Butternut Squash Bisque

Ben and I tried some squash bisque at World Market before and loved it. I used this recipe and it was also delicious!

Squash Bisque

Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced carrots
4 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
3 cups vegetable stock
salt and ground black pepper to taste
ground nutmeg to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
Directions

1. Cut the squash in half and place on a microwave safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and then microwave until it is tender.
2. Heat the oil and melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion in the butter and oil under tender.
3. Mix the carrots (I didn't have carrots so I added a little bit of brown sugar since I figured it was just to help sweeten the soup a little) and squash into the pot. Pour in vegetable stock, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender.
   
   
4. In a blender or food processor, puree the soup mixture until smooth. Return to the pot, and stir in the heavy cream. Heat through, but do not boil.
5. Add cream if desired.

The awesomeness of vinegar!

Found this article that I thought would come in handy later. Enjoy!
link here

Chances are you’ve got a big bottle of vinegar in your pantry right now that you only use it as a condiment. Prized for thousands of years, this fermented liquid was discovered by accident when products like wine, beer, and cider spoiled, turning them sour. But did you know that vinegar -- particularly the distilled white and apple cider varieties -- has hundreds of household, beauty, medicinal and even horticultural uses?

Here are 20 unusual, thrifty, and eco-friendly uses for vinegar that you may not have thought of.

1. Condition hair
Silky, shiny, buildup-free hair using a single cheap, natural product? Sign me up! It may sound odd, but using apple cider vinegar as a rinse after shampooing really does work like a dream. It removes residue from the hair shaft and closes the cuticles. Just add half a tablespoon of vinegar to a cup of water, plus a few drops of essential oil if you like. Pour it on in the shower and then rinse it out. Sure, your hair will smell like salad dressing for a while, but once it’s dry, the smell dissipates.

2. Kill weeds
A few rogue weeds can wreak havoc in an otherwise flawless lawn, vegetable garden, or flowerbed and are especially annoying when popping up in the cracks of a sidewalk or driveway. Forget pricey weed killers full of toxic ingredients -- household vinegar really does kill unwanted plants; stronger vinegar made for horticultural use, which is 25% acetic acid, works even better.

3. Remove underarm stains
Unsightly sweat stains can really ruin an otherwise beautiful blouse. Ironically, if you use aluminum-based antiperspirants, they’re even more likely to appear, thanks to a reaction between aluminum compounds in these products and salts in your sweat. Spray full-strength white vinegar on the stain before washing, and it will disappear.

4. Soften fabrics
Add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the wash cycle, and not only will it prevent lint from clinging to your clothes and keep colors bright, it’ll also remove soap scum from both the clothes you’re washing and the washing machine itself. Vinegar is also recommended in place of dryer sheets -- simply add 3/4 cup to your washer during the final rinse cycle.

5. Remedy sore throats
Many people recommend sipping or gargling with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a cup of warm water to soothe a sore throat. Add a few tablespoons of honey (also a seriously versatile product!) to this mixture in order to make it even more effective and far more palatable.

6. Deter ants
Got trails of tiny ants weaving their way around your home? These annoying insects aren’t big fans of vinegar, so spraying a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and water anywhere you have seen them can help encourage them to move out. The vinegar also erases the scent trails that they use to indicate sources of food to their brethren.

7. Soak sore muscles
Apple cider vinegar helps draw out lactic acid, which accumulates in muscles after exercise, causing that sore feeling. Mix a few tablespoons of vinegar into a cup of water, dip a cloth in the mixture, and apply it to sore areas for 20 minutes.

8. Freshen air
Whether it’s smoke, mildew, pet odor, or lingering whiffs of burnt casserole, bad smells can make a home less than welcoming. Store-bought air fresheners just cover up the smell with strong, clearly artificial scents, creating disturbing hybrid smells that only serve to worsen the situation. Acetic acid in vinegar absorbs odors, so spritzing it around the room will neutralize the smells. You can also use it to wipe down surfaces in the room that needs freshening.

9. Remove stickers
If you’re just getting around to removing that Kerry/Edwards decal from your bumper, or trying to peel a price tag off a new purchase, you’ll never guess what magic ingredient is about to make your life a lot easier. Warm a little bit of white vinegar on the stovetop or in the microwave and then dip a rag into it. Hold the rag over the sticker until it’s thoroughly saturated, and it will peel right off without leaving sticky residue behind. This trick also loosens wallpaper adhesive.

10. Cure hiccups
Most doctors claim that hiccup cures don’t actually work, but tell that to the thousands of people who swear by vinegar as a way to ease these involuntary spasms. It’s not clear how a shot of vinegar would actually help -- other than to distract you with its acidic flavor -- but next time you’ve got a bout of the hiccups, give it a try.

