In Which the Grinch Makes Delicious Caramel Apple Butter

I've been a bit of a grouch this week- just ask my family.

I'm just tired.

It feels like I'm being pulled in a million directions lately.

School (Which I love- just not the math part).

My family (my everything- but that's a job unto itself).

The house (which needs to be cleaned).

The car (that has been at the  dealership for a month now).

The bills.  The errands.  The laundry.  The yard.

The being a good everything to everyone.

Peach Jam and Unusual Uses for Amaretto

It wasn't long ago that I was talking about my huge collection of mason jars and how much I missed canning.

I kind of did something about that.

It started with that Raspberry Peach Jam, followed soon after with a huge batch of Cherry Jam as soon as the price of cherries completed its summer price plummet.

Then we started traveling.  My husband volunteered me to bring a lot of the food on our trips (talk about some crazy packed coolers...) and I decided that the best way to transport things like Barbecue Sauce (for the massive amounts of meat my husband smoked, vacuum sealed, and froze to bring with us) and salsa (you know...for eating...) was to can it and save the cooler space.

I also made this.

Spiked Peach Jam with Ginger.

Raspberry Peach Jam and DIY Fun

I used to have a backyard garden.

Every year it got more and more crazy, it's borders expanding, creeping, pushing farther than the previous year.  A couple of feet larger on one end, a couple of feet on the other.

It was so much fun.

I am not the most organized gardener.  My tomatoes grew into something resembling a jungle, my zucchini plants multiplied in numbers each year, growing big and beautiful with giant specimens that I don't even particularly like to eat.  I had an ever-growing number of different kinds of peppers and massive bunches of cayenne strung up to dry by my dining room window.

My husband would till my spot in the backyard each May, shaking his head and asking me hesitantly if I was sure I needed this much garden.

Yes.  Yes I did.

It's a bit addicting, watching a plot of brown earth grow and flourish.  The scent of tomato plants in the air as you meander through them, plucking their bright red fruit.

Bread Dipping Oil and Girls' Weekends

My sister-in-law and I are kind of two peas in a pod.

I don't see her nearly enough, but every once in awhile I manage to get away for a weekend for some girl time and we get to hang out eating the things no one else wants to eat and drinking the things no one else wants to drink and doing the things no one else wants to do.

It's kind of wonderful, to be honest.  :-)

While we may try new restaurants or wineries or go to a museum or get a pedicure during the day, our evenings are always the same.  We pop in a movie that we will only half watch (if that), pour some wine, and create one amazing spread on the coffee table on which to nosh while we talk and laugh.

It's dinner and dessert and evening snacks all rolled into one.

There's always a baguette and crackers.

An amazing spread of cheeses.

Hummus, maybe some tapenade.

And flavored olive oil in which to dip our bread.

Heaven.

Grilling Chicken and New Sauces

When my husband asked if he could take me out for Mother's Day I said "yes."

To be honest, I really had zero desire to adult.  Normally I would jump at the chance to whittle down my ever-growing list of bookmarks on Yelp, but after going full speed ahead with studying and finals for the past couple of weeks while simultaneously trying to manage my tooth pain until I had time to get into the endontist's office for a root canal, I was just kind of done.  I wanted to stick close to home and become very familiar with my couch.

So a couple of days after he asked me about Mother's Day I asked if he would mind terribly if we just stayed home, grilled out, and watched movies.

Of my choosing, of course, because it was Mother's Day and everything.

Happy New Year and Trying New Things

Happy New Year!

We had our fun early last night with rounds of Beanboozled and lots of laughter on a chilly evening.  My daughter's friend spent the night, and in true pre-teen fashion they huddled away together upstairs, laughter spilling from her room for hours.  My younger one stayed downstairs with us, an uncontainable ball of energy zooming around the house as he anticipated the coming of the new year.  Though I'd already made an early dinner, as the night wore on I decided to order a pizza for the kids and as it arrived we'd just bundled up and headed outside so they could (briefly) frolic in a short-lived flurry of snow.

The young pizza guy took in the joyful, frenetic scene and just laughed as I met him at his car.

It's about the little moments, though, right?

Coconut Shrimp and Delicious Dips

The other day I was aimlessly perusing recipes looking for something fun to make and I came across a recipe for Coconut Shrimp.

I LOVE seafood.

If sea scallops weren't approximately a million dollars a pound I'd eat them A LOT.

But it's not just the scallops...salmon, shrimp, crab...honestly pretty much anything that used to live underwater other than catfish.

Nope.  Not touching catfish.

I love seafood so much that even in those 5+ years I spent as a vegetarian I *occasionally* cheated and ate a seafood dish.

So a fun shrimp recipe?  It definitely caught my eye.

Now to be honest, I have pretty much zero experience with coconut shrimp- eating it or making it.

That being said, I enjoy shrimp.

