Nutty Chocolate Fudge

1, 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup walnut halves

2 tsp vanilla

¼ tsp coarse sea salt

In a heavy bottomed saucepan on low heat or over a double boiler add the milk and chocolate chips.  Let them sit, untouched for 5 minutes (Chocolate has a tendency to seize so, be patient). Then stir slightly once a minute until all the chocolate is melted.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and walnut halves, ( I like to leave them halves whole, instead of chopping them, because when you cut the fudge it is really beautiful to see the slices of walnut).  Pour into a greased 8x8 inch pan and sprinkle with the sea salt.  Cool in the fridge for 30 minutes, cut into 1 inch squares and enjoy.

Fall Semester Reading

This semester I didn't have much time for reading books other than my microbiology textbook, but I did get a few fun books read over breaks, long weekends, and those moments when I needed an escape from reality.

• Bossypants by Tina Fey: A humorous autobiography filled with Tina's unique comedy from the very beginning. Example: "[I have] straight Greek eyebrows. They start at the hairline at my temple and, left unchecked, will grow straight across my face and onto yours."  She talks candidly about the scar on her face, her relationship with her dad, how her husband hates flying, parenting struggles, and the inside of the SNL set.  While reading this book I burst our laughing many times, looking around to make sure no one was around to give me the stink eye for interrupting the silence.  There were also times where I had to read a sentence or paragraph a couple times before I got the point that she was trying to make a joke, her comedy did not always translate to the written word, but all in all it was a funny, lighthearted book.

• The Gospel According to Starbucks: Living with a Grande Passion by Leonard Sweet: This book discusses the success of Starbucks and how their philosophies can be applied to churches.  He goes through every dimension of Starbucks and translates it to how it would work in churches.  He focuses EPIC, 4 elements imperative for a good church: Experiential, Participatory, Image-Rich, and Connective.  There are many good points brought up in this book, some even inspiring, but the Starbucks analogy to the church got pretty old pretty fast.  The book was also littered with quotes and short stories about coffee in boxes on most of the pages that interrupted the flow of the book.  This book is worth a glance through, but not one I would recommend reading cover to cover.

• Bed and Board: Plain Talk About Marriage  by Robert Farrar Capon:  This book was published in 1965 by and Episcopalian Priest.  I read it because Tyler Blanski used it as one of his references in Mud and Poetry, one book I read this summer.  In this book Robert talks about the institution of marriage, the problems and joys of it and how to do better.  He uses some beautiful language especially when talking about the family, how each family is its own community and has its own liturgy.  There are some wonderful gems to be found ind this book like: "My wife is not my destiny, and she cannot stand being treated as if she were."  He talks a lot about grace and how we all need to slow down and pay attention to the beauty of life.  There are some times when he lost me, I think this mostly because I read it in 2011 and it was written in the early 1960's, so there is some cultural context I don't understand.  Other than that I really enjoyed the book and thought Robert shared a lot of wisdom.

Mock Tagalongs

Everyone has their favorite Girl Scout Cookie.  Mine has always been Tagalongs.  There is something about chocolate and peanut butter that is just magical.  But there are two things bad about Tagalongs: they are over $3 a box and you can only buy them once a year.  You also have to know a Girl Scout, which can be problem for college students.

Last week I was talking to a friend about our favorite holiday cookie recipes.  She mentioned how her mom always spread peanut butter on crackers and dipped them in chocolate.  In my mind that translated to "Tagalongs."  So of course I had to make them!

Mock Tagalongs

1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 sleeves Ritz crackers (~35 crackers each)
1, 24 oz. pkg. chocolate almond bark

Break up the almond bark and place in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high for 2 minutes, stir and microwave at 1 minute intervals until smooth.  Place parchment or wax paper on a table and line with half the crackers.  Spread each cracker evenly with a heaping teaspoon of peanut butter.  Place the remaining half of crackers on top.  Using 2 forks put each cracker sandwich, one at a time, into the almond bark and cover with almond bark, shake gently to remove excess almond bark.  Return to parchment paper, cool and store in an air tight container

This is an awesome holiday serving tray my roommate owns.

This would be a great tray for serving Santa cookies.
 I'm sure he'd love some Tagalongs.

Sprinkles only improve them, right?

My roommates and I have been in a baking frenzy for the last week. 
We've made a total of  6 batches of cookies so far.

Cinnamon Spice Chex Mix

 Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch.  The oven miraculously held the ham, scalloped corn, stuffing, AND the green bean casserole.  My mom broke out the china and silver.  We even put a tablecloth on the table, it was fancy...well as fancy as we get.  It was so good to spend time with my parents, brother, grandparents, aunt, and cousins; to have the day free to just be together. 

I made the ham, stuffing, scalloped corn, whipped potatoes, butternut squash, triple berry pie, cranberry salsa and cinnamon spice chex mix.  Everything was good; the dressing might have had a little too much rosemary, the pie didn't hold together as well as I had hoped, and the cranberry salsa was only a hit with my brother, but all in all it was a wonderful meal. 

Cinnamon Spice Chex Mix (adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chex-Pumpkin-Pie-Crunch/Detail.aspx?src=rotd)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs. pumpkin pie spice
1 Tbs. vanilla
3 cups wheat chex
3 cups corn chex
2 cups oatmeal squares
2 cups cinnamon or honey nut cheerios
1 cup peanuts


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line an half sheet pan with foil and coat with cooking spray.  Microwave the butter until melted and stir in the sugar, spice and vanilla.  In a large bowl combine cereals, peanuts, and butter mixture.  Spread onto the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. Cool and store in an air tight container.

French Onion Home Fries

Today my brother got home for Thanksgiving break from University of Oklahoma.  It is so good to have him home for the week.  Tonight we made one of his favorite meals.  My dad grilled steak and I made these home fries and sweet corn we saved from this summer.

