A Weekend of baking, the public market, and a light fish dinner at home

One of my favorite things to do on a Sunday (or any day for that matter) is to drive downtown and meander around the Milwaukee Public Market. It has everything and then some. While we were there buying a new rolling pin, a bamboo pizza board, a small specialized spatula, and my favorite homemade Baklava…oh, and of course some beautiful fresh Walleye and 2 lobster tails, I took some photos so you could see where I am talking bout. Here they are…

The outside of the building…

A few shots from the second level of the old building that was converted years ago…

The Spice House is why I go there most of the time….

The bread smith, the wine area and of course the seafood area…the best fish mongers in the city!

The amazing cheese area…wonderful!

Seafood!!! (my photo was very blurry,so I found this one!)

We brought home some wonderfully fresh walleye, some beautiful spring greens for a salad and the lobster tails for another night. I like to have a nice light dinner every once and a while, and when Rach is not here for dinner, we can get away with fresh fish (she loves fish, but really just wants it battered). Here is the fish from start to finish…

The fresh greens and some raspberry vinaigrette…

All de-boned and ready for the frying pan and brown butter sauce and pink salt

Crisp the skin in the brown butter

The greens with a bit of cucumber added (that’s all it needs)

The finished product and we are ready to enjoy a light healthy dinner on a sunny Sunday after a wonderful weekend 🙂

I think we all need quiet weekends to reconnect with the ones we love the most, and mine was no exception. I will post the baking that I did later in the day today…from chocolate chip bread for my hubby and daughter’s breakfast, to cranberry orange bread for my breakfasts….as always ❤ much love ❤

It’s a cookies and bread day in my house

Sometimes when it’s cold outside – yes, it’s still cold! – I tend to want to make the house warm with my oven. I decided earlier this week that when I had time I would make the family their favorite cookies (chocolate chip) and of course the weekly bread. Well, I found myself wanting to warm up a bit today and didn’t have anything really planned, so off to the kitchen to make bread and of course some yummy, chewy, chocolate chip cookies. I don’t eat cookies, but they say they are great 🙂 I took some photos, and they are as follows…

The dough is ready to form the cookies…

Then with my medium scoop I will get them onto the parchment lined sheets…

Ready for the oven!!

Mmmmmm, nice and warm…

Cooled and ready to be stored…

Meanwhile, the bread is rising…

And it’s hot and smells delicious…

It’s been a good day and i got the things that i wanted to done…so now I will relax in the living room, and then take my daughter out for some frozen yogurt. This is a photo of where I like to relax…someday I will paint it something other than beige, but for now it’s where I like to unwind………

This will also be the place that my husband and I will relax tonight after a dinner of spaghetti and homemade bread and watch some television. Have a great day everyone and as always ❤ much love ❤

A Wonderful Easter :)

I think when I get very busy, I get so involved with cooking, baking and of course cleaning up the house for company, that i forget about the Internet. not such a bad thing, but the last weekend from Good Friday till now, has been hectic. We go out for fish on Good Friday, do the shopping that’s necessary on Saturday and try and get to church on time, then I start the ham and such early on Sunday and have the family in at around 3 pm. The amount of people has dwindled over the years, but it’s always nice to have the kids, their girlfriends, my mother in law and of course myself and my husband, all sitting around the same table for a special meal – I wish we could do every Sunday! I took a few photos of  some of the food I made this past weekend…from scalloped potatoes, homemade dinner rolls, the ham covered with pineapple and maraschino cherries, to the new dessert I thought I would try (Double lemon cheesecake bars)…they were wonderful! I also made brussel sprouts, corn, and mashed potatoes (but I didn’t see the need to post those!) So now I will share some photos with you….

I had to cover the bottom and sides of the 9 x 13 pan with foil…for easy removal and cutting…

The first layer of the dessert is vanilla wafers and melted butter…

Add the melted butter…

Softened cream cheese, lemons (both zest and juice), ready for the mixer…

In they go, with sugar, flour and vanilla…

Press the wafers into the pan, and get into the oven for 10mins….

The filling is very creamy when it’s ready

Pour the filling over the cooked wafer bottom, and cook..

