Meet DoD MWD Nnicholas

Good Monday Morning readers!

My Monday was a tad bit more difficult than most today. On Friday, we got to meet our DoD Military Working Dog Foster Nnicholas - two n's not a typo! He is a Belgian Malinois puppy about nine weeks old and you know, puppies are cute... as seen in the picture below of Nnicholas.

Nnicholas learning how to "sit".

So he's pretty cute and looks so innocent, but boy do you forget how annoying puppies can be at this age! Constantly crying and barking throughout the night, peeing all over the place, making messes, tearing things up... he is getting the hang of that word, "no", though! He knows when I have a water bottle in my hand that if he tries to eat my shoes he gets a nice shot of water in his face! He kind of looks at me now as he wanders over to my shoes and sneaks a look up like "maybe if I move slow she won't see me!"

He's a quick learner, though. Except for the sleep through the night thing. That's annoying. First night = 0 sleep. Second night = 5.5 hours of sleep before he was up for good. Last night = All in all about 7 hours I suppose... I woke up every three to let him outside and he STILL made a mess when he came back inside. He's catching on, I think. He knows his own little spot in the yard now. Plus, he caught on to the sit command quick!

Our dogs don't like him very much... I think they are still on the side of "he's annoying".

Looking glum because the other dogs don't like him. Poor puppy.

He'll be joining us for Thanksgiving, so maybe I'll mix him up a special recipe so he can have a Happy Thanksgiving too!

Thanksgiving Food Plans

So, if you know me, you know I am totally obsessed with the holiday season - starting from Thanksgiving and lasting until New Years, that's approximately my favorite time period of the entire year. Halloween... meh. Not so much. But I LOVE everything after that. It means pumpkin everything, cranberry sauce, and tons of other delicious food. So, with Thanksgiving next week, I figured I'd start early with my planning! I've already got my menu planned out. It will be my very first Thanksgiving hosted for a large group! Exciting!! I have about nine people on the guest list - quite a jump up from my previous record of four. If you count our dogs that makes 11 this year, though. ;)

So, what do I make for Thanksgiving?

First we start with delicious appetizers which incorporate my absolute favorite home-made cranberry sauce.

Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce.

If I had it my way, I would definitely put that cranberry sauce inside the bread with the cheese like this person did, but unfortunately, Steven has a thing against fruity tasting things that aren't really fruit. So, I put it as a side and pretty much hog it all to myself because it's so good. 

Homemade Cranberry Sauce.

I don't play nice with canned cranberry sauce. I think it's fake and gross. So, I make my own, which I learned to do from my mother, actually! These pictures are definitely not taken by me, because I'm bad at taking pictures of food, but it gives you a general idea of what I'm making AND it probably makes you hungry, like me. 

Wine.

This is so necessary for our newly formed family that it counts as an appetizer. And side. And probably dessert. Just kidding, we're not alcoholics, we just enjoy our wine.... and can't wait to tour Italy tasting some more one day!

Turkey.

By the way, ours never looks this good when we serve it. We value taste instead of presentation on this one, so we usually shred it and cook it in the juices toward the end of the cook time to ensure delicious, moist turkey that is easily grabbed out of the pan for dinner.

Mashed Potatoes.

I do enjoy spicing up my mashed potatoes with unhealthy things like cheese, Italian dressing, more cheese, and chives. It's so good and Thanksgiving is one day a year! I can work out tomorrow......

Green Beans

Fresh of course - I vary the recipe from year to year, but in the past I've done a lemon almond pan fry, asian inspiration, and this year the lemon/dill combo is looking appetizing!

Sweet Potato Casserole.

Marshmallows are vital. This is also one I try to hoard to myself on my side of the table. And I'll probably hide half of it in the kitchen too so I can say, "Oh no! We're out?" >:)

Bread.

Everyone likes bread. If you don't, that just means I can eat more of it. 

Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving staple in my life - did you know that it apparently helps with depression? I'm pretty sure I read that in some form of research somewhere... see? It's healthy. 

