Home Decor: Window Box Centerpiece

I thought I would take a quick break from food blogging today to share my new spring-y centerpiece. I mentioned (more than a month ago, BTW) that I'd purchased a new runner and I was planning on over-hauling my dining room table centerpiece. It's now complete, so I wanted to share it with everyone!

Fresh Blueberry Curd

-plus a dessert recipe!

It's officially Spring here in Kentucky! The air is warming up, gardening supplies are being stocked on the shelves at the big box store again, and blueberries are back in grocery stores. I love the start of Spring. There's just something magical about breaking out of that long rut of winter weather and gray skies into the first warm day that merely hints at what's to come. It really feels like everything is coming back to life. My heart leaps with joy, and I want nothing more than to be outside with my hands in the dirt. Of course, we haven't had our last frost yet so I can't plant anything just yet. 

Eggs Poached in Marinara with Arugula

Happy Friday folks! I've got a great, brunch-y recipe for you today. Perfect for a late Saturday morning meal with your significant other. Or for dinner. We have breakfast-like meals for dinner quite a bit. Eggs, Bacon, and Toast is one of the easiest dinners to pull together at the drop of a hat. It's also a meal the hubby can fix when I don't feel like cooking :) Mwhahaha. But I digress. 

Snowpocalypse 2015

I'm sure (if you follow the national news) you are aware of the winter weather activity in the Kentucky area. Earlier in the week, the governor declared a state of emergency. In our little northeast nook of the state, we received 16 inches Wednesday and Thursday. 

Raspberry Blueberry Smoothies

You could say, "Uh, Jess. You have 16 inches of snow on the ground. Why the heck are you making smoothies??"

And I would say, "Eh."

Yes, it's true. We received a freakin' truckload of snow. I was telling the hubby that I'd never seen so much snow. And I remember uttering that exact statement last year! Around this time last year, I think the most snow we got in one day was 8 inches. We have double that now. It's so crazy.

Chicken Soup with Homemade Egg Noodles

Cabin fever has set in.

This snow is driving the dogs and me batty. My normally calm, 8-year old Haloti has taken to running through the house, scooping up any old toy, and running through the house growling and snorting at it like a puppy.

Blueberry Breakfast Bars

Happy Wednesday!

I'm going on my 3rd day of not leaving the house. We are currently buried under 6-7 inches of snow. The roads are snow-covered and icy, and the hubby hasn't even been driving his car. His car has been parked at his office all week, because thankfully, his boss gave him a huge 4-wheel drive truck to tackle the weather with.

Deep Dish Butterscotch Pecan Cookie

 

Question: What better way to celebrate the beginning of your weekend than with a deep dish cookie perfectly proportioned for one?

Answer: There is none. 

I'm getting to be somewhat of an expert in single-serving desserts. What can I say? Late at night, when the hubby is away at work, the cravings for cookies start.

Lately: January 2015

Happy Superbowl Sunday everyone!

Oh, how I love Superbowl Sunday. It truly is a holiday for me and the hubby. We make hot wings, drink beer, snack on chips and salsa, and oh yeah, watch some football. Our holiday is going to be cut short this year, as the hubby has to work, but we are still making wings. I can't wait.

Christmas Cake Batter Cookies

Merry Christmas Eve!

I woke up a bit groggy this morning, I'm not sure why. I awoke with kind of a jolt, only to immediately realize I hadn't overslept, missed an appointment, or something like that. A second of panic, followed by an immediate slow-down. As my heartbeat returned to normal, for whatever reason, I was thinking about how I got here. Waking up in this house. In Kentucky. Chihuahuas curled at my side. 

10 years ago, if you'd said this would be my future, I would have laughed. I was 21, a senior in college, single, and had not a second to spare. I took a full load of classes, worked 30 hours a week, and coached a club volleyball team that monopolized my weekends. 

I was waking up in a sorority house. In Oregon. To the sound of girls squabbling over who knows what (If you've ever lived with 60 girls, you know they argue about absolutely everything. No joke. Everything). Dreading having to drag my exhausted butt out of bed and into the rain to trudge to classes. 

5 years ago, the hubby and I were newlyweds. I was 26. Working crazy, long hours for a large regional bank. I was working 60-70 hour weeks. Going to work at 6:30 in the morning and sometimes having to stay till 10 o'clock at night. 

