I AM GOING TO START BLOGGING AGAIN EVEN IF IT KILLS ME

Lately, as I come across cute stuff to make, I write myself a note as a reminder to later link to it on my blog , which is really lame.  How's about I just put it on my blog then and there?  So that is my plan:  to blog.  (I tell myself this every other week and never do it so we'll see it goes.)

Let's try out this feature from Cut Out + Keep where you can embed a project on your site.

See Cute Deer Button Brooch and 1000's of others - or share your own on Cut Out + Keep

Neat-o!  That deer is so cute and I love anything with a blanket stitch.

I started this strawberry penny rug before Easter and so far all I've done is stitch some seeds on a few of the strawberries.  And, if you like that little rug, you should check out the rest of Elizabeth's Creative Breathing blog.  She has tutorials for some of the cutest things.

I've always wanted to make a carrot cake (it was listed on the cooking bucket list I have in my head) and finally got around to it a little while ago.  I used Ina Garten's recipe and oh boy, was it good.  Really, really good.  Consider rounding up the kids to grate the carrots for you because that is a real pain.  Ina suggested using a box grater and not the food processor so that's what I did.  And cursed her the entire time.  Also, really good is her tomato feta pasta salad. 

Off to see what else I have written in those notes to myself.

Halloween Update

Finally, something Halloween-y to share: ghosts and candy corn cookies.


The instructions for the ghosts were in Country Living (slide #7) and they are really simple to make. You'll need those white tissue paper honeycomb wedding bells that you find at party stores and black construction paper or cardstock for their eyes and mouths. (The magazine suggested glue dots to stick them on but I didn't have any so I just used my hot glue gun.) Then drape cheesecloth over the ghosts and there you go.

I saw the recipe for the candy corn cookies on a blog and then later found it on the Land O'Lakes website. The only difference was the blogger used sanding sugar on hers at the end. I just used granulated. These are just sugar cookies made to look like candy corn and are easy to make. You can find step-by-step photos here.

By the way, the recipe yields 15 dozen cookies, (they're supposed to be small), and even though I read that before I even started mixing ingredients together, it didn't hit me until I had one tray of unbaked cookies ready to go into the oven and saw I still had a huge amount of dough left. Tip from me: the bigger you cut the candy corns, the quicker you'll use up all that dough.

Why Am I Here Again?

Did you ever go to blog something new but get sidetracked by reading your draft posts and then forget what you were going to write about in the first place?

Maybe I should just come back tomorrow.

Wait. Now I remember. I wanted to link to these cross stitch charts of the planets, including Pluto, that you can use to make coasters from Nerdy Needle [link via Craft].

Also, I made this lemon pasta dish for dinner last night (except I used gemelli instead of fusilli) and I really liked it. By the way, the addition of broccoli and arugula totally cancel out all the fat in the two cups of heavy cream used to make the sauce. Really.

Here, Have Some Links

Remember when I used to post links here all the time? Yeah, me either. I just put a couple up on Facebook and wondered why I wasn't posting them here as well.

CakeSpy is giving away a $50 gift certificate for Bake It Pretty. You have until Friday October 16 at 12PM PST to enter. Check this post for details. By the way, Bake It Pretty has a blog and I was just there for the first time and saw this recipe for Ginger Tea Bread. I think I need to make that.

Speaking of recipes, last week my mom and I made this Asparagus, Artichoke, and Mushroom Saute with Tarragon Vinaigrette -- well, I made the vinaigrette and she did everything else because I was dealing with some evil antibiotics that made me nauseous every time I moved my head -- and it was really good. I love anything with a vinegar dressing on it and I love tarragon so this was perfect for me. It's served warm and it was totally fine that way but it was even better the next day after it sat in the fridge overnight.

Jenny over at Allsorts, renamed Owlsorts for now, is sharing some free patterns for making Halloween spinners. How fun!

Edited to add: I just came across this thanks to Denise at Needlework News at Craft Gossip: The Gum Tree Designers are sharing a free Christmas pattern every Monday in October and November. The first one is a gift bag that I just love. I'll definitely be checking their blog every week to see more of their freebies.

I Really Do Make Things

I still have about two inches left to stitch up the opening on Tubby's pillow and then I'll be done. I was working on it earlier today while listening to the radio about the fires burning in Los Angeles County. Forget the earthquakes. It's the fires that scare the crap out of me. And now that I live a street away from hills full of dry brush, it's even more scarier. Anyway, I hope to finish my pillow tomorrow.

