Okay, many apologies! I have been so absent from my favorite little blog because this is crazy grant season and the deadlines are looming. As a result my life gets put on a hold a bit, especially my favorite little outlet.
These cookies are helping me survive...
And copious amounts of these (stashed in my desk drawer)...
Quick side note - I had to follow-up and share that last week I made Mel's Kitchen Cafe Roasted Chicken (you roast the chicken on a bed of Rock Salt, not Kosher salt, with a whole lemon inside that has been poked to release juices). This recipe knocked our socks off! It was incredibly juicy! I roast chickens all the time and this recipe sounded so intriguing that I had to check it out. I had no idea that it would transform the way that I will forever roast my chickens.
Monday - Away Basketball Game
Chili Lime Rubbed Flank Steak
Basil Pesto Pasta
Sourdough Rosemary Peppercorn Bread
Fresh Zucchini, Red and Yellow Peppers
Tuesday
Parker's Beef Stew via The Barefoot Contessa (I had planned to make this last week but swapped out another recipe.)
Rolls
Fresh Vegetables
Wednesday - Basketball Game and 8th Grade Promotion Meeting
Mango Black Bean Bowls OR Smoked Salmon Chowder (have not decided yet)
Grapefruit
Artisan Bread
Thursday - Science Fair
Lasagna with Bechamel Sauce via Cook's Illustrated
Fresh Fruit
Friday - First Friday Events in our community
Hawaiian Huli Huli Chicken
Brown Rice
Spinach Salad with Mandarin Oranges
Saturday
Tacos (with Turkey Meat) in Tortilla Bowls
Guacamole
Fresh Salsa
Sunday - Soccer Game
Chicken Noodle Soup via The Pioneer Woman
Fresh Vegetable Tray
Treat of the Week
Mocha Cake - I can't wait to share this recipe! It's amazing and both my parents and the Hubs have coined it "the best cake ever"! I "had to" make it multiple times to (ahem) "fine tune" the recipe not t o mention, snapping a photo. It's so good that it doesn't last long.
Lemon Blueberry Muffins for breakfasts with smoothies
I have always been a huge fan of cheese crackers in all forms (Cheez-Its, Goldfish crackers, Pepperidge Farm style - you name it) so you can imagine my delight when I found this healthier, homemade version that turned out to be a simple process (other than the waiting process of the refrigeration of the dough and the baking/cooling process which is easy but I am just not the most patient person). Long story short, they are delicous, easy and will quickly surpass anything you previously purchase in a store!
3 Tablespoons unsalted cold butter, cut into smaller cubes
1 1/2 cups (7.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 teaspoon salt (I use Kosher salt)
1 1/12 cups (6 ounces) grated cheddar cheese (I use extra sharp)
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 ice cube
Instructions:
1. Combine the butter, flour, dry mustard and salt in the bowl of a mixer and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles crumbs and the butter is integrated with the flour. Add the cheese and mix on low speed for a few more seconds. (This can also be made in a food processor successfully but I prefer a stand mixer so I can double the recipe.)
2. Combine the vinegar with 3/4 cup cold water and the ice cube and let this sit for a minute or two. Add 6 Tablespoons of the vinegar mixture to the dough and mix on medium speed for 20-30 seconds. Continue adding liquid, one tablespoon at a time until the dough clings in a ball, then mix for 30 more seconds. Wrap the ball of dough in waxed paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours but up to 3 days.
3. Fifteen minutes before you are ready to work with the dough, remove it from the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and either grease two baking sheets or use Silpat or parchment paper. Roll dough on a floured surface until the dough is 1/4 inch thick. You can use any small cookie cutters at this point or if you want square crackers you can use a pizza wheel or knife to cut 2-inch squares or a 2-inch biscuit cutter for round crackers.
4. Allow 1-inch between crackers on greased baking sheets or Silpat and bake for 30 minutes or until the crackers are slightly golden. Turn off the oven, but leave the trays in the oven as it cools for at least one hour. The first time I made these I skipped this step and my crackers were still delicious but on the chewy-side so the extra oven cooling time definitely leads to a crispier cracker, but I will admit that it is hard to wait!
These crackers last up to 7 days in a covered container.
You can keep the unbaked dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to four months and the baked crackers can also last in a freezer bag for up to four months (you can crisp them in a 375 degree oven for 5 minutes.)
Now that Valentine's Day is a wrap, and the chocolates and heart-shaped frosted cookies have disappeared, it's time to roll up our sleeves for the real work. It's time to dedicate ourselves to loving our partners with on-going, daily acts of love. It's up to us to continue that loving connection beyond the celebrated love day.
Here's a list of 20 everyday ways we can connect with our partners/mates/spouses/significant others/loves (you get the drift):
1. Before saying goodbye each morning make sure you know one detail of what their day holds that you can follow up on later. The Hubs rocks at this one. He is so good about finding what my day holds (even when I am half awake and hitting the snooze button repeatedly) and then following up later in the evening. It's a great gesture and it means a lot.
