My "Problem"

So here's the scenario...I'm teaching a night class at the local community college, and right as I'm starting class (it's the first day), this old guy says "can I ask you a personal question?" I'm a pretty open person, so I say, "sure", and he asks, "Are you going to make it through this course?" (Obviously looking at my growing belly.) I explain that, yes, I am quite sure I will make it through the course, but should anything happen that would make it so I couldn't, a substitute would finish the class.

A few minutes later, it turns out that the guy was actually signed up for an Italian class, and has been directed to the wrong room. As he gets up to leave, he grumbles, "Well good. Maybe my next instructor won't have a maternity problem." A what? I should probably be offended, but I started laughing. Wow.

Nursery Art

Just finished up some art projects for nursery #2. It's mod podge on paper on acrylic on canvas. I guess we call that multi-media?

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Soup in a Bread Bowl

I'm such genius, I picked the hottest day of September to make soup in a bread bowl. It was delightful anyway. For my own record-keeping, since I just throw things together and sometimes can't recreate recipes, and in case you happen to be interested, here's what I did.

For the bread bowls:
Make a batch of your favorite bread dough. I did a batch of whole wheat on Monday and froze the dough for the bread bowls until today. Make balls of dough with about a 4-inch diameter. Place them on a greased baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal. If you want to freeze them, now is the time (make sure you cover them well if you're going to do this) Otherwise, let the dough rise until it doubles in size.

To make them nice and crusty, put a dish of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake bread bowls 15 minutes at 400 degrees f. Then pull them out momentarily and brush them with an egg wash made of one egg white and 1 Tb. water. Put them back in the oven and bake 10-15 more minutes.

When they come out, cut the tops off and scoop out the insides with a spoon to make a bowl. Fill with soup and serve immediately (while warm!)

For the Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup:

Boil one chicken breast in a small pot of water (about 2.5 cups). When cooked, remove and cut into small cubes. Save water.

Chop 1 large carrot (or 12 baby-cut carrots), one small onion, and other vegetables you like (I added the kernals from some leftover corn on the cob). Put vegetables in leftover water with 4 chicken bullion cubes and simmer.

In a large pot, melt one stick of butter, and add 1/3 cup flour. Cook over medium heat until a light brown or golden color, making a roux.

To the roux in the large pot, add water with vegetables, chicken, and 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice (this is a good way to use leftover rice). Also, add 2 cups milk, salt and pepper to taste, one bay leaf, 1/4 tsp thyme, and 1/8 tsp rubbed sage.

Simmer until the soup thickens to desired thickness (I let mine get thick) and serve in your bread bowl (or any old bowl, for that matter).

I wasn't sure how this would turn out since I've never experimented with this type of soup before, but it was delicious. Jon nor I (nor Olivia!) could get enough of it!

I would probably pick a cooler day to make it though. :)

Book Page Leaf Wreath

I made this fun autumn wreath after being inspired by a picture of a Christmas wreath in "Martha Stewart Living". This is a fall-friendly adaptation, and even though I looked up the tutorial for the magazine version on line, I used a completely different method. If you're interested, here's how I made it.

Materials:

One old book (I got an old paper back at Goodwill for 50 cents)

A straw wreath (I was looking for a foam wreath, but couldn't find one. Ended up liking the straw a lot because the color matches the paper, and it looks nice if any pieces show. I got mine at JoAnn's for $1.50 after using a 40% off coupon.)

Ribbon (I had the thick brown and paid 60 cents with a coupon for the two thinner spools.)

Colorful fall leaves (This is optional. I got a whole bag at JoAnn's on sale for 99 cents.)

Wire to make a hook to hang the wreath from. (Or you could hang it another way. I had some wire on hand)

Straight pins (I had these...just used some of the ones I use for sewing.)

Fall leaf templates (I printed four different leaves, similar sizes--on cardstock, because they'll be traced a lot. Just did a google image search on "fall leaf templates".)

(My total cost was $3.59...not too bad!)

Instructions:

Print your leaf templates and cut them out. Trace leaves onto the pages of an old book and cut them out. This will be easier if you cut pages out first with an exacto knife. Also, you will save yourself lots of time by stacking several sheets so you cut out more than one leaf at once (I discovered this at the very end...) I had four kinds of leaves and cut out 15 of each, for a 14 inch wreath, and had just a couple left over. Also, I gently folded the leaves down the center to give them some dimension.

Tie your ribbon to the bottom of the wreath and let it hang loose for now.

Begin to pin the paper leaves to the straw wreath base. I just sort of rotated which kind of leaf and stuck the straight pins through. You could also use hot glue...this doesn't work for me since the area between my front door and the glass storm door gets super hot, even in winter, it melts hot glue (I learned this the hard way.) If you don't want to pin, a stapler would probably work really well too, and might even be sturdier than the pins.

Keep pinning leaves until they cover the wreath, all the way down to the ribbon.

If desired, pin decorative colored leaves in place near ribbon, and tie a bow. Pin bow into place so it holds its shape.

Attach wire hook or loop to the back of the wreath.

Hang and admire. :)

Twirly Girly

Olivia wore her tutu today, and it must have inspired her, because she up and learned how to twirl! All by herself! I didn't even show her, she just started doing it! She always has been a good little dancer... She actually does much better than the video shows, but she got a little distracted by the camera.

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Crafting and Cooking

I have been wanting to post this for awhile, but I had to wait until all the gifts I made were given out, so as not to spoil any surprises...

I've been trying to be a good crafty person and here are some of my recent projects.

