Paperman

I totally admit to being a hopeless romantic, and I think it's a great way to go through life.  That said, I adore this animated short and recently rediscovered it and its ability to always bring a smile to my face.

Enjoy!

Christmas roll-out cookies

My mom gave me cookie-decorating supplies for Christmas, a gift which I was ordered to open early.  Boy, am I glad I did!  My sister and I had so much fun making and decorating these, and tall, dark, and nerdy, my boys, and my friends had a lot of fun eating them!



Now, I have to admit, I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the idea of making cookies, frosting them, AND decorating them, so we cheated a little and made sugar cookies from a mix (two mixes actually...double batch!), modifying them a little bit to make better roll-out cookies (all it took was adding a little flour).  When I make these again in a few weeks for Forced Affection Day, who knows, I might go all out :)

Steps:

Make cookie dough according to package directions for roll-out cookies.

Roll out on floured surface until 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Repeat until all dough is used.

Bake at 375 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.  Cool 1 minute before removing from cookie sheet.  

Cool completely before decorating.  While cookies are cooling, make frosting.

Decorate, and enjoy!

Christmas dinner at my house!

I was finally able to feel like my apartment was broken in as a real, live, adult home when I hosted a small Christmas dinner this year.

My sister and I decided on the menu together and did almost all the cooking together (I was on my own for the early morning parts).  

Tall Dark and Nerdy spent the day with us, as did my friend J.  The boys raved about the food and cleaned up the kitchen for us before we all sunk into the couches to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and open presents.  Overall, it was a wonderful way to celebrate my favorite holiday with a few of my favorite people, even though we were missing our Midwest family.

Being the hyper-organized person that I am, I was becoming annoyed with the mass of post-it notes holding pieces of our recipes (since many were given to us over the phone by our mother), so I put together all the recipes we needed for dinner on one sheet of paper.  And then I put them in a sheet protector.  My sister made fun of me endlessly for this, but it was a lifesaver!  I was also able to make notes about what time I needed to start each dish to make sure it was finished at the right time for dinner.

Our meal:
Fresh veggies and lentil chips with kale dip
Pot roast
Dumplings
Green bean casserole
Pecan pie cheesecake
Cinnamon rolls (for the next morning)
Christmas roll-out cookies

We also planned to make grilled cheese in chard leaves, but realized we already had WAY too much food for 4 people, so it would have to wait.

Pecan pie cheesecake

As a child, my dad always insisted that pecan pie was "gross" to try to keep my sisters and I from trying it and liking it, since it was his favorite dessert and he wanted to keep it to himself.  His strategy worked for a little while, but now I find myself employing it since I share his favorite.

Pecan pie says Christmas to me almost as much as pumpkin pie says Thanksgiving, so I knew I wanted to keep this tradition alive, but I also wanted to give it my own twist.  I had also promised Tall Dark and Nerdy that I would make him a cheesecake (his favorite) sometime soon.  When I came across a recipe combining the two, I knew I had to try it!

My kitchen doesn't have a 9" springform pan, which the recipe called for, or a 9" round pan, so we used an 8" square cake pan.  With the small pan, we realized that we had way more cheesecake filling than we needed, so we quickly made another crust (this time using 1 3/4 cups of wafer crumbs for a thicker crust) and ended up with one pecan pie cheesecake and one plain cheesecake, both were absolutely delicious.  

Ingredients:

Crust:

Plain cheesecake on left, pecan pie cheesecake
on right.  Pyrex of water to keep crust from
getting mushy on bottom rack.

  1 1/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
  1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  1/3 cup butter, melted

Pecan filling:

  1 cup sugar

  2/3 cup dark corn syrup

  1/3 cup butter, melted

  2 eggs

  1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cheesecake filling:

  3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

  1 1/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar

  2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

  4 eggs

  2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine wafer crumbs and brown sugar.  Stir in melted butter.  Press into bottom and up sides of a 9" springform pan (or double crust recipe and use two 8" pans).  Bake for 6 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Pecan filling:

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly.  Pour into crust and set aside.

Cheesecake filling:

Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees.

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.  Add brown sugar and flour and beat until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.  Stir in cream and vanilla.  

