Tastefully-Homemade

Thanksgiving has come and gone another year. It is so cliché, but time seems to fly by quicker and quicker each year.

We had the family over for Thanksgiving & this year we prepared a Ham & a Turkey. With so much food leftover, I am cruising the internet looking for the best recipe to utilize the amazing leftovers. I am leaning towards a turkey pot pie & perhaps some lentils made with the ham bone. Whatever I choose, I will be sure to post about it once complete.

Right now I have the turkey carcass roasting in the oven so I can make turkey stock. Here’s a pic of what’s going on in the oven right now…it smells absolutely divine!!

Our family has much to be thankful for this year and hope you do too! I am constantly looking at the positive in any situation that doesn’t go the way I planned. For instance: Alex was sick on Friday and it gave me the opportunity to relax and recover from all the work leading up to Thanksgiving. It also gave me an opportunity to read a couple of books and find an Advent book for the boys that looks fantastic. Anthony is sick today & while it is a GORGEOUS day here, I am able to get some things done around the house so I am ready for the week and I am able to make turkey stock and find creative ways to utilize the leftovers. The past 3 days didn’t turn out like I planned, but I have been able to spend some quality time with the boys and also catch up on a few things around the house. This also gives me an opportunity to try a new cookie recipe I found in the Martha Stewart Food Magazine I get on my iPad (which is awesome, I might add). I will post on that later as well.

I hope you each had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of delicious food & family & friends…even if things didn’t go as planned!

Love, Claire

I found a recipe for homemade goldfish type crackers & knew I had to try them! The recipe called for a mini cookie cutter & had a link to buy one. I checked it out & the website actually has tons of great cookie cutters in all different sizes. I chose not to order anything & instead came across some mini Easter cookie cutters at our local grocery store. The cutters are bunnies, flowers & butterflies…not too boyish, but it is Easter season so I went with it. The funny thing is that when Alex (my oldest) started using the tulip cutter he commented that it looked like a theropod* footprint. Now that’s my boy! He turned something girly into something completely all boy!

Aren't they gorgeous?!

You combine the cheese, flour, salt, pepper & butter in a food processor & whiz until it looks like coarse meal.

Add the water 1 tbsp at a time until the mixture rides the blade. Check out the picture below to see what that looks like. I only added 3 Tbsp.

Take the dough out & wrap in plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator for 20 minutes. Roll out the dough & cut out your shapes. We used the smaller cut outs & they worked great. I did also use a larger heart shape & the cracker just didn’t taste as good. I highly suggest using a smaller cutter to make these crackers. Once you cut them out, place on a baking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 11-20 minutes based on your oven. The original recipe called for 15-20, but I found that mine were ready around 11 minutes or so. It probably really depends on how thin you roll out your dough. Once you can smell them…they are almost done. That is always my gauge.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Flour
• 4 Tbsp cold butter cut in small pieces
• 8 oz Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 2-3 Tbsp cold water

Directions

1. Turn oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pulse flour, salt, pepper, cheese & butter in a food processor until it resembles coarse meal.
3. Pulse in 3-4 Tbsp very cold water, one tablespoon at a time until the dough forms a ball & “rides the blade”.
4. Remove the dough, wrap in plastic & place in refrigerator for 20 minutes.
5. Line 2 baking pans with a silpat or parchment paper.
6. Roll out the dough on a floured surface until the dough is 1/8 thin.
7. Cut out the shapes & place on baking sheet about 1/2-1 inch apart.
8. Sprinkle Fleur de Sel on top of the cut-outs for a little extra flavor. This step isn’t necessary, but it really makes the crackers taste special.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 11-20 minutes until they are golden brown. They will crisp up a bit more once they are transferred to the cooling rack.

These are delicious & absolutely amazing with a little ranch…did I just admit that?!!

Happy baking!
Claire

* Theropod = three toed dinosaur (or bird, which are descendants of dinosaurs). That isn’t a very technical term, but it is how Alex would describe it. A slightly better technical term would say that theropod’s “Eat meat, walk on two legs & have three-toed feet”.

I know I haven’t posted anything savory on my blog yet. The truth is that I am a recipe follower. I am not imaginative in the kitchen & just love to follow a recipe & always know I will get great results. My Husband is an extremely creative cook & whips up incredible meals on a consistent basis.

