Domestically Deficient

Growing Green

2011-06-14T17:45:00.000-04:00

I can usually follow directions. So once I learned a little kitchen terminology, I was able to cook. With the help of a recipe, of course.

For me, a recipe is like training wheels. Armed with the extra support, I can do it on my own. But without it, my cooking falls flat.

Proportions, substitutions and cook times elude me. Therefore, I never deviate from my beloved directions.

Often a recipe will call for fresh herbs, so I'll pick up a pack for $4 or $5 at the grocery store -- usually only using a leaf or two. So annoyingly wasteful. Yet, I'm always too afraid to leave them out (or, for that matter, add the extra to another recipe that doesn't specifically call for it).

This summer I decided to do something about it. Or rather, I asked M to help me do something about it. He's a much better crop master, based solely on the fact that he can remember to water them.

This weekend M set me up with an adorable window box, as well as a few other plants. We have basil, oregano, sage and rosemary. Plus we have red bell peppers, sweet potatoes and will soon add tomatoes to the mix. There's even been talk of possibly planting a blueberry bush. How great would that be!

I'm not much for tending crop, but I am all for eating fresh and local. It just tastes better.

What's in your garden?

Safety Schmafety

2011-05-18T12:25:00.000-04:00

M and I were both away last weekend. I was in NYC. He was fishing, canoeing and camping.

Unfortunately, I got home first and was greeted by a loud BEEP. And another. And another.

Smoke detector must need a new battery. BEEP. Where do we even keep batteries? BEEP. Buy a new one? BEEP. No, it's raining outside. And getting late. BEEP! Just disconnect...

Ah, peace.

BEEP!

Seriously? Maybe it was the upstairs smoke detector? BEEP. Disconnect that one.

Silence. Silence. Silence. BEEP!

Are you kidding me? Maybe taking the batteries out isn't enough. BEEP. It must know I didn't change the battery and it's punishing me for it. BEEP!

A laundry basket full of towels. Perfect. BEEP. Wrap both detectors in towels. Bring laundry basket to garage. BEEP. Shut the door!

Back up the basement stairs. And then up to our bedroom. Victory? BEEP! Ugh!

Jump out the window? Kidding.

Call M. He'll know what to do. Ring. Ring. Ring. BEEP! Ring Ring...

"Maybe it's the carbon monoxide decor," M suggested. Oh yeah. That thing.

BEEP. Unplug. BEEP. A silence button! Hit silence button. Remove batteries. Silence....

And more silence. Still silence.

VICTORY!

Now the only problem was every safety detector was in pieces all over our house. Taking them apart was one thing. Gathering the pieces and putting them back together. Not so easy.

Basic Brownies

2011-05-11T12:25:00.001-04:00

Looking back to some of my original posts -- and the memories that far precede blogging, I really think I've come a long way.

For example, just last night an old memory came flooding back. I was dining at Fat Head's -- a Pittsburgh fave -- with M and his brothers. Don't ask me why, but the topic of olive oil came up. The general consensus was it makes just about everything taste better.

Or does it? That's when I remembered a time when EVOO failed me. Or rather, I probably failed my EVOO.

In college, I was making brownies from a box one night. Nothing fancy. Mix ingredients together, pour into a baking dish, put in the oven and I was home free.

When the timer went off, the smell of fresh baked chocolate wafted through our old college house. Yum! I called the roommates to the kitchen for a treat.

But when I pulled the brownies from the oven, they were still really gooey.

"Maybe they aren't done yet?" my roommate suggested.

I was about to put them back in when she noticed the olive oil sitting out on the counter.

"Um.... What kind of oil did you use?" she asked.

"I used this," I said, grabbing the EVOO. "And I swear, I measured everything perfectly. I was even eye level with the bottom of the meniscus!" I automatically started justifying. I was so used to my mom and sister always questioning my cooking antics.

You'd have to know my roommate. She's the sweetest girl and I know she didn't want to hurt my feelings. She tried to get me to throw them away, but I insisted we try them first. She refused.

Smart girl. She knew they'd be totally disgusting. I wasn't so convinced. So I cut off a corner and took a great big bite. Holy gross!

In the end, I learned EVOO ≠ canola oil. What a sad, sad waste of olive oil.

P.S. M loves the edges, so we're now the proud owners of the Baker's Edge brownie pan. And so far, I have yet to screw those up!

Chocolate Covered Peeps

2011-05-05T07:52:00.000-04:00

Sugar. On top of sugar. On top of sugar.

I think it's too much. To the Peep people -- simply sugar on top of sugar is enough. Please and thank you.

Agree/disagree?

Live and Learn

2011-05-02T10:45:00.000-04:00

We were grilling out. Steak with veggies. Yum! After I cut the peppers and onions, I decided to chop up the watermelon. Figured it would compliment the summer inspired meal nicely.

And it probably would have... if it didn't taste like onions. I was lazy and on a roll. So while I used a different knife for the veggies and the watermelon, I used the same cutting board. Thus, onion infused watermelon. Not very good.

The Bunny Cake

2011-04-26T09:09:00.009-04:00

The Bunny cake has been a long tradition in our family. He's made an appearance at every Easter I can remember.

But one year, he almost didn't make it. I was probably around 12 or 13 years old when my mom gave me the job of making the bunny cake. ME! What an honor.

I was only using a box cake mix, so it should have been a piece of cake (groan). Anyway, I added the eggs, water, oil and started mixing. And mixing. And mixing. Ten minutes later I thought my arm was going to fall off. I had no choice but to ask my younger sister what went wrong.

She took one look at the unopened box of cake mix and pointed out exactly what went wrong. I forgot to add the mix. So terrible to be corrected by an 8-year-old.

In the end, the bunny made it to the table and was enjoyed by all. But my mom never, ever asked me to make him again. Until this year...

She's really starting to show faith in me. She believes I'm FINALLY outgrowing my Domestically Deficient title. Thus, she turned over the bunny cake pan.

I didn't want to disappoint and decided to go all out with a homemade burnt almond torte cake. I made everything from scratch.

There were a few bumps in the road --

I put too much batter in the pan and it started to overflow.
I spilled flour everywhere (including on my brand new black sneakers). Such a pain to clean up.
The icing called for emulsified shorting -- Does anybody even know what that is? Or where you can buy it? I never did figure that out. Apparently Crisco works as a decent substitute.
Despite greasing and flouring the pan, the cake got stuck.
And the almonds -- yikes. The recipe I used to toast them essentially cemented them to the pan. Roughly a third of them flew all over the kitchen as M and I tried to scrape them off. They were EVERYWHERE. Good thing I made extra!

But in the end, the bunny was served. And he was a huge hit. All was right in our home on Easter Sunday.

PS Take a vote -- Do you think he's holding the Easter egg in front of him or popping out of an egg? That is a question we've pondered for years.

How sweet it is

2011-04-20T18:00:00.001-04:00

Sweet Potatoes. A favorite in our house. And on special this week!

I was flipping through my Nigella Lawson cookbook and her butternut squash with pecans and blue cheese recipe jumped right off the page.

Since I had the sweet potatoes, I substituted them for the squash. It turned out really well. M said this recipe is a keeper.

After cutting the potatoes for Nigella's recipe, I still had three left over. So I made Paula Dean's sweet potato fries on our baking stone. Tip: season both sides of the fries before making and flip them at least once in the middle. M also declared this recipe a keeper.

Of course, I don't like a meal to consist only of one type of food (even if it's in two different forms), so I heated up the remaining pulled pork (which was still delish) and served up a side salad.

And since we're on the topic of sweet potatoes, I have to mention my favorite go-to sweet potato recipe. I've served it at a few family dinners and it's a hit every time.

I also think praline yam casserole could work well with sweet potatoes. I'm still not quite clear on the difference between sweet potatoes and yams.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever met a sweet potato recipe I didn't like. What's your favorite sweet potato dish?

Mrs. Brightside

2011-04-18T18:30:00.000-04:00

My week began with a flat tire. Ordinarily I'd think it was a bad sign for things to come. But for some reason -- I just keep thinking about the positive.

It happened at on my way to the "gym" (a.k.a. my parents' basement) at 6 am. When I got out of the car I heard a whooshing noise only to find a piece of metal in my tire. It took about 10 minutes for it to completely deflate.

On the bright side:

It happened on my way to my parents' house (less than 5 minutes from home) and not on my way to work during rush hour traffic.
As you may recall, my mom had foot surgery and thus isn't driving. I just left my car there and took hers for the day.
My mom's surgery also means she's at home today when she'd normally be at work. Thus, she was able to wait for Triple A so I didn't have to.
My CR-V had a full size spare tire and instead of one of those donuts. Not sure how much that matters, but it seemed like a positive thing to me!

Hey, life could be a lot worse.

Do unto others...

2011-04-16T11:28:00.006-04:00

Remember when I was having a terrible week and my mom helped me through by cooking a week's worth of food for us? This week, I finally got to pay it forward.

My mom had to have surgery on her foot and is now non-weight baring. Don't worry, she's recovering nicely. On the bright side, some forced R&R is probably a good thing for the lady who never stops.

Since my dad had to be out of the country for work this week, M and I had to pleasure of cooking for her.

Also, our friend's cousin, Julie, is currently fighting stage 4 cancer. And as if that isn't enough for one young family, her son, Jaden, (2 at the time) was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma last year (also stage 4). It's been one hell of a year for them, but they recently received some good news. Jaden is now in remission! But, Julie's own battle continues. Please keep this family in your prayers.

And, with everything going on, Julie was kind enough to let me interview her for a grad school paper. So I found out Jaden's favorite dinner is baked ziti and got to work. It was the first time I ever made it, so I hope it turned out ok!

RECIPES FOR THE WEEK:

Monday -- Actually my fabulous M.I.L. stepped in and brought my mom dinner, since we were just returning from a long weekend in the Bahamas.

Tuesday -- Parmesan crusted chicken (below), roasted brussel sprouts and spinach salad with strawberries, feta, pecans, almonds, pepper and just a touch of EVOO.

Wednesday -- Carrots and rutabaga, another spinach salad (pictured). I also prepared the baked ziti (did everything except bake it), then delivered it to the family with a salad and Italian bread. That way all they had to do was actually bake it on Thursday.

Thursday -- Pulled pork sandwiches. Holy easy! One of my new favorite crock pot recipes. We made 6.5 pounds, so we had to call in reinforcements to help us eat it all. It got rave reviews from all of our last minute dinner guests, which I (of course) loved.

Friday -- Naan pizzas. Nothing too fancy since we don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent. Just a little EVOO with roma tomato slices and fresh mozzarella, Romano, Parmesan, and Fontinella. Oh and we've been using the whole wheat Naan. It's good.

My mom requested a lot of veggies and protein, since she can't exercise. So we barely incorporated carbs and we definitely didn't miss them. Plus everything we made was quick and easy.

We're also trying to branch out and try different things. I think brussel sprouts somehow got bad name, but they really are delicious. And that carrot and rutabaga recipe is so easy and tasty. Seriously -- try them. You might just be pleasantly surprised.

I know this post is getting long, but I still want to share my Parmesan Crusted Chicken recipe. It's so easy and we always have these ingredients handy.

Ingredients:
Bread crumbs
Fresh grated Parmesan
Fresh grated Romano, Fontinella, any other cheese you have handy
Eggs
Oregano
Italian Spice
Thyme
Pepper
Garlic powder

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Pound the chicken (so it cooks faster).

In one small bowl, crack an egg or two. In another bowl, mix a cup of bread crumbs, 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 of other cheeses (or a full cup of Parmesan if that's all you have). Season with a shake or two of all spices.

Then make an assembly line. Dip chicken in egg, then in the breadcrumb mixture, then place in a baking dish. Repeat for all pieces. Cover with foil and bake until chicken is cooked through.

Breakfast with Dad

2011-04-02T15:21:00.004-04:00

Growing up our mom was the cook. She's a pretty amazing cook, hence why I never bothered to learn until I was on my own.

But breakfast. That was my dad's jurisdiction. Sister and I used to sit on our stools at the counter and wait for Dad to flip a couple pancakes our way. "Hot off the griddle" he used to say. The best was when he made us our initials. KZ, that's me. Or at least it was until I got married.

This morning, my dad was helping me with some work and we decided to have breakfast together. Just like old times. As I sat at the counter, waiting for breakfast, I noticed letters begin to take shape in the pan. Then next thing I knew, a KD showed up on my plate. I was pretty excited. Perhaps even a little overly excited.

"Your first initial pancakes as a married woman," Dad said. "Hot off the griddle."

How cute is he?! I can't wait to start that tradition with little ones of my own some day.

Man pleads with wife: Please stop with the laundry

2011-03-31T12:15:00.001-04:00

It happened. Again.

As you may recall, M has asked me on several occasions to stop doing his laundry.

