Me and My Adult (so-called) Apron

My diet has been working wonders for me health-wise, but all this cooking at home has been hard on my clothes.  I finally broke down and bought an apron because I was too lazy to make one.

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I got this Me & My Adult Apron from Hobby Lobby.  The site says 9.99 but I don't think I ended up paying that much so definitely check your stores.  Anyway-it's plain and serviceable . . . but I take issue with the "adult" sizing.  Sure it gets the job done-but that bib area . . . would barely cover one boob.  However much weight I end up losing, I'm still going to have a broad chest and back.  Also, the neck loop is way too long which is odd because if my torso was that long, this apron would barely cover to my waist.  The proportions seem weird is all.

So . . . I'll have to make an apron anyway.

Check these out, they are gorgeous

I don't know if I have written about these Polish cookie aprons before but I really want one.  I think I can make one that will be broad enough across the chest and provide enough coverage across the sides.  The silhouette is simple enough, but I am also considering some alternatives for fastening other than the ties.  I want it to fit snugly and I don't want to worry about the ties loosening.  

Ideas:

• Pull over style with a fabric covered wide elastic band in place of apron strings
• Heavyweight cotton in muslin color-I actually really like that plain canvas color
• Hanging loops so I can hang it on the pantry shelves like my current apron

Going Primal Breakfast Style

(Adapted from Breakfast Supreme by Laurie Harms available here from allrecipes.com)

I love breakfast.  I really hate waking up and cooking it. 

Last year I discovered this lovely thing called the breakfast casserole.  You bake it, much like your average lagagna, and you have food that can be cut into squares and microwaved at your leisure.

Most of the recipes that I’ve come across are a little heavy and robust for summer but since the mornings have started to get a bit nippy I figured now was as good a time as any to bring back the breakfast casserole.

All Images are My Own

And can I say . . . thank God!  We’ve burned up half a pack of bacon in the last two days and ended up at the Waffle House in defeat.  Not affordable or sustainable.

Here’s how I cooked it. 

You will need:

• 1 pound pork sausage
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 1 green bellpepper, chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 cups sharp shredded cheddar cheese
• 12 eggs (I know!)
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon (or to taste) maple syrup

Here’s what you do

• In a large skillet, I used our cast iron chicken fryer, add butter, sausuage, ground beef, bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms.  Drizzle with a little maple syrup.  Brown over medium heat until meat is mostly brown.
• Drain
• Prepare a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.  You might want to give it a light spray with cooking oil.  I lined ours with aluminum foil . . . because I’m lazy.  Seriously all it is for is to keep me from having to wash the pan later.
• Beat eggs
• Add a layer of cheese to the bottom of pan, then add eggs.
• Add the sausage mixture
• Drizzle with heavy cream
• Top with remaining cheese

At this point you have two options.  You can store the casserole in the refrigerator overnight for baking in the morning, or you can go ahead and cook it.

Cooking Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bake for forty minutes or until eggs have set.
• Remove from oven and let stand for ten minutes. 
• Slice, spoon, fork and serve!

It might not be pretty-but it sure is tasty!

Yum! Chili Verde

First, for all you chili verde purists out there, I have no idea how egregious the recipe I'm about to share will be for you.  I also . . . kind of don't care enough to look it up.

Second, Wes loves chili verde--so much so that I am no longer allowed to make it.  Here is how we do it.

Ingredients

• 3-4 pounds of pork
• Tomatillos (the big can of whole tomatillos)
• Salsa Verde (we use two or three of the small cans of the Herdez brand)
• Large Onion
• Garlic (one or two cloves . . . but we love garlic so we go crazy)
• Green Bell Pepper
• Chopped Jalapenos (to taste)
• Salt (to taste)

The Action

• First prep work.  Cube or grind three to four pounds of pork.  We usually buy the big slab o' pork shoulder or butt or something. Chop your onions, garlic and bell pepper.
• Drizzle a little olive oil (or whatever oil you prefer) in a pan.  We use a big cast iron chicken fryer.  Brown the meat.
• Once the meat is browned you have two options.
• One, you can drain the excess fat or leave it alone and continue using the same pan.
• Or, you can transfer the works to a crockpot.
• Next, add the remaining ingredients and turn the heat down to simmer.  When adding the tomatillos you might want to drain them first.  They are packed in a lot of juice and they cook down a lot as well.  Not draining them can make the finished product really liquid.  If it is too liquidy for you-try thickening it up with a little flour.
• Slow cook for as long as you want-we usually cook ours for four to six hours.
• Enjoy!

I might be betraying my country roots here, but Wes and I find that nothing complements a pot of chili as well as good old fashioned sweet Jiffy cornbread.

Project Wedding Cakery

I talked briefly about wedding cakes here.

Since then, I've mentioned it a time or two but I didn't really go into any details.  I was consumed with invitations and The Dress.

I finally have that mostly sorted.  So you know what that means don't you friends?

CAKE TRIALS! 

(so awesome!)