I was waking up in a rental house in Beaverton. In Oregon. To the sound of my roommate's blowdryer and the smell of Chanel perfume. Hating my life, because all I did was work. I was living to work, instead of working to live. 

I still never would have believed I'd end up in Kentucky. 

3 years ago, the hubby and I were starting to slide into a hopeless situation. We were living in Ashland, KY after packing up our lives to start over. In a tiny, very rundown rental. The 2 jobs that we had moved there for the hubby to get had fallen through, and the hubby was working for his father finishing concrete. For all of you who don't know, finishing concrete is extremely hard and takes a giant toll on the body. It is definitely a young man's job. The work was back-breaking, and very unsatisfying for the hubby. I didn't have a job, the hubby's job didn't pay well, and there weren't a lot of options for good jobs in the area. We'd burned through our savings and were beginning to accumulate debt.

We both felt the panic. And the heaviness of what we thought was a mistake. 

It was around this time that the hubby got his job with the company he works for now. And life turned around.

The hubby loves his job. It pays well, enough that I don't have to work unless I want to. We were able to build our dream home out in the country. And I've been extremely thankful ever since. 

Because now I feel grateful almost every morning I wake up. Because I wake up in my nice, warm bed in my beautiful master bedroom with 2 beautiful dogs right next to me. Because I'm not exhausted. Because I don't hate my life. Because it's not misery to get out of bed. 

Life works in such mysterious ways :)

And... it's Christmas!

I have realized that all the treats I've shared thus far require very little work, and little-to-no baking. Well, this cookie takes care of that. The baking, that is. They are still very little work, though. These cookies actually utilize boxed cake mix with fantastic results. I was surprised by how much these cookies taste like sugar cookies. Really, really soft sugar cookies. Biting into these cookies is like biting into a little pillow. They really are that light and soft. Plus, everyone loves sprinkles, right? If you need a last minute cookie, these would be great. Thanks to the cake mix, it takes no time to mix the dough. They bake quickly, and come out delicious. No chilling. No rolling pins. You don't even need a mixer if you don't want to use one. I mixed these by hand. Easy peasy. 

Seriously. Whip some up today! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas friends! :)

Ingredients (makes ~25 cookies):

1  (18.25 oz) box vanilla cake mix

1 tsp baking powder

2 large eggs

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly coat 2 cookies sheets with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and baking powder. Whisk to mix.

3. In a separate large bowl, combine eggs, oil, and vanilla. Whisk vigorously. Add cake mix mixture to wet ingredients. Stir vigorously until there are no remaining pockets of dried cake mix. 

4. Add sprinkles to dough, use a spatula to fold in. Do not oevermix, or the sprinkles will start to bleed.

5. Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, drop rounded balls onto cookie sheet. I placed 16 cookies per sheet. They don't spread a ton. Bake for 8-9 minutes, but do not allow the cookies to get brown. 8 minutes was perfect for my oven. Remove from heat and allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Remove from sheet and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely before storage.

Printable Recipe

Recipe courtesy of Sally's Baking Addiction.

Looking for other quick cookie recipes? Try these!

Salted Dark Chocolate Caramel Cookies

Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodles

Chewy Mint Chocolate Cookies

Linked to: Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Weekend Potluck

Lately: November 2014

Happy Sunday from two warm and cuddly Chihuahuas! This is truly how these guys like to enjoy the weekends. Curled up in their favorite spots. Happy as little furry clams :)

I thought I would squeeze in a little weekend post here. I've been overflowing with food ideas lately, and haven't been thinking much about the in-between. But I do have a life outside that wonderful kitchen of mine. I read books in between batches of cookies. Scatter bird seed while concoctions are chilling. Or roasting. Or cooling. I run to get my creative juices flowing. I kind of wish there was an invention to dictate what goes on in my brain while I'm running, because I write some of my best stuff as my feet pound the pavement. A new techie idea perhaps? C'mon, doesn't anyone from Apple read my blog? Hehe. 

