Wednesday.

Last night, there was the most amazing storm rolling slowly southward. I got to watch the lightning it produced dance from cloud to cloud, lighting up the sky. Amazing. :)



(via flickr)

We also ate Indian tacos, watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, held the drooling smiling butterball that is my adorable niece, and washed clothes.

Today, I'm holding down the receptionist chair at the salon and looking forward to the tasty leftovers that will be my lunchity lunch (garlic shrimp and wheat pasta). Later tonight, I think we're going to a preview of 500 Days of Summer. :) I'm also hoping to score a part time job. I applied for a couple and one called me back, I got my food handler card for it, and hopefully I'll still be wanted. Oh nellie, the extra funds would be good, in addition to letting zach have all the study time he needs.

In other news, The Pioneer Woman will eventually be the death of me, with all her mouthwatering recipes. I found the recipe for her cinnamon rolls and I can practically taste them. I'm looking forward to the happy faces that will be receiving these babies, since the recipe makes several pans. Oh the humanity! :)

Ice Cream Sammiches!!!

I was a good girl on Saturday and didn't get Maggie Moo's at lunch. I rewarded myself by making homemade snickerdoodles into tasty ice cream sandwiches that tasted lightly of cinnamon. YUM. Here's how:

SNICKERDOODLES

* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 cup shortening
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
*sugar and cinnamon mixed in a bowl (about 1/4 cup of sugar and a tablespoon of cinnamon)

Baking directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Roll dough into balls just a little smaller than a golf ball.
3. Roll balls of dough in sugar and cinnamon mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.


ASSEMBLY

I had a container of my fave vanilla bean ice cream out on the counter while I baked, so it would be soft enough to work with when the time came. I size matched my cooled-off cookies, then went to work assembling the tastiness. I rolled up a smallish scoop of ice cream, plopped it on the bottom side of a cookie, then smooshed the other cookie on it, to make the sandwich. Upon completion of the construction, I had them all on a plastic platter and put them in the freezer to firm up before serving. I brought one in my lunch today, much to the envy of my coworkers. YUMYUMYUM. :D To further enhance your DIY cred, home churned ice cream would be awesome. Pioneer Woman has a great recipe I've been dying to try!

Glad it's raining, but it makes me wanna eat fatty foods and sleep. It'd be on now if it weren't for employment... Lol

I was asked by my friend Jay to make his lady Amy's birthday cake. It's a simple round chocolate cake, with sky blue writing. It was a joy to make! :)


Happy birthday, girlie! :D

As promised...

The lasagna recipe!

Cheesy Vegetable Lasagna

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick, I think)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups of your preferred milk (I used soy)
small block of Parmesan, grated
2 cups mozzarella, also grated
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp superfine ground mustard (the powder, not the yellow goo kind)

1 medium yellow squash, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced
3 carrots, diced
1 yellow onion, diced

1 cup low fat cottage cheese, undrained
1 cup part skim ricotta
1 box lasagna noodles (we used whole wheat, YUM)

(whatever other veg content you want, really)

SAUCE
Melt the butter over medium heat in a big saucepan. Add the flour, whisking constantly, until it's totally incorporated. Keep on whisking for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is golden brown. Add your milk and keep on whisking! It'll get thick, so don't worry, that's normal. :) (congrats, you made a basic white sauce!) Turn the heat down a little, to medium low, then add your salt, pepper and mustard, keep whisking!!! Add all but half a cup of your Parmesan and about 1/3 of your mozz. You might wanna switch to a spoon at this point, this is getting really thick... Take a little taste and see how it's doing spice-wise. Don't be afraid to add more spices if you think it needs it. Once the cheese is all melty-melty, turn the heat off and take this sucker off the heat so you don't burn the bottom.

VEG
In another pan (even while you're doing the sauce, as long as you have a minion to man this other pan), heat up some olive oil to saute your veg content, except for the cucumbers. Add the onions, some s&p action, the carrots, then the squashes. Soft, but not total squish. You're just making things easier on yourself for the baking.

RICOTTAGE©
In a medium bowl, mix your cottage and ricotta together, to form Ricottage©. (Zach and I coined the term "Ricottage©", so be a pal and don't steal it. LOL)

ASSEMBLY
Okay, you're ready to put this badboy together.
In a 9x9 baking dish, plop down some cheese sauce. Spread it around, then put some noodles on top. I know, they're not presoftened, but it's okay. Spread some Ricottage© love on those noodles, then sprinkle a mix of the remaining cheese. Layer about half your soft veg and springy cucumbers over that. Then, more sauce, noodles, Ricottage©, cheese, rest of the veg, then another layer of sauce. End with final noodle layer, last of the Ricottage©, then rest of the sauce, and all the grated cheese left. Carefully cover the pan with foil, then bake this gorgeous beast for 45 minutes with the foil on. Then, take the foil off and bake for another 10-15 to brown the cheese. :)

Oh, mama, is it tasty!!!