Korean Pork Bulgogi

One of our family's favorite places to eat in Nashvol is the Seoul Garden. Hunka DLP spent 4 of his nearly 10 years in the USAF in Korea. He introduced us to Korean BBQ quite a few years ago. I make this most often with chicken. This time I used very lean pork. It was delicious.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Fridays we usually go out for dinner but I decided to stay in and cook. The Chicken Tikka Masala was very good. I used a combination of two recipes. It's time consuming to make it from scratch but so worth it. Leftovers are even better the next day after the flavors have melded together awhile.

Beka cookware

Do you see the saute pan I'm using for the cajun pasta below? That is the best pan I have ever owned. I bought it at TJ Maxx a couple years ago for under $50. It's a BEKA pan. I own two sets of commercial Calphalon (this is the good stuff b4 they started making cheap stuff), and a couple All Clad pans as far as high end goes. This pan beats them all! This particular pan is copper and SS. I'm on the hunt for more of these. I recommend BEKA saute pans people. :)

I often make a dish called Cajun Chicken pasta. I usually make it when DLP is out of town since he's not a fan of "creamy" pasta dishes. He prefers the red sauces.

This is a quick and easy dish that uses ingredients you probably have in your fridge and pantry. I've lightened it up by using half and half rather than the heavy cream my original recipe calls for. It still tastes great.

Here's what you'll need:

• 4 ounces linguine pasta (or whatever pasta you have on hand. I used spaghetti)
• pasta water
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 2 t. Cajun seasoning (more or less if you like)
• cayenne pepper
• 2 T. butter
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 4 fresh mushrooms, sliced (my kids didn't want mushrooms)
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 T. flour
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/4 t. dried basil
• 1/4 t. lemon pepper
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/8 t. garlic powder
• 1/8 t.ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 
  
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Heat up your skillet on medium high while you wait for it to boil. Add pasta when water boils and cook until al dente. Save a cup or so of your pasta water. Add the olive oil and butter to the heated skillet. Add the chicken and brown until there is no pink left. sprinkling generously with the cajun seasoning (and cayenne if you like it spicy.) Add the green bell pepper, mushrooms (optional) and onion. Saute and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over chicken and stir. Reduce heat Add the half and half deglazing the pan and scraping up brown bits from bottom. Add basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper. Heat through. Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. If the pasta is a little dry add some of your pasta water. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

Plate up and sprinkle w/ some grated parmesan if you like

Cayd, my photographer said he liked the chicken the best.

Connor ate two plates. He loves spicy.

Spying my little (formally brown) chest I decided I could downsize (see next post) yet still satisfy my turquoise craving by painting it. It was just the perfect pop of turquoise for my LR. We use this for our remote controls, DVD's, or just a vessel to quickly throw whatever junk accumulates on our bigger chest when unexpected company drops by.

I bought this armoire last year with the intention of painting it turquoise and then distressing it. After it sat in my LR a few days I decided that I just loved the wood too much to mess with it. This piece was purchased in Saudi Arabia by an American man who lived there for many years and was in the oil business. I loved the piece and it's history. It's handmade and very heavy, and he let me have it for a song. We use it for a school armoire as it houses all our school books, paper, and pencils.

the pOe's-that's us

My dad started a printer's box many, many years ago when I was just a wee little chic. He had our names along with our birthdays, he and mom's anniversary, and a few other special dates. When I got married he found me a cool antique box of my very own.

Quite a collection of heart-shaped stones.

I love this photo.

photo bye:rebranca46

~Fried Rice Deliciousness~

After seeing a couple recipes for fried rice over the last few days I've been purposing to make some myself. I made rice over the weekend knowing that I'd be using it for this recipe in very near future.

Fried rice is basically a canvas for any combination of flavors you choose to add. I chose Black Forest ham and shrimp for my meat. I used onions, carrots, and green pepper for my veggies, but you could use whatever you like or have on hand.

Here's how I made mine:

3 T. sesame oil

1 large onion diced

large garlic clove minced (or I used garlic powder)

1 c. smoked ham

1 c. shrimp

1/2 c. green pepper, chopped

1/2 carrot, sliced thin

1 egg

3-4 c. cooked rice

1-2 T. Kikkoman low sodium soy sauce (or to taste) Kikkoman is the best

If I would have had green peas, I surely would have added those too.

Use your wok or a big saute pan.

Get your wok heated up to medium high. Add 3 T. of sesame oil. Saute the onion until it's softened. I looked for fresh garlic but there was none to be found so I sprinkled some garlic powder over the onion. Add 1 cup of chopped Black Forest ham, 1 c. of shrimp and stir a couple minutes. Add carrots and peppers and stir until crisp-tender. Then add the egg and stir around until it starts to scramble. Add your rice and stir until heated throughout.

Add 1-2 T. Kikkoman low sodium soy sauce. This is to your taste. Enjoy!

The boys having fun snowboarding and sledding.

My kids have been requesting cinnamon rolls for a while now so I thought what better day to do it. The snow was lovely and the boys snowboarded at the neighbors for quite some time. I had to make them come in before frostbite had it's way. Warming up by the fire later on and sporting pink, chaffed, and raw skin it all seemed worth it to them. It was all for the thrill of the hill. After all, how often do they really see this much snow. With church being cancelled they plan on being back at it at 8 a.m. Mom will be ready with the hot chocolate. (:

CINNAMON ROLLS THREE WAYS (gooey pecan, unfrosted, or cream cheese frosting)

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2 eggs, room temperature

• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

A couple of my cotton napkin designs.