Thursday, February 10, 2011
Let Me Call You Sweetheart
I was scouring my patterns to see if I could find any cute little valentines for you. Well...I didn't exactly find valentiney patterns but I did find a couple patterns that is just dying to be modified. I love the fact that they look surprised, like we just caught them in the act.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Tie One On Tuesday
Remember that song Afternoon Delight? You don't? Well, look it up and then let it get stuck in your head for a few hours or days... while you're waiting, mix up this lovely concoction for your own sky rockets in flight.
Love in the Afternoon
2 ounces fresh orange juice
1/2 ounce rose water
2 fresh mint leaves
4 ounces dry (slightly sweet) champagne
Add the orange juice and rose water to a champagne flute. Twist the mint leaves with your fingers and drop them in the glass. Fill the glass with champagne.
1/2 ounce rose water
2 fresh mint leaves
4 ounces dry (slightly sweet) champagne
Add the orange juice and rose water to a champagne flute. Twist the mint leaves with your fingers and drop them in the glass. Fill the glass with champagne.
This next cocktail is a throwback to the 1960s and was a big hit during that time period. Now you can enjoy it just like you do your Hey Love album you bought at midnight while watching public access TV. How's that for an obscure reference?
Soul Kiss Cocktail
2 ounces Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
1/4 ounce Dry Vermouth
1/4 ounce Dubonnet Rouge
1/2 ounce Orange Juice
Combine liquids in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake to blend and chill. Strain into a cocktail glass and live large like Don Cornelious.
1/4 ounce Dry Vermouth
1/4 ounce Dubonnet Rouge
1/2 ounce Orange Juice
Combine liquids in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake to blend and chill. Strain into a cocktail glass and live large like Don Cornelious.
Remember that Axis of Evil everyone talked about a few years ago. Well, they were wrong! There is an Axis Kiss cocktail that is anything but evil but it will definitely make you do evil things-maybe that's what they were talking about.
Axis Kiss Cocktail
dash of amaretto almond liqueurdash of creme de cassis
chilled Champagne
Pour the amaretto and creme de cassis into a champagne flute.
Top with Champagne.
Make the drink sweeter with larger dashes of amaretto and creme de cassis.
Okay my wonderful valentines. I think I have made enough bizarre references to late night TV and 1970's one hit wonders. Now I'm off to comb my archives for even more obscure references and even better cocktails. H's and K's too all of you!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Scrappy Dog Sunday!
Are you ready for some PUPPY BOWL 2011? Awwww yeah! While the rest of the United States is watching football, the Pedersen household will be watching Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl for the 7th year in a row.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Puppy Bowl, it is hours upon hours of cute puppies playing. That's it. There is a kitten half time show and this year, they've added chickens into the mix. There are several puppies and they just play and play and play. It drives Lola, Jujube and Pete crazy! They try to attack the TV, they jump around and have a good time. While they are attacking the TV, I get to scream over the cute puppies. It's a win-win situation.
So, get your snacks ready, plant yourself on the couch and prepare for hours upon hours of cute puppiness. It will brighten your day and make your scrappy dogs happy.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Salivating Saturday
Some days I am just plain lazy. I don't want to cook and after eating my weight in red vines, I need to make something with a little more nutrition. On days like this, I will make up a quick pizza. Pizza dough is the easiest thing in the world to make and you get to top your pizza with whatever you want. Although, I don't recommend red vines-yeah, not good.
The following is the easiest pizza dough ever! It will make 2 pizzas or one deep dish pizza.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
1-½ cup Warm Water
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅓ cups Olive Oil
Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a 5 minutes.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.
When you are ready to make the pizza, grab HALF the pizza dough (recipe makes 2 crusts) and squeeze the dough toward the bottom to form a nice, tight, pulled ball. You can roll out the pizza with a rolling pin if you’d like, but sometimes it’s just as easy to throw it around and pull and stretch till it feels right. And when the crust is nice and thin, lay it on an oiled baking sheet or pizza pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and spread it with your fingers. Very lightly sprinkle some salt on the crust.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Top your crust with your toppings of choice. Then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.
