Friday the 13th

Really, there's nothing scary about Friday the 13th.  It means nothing that one of my staff members is out, getting ready to take his daughter to college.  And another staff member is out because she found out last night that she has jury duty today.  And another staff member is out because she broke her toe last night.  And another staff member is out on a camping trip.

I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with the fact that it's the 13th day of the month...and it's also a Friday.


So...that leaves me and two other co-workers to tackle all the crazy things that come up.  It helped that one of my peeps brought in a Tastefully Simple Almond Pound Cake to share with us.  Wow...it's really good.  She's having a party and surprised us with a tasty sample today.  Thanks Kerry!


Here's what's left of the cake:

Almond Pound Cake from Tastefully Simple

Enjoy your weekend bloggers!

P.S.  Here's an almond pound cake recipe I found online.  I'm going to try it this weekend.

Mexican Potato Salad

Ok...so here's another vegetarian recipe for you to try. I love potato salad. And I love salsa. This is certainly a new twist and one that I think you'll really enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 large tomato, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1/2 cup salsa
2 T. fresh lime juice
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro or 1 T. dried
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and cook 30 minutes, or until just tender.
3. Remove from the heat, drain, and place in large bowl.
4. Add the corn, tomato, and scallions.
5. Combine the salsa and lime juice.
6. Pour over the salad and mix well.
7. Add the cilantro and a few twists of pepper.
8. Mix gently and serve at once or chill over night.

Yum-O!

What's For Dinner? 470 Crock Pot Recipes to the Rescue!

Is meal planning as popular with you as it is with the Crafty Dad house? Yeah...thought so! It's tough to come up with new ideas. And eating out is EXPENSIVE and usually not the best food you can eat. I love french-fries, but the nutritional value is not a good thing!

With a new year comes new ideas. Or...old ideas made new again. Crafty Mom and I have decided to give our crock pot a workout this year. We're making our favorite dishes like stew, beef roast, vegetable soup and the like. We run out of new ideas pretty fast...so I did some web surfing and found this:

Here's a great collection of recipes you might want to try. The eBook (PDF format) retails for $11.95 but I'm offering it to you for just $4.95. You get immediate delivery -- so you can start cooking up some goodness today! 

eBook -- Ready for Immediate Download!

P.S. Be sure to let me know what your favorite recipe is, okay? 
P.P.S.  Here's more info about the recipe collection.

Sometimes the Simple Things are the Best

Indeed: sometimes the very simplest of dishes are the tastiest. Case in point is my wife's chicken and noodles. It's a family favorite. And mashed potatoes on the side. Oh yes...a match made in food heaven.

She's been making this hearty combination for several years. However, she's been adding something new lately. She adds a couple tablespoons of Watkins Chicken Soup and Gravy Base. And I kid you not, it has made a good thing even better.

Along with mashed potatoes, I like my chicken and noodles topped off with sweet corn (frozen or canned). Yum-O!

December's "Freebie Friday" Announcement

Freebie Friday Coming Up!

The December "Freebie Friday" will be another book (yes...I like books...and I hope you do too). This is a brand new copy of Eduardo Xol's Home Sense -- simple solutions to enhance where and how you live. Photography by Doug Myers. The ISBN is 978-0-06-124976-1 for those of you that might be interested. Eduardo is the designer from ABC's hit show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Some photos of the inside of this beautifully-photographed book.
[Click on the image to get a better view.]

So...how do you enter? It's easy:

STEP 1. Make sure you're signed up by using the form over on the right-hand sidebar of my blog. I just need your name and your email address. That keeps you in the running for the Freebie Friday giveaways;

STEP 2. Leave a comment on this post.

The fine print:

The deadline for the drawing is midnight EST on Friday, December 18, 2009.

The winner will be drawn over the weekend of December 19 and 20.

The winner will be announced on Monday, December 21st.

Since it's the 'most wonderful time of the year' everyone is invited to join in the fun. Whether you live in the US, Canada or anywhere else in the world. Sign up. And Good Luck!