French Onion Home Fries

5 medium baking potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
1/4 cup olive oil
1 packet of french onion soup mix (If you don't have this just follow this recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/copycat-liptons-onion-soup-mix-24952)
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a half sheet pan with foil and grease with cooking spray.  Mix all ingredients and pour onto prepared pan, and shake the pan until all the potatoes are in one layer.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, stirring halfway through, until lightly golden brown.

Mint Inception Cookies: a cookie within a cookie

My roommates have made Inception cookies a few times.  They are these massive, but beautiful chocolate chip cookies with an oreo on the inside.  These cookies are fabulously delicious, not to mention funny.  Have you seen Inception?  Well it is about dreams going on inside other dreams.  So a cookie inside a cookie is hilarious, right?  Either way these cookies are good.

I am currently obsessed with Cool Mint Oreos, so I wanted to rework the original inception cookie recipe to make it minty.  I exchanged the chocolate chips for Andes Mint Pieces.  You can buy the mints and chop them yourself or just get the bag of prechopped chunks. I also decided to use only a fourth of an oreo in each cookie because they bake faster and turn out the size of a normal cookie.

From the outside they look like your average chocolate chip cookies.

I should be studying Food Chemistry, but look how beautiful those cookies are!!

Mint Inception Cookies: a cookie within a cookie

Based on a recipe by Picky Palate: http://picky-palate.com/2011/01/06/oreo-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/

1 cup butter, softened

¾ cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

3 ½ cups of flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup Andes mint pieces

8 cool mint oreos

Cream butter and sugars until fluffy.  Mix in eggs and vanilla.  Add flour and soda, mix on low until combined (dough will be thicker than normal cookie dough).  Mix in Andes mint pieces.  Cut oreos into quarters.  Take a rounded tablespoon of dough and break it in half.  Put an oreo quarter between the dough and form dough around the cookie.  Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes on 350 °F.  Yield: 32 cookies

Oatmeal Everything Cookies

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

2/3 cup white sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups old fashioned oats

1 tsp. baking powder

4 cups goodies like baking chips, nuts, dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350°F. Using a stand or hand mixer beat butter, applesauce, and sugars on medium high for 3 minutes or until fluffy. Reduce speed to medium low and add eggs and vanilla, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the flour, oats, and baking powder, mix until combined. Stir in the goodies. Scoop by level tablespoon onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and let sit for 1 minute before moving to a cooling rack. Enjoy.

If 4 cups of goodies is seems like too much goodness for one batch of cookies you can substitute more oatmeal or some rice crispies for part of the goodies. J Otherwise just use whatever is in your cupboards. This is a great recipe for emptying out all the partially used bags of goodies sitting in your cupboards that wouldn't be enough for a normal recipe. I did 1/3 cup peanut butter chips, 1/3 cup pecans, 2/3 cup toffee bits, 2/3 cup coconut, 1 cup dried sweetened cranberries, and 1 cup chocolate chips.

This is the AWESOME vanilla a friend gave me. It is a full quart of vanilla. Good times.

My sugar and flour canisters are cute, but not very wide.  My 1/2 cup measure only fits halfway into the jar.  This is ridiculous.

4 cups of goodies: peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, dried sweetened cranberries, pecans, toffee bits, and coconut

The dough.  Yum.

Pretty little cookies.

Fall Pumpkin Cake

My 21st birthday was a few weeks ago and my parents and grandparents gave me money towards a digital camera, so I pooled that with some of my hard earned money and  headed to Best Buy to purchase a camera of my own.  Upon entering the store two sales people attached themselves to me and told me more than I could ever want to know about cameras.  I eventually picke one, a Nikon Coolpix point and shoot.  It is a wonderful. 

I'm excited to have a camera because now I can show you more of my cooking adventures.

This is my kitchen.  It is small but fierce.  I could do without the oversensitve smoke alarm, but other than that this kitchen ROCKS.

All the ingredients needed for Fall Pumpkin Cake: Flour, sugar, baking soda, pumpkin, roasted salted almonds, vanilla, cinnamon, butter, eggs, cranberries, and butterscotch chips.

This is Esmeralda, my Kitchen Aid mixer.  Isn't she a beauty?

Now that's an action shot!!  Add melted butter, sugar, pumkin, eggs, and vanilla to the mixer.

In another bowl combine flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.

Add the flour to the mixer until combined.  Then fold in craberries, half the almonds, and butterscotch chips.

Pour batter into a 9x13 inch pan...or a 8 inch sqaure and an 8 inch cake pan if your kitchen lacks a 9x13 inch pan. 

It isn't required to store the other half of the almonds in a princess bowl, but it is preferred.

Sprinkle the almonds on top.

Place those beauties in the oven and let the magic happen.

Bake until lightly browned on the edges.

Devour.

Fall Pumpkin Cake

½ cup butter, melted

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

1, 15 oz. can pumpkin

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup butterscotch chips

½ cup dried sweetened cranberries

2/3 cup chopped roasted salted almonds, divided

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl add butter, sugar, pumpkin, eggs and vanilla.  Using a stand mixer or hand mixer beat on medium until combined.  In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon; add to the pumpkin mixture,  mixing on low until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber scraper as needed.  Fold in butterscotch chips, cranberries, and 1/3 cup of almonds.  Pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan, spreading until even.  Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup almonds on evenly on top of the cake and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the cake springs back when pressed lightly.

Baked Oatmeal

We make this recipe a lot at Riverside (the recipe is scaled up considerably), it is simple and quick to make and utterly delicious. 

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups oatmeal
1 Tablespoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.  In a bowl whisk butter, brown sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla until smooth.  Stir in the oatmeal and baking powder, pour into greased dish and bake for  45 minutes or until solid.  Slice and serve.