Vanilla Pudding with Nilla Wafers

Ok. Minus those gross bananas (I hate bananas). I get to use my brand spankin' new trifle dish for the first time since our wedding! Yes! And people will get to see it? Even better. 

Mystery Dessert #1

What will it be? Stay tuned to find out - even I don't know yet.... 

Possibility of Mystery Dessert #2

Yeah... I like dessert. 

So, I suppose you could also stay tuned for how my own pictures turn out - I'm sure they won't look nearly as appetizing as these staged ones do! I'll try my best. Have a wonderful pre-Thanksgiving week!

Well Hello Again - Time for Salmon

I am a terrible food blogger... Jeeze. I just want to apologize for how terrible I am at this! I'm starting up a new handmade invitation company in the San Antonio area with my new husband, Steven, and it has consumed my life! 

Our company's name is Wildflowers and Lace Invitations and we have our own little blog that keeps up with our progress. One day we hope to have some informational videos as well on how to operate some paper crafting machines, how to make things, DIY kits, etc. We aim to do great, personalized work for anyone who is having a major event coming up! We specialize in weddings, but do many other events too! We've been keeping busy with that and the orders that have come in, but I wanted to take a side note and update this here blog about a nice, easy meal that I have learned to cook ALL BY MYSELF! That's right - NO RECIPE! Ha! It's become a nice newlywed staple for me when we want to have a nice meal.

It involves salmon.

And two bread pans.

And a fun foil boat.

So, to start off with - I'll show you a picture of how it turns out:

This is so delicious too. That's why it's close up... because it's that delicious.

So here is what you'll need tool wise:

1. Two bread pans (or baking pans- just anything that will hold foil boats and any leaking juices really)

2. Nonstick foil

3. Bowl for your delicious homemade sauce

4. A spoon for spooning that delicious sauce over the salmon.

And here is what you'll need ingredient wise:

1. Two salmon fillets or steaks - I've been making it lately with those huge fillets sold at our local restaurant HEB - probably about 6-7" long and 4 1/2-5" wide... I know I should be giving you ounces but hey I'm at work and I judge sizes with my eyes, not the spare food scale I carry around in my purse..... Steven eats a lot so I go with big salmon fillets!

2. 2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise

3. 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

4. 2 TbspWorcestershire Sauce

5. 1 tsp dried Basil

6. 2 cloves Garlic, squished flat

7. 1 Tbsp dried Parsley

8. 6 Tbsp. Olive Oil + extra for the bottom

10. 1 tsp pepper

Preheat your oven to 375.

In that bowl, mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, pepper, basil, and parsley and mix well with a fork to make a delicious baking sauce. It will probably won't look the smoothest, but it will taste great.

In your two bread pans (I use glass bread pans), line the bottom and sides with your nonstick foil, leaving a little extra over the top to seal it all up when you're done with the salmon seasoning. You are building a foil boat for your salmon.

Then, pour a little extra olive oil in the bottom of each foil boat and place your fillets in each boat - one per boat. In the extra olive oil in the bottom, place one squished garlic clove in each boat. Then, spoon your homemade sauce over each salmon fillet, making sure all of your salmon gets to sit in a little sauce! Seal those foil boats up, and bake for about 45-55 min. depending on the size of your salmon fillets. 

You will know your fillets are ready when they flake easily with a fork - some of the most tender and delicious salmon I've had! 

To pair with this salmon, I usually fix Basmati rice and a nice vegetable - usually summer squash, zucchini, or asparagus cooked with a little splash of lemon as well. They work pretty nice together. Healthy, tasty, and pretty easy actually. You don't even have to baste it while it's baking - put those little guys in the oven and watch a show! 

Hope you can all enjoy some delicious salmon sometime soon. See you next time!