I made a car seat blanket for my little Christmas-baby-to-be. I initially thought, "oh, great! I'm having another girl! I won't have to buy a thing!" And then I realized that all the new-born clothes I have are for summer time. And it will most definitely not be balmy outside when this baby comes. So this really cool blanket should help keep our little one warm and toasty.

Here's how it works...

weird shaped blanket with strange holes (I think it looks like a ghost)...

fits into the car seat and allows the straps to come through...

and then you can wrap up your baby nice and warm! (I had a doll in the seat to model, but Olivia took a sudden interest in it before I had the chance to take a picture...)
I also made a cute car seat cover for good measure.

I made these cute receiving blanket, burp cloth combos for my friend Katie who's twins were born yesterday!! And I made the same ones for my sisters Maria and Diana who are having a girl and a boy, respectively. Since Diana and her husband just moved to NYC where it definitely gets chilly, and they will spend a lot of time walking around outside, I made a matching car seat blanket and car seat cover out of the blue and brown hound's tooth fabric, but didn't get a picture. (I didn't think Maria, in California, would have much use for them...)


Finally, another recipe for your tastebuds' pleasure...

Chocolate Haupia Pie!

When we visited Hawaii a few years ago, after Maria served an LDS Mission there, she insisted we try the chocolate haupia pie from Ted's Bakery in Laie. We were very impressed. I liked it so much that I attempted to make one for Thanksgiving two years ago, but it was just so-so. Maria found this recipe (a copycat of the Ted's version) and raved about it, so I had to have it.

It was divine. And I wish I had a picture of an individual slice of the pie, because it looks even better.
Chocolate Haupia Pie

Ingredients:

1 9-in. unbaked pie crust
1 cup milk
1 can coconut milk (14 oz.)
1 tbsp. coconut extract
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup cornstarch
7/8 cup chocolate (Dutch chocolate, or any chocolate with high cocoa butter content)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Bake crust for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

3. In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, coconut milk, coconut extract and 1 cup sugar.

4. In a separate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in water.

5. After bringing coconut milk mixture to a boil, reduce to simmer and slowly whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Continue stirring over low heat until thickened—about three minutes. Divide evenly into two bowls.

6. In another bowl, microwave chocolate until melted.

7. Mix chocolate into one of the bowls of coconut pudding, then pour mixture into the pie crust, spread and let sit.

8. Pour the remaining bowl of coconut pudding on top of the chocolate-coconut pudding mixture and spread smooth being careful nut to mix the two layers. Refrigerate the pie for an hour or more.

9. Whip the heavy cream with 1/4 cup of sugar until stiff. Layer the whipped cream on the piechocolate shavings.
surface. Garnish with chocolate shavings. (I also added toasted coconut on top)

On second thought, I pulled this photo off google so you can see what the inside looks like...although I must admit that mine looked better. :) This pie is SO worth the effort (though it's really not that hard) and the calories! Mmmmmm...

Happy Birthday to my Honey

Jon's Birthday was on Sunday, and we decided to celebrate all weekend long. He took Friday off work, and went golfing with some friends, and then in the afternoon we took Olivia to see her first movie- Toy Story 3- in the cheap theatre. There were four other people there, so it didn't really matter that she wanted to run around the place the entire time. Jon and I enjoyed the movie, at least!

Saturday night we went out to our favorite Indian restaurant for a delicious celebration (Olivia is a big fan of naan), and then Sunday after church Olivia and I gave Jon his presents. We recently purchased new (awesome) phones, which we agreed would be our birthday presents, so I had to be creative to find something for him to unwrap!

We also had a fun birthday dinner with our neighbors and then more friends came over for dessert...a white chocolate cheesecake with raspberry sauce...mmmmm...Jon requested it, and it's a recipe from my friend Amy who I believe got it from a friends' mother-in-law...

Here it is if you are in the mood for the best cheesecake you will ever have.

White Chocolate Cheesecake with Triple-Berry Raspberry sauce

Prep:30 min Bake:45 min Cool:2 hours Chill:4-24 hours

Ingredients:

1 cup crushed shortbread cookies (about 3oz)

3 tbsp. finely chopped slivered almonds, toasted

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 8oz pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 6oz pkg. white chocolate baking squares (with cocoa butter) melted and cooled

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup dairy sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

1 Recipe Triple Raspberry sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For crust, in a small bowl combine crushed cookies and the almonds. Stir in melted butter. Pressed crushed cookie mixture onto the bottom of an 8 inch springform pan. Set aside.

2. For filling, in a large bowl, combine cream cheese and cooled white chocolate, bea† with an electric mixer on medium high speed until combined. Beat in sugar, sour cream, and vanilla until mixture is fluffy.

3. Add the eggs, beat on low speed just until combined. Pour into the crust. Place on a shallow baking pan.

4. Bake about 45 min or until center is nearly set when you shake the cheesecake gently. Cool on a wire rack for 15 min. Loosen from side of pan. Cool completely. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

5. To serve, cut into wedges and drizzle some of the Triple Raspberry sauce. Serves 12

Triple Raspberry Sauce: In a saucepan, melt one 10oz jar seedless raspberry preserves over low heat. Add 1 cup fresh red raspberries or loose-pack frozen lightly sweetened red raspberries. Heat gently just until sauce simmers. Cool. If desired, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur. Cover and chill until serving. 1 2/3 cups.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to my Honey! Jon is the best thing that ever happened to me and I can't imagine life without him! Love you, babe!