If you want variations on this recipe you can make apple spice baked oatmeal by adding 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and 3/4 cup chopped apples.  Or cranberry almond baked oatmeal with 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries. 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, and 1/2 cup sliced almonds.

I like to eat my Baked Oatmeal by cutting a slice putting it in a bowl and adding a 1/4 cup of milk.  At Riverside we serve it with yogurt, blueberries, chocolate chips, brown sugar and syrup so the kids can dazzle their oatmeal up any way they want.

Cake Mix Rice Crispies

One of my friends posted this recipe on facebook: http://gimmesomeoven.com/cake-batter-rice-crispy-treats/ , I've just adapted it slightly.

When I saw this recipe I was immediately exited to make it.  I love rice crispy bars, especially Rice Krispies Treats, you know, the ones that come in the blue shiny wrapper.  I've never been able to make rice crispy bars like Kellogg does until I made these.

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup butter yellow cake mix
10 oz. regular marshmallows
6 cups rice crispies
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large microwaveable bowl add the butter, microwave on high for 45 seconds or until the butter is melted.  Stir in cake mix til no lumps remain.  Add the marshmallows, return to the microwave for 90 seconds or until all the marshmallows are puffed.  Add the rice crispies and vanilla.  Stir until all the rice crispies are coated and pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan.  Press flat with a spatula, let cool, cut into 12 squares and serve.

I've already made this recipe 3 times, once as written above, another time I used pumpkin spice marshmallows and added 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.  Today I made them with chocolate marshmallows and added 1/3 cup nutella to the butter in the beginning of the recipe.

All these variations have turned out well.  This is a seriously AMAZING recipe and it is very versatile.

Congratulations Pie

This weekend one of my good friends is visiting.  She recently got engaged, so I wanted make her and her fiance a special treat.  Her fiancee doesn't like chocolate or frosting.  When I come up with a dessert recipe my first inclination is to make something with both chocolate and frosting so I had to put my thinking cap on to come up with something they both would enjoy.  This is what I came up with:

Congratulations Pie

3 cups citrus pudding (recipe below)
2 small, ripe bananas, sliced
1 cup sliced strawberries, divided
12 individual graham cracker crusts ( just buy these, it will make your life easier)

Place 1 heaping tablespoon of pudding in the bottom of each crust.  Place a couple banana slices on top, then a few strawberry slices, making sure you save 12 slices.  Spoon remaining pudding on top until the fruit is completely covered.  Place 1 sliced strawberry on top of each pie.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap so the pudding doesn't form a skin.

If you happen to have sweetened whipped cream on hand spread some on top of the pudding before adding the last strawberry, then you don't have to worry about the skin forming.  That's what I would have done but, alas, I had no whipping cream.

Citrus Pudding

This recipe is adapted from "My Favorite Lemon Pudding" by Lori Longbotham on foodnetwork.com

1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups milk (the more fat in the milk the better it will taste)
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a 2 quart sauce pan whisk together the cornstarch and sugar.  Slowly pour in the milk while whisking then add the egg yolks and zests.  Whisk until smooth.  Heat on medium whisking constantly until pudding becomes thick (just slightly thinner than normal pudding, it will firm up more after refrigeration) about 10 minutes.  Whisk in the juices, butter, and vanilla.  Cool to room temperature. 

Green Curry Peanut Sauce

Last week one of my roommates and I made a peanut sauce.  It wasn't super amazing because we made it on a whim and didn't really have all the ingredients to make it fabulous.  I went to the grocery store today with the intention of getting the right ingredients so I could make one legit peanut sauce.

I bought Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste, it  has the perfect balance of lemongrass and ginger.  I used chicken bullion powder because it adds a depth of flavor and salt without adding more liquid to the sauce

1, 14 oz. can coconut milk
1 Tablespoon green curry paste 
1/2 red onion diced
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder

Combine ingredients in a 1 quart sauce pan over medium heat.  Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have softened and sauce is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.

I poured this sauce over spaghetti and sauteed peas, shredded carrots, the other half of the red onion, and a green pepper.  It was insanely good, my roommates gave it two thumbs up as well.

Chippers

One of the Food Science professors left some chocolate covered potato chips in the Mackay storeroom where I work.  They were delicous.  I don't have enough patience to dip single chips into chocolate, so I decided to make some with crushed chips.  This recipe is super simple, quick, and has that perfect combination of sweet and salty.

Chippers
9 oz. wavy potato chips, crushed into small pieces, but not powder
20 oz. chocolate almond bark, melted
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Stir crushed chips into almond bark.  Scoop mixture by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper.  Place white chocolate chips into a ziptop bag.  Microwave until melted, snip a corner of the bag and drizzle over the cookies.  Let sit until the chocolate firms up then store in an air tight container.

Asian Cabbage Salad

I've always been a coleslaw hater because of the mayo, so some how I assumed that I hated cabbage too, just by association. This summer I learned that is not the case.  At somepoint my host mom made an Asian coleslaw and I tried it to be polite.  After one bite I was hooked.  Cabbage has such crunchy texture, so it is perfect for a salad where it can sit and marinate, taking on flavors and softening slightly. 

14 oz. cabbage coleslaw mix
10 oz. shredded carrots ( I love carrots so I loaded this recipe with them, if you are not in love with carrots you might find half this amount more suitable)
1 small red pepper, diced
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white vineagar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tsp Mrs. Dash Onion and Herb seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

In a large bowl combinge all ingredients.  Toss until coated. Cover and refridgerate for for at least 2 hours before serving. 

*This recipe is also delicious using broccoli slaw instead of cabbage.

peanut butter banana chocolate chip cookies

Yesterday I set out to make NORMAL chocolate chip cookies.  Seriously I was like "I know you want to improvise--RESIST" in my head.   Well, you can see how that turned out...

