putting Pinterest to good use

I don't know if you have all discovered it or not, but not quite a year ago i joined the crazy addiction called

 .

for the first several months after discovering pinterest, i spent my evening hours "winding down" for bed, happily and rather obsessively "pinning" things on my pinterest boards. if you aren't familiar with pinterest, it is basically and online filing system. if you find a picture or article or idea that you like and think that you would like to remember in the future then you can "pin it" or file it away for later use. it is fun though because you can see what other people have "pinned" so you can "pin" their ideas as well. 

when i first heard about pinterest i didn't think that it would be something that i would really like that much. i mean, i have plenty of my own ideas, and i have google when i can't be quite creative enough... but once i finally decided to venture into this strange new craze called pinterest, i had a hard time finding my way back out of it. 

in fact, i spent SO much time "pinning" that i rarely found time to actually do any of the projects or make any of the recipes that i had pinned. after weeks and weeks of my online hoarding, i managed to get things into perspective and i started putting my pins to good use.

i followed this necklace tutorial:

pom-pom necklace tutorial

mine looked like this:

i made a bracelet out of an old t-shirt following this tutorial... {kind of}

braided t-shirt bracelet

this winter my husband and i had soup night on wednesday nights, so i was able to use many of the soup recipes that i had pinned. i blogged several of our favorites... though i have to admit that i inherited my mother's habit of changing every recipe before ever trying it the original way. we did find a couple new favorites on pinterest that didn't make the blog though.

italian wedding soup

buffalo chicken soup

 i found pinterest to be incredibly useful when i threw my very first Thirty-One

party 2 weeks ago.

If you haven't heard of thirty-one gifts, it is a company that has lots of really cute, very practical and affordable bags and organizing containers.
you can check them out here:
thirty-one catalog

i wanted to try some new appetizers and desserts for my party. i feel like i tend to fall back on the same familiar recipes for every event that comes along, so it was great to be able to just look through the recipes that i had "pinned" over the past few months and have lots of fun new options.

here are some of the fun recipes that i made for my party:

chicken wonton tacos

cheesy sausage wonton stars

antipasto kabobs

this recipe has been one of my favorites that my mom has made for years:

double decadent brownie torte

for christmas i received a williams-sonoma mini tart pan from my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. i had been waiting for an opportunity to use it, so i was very excited to try it out for the party.

i used the williams-sonoma crust recipe:

mini tart crust recipe

i made my very first lemon curd for in the tarts and i was really disappointed that it didn't set up right... so i will admit, i cheated and bought lemon curd.

and i have to admit that i was most excited to try out this punch recipe:

raspberry-pina colada punch

this claimed to be the only punch recipe that you will ever need.

it was very good, but i think that i will collect a few more. ;)

the party was SO much fun! and everyone seemed to enjoy the new snacks as much as i enjoyed making them (and i am once again indebted to my sweet mother for showing up early to help assemble the appetizers before the guests arrived. she is my hero when it comes to entertaining).

and finally, i have to share my very favorite pinterest moment.

my husband and i went to the beach to celebrate our first anniversary 2 weekends ago.

one afternoon it was rather cloudy, so we decided to do a little shopping. we walked past an adorable dress boutique. i glanced in the window and i stopped immediately!

i saw this dress:

  i had it pinned on pinterest about 3 months ago. i had tried to buy it then and it was out of stock, so i actually had determined that i was going to try to make it. i had thought about it many times in the last few weeks, so i was probably a little too excited to find it in that little boutique. 

my sweet husband insisted that i get it, and i was more than willing to comply. :)

hope that if you haven't yet discovered this fun little world called pinterest that you will check it out soon. and feel free to start following me. 

pinterest

split-pea soup

i will admit that i am hesitant to blog this recipe, because i do realize that as much as i can attempt to assure you that this soup is delicious, any picture that i can find of split pea soup looks more than unappetizing. 

my husband was not quite thrilled about my suggestion of this meal in the first place, but i managed to talk him into trying it just once. i was rather nervous that once he saw it he might be unwilling to try it, but he was a good sport and he tried it and actually enjoyed it and said that he would let me make it again.

i was actually really excited to make this soup for another reason- i have never used dried beans before. i have wanted to many times, but for some reason i avoided them. probably mostly due to being raised in a world of convenience. but i have always used canned or frozen beans and peas in all of my cooking ventures.

