Halloween Party Prep

Halloween is by far my favorite time of the year. I love it. For me, Halloween isn't a single day about getting candy. It's a whole season of creating and creativity! Every year, my husband and I host a Halloween party and I can't wait for it to get here this year (only 39 days left!)

Whenever I see websites like this with adorable tablescapes like that over to the right... I really really want to emulate them. Does that make me a middle aged housewife? I hope not. I'm not ready for that.

But really, how cute does that look?! I'm going to try to make something like that this year. I'm going to go ahead and brain-dump here so I remember what I'm thinking for my Halloween party setup this year.

Dining room:
This is going to be the main area for food. I'm thinking I'd like to keep it black and orange, kind of like that picture up there. Hot foods, appetizers, snacks. No desserts.

Kitchen:
This is the drink station. I'm sort of thinking a Halloween-glam, New Orleans voodoo, type of theme to the area. Sort of like what you see to the left, from this blog. Lots of glitter, glam, feathers, chandeliers.

What's nice is that these two stations won't totally clash with each other. We have an open floor plan in the house, so the kitchen and dining room pretty much open up into each other.

Last but not least...

The Basement:
I want to do the whole basement like a zombie apocalypse safe room. Quarantine signs. Biohazard tape. Yellow and black.

Oddly, I'm not seeing anyone that has done any sort of quarantine, zombie, or biohazard tablescapes for Halloween yet. Come on, bloggers! Zombies are SO 2013!!! Let's do this! I guess I'm on my own planning this area out. That's okay, I can do it. I know it. I'll be sure to post pictures as I craft and try out recipes.

Cheers, lovely monsters!

When things go horribly wrong

One of my cakes from 2008

Husband's birthday was last week, and like a good wifey I decided I'd make him a cake! When I was in high school and college, I made cakes all the time and they were always pretty tasty and beautiful.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of time to put the cake together for his Saturday evening birthday party, so I decided to stick with boxed mix and canned icing - not that that's a bad thing. I got white cake mix and added some almond extract (1 tsp per box), and got strawberry preserves to mix with the icing. It was fool-proof.

I even went out and got a brand new square cake pan. Everything was set. Saturday afternoon comes around, I mix up my cake mix and pour it in the greased pan. Little while later, cake was done. Let it cool for a few minutes, then came issue number one...

Cake was stuck.I finally got it out of the pan, but it was pretty damaged. Well, shit. That's okay. It's salvageable. No problem. I went ahead and cut the cake down the middle so I could put a nice thick layer of delicious strawberry icing in between the two pieces. No big problems yet. Iced the bottom half. No issues. Went to put the top half back on...

And it fell apart. It just crumbled.

That's okay. That's okay! I can just use icing to even it out...

Nope. Didn't work. It was awful. The icing was just making it crumble more and I had a major cakedown. I started crying, asked Husband what I could possibly do about it because it was so ugly and awful and I had already spent the money on the cake trying to make it. He tried his best to soothe me, but sometimes there's just nothing you can say.

And then I went crazy.

Just kidding. Sort of. I did go crazy, but I also had an epiphany. I could smash up this ugly horrible cake and make cake balls! I had never done it before, but I watched a friend make them once and it seemed pretty easy... I wasn't sure if my ratios were right at all (turns out the balls were a little moister than usually prepared due to too much icing).

Turns out it was fine. Rolled up the cake and icing into little balls, covered it with blue and green candy melts - which, by the way, I couldn't find a good way to do to get a smooth surface... Everyone loved them. I was surprised! But also happy my disaster didn't ruin the night.

My cake balls and some other snacks for the evening.

Meal Planning: 2/4/2013

Happy Super Bowl Sunday, everyone! Go Ravens!!!

Monday:
Jambalaya

Tuesday:
Freezer Pizza (Book club night!)

Wednesday:
Pulled pork sandwiches (Craft night!) Trying this.

Thursday:
Leftover pulled pork and mac & cheese (Scrapbook night!) Leftovers (hopefully??)

Friday:
Freezer pizza (Hair appointment!)

Saturday:
Pidgey burgers and pulled Piginite (Pokemon party!)

Yeah, I know I'm doing pizza twice this week. I have a lot going on and won't have too much time to cook...

Culinary Adventure: No Sweat Meatloaf

This isn't so much an adventure as it is, well, just a recipe. I haven't figured out how to get the meatloaf to remain "loafy" when it's done.. Mine is more of a meatblob. But it's delicious anyway, so have at it. Recipe is modified from 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know:

Onion Mixture

Ingredients

1. 1 tablespoon olive oil
2. 1 yellow onion, diced
3. 1 garlic clove, minced (I use Tastefully Simple's Garlic Garlic)
4. 1 bay leaf
5. 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
6. 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
7. 1 pound lean ground beef
8. 1 large egg, lightly beaten
9. 6 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
10. 6 tablespoons ketchup
11. 1.5 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1. .25 teaspoon cayenne
2. 1 teaspoon salt
3. .5 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Prep

You really gotta get dirty with this recipe... Make sure you
remove your rings!