I usually don't post anything on Flickr until I'm ready to blog about it but sometimes I put pictures of things I've made on Facebook and forget all about blogging them. Like my Revoluzzzionary monster. The pattern & tutorial has been in my stash for awhile but one night I ran across it on two different sites and I thought that was a sign it was time to make one. Here he/she/it is before I stuffed it. I like his/her/its fang. I used patterned eco-felt. (If you enlarge the photo, you can see the butterflies in the felt. The ones I didn't notice until after I took the picture.)

Remember the Little Pink House Tutorial posted on Sew Mama Sew a couple of weeks ago? Here's my version. Which I hate. Apparently, cutting out round circles is beyond my capabilities. So is sewing a running stitch. (And, trust me, doing a halfway decent whip stitch is out of the question.) I didn't have a seven inch hoop so I made a pillow instead. I'm much happier with my monster than my pink house.



Speaking of embroidery, did you see the cute redwork pattern on Loobylu? [via WhipUp]

And, the two embroidery projects from Mollie at Wild Olive: her August workshop is all about making Button Buddies (hedgehog and owl alert) and her Tasty Paste pattern (scroll down a little) over at The Sampler? I don't remember ever eating paste when I was a kid but I do remember my friends and I coating our hands with Elmer's glue and then peeling it off when it was all dry.

One more thing before I go: Raspberry Buttermilk Cake. Make it. Simple, quick and really good. I'd share a picture of mine but it wasn't around long enough for me to take one but you can see Barbara's here. I'm making it again later today.

National Wear Your Apron Day

I recently found a Scottie dog pattern on some website that was divided into two parts. So I printed out both of them. One was scanned at 117% and the other at 129% so the pieces are not the same size and don't match up. I'd like to thank the braniac who created those pdfs.

Today is National Wear Your Apron Day so I might go make an miniature apron. Or I might go to bed. Or I might go eat something. The spinach dip in the fridge is calling my name.

If you've never made Knorr spinach dip, you should. Even people who claim they hate spinach, love this stuff. Here's the recipe but you can also find it on the back of Knorr's dry vegetable soup mix. I always leave out the water chestnuts because as everyone who has read my Facebook page knows, they serve no purpose whatsoever and the world would be a much better place without them. Oh and don't wimp out and use low fat mayo for this dip. Use the real stuff. As Best Foods. (Or Hellman's depending on which side of the Mississippi you're on.)

Thanks, Kellie, for the image!

I Made Caramels

Patty just made caramels and licked the spatula, the candy thermometer, the pot and the wooden spoon...somedays I am really happy not to have kids.

Yes, I'm pretending this is Facebook and giving you my status. The caramels are cooling off in the fridge but based on what I was tasting off of various kitchen items earlier, they are really good. I used a recipe from Ina Garten (thanks, Jenn) for fleur de sel caramels and just substituted a couple of pinches of kosher salt in place of the "hand-harvested sea salt collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt before it sinks to the bottom" (thanks, Wikipedia). I would like to try making the caramels with the fleur de sel sometime though.

So, let's see...I've made marshmallows, English toffee and now caramel candies. I think peanut brittle is next on the list. Or butterscotch candies. Or maybe pralines. In case you were wondering what the differences were (and so was I so I had to Google it), it depends on the temperature the syrup, that will eventually become your candy, must reach when you're cooking it. For example, if you're making butterscotch, the boiling syrup is cooked to the soft-crack (270°-290°) stage, but for toffee, it's cooked longer and until it hits the hard-crack stage 300°-310°).

And, before you guys send the Diabetes Police to come and arrest me, yes, I admit I am eating this stuff (in moderation), but I really am interested in the whole experience of making it from scratch. I'll probably try pasta, (homemade ravioli is on my to-do list), once I work through all the candy recipes.

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Here's my big slab o' caramel when it came out of the baking dish. Lining the pan with parchment paper made it super easy to remove it.

I did not finish the caramels the way you're supposed to once they've cooled. I just cut my slab into one inch wide strips and then cut the strips into bite-size pieces. I also did not wrap them up individually the way Ina does for her pals in the Hamptons. I placed them in a single layer on some wax paper and then stacked the layers in the fridge. They should be fine that way.

And, of course I had to taste one several. I even ate the one I knocked on to the floor as I was cutting them. (Three second rule!) These caramels are SO GOOD! Chewy, gooey and buttery. If you're a caramel fiend like I am, you must make them.

That's a horrible picture but my camera is about to die so it will have to do.