1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1 medium ripe banana
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1.5 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1.5 cups flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
12 oz. chocolate chips

Cream butter, banana, peanut butter and brown sugar til fluffy.  Mix in the eggs and vanilla.  Add flours and soda, mix til combined.  Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

  I like to make tiny cookies so I can justify eating more of them, so they take 8 minutes at the most to bake, but if you make normal cookies 8-10 should be about right.

Making a change

For some time I have felt increasingly dissatisfied with my major being food science.  When many people hear "food science" they think of food processing and safety and quality assurance. That is not what I want to do with my degree.  I would like to work in a test kitchen developing recipes. 

During my time at ISU I've been involved in the Food Science Club and the Culinary Science Club and the more time I spent with the people in the clubs I've found kindred spirits in the Culinary Science Club.  My goals and dreams and interests are more in line with theirs than those people in the Food Science Club.  I still enjoy the Food Science Club and have some great friends there, but don't fit as well there.  The advisor of the Culinary Science Program and Club has talked with me multiple times about changing major.  I've just brushed off her comments because I thought food science would prepare me for the job I want as much as Culinary Science. 

Over the summer I got to work in a test kitchen, it was amazing and I would love to work in an enviroment like that again in the future.  While there one of the other interns had a couple of conversations with some professionals in product development and other food areas at General Mills and she said they would like to hire people who have a bachelor's or master's degree in a program that balanced food science and culinary skills.  That is pretty much Culinary Science. 

Even though I have been resistant to changing my major this really started to make me think.  I decided that Culinary Science is a better match for me and will help better market my skills and knowledge.  So after getting back to Ames this summer I met with the Culinary Science Program Coordinator and my advisor and formally changed my major to Culinary Science.  I should still be able to graduate on time, without taking summer classes, if things go according to plan.  I also dropped a journalism class because I don't need it for my new major.  It's nice to not have to take a class I don't need, but I felt bad telling the professor I was dropping it.  The professor didn't mind at all and happily signed my drop slip, wishing me well in my new major.  How kind.  Then I took my drop slip to Enrollment Services and they charged me $12.  How not-so-kind.  Oh well.

I've never been a big fan of change, but I feel like this is going to be a good one.

Scotcharoo Cheerio Cookies

Sometimes you want schotcharoos but don't have any Rice Krispies or butterscotch chips.  Tonight was one of those nights.  This is what I did instead.

1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup (spray the cup with Pam before measuring the syrup, it will make your life easier)
1.5 cups peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups Cheerios
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Place a long piece of parchment on your counter.  In a large bowl combine Cheerios and oats.  In a 2 quart  saucepan over medium heat add the sugar, syrup and peanut butter.  Stir constantly until just boiling, take off heat and stir in vanilla.  Pour over Cheerios and oats, mix until everything is coated.  Spray your hands with Pam and scoop a heaping Tablespoon of the mixture, roll into a ball.  Place on parchment and flatten slightly.  Put the chocolate chips in a zip top sandwich bag and microwave for 30 seconds, squish it around, then microwave 30 seconds more or until melted.  Using scissors cut a small hole in one of the bottom corners of the bag.  Drizzle chocolate over cookies.  Store in a air tight container.

Choose your adventure

My junior year of college is off to a good start. None of my classes look too horrible: Public Relations (a random journalism class I am required to take), Microbiology, World Food Issues, and Food Chemistry. My professors seem pretty cool, especially my micro lab instructor. He is always trying to make us laugh. My Public Relations professor is really interested in what we want to get out of the class so she can orient her plans to help us learn what we want to, sweet.

I am now a student supervisor at Conversations Dining. It is great to get to wear a red shirt and make an extra dollar an hour, but supervising thus far has been pretty stressful. Yesterday I supervised a breakfast shift where no one I was working with had worked a breakfast shift before. Uff da. So I was training employees on the espresso machine, how to make oatmeal, etc. while helping customers. Then on top of that most of the customers had not been to Conversations for breakfast before, so they didn't know how we do things, so I had to explain the logistics over and over. Breakfast at Conversations is more like a coffee shop than a dining center. Customers can use their meal plan or they can just buy a bagel and a coffee with their CyCash or Dining Dollars. Anyway it was not an easy shift. It will get better as the semester goes on, the employees and customers will understand how we do things more and more every day. Even though it is sometimes challenging I really do enjoy working there. We have an awesome community of employees.

This semester I started working for the FSHN department helping organize groceries for the classes that are in the food labs in MacKay. I'm only working 4.5 hours a week there but I'm enjoying it. My job there is similar to what I did this summer at General Mills. I get to put groceries away and organize them for each of the classes. I also get to clean a lot.

At Lutheran Campus Ministry I get to be a peer minister. Woo-hoo!! I am in charge of Sunday Night Suppers every week at 5 pm before worship at 6pm. Last weekend we had peer minister training and it was amazing to be surrounded by people who are also passionate about seeing Lutheran Campus Ministry glorify God. We talked a lot about hospitality and how to be a theologian of the cross (Lutheran Handbook p.136-137)

This year I am living in Frederickson Court, a series of apartment buildings owned by ISU on the North side of campus. It is really great, I'm in a two bedroom apartment with 3 other gals. On Sunday we made a chore chart to separate out kitchen, bathroom, garbage, and floor cleaning duties. My favorite part is I don't have to have a meal plan so I get to cook my own meals in my own kitchen!!