Pour over pecan filling.

Fill pyrex dish with very hot water and place on bottom rack of oven.  Bake cheesecake in middle of oven for 1 hour.  

Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven with the door closed for 1 hour. 

Remove from oven and run a knife along the outside edges to loosen cheesecake from sides of pan.  Let cool.  Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Don't be dismayed by how many steps there are in this recipe, it is totally worth it!  Having my sister beside me made this quick and easy, while she made the pecan filling, I made the cheesecake filling, and we were done in a jiffy, all while dancing to Aaron Carter Radio on Pandora.  

The dark brown sugar in the cheesecake filling gives it a beautiful color and taste, and left people unsure of which cheesecake was better!

Adapted from Heidi's So-Called Life

I brought the green bean casserole!

This was all baby sister.  She loves green bean casserole, and it was a way to make sure she would eat vegetables, so I was all for it!

This is a recipe that anyone can make, and it's so quick that it works for anything.  The combination of creamy sauce, crunchy onions, and crisp veggies makes this dish a holiday staple for more than just my family!

Ingredients:

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (6 oz.) container French fried onions
• 2 (9 oz.) packages cut green beans, thawed

Directions:

Mix soup and milk together, then add pepper, beans, and 2/3 cup onions in casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Stir.

Top with remaining onions.

Bake 5 minutes.

My sister really likes the crunchiness of the onions on the top, but you can mix more in with the beans and soup if that's the way you prefer.

Adapted from French's

Dumplings

Holiday's with the German part of the family have three rotating dishes:  strudla, kase knoephla, and dumplings.  In my four years of college, I never seemed to make it home for the right holiday, so hadn't had my favorite, dumplings, for several years.  When my sister decided to spend Christmas here with me, the first decision we made was that dumplings would happen for Christmas dinner.

Ingredients:

That's a lot of dough!

Aunt Ruth's Bread Dough

• 3/4 cup warm (not hot) water
• 1 Tablespoon yeast
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 4 cups warm water
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons salt
• 1/4 cup oil
• Flour (roughly 3/4 of a 5 pound bag)

Other Ingredients

• Potatoes, chopped

3 pots of dumplings!

Directions:

Mix 3/4 cup warm water, yeast, and 1 Tbsp sugar well, let sit.

Mix together 4 cups warm water, sugar, salt, and oil with electric mixer.  Add 4-5 cups flour, mixing constantly.  Add yeast mixture.  Continue adding flour until dough forms a ball.

Knead on floured counter.  Place in greased bowl and cover.  Let rise until it has doubled in size.

Glass lids make not
peeking easy.

Punch down the dough.  Make into balls (about the size of cookie dough balls before baking) and place on baking sheets.  Cover and let rise again.

Cut up potatoes to cover bottom of pot.  Cover potatoes with water.  With stove on high, bring water to boil.  Add layer of dough balls.  Cover.  DON'T PEEK!  They are done when you just start to smell potatoes burning to the bottom of the pan (anywhere from 15-25 minutes).

Smother in gravy and enjoy!

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you cannot peek.  If you take the lid off, they will fall, and now you just have bread.

I used about 3/4 of the dough for the dumplings and made the rest into cinnamon rolls.

Christmas pot roast

Our Christmas meat traditions include lutefisk (NOT happening in my house, ever), porcupine meatballs (that MUST be counted), and ham.  Since Tall Dark and Nerdy was celebrating Christmas with us and tries to avoid pork, baby sister and I were left with nothing.  We decided on a beef pot roast in my new Christmas-present-crock pot.  

This was my first pot roast, first time using the new crock pot, and first time hosting a holiday in my new home, and it was a SUCCESS!  I did have to wake up at 5:00 am to get it in the slow cooker so it could be done for our 2:00 meal, but it was worth it for all the praise it got!

Ingredients:

• 4 pound beef roast
• 5 cups chopped vegetables (I used carrots, celery, onions, and potatoes)
• 1 cup water
• 1 package pot roast seasoning
• 4 cloves garlic
• crock pot liner (not food, but definitely suggested!)

Directions:

Place slow cooker liner in crock pot.  

Make slices into roast and insert garlic cloves.

Place roast and vegetables in slow cooker.

