i'm folding laundry at 12:05 am. wheeeee!!!!!

SOOOOO....I put up this very heavy, three-part post about the time I nearly die.....and then I just LEAVE it there for days and days. That's not depressing, right? :)

My life is all pumpkin right now: curried pumpkin soup, pumpkin cobbler, carving pumpkins, hanging pumpkins, folding laundry. Wait--maybe that last one wasn't pumpkin related. But seriously, it's almost midnight and I have two hours of laundry folding ahead of me. I rented The Proposal to watch to entertain me. Sometimes I'm just so stinking busy helping everyone else that I neglect my household chores. I'm thinking that might not be such a bad thing...though I'm sure Oprah would have some choice things to say about me and my semi-co-dependent ways.

Moving on.....

Here's a recipe sure to make you happy...maybe not your skinny jeans so much, but it's time they shut up for a while anyway. I made this cobbler over the weekend and it was happily devoured by everyone who came to visit (which is why there are no pictures...cause it's gone daddy gone).

PUMPKIN COBBLER

1 can easy Pumpkin Pie mix
2 eggs
1/2 can of evaporated milk
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix all that junk together till it's smooth. Dump it into an ungreased 9x13 pan. Pour a yellow cake mix over the pumpkin goo (don't mix it up, just dump the powder), top that with a stick of butter cut into cubes (yes...the whole stick. Why else do you think it's so good?!). Put the whole thing in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes. Serve it hot with a big pile of whipped cream on the top. Then demand people take it away from you before you eat the whole thing yourself, because you will surely be tempted to.

I'll be back soon with some more drivel to tell :). Happy Wednesday!

asparagus season

I wonder what person first looked at asparagus and thought: "hey--I wonder if I can eat this". (And I REALLY wonder about the guy who dug up the first potato and decided to stick it in his mouth.....)



Anyway, I'm glad someone tried it and gave it the thumbs up, because I LOVE IT!



It use to grow wild behind our house in the country. Some years I would even beat the "unknown, early-morning asparagus robbers" who usually pilfered all of it--- and get some for myself!





The Germans would eat white asparagus ("spago") --picked before it came out of the ground. It was really tender, but didn't have nearly as much flavor. I suppose that was alright since they always drowned it in a vat of butter and served it with schnitzel anyway :) .......





Here's what I made with my bunch of fresh asparagus tonight:





ASPARAGUS AND PROSCIUTTO PIZZA



2 T. olive oil

1 pound store-bought pizza dough (or go to your favorite pizza place and see if they'll sell you a pound)

1 1/4 cups ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated parmesan

Salt and pepper

1 pound thin asparagus, trimmed and halved

6 ounces (2 cups) grated gruyere

3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into strips.


*Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush a baking sheet with olive oil. Place the pizza dough on the pan and stretch to fit. Spread the ricotta on the dough. Sprinkle the parmesan on top and season with salt and pepper. Nestle the asparagus pieces in the cheese and sprinkle the gruyere on top (I like to get as much on the outer rim of the crust as I can).

*Bake until the crust is brown and cheese is bubbling---about 20-25 minutes. Scatter the prosciutto over the top and cut into squares.
And see---it looks totally yum-o even sitting on my nasty old cookie sheet :)!


For Debbie: I'm sure you'll have to strain your poor eyes to see this---but here is asparagus growing wild :)

And a little blog love from Laura. Thank you :)!!!.....

please stop snowing so i can go outside again, please....

Good thing I gave you guys the heads up yesterday about how random my postings can be--because this one is about an inch short of crazy talk. But I am so tired, and so stir crazy from being held up in my house for a week because of snow and sick children-- that it feels like my brain is slowly shredding itself into pieces. So here are my rambling thoughts and (mostly) unproductive doings for this day (which will be yesterday by the time you read this, although the date will say today--got it?)

1. My buddy Kamee had a post up yesterday asking us what our spelling pet peeves were (she's an English teacher gone photographer and so she wonders about things like that, see?). She didn't like the spelling of doh in play doh, or the do in donut. She felt both should be "dough". And so I actually took a good deal of time musing on her question and came up with-------- froot in froot loops. Only because my children now believe that this is how you spell fruit, and pull the box out of the pantry to prove their point......

I also dislike the fact that Wal Mart has a star between the Wal and Mart--again, because of my children. (Heard from the kitchen: "Moooooom, where's the star key on the computer? I need to type Wal*Mart!").
Are you thinking about spelling thingies that bug you? If you weren't--you will be. It will get to you.....
2. My site got 1,000 hits the day before yesterday. 1,000! And a whopping 155 of those entered my giveaway. This bloggie carnival thing is a lot of fun, but it's wearing me out! Every couple of minutes that I'm sitting here typing or reading, my MSN window pops up telling me I have a message from so and so. Everyone is really nice, and I do not want to discourage anyone from entering--I have entered quite a few myself--but my eyeballs keep seeing the comment "That's a great prize! Count me in!" everytime they close!

