A Cozy Day Inside

I just filled my sugar and flour containers... what does that mean?

TIME TO BAKE

So on today's agenda, Banana Bread, Caramel Creme Brulee, Cranberry Bliss Bars
&
Catching up on my blogging!

Banana Bread

2 cups flours

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

5 overripe bananas

1 tsp of each: cinnamon, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, cloves and freshly ground nutmeg

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  Heat oven to 350 F or 175 C & grease your bread pan.  I am in love with the Baking Pam!  Mix banana, spices, butter and sugar.  Add the dry ingredients and pour into pan.  Bake for 1 hr and cool for 10 minutes.
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  Caramel Creme Brulee
  Makes 8
  
  
  

  2 cups heavy cream, divided
  

  1/4 cup coffee grounds
  

  1 cup sugar, divided
  

  1/2 cup water
  

  2 cups half and half
  

  8 egg yolks 
  

  1/4 tsp. salt
  

  8 tsp. raw sugar
  

  
  
  Bring 1 cup cream to simmer in small saucepan (I placed the grounds in a tea bag and threw the whole bag into the cream).  Remove from the heat, and let steep 20 minutes-1 hour.  
  Preheat oven to 325 F.  Stir 2/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil.  Boil without stirring until syrup is a deep amber color, swirl the pan occasionally, this takes about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and turn the stovetop to low heat.  Add the remaining 1 cup heavy cream, mixture will bubble up and harden.  Place back on the low heat and stir until caramel is smooth.  Stir in half and half.  Stir in the coffee cream.  Whisk yolks, salt and remaining sugar in a large bowl.  Gradually whisk cream mixture into yolks, and pour custard into your ramekins.  Add enough water to your pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.    
  Bake custards until just set in center 65-70 minutes.  Transfer individually to refrigerator, chill uncovered until cold 3 hr up to 1 day.  
  Sprinkle top of each custard with raw sugar, broil until sugar topping melts and browns, 2 minutes.  Refrigerate custards until sugar topping hardens, 30 minutes to 1 hr.  Serve cold.
  

  
  

  
  
  Cranberry Bliss Bars
  

  1 cup butter, softened
  

  1 1/4 cups brown sugar
  

  3 eggs
  

  1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  

  1 tsp. ginger
  

  1/4 tsp. salt
  

  1 1/2 cups flour
  

  3/4 cup diced dried cranberries
  

  6 oz white chocolate chips
  

  
  
  

  4 oz. cream cheese, softened
  

  3 cups powdered sugar
  

  4 tsp lemon juice
  

  1/2 tsp. vanilla
  

  1/4 cup dried cranberries
  

  
  
  

  1/2 cup powdered sugar
  

  1 Tbsp. milk
  

  2 tsp. shortening
  

  
  
  Preaheat oven to 350 F or 175 C.  Beat butter and brown sugar until smooth.  Add eggs, vanilla, ginger & salt, beat well.  Mix in flour until smooth.  Add cranberries and white chocolate by hand.  Pour into a greased baking pan.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until light brown.  
  
  
  Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla until smooth.  When cake is cool spread frosting over the top of the cake, sprinkle the cranberries over the frosted cake.
  
  
  Whisk the powdered sugar, milk and shortening together and drizzle over the cake.
  
  
  Allow cake to sit for several hours then slice lengthwise, and then across making 8 bars.  Slice each bar into a triangle, creating 16 bars.
  
  
  

  
  

  Salmon with Harissa sauce and Veggies
  

  
  

  I tossed a 12 oz. jar of roasted red peppers in the blender with 1/2 tsp. cayenne and a clove of garlic.  We grilled the Salmon on our beloved George Foreman and poured the sauce on top.
  

  I roasted the carrots and potatoes for 30 minutes after drizzling some olive oil and tossing them with salt and pepper.  The spinach i sauteed in 1/2 Tbsp. butter and topped with some parmesan.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Apple Stuffed Chicken
  

  
  

  I chopped up one fuji apple and mixed that with some bread crumbs, thyme, orange juice, salt and pepper and stuffed that into the chicken breast with a slice of mozzarella on top.  I placed all of the chicken breasts in a foil lined pan and poured chicken broth, and apple cider in the bottom, i mixed some dijon mustard into the wet mixture and baked for about 15 minutes.  I steamed brussel sprouts and asparagus on the side.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Chicken Pesto Pizza
  

  
  

  Chop your basil FINELY, mix in parmesan and olive oil until it is the consistancy that you want.  Spread tomato sauce over pizza, add oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes and garlic.  Spread an italian cheese blend on top, then dot with your homemade pesto.  Place mozzerella balls on top, with chicken and tomatoes.  Bake until cheese is bubbly.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  "How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you."  Psalm 31:19

  "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker."  Psalm 95:1-6
  "Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."  Psalm 100
  "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."  Psalm 107:1
  "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name." 1 Chronicles 29:11-13

  
  
  
  
  

Warm dinners & crazy friday

We were going to have TV dinners (I know, i know) because i haven't been feeling well... but then i really wanted some mussels.  Yes Shannon, we did have them chillin' (literally) in our freezer for such a time as this.  I bought them inspired by our trip to Belgium, granted they weren't as tasty as the ones we ate there, but we liked them and i think Grandma would be proud.

