Braised Short Ribs

Al made these for dinner and we loved them. Dave had leftovers for lunch the next day and said they were even better than the night before! Al didn't love the thyme and rosemary but I didn't think it was too herby-strong and liked the flavor of the 'gravy'. The original recipe is courtesy of Ree Drummond on Food Network, she serves the short ribs over cheese grits which I'm sure is good,  Al made mashed potatoes and it was delicious.

Ingredients:

• salt and pepper
• 8 beef short ribs
• 1/4 cup flour
• 6 thin slices bacon, diced
• 2 T. olive oil
• 3 carrots, diced
• 2 shallots, finely minced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• splash of red wine
• 4 cups beef broth (enough to almost cover the ribs)
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• cheese grits, regular grits, or mashed potatoes

Directions:

Preheat the oven 325'. Salt and pepper the ribs, then dredge in the flour. Set aside.

In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until completely crispy and all the fat is rendered. Remove the bacon and set aside. Drain off any excess fat.

Add the olive oil to the pan with the bacon fat* and raise the heat to high. Brown the ribs on all sides, about 45 seconds per side. Remove the ribs and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium. Add the carrots, shallots, and onions to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Splash in the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to release all the flavorful bits. Add the broth, 1 teaspoon salt and plenty of black pepper and bring to a boil. Taste and add more salt if needed. Add the ribs to the liqu8id; they should be almost completely submerge3d. Add the thyme and rosemary sprigs (whole) to the liquid. Add the cooked bacon.

Put on a lid and transfer to the oven. Cook until the ribs are fork-tender and falling off the bone, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes with the lid on before serving. At the last minute, skim the fat off the top of the liquid (you can also refrigerate the mixture, then remove the solid fat from the top).

For each serving, arrange 2 ribs on a bed of grits or potatoes, spooning a little juice over the top.

*note: the directions are a bit confusing regarding the bacon fat - first it says to drain off any excess fat, the next part says add the olive oil to the pan with the bacon fat. I didn't ask Al what he did but my guess is the directions mean that even tho you've drained off excess fat there will still be bacon grease left coating the pan since it doesn't say to wipe the pan out. So you're adding the olive oil to the residual fat leftover in the pan.

8.31.18: farmhouse projects
8.31.17: remoulade sauce
8.31.16: coconut cream filled cupcakes

Card Holder Hack

Here's a quick post from Brooke - yes, she did a few blogposts for me again! I've missed her kid friendly crafts :). This idea is super simple but creative and practical - especially for small hands trying to hold multiple playing cards. Simply turn a foam egg crate over and cut a slit in each of the egg holders, then slip a card into each slit. Smart!

Spiral Pull-Apart Pizza

Shhhhhh...this was supposed to be for "my sis is hungry" review this week...but we ate them instead of giving to her! Don't tell hahahaha!

Really, do you even need the review? What's not to like about rolled-up pull-apart pizza? Nothing, there is nothing not to like LOL. Change up the fillings as you wish - so easy!

• 1 tube refrigerated pizza dough
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese, divided (I used a mozzarella blend)
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves 
• chopped turkey pepperoni slices
• italian spice blend
• garlic salt

Heat oven to 400'. Unroll dough from tube, spread pizza sauce on top leaving a gap around the edges (don't put sauce all the way to the edges, it'll just squish out when you roll it up). 

Sprinkle with half of cheese and top with pepperoni and spinach. Season with italian spice blend as desired. Roll up, starting with the short end.

Sprinkle some italian spice blend and a little garlic salt in the bottom of a greased pie plate. Cut the rolled up pizza into 8 even pieces, then lay the pieces flat in the pan. Top with remaining cheese. Bake 22-25 minutes until golden brown.

sprinkle some seasoning in the bottom of the pan before adding the dough

Note: I cut both ends off to even up the roll before slicing into 8 equal sized pieces - put the little ends in the pan and bake so you have a couple little bite-size tasters!

Giant Whoopie Pie Cake

I don't have a great picture of this giant whoopee cake, so I'm just making the one pic I have super big for you to make up for it haha!! Picture might not be great, but the cake certainly is!

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 5 eggs
• 1 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 T. butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup buttermilk powder
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 2 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 T. vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee crystals
• 1 cup water

• marshmallow filling (recipe follows)
• chocolate glaze (recipe follows)

Directions:

Allow the butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. In a small bowl, make a paste of 1 T. cocoa powder and 1 T. melted butter. Coat 10" fluted tube pan with the paste; set aside. Preheat oven to 325'. 

