Sharing the Love with some Feathered Friends

Is it just us folks with small kids that seem to drag out every holiday and celebrate for days or weeks ahead of time to milk every ounce of fun out of it?  I don't remember being so "holiday themed" crazy before becoming a mommy.  So much so that the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years events with two little wild men seemed to wear me out and leave me a bit uninspired after prepping and decorating every square inch of our little space we call home.  But alas, I digress, and I am back to my old tricks with a fun family craft that's both green, and good for your hungry feathered friends. 

It's easy.  It can be SO VERY MESSY!  Do as I say and not as I do, it's for your own good, trust me.  If at all possible I'd put these Valentine Bird Feeders together outside, and far away from the reach of helping husbands who are bound to knock the teeny tiny seeds all over your kitchen and breakfast area.  If you can keep your toddlers from eating all of the bird seed than it's a fun Valentine's Day themed craft to do that won't take much time and my two and a half year old seemed thrilled to do.  Of course, he loves the little birdies in our yard.  They are his friends, so he was super excited when I stole this idea from one of his Highlights magazines as a fun thing for us to share, and to add a little decoration outside.  He informed me tonight that we were also to make one for his favorite golfing buddy Mr. Bill, so if you see him, don't spill the bird seed, it's a surprise. 

His plan is a good one; these sweet little bird feeders would make cute do-it-yourself gifts and they are inexpensive and will hopefully bring more birds by our windows during play time.

What do you need? 

• card board
• Crisco
• bird seed
• ribbon
• hole punch

We used part of an old cardboard diaper box and luckily had a ton of Crisco on hand.  An adult should cut out heart shapes from the card board and hole punch where you'll want to tie your ribbon.  Spread a LOT of Crisco onto your cardboard heart and sprinkle on bird seed.  Don't be shy with the Crisco because that is what holds the seeds on.  And don't be surprised if little hands smear Crisco all over the place!!!  Flip it over and coat the other side with Crisco and then seeds, tie them up with a ribbon and your done.  See, easy.  Messy.  Which equals big fun with the kiddos. 

 If you try this and find a way to make the ribbons less messy, please share it with me in the comments section.  This was our first try at these bird feeder hearts and my son truly loved it but I would like to find a way to make them cuter, especially if we are going to be handing them out as gifts.  If you like this idea, please, share the love with your friends, feathered or not.

Quick Tip Tuesday: A Cure for Over-cooked Meat

Being huge Iron Chef fans in our house we took our horribly, no good, very bad beef from our New Year's Eve dinner that went awry and used it as an opportunity to try something new.  Have you ever seen beef get re-hydrated on any of those cooking shows?  It's really pretty cool, and also pretty easy.  It's also your only chance to salvage meat that has just been smoked to a crisp...okay, not your only chance, I've also heard you can make it into a stroganoff but that was not a part of our plan. 

When we refused to throw out our terrible dinner from the night before we thought that we could fix it like they always seem to do with weird secret ingredients on Chopped or Iron Chef.  It already stunk, so we couldn't really do any more damage.  My memories of those episodes were spotty so I tried to find it online first,  but when google wasn't answering our questions, I just tried what I thought would help and it ended up being much better than we thought.  My husband was sad that I didn't try to make more but the rest of the left overs were too hard to cut and I don't think they would have turned out as well. 

You can salvage a piece of dry beef just by throwing it into the oven for a few minutes.  If meat is left over and been refrigerated it's easier to slice.  Slice it thin and add it to a casserole dish with beef broth, cover it with tin foil and heat on a low setting about 300ish until it's warmed up.  I added in garlic and onion seasoning because I wanted to see if I could help the flavor of our mess, and would have loved to have used a beef and onion broth to make an au jus, but we didn't have any so I used what we had on hand and it turned out pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.  It's not going to be the juiciest thing you've ever eaten but it will certainly work in a pinch.

Here is a link to the only site I could find that talked about fixing this meat dilemma, they also shared a few other good ideas that might help you the next time you are wondering what to do with that kitchen nightmare you've just created.

It's a New Year! Re-Purposing with Purpose

Happy New Year Folks!  I hope your celebrations were joyful and fun.  With a new year I feel like it's time to clean house and start anew on the home front too.  Do you ever feel that way?  Early Spring Cleaning of sorts?  Just to get our boys Christmas stuff in the house we had to re-organize our second floor (thanks Santa Pops!) and once you get started it's sometimes hard to stop.  As I am rifling through everything and putting stuff in the store, donate, or re-use pile, I thought it would be a great time to share some ideas with you.  I have a few re purposing ideas for the kitchen, home office, and playroom that I plan to talk about this week and would love if you shared your ideas as well. 



