New layout!

I finally took a little time to spiff up the bloggity-blog this evening. It was a lot of fun going through my saved files browsing for picture candidates for the banner. Now that I feel comfortable cropping and editing photos with text, I'll try to make this a more common occurance because it was kinda fun!

Now for some bad news...my camera is missing. Seriously, it has disappeared and nobody can find it. It was sitting on my desk, where I left it after uploading the pictures from my last post. Now it is MIA. It had better show up soon because I made some beautiful lemon ricotta cookies that are as yet unphotographed and the supply is dwindling rapidly. Also, I'm leaving town Sunday for a work trip to Austin, Texas, and I'd like to take it so I can take some photos of that neat town. So help me figure out, internets, how a camera can just disappear. *shakes head, baffled*

I almost forgot to mention the musical inspiration for this blog installment: the album Sevens, Garth Brooks

Horseradish-Mashed Potato Shephard's Pie

I love it when I find a new great blog. Good writing is always catches my eye, along with great pictures (especially for a food blog). But first, a great layout and header reel me in. I realize that my own layout and banner are completely lacking in the 'draw you in' department. Now that I've admitted to my awareness of my blog's boring first impression, I am required to do something about it. It is my goal to to make my page look more like the blogs that I envy. Now if any of you out there can help me figure out how the hell to do that please let me know.

Tonight's dinner was inspired by one of the cleverly written and well photographed blogs I've recently started following. Like me, the author lives in Oklahoma, plus the name of her blog includes the word spork. And really, how can someone go wrong naming their food blog after such a versatile utinsile? It had me at hello!

Probably because I had a really good day at work which left me feeling surprisingly full of energy, I accomplished something that hasn't been done since before I became pregnant...I worked until 5:30, went to the Wal Marts, came home to cook a meal requiring TWO separate food preparations, and still had dinner on the table by 7:48. AND for the grand finale, I am posting about it immediately after. As Kanye would say, bow in the presence of greatness.

Horseradish Mashed Potato Shephard's Pie

From Have Spork, Will Travel
Originally from Rachel Ray "Everyday"

5 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
Salt
1/4 cup milk prepared horseradish, to taste
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 pounds ground beef
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh chives

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain, mash with milk until smooth. Add horseradish, egg and season with S&P.

2. In the meantime, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add veggies and bay leaf. Season with more S&P and cook until half done. Add beef to pan, stirring often until browned. Sprinkle flour on top and cook, stirring for one minute. Add broth and cook until thickened. Add the W sauce and season to taste. Don't forget to remove the bay leaf.

4. Preheat oven to 450. Grease a medium sized casserole dish and add the meat mixture, topping with the potatoes. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with chives.

Now to admit to the errors, I mean changes, I made while preparing this. I used red potatoes, and I didn't peel them. I am lazy about potato peeling and I don't think my husband minds. Also, I can never find parsnips at the store, so I just used more carrots. I also had some celery that needed used so I added that too. It was good. I did forget to add the W sauce, which I'm sure would have only made my pie taste better. And a tip: mine nearly boiled over, I'm glad Spork Blogger advised me to use a cookie sheet under my casserole dish. I also left out the chives. Chives are something I grow in the summer and it peeves me to shell out moolah for them in the winter.

Now for the muzak: I was listening to the Twilight Soundtrack while writing tonight. No I am not 15. Yes I enjoyed the books. Yes I enjoyed the movie.

Southwest Tuna Casserole

As I was going through pictures on my hard drive, I realized there are several quality meals that I haven't shared with you yet! As you may know, my mom likes to cook also, and she shares recipe ideas with me all the time. This recipe came from her, but she found it on foodnetwork.com. I love tuna casserole and this one has some awesome add-ins. I probably will add more spice the next time I make it. In fact, I'll probably make it soon since it's been about four months since I took these dark dark pictures :)

Southwestern Tuna Casserole
Chef to the Rescue - Featuring Cat Cora
(sorry Cat, I can't find the link on the website)

1 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 1/2 cups thawed corn kernals
1 (10.5 oz) can reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup
1 cup salsa
1 tsp chili powder
1 (6 oz) can tuna packed in water, drained and flaked
2 1/2 cups rotini (or whatever noodle you like), cooked according to package directions
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350

Coat a two quart casserole with cooking spray

Over medium-high heat, heat oil in a large skillet. Cook onion and celery until softened, three minutes or so. Add corn and cook two more minutes. Stir in the soup, salsa and chili powder until incorporated.