For cake: In a medium bowl, stir together the 1 1/4 cups cocoa, flour, buttermilk powder, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add brown sugar, beating about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and coffee crystals. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition and scraping bowl frequently. Add one-third of the cocoa mixture and 1/2 cup of the water, beating on low speed just until combined. Repeat. Add remaining one-third of the cocoa mixture, beating about 30 seconds or until smooth. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake at 325' about 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan; cool completely on wire rack. 

Split cake in half horizontally. Spread marshmallow filling on the bottom half of the cake, place top of cake over the filling. Drizzle chocolate glaze over the top of the cake. 

Makes 16 servings 

Marshmallow filling:

3/4 cup softened butter

7-oz. jar marshmallow creme

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 t. vanilla.

In a large mixing bowl, beat all ingredients until smooth.

Chocolate Glaze:

1/4 cup whipping cream

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

In a small saucepan, heat cream over medium heat. Add chocolate pieces, heat and stir over low heat until melted and smooth.

NOTE: if you don't want to make the cake from scratch I'd just use your favorite chocolate cake mix! Also, I sprinkled chocolate chips on top of the glaze...just 'cuz. 

recipe from Midwest Living magazine 8/12

Tip-sy Tuesday: Wrapping Paper Holder

I love wrapping paper. Not that anyone cares (especially my sister, she loves to mock my gift wrapping obsession) but I'm putting it out there anyway - I love it. I have lots of rolls and have them hanging on peg board so I can easily see what I have; only problem is they tend to unroll and the paper gets messed up. In the past I've used rubber bands (that eventually break) and paper clips (which leave dents) to keep the rolls from unwrapping, then I learned this trick - simply cut a toilet paper or paper towel cardboard tube down the center and put it around the roll of paper. Great tip, right? You're not fooling anyone (looking at you sissy), you know you're gonna do this hahahaha!

Giant Crepe Paper Garland

We had a surprise birthday celebration for my sister which kept me super busy the past couple weeks - I told you in a couple posts that I was making things I couldn't share yet (that's because we were trying to keep it a surprise!) but now that her day has come and gone (very successfully I might add!) I'm ready to share some of the things we did. First up is this giant crepe paper garland - I wasn't sure what we'd do with it but it's so pretty, fun, and party-ish that I made it figuring we'd find a way to use it. Ended up hanging it on my sis's golf cart for the day part of her party and she loved it. 

For no good reason, I had a difficult time trying to figure out the instructions to make this garland, it is totally not hard but I was on the struggle bus with it. After stapling and removing the staples twice (!) I came up with this - not sure if it's made like the inspiration one but whatever, it turned out great. I'll share the link where I found the garland directions, but here's how I did it:

You'll need big sheets of crepe paper, either in all one color or mix colors together. I ordered a 6 pack of multi colors from Amazon, each piece measures 20" wide by 8 feet long. It comes in rolls and reminds me of tissue paper but it's stretchy crepe paper material - I did not even know crepe paper comes in big sheets like this. I decided to use 3 different colors for her garland so that took 3 pieces of crepe paper each 20" by 8' long. Before you even unroll the paper, cut the rolls in half so each roll is two halves that are 10" wide each. Unroll the paper and stack the 10" sheets on top of each other, you'll have 6 sheets altogether stacked. Fold in half so your bundle is now 5" wide x 8' and staple along the long folded edge. After folding you'll have 12 sheets on top of each other. Make cuts almost to the fold, about 1" apart - this part reminds me of making a tie-blanket; you've just created an 8' fringed garland, folded and stapled on one side and fringed on the other. Make sense? Of course I forgot to take detailed pictures while I was doing it, so I simulated the steps with red paper (I'm saying that so you don't get confused why the garland was green, pink and orange, and is now red LOL!)

the top edge is the folded and stapled side, then fringe the loose edge

The next bit is time consuming but I stood at the counter doing it and reading my book at the same time - which is to say that it isn't hard at all and requires very little focus, it's just mindlessly working the fringed part of the paper. You need to pick up each piece of fringe individually and smooth it out - you know how crepe paper has that crinkly stretchy texture? Well if you gently pull it apart the crinkles stretch and smooth out and the fringe gets wider, fuller and fluffier. Continue with every. single. piece. of fringe - daunting I know but really it is simple, just watch tv or read or something while doing it and it goes much faster!

photo from the inspiration directions on cutting and smoothing out the fringe

Once the fringe has been smoothed out and fluffed, twist each fringe section and the stapled part turns almost into a rope-like core. At first it isn't pretty and you'll think "what the? this is not a pretty fun partyish garland at all" but give it time. The more you twist, I alternated twisting one way and then the other, the better it looks. Once you twist the entire length the garland holds its shape and doesn't unwind at all - I was a bit surprised about that actually! 