Have you ever seen these glass beverage containers?  They are gorgeous and look so pretty sitting out when entertaining, even water and fruit look prettier in a giant glass vase.  Unfortunately for us ours have never seemed to work without leaking.  It starts out as just a little drip of liquid which then turns into a huge mess when you are trying to entertain.  Both of the urns we have were gifts that we love so there was no way that we were willing to toss them. 

When the holidays rolled around and we couldn't find anything significant enough to be the center piece for our kitchen island one of our vases was the perfect fix, which thrilled me to no end and my husband too because he was tired of me making him swap stuff out for me to say "mmm no, too small", or "too big", or "too ugly".  Using the vase in this way was an easy fix, the spout just pops right off.  It's obviously not air tight but that doesn't matter for decorative purposes and because it was so low, you didn't even notice that there was a small hole on the bottom unless you were looking for it.

With a cheerio loving 9 month old on our hands, it's become pretty obvious what our other beverage urn is going to become.  We don't even need to make any modifications to it.  It's air tight with a seal around the top and it's sturdy with a giant opening for pouring stuff in and taking stuff out, perfect for counter top storage and much more attractive than a cheerios box.  And I must say, I am so tired of seeing the Cheerios box on my counter!  This is a great gift, that now that we've figured it out, will keep on giving (us storage options) for years to come.  Hooray!

Thirsty Thursday: Cheers to you Brother!

I was awake maybe 5 seconds before I thought about taking this shot.  No, I am not a lush, and I know that's what your thinking.  I even asked my husband if it would be creepy of me to sample this shot before posting about it, just to make sure it still taste the same.  And good husband that he is, he took a shot with me.  See, I told you, I am not a lush, I don't drink alone.

When you try this shot send up a good cheers to my big brother.  My family lost him ten years ago today.  He was a pretty heroic man in my eyes, as he'll always remain.  So we are toasting in his memory today and sharing one of his signature shots.

Mix equal parts Amaretto, Southern Comfort and Sweet and Sour over ice.  Pour it onto a shot glass and enjoy!  It really is delicious.  Very sweet, as you can imagine with two sweet alcohols and sour mix.  It taste a lot like a sweet tart so that's what we'll call it.  It's also great as a drink if you want to mix it with 7 UP. 

Cheers Genie Weenie, I'll miss you forever.  Thank you for letting me grow up with you looking out for me.  I guess now dad knows you were feeding me shots when you were supposed to be baby-sitting your teenage sister!

Moms sure are Memory Makers in the Kitchen

Some of my best and earliest memories are those that I made while watching and "helping" my mom in the kitchen as a little girl. I can remember when I was big enough to sit on the counter while my mom worked on something over the stove and getting to help her stir the pot every once in a while as long as she didn't think I was going to burn myself by dancing around up there.  As I wrap up my week long postings about favorite holiday dishes, I would be remiss if I didn't add that I have only touched on a very limited few of my favorites over the past several days. Mostly just noting the holiday foods or drinks that I feel like are fun when entertaining and easy to share. As a true southerner to the core I can tell you that the kitchen has always been the heart of my home and it's where so many of the best memories have been made, both during my childhood and even more so now that I have children of my own. Today I'd like to finish out my recipe posts (for now) with two more holiday must haves for our family. 

During the month of December I am constantly baking.  Cookies, candies, cakes, and pies and I love to do it.  It's certainly not been as easy to find the time for this hobby since my little guys came along, so my made from scratch bourbon pecan pie has been put on the back burner the past few years as I now seem to lean towards the quicker and less hands on recipes.  Making something that my toddler can help with or something that he looks forward to has made my projects that much sweeter and it warms my heart to realize that these are indeed the moments that memories are made of.  When working on my annual pralined pecans yesterday I was surprised by the fact that upon awaking from afternoon nap time my toddler recognized by scent what was happening.  "What's that smell mommy?  It's my pecans, yummy!  You baking them for meeee?"   Now I hadn't made them just for him, but he was my official taster as they came out of the oven.  How could I not hand them right over when he was sitting there on a step stool watching them bake?  I knew in that moment that I would have to share that memory with you, as well as my pralined pecan recipe. 

Praline Pecans

What you need:

• 1 egg white
• 4 teaspoons water
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound pecan halves

What you do:

• Preheat an oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Beat the egg in a bowl until frothy; whisk the water and vanilla into the egg. Stir the sugar, cinnamon, and salt into the egg mixture. Add the pecans; stir to coat completely. Spread the pecans onto the prepared baking sheet.
• Roast the pecans in the preheated oven, stirring about every 15 minutes, until the coating forms a glaze, about 1 hour.

