Friday, 16 October 09 - POKTOBERFEST!!

First, an apology to those of you who have been waiting on the edge of your seats for this blog to appear. There's so much to share, and only so much time I can get away with sharing it in while I'm at work...

As expected, Poktoberfest 2009 was a blast. There was plenty of good food, great people, and even some prizes and money floating around. Matt and I had been looking forward to hosting in our basement since we moved in, so this was a fun opportunity for us to dress it up all Fall-like and introduce it to our friends!

Before the tournament got started...


We consumed:
- A fridge full of IPA and organic amber Fish Tale beer;
- A big bottle of red wine Tyler brought


- nearly a gallon of hot cranberry cider
*Dump a 64oz. jug of cranberry juice into a crock pot (or regular pot)
*Add 1/2 can of frozen lemonade, a few cinnamon sticks & a handful of cloves.
*Add a bit of sugar or honey if you need it - I prefer it just as it is, but it's a little tart.
*Let it brew on low heat and serve when warm or let it sit and make your house smell delicious all day!

- a gallon of mulled wine (cider?)
*Same recipe as hot cranberry cider, but with a big jug of cheap wine instead of juice...you'll probably need the sugar in this version. I use raw sugar.


- Jalapeno poppers (with lil' smokies)
*Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and top with a pam-sprayed baking rack.
*Slice jalapeno peppers lengthwise, scraping out the seeds (and a bit of the inside walls, if you don't like them too hot)
*Spread a chunk of cream cheese on each piece.
*Lie a lil' smokie on the cream cheese (if you want to - they're awesome without them, too)
*Wrap the combination in 1/2 a slice of bacon and stab with a toothpick to keep it together.
*Every time I make them, I feel like I should have cooked them on a higher temp, because they take forever. I start out with them at about 375 and check every 15 mins or so, usually turning the heat up about half-way through. Plan on them taking at least 45 minutes. You really want the bacon crispy, so err on the side of too done.


- Pumpkin cupcakes w/ cream cheese frosting from last month's Real Simple.
*http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pumpkin-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese-frosting-00000000021359/index.html

- Artichoke-Spinach Dip with a french baguette.
- Kim's fantastic olive tapenade with homemade crackers.
- Pickled Okra.
- Pizza. Lots of Brewery City pizza!

There were enough people for 3 tables in the tournament. I believe we were down to two in this picture:

Aaron wore his Poker Hat for good luck...

...but alas, Brett took the pot ($150 + a really wicked awesome custom-engraved stein)


Overall, we deemed the party a huge success. We met some cool new people, hung out with some friends we haven't seen in awhile, ate & drank some delicious food & drinks, and some people won things! A big thanks to everyone who helped break in the Burdick Basement...

~Kaylene (and Matty)

Sunday, 30 August 09 - Blueberry Buckle & Corkboards

Well, another weekend is rapidly drawing to an end. Today was fun and relaxing, and for the first Sunday in a long time, I stayed in for all of it (minus the brief outing I took this morning for a couple necessities). Aaron and Christy came over for brunch and a day of fun with games in the basement.

We had some farmer's market blueberries we needed to use, so I made this Blueberry Buckle:

2 c all purpose-flour (I use whole wheat flour)
2&1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c shortening (I use butter)
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 c milk
2 c fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 c all-purpose flour (I doubled to 1 c)
1/2 c sugar (I doubled to 1 c)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I doubled to 1 tsp)
1/4 c butter (I doubled to 1/2 c)

1. Grease bottom & sides of 8x8x2" baking pan & set aside. In a medium bowl combine the 2 c flour, baking powder & salt & set aside.

2. In a medium mixing bowl beat butter w/ a mixer on med for 30 sec. Add the 3/4 c sugar. Beat on med-hi until light & fluffy. Add egg. Beat well. Alternately add flour mixture & milk to beaten egg mixture, beating until smooth after each addition.

3. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle w/ blueberries. In another bowl combine the 1/2 c flour, the 1/2 c sugar & cinnamon. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs; sprinkle over blueberries. Bake in a 350 degree overn for 50-60 mins or until golden (a little longer if you double the topping) Serve warm.

Before:


After:


After dessert, I decided to be crafty. I hauled the ginormous bag of corks Tyler & Kim gave me --


downstairs and created these 2 boards:



...and now I'm beat!

Friday, 28 August 09 - Kay uses a crock pot for the first time - EVER!

I made stew!