Today he went fishing, so I was on my own. This normally means pizza, chicken nuggets or some pasta concoction is on the menu. Tonight was a little different since we had a whole chicken in the fridge & some gorgeous thyme growing beautifully in the backyard.

I snipped some fresh thyme & mixed it with softened butter, salt, pepper & lemon juice. I then separated the skin from the breast & shoved the butter mixture in between the skin & breast. I stuck a lemon halved & some fresh thyme in the cavity of the chicken after I liberally sprinkled salt & pepper. I then sprinkled salt & pepper over the whole chicken & tied up the leg bones.

Thyme & lemon in the cavity

You can see the butter & thyme under the skin

Ready to go in the oven!

Once I had the chicken ready to go, I cut up celery, carrots and an onion. I added those to the pan & also added some chicken stock. I turned the oven to 375 degrees & roasted the chicken until an instant read thermometer read 160. I may have pulled the chicken out when it read 155-157 & covered with a foil tent while it rested.

Finished product! Yummy!!

The result was a gorgeous, moist & delicious chicken! We served it with green beans & finished it with a simple pan gravy.

Enjoy!
Claire

I love all natural cleaning supplies…but hate the smell of strong vinegar. I had my nephews over today, so I put Corey to work helping me juice the lemons (I think he had fun!).

I love making citrus infused vinegars & made a fresh batch today. I also made a baking soda paste that I found on pinterest. It was supposed to take away the “boy” smell in the bathroom & with 2 little boys – I am up to trying anything to keep the bathroom smelling nice!

Vinegar ready to get a citrus infusion!

My first step is to cut the rinds off of fresh citrus. I used lemons, limes & oranges.

All the cut rinds

Next I insert all the rinds into my bottle I use to infuse. I don’t have a set amount…I cut until it looks pretty good. I think I used about 7 lemons, 3 oranges & 4 limes…I like the lemon smell the best! I filled the bottle about 3/4 full.

The rinds & the bare fruit behnd

Then I add the vinegar to the bottle, close it up & let it hang out. I can’t remember how long I let it sit…it’s been awhile since I’ve done this. I am going to check on it tomorrow & see how it smells. If it still offends, then I will go another day…I will update when I made my final call.

Pouring in the vinegar

The second new idea I tried today was the paste to clean the bathroom. Since I had a box of baking soda in the cupboard & all the spare lemons…why not give it a go! I cut all the lemons in half & juiced them with some help from Corey.

Corey being my juicer helper!

I then added the lemon juice to the baking soda. It fizzed up & was awesome!

fizzing action

I didn’t measure either the baking soda or lemon juice. The instructions were to make it look like pancake batter. We stirred it together to incorporate & set aside to make bread…I know, I know!! The lemon juice separated from the baking soda & I had to incorporate them again before continuing. I smeared the paste on the base of the tub & toilet area along with the back of the toilet & the rim of the toilet. I took a picture…but can’t seem to bring myself to post it (call me old-fashioned). I will say, my toilet does look nice in the picture.

You leave the mixture on for 10 minutes or so & then spritz with vinegar & wipe off with a rag. I do believe that this is super messy. I also believe I won’t do it again until my citrus infused vinegar is ready. Right now it just smells like vinegar in the bathroom…which is better than pee, I guess. I am not 100% in love with this one…maybe I need to try it again. If I do, I will update you on my second attempt.

Happy cleaning!
Claire

The pizza dough I made here:

http://tastefully-homemade.com/2012/03/10/homemade-pizza-dough/

turned out great! It rested overnight & we made our pizzas tonight. It was super fun & they were extremely delicious!

Finished pizza - gorgeous & delicious!

I thawed out the dough for about 2 hours before we started. I placed one oven shelf on the top & one on the bottom. I cranked the oven up to 475 degrees & placed the pizza stone on the bottom shelf. I let it get hot for about 45 minutes. It takes the pizza stone that long just to get to the high temperature in the oven. I laid out all the ingredients & we went to work shaping the dough. We brushed olive oil on the crust & then added tomato sauce. Next was salt & pepper & we finished it with the fresh buffalo mozzarella & sausage.

All the ingredients!

