living well in the emerald city
This week my etsy shop is going to be featured on Organic Mamas!
Leigh, who has her own etsy shop as well as this awesome blog, is doing a review of my etsy shop, as well as a giveaway and a discount for $5 off any shop item!
Visit her blog tomorrow, follow the instructions, and you could be the winner of the Belle Pink board:
Tune in and win!
I sound like a radio announcer. And I like it.
Good luck!
Love,
-RDG
At 5 am last Thursday morning, I was freezing my little (okay, medium-sized) tush off. I was wearing a thermal shirt, sweatshirt, puffy jacket, puffy vest, raincoat, knit hat, gloves, and one big ‘ol fleece blanket. And yet I was still freezing.
Why? Because, like the crazy overprotective mother that I am, I was waiting in line to get Lucy an H1N1 vaccine.
Normally I would not give into such madness. I’m a pretty rational person, or at least I used to be. But as all you moms know, as soon as you say hello to that little one for the first time all rationality goes out the window and you become a crazy, rabid mother bear, ready to sink your teeth into anything (disease or otherwise) that poses a threat to your cub.
I wish that being a mother bear actually came with the fur part, though, because I was freezing my little paws off.
Three hours of waiting in line gave me lots of time to think. Mostly about what songs they would sing on Glee next week. And a lot about how I really need to invest in some warmer socks. But a little bit about swine flu, and those poor little piggies that give that awful flu its name .
Make no mistake about it. They’re still the cute, cuddly, oinky little oinkers that we know and love. They’ve still got cute little piggy noses and whiskers (yeah–pigs have whiskers, which makes them even cuter in my book). They still roll around in the mud and snort and talk to spiders.
Today’s the day it stops. I, Rainy Day Gal, am here to bring piggies back. Swine flu, whine flu. Piggies are still cute and lovable. And I, along with some creative etsy-ing folk, am going to prove it to you.
See? I told ya. This adorable little hat is from knittinmama. Lucy would just slay me with cuteness in that thing. Look at that knit, people! It’s impeccable! If I tried to do something like that it would likely resemble a cross between troll hair and a bowl of spaghetti.
This awesome print is from bluebicicletta. Not only do I love the message, but I adore the modern simplicity of the drawing. The tiny little corkscrew tail makes me smile. Her entire shop could not be cuter, and her blog is gorgeous as well.
Speaking of cute, these little guys just bowl me over. I’m not a trinkety, Tchotchke type o lady, but I can just imagine little Howie and Homer (yeah, I’ve named them–judge all you want) on my bookshelf. Check em out and the rest of tracyemuller’s shop here.
Oh, little modern orange pig. How I love thee. This t-shirt design comes from the earth-friendly folks over at elemental. I would totally dig this design on a piece of wall art as well.
And finally, there’s this little doll. I adore this guy. He’s so Charlotte’s Web–full of whimsy and classic design. I need him in my living room (apparently my goal in life is to have a house full of pigs. Go figure). Check him out and the rest of the cool modern prints at badbird.
And there you have it, folks. Pigs are makin’ a comeback. That nasty reputation was just a blip; a tiny scar on the long, long spectrum of pig lovableness.
But if you’re still looking for a reason re-embrace the little oinkers, remember this: pigs give us pork chops and bacon. And for that alone we should be eternally grateful.
We’ve had a bowl of Halloween candy sitting in our TV room for two weeks. Dave bought about 15 pounds of candy for some reason, and we got a total of two trick-or-treaters.
Both kids live on our block.
The leftovers have been sitting in this bowl calling out to us. It was impossible to resist the Snickers, Almond Joys and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups–we picked those clean after about three days.
Now all that’s left are Whoppers and Heath bars, which are sort of the bottom of the candy totem pole in our house.
So what to do with all that deliciously fattening leftover Halloween candy?
Make it more fattening and more delicious, of course.
I picked the Whoppers out of laziness. The Heath bars would have to be chopped up or crumbled. The Whoppers, on the other hand, were already in delicious little bite-sized pieces.
