So, last month Kevin and I went to a book signing by Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, who just published her first cook book.  We waited for 4 hours for her signature.

Today, while starting up a batched of chicken spaghetti (which is quite yummy) I turned the wrong burner on.  So, I caught the signed cookbook on fire.  FYI, that cookbook smells really bad when burning...

Ruined the burner and disfigured the cooktop.

Go me.

I had a couple of pears in the fridge, technically for Miriam but I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow, and I thought a pear tart would be nice. Now, I've never made a tart before, so I was a bit curious as to how it would turn out. I actually used a can of Pillsbury crescent roll dough as the dough for it. It was the kind without the perforation. It was all messed up though since the can didn't "pop" so I had to roll it out and I rolled it relatively thin.

Here is the recipe so I don't lose it (inspiration from the Pillsbury website, but very modified):
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Ingredients
for fruit filling:
1 T AP flour
2.5T sugar
1/4t spice (I used mostly cinnamon with a dash of ground clove - nutmeg was recommended, but Kevin vetoed)

for crust:
one roll of crescent roll dough, no perforations, rolled out thin

for topping
1/4 AP flour
1/4 brown sugar
2T butter, softened
1t sugar
1T milk

Peel and slice pears thin. Combine with flour, sugar and spices. In a separate bowl combine flour, brown sugar, and butter until crumbly. Place pears in center of dough then wrap dough around them, leaving a good size opening at the top (think "rustic" looking). Cover opening with crumbled topping, then sprinkle with sugar and brush dough with milk. Cook according to dough directions (375 for ~15 minutes).
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Next time I will halve the topping - I threw away at least half of it. I also just threw the flour, sugar and spices on top of the pears and mixed it up which makes for some spots with more sugar or spice than others (Kevin got a mouthful of cinnamon/cloves, I got a mouthful of sugar). Next time I'll mix those separate then put them in. Also, I think I'll let it sit longer after cooking next time. When we ate it (about 7-10 minutes out of the oven) it was very "wet" with a very thin syrup in it. It's now got a thick yummy syrup that has formed.

Very yummy, and I'll have to make it again. My first comment to Kevin after tasting it was "it tastes like Christmas!"

So, I've been cooking and planning to cook a lot lately.  We are having a party this Saturday, so I've been recipe searching for cake/frosting (as we will have a short birthday section to the party for Miriam) and then I am doing the food for the equestrian Rose Tourney at Castle Wars next weekend.  Anyway, this planning resulted in me having quite a bit of discs of dough for empanadas.  As I also had some chicken in the freezer I thought, "hey, why not have chicken empanadas for supper?"  So we did.  I thought they were super yummy, Kevin did not.  Here is my recipe, mainly so that I can recall it when I make them again

Ingredients:
3 chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded (these were just done in a pan with olive oil, nothing else)
5 roma tomatoes, cut up slightly chunky
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 T minced garlic (I used the kind from a jar, because it's easier)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used Vermont extra sharp, but only because I'm on a vermont extra sharp kick - and this is a guestimate on the amount)
thyme (um, 3-4 shakes from the stubborn container?)
S&P to taste
flour (maybe 1 T)
empanada wrappers (in the freezer section at the grocery store)

Saute onions in olive oil until soft.  Add garlic and tomatoes and saute for a few more minutes on medium high (I'm so not specific on stuff).  Add thyme (and S& P if you want S&P, I add them to everything).  Reduce heat to medium low and place a lid on the pan and let the mess simmer for about 5-10 minutes.  At this point I added some flour to thicken it up some, then simmer for a bit more, although stirring occasionally.  Then add cheese, place lid on the sucker again and let it get all gooey, shouldn't take to terribly long.  Once the concoction has reached a point of looking delicious, turn off the heat.  Place shredded chicken in a bowl and add the onion/tomato/cheese mixture to it and stir it up really well.

Prepare your empanada dough as the package directs (ie roll it out some).  Place mixture on one side of dough circle, fold dough in half to enclose the mixture and then press a fork along the edges to seal it in.  You can then take a pizza cutter (the rolling kind) and roll around the edges to get a nice even edge.

Fry the suckers on medium high - each side until golden brown.  I wouldn't do the heat any lower or they will just sit and absorb the oil.  My guess is that they would deep fry very well.  They can also be baked at 375 for 15-20 minutes (but they aren't as good).

I made 9 empanadas, but I think if I had portions a bit better it would've made 10.  I had a couple of very big ones.  I also would take the extra dough that I cut off from each 2 empanadas and roll it into a ball then roll it out.  I cut some into strips and coated in cinnamon and sugar and fried them.  I also made two "mini" empanadas this way and filled them with the pearsauce I made Miriam (like applesauce, only pear...nothing else added).  I then tossed them in cinnamon and sugar and fried those.  Both Miriam and Kevin liked those.

Kevin says the empanadas had chunky tomatoes.  I think he's really picky :)  The tomatoes cooked down to almost nothing.

Mmm, mmm, good.

But first, a comment on the potato soup from the last post.  It totally thickened up after a day in the fridge and got better, I am sticking with the recipe.  I can change the meat around as needed (we've been known to throw stew beef into potato soup, but I still think bacon would be the best).