Speaking of books. What are you reading these days. I recently re-joined the Good Cook Club and got four books for $1.00 each. And..I bit the bullet and bought a fifth book for 1/2 price. ('Cuz I'm a sucker for a good deal.) Here's what has my attention:

Currently on my night stand.

• Alton Brown's Good Eats [ISBN: 978-1-58479-795-1]
• Diane Phillips: Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever [ISBN: 978-0-8118-6657-6]
• The Deen Brothers: Ya'll Come Eat [ISBN: 978-0-696-23397-5]
• Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten): Back to Basics Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients [ISBN: 978-1-4000-5435-0]
• Elizabeth Yarnell: Glorious One-Pot Meals [ISBN: 978-1-60751-581-4]
• The Ellie Krieger book, The Food You Crave [ISBN: 978-1-60085-021-9] was a gift from my wife. (Thanks Honey..I love it!) She bought it at the Cleveland Clinic when she was there a few weeks ago for a follow-up visit with the neurologist (for the horrible headaches and sharp pains in the right side of her head.)

In between the One-Pot Meal book and the Food Network magazine is Bon Appetit.

I also subscribe to Food Networks magazine. Mmm, mmm, good.

I guess you might say that food is on my mind these days (every day people, EVERY day!). But... honestly...my wife will be going back to her five-days-a-week work schedule after the Holidays. So...one of my New Year's resolutions is to help with dinner. It's tough for us to figure out what we're going to have for dinner some nights. I thought some fresh ideas might get me in the mood for helping out. We'll see how it goes.

Hope you have a good week. Remember: do something crafty!

P.S. Sorry about all the different photo formats. I was having fun with Picnik today.

Food, Flowers and Frivolty

Not much going on 'craft-wise', so I thought I'd share some more photos from this past weekend at the lake.

Saturday morning we went to the Farmer's Market and they were loaded with vendors and customers. Just the way I like it! We found lots of fresh veggies. Not too many tomatoes yet (we bought the best we could find), but plenty of summer squash, onions, zucchini, green peppers and cucumbers.

Farmer's Market Fare

We bought several and later that day Crafty Mama cooked them up on the grill. Excellent. The boys and I kept saying, "Oh my gosh..this is so good" all through mealtime. (What a great way to make Mama proud: compliment her cooking. Oh yeah!)

Chicken Kabobs, Onions and Green Peppers on the grill

Here's a big shout out to Linda (our neighbor at the lake) and her beautiful lily.

Linda's Lovely Lily

OH, and I'm am doing my part to stimulate the economy. It's been a while since I've added to my family of sewing/craft machines. So....I ordered a new combo sewing and embroidery machine from my favorite shop. Ken's Sewing Center is the best place to find great machines at great prices. Give them a call or look them up on the web. They are also on eBay. Their seller ID is "easyterms". They always have lots of great stuff for sale. Prices are low and many times they offer FREE shipping. And they have nice warranties too. Can't pass that up.

Here's the cool machine that I bought:

Brother Sewing/Embroidery Machine (Model HE-240)

Happy Hump Day. We've made it halfway through the week. Can we do it? Yes we can!

Take care!

Wonderful Weekend!

Hey...hope you had a great weekend. We certainly did. Spent Friday and Saturday nights at the lake. Weather was a bit iffy, but pretty much okay. We're still dealing with bare floors in the kitchen of the park model. The estimate to have it replaced was enormously-large a bit more than we expected, so we're going to do it ourselves. (Oh boy!)

Son No. 2 went swimming while Crafty Mom and Dad sat in the sun and looked at magazines. Which just happens to be one of my favorite things to do. It is total relaxation for me. And the wife and I needed some of that. My wife cooked chicken over the open campfire and it was EXCELLENT. As she was tending to it, Grandma and Grandpa Cook (no relation to either of us, but two of the nicest people we've met at the lake. My kids have 'adopted' them and we call them Grandma and Grandpa) pulled into our site on their golf cart and gave us some wonderful chocolate dessert. Not sure what all was in it, but it had a yummy crust with pecans or walnuts...chocolate pudding and Cool Whip. It was g-o-o-d. Along with chicken, we had green beans, a baked potato and a very simple (I like simple) salad of Romaine lettuce hearts.