Mix seasoning and water.  Pour over meat and veggies.  Cover.

Cook 8 hours on low.

The meat was tender and tasty, the vegetables were delicious (says a non-veggie eater), and the juice was fantastic (but we also made gravy).

Cinnamon rolls

Cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite breakfast treats, and they tend to come around Christmas-time thanks to all the bread dough we're making for recipes like dumplings.  These only take a little bit of extra work when you finish making the bread dough, and they are super easy and delicious the next morning when you want to do anything but spend time in the kitchen.

I used about 1/4 of the dough this recipe makes.

Ingredients:
Aunt Ruth's Bread Dough

• 3/4 cup warm (not hot) water
• 1 Tablespoon yeast
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 4 cups warm water
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons salt
• 1/4 cup oil
• Flour (roughly 3/4 of a 5 pound bag)

Other Ingredients

• Cinnamon
• Sugar
• Brown sugar
• Butter, softened

Directions:

Mix 3/4 cup warm water, yeast, and 1 Tbsp sugar well, let sit.

Mix together 4 cups warm water, sugar, salt, and oil with electric mixer.  Add 4-5 cups flour, mixing constantly.  Add yeast mixture.  Continue adding flour until dough forms a ball.

Knead on floured counter.  Place in greased bowl and cover.  Let rise until it has doubled in size.

Punch down the dough.  
Roll dough out into rectangle on floured counter.  Spread with butter.
Mix together cinnamon, sugar, and brown sugar.  Spread on dough.  Roll up, starting with one long side.
Slice into rolls.  Put in pan (9"x13" if you made a lot, 8" or 9" square or round pan for fewer).  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, turn oven to 170 degrees.  Put pan of boiling water on bottom shelf and pan of rolls on middle shelf.  Turn oven off.  Let them rise to twice their size.
Take out pan of water.  Turn oven to 350 degrees and cook 20-30 minutes until firm and golden on top.

These are delicious as is, but you can also cover with a frosting, sticky bun syrup, or a glaze of milk and powdered sugar.

Baby sister can shred!

When I asked my sister what the one thing she really really really wanted to do during her visit was, she responded, without hesitation, "learn to snowboard."  So I set out to make that happen!

We headed up to Tahoe straight from the airport, pushed my tiny car into the garage since it couldn't bust through the snow in our parking area, and even learned how to use chains for the drive home, but she learned how to snowboard!  And, I dare say, she got hooked even quicker than I did last year! 

We also got to just spend some time relaxing together in the cabin, with the beautiful view of the national forest right outside the window, thanks to my Tall Dark and Nerdy for letting us use the cabin :) .

She ended up with a private lesson (slow day) at Heavenly, where I learned to ride less than a year ago.  All the lifties loved her, and her instructor thought she was pretty hardcore and kept bouncing back up after big falls.  I just wish she had been able to have another couple days on the mountain to really start turning and shredding up the mountain, but I guess that's what next year is for!

Baby sister sees Broadway (sort of)

In keeping with the "new experiences" theme of my sister's visit, I planned a special surprise for her time here.  Sadly, she spoiled the surprise after hearing me mention the location :S

Regardless, she was thrilled, and we enjoyed another evening in San Francisco together.

I took her to see The Lion King.  No, not the movie was have all seen hundreds of times, but the musical.

The story and much of the music were familiar.  The costumes and set, on the other hand, were absolutely breathtaking.  I can completely understand why this show has been deemed a "gamechanger" in musical theater.

Walking along Market Street in mid-December towards the Orpheum theater is an experience everyone should have.  As is seeing a Broadway-type musical, even if it is off Broadway.  I was so happy to be able to give my sister this experience, and to enjoy it with her!

Baby sister's first ballet

My baby sister (even though she's 19, she will always be my baby sister) recently spent two weeks with me over Christmas.  The theme for her trip was "new experiences."  


One such experience was seeing her first ballet.  We enjoyed the San Francisco Ballet's production of Nutcracker.



The SF Ballet does a wonderful job with any production, but is especially known for bringing Nutcracker to the US and continuing to dazzle crowds with it.  The War Memorial Opera House, birthplace of the United Nations and nestled alongside City Hall and the Herbst Theater, only adds to the beauty and splendor of the event.