1. Preheat oven to 375*F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
2. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Cook over moderate heat, stirring a few times, until the onion is tender - 6 minutes.
3. Add parsley and thyme and stir for 5 minutes.
4. Scrape onion mixture into a bowl and cool. Remove bay leaf.
5. In a large bowl, combine the meat, egg, bread crumbs, 4 tablespoons ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, salt, pepper, and onion mixture. Blend with your hands. Stop blending as soon as it's all well combined.
6. Form a loaf on the parchment paper (or you can use a 8x4 loaf pan). Coat with remaining ketchup. 
7. Bake for 1 hour until thickest part is 165*F.
8. Let rest for 10 minutes, then serve!

Culinary Adventure - "Blackened" chicken

I have found that any recipe with "basic" in the title ends up causing me some trouble. This one was no different. So I got this "basic sauteed chicken" recipe here and decided it would go well with some white rice. Healthy dinner to help lose all the weight gained from my cruise. Well, first of all - the rice didn't work out. Had some spaghetti and meatballs left over from my welcome-back dinner last night. Easy peasy - heat that up in the microwave, and have with the chicken. 

Well, the recipe was going well until the 4th minute or so on the second side of the chicken. That's when things got a little dark. And smokey. Lots of smoke. Everywhere. Husband was laughing at me. So I moved the chicken into the oven (the meat was fine, fortunately) and stared at my blackened pan...

Well.... Let's try the wine, anyway. NO! If you end up with a blackened pan, just don't do it! My eyes are still burning. Wasted my leftover wine (which I totally could have drank!) and ended up with the worst sauce looking mixture ever that went straight down the drain.

Oh well. Chicken was good with a little BBQ sauce. So there's that, at least.

Meal Planning - 1/27/2013

For those unaware, I spent the last two weeks on a cruise ship in the Caribbean for my honeymoon. It was seriously one of the best experiences of my life, and I'll be writing about it soon. But first I need to say - daaaamn the food. DAMN - food!!! Gonna try to learn some new, impressive dishes. I'll seriously miss that food.

Sunday:
Jambalaya (super easy Zatarain's mix.) Forgot my mom planned a welcome-home dinner.

Monday:
Sauteed chicken and rice leftovers from Sunday

Tuesday:
Make your own tacos (Recipe on El Paso boxes. Srsly easy, dudes.)

Wednesday:
Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

Thursday:
Pulled pork sandwiches and roasted butternut squash

Friday:
Freezer pizza (because I probably won't even be home - planning to see Warm Bodies with my bestie.)

And now off to the store!

Culinary Adventure: Ermagerd Meeert Seeerce

So last night before I went to bed, I (really Husband) cooked up the meat and onions for this recipe. Got every other ingredient setup next to the crockpot so I could get it put together this morning before work... 

Get home tonight at 5:30 and...

Whole house smells delicious! So exciting! Gave it a little taste, and although it burnt the hell out of my tongue, it tasted as good as it smelled.

Boiling spaghetti is pretty easy, so this is a great meal for when you're feeling lazy... Assuming you've done all the hard work the night before. That said, the recipe on that blog makes a metric shitton... We're only two people, so we are going to have a lot of leftovers (even beyond my lunch tomorrow)... But maybe we can have it with the chicken tomorrow instead of veggies. Carnivore's diet.

Culinary Adventure: Broiler Burgers and Mashed Taters

My very first impression of meal planning is pleasant surprise. I got home from work today, knew exactly what I was going to have for dinner, and got started right away. No hum-hawing for an hour about "well do I want to cook" and "what do we have"... Nope - everything was ready and waiting.

I used modified version of two recipes from the book 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know. I love this book because it's hilarious, easy to follow, and has a lot of recipes I've tried and loved.

So first up we have my Broiler Burgers.

Obligatory Instagram food photo.

 Ingredients

1. 1 pound ground beef (80-20)
2. Salt and pepper
3. 1 tsp ground cumin
4. 1 shallot finely chopped (I used half a large onion today and it was just as good)
5. 2-4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
6. Pats of butter
7. Cheese (optional)
8. Hamburger buns lightly toasted (toasting the buns makes burgers 100% better)

Prep

1. Mix meat with salt, pepper, cumin, shallot, and Worcestershire sauce. Do not warm meat.
2. Divide into 2-4 balls and flatten.
3. Create a depression in the tops of the burgers with your thumbs and add a pat of butter to each patty. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
4. Preheat the broiler.
5. Broil patties on a foil rimmed baking sheet for 7 minutes.
6. Flip and broil for 4 or more minutes, depending on desired doneness.

Super easy and super delicious. This time, I put a little Montreal Steak seasoning on the burgers too. Experiment with what you think might add a little something!

With the burgers we had Mashed Taters. My grandmother used to complain about making mashed potatoes for as long as I can remember, and I don't understand why! I think she didn't like peeling potatoes, but I feel like they're super easy to make and *very* delicious.