Molasses Crisps with Sweet Potato Buttercream Frosting

Very rich, but delicious, cookie that I baked today to welcome fall! Even though it's not very fall like outside with all of this rain. Sorry, Texas, wish I could send it to you. :(

What you'll need:

• 3/4 c. shortening
• 1 c. packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c. molasses
• 2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. nutmeg

To make these delicious, soft, fall cookies:

1. Cream shortening and brown sugar
2. Stir in egg and molasses and stir well
3. Fold in dry ingredients and stir
4. Cover and chill for 1-2 hours, or until dough is firm
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
6. Take a spoonful of dough and shape into a ball with your hands
7. Roll that dough ball in a little white granulated sugar
8. Place on slightly greased baking pan
9. Bake for 9-10 min.

For the buttercream frosting you'll need:

• 1 c. milk
• 4 Tbsp. all purpose flour
• 1c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. butter, softened
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4-1/2 can (16 oz.) sweet potato or yam whichever they have it labeled

To make it:

1. Heat flour and milk together over medium low heat, stirring often, until it thickens (about 5 min)
2. Set aside to cool.
3. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
4. Mix in sweet potato (it should be pre cooked so that it mashes really easily) The frosting will be a little thin and orange-ish.
5. Add in vanille and beat again
6. Finally add in flour and milk mix and mix it really well.
7. I refrigerated my frosting so it would set enough to be spreadable on my cookies.

I could only eat like 3 of these before I was completely full! But they are so good <3

Here are a few pictures of my final result :

Perfectly soft cookies!

Delicious frosting

Welcome to Fall - NOW WHEN WILL THE RAIN LEAVE

Ok so I got all excited about the fall season starting up last weekend when, out of the blue, we went from 95 to 65! It was SO nice. I started busting out the boots from storage, the sweaters from the back of my closet, and the scarves and fall recipes were just making me so happy. I freaking love fall. Every time it comes around, I make more fond memories of apple cider, trips to the pumpkin farm, carving a MILLION pumpkins, and making delicious things with that special fall taste to it. My friend Meryn said it perfectly -

Every time I see pumpkins, all I can think of is how those specific pumpkins aren't actively in my food and how they need to be in my food right now. Those pumpkins need to get in my coffee beverages. They need to get in ALL of my baked goods. Do you see how fat I'm not, pumpkins? Yeah, well, that's gonna change, because it's time to eat ALL of the pumpkins.

Amazing stuff and pretty much my brain waves during this season. Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, here I come. Sweet potato and pumpkin bread? You are on my list. Pumpkin cream cheese frosting on a coffee cake?? YOU'RE MINE. So, to kick off the lovely season (despite the ridiculous amount of rain and muggy heat we are getting on this mid-September day), I am making a batch of Molasses Cookies. Tasty.

Recipe to follow :) My dumb blog will not let me stop writing in bold and italics now. Thanks Meryn's quote!!!

Quesadillas to Celebrate Texas!

Hello again fellow food lovers. I have been out of my mind planning this wedding. It can get so complicated and JUST when you think you have it figured out, there's a new variable thrown in there! I think (hope) I will have the venues picked out by the end of the week. Then I can send out save the dates. :) The engagement pictures are so awesome I can't wait to put them on the save the dates and show them off!!

Here's an example of the one I want to use.

Pretty nice.

So I finally got some time in between my crazy school load and my busy work with the wedding to make some food. I went home to Texas last weekend to scope out venues with Steven's mom and aunt and remembered how much more AWESOME the tortillas are in Texas than here on the east coast. Plus, they're dirt cheap too! So I smuggled two gigantic packs of tortillas home in my bags. Then, I made teriyaki steak quesadillas.
Delicious.
Here's how it's done!

TERIYAKI STEAK QUESADILLAS

• 1/3 c. reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1/3 c. reduced sodium chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. minced fresh gingerroot (or 1/4 tsp. powdered ginger)
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 beef top sirloin steak
• 1/2 c. sliced red onion
• 1/2 c. sliced green bell pepper
• 1 Tbps. olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 c. shredded part skim mozarella cheese
• some flour tortillas

In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients to make an awesome marinade. Then stick the marinade inside of a resealable plastic bag - then add the steak to it. Let that sit in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. I only did one hour, and it turned out delicious, so it's up to you.

