Friendly Kitchen Towels

Happy Monday!

Did you have a fabulous weekend? I did! I crafted like
C R A Z Y !

...

Happy Birthday to {Jan} this Saturday! 

We'll be celebrating all week, 'cause you only turn 32 once! 

For Jan's birthday, I wanted to make a little something for her kitchen. She is in the process of some remodeling, and her {new} colors are sage and chocolate brown, so I made

 her some pretty personalized kitchen towels!

I LOVE monograms... I Wonder-Under them onto everything! So I made a "j". For {Jan}! 

I used Amanda's "wall dots" as inspiration for the other towel. Love this! I drew circles on Wonder-Under paper ( I used a spray-paint lid for a stencil), then ironed them to the sage fabric, and cut them out. The ironed them on, and {of course} stitched around the edge...


(Has anyone EVER used Wonder-Under and had it stay in place without sewing? Me neither.)

For the ends, I cut off the end, so I wasn't sewing through that thick part, 

then cut 4 strips 3" x 18", pressed the edges in, pinned them on (folding and tucking the ends in),  and sewed on with a straight stitch. 

I love these! 

Happy Birthday, Momma Jan! 

<3 AmberLou

sharing at a few of these parties!

Guest Post: Love That Æbleskiver Pan!

We're Jenny & Karla, and we are both stay at home moms with two children each. Our girls are both 2 and both our boys are about a year old....very fun. We have a blog called Envy My Cooking, where readers submit their recipes to share! Come visit us, and find something yummy to share with your family! 

You will need an Æbleskiver pan to prepare these doughnuts. They can be found in many kitchen equipment stores and at CSNstores.

(This recipe was submitted by Catherina, one of our followers. She uses this recipe from the cookbook Cooking Danishby Stig Hansen) they take some practice to get right, but are totally worth it  :-) 
We eat them sprinkled in powdered sugar and dipped in Raspberry or strawberry jam. Yum!

(Makes 24 to 26)

1 3/4 cups bread flour (you can also use all purpose)

2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 cup 2% milk (or fat free)

2 eggs

Shortening (or vegetable oil) to grease your pan

Confectioners' sugar

1 - Combine the flour with the yeast, sugar and cardamom in a mixing bowl. Combine the butter and milk in a saucepan and heat to 70 to 80 degrees. Add to the flour mixture and mix well. Mix in the eggs. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

2 - Heat an Æbleskiver pan over low to medium (300-degree) heat. Add a small amount of shortening on the tip of a knife to each cup. Spoon the dough into the cups filling four-fifths full.Cook until the bottoms begin to brown and push one-fourth of the doughnut up to begin to brown the top. Repeat the process, then turn the doughnut completely over to form a ball and cook until golden brown all over.

3 - Remove to a serving plate and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve with Raspberry Jam, applesauce and sugar to dip in.

Just for a little background about Catherina; she was born and raised in Denmark, and this is a traditional Danish recipe. Enjoy!:-)

Come Swing by Envy My Cooking for more yummy recipes and some great giveaways! We would love to have you visit us! Enjoy!!!

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1.02.28

My Gadget is Just Plane Grate!

A few years ago, I traveled to the mainland for a couple of weeks for work. I spent two weeks near Atlanta, GA, and the weekend I was there I took the train into the city and went to a huge mall. There was a Crate and Barrel store there... which I had never heard of before and have never seen  since. But, as most of you probably already know, it is an immense kitchen store - this one was two stories! I spent a couple of hours in there, checking out all the cool gadgets and linens and appliances and things. It was a foodie geek's heaven... I was glad I was there by myself so I didn't have to cut my time short because someone else was bored! Since I had to travel home by plane, I had to be careful to only buy what would fit in my suitcase. I ended up with only one purchase - a microplane grater.

My trip to Atlanta was in early November, so I was able to use my grater for that year's Thanksgiving preparations. I had so much fun! I added fresh lemon zest to my apple pie (my guests declared it "killer").  I made a ginger-orange sweet potato dish with freshly grated ginger and orange zest that my boyfriend (now husband) couldn't get enough of. Since then, I've found so many uses for my grater that it's the most used utensil in my kitchen.


I probably use it most often to grate hard cheeses-parmesan or romano- for topping pasta, pizza or rice pilaf.

It's also great for zesting citrus fruits for baking. I love to add lemon or orange zest to muffins, cakes and pies.

I grate fresh ginger for marinades, sauces and dressings.

Here is the recipe for my orange-ginger sweet potatoes that my honey loves so much. (First, a disclaimer. I don't eat sweet potatoes. Or pumpkins, squash, carrots, yams or any other orange vegetable. In any form or recipe, they are unfit for human consumption - at least Lorie consumption. So I can't really comment on this recipe. But my family and friends who eat orange stuff love this one.)

• 4 sweet potatoes
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger root
• grated zest of one orange
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup orange juice, or to taste
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place oven rack in middle position. Pierce each sweet potato several times with a fork, and roast in preheated oven until easily pierced with a fork, 1 to 1½ hours. Can do this step up to 2 days prior to serving. Remove skins and store covered in refrigerator until ready to continue.


Lower oven temp to 375°F. When sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half, and scoop flesh into a bowl. Add the orange zest, ginger, and egg; use a mixer or hand masher to make a smooth mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the orange juice and milk; if desired, add more orange juice to taste. Spoon into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top with pecans. Bake in preheated oven until heated through and pecans are toasted, about 30 minutes.

Lorie

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1.02.28

A Gadget to Love

Have you seen how Martha Stewart shares her love of her Silpat baking sheet with her audience and readers? Well I have wanted one for about a decade.

Well I never got one until my sweetheart of a daughter became an adult and did her best to get me one. Locally all that was available was the version made by Chicago Metallic. I must say...it is a dream! It is my Favorite Kitchen Gadget!



Here is a photo sampling of what I have used my baking sheet for this
past week.

No need to use non-stick spray for these yummy cookies - they slide right off.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

You may see a little discoloring on the baking sheet. It is because I use it at least 3 times per week.

Sausage/Mushroom Pizza

It is so easy to clean after use. Hot soapy water and put in the dish drainer to air dry. I then roll it up and stick it in a small drawer.

Zucchini Pizza Rounds
I first saw this recipe HERE at Kalyn's Kitchen.

I love how when the cheese melts over the edges onto the baking sheet, it just peels right off.

The only bad thing about my baking sheet...I only have one. Having two would make rotating baking cookies a little quicker.

Tell me what is your favorite kitchen gadget??

Happy Thursday!
~jan

Wordless Wednesday

Pumpkins!

Lorie

<3 AmberLou

~jan

Amanda

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1.02.28