Sunday was the family celebration for Son No. 2's birthday. He turned NINE. (Holy cow, where does the time go? Famous parental question, right?) This fall we'll have a high school freshman and a fourth-grader living with us. Geez. He got lots of greenbacks which (I'm sure) he'll spend on baseball, football or basketball trading cards.

The family get-together was a hit. The weather cooperated so we spent the afternoon outside on the patio. The kids played on the swings, kicked a soccer ball around and had a great time. The grown-ups sat around and chit chatted about all the things grown-ups chit chat about. Then it was time for ice cream and cake. Son No. 2 is a big Colts fan, so the cake was white icing with blue trim and a Colts emblem on it. He loved it!

Here are few photos from the weekend:

[Click on the collage for a larger version.]

1. Rose bush that's LOADED with blooms this year.
2. A peony bush...almost all done with blooms..but still pretty enough for a photo.
3. Up close and personal: peony flower.
4. Sleepy boys on Sunday morning at the lake.
5. Crafty Mama's open-fire chicken (YUM-O).
6. Grandma Cook's chocolate dessert (also YUM-O).
7. Son No. 2 in the pool.
8. Salsa, chips and some other goodies.
9. Simple: Romaine lettuce (love that stuff).

A Busy Easter Weekend

It's early Sunday morning and it's already been a busy day. Crafty Mom supervised the traditional Easter egg hide (the Easter Bunny did all the work, you know). And then it was chop the vegetables (for our lunch guests, NOT the Easter Bunny). I love the smell of fresh cut celery. Something about it.....smells like home. It's a comfort smell (if there is such a thing).

Here's a sampling of what we've done so far.

{Click for a larger view}

The lamb cake turned out nice. This is the first time I've used the star tip to decorate a cake. I should have practiced before I frosted Lamby, but he turned out okay. His jelly bean eyes and nose almost makes him too cute to eat. You can see the two-piece cake mold filled to the rim (yes, it ran over in the oven and made a mess). [NOTE TO SELF: put a cookie sheet under the pan next year to avoid a house filled with burnt cake smoke.]

The boys colored eggs last night after we got back from church. It was a great service. Great music, great music and a good time to celebrate the whole reason there is an "Easter". Upper left-hand corner is a shot of some bunny and egg candies I made. I was going to make lollipops, but didn't have any Springy or Easter-y molds. These turned out just fine.

Enjoy your day!

An Easter Tradition

Pickled Eggs and Beets

Every Easter my grandmother made pickled eggs and beets. I just found out that one of my co-workers makes them every Easter too. My co-worker is Polish; my grandmother was not. I'm sure this recipe has some ethnic origin, guess I'll have to do some Google research. [Thank goodness for Google he/she is my best friend when it comes to answering questions.]

Here's the very simple recipe if you're interested:

• 12 hard-boiled eggs (peeled)
• 2 cans of red beets (liquid included)
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 cups of white vinegar
• 1 big GLASS (no plastic please) container to keep them in

In a large pan or stock pot, add the beets, sugar and vinegar. Boil this concoction for a few minutes stirring pretty often. Be careful! The mixture is prone to boiling over so keep an eye on things.

Put the eggs in a glass container and CAREFULLY ladle or pour the beet mixture over the eggs. Stir gently and allow to come to room temperature before putting the lid on. Stir the mixture every few hours to make sure all parts of the eggs become nice and red.

I make them a day or two ahead to allow time for the red to penetrate the eggs all the way to the yolk. To serve, just slice them in half and sprinkle some salt and pepper on them. Yummy.

As you can see from the photo, I use a very large jar with a screw-on lid. This was my grandmother's jar and I cherish it. You can also use a glass cookie jar or other large glass container. DON'T use plastic as the hot sugar-beet-vinegar mixture gets poured on the eggs.

Okay, gotta get back to work. My wife is working again today (poor thing). April 15th is just around the corner and her office is buried with work right now. So..I'm in charge of housework and de-cluttering this morning. If the clutter was less, the housecleaning would be much easier. Wow...now I'm sounding like my wife. Yikes. Must be all the vinegar I used in the eggs and beets.