Anyhoo, it's been a great weekend thus far. The hubby actually had a 3 day weekend of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We don't get these traditional weekends very often! We took full advantage last night by getting together with one of our couple friends. We watched the first half of the Oregon game (Go Ducks!) and sipped margaritas before heading out for Mexican food. There may have been a tad too much tequila last night, but eh, life is short. I'm currently hard at work on pie crust, my first batch yesterday having been a dud. Rest assured, by the time this pie is completed, I'll have lots of "don't's"! I made a new batch of dough that chilled overnight, so I'm soldiering forward today. Fingers crossed. 

I hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend so far. I've got a few pictures to share of what we've been up to lately-

Haloti curled up in the hubby's sweatshirt. If you leave clothing on the furniture, the Chihuahuas will find it. 

The affair continues. It's been going on for almost 4 years now. We are venturing into common-law marriage territory at this point. 

My beautiful new FoodSaver! It arrived last week and I am so thankful! I literally squealed with joy when the UPS guy left it at my house. Thank you Mom and Dad! There was no hesitation- Out went the old FoodSaver, and in its place went the new. Immediately after getting the new machine set up, I sat down to write my totally overdue big-box store grocery list. 

Ah, the fruits of my labor. I picked up loads of chicken, ciabatta rolls, and bacon in bulk to freeze at aforementioned big-box store. And what did I do as soon as I got home? Vacuumed-sealed it into 2-person portions. I cannot say it enough, I LOVE that machine. I cannot live without it. Love it. 

So, I've been using FoodSavers for 8 years now. I do have a common-law marriage with my FoodSaver! :)

I think this poor little dude flew into either the side of the house, or the living room window. I heard a soft thud, but not the hard thud that usually kills these kids. I went outside and looked on the ground, and didn't find anything. However, when I went to empty my compost buckets, I found him sitting on our large composters. And he didn't move. He did let me pick him up, though. I was having the hubby set up a nesting box on the front porch for him to recover in when he decided he'd rested enough, and he took off. 

I'm just glad he ended up being ok :)

The snow everyone was so worried about getting around our parts. Can you even see this dusting? Not especially. 

Contrary to popular belief, not everything I cook winds up on the blog. Sometimes the recipes are too awful. Sometimes, the recipes are too good, like this Garlic, Lemon, and Fresh Herb Stuffed Chicken.  This bird never made it onto the blog because the hubby and I devoured it. I mean, we really scarfed this one down. All before I took an after photograph. Oh well. A similar recipe may make it onto the blog someday. That is, if I can keep my hands off of it long enough. 

Cheese enchiladas that never made it on the blog. I'm still playing with my chile gravy recipe, and I don't get to play very often. The gravy on these ended up being too heavy, too thick, and too salty. The hubby is not the biggest enchilada lover, so I only get a shot at this one every couple of months. I hope I perfect this recipe in 2015, though. That will be one of my New Year's resolutions.

Asian Roasted Asparagus. What can I say? Also scarfed down without many pictures.

Broccoli and Chard Garlic Spaghetti. This recipe may still make it onto the blog, however I wasn't 100% satisfied with the pictures. It was delicious, don't get me wrong. It might take a repeat making with new pictures for me to publish it, though.

The hubby and I's favorite tequila we brought back from Mexico. I love this stuff! We broke it open last night for Oregon's last home game of the season. It must have been a good luck charm, because the Duck's pulled out the win! The hubby and I were happy campers. We were told by an employee at duty-free in the Cancun Airport that they only sell this tequila in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. He tried to talk us into buying a more expensive tequila that they only sell in Mexico, but we quickly informed him we didn't live anywhere near any big city and this was the bottle we wanted. I highly recommend trying this tequila if you ever see it anywhere. It makes the BEST margaritas.

Cue to the internet razing. Nickelback snuck a brand-new album out on Monday with absolutely no publicity. I had no idea they were even working on a new album. Some fan I am, right? Anyway, once I discovered their new album, I snapped it up. I've been listening to it on repeat. For days. Multiple times a day. I love running to this album. Most of the album has a really funky beat running though it and combined with Chad's voice, well, I've been tearing down miles. Well maybe not tearing them down, I did take a month off running. And lost a ton during that month. I really don't care that everyone hates Nickelback, I'm definitely not a person who follows the crowd anymore. That's one thing I love about getting older- the sheer inability to really care what other people think of your Nickelback addiction :) #iamunashamed

Here's my lazy morning. Finishing off one of my library books while loving my morning coffee. And pretty soon, I'll be rolling out my 2nd batch of pie crust dough. Oh man, oh man, I hope it's not crumbly!

