on a cold winter’s day

The perfect antidote to a chilly, trying-to-snow, wintery day …

homemade chicken noodle soup.

It’s a favorite around here and so simple to make.

I use Ina Garten’s recipe {found here} but add in extra noodles and use a store-bought rotisserie chicken instead of roasting my own.

And for dessert …

My favorite tea and not-too-sweet ginger cookies made by my mom {using another Ina recipe found here}.

Delish.  The perfect thing to keep you cozy on a cold winter’s day.

I’m having my cake

Today is my birthday. And according to Wikipedia, it is the birthday of 698,999 other Americans too. October 5th {the most common birthdate} happens to fall 40 weeks after New Years Eve, so I guess it makes sense that all that lovin’ on New Years turns into babes 10 months later. 

I don’t really like to make a big deal about my own birthday, but I do like carrot cake and so I decided to make myself one.  I’m going to try not to eat the whole thing {it really is that good}.

The recipe is below {from Ina Garten – my fave}, and the ingredients made for a cute photo.

carrot-cake-ingredients

frosting-ingredients

But the very best part is the finished product.

carrot cake whole

carrot cake slice

carrot cake

My auntie made this recipe last week for my cousin’s bridal shower and it is truly the most delicious carrot cake I have ever had.  My version turned out pretty well too.  If you are a carrot cake lover, add this one to you must-try-list.

Carrot and Pineapple Cake {Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved}

INGREDIENTS

For the cake:
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
  • 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 pound carrots, grated
  • 1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple
For the frosting:
  • 3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

For the cake:

Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light yellow. Add the vanilla. In another bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, the cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Toss the raisins and walnuts with 1 tablespoon flour. Fold in the carrots and pineapple. Add to the batter and mix well.

Divide the batter equally between the 2 pans. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans set over a wire rack.

For the frosting:

Mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until just combined. Add the sugar and mix until smooth.

Place 1 layer, flat-side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

school lunches

The first day of school is in just a few days, which means earlier mornings, the school bus and packing lunches.

I don’t know what it is, but by week two, I run out of creative ideas for the lunchbox. Ethan ate pb&j, baby carrots, apple slices and a fruit leather pretty much every single day last year and I refuse to do that to him again.

I did a little searching for some good alternatives to the default lunch and I hit the jackpot.

image

image

Laptop Lunches is a company that sells bento boxes {I should probably order a few for my kids}, but the best part is the menu tab with 365 lunch ideas. Here are just a few:imageimageimageimageimageimage

Don’t those look yummy? And pretty easy to make too. You can see all of the ideas here. I should just print these pictures and tape them to my pantry door.

One thing I do like about packing lunches is being able to slip in a note to my little darlings.

IMG_3357

I created an assortment of lunch box note cards a few years ago which work great for a quick lunch box note.

cupcake lunch box note card

lunch box note card

IMG_3354

In honor of back to school, I am offering these note cards as a free download.

Please click  H E R E  to download.

Enjoy!

kevin’s salsa

My uncle Kevin was a chef for much of his adulthood. He specialized in things like gran marnier injected chocolate-dipped strawberries {pure heaven} and the best parmesan chicken you’ve ever tasted.

But his most beloved recipe of all {at least in our family} is his salsa.

Uncle Kevin was diagnosed with ALS {also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease} my freshman year of college. The disease progressed quickly and it resulted in the loss of muscle control, speech and ultimately his life just a few years later.  It was a very hard time in my close-knit family’s life, but probably one of the most amazing as well. The ways Kevin used his illness to impact others in life-changing ways was so encouraging to watch.  He made a difference while he was here and we miss him terribly, but rejoice in knowing we will meet up again someday soon.

One way I like to remember him is to make his delicious salsa. I love it on fish tacos, but it also is a great dish to take to a party or a summer-day snack with tortilla chips.

kevins salsa

salsa ingredients

INGREDIENTS:

1 small head of cabbage

1 bunch of cilantro

3-4 roma tomatoes

1 small onion

1 lime

lawry’s or johnny’s seasoning salt

STEPS:

finely chop cabbage, onion, and tomatoes and add to large bowl. Strip cilantro leaves from stems and finely chop, then add to bowl. Add the juice of one lime and generously season with seasoning salt.

How easy is that.  {I sound like Ina Garten – another fave}

You could also chop it all in a food processor, but it does create a less chunky salsa. 

finished salsa

salsa on a chip

Yum.

I am by no means a food expert or even a good chef, but I can make this one every time without fail … I hope you try it!

raspberry jam {tutorial + printable labels}

I’ve been wanting to make homemade jam for a few years, but was intimidated by the intense process of preparing the jars, boiling the liquid, timing everything just right.

But last weekend my Aunt Laura eased my fears and clued me in to the quick and easy way to make berry jam … freezer jam. Since raspberries are perfectly in season, I decided to give it a try.  If you have never made jam before, let me encourage you … it is super easy.

freezer jam

Here’s what you’ll need:

freezer jam ingredients

:: 6 cups of fresh raspberries {about 5 6oz baskets}

:: 5 1/4 cups sugar

:: 3/4 cup water

:: 1 box of Sure Jell Fruit Pectin

::8 half pint mason jars

The actual recipe I used is right here, but I’ll walk you though the steps below.

STEP ONE: rinse jars in boiling water and dry thoroughly

rinse jars

STEP TWO: measure 6 cups of ripe raspberries and mash

mash raspberries

raspberries are mushed

STEP THREE: strain seeds

strain the seeds

I didn’t have much patience for the straining process, so I gave up after a few sieve-fulls, but you can remove as many seeds as you wish.

STEP FOUR: add sugar to berries

add sugar

stir in sugar

It is a lot of sugar, but from what I read, the sugar acts as a preservative for the berries so you can’t skimp. If you’d like a sugar free version, Sure Jell sells a no-sugar-needed pectin.

While the sugar is dissolving in the berries …

STEP FIVE: add the fruit pectin to water and bring to a boil

sure jell

Stir constantly and allow to boil for one minute.

boil

STEP SIX: Add pectin to berry mixture and stir for three minutes

add pectin to raspberries

STEP SEVEN: pour jam into prepared jars and seal tightly

pour into jars

Allow the jam to sit out for 24 hours, then it is ready to eat. You can store an opened container in the refrigerator for up to three weeks and in the freezer for one year.

jars of raspberry jam

I had a fun time decorating my jars of jam using scraps of fabric, bakers twine {from here}, flax colored yarn, houndstooth & dotted papers from my printable paper collection, and a faux raspberry from the craft store.

What special gifts these will make {maybe with some fisher scone mix? Yum}.

jam collage

I created two different labels that you are welcome to download and print:

raspberry jam full label raspberry-jam-round

{click on the image to download the pdf}

And just in case you are making strawberry jam, here are labels for that:

strawberry jam full label strawberry jam round

Just to show you behind the scenes while I’m doing craft projects, here is what my office looked like while I was embellishing my jam jars. What a mess!

what a mess

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