11. Clean crusty paintbrushes
So you forgot to clean your paintbrushes last time you used them, and now they’re so stiff and crusty, it seems that you’ll have to throw them away. Not so fast! Fill a saucepan with undiluted white vinegar and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Dip the paintbrushes into the boiling vinegar, one at a time, dragging the bristles along the bottom of the pan. Continue this process until the paint is dissolved.

12. Dissolve rust
The acetic acid in vinegar reacts with iron oxide to remove rust from small metal items like hinges, nuts and bolts. Simmer them in a saucepan full of vinegar, then rinse well with water to prevent the vinegar from further affecting the metal.

13. Eliminate stale odors
You know how lunchboxes and other food containers can take on a funny smell after a while? Vinegar can take care of that, too. Either wipe down the surface well with white vinegar or, in severe cases, leave a cloth soaked in vinegar in the container for a few hours to absorb the odors.

14. Remove mineral deposits
Calcium and lime deposits from hard water don’t just stain coffeemakers and bath tubs, they can actually clog showerheads and reduce dishwasher function. Run a mixture of half water, half white vinegar through your coffee machine to remove them. Use straight vinegar as a rinsing agent in your dishwasher to prevent buildup, and wrap a vinegar-soaked cloth around stained faucets until the deposits can be easily scrubbed away. To clean a clogged showerhead, remove it from the pipe and place it in a saucepan full of white vinegar. Simmer for just a few minutes, being careful not to allow it to boil, and then wash off the stains.

15. Neutralize spice in foods
You’ve got a dinner disaster on your hands: One too many shakes of cayenne powder has turned your award-winning chili into an inedible five-alarm blaze, and your guests are waiting at the table. Vinegar to the rescue! Add white or apple cider vinegar to your food, one teaspoon at a time, to neutralize the spice.

16. Prolong the life of cut flowers
Bouquets of cut flowers brighten a room all too briefly, often wilting after just a few days. Squeeze a little extra enjoyment out of your arrangements by adding two tablespoons of white vinegar per quart of water in the vase, which will keep them perky just a little bit longer.

17. Clean glass, plastic, chrome, and floors
A half-and-half solution of water and white vinegar will cut the grime on the shelves and walls of the refrigerator and eliminate spoiled-food smells too. Full-strength vinegar will remove tough smudges on glass and make porcelain sinks shine. Make it into a paste with a little baking soda to scrub chrome, or mix 1/3 white vinegar with 1/3 rubbing alcohol, 1/3 water, and 3 drops of dishwashing liquid for an economical floor cleaner. Just be sure not to get vinegar on marble, granite, or slate surfaces.

18. Treat fungal infections
Fungal infections like athlete’s foot, toe nail fungus, and dandruff are definitely no fun. White vinegar and apple cider vinegar can both be applied topically to affected areas of the body to kill fungus. For foot-related ailments, soak in a solution of one part vinegar to five parts water for about 30 minutes a day.

19. Tenderize and kill bacteria in meat
Marinate meat overnight in apple cider vinegar, and it will be delectably tender. This can reportedly also kill the bacteria that causes food-borne illnesses, including e. coli.

20. Open drains and freshen garbage disposals
Clear a clogged drain without the nasty, headache-inducing chemicals. Dump about 3/4 cup of baking soda down the drain and chase it with 1/2 cup white vinegar, then plug the drain. Leave it for about 30 minutes before rinsing with a kettle full of boiling water. You can use the same trick to clean and deodorize garbage disposals, or freeze vinegar in an ice cube tray and grind them up in the disposal to clean and sharpen the blades at the same time.

Corn & Crab Bisque = Delish!

So we ate at Bob Chinns on Friday and surprisingly was so stuffed that we had leftover king crab. At first we decided to just eat it as leftovers but I remembered we love crab bisque so I looked up a recipe and tried it. The thing I love about online recipes is that people have already tried it and gave their own comments on how they improved it! Takes all the work out of experimenting! =P

This is the recipe that I used.
Corn and Crab Bisque

I read the comments and this is the final recipe I used.

Corn & Crab Bisque

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup onion, chopped
• 2 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom
• 3 cloves garlic (was lazy and used 3 overheaping scoops of .5 tsp of minced garlic from the can)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1.5 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can of sweet yellow and white corn kettles (11 oz)
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cans of White Fresh Crab (6 oz each)

Directions

1. Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in onion; cook until soft and translucent. Pour in chicken broth & cream of mushroom and bring to a boil. Stir in garlic, bay leaves, Old Bay Seasoning, salt (I only put in a couple pinches), and pepper. Stir corn and half of the crab into boiling broth. Simmer about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low.