There ya go! Easy as pie...get it pie...HA! The second dough will last in the fridge for 3-5 days and in the freezer up to 6 months. I usually make a couple of batches, wrap the dough individually and freeze.
The following is the easiest pizza dough ever! It will make 2 pizzas or one deep dish pizza.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
1-½ cup Warm Water
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅓ cups Olive Oil
Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a 5 minutes.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.
When you are ready to make the pizza, grab HALF the pizza dough (recipe makes 2 crusts) and squeeze the dough toward the bottom to form a nice, tight, pulled ball. You can roll out the pizza with a rolling pin if you’d like, but sometimes it’s just as easy to throw it around and pull and stretch till it feels right. And when the crust is nice and thin, lay it on an oiled baking sheet or pizza pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and spread it with your fingers. Very lightly sprinkle some salt on the crust.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Top your crust with your toppings of choice. Then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.
There ya go! Easy as pie...get it pie...HA! The second dough will last in the fridge for 3-5 days and in the freezer up to 6 months. I usually make a couple of batches, wrap the dough individually and freeze.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Quit Marshing My Mellow
Okay, so I have rewritten this post about 5 times. At first I was going to write about how negative people invade our lives like those creepy bugs from the Star Trek movie (KAHN!!!!!). I tried writing about pity parties, how to not take things so personal and then it hit me...I know exactly what I should write about.
Let me give you a quick background. I read A LOT of blogs and while I was being self absorbed and trying to avoid writing another report, I read about a woman with severe depression and how she looked past that to help someone else. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Although I have my problems, and I love to sometimes make mountains out of molehills, I am truly happy and blessed. Yes, negative thoughts and people will get to me, they will burrow in my skull like those bugs, lay their little negative eggs and make my head explode...okay, that was a little gross...but in reality, it's how I react to them that's important. It's how I see the BIG picture around me. Not just the past hour of crap.
I guess that's what I'm trying to drive home. People and things will drive you crazy, will try to bring you down but how you react to them is really up to you. I know this is a constant theme with me, but it's so true and I think everyone needs to have this bug planted in the brain.
Life is too short to dwell on sadness, what if's and negative nancys. It just is not worth it. What is worth it is the smile on your face when you think happy thoughts, the sound of that special someone's voice, the shake of your butt when your favorite song comes on.
Get out there! Plant those positive vibes. Drive people crazy with your smile!
When life is marshing your mellow, make whoopie pies! And yes I KNOW it's harshing my mellow but I like marshmallows.
Let me give you a quick background. I read A LOT of blogs and while I was being self absorbed and trying to avoid writing another report, I read about a woman with severe depression and how she looked past that to help someone else. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Although I have my problems, and I love to sometimes make mountains out of molehills, I am truly happy and blessed. Yes, negative thoughts and people will get to me, they will burrow in my skull like those bugs, lay their little negative eggs and make my head explode...okay, that was a little gross...but in reality, it's how I react to them that's important. It's how I see the BIG picture around me. Not just the past hour of crap.
I guess that's what I'm trying to drive home. People and things will drive you crazy, will try to bring you down but how you react to them is really up to you. I know this is a constant theme with me, but it's so true and I think everyone needs to have this bug planted in the brain.
Life is too short to dwell on sadness, what if's and negative nancys. It just is not worth it. What is worth it is the smile on your face when you think happy thoughts, the sound of that special someone's voice, the shake of your butt when your favorite song comes on.
Get out there! Plant those positive vibes. Drive people crazy with your smile!
When life is marshing your mellow, make whoopie pies! And yes I KNOW it's harshing my mellow but I like marshmallows.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Scrappy Dog Sunday!