Overall, wonderful show, wonderful experience, wonderful memory with my sister.

SF Ballet

SF Ballet - Nutcracker

War Memorial Opera House

Apple cinnamon refrigerator oatmeal

Another of my standby refrigerator oatmeal is this apple cinnamon recipe.  It's not quite as sweet as the chocolate-covered cherry, which is exactly what I need some days.  I'll often make one of each of these at the same time, that way I have a choice the next morning of which I am most in the mood for.  They are best after only a day or two in the refrigerator though, but they are so quick to make it's not a hassle at all!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup uncooked oats (old fashioned rolled oats recommended; do not use steel cut oats)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chia seeds
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup yogurt (I use vanilla non-fat Greek yogurt)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 cup applesauce

Directions:

In a small container, combine oats and chia seeds.  Add milk, yogurt, cinnamon, honey, and applesauce, and stir well.  Cover.  Refrigerate overnight, and enjoy in the morning!

Adapted from The Yummy Life.

Chocolate-covered cherry refrigerator oatmeal

I try to spend as much of my morning in bed as possible before leaving for work, so I have grown to love refrigerator oatmeal for breakfast.  I put one together in the evening, enjoy my full night of sleep, and grab it on my way out the door in the morning.  This recipe is my favorite experiment so far...probably because it means I can eat chocolate for breakfast!

Ingredients:

After mixing, before
refrigerating.

• 1/4 cup uncooked oats (old fashioned rolled oats recommended; do not use steel cut oats)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chia seeds
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup yogurt (I use non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt, yum!)
• 1/4 cup pitted and chopped cherries (I always have some frozen ones on hand just for this reason)
• Small handful mini chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon honey

Directions:
In a small container (I love using freezer-canning jars.  They are the perfect size, seal well, and travel well) combine oats and chia seeds.  Add milk, yogurt, cherries, chocolate chips, and honey, and stir well.  Cover.  Refrigerate overnight, and enjoy in the morning!

Overnight, the milk and yogurt soak in to the chia seeds and oats to make them soft and delicious, leaving you with a sweet, savory, and satisfying breakfast-to-go.

Adapted from The Yummy Life.

Down around the corner at the bakery shop

This has become one of my favorite songs...possibly due to my love of baking and baked goods.  Regardless, I have had a lot of fun doing this song in multiple ways.  

I did it for the first time with these paper cupcakes (which have since been laminated and reused several times) and pennies made by one of my children.




The next step was my first exploration into making felts, and I ended up with these felt cupcakes and pennies with puffy paint decoration.

The only problem with these has been that the puffy paint is, well, puffy.  And puffy sprinkles look good enough to eat!  After almost losing a few sprinkles and the writing off a few pennies, I make sure to mention that it's paint. :)


Lyrics:
Down around the corner at the bakery shop
There were 5 cupcakes with sprinkles on top
Along came   (child's name)   with a penny to pay
And he/she took one cupcake and went away.

**Repeat, counting down until all cupcakes are gone.**
I ask five different children to come up, give them a "penny," and when it's their turn they buy the cupcake then return to their seat.






Alternate version:  I also used this song with the story If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and sang the song with cookies with chocolate chips on top.

Story time - If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

This was a really fun book to use for story time in our Twos program, and it's a great book about sequences and cause-and-effect.  I used the same songs the week before during music time to give the children more time with them. 

In this Monday, Wednesday, Friday class, I read the book the first two days and extended the story using a felt board for Friday.  I made paper versions of the images from the story and laminated them.  As I told the story (not using the book), I put one thing up on the felt board at a time.  By the end of the story, the board was FULL and the children were laughing about how many things this little mouse needed.

While working on this story time, I also made re-telling cards for when I use this plan in our back classrooms (with 3-5-year-olds).  The cards will allow the children to easily manipulate the different items in the story, attempt to put them in order, or change the story for themselves.

Devilishly Delicious Chocolate Cake

Over wine and dinner of quinoa stuffed peppers with a friend, we realized we needed something chocolatey and delicious to finish our evening right.  We picked a recipe from my favorite dessert cookbook, The Cake Mix Doctor, and modified it a little for what I had in the house.  The result:  exactly what we needed.