(and i will add that my mother often used dried beans when i was growing up, so i knew how to cook them, but had just never done it myself)

and i have to admit, i plan to used dried beans a lot in the future. they are SO ridiculously inexpensive compared to canned beans and are very simple. although they do take a little more planning ahead.

so.... this is what my version of split pea soup ended up looking like:

and i can agree that it isn't very pretty 

but in my recipe, i did try to disguise the gross 'pea-green' color 

which is what i feel is the most unappealing part of the traditional split pea soup.

this is what it generally looks like:

a rather unappetizing yellow-green color

or here is a pureed version.

i thought that for my introduction of split-pea soup to my husband that it might be better accepted if it wasn't such a jarring color, so i added lots of paprika and grated carrots to turn the soup more of a brownish color

.

here is my recipe:

split-pea soup

ingredients:

2 T olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 carrots, peeled and shredded

1 stalk celery, diced finely

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp smoked paprika (i actually added about 2)

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp pepper

1- 14 oz. or 16 oz. pkg dried green split peas, rinsed

7 cups water

2 cups chicken broth

2 ham hocks

{i didn't have ham hocks, so i just used diced ham}

1-2 tsps. salt (to taste)

directions:

1. heat the oil in a dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. 

2. add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes

 (i like to dice the celery really finely because i honestly don't like the texture of celery)

(i like to grate the carrots rather than chopping them because they get more tender and i feel like they give off more of their flavor and color to the soup when they are grated)

3. add herbs, dried peas, water, and broth

4. add ham hocks.

{or if you don't have ham hocks wait to add the ham till after the soup cooks for a couple hours to prevent the ham from getting tough}

5. bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 2 hours.

6. remove ham hocks and pick ham off bones. add shredded ham back to soup and return to a boil

7. add salt to taste.

8. let soup simmer for another 30-45 minutes.

9. can serve plain or with sour cream and croutons.

and here's one picture of the 'kids' that i thought that i would share.

as you can see, amos has officially caught up with paisley in height! 

they are both such great helpers in the kitchen.

 

i love that i caught paisley 'singing' and i love amos's ears in reaction to paisley's song.

comfort food- tomato tortellini soup & 4-cheese and bacon grilled cheese

so... i do realize that i have been out for a while, so there is MUCH to get caught up on my little blog. but i decided that i would postpone the newsy catch-up blog posts, which i will admit are rather exciting (ok, so not really), and i would go ahead and type up this post before i forget these recipes, because we thought that they were rather delicious. not that our opinions are always right, but oh my! this was a yummy lunch.

my husband has been fighting a cold for almost 3 weeks now. he was feeling so much better this week, but last night the congestion got ahead of him again. strangely enough there was a lot that i wanted to accomplish today since i have been feeling ridiculously behind in every aspect of my home life, but somehow the wifely duty to care for my sick husband took over. he requested comfort food for lunch, actually spaghetti was his first request, but that didn't sound good to me at all.
 i suggested grilled cheese and tomato soup. that menu was approved and we proceeded from there. keep in mind that i was asked to make 'the best grilled cheese that he has ever eaten'... no pressure? ;)

but i think i did ok. :)

when i was visiting my sister several years ago she made a tomato tortellini soup with smoked sausage. it was delicious, but i couldn't find my recipe. i thought about calling her for it, but i decided that i would just try to come up with something similar on my own.

here is what i came up with:

tomato tortellini soup with smoked sausage-

1 T. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes (or stewed tomatoes)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 T. sugar
2 cups half-and-half
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 pkg. smoked sausage, sliced and browned
1 pkg. refrigerated tortellini pasta

directions: 

1. heat the olive oil at medium-high in soup pot or dutch oven. add the onion and cook for 3-5 mins or until onion is transluscent .
2. reduce to medium heat and add the canned tomatoes, onion and garlic powders, basil, salt, pepper, and sugar and heat until boiling. add the half-and-half and heat through.
3. puree tomato mixture in pan with an *immersion blender or if you don't have one, transfer the mixture to a blender and puree {this step is not critical, but i liked the smoother consistency of the soup without the pieces of tomato and onion in it. and the blending frothed the half-and-half and made it creamier... maybe it was just in my head though}.
4. add the chicken broth, the browned smoked sausage, and the tortellini. simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the tortellini is done.

it should should look something like this

serve topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese

*** i never thought that i would use an immersion blender (also called a stick blender), but mine has come in handy quite often. it is especially nice not to have to transfer hot soup to another container and then transfer it back. immersion blenders are fairly inexpensive and are well worth their low price.

this is the immersion blender that i have.

they are available at walmart and target starting around $30.

