Storing Spices Enjoying End of Summer!

(Is this the life, or what?)

My Kahlua,

he works so hard at being

so bad,

a kitty needs his rest so he

can torment

his siblings later!

Can't get over how fast the summer

has gone.

Despite how HORRIBLY

HOT

its been,

it's still about over and I will

miss

being able to go outside

and sitting

out there on our porch

enjoying these

lovely

views

I just took this picture,

it is

so BEAUTIFUL out today.

Fall is

knocking on our back door.

It's breezy,

dry and cool out today.

Sadly, we

didn't get to use our new porch

this summer,

it was too hot!!

But now we're enjoying it, trying to

take advantage

of these

lovely days.

Cool days like this put me in the

mood,

HMMMM, in the mood for

what?

For cooking, of course, and baking

and curling up

on the couch

with a warm yummy dessert

and cup of

Joe!

I made Stuffed Peppers

and they were YUMMY!!!

I used my

homemade sauce, which reminds

me, I've got lots of sauce

to make and

freeze!

Last night, I was cleaning out

my fridge

and I bought these adorable

spice jars

at Christmas Tree Shops

They had different shapes

there, and

I loved the shape of these.

So, I took out these

spices

from their original packaging

and put them in

these lovely

jars.

I have Turmeric, Curry, Mustard Seeds,

and Garam Masala

(which I'd like to make my own,

The Spice Goddess on the Cooking Channel

has a recipe for Garam Masala

so I'd like to make it

myself)

Remember my last post, I want to

make all kinds

of recipes of different cultures

and I'm starting out

with spices.

Well, anyway, I need more of

these jars,

they were cheap so I'll

probably go

tomorrow and get more.

Did you know that you should

store dark

colored spices in your

refrigerator?

I read that in a Cooking

magazine years

ago,

they stay fresh much longer

and I must

admit, I think they do.

Try that,

any red, brown, yellow or orange color

spices,

store them in your fridge.

But

whatever you do

DO NOT STORE YOUR COFFEE

IN THE FRIDGE!!!

It ruins your

coffee and makes it

stale.

Ask any coffeehouse

how they store their

coffee

and they'll agree

with that statement.

It's a SIN to do

that!

LOL

Well, not really.

Enjoy the rest of your summer,

it'll be another

seven months for

us NE folks before

summer

returns,

(sigh).

French Food

Have you ever watched this show

French Food At Home?

I absolutely LOVE this show.

It's on the

Cooking Channel.

I could watch Laura for hours at a time.

I love her mannerisms,

the way

she expresses her love of food,

and all the wonderful

recipes she

cooks.

I have her set on my DVR for

every future

show.

As you all know on many

of my previous

posts

I LOVE TO COOK!

And I have made

a few

of French recipes.

I really want to

be able to spend more time

in trying new recipes.

I have become

COMPLETELY

Obsessed

with cooking shows lately.

I currently have

EIGHT

shows that I pre-record.

I also just

thoroughly enjoy

watching

Spice Goddess

Bal cooks Indian dishes

that I could

smell right from my living

room couch.

She makes my mouth

water.

OK, I am a little obsessed....LOL

But I want to try

all kinds

of recipes.

Whether French, Indian, Spanish, etc....

Cooking is satisfying and

relaxing.

I have taken a break on my

sewing.

I still do personal stuff, but

this past

Friday was my last craft show.

I did well at that

show,

but, I need to take a break

and focus

on something different.

We're learning a new

language as

well

and we're pretty excited.

So some new goals

have been

set.

I'm ready

for change.

Don't you get that way?

Another Handbag & Gluten Free Cooking

Do you love the beach?

I know I do!!!

So does the young girl

that I made

this bag for.

Her mom wanted to give her

a gift and she

asked

if I could make a bag with

the color of aqua

and a beach

theme.

So I searched, and searched

for fabric and

found this.

Then I added bamboo handles

which I just love.

This was fun to put together,

although,

I say that for all my bags.

I just love seeing

them come

together,

piece by piece.

My Gluten Free Cooking:

I made some Gluten Free Shrimp Scampi!