So I may have shrunk a t-shirt or 20. And sorta broke the laundry machine. And still call it a laundry machine. Does that really disqualify me from doing the laundry?

I like to sleep in M's t-shirts. Their big and comfy. So I think it's only fair that after I sleep in them, I wash them. Am I right?

Well, last night, M came home from work and went upstairs to change.

M: "Hon! Seriously?" side note: we have a bajillion nicknames for each other, none of which are anything normal like, babe, honey, etc. But I get "Hon" when M's exasperated with me.

Me: "What's wrong?"

M: "Did you wash my Guns & Roses T-shirt?"

Me: "Uh, maybe, why?" Never admit guilt immediately...

M: "Because now it's really tight in the shoulders and way too short." M. was now standing at the top of the stairs in a t-shirt that was indeed hilariously too tight and short. Opps! "Didn't I ask you to stop washing my t-shirts?"

Me: I burst out laughing and started to explain, "I thought it was only the WHITE t-shirts that shrunk. I didn't know the regular t-shirts would also shrink...." The look on his face was enough to make me stop and listen to myself.

Ok, but in my defense, I really thought his white undershirts shrunk because he didn't buy the "preshrunk" kind or something. My regular t-shirts never shrink, so I'm not sure why his did. M said it was because it's a cotton shirt and cotton shrinks in high heat.

Please let the record show: There is an absence of malice in the case of the shrunken t-shirts.

And I'm really, really sorry!

Who knew the Irish could cook

2011-03-22T17:30:00.000-04:00

Last week was my first St. Patrick's Day as an Irish woman (by association). So M and I decided to host an Irish Feast for both of our families at the cabin.

My mom made the appetizers:
Smoked Salmon New Potatoes
Blarney Stone Appetizer

I made our side dishes, with some help from my sis:
Turnip Slaw
Potato and Onion Casserole

M handled the meat:
Irish Pork with Red Cabbage
Homestyle Corned Beef and Cabbage

My M.I.L. made dessert:
Irish Cream Cheesecake

The turnip slaw was a huge hit (and I'm not just saying that because I made it). At first, it seemed like it might be a fail, since I had nothing to shred the turnips with. In the end, I had to settle for a potato peeler.

As it turns out, the potato peeler was an accidental win! The flat, think slices were way better, adding texture and more flavor. In fact, I think I'll always use a potato peeler when making slaw from now on. A new Domestically Deficient trademark, I suppose.

It's always so much fun when our families get together. We're really blessed that our parents and siblings not only get along, but they actually all enjoy each other. I'm just sorry to report my camera battery was dead and I have no pictures from the weekend. It's really a shame, because the food looked (at tasted) delicious. Not to mention M was sporting quite a festive outfit, complete with green suspenders.

Does anybody have an incredible Irish recipe? If so, please share! I'll save it for next year.

A new twist on an old classic

2011-03-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

Last night M made delicious tomato soup. I pared it with the ultimate grilled cheese.

Ingredients (per sandwich)

1 cup of sharp white cheddar and fontinella cheese (shredded)
chopped chili peppers
2 tablespoons of butter
a dash cumin
2 slices of bread (don't skimp, get something thick and fresh)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.
In a bowl, so soften butter. I used about 2 tablespoons per sandwich.
Mix cheese with butter, I used about a cup of loosely packed, fresh grated cheese per sandwich.
Add chili peppers and cumin to the butter and cheese mixture.
Spread more butter on the outside of all slices of bread. I used Brummel and Brown for this.
Spread the butter, cheese, chili pepper and cumin mixture on the sandwiches.
Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes. I recommend flipping the sandwiches about half way through. Use a baking stone if you have one.
To finish, I bumped the oven to broil at 475 -- about 2 more minutes per side.

I think baking/broiling was key. I'm not sure I can ever go back to pan frying my sandwiches.

In addition to adding chili peppers, I've also made grilled cheese sandwiches with:

a slice of tomato (obviously)
pickles (is that weird?)
mayo (not normally my thing, but surprisingly tasty)

What do you usually put on yours?

Brie in a Bread Bowl

2011-03-09T17:03:00.000-05:00

Seriously one of M's best creations.

All you need is a loaf of sour dough bread, a chunk of brie, butter, jam or preserves, and fresh fruit.

M and I use this recipe for dinner. It's perfect with a little side salad. I think it's enough for two -- we can never finish ours.

I've never served it as an appetizer, though it could probably be used as one. The only issue is that sometimes it's a little messy to cut. Perfect presentation would be challenging, but not impossible.

Preheat the oven to 375
Remove the center of the sour dough bread to form a bread bowl. Save the top!
Place the bread bowl and top on a baking tray, or a baking stone if you have one.
Melt butter and coat the inside of the bread bowl, as well as the top that you removed.
Spread jam around the outside crust. I've used my homemade strawberry, blueberry and raspberry. I've also used store bought raspberry preserves and mango jelly. All have been delish. This step is really personal preference.
Toss the brie in the center. Remove the rind if you wish. If your chunk is triangular instead of circular, you may want to cut it into two or three pieces for even melting.
Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. Then watch it from there.
When the brie is melted and the bread is toasted, it's good to go!
Serve with fresh fruit. Apples, grapes, mango, papaya all go well. Berries are a nice addition.
ENJOY!

No use crying over spilled milk

2011-03-07T12:13:00.000-05:00

I won't name any names, but (A) I don't drink milk and (B) that's not my side of the bed.

Does anybody have any tips to ensure our carpet won't soon start smelling like spoiled milk? Ugh, the thought of it makes my stomach turn. Please share!

Hey, Now Blogger

2011-03-03T17:15:00.001-05:00

What were you thinking?

carriechiz posted a comment on Girl Scout Cookies and got this word verification:

Just thought I'd share for your entertainment.

Girl Scout Cookies

2011-03-03T07:23:00.000-05:00

Turns out, M and I both bought girl scout cookies at work this year.

He bought four boxes. A box for himself (Samoas), a box for his mom (also Samoas), and two boxes for me (Tagalongs & Thin Mints).

I got three boxes of cookies -- two boxes of my favorite (Tagalongs) and one box of my second favorite (thin mints). All for me.

Thoughtfulness fail.

Tortellini: The Symbol of Love & Support

2011-03-01T11:58:00.001-05:00

Nobody does more to support her family and friends than my mom. She's a giver. It's just her nature. It's something I admire and try to emulate.

Last week and into this week grad school has been particularly terrible. I was treading water for the beginning part of the semester. Then the clouds aligned to unleash one heck of a storm. And just like that, I'm drowning.

Before the storm, I had committed to visiting my youngest B.I.L. at college for his last basketball home game of the season. I probably should have stayed home and worked 24/7 all weekend, but putting family first, I still went. And my in-laws answered right back by creating an incredible support network for me while I tried to squeeze in work between our weekend activities.

Then there's my mom. M. & I returned from the trip to see our fridge fully loaded with food for the entire week. Not only do we not have to grocery shop, we won't even have to cook.

I love pasta with cream sauce, but my lactose intolerant stomach disagrees. So I never get to eat it. Well, I opened the fridge to find that -- among about 5 other meals, fruit, veggies and snacks -- my mom had made me lactose free cheese tortellini in a cream sauce. It certainly hit the spot!

I'm also really lucky to have the world's greatest dad & sister, plus a couple of especially fantastic friends. And I can't forget the hubs.

Last night I thanked M. for letting me lean on him. He replied: "You have to lean on me, otherwise you'd trip and fall down." He meant literally. I am abnormally clumsy. But in that moment, I was just thankful to share a little laugh before bed.

Sorry for the cheese, but family and friends really are the most important things in life. I can't imagine what life would be like without them. I know it definitely wouldn't be any fun.

--
P.S. Any lactose intolerants out there, let me know if you're interested in my mom's recipe. I'm sure I could convince her to share.

Tie Dye

2011-02-24T12:30:00.000-05:00

Not just for t-shirts.

My coworker swears she's not a baker. I'd disagree. She wanted to do something special when her adorable daughter turned 2. So she tie-dyed a cake.

She practiced with cupcakes and brought them to work for us to try. They looked awesome and were tasty, too. Then she went all out and made a cake for her daughter's birthday party. I didn't get to sample this time, but I saw the pics. So cool. Her daughter is one lucky little lady.

Cupcake test run

Cake 1

Cake 2

I google imaged "tie dye cake" and the results were fantastic. So I got to thinking, if you can tie dye a cake, what else can you do? Let me just say, I have big plans for my 4th of July dessert this year.

Our Broken Hearts

2011-02-15T12:30:00.005-05:00

For our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, M prepared a fabulous dinner. I was in charge of dessert.

My mother-in-law (MIL) makes unbelievable meringue -- and it just so happens to be one of M's favorite desserts. I was terrified to make it, but MIL gave me the confidence to give it a try. I found the most adorable meringue hearts on Joy of Baking. Might as well go all out.

Step one -- bring the egg whites to room temperature. I cracked the first two eggs beautifully, and then had a mishap with the third. Seven eggs later, I successfully separated four egg whites.

Before mixing, the recipe suggests tracing a heart shaped cookie cutter on parchment paper. Then you fill in the outline with meringue to form the hearts. I didn't have a heart cookie cutter, so I improvised, relying on my second grade arts & craft skills.

I also forgot the parchment paper -- and I already learned the "wax paper ≠ parchment paper" lesson. A quick trip to my mom's for the paper and I was back on track.

I used my KitchenAid to mix the meringue. I'm far from an expert, but I do believe a stand mixer is the way to go. I can't imagine trying to hold a mixer and slowly add sugar. I'm just not that good.

After only two calls to MIL -- How do i know when the meringue is mixed? And How should I store it over night? -- it all turned out pretty well.

Since my track record isn't great, I had a backup plan. My mom bought me a Valentine's Day cookie tray, so I made two dozen sugar cookies -- just in case. My sis came over to help me decorate. By that time, I was so confident the meringue was going to turn out, I sent the cookies back to college with Sister. Goodbye backup plan.

Side note: My cookies look nothing like the label said they would. And the best one -- top right -- was one of my sister's creations. Perhaps cookie decorating is not my calling...

Fast forward to Monday night. M and I had a fantastic dinner. Then I whipped up the meringue topping, adding some of my homemade strawberry jam for flavor. We packed up six hearts, topping and fruit -- two for M's parents, two for my parents, and two for M's brother and his gf. After we dropped off the Valentine's Day treats to our family, we headed home to enjoy our own.

M's delicious dinner.

Meringue hearts -- baked and ready!

That's. When. It. Happened. I was mixing more topping while M was cleaning up from dinner. Crash! I turned around to see our remaining hearts all over the floor.

I burst out laughing. Poor M was so upset he knocked all of my hard work on the floor. But it was an accident -- and a funny one at that. M picked up the pieces and tried to mend our broken hearts. Judge if you wish, but we ate that meringue right off the floor. And it was delish!

I can't tell you how many people told us laughter is the key to a happy marriage. Well if that's the case, then we're in great shape. We definitely went to bed cracking up -- pun intended -- last night.

Salad and the Super Bowl

2011-02-07T17:15:00.001-05:00

We're always on some sort of salad kick at our house. It almost always involves spinach. I learned from my college nutrition class, the dark green leafy veggies are more nutritious than the lighter green. So spinach > romaine.

Of course, when your current salad kick involves bacon, perhaps that bumps you down a few points on the health scale.

We've been making spinach salads with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, red peppers, onions, pecans, avocado and crispy bacon. M even concocted a fantastic hot bacon dressing to go with it. He uses white vinegar, a touch of honey, sugar, lemon, salt and a bit of the bacon grease. Then he heats it before drizzling over our salads. The white vinegar gives it such a bite. Delicious.

This is what we were enjoying as we cheered on the Steelers last night. Apparently, my yinzerific wine glass wasn't good luck. In case you can't tell, it says "The 'burgh" and has pictures of Pittsburgh. M won it at his work's Steeler party last week. Classic Pittsburgh!

P.S. In M's lifetime, the Steelers have played in 4 Super Bowls. They've won two and lost two. M went to Super Bowl XL (a win) and we went to Super Bowl XLIII (another win). Coincidence that he saw both wins in person and was at home both times they lost? I'm thinking not...

He said, she said

2011-01-27T17:22:00.001-05:00

He said the split pea and ham soup was great. She said, dis-guis-ing! I'm not a ham person and the mushy peas did nothing for me. I mean, look at that picture. It does not look appetizing.

Still M. happily ate it for either lunch or dinner every day this week. So I guess it turned out ok, despite my trouble with the ham bone. Let's call this one a draw.

I had a few other wins and failures this week. To recap:

Saturday:
Carrots and Rutabaga -- a win for sure! This dish was so unique and tasty. Love it!

