Thankful Thursday: Pan Scraper

Today I sorted through my utensil drawer searching for my pan scraper. I had received it along with my favorite Pampered Chef Pizza Stone as a wedding gift, but this little nylon scraper has helped me more than just with cleaning crumbs off my stone.




I really should have a special spot for my scraper, as I am continuously searching for it, like I do with my orange peeler and as always, when I'm about to give up, there it is!

For the longest time, I only used the scraper when using my pizza stone for breads, pizzas and cookies, but one afternoon I had rolled out dough for homemade cinnamon rolls, when I became frustrated that I could not clean the dough off my counter top. I remembered my pan scraper and with a little water the counter was sparkling clean.

At only $2.75 these are a must buy if you ask me.

Seating Arrangements

Last spring we had the honor of attending my husbands closest friends wedding in California. It was at a gorgeous outdoor venue in Northern CA and the bride and her friends did most of the decor and arrangements. I found that the seating arrangements were set in a very unique manner that I had never seen before.



She printed each of our names and table numbers on assorted colored paper. Then decorated an old window with ribbons and the printed paper. They then placed each of the windows in the bush area as we entered the venue. It was so neat and beautifully arranged. I thought this same idea could easily be used for an intimate bridal or baby shower as well. Very clever!

What unique ways have you seen or done seating arrangements? Leave your comments below.

How-To Tuesday : Roll Out Dough

My family is a strong believer in making our own crusts for pies, so I learned to roll dough at a young age. I think there is only one pre-made, store-bought crust that my aunt will ever consider buying and that's if she is running behind or wants to have a back-up dessert prepared for an unexpected visitor. (I believe it's from Trader Joes)

Rolling dough really isn't that difficult, but it does take some practice to be successful. I remember my husband helping me once with dough that I had prepared and he tried to force it flat all at once with the rolling pin....sometimes I forget the things I learned growing up are alien to those who never baked...

First, you want to ensure that your dough is chilled. It will be easier to roll out. Also, make sure you have your pie dish near you so you can easily transfer the dough to your dish. You will want to lightly dust your counter or surface with flour to keep the dough from sticking, as well as your rolling pin. Try not to leave too much flour on your surface, as it will stick to your dough and dry it out when baking. Next, pat the dough with your hands to shape it into a thin patty shape. Place the rolling pin in the center of the dough and start rolling. You will want to apply pressure in the center of the dough and then less pressure toward the outer edge. Once the dough is pretty flat, you will want to apply even amounts of pressure across the whole piece. You always want to roll from the center of the dough outward.

Don't try to make the dough flat in your first roll. You want to work the dough into the desired thickness. If the dough begins to stick to your rolling pin, feel free to add more flour to the pin and even to the top of the dough. You want to roll the dough while it is still chilled. Once rolled out, place dough in your pie dish and remove the extra dough that overflows.

Seems simple enough, right?

**Quick tip for transferring the dough from your counter to the pie dish...Fold your rolled out dough in half, and then again in half so you have what looks like a quarter of the dough. Next, take your folded dough and place the *point* in the center of your dish. Begin to unfold until completely covering the dish. This process will ensure a successful transfer without any tears or rips in the dough.

Macaroni and Cheese

I'm sitting here sipping my coffee, before both the kids are up and hubby's still snuggled in bed. I honestly cannot remember the last time that this has happened, between sleep deprivation, our daughter teething or our newborn waking up *ahead of schedule* I'm usually taking as much sleep as I can get. But today, my brother, sister and nephew are driving in for our son's dedication, so they should be arriving any minute now. So up I got, made my coffee and sat down for a little peace and quiet.

You may think it's odd that I'm thinking of Mac & Cheese so early in the morning, but since I've found a few noodles here in the couch from my daughters lunch yesterday I figured it's fitting to make this my Weekend Wrap topic for today.

My husband and I love macaroni and cheese. Whether it's Kraft out of the box, Velveeta with shells, or someones family recipe we usually devour as much as we possibly can. Well, I've never actually made my own macaroni and cheese, other than from the box of Kraft, but since my husband was really begging for it I decided to create my own.



I picked up some Velveeta cheese, plus had some feta cheese and cheddar cheese at home I planned to use as well. The secret to having creamy macaroni and cheese, no matter what other cheeses you add, is to use condensed milk in the recipe. It keeps everything from drying out. If you are backing your mac & cheese though and it begins to dry out, (after adding the condensed milk) you can pour a little bit of regular milk in while its in the oven.



The mac and cheese came out delicious and I look forward to experimenting a bit with other cheeses as well as some sort of topping....I'm thinking Ritz crackers...or something mixed with Italian herbs. Yum.

