Hearty Winter Soup

Well, currently Mr. Pie Plate are waiting for The Blizzard of 2013, a.k.a. Nemo to hit.  The snow has been consistently falling since we awoke today and we are ready for the storm!  Here is a view of our street:

 

I wouldn't classify this as a blizzard quite yet, but the electric company is already saying 30% of us will lose power... I have blankets ready and soup on the stove!  The Hearty Winter Soup is perfect for a winter day like today, and it is relatively simple to prepare.

 

The Ingredients:

1 tablespoon Butter, more if needed

1 medium onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 potato, peeled and diced

40 oz. chicken broth

2 parsnips, peeled and sliced

11/2 cup diced ham

3 large leaves of Kale, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

In the butter, saute onion and garlic until translucent over medium heat.

Add the sweet potato, potato and parsnips and saute for a few minuets, stirring regularly. 

Add the chicken broth, and ham and cover, cooking until the vegetables are tender (about 40 minutes)

When the vegetables are tender, add the kale and cook for about 5 minutes. 

Taste, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!

 

 

Owl Obsession

I have always thought owls were adorable, but recently they have been everywhere!  I am pretty sure I can classify my current love of owls a small obsession!  They are adorable.  Instead of writing my assignment that is due on Tuesday for my graduate class on music research, I've been spending my last hour searching the internet for adorable owl items! 

 

 

This owl fabric is adorable!  Owls cooking and baking?  What could be any cuter!  I love it and I want to make a cover for my kitchen aid out of it! 

 

The Henry the Owl necklace is absolutely adorable!  He has glasses and is so very perfect!  Valentine's day Mr. Pie Plate? 

 

If you love owls and have children, this necklace is really beautiful! 

You can put their names on the necklace, very sweet!

 

If I could bake and frost adorable cookies like these, I'd open an Etsy shop too!  Too cute!

 

 

Every owl hat I've found a pattern for has been crochet, but this one is knit!  I want to knit one and and wear it everywhere and then knit one for Mr. Pie Plate! 

 

And last, but not least, the musician geek in me feel in love with this ribbon:

 

Have a great week!

 

 

 

Happy New Year and a Giveaway! Winner announced!

The winner of the key fob is Amanda!
Congratulations! The random number generator I love autumn too! I'll be contacting you soon! Thanks to all who entered!

Apple Cider Glazed Porkchops with Cream Sauce

I love fall!  It is by far my favorite season.  This fall has been insane weather wise.  Last week, Superstorm Sandy graced us with her presence, destroying homes and beaches and tearing down power lines.  Today we were surprised with a Nor'easter and this is the view from our front door:

The round blob at the top left of the staircase is my pumpkin...  RIP pumpkin! 

One of my favorite dishes in the fall is pork chops.  I love them any way, but they are especially delicious when pan fried.  Enter Apple Cider Glazed Pork Chops with Cream Sauce. 

The ingredients:
Two center cut pork chops
2 tablespoons Montreal Steak seasoning (I use pre-made, but you can make your own)* you may wish to use less, I like lots of flavor and texture.
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 cup apple cider
1 tablespoon sour cream

1. Heat a skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil. 
2. Sprinkle the Montreal Steak Seasoning over both sides of the pork chops and place in the skillet. Cover the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes. 

3. Flip the pork chops and fry until they are cooked through.
4. Remove the pork chops to a plate and cover them.  Turn the burner heat to high.
5. Take the apple cider and pour into the hot skillet.  Using tongs or a spoon, de-glaze the bottom of the pan. 

 

6. Add the sour cream, mix thoroughly and reduce to low heat while the cream sauce thickens, about 3-4 minutes. 

7. Top the pork chops with the cream sauce and serve with apple sauce and carrots, or whatever you would like. 

This meal is relatively quick to assemble, and so delicious.  Mr. Pie Plate loves it, and he is a picky eater, so it is a successful meal!

Canning, Sewing, Baking and Rosin- Back to School for a Middle School Teacher

The beginning of the (school) year is always so very crazy for teachers.  This is true of music teachers as well, and I haven't posted as much as I would have liked.  But, here's some of the things I've been working on:

Chris and I have decided to make all of our Christmas gifts this year!  I'm super excited, although it will mean that the majority of the gift making will be my responsibility.  Bring it on, I love crafting!  I currently have 50 jars of jelly or jam in the basement, and two weeks ago, I turned these beautiful grapes (10 pounds!) into delicious jam!

I also made owl cupcakes for my friend John's birthday.  They were super cute!