I love love how this garland turned out, so much so that (without asking my sis) I rescued it from the golf cart and squirreled it away when no one was looking - I'll be using this again in the future for sure!

click here for original source

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 34)

Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap in case you missed anything at MMDC this week:

Posts ~

8/18: 🔥 (week 33)
8/19: shadow box memory collage
8/20: Tip-sy Tuesday: storing grocery bags
8/21: crustless mini quiche
8/22: my sis is hungry: zucchini pizza boats
8/23: sausage stuffed dates
8/24: aperol spritz

What's cooking ~

• burgers, corn on the cob
• grilled tuna, greek salad with roasted garbanzo beans
• Al made us braised short ribs (I have the recipe and will share soon!), with mashed potatoes
• grilled chicken sausage, zoodles with marinara
• grilled chicken breasts, veggie tots, sweet kale salad 
• beef wellington, roasted potatoes, roasted asparagus and green beans

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy but not worth a separate post ~

• read 'You've Been Volunteered' by Laurie Gelman, follow up book to 'Class Mom' - funny, quick light read that I enjoyed ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• I didn't check the garden for a few days and discovered that the beans have completely taken over - they are using the tomatoes for support and therefore the tomatoes are being smothered and pulled over! Yikes. So I spent hours (that's what I get for not paying more attention) untangling bean vines from the tomato plants so they can get some air and sun. Ugh. Sarge was very helpful eating any tomatoes and beans that fell hahahah.
• Dave's birthday was yesterday - made him a 4 layer coconut cake (thanks to Christa for the worlds best top-secret recipe!), he was thrilled. Also made beef wellington and roasted potatoes, I'll share that recipe this week. 

Hope you had a great week - check back to see lots more recipes, crafts, projects, and whatever else I can think of to make at MMDC!

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and bean wrangler

Aperol Spritz

Al made these light, fizzy, fruity cocktails for us  - the perfect drink for a hot summer afternoon (well, technically water is the perfect drink for a hot summer afternoon but you get my drift...).  Not gonna lie, I don't know what Aperol is hahahaha, but it makes for a very tasty drink!

1. Fill a glass with ice.
2. Add equal parts Prosecco and Aperol, top with a splash of club soda.
3. Lightly stir to combine and top with an orange slice if desired.

Sausage Stuffed Dates

Oh My Gosh...you guys! These are soooooooo good!!! If you're looking for a great appetizer that is probably a little different than your go-to recipe and you want people fighting over what you made - here ya go. Thank me later. Well actually thank Cathy later, it's her recipe and I almost kept the credit for myself hahahah. Mmmmmm I love these so much (I love them so much I had the 2 leftover ones for breakfast!).

24 medjool dates
16 ounces bacon (not thick cut)
Sweet or hot Italian sausage, cooked, broken up into crumbles,

Heat oven to 400'. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and arrange a wire baking rack on top. Slice open dates and remove pits. Stuff each date with cooked crumbled Italian sausage, then press closed.
Cut strips of bacon in half widthwise. wrap each date with one slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Arrange dates on the baking sheet, being careful not to crowd them.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bacon is crisp. let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

My Sis is Hungry: Zucchini Pizza Boats

I got a large zucchini from Cassandra and thought I was just going to make zucchini bread (cuz - hello, zucchini bread), but she gave me the idea to make stuffed zucchini pizza instead. Sounds good right?

I gave this to my sis for this week's "My Sis is Hungry" review - here's what she has to say (recipe and my notes follow):

Today’s meal that I didn’t have to make was interesting.. yes interesting.  Is that a compliment?  Maybe.  Read on..

So I have been trying to watch what I eat lately.  I realize summer is almost over and I have missed out on another season of wearing a bikini.  I should add I have missed out for the last 28 years- give or take a year.  Anyway.. I digress.  So I have been trying to eat healthy.  This meal intrigued me.  “Pizza Boat”.  The husband was very upset he was out of town and missed a recipe that had “Pizza Boat” in the title.  I did not however tell him my sister is a liar.  He should know a this point and yet he doesn’t.  So odd.  Anyway.. Pizza Boat. 

