Wednesday, September 9, 2009

I'm Alive, if Barely Counts.

I've been cooking, have some good recipes to share. I've been knitting, have a crappy pic of my FO (Icarus) but nothing really good yet because my hubby is a slacker just like me and he's my designated photographer.

Instead of a proper post, I'm just going to post these crappy pictures that have been building up in my "Post About This" folder. Then I'm going to go knit some more on my Traveling Woman, because the sooner I can finish it the sooner I can start on my Aeolian. By the by, I only started the TW so I would have some beading experience before starting the Aeolian. That and I needed a project to be finished in under a month so I could feel like I actually do accomplish some things in a reasonable amount of time...

My brother, Scot, got suckered into going into the attic-from-Hell and installing a fan in my spare room. I took some pics. I call this his "Attic Bandit" look. The fan looks & works very well, by the way. I haven't told him yet but we're in the process of picking out fans for every room. He's going to be so excited!



This is a great ride I took with my best friend Scott. Normally I ride my bike & follow him, but I felt like taking pictures so I rode with him for a change. We didn't go far, because his back seat is about the size of a chestnut but he assures me (ASSures?ha ha ha) that there is a great product on the market that extends the sides of the seat for a more comfortable passenger ride. In other words, the big-ass-girlfriend seat extender kit. We had a great time despite me being a big-ass sissy.



Below is the great recipe I got from a friend. I hate exact recipes, so this is an approximation. Two cans of croissants, unrolled flat on foil. Squeeze or roll all scored edges together. Make a mix of about 2 cups shredded chicken, 1 cups chopped broccoli, 1 cup chopped red peppers & mushrooms if you so desire, a half cup mayo (I used ranch dressing) 1 cup shredded cheese, 2 cloves of garlic (pressed) and 1 teaspoon of dill weed. It's a rather dry mixture, add salt & pepper to taste. Spread it out along the center of the croissant panel. Cut your edges in about 3 inches to make strips you can twist & pinch over the top. The twist looks really neat when it's done. Brush bread with beaten egg whites & bake @ 350 for 25-28 minutes.



If you do it right it will be beautiful. If you're sloppy it should look like mine below.
No matter what it looks like, it tastes magnificent and it's really easy to do. Looks great, tastes great, not a lot of work. That's my favorite kind of recipe! By the way, I have an actual recipe if anyone really needs it. Most of my friends are cooks like I am, you get a general idea then go make it your way at home so that's what I've given here.



Now, ANOTHER kind of recipe is the one below. I have several tomato plants as some of you may already know. These plants have produced some fifteen THOUSAND tomatoes and are all over 9 feet in length! I have friends and neighbors avoiding me because I keep trying to give them tomatoes. That is pretty bad! They are delicious though, so I thought I would use some of them up in a homemade tomato paste. This pot is what I started with in the morning.



This is what I wound up with after it was all cooked down that evening. This equals one can of tomato paste as far as I am able to tell. I cooked it all day. Not so efficient, but definitely more tasty than the store bought stuff and I managed to not waste precious produce. I won't be doing it again, but for a learning experience it rocked.



I have been cooking a lot more, but I want to knit now that my duty is done. See? I'm still alive!