I like coconut.

And I LOVE orange marmalade and horseradish- two ingredients in the dipping sauce.

Easy and Flavorful Homemade Cherry Jam

I can't believe how cheap cherries have been lately and I have been taking full advantage and buying huge amounts of them.

HUGE amounts.

I mentioned this obsession over a month ago and it has definitely continued.  I jokingly referred to myself as "Cherry Belly" after stuffing myself silly with them one day and my son thought it was so funny he just refuses to let it go and keeps sneaking it in and giggling.

"Ok Cherry Belly, heeheehee..."

Anyway.  Lots of cherries around here.

I finally did end up hitting my cherry wall- I just couldn't eat another one.  I still had a full bag of cherries left that I didn't want to go to waste and I wasn't sure what to do with it.  I didn't really want to make a dessert that my daughter wouldn't eat and my husband would have to eat by himself (I really wasn't up for eating any more cherries).

What was I to do....

Delicious (and easy!) Poppy Seed Dressing

I almost never make my own salad dressing- for a few reasons.

First of all- I'm super lazy.

Ok, not really.

Well...maybe it depends on the day.

Let's go with that.

Secondly, my husband loves blue cheese and my daughter loves ranch.  I don't like making more than one kind.

Lastly, I feel more pressure to finish off a batch of homemade dressing when it's in my fridge.  I think I trust the preservatives and foods I can't pronounce on the back of the commercial dressing to keep the store-bought stuff edible longer lol.

Sometimes, though, I go ahead and make the good stuff.

I make that delicious homemade blue cheese dressing.

I throw together that creamy goodness from the BLT salad.

I might get a little nuts and toss together a little oil and vinegar every once in awhile.

Nothing Says Summer Like Pineapple

Last year was a bit of a milestone birthday for my husband and I was at a loss as to how to celebrate.

I procrastinated...and then I procrastinated some more...when it came to planning a celebration.

Finally I spotted a tropical party or something random like that on Pinterest- lightbulbs went off and I decided to run with it.

I went all-in.

My house had fishing nets, leis, coconut bras, grass skirts, and all manner of tropical-y things.

I made a giant container of man-tais and served island-inspired foods all with a beachy playlist I'd curated playing in the background.

It turned out so well.

I was so happy that he liked it...it was a special birthday for him and I didn't want to disappoint.

One of the things that I served that day was this Pineapple Salsa.  It went over so well, I could hardly keep my hands off of it!  I immediately swore that I would make it regularly so I could snack on it often.

Confessions of a Tacoholic & Unabashed Salsa Fanatic

For a long time, years actually, there was really no type of food I loved more than sushi.

Pure adoration.

What did I want for my birthday meal?

Sushi.

What did I want for Mother's Day?

Sushi.

What did I want my husband to grab on his way home from work after a bad day?

Sushi.

What did I get for Christmas and use to make a culinary feast on New Year's Eve?

A sushi bazooka.

Yeah, that's right.

A sushi bazooka.

The thing is amazing.  Don't judge.

lol I actually have a half-finished post about it and the wonders I've made with it I've been meaning to wrap up for the past 6 months now.

Blueberry Habañero Salsa and Fun With Cooking

When I was poking around looking for a way to use my blackberries the other day- before stumbling upon that amazing blackberry muffin recipe I ended up going with- I came across a recipe for Blueberry Habañero Salsa.

This recipe caught  my eye for several reasons- first of all it's weird sounding.

Lets be honest, I seem to have a penchant for weird recipes.  Sometimes they're successes, sometimes they're horrible failures, but they're always always interesting.

A huge part of keeping cooking fun is mixing things up and being just a little brave.

Simple Meals and the Perfect Wrap Sauce

I fall back on wraps fairly often, especially when the weather is warm.  With the veggies and a little lunch meat they're refreshing and satisfying- and very easy to adapt to whatever you happen to have in the fridge at the moment.

There have been MANY nights when I realize my day has been filled with kids and popcorn orders and I'm just absolutely out of time at the end of the day when it's dinner time and my husband is about to get home from work.  Wraps are definitely a step up from a box of macaroni and way tastier, (generally) far better for us, and definitely easier on the pocketbook than having my husband grab fast food on the way home!

 Not to mention they're pretty much the perfect portable picnic food when the kids and I get out of the house for summer adventuring.

Super Snacks for the Super Bowl: Sweet Heat Chicken Wings

So a few days ago I found myself inhaling a delicious trio of salsas at a Mexican restaurant as we celebrated a family birthday.  I've got a big thing for salsa.  :-)

 Anyway, my Seahawks were playing.  When we got the restaurant, they were down 31-0 at half time.

I really wasn't holding out much hope for a return from that as we sat down to eat.  But then I realized that I could see a television from across the restaurant.

