While I was gone I found some cute cartoons that relate to my life.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Cartoons for Giggles
I had the most magnificent weekend in Chicago with some of my favorite people! Thank you to everyone who was there, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I'm back in New Jersey, attempting to make the best out of a not so great situation.
While I was gone I found some cute cartoons that relate to my life.
While I was gone I found some cute cartoons that relate to my life.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Friday's Fun Treat!
According to the news, the weather folks and everyone shopping tonight, there's supposed to be a HUGE storm tomorrow. This is why the two food stores I shopped in tonight were chaos. This is also why Gloucester County is low on windshield wiper fluid. (Three stores, no luck...the fourth place was a jackpot!)
It's been quite the day; water aerobics, pretzel baking, mourning the truck's death, car shopping, learning about inheritance laws, learning about safety deposit box laws and loopholes, grocery shopping and finally making the Friday treat!
Fruit Salsa, with Tortilla chips
Ingredients:
Salsa:
Pineapple
Peaches
Kiwi
Lime or lime juice
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Starfruit (optional)
Tortillas:
1 package of corn tortillas
vegetable oil
salt (optional)
Directions:
Salsa
*Wash your fruit. I'm not counting this as a step because you should always wash your fruit. Do you know how many germs, pesticides and bugs are around? Do you know how many dirty hands have touched it? Wash your fruit!*
1. Dice up your pineapple, I used two. This will be the base of your "salsa", you want it to be a little mushy and a little chunky mixed together. As you dice it up, it'll be messy and runny, you'll want some of the juice. Put it in a nice big bowl.
Usually, I buy a fresh pineapple and core it myself, but the nice gentleman at Shoprite offered to do it for me. It cost a dollar, but my time is worth more than that sometimes. It is fresh, I promise!
2. Add some peaches! I leave the skin on, if you're really adventurous you can skin them; I'm lazy and I'm okay with that. I used two tree ripe peaches, pretty rips and juicy.
3. Strawberries are next. Slice and dice them up. I judge how many to use by how colorful the mix is getting.
4. Time for the kiwi. You'll want to skim these, a paring knife works well. Usually I use 2 kiwis per a pineapple.
5. Mix in blueberries and raspberries. just toss them in and stir.
6. If you're using real lime(s), this is the time you should juice them. Roll them on the counter before cutting and juicing. Or pour about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of juice. The sour flavor of the lime combine with the sweet flavor of the pineapple is delicious!
7. If you want to garnish it with some starfruit, slice it up and add it in now. This is more to garnish then eat, but it still tastes good.
8. Stir everything together. If you're lazy like me, put the lid on the container and shake it up. (Shaking is more fun.) Refrigerate! If you let it sit for a bit, everything had an opportunity to mix and marinate. You can add other fruits too, melons, nectarine, pomegranate....sometimes even some green onions or cilantro to add some spark.
Tortillas
1. Heat oil in a skillet.
2. Cut corn tortillas into the shape/size you desire.
3. Put tortillas in oil and fry. Flip over and fry a bit more. when the oil is hot they will take about a minute total.
4. Remove from pan and add salt. Set aside to cool.
The first time I made this it was for my former roommate's grilled dinner. (Remember folks, I'm a vegetarian.) He really wanted some kind of fruit thing to put on his slab of fish. I grilled up a portabella mushroom, and added it too. Delicious! We had a tiny bit left over, so out came the chips...and this became one of our house hold treats. Eventually we started eating it on waffles and french toast. It was a great alternative to syrups, heavy dips and weird sauces that have mysterious ingredients.
It's been quite the day; water aerobics, pretzel baking, mourning the truck's death, car shopping, learning about inheritance laws, learning about safety deposit box laws and loopholes, grocery shopping and finally making the Friday treat!
Fruit Salsa, with Tortilla chips
Ingredients:
Salsa:
Pineapple
Peaches
Kiwi
Lime or lime juice
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Starfruit (optional)
Tortillas:
1 package of corn tortillas
vegetable oil
salt (optional)
Directions:
Salsa
*Wash your fruit. I'm not counting this as a step because you should always wash your fruit. Do you know how many germs, pesticides and bugs are around? Do you know how many dirty hands have touched it? Wash your fruit!*
1. Dice up your pineapple, I used two. This will be the base of your "salsa", you want it to be a little mushy and a little chunky mixed together. As you dice it up, it'll be messy and runny, you'll want some of the juice. Put it in a nice big bowl.