Ingredients:

• Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
• Flour for dusting the pan
• 1 square (1 oz.) bittersweet baking chocolate, finely chopped (unsweetened works, too)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 package devil's food cake mix
• 1 package (3.9 oz.) chocolate instant pudding mix
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Chocolate frosting

Directions:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  Lightly mist and flour a Bundt pan, shake out excess flour and set pan aside.

Combine the chocolate and water in a small saucepan over low heat.  Heat, stirring constantly, until the chocolate is melted, 3 to 4 minutes.  Set aside.

Begin to combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.  Add in the melted chocolate.  Blend with an electric mixer, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.  The batter should look thick and well combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with a rubber spatula.  Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake 45 to 50 minutes, until it springs back when lightly pressed.  Remove the pan from the oven and cool for 20 minutes.  Invert cake and remove it from pan.  Allow to cool another 20 minutes, if you can (we definitely couldn't), then spread with warm frosting, and enjoy!

Adapted from The Cake Mix Doctor

Quinoa stuffed peppers

This has apparently become my specialty, according to Jas and the girls upstairs.  I think they just really enjoy the meal and want me to keep making it.


Ingredients (today):

• 8 peppers (any color, but it's best if they sort of stand on their own)
• 1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
• 1 cup chopped onion (roughly 1/2 large onion)
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot (1 large carrot will do)
• 2 stalks chopped celery
• 2 cloves garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• 3 medium tomatoes (I like to use romas)
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups water
• Shredded cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the tops off the peppers, remove the pulp and seeds.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and add the first half of the peppers.  Boil for 5 minutes, then remove the peppers from the water and set aside.  Repeat for remaining peppers.

Cook quinoa according to package directions.  Add quinoa and water to pot, bring to boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed.

Brown the ground turkey in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Remove meat and set aside.

Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pan.  Cook 4-5 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Return the meat to the pan, and add the cooked quinoa, tomatoes, salt, and pepper.  Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes, until heated through.  Remove from the heat.  **Next time I plan to mix in some shredded cheese here so there is a little cheese in every bite.

Place the peppers in a baking dish and fill each with the quinoa mixture.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Set the oven to Broil.  Sprinkle cheese over the stuffed peppers and broil for 2 minutes, until lightly browned.

Adapted from about.com

UPDATE:  I have been informed that these work as perfect pocket snacks for a day on the mountain thanks to my very own Tall Dark and Nerdy.

Heaven(ly)

Many of my favorite weekend memories during the winter come from Tahoe.

I am lucky enough to head to South Lake Tahoe quite frequently to enjoy the sun, snow, and some great friends.  

I learned how to snowboard at Heavenly last season - thanks to the prodding of TDN - and am starting to get the hang of it, despite an injury.  Regardless of my [lack of] skill level, it has given me a whole new way to play in the snow!

Disclaimer:  I always wear a helmet while snowboarding, and recommend it to everyone!

Green chile turkey burgers

One of my close friends (very close, she lives upstairs!) doesn't eat mammals, and as a steak-and-potatoes girl, this was a challenge at first.  However, I have discovered that I really like using ground turkey in dishes, and on its own in burger form.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
• 1/8 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/8 cup finely diced onion
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• Parsley flakes
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix ground turkey, seasoned bread crumbs, onion, egg whites, parsley flakes, garlic, salt, pepper, and green chiles.  Form into patties.
Cook the patties in a medium skillet over medium heat, turning once (if you're really good).

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Pumpkin cookies with maple-caramel frosting

My roommate MB begs me weekly to make these delicious, moist cookies for her again.  They have quickly become a dessert staple for parties and holidays.

Ingredients:
Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (I prefer dark brown sugar)
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Frosting

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (again, I like dark brown)
• Pinch of salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Stir in pumpkin.
In a medium bowl, sift together the baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and flour.  Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

While cookies are cooling, make frosting:
In a medium saucepan, combine butter, cream, and brown sugar over medium heat.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to boil; remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Allow to cool slightly, then stir in powdered sugar.
Spread frosting over cooled cookies.

Adapted from letsdishrecipes.com