It looked puffy when it came out….and on the day of, I covered this with homemade lemon curd…they were delicious

Now, make the scalloped potatoes…

Into the oven…

All cooked….

Hot and ready for the fridge till the “day of”

Rise the buns….

Into the oven…

Out, and brush with butter…they smell delicious!

Easter Sunday, and everything getting ready to go into the oven to be warmed up…

Cover the ham with pineapple and cherries, and cook (I added some pineapple juice in the bottom too)

My table before company arrived (I prefer not to take photos of people when they are eating…or to post them on the Internet either…so this is it for the dinner!)

I also cannot have Easter morning without an Easter egg hunt in the house…always little chocolate foil wrapped ones, all over the place…here are 2 photos of a couple of the eggs (our 15yr old had fun looking for them, although these are really out in the open!)

And Easter isn’t the same without a beautiful Easter lily…

I hope that no matter what you did, or what you celebrated, or who you were with, that you enjoyed every moment of it…we are not promised tomorrow, so we have to enjoy today and make the most out of it. Have a great day, and as always ❤ much love ❤

Homemade pasta salad and pizza

I have been wanting to eat some pasta salad lately, and yet the weather has been so cold that it’s just not something that I “want” when it’s snowing. weird maybe, but just the same….well, with the weather becoming slightly warmer and the snow melting, I decided to get some things out of the fridge and make up a pasta salad to have for a few lunches this week. I had leftover chicken breast, and some sharp cheddar cheese..all good when thinking pasta salad. I made some multi-colored rotini pasta and some red peppers, mixed it all together with a homemade dressing, and presto…pasta salad…

All the essentials…

All mixed together…

Now tonight, it’s homemade pizza. We always do something easy on Wednesday night’s during Survivor season. I refuse to cook anything huge and want comfort, in front of the tv, food for dinner…so, it’s usually pizza or homemade Chinese food. So, my husband likes pepperoni pizza and I like ham, bacon and pineapple pizza, so i make 2/3 of it his way, and the rest my way. Here is what I start with…

Press out the dough and add the sauce – we like a lot of sauce!

A little bit of cheese to hold the toppings on…

His side, and mine (I think mine looks better lol)

Covered with cheese and into the oven it will go…

I will pop it into the oven at 400F for about 20mins and then we will sit down in front of the tv to enjoy a nice night together and my favorite tv show. I will post the done pizza a bit later….time for some family time! Have a great night and as always ❤ much love ❤

I think it went over well….

A successful day at my sewing machine

I have been missing not having a day to sit at my sewing machine and either fix some things or do some machine quilting. Well, today was finally that day. It’s dull outside and believe it or not, snow is falling…not a lot, but enough to be annoying!  Anyways, here are some photos from start to “almost” finish of a quilt that i am making for my daughters bed (no, she has no idea that this is for her yet – but she loves it!! lol).

I started by sewing all the jelly roll pieces together end to end…

3 jelly rolls in total…a LOT of material!!

Then I piece them side by side, and it starts to look like something!

I then cut them, and start to put them back together…this is the first cut, and the first time back together (there will be a few more before I am done this quilt top)

All in all, another productive day at my house. Now, on to make a simple dinner of homemade burgers and chips. We all need easy comfort food every once and a while! As always, ❤ much love ❤

Another Sunday dinner :)

I have to say, I always enjoy the weekend. Be it with the kids, or just my husband and I. It’s a time to spend together and just relax. The weather has not been the greatest this weekend, but at least it isn’t snowing – yet! (we are supposed to get a bit tonight actually, brrr). We enjoyed a dinner out last night and a nice steak dinner at home tonight. I just love brussel sprouts, fried and mixed with chicken broth, onions, and bacon. no need for  a starch, and if we felt like it, there is always home made bread (we had no need for bread with this meal). I make us both nice medium rare rib eyes and then mine gets made into a sandwich for Andy after dinner, as I only eat about 1/3 of it. he cleans his plate without a problem  here are a few photos of dinner, from start to the plate!

I needed to clean the brussel sprouts…

Then placed them with everything else

Cooked bacon and softened red onions…

Brown the brussel sprouts..

Get the steaks onto the HOT grill

Add the chicken stock, cover, and cook the sprouts..

Keep an eye on the steaks, they are almost ready!!

Add the bacon and onions to the sprouts, and they are ready for the plate!

Andy’s plate…

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend and made the most of it…whoever you are with, and whatever you did. Tomorrow I am sitting at the sewing machine for the day to get a quilt started…I will post photos as I go. Have a good night and as always ❤ much love ❤

A first time for Chinese Pot stickers from scratch

Another spring day here in Wisconsin and after a wonderful visit from my neighbor and some much needed “girl talk” I headed into the kitchen to tackle trying to make pot stickers from scratch. It’s a bit intimidating, as i have never “folded” the dough, but I watched a quick video and this is what I ended up with.

Here is the ingredients that I used (except the minced garlic which i forgot about till after the photo) Included is ground pork, green onions, water chestnuts, an egg, fresh ginger, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

All together in the bowl…

Mixed it all by hand…

Get the cookie sheet covered in flour so they don’t stick!

A bowl of water, the pot sticker “skins” and a spoon…

The first ones…I think I am getting the hang of it!

All done making them…47 in total.

A bit of oil in a hot pan…

Sesame and garlic sauce mixed with honey (for dipping)

Into the pan to get browned…

Check to make sure they are good a browned before I add water and steam them for 7mins

They look done to me!!

On my plate and ready to eat….

The rest get put in the freezer for another night 🙂

Well, now that I have enjoyed my pot stickers and they tasted great btw…a little more salt next time (I omitted using salt this time because of the soy, but I think I will add it next time). Now…off to enjoy my weekend with my husband. As always ❤ much love ❤

 

Shopping for material, and baking bread

It’s another ‘spring like’ day here WI and I am trying to make the most of it. I had a gift card for a shop by us called Tuesday Morning, that I was given at Christmas by one of the kids, and I had yet to use it. So, as I went to run some errands I had to do anyways, I stopped in and bought a few things. It’s a great shop…and as the name states, they have new things every “Tuesday Morning”. They have discontinued stuff, overstocked things, etc. From clothing, to lamps, to craft supplies, candles, rugs, bedding…everything you can think of. I use this shop for crafting materials a lot, and today was no exception. Here is a photo of what I was able to purchase with a $25 gift card, and a dollar and change for the tax.

          4 packages of 18″ x 22″ fabric squares (7 in each bag)                         3 yards of pink cotton ( I am thinking quilt backing)                        2.5″ x 22″ of beautiful Batik Jelly Roll material (3 rolls)                 2 Designer Wall Art lettering for our bedroom 

A Pretty good start for another day when I am ready to get another quilt top started and put some pretty lettering on the walls.

Now, I have been asked a million times (well maybe less, lol) to show all the steps of how I make my bread. I have taken photos from start to finish and hope with a few small descriptions, it will help those of you that asked for this. If anyone wants the recipe, just leave a comment and I will add that at a later date. OK, here we go.

I start with all the beginning dry ingredients in the mixer and all the wet ingredients in a saucepan with a thermometer in it…

Once I have the wet ingredients to the right temp (between 120F and 130F), I add them to the dry and beat on medium for 3 minutes. It will be “goopy”, but that’s the right consistency.

Now I add most of the flour (3 cups) to this and replace the whisk with my dough hook on the mixer. I cover the mixer with a linen cloth (so the flour doesn’t come flying out), and incorporate it fully (it will still be sticky at this point)

This is the time now to take the dough out of the mixer bowl and start kneading the final cup of flour on the counter top. This can take anywhere from 7 – 15 minutes depending on humidity.

Fully kneaded and not sticky at all

Oil a bowl that is at least 2 times larger than your dough ball, and also oil the top of the dough after you place it in the bowl. Cover with cling wrap and a linen cloth, and wait till doubled in size (this can take 20 – 45 minutes depending on the temperature of your kitchen)

Oil 2 bread pans (I use 8″ x 4″ size) and punch down the dough and remove from pans.

Divide the dough in half and shape into loaves.I do this by flattening out each half into a 6″ x 12″ and then rolling it tight, and pinching the ends under.

 

Into the pans…

and wait….

30 minutes later…

Into the oven for about 40 mins, and presto, homemade bread!

All in all a fairly productive day and the house smells lovely…a cross between spring, with an open window, and freshly baked bread 🙂 Tomorrow I will be making homemade pork Chinese dumplings, and I will post how that goes too…it’s my first time trying to make them from scratch!! Have a wonderful day and evening everyone, and as always ❤ much love ❤

 

 

Last night’s dinner was wonderful

It was a beautiful,although cloudy, day here in Wisconsin yesterday. The temperatures are finally starting to feel like spring – although i don’t want to jinx anything! On a normal day i find myself cleaning out the nooks and crannies that have gotten filled with things over the winter…where do they come from?? I suppose that’s the spring fever/spring cleaning, kicking in. 

My husband asked me last night if i was going to blog about the night I make hot dogs, or we just throw a frozen pizza in the oven. I had to laugh, because the answer is probably YES lol. I think that we all need nights where we don’t have to cook everything from scratch and we can just throw it in the oven, or reheat the leftovers and enjoy a meal without too much effort. I do have to admit that these meals in my home are not too often, but like last night, a lot of the things were not made from scratch. We had Chicken Parmesan and for once I did not make the pasta (I would normally spend the day making enough for a few dinners) and the marinara is my favorite bottled stuff with a few extras added in. But that’s OK, we still feel like we ate a homemade meal, and I didn’t have to work all day to make it.

Tonight is one of those nights where we are having “comfort food” and probably in front of the TV. I know,I know, that’s not good for us…but hey, we are a normal family and like to sit on the floor in the living room, in front of the tv, watching a cooking show while we eat simple “not so good for us”, food. Oh, it’s tacos for my hubby and Rachael and I will have loaded nachos. I will make some chicken breast meat with spices and chop it all up, load it on nachos on a cookie sheet, topped with Mexican and cheddar cheeses and then when they come out of the oven, we add, lettuce and salsa (and I like sour cream on mine too). but I digress…here are the photos from last nights dinner…from what was bought, to what the plates looked like….enjoy!

The essentials

The meat pounded out between cling wrap, ready for egg and seasoned panko crumbs ( I just use an Italian blend of seasonings and add it in with S&P)

Into the frying pan in olive oil, a few pieces at a time

and nice a browned

Topped with cheese and into the oven

A little angel hair pasta

And of course the marinara sauce

And finally the finished meal on Rachael’s plate!

I hope you all have a great day and enjoy whatever weather you are having today…good or bad, it’s here for a reason! I might just slip in a few photos from tonight’s comfort meal…you never know!! And as always, ❤ much love ❤

Sunday at my house

It’s a beautiful Sunday here in Wisconsin. The temperature is a lovely 59F and I enjoyed shopping with my daughter, and going for some frozen yogurt. We are home now and I got a nice roast beef ready and into the oven. Sunday has always been the day to enjoy a nice big home cooked meal. It was that way growing up in my home and I guess I keep up the tradition in my home too. Something homey about it that I have always loved. It’s also a good time to connect around the table. Here are a few photos of what’s in my oven right now.

A beautiful chuck roast

My dutch oven filled with onions, garlic, carrots, bay leaves and beef stock for braising

All together with salt and pepper and into the oven!

There will be mashed potatoes, gravy, and a veggie to go with all this meat, and of course the company of Andy (my hubby) and Rachael (our 15yr old). Sunday is definitely a “fun day”.

And now that dinner has been eaten and the kitchen has been cleaned, this is what things looked like as they came out of the oven and were placed on Rachael’s plate.

Just out of the oven.

Gravy getting thick…

Carrots with a pad of butter…

and finally, Rachael’s plate, and we all sat down to enjoy another Sunday night dinner.

Have an enjoyable night everyone…tomorrow we are planning Chicken Parmesan with angel hair pasta and warm bread. 🙂 Goodnight ❤