MMMM, was it ever yummy!

I used these noodles

which is like Fettuccine.

Sauteed the Shrimp

in garlic

and some spicy herbs

and made a

fresh

homegrown salad and

that was

dinner.

Then I made a Flour less

Chocolate Cake or

Tarte Au Chocolat

Served it with a Cherry Sauce

and had a cup of

Trader Joe's

Organic Coffee.

Now for some time I have been

looking for a

delicious Gluten Free

Oatmeal Cookie

recipe.

I'd say about 8 months ago

I found a recipe

that said it

won awards.

Now I SWORE I saved that

recipe,

but could not find it

ANYWHERE!

I searched online for it again

and it was

nowhere to be found. I was

quite

discouraged.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

oatmeal cookies,

but my tummy

doesn't agree.

Now my stomach is really

acting up,

and it seems I may have

H. Pylori

AGAIN!!!!

My symptoms seem to

be the same.

So after alot of research

and reading

I didn't realize

you can get it again!

So, my research

has led

me to

understand,

that I have to completely

AVOID:

Gluten

Wheat

Dairy, mainly cow, especially processed,

Soy, (which I avoid anyway)

so basically

NO LIFE!

Well, not really,

thank goodness for so many out

there who patiently

post GF recipes,

dairy free recipes,

and

they are so willing to share them.

I also love

the

Living Without

website and magazine.

So many

recipes and ideas of healthy

living for

sensitive people like me.

Why can't I just be

normal?

I was grocery shopping on Monday,

and it took me

twice as long to get the right

foods

because I have to read

EVERYTHING.

Food right now

makes me sick.

My breakfast consists of a fruit smoothie

made with

Almond Milk

and I add

Aloe Vera Gel that comes

in a bottle.

For lunch, something

light

and GF.

Dinner, is a veggie or salad,

with chicken or light

fish,

and rice.

I have to be so careful now.

I never would of

thought

I'd have to do this.

Organic food,

Gluten Free Food,

Dairy free,

although I do buy

Goat's Milk for

my

Organic, Decaf Coffee.

OK, enough complaining,

I'm sure

many of you out there

understand.

So here are my delicious

cookies

Last night I heard my DH

getting into

my Cookie container

then I hear

this,

"Mmmmm, these are good"

I wanted to jump

of my seat

and snatch it out of his

hand and

say

MINE!!!

But I didn't, mainly because

the recipe

made plenty,

and I would like him to

eat

healthier as well.

But its a good thing for him I had

plenty to share!

If you'd like

this

GF Oatmeal Cookie

recipe,

leave me a comment

with your

email if you'd like.

Have a great

Day!

It's VERY HOT HERE TODAY!

UGH!!!

Handmade Handbag..other goodies

So I've been busy, busy, busy,

working in my

craft room, trying to get some

things done.

My dearest friend, Valerie and her

Hubby celebrated

an

anniversary and I wanted to give

her something

special

so I made her this

and here's a close up

But I'll tell you something, I

will

NEVER

sew a satin ribbon on a purse

again!!

It slid here and there, it wanted

to pinch

and

it was getting pretty

FRUSTRATING!

But

it was for my dearest,

best friend

so I did it for her and she

loves it.

I'm glad!

Then I've been altering clipboards

as well

 I made one for my

mom

and then I made another

one,

just because

I really do enjoy making these

and I have

a few more to make.

I enjoy cutting

the paper

and trying to find

paper to compliment it

as well

then adding the

ribbon

to

make it even

more pretty!

Today was a good day!

I met a very sweet

young lady

all

the way

from

Ambert, France.

We spent the day together,

she's a friend

of a

friend

and we got to talking

about so

many things

She had lots

of questions about America

and how

Americans do things here.

We compared

cultures,

which

was fun

and it is amazing

how different

things are.

Let's just

say,

I'm ready to move

to the

countryside

of

France.

I

keep asking my

DH

to see if his company

needs him to

move

to France, or UK, or

how about

just Europe?

Well,

Evidently not!