Ingredients

1. 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
2. Salt
3. Somewhere between 1/2 to 1 cup of milk (I use lactose and fat free, you can use whatever)
4. A ton of butter (I usually use about 1/4 of a stick, but the recipe calls for up to a stick)
5. Nutmeg to taste
6. Pepper

Prep

1. Cover potatoes with cold water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cook approximately 25 minutes.
2. Drain potatoes and return to pot.
3. Smash potatoes with potato smasher or giant awesome fork.
4. Add milk (NOT ALL AT ONCE!) and butter.
5. Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Don't be afraid to taste it!!

We ate all the burgers, but I have leftover potatoes to bring to work tomorrow (and some leftover rice from yesterday, too...). You could definitely play with both of these recipes, too. Maybe add some cheese or garlic to the potatoes. Let me know what you try and how it goes!

Meal Planning - 1/7/2013

Okay, so... I'll admit that my usual trip to the supermarket happens when we start to get desperate. Out of milk, out of cereal, or out of cat litter. We don't typically plan out the week ahead, either. Sure we'll grab some frozen pizzas and eat them eventually, but that's about a close as it gets.

So my goal is to try this whole "weekly meal planning" thing that I see on so many of the home blogs I read. I guess this means I'll be cooking a little more... But oh well! I think I can do it!

Monday:

• Cheeseburgers and Mashed Potatoes

Tuesday:

• Spaghetti with crockpot meatsauce (planned leftovers for wednesday lunch!) I got the recipe here.

Wednesday:

• Shake n Bake chicken, green beans

Thursday:

• Sexy Porkchops, rice

Friday:

• Freezer pizza

Fortunately, I already have some stuff that I need to make these... But I will need to pick up a few extra things tonight.

Shopping list:

• 3 pounds ground beef
• 1 shallot
• Hamburger buns
• 2 large onions
• 28 oz diced tomatoes
• 30 oz tomato sauce
• 6 oz tomato paste
• Spaghetti noodles
• 1 pound chicken breast
• Green beans
• 2 bone-in porkchops
• 1 garlic bulb
• Rice
• Freezer pizza

Once I get around to cooking these various meals, I'll post pictures and full recipes. I'm excited to get started! 

Culinary Adventure: Reddit Steak & Veg Chili

That there is a two inch thick, two and a half pound, porterhouse steak. And it was the first steak that I have ever cooked.

I'm a big reddit fan, especially the subreddit AskReddit because it really is a wealth of knowledge. Sure, you gotta wade through the filth, but when you find a gem, it's totally worth it. Recently there was a thread titled "Chefs of Reddit, what are some tips and tricks that everyone should know about cooking?" As an expert in water boiling and potato mashing, but very few more complicated dishes, I thought "hey maybe I can learn something here..." Then I found the following recipe:

1. Ingredients:
1. Thick cut (porterhouse) more than 2 in


2. Prep:
1. Keep meat uncovered in the fridge overnight.
2. Hour before cooking, remove from fridge and pat down with paper towels.
3. Preheat oven (and pan!) to 500.
4. Season both sides of the steak with coarse salt and like a teaspoon of oil.
5. Place pan on stovetop, and sear each side of the steak for 2 minutes.
6. Stick about three tablespoons of room temperature butter and three sprigs of fresh rosemary on top of the steak.
7. Replace steak in oven for 3 minutes.
8. Flip the steak and cook 2-3 more minutes.
9. Baste the steak with the melted butter.
10. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

 It didn't seem too complicated, so I figured I'd give it a go. Got a nice cut from the butcher at the supermarket, and told him it was my first time. "Aww man, girl you're gonna love it - this is a good cut of meat!" It was also a $22 cut of meat. Little bit of sticker shock, but after eating a tiny piece of sirloin at a restaurant the other night for $12, I realized... This is a much better deal.

So I dropped that sucker in the fridge, threw a little salt on it to help it dry out, and waited. Now, in addition to cooking that steak, I also had my vegetarian friend coming over for dinner last night. I didn't think I'd be able to convince her that it was a soy steak, and I never really make meat-free dishes, so I quickly Googled some fast vegetarian entrees and settled on a chili dish. 

I'm not going to spend much time talking about this dish, but it was pretty good. I got the recipe here, left out the mushrooms, and subbed in black beans. 

So back to my steak...

I learned a few lessons from this steak... The ceramic pizza stone we have worked great for searing the steak. However, as a flat surface, it didn't do a go job containing the butter and other juices, and I wound up getting them everywhere. Next time, I'll need to figure out a better cooking surface.

Also, the recipe above didn't produce (for me) a rare steak, it was only up to about 106 degrees... I just kept flipping it, 3 minutes on this side, 3 minutes on that side, until I wound up with a nice medium-rare piece of meat.

Tell you what, that was a good piece of meat. And the vegetarian chili was pretty damn good, too!