When the pizzas were ready to bake, I moved the pizza stone to the top shelf & cranked the oven up to 550 degrees. This ensures that the top of the pizza gets crispy from being on the top shelf & the bottom gets crispy from the super hot pizza stone. They cooked for about 8 minutes or so…give or take. I checked on them every 2 minutes or so & turned the pizza so it would brown evenly. Once the cheese bubbled I took them out & let the cheese rest for a few minutes. The result was a delicious pizza that everyone enjoyed!

Happy pizza making!
Claire

My nephews are coming to town & will be hanging out with us tomorrow afternoon. I know of nothing that is more fun to boys than to create their own pizza! I absolutely love making pizza dough since it is super easy & tastes SO much better than anything frozen (or anything sold near my home).

Back story here: Yesterday I was a chaperone with my oldest son’s Kinder class at our local zoo. It had been raining for over a day & a big cold front had moved into our area. Thankfully it didn’t rain while we were at the zoo, but it was COLD!!! On the way home I couldn’t wait to just snuggle in my pajamas and veg out all night. We stopped & bought some frozen pizzas, since it was quick & easy. I bought two separate brands to see which one I liked better. Well, they were both pretty terrible & made a decision that no more frozen pizzas would be in our house unless I made them! So here we are…back to the present.

Since we won’t make the pizzas until tomorrow, I will show you the steps I took to make the dough. The pizza dough works best if you make the day before & let it sit overnight in the fridge. This is the technical reason …

“This gives the enzymes time to go to work, pulling out subtle flavor trapped in the starch. The long rest also relaxes the gluten, allowing you to shape the dough easily, minimizing the elastic springiness that so often forces you to squeeze out all the gas.”
 ~ The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, Peter Reinhart

My Husband has always told me this & I have dutifully abided by this rule…but it is nice to know the technical reason. Please make sure you take the dough out of the refrigerator at least 45 minutes before you are ready to make the pizza so it can come up to room temperature.

I forgot to look up the recipe with all the instructions & I ended up making the flour well on the counter. It was a monster mess when I went to mix it together…but I was able to salvage it & hopefully it still turns out delicious (which I am sure it will)! You are better off making the well in a bowl. I know, I know…it seems very rudimentary, but I hadn’t had my diet coke yet!

Flour & Salt before the well is made

My well on the counter

The water, sugar & yeast...pre huge mess

My finished dough. I made one big dough & I will cut it in two before I let it rest in the refrigerator

Time to hang out for a little while under the towel

Dough after it doubled in size

The two dough balls about to hang out in the fridge

Pizza Dough

~Food Network.com

Ingredients
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4-ounce packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions
Whisk 1 1/3 cups warm water (105-110 degrees) and the sugar in a bowl; sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the olive oil.

I love making a special breakfast on Saturday mornings. It is a way to celebrate the weekend & is a great start to my favorite day of the week! Today I culled through cookbooks looking for an easy biscuit, muffin or scone recipe that was relatively healthy & one that included ingredients I already had.

I found a muffin recipe on the Food Network app on my IPad & it looked delicious!! I had to modify it somewhat since it called for blueberries & we didn’t have any. I felt that missing that one ingredient wouldn’t hurt the recipe. I was right!

Finished muffin that is gorgeous!

All the ingredients I used for the muffins

First you chop the strawberries & coat them with 2 Tbsp of sugar so the strawberries macerate & release their juices. This needs to sit for 15 minutes.

Mashing the ripe banana

I mashed the banana with a fork & it worked perfectly. I don’t think you necessarily have to use a special masher for this.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished batter - you can see it here in the oven.

The inside of the muffin. Milk is definitely a must!

These muffins were super quick, easy & delicious! You can follow the original recipe or omit the blueberries like I did. You could probably use whole wheat flour & maybe make a nice streusel to go on top (although it doesn’t need it). The muffins are pretty sweet – but soooo delicious!! The only thing I wouldn’t change at all is the lemon zest; it really adds something special to the muffin.

Berry Morning Muffins
Recipe adapted from Sunny Anderson’s Sunny Morning Muffins
Via Food Network 

1 cup strawberries, chopped
1 cup sugar, plus 2 Tbsp
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon (original recipe calls for pinch, I liked it with a little more)
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 lemon, zested

Original recipe also calls for (the muffins above didn’t have these ingredients)
1/2 pint blueberries
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
Coat strawberries with 2 Tbsp sugar & let sit  for 15 minutes to release their juices. While  the strawberries sit, combine the other ingredients. In a medium sized bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg & salt. In a large bowl mash the banana & add the eggs, oil, sugar, lemon zest, strawberries & whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients and combine. Do not over mix. At this point you could fold in the blueberries & walnuts if  you like.