2. Greet your mate as if you have not seen them for weeks or months! Watch the reaction you get from a heart-charged reunion. I am admitting I have to work on this one. So often when the Hubs walks in the door chaos is erupting around me. Oven alarms are sounding, someone is whining, the dog is scratching at the door to go outside, someone is inquiring about when dinner will be ready because they are famished, the pasta water is boiling over, the cat is trying to eat the dog food, someone needs to be dropped off or picked up at a sports practice five minutes ago, a phone is chiming a reminder that I was supposed to be at the said practice five minutes ago and the laundry dryer just finished the cycle and clothes need to be folded (because it is the third time I have hit "20 minutes more" so the wrinkles didn't set in the first three times the dryer finished). Needless to say, kissing the Hubs upon his arrival can often be a frantic half-side kiss instead of the lip smack that I would have liked to have planted. But on those days when I stop everything, focus, pause, and celebrate his home with an eye-locked, passionate (I mean it), relieved and so-excited-you-are-here with a kiss to match - it works.
3. Discover a unique way to provide genuine affection and appreciation whether you leave a little love note, paste their toothbrush, make their coffee/tea, pack their lunch, warm their shower/bath water, send a "thinking of you" text message or e-mail - figure out a way to take that little extra step to acknowledge, prepare or provide closure to their day.
4. Kiss every night just because...without reason...beyond the obligatory goodnight kiss or beyond the welcome home greeting.
5. Go outside of your comfort zone and try an activity that your partner loves but you may be reluctant to participate in. I attend a Club Dance class at our gym that predominately attracts females (but there are ALWAYS men too). I had really wanted the Hubs to join me. I assured him that the lights were dimmed and no one would even be able to see him in the class. Mind you, the Hubs is a great dancer. (We even won a dance contest together...but that is a crazy, side story and you must know that we aren't really that great but we were having the most fun and didn't take the contest as seriously as our competition, so we probably won because we were goofy/silly and not out for blood.) But, the Hubs didn't want to attend the class. I assured him that the class is so packed that no one can even focus on another and it is all we can do to keep up with dance instructor, Wesley. So, for my birthday, I convinced the Hubs to join me (because I told him that is what I REALLY wanted and everyone gets one day a year to call the shots, right?) So, he went. He did great. And he probably won't admit it, but he was dripping with sweat because it really is an intense workout (and I think he liked it)! Next up, I am sure he has me slated to go paintballing with him...and I will go (and probably love it)!
6. Dedicate at least one day a week to a weekly "date night" or dedicated "date time" with at least two hours of time spent with your mate. Our weekly date nights have morphed into date nights at the gym although we get our time to talk while decompressing in the hot tub post workout or between sets/reps.
This movie made for a lovely date night!
7. Figure out your mate's "love language" as described by Gary Chapman and try to find one way to shower your love with their "love language" with "acts of service", "gifts", "words of affirmation", "physical touch" or "quality time". This is such a simple premise once you know which of the five love languages your mate resonates with and you will be on your way to effectively expressing love to your mate.
8. Hug for more than just the obligatory greeting or exit type of hug. Doesn't that feel good from your head down to your toes?
We are huggers.
9. Ask your mate to share one bump and one jump of the day (one bad thing, one good thing) and listen...really listen to their response.
1o. Walk in their shoes. Imagine yourself in their routine, their job and their day.
11. Tell your mate what you like about them. One thing. Every day. When you start looking for something new each day, you will call attention and start tuning into the qualities you admire but may never comment on. Last night, I commented on how handsome the Hubs was as he sat immersed reading a Colin Powell book on leadership with his glasses that only make an appearance when he reads. I meant it. He beamed and it melted me.
12. Express yourself so that your partner knows what it is you mean, clearly, without question.
13. Explore a new way of experiencing closeness, affection and intimacy - beyond the everyday.
14. Cook a meal together. There is something about working in the kitchen together with music (like love songs from this list) playing in the background that I just love. Maybe it won't be cooking together for you but working on a project, painting a room or planting a garden together.
15. Celebrate the differences between you and your partner and relish in the fact that you are not identical. Find ways to learn from each other.
16. Get silly! There is something to be said for stripping away your ego and acting foolishly. In drama classes, one of the first acting projects is often centered on dramatizing an embarrassing moment or something that would make you cringe if you saw someone else doing the action. The result of the activity could lead to laughing together uncontrollably, or feeling safe enough with your partner to feeling totally vulnerable.
17. Share your dreams with your partner. Incorporate each other's dreams into a vision of your future together. Dreams change over time. Check in with your partner regularly to find out what they imagine for the future. Talk about ways you can support each other reaching those dreams.