And here's me making an owl face:

My husband and I have a side business making rosin for stringed instruments called Rockin Rosin.  We recently made a new shape of rosin:

I've been doing a good deal of sewing in preparation for the holidays and I made myself a quilted camera strap cover (the picture is awful so I didn't include it) and I made my mother in law a key fob.  I love them both!  I also made several pacifier clips, but since they are for a present I won't post them here!  :)

 

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Meet Mr. Pie Plate (A.K.A. Chris).

He likes skiing, playing the cello, being extreme (check out the avalanche conditions) and me! He also loves chocolate. I have never met anyone in my life who likes chocolate as much as he does. Ever! I think it might be one of his food groups! Now, if I had a little more energy, I would whip up a pyramid of food according to my husband, and it would be awesome, but alas, I taught middle school children all day and am a little tired. I digress...

So Mr. Pie Plate loves chocolate and I love fruit! Sometimes, we disagree on dessert choices, but these cookies are a wonderful combination of the two. They also can be made with all chocolate chips if you have cranberry-phobic people in the house.

The recipe is loosely based on Hillary Clinton's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, which look very good but I can't justify using a cup of vegetable shortening in one batch.

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

½ Cup Butter
½ Cup Sugar
1 Cup Packed Dark Brown Sugar
½ Cup Applesauce
2 Eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 ½ Cup All Purpose Flour
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 Tsp. baking soda
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 Cup chocolate Chips
½ Dried Cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together the first three ingredients.

3. Add the applesauce, eggs and vanilla.

4. Then add the flour, salt, baking soda and oats.

5. When all is combined, add the chocolate chips and cranberries and mix until combined.

6. Drop by tablespoon on to an un-greased cookie sheet or Silpat.

7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden.

8. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet, than move to a plate.

9. Eat the delicious cookies!

Peach Jam Giveaway Results!

Thanks to all who participated, those jams all sound so delicious and you have all inspired me to make more jam!  I used Random.org to "choose" the winner, and the lucky winner is #5, HiLesha!  She loves blueberry jam!  Congrats to HiLesha, and I am so glad so many people participated in the giveaway! 

I love fruit!  No matter what the season, I love fruit.  My favorite fruit changes depending on what fruit is in season.  Right now I'm loving peaches!  I've gone peach picking at Bishop's Orchard twice in the last month, once with my sister and once with my friend Jac (who took these photos)!







The peaches are glorious right now!  They are the most beautiful color and so sweet! I've been eating a least two a day and I have enough peaches in the freezer for two peach crisps or pies.  We'll be able to have a little bit of summer when it's not so beautiful out! 

I've also made four batches of peach jam.  I am in love with this jam and have had it on toast every morning for the past week!  It also has a nice lemon flavor, which I adore.  Since I have 39 jars of peach jam in my basement, and Wednesday was the first day of school (my students are the best, by the way), I'm giving away one 4 ounce jar of my peach jam. 

The Giveaway:
To enter this giveaway, answer the following question in the Comments section of this post:

What is your favorite type of jam? 

One entry per person please.  The giveaway will close Wednesday at noon, EST! The winner will be randomly selected and announced Wednesday night.  Have a lovely weekend and Happy Labor Day!

How to Grill Pizza

We love pizza!  We love living in New Haven because there are so many wonderful pizza places!  We also make a lot of pizza at home.  In the winter, we use our pizza stone and it heats up the house, making everything toasty!  In the summer, it's not so wonderful to cook pizza in the oven, so we grill outside!  The first time we grilled outside, it was quite an ordeal, but now it's second nature.  And it's incredibly easy! 

Ingredients:
Pizza Dough
Tomato Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Toppings of your choice

You need a pound of dough and pizza toppings.  We get our dough from Modern Pizza in New Haven.  For a dollar a pound, it's a great deal!  We do individual pizza's on our household  because one of us likes veggies (me!) and one prefers meat lovers pies (Mr. Pie Plate!). 

Here are the steps:
1. Turn the grill on to low
2.  Cut the pound of pizza in half, or thirds, depending on how many different pizzas you want.
2. Stretch both halves to a pizza shape.  We use a pizza peal to spread out the dough.  I like when the shapes aren't perfect, like these ones!

3. Cover both halves with olive oil to keep the dough to sticking to the grill.  (I was hoping the oil would show up better in the photo... I'll have to experiment with my new camera a little more!)

4. Put the pizza dough on the grill.  Let it cook until the bottom side is browned.  This is about 5 minutes on my grill.

