Spiced Cranberry Sauce

What to do with all of these wonderful Cranberries?

This time of year cranberries are in every store. These tart little wonders have become one of my favorite flavors of the season. Here is a recipe I whipped up based on a normal cranberry sauce. My cranberry sauce has been put into freezer jars to be used when cranberries are no longer in season.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

1 C. Water
1 C. Sugar
12-16 oz Cranberries
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Clove
1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1. In a sauce pot bring water to a boil.
2. Stir sugar into boiling water creating a simple sugar.
3. Stir in cranberries and spices. Bring pot back up to boil. Cook til berries burst and liquid is dark red (approx 5 minutes)
4. Turn down heat and let mixture simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Poor into containers and let cool to room temperature.
6. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving at table.
Note: If freezing pour into jars and allow to cool to room temperature. Wipe edges of jars with a clean cloth and secure with lid. Label your jars and freeze. Remove to refrigerator 1 day before use to thaw completely.

Makes roughly 2 pints

Samhain - Halloween Wine Bottles

Because it is still fairly warm outside right now I wanted to wait as long as possible to carve our jack-o-lanterns. Too early and they would have rotted for sure. Well... I waited too long and our commissary was out when I went to pick up out pumpkins, and I was too spoiled by $0.15/lb pumpkins back home to pay $5-10/pumpkin out in town. This craft was my end result.

Materials:

• Wine bottles in green, amber, or clear glass  (free because they were left over from the wine)
• Spray paint, enamel kind works best on glass (About $3.75 a can)
• I bottle black paint, acrylic or enamel will work. I used leftovers in my stash. ($0.50 to $1.50)
• Small Paint brushes
• Pencil or Marker
• Tarp or more Newspaper of spray painting on 
• Newpaper 
• Papertowels
• Jar of water, to clean brush in.
• Painter's tape ($1.00/roll)

How To:

Taping the neck of the bottles.

1. If you are making the pumpkin version try using a green or amber glass bottle. Wrap the neck in painter's tape. If you don't have a colored glass bottle you could always paint the bottle neck later. Don't bother taping ghost bottles you will paint it all white. 
2. In a prepped area spray paint the bottles your choice in colors. Enamel paint should only need two coats and sticks to glass well. If you get the "all surface" kinds they will run and need as many as 5 coats. 
3. Spread out newspaper, and mark out your faces on the bottles **AFTER** the spray paint is set.
4. Paint your faces on the bottles in black paint. I did this in two coats so the faces would be stark and inky. Try experimenting with different painting techniques (stipple or smudging) if you like.
5. Allow to dry and use them inside or out! Wouldn't it be fun to put glow sticks or lights in them? 

Edit 10-31-2012: Using a primer on your bottles will make the paint more even, and you will need fewer coats total.

Finished wine bottles.

Happy Halloween 

Pitting Cherries Tip

So I was stumbling around the internet.... or was it old magazines... and found a sweet tip. I honestly don't remember where I saw this or I would give them credit, but it is an amazingly simple idea. If you find yourself needing to pit cherries, but leave them whole, usually you need a fancy cherry pitter. They sell them at most home goods or kitchen supply stores and are about $15. The cheep alternative method to this is using an empty glass bottle and a chopstick. Below is a step by step I took on my camera phone.

You need a glass bottle, washed cherries, a chopstick, and a bowl for your finished cherries.

Place the stemless cherry stem side up in the opening of the bottle,

Push the narrow end of the chopstick through the cherry. The pit will go down into the bottle with most of the juice splatter. I would still wear an apron or old clothing to do this part.

Some of the Cherries were not as ripe as others and so the pit -loosely- stayed in the cherry. Run the chopstick through it in the bowl to be sure you get out any difficult pits.

Isn't that cool? When you are done throw away the bottle for easy clean up.Be sure to use a glass bottle and not a plastic one. The plastic will be too light and will buckle under any pressure you put on it.  Now get out there and snag some of the the last cherries this year and prep them to be used until they are back in season next year!

Pie Crust without a Mixer

So we are newly weds, and we do not have the room or funds for a big fancy blender. Its probably a good thing my mommy taught me to use this amazing little tool called a pastry blender. They aren't popular anymore, but when you are short on time and funds pastry blenders can be the difference between delicious homemade baked goods. I purchased mine at a antique mall (made in the 1920's) but you can find them in the baking section at any retailer. Make sure that you do not get one that wobbles or swivels when you are cutting your butter or shortening into your flour.