All Images are Mine

This weekend while Wes was at work, the Kid and I whipped up a dozen cupcakes.  I wanted to test two cake recipes and two buttercream frosting recipes without actually making two full-sized cakes.  Here they are . . . yeah-gotta work on the frosting thing.  Also-instructions from Baking 911 were invaluable.  I am not a cupcake baker by any means and the last batch I made was seriously, seriously mutated looking.  They have excellent advice here that results in flatter tops and neater looking cupcakes.

Anyway, we have a chocolate bacon cake with chocolate buttercream (yes, bacon) and a cream cheese poundcake with vanilla buttercream.  I made both of these buttercreams with mostly butter by the way-I added some shortening to thicken it up and even out the texture but that was beceause I ran out of butter.  Yeah-I'm a effing professional over here.

It's official, everything's better with chocolate.  The Kid, who doesn't like anything and is suspicious of pretty much everything that isn't fried loved the chocolate bacon cupcake.  He smacked it down and not even crumbs were left.  Amazing.  Even Wes, who doesn't like chocolate (I KNOW!) liked that cupcake.  He also liked the cream cheese pound cake.

As I am not all about the cake in general I was satisfied to declare winners.  Our two tiers will be chocolate bacon and cream cheese poundcake.

Let's talk about frosting for a minute. . .

We really liked the chocolate buttercream recipe that we used.  It wasn't super sweet-it had a milder chocolatey flavor-but something about it really complemented the darker, deeper chocolate of the cake.  We are definitely content with that one.

The vanilla buttercream . .  was vanilla.  It was kind of boring.  It was still good, but I think we need a little something more.

I think my next trial will be all about fillings and frosting flavors.

Stay tuned for more wedding cakery.  I still have to practice decorating . . . so . . . that should be entertaining for everyone involved, lol.

Wedding Adjacent

So I've noticed a phenomenon recently in my wedding planning journey.  In the process of unplanning the wedding, Wes and I have been spending the wedding budget on things with long-term usefulness.

Exhibit A: The Mixer of My Dreams

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We bought this stand mixer.  The mixer I've been lusting after.  And we got a pretty decent deal.  Why did we buy this?  Well, I've mostly written about Project Wedding Dress so far however, there is also a Project Wedding Cake on the horizon as well.  So far Wes has made a pound cake.  I'll be testing out the dough hook soon and bake some bread.

Exhibit B:  A Fitting Assistant

Source

Continuing on with Project Wedding Dress requires more hands and agility than I have.  Fitting on myself is just hard and while Wes is a real help, I just wish I had a little more control over the whole process.  Hence, the dress form.  Beyond Project Wedding Dress, I also plan to make a lot more of my own clothes.  I'm pretty much over ready to wear clothes that just don't fit right.  Project Wedding Dress has really given me a lot of confidence in my construction abilities.

Both of these are fairly major purchases.  (Of course, anything over fifty bucks is a major purchase to me.)  However, they both will have usefulness that will outlive the wedding. 

Yay! for longevity.

Wedding Cakery

How about some cake porn?

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Clearly there is a theme.  I have a weakness for ruffled cakes.  They're simple but textured.  I think they're gorgeous.

You might also remember that along with my dress project we also decided that we would have to make our own wedding cake as well.  So my realistic side is thinking that most of these beauties will just be dreams.  I mean, Youtube can only take you so far right?

But you know I have to at least give it a try.  I already started researching construction techniques.  As far as I can tell, the ruffle cakes are all made out of fondant.   Zero experience there but from what I've heard, it doesn't taste all that good.  So I am also looking for buttercream icing inspiration too.  I love that kind of spackle effect on number two.  Although spackle is maybe not an appetizing visual image.

And what about un-frosted cakes?  These are seriously gorgeous as well.  The one on my inspiration board looks like it has been dusted with powdered sugar, but how pretty!

Cake trials will need to start soon and I better get started practicing decorating sooner than later.  I made Wes a pound cake the other week that killed my hand mixer.  Like flames shooting out, killed it dead.  So . . .  could there be a new mixer in my future?  A new AWESOME, lust-worthy mixer?

We shall see.

Eat Like a Caveman

So lately Wes and I have been experiencing with this little thingy called the Primal Blueprint.  It's less a diet, more a lifestyle and so far it's been pretty nice.  Cutting out a lot of carbs-not all because well. . .  cookies and chocolate. . .  has had some pretty interesting results.  Wes' maybe-maybe-not-eczema is not as severe.  He's no longer scratching like a flea infested dog all the time.  The red meat is making me pretty damn jolly and we've both lost weight without trying or obsessing about it.

Plus, we get to eat meat and we don't have to feel guilty about it.  I, like Anthony Bourdain, apparently, find something vaguely suspicious about vegetarians.

Check out my new standard lunch.

Yeah, I had already demolished half of it, but that is lovely, lovely, satisfyingly crunchy romaine lettuce, tuna, goat cheese, and mandarin orange slices.  Delish.

Wherein Alton Brown Makes a Fool of Me

This. . .

Made me think I could do this. . .

But it didn't mention this!