Sunday:
For the Steeler game, I made Chili and cornbread. I added cumin, oregano, garlic powder and extra chili powder to the chili spice things up a bit. M. and his parents loved it! So either this was another win, or my in-laws are too nice to me.

Monday:
M's split pea and ham soup. You've already heard all about that.

Tuesday:
We ate leftovers and I made M. fruit & pecan granola bars for his ice fishing trip this weekend. I've made them before and I followed the recipe exactly. They looked beautiful when I took them out of the oven, but for whatever reason I couldn't separate the stupid things from the foil (and yes, I greased the foil). There were chunks of granola bars and bits of foil everywhere. Such a sticky mess. And sadly, a failure.

Wednesday:
I made broccoli and carrot stir fry. This was delightful. Win!

I also made my famous carrot soup for M to take on his trip (since I botched up the cereal bars). The soup turned out ok, but I dropped the immersion blender mid use. Result = orange all over me and my kitchen. Oh and as the blender fell out of the pot, it hit the soy sauce that was sitting on the counter, knocking it to the floor, where it shattered and spilled everywhere. Fail!

What the -bleep- is a ham bone?

2011-01-24T17:06:00.001-05:00

If you recall, M. and I have soup night every week. You may also remember M’s favorite soup is split pea and ham. I’m not big on ham, so it’s not something I’ve ever had a desire to eat.

But being the good wife that I am, I decided I’ll give it a whirl. I went to the grocery store on Saturday to get the supplies. On the list: a ham bone. I headed to the meat section. Beef. Chicken. Pork. Lamb. Bacon. Sausage. Fish. More chicken. Chicken. Chicken. Ham! Finally! Boneless. Boneless. Boneless. Sliced ham with bone. Where are the darn ham bones!?

I rummaged around that section for 20 minutes and saw no sign of anything that said “ham bone.” So I picked up the slice of ham (with a bone in the middle) and decided it will have to do.

Next item on the list: split peas. Crap, forgot to get those when I was in the produce section, so I went back. Snow peas, snap peas. Where in the world are the split peas?! Then it clicked – maybe split peas aren’t fresh, perhaps they’re canned. Over to the canned goods aisle. Still nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

I’m still not sure how I noticed it, but eventually I discovered split peas come in a bag like rice. Who knew?

I’m planning to make the soup tonight. Let’s hope cooking it goes better than shopping for it. And for the record – I’m still not exactly clear on the definition of a ham bone. Nor do I know where you can buy one.

In Lieu of Pasta Night

2011-01-20T17:43:00.001-05:00

Spaghetti squash. My Italian side knows squash can never replace pasta -- especially not now that I'm into making homemade pasta. But if you're still clinging to your lose weight, eat healthier, cook more New Year's Resolutions, give spaghetti squash a try.

I've eaten it many times, but last night was my first attempt at making it. My mom always bakes it. Well, I took the easy way out and microwaved it. Let me tell you, M. wasn't home to see me toss it in the microwave and he said it was cooked to perfection -- soft, but not overcooked.

I poked it with a knife all over (like you do for a baked potato). Then I cooked it on high for about 9 minutes. Flipped it over and cooked it on high for another 9 minutes. At that point it wasn't quite soft enough, so I rotated it just a bit and gave it another 3 minutes. That did the trick.

Next just slice it in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and then use a fork to scrape the insides into a bowl. That's all there is to it.

After that you can sauce-it-up however you please. Just do a little searching, there are so many recipes out there that look amazing. I can wait to try a few. But last night, I didn't want to make an extra trip to the store, so I used what I had on hand.

EVOO (of course)
Garlic
Sauteed onions
Spices (lots of them)

Then I saw this recipe on my Epicurious app, which gave me the idea to toast some almonds and pecans.

Speaking of apps, I've had the iPhone for a few months now, but this is the first time I actually used my Epicurious app. Do any of you use apps for cooking? If so what do you recommend?

What is everybody watching this January?

2011-01-12T12:15:00.001-05:00

I work out at in my parents' basement before work, so I NEED to keep material on their DVR to motivate me to get out of bed at 6 am every morning.

Currently scheduled to record:

Teen Mom 2
Modern Family
Parenthood
The Good Wife
White Collar
The Office
House -- although it's been so sporadic lately, which is annoying.

I've started watching My Strange Addiction, but it's not as great as I thought it would be. And -- I'll admit -- when the pickings are really slim, I record Keeping up with the Kardashians. They're actually not bad to watch while working out.

It may seem like a lot, but some of those shows are reserved for watching at night with M. Plus, you burn through shows fast when you're watching an episode of something every morning while rocking the elliptical.

So tell me. What are your favorite shows? Guilty pleasures encouraged!

What's the opposite of hoarding?

2011-01-05T06:15:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I think watching TLC makes me a better person. I watched the Half-Ton Dad special last weekend and immediately put down the cookie I was about to consume. I also recently caught part of a Hoarding: Buried Alive marathon and it seriously. Freaks. Me. Out. On the plus side, it motivates me to do a big house clean out several times a year.

I think it's officially safe to say, we're definitely not hoarders in our house. In fact, at the rate we're going, we might just find ourselves in a bare house some day.

We had an unusually warm day on New Year's Eve. It climbed into the 60s. In Pittsburgh. In late December. It was the perfect day to open up the windows and air out the house one last time before winter really sets in.

I really do hate cleaning up Christmas. But I also can't stand to see Christmas decorations much past New Year's. This year, the warm weather helped lift my spirits as we tossed out the tree and packed up the Santas (though I was singing It's the least wonderful time of the year the entire time).

It was a job well done. The house is clean and without clutter. Plus I even organized behind the scenes. I love having organized cabinets, drawers, shelves, storage areas. The perfect way to start off 2011.

My first organizing and cleaning tips of the new year:

Start organizing one thing and finish it completely before tackling another area.
If your vacuum has a brush that attaches to the hose, use it to dust. Works like a charm.

Wedding Planning 101

2011-01-03T07:36:00.001-05:00

A few days before Christmas one of my very best friends got engaged to her perfect prince charming. They're such a great match for each other and I couldn't be more excited! Congratulations to the Dining Diva and Tim! May you have a lifetime of love and happiness together. xo!

While I was planning my own wedding last year, the Dining Diva kept encouraging me to post the details on my blog. However, spare time was hard to come by and I definitely dropped the blogging ball.

So in 2011 I'm going to reflect back on our wedding from time to time and share a few details with all of you current brides-to-be. Hopefully it will help inspire ideas for your big days.

My Number 1 piece of advice -- never lose site of the reason for such an extravagant party. Even the strongest couples will encounter tense situations along the way. It's inevitable. But always remember, no wedding detail is more important than the fact that you're about to marry the love of your life.

Wives -- what's your number one piece of advice for brides-to-be?

I want to Knit. Or Crochet.

2010-12-28T11:35:00.005-05:00

Once upon a time I used to knit all the time. In fact, M's cousin just reminded me about the time I knit in a bar for hours.

The story:

A few months after we started dating, M and I took a trip to Erie, PA. He was meeting his dad, brother, cousin and friends -- about 10 other guys -- to go fishing and watch his youngest brother play in a basketball tournament. I was supposed to meet up with two of my girl friends at Peak N Peak Resort (Erie was the half way point for us). Unfortunately, one friend got sick, and I ended up the only girl on the fishing/basketball trip. Yikes!

The day worked out ok. I got a mani/pedi and went shopping while the guys went fishing. Then it was off to a basketball game, followed by a trip to the bar to watch football. The backyard brawl to be exact (Pitt vs. West Virginia for those of you who aren't familiar).

Once I realized it was going to be a long night watching football and drinking beer in a dive bar, I went out to our car, grabbed my knitting and settled in. I knit an entire scarf. Some old man even said to me, "Honey, in all my years I've never seen somebody knit in a bar. And I'm damn old." After that M's cousin awarded me the coolest girlfriend award because I didn't complain at all. Knit One. Purl One. That's me.

Since then I haven't done much knitting, but I'd like to get back into it. I read just read Friday Night Knitting Club, Knit Two and most recently the third installment, Knit the Season -- all by Kate Jacobs. The books left me inspired to pick up my hobby again. Plus, another one of M's cousins showed me how easy it is to crochet over Christmas. It looks easy enough. Maybe I'll do that instead?

Does anybody knit or crochet? Or follow any other bloggers who do?

What's cooking this holiday season

2010-12-24T15:15:00.000-05:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

This holiday season has been so great. Per usual, I'm really in the spirit. In fact, M. started calling me the Queen of Christmas.

I've watched an awful lot of cheesy holiday movies -- ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas, anyone? We've also visited two local displays of Christmas Lights - Hartwood Acres Celebration of Lights and Oglebay's Festival of Lights (both amazing!), hosted a tacky Christmas sweater party at the cabin and cut down our Christmas tree.

I can live without the green and white cup 11 months of the year, but once Thanksgiving rolls around, it's constant nonfat, no whip peppermint mochas for me. And of course, I've had the Christmas music on 24/7 since November 1.

Last night -- November 23 -- was our first official Christmas party. I made Ina Garten's amazing roasted eggplant spread for the occasion. It was really easy, tasty and seems pretty healthy to me. It's a great thing to bring to a party as an appetizer. Or perfect if you're hosting, because you can prepare it in advance.

The downside? While I was chopping the peppers, I also chopped off the tip of my thumb. I won't get into the gorey details, but it was ugly. My brand new fabulous Cutco knives sure do cut with minimum effort. Domestic fail.

So what's cooking this Christmas?

The ravioli filling was a ratio of one egg to one cup of ricotta, plus I added seasoned salt, pepper and a touch of garlic. The pasta was 2.5 cups of flour, 2 eggs and a touch of olive oil. Typically I need the dough by hand and then use the pasta attachment. But this time I used the dough hook on the KitchenAid mixer, due to the thumb injury. It worked well enough, but I think I'll go back to making it by hand next time.

I hope you're all enjoying your time with family and friends. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Picture: The tree in Rockefeller Plaza from our recent trip to New York City. Love!

Who puts plastic in the oven?

2010-12-14T12:15:00.000-05:00

We had our second festive ugly sweater party at the cabin this weekend, which turned out to be really fun. I'm thinking it should become an annual thing.

Since we had 20+ people at the cabin for the weekend, my mom contributed an enormous tray of homemade stuffed shells that she had in her freezer. Perfect for dinner on Friday night. It was covered with aluminum foil, so I stuck it in the oven as it was.

Fast forward 30 minutes or so. M. realizes I left the shells unattended and goes to check on them. He peaks under the foil and what does he find??

Plastic.

That's right. The entire tray was wrapped a billion times in plastic wrap. I guess my mom did that so they wouldn't spill on the ride to the cabin? Or maybe to prevent freezer burn? I'm not really sure, but I did learn the importance of taking a peak under the foil before putting anything in the oven.

Luckily, the shells were still frozen when I put them in the oven, so even after 30 minutes the plastic hadn't totally melted yet. M. was able to salvage dinner and once they finished baking -- sans plastic -- the stuffed shells were a big hit.

Soup Night

2010-12-10T12:11:00.005-05:00

As soon as the weather started getting cold, M. & I created our newest wintertime tradition -- soup night. Every week, one night -- typically Tuesday -- is designated soup night. We take turns cooking and this week was my turn.

I based my soup off of the Food Network's Butternut Squash Soup recipe (guess I'm still on that orange kick). The recipe says it's intermediate, but if you have an immersion blender, I'd bump it down to "any domestically deficient can knock this out of the park." Seriously. E.A.S.Y.

You need:

One large butternut squash
A medium onion (I used 4 little yellow onions, because that's what I had in the fridge)
2 tablespoons of butter
6 cups of chicken broth (I made it with chicken bouillon powder, because that's easier to keep on hand)
Spices

Directions:

Cut your butternut squash and onion.
Saute your onion in butter, then add the squash and broth and let it cook for a while.
After 20 or so minutes, run the immersion blender (even leave some chunks, they taste great)
Toss in a few spices -- I used Tastefully Simple's Onion Onion, Garlic Garlic and Seasoned Salt, plus some pepper.

With recipes this simple and tasty, there's really no excuse for not eating healthy, home cooked meals.

Next up: split pea and ham. M. recently mentioned that he really likes it. Has anybody ever made that? I'm debating between recipes from allrecipes.com, cooks.com, and Emeril Lagasse on foodnetwork.com.

Thoughts? Recommendations? Advice?

Oh Christmas Tree

2010-12-07T12:45:00.001-05:00

Of course, I've had our house decorated since the first weekend in November. It's the Christmas Crazy -- it can't be helped.

Although I wanted to, I resisted putting up our tree until Thanksgiving weekend, simply because I didn't want it to die before the big day. So after a weekend with two fabulous Thanksgiving dinners, we headed out to the farm to chop our tree on that Sunday.

Carrying our tree to the truck.

I typically prefer a Douglas Fir, but all of the Canaan Firs were especially perfect.