First it came without cooking directions.  Did she just meet me?  She said “until cooked”.  Ummmmm.. is that 10 minutes?  Is that 4 hours?  So that said I cooked it for 20 minutes on 350.  Not enough.  Cooked for another 10 and that was better.. but still crunchy.  I decided to leave it that way since she was passing off zucchini as a meal. 

Not sure what kind of meat was in here- looked like ham and sausage.  Really could only taste the ham.  That was honestly the most prevalent flavor in this dish. Ham. (if that’s what it was).  The zucchini itself when cooked didn’t bring a lot of flavor (so would be good if your family doesn’t love zucchini) but was kind of non descript other than that.  Personally I would have left off the meat and tried to make it healthier and added more veggies.  I did end up adding jalepeno’s and more sauce which did make it better for me.  All in all, it wasn’t bad but didn’t LOVE.   IF was only veggies and was healthy I would have liked way better.

One other great note- I was definitely full from only one boat.  Stuffed actually.  Not as stuffed as I would have been though if she had used this zucchini to make me her delicious zucchini bread.

Just sayin’.

*Jill here - good thing I read this review before cooking the zucchini boat I saved out for myself! Taking her notes into consideration, instead of baking I microwaved the boat at 50% power for 5 minutes (covered) and it was still a bit crunchy. Microwaved another 3 minutes at 50% power and it was done enough for me - still firm but not crunchy. I'm a dipper so served it with extra pizza sauce and greek yogurt on the side, along with more salt and pepper seasoning. I see what she's saying about adding more veggies - I was going for 'meat lover' so it'd be more of a 'dinner' and figured all that zucchini counted as the vegetable, but the well of the zucchini boat was pretty deep and could easily have held some veggies - broccoli, halved cherry tomatoes, olives, peppers, whatever you like! Don't tell her but I was also cleaning out the fridge of leftover meats and figured this pizza was a good way to use them up (and I didn't have any veggies other than onion and mushrooms LOL) Shhhh.....;)

Recipe:

Based on stuffing zucchini in the past, I cut the ends off the zucchini and popped in the microwave for 6 minutes (turning a couple times) to pre-cook it a bit - it takes a long time to get it done if you bake it from raw. Remove from microwave, carefully slice it lengthwise down the middle, scoop out the seeds. Brush the entire thing with olive oil, season with salt, pepper, and italian seasoning. Spread with pizza sauce, whatever toppings you like (I did a combination of turkey pepperoni, smoked turkey sausage, and canadian bacon - along with chopped banana peppers, sautéed onions, and mushrooms), top with cheese. Bake until heated thru and the zucchini has softened. 

note: in the future I'll make sure to microwave the zucchini initially a little bit longer so it's cooked more before filling it. Don't overcook tho or it's going to be a mushy mess of a pizza boat. 

Crustless Mini Quiche

Made these for a quick easy breakfast - it made so many tho I had them for too many days in a row haha, I'm a little tired of them at the moment! They are really easy to make, even easier to eat (I even took them in the car so they are quite portable), taste great, and you can easily change up the add-ins if you want.  Try with different herbs, add meat or veggies, or skip topping with tomato - simple to customize. Oh, I just had an idea - next time I'll put different fillings in the same batch so I don't have 18 all the same (that or find someone to share them with - I wonder how they'd freeze...hmmmmm I might try that too).

Whisk 1/2 cup milk and 1 Tablespoon cornstarch in large bowl, then whisk in 1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese, 4 large eggs, 1/2 cup chopped basil, 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup sliced green onions, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Divide evenly in a greased cupcake pan, top each with a thin tomato slice. Bake until set and puffed, about 15 minutes. Makes 18 mini quiche.

Note: you can pour all of the batter into a 10" pie pan and bake at 375' for 35-40 minutes.

Adapted from a Good Housekeeping recipe from 7/13

Tip-sy Tuesday: storing grocery store bags

I learned this tip from Cathy's neighbor, it only takes a second to do and makes it way easier to store the plastic grocery store bags.

Run your hand down the bag squeezing the air out and forming it into a long rectangle. Roll it around two fingers and tuck the ends into the middle of the roll which sort of makes it a ball. Slide off your fingers and it holds it's shape. I keep the balls of bags in a bag in the drawer - I can fit tons more bags this way and they aren't sliding behind the drawer now making it so the drawer won't close and then I have to remove the drawer to free the wayward bags! Yay to more organized and being able to store more.

Simple but effective. What's not to like about today's tip?!

