Farewell

I had big plans for this little blog.

I wasn't someone who decided one day that I wanted to blog, set it up, and went about it sporadically or haphazardly. I had big plans.

Unfortunately, the equation isn't quite working out right. I am running up against technical frustration. I am excited by the creative aspect of my plans, but the technical side is...well, not so exciting. In fact, it can be downright nerve racking. The other part of the equation is that I am not getting support  from those in my household. And that is a very big part of the equation.

So until I can get this equation worked out, I am saying goodbye. Hopefully,  I will be back in the near future.  But for now,

Farewell

Sometimes baby steps are just so...so BABY

We weren't snowed in. It was a disappointment for all. My poor mess of recipes that was screaming out to be organized today was possibly the most disappointed.

The kids had a 2-hour delay for school. That's not really enough time for me to do anything but sleep a little later (along with the rest of the household) and then get everyone bundled up to go play a little before school. So my dreams of organizing that embarrassing pile did not come true. I did feel somewhat accountable since I had posted the picture of my mess, and outlined my steps to organizing the mess. And I took one baby step in the right direction: I sorted the pile into various categories. Right now it looks like a bigger mess than before because now the pile is ALL SPREAD OUT into several piles!

I have to motivate myself to take the additional baby steps needed to complete this project and get the piles out of the middle of the floor. (Looking at the piles should be motivation enough!). So I have told myself that I can't be playing around in the kitchen or making any new treats until my recipes are organized and put away. That should light the fire under me and get me going, shouldn't it?

How long can I use the "I just moved" excuse?

I wrote last week about taking baby steps in organizing so that tasks don't seem so overwhelming. I think it's time for me to take baby steps toward my pile of recipes waiting to be dealt with.  I am a chronic recipe clipper, printer, saver...I always see recipes that look delicious, sound delicious, and that I have every intention of trying. Then they get put into a pile somewhere and forgotten about. This problem was made worse by our move(s) this year.  Recipes were packed away, some were not, new ones were collected during the months we were in temporary housing. It just became quite a confusing mass of recipes.

People have given me a level of sympathy and have excused my lack of of organization during the past few months since I "just moved". But today I started wondering, "Just how long can I keep using the 'I just moved' excuse?" There really is no longer a legitimate excuse for my accumulated recipes to look like this:

So, today I took a baby step in organizing my recipes. My baby step was to identify what baby steps I need to take! And here they are:

1) Separate the recipes by size--those on cards needing to be filed; those on magazine pages or computer print-out pages needing to be put in binders;  and magazines with pages folded down that need to have the pages with recipes torn out to be filed.

2) Go through the different categorized piles I make and get things in order. To do this all I will need is my 3 ring binders with clear page protector-type pages in them, scissors, my recipe box and a TRASH CAN/ recycling can-- I inevitably come across a recipe that I clipped months earlier and don't know why I saved it!

3) Find  a spot to store the recipes.

The kids are hoping to be snowed in tomorrow. Then I would be snowed in with my kids and my recipe mess. Maybe I will take SEVERAL baby steps to alleviate the mess tomorrow. Maybe I'll even come across a new recipe to try on a snowy day!

It's a Baby Cheesecake, baby!

I made my "Baby Girl Cheesecake" today. It got it's name one year when everyone I knew (it seemed!) was having baby girls. So I made these cute 6-inch raspberry swirl cheesecakes with raspberries and white chocolate curls on top and took these to all my friends who had babies, along with something for them to warm up for dinner.

Well, my friends who had baby boys did not like the "Baby Girl Cheesecake" name and requested that it be renamed the "Baby Cheesecake". Today I took one of the "Baby Cheesecakes" to a dear friend who had a baby boy. I am not sharing the recipe because it is a big pain to make and half of the time it causes me great frustration ( why do I keep making it!?). I figured I could lose some readers by posting such a pain of a recipe. One of these days I will sit down and rework the whole recipe to make it more manageable and less frustrating, but for now, I wanted to share why I think the Baby Cheesecake is such a hit:

First and foremost, it is a cheesecake. For whatever reason,  most people love cheesecake and are impressed by it. But another primary reason the Baby Cheesecake is such a hit with new moms is it's presentation. It is all fancied up with berries and chocolate curls and shavings and then has cellophane bunched up around it and tied with a gazillion ribbons. Anyone who sees it coming just feels like there's something to celebrate! (And when the Baby Cheesecake arrives, there IS something to celebrate: a baby!)

Taking extra time to make beautiful treats and taking extra time for extra-special wrapping of treats is part of what makes them memorable. It also makes the recipient  feel valued.  When someone spends their precious  time to make something very unnecessary for someone else, it shows that they think the recipient is important and is worth spending time on. And that's part of why I love making classy treats. Everyone loves a little extra-special attention. And every new mom who sees a Baby Cheesecake coming has a huge smile on her face. I guess THAT's why I keep making this recipe.