Laziness is my life.
Ready for a sugar coma? Then let’s start with a pretty basic brownie recipe.
First, you’ll need more chocolate.
A cup and a half of semi-sweet chips, to be exact…
…and three squares of unsweetened baking chocolate.
When I was little I ate a piece of this stuff thinking it was regular old chocolate. Let’s just say I only did it once.
As all good recipes require, butter–6 tablespoons of the unsalted variety.
Unsalted? Unsweetened? Wassup with this recipe?
Now you need sugar, naturally. 1/2 cup packed brown plus 1/3 cup of white. I used the same measuring cup because I hate doing dishes.
1/4 teaspoon of salt. Oh, mysteries of baking, you allude me.
Two little eggies sittin in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.
1/2 cup of flour…
…and finally, vanilla extract–the root of all that is good and tasty in baking.
Got all that? Sweet. Now, let’s bake some deliciousness.
Chop up the unsweetened chocolate…
…and do not–I repeat, DO NOT lick your fingers afterwards.
I didn’t do it.
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Now toss the butter, unsweetened chocolate and half of the chocolate chips into a double boiler.
In my house, double boiler roughly translates to glass bowl sitting on top of a pot full of water.
And, by the way, I’m ashamed to have my poor little electric burners in this photo. How I long for a gas stove *tear*.
Turn up the (electric) heat to medium-high to get the water boiling, and then let it simmer at medium-low.
Let it get all melty melty, stirring often…
…until it looks like this. Go ahead and remove it from heat.
Now, then. Transfer the chocolate mixture into a big ‘ol bowl and dump in the sugars. Give it a good stir.
Crack those eggies and toss ‘em in the bowl. Mix it on up.
Now dump in a tablespoon of vanilla extract…
…the flour…
…the remaining chocolate chips…
…and the Whoppers (reserve a few of the whoppers for topping the cupcakes), mixing well after each addition.
It should be illegal to have this much chocolate in one bowl.
A felony, at least.
Now, spoon the mixture into 12 cupcake liners.
Make sure to get little globs of it all over the pan.
C’mon. Don’t make me feel bad.
Bake at 350° for 16-20 minutes.
Individual brownies with little surprise Whoppers inside! Oh, these are going to be dangerous.
While those are cooling, let’s make the frosting. Here’s what you’ll need:
1 package of cream cheese, 1 stick of unsalted butter, and 2 cups of powdered sugar.
Let the butter and cream cheese sit out for a while to get to room temperature…
…and then cut ‘em up into pieces and throw them in the mixer.
Cream until it’s nice and smooth, and then add the sugar one cup at a time.
It should be nice and creamy. Give it a taste, just to be sure.
You should probably lick the blade too.
Spoon the frosting into a sandwich bag and cut of the tip. Or if you’re all fancy-pants, you could use an icing bag.
I’m not fancy-pants, clearly.
Ice those little puppies and top with a Whopper to make it all purdy.
Wow.
Oh, my.
I must admit, these were a little bit of overkill. I only made it though half of one before I had to give up.
Granted, I also had a tummy full of cream cheese frosting and chocolate chips, so maybe I wasn’t the ideal test subject.
The brownies were moist with a bit of crunch from the whoppers, and the frosting was a nice creamy addition. Incredibly rich–reserve these for your sweetest-toothed friends.
Happy baking!
-RDG
Remember these little beauties?
I collected them a few weeks ago during the great yard raking of 2009.
Then I found a big ‘ol book (which in our house is not difficult)…
…flipped to somewhere in the middle (I recall the word “paltry” on the page…maybe Mr. Webster was trying to tell me something), and lined it with paper towels.
I gave the leaves a good rinse to get any gunk off, and then laid them inside, making sure they were nice and flat.
And then I told Mr. Webster to stuff it where the sun don’t shine.
What did I do next?
I put the book on a table and forgot about it. Lucy dutifully reminded me six days later by discovering the book and pulling it down on top of her head.
