Cruising Norway to Sweden

We are off on a cruise with friends to Norway, Denmark, Berlin, Poland, Estonia, St. Petersburg, Finland and Stockholm - I'm so excited! Fingers crossed the weather is good and water is calm - I stocked up on motion sickness patches and ginger candy (they really help by the way) just in case; packed comfortable clothes and walking shoes for temps that are predicted to be in the 60's (low's in the upper 40's); booked all our shore excursions (one that we passed on is touring and making chocolates at the Tallinn Chocolate Factory in Estonia - hope we don't regret missing out on that!)...now I'm just scheduling a few blog posts for while we are gone.

You're going to see another few days in a row of food posts - that's all I've had time to make lately (and have a couple more from guest bloggers - yay!). Then I'm going to re-run "greatest hits" for a few days until I have time to get home, unpack, conquer jet lag, and get to creating more things to show you! I'll do my usual "travel blog" when I get back (it's like my travel diary so I won't forget the trip!), along with my packing list and what worked/didn't work/wasn't needed/was worn all the time. Oh, and it's the first time I get to use my suitcase with the homemade dividers (click here for that post), hope it helps keep me organized - I'll let you know :)

Be back soon!!!

Put a lime in the...

If you don't want to put a lime in the coconut here's another thing you can do with it...I learned this trick from a nail tech a long time ago and it works. Cut a small wedge of lime and rub it along the tips of your natural fingernails to help make them white and clean looking. Really, it's that easy!

trust me that my nails don't normally look like this - between the glue, glitter,
ink, food coloring, or dirt I'm usually in they tend to look grungy! 

Do what you want with the rest of the lime - in a coconut, in a margarita, in a vodka cranberry... ;)

Organizing...Bracelets

I keep my bracelets in plastic flatware holders (the kind you use in a drawer) and came up with this little hack for keeping them organized  - I cut up empty paper towel rolls into lengths that fit in the open spaces of the drawer holder and thread my bracelets on them, then place into the drawer space. This way I can see what I have easily and they aren't just all loose and mixed together in the drawer. It works best for stretchy or wrapped bracelets, I also store my bangles this way but they flop around a bit. Still better than piled in the drawer!

Party Planner

I don't have a picture of this but it's just a folder that I put together to help me remember what we have done at different parties in the past...because it's hurting my brain to try to remember what games were a hit, what food we liked, what decorations I made, etc.

I took some time to look back thru blog posts and my computer photo album and recreate the past few years worth of Super Bowls, Oscars, Easters, St. Patrick's Days...I typed out a summary of different events we've had listing the year, games, decorations, and menus - printed them out and put in a folder. Now I'll be able to easily flip thru to see what's worked in the past - and what didn't work!

It's a little thing, but helpful. Today at "make my day camp" I made my future party planning a little easier :).

Brownie Strawberry Trifle

Janis made homemade lasagna (for real, she didn't buy it at Costco and try to pass it off as her own like I may or may not do on most occasions...) for Sunday supper and I was in charge of dessert. I had the idea to make Tiramisu trifle but our grocery store didn't have ladyfingers so I changed my idea on the fly when I saw a container of two-bite brownies in the store's bakery (did I mention that I didn't have much time to commit to making dessert? That's where the trifle idea came from - it's SO fast, not exact, and easy). No recipe, but it's trifle which is usually pudding/cream layered with cake so making it up is a no-brainer.

For this trifle you'll need:

• 1 block cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cpus milk
• 1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 container Cool Whip
• 1 1/2 containers of 2-bite brownies (or make your own if you have the time!)
• Big handful sliced strawberries (I used about 1/2 of a small container)
• bittersweet chocolate bar or cocoa powder, optional for garnish

Whisk the milk and pudding together until thick. In a mixer whip the cream cheese until it's smooth and fluffy, then slowly mix in the pudding. Once fully incorporated, gently add 1/2 container of Cool Whip. 

To assemble: put a layer of brownies in the bottom of a clear glass trifle bowl (or a regular bowl but then you won't see the pretty layers), top with a layer of pudding mixture, top with brownies and berries, more pudding, more brownies and berries, finish with pudding. Add the rest of the Cool Whip on the very top. Garnish with chocolate shavings and one pretty berry for presentation. 