White wine, cream/milk, can of tomatoes, onion, garlic, whatever you've got!

The next day still not feeling well, i figured i could talk Nick into some grilled cheese if i spiced em up a bit.  This is what happened.  Flax seed bread YUM!!! New fave for sure!  Basil, cajun turkey and mozzerella, grilled until warm through.  Tomato soup with shredded carrots, basil, milk and red pepper flakes.

Then we chose to spend our friday night embarrassing ourselves.  We went to a "ball" on base, our group of friends decided to dress up in ridiculous outfits for said event.  Nick and I were the only ones to show... or so we thought.  Here we are looking crazy on our friday night!

Yup that's my hot hubby!
Oh, and don't feel bad for us.  We still had a ball making up songs on the way home!

Take home gifts My 100th post!

We made take home gifts for the guests at the harvest party, here is what we did.

Skull jar

Owl jar

Pumpkin Jar

These jars are for chocolate chip or cowboy cookies.  I did both.

Start by layering the jar:

On the bottom put 1 cup of brown sugar, pack it down to make a smooth line.

Next 1 cup of white sugar.  Then layer your chocolate chips, about 1 cup.  More is okay too!  *You can add nuts to this, or M&M's, add them with your chocolate chips. Next mix 3 cups of flour with 1 teaspoon soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  This is your top layer.  Seal your jar and decorate!  It is that simple.

You could make these for Christmas gifts for the neighborhood with Christmas trees, back to school or teacher appreciation gifts with little apples on them, anything really!

This is the recipe card that I printed out and tied to the jar for easy access.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 C).  Line one baking sheet with parchment paper.  Empty the contents of the jar into a large bowl and mix until all the ingredients are well combined.  Using your hands work in 1cup softened butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Beat 2 eggs with 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, then add 2 teaspoons hot water.  Work this into the flour mixture until well combined.    Shape dough into 1 inch alls and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.  Slightly flatten the balls with the palm of your hand.  Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned.  Makes about 2 dozen. 

Roasted Fall Vegetables

Butternut squash

Carrots

Red onion

Red potatoes

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Rosemary

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes

I threw our vegetables on a Boboli crust with mozzarella and ricotta.  Perfect fall dinner!

Caramel Banana Cupcakes

I just mashed two bananas into a devils food cake mix.  Once i filled all of the muffin tins with the batter, i pressed a caramel into each.  I made regular buttercream and just added about 1/4 cup of cocoa to the frosting, piped the frosting and topped with caramels.

Fall Sugar Cookies

1 C butter, softened

1 C sugar

1 large egg

1 T. cinnamon

2 t. vanilla

2 t. baking powder

3 C flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla. Then add dry ingredients.  Bake for 8 minutes.

Now let's learn why leaves change color

We all enjoy the colors of autumn leaves. Did you ever wonder how and why a fall leaf changes color? Why a maple leaf turns bright red? Where do the yellows and oranges come from? To answer those questions, we first have to understand what leaves are and what they do.

Leaves are nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose. Oxygen is a gas in the air that we need to breathe. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar is called photosynthesis. That means "putting together with light." A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.

As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter.

During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll.

The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves.

It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful colors we enjoy in the fall.

Thank you Sciencemadesimple.com

All i can think when i read this is Chlorophyll more like Boraphyll! 

The cleanup begins!

We had our harvest party last night, here is a recap...

These were our take away goodies.  Cowboy cookie mix dressed up in Owl's, Pumpkin's & Skulls

Our front porch.  With our Martha-would-be-proud pumpkins, and our candy corn filled lantern.

Nick decorated our house, this was our spider infested bathroom.

Our living room, skeleton banner, balloons, bobbing for apples bucket, and our happy pumpkins smiling from outside.

Our beverage bar.  Monsters (because i thought it was cute for halloween... monsters, halloween they go!)  Our pumpkin cooler with tangerine cream soda and root beer.  Crazy straws, pirate coasters, ugly cups (thank you commissary!), tea, ice, booscotti, coffee, and thai iced tea (because it is orange).