With our new tree.

Decorated. Looks better with the lights off.

We got our "Just Married" ornament in Hawaii. Love it! (Obviously I was thinking about Christmas in October on a tropical island).

Speaking of Christmas trees, we spent the weekend at M's cabin decorating for our tacky Christmas sweater party.

The tree is much smaller than normal this year, due to the addition of a second loft. In the past M. and his brother have actually used a four wheeler and a tow strap to pull an enormous tree through the front door.

At this point, the tree only had about half of it's lights. Upon completion, we literally couldn't stare directly at the tree without risking vision loss.

Of course the boys were especially proud of their tree topper. In case you're wondering, that's a mullet wig with a trucker cap. True story. The good news is if the tree is wearing the mullet wig, that means my husband is not...

Just a taste of the cabin decorations. I'll share more when it's officially completed.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! And I seriously can't wait!

A Thanksgiving Win!

2010-12-06T07:30:00.003-05:00

Hosting our first Thanksgiving ever was a big time success. We actually hosted on Saturday since we were up at M's cabin on Thursday. And technically we used my mom and dad's home, because 14 people simply wouldn't fit in our house.

Here's a recap of the menu with recipe links. My sister and I made pretty much everything, with a little help from our dinner guests and M.

Cranberry Brie Bites (appetizer)
Italian meats, cheeses and crackers (appetizer)
Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Brushetta with Black Lentils (appetizer)
Cinnamon Apple Squash soup (actually a crock pot recipe, but I used my immersion blender before serving)
Caesar Salad -- thanks, Mom
Corn Bread Muffins
Apple Pecan Stuffing
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon Pecan Crunch
Corn (heated up frozen corn and added butter)
Turkey -- M. handled this entirely
Gravy -- I actually forgot about this, buy my mom was thankfully prepared.
Cranberry sauce
Butternut Squash Risotto -- thanks, Aunt M
Broccoli and pine nuts -- thanks, Aunt M
Pumpkin Log -- We used my Aunt T's famous recipe, but this one is really close.
Apple Pie -- thanks to my mom (she made it with the apples M and I picked on our annual Shenandoah trip)
Peanut Butter Pie -- thanks, Aunt P.

At the last minute, my sister was able to come home from college for the entire Thanksgiving break. Thank goodness, because she and I did most of the cooking at my house on Friday. Of course we had the Christmas tunes blaring and the wine flowing -- the perfect day!

While we were cooking my mom brought our grandma over to hang out for a bit. She has Dementia, so she's easily confused. While she had no idea where she was, she did know she was with her grand daughters and she was having a great time commenting on our cooking.

Grandma also looked at our wedding guest book notes and pictures for three hours. Front to back. Back to front. When she'd get to an end she'd close it for a minute. Then look down, see the book in her lap and say, "Oh boy, I haven't seen these pictures yet." And the cycle continued.

She also heckled us when we set the fire alarm off. She actually thought it was hilarious. She insisted she never did that while cooking. (Question: Did they even have smoke detectors back in those days?) She may have never caught the kitchen on fire, but she did have a few secrets of her own. Allow me to share one with you.

My Italian grandma made her own homemade tomato sauce -- always. She'd make huge batches of it and freeze it. For my Pap-pap, no other sauce was acceptable. Well a few years ago, she had a heart attack that landed her in the hospital for a few days.

After she was stable, Pap-pap was still pacing around the room. We told him to relax; she was going to be fine. He just looked up and said, "Yeah but she probably won't be able to cook for a while and we're out of tomato sauce!"

What Pap-pap didn't know was that Grandma was tired of making sauce all the time. It's really a long, time consuming process. So a while back she started mixing her homemade sauce with Ragu to make it last longer. Of course she always hid the the evidence and claimed it was her recipe. Overtime, she stopped making sauce completely. She was just freezing Ragu so it looked homemade. Smart lady.

When we dropped that bomb on my Pap, he was beside himself. Frankly, I'm surprised we didn't end up with two grandparents in the hospital, both recovering from heart attacks.

Speaking of our Pap-pap (a.k.a. "Snoop" b/c he's ridiculously nosy), he also stopped by unannounced on Friday. He walked in, snooped around, flipped on the TV, made himself comfortable and proceeded to take a nap on our couch. Typical.

Then on Saturday, Sister and I finished cooking and lugged everything over to my parents' house for dinner. With 14 people at the table -- most loud-mouthed Italians -- it was all the chaos and commotion I was missing on the real Thanksgiving.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my in-laws. Without a lot of extended family in town, Thanksgiving with them was a much-needed, perfectly peaceful and relaxing day at their cabin. Thanksgiving, Part II with my extended family was pretty much the opposite -- and in my opinion an excellent way to round out the weekend. Truly the best of both worlds.

Apparently Pap-pap wasn't the only only one who was tired.

The turkey. Good thing M. handled this, because it kind of grosses me out.

My favorite -- the cranberry brie bites.

Corn bread muffins made with my new tea cake pan. So cute!

The soup.

The stuffing, half way there.

Our first Thanksgiving as a married couple.

Chocolate Krinkles

2010-12-03T17:07:00.000-05:00

Cookie of the Month Club is surprisingly still in business. In November I made Chocolate Krinkles. My friend, C.C., actually shared this recipe in the comments after my Calling All Cookie Recipe post.

I'm not much for chocolate cookies, but these are so great. A perfect holiday cookie. Enjoy!

Chocolate Krinkles
Makes 4 – 5 dozen

½ cup vegetable oil
4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour

Mix oil, chocolate, and sugar. Blend in eggs 1 at a time; mix well. Add vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Cover and chill overnight.

Drop teaspoons of mixture in confectionary sugar. Press slightly. Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes at 350o

C.C.'s Notes:
My family thinks these cookies taste even better the day after they’re baked. We’ve also found that it’s better to mix only one batch at a time, and we like to take them out of the oven a little early for a chewier cookie. Also, the mixture can get sticky, so keep it refrigerated when not using and make sure the cookie sheet is cooled between uses. Wiping a tiny bit of vegetable oil on the teaspoon also makes it easier to drop the cookies off.

The beneficiaries this installment:

C.C. herself since she just had a beautiful baby girl. I made her family dinner and in return C.C. let me hold her baby for a while.
The usual college kids: Sister, Brother-in-Law, Cousin
M. also got some this time around. Last month I didn't make him any extras and he swiped a few from the college kids' packages before I mailed them.

Yam Casserole and My New Scale

2010-11-23T12:48:00.002-05:00

My friend, Ke, got me a scale for my wedding shower so (and I quote) "you don't get fat after you get married." (Love her!)

I am a snacker (they say a picture's worth a thousand words), so it's not a bad idea for me to step on a scale from time to time.

At first, I really enjoyed my new scale. I jumped on and never looked down (I don't like to watch the numbers calculate). After a few seconds, I took a peak at the number and was delighted to see I lost 10 lbs! A-MAZ-ING!

Confession: I later realized that I never inserted the batteries -- who knew you had to?! -- and the number I was looking at was actually a sticker. And just like, that the 10 pounds I magically lost instantly reappeared. C'est la Vie.

But now that it's working properly, my scale has really come in handy. I used it to make sure my luggage was under 50 lbs before Hawaii. It was only 47.5, thank you very much!

And on Sunday, I used it to weigh yams. Yams were on sale at the grocery store, so I bought a couple with no plan in mind. When I got home, I found a yam casserole recipe in my "Better Homes and Gardens" cookbook. It called for 2 lbs of yams. Looking at my bag of yams, I guessed it weighed somewhere between 1 pound and 5. Not much help.

So I went upstairs and stepped on my scale (not wise when you're wearing clothes and boots). I took note of the number and then stepped on the sale again, this time with my yams in hand. Victory! The yams weighed 2.8 lbs. Perfect!

Now on to the recipe.

PRALINE YAM CASSEROLE
Note: It's almost like a dessert, but fun for a Sunday night dinner.

Ingredients

6 medium yams or sweet potatoes (2 pounds)
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Scrub yams or sweet potatoes. Cut off woody portions and ends.
In a 4-quart Dutch oven cook yams, covered, in enough boiling, salted water to cover for 25 to 30 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool slightly. Peel and cup up yams.
Mash yams with a potato masher or with an electric mixer on low speed. Add milk, brown sugar, butter or margarine, egg, vanilla, and salt. Beat until fluffy. Add additional milk, if desired. Turn into a greased 10x6x2-inch baking dish.
In a small saucepan melt butter or margarine over low heat. Stir in brown sugar, flour, and pecans. Mix well. Spoon pecan mixture over casserole.
Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until heated through. Serves 8.

The recipe was perfect, since I already had all of the ingredients at home. I set out to make the casserole. Step 1 -- no problem. Step 2 -- Dutch oven? Forgive me, but the only Dutch oven I've ever heard of doesn't cook yams...

After a little Google searching, I realized that I'd have to boil the yams in a pot with a lid since I don't own a Dutch oven. It worked out just fine.

For step 3, I recommend the Kitchen Aid. It took a lot longer to mix than I thought, so I was glad not to have to hold a hand mixer. In the end I still had a lot of chunks, but M. confirmed that actually made the recipe even better.

Do any of you own a Dutch oven? If you do, do you find that you use it a lot?

Quick Tip: Don't Lysol Wipe Your Mirror

2010-11-22T08:15:00.002-05:00

This weekend I was haphazardly cleaning the bathroom. I usually start by running a Lysol wipe over everything. I raised my hand to start on the mirror when I remembered...

Rewind back to August. Seven of my lovely college friends were staying with me for the weekend of my wedding shower and bachelorette party (so fun!). As I recall, I decided to whip the house into shape before their arrival.

Thinking a gleaming bathroom mirror would be a nice touch, I took a Lysol wipe to it. It left the mirror looking quite cloudy. I could barely see my own reflection, but I thought once it dried a little, it would be fine.

Fast forward about an hour. M. entered the bathroom to brush his teeth and I heard: "What happened to our mirror?"

Me (from the other room): "I cleaned!"

Loud sigh. Then silence...

What's that about? I walked to the bathroom to find out why the exacerbated sigh and witnessed the foggy disaster. Opps!

So I grabbed a bottle of something from under the sink (Tilex? Mildew remover? Honestly, I'm not even sure I read the label). Armed with some bathroom cleaning product, I took aim and pulled the trigger. As I started wiping the mirror (again) when I heard M. laughing as he ran downstairs.

A few minutes later, I was still trying to get the mirror clean when M. reappeared with a bottle of Windex. He informed me that it's really the only product that works on bathroom mirrors. Duly noted.

Thanksgiving, Take II

2010-11-18T12:20:00.000-05:00

Guess who's cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year? Yup, that would be me.

Remember last year? First my family tried to keep me from cooking anything. Then after much protesting, they put me in charge of heating up frozen corn. And I screwed it up.

Well, my kitchen skills have improved considerably since then. I'm not completely Domestically Deficient, but I'm still a far cry from a Domestic Goddess. Maybe a Domestic Diva? My friends did get me an apron to prove it (Love!). However, since it is the holiday season, I'll be sporting my Cooking Claus apron on Thanksgiving. I digress...

On Thursday we'll be at the cabin with M's family. Then on Saturday it will be Thanksgiving, part II with my family and I'm hosting!

The Menu:

Cranberry Brie Bites (appetizer)
Italian meats, cheeses and crackers (appetizer)
Cinnamon Apple Squash soup
Salad -- my mom's contribution
Corn Bread Muffins
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon Pecan Crunch (a hit last year!)
Corn (would stink if I screwed this up... again...)
Turkey -- M. is in charge of this!
Cranberry sauce
Vegetables -- my aunt will be bringing the veggies
Pumpkin Log
Apple Pie -- another mom contribution
Alcohol -- my sister claimed this responsibility. Shocking! (not)

Am I missing anything?! Have any of you hosted a holiday before? When I cook dinner for four, I struggle to get everything out on time and at the same time. I'm a bit worried about preparing such an extensive meal for 10-12 people. Any advice?

Also, I want to do a little table favor for everybody. Have you seen any cute ideas this year? The Dining Diva recommended Hostess with the Mostess. Lots of cool ideas.

Hope you all have fun holiday plans! Can't wait to read about them.

Thanks, Shutterfly, for the free holiday cards

2010-11-12T15:45:00.006-05:00

I just read a post from That's Sassy about 50 free Christmas cards for bloggers on Shutterfly. What a great promotion! I was in the middle of making two photo books with my favorite wedding pictures, when my mom asked me to help her with her Christmas card.

What better way to help? Blog about it and get half her order for free.

I must say, I'm not that cheap. I wouldn't write a blog promoting Shutterfly holiday cards if I were already planning to use them. In fact, I already have the cards designed, I just have to order!