I found this recipe several years ago on a recipe site, modified it and have been using it ever since.  I usually get rave reviews when I give out these candied pecans as presents each year.  I've tried it once with almonds but the pecans are so much softer and seem to work better with this glaze.  It will store well in any air tight container.  I have often used these chopped up on top of whipped cream when serving pecan pie and it taste great.  Enjoy!

I hope that when my boys are old and gray that they'll still think of me with love when they sneak into a candy store for praline samples. 

On Friday my husband posted his latest burger idea, which of course we tried before blogging about, and it was delicious. As soon as we sat down and took our first bites my husband grew nostalgic because the spices in his meatloaf burger reminded him of a meat pie that his mom makes around the holidays. It's called Tourtiere, pronounced tuut k, and is one his favorite dishes. Because my Yankee husband moved South so long ago and now we have two wild children at home, it has not been easy getting him back up there for Christmas, and this is a dish he misses most when celebrating the holiday away from his family. I have yet to make this dish myself. To be honest it's always been a bit foreign to me because I had never had it until his mom made it during one of our visits. It just wasn't something I grew up eating, but it's delicious and comforting and taste like a hearty helping of their family history. I'm grateful my mom in law was happy to share her recipe with you, and even happier that she typed it up to share and even paired it with a wine for you too. I love when my job gets easier!

Tourtiere
No Christmas Holiday is complete without a sampling of this traditional French Canadian meat pie. Serve it with pickled beets.
Wine suggestion: Mirassou Pinot Noir

Meat Filling:
1 lb. ground pork
 ½ lb. ground beef
¾ cup finely chopped yellow onion
 ¼ tsp. ground allspice
¼ tsp. ground cloves
 ½ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
¾ cup water
1 lb. russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Egg Wash:
 1 egg yolk
 1 tsp. water

Pie Crust: you can make this or purchase your favorite

1. Put all meat ingredients (except potatoes) into a wide, heavy pot. Break up meat and cook over high until water starts to boil. Cover and simmer on low for 1 hour. If mixture becomes dry, add a few tablespoons of water as needed. (adjust spiced to taste)
2. After filling has cooked for an hour, add potatoes. Cover and simmer over low for 30 to 35 minutes until potatoes are tender. Uncover and cook off any excess moisture.
3. Remove from heat. Mash potatoes into meat. Set aside to cool to room temperature, 20 min.
4. Place meat filling into a pie crust. Cover with another pie crust. Mix egg yolk and water and brush over top pie crust. Cut 4 slashes into top crust. Bake in lower third of oven until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot.
Pie will keep 4 days. It may also be frozen for up to 3 months.
*Crock pot version: Place all meat filling ingredients (except water) in crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

Let me know if you try these recipes and how you like them.  It's back to wrapping presents for me so I'll let you get back to it.  I am sure you have a lot of holiday memories of your own to make this week!

Foodie Friday! The Bethlehem Burger

From time to time my hubby plans to be a guest contributor on a Southern Girl's Guide.  Several weeks ago he introduced us to his Burgers Around the World concept which is something he has been working on for the past two years or so.  We have had some fantastic burgers over the years and I hope you tried his turkey burger that he shared before Thanksgiving because it was really yummy.  He's back this week for another installment of Foodie Friday and is sharing his latest creation, The Bethlehem Burger.  I would say his historical data is loose at best but it's a fun idea and it was truly melt in your mouth delicious.  I'll let him tell you more.

Guest Blogger:  A Southern Girl's Northern Guy

The challenge of the Bethlehem Burger was to create a burger with flavors that would transport you back to your childhood Christmas eve dinners but also capture cooking styles and methods that may have existed when the wise men were following the star to the manger. 

Although no one knows for sure where or when meatloaf was invented but it was mentioned in cookbooks as early as the 5^th Century and it is conceivable that it was around BC because its goal was to make a tough piece of meat more palatable, feed more people and use up other things they had lying around.  To keep true to my hamburger roots though, this meatloaf is smoked on the grill, which was also a more common cooking method then grilling back then. 

This isn’t your mother’s meatloaf, but it taste and smells like something she probably used to make.  When I took my first bite, it immediately reminded me of my moms French Meat Pie, tourtiere.  Pronounced Tuut K, it was the thing I most looked forward to during the holidays.  It turns out the recipes don’t have a whole lot in common except for clove, but boy are they both good.  I think my wife will be sharing my mom’s special tourtiere recipe over the weekend as part of her favorite holiday dishes week.