Final book of the summer

Book update #10: Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert-This book is kind of a sequel to Gilbert's best seller Eat Pray Love. It follows the story of Gilbert and her boyfriend, Felipe, whom she met in Bali in the Love section of Eat Pray Love. They are happily living together in the USA (committed with no intention of getting married) when Felipe gets detained at an air port and is deported. The book focuses on their journey to coming to terms with the fact that they will have to marry if they want to live in the USA. It takes 10 months and lots of paper work to get the fiance visa, during that time they travel around Asia living as cheaply as possible (this is before Eat Pray Love became a resounding success). Gilbert takes this time to learn as much as she can about marriage: reading books, talking with friends, asking the locals she meets in Southeast Asia. It was a good book, but slow at times. I'm interested in the topic of marriage and it was neat to see her look at it from so many perspectives. *** out of *****

Closing a chapter

Yesterday was the last day of my internship at General Mills working on The Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest. I worked there for 11 weeks, so it was hard to say goodbye. On Wednesday we cleaned the kitchens and organized all the leftover food. At the end of the day we got to take home some of the left over food. I took home some basil pesto, half a red onion, a few green onions, a yellow bell pepper, and some brownie mixes.

When I was filling a bag with the leftover food I was trying to come up with something I could use most of the ingredients in. I came up with this pasta salad-

Here I am making my final meal at my summer parents' home. Sandwiches and pasta salad.

Mix in a big bowl:
1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup prepared basil pesto

1 cup shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend)

Add:

1/2 box pasta, cooked, drained and cooled

1 large yellow pepper, chopped

5 green onions, sliced

2 carrots, shredded

1/2 a red onion, diced

Mix. Store in the fridge.

We took the sandwiches and pasta salad to Baker Park and sat at a picnic table near Lake Independence. It was about 75 degrees with a cool breeze, so it was an almost perfect evening.

Yesterday morning I moved out of my summer parents' home before heading to my last day of work. Before I said goodbye they prayed over me, I left with tears in my eyes. This couple's kindness and generosity never ceases to amaze me. It was an utter joy to live with them this summer.

At work we finished cleaning and then helped reshelve the cookbooks, that had been used for searching the originality of the recipes, in the library. The whole Pillsbury Bake-Off team went out to lunch and had great time. When we got back to the kitchens we looked over the pictures of all the recipes and picked our the ones we hope will win. Each of the interns got a bag full of Pillsbury items, including a Doughboy doll that laughs when you poke its tummy.

We all hugged and said goodbye. It really was a splendid summer. I got to work with some incredible people and learn a lot about how a test kitchen works. I feel so blessed to have had this internship.

I honestly applied for this internship thinking it would just be good experience to apply for it. Then when I got a phone interview I thought that would just be good experience. Then I got an on site interview and thought that would just be good experience. I never thought they would actually hire me. When they did I had a lot of anxiety about living and working in and traveling to and from Minneapolis. I spent a lot of time praying. Praying that God would open my heart to this opportunity, that I would feel at peace about the internship, that God would provide a church family and host family for me. God provided in so many ways this summer. I have not felt alone or homesick, I have enjoyed my work environment and got along well with all my coworkers. I can now merge onto a busy freeway without breaking a sweat. I am more capable than I thought.

Home for the weekend

Today I started my last week at General Mills. It is going to be a bittersweet goodbye for sure. I decided to go home for the weekend last Thursday because the Riverside Quilt Auction. I had 4 quilts and 3 pillowcases in the auction and I couldn't miss such a wonderful celebration of ministry of a camp I have long loved.

These are the 3 pillowcases I donated to the auction. I made them using the method described a few posts back. They each sold in the silent auction for $10.

This quilt is covered in animal and nature prints. It is lap sized, backed in flannel with moose on it. It was machine quilted by Denise Froehlich. This quilt sold at the live auction for $100.

This quilt has fruits and vegetable patterned fabric in it. I used a pattern called Snapshots by Terry Atkinson. My mom made my graduation quilt using this pattern, it was pretty easy, especially because it uses only fat quarters. It is quited by Denise Froehlich. It sold for $100. I heard from the family who bought it and their young daughter loves pointing to the fruit and veggies and naming them. :)

When I made this quilt top I tried to follow a pattern, and didn't read it very closely. I ended up with 2x the blocks I needed, so I have another quilt exactly like this one. It was machine quilted by Denise Froehlich. At the auction this one sold for $175. Also pictured is the Grinde family cat: Becky.

This is one is smaller, but some how it made it into the live auction. Usually small quilts go into the silent auction that happens before the live auction. I made this one with scraps and it was machine quilted by Jean Kirkpatrick, who donated her quilting. This quilt sold for $100.

The auction went really well and we raised over $45,000 for Riverside. Woo-hoo!! Many Riverside alumni come back for the auction and it is always good to see them. It is fun to meet other quilters and talk about fabrics and patterns.

Oatmeal

I enjoy oatmeal but sometimes, halfway through a bowl of it I have to stop. I like the oaty flavor but the texture gets to me. I have finally figured out how to make myself the perfect bowl of oatmeal that I can fully enjoy.

3/4 cup Old Fashioned Oats (these are so much better than quick oats, they hold their shape and refuse to turn to mush)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup apple sauce ( I have snack packs of applesauce on hand and they are the perfect amount)
2 T dried cranberries
a few drops of almond extract
a sprinkle of cinnamon

Pour the water and oats in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, let sit in the microwave for 1 more minute. Remove oatmeal from microwave (it will be gluey, don't worry) add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Enjoy.


I find that most people have very specific preferences about their oatmeal. Last semester I had two breakfast shifts at Conversations and we serve oatmeal. We use quick oats and always follow the directions on the container when we make it. There was one girl who always asked for steamed soy milk instead of water. Some people add milk to theirs after we make it for them. Most choose to add honey or brown sugar and we have lots of nuts and berries for people add if they want. Most days I thought it would be easier if we just put a scoop of oats in a bowl and sent people to the hot water spigot to make their own oatmeal. Then they wouldn't be unhappy with our way being either too soupy or too dry, in their personal opinion.

When making your own oatmeal, just do what makes you happy. This recipe is what makes me happy. :)

Potato Salad and Book Update 9

A few weekends ago I visited my second cousins (once removed) in Elk River. It was great to see them and catch up on their kids, grand kids, and adorable great grand kids. For lunch Roxy made Brisket, salad with bacon grease dressing (!!!!!), and potato salad. The brisket and green salad were great, but I was apprehensive about the potato salad. I generally don't like potato salad because I don't like mayonnaise and mustard. I politely put a little on my plate when the bowl was passed and tentatively took a bite. To my great surprise it was incredibly delicious. There is not any mustard, but there is mayo, somehow it doesn't bother me. Here's the recipe:

4 hard cooked eggs (Place raw eggs in a saucepan and fill with water until the eggs are covered. Put the lid on and bring to a rolling boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat, keeping the lid on, for 15 minutes. Drain eggs and place in a bowl with ice water for 15 minutes, then peel the shell off)
4 medium russet potatoes, diced and boiled until crisp tender (I like to peel 3 of them and leave the skin on one for some texture, boiling usually takes 7-10 minutes, drain and spread on a sheet pan and refrigerate for 10 minutes until cooled.)
1/4 cup diced chives
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Put the eggs in a mixing bowl and mash with a fork (don't freak out, I know this is weird, trust me) add salt, pepper and mayo, mix well. Gently stir in chives and potatoes. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and enjoy.

Book #9

The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose: This book is the true story of Kevin's semester at Liberty University, a conservative Christian college in Virginia headed by Jerry Falwell. Kevin, a relatively nonreligious guy going to school at Brown University decided it would be interesting to see what Liberty was like so he transferred there for a semester, pretending to be a traditional Liberty student, but write this book undercover. This book recalls the experiences he had and the people he met. I found it really neat to read about Kevin doing new things like attend a Bible Study, prayer group, church service, etc. Many of those things I do on a regular basis, so they are part of the fabric of my life, they seem natural, but to Kevin they are not. Take prayer for example. Kevin ponders what the point of prayer is, if it is a valid practice, if God really takes into consideration our requests, etc. This helped me to look more closely at my beliefs and what has shaped them. Of course Liberty is filled with homophobia, liberal bashing, and young earth creationism, but Kevin finds that things there are a lot more interesting than he expected. An awesome, awesome book. ****out of *****

Peach Melba Crunch

This recipe is based on a Pillsbury recipe by the same name. They published this a few years ago. I am not sharing recipes from the Bake-Off no matter how nice you ask me. :)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 11x7 inch baking dish.

1, 21 oz. can of peach pie filling
1, 15 oz. can sliced peaches, drained
1, 6 oz. container fresh raspberries

Mix gently in a bowl and set aside.

1, 18.25 oz. box yellow cake mix
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup softened butter (Seriously, don't use margarine. Margarine is stupid.)
1/3 cup sour cream

Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and use a hand mixer to combine. The dough will be very thick, like cookie dough. Press half the dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spoon in the fruit mixture. Scoop remaining dough by tablespoons on top of the fruit mixture. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the top and edges are golden brown. Enjoy.

The other night I made turkey burgers. I mixed in a little applesauce, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary, Italian seasoning, Mrs. Dash Onion and Herb seasoning (I am newly obsessed with this seasoning blend. It is a great season-all and has no salt in it. It doesn't have as much black pepper as some of the other Mrs. Dash blends, which I appreciate.) I cooked the burgers on the George Foreman Grill, when they were almost done I put a little caramelized onions on top and a few slices of Swiss cheese. On toasted buns spread with some cherry jam they were divine.

On Tuesday we tried to go to the Plymouth Concert Band's concert at Parker's Lake, but it was canceled due to the heat. On Wednesday I was excited to go to the Plymouth Farmers Market, but it too was canceled due to the heat. One thing that did go as planned was the water ski show on Wednesday evening at Parker's lake. A club of water skiers came up from Shakopee and put on an amazing show. I didn't realize there were so many kinds of water skiing: knee-boarding, barefooting, using trick skis, etc. Water skiing is really a team effort and it was cool to see families and friends in the club work together to make the stunts happen.

Last night my summer parents took me to a play called She Loves Me (which is based on Shop Around the Corner(which You've Got Mail was also based on)) at Bethel University. So the story was familiar. Two people fall in love corresponding through anonymous letters while they actually work together and despising each other. It was a great show: a lot of fun and interesting musical numbers.

This morning I worked at a food pantry in South Minneapolis. The church I'm going to this summer, St. Phillip the Deacon, sends volunteers there so when I saw it listed in the bulletin I jumped at the opportunity to help there. Another volunteer from SDP was willing to pick me up at the church so I didn't have to navigate there ( I know, I know....I am a whimp). It was quite the experience. The food pantry is hosted by a church there and they convert their worship space into a food pantry twice a month. Breakfast is served at 9 and the food pantry opens at 10. One of the volunteers just stood in a corner playing his guitar and singing worship songs. It created a more peaceful and community atmosphere.

I got to serve breakfast. We had pancakes, Pillsbury breakfast croissants (eggs sausage, cheese, and phyllo dough), and tater tots. The breakfasts they serve there are completely composed of donations. I think they are bulk donations from a bigger food bank. I served the breakfast croissants and was a runner to the kitchen when things got low. There were some Muslim families so we had to check the ingredients in the breakfast croissants and they had pork sausage in them so those families couldn't eat them. The woman who was serving the pancakes is a Spanish teacher so she was able to communicate clearly with the hispanic families, that was really neat to see. One woman came through the line twice, when questioned why one plate of food wasn't enough she said that she had not eaten for two days. Uff da. That just broke my heart. Of course we gave her some more pancakes.

I'm so glad that this ministry is in place to provide food for these people in need, but the breakfast kinda bummed me out. The food filled their bellies, but it was by no means a balanced meal. It was pretty much simple carbs+more simple carbs+fat+sodium+some protien. I wish we could have served some fruit and veggies, but there is no budget for fruits and veggies, even ones from a can.