If you're also a blogger, I recommend looking into the promotion. And if not -- Shutterfly is running a 20% off holiday card promotion at the moment. You can also get 50% off photobooks, free shipping on orders of $30 or more. Checkout the special offers and take advantage!

Happy Holidays!

P.S. I also used Shutterfly to make my wedding guest book and I love it!

A Christmafied House

2010-11-11T06:30:00.013-05:00

I absolutely love the Christmas season and everything about it. So to avoid severe depression when it's over, I start my celebrating on November 1 every year.

Between my Pandora Christmas station, and the 550+ Christmas songs in my iPod -- I've managed to already surround myself with the sounds of the season. It only gets better after Thanksgiving when Christmas is on the radio, too.

I also spent Sunday Christmafying the heck out of our house. The best part about owning your own house is you can start decorating WHENEVER you want and with WHATEVER you want. The new hubs -- let's start calling him M. -- fully supports the Christmas Crazy. After all, he knew exactly what he was getting into before he popped the question.

Next up, I have to work on Christmafying my new in-laws' cabin. I love traditional, tasteful decorations, but there is a part of me that thinks the more flash and flair the better. I secretly wish my house was like the one in the Wizards in Winter video! This year I left the taste at home and will be bringing the tack to the cabin.

For the past two years, I've went completely overboard stringing lights through every inch of the cabin. I also incorporated all sorts of decorations in all shapes in sizes -- from the tiny Santa knickknacks to the enormous blow-up snowman and Christmas bear. The loft is especially fun to decorate. Over the summer, M's family added a second loft and a grand staircase, so the possibilities are endless this year.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at the cabin with M's family last year. I have to say, it was really great to wake up in a cabin decorated to the max in the middle of the woods, surrounded by snow. Does it get any better than that?

I should mention the "cabin" is two floors and equipped with cable, wireless Internet, a couple full bathrooms, a kitchen nicer than mine at home and a laundry room. So we're not exactly roughing it.

Here are a few pics of what I did to the cabin at Christmas last year.

We couldn't find a wreath big enough for that fireplace, so M. made one out of several coat hangers. We now refer to it as "the wagon wheel." Random parts of it blink sporadically. Pretty fantastic.

The original loft. Now there's a second one across from it (on the left of this pic).

The living room!

Little knickknacks.

The blow-up Christmas guys (and my brother-in-law on the computer).

With Buddy, the best beagle ever. Yes, we're wearing puff paint sweatsuits. M. asked my mom to make him one for an ugly Christmas sweater party. I got one too, and we both wore them with pride all day on Christmas.

My KitchenAid stand mixer was a gift from my in-laws at Christmas last year. Clearly they've read my blog!

From last year's Christmas sweater party at the cabin.

My Inspiration:

And so begins the 2010 Christmas Crazy. Love it!

P.S. That little pup in the first picture is Stella, my family's dog. Love her!

If we start turning orange...

2010-11-09T19:14:00.003-05:00

I wouldn't be surprised. And no, it's not because we're into GLT.

It's pumpkin season and for the last few weeks, I've been cooking anything and everything that's orange.

What have you been making this season?

SQUASH & ONION PIZZA

I've dedicated a few posts to my Naan Pizza creation. I even mentioned grilling it during the summer. Now I recommend trying the very seasonal butternut squash and onion pizza. Amazing!

Ingredients
butternut squash
onion
cinnamon
nutmeg
olive oil

Directions
Cut a butternut squash into little cubes, removing the skin.
Slice an onion (as much or little as you like).
Put the squash and onion in a baking dish, add some olive oil and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg (I use a generous dash). Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until squash starts to feel soft.

When the squash and onions are done baking, scoop your mixture onto Naan bread. Sprinkle with cheese on top. I used a mixture of shredded mozzarella and parmesan. Then bake at 375 for another 10-12 minutes.

HOMEMADE PUMPKIN RAVIOLI

I also busted out the new pasta attachment for my KitchenAid. Love it! My first creation was pumpkin ravioli. I used an Epicurious recipe for the filling and just used semolina flour, eggs and a touch of EVOO for the dough.

Making your own pasta is a bit time consuming, yes. But difficult? No! And in my opinion -- it's well worth the extra effort.

Start dough by making a flour volcano and filling it with eggs. Then begin mixing the eggs with a fork, gradually adding more flour to the mixture.

Eventually I ditched the fork and used my hands to kneed the dough. The dough hook for the KitchenAid supposedly can do this for you, but a friend convinced me it's better done by hand.

The finished product. I used a sage butter sauce. So good!

HOMEMADE PUMPKIN LASAGNA

After I made the pumpkin raviolis, I had some left over pumpkin, ricotta cheese and a few extra pasta noodles. So I made a pumpkin lasagna. This was my first ever completely improvised recipe and I'm not even exactly sure what I did.

I think I took the leftover pumpkin and ricotta, tossed in an egg, some parm cheese and a few spices. I had cut my extra pasta dough into lasagna noodles a few days before and had been storing them in the fridge. So I just used those to complete the recipe.

Personally, I think it could have used a few other spices -- maybe more salt and pepper? But other than that, it was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself!

CARROT SOUP

I saw a recipe in a cooking magazine and decided to give it a try. I altered it a little bit and made it immersion blender friendly. We liked it so much, I made it twice. Try it with a nice chunk of sourdough bread. Delish!

Ingredients
2 pounds of carrots, peeled and chopped (roughly 1 inch pieces)
1 white onion, chopped
3 cups of chicken broth
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 table spoons honey
2 tablespoons butter
salt/pepper

Directions
Melt butter in a deep pot (better for immersion blender later). Add onion and saute. Next add carrots and chicken broth. Cover and cook on high until the broth starts to boil. Then lower to medium low and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the carrots start to get tender.

Use the immersion blender to blend the carrots and onions while the soup is still cooking. A few chunks are ok -- actually they add a little something extra. Once the soup is pretty much blended, add the cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, salt and pepper.

DIY: Wedding Guest Book

2010-09-23T07:30:00.003-04:00

I made a scrapbook on Shutterfly to serve as our guest book. I'm not naive enough to think this is an original idea that's never been done before. I'm just really pleased with the final product and wanted to recommend to other brides-to-be.

I've been meaning to make a photo book that includes pictures of just the fiance and me from the first night we met (New Year's 2006) until the wedding. The need for a guest book was the perfect motivation!

All pictures are in chronological order with a lot of white space throughout the book, so guests will have plenty of room to write messages of any length! It's a year book meets scrap book kinda deal. I can't wait to see what our guests have to say. I highly recommend!

Work & Wedding

2010-09-21T12:45:00.000-04:00

Last week, my coworkers had a lovely wedding/baby shower for my friend and me. (Important note: she's expecting, not me!)

Fiance and I registered at a few traditional places, but we also registered for honeymoon activities.

Well, my coworkers got us a Hawaiian Luau, which we're both really excited about! But even better, they pulled together their favorite recipes in a personalized cookbook. I love it. I figure since everybody contributes their best recipe, then I have one heck of a cookbook. So I'm going to pull a modified Julia Child and make every recipe in the book at some point in the next year. And with their permission (some were super secret family recipes), I'll share a few with you.

Last week at work was also simultaneous wedding prep. I really don't want Fiance to know anything about my wedding outfit, so I brought my shoes to work to break them in. I wore them around the office for five days and didn't have an ounce of pain. The shoes are a-go!

Since I was breaking in the shoes, I decided to multitask and give the new earrings a try. My ears are really sensitive to most metals, plus one hole is slightly ripped. Thus, I'm never able to wear drop earrings. But they would be SO perfect with my dress.

I tried on a pair at a bridal shop and my ears were inflamed and red after about 3o seconds. Despite a little pain and suffering, I wasn't ready to let the look go. So I invested in a quality pair of beautiful drop earrings. They're long, yet light. Perfect!

However, with my track record, I wanted to make sure my ears could handle them for at least a few hours. My goal is to make it through the ceremony and pictures and change to my diamond studs at the reception, if necessary. I put the earrings in while I was at my desk for a few hours each morning and afternoon. There was a little pain and some adjusting to the weight, but no redness or inflammation. In my opinion, that means the earrings are also good to go!

As for additional wedding prep, there were a lot of little things to handle in early September, but now we're just kind of coasting into the weekend. There have been a few minor hiccups along the way, but overall, planning has gone really well. The important thing is that everybody is on great terms and really excited for the wedding. I've heard wedding planning can tear families -- or worse -- bride and grooms-to-be apart. I'm so glad that hasn't been our experience at all. If anything, it's just brought our families closer together. A blessing for sure.

Pesto Recipe?

2010-08-31T12:13:00.001-04:00

Does anybody make their own pesto sauce?

Last night I made chicken and pesto pasta, and it was too easy. I grilled chicken on our foreman while the pasta was cooking. Then I mixed bite sized pieces of chicken into the pasta and added fresh homegrown onion, garlic and a jar of pesto sauce.

Seasoned with a touch of salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese, it was definitely tasty. But I think I'm ready to make my own pesto, especially since I use it on Naan pizza all the time.

Anybody have a great recipe suggestion? Please share!

What do you do when there's too much to do?

2010-08-27T12:56:00.000-04:00

Leave town!

The wedding is rapidly approaching. September 25 -- less than a month away! So with a million and one things to do at home (plus class started again this week), Fiance and I are instead traveling. You know, because we have so much time to spare.

Our friends got married in Napa on August 14, so we packed our bags and headed to California for five days.

The highlights:

More wine tastings than I could handle. If you're ever in Napa, check out the Franciscan Winery and Merryvale Vineyards.

The wedding, of course! It was more like a cocktail reception with dinner on a beautiful balcony at the Avia Hotel. It was unique and really fun.

Brunch at Ad Hoc. The chef is incredible.

A visit to the Full House house, as well as to the park where a scene from the theme song is filmed. There's a difference. See pictures below.

Alcatraz. I've done the tour before, but it was Fiance's first time. We both loved it.

17 mile drive, a hike in Big Sir and dinner at Will's Fargo in Carmel.

Finace's 30th birthday! We had to celebrate night before at Will's Fargo, because we spent basically his entire birthday flying home from San Francisco. Does anybody else think it's kinda funny that he lost three hours of his 30th b-day to a time change?

At the Franciscan Winery

Picking and eating grapes. Yum!

It has a fresh coat of paint and a new door, but this is the actual Full House house.

This is from the theme song, but none of these belong to the Tanner family.

A cell at Alcatraz where an inmate tunneled through the vent to escape along with two other prisoners. They were ever seen again, nor were their bodies discovered.

Enjoying 17 mile drive. Foggy, overcast and quite chilly -- but still beautiful.

I climbed a rock mountain.

The Lone Cypress inspired the Pebble Beach Company logo.

This weekend we're off to Shenandoah for our annual hiking, apple picking and winery visiting trip. This will be the fourth year and each time we've stayed in a different spot. Fiance always spends a lot of time researching the perfect place and he never fails to amaze me with his selections. I'm especially excited about this year -- we're staying at a Vineyard Bed and Breakfast. Bed, Breakfast and Wine -- how perfect is that!?

Cookie of the Month Club

2010-08-25T12:17:00.003-04:00

Have you ever heard of a Cookie of the Month club? The gist is you purchase a membership online and cookies are sent to the lucky recipient every month.

I think it's a great gift idea. The problem is, they're a bit over priced in my opinion. So I decided to start my own cookie club.

The beneficiaries:

Baby Sister, who just started her senior year of college this year. It's almost impossible to believe.
Brother-in-law-to-be, who is just beginning his freshman year of college (and is one of the biggest cookie monsters I know).
Fiance, who -- like is brother -- loves cookies. I made him a few extras.
Friends. We went to a friend's house on Saturday night and another friend's on Sunday, so I brought along a couple dozen cookies to share.

The goods:

Standard chocolate chip, sans walnuts. It's a staple in Fiance's family.
White chocolate chip and cranberry. This was a hit when I made it for my friend's wedding. (Remember when I baked pre-packaged dough for her return to work after she eloped? Well I actually baked -- really baked -- for the Pittsburgh cookie table at her real wedding party in January.)

The baking part was fun for me. I'll use any excuse to get out the oh-so-beautiful-and-wonderfully-functional KitchenAid stand mixer. Plus I got to legitimately wear one of the fabulous new aprons I got at my shower earlier this month. Last night I wore one just for kicks while Fiance was cooking dinner.

Ten dozen cookies later, Cookie of the Month club also became a fabulous excuse to use my new Martha Stewart cookie/cupcake carrier.

Lastly, mailing was a piece of cake. I used the USPS flat rate shipping box. Two dozen cookies fit -- barely -- into the small box. So two shipments and less than $10 later, they were off to our little siblings.

Here's to hoping the college kids get more than a box-o-crumbs. Love you both!

