friday was a creative/crafty day and was spent sewing on the binding to the tablerunner.
since i've been really enjoying my time in the kitchen either cooking or baking, i decided that i would make fettucine alfredo for dinner on saturday...only luke had other ideas for what he wanted. it's kinda funny, really...i'm not the best decision maker and i had finally made a decision about something without being prodded into that choice, only to have it shot down. oh well, i was still going to make it for the kids though since luke wanted steaks and neither of the kids really like them (yes, my children are oddballs!)
i used the recipe from the joy of cooking book, making only one adjustment since it actually called for a whole stick of butter and i just couldn't bring myself to use that much...i used half a stick instead. it's a super easy recipe to follow and so quick to make, the sauce was the quickest i've ever made before...waiting for the water to boil for the noodles and actually cooking the noodles took longer than making the sauce! i was very happy with the outcome and the kids seemed to enjoy it, too (thankfully). luke and i enjoyed our steaks and baked potatoes (he grilled the steaks, i baked the potatoes) rather than the pasta.
and because trying out different recipes is so much fun for me, i also made chocolate crinkle cookies for dessert! i had all the ingredients here at the house and that was really the deciding factor on making that recipe. it was the first time i had ever used baking chocolate, the kind that come in one ounce pieces that need to be chopped before melting and it was easier to chop the chocolate than i expected. while the chocolate was melting with some butter in my makeshift double boiler, i got all the other ingredients together.
once all the ingredients were mixed together i set it all in the fridge to chill, just like the recipe called for. side note: i had obviously started the cookie making process before starting dinner since i knew ahead of time that i needed to chill the dough. i let the dough chill for a few hours and then set about making the cookies after dinner was fully digested by us all. so, here's all the fun stuff that i found out while making these cookies: chilled chocolate cookie dough is really hard and having to make balls to roll in powdered sugar is quite a workout and rather messy! the first batch turned out to be shaped too small and more ball-like than they should've been. so i fixed that "problem" with the rest of the batches by making the balls bigger and then smashing them with the back of a spoon halfway through.
they turned out fine in the end, jordan liked them and kept coming back into the kitchen to get some...stephen didn't like them and luke didn't even try them, but i'm not too surprised by any of that really. i liked them enough to have a couple, but not enough to make them again...bit too messy and hard to work with. first batch are the ones on the plate, second batch are the ones on the rack in the pics below.
and so that was my baking adventure for the weekend. sunday was a cooking, baking, and crafting day. i made pancakes from scratch for breakfast, franks and beans for dinner and brownies (from a box) for dessert.
the pancake recipe (from the joy of cooking) was easy and one that i'll use from now on, possibly doubling it since there was just enough for all of us and i like to have leftovers so stephen can have them for breakfast at least one day during the week.
the franks and beans were very good and we ate the whole batch for dinner, the kids weren't terribly fond of them but they ate most of what i gave them. i left out the chopped onion that the recipe called for since i didn't want to stink up the house and also, honestly, just didn't feel like chopping one!
the brownies were the same kind that we always have when i make them from a box...no more trying ones that have added things like nuts or caramel since no one liked that. eventually i will make them from scratch, too...as soon as i find a recipe i really feel like trying.
as for the crafty part, i worked on the brown afghan some more, with the intend now being that it will be done in time to be an anniversary gift next month. i figure as long as i work on it some everyday and add at least four rows a day, i should have it completed in time. of course, with me, one just never knows.
coming up this week: in the crafting department there'll be more crocheting on the the afghan and working on a cross stitch project, too. in the cooking/baking department there'll be more new recipes to be tried starting with red beans and rice and cheesecake since i finally purchased my first springform pan. keep coming back and i promise to post more often just to keep me from spending an hour+ in front of my laptop every 3 days and seeming to write a book when i do update! things are progressing along quite nicely though so i'm really very happy about that!
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