I got the chance to talk with Rich, one of the people who organizes the food pantry. He told me about one women who was a regular at the food pantry. She was homeless and survived on donations from the food pantry, Rich talked to her and found out that she loved to cook. Rich needed a new cook for the food pantry's breakfasts and offered her the position. Two years later she is still doing it and now runs the cafe located in the church where the food pantry now happens. She is fulfilling her calling to cook, has a purpose, and is no longer homeless. Rich told me a few other stories of hope and healing. All in all it was a good and eye opening experience.

Turkey Time

Slow Cooker Turkey Roast with gravy

This is adapted from a recipe for slow cooker turkey breast french dip sandwiches I saw on Kelsey's Essentials, on The Cooking Channel.

1, 3lb Turkey Roast ( mine was frozen and had to be thawed in the fridge for 2 days)
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, divided
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage, divided
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper, divided
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chicken broth
2 onions, finely chopped
3/4 cup cold water
1/3 cup flour

In a 5 quart slow cooker add onions, broth, sauce, and half of the herbs and S&P; mix. Pull the skin on top of the turkey back a little and put the other half of the herbs and S&P under it. Place the turkey on top of the onion broth mixture and put on the lid. Cook on high for 1 hour the reduce the temperature to low for 6 hours or until the internal temperature is 170 degrees.

Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil and rest for 5 minutes. In a saucepan add the water and flour, whisk until no lumps remain. Slowly pour the broth and onions into the saucepan, turn the heat to medium high and whisk continuously until the gravy thickens. Remove and discard the skin and slice the turkey as best you can, the slow cooker makes it so tender that it mostly just falls apart. If you have an electric knife now would be the time to break it out. I was too intoxicated by the smell of the turkey and my ravenous desire to eat it to care much about pretty slices.

I paired the turkey and gravy with mashed potatoes and spiced apples. YUM.

Sew, sew, sew

I have been obsessed with making hot dog pillowcases since I went to a Navigator's women's retreat in February. A women lead a pillowcase making workshop. For a lot of the gals it was the first time they had ever sewed, so the room was filled with the sound of sewing machines buzzing really fast then stopping suddenly. It reminded me of myself when I was learning to drive: too much gas, sudden stop, too much gas sudden stop. :) It takes a while to learn how to apply even pressure to a sewing machine foot pedal. Anyway, that work shop was tons of fun, so I made pillowcases for a lot of my friends for Valentine's day. These pillowcases are super easy, it usually only takes me 20 minutes to make them. Here's the link to the pattern I loosely use:

http://www.conkerrcancer.org/pdf/hotdogmethod.pdf

When I shop for fabric I get 1/4 yard for the border and 3/4 yard for the body of the pillow. I don't trim the salvage, it gets cut off when I surge the edges. (My summer parents have a surger they let me use. I don't have one at home so it is such a treat to use theirs.) I use really big seam allowances, like 1.5-2 inches, otherwise the pillowcase is bigger than a standard pillowcase.

I've made about 25 pillowcases this summer so far. I got to share this method with my summer mom and my summer dad's sister when she was here to visit. They both enjoyed making these pillowcases and have shared the pattern with others. I love this sewing project and it is so cool to see others enjoy it as well.

My newest sewing adventure has been making headbands:

http://ohsohappytogether.blogspot.com/2011/07/double-sided-fabric-headband-pattern.html

I pretty much follow this pattern but I make the elastic cover piece 1.5 inches wide, instead of 2 inches. Otherwise I find it difficult to fit the ends of the elastic cover piece evenly inside the ends of the headband piece. I make the widest part of the headband piece 2.5 inches instead of 3 inches. Otherwise I find that the headband piece is too wide and it won't sit flat on my head.

This project is so easy. I can make 2 headbands with 1 fat quarter. Last weekend when I was visiting extended family in Elk River I stopped a quilt shop there and bought 18 fat quaters, so I am stocked up! It only takes about 10 minutes to make a headband.

Book #8

Will Grayson, Will Grayson By John Green and David Levithan: Green and Levithan write alternating chapters each from the perspective of high-schoolers named Will Grayson. The stories start unrelated but eventually they overlap when Will Grayson meets Will Grayson. It is an epic book, I really enjoyed it. The book tells a beautiful tale of hope without losing sight of painful realities. David Levithan writes using correct punctuation but without any capitalization. It was kinda weird to read his chapters just because of his interesting style. There is a character that impersonates someone else to try and prove a point. When this is revealed it was deeply disturbing to me how some one could blatantly lie and deceive another person just so they could say "I told you so." It kinda still haunts me. **** out of *****

Snack Mix

Yesterday at work all the interns were given the magazine Pillsbury Bake-Off Prize Winning Recipes. It has some of the best recipes and finalist stories from most of the Pillsbury Bake-Offs. One recipe caught my attention: Cinnamon Fruit Snack Mix by Rebecca Nurse of Waterford, PA. This recipe was from Bake-Off 42 in 2006. It is a yummy mix of cereal, nuts, and dried fruit held together with condensed milk. Tomorrow I'm going to visit some of my mom's extended family in Elk River. I wanted to bring them something yummy (really I just sit around thinking of excuses to cook or bake) so when I saw this recipe I knew it would be perfect to package up in mason jars with cute fabric between the lid and the screw-on ring.

