Wedding Pictures!

I created a small website to post all my vendor reviews and a link to all of our wedding pictures. Feel free to check it out!

http://ourweddingreviews.googlepages.com

Glutten Free Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Made especially for those people who cannot have flour. I found this recipe somewhere in the internet when looking for something I could make for Jim's mom a couple Christmas's ago. It was a huge success and I have made them every year ever since!

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix ingredients together. Form into small balls and place on baking sheet. Press with spatula or fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges turn golden brown. Cool on rack.

Easy as pie.....errr cookies!!

Shawl for Mama!

Using size 50 needles aka "Speed Stix". I knitted this shawl/shrug in only two sessions. It was a standard stockinette stitch (knit a row, purl a row). It required using 3 strands of a bulky weight yarn. It was basically a large rectangle that I then folded in half and seamed the edges leaving just enough opening for an armhole. I would like to add a button to clasp it in the front if wanted. It was a lot of fun working with the speed stix. They were a bit awkward at first because they are HUGE and they look like drum sticks!! See a pic here!!

I tried to get a good picture of what it would look like on, but I am no good at taking pictures of myself and didn't have anyone around at the time to do it for me. I'm sure you get the idea though!

Wedding Pic Preview

Need I say more....

Some Bootie!

To welcome our new niece home, I started knitting some little baby booties. I have one done!

New Aunt and Uncle!

Jim's sister had a beautiful baby girl this weekend! Welcome to the world Kathleen!

Garlic Parmesan Pork Chops

Yummy pan fried Pork Chops! Found the recipe on my iPhone through the "Big Oven" application.

4 1/2 inch boneless pork chops
1 c. grated parmesan cheese
1 c. seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
1 TBS olive oil
Italian Seasonings, Salt and Pepper
3 cloves of garlic
Olive Oil for frying


Pat dry pork chops. Season with italian season, salt and pepper. Set up 3 shallow dishes in a row with the following to bread the chops:

One dish with parmesan cheese
One dish with egg and oil
One dish with seasoned bread crumbs

Dip pork in parmesan cheese, then dip in egg, and then dip in bread crumbs. Place coated chops on a wire rack with a baking sheet underneath to catch the drippings. Let sit for 5 minutes.

If you want to do this ahead of time, you can place breaded chops in wax paper in the refrigerator for up to an hour.

When ready, fill frying pan with olive oil, enough to come half way up the thickness of the chops. Chop fresh garlic and add to the heated oil. Fry garlic until brown. Remove.

Place chops in oil and cook for approximately 5 minutes. Turn over and cook the other side. Be sure to cut into them or check the temperature with a meat thermometer to make sure they are cooked through.

Enjoy!

New Hobby

Well, not only did Crystal make dinner for us earlier this week, but she also taught me a few basics about knitting! She is just a beginner herself, but I must say, she taught the basics very well! I am on my way to making a scarf. It has definitely not been all that easy though. I've had to tear out my work about 4 or so times because I'm not sure how to fix the mistakes I make...especially since I can't really tell what I did wrong, I just know something's wrong! I'm thinking of trying to find a class or some kind of group to attend, but so far everything I have found has been too pricey. So I may just end up getting a book and try to teach myself.

Crystal's Baked Pasta and Bruschetta.....from scratch!

My good friend Crystal was in town this weekend for our 10 year High School Reunion and stayed with Jim and I for a few days. As a "Thank You" she wanted to make us dinner last night. This was no ordinary Monday night dinner, this was a go all out, "pull out the table cloth and cloth napkins" kind of dinner. I was her lovely assistant as we proceeded to make a homemade pasta sauce for the Baked Pasta, fresh Bruschetta as an appetizer, an awesome salad with homemade red wine vinaigrette, and for dessert: Ghiradelli Brownies with homemade whipped cream and freshly melted chocolate (none of that squeeze bottle stuff!). It was amazing!!

Bruschetta
(Makes 18-20)




Fresh Baguette
2 Roma Tomatoes (chopped)
1/4 red onion (chopped)
1/2 ball of fresh mozarella (chopped into small cubes)
2 large cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
Splash of red wine vinegar
Couple leaves of Fresh Basil (finely chopped)

In a small bowl, add olive oil, splash of vinegar and fresh garlic. Then add tomatoes, onion, mozzarella and basil. Toss gently. Set aside and let marinade for an hour or two for the best flavor.

Slice the baguette into 1/2 slices. Brush the top and bottom of each slice with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and broil each side on high for one minute.

Top with tomato mixture and enjoy!

Baked Pasta
(Makes a ton!)



Sauce:
1/2 white onion
1 package fresh Bella mushrooms (if desired)
3 roma tomatoes
2 to 3 cloves garlic
1 lb. ground beef
2 large cans of peeled stewed tomatoes with sauce
2 small cans of tomato sauce
Fresh Basil
Fresh Oregano
1 can beef stock
Salt and Pepper
Italian Seasoning and Savory Seasoning

Other Ingredients:

1 lb box of your favorite shaped pasta (we used Penne)
Mozarella cheese


In a large stock pot, saute onions and mushrooms in olive oil until onions are translucent. Add ground beef and chopped garlic. Cook until beef is browned.

In the meantime, boil a small pot of water. After making a small "X" in the bottom of each roma tomato, place in boiling water to blanch. After a couple minutes, drain hot water and immediately place tomatoes in cold water to stop the cooking. The skins should practically fall off. Remove them and set tomatoes aside.

Beginning adding the rest of the ingredients to the stock pot with the beef mixture. Squeeze and pull apart the whole tomatoes, use the juice as well, do the same with the fresh blanched roma tomatoes. Add tomato sauce, beef stock, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and seasonings. Stir and bring to a boil. Let simmer and reduce for at least two hours. For best results, let simmer and reduce for 6-8 hours. This could be a perfect crockpot recipe as well.

Make pasta according to instructions on the box.

When pasta and sauce are completed, add pasta to the pot of sauce and mix. Transfer the pasta and sauce to a large casserole dish. Cover with mozzarella cheese and broil in the oven on low until cheesy is browned and bubbly. Keep an eye on it, the broiler acts fast!