Part time work = Part time crafting

It's Christmas time!! Love me some holiday activities like Christmas shopping.. no, wait, I did all of that already. Oh!! Chris and I can get our annual holiday ornament... no, that's done, too.

Put up decorations? No room in our mini-apartment *hmph*

Wrap presents? Nupe, done..

Crafts? ..I could do crafts!!!

YES.

Bank Account Balance : $5.32

...dammit.

Well, what could I do that's free? Maybe I could just use whatever I have on hand? Wait, I got rid of all my crafty things because I never used them...

I hate me.

Well I guess it's another long day of Pinterest and Reddit and WAIT PAINT CHIPS ARE A THING AND FREE AND I HAVE SCISSORS AND GLUE YESSSSSSS.

*insert paint chip gathering montage here*

Ohhhh.. yeaaaah.

Since it's wintertime and I'm in the part of the country where "snow" is a foreign concept, I went for pale blues/purples/greens with a smattering of white/grey to give a more snowy feel to these. I also got a few larger "sample books" with thicker paper for larger projects and support. Eventually I'll need to get red/green chips for more Christmasy projects.

***

The Inspiration

Image source: Meine Grune Wiese

Image Source: Lia Griffith

***

The Result (so far)

There'll eventually be more, but my fingers decided that I was done playing with the X-Acto knife for the day. I'm pretty stoked about the results so far! The "mountain" in the background could be done better (and might be re-done on another large sample book). I'm not overly fond of how asymmetrical it is. BUT overall it's pretty neat lookin. :)

bamf

And then, 3 years later...

Felt like talking too much again. Also, it seems like the title of this blog applies really well to my life in general, and it was being wasted as an abandoned cooking blog.

So now it's an everything blog.

So there.

*** Quick bullet points of things that have happened in the last three years:

• Got poor
• Moved in with Chris' parents
• Chris faced the trials of HVAC and came out a boss
• Got a new job as a not-a-groomer
• Got laid off as a not-a-groomer
• Got engaged
• Became a groomer again at friend's shop
• Signed up for school

...I think that's it. So now it's wedding planning and garden planning and occasional crafting and ranting.Definitely not just sitting around and surfing pinterest too much nope not me.

bamf

Roasted Chicken for Dummies

I love roasted chicken. Fer serious. Whole chickens are super cheap, they're super easy to cook, and you can do so much with the leftovers.

When I was originally trying to be money conscious I started looking into whole chickens and what I could do with them. I found a few recipes for roasting them that were pretty inspiring; they all seemed really straightforward! So I would go out, buy a chicken, set about following the recipe, and put it in the oven for however long it called for.

It never. Ever. Ever cooked all the way through. Wtf? I seriously tried FOUR different recipes trying to figure this out. Some called for flipping, some called for changing temperatures, some wanted a tin-foil tent, some wanted it lifted. Holy crap, dude, I was confused.

It finally took moving, losing our internet because we couldn't afford it, and stealing several cookbooks from my mother before I finally came across it. The recipe. Oh yes. It was different! Higher temperature, longer cooktime, raise the chicken... it all made sense.

It came out of Cooking For Dummies. >_> Embarrassing.

I didn't follow it exactly (it called for some odd procedures and dammit I just wanted to cook a bird), but from what I did do it totally worked amazingly.

Roasted Chicken For Dummies

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken about 3 lbs*, washed and rinsed out
Half a stick butter, melted
Salt
Pepper
Assorted dried aromatic herbs
2 cups water
1 Lemon, sliced in half
1 Onion, chopped into wedges

Special kitchen things you'll need:

A brush
A cooling rack
A rectangular deep baking dish the cooling rack will stay on top of

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.

Making sure your chicken doesn't have any gizzards, livers, or whatever else it comes with inside of it, rinse it out. If you want, save those innards for chicken stock later.

Place the cooling rack on top off the baking dish, making sure it won't slide off suddenly. Put the chicken breast side up on top of that.

Brush the melted butter liberally all over your chicken. Juice the lemons over the top of the chicken trying to get it as evenly as possibly. Stuff the lemon and onion inside of the chicken. Salt and pepper all over.

Pour the water into the baking dish. Add your aromatic herbs to the water. I usually toss in a mix of oregano, sage, parsley, marjoram, and a bunch of other things typically associated with Italian cooking.

This would be the point that you can play with your chicken a bit. You could add something like turmeric or paprika on top of the chicken to add some extra flavor. Even cumin or nutmeg would be yummy... It always changes based on my mood at the time.


This is what mine looked like right before it hit the stove.

Place your chicken in the oven in the middle rack and cook for 50-60 minutes*.

Now, a lot of people use meat thermometers here, but every meat thermometer I have must have been crap because they never moved. Apparently my chickens are room temperature when I pull them out of the oven. This being the case, I resort to the less-pretty method of cutting the chicken at the breast and thigh to make sure it's cooked all the way through.