Pastry blender from the 1920's. If you get an antique pastry blender be sure to wash it by hand  to make it last longer.

So the recipe that I have started using for pie actually comes from The Chew's Carla Hall, with a few minor changes. 

Ingredients:

• 2/3 c warm water
• 2 tbsp sugar (for desserts, for pot pie only use 1tbsp)
•  1 tsp fine salt
• 1 c wheat flour and 1 c white flour sifted
• 1/4-1/2 c flour for board
• 8oz cold butter, cut into cubes

First dissolve the sugar and salt into the water. Then put the water in your refrigerator. 

Next mix your wheat and white flour together. I use these two types of flour as a way to make it healthier, without loosing flavor or texture. Add your butter to the flour and cut with a pastry blender. When the butter is completely incorperated it will look sandy.

The last step is to take the water out of the fridge and pour it in the center of the bowl. Work your flour-butter mixture into the water with the pastry blender until it is incorporated completely. Divide in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Let them chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before using them because your dough will be sticky at room temperature. Soooo..... That only took me 15-20 minutes. The dough will freeze well if you want to make a large batch. Just remember. You don't need a Kitchen Aid to make delicious crust. You just need a pastry blender and some time. 

How to use your Dough?

Roll it out to be the same size and shape as your baking dish. Don't forget about the sides and leaving some extra to pinch at the end! Pre-bake this crust for about 15 minutes. Then add your filling and bake your pie according to your recipes. 

Cream Cheese Dip for Berries

I originally made this as a frosting to put on cinnamon rolls and now have found that it is amazing on fresh fruit. Try a drizzle on a cup of fresh strawberries or raspberries for a decadent but delicious snack.

Cream Cheese Dip

8oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4-1/3 c of milk

Cream the sugar, vanilla, and cream cheese together in a bowl. Move mixture into a heavy bottomed sauce pan and add milk a splash at a time. Stir mixture until everything is incorporated and add milk until dip is the consistency you desire.

Store excess in a glad ware container in the fridge, after it cools.

Yummy for Dessert or Breakfast! 

Scrap Quilt

Finished Quilt on our Bed.

Any good crafty person will probably have a few projects going at once. A bad crafty person will let them sit and never finish them. I make sure to set deadlines and goals for finishing my projects. Sometimes I have to adjust them to be more realistic, but I always try to finish them. 

First completed row of the quilt.

This Quilt is just one example of that in my own home. While my husband was deployed I worked on this to keep me busy. Any other military spouses know what I mean? Those long nights when you can't sleep so you work yourself into exhaustion? Well, its one of the things that works for me. I used a someone else's pattern so I wont be posting it for sale on etsy, but I can make pillows after altering the size of the motif a bit if anyone is interested. I made it a point to use this project as a "stash buster." I only used remnants or leftovers from other projects to make all of the squares. Tonight I stitched on the batting and the backing to make a soft quilt. I hope this inspires a few of you to use your scraps too :)

DIY Plunger Caddy

Please tell me that I am not the only one who is grossed out by putting a dirty plunger on the bathroom floor. Well, I have come up with a re-purposed solution to our problem, but be sure to do it ahead of time and save yourself extra sanitizing. But don't forget to sanitize when you clean the bathroom if you had to use it!

You Will Need:

• clean, plastic 1 gallon milk jug
• heavy scissors or a craft knife
• marker

So this is really simple. Use the marker to draw the line you will be cutting on the judge. Cut the jug. This is the remains of mine when I was done cutting.

 

Round of the edges edges off so your plunger does not get caught. And you are done. I plan to go back and spray paint a replacement for this later. But now it is functional and easy to clean. Try it !

Are you Bored with your Food?

So, lots of my friends love to cook. It might be one of the reasons we get along so well :) A couple of them have asked where I have been coming up with all of these new recipes, and all I can respond with is The Chew. Have you heard of the new addition to ABC daytime? It got on the air last September and replaced some of the soap operas whose viewership was lagging. I have to say that even though I like a good soap while I am doing dishes, I have gotten so much more out of The Chew. Think of a cooking show from food network, with lots of fun and comedy, and a little bit of talk show.