2. Remove 1 cup of soup, and set aside to cool slightly. Then pour into a food processor. Pour in heavy cream. Puree for 30 to 45 seconds, and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, stir together flour and milk. Slowly stir into simmering soup. Stirring constantly, simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Then stir in pureed mixture.

4. Reduce heat to low, stir in remaining crab meat, and cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. I roughly shredded the leftover king crab and threw it in. I think it makes a bit difference because it will give the soup a little more texture and flavor. I left a little bit to garnish the soup before serving.

ENJOY! Yum! =D

Baked Mac and Cheese

This was a recipe I found that I really enjoyed.

Serves 8. Fits perfectly in my Rachel Ray pan!

• 2 (8 ounce) packagemacaroni
• 1 packet bacon
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 8 tablespoons flour
• 2 cupmilk
• 2 cup cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground black pepper , to taste
• 4 cups cheddar cheese , shredded good quality
• 1 cup breadcrumbs , buttered (I put more)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Shred your cheese however you like. I bought a block of cheddar from jewel.
   I read tips that said the sharper the better.
   A 4oz. block was good enough for 4 cups.
   
3. Cook half a bacon packet and set aside. Cut into small chunks for later. Keep bacon oil. (this can be removed)
4. Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions; set aside and drizzle a little bit bacon oil to keep from sticking if you'd like. It separates fine if you leave it as is.
   

5. In a large saucepan melt butter. Melt until a golden color.
   

6. SLOWLY add flour into the butter a little at a time. If you do it too fast, the sauce will taste like flour. Stir well. I use a sifter so that there are not clumps and it mixes well. It will thicken into a golden brown (looks like coffee with cream). Add salt and pepper.
   

7. Pour milk and cream in SLOWLY; stirring constantly.
   

8. Bring to boiling point and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly).

9. Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes.

10. Add shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.

11. Turn off flame.

12. Add macaroni and bacon to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.
    

13. Transfer macaroni to a buttered baking dish.
    

14. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. (I forgot to take a picture of this but throw a TON of breadcrumbs on top. It may look like a lot but trust me... it's awesome!)

15. Bake 20 minutes until the top is golden brown. Top with some crispy bacon.

16. (You can also freeze this recipe in zip-lock bags for later use - once you have mixed the macaroni along with the cheese sauce allow to cool to room temperature before adding to your freezer - I generally pull it out the night before and allow macaroni and cheese to reach room temperature; I then add the macaroni and cheese to a buttered baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and then bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown on top and bubbling.

Thanksgiving Leftovers 2011

For my personal reference and for anyone trying to make a turkey, I've documented how to make a turkey. Whether it works or not will be left up to fate so we'll just try to improve every year!

Backstory: So... back in 2008, most of my family was going out of town so my sister and I decided not to have a Thanksgiving. To ensure my intake of my yearly turkey, I decided to host a potluck with my friends. My brother ended up staying in town so I ended up having two Thanksgivings that year. ha!

Anyway. Every year I forget how I made the turkey and just google it so I decided to blog about it this year so that I can perfect it.

1. So first things first, buy a turkey! If you buy it last minute, it can cost a pretty penny. A lot of stores have specials with turkeys so look out for those.

2. Put your turkey in the fridge to let it thaw for a couple of days.

3. I learned that brining is key to a moist turkey. Brine is basically just letting the turkey soak in a mixture for a couple of days. This helps the turkey soak up some flavor and help it cook nice and moist.

Here's a recipe my sister sent me. You can google this for your own to see what works for you. I use a turkey oven bag for the brine (they're usually very cheap and end up leaking so I double bag it).

BRINE RECIPE:

• 8 cups water
• 1/2 cup of salt
• 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
• 1 lemon or orange, cut into wedges
• 1 small onion, cut into wedges
• 2 cloves of garlic,  minced roughly
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper, pepper balls are better but you can also use ground pepper

Mix until salt is dissolved.  Soak turkey into brine overnight.  Discard brine after removing turkey.  Pat turkey until dry.

4. After you've patted the turkey dry, you want to season it so that it will get some nice flavors to the meat. You want to remove everything inside the turkey. Every article I see, they recommend you do NOT stuff the turkey. It cooks unevenly and could harbor a lot of bacteria. It also lengthens the cooking time so I never stuff it. So the best seasoning is and always will be butter!

I just read that buttering the inside of the turkey helps too so I tried it out. You also want to butter UNDER the skin to help the breast cook nice and moist.