Mix the following ingredients and form a loaf on a cookie sheet, then put the sheet on the smoker, or indirect heat until inside temp is at least 165, which takes about 2.5 hours You want the smoker around 250 and we used Pecan Wood.

1 slice bread

5 crushed crackers

2 teaspoons cloves

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 chicken bullion cube

¼ cup water

1/2 small onion

1.5 lbs ground beef

1 egg

While your loaf is smoking you should mix up your sauce.  I never really measure ingredients when I make sauces, I  keep tasting it until it is just right, but here is what I can tell you.  Start with a lot of ketchup, and then add more brown sugar than you would think and finish it of with some nutmeg and a few squirts of jalapeno mustard

Top the loaf with the sauce for the last half hour of cooking, but save some of it to put on the finished burger.

Instead of a bun, use a flatbread, we tried one that was lightly toasted with olive oil and rosemary and topped the burger with feta cheese, you can use feta too unless you can find gvina bulgarit, a crumbled cheese from that area. 

Enjoy

Thirsty Thursday: Festive Libations

Not being one to turn down a toddy, I thought it would be fun to share some holiday cheer in the form of two drink recipes.  One an old favorite (but ONLY at this time of year) because it's warm, spicy and decadent, and the other a complete newbie to me.  I only had it for the first time last night, but think it would be an awesome gift for the Vodka lover in your life.

I myself am actually not a huge fan of Vodka typically.  I will certainly drink it in a Bloody Mary, but I would never have come up with this concoction, and am just so thrilled that my creative girlfriend Krissy was generous enough to break open her Mason Jar of goodness and share such a tasty treat with us girls last night.  She never gave me a name for it, at least I don't think she did.  To be fair the details are a bit hazy, so we'll just call it Cranberry Infused Vodka

What you need:

• a bag of fresh Cranberries
• a toothpick or two
• rind of two limes
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• Vodka
• a Large Mason Jar

What you do:
Clean the cranberries and use your tooth pick to poke a hole in each berry.  Fill your mason jar 2/3 full with the cranberries, add in rind of two limes, your sugar, and vodka and seal it up to let it sit for about a week.  I don't know about the shelf life of this home made Cranberry Vodka, as she only let hers sit for a week before we had to try it.  It was pretty amazing so I don't know if you need to let it sit longer but I am sure you can.  It had a very strong cranberry and lime flavor and aroma after just a week so it seems like that is a perfect amount of waiting. 

This was good enough to drink on it's own.  I actually watered mine down and enjoyed it that way as well.  The Jar (as you'll see in the picture) is a cute container for this drink and if you put a ribbon around the top and a gift tag, you have a merry mason jar of yumminess to give away, or keep for yourself, we won't tell!

This hot toddy recipe will warm you right up.  You may need a treadmill to walk on while your sipping this decadent cider, but it's worth it in moderation.  It's a combination of a Hot Buttered Rum and Spiked Apple Cider.

What you need:

• apple cider
• red hots (candy)
• brown sugar
• cloves (if' you use whole cloves,you'll need to strain it, I put mine in a tea infuser because I am too lazy to strain my drink after)
• Rum (I use dark rum but that's just a personal preference)
• room temperature butter 1 pat per drink
• cinnamon sticks as a garnish, 1 per drink

What to do:

In a large pot combine your cider, red hots, brown sugar and cloves and bring it to a boil.  You want your candy to melt into the cider but you do not need to boil it continuously.  Just get it hot and then you can lower your temperature back down to let it simmer.   When you are ready to serve your toddy; put a little rum in your cup, cover it with your cider and then add your butter to the top.  The cinnamon stick as a garnish, will continue to flavor your cider but it will also be your stir stick as the butter starts to melt so that you don't have to drink a mouth full of straight butter.  I mean really we know that once on your lips, forever on your hips, is sometimes worth the risk, but straight butter is not so tasty.

I apologize for the lack of exact measurements in this drink recipe, but I believe it should be a "to taste" kind of set up.  A few hints: a little bit of cloves will go a LONG way.  I think the Rum can be over powering, but you may be a lush someone who enjoys a little more of the hard stuff, and the more red hots in the mix the more sugary cinnamon flavor you'll have.  If I am not baking, then I have a tendency to add a little here, and a little there until it taste just right.  Hopefully this will work for you as well. 

I hope as this joyful holiday season is in full swing that you and yours are having a merryvolous time, and if you aren't, maybe you should go a little heavier on the rum.  That cranberry vodka works in shots too!

Enjoy!