(***ATTENTION: Stroll down memory lane about to happen!***)

It did make me want to share a quick tale with you of the time I actually won something big. About 7 years back, our TV station held a Judge Judy contest. You had to watch the show every day for a week, and at the end of each episode they would post a question about what you just saw. After you had all your answers, you put them on a postcard and mailed them to the station. Since I love that Judge Judy and her spunky humor, and watch at least part of her show daily, I entered--except I didn't have a postcard, so I used an index card.

Judge Judy says: didn't they say to use a postcard? Verdict in favor of the defendant!

A week later my sis-in-law calls me just as I'm climbing in bed. "Did you enter a Judge Judy contest? Because if you did--you won! I just heard them announce your name on the 10 o'clock news!" I jumped up right there and did a little dance! And what did I win? you ask: A 36" television, an autographed copy of Judge Judy's book, lots of clothing and other merchandise from her gift store, and a thousand bucks! Pretty good contest, huh? Don't you all wish you watched Judge Judy?........

And we gave the TV to my mom because hers just happened to go out that very week, and we paid off a credit card with the money----- but my 3 year old still carries a Judge Judy backpack to preschool :).

3. Finally, today I also morphed two recipes I had together to make these:
Homemade granola bars. I know they're in a throw away tin pan, but my nice, photogenic 8x8 was holding leftovers in the fridge. So you'll just have to trust me that they really are tastier than they look. Try them.....you'll like them!
I'm going to call them....

COOKIES AND MILK BARS

8 graham crackers broken into chunks and crumbs

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/3 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk (or the fatty kind if you want!)

**********************************************************(star key!!!)
Toast the coconut and pecans for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Let cool. Stir together with all the other ingredients. Grease an 8x8 pan. Dump everything in and press firmly with a sheet of parchment or wax paper. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until just golden and set. Cut into about 10 little granola bars.
Mmmmm.....toasting the pecans and coconut makes all the difference.

NOW, I guess I'm going to either go to bed and try not to be wakened constantly throughout the night by my little boys coughing and my own worry over them, or see if I can convince myself to stay up and fold 8 loads of laundry. Decisions, decisions....

hip hip hooray for rotten bananas!

I'm sure you've all heard the saying: when life gives you lemons...make lemonade. Well, I've got a new one:



When life gives you rotten bananas......make this:



"Oh my!" you're probably thinking, "she burned that poor loaf horribly!". No, it's not burned. It's chocolate. Marbled chocolate banana bread. It's better than chocolate chip banana bread, because it actually becomes chocolate. I purposely hide the bananas until they turn black so I can make a loaf or two.


"Well enough" is never good enough for me. I always have to put some twist or spin on a recipe to make it my own--and this is what I did to banana bread. (I'm only revealing my secrets to all of you since we don't travel in the same potluck circles. Except you Karli--you are sworn to secrecy about this!).

I'm sure you all have your favorite recipe for banana bread....so use that. As long as it is one that has about 2 cups of flour in it, this variation will work. After you've got your batter all ready, remove about 2/3 of it. Melt 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave, then add to your reserved batter. Butter and flour your bread pan. Then, for another of my tricks-- sugar your pan a bit too--this makes for a nice, crackly-sweet crust. Alternate layers of regular and chocolate batter in your pan. Then, using a butter knife, swirl them together making figure 8's until they are just combined.

It makes for a yummy snack. And if you add a glass of milk, you can almost call it healthy, right?


Kids dig it too.


Hope you get some rotten bananas in your life soon!

My fridge runneth over...

Holy cow! Would you look at my fridge?! I have been very European in my shopping lately--just going to get enough to eat for a few days, gleefully avoiding the Costco and WalMart. But, I sucked it up last night and spent 90 minutes filling my two carts. A lot of it is for my brunch and party tomorrow--brown sugar ham, quiche, fresh berries, croissants, little chocolate eclairs and a hot winter punch that I make (see recipe below).

I am very excited

and so is my refrigerator

It's always nice to be STUFFED!

Hot Winter Punch

1 12 oz. can each of frozen lemonade and frozen orange juice

5 quarts (20 cups) of water

3 cups of sugar (you can go up to 4 if you're really into sugar!)

2 cinammon sticks

1 t. whole cloves

a pinch of ginger

Combine together in a big pot over med. heat until just warm enough to drink. This makes 20 servings, so better invite some friends!