Add the tuna and pasta, stirring enough to coat. Pour into the casserole dish and sprinkle with the cheddar cheese.

Bake for about 25 minutes.

Also, I want to share with you one of the many challenges I face, which is mainly brought about by my laziness and also by the fact that my house is also home to two big hairy dogs. When we found out about the baby, we moved our computer desk into the guest bedroom. It's a little tight in there, but it works. Now Gracie has somewhere to lay while I'm playing on the computer.

It just happens to be on top of the clean laundry waiting patiently on the guest bed to be put away. The dog has no shame, and I am obviously an enabler. Sorry honey, for the dog hair in your clean socks.

*This post was written to the beats of N.E.R.D.'s In Search Of... (cause I'm the sh!t)

Apricot Honey Chicken

The next time I make this recipe, I will get up five minutes early (yeah right) to marinate the chicken before I leave for work. Though the dish requires almost zero effort, the total start-to-finish time is a little long for a weeknight dinner.

The chicken came out of the oven super juicy, with a great sweet and tangy flavor. No dry baked chicken here, lovelies!

Also, expect a new theme to this blog, a constant stream of complaints about the quality of my photos. I hate these dark pictures! One of my favorite things about food blogs is beautiful photography, and this blog don't got it. I need to get ahold of either a lightbox or an external flash so I can amaze you not only with yummy food, but also with quality photography!

Apricot Honey Chicken
from Joelen's Culinary Adventures

1 pound chicken breasts
2 tbsps canola oil
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 tbsps honey

Combine all ingredients in a large ziploc bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least two hours, as long as overnight.
Preheat oven to 350
Use cooking spray to grease a large baking dish, place the chicken breasts in the dish, discarding the marinade.
Bake until juices run clear, 30 to 35 minutes.

*This post was written to the tunes on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations Playlist on Rhapsody. Funk and old rock, man.

Excuses, excuses...

I truly hope I haven't lost all of you, my internet friends, due to my FOUR MONTH absence from blogoration. And even worse, especially since this is supposed to be a food blog and cooking is something I vowed to make a central part of my home-life, I didn't even step foot into the kitchen for about TWO months of that absence. My excuse is simple...a UFO abducted my DSL line and kept me off the internet! No, not really. How about, a new life form stole my appetite, made brushing my teeth something I had to do near a toilet, made 12 to 14 hours of sleep a day mandatory and forced me to live off of cheese and crackers for about ten weeks? That's more like it! Figure it out yet??? We are expecting a baby! We had a positive test right about the time of my last post (yes, that was the end of September, ghaw) and soon I began feeling the morning sickness (more like all morning, day and night sickness) that stuck around 4eva. Not fun, but worth it. Props to the ladies out there with the m/s.

Now for the baby stats. As of this moment, I am 23 weeks into my pregnancy. Don't ask me to convert that to months. My doctor and my trusty pregnancy book both refer to weeks when discussing gestation length, it just seems easier. My due date is May 25, 2009, Memorial Day, how cool is that? Last Memorial Day I was drinking a beer or five on the lake with my husband and our friends Amy, Shawn and Lanie. I don't expect Memorial Day 2009 to be quite the same, but then again, I know our lives changed that day last September when the two pink lines appeared on my Target Brand First Response test stick.

In mid-December we found out that Baby Smith is actually Baby Boy Smith! I felt him kick for the first time right around Christmas and his dad felt him kick for the first time last Sunday! My favorite thing is to feel him rearrange himself when I roll over in bed at night. Not only do I have to rearrange my nightgown, hair, pillows, etc. when I roll over (yes, it's a process) but he also has to get re-situated.

We have a lot of baby related things to do in the next few months including setting up the nursery, registering at a few baby stores since my wonderful friends have offered to throw a baby shower for me, and taking some childbirth classes **epidural, here I come**. I will post baby updates here since lots of my readers are family and friends IRL. And yes, now that I've returned to the land of the non-nauseous, I will be posting about FOOD again. A huge thank you to those of you who have stuck with me through this delay. I know a quality blog includes timely posts, and I know how disappointed I am when my favorite blogs go awhile without posting. I will try not to let this happen again.

Oh, and a new part to my blog: I love good music and I'm always looking for new suggestions. I'm going to try to remember to end each post by sharing the musical selection I was enjoying while writing. Today it was the self-titled album The Bird and the Bee. Very dreamy, very clubby. Good inspiration!

