Homemade Maraschino Cherries

I am keeping up with the Christmas baking. Trying hard to get caught up because there has been so much going on this month! I was watching the food network...as usual...and Ted Allen had the greatest and most simple recipe for maraschino cherries so, I went with it. All you need are sour cherries and Maraschino Liquor. Come to find out, both are rather hard to come by. But, with several calls to several places I was able to collect my ingredients. All you do it bring to a simmer one cup of Maraschino Liquor. I used Luxardo. After your liquor is simmering, add your sour cherries. You can use fresh ones, which I will do next time but they are not in season, or you can use canned sour cherries that you have drained. Stir the cherries in and turn of the heat. Allow them to cool and put in jars. I actually added a tiny bit of sugar to sweeten them up just a little while the liquor and cherries were still warm. There you have it!

Marshmallow Madness!!

Making homemade marshmallows is so much fun. Not only are they delicious, you know exactly what goes in them...unlike some of the mysterious kind you can pick up at the store. Some time ago, my mother got me the greatest little marshmallow making book by Shauna Sever called Marshmallow Madness. Sorry Martha...but these marshmallows are better...and easier to prepare. I like to make them around Christmas and Valentine's day, however, there are so many brilliant recipes in this book, I just might make a different marshmallow once a month! I have a little something in mind for these that I can't post about until after Christmas. 

Happy Christmas! 

Happenings

I have fallen off the radar once again. I seem to have been doing that a lot lately when it comes to my blogging! I was getting back in the routine of it and then something happened that I did not really see coming which resulted in my lack of blogging. My sweet little Millie got sick unexpectedly right before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, she died, which was devastating. I wasn't quite ready to let her go. I am very grateful that I had her for the past 11 years. She was one of the best dogs I have ever owned. She was loyal, laid back, and so quirky! I miss her rolling all over the couch and knocking the couch pillows on the floor. She loved when we sang to her too. We had all kinds of songs made up for her and she would get really excited to hear them. She was my roach killer too! All I had to go was scream and point and she was on it. She thought she was a person really. She was more than a dog, she was a loyal companion and a part of the family. Here she is in her finest form, when I made her wear a life jacket in the lake. 

This is just a few days before she died. I knew there was something not right and something told me to take a picture of her while she slept.

The house just seemed so empty without a dog. We are animal people and especially love dogs. Even though we have the cats who bring us just as much joy...but in a cat way...we were still kind of lonely. So, we decided it was time to get another. We found a boxer breeder who had a litter that was delivered in October and would be ready December 17th. Several weeks ago we made a trip to meet our new little pup, she was the last one available out of the litter and she was perfect. We got to bring her home today. She is fitting right in! Meet Penelope, in her many forms of sleep! 

She is tons of fun but also requires tons of attention since she is just only 8 weeks old. She is adjusting well though and when she is all grown up, she will be a great dog too.

Cheers!

Happiness Is In A Cupcake

"When I die I am going to come back as a bottle of sprinkles. Sprinkles make everyone happy."

                                            ~Aunt Missy

Nuff said. Thank you Aunt Missy for putting that into perspective. :)

Cheers!

Getting Corny

I love corn and even better, I love corn bread. So, I find it only fitting to share with you this recipe that my sister gave me years ago. It is a recipe from a friend of hers. My sister served this corn bread at her wedding along with pumpkin soup and it was to die for. I could go for some pumpkin soup right about now.

Yummy Corn Bread

1 c corn meal

1 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking power

2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 can cream corn

1 c milk

1/2 c canola oil

1-2 tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Before mixing together, measure 2 tbsp oil in 10 inch cast iron skillet (must use a cast iron skillet because it makes a huge difference). Then, put in oven to heat up for about 5-10 min. Sift together first 5 ingredients. Seperately beat eggs, add oil, milk, honey, and cream corn. Add liquid ingredients to dry mixing quickly and thourouly.  Pour into the preheated pan. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes.

If you wanted to change it up try adding sharp cheddar cheese with jalapeños for a kick. I may even add a little rosemary next time too.

Cheers!

Score!

You can only imagine my reaction when I came across this most wonderful vintage beverage cart! The best find in some time for me folks. I am super excited! It fits perfectly in my kitchen and goes along with my retro decor. Perfection.

The added bonus to this cart is.....

Electricity! It has an outlet! I havent tested it out just yet but when I do I hope it works!

Cheers!

Getting Fancy In The Kitchen...Sort Of

I often find myself cooking the same things over and over again becuase I know how to make them, have mastered the recipe, and know exactly the amount of time it will take to make it. I opt for the least amount of time always. Now, I have been trying to broaden my horizons a bit and will branch out to make something out of the comfort zone. So, I went with Apple and Rosemary Pork Roulade from Cooking Light. I love cooking light because not only are the recipes amazeballs they are well put together and you are given the exact amount of time it will take to prepare and cook. What I love even more about Cooking Light is that I now can download it to my iPad. For some reason, reading a magazine is so much more fun on the iPad. This was fun becaue I have never "butterflied" anything, much less stuffed it with yummy goodness. So folks, I give you my first attempt!

Make it if you are a carnevor. It is pretty nice and very conducive to the Fall food category. :)