It's My Birthday!!

Yeah... so it's another year gone by and September 27th has come and gone and I'm older.  Another year, o well, another year.  

Yay.

No big deal anymore, really.  I'm not at a number I despise (yet) and running out of the 'fun milestones' as far as birthdays go.  But, I still like to think I get a little something special on my birthday.  So.... 

I got myself some new Rachael Ray Pots & Pans set!  I truly wanted green but the closest I saw was blue.  They are beautiful, they are non-stick, they are wonderful and now.... they are MINE!  

I just wanted to share in my happiness with all my friends that read my ramblings.  I can't wait to use them and enjoy them!!  

Happy Birthday to me!! 

Birthday - Red Velvet & Cheesecake Cake

Hey everyone!  Today is my husbands birthday and he loves Red Velvet Cake.  I don't know why, I don't see the appeal, it's very bitter and blah to me, but he loves it.  So.... I thought I'd mix his favorite and MY favorite (cheesecake) and see how things turn out.

I searched the internet for awhile and found many recipes but I mostly stuck to just one.  I used this cake recipe AND cheesecake recipe.  For ingredients and instructions - check this out: 

http://galexicupcakes.blogspot.com/2011/02/ultimate-red-velvet-cake-cheesecake.html

I have made many, many different types of cream cheese frosting on my own and I always taste the powdered sugar.  I am MUCH better at just adding yummies to already made frosting, if needed.  So for this cake, I just used store bought, creamy cream cheese frosting.

I bought a spring form pan (finally) just for this project and was super excited to use it.  I can't believe how much easier everything was and even more fun!!  Can you believe it?  It made cooking more fun.... no, BAKING!  I hate baking, to be honest and now it's fun.  LOVE my spring form pan!  I used it on all three layers... the 2 with Red Velvet and 1 Cheesecake.

May I mention - - do you have ANY idea how much 2oz of food coloring is?  I thought I'd be fine with my normal red that comes in the 4 pack, it was full, I'd be good.  Right?  Nah... that's only 0.3oz.  What the hey?  I had to make an extra run to the store (across the street.... lol) to get two large bottles, 1oz each, of red food coloring.  Holy cow - that's a lot!  My hands look as thought I had a bloody run in with an intruder. Luckily I changed my shirt before I started.  Anyhoo - enough on that.

I'm not a layer person.... (remember the orange layered cake - Jan '12??) .... but I followed these instructions to a T and it turned out great.  I'm proud.  I had to trim a little bit around the edges, but all 3 layers stuck together and were completely servable and edible.  Yay!!  Success!!  (Now, the visual appearance of the outside was not so fancy, but I hid most of that with pretty red sprinkles!!)  

This cake was a bit rich for the little ones - I just ate the middle cheesecake layer.  However, the birthday boy enjoyed it.  Hope he plans on eating the rest.  xoxo

Bacon Pancakes, Makin Bacon Pancakes....

Christopher, my husband, had this once as his ringtone.  It's from a cartoon my boys all watch & love.... and I actually find it quite funny, too.  However - this song is HORRIBLY annoying because it sticks in your head worse than The Song That Never Ends!!!

Today is Chris's birthday and he loves breakfast, so what's better than breakfast for supper??  I'm going to make him eggs & chorizo (Ugh Chorizo - I don't like how greasy it is, but he loves it...), pears with raspberries and granola..... AND...... BACON PANCAKES!!

I've found a few different ways online to make bacon pancakes and a few of them made the bacon soggy.  That is a shame to bacon!  I like crispy, crunchity bacon, so (in 'me-fashion') I winged it.  I baked the bacon first until almost done.  I then poured out my batter like normal but placed the bacon pieces on top.  Sprinkled on some cinnamon (cuz Chris likes them like that) and flipped when ready.  The bacon sizzled up nicely (a FEW got a little too dark.... Ooops) and they looked totally yummy!! 

See how good they look?  

If interested - here's the whole menu for my husband birthday meal.  I have to say it - it's NOT what I would like, but it's his day.... so his choice.  

Pears w/raspberries & granola

Scrambled eggs w/chorizo & cheese

Bacon pancakes with strawberry syrup

Happy Birthday my love!!!  

** Bacon pancakes, makin bacon pancakes.  Bacon Pan-CAKES!!! **

Homemade Tomato Soup??

10:00am **
Hello!  So, today it's chilly outside in South Dakota so I'm feeling like making a soup.  I want to put something in the crock pot, that'll sit, simmer and make the house smell yummy!  So I'm going to try stewing my tomatoes all day and see how things turn out for my soup later tonight.

I have made homemade tomato soup before and it was good, but I'm not sure if stewing all the yumminess first would make a difference?  I have no clue.  Good or bad.  No idea.  So I'll mention how things are going along the way and hopefully I'll learn something from my boredom today.  Hm... hopefully.

