Saturday: Sucesses and Fails.

This is one of those blog posts that has been rolling around in my head all day. It has taken on many forms and types of content. My original post was about the fun and relaxing things I did on Saturday. And then things went horrible wrong. I was tempted to go ahead with the happy go lucky post, but then I paused.

I was having a conversation earlier this week with some friends about the pitfall of blogging or really having any online presence It is so easy to present just a slice of life. The part that we choose for others to see. Because of that it is so very easy to project a the idea that we have it all together. That everything in our life is perfect and we have it all together.

I don't think most bloggers do this intentional I think it's a byproduct of choices we make. I personally chose to share the positive things in my life. I do this for two reasons.

1) No one wants to read a blog, follow some one on facebook, or subscribe to a twitter feed of a cranky person.

2) I have a tendency to be a negative person and blogging has helped me focus on the good things in my life. It has given me a place to celebrate the little things.

But some times the best thing you can do is be transparent. To be honest about the bad and ugly in life.

So here we go:

Today started out great. I spent the morning at home a lone with a a whole screen full of free book samples on my Nook and now I have a nice long list of books I can't wait to read. After bombing the house for fleas (third treatment). I then headed out to meet up with my mother-in-law and the girls. We went to a yard sale and I got 5 gifts for $3.00 dollars. AMAZING!!

I also got to see the magazine I'm writing for out around town. So much fun.

After hitting up some sales we went back to my mother in laws place and I did some working on projects. Finished up a doll and started working on a new style. I am in love with them.

Then we went home and in the ten minutes I spent downstairs on the computer reading about BlogHer12 Maddie emptied the entire jug of sweet tea on the floor. Wouldn't have been so bad, except I lost it. I completely and utterly lost my temper with her. And continued to do so as she attempted to "help" cook dinner. I wanted to shut myself up in the bathroom but I was worried about what else she might do.

Eventually I calmed down and realized that some day I will be sad. Some day she won't want to help. Some day I'll be wishing she was there to lay on the floor in the kitchen and play with the kitty. So I pulled our the flour and butter and let the girls make shortbread cookies. Something they could help with without making to much of a mess.

It wasn't perfect, but it was our day. A day in our adventure and I'm thankful for it.

Anniversary Food.

Josh and I love to eat. Probably a bit to much to be honest. We have a few favorite chain restaurants but what we really love is local places. On our recent trip to Williamsburg we staid at a nice hotel walking distance from down town Williamsburg. Our first night there we decided to walk to dinner despite the rain. We took the big umbrella and at first it wasn't that bad. As the rain picked up and the hour got later we got desperate though so we ducked into the closest place. One look at the menu was enough to send me running. Non of the food looked familiar and frankly the prices scared me. But Josh talked me into stay and we had some amazing food!!

Our yummy bread platter with cornbread, pretzel bread and herb bread paired with three dipping sauces. So yummy!

Duck breast with mushroom bread pudding and some other stuff. (Real descriptive I know!) I hate mushrooms and even I had to admit the the bread pudding was amazing. 

My pork shank ossobucco  with whipped potatoes and cucumbers. This stuff fell off the bone literally. The potatoes were so smooth and the gravy just a touch sweet. The cucumbers were... odd? I prefer my cucumbers ice cold with vinegar so slightly warm with gravy was iffy for me. But I would still go back and order this again. Someday. :)

Add a couple of white Russians and a bay leaf lemon drop and it was quite an experience.  Sitting in the beautiful restaurant while the rain poured down and we laughed and tried new things was an unexpected, unique way to kick off an anniversary trip.

Lemon Short Bread Sugar Scrub

Last week after getting home from my parents house I was feel the desperate need to be creative. 

Since the house was a mess and my to-do list was a mile long I opted for a very simple project and whipped up some sugar scrub. 

My original plan was to make lemonade sugar scrub but a few things got in the way. First off I bought organic raw sugar because I love the texture. However that mixed with the olive oil and it was impossible to get a white or yellow mixture. I ended up with brown.

I also really wanted to use the lemon rind but since my blender and food processor are broken I couldn't pulverize the whole rind and was only able to use the zest I got with my fine grater. The scent wasn't quite strong enough for my liking so I added almond and vanilla extract and ended up with...... Lemon Short Bread Sugar Scrub!

I finally tried it out today and loved it. Just the right about of scrub and left my skin smooth and not oily. Perfect!!

If any one is interested in trying here is the recipe such as it is:

Ingredients:

"White" Sugar 

(I used organic raw sugar because I wanted a rough scrub)

Brown Sugar

Oil

(I used olive oil since I had it on hand)

Lemon Zest

Almond Extract

Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1) Combine 1 cup of white sugar and 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and stir.

2)Mix in 1 1/2 cups oil.

3) Add the zest of one lemon.

4) Add one teaspoon each of the extracts.

5) Stir

6) Spoon into a jar or bottle with a tight lid.

(All measurements are rough estimates as I made a rather large batch and mixed by feel. The mixture will separate as it sits so you made need to shake or stir before use.)

I have been saving my Starbucks Mocha beverage bottles for a while now. I simply pealed of the labels and used a squirt or two of goo gone on each side and the glue residue wiped right off. I had some black spray paint on hand so I sprayed the the caps with that and it made for rather pretty presentation I think.

I gave one to my mother-in-law as a thank you for watching the cat while we were gone and I kept one for myself because, well because I never keep things I make for myself it seems. I have one bottle from this batch left so lets have a little fun. I'll give it away to the first local person who comments on this post and can meet me some time on Thursday in town to pick it up. :)

Kitchen Therapy

We got back in town from vacation late Sunday night and jumped back into life first thing Monday morning. Yesterday was actually my first day back into regular routine since the miscarriage. It actually went smoother than I expected. I spent the morning do laundry, grocery shopping, and dealing with FAMIS and Medicaid over the phone and through faxes. Surprisingly it went rather smoothly and every one I talked to was very kind and helpful.

In the afternoon I engaged in some serious kitchen therapy. Cooking, baking, bread making, even decorating my Kitchen aide mixer! Nothing soothes me quite like the kitchen. One of the things I made was buffalo chicken hot pockets. I normally use this as a left over re-purpose, but Josh asked for them so I went a head and made the dip and bread solely for this purpose. I've had a couple people ask about it so I thought I would share the recipie here.

Filling

Ingredients:
1 can chicken (large size) (This is the first place you can use left overs. Instead of buying chicken use left over rotisserie chicken or really any left over chicken that doesn't have to strong a flavor and isn't in a sauce)
1 8 oz. brick cream cheese
1/2 c blue cheese dressing (we use ranch since I can't stand blue cheese)
1/4 c cayenne pepper sauce
1 pkg. shredded cheddar cheese. 

Directions: 
Melt cream cheese over medium-low heat. Once creamy, add blue cheese, hot sauce, and chicken.
Remove from heat, fold in 1/2 pkg. of shredded cheese.
Pour into square 8x8 oven-safe dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350°F until cheese is melted and bubbly. (You can also just dump it all into a crock pot)

Bread
For the bread I use my go to bread recipe which can be found HERE. But you can really use any dinner roll dough.

Assemble
Once your dip is made stick it in the fridge to cool. You want to be sure the dip is pretty solid as it makes it easier to work with. (I often make a double batch of dip and use the left overs for the hot pockets).

Make bread according to directions. Once is has risen once, grab small balls off and flatten into circles. Put a scoop of filling in the middle and wrap dough around it. Make desired amount of pockets. Put in warm place to rise till roughly double. Bake at 350 till top of rolls are brown. (Time will vary depending on size of rolls.)