Bagels {In My Kitchen}

Bagels were on my list of "must try to make"

So...I found this recipe and gave it a try.

The first batch I tried,  I made the dough in my bread machine, and it just didn't turn out right...so I made another batch and this time I used my Kitchen Aid with dough hook...

and Voila!

I followed Emeril's suggestion of rolling the piece of dough into a log and then forming into a circle and pinching the ends together. 

After I boiled them and right before putting them in the oven, I brushed them with egg white and sprinkled dried chopped onion and dried garlic granuals...next time I will add poppy seeds for a true "everything" bagel...our favorite!

These were SO much easier than I thought they would be and so delicious!

All Things Farmer

I clicked on a link on my friend Catie's blog the other day called

All Things Farmer

and I have been hooked!

James Farmer is a landscape designer form Georgia, and in his "about  me" this is what he said ...

"A glass of tea, sweetened, and garnished with lime; a garden lined with boxwoods and brimming with bouquets to be cut and arranged; a meal prepared with seasonal flair and flavored with soul; a home for comfort, classicism, and personal style…all things of delight, all things of warmth, all things of provenance… all things Farmer."

He had me at "tea" and "boxwoods"!

James has so many great recipes, and garden and entertaining ideas on his blog...AND he has a book coming out in September!

One thing that caught my eye was his recipe for

"the Farmer's tea"

His favorite iced tea is made with Lipton tea bags and one Earl Grey bag with simple syrup. 

 I am a HUGE Earl Grey tea drinker so I knew I would love this...and I do...you must try!!

If you haven't visited All Things Farmer...I highly reccomend it!

Today I.....

am loving all the Grad announcements that are arriving....

hard to believe this time is near

spent some time planning this....

 read this book to Lucy and have requested more from the library!

made this for dinner~

lasagna

salad 

french bread

strawberries

Carmelized Brownies {In My Kitchen}

I made these brownies this weekend for my Husband's birthday.

It is a Paula Deen recipe I found online made with a simple box brownie mix and a quick caramel topping...they were so delicious!

Caramelized Brownies

preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 box brownie mix

4 T butter

1 c chopped pecans

1 c firmly packed light brown sugar

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions, pour into a greased 9x13 pan

In a saucepan melt butter and add pecans and brown sugar ( at this point the recipe told you to stir until the sugar dissolves, which mine never did...I was afraid it would burn so I just stirred it until the consistency was a little like warm caramel :)

Pour caramel mixture over brownie batter and bake 25-30 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

(I doubled this recipe for nice thick brownies, so my cooking time was longer...I just kept an eye on them, and the center was a little gooey when I took them out, but once cooled...they were DELICIOUS!!)

Sundays {In my kitchen}

My Sundays are slow...

They are usually filled with delicious smells...

My Husband works on Sundays, so I tend to stay inside (especially on days like this Sunday, windy grey rainy)...and spend time in the kitchen

This Sunday I....

Slow roasted Tomatoes

Baked Chocolate Chip cookies

I used the Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip recipe that my friend Catie shared!

My boys loved these as a change to our "regular" chocolate chip cookies!

Roasted Chicken breast and made Quinoa for lunch this week

and then went on to prepare dinner!

How about you??  Are your Sundays slow and cozy as you gear up for the week ahead?

"Royally" Thrilled!!!

We had some family travel to London just days after the Royal Wedding, and they gifted Lucy this darling Paper Dolly Book straight from the UK!!

Can you stand Will's union jack briefs?!?!

ahhh....the famous blue engagement announcement dress!

I spy Hunter wellies!!!

oops...wasn't our Wills wearing a RED uniform on his wedding today???

This is such a treasure...we LOVE it!!

Pho`...Vietnamese Soup {In My Kitchen}

My girlfriend recently shared a really delicious recipe with me for Pho`.

I have really wanted to make this for my family, and had been looking for a recipe that was easy, and one where I didn't have to cook a whole chicken to make it.

The recipe is from The Family Dinner Cookbook, which is now on my "to buy" list....and there is a great website that goes along with it

The Family Dinner

You can find the recipe HERE on Martha Stewart's website, which includes a video segment. 

 Laurie David was on Martha's show and made this soup.  They call it "Vietnamese Teapot Soup".  The cookbook is promoting family dinners, so the idea is that you can take the broth to the table in the teapot, and have all the vegetables on the table so  everyone can customize their own bowl...fun idea!

I will also post the recipe below...and I marked some of the changes I made.