Our table.  My favorite part is the napkins and plates, thank you Target!

Pumpkin seeds, satsumas, owls sugar cookies, pretzels, Hawaiian sweet rolls, pumpkin butter, pumpkin cheesecake and brownie bites.

carmel apple slices, pumpkins with pepperjack and turkey, and baked macaroni.

Mauled Apple cider... looks spooky huh!

Our goody table.  Candy eye balls (in my topless jar, i dropped the top and it shattered! :( ) Candy corn, bad teeth suckers, gummy worms, m&m's, hershey's, york's, cookie jars and silly string.  (We will not be doing silly string again.)

Nick... the freddie crougar of forks.

My costume started falling apart, AND my cupcake shoes did not come in time!  BUMMER!

A cake & Fork

Yes, he loves me!

Eric & Jakob

Let me see that Tootsie ROLL

The Zemke's, Scattergood's, Jakob and I all dressed up

I love my husband!

I sent Nick a quick message about the paper that i stressed about and posted on Sunday, This is what my teacher wrote "Graded  99%     Brittany, you did an outstanding job on this paper. Your length was good at 2463 words; you answered the questions well; I could find no typos; and you cited three good outside sources. Well done!"  I was thankful because it was a really hard paper to write, and this is my "stickler" teacher.  We are docked down for every typo in any conversation during the class.  This is what my awesome hubby wrote. "That is what I'm talking about! I really am so proud of you!
I love being married to you. I love that you are so intelligent. ...and hot."  

He makes me happy!

Fall time at the Cooley household.

I LOVE the beautiful apples this time of year!  MMM..mmm... good.  Plus i am catching wafts of our Apple cinnamon candle and it is just setting the mood for my fun fall day.

What are you going to do with all of your beautiful apples you may ask?  Why, I would love to tell you.

I am making Carmel apples of course.  With Cinnamon sticks as their stem, and dipping them in M&M's once they are covered.  I am also making some mauled spiced cider with fresh pink ladies each with 10 cloves to bring a lovely aroma to the household and then to my tummy.  Last but not least we will be bobbing for apples at our party, to bring our childhood fun back to life.

We went over to our Landlord's house for dinner on Sunday (DELICIOUS), and her friend made her this cake, and she gave us some to take home.  Isn't it beautiful!  Just an FYI, German baked goods are not as sweet as American ones.  No death by chocolate here, it was good though.

For dinner they made a turkey they said they used apples and oranges, it was so good!  They also made red kraut out of apples, so good, and knudel which is potato and bread mixed?  It looked like a dumpling, smashed like potatoes and tasted like goodness with a hint of mint.

One of my favorite fall dishes to make is a vegetable pasta bake.  In spain i had manicotti stuffed with fall vegetables and tried to make it as soon as we got home.  I just made mine a bake because the cheese baked on top is the best part, why not have more of that?

I sauteed the zucchini and yellow squash in just salt and pepper.

The Eggplant was sauteed in cinnamon and nutmeg.

I sauteed Mushrooms in chili flakes, and then threw all of the veggies into a large bowl and added gorgonzola sauce.  Tomato sauce that is orange, due to the high volume of cheese!  :)

Now pop this sucker into the oven until the cheese bubbles and is beautiful!

Ta da!

Then i made Bruschetta to go with...

Just chop Basil very thin... very, very thin.  Add olive oil and parmesan cheese.  Then chop up the tomatoes, i take the goop out.  Ick.  Place on a baguette.  Voila!

Oh and no, the tomatoes on the pasta bake didn't move in the oven, i made two.  My friend Kari just had her baby, and Nick and i tried to provide some lovin' with a vegetarian dish.

Pumpkin Butter!

I had never made it before, and if you want the truth, i only tried it because i thought it would be a cute wife thing to do... but it was good!  :)  Now i want pancakes with this smothered on top!

So easy too!  I just threw the whole 29 oz can of pumpkin into my pot, added 2 cups of apple juice, about 1 Tbsp. of ginger, cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg.  1 tsp. of cloves and 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Set on low for about half an hour.  It smells so good simmering...

I just bottled it up in my jars and popped it in the fridge, now it is ready anytime we need some!

I also made booscotti, owls, and pumpkin cheesecake!  I can't wait for our party!

Then, when Nick got home we carved pumpkins!

My party cooler pumpkin!

Our pumpkins

Mine is lame.  The whole time i am thinking to myself "I am sooo... good at this, i made two pumpkins and baked the seeds with time to spare in the time Nick made his one pumpkin.  Now i know why, his kicks butt.

Mine doesn't even show up in the dark.  LAME!  It was an owl...