Not *such* a "good thing"...thanks MARTHA!

Okay...I spent the better part of a day making a Martha recipie. I'm disappointed. Here's why: The cookies only last ONE DAY! They don't "keep". Flibbity jibbin MARTHA!

These Strawberry Shortcake cookies are made with fresh strawberries. I will normally read an entire recipe entirely before I commence with the effort, but this time it was the Hubster who found the picture in the back of the "June" issue of Martha. He said he wanted em, so it was my wifely duty to oblige.

We bought the strawberries yesterday (Saturday) so that means before they start getting all "hairy" we best be puttin' them to use quick-like before we blow the $5 we spent on em. This should have clued me in on the "keepability" of the cookies...but, meh...I plowed forth.

Dicing the strawberries was no big whoop. I like to work with knives...it's a gift. I needed 2 cups worth. This recipe also gave me a chance to use the new fangled "pastry knife" we bought from one of those Kitchen Gadget shops. It works pretty good, I gotta say. In fact...it's awesome.

So after the butter had been "cut" into the floury-sugary mixture, we are to dump the teeny tiny diced strawberries into it. Mix it up, form them ever-so-martha-like onto the "parchment paper"...because let's face it, I'm too cheap to buy a "Silpat" liner for my nasty cookie sheets and I'm just not made of money. If you haven't seen one of these things, Google it, I'm not gonna explain it...but it's way cool.

The cookies bake for 25 minutes! HOLY CRAP! 25 flippin minutes! I ended up with about 25 cookies. It took me right around 2 hours to complete the recipe from start to finish and then I read the last line of the recipe. "Best if consumed immediately after taking out of the oven or store overnight (1-day) in an airtight container after completely cooled." WTF?!?!?!

You know what? There ain't nothin wrong with the old fashioned Nestle's Chocolate Chip Cookies. That shit lasts for WEEKS and you don't need to feel like you have to eat every single one before the strawberries spoil, because a Chocolate Chip...lasts FOREVER!

The cookies were "okay". They are especially good if you squirt some of that canned whipped cream on them. And an extra squirt in your mouth for good measure.

So yeah, June 2009 Martha Stewart Cookie of the Month...not SUCH a good thing. Happy baking!

*slobber* Vietnamese Food *slobber*

*slobber* Vietnamese Food *slobber* Holy Mackerel.  I've really gone and done it this time. I just HAAAD to open my big fat pie hole and ask if we could go to Vien Dong tonight for dinner.  It's gotta be the nummiest place ever to eat some authentic Vietnamese Food on the whole planet.  Don't mind the 7-8 garbage cans all lined up uncomfortably close to the entry door.  The rats only come out at night.

I ordered something I have never had before.  Can't tell you what it is...something with chicken in a kind of Curry sauce, but not really a curry sauce?  I dunno but lemme tell ya folks...it was flippin DELICIOUS, I tell you!  I ate almost all of it.  With a humongous plate of white rice - of the Jasmine Variety I beleive.  Scrumpdillyicous.  I drank like 2 cups of hot tea and 4 glasses of water and I'm basically as miserable as I've ever been.  I'll be konking out any minute for the night, I think.  Too bad, too...it's a perty night out.

I feel kinda guilty, cuz if you were to look through your window right now(J-diddy or D-diddy) or drove by my house, you'd see my very devoted, anal-retentive and gotta have a list-of-things-to-do Hubby out there trimming up the topiaries that frame my house and entryway.  I had the worst allergies yesterday when he was doing that I thought I was gonna die in a pile of my own mucus.  Ew. That's really gross.  (Sorry D-diddy - I know you're pregnant and may be apt to erp when presented with graphic details such as this, but it's my BLOG and I'll be gross if I want to!  Love you anyway...and you KNOW IT!)

That's it...I will probably be up all night trying to navigate the stairs whilst making it to the restroom...what with all the water I drank and all.  If I was a dude..I'd whip it out and pee through the window...but no such luck.  And NO, Nathaniel does NOT do that...it's just my overactive imagination running rampant again.

I feel so sleepy!  There's no way I'll be able to stay up till Eleven-thirty watching the BOOB tube.  No way in HECK!

Thanks for reading another entry.  I really appreciate.  Comment all you like...if you do, I'll write more. Even if you don't I will write more anyway...because...

IT'S MY BLOG AND I'LL WRITE IF I WANT TO!

I love you...I really do...you can ask anyone!

Carm

Lemon Blossoms - Thanks Paula Deen you sweet THANG!

LEMON BLOSSOMS!!! These are so good and wonderful for summer, I wanted you ALL to try them! People BEG me to make these! They take a while to make and I'll give you a few helpful hints because I make these all the time and have *perfected* it to an extent.

Helpful Hint #1: Buy two mini muffin tins. If you only have one, this could cause you to be in the kitchen FOR. EVER.

Helpful Hint #2: Spray the muffin tins with Pam before you put the batter in the cups for EVERY BATCH. The tops of the muffins come off easily, which is cool, because it gives you something to munch on, but let's face it...you might get sick of them and that wouldn't be any fun. (Oh...and loosen the cupcakes a little by running a knife around the diameter of the cupcake tin. You want as clean a removal as possible so they are pretty!!!)

