Adventures: Gingerbread House Party

Last night our neighbors, +Stephanie Segall  & +Daniel Segall, had a Gingerbread House decorating party.

This was the first time I had ever decorated a gingerbread house.  I had picked up a kit from ACMoore on sale for $6.99 (and then of course they were cheaper the next week!) and a couple of light up necklaces.

First up, trying to figure out what piece was what - yes, I had to read the directions!  Obviously, I didn't read the frosting directions very well, because I ended up with frosting coming out of the back end of the frosting bag & had it all over me by the end of the night! 

The first gluing/caulking job went well, until the roof was put on - then the whole thing collapsed!  Second try, went better.  I carefully put the roof on and held it for awhile.  After that, I let it sit until after we had dinner.

Next was decorating. I went for a red & white theme.  I used the red glitter frosting that we brought and some candies.

Well, the peppermint that I used, didn't stick and slid down, then when I was trying to put the necklace lights on it, I kept bumping against the frosting.  The biggest issue - when I put in one of the toothpicks to hold the lights, the wall started to collapse in. 

Anyway - not bad for the first time!

back of the house

front of the house (notice the bleeding red down the side)

one of the sides

the other side

Becoming Betty Crocker: Baked Chicken Enchiladas

I decided to try another one of the Easy, Peasy Recipes.  This time, it was Baked Chicken Enchiladas. 

Now, I learned from the Sausage Calzones that the cooking cream can be a little too much "sauce", so I was careful this time.  Once I mixed the chicken, cheese & sauce, there was a LOT of sauce left over.  The recipe called for the remainder of the sauce to be poured on top of the wraps.

 

The sous chefs watching and cleaning plates.

 

Half way done - wraps with the chicken mixture.  I did change the recipe a little - no beans and added onions.  Oh - I cheated a little on the chicken - I used my Tupperware Stacker  to cook it.

 

Pre-oven with only a little of the sauce spread on it and topped with cheese.

 

The sous chefs wouldn't stay out of the kitchen while waiting for the oven to heat up.

The finished product!

It was really good!  There was just enough sauce and we had sour cream on top.  There a BUNCH of sauce left over - probably enough for another whole recipe.

Becoming Betty Crocker: That was pot roast?

The plan last night was steak and baked potatoes.  I went hunting in the freezers (refrigerator freezer & the chest freezer) for the steaks that we bought on Sunday and couldn't find them (OK - so I didn't look that hard), but found what I thought was steak (just really thick pieces with no bones).

Thawed them and still thought they were just really thick pieces with no bones.  Started cooking them, and realized - hey, look at that!  We had pot roast in the freezer that we didn't know we had!

So, change in plans - Pot Roast in a skillet for dinner.  I just kept adding water to it and then cut it into about 6 pieces.

It was ok.  Would have been better in the crockpot!

Note to self - next time LABEL the baggies!

Adventures: Loose Dog(s) in the Neighborhood

Let me just say - we let our dogs off of leash in the neighborhood when we know they are focused on where they are going AND no one else is around to make them lose their focus.

• When we are about 1/2 block from our house, we sometimes let them off leash and we all "race" to our porch.
• When Dan runs with Esa (on leash) at the park, I let Zed off leash to chase them.

We always look around when they are off leash, just to make sure no one comes from out of nowhere.

So Wednesday, Dan was walking the pups in the morning and a neighbor let their dog (a bichon ?) off the leash at the part to chase squirrels.  What happens?  The dog "attacks" Zed!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!!

Dan said that it was only a few seconds, but the dog did mouth Zed and luckily, it did not draw blood.  Possibly because Dan pulled Zed and grabbed the other dog.  During these few seconds, Esa is growling at the other dog and Dan has to calm her down too!  The owner came over and just kept saying "I'm so sorry - Max was just in the zone.  I always let him chase squirrels around here". 

Dan was PISSED, but kept his calm.  He checked Zed over and said that he did whimper a little and his backlegs went limp!  Zed kind of walked it off, but was definitely shakened (along with Daddy-o). 

Of course the rest of the day, Mama & Daddy-o were worried about the Z Brother.  He just has so many aches and pains that any roughhousing will make him flair up.  However, when I got home from work, he was back to his normal self and zooming around the house ready to go on a walk.