I follow recipes to the point all day at work, so in my kitchen at home I follow my whimsy. Here's the basic outline of the recipe:

2 cups of cereal ( I used 2/3 cup each: Fiber-One Honey clusters, Honey Nut Shredded Wheat, and Chex Multi-Bran)
1.5 cups flaked coconut
2.5 cups nuts ( I did 1 cup pecan halves, 1 cup slivered almonds, and 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts)
1 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups dried fruit (I did 1 cup each: raisins, craisins, cherries)
1 (12 oz.) bag chocolate chips (Nestle makes dark chocolate chips that are insanely good, they worked great, but I think white chocolate chips would be awesome too)

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare two cookie sheets or jelly roll pans with enough aluminum foil to cover each one and lightly coat with cooking spray. In a large bowl mix together cereal, coconut, nuts, flax seed, oil, spices, vanilla and milk. Spread evenly on your two prepared pans. Bake 15 minutes, mix, and put the pan that was on the top rack on the bottom rack and vice-verse. Bake 15 minutes more. Remove from oven, cool. Sprinkle dried fruit and chocolate chips over cereal mix and combine Store in an air tight container.

This makes a lot of snack mix, plan on sharing it with your family and neighbors, make it for a party or give as gifts. It really looks adorable in the mason jars with fabric, I chose a deep purple fabric with a cream damask pattern on it.

Today was my first day back at work since last Thursday. That's right, I had a 5 day weekend. It was wonderful, I went back to Iowa and spent time with family and friends. On Friday my parents and brother went out to eat for supper, we were having a great time until my brother got a really bad bloody nose, it just wouldn't stop bleeding, so we left. We started heading home, when he said he could feel the blood trickling down his throat so we went to the ER. It was a quiet night at the ER, so they got him in a room immediately. The nurses and doctors were able to stop the bleeding and locate the place where it was coming from, and cauterize it. He was told not to blow his nose for a day or two and didn't have any more issues. I nervously knitted and prayed in the waiting room for two hours, what a way to spend a Friday night. It could have been much worse, I am extremely thankful for the quick and capable ER staff.

After that excitement the rest of the weekend was relatively boring. I sewed A LOT. I made 9 pillowcases (6 for friends, 3 for Riverside's annual quilt auction), 12 place mats (for my summer parents, I will give them to them at the end of the summer), and an apron. I probably spent at least 15 hours in the sewing room this weekend, it was blissful.

I stopped at Riverside to drop off my pillowcases for the auction. I ran into a friend there and we had a great chat, he had recently bought a Jewish cookbook, so it was fun to look through that and see a recipe call for schmaltz, chicken fat. I went to the kitchen and visited with the head cook and found out about the goings on of the kitchen. Their summer is going well, making delicious food as always. I miss being there but I will get to cook there for retreats, so it is not like I will never be back.

We spent the 4th with my grandparents in Ames. My grandma made 2 kinds of jello and fried the hamburgers in bacon grease. It was wonderful. I had a great time catching up with my grandpa and hearing about his bowling scores and discussing the finer points of popcorn making with my grandma.

It is good to be back at work at General Mills. We are transitioning to some different aspects of recipe testing for the Pillsbury Bake Off, so today there was a bit of a learning curve, hopefully we will do better tomorrow.

Music in the air

Last Thursday my summer parents and I went to Music in the Park in Hopkins. It was about 5o degrees, so we bundled up! They were selling ice cream, but there were not many takers. The concert featured a The First Memorial John Phillips Sousa Band. It was a group of about 40 musicians playing mostly marches. The music was fun and lively and the director even more so. Between songs he would tell jokes and on a few numbers he even played the banjo.

On Saturday we went to Fourth Baptist Church for a patriotic concert. Every year they put on a Patriotic and Christmas musicale. The concert included an orchestra, percussion ensemble, a choir, handbell choir, organ, and piano. It was very cool. The percussion ensemble did a great arrangement of Stars and Stripes Forever by John Phillips Sousa and the handbell choir had a very unique way of plucking the bells for certain songs that resulted in a cool sound. They ended on A Mighty Fortress is Our God, which is awesome, except it was a weird arrangement that was super fast. I feel like the majestic hymn wasn't done justice.

I've been able to spend time with a few friends who live in the area. I went to lunch with a friend from the Riverside Lutheran Bible Camp kitchen (who now works for General Mills) in Bloomington at a restaurant called Redrossa Italian Grille. It had just opened, so there were not a lot of people there and the waiter was over enthusiastic, but the food was good and the fellowship better. It was great to catch up with my friend and hear about what she is up to at GM and how much she loves the cities. We're planning a trip to a few more good restaurants before the summer is over. I also got to hang out with a good friend from ISU. She has an internship at Cargill this summer and lives less than 5 miles away from me. We had breakfast at The Original Pancake House in Maple Grove. I got cranberry walnut pancakes with caramel syrup. Holy buckets was that good! I had one cup of coffee and it cost me $2.50!!! Oh my word, that is completely ridiculous. The coffee had no added flavors, it wasn't bigger than 10 oz., nor was it fair trade certified. It was a regular cup of coffee, nothing special other than its outrageous price. Uff da.

Book update:
7. Mud and Poetry By Tyler Blanski- This one is a reread. I bought this book about a year ago and loved it so much I bought his cd (he writes books as well as makes music) and one of his books of poetry too. I wanted to reread it this summer because Tyler lives in Minneapolis, and this is a book about himself and his experiences so he talks a lot about the city and restaurants where he loves the food (I am going to try a few of the places he's mentioned, one of them (The Weinery) was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. That is two recommendations so I have to go!) Anyway about the book: honestly it is a book about sex, but it's more than that. It is a book about Tyler's journey to figure out who God has called him to be as a child of God, a man, and someday a husband. He discusses the danger of the "Chastity Cult." The way Christians have, in a sense, demonized sex, and how many people put marriage on a pedestal. Tyler was once part of the, as he puts it, the "Chastity Cult." He speaks of how he idolized his future wife and the life they would share. He talks about how his viewpoint changed and what God is teaching him along the way. Many of his words echo the rumblings of my heart. Mud and Poetry made me laugh, it encouraged and convicted me. This book reminds me a lot of Sex God by Rob Bell and Theology of the Body by Christopher West. ****out of *****