First Day of Spring

I deleted my post from the other day about having to rewrite my senior paper. In case anyone actually read it, if I said anything I shouldn't have I'm sorry. I'm not sure whether I did or not, but after second-guessing the post I removed it just in case. It has been a completely insane roller-coaster week, from doing nothing but writing my paper every night until I finished it, to the extreme relief and decompression of having it done and thinking that I was home free, to finding out I completely missed the point of the assignment and have to start over, not to mention making a complete idiot of myself in front of the professor. Fun, fun times. So I have a couple more weeks of lots and lots of work, and whatever the outcome, whether I'm able to graduate or not, I'm looking forward to finally being able to have a "normal" life with my family without having to deal with this.

Anyway, I don't know why I'm so excited about this, but it's the first day of spring! Wooo!! Looks like the weather will be nice enough to take a walk or something. Lovely.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man's heart.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works,
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke!
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the LORD.

Psalm 104:10-15, 31-34

Irish Lamb Stew & Sweet Potato Biscuits

A few years ago I was in the check-out at Walmart around St. Patrick's Day and saw a little booklet of "Irish" recipes from Taste of Home magazine. This is the booklet from which I got the cupcakes that Jackie posted. I'd never made anything else from it, so I decided to remedy that this year. Both of these recipes are from the booklet. The stew was pretty good, but what really impressed me were the biscuits. Oh goodness, they are so lovely I could eat them like cookies.

I'm posting the stew recipe as it is in the book, but we don't have a dutch oven (and we don't have room to store one), so instead we coated & browned the meat and then put all the ingredients in the crock pot. Turned out well, though a little soupy. I added some more half & half at the end to make it creamier. Also, I couldn't find lamb stew meat or pearl onions (Wal-mart and Kroger double-fail), so I cut up lamb shoulder chops from Kroger and half of a regular onion.


IRISH LAMB STEW

6 Tb. all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 lb. lamb stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 Tb. vegetable oil
3 cups water
1/2 tsp. dill weed
8 pearl onions
3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup half & half cream

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine 4 tablespoons flour, salt and pepper. Add lamb; shake to coat.

In a dutch oven, brown lamb in oil on all sides. Add water and dill; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is almost tender. Add the onions, carrots and potatoes. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are tender.

In a small bowl, place remaining flour; stir in cream until smooth. Stir into stew. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with biscuits. Yield: 6 servings.


SWEET POTATO BISCUITS

2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
7 Tb cold butter, divided
3 Tb. shortening
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
6 Tb. milk

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Cut in 4 Tb. butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, combine the sweet potatoes and milk; stir into crumb mixture just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 8-10 times. Pat or roll out to 1/2-inch thickness; cut with a floured 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter (I used a glass :)). Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Melt remaining butter; brush over dough. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks. Serve warm. Yield: 1 1/2 dozen.

Editor's note: As a substitute for each cup of self-rising flour, place 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt in a measuring cup. Add all-purpose flour to measure 1 cup.


Tonight I'm making another recipe from the Irish booklet - glazed mint brownies - for my parents and sister coming to visit tomorrow. :)

Crock Pot - Pineapple Chicken & Sweet Potatoes

Today I used my crock pot for the second time ever (the first time was Jackie's chicken soft tacos last week - yum!). The recipe I did for tonight is from the Slow Cooker Casseroles & More cookbook we received as a gift with the crock pot when we got married. You never know how good something will be from a cookbook instead of a friend who's tried it, but this one was tasty. The first recipe I made from the book was Apple Curry Chicken, also super good but not a crock pot recipe. I guess it falls under "& More". I can post that one too if anyone wants it.

Side note: I'm thinking of making Irish lamb stew for St. Patrick's Day - the recipe is not for a crock pot, but I think I might try to make it that way. Look at me, all slow cooker-savvy. Haha, okay, not quite. Oooh, another first - I've never made biscuits before, but I want to make some SWEET POTATO biscuits to go with the lamb stew. Woot!


Pineapple Chicken & Sweet Potatoes

2/3 cup plus 3 Tb. all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. black pepper
6 chicken breasts
3 sweet potatoes, peeled & sliced
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. grated orange peel

Combine 2/3 cup flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, onion powder and black pepper in large bowl. Thoroughly coat chicken in flour mixture. Place sweet potatoes on bottom of slow cooker. Top with chicken.

Combine soup, juice, mushrooms, remaining 3 Tb. flour, sugar and orange peel in small bowl; stir well. Pour soup mixture into slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH 3 to 4 hours. Serve chicken and sauce over rice.


NOTES:

- Either they used a bigger crock pot or the chicken breasts we got were huge, because I put 6 half breasts in and it was really full. I think we have a "normal" size oval one though.

- Damon thinks that it would be equally good if you use five spice instead of the nutmeg and cinnamon. He's the better cook; I'll take his word for it.

- I used the pineapple juice from a can of pineapple; if I make this again, I'll probably put in the pineapple chunks too, toward the end of the cooking time. The pineapple flavor didn't come through too much with just the juice. Including the fruit would add color too.