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend! Ciao!

Lately: Fall 2014

Happy Sunday!

I thought I'd throw in an extra post this week, just for fun. Plus, it's Sunday morning and I don't have much else to do. The hubby worked last night and as such, is snoring lightly while he naps on the couch next to me. The dogs must be exhausted from guarding the house all night in the hubby's absence because they are passed out as well. Why not sneak in a little blogging time while the rest of the house slumbers? Here's what's been going on lately-

The hubby was synching his phone to the computer after the latest IOS update, and we discovered he had a bunch of photos from when my parents came to visit. I thought I'd share a couple that he took. This one is one of my favorites. Am I a baby? Or a turkey? I can't decide. 

Dad signing the Oregon plate at Hillbilly Hot Dogs.

Family baseball night. Dad making contact with the ball.

This picture makes me laugh, I'm not sure what I'm doing. The hubby commented that I look like I'm doing the Heisman poise. Maybe??

We've still got Sam the Cat living out back. He's gained a decent amount of weight, and still doesn't appear to be leaving the yard. He's become a backyard fixture, I've gotten quite used to him. He's such a good natured cat. I still wonder where he came from.

He loves the sun, he loves to play, and he especially loves rolling around on the cement of back porch. He's not so fond of the dogs, who still haven't learned proper cat socialization yet. Surprisingly, Gizmo is adjusting faster than Haloti. 

But Gizmo still loves to watch Sam out the back door and bark at him. I haven't shook him of that habit yet.

Well, it's fall here so the garden is pretty much done. I say pretty much because I still need to gather what green tomatoes are left and then compost the plants. I've turned what's left of the lettuce out to the wildlife, all the jalapeños have been picked, and my tomatoes look like this-

Pretty much just brown vines. I learned so much this year. I know when to seed next year. I know what I want to grow next year. I know what pests and diseases (ahem, the spotted cucumber beetle, blight, the tomato hornworm, to name a few) I need to combat next year. I'm armed with a list of helpful plants to grow around my garden to attract the right predators. I'm ready, I'm excited, and...  it's still October. In other words, a looooooong ways from Spring :)

One thing I learned this year was the best way to grow cilantro, for us. I started the summer with cilantro starts. I bought 3 and planted them in a row. This wasn't enough cilantro, as I exhausted that supply with 3 batches of salsa. Next, when I went to plant, I only dug 5-6 small holes and dropped a few seeds in each hole. This technique didn't produce enough cilantro for me either, I used it all up with 2 harvests. I finally took a large pot and dumped half a seed packet in the dirt. This resulted in a large, full pot of cilantro. Within 3 weeks. Next year, I'm going to plant a pot and then stagger more pots throughout the summer. The basil and cilantro were the herbs I went to the most. In fact, the herb garden is still going pretty strong-

It's not really starting to brown, either. I love that my herbs are still right out there. Well, except for the basil. I used all that up about a month ago. Which means, the bottom tier of my herb garden is just dirt. One might think it's just dirt, right? Nothing exciting about that. I thought that too, until I looked out in the yard one day and saw this squirrel-

He was furiously burying nuts in yard. All over the yard. I watched him for quite a while. Since I was inside, I wasn't able to get an awesome picture of him, unfortunately. I was shocked when I watched him jump right into the herb garden and start digging where the basil used to be.

Later that day, the hubby and I went to check out the herb garden. The hubby couldn't resist trying to find the hickory nut the squirrel buried in there. To our surprise, we did find it. At the very bottom. The bottom is about 2 feet down, by the way. We couldn't believe how deep the squirrel was able to bury that nut. Crazy! We re-buried the nut, and had a good chuckle over the incident. 

The hubby loves pugs, so I couldn't resist getting this picture to send to him. I was at my sister-in-law's house for her birthday, while the poor hubby had to work. She was dog-sitting for her friends who happened to be out of town. That's a big puggy smile, if you ask me :)

I participated in a 5k last weekend that was my very first trail race. I actually had no idea that it was going to be a trail race, because I'd ran it the year before when it was very much not a trail race. I learned the night before it was a trail race, and I'd chose to make the best of it. I hadn't done any training on trails, mainly because there are none around here, but my plan was to take it slow. Make the best of a bad situation, I told myself. And that's exactly what I did, because I ended up getting 1st in my age group and earning my first medal! It's been a goal of mine to earn a medal, so I'm very proud.

I think I mentioned that the hubby's birthday was last week, and we had the whole family over for cake and ice cream. Here's the whole crazy group, complete with vacant, unhinged gazes.

See what I have to deal with?  :)

I hope you are enjoying your weekend! Have a great week!

Lately (Summer 2014)

I can't believe it's the last day of August. Tomorrow is September, summer is officially over, and all I have to look forward to is...

-the leaves changing color

-low humidity

-baking with pumpkin

-going to Cancun in October!

-breaking out the long pants. Hoodies. Boots.

-football

-chilly morning runs

-not having to run the air conditioner

-root veggies coming into season! 

-feeling the desire to turn the oven on again

-jacket weather

-apple cider

-Halloween

-all my shows coming back!

Ok. I must confess. I don't hate fall, and I might even be looking forward to it a little bit. But just a little bit. Don't worry summer, I will miss you! To gear up for the switch in seasons, I thought I'd share some summer happenings-

My little bro came out to visit in August. He arrived in Kentucky to relax for a week, right before he went back to school. He's a high school teacher and basketball coach. A little gearing up before the school year, if you will. We had a great visit, with lots of running, sight-seeing, Cincinnati Red-ing, swimming, and eating. Oh, plus an inordinate amount of video game playing. Ok, so I wasn't involved in that part! Haha. This picture was taken at The Yardhouse, a great bar and grill right next to Great American Ballpark. I mean, look at the size of those beers! Heaven...

The hubby and I are never ones to be serious!

Summer is watermelon season, and guess who loves watermelon? My crazy puppies. I couldn't cut into one this summer without being harassed. Come to think of it, they do the same whenever they hear a banana, a bell pepper, or a carrot on the cutting board. At least they're healthy monsters :)

Giz can't jump as high to get his watermelon, but he tries his best!

Sometime during this summer, I was out running by myself. It was a fairly hot day with high humidity, and the 5-miles I ran might as well have been 26.2. It was a miserable run, what with sunscreen-soaked sweat dripping and stinging my eyes every 2 seconds. But I pushed through, and as I was walking to my car, I froze. About 10 feet from my car was this baby bunny. He was so adorable. I'd barely taken a picture on my phone where there was a sudden rustling near me. Something sprang out of the bush close to where I stood, almost making me jump 10 feet in the air. It was his momma. She ran (hopped?) over to him, and they ran (hopped??) away. It was a sweet moment in nature, and it made melting away on that run almost worth it. Almost :)

Gizmo's selfie.

Haloti's selfie. I can't decide whose I like better!

A Chinese fortune I received. I normally roll my eyes at these silly, traditional scraps of paper stuffed inside those crunchy cookies, but I liked this one. In fact, I even put it in my wallet. A positive affirmation to keep on keeping on. 

Bib and goodies from our 7-mile race.

Crossing the finish line of that 7-miler. I'm so super-proud of that time. I've said it before, and I'll say it again- I am not a born runner. It's never come easy to me. In fact, I always tried to avoid sports involving running as a kid. Soccer. Basketball. Track. I stuck to volleyball. Minimal running. However, with the proper training, I'm slowly and steadily getting faster. I may never run a marathon, but I've come a long way since that girl that started out last September not able to run 1 mile. I couldn't feel better about my accomplishments this year.

A brotherly tongue bath is the way these pups start most days :)

To celebrate this holiday weekend, we had a family cookout at the hubby's sister's house yesterday. Everyone in the family has busy, full lives, so we really relish the time we all get to spend together. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill, stuffed our faces with cupcakes, and even managed to take some family pictures. Oh, and if you thought I was the one to remember to take pictures, you would be wrong. So woefully wrong. LOL.

Happy Labor Day Weekend friends! I hope anyone and everyone is sending summer out with a bang. Because, before you know it, there will be pumpkin on this blog :)