Wednesday, March 12, 2008

What's in your drawer?

A total stranger just made my day.

I've been lusting over the Nelson miniature chest of drawers for 2 years, but could never justify the $1300.

Today...on this dreary day to end all days I hopped onto one of my favorite web sites and found this fantastic DIY project someone made.

She to must have gazed longingly at this beautiful piece before coming up with this brilliant, although admittedly not as refined look alike.

I'm totally going to copy her idea! Off to IKEA!

Friday, March 07, 2008

On A Roll

I'm telling you, everything you've heard about meal planning is true.

It is a complete pain in the ass, but necessary to keeping a happy home. I wonder if week two will be as productive. I've been on a roll and have cooked a brand new homemade meal every day this week. Well...except for Tuesday. That's when Norwego and I went shopping. I got a fab new jacket and a hot new dress that I'm currently rocking!

Back to the cooking.
Wednesday was spicy jerk chicken. It was an homage to previous Project Runway dinners. Norwego and I cooked up a fabulous feast for Dave-o-licous. The two wives in the kitchen. Wonder if that turned him on?

Last night...Asian Pork Sandwiches. Some may say even as good, if not better than Jasmine's. This may be my new favorite. It had all my favorite flavors. Hoisen, a little kick from the chili paste, tang from the rice vinegar, fresh cilantro and basil. It was to die for! I may also try it sometime soon as an appetizer. Perhaps served as lettuce wraps or topped on crostinni.

Tonight we feast on leftovers!



Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Mush Bread

I turned into a happy homemaker last night. It was so cute that I could barely stand myself!

Picture this:
Me in my super cute kitchen, apron, baby blue Kitchen Aid mixer in the background.
Puppy following me around like a little black shadow.

I made the most delicious dinner in no more than 20 minutes.
Creamy orzo with marinated grape tomatoes and fresh basil. The combination of white wine vinegar and a hint of Dijon mustard with the creamy base was a thing of genius!

While this was all cooking, I started on my cake batter. My co-worker gave me the starter to something she called Mush Bread. I was a little worried. Turns out it is some sort of Amish bread. Somehow you get your hands on this super secret starter that only the Amish know how to make. Then you mush the starter for 5 days in a plastic Ziploc bag, on the 6th you mix in milk, flour and sugar. You mush for another 4 days.

If you can get past the fact that this bag full of flour and milk has been sitting out on your counter unrefrigerated for the last few days, you get to the point when,on the 10th day, you mix in some more eggs, milk, flour and sugar, etc. You separate that into 5 equal parts. They call it Friendship Bread because you keep one starter for yourself and give your friends the other 4. The cycle continues. If you add a box of instant vanilla pudding to the mix it changes the bread into more of a coffeecake, which is what I did.

It was delicious! The entire house smelled of cinnamon and sugar. I never, EVER bake, so this smell was something new to us all.
It was really nice to have Dave-o-licious walk in the back door after a long, hard day of work and have the house smelling of dinner and fresh bake goodness. Awww, to be a housewife....