5. Put the pizza back on the pizza peal, cooked side up. 

6. The top the pizza with sauce and your choice of toppings. 

7. Put the pizza back on the grill and cook until browned on the bottom. 

8. Eat the delicious pizza! 
5.

Breakfast in the Tetons!

Today is day 32 on our adventure and we are back in Wyoming in the Tetons! This is one of my favorite places in the country, and Mr. Pie Plate and I are so happy to be back! This morning we breakfasted under the beautiful mountains and we are about to embark on a hike! It's going to be lovely. Good morning!

The Egg and I

Wyoming and Colorado Have many things in common: mountains, kind people, super adorable dogs and The Egg and I! The Egg and I is a diner-esque breakfast place that has great breakfasts! Today I had the Athena scramble: asparagus, feta, eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms! Yum!

My to-do list!

Mr. Pie Plate and I have now been gone from our house for over twenty days. Living in a van is an adventure, but we will both be happy to be home in a few weeks! I have an ever growing list of things I want to accomplish when I get home, including figuring how to make a ruffle hem for an apron. I also learned how to knit in the round from two lovely women at the coffee shop we have been frequenting, and I think some folks will be receiving awesome hats for Christmas! And il hoping my tomato plants are doing well because I want to can! Thoughts of home have been lovely!

Greetings from Colorado!

Mr. Pie Plate and I are in Fort Collins, CO right now. We are both starting graduate work at Colorado State University. We are living in a van, and cooking on a camp stove. Needless to say, I haven't been doing any canning, baking or sewing... But here are some pictures! There is one of our campsite, one of the pretty flowers on our picnic table, and one of me "driving" a tractor, just for fun! I hope you all had a safe and very happy fourth!

A fun wedding shower gift!

1. Take a gift card (that you bought because everything else that was on the registry was only available online) and put it in a cute shower card!  Set that aside.

2. Make an adorable bag out of fabric (I'll post a tutorial soon!) I am very proud of this hem! 

 3. Knit 3 dish cloths and  tie with a ribbon. 

4. Place dish cloths and card in the bag and tie it up!

5. You have an adorable shower gift!  

A Grand Day

Yesterday my friend Jac and had a lovely day! We shopped for fabric at TWO fabric stores ( a 10 for me), we went for a wine tasting, and went to Nunu's Bistro in Colchester, CT. I had the best pasta of my life: Pasta Alla Ruby! It was made with cheese, beats and light cream. It's also my next creation! So delicious!

Over and out!

Rosin

Since I've been radio silent for about a month, I wanted to give you an update about what's keeping me so busy!  Besides May being concert season (I finished my last concert tonight) and many people I know having children or getting married, preparing for grad school and/or working on our van (more information soon!), Mr. Pie Plate and I have been on a Rosin endeavor:

A good deal of people have not grown up in a house where stringed instruments are the norm.  My husband and I are not among those people!  I started playing the violin when I was three and my husband took up the cello in third grade.  I no longer consider myself a violinist, but I will always be a string player at heart! 

This brings us to rosin.  Rosin is the sticky stuff that goes on the bow hairs to create friction between the string and the bow, resulting in sound!  Hooray for sound!  But, rosin usually is boring and looks like this:

While it works, not that exciting to look at.  Here is where Mr. Pie Plate and I come into play!  Around the beginning of this year my husband started to think that we could make our own, really awesome rosin.  I was doubtful as I usually am, and was unsure of the outcome.  It turns out, I should have listened right away because the outcome is awesome!

Here is one example of Rockin' Rosin:

It's creative, fun and it will encourage students to practice!  And don't you worry, we have less scary shapes too!  Check out our website!  AND, even though the shapes are so pretty, they are not edible! 

Over and out!
-Katie

Lilacs and a Spring Wreath

I love spring!  The weather warms up, the flowers come out, and everything is reborn!  My asparagus and herbs look lovely, the lettuce in the garden is growing like crazy, and my lilac tree smells wonderful!  I just brought lilacs into the house and there is nothing like having your favorite flower around.  It just makes me happy! 

Yes, that is a cello mirror in the background!  What else would be in the home of two music teachers?

I also made a really fun Springy wreath!  I had leftover felt lying around and so I made a bunch of felt flowers.  I also had recently cut a letter "J" out of cardboard that had no purpose in life and I was ready to throw it out.  I decided to give it one last chance and I wrapped it in yarn and then attached a flower.  When I brought it all together, it ended up being pretty cute.  I wish I had made the J a little smaller, but it's sweet and it brightens up our front door!