Two Blogs -- Too Busy -- Too Much

As you can see, I haven't posted here for a long time. I've been posting almost daily to my book blog, Annette's Book Spot. I've decided that for as seldom as I post here, I'm going to do an occasional post on my book blog about the cooking and crafting I've been doing. If you are interested, you can follow me over there. Thanks for all your support!

Orange Sesame Noodles with Grilled Shrimp

 Orange Sesame Noodles with Grilled Shrimp was a winner. We really enjoyed it. I didn't grill the shrimp, just cooked them in a very hot iron skillet. I salted and peppered the shrimp before cooking.  Give it a try. It's quick and easy.

Shower Decorations

Just had to show you some pictures from my daughter's "shoe themed" shower.

My sister folded all the paper shoes for favors. We put a little bottle of nail polish, an emery board, and some candy in them. They were adorable!

We used my daughter's actual shoes, on top of wrapped shoe boxes for the centerpieces. Very cute.

My daughter in the middle, and her bridesmaids. It was a great day and everything turned out wonderful!

A Shower Gift for my Daughter

My daughter is getting married this spring, and I made her a little purse for her shower. I embroidered the inside. I was happy with the way it turned out, and she liked it too.

Cabbage Burgers (Runzas) - No, I'm not kidding

I've been participating in a local coop for fruits and vegetables. I get a bag full every two weeks, and it's been a really good thing. This week we got cabbage, which isn't really one of my favorites. Not a big slaw eater. My husband said he used to go to a bakery in Nebraska and they served something called "cabbage burgers" and they were great. Really???

So, I started looking around the internet, and found that this dish came from German immigrants who mostly settled in Nebraska. Their German name is "Runzas." Huh! Well, here's the recipe I used (the recipes I found were all fairly similar, and pretty basic.) I used frozen bread dough. And, yes, I used REAL lean ground beef. No fake meat for this one....

My kids happened to both be home, with their "significant others," and while they are pretty good about trying new things, they ALL turned their noses up when I said "cabbage burgers." But, when they bit into them, everyone LOVED them, and there wasn't a crumb left! I've actually made them again since that first time, because I had so much filling left after I used all my bread dough.

Here's what mine looked like:

The filling

Garden Vegetable Crustless Quiche

I made this Garden Vegetable Crustless Quiche the other night, and we really liked it. Well, my daughter and I did, but my husband, not so much. He said it had too much zucchini in it, and it did have a lot. I may used less zucchini next time and add some spinach. I used frozen "potatoes O'Brien" (hashbrowns with onions and peppers.) I didn't use low fat cheese, and I used low-fat cottage cheese, instead of no fat. I used pepper-jack instead of jack cheese. I used dried parsley, because I didn't have any fresh. I only had grape tomatoes, so I sliced them up for the top. I baked it in a 13 x 9 and it was beautiful when it came out of the oven.

A great meatless meal, that I will make again. You can really use any vegetables you want. I think broccoli would be good too.

White Chili with Quick-Roasted Garlic -- Yummy!

not my picture - from the Food Network website

I made this White Chili with Quick-Roasted Garlic last weekend and it was a BIG hit. Everyone loved it -- kids and hubby. Only comments: too much kale, and not enough beans. I agree about the beans -- one can in a big pot isn't very much. Next time I'll use two cans. The kale was supposed to be spinach, and so maybe I won't get that complaint if I use spinach (I just had kale that I needed to get rid of!) The other changes I made were minor. I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth because I almost always do.I used half and half instead of cream, once again, because I had some on hand.

This isn't a week-night soup. It takes a little prep (roasting and a lot of chopping) but it makes a great big pot and the leftovers are wonderful. It's healthy, too, if not vegetarian. I highly recommend you give this one a try.

My Niece Had a Baby!

This is the first new baby in our family for over 20 years -- so we are pretty excited. Here's one of the things I've made for him with patterns from Embroidery Library Baby Days of the Week (I removed the lettering).

I thought it turned out pretty cute and I can't wait to find more things to make for him!