18. Thank your partner for ways they enrich your journey. I can't tell you how often I have thanked the Hubs for cleaning the kitchen after one of my messy marathon cooking endeavors. He knows how much I appreciate it and chances are, he will do it again, knowing all the points he scores from his efforts.
19. Spend quality time together, fully present and engaged in a specific activity, no matter how trivial. Be awake to each other, tuned in and aware. Our lives are so busy that it becomes so easy to be ships in the night (and day). Stopping to carve a little uninterrupted one on one time can be a game changer for many busy couples.
20. Treat each day as it is your last one on earth. (Talk about a shift in thinking!)
This list is just the beginning of ways we can connect with our partners and just begins to touch on ideas - so what are some other ways of connecting that have worked for your relationships?
Food and cooking equal love, right? Regardless, this week is the week of love and we are celebrating in our house! I'm making each person's favorite meal over the course of the week to celebrate Valentine's Day.
Monday- Connor's Birthday Meal, Part 2 - Basketball Game
Picky Palate's Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes - make mashed potatoes in the Kitchen Aid - I can't believe how perfect they turn out and how much time it cuts down on the preparation!
Caramelized Baked Beans
Steamed Broccoli
Grandma Pat's Cornbread - (special recipe from the Hub's grandma, who recently passed away)
Gram's Coffee Crunch Cake - My mom makes this incredible cake, truly, my kids' favorite!
I think that I have established in previous posts that I am a bit of a romantic.
In honor of the upcoming Celebration of Love (Valentine's Day), I started making a playlist of love songs. But I know this list is not all encompassing and merely reflects songs I know by heart or that are in our music library.
While searching for my favorites, I couldn't help but take a musical walk down memory lane. Growing up in the seventies and being a teenager in the eighties, I was heavily influenced by the music being piped through the radio stations and my family's home. We did not have MTV as we lived in a rural area that did not get cable, so I was not privvy to much of the music of the generation, thus limited to the Top Pop songs.
First a few classics:
Someone to Watch Over Me (1920's)
It Had to Be You (1920's)
The Way You Look Tonight (did you know this song was originally from the 1930's?)
Blue Moon (1930's)
Unforgettable - Nat King Cole(1950's)
Chances Are - Johnny Mathis (1950's)
60's
Moon River - Andy Williams
Red Roses for a Blue Lady (1960's but I will admit that this song makes me swoon because I can hear my grandpa "Pop" playing it on the piano and singing it to my grandma.)
Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
The Glory of Love - Otis Redding
When a Man Loves a Woman - Percy Sledge
In My Life- The Beatles
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
Something - The Beatles
You Really Got Me - The Kinks
70's
Let Your Love Flow - The Bellamy Brothers
Your Song - Elton John
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash
How Deep Is Your Love - Bee Gees
80's
High School Dances in the 80's conjure up butterflies and nervous first dances and sweaty palms and braces and shuffling back and forth on the dance floor, sigh...and these songs:
Have I Told You Lately - Van Morrison in 1989 but originally, the song was written in 1945!
Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
Crazy for You - Madonna
Almost Paradise - Mike Reno and Ann Wilson
Endless Love - Lionel Richie and Diana Ross
Hold Me Now - The Thompson Twins
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - The Police
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
Avalon- Roxy Music
True - Spandau Ballet
90's
Love Will Keep Us Alive - The Eagles
I Can Love You Like That - John Michael Montgomery
Falling - Ben Kweller
Thank You - Duran Duran
Only You - Yaz
Hide Your Love Away - Eddie Vedder (originally by the Beatles in the 60's)
Can't Help Falling In Love - UB40
Ice Cream - Sarah McLachlan
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
More than Words - Extreme (hate to admit this one)
Friday I'm In Love - The Cure
2000's
The Luckiest - Ben Folds
Love - Matt White
Cruisin' - Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow
If There's Love - Citizen Cope
Forever Love (Digame) - Anna Nalick
You're Beautiful - James Blunt
You and Me - Lifehouse
Won't Go Home Without You - Maroon 5
100 Years - Five for Fighting
She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5
Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars/Glee Cast
Love Your Love the Most - Eric Church
Chances - Five for Fighting
Yellow - Coldplay
Lovesong - Sarah McLachlan
I Belong to You - Eros Ramazzotti
Bless the Broken Road - Rascal Flatts
Everybody - Ingrid Michaelson
So, I know that in no way is this list complete. In fact, while I was compiling this list, we had a power surge/outage and I lost many titles that I had added. Frustrated, I left my list as is and figured I would make an even more comprehensive list, next February...sigh. But, I would love to know your your favorite love songs! What are they?
A girl in love with the seasons who wants to cram as much as she can into the 365 days of the year to live a life of bliss. Welcome to What Matters Most Now! I hope you will find inspiration and recipes you love.
