Am…musings

I’ve been experimenting in the kitchen lately, which is really unusual for me … so unusual, that I began pondering why.

Last spring I blogged about cooking for the first time when I was 9 years old and my dad poking fun of the not-so-tasty outcome. Ever since, I was reluctant to stray from a recipe and its exact measurements. As silly as it sounds, maybe sharing that on this blog was cathartic for me and that’s why I’m cooking without my net. Another theory … bringing the herbs inside this fall may have forced me to be a little creative to use them up.

Ultimately, I think those two things may be contributing factors, but that the main reason is one of the great loves of my life … Google . I search recipes for specific dishes, as well as recipes including ingredients I have on hand. And instead of being locked down by one recipe in a cookbook, I can glance at several recipes, using them for inspiration and guidance, but not as gospel.

Tonight’s concoction – homemade croutons.

We had Christmas dinner last weekend because my uncle, the Christmas chef, and his family are out of town tomorrow. Without plans or the need to cook the traditional meal (that I really don’t like – sauerbraten and potato pancakes – yuck!), my parents and I decided to splurge with steak and crab legs for tomorrow. I’m in charge of sides – loaded baked potatoes, sugar snap peas and salad. I had some nice leftover bread that I hated to pitch and decided homemade croutons on our salad would be a nice touch.

I Googled “crouton recipe stale bread” because that’s exactly what I had on hand, and then scanned several recipes, picking the directions and ingredients I thought sounded best.

The only problem with not following a recipe is that it’s sort of difficult to share. But here’s the general gist … and I imagine I’m pretty much the only freak that follows a recipe to a T anyway.

Homemade Croutons
Stale French baguette or other artisan bread
Olive oil (roughly 2/3 cup for 4 cups of bread cubes)
Spices to taste (I used garlic powder and fresh thyme)
Sea salt
Fresh cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Slice the bottom crust and any really hard pieces off the loaf.

Cut loaf into cubes and place in large bowl.

Whisk olive oil and spices (not the salt and pepper) together in a smaller bowl.

Drizzle spiced oil over bread cubes and toss well.

Spread bread cubes on cookie sheet or 9X13 pan.

Sprinkle with salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Check and stir the cubes every 10 minutes, but the baking time will depend on how large your cubes are and how saturated they are with oil. Mine took about 30 minutes (they won’t brown, but should be crisp on the outside and fairly chewy on the inside).

After a year of living fairly frugally, and without the requirement of buying holiday gifts for a boyfriend/husband or kids, I’ve been splurging a bit with a “one for you, two for me” approach to Christmas shopping.

I do have a small family and several of my friends decided spending time together for dinner or whatnot was better than spending money on presents so it hasn’t been a total free-for-all. But here are a few example:

• A bunch of clothes for me, while getting gift cards for the office adopt-a-family and stuff for my folks (that I won’t mention here in case they read this before Christmas morning).
• A really cool, slightly expensive necklace while buying ornaments for gifts at Third Degree Glass Factory.
• An awesome bottle opener, a foil cutter and two ornaments while shopping for my office Secret Santa recipient.

I also indulged in a mani-pedi tonight (something I don’t normally do in winter when I try to do my own to save some cash).

That said … would I trade all those things for love and a family? In a heartbeat. And does Christmas mean more to me than the presents? Without a doubt. But since I’m single and childless this Christmas season, I figure I might as well enjoy my freedom, rather than dwell on my singledom.

… unless they bought a big-ass ottoman and “baby” won’t fit in the middle of the tiny living room any more.

I put my Christmas tree (a.k.a. “baby” for the purposes of this post only) in its regular center-of-the-picture-window spot and had planned to put the ottoman somewhere else. But then I remembered that I live in a really small house and there really isn’t anywhere else available. The ottoman is also big-ass enough that it won’t safely make it down the steps, and I’d much rather put “baby” in the corner than scrape my windows every morning, which is what would happen if I replace my car with the ottoman in my miniscule garage.

So I dragged poor “baby” to the corner. It looks pretty good from the inside, and not too bad from the street. (Yes, I’m anal … I typically take an outside peek a few times in the tree-trimming process to make sure it’s centered and the garland and ornaments look ok.)

Now, if only my “Johnny” would magically appear for a kiss under the mistletoe and some dirty dancing. Instead, I’ll settle for one of my favorite holiday activities, turning off the lamps, lighting a few candles and admiring the gorgeous tree with a glass of wine or Bailey’s and decaf.

My bah humbug-iness hadn’t really subsided while I put up my beautiful holiday decorations in the bedroom about an hour ago. I think it’s just too early, but like I said yesterday, I know I’ll be happier in the long run for doing this today.

But then … I opened another box and found the cutest of all cute decorations.

When Clarice kisses Rudolph on the check his nose flashes and sound from the movie plays … “I’m cute! I’m cute! She said I’m cute!” It just makes my heart smile.

Thanks to my cousin in Dallas for having hers out at Thanksgiving last year, and for the kismet that lead me to find one a few days after Christmas at the Hallmark in the New York City Port Authority Bus Terminal after several failed trips to other Hallmarks.

I’ve been bah humbugging the Christmas creep for the past few weeks. Two radio stations in the ‘Lou have … exasperatingly … been playing holiday music non-stop since the day after Halloween. The Salvation Army was already ringing the bell at my local grocery store last weekend. And I can even remember how long I’ve been spying Christmas stuff in department and big box stores … it certainly feels like it started in July, and I sigh every time I spot it.

So … I have to admit I’m a bit of a hypocrite. I just brought some Christmas things upstairs and plan to start decorating tomorrow.

Honestly, I haven’t gotten my fill of my pretty fall things, but I’m going to be out of town for the better part of the next two weekends. From past experience, if I don’t get a jump on holiday prep over the long Thanksgiving weekend, I tend to feel like I’ll never get all the shopping, card making, cookie baking, wrapping and decorating done by Christmas.

I adore the days between Thanksgiving and January 2 … spending time with friends and family, appreciating the true meaning of Christmas, celebrating a fresh new year. Getting things done this weekend will allow me to enjoy it, rather than fret about cramming everything in. But I will be considerate … saving the tree, which goes in the front window, and the outside decs until later so I don’t force my personal Christmas creep on others. And I definitely will not bust out the holiday music until post-Thanksgiving … unless I happen to run across my Elvis Christmas CD while unpacking. It’s been my favorite since I was a kid and I may not be able to resist … hypocrite or not!

Shorter days and cooler temps placed fall just a hair ahead of winter on my list of seasons I despised as a kid. My tune definitely changed after five years of living in Orlando and another in L.A. Orlando burnt me out with its non-stop greenness and “freakin’ Africa hot”-ness (in the words of my friend Keith). L.A. simply bored me when it came to climate … a monotony of the same temps and clear skies day after day after day (Oh, how I missed thunderstorms when I lived there!).

These days fall is a pretty close second to spring in terms of seasons I adore. And as I mentioned in my fall garden post, I love to decorate for it. My approach on Kit Drive is a mix of real and fake and store bought and homemade … or in the case of this year … homegrown. Also, at this point, my fall decs are mixed with my Halloween baubles. All in all, it makes me smile.

The gorgeous peach “pumpkin” (it’s actually a gourd) is real. I found it at Stuckmeyer’s on 141 for $2.49.

Decorating a chandelier is super easy and a really nice touch. I also do it for Valentine’s Day, spring/Easter and Christmas.

Some of these baby pumkins are from my garden. The great spider-web bowl is from Target.

I love this spider because its body is covered with soft, fuzzy, black feathers. I also have a bat like it.

I made this wreath after falling in love with a similar one that was $60 at the store. The white pumpkins and Indian corn are from Stuckmeyer’s. The orange pumpkins are from my garden.

Every fall I mourn the death of my fresh herbs when there are so many good cooking holidays in our immediate future. (This herb post is, of course, not be confused with Herb posts of the past .) I’ve always been too intimidated to try to grow them inside, but … perhaps buoyed by the success of my veggie garden … I’m going to give it a go this year.

I know humidity is an issue, and pretty much any plant I’ve ever tried to bring inside has dried to a crisp. Anyone have any tips for successfully bringing herbs or any plants inside?

I hope to nurse them through at least Thanksgiving and in the meantime, I’m enjoying the lush greenhouse look.

Those of you looking for a tipsy tale will have to wait for some other time. This is another Christmas cookie update. I added a totally addictive recipe with a great name into the mix, courtesy of my cousin in Dallas.

White Trash
8 cups Rice Chex
8 cups Cheerios (regular or Honey Nut)
8 cups Honeycomb
8 cups small pretzel twists
2 cups walnuts or pecans (optional)
Three 20 oz. packages white almond bark

Combine dry ingredients in a LARGE bowl or two.
Melt almond bark (in double boiler, microwave or combo of both if you don’t have a large enough container).
Pour melted bark over dry ingredients and stir until well coated.
Poor coated ingredients onto wax paper.
Let harden and then break into large chunks.

This is also the last installment of the 2008 Busy Girl’s Christmas Baking Guide. I did wimp out and made the last two batches normally instead of in bars. I figured I’d pushed my luck enough with the successful sugar cookie experiment. Last night was the debut of the “cookie shots” … crumbled sugar cookie scraps, Bailey’s, homemade whipped cream. The verdict: plain Bailey’s may have been better, but much less fun and festive … and isn’t that what the season is all about!

In an effort to save time, I’m experimenting with my Christmas cookies. Bar cookies are my time-saving solution … mix them, press them in the pan, bake for 30ish minutes, cut and eat. No dropping by rounded spoonfuls and baking countless trays at 8-minute intervals.

Bar oatmeal and chocolate chip aren’t out of the ordinary. Although I drizzle the oatmeals with white icing. And I found a crazy Pampered Chef recipe with chopped candy bars on top of the chocolate chip cookies that I just made and they look yummy.

Where I’m getting a little crazy … I’m rolling out the sugar cookies and baking them in one big piece. Then, I’m cutting them with cookie cutters in the pan after they’re baked and still piping hot. I’m not sure this will work, but my inspiration is the ornament-shaped sugar cookies I usually make in the normal way, but then I make a hole in each one with a drinking straw after they are baked and that works great … almost better than regular cutting because they have a nice, crisp edge.

I’m also trying peanut butter blossoms (the peanut butter cookie with the Kiss on top) in the bar pan. I’m really worried about this one working, but figure what the heck.

My plan if they don’t work? Cookie shots … the sugars with drizzled icing and the peanut butters with the Kisses. All the hip restaurants are serving desserts in shot glasses so I’ll play it off as creative and trendy.

If you still need holiday gifts (or have family and friends asking for your wish list), try Etsy.com. In addition to the great baby clothes and toddler t-shirts I blogged about earlier, there are tons of options for everyone on your list.

Try the search function if you need to locate something specific … I found a great gift for my dad by searching for “Buick.” Pendantflair is another favorite seller of mine that offers really unique soldered pendants. The jewelry options on Etsy are fantastic … I’ve been spying some great pieces on thepebblecollection. And I made another awesome find, but will post about it after the holidays because I don’t want the gift recipient to see it here first.

Happy shopping!