to stand 90 minutes.
2. In a large, deep skillet, heat the safflower oil to 375 degrees.
3. Whip the egg white into the batter. Dip mozzarella cheese sticks a few at a time into the batter.
4. With a slotted metal spoon, place coated cheese sticks a few at a time into the hot oil. Fry 2.5 to 3 minutes, until a crisp golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

Ideas:

• Make sure the cheese sticks are frozen when you dip them into the oil, otherwise they will melt and run everywhere.
• Roll the dipped sticks in breadcrumbs before frying for an extra crunch.
• Don't like cheese sticks? This recipe works for everything! Zucchini, mushrooms, pickles, tomatoes, etc.

Tuesday Treat: Cappuccino In a Jar

I love coffee. Like really love it. I found a recipe for a good "cappuccino" drink. Depending on which comments you believe, this may or may not meet your requirements for cappuccino, but it has caffeine so its good enough for me. This recipe makes 2 jars of cappuccino mix, one for you and one for a friend! Check the link for some really cute packaging ideas!



Ingredients:
2/3 cup instant coffee grounds
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup powdered chocolate drink mix
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 12 ounce canning jars

Directions:

1. Put the coffee grounds into a food processor to grind into a fine powder. If you do not have a food processor, put it into a plastic zip lock bag and roll with a rolling pin until finely ground.
2. In a large bowl, combine the instant coffee, creamer, chocolate drink mix, sugar, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg. Stir together until well mixed. Divide the mixture between the two jars.
3. Seal the jar tightly, cover the lid with a square cloth and wrap a rubber band over the cloth to keep it attached securely. Add a tag that reads: Mix 3 tablespoons of powder with 6 fluid ounces of hot water.

Ideas:

• Cover with a holiday/gift themed square of cloth and ribbon to match the occasion.
• Include with homemade bread, a package of biscotti, or whole cinnamon/candy cane sticks wrapped in cellophane to match your included flavoring.
• Blend the ingredients with a whisk or blender before pouring into the jars to really mix it together.
• Use whatever preferred powdered creamer... including flavored creamers like french vanilla.
• Replace cinnamon and nutmeg with pumpkin spice, mint, or other spices for a variety of flavors.
• Add chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, crushed peppermint candies etc. to match the flavor.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Tuesday Treat: Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Since I got my new puppy, I decided to check out some homemade dog treats. Do you have a puppy? Check it out! They will love you for it! I made these yesterday and holy crow do our little girls love these.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 cups white flour
1.5 cups peanut butter
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine oil, peanut butter, and water. Add flour one cup at a time to form a dough. Knead the dough into a firm ball and roll to 1/4 inch thickness.
3. Cut into 3-4 inch pieces. Place the pieces onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes about 2.5 dozen cookies.

Ideas:

• Use all natural or organic peanut butter to lower the salt and sugar amount and to avoid preservatives.
• Make this ahead of time and freeze it to keep a fresh supply handy for your doggies.
• As with all treats, feed in moderation. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Tuesday Treat: Devils on Horseback

Found a great New Year's Eve appetizer that I am going to try this weekend called Devils on Horseback. According to the post, these little things are the perfect mix of salty, sweet, crispy, chewy, and crunchy. We'll see how they turn out.

Ingredients:
20 wooden toothpicks
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
20 dates, pitted and left whole
20 whole smoked almonds
10 bacon slices, cut in half

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Soak the toothpicks in water. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan/dish.
2. Mix the ginger and soy sauce in a bowl. Put the brown sugar in a separate bowl. Spread open a pitted date and stuff it with an almond. Wrap the date with a half slice of bacon and pin it together with a toothpick. Dip the bacon-date bundle into the soy sauce mix and then the brown sugar. Place the dipped date in the prepared baking dish.
3. Bake until the bacon is brown and crispy, 15 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes and serve warm/room temperature.

Ideas:

• Double or triple the recipe for large groups.
• Replace dates with dried apricots or prunes.
• Use reduced sodium soy sauce.
• Replace almonds with mango chutney or walnuts.
• Sprinkle finished bundles with extra brown sugar for more sweetness, or with red chili flakes for a spicy kick before baking.

I don't know that I've ever had a date, so we'll see how this works out. As for the nut, I'll just have to see what kind is the cheapest. I know nuts in general are fairly expensive. As for the suggested ideas, I have no idea what mango chutney is... but the addition of some red chilies sounds amazing. Wonder if it would ruin the entire taste if served with Ranch dressing? Hmmm... my mouth is watering now. Have a blast this weekend!

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Tuesday Treat: Buffalo Chicken Dip

One of my cousins made this dip for our family Christmas party on Sunday and it was incredible. Seriously, I think I ate more of this dip than I did of real food. Holy crow it was great. Sorry I don't have any pictures but I'm sure there are some on Google if you look it up. It is super easy to make and serves a whole freaking lot. This is a great addition to an appetizer spread, tailgate parties, and BYO covered dish festivities.

Tuesday Treat: Hot Buttered Rum

Alright, I will admit that I enjoy a drink or two on occasion. To my knowledge (correct me if I am wrong), I have not blogged while intoxicated. However, I thought I would share an interesting blog post full of incredibly yummy alcoholic holiday drinks. Check the full post here. The one I thought sounded the most interesting was the hot buttered rum, even though I dislike rum. Captain Jack, you can keep that shit. Yuck. But anyways, this recipe was neat nonetheless.

Ingredients:
1 pound light brown sugar
1/2 pound unsalted butter (softened)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Lots o' Rum

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and spices (so all of the above minus the rum) until well blended. Refrigerate once prepared.

Serve:
Heat a coffee mug in hot water and dry it quickly. Drop 2 heaping tablespoons of the batter in the cup with 1 1/2 ounces of rum. Fill the cup with boiling water. Stir well to mix the ingredients and then serve with a spoon.

Ideas:

• A mixer should work with this I would think.
• Refrigerate in an airtight container. The batter lasts up to a month if stored properly.
• It can also be frozen and then thawed out when needed.
• A better flavor comes from allowing the spices to mingle in the batter so prepare this ahead of time. Give it 6 hours to breathe once removed from the refrigerator for optimal taste and consistency.

I love the idea of individual servings of a special drink that can be prepared in advance and stored until needed. A friend of mine makes mead for her parties and always ends up with a huge pot of it left over- taking up half of her refrigerator afterward! This would work so much better, especially for parties where you are unsure how many people actually want to give it a try.

If you check the post (link above), there are all kinds of recipes listed. Holiday Glogg, Mocha Nog Punch, Gingerbread Apple Cocktail, and Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake Martini are just a few others you will find. This post was a year old two days ago so show the author some love while you are there!

Love is love, no matter the back story! <3 DS

Tuesday Treats: Crunchy the Snowman

I found this recipe back in July when I started collecting Christmas craft ideas (I'll post about that in a bit). It is freaking adorable and super easy to do. Check it out!


Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

 From FamilyFun Magazine

Daily Posts to Resume

I really enjoyed the past couple months writing a daily post on a specific subject. It allowed me to share some of my interests without talking about myself. Over the past few months, until NaNo took over my life (and blog), I managed to share some of my favorite fairy tales, thrift shopping locales, and books. I also shared some personal stories and helpful information. It is my hope that readers have enjoyed these posts as much as I have.

I know that as a writer, I should be pushing my writing. But the fact of the matter is that I don't like to do that. Yeah, yeah. I'm supposed to be branding myself for the interwebs. Meh. I enjoy writing, just as I enjoy a myriad of other things. After a lot of soul searching and debate, I finally decided what I will be writing on from December 1st until I feel inclined to change it up again.

Here is my *new* list of dailies (and a short explanation for each) to look forward to once the madness of NaNo is over:

Monday Machinations: So a machination by definition is [intrigue, plot, or scheme]. On Mondays, I am going to address such things, be it current events, famous historical episodes, television shows/movies/books, whathaveyou. We'll see if I can get really creative when I'm digging around.

Tuesday Treats: It seems like every month has a holiday built around food. Here in the north, we had Sweetest Day on the 3rd Saturday of October. All of us Americans had Halloween on the 31st of October and Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday of November. Then Christmas rolls around for our Christian Americans soon. Pagans have their own holidays around this time of year: Mabon, Samhain, and Yule (the actual names might be different depending on the particular Pagan flavor). Hanukkah, Yom Kippur, Kwanzaa, and many others join the list. And those are just holidays that have passed recently or are coming up soon! I am going to take the opportunity to post some of my favorite recipes on Tuesdays, possibly with pictures. I highly doubt they will be *my* pictures so I will try to site where I lifted the recipe and the photos whenever possible.

Wednesday Weird: Getting your news from mainstream news outlets is like getting ice cream from a butcher. You might get *something* resembling ice cream, but all bets are on it *not* actually being ice cream. I just made that up. Anyways. Weird news happens all the time. My friends share the strangest stuff in my Facebook newsfeed. Yahoo news has a section of their site dedicated to it. Wednesday is one of those days that we all need some funny in our week. I'm going to find weird news, pictures, videos, etc. to post on Wednesday. I'll be sure to provide commentary on why it struck me as odd. Chances are, it won't be why *you* find it weird. I'm weird like that.

Thursday Thought: I like quotes and inspirational sayings. I tend to share the funniest on my personal Facebook page. I find myself fascinated by idioms and colloquial sayings. Thursdays will be dedicated to such things until I get bored with it. I lived in the South for a long time so I have a lot stored up that I try to avoid using in regular conversation. Maybe I can get the uniquely Southern sayings out of my system.

Friday Five: This seemed to be a pretty simple daily post in the past so I will be continuing my Friday Fives. It shares a little bit of information about myself without going overboard. I think I'm going to try to pick a theme for each month and tailor the lists to the theme. Maybe. We'll see what December has in store.

Saturday Salute: Anyone that knows me understands that I resolutely support our troops. I may not support the government and the status quo, but I always support the troops. I'm going to use Saturdays as a means to talk about different branches of the military (briefly, I promise) and things pertaining to it. I may recognize a particular event, a person, etc. Who knows.

Sunday Scene: I am a bit of a dork. I love John Hughes films from the 80's. There are many other films that I look on very fondly filmed over the past few decades (less so much the current decade). So imagine my thrill when I found that there are several sites that have uploaded the scripts to many popular movies?! I'll be picking some scenes from my favorites to share with you. Don't worry, I will make sure to provide the link to said scripts when I capture them.

So what do you think about those new daily postings? Any qualms? Better suggestions? I'm open to change so long as it is interesting and will keep me entertained. :D

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS