Saturday, December 5, 2009

Grams' Brownies, with a Twist


I got home, make dinner with Mike, and decided I just had to satisfy the little bit of a sweet tooth I had. For once there was no chocolate in readily available and edible amounts, so I decided to make my Grams' brownies. I always have all the ingredients on hand, and they're really quick to through together. This time I played with it a little because I found a heath bar and raspberry creme chocolate bits that I decided to throw in. I didn't have enough of either to make something else, so I figured why not through them in some brownies?

These brownies are soooo fudgeyn gooey, delicious, you'll want to eat them with a spoon right away (I might have done that a bit). They will harden up after they set for awhile, but sometimes it's so hard to wait that long!

Ingredients

1 stick of butter
2 squares of semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour

Method

Melt together the butter and chocolate on medium low heat. Gradually add in the sugar and remove from heat. Add one egg at a time beating it immediately (if you don't and the mixture is too hot, you could get scrambled eggs which is not a great addition to brownies). Then add the vanilla (again, don't add it on the heat because the vanilla can cook out) and the flour.


I then added the extra business of chocolate love.


Bake at 350F for 18-25 minutes (again, I have to take into account my crazy oven).

I really love these brownies. I actually liked the heath and raspberry business, too. It added a nice surprise to the bite. I won't do it all the time, and we'll have to see what Mike thinks, but this is on experiment that I think went well.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Skillet Tostadas


Quick? Check. Easy? Check? Good? Check.

This is not the most amazing meal I have ever cooked. But if you are looking for a quick and extremely easy meal that is great left over, this one's for you. We made this on Monday and it's lasted us until now. The dish also nice to prepare together. Easy to manuever around a small kitchen together.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cans black beans
2 cans condensed nacho cheese soup
1 cup bottled salsa
totada shells
shredded lettuce
chopped tomatoes
sour cream

Method

Using a large (emphasis on large) skillet, cook the beef and onion until the meat is brown and the onion is tender. At this point you should drain the fat, but I never do. Mostly because I use my dad's grass fed beef raised on our farm which is lean and doesn't have the fat. Stir in beans soup and salsa. Let it simmer a bit (that's as technical as I've got for you).


Heat up your tostadas. Mike and I tried these:


We're trying to be a little more healthy where we can, and these have 7 grams of fiber per tostada and only 50 calories compared to the usually 100+. I think they are great when used like in this recipe: as merely a vehicle for the meat and bean mixture. If you want a dish that focuses more on the tortilla, I would go for the more authentic flour ones.

Pile up the tostada and enjoy!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Pumpkin Roll


This recipe has never failed me. Not even once.

Now I know that is a big assertion for the beginning of a post, but I've seriously never had anyone not like it. Even when they say they don't like pumpkin or cream cheese filling (believe it or not, there are people out there like that). And who wouldn't be impressed with how it looks? Trust me, it's a lot easier that you think.

This is another Mrs. Lindner recipe. I've never gotten a bad one from her. She's pretty solid at this baking business. :)

I make two of these for Thanksgiving this year. We had a ridiculous amount of dessert this year. My mom makes a pretzel, strawberry, cream cheese dish that is really a dessert, but we eat it during the main meal. Then my aunt brought four pies, another aunt brought another pie, and I brought these two pumpkin rolls.

Once you try this, I know that it will be a staple in your dessert repertoire as well.

Ingredients

Cake:

3 eggs
2/3 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup flour

Filling:

2 tbsp butter
1 - 8oz. package cream cheese
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 cup confectioners sugar

Method

Mix all of the cake ingredients together (easy enough, huh?) Grease a cookie sheet, put wax paper on it, and grease the top of the wax paper (trust me on this step, it will save you a lot of heartache later). Pour the cake into the pan and bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes until the cake springs back and it golden brown (my oven is crazy so I only baked it for 10-12 minutes).


When the cake is out, immediately flip it over onto a terry cloth that is covered in sugar.


Then roll it up. Literally.


Let it cool. While it cools, put together the filling.

Cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar. Beat until creamy.



Once the cake is completely cool, unroll it and and spread the filling over it. Roll up again, but this time without the towel. There you go.


I like to sprinkle some sugar on top, but honestly it soaks up once you put it in the fridge.


Share this with your family and no one will be sorry.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

This year marks a sad milestone. Every year that I can remember, my family has gone out to get our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. And for 18 of my 25 years, we have gone to Sinnissippi Tree Farm in Oregon, Illinois.


This is our last year because it is closing down for good. I can't tell you how sad this makes me. So to commemorate the occasion, I have a photo essay of the day. This year we were lucky enough to have my brother's to be in-laws along for the ride.

We start of the day getting fresh, warm apple donuts and hot drinks.


While we enjoy them, we wait for our wagon ride around part of the farm. This year it turns out that our driver built the house where the Atchinsons (Calvin's in-laws) used to always vacation each year. His kids also have a new song out on country radio called "Mr. Officer". It's pretty good. You should check it out.

Here's Mom, Mike and I enjoying the ride and conversation.

Once we finish the ride we go to another part of the farm to pick out our trees. This place is huge.


Goodness, am I going to miss this. My Dad got tired every year of waiting for us to try to pick a tree. That's why he's uninvited and has a much better time hunting in Wisconsin. But can you blame us? There are thousands to choose from!

I think I have more than one of these pictures, because this is exactly what happens every year.

Trust me, he hasn't always looked this happy. But he's gotten stronger and more efficient with time. :)

And here's mom. She does a great job of holding the tree.


Mike would, but he's extremely allergic and bad things happen if he gets his head in the middle of one of these trees. So he just measures. (Of course we all know I take pictures).


And then my brother tries stunts like these.


That's right. He's trying to ride the wagon with the tree down the hill like a sled. I swear it's amazing that we've made it to this age with relatively little injury to ourselves.

Mike and I are trying to get more photo record of our existence during the early years of our marriage. It's a struggle for us.


But can you blame me? I mean seriously. This is the time of year when I get so pale it looks like I'm sick. And if you get close enough you start to see double chin action happening. I don't have a double chin. I promise.

Uh, oh! Calvin got away from us while we were attempting to be photogenic.

And there here is the hero of the day:

The tractor to pick up our tree! Seriously, it would be a long way for Cal to haul the tree to the front of the farm.

And once we get to the front, our tree goes through a little mom-approved treatment. First it gets all shaken up to get the loose needles out (trust me, Mom loves this).


And then it gets all wrapped up for easy transportation.

Here's my brother with his fiance.

Don't they take good pictures? I'm so jealous. I know, not a much better color on me than sickly pale, but there you have it.

And that was our day. We've had a lot of great memories, and it was great that our last time my mom could spend it with both of her kids and their spouses.

I'm not sure we could ask for a better ending.