Feeling Saucy!!

Yesterday, I finally got around to making sauce with my 10 bags of frozen tomatoes from the last year's garden. It was a fairly simple process but also time consuming. It involved standing around the stove for several hours stiring and tasting. It would have been out of the question to make this in the hot summer...so I can justify my procrastination with that :) So basically I cored & peeled the tomatoes, boiled them down to a sauce consistancy with the olive oil and seasonings, & ran the sauce through the food mill. We then put the finished sauce back into plastic bags and froze for future use in 2 cup portions. We got 6 bags of sauce. The food mill is awesome!! It totally filtered out the seeds but still left a nice tomatoey consistancy to the sauce. Thanks Mom & Dad for the great gift!!!! Here is the finished sauce prior to bagging: Yum! Kris

Zuppa Toscana

It was just like being at the Olive Garden...only...completely different. Monday I made Zuppa Toscana. One of the soup offerings at Olive Garden as part of their Endless Soup, Salad & Breadsticks lunch for $6.95. But this one was just soup...no Salad or Breadsticks available.

It turned out great...maybe better than I remember from the chain restaurant because I used a spicy sausage which added a lot of flavor. And since it has been so cold & rainy here...soup was a welcome meal to warm us up.

Here is the recipe:

Zuppa Toscana Soup like Olive Garden's®

1 lb. Italian sausage - crumbled
2 slices of bacon - chopped
1 qt. water
3 2/3 cups chicken broth
2 lg. russet potatoes - scrubbed clean, cubed
2 garlic cloves - peeled, crushed
1 med. onion - peeled, chopped
2 cups chopped kale OR baby spinach
1 cup 1/2 & 1/2
salt and pepper - to taste

Brown sausage, breaking into small pieces as you fry it; drain, set aside.
Brown bacon; drain, set aside.
Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 minutes.
Add spinach and cream to pot; season with salt and pepper; heat through

Butterscotch Pudding

Today...I made Butterscotch Pudding from scratch. Mark & I used to LOVE to eat Jell-O Brand Instant No Sugar Pudding. It was our go-to dessert. But then we read the ingredients...and it was gone forever. So I finally found a recipe for Butterscotch (Mark's fav) pudding with good igredients. It didn't take very long to make at all...probably the same amount of time as the cooked version of Jello pudding.

Half way through the cooking though I was skeptical. It was a lot of liquid and I didn't really believe that it would "thicken" as the recipe promised. But all of a sudden - WHAMMO - pudding consistancy. I should have had faith in the power of cornstarch...it is magical!

So here is the recipe...it is still cooling in the fridge for after dinner...so I will comment with the flavor review. Maybe I will look for a Chocolate Pudding recipe too...since it is MY fav!

Butterscotch Pudding

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1/2 cup light (10%) cream
1 egg
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium saucepan, mix together the brown sugar, cornstarch and salt. Whisk in the milk and cream. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to thicken.

In a small bowl, beat the egg. Add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture to the egg and mix well. Pour the egg mixture back into the pot and continue to stir constantly until mixture thickens.

Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla, stirring until well blended and butter is completely melted.

Pour into serving dishes. Serve warm or chilled as you prefer.

Serves 4.

Enjoy!

Kris

Wet Wednesday!!!!!

Headed to the Cyclones game tonight for Wet Wednesday!!! $1 PBR cans and $1 Pulled Pork Sandwiches - who could ask for a more balanced meal? I bought tickets yesterday and got 5th row center ice behind the penalty box for $13!! - NICE!

It is great to have minor league hockey right in our backyard. Mark & I have gone to a few games this season and always have a great time. The crowd gets really into it (beer helps) and the Cyclones never fail to entertain....even if the fighting seems fake...it is still fun to watch.

And since spring is just around the corner...REDS GAMES!!!! Soon...very soon...

Kris

Romantic Louisville 2011

Mark was headed to Louisville, KY for a few meetings with customers Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday this week. Since I have a lot of vacation time to kill already...I decided to tag along. Especially since it was Valentine's Day and who wants to be alone on Valentine's Day :)

So we found a great deal at the Galt House on Hotwire.com (& ebates) for $81 per night (normally $125+). Even though Mark's company was paying for the hotel, it is still fun to save money! The hotel was in dire need of a "De-70's" upgrade, but the rooms were nice and the location could not have been better.

We had great meals out at Bard's Town in the Highlands district on Monday and Bluegrass Brewing Company on Tuesday night. Very nice and romantic. And we finally got to Lynn's Paradise Cafe for breakfast - featured Biscuits & Scramble on the Food Network - YUM! We definitely ate well :)



On Tuesday, while Mark was out all day doing a great job, I wandered around downtown Louisville in the unseasonably warm February weather. I hit the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. It was a lot of fun...especially since I got grouped up with a tour of people from Minnesota...so I was the only Reds fan in the crowd of Twins fans. Really interesting and only $10 (which included a cute little mini-bat.) Ate lunch at a local pizza place and then went back to the hotel for a nice nap. I love vacation!!


Above is a photo of the Galt House gym from our room...with Mark working out. I think I took another nap or read my Nook...but I probably should have worked out too since we ate so much food this week. Oh well!

Glad to be home again in Cinci, but it was nice to get away for a little bit.

Kris

Homemade Ricotta

So one of the painful things about going local & organic is that stuff is very expensive. I just cannot justify $8 for a small tub of ricotta cheese that isn't even local. So I found a recipe online and used my favorite Snowville Creamery milk to make. I have made farmers cheese (or paneer) using a very similar method so I thought I would give this a try. And it turned out great although it made A LOT...next time I will cut the recipe in half.


Start with 1 gallon of whole milk & 1/4 tsp of salt. Heat slowly until 180-180 degrees and then remove from heat.

Add 1/3 cup + 1 tsp of distilled white vinegar and stir for 1 minute. It will start clumping up right away.

Cover it with a clean towel and let it sit for 2 hours or more. Spoon into a collander lined with wet cheescloth and let sit for 2 hours or more depending on how dry you want the ricotta.

And it ends up looking like this and tasting GREAT! Very fresh. I am excite to make the calzones tonight.

Kris

Financial Woes

January has been a tough financial month for the burgeoning Becknell family. Of course Christmas puts a dent in any budget, but then we immediately had several big ticket expenses pop up while we were still getting back on track.

Expense #1 - Equinox Tires
Mark had a leak in one of his tires from a bolt hole that we managed to fix with a patch for a while. But eventually the patch was leaking too. And the car is almost 5 years old, so we decided to bite the bullet and get 4 new tires. Approximately $695.

Expense #2 - Life Insurance down payments
We have decided that as grown ups, we needed to have life insurance. We got really good deals for both of us for good coverage, but we had to pay 3 months up front. So that was a big chunk of change in January.

Expense #3 - Medical Bills
I have had a few tests done in January and because our deductible just restarted at the new year, everything was out of pocket. So whammo - another $500 payment for medical expenses.

Expense #4 - St. Kitts Vacation
Meanwhile, we are trying to pay Beth & Andy back for the plane & car rental expenses for our super cool upcoming St. Kitts Vacation in June. AND trying to build up another $700 to pay the final installment on the villa rental due in May.

Expense #5 - TAXES
And I just did our taxes and found out for the first time ever that we OWE taxes. I think I am going to become a Republican...

All in all...money is going out faster than it is coming in. Need a new plan to get rich quick...any ideas???
Kris