4-cheese and bacon grilled cheese sandwich-

4 slices sourdough bread

1 oz, lowfat cream cheese, softened

2 oz. smoked cheddar cheese

2 oz. pepper jack cheese

2 oz. parmesan cheese

3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 T. mayonnaise

1 T. butter or margarine

directions:

spread cream cheese thinly on each slice of bread. 

 grate each of the cheeses and sprinkle evenly on 2 of the slices of bread (your sandwich 'bottoms').

sprinkle bacon over the grated cheese.

 place second bread slice, cream cheese side down on each sandwich, then thinly coat each side of sandwich with mayonnaise*.

heat skillet to medium heat. melt butter and place sandwiches in center of skillet. 

cook until lightly browned, then flip and brown the other side. if cheese isn't melted through, lower heat to low to prevent burning and flip again.

the results, AMAZING!!!!

*i know that the mayonnaise may sound disgusting, especially if you are a mayonnaise hater, but just trust me on this one, it's amazing! mayonnaise is made primarily from oil and egg. so basically when you cook your sandwich in the mayonnaise coating, it is similar to the coating that you get on french toast (minus the sweetness). just try it one time and you will be hooked. i learned it from the best chef that i know. ;) 

thanks mom. 

hope that you enjoy your comfort dinner. 

soup and such

every fall (for the past 3 years) some of my friends and i have had, what is now our "traditional", annual soup night. i don't really know what it was that inspired me to launch this tradition, but i am so thankful that i did.

this years' soup night was this past wednesday evening. the weather couldn't have been more perfect for soup eating. it was rainy, 58 degrees, and windy. and i don't think that it could be argued that this year was by far our best-ever year for deliciousness! and as always a fun time to catch up with friends that we seem to see far too infrequently.

our friend katie recently moved back to greenville and this was her soup night inauguration. :)  

our friends baird and zach, armed with their muffin tins.

 i forget where i got this idea, but muffin tins have proven to be the perfect vessel for soup sampling. 

tara and her sweet little girl masha getting their soup.

owen and katie all decked out in their halloween attire.

masha just didn't know what to think about topher. 

everyone enjoying their soup

 our first soup night as a married couple. :)

 owen opted out of soup and had a lunchable... well, actually, he had an oreo. 

and he was a big fan of the M&M's. 

this is what my muffin tin ended up looking like.

this year's menu : 

sour cream corn bread {tara}

italian pasta and white bean soup {katie t}

chicken and wild rice soup {baird}

'fire breathing dragon' taco soup {katie l}

spicy white chicken chili {nora, *that's me}

 2 weeks ago my friends christina and john had me over for dinner while topher (my hard-working husband) was sleeping (he works nights, which makes our hours together somewhat limited).they made me some pretty amazing white chicken chili. sadly,  i couldn't find the recipe that they used, so i combined 3 different white chicken chili recipes to make mine.

nora's white chicken chili recipe:

 (or at least pretty close)

3 large chicken breasts, baked and shredded

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 onions, diced

4 jalapeno peppers, seeds and ribs removed and diced finely

3 large cloves garlic

1- 4oz. can green chilies (undrained)

2 tsps. cumin

2 tsps. oregano

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

6 cups chicken broth

3 cans white beans (undrained)

1/2 c. diced cilantro

3 Tbsp. lime juice

sliced green onion

shredded monterey jack cheese

first of all, there were so many things that i experimented with in this recipe that i probably should have had a back-up plan... but fortunately it was edible and i actually really liked it.

i accidentally bought chicken thighs instead of breasts, so despite being nauseated after deboning those, the chicken thigh meat was a lot more tender than chicken breasts. if you are limiting fat in your diet, the chicken breast is a much better option.

1. begin by sauteing the onion in the olive oil. after about 2 minutes add the garlic, jalapenos, and chilies. place a lid on your pan to sweat the onions and peppers. i let mine go for about 3 minutes. then add the cumin, oregano, garlic powder, cayenne, black pepper, and nutmeg (which does seem like a strange thing to have in chili, but it gives it a little bit of a smokey flavor). let that cook for about a minute.