They'd come back from that!  Lets just say I spent the last 10 minutes or so of lunch totally checked out of the conversation as I anxiously watched the game play out...we lost, but boy did we come back nicely in the second half!

Super Snacks for the Super Bowl: Copycat Chuy's Salsa

I fell in love with pico de gallo in Puerto Vallarta on my high school graduation trip.

It was a memorable experience- I think I topped every single thing I ate that week with pico.

Even a tray of fries by the pool of the hotel.

 I.  Love.  It.

Sure, other salsas have merit.  I'm not going to turn my nose up at them, for sure.  In fact, I'm far more likely to make quick work of polishing off a bowl of salsa than a bowl of queso any day of the week.

But pico de gallo is definitely my favorite- by a long shot.

A few months ago I stumbled across a chain of restaurants called Chuy's (they're everywhere apparently, check them out!).  I instantly fell in love.  If you like spicy you MUST try their Southwestern Enchiladas with blue corn tortillas, green chile sauce, and an egg.

Simply phenomenal.

Crazy Green Salsa Yumminess

A few weeks ago my son came home from school with his first birthday party invitation.  My daughter's kind of been there done that with birthday invitations...when she brings them home my inward reaction is more like "uuuuuuuughhhhhh....another free Saturday spent being socially awkward when I could be on my couch with a glass of wine and my husband...."- though that's not a sentiment I share with my daughter and I have a rule that we always attend parties to which the kids are invited.

Once we had to cancel an RSVP to a little girl's party at the last minute and I found out later that NO ONE showed up.

Talk about feeling like a terrible person...yes.  Every party we can make it to we do.

Anyway, back to my story.

So my son came home with an invitation.  I was genuinely ecstatic.

This is so big for him!

Of course, I knew that all of the kids in the class likely scored an invite.  Didn't care.

Little Man actually has two classes- his early intervention Pre-K class due to his autism and his regular Pre-K class for his inclusion time for the majority of the day.

I had no idea which class this kid was in.

Again- didn't care.

MY KIDDO WAS GOING TO HIS FIRST PARTY!!!!

The Best Blue Cheese Dressing On The Face Of The Planet

I have such a hard time with my husband and his lunches.

If I pack them, 9 times out of ten he tells me he was too busy at work to eat and whatever I pack comes right back to me with a promise that he'll take it again the next day.

If I don't pack them, he complains and spends a bundle going out to eat several times a week.

I can't win.

Well, a few weeks ago I started seeing a bunch of charges on our bank statement for a sandwich place near my husband's office.  I'm not crazy- I don't care if he goes out to lunch every once in awhile any more than he minds if I do.  But several times a week for something that I can make a better version of at home for way less money?  Ugh.

When I asked him about it and offered to start packing him a lunch again the truth came out...he'd just been hooked by the blue cheese dressing.  He went on and on, waxing rhapsodic about the amazing blue cheese dressing this sandwich shop has for their salads.  How he has to order extra dressing because sometimes the chunks are so big they take up half of the little dressing cup.

Restaurant Style Mexican White Queso Dip

Do you know what's weird?

I grew up in California and definitely had my share of *awesome* Mexican food before moving away to join the Air Force (side note: Columbus, MS was not exactly overflowing with great Mexican options...).

I had all kinds of yumminess.

One thing I didn't have?  Ever?

Queso.  That warm, gooey, slightly spicy, white cheese dip perfect for dipping chips or covering food.

I don't know, maybe it existed, maybe I just never thought to order it, maybe I'm the only one on Earth that wasn't smothering their chips and food in cheese dip.  For all I know the rest of California was literally swimming in the stuff...but I definitely was not.

Super Snacks for the Superbowl: Easy Shrimp Cocktail

My daughter begs me to buy shrimp.

She LOVES it.

As much as shrimp tends to cost these days, she doesn't get it nearly as often as she would like- but every once in a while I buy some and her face lights up as she squeals "thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!"

Between the her love of shrimp and her love of rib eyes (few things bring her more happiness than a good steak), my kid has good taste.

Expensive taste, but good taste nonetheless.

Anyway, I've been racking my brain trying to come up with more low-carb Super Bowl snacks for this weekend and then it struck me- is there anything easier than shrimp cocktail?

Super easy.

It will make my daughter ridiculously happy.

I can make it low carb.

Low Carb BBQ Sauce

I love thick, rich, sweet & spicy barbecue sauces.

Definitely a sauce and dressing kind of girl- while I slather on the condiments my husband just shakes his head and mumbles under his breath.

Sadly, low carb BBQ sauces never really pass muster.  They tend to be on the thin side and lacking the qualities that I love in BBQ sauce.

Sure, I've found some great alternatives- namely Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce.  As much as I love that sauce, it just doesn't cut it when I'm craving that thick and rich flavor of Kansas City-style BBQ sauce, you know?