Blessed

So I have to say, I have such a wonderful husband. Even though he has grad school stuff to work on too, he knows how stressed I am about my last class and he's been so supportive - encouraging me when I'm over tired and reigning me back in when I overreact to stuff, like not doing as well on my presentation as I'd wanted.

All I have left at this point is my senior paper, due on the 16th. Damon was so amazing this weekend - on Saturday morning he hung out with Eva so I could sleep in, later he took her for a drive so I could get some work done and came back with supplies to make me dinner (dude roasted a chicken!). I enjoyed going to church with my family on Sunday and got a nice break before getting back to research that night. He gets one day off during spring break so he took yesterday - he let me sleep in again and offered to take Eva to get groceries and bought me roses while he was out, just because.

Love that man.

Chicken Corn Chowder

In October of 2007, Damon and I were in the midst of change. We had resigned our membership at the church we'd called home since we first started dating (the church we got married in one June day in 2003), to join a brand new one called The Oaks. We had also just gotten a brand new car in the hopes that we'd be able to make the hour drive to church without breaking down on the highway. :)

We took a long weekend to go to Kelleys Island in Lake Erie toward the end of October. My family used to go camp or stay in a condo there almost every year, but Damon had never been. I knew he would like it because it's quiet and not as tourist-y as the surrounding Cedar Point, Put-in-Bay, etc., especially in the off season. It was a good opportunity to relax. We decided to try the Bed & Breakfast thing and stayed with this really sweet couple, Bill and June Campbell, who own a beautiful house on the west side of the island (sunsets over the lake were great).

June's breakfasts were amazing (pumpkin pancakes, strawberry stuffed french toast, mmmmmm........), so I bought her cookbook.



I'd never made anything out of it, until tonight. I've been trying to cook more since we now have a family to feed, and when I was browsing through her book the other day this one popped out at me. Chicken corn chowder has been my favorite Campbell's Chunky Soup lately, so I thought I would try making it myself. Turned out pretty yummy.

I had no idea how much soup it would make, so I doubled the recipe thinking leftovers wouldn't be a bad thing - well it made a LOT. Like, our big stock pot was 2/3 full. I gave a tupperware full to our neighbors and we'll still be eating it for a couple more days. :) p.s., June's recipe didn't have chicken in it - I just added a couple cans of chicken to mine when I put in the corn and everything.


June Campbell's Corn Chowder

6 strips bacon, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 1/2 cups water
1 large potato, peeled and diced
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 15-oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1 15-oz can cream-style corn
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup milk
2 Tb cornstarch

In large saucepan, cook bacon until crisp. Pour off bacon drippings, saving 2 Tb in pan. Saute onion and celery with bacon and drippings until soft. Add diced potato and water. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 6-8 minutes. Stir in milk, garlic powder, dry mustard, pepper, sugar and corn. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook over low heat until it begins to simmer. Stir milk and cornstarch together, and stir into chowder until thickened. Serve hot with crackers or fresh homemade bread.


Now I'm thinking about that strawberry stuffed french toast again - maybe I should try making that one soon.......

Customer Service

I was in Beavercreek for Eva's 12 month check up yesterday, and had two very different experiences with customer service. After the doctor visit it was time for lunch (good, because the girl was a bit cranky after two shots and having blood drawn, and food usually calms her down ;)). I went to Chik-fil-a because it was right across the street and, let's face it, they have the most amazing chicken sandwich in the universe.

I had to park in one of the farthest parking spots since it was the lunch rush. I was carrying Eva toward the building in the rain when an employee came out with an umbrella and walked us the rest of the way to the door, and he was super polite. I went up to the counter and placed my order and the cashier told me to go ahead and get Eva situated and she would bring the food out to me, which she did very quickly. I had just gotten Eva in the high chair when I realized that I forgot about ketchup and mayo. I was about to pick her up to go get some when a manager came by and asked if she could bring me ketchup or anything. I said yes, a mayo and a few ketchups would be great, and she said "and a straw and some napkins?" Duh, I hadn't even noticed I didn't have those either. Long story short: I. love. Chik-fil-a.

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I started typing out my example of bad customer service, namely trying to get my windshield wiper blades replaced at wal-mart after lunch (it was an hour and a half event in which I ended up having them put the old blades back on because they didn't know what they were doing, and Brian Murphy replaced them for us himself after community group last night, bless him), but I think the story would be longer than I feel like writing and could easily turn into ranting. I will just say that it was a lesson in patience and grace while dealing with a baby who was WAY overdue for a nap. I should probably just focus on the good part of my day anyway and forget about the rough part. :)

Love This

Totally ripping off Steph's "I'm a fan of..." here, but I have to share how much I love this platter I got at Target. For the longest time the only serving tray I had that was big enough to hold 24 cupcakes had snowmen on it - not the best for a summer party. Then I found this. I love it because it's pretty and looks like it would be heavier ceramic or something, but it's actually plastic.

It fits all the cupcakes with room to spare: