Tuna Salad & Recipe Drop

Great, Simple Tuna Salad for Munching Recipe:

2 cans tuna
mayonnaise
mustard
pickles
hard boiled eggs (optional)
Salt & Pepper
1 box Penne

1. Cook the penne according to the box directions. Drain and set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, drain the tuna and add it to a large bowl.
3. Add a few spoonfuls of mayonnaise, a large squirt of mustard, chopped hard boiled eggs and lots of chopped pickles. I usually buy spears and just slice them into 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch pieces. The pickles really make this, so add enough so there is a pickle piece in every bite. This is all to taste so if you don't like mayonnaise, add less, if you like mustard, add more, etc. I really like pickles so I add a lot. I also don't add hard boiled eggs because they make the salad stinky, but you're certainly welcome to.
4. Salt and pepper to taste.

I also have been trying out some recipes from the food network and here are some really great ones you should try:

Roasted Tomato Soup
Really great, easy soup. I substituted balsamic vinegar with balsamic vinaigrette dressing and some red wine vinegar. I also sliced up some baguette, topped them with cheese, and baked them in the oven for some cute mini grilled cheeses for dipping.

French Apple Tart
This is just delicious, let's just say, it didn't last the night.

Granola Bars
Easy recipe, really customizable. I didn't add the wheat germ, and I used just cranberries and almonds and it was delicious. Use some parchment paper to separate the bars, they really like sticking together.

Happy cooking :D

Sea Glass Candy

Today my mom, sister and I made sea glass candy. It was super easy.
Sea Glass Candy Recipe:
(c = cup, t = teaspoon, T - tablespoon)

1 c Granulated Sugar
1/3 c Light Corn Syrup
6 T Water
1/2 to 1 t Flavoring Oil (depending on strength of flavor) Actually we used a little less than half a packet of jello. It works well and when you use jello mix you don't have to use oil or food coloring, but you have to be careful not to use too much because then it won't be hard candy anymore.
Food Coloring
Powdered Sugar

1. Lightly spray a small metal pan with non-stick spray.
2. In a small sauce pan, add the sugar, water and corn syrup and place over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
3. Stop stirring and let the sugar sit until it reaches 300°. (If you don't have a thermometer, test the temp by dropping small amount of the sugar mixture into ice water; the mixture should separate into threads that are hard and brittle.)
4. Remove from heat and wait a minute or two for boiling to stop. Stir in flavoring oil and
food color until blended. Or stir in the jello powder.
5. Let cool and break apart. Then brush the pieces with powdered sugar. We put ours in a bag with powdered sugar and shook it, which is why they are so heavily covered.

Spring Break

New Glasses! Aren't they cute? I don't wear my glasses all day, every day so I wanted to get something bold and fun.

Also, I'm on spring break so my mom and I are doing some knitting. (I will post pictures of our projects soon.) We are going to the yarn store this week to get stuff to start making assorted goods for our family online shop "Ewe So Pretty." When it is up and running, with products to buy and what not, I will post a link. It's really exciting because I made the logo earlier this year and we've been buying wool to spin and stuff to hand dye everything, it will be good. You'll like it, I'm sure.

Image Source

Figure Drawing Critique

So, our critique for Figure Drawing was on Thursday and we had to pick 10-15 drawings from the whole quarter to show. It wasn't really a critique as it was kind of a show for every one's work, just for the class. It was really great seeing everyone's work taking up all the wall space in the room. I wish I had brought a camera. Anyways here are some of mine. You can see more here!



See more of the set here!!

PS Isn't that an awesome quilt? My Grandma made it. (Not for me, but I ended up with it thankfully :D)

Dinner: February 20, 2010

So, my camera almost died yesterday. My boyfriend dropped it onto the ground in the kitchen and it wouldn't turn on and the lens was stuck in the extended position, but my friend Phil magically fixed it. However, then the batteries died so I took the picture of tonights dinner with my phone (which is why it sucks more than normal.) Despite the way the food looks in the picture, it is actually really good.