Butter the TOP of the skin to help it get to that golden color we love. Then season it with whatever you see fit. At the very least, you want some salt and pepper but feel free to throw on herbs.

5. I usually use a rack but I just read that chopped vegetables can serve the same purpose and provide more flavor so I did that this year. A rack will help the turkey cook evenly by lifting it off the pan.

6. Tuck the wings under the turkey and tie the legs together. Article I read

7. I also read that putting a double layered foil on the breast will help cook it slower so that your thighs have time to cook. I'm not really sure if this helps or not but I decided to try it out.

Now recipes usually tell you to cook it uncovered for 45 minutes and then cover it loosely with foil (or uncover it the last 45 minutes of cooking). This helps the turkey get that golden brown color. I don't really care right now because I make my turkeys a day in advance and cut it into little pieces so no one ever sees my skin.

8. Cook at 350 and the time will depend on the weight of your turkey. Google this for a rough estimate but do NOT rely on it! The final cooking time will be when the deepest part of the thigh measures about 165 degrees. Do not touch any bone when you use the thermostat because that will throw off the reading. A meat thermostat is really cheap and will help SO much.

Well, personally... my turkey was already at 170 degrees after 3 hours so I'm glad I checked early. If you google turkey temperatures, the thigh should be about 180 degrees. You always want to stop it short because they tell you to let the turkey sit for a while so that the juices can redistribute. That will actually cook the turkey MORE so make sure you allow for about 5-10 degrees.

In the picture, the turkey doesn't look very nice but as I mentioned earlier, I was going to carve it and let it soak overnight so the appearance does not matter to me. If you are serving this day of.. I would recommend such things like removing the foil and letting it bake uncovered for the last 15-30 minutes. I also read that basting it throughout cooking will also help it brown nice and evenly.

This is the recipe that won our Iron Chef Lin 2011 for my brother.
http://food52.com/recipes/3110-creamy-sausage-stuffed-mushrooms

• 5 PINTS OF BUTTOM MUSHROOMS
• 4 ITALIAN SAUSAGE LINKS
• 8 ounces CREAM CHEESE (room temperature)
• 2 YELLOW ONIONS MINCED
• 5 GARLIC CLOVES MINCED
• 5 ounces ASIAGO CHEESE SHREDDED
• 7 tablespoons OLIVE OIL
• 3 tablespoons BALSAMIC VINEGAR
• SALT & PEPPER

 

1. Wipe mushrooms clean with a damp cloth and pull out the stems and discard. Toss the cleaned de-stemmed mushrooms with 5 tbs of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Spread out on a sheet pan and bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Set aside and cool.
     
2. Slit the Italian sausage and remove casing. Crumble in a heated pan and saute until golden brown. Break up into small pieces while it is cooking. Set aside and cool.
3. Add the remaining 2 tbs of olive oil in a saute pan and add the onions. Cook until dark and caramelized, about 15-20 minutes. Then add in the garlic and cook for a minute.
4. Now add the cooked sausage, onions and garlic, cream cheese, salt & pepper, and 3 oz of shredded Asiago cheese to a bowl and mix well with your hands. Break apart any large pieces of sausage.
   
5. Line up your mushrooms in a greased baking dish with the core side facing up. Stuff each mushroom with a generous portion of the creamy sausage mixture. Top the mushrooms with the remaining Asiago cheese.
   
6. Now put the baking dish in a pre-heated oven at 375 degress for roughly 45 minutes or until the cheese on top is golden brown. (This dish can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and put in the cooler unitl you are ready to put in the oven.)

Croc-a-dile

So here's my review of the Croc-a-dile eyelet punch and setter (I bought this at Michael's but you can also buy it here from Amazon).  I don't have experience with any others but I do like this one. Here's a review if you don't have any experience with eyelet punchers/setters. (Buy eyelets online or at craft stores. Be sure to buy the right size!)

So this croc-a-dile has two hole punching options... 1/8 and 3/16. This picture shows the 3/16 puncher.

Once you have punched a hole, you can place your eyelet in the hole and it should fit just perfectly in there.

You'll notice two black squares at the tip of the croc-a-dile.  You can actually pull each one out and rotate them to your preference. On the left side (you see an arrow and some sort of icon), there is option A, B, C, and D.  I only see a use for option A and C so if someone else wants to tell me what the other sides are for... please do. I mostly used side A because I only used 3/16 eyelets for my wedding programs. I'm assuming side C is for the 1/8th eyelets? The image below shows option C on the left and option A on the right.

On the base side, there is option 1, 2, 3, and 4. Once again, you can pull out the black box and rotate it. The base you want should be the one facing down (toward the other black box).  Depending on the base, the back of the eyelet could look different. Here's a view of each side and the resulting back.