I have tried so many new things that I just never would have thought of before thanks to this show. And my husband says that my cooking skills are becoming legendary among his co-workers. I honestly don't watch it during the normal airing time because our TV in only hooked up for movies and Netflix, but it is available on ABC's website with half of the commercials. Its a great option for those of us who are super busy during the day.  They store up to 5 episodes on their website (a week of airtime). Check it out today. One episode will take you under 45 minutes including commercials.

Another website that has changed the way I cook is Pinterest. There are lots of websites out there that let you create a recipe box of stuff they have and store thousands of recipes from different users. My problem has been that I end up need an account with all of them and then I have trouble keeping track of what website had which amazing dish. With Pinterest- an online pin board- I can create links directly to the recipes I want from almost any website. I can also see what other yummy stuff other people on their network are posting and link that. Lots of bloggers are getting their recipes and entertaining tips out there thanks to the cute photos they take. Just be sure to try stuff after you "pin it." It can get addictive to just spend all your time finding recipes, but what good is that if you never make them?

The Chew's official Website

Pinterest Main Page

Assembling the New Dresser and Mirror

So earlier this week we purchased a very nice and solid bedroom set from an officer who is moving soon. Has both a head and foot board that we still need to look at and attach. I did get a chance to put my stagecraft skills to use once again. The mirror was cut down from the original scary, super mirror from the early 80's which means the supports were not the same. Hubby has been busy and couldn't remember how the former owner said to assemble it. When he went into work I started playing with it and thinking through what we were given.

I figured out that we had to independent types of support. Before we kept trying to link it all together which didn't line up. So with my little had screwdriver and a lot of care, I screwed everything back in place. 

At this point I attached the second plank and assessed my work. We are missing 2 screws, and the two on the top of the planks aren't biting into the wood of the mirror anymore. It is sturdy enough for now. While its cool this week I will be heading to Lowe's to pick up a handful of new screws to reinforce my work. Not bad for someone who can't use power tools. 

Quick Homemade Guacamole

I remember being a little kid and hating avocados. They were always a special treat mom would get for herself when they were on sale. As a teenager I worked in fast food and I tried the guacamole we served on top of our taco salad- still not loving it. In college I picked up a taste for fresh avocados on sandwiches and wraps. And then there was real guacamole. The first really good guacamole I ever had was made by my friend Phil after I moved to Arizona. His secret is simple: guacamole should still be made mostly of avocados, not filler. Now that I live so far south the ingredients to make good guacamole are much cheaper and fresher than I have ever experienced, so I started experimenting with making my own recipe. Share it if you like it :)

Guacamole


2-3 ripe avocados
4 medium to large cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander (cilantro seeds)
Juice from 1/2 of a lime
Fresh cilantro to taste

Smash and peel garlic, then mince finely. If you have a garlic press you can use it too. Let this sit on the cutting board while working avocados. I read a study that says this help the garlic's good for you chemicals bloom and be more effective.

Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Spoon small pieces of avocado into the bowl. Smaller pieces will smash faster. Add garlic after the first avocado is in bowl. Add the second avocado and smash mixture with a fork until it reaches desired smoothness. Add remaining spices and lime juice, and be sure to taste as you go to make sure you like the blend. Mix everything together one last time and store in an air tight container until ready to serve.

Happy Friday!

Not a "Standard Issue" Wife

Xandar makes me smile everyday, but the best days are the ones where I am shown as an atypical wife. Every Marine out there has heard, or has, a story about the crazy significant other who was completely focused on themselves. 

On the whole, I don't think I am that different from any of the other wives I am around. What might set me apart is my particular skills set, which many of my friends have commented resembles a 1950's housewife more than an educated 21st century woman. You know what? I am content because I have a little of column A and B. There is very little that I do which is natural talent, its all just years of practice. 

How can you be a "Non-Standard Issue" Wife too? I am always learning and trying new things. I don't have a fixed work schedule I help and take care of my husband - and his Marines. Find the balance in life. Do stuff for you, but don't forget to do stuff for him too. Roll with the punches. Chances are that Hubby doesn't like the new situation either, but when we complain about what they can't change it only makes them feel worse. Tailor this a bit to who you are as a person- they married you not a cardboard cut out.

Next time: Quick and Easy Guacamole