I don't know much about tomatoes, I will sit down and learn more about them someday - but for now, please forgive my vagueness in the specific tomato area.  Having said that - here is what I added into the crock-pot just now:

8 'Tomatoes on the vine'
1 Md white onion
1/4 stick of unsalted butter
1 C water
Chicken Bouillon
1/2 C Red Wine
Garlic
Liquid Smoke (Just a tad - I always add too much and it becomes overbearing quickly!!)
Oregano
Basil
Salt & Pepper

I put the crock-pot on a lower setting for 8 hours.... I'll check it in a few and see how things are stewing.

Hehehe.

11:05am**
I've already learned something... after doing some research on homemade tomato soup and stewed tomatoes, I have realized I did NOT cut out the stiff, hard white centers of the tomatoes.  I have taken each half out of the pot and now done that.  I've also realized that I probably should have boiled the tomatoes first, blanched them & then taken off the skins.  Hm... however, it's a bit too late for that, so we'll just see how it goes and I'm sure I'll be able to skin them later, down the road.  Trial and error - that's how I cook.  Oh fun!!



1:15pm **
So I'm having doubts on my stewed tomato soup.  It just doesn't look right.  I used my potato smasher and mushed around a little and the tomatoes crushed easily, which is a good thing, to me.  I mix it all together and the tomatoes are smashed pretty well, but it just doesn't look right.  I taste it and it's yummy.  So....  just like most everything else I make, it looks a bit 'odd' but it tastes great!  So... I'm sticking with it.

However, I did add a few things to it; cumin (I could be blamed for cumin overload - - I love it!!), a small sprinkle of sage, a bit more garlic & a bit more liquid smoke.  I'm trying to give it a more hearty, full taste and hopefully that'll do it.  We'll check it some more in a little bit.

Side note: I did have a thought, while trying to make my tomato soup more hearty... I have a can of Hormel Chili - no beans.  Once the soup is finished I may add half or the whole can of that.  I'm teetering between that possibly ruining my day-long efforts in making a wonderful tomato soup or would it enhance the soup (which could end up badly, honestly) and truly make it hearty?  It's possible, in the end, that I add it to just the kids' portion, so that they will eat it for sure.  Hm.... I'll debate this a little further before it's finished.  Just a thought.  

2:25pm **

I have officially scorched my tongue testing my creation - and it hurts like hell!!  BUT... I am actually very happy with how it's tasting and do not feel like adding a can of pasty, chunky, greasy chili to it would do it any justice.  I do love those Hormel chili's in the right circumstance, however if I'm going homemade, might as well go all out, huh?  So.... no canned chili in my stewed tomato soup.  And my boys will still eat it.... I'm sure of it.


4:00pm **
My tomatoes are making the house smell wonderful and I think they are 'stewed' to their full capacity by now.  I have turned off the crock-pot and took the lid off... hopefully they will cool off enough for me to blend the heck out of them later.  My tongue still hurts but the tomato juices taste even yummier than before. So far, I'd say things are going quite well.

(Pardon the dirty crock-pot.  How in the WORLD could it stay clean with such yumminess inside??)

5:50pm **

So I have blended the stewed ingredients and prepared to heat it up.  I got my pan out, placed a bit of sour cream in the pot as I turned the heat on and then added the soup.  It heated up appropriately and then I made the grilled cheese while the soup heated up.  Overall, it was quite yummy, however I'm not sure if the stewing all darn day made a difference, other than it gave me something to do on my (obviously) very boring day.  

My main problem is that when I cook for a long period of time, I tend to NOT want to eat anything later.  Ugh!  However, this was yummy and much better than canned tomato soup, yet I do not believe I'll spend all day simmering & stewing the ingredients again.  Not for a soup.  It pretty much was a success, though, I do believe.

Hope you enjoyed my adventure today.

Apples!!

Last weekend, I took all my boys to the Apple Festival at the local Apple Orchard and we had a blast!!  We have gone a few times and I tend to forget that it's for fun.... NOT necessarily to get apples.  I buy too many bags to fill up while we're out in the orchard and thus... end up with way more apples than we need!  (And spend more money than I'd like, but it's for the 'experience', right??  I keep telling myself that.  lol)

So now... what to do with all these apples??  My littlest boy, Micah, LOVES apples and he can eat and eat and eat them, so that takes care of a few, but we are still left with FOUR bags of apples that I need to find recipes for.

Unfortunately, I have NO idea what kinds of apples we have.  There are signs at the beginning of each row of trees, but we don't tend to follow the lines very well - - we didn't go up and down the rows, to keep track.  Oh no!!  We weaved in & out, back & forth, side to side.... and have NO clue what types of apples we have.  

** ALL my boys.  I love them so much!!  **

Now I'm on a hunt for some yummy, creative and fun apple recipes to use up my stash.  Whenever I find some... I will, of course, let you know how they go.  Good, bad and yummy!!

Oh.... these apples!!