Z is a sensitive little guy.  Physically and emotionally - we realize that he does play it up (any boo-boos) by whining to get the attention.  But you never know since pups can't talk!

Note:  Dan did get the lady's name & number in case Zed was hurt.


Zed focused on Mama after running in the field



Becoming Betty Crocker: Sausage and Vegetable Calzones

You know the entry I did about Easy Peasy Recipes?  Well, Philadelphia Cooking Cream was on sale this week and with a couple I was able to get them for about $2.00.

First up on the testing kitchen floor - Sausage and Vegetable Calzones.  I changed the recipe a little - substituted onions for peppers and used cut up sausage links instead of the "bulk" sausage (what is that anyway?  Just grounded sausage?)  So - I am no sure how this recipe is going to turn out (still need to put it in the oven).  Plus I only made 4 calzones instead of the 6 that it said.  The recipe said  10 minutes prep - right - more like 30 minutes before the oven time! 

THAT is the portion of cooking I hate - trying to time everything to be ready when it needs to be.  So, I got everything ready and then put it in the oven for the 15 (or until brown) minutes.

Here's the during picture:

The after picture:

 

Doesn't look exactly like the picture, but they tasted good!  Even hubby thought so!  Definitely will do some things different next time - ground sausage & add some more meat - it was WWWAAAYYY cheesy.  Oh - and sauce to dip it in!

Yes, I'll be making this again.

Adventures: Visit to the Dog Park

The weather here has been awesome - today it was in the 60s.  It's December!!! Should't it be snowing?  Anyway - Dan thought it would be a good idea to take the pups to the park today after basically sleeping all day on Thursday.  Yesterday, you could just see that Zed was all wound up.  When Dan came home - he had the zooms - like crazy!

Anyway - a couple of pictures from the dog park.....

Adventures: AHL Hockey Showcase at Verizon Center

I have been quiet on the NHL Lockout.  I don't know all of the details (who wants what, who won't give, etc), so I don't really comment on it. 

I DO know that NHL will lose alot of fans either way - whether they have some sort of season or no season at all.  The last lockout when the missed a whole season ended in a LOT of fans "leaving".  Needless to say, I miss my hockey.  We had 5th row seats this season for the 5 games we did buy.

Part of the package we bought included tickets to the AHL Showcase that happened last night between the Hershey Bears (the Caps minor league team) and the Norfolk Admirals (Anaheim Ducks minor team).  We got to sit in our 5th row seats last night and FINALLY got to see some hockey!

from our seats (before the game)

I expected the Verizon Center to be full since I'm sure there are Capitals (or even just NHL) fans out there "jonesing" for some live hockey.  Not so - the "Phone Booth" might, MIGHT have been half full.  Sad.  And it's not like Capitals fans do not know the players - 2 of the players last night have been up on the Caps roster.

It was fun to finally see the Hershey Bears.  There were so many penalties - it dragged the game out.  It just seemed much slower than NHL.

There wasn't that much merchandise, but they did have showcase merchandise.  We picked up a puck and a pin (which I will be making into a magnet).

Becoming Betty Crocker: This week's dinners

So dinner has been basically the same things - or at least it seems.  Dan has been getting home and kind of finishing up on the cooking, but it's been up to me to figure out what to have.

Tuesday was pork and home fries.  Dan had found the home fries recipe in the Betty Crocker cookbook.  I was kind of wondering if I was going to be able to pull this one off.  I could have done some things different - used the bigger skillet for the potatoes instead of the pork, and I totally forgot about the 1/8 teaspoon of garlic and pepper.  Those were added at the last minute.  Oh well, I guess that's cooking!

Dan came home when I was about half way done with the dinner, and helped finished it up.  I made the comment "Look at us!  Cooking together!".

Here are pictures of the end product:

Dinner last night was Pasta Roni Garlic & Oil Vermicelli and Chicken with italian season.  I got a little creative with the chicken - I mixed 1 teaspoon of italian season with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and put it on top of the chicken when it was almost done.  I figured worst case, it would be too spicy.  NOPE!  Came out good!



Now, let me just say, Esa has been perplexed with seeing Mama in the kitchen cooking at the stove!  She has become the sous chef.  Carefully sitting outside of the kitchen waiting to be of help.

This was from Tuesday night when both of us were in the kitchen.