It's all ready when the chicken doesn't have any pink or red when you cut it and the juices run clear. Let it sit for about 10 minutes so you don't burn yourself slicing it up.

*drool*

*NOTE: If your chicken is larger than 3-4 lbs add 10-20 minutes of cooktime per pound. I didn't and it actually was a little raw towards the bone. :(

Results:

Oh mama. Soooo yummy. The water helps keep everything juicy and yummy and delicious and the herbs add a really subtle difference to the flavor of the meat. The skin, I might add, is to die for. If you aren't a skin eater, just TRY it and TRUST me. If you still don't like it I WILL EAT IT FOR YOU.

Except for being a little raw like I mentioned (I bought a larger bird because I was feeding people other than Chris and I), there was still enough properly cooked meat on here to make up for it. :D One of my favorite recipes.

Even more crickets and post changes

Okay. So it has come to my attention that I'm a lazy ass.

True story.

This being the case, I'm going to change around my posting style a little bit again. Normally I post every step of the cooking process. This is labor intensive, frustrating, and, let's face it, half the time I forget something anyway. SO.

From now on I'll just be posting the finished product, with maybe some steps thrown in here and there that I think either deserve to be shown, or require some eyeing to see what it looks like when it's being done right.

I really really like posting all the steps, but it's hard enough just sitting down long enough to post something without having to go through all the rigmarole required to post pictures using Blogger's somewhat lacking interface.

This being the case, I do have some posts about ready to go up. Honestly I do! The pictures are all taken and I'm editing them RIGHT NOW.

I promise I'll have something up soon. :)

Alex

Fried Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

I have a confession. I've been cheating. :( I made dinner on the 2nd, which is what I'll be writing about now, and the day after (which I will eventually post, though I have no pictures), and Chris has made dinner a couple times, but.. I've been cheating.

There have been several nights where I've been too depressed, lazy, or unprepared to make dinner. Fast food as again invaded my life.

Forgive me. :(

But! I do have a post for you now, and I'll be making dinner tonight for a gathering of friends. I'm even all prepared for it and everything. :)

So! On to food things.

Deep South Fried Chicken with Gravy and Broccoli Casserole

These are just for the broccoli.. I didn't think ahead far enough to take a picture of the chicken stuff.

You'll notice the bag of frozen broccoli.. The store was completely out of it when I went in. I really wasn't happy about shelling out the extra dough for the frozen stuff ($4 for what was essentially one good sized broccoli. Ugh.) This also meant I had to defrost the stuff for a bit before I could do anything with it. Annoying,ugh.

If you're doing it completely from scratch, I'm not sure if you would need to partially cook the broccoli first or not, but I imagine you wouldn't have to, considering the cooktime for the casserole.

I started the casserole first, because I knew it took longer to cook. Put your broccoli in a bowl.

Follow with mushroom soup..



2 beaten eggs..



I only chopped about half an onion, but it's up to you..



Shredded cheddar cheese..



And a couple big heaping spoonfuls of mayonnaise.

Mmmm...

Mix it all up, and if it isn't already in a casserole dish put it in one.



Apply crushed Ritz generously over the top..

Or in my case, "Safeway Classic Baked Snack Crackers"

And then pour melted butter as evenly as you can over the whole thing.



Put it into your oven uncovered and bake for 45 minutes.

Once you get the casserole to cooking, start in on the chicken.

I actually don't have any pictures of the prep for the chicken.. Give me a break, I'm new at this.

In about 2 cups of plain ol' all purpose flour, mix in equal parts salt and pepper until you can see the little pepper bits when you stir it all together. You can also add in paprika, garlic powder, or pretty much anything else that you have a hankerin' for. Keep in mind, though, that simple is usually better in this case. Keep it to one or two additions.

Dunk the chicken in the flour mixture until both sides or coated evenly.

Melt about 3/4 stick of butter in a frying pan over medium high heat. When the butter is melted, add the chicken.



Fry about 5 minutes or so on each side until browned.



Turn chicken to it's original side and turn the heat down to medium low and cover for 25 minutes.

Remove cover and flip chicken. Cook until both sides are a delicious mouth watery golden brown and the juices run clear.

Remove from pan and remove pan from heat.

Oh baby..

About now the casserole should have about 10 minutes left.. just enough time for milk gravy.

Had a couple heaping spoonfuls of flour to the juices in the pan, followed with some milk. Scraping the bottom of the pan with the spatula, stir everything until it evens out into a yummy gravy. If it's too thick, add more milk. Too thin, add more flour.

Salt and pepper to taste, then remove the gravy into the gravy vessel of your choice.



And now the casserole is done. :)

*drool*

Serve with a salad or mashed potatoes if you think far enough ahead (unlike me), the gravy is wonderful on taters.



Results

Casserole: Holy crap this stuff is good. I couldn't stop eating it. Seriously, I went back for thirds. I never go back for thirds.

Chicken: Also delicious, but I cooked mine a tad too long. It burned a bit. :( Not as good as I've made before, but amazing none the less.