Back To Blogging

I hope you all had a happy holiday and didn't get any coal in your stockings!

Llyn is having a giveaway for her 200th post. The prizes are her favorite book of the year, a handmade plastic bag dispenser (she made it from a pretty tea towel), and a vintage cake decorating set. She's going to be picking a winner on January 1 so go enter by leaving her some comments on this post.

Llyn shared some photos of her doggies under the Christmas tree on her blog, and that reminded me of one I recently found of Sophie. I only had her for three years and every Xmas she ended up under the tree.

The other night I made English toffee from the recipe on Elsie Marley and dang, is it ever so good! It's so buttery, nutty and chocolate-y. In the past, I've made fudge, and I can whip up caramel for caramel corn but I hadn't used a candy thermometer since home ec in high school back in 1979. But Meg's instructions were really easy to follow and it helped that soft ball and hard ball and dodge ball were all marked on the thermometer itself. Now I want to try making peanut brittle. Good thing there's a recipe for it in one of the 137 emails my best friend Martha Stewart sent me this past week.

It's A Wonder People Will Eat My Food

Look at the cake in this post on Hey Lucy.

Now, look at mine.

Can I just say it tastes way better than it looks? It does, believe me.

It's a Ginger Pear Upside-Down Cake and you can find the recipe here.

Lumpy And Oddly Shaped

Has anyone made one of the Little House Ornaments from Pimp Stitch? I attempted to make one earlier tonight and everything was fine until I stuffed it. It was lumpy and oddly-shaped and didn't look like a little house anymore. I know it was due to my uneven hand sewing. I was so disappointed. But, I am going to try it again and maybe use all felt this time since I do better with sewing that.

Penny at Mind Wanderings tagged me to share six random things about myself. I've done this before but here are six new ones:

1. My hand sewing is really awful.

2. I would rather hang out with a bunch of 2 yr olds in a sandbox than a group of adults at a cocktail party.

3. I never get invited to cocktail parties.

4. I have the email addresses of four people who have passed away in my address book. I can't delete them for some reason.

5. I am a bundle o' fun. (I'm not going to let that one die.)

6. Rachael Ray gets on my nerves. Explanation below.

Last week, I was going through my notebook of saved recipes from websites, looking for something different to make for dinner, when I came across one of Rachael Ray's called Go Oregonian! Oregon Style Pork Chops with Pinot Noir and Cranberries, Oregon Hash with Wild Mushrooms, Greens, Beets, Hazelnuts and Blue Cheese, Charred Whole Bread with Butter and Chives.

Still there? I bet I could have that meal on the table by the time you finish reading the title.

Why does she feel the need to list just about every ingredient as part of the name of her recipe? Does she not have an editor? Am I the only one who finds this annoying?

A couple of years ago, I made Go Oregonian! Oregon Style Pork Chops with Pinot Noir and Cranberries, Oregon Hash with Wild Mushrooms, Greens, Beets, Hazelnuts and Blue Cheese, Charred Whole Bread with Butter and Chives for my mom and myself, and we both enjoyed it. Except I left out the hazelnuts and we skipped the charred bread. So, technically we had Go Oregonian! Oregon Style Pork Chops with Pinot Noir and Cranberries, Oregon Hash with Wild Mushrooms, Greens, Beets, and Blue Cheese. You can find the recipe here. If you decide to print it out, make sure you have lots of paper in your printer. The title alone will take up three pages.

I ended up making another Rachael recipe that night for dinner: Chicken Sausage, Pepper and Onion Pasta Fake-Bake. That was pretty good too. I call my version Italian Sausage made with Pork, Pepper and Onion Pasta diced because I didn't have crushed tomatoes what do I do with 3/4 cup leftover ricotta cheese Fake-Bake though.

Elvis' Favorite Cake

When my dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I immediately answered "a Michael's gift card." There are a zillion other things I could use right now but dang it, I wanted some to get some floss and cross stitch fabric. Well, he got me a gift card for $100!! (I was expecting $20 and was totally blown away when I found out how much it was for.) So, the other night, my sister and I went to Michael's and I blew $52 on 20 skeins of floss. Ok, I actually got a few more items but I'm still shocked that I spent that much on little things like plastic bobbins, needle threaders, one large piece of Aida, two sheets of craft felt, one spool of ribbon, two packs of cardstock, and several wooden hoops (my project for this week is to put some of my finished embroidery and cross stitched projects in the hoops and hang them up on a wall). And, some Tiny Chicklets for my sister and Pez for me. Seriously, where did all that money go??