Scoop mixture into muffin cups. I filled them about 3/4 full & they didn’t over flow at all. I ended up making 17 muffins with my recipe. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. You do not want to over bake the muffins. I set the timer for 27 minutes & some were done. My sure-fire way of telling when something I am baking is almost done is when it starts to smell delicious near the oven. I will start checking visually outside the oven at that point & start using a toothpick to check for doneness when they start to look golden brown. At that point I turned the muffin pan around since the back of my oven cooked the muffins quicker than the front. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature…or eat while still warm!

Happy muffin making!
Claire

Today is an absolute gorgeous day here where I live in Texas! The sun is shining, there is a breeze & the humidity is very low. It is a rare day when we get to experience the joy of such gorgeous weather. The day begs you to go outside and explore & crank open the windows to freshen up the house.

We decided to take the boys out to the Camp area in our neighborhood. This area has our soccer, football, baseball, basketball & sand volleyball fields. There is a great playground, a running track & a nature walk that takes you to a lookout over the Brazos River.

Anthony about to go down the slide

Anthony having a wonderful time!

Anthony & I played on the playground while Alex & Ron practiced soccer. This is Alex’s second season playing soccer & he is really enjoying it. He is getting better each time & I think will continue to improve as the season moves along.

Big kick & a Goooooaaaallllll for Alex!

Next up was our nature walk. We found many different signs that winter is definitely over here in the South (not that it is ever that bad). The trees are starting to grow their green leaves, flowers are sprouting up, wild animal tracks were spotted & my favorite spring time smell – wild onions.

When I was in second grade we moved from Huntsville to Richmond. We lived in an exceedingly small little red house that had a pasture behind our back yard. In the back yard wild onions would grow in abundance & I always loved the smell!! It is still one of the smells I love most & look forward to every year.

Wild Onions

The boys had a blast finding the perfect stick & exploring along the trail.

I hope you each enjoy your weekend!
Claire

This morning I decided to make homemade biscuits. We don’t keep cans of biscuits around the house and I wanted to try someone quick and easy. The recipe was super easy & would have been quick if I had done it solo. The kids helped make the biscuits and they had a great time. I used a recipe found in the most traditional of red plaid cookbooks there is. I have tweaked it slightly to accommodate our families taste buds. The biscuit was slightly bland, so I will increase the amount of salt next time to match the recipe I’ve included.

Finished biscuits

We brushed a little melted butter on top

Ron made scrambled eggs with local home-grown green onions – delish! We also used my homemade strawberry jam -yum!

Breakfast Biscuits
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt (original recipe calls for 1/4, I think it’s too little)
1/2 cup cold butter – cut into small squares
2/3 cup milk

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in the butter into the dry mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well and add the milk. Stir ingredients together and dump out on a lightly floured surface. Knead the ingredients together 10 times or so. You do not want to overwork the dough. Roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness and use a 2 1/2 inch cutter and cut out. Combine e remaining dough and press together to make the remaining cut outs. Place on baking sheet 1 inch apart and bake for 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees. The biscuits are done when they are slightly browned to the top and bottom. Brush with melted butter if you choose to.

Have a wonderful Sunday!
Claire

I think I have posted a few times about how I am interested in baking bread…
Well, last weekend I checked out a few books from the local library on making bread at home. The recipes in the books were much more in-depth recipes & I had a fun time making bread that was slightly more sophisticated.

The original recipe I used was your basic honey-white loaf. The smell was exceedingly intoxicating while it baked & it was very delicious to eat. The loaves I made last week were a bit more involved, but the taste was also slightly more sophisticated & yeasty. It was very delicious, if I say so myself. Alex enjoyed his pb & j all week on the bread & it was great to try my homemade strawberry jelly on it as well!

The "slurry"

Mixture before adding all the flour

Dough before I kneaded it

Finished Dough before I placed it in the greased bowl

Dough after rising for 1.5 hours

Finished product

The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger’s
White Mountain Loaf

You can google the above book & check it out at your local library or buy at local bookstore for the recipe. It was delicious & I can’t wait to try another recipe!
The next one on the list is the whole grain bread!

Happy Baking!
Claire