Guest Post: From Ke's Kitchen

2010-08-05T09:02:00.005-04:00

My friend, Ke, shared this recipe with me. It sounds quick, easy and tasty. Here's what she had to say about it:

C. [boyfriend] was a little cranky last night so I decided to make him dinner and it turned out GREAT! I thought you might be able to add this simple recipe to your blog!

4 salmon filets

salt and pepper to taste

1 c. teriyaki sauce

1 tsp. soy margarine

1 tsp. olive oil

1/2 c. sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Sprinkle the salmon filets with salt and pepper and then marinate them in teriyaki sauce for 20 minutes (I put it in the fridge). After 20 minutes, roll the salmon in sesame seeds. Next, saute the salmon in the olive oil and soy margarine for five minutes (or until sides are golden brown). Then place the salmon in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Voila!

Words to define for domestically deficient: marinate & saute.

It's so easy and great! I served it on a bed of lettuce with a side of brown rice and steamed vegetables.

Thanks, Ke! I can't wait to try it!
Pic from when the Dining Diva and I went to visit Ke in New York last April.

About that Pie

2010-08-04T17:14:00.000-04:00

I mentioned the peach pie I made for our Fourth of July weekend festivities. It was only the second fruit pie I ever tackled and it was a big hit.

The first one, however, didn't go exactly according to plan. I accidentally purchased all white peaches instead of orange peaches. I didn't really know there was a difference and just picked up what looked like a peach to me. [Side note: I recently went to the store to purchase an orange for a muffin recipe and instead came home with a small, brightly colored grapefruit. I thought it could have happened to anyone. Fiance assured me it wouldn't.]

Back to the peaches. I got home and started pealing them before I realized my mistake. I forged on anyway, figuring if the pie bombed, it would just be another domestically deficient tale to tell. Turns out the white peaches actually were okay. My mom even said it was the best peach pie she'd ever had.

Last weekend, I made what I now refer to as my peach pie again, but this time I combined half orange peaches and half white. It was by far the best out of three. I highly recommend surprising your pie eating friends with a lovely peach blend.

Syrup, Muffins & Pie -- Oh My!

2010-07-08T08:00:00.003-04:00

Fiance and I have been busy in the kitchen. Thus, I have a few recipes to share.

I actually had pictures of the finished products, as well as the baking process, but my camera now resides at the bottom of Lake Oneida. This means the 100 or so pictures my college friends and I took while sunning, singing and dancing on the boat all weekend will only be enjoyed by the fishies. So sad.

The good news is Fiance already made sure I got a new waterproof camera. Now he's looking into finding some sort of floating strap to avoid further camera catastrophes.

On to the recipes...

Fresh Blueberry Syrup

Last week, Fiance made me a fabulous breakfast of French toast topped with fresh blueberries, blueberry syrup and powdered sugar. His syrup was so tasty (& easy), I have to share his concoction.

The portions can vary, depending on whether you prefer a thicker consistency (more syrup) or a stronger blueberry flavor (more blueberries).

1 cup blueberries (he used the tiny sour ones and saved the big sweet ones for on top)
2 tbsp syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a drop of vanilla

If you're looking to splurge on breakfast, add the whipped cream!

Oatmeal, Blueberry & Orange Muffins

Last month my book club read Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. It wasn't one of my top 5 favorite books, but if you're looking for a book that features strong female characters who learn the importance of friendships and forgiveness, this is the book for you.

Whether or not you read it, I do recommend the muffin recipe included in the book. It uses whole wheat flour instead of white and honey instead of sugar. And they're flavored with fresh orange juice and blueberries. Compared to most muffins, I'd say these are pretty healthy.

Deep Dish Peach Pie with Pecan Streusel Topping

I made this pie for a Fourth of July party weekend at Dining Diva's house on Oneida Lake. Fiance and I went to see two of my very best friends from college and their significant others. I seriously love boating with them and D's fabulous parents. Fiance even got me boat shoes for the occasion!

The pie was a huge hit. I was almost afraid to try it, as the recipe was a bit daunting. But once I got going, it really wasn't too difficult at all. And as always, the compliments are the biggest reward!

Also a favorite weekend was my favorite pretzel jello recipe that I passed along to the Dining Diva. She really did it up right, adding an extra layer of cool whip to the top and decorating with fresh strawberries and blueberries to make it festive for the holiday weekend. Yum!

Naan Pizza with a Summertime Twist

2010-06-29T07:30:00.001-04:00

A while back I shared my Naan pizza creation. It's still a staple in our house for many reasons.

It's a fantastic way to get rid of leftovers.
While we have our favorite combination, it never turns out exactly the same.
The Naan bread is already cooked, so the pizza doesn't take long to bake (only 10 minutes).
It's nearly impossible to screw it up.

In honor of summer, we've been tossing our pizzas on the grill instead of in the oven. The grill flavor is great. Has anybody else tried it?

Chicken pesto is still one of our favorites. Next on the list of flavor combination to try: a Greek pizza.

Chicken Pesto Pizza
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pesto
Fresh garlic
Small pieces of chicken (already cooked)
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Shredded parmesan cheese

Greek Pizza
Tomato slices Spinach
Onion
Greek Olives
Garlic
Feta cheese
Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Spices like basil and oregano

A Taste of Italy. In Pittsburgh.

2010-06-22T11:12:00.017-04:00

I had dinner with my mom and her friends last week. A-MAZ-ING! We went to a home in Bloomfield – one of the many Pittsburgh neighborhoods, also known as our Little Italy.

The first floor is a little store called Merante Gifts and the upstairs was set up for one of the most fabulous wining and dining experiences I’ve ever had. Maria – the owner and hostess – prepared a meal for us from appetizers to dessert, explaining each recipe and her tricks of the trade as we went along.

It all began with a feast of delicious appetizers that could have been a satisfying meal all on their own. My personal favorite was the brie wrapped in puff pastry with apricot preserves, almonds, dried cranberries and apples. It was actually really similar to the brie in a bread bowl concoction Fiance and I created this winter (I can share our recipe if anybody is interested).

Then it was on to dinner, starting with cool Italian gazpacho, which was a perfect blend of veggies and herbs served in a cool heirloom tomato broth.

Also on the menu:

Pasticcio di Gnocchi with béchamel, prosciutto, peas and pancetta completing the dish (and the gnocchi was homemade, of course)

Filet Mignon wrapped in puff pastry

Grilled summer vegetables

Roasted beets and oranges over field greens and arugula

After all of that, my tum was about ready to burst and I was pretty positive I couldn’t swallow another ounce of food. Then Maria brought out the Limoncello cake.The cake looked amazing and tasted even better.

Maria left us with a recipe for everything and I can’t wait to try a couple out on my Italian fam.

A Laundry Machine?

2010-06-18T12:05:00.000-04:00

Can you refer to a washer or washing machine as a laundry machine? I'm seriously asking.

Last week I was out to dinner with my mom and a bunch of her friends. They were laughing with me (or maybe at me) about all of my domestic fails. They found the tales of my laundry inadequacies especially entertaining.

They were also amused -- and a bit flabbergasted, it seemed -- that I was referring to the machine by the incorrect name.

So the jury is out. Please deliberate. Is it acceptable to call a washing machine the laundry machine? Or am I really out on a limb with that one?

TLC's Inedible to Incredible

2010-06-16T12:10:00.000-04:00

Did anybody watch this on Monday? How was it? After watching this sneak peak, I'm half expecting Chef John Besh to show up at my front door...

Half Full Friday

2010-06-11T13:14:00.006-04:00

It's hard not to be in a great mood on Fridays when the entire weekend is in sight. For me, it's easy to see my glass as half full. Thank you, EyeGirl for the great idea.

Here's what I'm thankful for today.

My baby sister, who is on her way home from a semester in Australia as we speak.
The new dishwasher. It saves me so much time every week.
For the first time in more than 6 months, I have a Friday night all to myself. SYTTD, here I come!
My brother-in-law-to-be, cousin and a couple family friends all successfully graduated from high school this year (not that I ever doubted they would).
Fiance and I had time to relax and hang out last night before he left for his week-long bachelor party.
My DVR. Is that horrible?

Spinach & Feta Rolls

2010-06-11T12:23:00.000-04:00

I recently made pepperoni rolls for a party. The recipe I used couldn't have been any easier (I did sub cheese cubes for shredded mozz).

When it was all said and done, I had an extra can of the crescent rolls left over. We were pepperoni rolled-out, so I started to brainstorm. That's when I came up with spinach & feta rolls. Sorta like spanakopita meets pepperoni roll.

I lined each crescent wedge with fresh spinach leaves and feta cheese, rolled them up, brushed a little EVOO on top, and baked away. Quick and easy... and tasty.

I think my new go-to party appetizer will be half pepperoni rolls (a staple for sure) and half spinach & feta rolls (I think the vegetarians out there might appreciate it). If you're interested in giving 'em a whirl, follow this recipe, subbing pepperoni for fresh spinach and cheese cubes for feta cheese.

A Wedding Weekend

2010-06-05T12:30:00.001-04:00

We dedicated last weekend to our house. Now this weekend will be dedicated to wedding stuff.

Today we're meeting with the church musician to pick out our ceremony songs. I already have a pretty good list, but I'm eager to hear what else the musician suggests.

This also got me thinking of reception songs. I'm putting together a dinner playlist. I have a good handle on it, but would greatly appreciate any recommendations.

Saturday night we'll be doing some work on Fiance's cabin -- the scene of our country casual rehearsal dinner hoedown. Sometimes I think that party might actually be more fun than the wedding.

Then on Sunday we're taking engagement pics. I didn't particularly want to do this, but it's part of our wedding photography package. Plus the photographer wants to work with us prior to the wedding so everybody is comfortable on the big day.

I'll admit, I'm not taking the photo shoot too seriously. We're just planning to have some fun with it. Weather permitting, we might even paddle around in Fiance's canoe instead of traditional studio shots. I've yet to ride in his canoe, so this could be interesting.

At some point, I'm also hoping to squeeze in time to research things we must see and do while we're on our honeymoon in Hawaii. I've heard you have to book some things prior to arriving on the island, so I don't want to miss any opportunities.

Has anybody ever been to Maui? I'd appreciate any advice, recommendations, travel tips, etc.

So I need dinner song recommendations and Hawaii advice. Ready, go!

Work that sledge hammer

2010-06-04T17:10:00.001-04:00

I’m really, really lucky to have a very handy Fiance and Father – and they work well together. Since we moved in, we’ve really put a lot of sweat equity into the place. When I say “we” I originally thought that would mean Fiance and my dad. As it turns out “we” actually includes me.

Some say I have a type-A personality, and I don’t disagree. To keep our projects on track, I made a list of everything we wanted to do and then assigned deadlines. The final deadline being the first week in August when all of my friends are coming to town for my shower.

I’m actually surprised we’re on track, considering how many weekends we spent away, how many nights Fiance worked late while I was in class, and everything else we had going on with our families, wedding planning and work.

So Fiance & Dad spent Memorial Day weekend working on the kitchen/dining room and were kind enough to trust me with the sledge hammer. I was tooting my own horn, claiming that manual labor must be my calling, when I stood up a bit too quickly and smashed my head on the oven hood. After that, I was assigned a lovely forest green hard hat for the remainder of the project.

Now we just have to lay new floor and paint. I can't wait to get the gross pinky/peach color off the walls.

Fiance & Dad hard at work

Thanks for cooking all weekend, Mom.Wasn't kidding about that hardhat

It fits!

2010-06-03T18:30:00.001-04:00

I had my first dress fitting last night! So exciting.

Recently, I've been watching a little too much Say Yes to the Dress. They always end with some sort of drama downstairs in alterations. So now I have a fear of alterations gone wrong. Needless to say, it was a major relief to see that the alterations were really minor.

I'm quite tall, 5'10 give or take, which is tall enough that my dress doesn't even need to be hemmed. In fact, I plan to wear flats (for numerous reasons, my clumsy nature one of them), but if I had wanted to wear heels, they would have had to lengthen my dress when it was being made.

The good news is it doesn't need to be taken in at all. The even better news is that it doesn't need to be let out. They really only have to shorten the halter strap a little bit and add a bustle.

Apparently that bustle is critical for the reception. As the alterations lady said, "you don't want somebody to step on your dress while you're dancing and rip the entire thing right off." Yes, it would be good if we could avoid that scenario.

How many days until Sept 25? I'm getting really excited!

Goodbye Rubber Gloves

2010-05-31T11:06:00.002-04:00

Our house didn’t have a dishwasher when we moved in. For almost 7 months, I’d stand in front of the sink at least once a day, donning my sassy red polka dotted rubber gloves and scrubbing the heck out of our dishes.

Sometimes I wonder how my grandparents survived their entire lives washing everything by hand. The sheer time commitment is more than I can handle. Perhaps a dishwasher falls in the category of you don’t miss what you never had? Except, I’ve had one and knew exactly what I was missing.