Usually, I buy a fresh pineapple and core it myself, but the nice gentleman at Shoprite offered to do it for me. It cost a dollar, but my time is worth more than that sometimes. It is fresh, I promise!
2. Add some peaches! I leave the skin on, if you're really adventurous you can skin them; I'm lazy and I'm okay with that. I used two tree ripe peaches, pretty rips and juicy.
3. Strawberries are next. Slice and dice them up. I judge how many to use by how colorful the mix is getting.
4. Time for the kiwi. You'll want to skim these, a paring knife works well. Usually I use 2 kiwis per a pineapple.
5. Mix in blueberries and raspberries. just toss them in and stir.
6. If you're using real lime(s), this is the time you should juice them. Roll them on the counter before cutting and juicing. Or pour about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of juice. The sour flavor of the lime combine with the sweet flavor of the pineapple is delicious!
7. If you want to garnish it with some starfruit, slice it up and add it in now. This is more to garnish then eat, but it still tastes good.
8. Stir everything together. If you're lazy like me, put the lid on the container and shake it up. (Shaking is more fun.) Refrigerate! If you let it sit for a bit, everything had an opportunity to mix and marinate. You can add other fruits too, melons, nectarine, pomegranate....sometimes even some green onions or cilantro to add some spark.
Tortillas
1. Heat oil in a skillet.
2. Cut corn tortillas into the shape/size you desire.
3. Put tortillas in oil and fry. Flip over and fry a bit more. when the oil is hot they will take about a minute total.
4. Remove from pan and add salt. Set aside to cool.
The first time I made this it was for my former roommate's grilled dinner. (Remember folks, I'm a vegetarian.) He really wanted some kind of fruit thing to put on his slab of fish. I grilled up a portabella mushroom, and added it too. Delicious! We had a tiny bit left over, so out came the chips...and this became one of our house hold treats. Eventually we started eating it on waffles and french toast. It was a great alternative to syrups, heavy dips and weird sauces that have mysterious ingredients.
Pretzels from the mall, without the mall
My blog has accidentally turned into a record of my cooking experiences, oops! It's okay, I love to cook and bake. I also love to sew, knit, crochet, draw, draft, color, glitter, paint...ect, ect, ect. Cooking seems to have the best turnaround.
I make something, we eat it.
Combine my love for cooking with my grandma's love for Auntie Anne's Pretzels and the magical find of the homemade mixes, and there's an instant Christmas present. (Okay, I think it was her birthday gift, but it's the same day.)
As with anything homemade based off of a chain restaurant, it wasn't exactly the same. This is probably because I'm not that great at kneading dough, or making pretzel knots...and they make the mix a tiny bit different, but the turned out great!
I make something, we eat it.
Combine my love for cooking with my grandma's love for Auntie Anne's Pretzels and the magical find of the homemade mixes, and there's an instant Christmas present. (Okay, I think it was her birthday gift, but it's the same day.)
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| She's been asking to make these pretzels for weeks! (I gave them to her on Christmas/her birthday.) I'll end up doing most of the cooking, mixing and baking, but she tried to help. Oh, she does do the dishes! |
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| Kneading the dough! Added bonus, Mi-Mi used me DSLR camera, and got a pretty good picture of what was going on! |
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| Salted. There's only one in a pretzel shape, it's not my strong suit. |
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| Mi-Mi adds the butter and sugary mix. She always asked why I had a basting brush. |
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| Cinnamon and Sugar |
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| Salted |
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| Finally done! She approves! |
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| Through the whole ordeal Coakley wanted to jump on the counter. He finally sat in the chair and supervised. |
As with anything homemade based off of a chain restaurant, it wasn't exactly the same. This is probably because I'm not that great at kneading dough, or making pretzel knots...and they make the mix a tiny bit different, but the turned out great!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
What's Next?
Here's how I see life:
You're born, you do some stuff, you die.
Make the most of what you have, do everything you want to do and don't forget who you are while you're doing it.
You're born, you do some stuff, you die.
Make the most of what you have, do everything you want to do and don't forget who you are while you're doing it.
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