I threw in some tiny potatoes, one huge carrot, 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 walla-walla sweet onion, radishes, 1 kohlrabi, rainbow chard, and a ton of green beans.

Then I added 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can tomato soup, and some (I don't know, about a pound?) lean, all-natural stew beef, followed by a bit of dried oregano, sea salt and pepper.

Voila!


Honestly, I'm not a big fan of stew. But I think that, as stew goes, this turned out pretty well! Matt agrees.

Saturday, 15 August 09 Party Lite Party!

A couple weekends ago (I've been terrible at updating this thing!) I hosted a Party Lite party. I'd gone to one Cheryl hosted a couple weeks prior, and realized I couldn't afford anything I wanted unless I had a party...and of course our house needed more stuff, so...a party I had!

What we feasted upon:

* K's killer artichoke/spinach dip - this time with the added flair of Tilamook pepperjack cheese in lieu of feta...served with soft french bread, carrots & celery
* Zucchini dip, served with costco's organic tortilla chips -
Ingredients: 1 medium zucchini, cubed; 2 tbsp. white sugar; 1 tbsp. soy sauce; 1 clove garlic, chopped; 3/4 tsp. dried oregano; 2 c mayonnaise. Directions: (1) Place zucchini in a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 5 mins. Drain and transfer to a food processor. Process until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients (except mayo) and process until blended. (2) Transfer the pureed mixture to a serving bowl and stir in the mayonnaise. Chill for at least an hour before serving.
* homemade chocolate chip cookies
* strawberries
* wine, of course!

In attendance were: My mom and sister Aimee (her first time meeting the house), our favorite new neighbor Allison, Sarah J, Heather K, Cheryl S (who has just re-become a Party Lite consultant herself. Visit http://www.partylite.biz/sites/cherylsloan to buy stuff from her!), her adorable daughter Desi, Julie, Betsy, Christy and her friend Lauren, My wonderful mother-in-law, Kathy and grandmother-in-law, Marilyn, and of course our fabulous consultant, Brenda.

Thanks so much to everyone who came and helped me score all this cool (& nearly free) stuff:

Friday, 17 July 09 (WARMING OF THE HOUSE)

Last Friday we invited a bunch of amazing people we're lucky to call friends over to an official Housewarming Party.

Jay led the crowd, followed closely by Cheryl and her beautiful white mums & singing card. Further received were 2 Duchaine Brothers & one Christy Sawhill (who brought us an awesome book on living off the land and a delicious bottle of red wine), Tyler and Kim (who brought their own wine glasses and a bottle of very tasty orange muscat to share), Ian and Julie (who brought Toby and amazing strawberry upside down cake, and who I think are responsible for leaving the absolut citron & pomegranate juice we've been enjoying), Natividad (who offered her services as an on-site nanny for Toby), Sarah W, Chris T, Andrea, Jackie (who enjoyed the backyard swing almost as much as Jaxon did), our new neighbor Allison (who brought puckery granny smith cider), the Botanas, Justin Taylor, Sarah J & Kristen S, and the Wilkins Family (minus Polly).

3 batches of Sangria* were consumed, along with a big dish of Killer's Killer Artichoke-Spinach Dip** and Julie's strawberry cake***. We lit the tiki torches and played games around the fire, including the "I'm having a party and I'm bringing..." game.


*Sangria (one big batch): one huge jug of Carlo Rossi burgundy table wine, one 2-liter bottle of diet 7up, a healthy splunk each of triple sec and brandy, one sliced lemon, one sliced orange, refrigerated overnight. Add ingredients as needed to refresh a near-empty bowl.

**Dip: one can of artichoke hearts (in water - not marinated), about 2/3 bag of spinach (or a couple handfuls of fresh spinach), 1 brick of cream cheese, 1 tub of sour cream, one ball of mozzarella, 1/2 cup or so of shredded parmesan, a squirt of dijon mustard, 1 clove of garlic, onion flakes, garlic salt, sea salt & pepper to taste. Mix everything together in a big bowl. Bake covered at 400 for about 45 mins. Serve w/ warm french bread.

***Cake:
2 cups crushed fresh strawberries
1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin mix
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 (18 ounce) package yellow cake mix, batter prepared as directed on package

-Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
-Spread crushed strawberries on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan. Evenly sprinkle strawberries with the dry gelatin powder, and top with mini marshmallows.
-Prepare the cake mix as directed on the package, and pour on top of the marshmallows. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the pan to loosen the sides, and turn the cake out onto a serving tray. Store cake in the refrigerator.