5 Things I have Learned from My Dogs
Being cute will only get you so far, personality will take you all the way
It's okay to hide out and regroup in order to come back in full force
Laugh till you feel it in your toes
Allow yourself to have some fun
Happiness really is a warm puppy..or two...or three...
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Salivating Saturday
I'll admit it, I am a soft pretzel junkie. I LOVE them. The warm bread, a little mustard...I'm in heaven. I have always wanted to make them but thought they were just too much work. Well, they are a little work, but they are worth it and really, it doesn't take that much time. See, I'll show you.
Easy Like a Sunday Morning Soft Pretzels
Ingredients
* 2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
* 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 1 cup warm water
* 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* Vegetable oil, for baking sheets
* 3 tablespoons baking soda
* 1 tablespoon coarse salt-again, I used sea salt
Directions:
Mix yeast, coarse salt, sugar, and warm water in a small bowl, whisking until sugar dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Pour flour in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Slowly pour yeast mixture over flour mixture, stirring to combine. Using your hands, gather dough together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until it is no longer sticky, about 5 minutes.
Cover with plastic, and let rise for 30 minutes.
Cut dough into 12 pieces, and roll each into an 18-inch rope. Form a U shape with 1 rope, and twist ends together twice. Fold twisted portion backward along center of U shape to form a circle, then gently press ends of rope onto dough to seal.
Transfer to an oiled baking sheet, and repeat. Let rise for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add baking soda. Boil pretzels in batches until puffed and slightly shiny, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to wire racks to drain. I suggest using chopsticks to navigate your pretzels, I didn't and they didn't come out very pretty.
Return to baking sheet, sprinkle with pretzel salt, and bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes.
Pretzels will keep, uncovered, at room temperature for up to 12 hours. Rewarm in a 250-degree oven if desired. Do not put pretzels in tupperware or cover, they will get soggy. Trust me, they will not last longer than 12 hours. You will gobble them all up!
One thing that I did notice is that my pretzels were super thick! Definitely roll the dough to 18 inches+, unless you want big fatties. Also, mine didn't turn out the prettiest, but they were mighty tasty.
This is a very basic recipe, so go a little wild and try out different seasonings. Now I just need to find a mug of beer and some mustard.
Easy Like a Sunday Morning Soft Pretzels
Ingredients
* 2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
* 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 1 cup warm water
* 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* Vegetable oil, for baking sheets
* 3 tablespoons baking soda
* 1 tablespoon coarse salt-again, I used sea salt
Directions:
Mix yeast, coarse salt, sugar, and warm water in a small bowl, whisking until sugar dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Pour flour in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Slowly pour yeast mixture over flour mixture, stirring to combine. Using your hands, gather dough together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until it is no longer sticky, about 5 minutes.
Cover with plastic, and let rise for 30 minutes.
Cut dough into 12 pieces, and roll each into an 18-inch rope. Form a U shape with 1 rope, and twist ends together twice. Fold twisted portion backward along center of U shape to form a circle, then gently press ends of rope onto dough to seal.
Transfer to an oiled baking sheet, and repeat. Let rise for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add baking soda. Boil pretzels in batches until puffed and slightly shiny, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to wire racks to drain. I suggest using chopsticks to navigate your pretzels, I didn't and they didn't come out very pretty.
Return to baking sheet, sprinkle with pretzel salt, and bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes.
Pretzels will keep, uncovered, at room temperature for up to 12 hours. Rewarm in a 250-degree oven if desired. Do not put pretzels in tupperware or cover, they will get soggy. Trust me, they will not last longer than 12 hours. You will gobble them all up!
One thing that I did notice is that my pretzels were super thick! Definitely roll the dough to 18 inches+, unless you want big fatties. Also, mine didn't turn out the prettiest, but they were mighty tasty.
This is a very basic recipe, so go a little wild and try out different seasonings. Now I just need to find a mug of beer and some mustard.
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