Dreaming Into Creation

Now, I know what you are thinking.  Pumpkin alfredo?  Are you crazy? But oh my gob... it is so absolutely delicious that it will definitely be becoming one of my fall staples.  Seriously.  Absolutely delicious!   Don't knock it till you try it. I also sprung for being even better tonight and sauteed up an amazing crookneck squash.  This thing is massive... just look at the picture below!  And think... I still have one left to cook up sometime soon!  (And.... its bigger than this one..... >.<)  Bam!  Those are all the ingredients that I used.  Not a lot.  Simple is better sometimes.  Way better.  Oh, I didn't picture the salt and the grains of paradise.  (If you haven't read previous food posts, then you haven't heard my hatred of pepper.  Serious. Hatred.  GoPs are a nice alternative (:  ) So, for the sauteed squash:  A squash.  Any summer squash would do (zucchini, ye...

 Wow, two food posts in a row!  I'm proud of myself.... and I actually took pictures this time!  Today is my sister's mother-in-law's birthday, so I thought I would make something yummy to go with us to our picnic at the beach.  See, yesterday I was given two beautiful stocks of rhubarb, and I was itching to make something with it!  Last night I was just too tired to clean my kitchen and then bake something after a long day shift, so I got up early and got it done!  And does my apartment smell good or what!  The recipe I used was from my family's cookbook, "Jeanne's Favorite Recipes."  There are so many good things in that book!  My family is from Minnesota, so there are a lot of casseroles and other yummy things, including about 10 different rhubarb recipes, so I picked one that I had all the ingredients for and voila!  Delicious smells wafting through the apartment! Of course... I thought  I had all the ingredients.  A...

I made soup this morning.  Yup, got up early to do it and everything!  See, I was gonna make this last night, but then I fell asleep, and napped throughout a good portion of the evening, and then I didn't want to make it super late... and then of course because I napped like a goofball that I am, I had trouble sleeping and got up way too early this morning. So... I made the soup! And, let me tell you, it has turned out delicious! ..... And being the complete goofball that I can be, I didn't even think of taking pictures until the final shot of the soup in the pot. So, here is the recipe that I kinda made up as I went.  It is based off of a healthier version of baked potato soup, but then I deviated... like I tend to do with most recipes! Without further ado... here is the recipe! Baked Potato with Chicken 2 russet potatoes, cleaned 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into pieces 1 small onion, sliced 1 clove garlic, minced 2 cups low sodium chicken broth, plus 2...

Well, a few months.... well.... five months?  Eep!  I've been meaning to post sooner!  Since the last post, I have finally fully settled into my apartment, and have been enjoying living alone.  Although, it does get pretty quiet here.  I think that may be changing tho... new neighbors moving in next to me.  As long as they don't have a loud dog like the last guy I think I can handle it.  XD Hopefully.... Anyway, back to things happening in my crafting life. First update: Extracts.  Yes.... extracts *waves bottles of extracts imitating the 9th Doctor with the Anti-plastic* The vanilla extracts are both successes!  First, my rum vanilla extract.  I ended up keeping it sealed and shaking it once every few weeks all the way up til mid December.  So, thats about ten months I believe that I let it extract itself.  Pun totally intended there.  It is a lighter flavor of vanilla, and I will be using it in things that are ...

Almond and Orange extracts.  I figured it was about time to see how the experiments panned out!  The almond, seen in this post , was a beautiful murky color.  Just look at that color!  It smelled wonderful too (once I opened the jar).  I can't wait to try it out, possibly with this yummy almond apricot oatmeal scone recipe that I have.  I may or may not post that recipe in an upcoming blog.  Depends on if people want it!  So, as seen in my loverly Halloween post, I have all these little mini booze bottles.  I like them, they are pretty (some of them) and can be darn useful!  Either for little potions bottles or for bottling up small amounts of extracts!  (And I have them because I work as a booze seller, and the little ones make it a lot easier on my wallet for when I want to try what we sell.  In WA the liquor prices are so ridiculous that I can't afford to get bigger bottles anymore.)  As you can see, I have one l...

Season three premier of Game of Thrones was last night.  Oh Ma Gawd......  I love the show.  That's all I have to say about that... Well, I own the loverly A Feast of Fire and Ice cookbook (and I frequent the blog innatthecrossroads.com quite often) and I decided that for the much anticipated premier, that I would make a bunches of foods.  And I did....  if you count four things 'bunches' hahaha Be warned.... this post is picture heavy and foodgasmic.  You have been warned... So here be the final product....  minus the lovely dessert.  Mmmm... Ommegang Iron Throne Pale Ale.  It was quite delicious, and I am not a big beer person at all.  So that's saying something... And here is how all that yumminess came into being...  Most of the foods mentioned from here on out can be found on the Inn at the Crossroads  food blog.  If not in there, then they can be found in the fore mentioned book, written by th...

So, its been a hard month so far.  My mom passed away Jan. 30th from still unknown causes (Harborview is still investigating why she died) and we have been getting things ready for her Celebration of Life on March 2nd.  So, lots of things have been going on. But, I have been working on things that are crafty as well.  They have been keeping my mind busy.  Also, because mom drank rum and no one else in the house will touch the stuff...   First was orange extract. We had one orange left sitting out, and I decided that I might as well try making extract out of it.  I mean, why not?  So, I zested the bugger.  After cleaning it of course.  I didn't want any weird tastes from whatever they put on the skins of fruit. Orange zest... smelled yummy....  I read somewhere on another blog about making extracts that you can add sugar to the zest.  It called for a full teaspoon, but I thought it was a little much, so I added about an eig...