Some friend hosted a Halloween party last night that was kid friendly so we headed over to it.  Lots of people were dressed up.  The best costume was a Dumbledore costume, although happygoth  made a very convincing Frida Kahlo (even if I am dense and didn't pick up on it when she answered the door speaking Spanish).  Kevin and I went as Johnny and June Cash.  No one knew what we were, but that was okay because the only cost involved in our costumes was the hair gel (which ended up being wasted money because no matter how much gel you add, Kevin does not have enough hair for a pompadour).  Miriam, on the other hand, went as a ladybug.  I made her costume and hand stitched the whole thing (mainly because I wanted to sit in the front of the boob tube while doing it and the sewing machine is in another room).  We got lots of compliments on her "tights".  They aren't actually tights, they are women's socks that I ran a stitch down the length of about in the middle (although opening up wider at the top).  These are wonderful, I will be making more.  Easy diaper access!
( Ladybug... )

I also made cupcakes for the party because, well, I'm on a baking kick.  I have no idea why.  I wanted to do something that would be appropriate for fall, so I made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  I found a recipe online and did everything I thought it said.  Only I thought it said 1/2C of butter but it said 1/4C.  Yeah, I doubled the butter, but everyone seemed okay with that.  I also added cinnamon to the frosting.  Mmmm.  I actually left a few unfrosted because the frosting was so rich.  I think I'm the only person who ate any of the unfrosted ones...

( Recipe and pic )


Now I am looking for recipes for Miriam's birthday cake/cupcakes.  I don't particularly want to buy one, I'd rather make it.  At this point I can make something that tastes better than what I can afford to buy (even though it might not look as pretty).  In searching I found a recipe for an apricot cake as well as gingerbread cupcakes.  Those both sound tempting.  I also found a recipe for lemon-rosemary cupcakes (really more muffins).  Those sound really interested and I need to make them for something, although I'm not sure what as I know Kevin won't eat them.

As I've mentioned, we are both unemployed.  So, we are therefore broke.  I wanted something yummy to eat that would not require the purchase of more food.  I also love potato soup, but have never made it from scratch.  I figured since the weather is starting to get cooler that I should learn to make it myself.  I did some searching for recipes - I was looking for one that didn't require heavy cream as I didn't have any on hand.  So, I combined a few and came up with the following.  I did all of the cooking in a cast iron dutch oven.

6 T butter
1 medium Vadalia onion, diced
6 oz Canadian bacon
1/2 C AP flour
3 C chicken broth (mine was low sodium)
3 large baking potatoes, peeled and diced
? minced garlic
? parsley
1 t dried chives
2 C milk
1 1/2 - 2 C cheese
S&P to taste

Heat butter in pot and add onion and Canadian bacon, saute until tender.  Add flour, stir until well blended.  Add chicken broth and stir over medium head until thickened and bubbling.  Add potatoes and bring to simmer.  Reduce to medium low, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.  Add milk and cheese, parsley and chives.  And salt and pepper as necessary.

Makes 6-8 servings, depending on how much you consider a serving.

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I'm not sure exactly how much cheese I put in.  I shredded a cup of organic extra sharp vermont cheddar (something I found when cleaning out the fridge) and thought it wasn't enough, so I did some more...and then I added a bit more at the table, but Kevin didn't.  Since my chicken broth was low sodium and my butter was unsalted, I put a good bit of salt in the soup, but I have no clue how much.  At some point towards the end I threw in some (dried) minced garlic, but I think it was such a modest amount that it didn't add anything to the soup.  I had Canadian bacon in the freezer, so that is what I used.  Regular bacon would've been better.  One recipe listed country ham, that would've probably been better as well.  Also, this was a lot of tater chunks.  Two and a half potatoes probably would've been perfect, but then I would have had a random half a potato left over, so I did three.  Also, I think a tad bit more flour would've been good to thicken things up just a bit more, but I like really thick potato soup.  Oh, and we put nice bacon bit in the soup at the table.  Yeah, I need bacon with my potato soup, I admit it.

All in all, it was yummy!

So, I often find it easier to compartmentalize things.  Just the way I function.  I'm going to use LJ for mostly personal life stuff.  I've created a blog to keep up with my projects here.  I've started the hood pattern, which I'm happy with so far.  Projects are going to go over there from now on.

Okay, I'm hoping someone has some really good advice.

A couple of years ago a made a wool hood for wet/cold SCA events.  I love my hood.  It is not perfect, but it is by far my best piece of garb.  Every single bit of it is hand done and I love this hood. 

While cleaning today I unearthed it.  It has some mildew on it.  Our house is really humid - more humid than I realized.  We have several things with mildew, which probably explains my recent allergy fit.

Okay, back to the hood.  It's wool.  I did wash it and dry it before using it, so it is fine, as well as the cotton lining.  However, I actually had some wool thread that someone had given me and I used that to sew it.  The thread is possibly my favorite part of the hood - it matching the lining, which is an almost peanut butter color and the hood is off white.  The thread has not been through the wash.  And the thing has bag buttons on it, which seem a little wobbly.

Any suggestions on washing?  Should I just wash and line dry it?  If I lose the buttons in the wash that isn't a big deal, just something that will require more work.  I can get some different ones.  Although I like that they also match the lining, I can do something else and survive (like find some metal buttons).  My big concern is having the thread shrink up.

*pout*

Any suggestions (except throw the thing away) are appreciated.

Anybody have any experience painting glass?  I'm interested in doing it for a home project - nothing fancy, more arts and crafts type project (we have a window that opens into another room in the house from where the porch was closed in).  Any suggestions on paints to get or not to get or other general pointers are appreciated!

Did I think I was fat in college?  I was cute!  Someone posted this picture on FB.  That was *mumble, mumble* sizes ago.  Granted, I know I wasn't the hottest thing on the block...but I really thought I was fat.
( Click for a picture of me, not being fat. )