And thank you to my boss for closing the office today due to the massive ice/sleet storm that's been moving through Tulsa since yesterday afternoon. You rock, dude. (I can say that to him because I'm relatively sure he has no idea I have a blog, let alone care to read it).

Trash Bag Snack Mix...Guest Blogger post numero quatro

---This stuff is killer...it's fun to shop for all the crackers that go in the mix. For some reason, the hardest thing to find is popcorn oil! Doesn't anyone make their own popcorn anymore? It's great for card parties, or football parties, or whatever event you're having where it's appropriate to constantly dip your hand into a community bowl of food.

ONE OF THE OTHER THINGS I'M MAKING FOR THE COUSIN'S REUNION THIS WEEKEND, AND THAT I LOVE TO FIX BUT ONLY DO IT IF IT'S FOR A CROWD, IS TRASH BAG SNACK MIX.

TRASH BAG SNACK MIX

GET ROUGHLY SEVEN BOXES OR BAGS OF YOUR FAVORITE CRACKERS. I USUALLY USE THE WHITE CHEDDAR CHEEZITS, OYSTER CRACKERS, RITZ CHIPS, SUN CHIPS, THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHERS THAT ARE LIKE STICKS, CAN'T THINK OF THE NAMES OF THOSE BUT YOU'LL KNOW WHAT I MEAN. I'VE HAD IT WITH PRETZELS BUT I PREFER IT WITHOUT.

TAKE TWO TRASHBAGS, KITCHEN SIZE, AND DOUBLE BAG ONE INTO THE OTHER AND POUR ALL OF THE CRACKERS INTO THE BAG. TAKE ABOUT A CUP AND A HALF OF ORVILLE REDENBACHER'S BUTTER FLAVORED POPCORN OIL, MIX INTO THE OIL 1 TBSP. OF GARLIC SALT AND 1 TBSP. OF ONION POWDER. WHEN YOU'VE GOT THAT GOOD AND STIRRED UP POUR IT INTO THE BAG AND SHAKE.

OVER ABOUT A THREE HOUR PERIOD SHAKE, TOSS, AND TURN THE BAG ABOUT EVERY HALF HOUR. I SCOOP THEM OUT INTO GALLON ZIP LOCK BAGS, USUALLY RIGHT AT THREE GALLONS. SCRUMPDILLYICIOUS!!!!!

Grandma Ash's Brownie's...Guest Blogger submission #3

---These brownies have been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. Now that my mom's shared the recipe, I think I'll make them for our next tailgate party. The recipe used to be a double triple secret, but some things are too good to keep to yourself.

GRANDMA ASH'S BROWNIES

MY SISTER-IN-LAW GAVE ME THE RECIPE PROBABLY 35 YEARS AGO AND MADE ME PROMISE THAT I'D NEVER LET ANYBODY KNOW WHERE I GOT IT, AT LEAST NOT WHILE GRANDMA GLADYS, HER GRANDMOTHER-IN-LAW, WAS ALIVE. SAD TO SAY, SHE'S GONE. I'M GOING TO SHARE THE RECIPE WITH YOU AND LET YOU KNOW I FOUND ONE ALMOST EXACTLY LIKE IT IN A PAULA DEEN COOKBOOK. WONDER WHO GAVE PAULA DEEN GRANDMA'S BROWNIE RECIPE?!? YOU'VE HEARD OF DEATH BY CHOCOLATE? GET READY, THIS IS A TRUE CHOCOLATE OVERLOAD:

1 STICK BUTTER, ROOM TEMP
1 CUP SUGAR
4 EGGS
16 OZ. CAN HERSHEY'S CHOCOLATE SYRUP
1 CUP FLOUR

CREAM THE BUTTER AND SUGAR, ADD THE EGGS UNTIL WELL BLENDED. STIR IN THE FLOUR AND THE HERSHEY'S SYRUP. BAKE 25 MINUTES IN A 9 X 13 PAN, GREASED, AT 350.

AS SOON AS YOU TAKE THEM OUT OF THE OVEN START TO MAKE THE FROSTING:

6 TBSP. BUTTER
1/3 CUP MILK
1 1/2 CUP SUGAR
1 CUP SEMI SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS

PUT THE BUTTER, MILK AND SUGAR IN A HEAVY SAUCEPAN OVER MEDIUM HEAT. STIR AND COOK TILL BOILING AND BOIL FOR ONE MINUTE. REMOVE FROM HEAT. STIR IN CHOCOLATE CHIPS UNTIL MELTED AND WELL BLENDED AND POUR OVER BROWNIES.