Gravy: Unfortunately, because one of the breasts burned, the gravy had a faint burned taste to it. Laaame. But still yummy. :)

*crickets*

I have a post, I promise. I just need to get off my arse and type it up. ^^; Sorry guys.

New Years Dinner, totally not late at all.

This totally isn't late. It's even in the title, see?

So, after conferring with Chris, I've decided the following will be my format: Post the recipes -> Post any differences I made, things I didn't like, or places I screwed up -> Post my pictures, with captions. Anything I cook without first referencing a recipe I post in detail, step by step.

Sound okay? Let me know. ^^;

Pan Seared Top Sirloin with Pan Gravy, Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Mushrooms, Baked Potatoes.

I started the potatoes first, set the timer for a half hour. At the half hour mark I put in the brussel sprouts and mushrooms. When I put them in, I started everything for the steak.

The Steak + Gravy

- Approximately half a white onion.
- 1 garlic clove
- Half a stick of butter
- 2 Sirloin Steaks
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Beef Broth
- Dry Cooking Sherry
- Salt
- Pepper
- Dry mustard (optional)

Before you do anything, put your largest frying pan on the stove. Turn the burner to medium high, and let it warm up.

Salt and pepper your steak on both sides. I used dry mustard powder to add a little bit of flavor, but I'm not sure it added anything.

Start with your onion. Chop that puppy up! You want it to be fairly well chopped, but not iddy biddy pieces. For the garlic, just slice it up fairly evenly. Not see-through, but not huge chunks, either.

Something like this. Cry your eyes out, you deserve it.

Put the butter in the pan and wait for it to melt. If it starts to bubble a lot, turn the heat down a little. Some bubbling is okay, but you don't want it to burn. If it turns brown, that's way too much heat, and it won't taste good.

When the butter is melted, toss the onions in. Spread them out so they're evenly on the bottom of the pan.

It should sizzle a little when you put it in. It should also smell delicious.


When they start looking a little soft, toss the garlic in.




When you start to smell the garlic (it shouldn't take long), move everything to the very edges of the pan and put in your steaks.


Mmmm...

At some point, before you flip the steaks, you should give both of them a splash or two of that Worcestershire Sauce. This stuff is the essence of wonderful tasting beef, and I damn near always use it on my beef.

Steak isn't steak without this stuff.

Let it cook in the middle of the pan for about 5 minutes. VERY IMPORTANT: Don't fuss with your steak! Leave it alone and let it cook for God's sake. If you keep fussing, it won't cook evenly, and you won't get those wonderful charred bits that have all kinds of flavor.

This part is totally optional, but I like to crowd my steaks with the onion and garlic. I don't know if it does anything or not, but I like to think that the aromatics infuse themselves somehow into the meat. I only leave them there for one flip (about 5 minutes). Any longer and they'll start to burn and become little bits of charcoal.. Not tasty.



Cooktime for the steaks (at least for me) wound up to be something like this:

Put into pan -> Cook 5 minutes -> Flip -> Cook 5 minutes -> Flip -> Cook 1.5 minutes -> Flip -> Cook 1.5 minutes -> Remove from pan.

When they're done, they should look deliciously brown with tasty crusty bits on both sides. The onions and garlic will probably be browning at this point, that's fine.

Oh my...

If you timed everything right, the potatoes should have been done by now.

Some of the skin came off the potatoes while cooking.. that's fine, they make delicous pre-dinner chips. ;)

When you remove the steaks, pour in enough beef broth to cover the bottom of the pan. Using a spatula (preferably wood), scrape all the little black bits off the bottom of the pan and stir around. Add a splash or two of the sherry, and stir occasionally.

It should look something like this when you pour everything in...

Season to taste. When the liquid in the pan reduces by about half, remove from heat and put into the gravy vessel of your choice.

And it should look like this when it's ready.

Pull out the brussel sprouts when they're done.

*drool*

Prepare your potato to your desired taste. Unfortunately for Chris, we didn't have any sour cream. :(

Results

Steak: Omg delicious. It came out somewhere between Medium and Medium Rare. Steak isn't worth eating without any red in it. :P

Potatoes: Also delicious. The fake bacon bits I used had turned stale on me, so while that was a little distracting, there was enough potato to hide it.

Brussel Sprouts: I made a mistake with these. The rack was in the top slot, and I was preoccupied and busy and totally forgot to move the rack to the middle, where it should have been to cook these correctly. So while the outside was perfect, there was a tiny core that, while warm, was not the deliciously cooked vegetable I was aiming for.

Mushrooms: My bad. The recipe I normally use involves a 400 degree oven for 30 min.. The brussel sprouts and potatoes require a 350 degree oven.. It didn't work out. They tasted a little funny and didn't have the texture I was looking for. *sigh* Oh well. I learned.

We had Mexican bottled Pepsi to drink with dinner as a treat... Also delicious. Overall, we were both incredibly pleased with dinner. :)