Shadow Box Memory Collage

I got the idea for these shadow box memory collages from a friend of my friend Mary (I think it's from Leslie but I might be wrong) a loooong time ago, I've made a few now and absolutely love them. I love making, personalizing, and giving them - coming up with things representing memories and old stories, or in Dave's case I made his after he won the Long Beach Grand Prix Pro/Celeb race - it's as fun for me to make as it is for the person who gets one.

These 3 are all in an 8x8" shadow box which I think is a good size - not too big that it's hard to find a place to display it and not hard to fill it up. It might be a little hard to see, but they aren't flat - there's spoons, dice, figurines, wrist bands, trophies, beads...all kinds of crap objects layered in front of photos, notes, stickers, cartoons, whatever you can find that fits the person. Change the size and the contents to your liking - just keep it as personal and packed full as you can. The more you look at them the more things you see that you might not have noticed the first time around! Seriously, check out how much is jammed into one small 8x8" box hahahaha!

I'm so glad I have photos of the memory boxes, it makes me laugh to look at them again - all our inside jokes, classic moments, and fun memories are priceless and these packed boxes remind me (and hopefully them) of all the good times.

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 33)

Dear Campers ~

It was a super crazy week around here and even tho I didn't have time to "make" anything at camp we still had to eat...so you had a week's worth of food posts! In case you missed anything, here's a quick recap:

Posts ~

8/11: 🔥 (week 32)
8/12: Helena's zucchini-chickpea patties
8/13: tip-sy tuesday: opening both ends of a can
8/14: chocolate chip cookie ice cream cake
8/15: my sis is hungry: cheeseburger shepherds pie
8/16: tuna avocado egg salad
8/17: broccoli grape salad

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy but not post-worthy ~

• I've been helping to plan my sister's big birthday party that went off without a hitch last weekend (and also my niece's birthday last Sunday - we are birthday partied out right about now hahahah). We made lots of funny things for the party that I'll show you soon, a couple crafty decorations, and planned a fun silly-holes golf game for all her friends and family. Whew, so much fun - and I'm exhausted! Hence no more crafts this week hahaha. Next week will probably be back to normal, I can't not craft for long!
• I did squeeze in one book this week that was terrific - 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine' by Gail Honeyman. Quirky, sad, funny, sweet, disturbing, awkward, uplifting - I know, how can one book be all those things? Loved it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

That's it for me, gotta keep moving or I'll fall asleep at the computer. Hope you had a great week - stop by to see some crafts, recipes, whatever else I can think of once I get some energy hahaha. Bye!

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and tired birthday party thrower

Grape and Broccoli Salad

This recipe is in a Costco magazine that came in the mail, it's pretty much like standard broccoli salad  (click for the "regular" version) with the addition of halved green grapes - it's a nice option for sure and I'll make this one again.

salad:
1 cup green grapes, cut in half (I'm pretty sure red grapes would be equally good!)
4 cups broccoli florets, cut in bite sized pieces
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup nuts (your choice, I used pine nuts because of Dave's nut allergies)
1/2 pound cooked bacon, crumbled

dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4-1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Mix salad ingredients together in a big bowl. Mix dressing ingredients and toss with salad. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

note: I don't like raw broccoli in this salad so I cook for just a minute or two and then plunge in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Takes the edge off the rawness which I prefer. Also, 1/4 cup sugar was plenty, I'll go with 2 tablespoons next time. If you want to make a bit healthier, swap some of the mayo for plain Greek yogurt.

Tuna Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich

I adapted this recipe from one found on the back of my Siggi's Icelandic Skyr label - Skyr means thick yogurt in Icelandic and it tastes just like Greek yogurt to me, and I'm addicted. I use the plain no-fat either Siggi's brand or any thick Greek yogurt in place of sour cream, and quite often will cut mayonnaise with yogurt to make a healthier spread. When I saw this sandwich idea I immediately made it for lunch, changing it a bit by adding an additional egg, 1 can of flaked, drained tuna, and more yogurt as needed to get the right consistency. Also, I had baby arugula on hand and substituted it for the kale.

With the additions we made 2 1/2 sandwiches and loved them. This is a keeper! One note though - this is best eaten the same day you make it, I had a little left over and 2 days later it was watery and the avocado turned that weird color cut avocados turn.

 Here is their recipe for one sandwich, change it like I did if you want or make it as is. Both ways are great.

1/2 ripe avocado
2 hardboiled eggs
2 tablespoons siggi's plain yogurt
2 slices hearty bread
1/4 cup loosely packed kale leaves
salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl, combine all ingredients, smash well with a fork. Adjust the salt and pepper seasoning as desired.

avocado and egg

with the addition of flaked canned tunafish