This recipe calls for chicken, but you could easily omit this and make it a vegetarian meal!

Ingredients

• 8 ounces flat rice noodles or cooked angel hair pasta - I used Chinese Egg noodles
• 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth - I use Better than Bullion
• 1 onion, halved
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled
• 2 whole star anise
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar   I didn't put this in
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 bunch fresh leafy herbs such as mint, basil, Thai basil, or cilantro
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
• 2 tablespoons sliced scallions
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• 1 fresh red or green chile, very thinly sliced
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced or 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce, plus more for serving - we used soy sauce
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Asian chile sauce
• Hoisin sauce- we also had oyster sauce and sirachai sauce
• ** I also added in some bok choy after the broth was ready

Directions

1. If using rice noodles, place in hot water to soak; soak for 15 minutes and drain; set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, bring chicken broth, onion, garlic, ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick, and brown sugar to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add chicken and simmer until cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully skim surface of any impurities and discard. Remove chicken from liquid and cut into bite-size pieces; set aside, reserving liquid.
3. If using rice noodles, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook, stirring, for 45 seconds. Drain and rinse with cold water. Transfer noodles or pasta to a large serving bowl; toss with vegetable oil and set aside.
4. Fill a glass halfway with water and arrange herbs like a flower arrangement; set aside. Place bean sprouts, scallions, carrots, chile, lime wedges, and shallots each in individual small serving bowls. Set aside.
5. Return chicken cooking liquid to a simmer; stir in fish sauce and lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Strain broth into a teapot and keep any remaining broth heated on the stove. Fill serving bowls as desired with chicken, noodles, herbs, bean sprouts, scallions, carrots, lime wedges, and shallots; add hot broth and garnish as desired with fish sauce, chile sauce, and hoisin sauce. Serve immediately.
   
   
   Give this soup a try ...it is really delicious!!

Jeanne Oliver {Town & Country Collection}

If you have not visited Jeanne Oliver Designs...you must!

Her new line the Town & Country Collections is fabulous!

What a talent!

Here is a look at her new Lookbook

Enjoy!

Do you ever...??

make your own pita bread??

Bex recently shared the recipe she uses for homemade pita bread...so today I gave it a try!

HERE is the recipe I used

There is definitely a learning curve when making these...my first few look a little more like "naan" than pita bread, I think because I did not roll them thin enough.  It is very cool to see how they "balloon" up in the oven, which helps to create the "pocket".

A couple of my thoughts after making these...

~ I started out using my pampered chef stone type pans, and switched to my metal sheet pan after the first batch and thought that worked better.

~I added rosemary to the dough as well...next time I will use "fresh" rosemary and add more, but it does add to the flavor.

~Mine definitely had to cook the full 4 min and a few of them I cooked a minute or two longer.

They really are delicious!

Today I ....

spent some time refilling these, and making a list of what I need...I love buying lots of my staples in the bulk section at my grocery store and putting them in jars

drank one of these, since it didn't feel like winter outside....

sat outside in the SUN reading my new FAVORITE cookbook, and trying to drink more of that ☟...

roasted chicken to have on hand for a quick meal with brown rice...back to eating clean!

listened to practically every bloggers favorite on Pandora...must buy this on Itunes!

loving THIS website my friend Emily shared with me

and....I want to remind you not to pass up this color for spring...Nice is Nice

oh...and YES, I am still a little obsessed with this

Cheers!!

18th Birthday Bash!

Saturday night we threw our son Powell an 18th Birthday Bash!

He invited a bunch of friends, and we included family as well!

I knew this might be one of the last "parties" I might actually throw for Powell with friends, so I wanted it to be special~

I had found some black,grey, white striped paper so that became my inspiration for the color theme, and then I threw in orange!

Being a "guys" party...I tried to keep things more masculine...no white table coverings, no crepe paper :)

I made one of Powell's favorite desserts, Cookies & Creme and put it in individual cups...

we also had LOTS of cupcakes!

I went through a bunch of old photos of Powell, and copied them into black and white and  put them up on our pantry door...of course, his friends had LOTS of laughs!

....and of course, I couldn't help myself..I had to do a candy buffet!

After using the picture that I did for his invitation, I ordered candy cigarettes (good ol' Amazon!)...and then filled the jars with all of Powell's favorite candies!

(stickers are from Powell's Sweet Shoppe...I got these when we made our trip to Boise!)

I had such a fun time planning this party, and loved the way it turned out!