2. then add the chicken broth and white beans and let heat through. next add the chicken. let everything simmer for 10-15 minutes. i left my soup on low heat for about an hour at this point, but you don't have to.

3. about 10 minutes before serving the chili add the cilantro and lime juice. 

4. serve with green onion and shredded cheese ( i personally liked it better without the cheese)

the white chicken chili is on the bottom right. so yummy!!!

happy fall y'all!

it's been a while since i posted, but that doesn't mean that i haven't been busily cooking, baking and creating, but simply that life has gotten in the way of my blogging.

 that and the fact that i tend to forget that i have a blog; pioneer woman i am not. ;)

as the weather has been getting cooler and i have been transitioning my wardrobe and my decor towards fall, i have been craving all of the traditional fall foods (some of them making me curious why they are considered "fall foods", but things that i don't really crave in the spring and summer months). i had my first Starbucks PSL (pumpkin spice latte),

a splurge that will most likely not happen again this season as they are now a whopping $4.91. YIKES!! but it was delicious none-the-less.

 i wore my boots and leggings for the first time, and now feel as though i need several more pairs of boots as i had forgotten how comfortable and warm they are. here are a few of my current favs:

steven by steve madden bolerro

nine west kedan

lucky aida

jessica simpson tustiny

and these adorable desert bootie wedges:

dolce vita pura

and pulled out several jackets and sweatshirts. 

i had very mixed emotions, because i will be honest, i DETEST being cold. but the thought of "new" (stored away) clothes, new foods,  and an approach to thanksgiving and Christmas (my all-time FAV!!!) could not make me happier. therefore, i have decided to embrace fall.

topher (my husband) made the most incredible suggestion that we have soup night every week. i was so excited since i have been pinning soup recipes on pinterest (which if you have not yet discovered pinterest you need to stop everything and head right over there).

*warning*- it is very addictive!

wednesday night has been deemed soup night at our home and

i selfishly decided to start our soup night tradition with my favorite soup- french onion!!! and it was, as always, absolutely heavenly.

Here is the recipe that i concocted up for ours:

French Onion Soup

3 pounds yellow onions, cut into 1/8" pieces

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter (or margarine)

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

2 Tablespoons sugar

8 cups chicken broth

2 Tablespoons flour

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 2 tsp. fresh), ground finely

1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)

8 ounces Gruyere (or cheese of your choice. i also like it with provolone or swiss) cheese, sliced or grated.

1 crusty baguette

It is a little difficult to slice the onion to 1/8" slices, so i will show you how my mother, who is the best cook that i know, taught me how to slice onions many years ago... it's the best method that i have ever seen.

 begin by cutting off both ends of the onion (the "root" and the "stem ends)

 cut through one of the onion "layers" and peel that layer off with the "skin"

cut the onion in half down the center

turn each half on it's side and starting at one side cut into 1/8" slices. the "rings of the onions will then fall apart into thin strips.

like this.

and just a little hint, if you store the onions in the refrigerator and cut them while they are cold, your eyes won't water much, if at all.

melt the butter at medium heat in dutch oven (or a large pot)
*if i haven't yet mentioned it, i am loving every opportunity to use my Le Creuset 'french oven'.

add the onions to the melted butter

 add the salt and sugar

toss to coat onions evenly with butter, salt and sugar. cover and cook for 10 minutes.

remove cover and cook, stirring frequently, for an hour and 1/2. onions will caramelize and turn a lovely brown color. make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen the dark "caramel" that is forming

once onions are an even brown color add flour and stir for 2 minutes

it will look something like this (although possibly without that eerie looking smokey haze)

add the chicken broth 

add the thyme and bay leaves and bring to a boil.

lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes

[if adding wine, add and simmer 10 more minutes.

add more salt if needed.]

and your soup is ready!!!

at this point ladle soup into oven-safe bowls or small crocks. 

if you like your onion soup with the bread floating on top (which i don't), place a slice of the crusty bread on top of the soup and then grate or place a slice of cheese on top of the soup.

place in the oven under the broiler until the cheese is browned slightly and bubbly.

 enjoy!!!!

happy fall y'all!!!