As much as I love frosting cupcakes, when it comes to eating them, I'd rather have pound cake (or cheese cake). So when I saw this on Baker's Banter, I knew I had to give it a try. And, I was not at all disappointed. IT'S REALLY GOOD. You can find the recipe on the King Arthur website.




The King Arthur cake uses cream cheese. Another delicious pound cake is from Paula Deen and that one uses sour cream. I might need to make both of them one day and do a taste test. :)

Post Number 470

Please let me know if my blog looks alright. I can see a left sidebar, entries in the middle and a right sidebar but I removed 25 px of margin (whatever px is) and maybe that will affect how it looks in other browsers. I still need to add more links to both sidebars too.

Emily at The Floss Box has a challenge going on. She's posted a cute little house embroidery pattern and a list of DMC colors to use, but you can make substitutions.

Did you ever see that pincushion pattern from Martha Stewart (I believe it was her because really, who else would it be?) where you had to stuff it with something called emery, and you lost interest in making the pincushion because you didn't have any emery handy or know where to buy it so you just went and whipped up a grilled cheese instead and it was so good, you forgot all about your lack of emery? Emery is the stuff they put in some pincushions (like that little strawberry that's attached to the tomato kind) that sharpens your needles & pins. Well, thanks to Crafty Pod, we now know there's an alternative to emery: steel wool. Go have a look [link via Craft].

(Thanks to Google, I've found out which pincushion pattern it was and it's Martha's strawberry one. The first commenter shares where you can buy emery.)

I just discovered Fine Furious Life thanks to my friend Guava -- she linked to this recipe for Heretic's Shanghai Cold Ramen (which I want to try) but the Meatloaf Cupcakes With Mashed Potato Frosting caught my eye. How cute are they?!

My Latest Finish

My most recent Saturday evening went something like this: I spent five hours reading a bunch of blogs and answering a few emails. Then I took a picture of the cookies I had been munching on all day.

Don't you wish you were me?

The cookies are the ginger cat ones from Trader Joe's. Usually, I just grab a few out of the container and pop them in my mouth without really looking at them. Now that I see them up close and personal in that picture, I realize they are not cute kitties at all. Good thing they taste good. (And, they are low fat.)

One of the cross stitch Yahoo groups I'm in recently held a stitch-a-long. I decided to do the Spring cottage from Les grilles de Maryse. It's a freebie chart (in English). Then I waited two months and didn't start it until Spring was officially over. I like how it turned out (except for the usual puckering along the seam to close up the opening in the little pillow). I used all the suggested floss colors and stitched it on Fiddler's 18 ct.

Break? What break?

Who am I kidding? Like I could take a break from blogging. [eyeroll]

I'm trying to get caught up with my email tonight, answering some and deleting the ones I no longer need to keep. That Martha Stewart woman sends me an awful lot of email. More than my friends do. (Maybe your friends never email you because you take too dang long to respond.)

Back in April, Martha sent me an email about making oilcloth lunch bags. Somebody mentioned on the comments how there was a nice tutorial for these bags on Skip To My Lou. Skip To My Lou is also where that yummy caramel corn recipe came from. The one I make at least once a week.

To make Martha's bird-embroidered quilt, there are patterns of all the state birds, which you could use for another embroidery project if you weren't a quilter.

I thought the handkerchief nursery pillow was cute, but I like anything to do with hankies.

One of these days, I will make one of Martha's tomato pincushions.

Speaking of yummy food, I recently made Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina after seeing Giada De Laurentiis make it again on her show and it was really good. Easy, too. The recipe calls for pastina or any small pasta but I used it penne and it was fine.

I just read on The Apronista that Heavenly Hostess now has a store in Orange. That isn't too far from me. Reason #147 I need to get my driver's license back so I can take a ride up there. Even if I just go in and drool over the aprons.

I Made Cookies

A couple of nights ago, I saw a link to a recipe for Jam Dotted Shortbread Cookies on Heartfelt (in this post). I've made shortbread before but was in the mood to do something different so I decided to make them yesterday. The recipe was originally from Coconut & Lime and while reading that blog, I discovered a Blogiversary Contest. All the details are here. You have until June 5th to enter.

The recipe mixes up pretty quickly and the cookies turned out really good and buttery. I've lost track of how many I've eaten already. The jar of strawberry jam that I thought was in the cupboard was nowhere to be found so I used plum jelly instead. And, I left some plain too (I like them better with the jelly).

I have to read more of Coconut & Lime and check out the other recipes there. But first I need to go have one more cookie as a midnight 2 am snack.