Helpful Hint#3: DOUBLE THE RECIPE! You are going to go through these VERY quickly. They are "poppable" and you will eat like 3-4 at a time...so be sure you make a double batch. All the effort with the baking and glazing is too much for the amount of time it takes to gobble them up.

Helpful Hint #4: Be sure you store them in an airtight container ONLY AFTER they have cooled completely!!!! They get sweaty and that's just not cute.

Paula Deen's LEMON BLOSSOMS - Eat up, Ya'll!

• 18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
• 3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze:

• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel

To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips.(Carm's note: they drip like crazy especially since you'll be dunking them in the glaze while they are HOT...) Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

Wanna be a Skinny Bitch?

Skinny Bitch in the Kitch COMPLETELY jumped off the shelf and my Husband and I while we were shopping at Target.

I will be purchasing this book soon because the Skinny Bitch in me has been just ITCHIN to come out.

Girls...something happened to me when I gave birth the first time. And it never went away...not even with the 2nd. I dunno what has happened to the Carm I once was, but the Carm I am TODAY...at least OUTWARDLY, is not what I should/can be. I'm a big girl. A biiiiiiiiig girl. So, I will begin my journey in the Kitch. Let's see what happens. If any of you would like to join me, just let me know.

This book is SOOOOOO PNN - at least in the title that I couldn't resist sharing it with you.

Again...if you want to join me...we can try this for a week and see what happens.

I love you, I really do...you can ask ANYONE! ~ Carm

Italian Beef Stew a la CARM!

Italian Stew Recipe? oooohhh...okay here goes.

1 pkg Stew Meat of the BEEF variety - high heat in olive oil to sear it up!
2 cans of tomato sauce
2 cans of diced tomatoes (no spices added...like no peppers/onions/italian mixes)
2-3 cans of water (just use the tomato cans & clean em out)
Potatoes - cut into stew-like hunks
One onion - cut into stew like hunks which will separate when they cook
Carrots (I just buy a bag of those little baby carrots & put in however many)

3 cloves of garlic (minced) I like to use a garlic press...wow - I totally just sounded like Martha!

If you like a kick, sprinkle like 1 teaspoon of dried pepper flakes in there or a little less.
Let that puppy simmer till you are ready to eat it. I like to leave the lid off because the sauce can reduce and get all yummified! The longer the better and the more "falley apartey" the meat gets. Some people call it "tender" - that's just too easy! If you let it simmer for like 1 1/2 hours, you should be good to go. Feel free to add things like corn or your favorite type of fungus if you like. I'm just not a fan of either so I leave it out.

Make sure you do the dumplings! Good LORD IN HEAVEN, don't forget the DUMPLINGS!

This recipe makes a boatload of stew! Be prepared with tupperware galore! And for goodness sakes, make sure there's enough room in your fridge/freezer!

I love you...I really do...you can ask ANYONE!!!!! ~ Carm

Dinner for two? Yeah...right!

So it's Sunday afternoon. I wander downstairs after cleaning with the kiddos and am thinking that after waking up to snow...then hail...then rain...then sunshine, I wanted to get some kind of comfort food brewing on the stove or in the oven.

It hits me...STEW! MMMmmm...and DUMPLINGS! I just happen to make a MEAN Italian Beef Stew. You would think that you had died and gone to heaven!  It's my own concoction, so it's not like I ever learned how to make a regular beef stew. Mine is tomato-based. Only problem is...I can't seem to make the right amount.

My children are REALLY picky eaters! REALLY PICKY! So getting them to try new things is next to impossible. What happens is that I end up making something for the HUZ and I and the kiddo's get a totally separate meal altogether.

So back to my "proportion probem"...I can seem to make the proper amount of food. I beleive that it could be genetic. My mother always makes and insane amount of food, her mother before her did the same thing. It goes back as far as I can remember. So here I am on Sunday with the biggest stock pot I could find. I browned the delicious stew meat with salt and olive oil. Added the onions and garlic...then 3 cans of tomato sauce and 2 cans of stewed tomatoes. In goes the carrots and potatoes, basil, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper. Yeesh - it's really hard to remember if you are supposed to add an "e" to the end of potatoes and tomatoes! Man - I hope I got that right! I always break out in a cold sweat over that one!

By the time I get the pot all filled with love and happiness, I've got about 2 gallons of a hearty stew that only the HUZ and I will be gobbling up! Then you HAVE to add the dumplings to it after it's been boiling for about 1-2 hours, right? I mean stew without dumplings is almost un-American!

This raises a whole new problem! How the heck amd I gonna find enough left-over containers in the house to accomodate all this GRUB?!? I've got stew in empty margarine containers, tupperware, bowls with suran wrap over them, ziploc baggies...it's EVERYWHERE! And you KNOW that after having it a couple times as a meal afterwards we are going to be sick and tire of eating this stuff!

What I'm trying to tell all of you is that I have no portion control barometer in my body! I can't control myself! I think I need an intervention. I wish PNN had a chatroom we could all kind of hook up and you could just sit me down and talk to me about this issue.

Dinner for two?.....YEAH RIGHT!!!

I love you...I really do...you can ask anyone!

Carm