Stuffed Pork Recipe:
(c = cup, t = teaspoon, T = tablespoon)

Boneless Pork Chops (I usually make 6)
4 slices of Bread cut into cubes (we used white, but wheat was good too.)
1/4 c Dried Cranberries
1/4 cup Fresh Parsley (chopped)
2 T Melted Butter
Brown Sugar
Salt & Pepper

1. Heat Broiler with a rack 4 inches away from heat.
2. In a bowl combine bread, cranberries, parsley, butter, and 1 T water. Season with salt and pepper and mix.
3. Cut a deep pocket in each pork chop and fill them with the mixture. Press each one down to flatten them a bit.
4. Season the chops with salt and pepper and place them on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Cover the tops with brown sugar.
5. Place the baking sheet in the oven on the rack 4 inches below the broiler and cook them for a few minutes. Keep an eye on them, because they can start to burn really quickly. (They still taste good burnt a little though, so don't worry.) You just want to give them a nice crispy crust.
6. Turn the oven to around 350 and move them to a middle rack. Cook for 8 - 10 minutes.

We served them with garlic noodles which are really simple. Sadly we only had macaroni, but I usually make them with spaghetti. Just cook some noodles and drain them. Then return them to the pot, add a bunch of butter, chopped garlic, garlic salt and parmesan cheese. You want to have the heat at like medium high so you can make some of the noodles crispy.

Dinner: February 19, 2010

Yesterday I made chicken and banana curry and it came out really wonderfully. We made rice to go with it, and it was a really nice touch. I think it would be a little too overwhelming to eat without rice. The curry wasn't that spicy, which was nice for me, but if you like spicy things I suggest adding something else to the mix. I got the recipe from this book which my mom got me for christmas.

Recipe:
(c = cup, t = teaspoon, T = tablespoon)

Marinade: 24 hours
2 c Plain Yogurt
3 Garlic Cloves
1 c Fresh Cilantro (chopped)
1 T Fresh Ginger (peeled) I didn't end up using this, but the recipe calls for it.
2 Chicken Breasts I used 4 because I have to feed 3 guys. Also this makes a lot of marinade.
Salt & Pepper

1. Combine the yogurt, garlic, ginger, cilantro, a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
2. Blend together (the recipe says to blend in a food precessor, but i just mixed it together well and it was fine.)
3. Pour the mixture into a ziplock bag.
4. Rinse and pat the chicken dry.
5. Add them to the bag, smush them around a little and then put them in the fridge for a day.

Rest of the Ingredients:
2 T Hot Curry Powder
1/2 c Slivered Almonds
2 T Olive Oil
2 Garlic Cloves (chopped or crushed)
2 Large Onions (finely chopped)
Flour
1 1/2 c Water
2 T Brown Sugar
1 t Turmeric
1 Large Lemon
3 T Hot Mango Chutney
1/2 c Dark Raisins I decided not to use the raisins.
1 c Chicken Stock
2 Ripe Bananas
Sweet Shredded Coconut
Salt & Pepper

1. Heat the curry powder in a small dry pan over medium heat. Stir often, until fragrant (about 30 seconds) then set aside.
2. Add the slivered almonds to another dry pan over medium-high heat. Keep stirring them until they become golden, but watch them carefully because they will burn if you aren't paying attention. When they are done remove them from the pan (if you leave them in the pan they will keep cooking and can burn.)
3. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat (I just used the same pan that I cooked the almonds in.) Add the garlic and saute for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the onions and then saute for about 8 more minutes. Remove the onions and garlic from the pan, but preserve the oil. Add more oil if you don't have enough.
5. Wipe down the marinated chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces.
6. Add some flour, salt and pepper to a bowl. Then toss the pieces of chicken in the flor to lightly coat them.
7. Fry the chicken on medium heat in the pan you used to cook the onions, until golden brown on all sides.
8. While cooking the chicken, Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the water, the curry you toasted earlier, brown sugar, turmeric, the juice of 1 lemon, hot mango chutney, raisins, and the toasted almonds. Stir and bring to a simmer.
9. Combine chicken stock and 2 T of flour in a separate vessel. Mix well (I whisked it). Pass it through a sieve if you have a bunch of flour chunks.
10. Add to the curry sauce and mix well. Then turn the heat down to medium low.
11. Add the sauteed onions, garlic and crispy chicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
12. Cook for 30 mins.

To serve, spoon some chicken curry into a bowl (or over white rice). Top with bananas and coconut.