Luckily it was just the puny Webster’s and not the OED.
Almost a week later, they were nice and flat and dry–perfect for making cards!
Here’s how you do it:
Grab some Mod Podge and a foam brush (a bristle brush would work too).
Get some paper–whatever floats your boat. I had this gorgeous ivory card stock left over from our friend’s beautiful wedding.
Brush a bit of Mod Podge onto the back of the leaf.
Make sure it’s got a nice thin coat.
Then flip in on over and center it on the card. Or off-center it. Whatever makes you want to sing It’s Raining Men.
Next, spread a nice thin coat over the top of the leaf. Make sure to give the edges a good seal.
E voila! Now don’t get your panties in a wad at this point–the mod podge will dry clear.
See?
I also did some mini cards while I was at it.
Cute, eh?
I love fall.
These would also make great Thanksgiving place cards and they could not be easier to make.
Happy crafting!
And P.S….the memo boards are available at my etsy shop right here.
I heart donuts.
I also heart doughnuts. I also heart dognuts, dohnuts and doghnuts.
No matter which way you spell or misspell it, I like to eat them. So on a blustery friday morning the fam and I ventured to Mill Creek to try out Frost Doughnuts, the newest donut shop to pop up in the greater Emerald City area.
We don’t leave the metropolis often. We’re city folk. So when we drive 25 minutes to an area that has a Wal-Mart, you know it has to be for a good cause.
Someone had to do it.
It was rough.
But we survived.
First off, it’s a chic little shop. They went with a pink and brown color scheme, which works well given the sweet and –forgive me–frosty nature of their product.
Upon taking a good look around, however, I felt as though I had been there before. The decor, the displays, the colors, the menu…where had I seen it all before?
Trophy Cupcakes. That’s where. Hmmmm.
One thing unique to Frost is indoor seating. Have you ever seen anything cuter than this stool? I want it in my kitchen.
Who am I kidding? I want a donut shop in my kitchen.
They’ve also got a little viewing area where you can watch the doughnut masters hard at work.
Lucy enjoyed practicing her Jedi mind tricks on the bakers.
You will make me a donut. It will be Cheerio-flavored.
The force is strong with that one.
Before I could try anything sweet, I needed a cup of coffee. Rainy Dal Gal had not yet had her caffeine and was getting cranky. I tried ordering my usual Americano, but lo and behold, Frost does not serve espresso.
Yeah, you heard me.
I had to drink regular old drip.
A moment of silence please.
But caffine being caffine, it did the trick and I was ready to move on to the goods.
But what to order? A classic old fashioned? Blueberry cake? Raised? Red Velvet? Salted Carmel?
Oy.
Did I say I was only getting one? Try six. We couldn’t decide, and being the dutiful reporters that we are here at Rainy Day Gal, we couldn’t give a fair assessment based on one donut alone.
Or that’s what I keep telling myself.
We started with this little beauty: white chocolate raspberry. I’m not a white chocolate fan–it was husband who ordered this one–but I was pleasantly surprised. The old fashioned underneath was pretty moist, with a nice layer of “white chocolate” (it didn’t taste anything like white chocolate, thankfully) glaze and a little raspberry drizzled over the top.
Next up was the one I was most excited about: carrot cake.
I’m a sucker for a good slice of carrot cake. It’s been my birthday cake of choice since I was five, and one night when I was pregnant husband drove to five different supermarkets to find me a slice when the craving struck (he’s a good one, that husband). Needless to say, the expectations were high.
The verdict on the donut variety? Meh. The donut itself was dry and pretty bland, with only a hint of carrot cake flavor. The frosting was decent, although there was way too much of it, even for my standards.
The final donut of the morning was the biggest: the banana split fritter.
Unfortunately, it was also the biggest dissapointment. The fritter didn’t taste a thing like banana, and the pieces of dried fruit stuck to it were just plain weird. On top of that, the whole thing was dry.
With our tails between our legs, we packed up the rest of the donuts to give to our sweet-toothed Seattle friends and headed back to the big city.
Overall, I’d give Frost Doughnuts a C. It’s sleek and pretty, and definitely has potential. The varieties were inventive, but didn’t really follow through with flavor. If they work out a few kinks, start selling (ahem) real coffee, and figure out whether they want to be a cupcake shop or a donut shop, they might just have something brewing way out there in Mill Creek.
I love sausage. I love sausage and cheese. I love sausage and cheese and pancakes. I love sausage and cheese and pancakes and maple syrup.
Only in my wildest dreams would all of these ingredients come together in one dish.
Oh my goodness. My dreams should come true more often.
Actually, no. Last night I dreamt of giant bats taking over the planet. They could only feed on chocolate chip cookies and they hired me to bake them. I had to keep one million bats up to their ears in chocolate chip cookies. It’s a scary, scary world, my brain when it’s asleep.
I digress. Let’s talk about Sausage Bake.
This is a recipe from an old friend, and unfortunately, we’re not friends anymore. There were a lot of sad things about the ending of that friendship, and one of them was the loss of this recipe. I had never written it down and I couldn’t exactly call her to ask.
Then last week at the grocery it came to me.
It all starts with a big yellow box.
Then you throw in some eggs.
And a big ‘ol block of jack cheese.
And more cheese, of the cottage variety. THIS is the one ingredient I could not recall. An odd choice to use in baking, but it manages to keep this dish really moist.
Plus, I’m never one to say no to more cheese.
Finally, sausage. Oh, how I love breakfast sausage.
The end result is a pancakey-type casserole with big pockets of cheese and sausage. Deeeeelish.
Alright. Let’s make some Sausage Bake, because it’s been way too long.
First off, throw those little piggies in a pan and get ‘em browning.
Next, grab a big bowl. I mean really big. Lucy could probably curl up in this thing.
Crack those eggs (eight of them, to be exact) and give ‘em a wisk.
Poor little naked eggies. They never asked for it.
Measure out 2 cups of Bisquick and mix it in with the eggs.
Give Lucy a biscuit. She’s getting antsy.
Pour the container of cottage cheese into the Bisquick/egg mixture and stir it up.
Right about now this mixture should be looking like something your dog puked up.
Do not panic. This is normal.
Now open up that big block of cheese….
…and chop it up into 1 inch cubes. Half-inch if you’re feeling ambitious. I am not.
Let the cheese join the party.
Now that the sausages are nice and brown let ‘em hang out on a paper towel for a while.
Once they’re nice and cool, chop them up and let them join the cheese.
They want to be with the cheese. It’s their destiny.
Give the whole thing a good stir.
I promise it will look appetizing once it’s out of the oven.
Grease a 13″x9″ pan. Do not get butter on your camera.
Pour in the mixture and stick it in a 350° oven for 40-45 minutes. It should be a little brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean (unless you hit a chunk of cheese, in which case it will be a cheesy toothpick and it must be licked immediately).
Oh, Sausage Bake. How I have missed you.
I love eating you plain, fresh out of the oven…
…but I REALLY love eating you with a little maple syrup on top. Sausage bake, I need you in my world. As Al Green would say, “let’s stay together.”
And old friend, if you’re out there…I miss you.
-RDG
Sausage Bake printable pdf
This is such an easy breakfast or brunch dish for company. Yield: One 9×13″ pan, or about 12 servings.
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Combine eggs and Bisquick in a large bowl. Mix well (batter can be a little lumpy). Stir in cottage cheese, sausage and jack cheese.
2. Pour into greased 13″x9″ pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
*Please note: If you’d like your Sausage Bake to be less “bready” and more dense, use 12 eggs and 2 packs of sausage.
I'm a stay-at-home mom to two hilarious little girls in Seattle, married to one adorkable husband. When I'm not making messes in the kitchen and plucking the girls out of trees, I'm working on my young adult fiction trilogy ASYLUM.