Aprons Are Mentioned A Lot Here

Thanks so much, you guys, for your comments on Monday's post! Sorry for my whining. I'm feeling much better today. Actually, I am pretty excited. Guess what I saw in my backyard this afternoon? A bud on the peony bush. It's the first one ever! A few weeks ago, I thought the peony was a goner because there were no leaves on it at all. It seemed it should have had some growth on it by now. But a week later, there were few leaves on it, then a few more, and now it has lots of them and this one little bud. As soon as I recharge my camera battery, I'll be taking pictures. FYI: I know nothing about growing peonies in Southern California. I just water the thing and cross my fingers that some day it will bloom.

I'm not too fond of the plants in the backyard. The previous homeowners put in a bunch of agapanthus and rhaphiolepis which would be ok if there weren't a gazillion of them out there. I did take some pictures last week. I have no idea what the pink flowers are. That plant was in a pot at my old house and consisted of two stems with flowers on the end. Now, it's in the ground and going nuts.

I wish the entire yard looked like this. Just flowers and flowers and more flowers. This is one of my favorite little areas.

Look what King Arthur has a recipe for: Tasty Toaster Tarts. Yes, you can make your own Pop Tarts at home. I have to try these. There are step-by-step directions on their Baker's Banter blog.

[::] <---- it's a Pop Tart, see?

Deanna over at The Apronista (blog) is looking for guest posters. So let her know if you have something to share over there, like a tutorial or an apron story. I think it would be fabulous if you went and guest blogged and held an apron giveaway. And, picked me to win.

And, speaking of aprons, you must read this loaded with aprons post over at thinking it out and writing it down. I always see aprons I like and I either forget to save the link or I do save a link and then can never find it again. This is a nice linkable list of some really gorgeous aprons.

For the fellow doggie embroidery pattern obsessed among you, Stitchy Britches has posted one of a cute little doggie threading a needle. And, look she is wearing an apron too.

If you take a sip every time I mention the word apron, you'll be drunk in no time.

Caramel Corn

This caramel corn recipe was posted on Skip To My Lou some time ago. I absolutely love it. I just made a batch of this Tuesday night. On Wednesday night, I made another batch because Tuesday's was all gone.

Di's Caramel Corn:

12 cups popped corn (I no longer have a popcorn maker and I refuse to be all Alton Brown and make it on the stove so I just use two bags of plain microwave popcorn)
One stick of butter
1 cup of light brown sugar (my box says "golden" so that's what I use)
1/4 cup of light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt (I thought this made it too salty the first time so I use 1/4 tsp)
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking soda

This is how I make it: Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup and salt, and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Stop stirring and let boil for five minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda. Be careful because it's very hot, which is the only reason I haven't eaten any caramel when it's at this stage, but dang, I sure am tempted. Pour caramel mixture over the popcorn and start mixing -- I use two big spoons -- to coat the popcorn. Don't wait to do this because the caramel will start to harden. Place the popcorn in one layer on a cookie sheet. You may need two baking sheets to do this. I find that if you eat a significant amount of the caramel-coated popcorn after mixing it, you'll only need one baking sheet. Bake popcorn in a 225 degree oven for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes. I use a spatula to turn it over and mix it around. Then I eat another handful before putting it back in the oven. Eat them up, yum!

My Boring Apple Roses

I wanted to make an apple cobbler but I found Martha Stewart's Rosy Apple Tart while going through my saved recipes and decided to give it a try. I had torn it out of her magazine a couple of years ago because I was fascinated by the pretty apple "roses." (Go see them on her website. The recipe is there too.)

There are about 72 steps to make this. You have to put the crust together (easy enough because it's just puff pastry) and the filling and the apples -- and it seemed like everything had to set up or cool for 30-40 minutes or both, plus you have to make the apple roses, so it takes awhile, but I was happy with the end result, even though my roses look nothing like Martha's magazine photo. Mine kind of look like potatoes. I wish I had just used all Gala apples because I like how their red skin gives some color to the beige apples. (You also use green apples and Martha said to peel them so I did.) The cream was good and had that buttermilk tang to it, and you can't go wrong with puff pastry, although I used the Pepperidge Farm kind and ignored Martha's advice to use a higher quality brand. I will make this again but I'll skip the apple roses next time. I think it would be really good with blackberries, strawberries or cherries on top.