Enter Mr. Bosch.

Our dishwasher was installed a couple of days ago and last night it was full and ready for its first cycle. Fiance cautioned me several times to read the directions first (and after what I’ve done to the laundry machine, who could blame him), so I carefully went through all 3 elementary-level steps.

Win! The dishes came out perfectly clean!

For those of you who may not have a dishwasher, I recommend dish gloves. They do wonders for your hands, especially in the winter. Plus you can wash in really hot water without burning the crap out of your skin.

You call this roughing it?

2010-05-24T16:16:00.004-04:00

Fiance was headed to the Kentucky Derby a few weeks ago for a bachelor party. So being a good wife-to-be, I packed him and his friends a few snacks for the road. I made fruit and pecan granola bars from EatingWell.com.

Apparently the bars got rave reviews from the gentlemen partaking in the weekend festivities. Fiance got home on Sunday with an endless list of compliments and asked if I would make them again.

The good wife. That’s me. (In four months.)

Well, this weekend Fiance’s best friend celebrated his 30th birthday – on the Delaware River. They went canoeing until they reached an island where they set up camp for the night. No beds. No bathrooms. Not even a car.

This is the type of thing Fiance loves to do – and usually does with his guy friends. So when I saw that the E-vite was sent to guys AND girls, I got really nervous. Would he expect me to go with him?

Turns out he knows me better than I sometimes give him credit for. He’s well aware that I function best when my nights are spent in the great indoors.

But I couldn’t help feel a little guilty. Perhaps I should have sucked it up and went with. What would you have done?

I'll leave you with this Troop Beverly Hills flashback.
You call this roughing it?
One bathroom for nine people? Yes.

P.S. I tried that fruit and pecan recipe again. But second time I was overly confident and breezed right through it, forgetting that table spoon of flour at the end. If you were wondering – yes – it is an important ingredient.

Colors. Colors. Colors.

2010-05-21T17:30:00.000-04:00

Every bride knows they’re a critical part to the wedding planning. But what if you’re indecisive and don’t really care?

I thought I had that figured out – let my bridesmaids pick their own dresses and they’ll indirectly make the color decision for me.

Fooled me. Sister and Cousin selected an absolutely gorgeous, fitted dress with an empire waist and a cap sleeve. And they decided to order it in taupe. Just like that I was back to square one.

Not letting her off the hook that easily, I went out for coffee with Sister (& moh) to discuss wedding colors. We were just sitting down at Starbucks when the Komodo Dragon Blend caught our eye. The packaging incorporated deep shades of purple and red. Definitely wouldn’t have come up with that on my own, but absolutely loved the idea.

If you’re in the same boat – just look around for inspiration. There are examples of excellent color palates – and not so excellent ones – absolutely everywhere.

I got even more excited when I was in New York with two my college friends and saw an orchid with a purple center. Then everything started coming together. The orchids for my bouquet. And variety of dark purple and red flowers for my bridesmaids, which should be pretty dramatic against their taupe dresses.

Excited!

Back to Blogging

2010-05-15T13:20:00.006-04:00

I may have mentioned when I started blogging that I was busy working full-time, going to grad school part-time, planning a wedding, fixing up a house, and filling our calendar with endless weekend trips. I was literally drowning in my own life (and loving every second of it). The experiences were great – I just didn’t have time to tell you about them.

While on my blogging hiatus quite a lot has happened. I had a few more laundry fails. First. The set tub. During the “snowpocalypse” in Pittsburgh, Fiance was shoveling snow constantly. So one morning he left his jeans hanging over the edge of the set tub to dry before he’d need them again in a few hours. Let’s just say after Domestically Deficient did a load of laundry they were even more soaked (not to mention full of soap bubbles) than they were post shoveling. Hey – ya win some, ya lose some.

After that, Fiance decided to make the laundry his jurisdiction. A-ok with me! But he was working late one Thursday evening and I desperately needed some clean undies to pack for that weekend’s trip. So I shoved every dirty something I could find in the laundry machine (as you may recall, I don’t believe in sorting). Problem: I left the setting on ‘small load’ when it really should have been set to ‘this load is wayyy too big for an industrial machine.’ I’m still not quite clear on exactly what happened, but somehow I shorted a circuit and broke the darn machine. Fail. Again….

I also screwed up a meal or two, and at one point let the house get dirtier than I care to admit. But I had a few wins as well.

I pulled off my first successful dinner party around Christmas time. Granted, I was entertaining my brother-in-law-to-be and his sweet girlfriend, so it’s not like it was a tough crowd to please.

I also had my future in-laws over for dinner. Aside from dinner being ready over an hour later than expected, it was a pretty great night. Again, not a tough audience to please.

And just this morning I had my parents over for breakfast. I made broccoli quiche, breakfast potatoes with green onions and asparagus and added some fresh melon and coffee to complete the meal. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

P.S. Check out my Emma dishes from Pottery Barn. Love them!

Stay tuned for an update on the wedding planning.

If at first you don't succeed...

2009-12-16T08:02:00.000-05:00

I never did tell you how my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner went. It certainly wasn't anything to brag about.

As it turned out, we had too many cooks in the kitchen on and I ended up only being in charge of (more like only being allowed to make) the corn. Without any supplies to "doctor it up," I put two bags of frozen corn in the microwave with a bit of water, set it to 5 minutes and hit start.

Actually, I then forgot about it for 15 minutes. When I finally checked the corn, it was already cold – or never warm enough. Sigh... Another 5 minutes and a generous portion of butter later the corn was ready.

At first I was quite pleased to receive a few compliments, but days later when my "famous corn"(as it had been dubbed) was still a hot topic of conversation, it was apparent the fam was mocking my cooking skills (or lack there of).

My Type-A, slightly obsessive, definitely competitive side kicked in and I set a new goal for myself: must get family seal of approval on something I make.

Fast-forward to last Sunday. We had an early Christmas celebration at my aunt and uncle's house. I decided I'd go all out and bring a side dish, a few Christmas cookies and a hostess gift.

For my side dish I made Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon Pecan Crunch. And (drum roll, please) they were a big hit! There was suspicion that I bought them or Fiancé made them, but by the end of the night it was all praise (and not mocking kind).

I also made two dozen of my very own cookie surprise. There's no recipe for this, I simply wrap a piece of bite-sized candy in sugar cookie dough and bake for 10-12 minutes. I use a variety, so when you eat a cookie, surprise! It might be a peanut butter cup, butterfingers, crunch bar, chocolate mint, etc.

Now I'm already plotting what I can make for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. As always, suggestions are appreciated!

Dish Dilemma

2009-12-10T17:05:00.007-05:00

Help! Which Dishes?

I'm looking for a more casual set of dishes that can be dressed up if necessary. I've narrowed it down to two - both earthenware (which apparently doesn't scratch from silverware as much as porcelain or stoneware), both are microwave and dishwasher safe, and both are the same price. Plus all of the pieces are roughly the same size (including bigger mugs than are shown in the pics).

Which setting do you like better?

Butler's Pantry Gourmet Set by Lenox

Emma Dinnerware from Pottery Barn

Hello Sweet Success!

2009-12-01T21:07:00.004-05:00

After five days heavy on the carbs and fried goodness (as any vacation should be), we were itching for something healthy to eat. So I headed out to the grocery store where I picked up just about every veggie in stock before making my way to the seafood section.

Tilapia was on sale and happens to be one of my favorites. I was ordering my fish when it happened.

Lady at the grocery store: The Tilapia always looks good, but I have no idea what to do with it. How do you cook it?
Me: Actually it’s pretty easy. I just cover both sides with olive oil and a generous portion of fish rub. Then I bake it.

Albeit it isn’t exactly the most difficult recipe, it is still exciting that somebody actually asked me what to do in a grocery store. Even more exciting, I had an answer for her!

Another of my favorite simple white fish recipes:

Put butter on both sides of the fish. Then crush up Ritz crackers in a baggie and sprinkle the crumbs over the top until the fish is completely covered. Season to taste and bake. Couldn’t be easier!

Book Recommendation: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

2009-11-29T08:52:00.000-05:00

I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life for my book club -- though we never did get around to having an official meeting. [Fail!]

If you have any interest in eating foods grown locally, this book is a must-read.

Barbara Kingsolver details how her family not only got by, but thrived only eating food from neighboring farms and their own backyard for an entire year.

While I don’t have the will power to survive off only locally grown foods – the book did influence my eating habits and inspired me to pay more attention to what I ingest.

I was already trying to eat organically whenever possible, but I learned from the book that all organically grown food isn’t necessarily labeled as such. Many small farmers meet and exceed organic standards, but simply can’t afford to get the organic certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Already a supporter of small, family businesses, I decided to buy as much produce as possible from farmers markets and local stores, as opposed to buying organic at the grocery store (or worse - processed, packaged food). As winter rapidly approaches, it’s getting harder, but not impossible. Just do a little Internet searching to find local farms in your area.

Another option is trying to grow your own vegetables. For the last two years, the fiancé and I grew as many crops as possible in any corner of a yard our parents would loan us. But now that we have our own house, we’re already planning to clear out some space for our own garden next spring.

For more information, recipes and stories of Kingsolver’s high and low points throughout the 356 days, definitely read the book!

Calling all Thanksgiving Recipes

2009-11-21T11:28:00.004-05:00

Thanksgiving is less than a week away. This year we’re breaking tradition and the whole family is headed to Florida for some much needed vitamin D!

Last week during one of our regular big fat Italian family dinners, we started talking about our upcoming trip. If you’ve ever sat in on an Italian family gathering, you know how it goes -- everybody speaks at once and the loudest person with the most extreme hang gestures gets noticed.

Winner: my mom (always). She and my aunt decided that since my cousin, sister and fiancé are all experts in the kitchen, the “kids” could handle preparing Thanksgiving dinner while they go to the beach.

“Wait a minute! I’m sitting right here! (arms fly into the air well above my head) AM I NOT CONSIDERED A KID ANYMORE!?”

(Truthfully I should have thought before I spoke – why would I want to be sentenced to the kitchen when I could have been laying on the beach. But another fact about Italians: we rarely think before each outburst.)

So my aunt took pity on me and decided that I can be in charge of something. She suggested maybe the salad or the corn. Clearly my family has little faith in my ability to cook and I don’t blame them. In this case, my reputation is unfortunately based on their real experiences.

But this year is going to be different. I’ve come to terms with my sacrificed beach hours and am now determined to make the best darn something this family has ever had on Thanksgiving.

Of course I need some help. Please share your best Thanksgiving recipes with me. I’ll give one or two a whirl and report back.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fail: Fiance’s Laundry

2009-11-17T17:09:00.000-05:00

I was home one morning waiting for the cable guy to show up and install my cherished cable, DVR and wireless Internet. With no technology to entertain me, I decided to tackle our piles of laundry.

I should note – I showed my fiancé where I set up our communal laundry basket several times. Each time he said, “ok, thanks” but continued to throw his stuff in his own laundry basket. I just figured he must have a really short term memory. So on laundry day, I brought both baskets down to the laundry room and got to work.

I’m not big on separating colors. My method is simple: all nice clothes in cold water; towels, sheets, gym clothes, socks and undies in hot.

I was nearly finished (and quite proud of myself) when my phone rang.

Fiancé : Hey, what are you up to?
Me: (enthusiastically) Laundry!
Fiancé: Ohhh, ok… Well just leave mine upstairs. You don’t have to do it. I’ll get to it later this week.
Me: (still enthusiastic) Well I was going to surprise you, but I already did yours, too!
Fiancé: (pause) Oh. (pause) You did? You didn’t wash my t-shirts in hot water or dry them on high heat, did you?
Me: Um, no (LIE!), why?

Opps! Apparently men’s undershirts shrink easily in high heat and my fiancé isn’t a fan of too tight, belly baring t-shirts. Who can blame him?

I should have known he doesn’t actually have a short term memory at all. He knew exactly what he was doing when he kept his laundry separate. It was his way of keeping me from ruining his clothes without hurting my feelings.

Guess I missed the memo on that one!

Pivot!

2009-11-13T16:51:00.001-05:00

Hey Friends fans, remember the “pivot” episode where Rachel and Chandler tried to help Ross take his new couch up the stairs?

Last weekend we played a round of long distance musical couches and I seriously felt like I was stuck in that episode of Friends – minus the couch cutting catastrophe.

It all started when another fabulous friend/coworker and her husband generously offered us a beautiful, barely used sectional couch and coffee table. All we had to do was drive 2ish hours to pick it up… and find a place for our previous (also nice, but way too small) couch.

Turns out, my mom was ready for a change and wanted our couch for her family room. Check! Now what to do with her previous sleep sofa?

We decided the sleep sofa would be a great addition to my fiance’s family cabin, where the more available sleeping space, the better.