Happy Easter Weekend

Photo from last year's trip to Toledo Zoo (Butterfly House)

Hey bloggers, just wanted to pop in to wish you a very Happy Easter. It's been awhile since I've posted (which makes me very unhappy). Life has been a bit crazier than 'normal'. I'm never quite sure what 'normal' is these days. But...anyhow there just seems to be too many things to do and not quite enough time to get them done. It's a constant struggle, isn't it? Geez!

We're having a small Easter dinner gathering with my dad, my sister-in-law and her daghter and three grand-kiddos. Dinner will be somewhat atypical (we're not doing ham this year). My boys have decided they no longer like ham. Hmmm, whatever! So..we're having Sloppie Joes, green bean casserole, homemade macaroni and cheese, along with some veggie snicky-snacks. I'm going to make a batch of pickled eggs (my grandma's recipe) and I'll bake the traditional lamb cake. The Wilton cake mold works great. If you haven't tried it, don't be afraid -- go for it. Just make sure you grease and flour the top and bottom pieces. Or you can cheat (like I do) and use Pam or Pam Baking with flour already in it. They work great. There are way too many nooks and crannies in a lamb cake mold for me to brush vegetable shortening all over.

If I get real creative (read: have time) I will dig out my pastry bag and large star tip and make the cake look extra nice. If I'm feeling lazy or don't have the time, I'll just frost the littel guy with my offset spatular and we'll call it 'done'.

My wife and I are going to cut back on the candy we put in the boys' Easter baskets this year. They just don't need all that sugar. My wife (the Tax Accountant) has to work tomorrow, so ... if I wake up early enough (note to self: wake up early tomorrow) I might whip up a pair of boxer/sleep-shorts for the boys. We'll just see how things go. And..I really was planning on cranking out a baby bib for Ava (our niece). I really appreciate my day job, but darn! sometimes it gets in the way of my creative side. By the time I get home each night, my butt is dragging. Sorry for venting on you like that. Does anybody else have that problem? Caffeine only works for so long. If you have the magic answer to get more things done, please share them with me and the blogosphere.

Have a GREAT weekend!

The Wearin' of the Green

Happy St. Patty's dad bloggers! Are you wearing green? Or...do you enjoy being pinched?

The wife and I started the day out with McCann's Quick Cooking Irish Oatmeal. It's good stuff. One cup of oatmeal to two cups of milk made PLENTY for the two of us. I added raisins, flax seed, a sprinkle of sugar and a bit of milk to my bowl. Yummy. A great way to start any day!



Enjoy your day and may the Luck of the Irish be with you!



Learn more about this fun holiday here.

Green Smoothie

Several weeks ago I bought a VitaMix blender. Wow! Talk about commercial grade. That baby is built. And very powerful.

I bought the blender because I KNOW I don't eat like I should. And...I came across a lot of information on Twitter and the Web about Green Smoothies. They are full of vitamins and minerals and they are super quick to make, and they taste good too!

So....I pulled out my credit card, dialed VitaMix's toll-free number and bought one. The customer service rep was great. Within two days, it was on my doorstep. Like magic.

Here's my recipe for a great-tasting Green Smoothie.

6 whole strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 - 1/2 cup of fresh pineapple
1/4 cup frozen mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, etc.)
1 banana (cut in 3-4 chunks)
1 cup spinach leaves (or kale)*
1 cup ice cubes

Add to VitaMix blender in order listed above.

Have blender set on variable speed. Turn on blender and quickly increase from 0 - 9, then switch from variable to high for about 1 minute. You may need to use the plastic push-stick to make sure all the ingredients get down into the blades so they are pulverized and blended to a nice smooth consistency.

Turn the machine off and pour yourself a fantastic, healthy smoothie.

*I've made smoothies with kale and spinach. I prefer the spinach. Kale has a stronger taste that you have to hide with all the fruits. But hey, you be the judge.