Sentimental Stitches will be posting an embroidery pattern every day during March. Be sure to save or print them when you see them because they'll only be up for a day. (Edited to add: Click the caption below the pattern to get a pdf. If it's no longer clickable, the pattern is no longer available. (I wish I had known that from the beginning.) There are some free redwork designs there too, including an adorable one with Kewpies. (How did I miss these before??) I love the kitty (Block 115) too.

Need a cross stitch alphabet? These are pretty neat [link via Bordando Freebies] There are other free charts also. I really like the ones with hearts (cute house!). Lots of teddy bears there too.

Starting on March 7th, Lisa Vollrath will be once again offering free images to download for your St. Patrick's Day and Easter paper crafting needs [link via Stitchy and Crafty -- great name for a blog! You'll find links to free patterns (knitting, crochet, cross stitch) there too].

Barb aka Woof Nanny has also has The Purse Project blog where you make a purse based on a theme. For the March/April theme you have to refashion a ready-made bag. I love this kind of thing. To see what people make, not to join in. If I ever made a purse, hell would freeze over.

I had more links to post but there's a Shih Tzu barking in the kitchen (she wants a vitamin) so I gotta go.

Another Post I Never Finished

Here's another post I never finished. There was way more babbling about marshmallows but I've deleted it to save you from dying of boredom. I realized today that I totally forgot to mention the Winter '08 edition of the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival and I wish I had done it last week since some of the giveaways are already over or ending tonight. But, the giveaway at And She Can't Even Cook! is open until Feb 3rd (yay!) so leave some comments on the post and you'll be entered to win a cute Valentine's Day Apron. Another giveaway that's still open is for an adorable stuffed puppy from So And Sew Crafty.

I can remember watching Martha Stewart make a batch of Rice Krispie Treats on her old show but she used some kind of sweetened cereal (Fruity Pebbles?). I really don't want Coco Puffs or Fruit Loops mixed with my marshmallows so I've never tried making them with anything but Rice Krispies. Well, Cakespy recently held a challenge [link via Pop Culture Junk Mail] to see if marshmallow treats made with other cereals would hold up to the Rice Krispie version.

(I started writing this post a few days ago and ever since I have really been craving a marshmallow and peanut butter sandwich. You might know it as a Fluffernutter but I never knew they had a name until I read it online a few years ago. The first time I ever had one, I was in sixth grade and my friend Kelly made it for me. She was from Texas and I thought it was something they all ate there. We always made ours with Kraft Marshmallow Creme but it looks like you can get Marshmallow Fluff shipped right to your door. Hmm.)

Pretty Much A Geek For All Food

This was posted on my old blog on January 28, 2006.

I'm a geek for grilled cheese sandwiches and I'll eat them made with any kind of bread and any kind of cheese, and enjoy them all, but Venetian Panino is one of my favorite versions. This recipe calls for turkey, but when Giada De Laurentiis made this on her show, she said theu used ham at Harry's Bar so I did too. But you could forget the ham altogether. In fact, forget the bread and just eat the cheese spread with a spoon right out of the food processor, making sure you share some with your dog because she really likes it too.

On the same show, Giada also made Zucchini and Carrot a Scapece, which sounded good to me because it involved vinegar, so I made a batch one morning and then snacked on it for the next few days. I've never cooked with mint before and I was looking forward to adding it to the carrots and zucchini, but my mint plant had very few leaves on it, so I left the poor thing alone. And, the pickled vegetables were just fine without it.

Pork Medallions with Balsamic-Honey Glaze took me longer to make than the 20 minutes it took Sara Moulton to do it but it's still a quickie. To save time, she put the cooked pork pieces in a casserole dish and poured the glaze over it. I added my glaze to the skillet that I cooked the meat in and reduced it for a few minutes before pouring it over the pork. And, if you don't eat pork, I'm sure this would work with chicken breast too.

Another quickie is Paula Deen's Chicken and Rice Casserole. I usually don't make a lot of dishes that have condensed soup as an ingredient because I know they're loaded with sodium, but every time I taste something made with it, it's so good. And, this recipe was just that.

I'm also a geek for macaroni and cheese. I'll try pretty much any mac & cheese recipe I come across. When I saw Martha's Stewart's Lighter Macaroni and Cheese, I decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed. They've lightened it up by using a combination of low-fat milk and chicken stock, but it's just as good as any recipe made with whole milk. I didn't bake mine in individual ramekins -- sorry, Martha, but I don't have any of those -- I just used a baking dish, and I left out the tomatoes, although I will add them next time since I'm geek for tomatoes too.

I did not make this Chicken Saltimbocca but my mom did and it was delicious.