My treats at Bonbonniere

A few days ago, I mentioned the official definition of "treat" that I had looked up in the dictionary. Well, I was reminded of that definition this weekend as I was shopping downtown.

To remind you,  a treat ( according to Webster), is

 "an especially unexpected source of joy, delight, or amusement."

And that's exactly what I had when I stopped in at Bonbonniere. I wish this little shop  had a website up and running (they have one under construction) because I would direct you to it. I am happy to give free advertising to this gorgeous candy shop. I stop in periodically, not to buy, but to look and be inspired. On this day, the owner was there and was happy to tell me all about their latest and most popular sweets.

I was surprised to be offered samples of about 6 different  caramels (!) and chocolates. This was a treat in two ways. One is the obvious: I was tasting some sweet candies from all over the nation and world. The second is that this was an unexpected delight! I had never been offered samples in Bonbonniere. (But you can be sure that I will be hoping for some the next time I visit).

My visits to this quaint, unique shop are fun. They are fun because I always leave inspired and excited about new things to try in the kitchen, new things to add to the decorations on gifts I give, new ways of displaying foods and treats. I leave with new ideas for adding to my holiday gift-wrapping, packaging, and tagging. And most importantly, I leave with a renewed appreciation for the time, energy and love that goes into creating quality, beautiful chocolates, candies, and other treats.

What a great way to start the new year-- with some inspiriation.... and some little treats!

HOT treat on a COLD day

There's nothing like a little snow to make me in the mood for soup.  Since I was recently in Texas, Tortilla Soup was on my mind, so that's what we had for a cozy dinner. My in-laws were over (I guess they were allowed to break the "no guests for the month of January" rule) and so I toned-down the spicy factor in the soup. That's a great thing about this recipe-- you can make it mild if you have young kids or sensitive taste buds (or both). You can also add shredded cooked chicken if you want a heartier soup. We had ours as an appetizer with tacos to follow, but you could definitely make this soup your meal. The fried tortilla strips and grated cheese that you sprinkle on top make this soup lots of fun and lots of DELICIOUS!

 Tortilla Soup
serves 8-10

3/4 c. onion, chopped
1  4 oz can chopped green chiles (leave out to make a milder soup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T oil
2 c. beef broth
2 chicken bouillon cubes
3 c. water
1 1/2 c. tomato juice
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 t. chili powder (optional)
1 t. cumin
2 t. Worcestershire sauce

6 tortillas, cut into 1/4 inch wide strips
1/4 c. oil
shredded Cheddar cheese

Saute onion, chiles and garlic in  2 T oil until soft. In soup pot, stir together beef broth, chicken bouillon cubes, water, tomato juice, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin and Worcestershire sauce. Add softened onion, garlic and chiles. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, and simmer, covered for an hour. (For a smooth soup, pour soup through a sieve to remove chunks of onion, garlic and chiles.)

While soup is simmering, pour 1/4 c. oil into frying pan and fry tortilla strips in several batches until golden and crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain and cool.

After serving soup, top with tortilla strips and grated cheese.

Enjoy!

Birthday treat for the Sweet

Red Velvet cake is my husband's cake of choice. I have to admit that I don't think I had even tasted Red Velvet before I met him. In fact, I think the only time I had even heard of it was on the movie Steel Magnolias. I don't like the whole concept of so much red food coloring going into one cake, so I rarely make this cake. But it is quite tasty. And it was worth it to make my husband's day extra special!  The frosting can be made so many ways-- but I prefer the one with cream cheese, which is included with this recipe. So, it was a  Red Velvet treat for my Sweet husband... and the kids are still wired from the red dye...

This recipe originally came from Cook's Illustrated, but of course I  have made various modifications~

Red Velvet Cake
makes one 9-inch 2 layer cake

2 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 c. buttermilk
1 T vinegar
2 large eggs
2 T Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder
2 T (one 1-oz bottle) red food coloring
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar

Frosting
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
4 c. powdered sugar
2   8 oz pkgs cream cheese, cut into pieces, softened
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two  9-inch cake pans. In small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Whisk buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and eggs together in large Pyrex measuring cup.

Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add  half of flour mixture followed by half of buttermilk mixture, beating 30 seconds after each addition. Repeat with other half of flour mixture and other half of buttermilk mixture. In small bowl, mix together cocoa and food coloring to make a paste. Add this to cake batter, beating until incorporated. Pour into prepared pans and bake on center rack for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 10 min, then turn onto racks to cool completely.

For the frosting, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese gradually and beat until incorporated. Add vanilla and salt and beat until well mixed.

When cakes are cooled, spread about 2 cups of frosting on one cake layer. Top with second layer and spread remaining frosting on sides and top of cake. Cover and serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 3 days.

Enjoy!