To make chocolate shavings just hold a square of chocolate and run your vegetable peeler down the edges: 

Smoothies To Go

I flew home for a super quick trip and didn't have time to get groceries...and apparently didn't plan ahead so there would be some food in the freezer waiting for me...so when poor Brooke spent the night I had nothing for breakfast before taking her to school! I felt bad but fortunately she's a good sport and when I suggested a can of soup she was all for it :) So we split some creamy chicken noodle and I made us the worlds most basic smoothie that we took to go in the car. I did have some frozen bananas and strawberries so blended them with peanut butter and water. Super gourmet, I know. Maybe we were just really hungry, or maybe she was just being nice, but they were good.

My point of all this is that Brooke came up with a really good idea to take these in the car: we put a piece of plastic wrap over top of our glasses, put a rubber band around the cup to hold it in place, then poked a straw thru the plastic. Totally worked. Clever, right? Some days it's all about improvising.

Organizing...Big Shot Envelopes

Thanks to helping Ronda at her Stampin' Up card studio, I am starting to amass a collection of Big Shot die cut sets (they are like metal templates that are sharp on one side, you lay them on paper and run thru the Big Shot machine and it punches out shapes, letters, or numbers...way way way easier and cleaner than cutting them out by hand!) - each set comes in a clear rigid envelope so storing them is easy but there aren't pictures on the outside to remind me of what is in each one and most have little pieces that you can't even tell what they are going to be until you run it thru the big shot. So I spent some time going thru each one, punching out example pieces and downloading pictures from my computer for examples of how to use them, then put the examples back in the folders so when I flip thru the envelopes I can see what each one contains.

To store the envelopes I have them standing (alphabetically, also thanks to Ronda) in a basket so flipping thru them to find the one I want is simple and organized.

see what I mean - how are you going to know what these shapes are?! 

...so I found this card idea online to add to the envelope and give me a clue what this set does. 

here are 4 different clear envelopes holding the die cut pieces with my examples where I can see them. 

another example of what I mean - this ones shows 4 different ideas for this set
of die cuts along with notes on what a couple of the little pieces are. 

Coriander-Crusted Pork Tenderloin

The original recipe for this dish calls for whole peppercorns and coriander seeds that you then crush yourself - uh yeah, I just used the ground kind I already have in my spice drawer. If you want to grind them yourself let me know if it makes a huge difference :) 'Cause how I made it turned out really good.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 Tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 (1 lb.) pork tenderloin
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 pound refrigerated potato wedges (note I used frozen steak fries instead)
• 1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (not Greek style)
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice (I used bottled instead)
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind (I omitted because see above)

Directions:

Preheat oven 475'. Crush peppercorns and coriander seeds with a mortar and pestle or small heavy skillet until coarsely ground. Combine with 3/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Spread mustard evenly over pork; coat with spice mixture.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add pork; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Place pork and potatoes on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet; drizzle with drippings from skillet. Bake at 475' for 10-12 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in center of pork registers 145'F. Let pork stand 5 minutes. Cut across the grain into slices.

Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1 Tablespoon oil, yogurt, cilantro, lime rind and juice in a bowl. Serve with pork and potatoes. 

Makes 4 servings. 342 calories per serving.

original recipe here. 

Amsterdam Tulips

I was home for my dance recital the last weekend in April and the tulips Cathy and I bought in Amsterdam at the Kukenof Gardens and planted last November were starting to come up but weren't flowering yet. Fast forward 10 days later and they are all up! Yay! I didn't kill them, whew. Well I don't know if they all made it because I didn't actually count all 52 of them hahah, but there's a lot and they are beautiful. True they don't look different than tulips I could have bought locally but it's nice to have the living memory of our great vacation last year!

April 28

May 8  

Click here for the post about planting them.

Green Goddess Dressing/Dip

This is the dip Sheryl served with her pimenton shrimp appetizer (click here for that fantastic recipe). I don't have a picture because we ate it before I remembered to get a photo! It's a creamy green dressing that also worked perfectly as a dip for the shrimp. Also a great salad dressing - Ina Garten serves it with a simple bibb lettuce and tomato salad. 

• 1 cup good mayonnaise
• 1 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts (6 to 7 scallions)
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
• 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup sour cream 

Directions:

Place the mayonnaise, scallions, basil, lemon juice, garlic, anchovy paste, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the sour cream and process just until blended. If not using immediately, refrigerate the dressing until ready to serve.

credit: Barefoot Contessa at home