In the meantime, slice those onions and green bell peppers. When it gets close to the end of the marinade time, start a skillet on medium heat with about a Tbsp. of olive oil. Toss in the onions and bell peppers, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until crisp-tender. Take off heat and keep nearby.

When the meat is finished marinading, take the meat out of the bag and put it on the grill for however long you like your steaks. I like mine pretty rare, so it was not on there very long. Reserve 3 Tbsp. of the marinade to put on the filling.

When the steak is done, take it off and cut it up into bite size pieces. Lay a tortilla flat and put some mozzarella cheese on it. Then, layer with some steak pieces, a few onions and peppers, and some more mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle a spoon full of the marinade on top of all of that and then seal the deal with a second tortilla. I pan fried mine in olive oil until just browned, but you can also put them on the grill if you want. Slice into six pieces (honestly this part doesn't matter if you just want to eat it whole).

Steven loves his with jalapenos, I like mine with sour cream and salsa. Either way, you have a unique tasting, amazing quesadilla!!

Heading to the Chapel

So... my apologies for the massive break in posts, but something VERY exciting happened on my trip home from Germany! Steven proposed!!!! I know I was excited! His proposal was sooo cute and original and made me laugh. So, tonight, while I am preparing fajitas (Steven's grilling the meat!), I figure I would make a quick sharing post with a few of the juicy details. :)

My flight was delayed a whole day, as you remember, by United for "operational issues". Whatever that means. So that apparently screwed up his plans the first time. When I finally did get to the airport, I didn't even have a seat on the plane. I waited and waited until finally, they called me up as one of the last passengers on the plane. Luckily, I got the very last row of people so I had close access to the toilet and I could recline without bothering anyone. I know most people don't like being by the bathrooms, but I think it was perfect. During the flight, my left contact ripped in half and so I spent most of the flight trying to see out of just one eye. When I landed, I had a headache, couldn't see, was exhausted, and very irritated because of my dumb contact. Plus, when I landed, Steven wasn't even at the airport because I couldn't tell him that I had gotten on an earlier plane! So I meandered through security as slow as I could and tried to call him with my P.O.S. Verizon cell phone reception. Couldn't hold a call... typical. But once I walked out of the security, through customs, etc., I found Steven standing there with his face in a massive bouquet of my favorite flowers!

Little did he know that he had gotten this orange and red pollen ALL OVER HIS FACE!  Haha it was great! He was all dressed up with a face full of pollen. I helped him clean it off and we got to his car. He handed me a wooden heart with a night scene he had burnt into the wood with his own wood burner. It said, "Welcome back Michelle!" It was really cute, and apparently the first clue. I couldn't figure it out the entire drive home - probably because I couldn't even see straight. Then he pretends to miss the exit for home and takes me to the lake where we had Valentines Day this year - whole back story to this too. Then he has me close my eyes by the lake, surrounds me in candles, and has me open my eyes to the next two clues - a wooden horseshoe and a mug that he had hand-drawn a bee on. I could NOT for the life of me figure this out. I was getting frustrated because I couldn't figure it out, when lo and behold, a Maryland family comes up and parks their fishing gear, like, five feet away from us. Totally ruined the mood and they didn't even CARE. Also typical. So we move up onto higher ground and then he had to help me out with the clues:

The wooden heart = "Would"
The little wooden horseshoe = "you"
The mug with the bee = "be"
Then he pulls out the ring for = "my wife"

BUT! He pulls it out upside down!!!! It was adorable - he was so anxious about it he pulled it out upside down. :)
Here are a few pictures of the ring though:

Beautiful!! The perfect ring :) So, this past few weeks have been a little crazy notifying friends and family and starting off the craze that is wedding planning. Tonight, though, I am finally kicking the cooking back in gear with simple fajitas. Simple ingredients: tortillas, lettuce chopped up, tomatoes, avocados, cheese, onions, and some chicken on the grill - mix it all together and you have some easy fajitas. Fast, easy, and totally not a big mess in my kitchen. Perfect for the disaster my house is since I am moving. It's pretty ridiculous. I promise to come back and visit with new recipes soon!!