Base 1. This option is okay if the back of the eyelet isn't going to be exposed to anyone. It's very harsh and can scratch someone who's not careful.

Base 2. I don't see too many differences between 2, 3, and 4.  It has a smooth back and looks fine. It looks thicker and more round than 4 in this picture  but it's quite flat.

Base 3. Even though these pictures are really zoomed in, it's hard to actually see the differences in person. So 2 and 3 are very similar. It feels flat and smooth.

Base 4. The base for 4 is also very similar to 2 and 3 but its a bit more raised than the other two. It doesn't quite look that way in this picture so I took another one from the side.

In this image, you can see that I placed side A through the eyelet on the bottom. Once I set my BASE, I just squeeze it and I'm done!

This is the method I used to hold my wedding programs together and let it slide open. Be careful about having paper that is too thick or having too many papers. If it is too full or too tight, it will not be easy to slide the wedding programs open. Another suggestions is not to squeeze too tightly when you close your eyelet. If you look carefully at the Base 3 image, I squeezed a bit too hard there and created a circular paper wrinkle around the eyelet. You'll get the hang of it once you do it a couple times so do some practice runs before using your real paper! Have fun!

Relaxing!

This is the first weekend in a LONG time that I've been able to just relax.  I had to attend two weddings last weekend but I was actually in the wedding party for one of them.  As mentioned before, I was making wedding programs, menus, table assignments and numbers for this wedding.  Everything went super great despite the horrible weather Chicago threw at us.

I'm horribly tired so I'll just post the pictures of the finished products.

 

These are the wedding programs that I made. It would have been a very nice fan for the guests to use during the "outdoor" wedding but we were pushed inside due to the weather conditions.

The seating arrangements were tied to the wine stopper wedding favors.

 

I love you guys! Congratulations!

I've been suffering from a sore right thumb lately... The cause? I've signed myself up for a large project that is KILLING ME! haha.

My best friend's wedding is coming up in May and I've hired myself to be her graphic designer. Why, you ask? She's the sweetest person who isn't concerned about image and wants to save money.  I was more than happy to when she asked me to help her design her program. When I asked her where she was getting it printed, she answered, "Oh, just Kinkos or something. Maybe I'll just print it myself." My jaw dropped. I refused to let one of my best friends compromise on quality just because of money so I volunteered myself to make her some awesome programs.

I chose to go with the Fan Programs. These were beautiful and unique because it takes a lot of time and effort to make. If I space this out correctly, I can make them little by little without killing myself (or so I thought). Cutting corners and curves are much harder than I thought... after a couple of leaves, my thumb starts throbbing because of my scissors.

I've only managed to cut about a quarter of the leaves but I feel like I have a good rhythm going. Only 3/4 more to go!

Next... I need to make menus for the tables, table numbers for each table and the seating arrangements! Need to keep my spirits high!

At Heart...

You know you're an old lady at heart when an elderly woman praises you for your purchases...

What did I purchase? For my next project,  I need an eyelet puncher. The reviews on this one seemed good so I went to my friendly, neighborhood Hobby Lobby and purchased it. I waited for their 40% off coupon before I went in so this item was only $17.40 (case sold separately). I tested it out and it works pretty well!

My next project will be making wedding programs for my best friend. I've decided to make her the fan programs because it's classy and unique. I found a website that sells Do-It-Yourself Fan Programs so I ordered a sample (most wonderful idea ever).

These pre-cut papers makes the fan program such an easy task but it comes with a price. The cut is not smooth so the edging around the whole page is ridged. It may not matter to some but I've decided that it's not good enough for my best friend's wedding. I guess I'll have to go down the more difficult road and cut all the pages myself. With 150 guests and 5 pages per program, I'm going to be having a lot of blisters soon... but at least they won't look like this...

Samoas

Or I guess they're called Caramel Delights now for some reason.

Regardless, I found a recipe online to make some when there's no girl scouts around.

Recipe found here

So it wasn't too hard but it was tedious and time consuming.

Note: I only had coarse kosher salt so my cookies were a bit salty. LOVE the tip of using a decorating tip to make the center holes. Will come in handy when you need to dip.

Note: It takes a while for the caramel to turn dark amber... but once it starts changing colors, it changes fast! So keep yours eyes on it.

Note: My caramel dipping was too thick but whenever I tried to tap off the excess, the coconut shavings also fell off... grrr. I might try to only dip one side next time and throw extra coconut shavings on top.

Other than that... it was a success! I brought them to share and they were well received.  And the recipe makes a lot! Enjoy =)