In case you'd like to take a whack at the mac & cheese, I did a huge no-no in my book and didn't write down my recipe (which is pretty much the whole motivation behind why I wrote my cookbook) but anyways. I cooked the noodles as directed. Then put in to a 9x13 inch casserole dish. Cut up a little less than a half a block of Velveeta, about a cup of feta cheese, probably a cup or so cheddar cheese, sprinkled in some Parmesan, added salt, pepper and garlic, and one can of condensed milk. Threw it in the oven at 350 until the cheese melted...about 30-45 minutes.

Next time I'll write down the recipe :)   

What are your guy's secrets to making creamy mac & cheese?

Thankful Thursday: Wooden Spoons

This week I let my daughter pick out the utensil that "we" are thankful for, so I opened up my drawer of utensils, turned my head as I held my almost two year old up to grab a utensil....and of course she chose the WOODEN SPOON




Part of me thinks she must remember back when she was about three months old and "helped" me bake haha



I am thankful for the memories I have of watching my mom bake and being able to lick the wooden spoon. Or the joy I get when I  pull the gooey melted marshmellows off when making rice krispies. And I always smile and laugh when I remember this story.....

My Aunt has always been involved with her church and the children's nursery. Well one Sunday morning she brought in a bag of cooking utensils and sat with each of the children in a circle. One by one, each child pulled out a different utensil and would say what it was used for. One child pulled out a spatula and said his daddy used it to grill burgers with. Another child pulled out a ladle and said it was used to dish soup out into a bowl. Next was my little cousins turn and she pulled out the wooden spoon.....Now -- let me explain something really quick. My Aunt is a superb baker, I mean seriously, the things that come out of her kitchen leave you begging for more. She bakes quite often and is always sharing her goodies with friends and family. So when my cousin pulled the wooden spoon, of course she would say, "My mommy uses this when she bakes me cookies...." No, not my cousin....she pulls out the wooden spoon and says, "My mommy uses this to spank me"

I believe in that moment my Aunt stopped breathing and one of the children had to pick her jaw up from the ground. My Aunt had never spanked her with a wooden spoon, nor with any other utensil for that matter. She about died when she heard those words.....and for all of use.....we die every time we hear the story!

Marriage Vows

I, Jaclyn, take thee, Jeffrey to be my lawful wedded Husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health to love, cherish and to obey till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance, and thereto I give thee my troth.....

Is that how your marriage vows went? Or did you write your own? I know many people decide with their fiance's that they will each write their own vows only to be read for the first time to one another on their wedding day. For my husband and I, I really don't think the conversation ever even came up --- we just planned to read the vows the Pastor had for us -- traditional - "with this ring, I thee wed...."


Well, my cousin and her husband were married this year on New Year's Day at a beautiful estate in the Murrieta Valley. After her wedding she was inspired by a sign she saw in a store and asked if I would design her wedding vows similar to the sign.....Here is the photo she provided:




I absolutely loved the "inspiration sign" and was so excited to begin designing her and her husband's vows. She planned to print the artwork and have each of their vows hung in her home.

They came out perfect!

Grooms Vows: 



Brides Vows: 



If you are interested in me designing something similar for you, please let me know! I'd love to do this again :)

How-To Tuesday : Hard Boil An Egg

**I must take a moment to first tell you how ecstatic I currently am at this moment...I just woke up about 15 minutes ago to realize that I actually slept the ENTIRE night through....which means my 2 month old slept the entire night through --- waa hoo!!! (ok, maybe I should have blogged about that on "waa-hoo" wednesday, but I just had to let you all know.... we shall see how the rest of the week goes**

Alrighty, How-To Tuesday. I wanted to start off the series with something that I never realized I didn't know how to do until I moved out of my parents house. HOW TO HARD BOIL AN EGG.




I can picture my mom now, peeling the egg shells in our kitchen sink and me just waiting to dive in to a delicious egg salad sandwich, or slice a few for my salad. I guess I never actually asked her the process, just rejoiced over the final product.


Well, I began to crave egg salad sandwich and to my surprise, did not know where to start...I know crazy right? So I wanted to fill you all in so you don't find yourself in my same position.

When hard-boiling an egg, start with a large saucepan and place your desired amount of eggs at the bottom, do not layer your eggs.  Next, run water over the eggs until its about 1/2 an inch above the eggs and place the pan on the stove. Let the water and eggs come to a boil. Once boiling, remove the pan from the burner and place the pan on another section of the stove; cover with the lid. Let the eggs and water sit for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, pour eggs into a strainer and run cold water over the eggs. You can then place the eggs in the refrigerator or you can peel them right then.

To peel the egg, run cold water very low over the egg you want to peel. Tap the egg against the side of your sink or counter to crack the shell. Then remove the shell with your fingers, allowing the cold water to help get rid of some of the shell as well. The egg shell can go down the disposal, or you can throw the shell away.

Another tip for peeling eggs is to fill the pan up with water and peel each egg under the water after you have cracked it either on the counter or side of sink. Having the egg completely submerged makes for a smooth and easy peel. Plus, all of your shells are then left in the pan for an easy clean up.


Do you have any tips on how to peel a hard boiled egg?