Catching Up - Part II

Because I seem to have a slight obsession with seeing just how many irons-in-the-fire I can maintain, I've taken on a couple of more projects. Obviously, I love to write. I really long for even more time to spend on this hobby-turned-passion, but I know the day will all too soon arrive when each of my offspring are in school and my daylight hours can be better managed, thus leaving my night time hours free for hobbies...right now the night time hours are when I work - yes, this means I DO NOT SLEEP. You wish you had this super power. When I recently spent an afternoon at the local pool with my oldest, I found myself dozing with my head resting in an inner tube...one does sink when completely relaxed and thankfully I woke before going under. I consider it a successful night if I get 4-5 hours of sleep in a row (you know, as opposed to 5 hours broken up because a baby woke up in the middle of my endeavor for rest). I digresss....back to my point...I'm super excited about a couple of great opportunities:

1. My new monthly food/lifestyle column with The Daily Sentinel of Nacogdoches! If you are local to me, please pick up this Wednesday's paper for a little sneak peek in their food section.  

 2. I am a breath away from having our cheesecake line, Stu & Abner's Cheesecake, ready for mass production and restaurant distribution! There are a few loose ends, some product packaging details and some streamlining kinks, but we are nearly ready and super excited to begin mega-marketing in September. Crossing my fingers and other extremities that one day this logo will be well recognized among it's peers. Any of you out there with an interest in business and marketing, we're gonna be looking for a few fun folks to help distribute samples at upcoming events, research  packaging, and handle web updates. So email me: andrea@andreahoward.net if you think that sounds like fun (and if you happen to like working in a crazy environment with a crazy boss, that helps too). And, since we are officially an honest to goodness company, we can offer intern credit for school if you happen to be a marketing or business major.

And finally, a hearty "THANK YOU" to all of my loyal readers for clicking over every now and then to see what's cooking in my crazy kitchen!!

xox,

A

Catching Up - Part I

I've had a very busy summer - I really wouldn't have it any other way...after all, idle hands are the devil's workshop, right? It does seem that nearly every blog post of late begins with "busy" somewhere in the first two sentences. I'm so sorry if I sound like a broken record, but seriously - I'm kinda, sorta starting to feel a little in-over-my-head here!  However, help is on the way! My 1 year old and 2 year old begin preschool in exactly 29 days - I'm totally counting down to this monumental occasion. Yes, I know it's a bit strange to send the little guys to daycare while I homeschool the older two, but I need some help here.  In addition, I have a super, duper helper lined up to begin working for me September 1 and I can't wait!  One more month and I will feel like a new woman.

Anyway, back to the summer fun....

The Music Man and I reached a milestone - 15 years of marriage - over the summer and took the opportunity to get away from the normal hectic pace of life with four kids. We enjoyed a nice long stay at The Homestead, located in one of our favorite places on earth: Glen Arbor, Michigan. If you ever have the chance to go, I highly recommend this location. The area, climate, nature and local atmosphere are amazing. We were exceptionally fortunate to find that some good friends were also staying in the same resort at the same time - this really put the "cherry on top" of our visit. Who doesn't love to spend time with great people - eating, laughing and enjoying good wine. It was the perfect trip. Since sitting still has never been our thing, we spent our days kayaking, hiking, or swimming and our evenings relaxing or walking on the beach. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the adventure:

I especially enjoyed sitting on the beach one evening and capturing the sunset - clicking a picture every ten minutes until the sun disappeared behind one of the Manitou Islands...so quiet, so relaxing, possibly the best moment of the entire vacation...

Photo Friday #22 - Magic Moment

Luscious Licopene

If you've known me for longer than...well, a minute...then you know that I "heart" tomatoes! We planted nearly 70 tomato plants this year and have been enjoying the bounty for the last month or so. Tomato sandwiches, red sauce and salsa top the list of our favorite uses. I like to experiment with different variations of salsa - everything from simple pico de gallo to a full flavored variety of ingredients. This salsa definitely falls into the second category. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Savory Salsa

4 Cups chopped tomatoes

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
2 jalapenos, roasted then seeded and minced

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 dry ancho chile, seeded and chopped fine

1 Tbs. olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

Fresh scallions and cilantro to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the above ingredients in a large bowl, stir well to combine and then refrigerate for 24 hours to allow the flavors to marry resulting in the best flavor.  Patience is the hardest part of creating this salsa! Enjoy!

Mighty salsa comes from once green tomatoes!

Caprese Chicken

I love a good red sauce. I wish I could share  my favorite red sauce recipe here, but mine is in "the vault" - the vault being a fictitious location deep within the recesses of my mind, where I tuck away methods that have never been written down. Within the vault I salt away a few of my most cherished formulas - I hope I don't end up with Alzheimer's. Anyway, for this Caprese Chicken you will have to, unfortunately....get your own red sauce. Such is life.  Red sauce aside, this is the simplest, easiest, most convenient go-to recipe for flavor and speed. We're having it again today. It meets all South Beach diet standards and pleases everyone around my crazy kitchen table. Or at least, they're all smart enough to clean their plates without complaint. Either way, I've trained them well.

Now...for the chicken.

Butterfly a chicken breast and lay open to season:

Generously sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper and chopped basil (fresh or dried, but fresh will be yummier):

Add a slice of mozzerella cheese, again fresh or packaged will work, but please not pre-shredded, that stuff is...well, gross:

Fold the chicken breast over the cheese and place in a baking dish. Season the outside of the chicken the same as the inside - garlic salt, pepper, basil:

Top the seasoned chicken with your red sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees, for 20 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the center, removing foil after 15 minutes and baking uncoverd for the remaining 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Photo Friday #21 - We're Still Havin' Fun & You're Still the One

Happy Anniversary!

                            

Blommin' Blossoms

Today, I blog from my iPhone for the very first time. If all goes well, I could possibly manage a few more frequent posts - especially with he varied traveling I'll be doing this summer. We'll see...

My willpower is waning. Ketosis went from being my friend to being my worst nightmare. I'm two weeks in to a zero carb diet, have shed several pounds and feeling pretty good about it all when my oldest child asks to make Lemon Blossoms....I know what you're thinking. Why is this a big deal when I bake for a living? Because baking for a living is so much different than baking for your home. I don't feel tempted to eat something I'm making for someone else-of course not! It belongs to someone else! But baking for the sheer fun of it...well, now we're in trouble. So I took a little side step and indulged in a mouthful of sweet goodness baked by the hands of an event sweeter little man. I can't believe how much he has grown. If I keep eating his creations, I won't stop growing either. Oi Vey.

My oldest guy is particularly funny, I have to admit. He loves to cook, most likely because he loves to eat, and these sweet treats are his current favorite. He know they are called Lemon Blossoms, but prefers to call them Lemon Bloomers. I know, right? I explained to him that bloomers are actually girls underwear and he replied, "I know, that's the point"...I didn't ask any further questions since I wasn't sure I really wanted to know where is otherwise sweet mind was headed, but consider yourself warned: Lock. Up. Your. Daughters. He's a cutie, this one is, and funny too.