STINK!!!

But she talked

about the

open markets there

and how they

cook

everything fresh

each day.

Very healthy,

no fast

foods,

she never even heard of

frozen foods

before,

I had to explain that to

her.

The look on her face

said it all,

how

GROSS!!!

LOL

But I did get to go

to a

Mennonite Market today

and

purchased some beautiful

berries,

and a large beautiful Melon

and

the largest

spring onions

And although

it rained most of the day,

we had a nice

time,

I love hearing her speak,

love the french

accent.

And I was able to purchase

fresh produce

right from our

local farmers,

hmmm,

what should I do

with all these

lovely

berries?

Maybe some warm

crepes

for breakfast?

Sounds

good!!

Au Revoir!!

Dinner Party!!

It's the start of a New Year, still

can't believe its come

and gone that quickly. And such a

cold start here.

In the 20's but it feels like its only

6 degrees today.

Tonight, -7, BRRRRRRRR!!!

But last night, my dinner

party turned out

wonderful!

Everyone seemed to have thoroughly

enjoyed their dinner.

I made Coq Au Vin, for the first time!

Started out with cooking

the bacon first:

Getting the fat off the bacon before

searing the chicken.

Don't worry, I had a lid ready this time

for all the splattering....LOL

After cooking the chicken, I then seared

the onions:

It smelled so good.

The Chicken in the meantime rested

before entering it back

into the pot:

Now time to remove all the yummy

stuff off the bottom of

the pan, with some red wine, MMMM:

Cooking off the alcohol, scraping up the

bottom of the pan,

You need all that flavoring throughout.

Got out a seperate pot

to start cooking everything together:

Poured the red wine broth then into

the pot to begin simmering:

Now its starting to really smell

good around here.

Tasted the broth, added a little

more salt and pepper.

I'm so used to cooking with alot

of spices. Not hot spicy,

just alot of different

herbs, spices.

The French though, cook with

Salt, pepper, an herb or two

fresh garlic, and onion.

That's pretty much it.

They'll add wine to most of their

dishes and broth.

They want you to taste the meat

and vegetables and

not hide that with too many

spices.

So I had to make myself stick to

the recipe. I may have

added a little more salt or pepper,

a garlic clove extra,

but mainly stuck with the recipe.

When I took the chicken out

it took on this pretty

color:

Now the recipe has you leave the meat

on the bone, but my DH

does not enjoy eating meat off the bone,

it isn't pleasant to him..HEHE,

and I was expecting

12-14 people for dinner and for some

reason, I didn't get more

meat. So I panicked, and thought I had

to do something,

I guess I should take the meat off the

bone!

Some of them had more meat than others

so, by doing this, I actually

doubled the meat

amount.

I made all this the night before, as well

as a homemade chocolate

cake, which I forgot

to take pictures of after icing it, sorry.

I heated the red wine sauce

and thickened it

with a butter and flour paste.

Added the meat back into

sauce along with

the seared onions.

We sauteed some mushrooms.

Let the meat cook

in the sauce.

This is different than the recipe.

She has you serve the

meat on the plate

and the sauce seperately.

But instead,

I made a well in the middle of the

mashed potatoes,

added the meat with sauce in

the middle,

topped it with parsley and

added the mushrooms

around it.

I was so proud of this dish...

my friend, Becky and

my cousin,

Jessica were my helpers, last

night.

They did some chopping, set the

table.

I plated and garnished and had

them set it out before

everyone sat down.

This dinner was made for 8 full-

time ministers in our

congregation.

They came over for some encouragement

from a couple of our elders

and to be pampered

with a nice dinner.

Just to show

we appreciate their hard work and

sacrifices.

I had a lot of fun doing this for them.

So when they walked into

the dining room

we had it set up for them

and we had another table

it was alot of fun.

We then had coffee and my chocolate

cake.

Played games, laughed and just enjoyed

each others company.

It turned out

really nice, and there are leftovers,

YEA!

So take the time out to cook a special

meal for someone

to make them feel special for a day.

They'll love it

and you'll love doing it for them, too.