So four houses, three couches, one truck and 250 miles later we completed our weekend of couch swapping. Thank goodness I now have a great new couch to relax on!

More on De-Cluttering

2009-11-12T17:10:00.003-05:00

I didn’t want this link to get lost in my blog comments. If you’re thinking of getting organized at home – don’t skip the “delete” step. Here are a few steps to get you started.

Thanks for sharing!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, It’s Ours!

2009-11-07T19:22:00.001-05:00

I’m officially a home owner! We closed on the house last Friday and then enlisted our family and friends to help us move on Saturday and Sunday.

We had furniture and belongings coming from my house, my fiancé’s house and a storage unit, so it was a lot to coordinate. Nevertheless, we decided movers weren’t necessary since we had access to large vehicles and a crew of helpers.

However, in order for us to pull off a move without movers, several stars had to align.

We couldn’t have done it without the help of family and friends who were willing to contribute their cleaning, organizing & handy-man skills, time, muscle, and large trucks in order to make the move go smoothly.
We also needed time. Since neither of us had to vacate our previous residencies on moving day, we were able to take the biggest and most important things over the weekend and pick up other items through the week.
Finally, the move was local, so making several trips to all three locations where our belongings were stored wasn’t a problem.

Had this not been our situation, I’m not sure we could have managed the move on our own.

The benefit of forgoing professionals? Obviously it saved us a ton of money.

The down side? It’s time consuming and hard work. Every muscle in my body still aches from lifting heavy boxes and furniture.

The new house is perfect for us. It’s no mansion by any means, but we have a garage, a deck, a washing machine & dryer, plenty of closet space, and a bedroom big enough for our king-sized bed.

One of the best additions we’ve made to our house so far is a curved shower rod. We tasked my dad with installing it and I think the entire process took him 10-15 minutes. I highly recommend!

Second pic: Fiance and sister leaving the storage unit in the big truck.

Quick Tip: Scale Back BEFORE Moving

2009-11-06T16:58:00.001-05:00

Packing is an opportunity to purge (things, that is). Don’t just throw everything in boxes and think you’ll sort it later. Take the time to sort through your belongings and ask yourself questions like:

How often do I use or wear this?
What sentimental value does this actually have?
Can I live without this?
For what purpose am I saving this?

Make two piles: one for trash and one for Goodwill. Keep in mind Goodwill doesn’t need your garbage, but for clothing and household items in good condition or better, you can receive a tax deduction.

Also, you may want to consider a resale shop if you have any gently used clothing that still looks new (and is still in style). I’ve had some success there – especially with brand name items. It’s a good way to make a few extra bucks.

Dinner on the Table in 25 Mins or Less

2009-10-31T09:45:00.012-04:00

I’ve received a few cookbooks as gifts from concerned family members over the years. My favorite – Any Blonde Can Cook – illustrates just how little faith they have in my cooking ability.

Personally, I feel like a fish out of water in the kitchen, which is one reason I usually avoid cooking. (The other being my fail-to-success ratio weighing heavily on the fails).

Tackling a new recipe can be a daunting experience. But the truth is, if you can follow directions, you can cook. The catch is understanding what you’re reading.

That’s pretty much the extent of my cooking ability. I can usually follow a recipe without incident, providing I can comprehend the terminology.

I find cookbooks with illustrations or a glossary of foreign cooking terms are helpful. When in doubt (which is usually at least once per recipe), I refer to an online Food Dictionary.

But some of the best meals I’ve ever tasted have been intuitive creations. This is how my fiancé cooks. So many times I’ve seen him open the cabinets, survey possible ingredients and whip up a delicious meal on the spot.

Determined to reach that level of cooking, I started paying closer attention to the meal descriptions on menus when I’m out to eat.

If you’re as clueless as me, reading menus is a great way to get ideas of possible flavor combinations. And it was this technique that inspired one of my only intuitive creations: Naan Pizza.

It’s incredibly easy and pretty quick. It also has the potential to be a relatively healthy meal – compared to ordering a traditional pizza.

All you have to do is put the Naan bread on a cookie sheet or baking stone. Next add your sauce, followed by your choice of toppings and cheese. Finally, put the tray in the oven at 400°F for 10-15 minutes or until the edges look golden brown.

To get you started brainstorming ideas, here are a few of my personal favorites.

Lasagna Pizza
Marinara sauce
Chopped or sliced meat balls (already cooked)
Ricotta cheese
Mozzarella cheese

Chicken Pesto Pizza
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pesto
Fresh garlic
Small pieces of chicken (already cooked)
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Shredded parmesan cheese

Four cheese pizza
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Goat cheese
Parmesan cheese
Fontina cheese
Tomato slices

Everything Pizza
Peppers (bell and/or hot)
Tomato slices
Spinach
Broccoli
Onion
Olives
Chicken (already cooked)
Feta cheese
Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese
*Consider adding mushrooms – I’m personally not a fan, but have heard they make a nice addition.

Getting Started

Ready to Bake

The Finished Product

Baking Day

2009-10-26T12:14:00.020-04:00

Half a dozen hours and dozens of cookies later – I can honestly say the baking experiment was a success.

I did have the help of a more experienced baker – which was great. Not only did I learn a few things, but it also helps keep the whole experience enjoyable when you have some company in the kitchen. Definitely recommend baking with friends.

We made four different recipes: pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, chocolate krinkles, chocolate toffee crunchies and peanut butter cup cookies. You can find all of these recipes in the comments section after “Calling All Cookie Recipes.”

The pumpkin chocolate chip cookies make a delicious seasonal treat and were the clear favorite among our volunteer taste testing crew. But out of 10 taste-testers, each cookie earned at least one first place ranking. And so far everybody has agreed that all four recipes are worth the calories!

For all of you novice bakers considering giving one (or all) of these recipes a shot, the good news is that none of them were difficult to make. If I can do it, anybody can… especially when armed with the right equipment.

Tools of the Trade:

First, I’m definitely registering for a KitchenAid stand mixer. My more experienced counterpart brought one with her and once we got the right attachment on there, it was perfect for mixing the dough. Definitely easier than using a hand mixer or worse – a whisk. (Side note: Can you even mix cookie dough with a whisk?)

Second, have you heard of the push up measuring cup? I was introduced to the Metric Wonder Cup this weekend and discovered it’s awesome for measuring sticky ingredients (the pumpkin and peanut butter in our case). I also heard it’s great for Crisco. And it’s easy to use.

Third, we tried a baking stone, Silpat and greased cookie sheet to see which worked the best.

As it turned out, the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies didn’t stick to any of our baking trays and the chocolate krinkles stuck to all of them. Still, I think a baking stone is a great investment if you’re also going to use it to bake pizzas and other things. The Silpat really works and definitely protects the cookie sheet. You can also probably salvage cookie sheets that have lost their non-stick coating by using a Silpat. But don't count out the good old fashion cookie sheet. A good quality tray with a little Pam also produced quite a tasty cookie.

Hands down the best part of the day? Enjoying the end products of our labor!

Quick Tip: Ironing Sans Iron & Board

2009-10-21T21:26:00.007-04:00

I’ll admit, I’ve blamed a wrinkled outfit on riding public transportation several times before. “There’s just no way to avoid wrinkles when you’re crammed into a seat with three bags in your lap!” Actually, it’s kinda true.

But sometimes excuses don’t cut it. That's when I turn to my hair straightener.

You're already removing wrinkles from your hair -- so why not remove them from your clothes while you’re at it.

I find it works best on cotton blends. Lightly clamp the straightener over the wrinkle and move it along the fabric at a consistent pace. Be careful not to pause for too long in one place. Then simply repeat until the wrinkle is gone.

CAUTION:

It removes wrinkles from linen, but it also removes the color.

If you put any products in your hair before you straighten – don’t try this. Your hair product will likely rub off on your clothes.

I’ve never tried it on wool – if you have, let me know how it went!

Calling all Cookie Recipes

2009-10-17T09:01:00.004-04:00

My friend (& coworker) recently eloped, and we decided to welcome her back to work in style. This involved a fully decorated cube complete with a display of delicious cookies.

As I plopped the pre-made, pre-cut blobs of chocolate chip cookie dough (with caramel in the center) onto the baking stone the night before, I decided the next time there’s an occasion for cookies, I want to actually make them.

Does anybody have any great cookie or other desert recipe they’d be willing to share? If so, please leave the recipe in the comments section below or email it domestically.deficient@gmail.com.

Next weekend: cookie baking! I’m going to try a few new recipes in preparation for the rapidly approaching holiday season. Maybe I can actually contribute something edible to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner this year. Stay tuned for a full report on my baking escapade.

Shopping for Domestic Success

2009-10-14T18:10:00.000-04:00

I’m in a bit of a tricky situation – we’re moving to our new house in a few weeks, and of course I want to decorate each room, plus get new bedding, bath and kitchen supplies. But we also have a wedding coming up in just under a year, which means gift registration is right around the corner.

What to do? Buy new stuff now? Or get by for a few months and save it for the registry? Anybody else been in this same boat?

I decided to get the towels now – they seemed essential for practicing good hygiene – so I picked them up at a JR Outlet Store in North Carolina.

There was a huge selection of colors and they felt like good quality towels, so I settled on a dark green and gold color combo. I decided we needed a few towels in every size from the extra large bath sheets right down to the washcloths. I even tossed a few decorative towels in for good measure.

I love a good deal, so I was pleased to discover the towels at JR cost less than same sized towels at Walmart, Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond (even if you use the 20% coupons).

Thinking they’re cheaper because they’re lesser quality? You’re not the only one.

When I told my mom about my new towel purchase, she asked if I checked to make sure they were 100% cotton. No, I didn’t check. Does it really matter? They felt nice.

Apparently it does matter. If the towels have rayon or silk in them, they stop absorbing water after the first time through the washing machine. Who knew?

Fortunately, I snuck by with a win this time. Our new towels are 100% cotton!

And for my second success in one week, turns out I’m an expert towel folder.

Anybody ever watch “Step by Step” (the ‘90s version of “The Brady Bunch”)? I kept thinking of this one episode where Carol Lambert (Suzanne Somers) is teaching the kids how to fold the towels so they have all smooth edges. Who knew the cheesy TV I grew up with – and I’ll admit, loved – would actually be useful in my adult life.

Check out the clip – the towel folding scene is about 1 minute into it.

Quick Tip: Dining Etiquette 101

2009-10-11T18:07:00.009-04:00

We all know to “start on the outside and work our way in” when we sit down to a multicourse meal.

But it gets a little more complicated when there isn’t much space between table settings.

Is that my water? Which bread dish do I use? For this predicament, I use what I call the “b&d” method.

Hold your hands out over the table setting (or do it in your lap if you’re trying to be discrete) and touch your first fingers and thumbs together, while leaving your other fingers extended.

Your left hand forms a “b” for bread, and your bread dish is conveniently located on your left. Your right hand forms a “d” for drink, which you’ll find to your right.

Square One for the Domestically Deficient

2009-10-07T18:47:00.000-04:00

I was born deprived of the domesticity gene – which is really hard to believe considering my genealogy. For as long as I can remember, my mom has played Domestic Goddess at home, while maintaining her full-time career. And so far my younger sister is shaping up to follow in her foot steps. So how can it be that I don’t have an ounce of domestic ability in me?

I’ve learned the basics through trial and error – lots of errors:

Cooking:
If you’re boiling water for Mac & Cheese and the flame disappears, don’t assume the stove is off. Gas is probably leaking into your kitchen, setting the scene for a massive explosion when you relight that burner. [Fail: 8th grade]

Baking:
No matter how long you beat the egg, water and oil with the mixer, it will never look like cake batter unless you add the cake mix. [Fail: 9th grade]

Laundry:
New sweat pants usually leave a million fuzz balls behind during the first wash. Thus, washing them with your nice “party tops” is not a good idea (unless you want to buy all new clothes). [Fail: sophomore year of college]

Cleaning:
Repainting the old retro-colored bathroom tiles to give the room a little face lift works great. But it does require the use of gentle, all-natural cleansers when cleaning. If you spray the heavy-duty stuff and start scrubbing you’ll likely remove a layer or two (or all) of the paint. [Fail: last year]

Ironing:
Trying to iron the bottom of your dress when you're already wearing it is more complicated than it sounds. The probability of removing all of your wrinkles is low, considering it’s impossible to reach the back of the dress. Plus you run the risk of knocking over the whole ironing board with one clumsy movement. [Fail: one month ago]

Given my track record, it’s no wonder my own mother asked me what I was planning to contribute to my household when the news broke that the fiancé and I are buying a house. My reply: “Show up and look good?”

My fiancé – bless him – accepts me despite my domestic deficiency, but I don’t want to be this way forever. So I’m determined to find quick, but quality house keeping techniques and share my trials, tribulations and successes with all of you along the way.

And I hope that you’ll let me in on your secrets, too!