VitaMix has tons of recipes on their website, and there are lots of other sources for smoothies on the web. Just search for "smoothie" or "green smoothie" and see what I mean.

Enjoy!



P.S. The VitaMix makes the BEST chocolate milk shakes, too. Just ask my boys.



Photo: © Liv Friis-larsen - Fotolia.com

The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe

SUGAR COOKIES II

(Makes Approximately 40 3-inch Cookies)

4-1/2 cups sifted flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

½ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter baking sheets. Sift together the dry ingredients.

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the dry ingredients, 1 cup at a time, alternating with the milk and vanilla, beating well after each addition. Wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll 1 piece at a time on a floured board and cut with large cookie cutters.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Cool on racks.

From The Martha Stewart Cookbook -- Collected Recipes for Every Day

Kitchen Poetry :: 1

I've joined Toni in her "Kitchen Poetry" photo journal and have this to share with you.

A new recipe (I made it up) and a new (vintage) casserole dish from the thrift shop. It was easy and the presentation wasn't too bad either. My family loved it.

Visit Toni's blog and join the fun.

Cake Decorating 101

Yes, the old man can still wield a bag of icing. In the old days, I made frosting from scratch (with shortening, powdered sugar, etc., etc.). These days, it's store-bought. But...with a flair. In the old days, the cake came OUT of the cake pan before it was frosted and decorated. These days, the cake stays IN the pan. Damn, I'm getting lazy.

Gotta love the folks at Wilton.
They make some really great tools for decorating a cake.

The "Lego Time" was a very last minute addition.
With some help from the Birthday Boy!

Next time: I'm going to back to the 'scratch' method. Store bought is not even close to homemade. Who would have thought, huh?

Happy Easter !

The tradition continues:











From all of us at the Crafty Dad house to all of you:

HAPPY EASTER !

Nothin' says lovin'

Homemade pizza
Originally uploaded by crafty dad

...like somethin' from the oven.

Yummy. Yummy. Homemade pizzas on Sunday. Thanks Honey! You make the best-est pizzas in the universe.

Chocolate banana bread

Chocolate banana bread
Originally uploaded by crafty dad

After seeing Jennifer's muffins, I had to check out the recipe and make some for myself. And...come to find out, my family doesn't really care for chocolate banana bread, so it WAS all for me. And I totally enjoyed it. You should make some of this stuff too!

A Very "Let it Snow" Kind of Weekend

The weatherman was right about this one. We got some major snowfall on Saturday and Sunday. My wife and I had a nasty drive home from my company's Christmas party that was held 25 miles from home. It was the stuff white knuckles are made of, to be sure.

I'm guessing there was about 18" of it in our driveway. Sure, some of that was from the wind making drifts of the pretty white stuff. But let me tell you that it was a TON of snow and it took us a very long time to get the driveway cleaned off.

Sunday was a great day to stay home, so we spent time making chocolate chip cookies (the best ones we've ever made). I also made up a big batch of sugar cookie dough. It's chilling in the fridge right now. Perhaps tonight we'll get out all the cookie cutters and get 'em done. The boys each have their own rolling pin. We got them at an Amish store not too far from home a few years back. So...the annual cookie cutting and baking tradition will continue at the Crafty Dad residence tonight. I promise there will be pictures.

Oh, and I've been working on my dad's stocking cap. And...I'm about 50% finished with a tote bag from my cousin who is in Swim Club. I received a request for one as a Christmas gift. Stay tuned for a photograph or two. It's my first official lined tote bag. So far so good. If you're looking for a great tutorial, go check this out. Thanks Mariko!

Son No. 1 Makes Breakfast

2007_1208asof1208070008
Originally uploaded by crafty dad

Yes, it's true. My oldest son said he was going to make scrambled eggs for breakfast. And a fine, fine job he did.

Thinking back to when I was twelve, I was cooking, cutting the grass, helping with laundry, babysitting my brother and sister (which is a subject worth a blog post all its own!).

So...it was really nice to come downstairs to a plate of scrambled eggs. Just add some ketchup and enjoy.

Thanks Son No.1! You can make breakfast (or lunch or dinner) for me anytime. :-)