A Photo an Hour

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life got in the way (I am sure you know that is).

While reading a new favorite blog of mine called The Dainty Squid, I saw that she did a really cool feature called "A Photo an Hour". I decided to take a photo of my dad during a 12 hour time span. In order to make the blog a little more streamlined, I have created a photo gallery blog. You can find the link here. Let me know what you think!

As I am sitting her typing this, my amazing husband is in the kitchen shoving celery and onions into our Ninja chopper. (Have I said we are addicted to infomercials?)

I am super thankful that I have an amazing husband who not only loves to cook Thanksgiving dinner, but looks forward to it each year and we be upset if we didn't host.

But, besides his culinary prowess, I am so Thankful to have such a supportive and loving husband who not only deals with my less than chipper days but is there to support me everyday. Equally important he is there to have fun with and help me not take myself or life too seriously.

I am also Thankful to have wonderful parents and in-laws who have supported me through every aspect of my life. It is really important to have people who not only help you achieve your dreams but are there to help you find a new one if things don't work out the way you had hoped.

I am thankful for our two cats. Even though Anna likes to scratch at the carpet and Finny loves to cough up hairballs on our clothes (like he did this morning) I don't think our little family would be complete without them.

Even though we are off of work today and I am enjoying the time away from the desk, I am still thankful that we both have jobs. In this unstable economy, it is so hard to find employment, especially jobs that you enjoy. And I think we are so blessed to have found great jobs.

I could go on and on for all that I am thankful for the table needs to be set.

I hope you and your family and friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving full of laughter, good food and many blessings.

Dear Heavenly Father,Thank You for this special day, a day to remember Your goodness to us.Thank You for a roof over our heads, and more than enough food to eat. Thank You for the family You have given to us, for family and friends.

Weekend Recap 11/11-11/13

Had a wonderful weekend! (I consider Friday as part of my weekend.)

Friday:

- Worked on two great stories for the paper at work
- After I finished the day, I stopped by the Service League Thrift Store in downtown. After doing a story about this place I had to go back. Picked up about five pairs of earrings and a necklace for $5.50. You can't beat that price
- Got a haircut to match my new auburn hair color! Decided to go with a short bob style
- Had dinner with my in-laws
- Continued to play LA Noir. Really enjoy the game because it is more like a choose your own adventure movie rather than an action game

Saturday:
- Made Pumpkin Spice Pancakes for breakfast
- Visited our friends in the City
- Went to Handmade Arcade and picked up a couple pairs of earrings, headband and a poster for our bathroom
- Ate at a great restaurant called Spice Island Tea House and had Singapore Rice Noodles and Jasmine Iced Tea
- Because we are old people, we came home and went straight to bed. I was asleep at 10 p.m. on a Saturday night. I know, sign me up for AARP

Sunday:
- Had brunch with my parents
- Went to Target to pick up a few things and looked at all of the fun Christmas decorations
- Didn't have to do any laundry this Sunday
- Kevin made Walt Disney World's Cheddar Cheese Soup. It was so yummy
- Worked a little bit more on crocheting our Afghan.


Things that I am looking forward to this week:
- I don't have any meetings to cover the week so my evenings will be pretty open.
- Can't wait for my shipment of ELF (Eyes Lips Face) to arrive sometime during the week
- Going shopping to fill our Christmas Shoe boxes for Samaritan's Purse
- I really want to go to Bingo on Thursday.
- Going to put my new goal into action of shutting off the computer and my phone at 8 p.m. I hope this will help me sleep better at night and help my mind shut off.

How was your weekend?

What makes you happy?

October bliss list

Some days when you have a long day at work or the weather is crappy outside, it always helps to "think of a few of my favorite things." Here are a few things that are putting a smile on my face this October.

- Halloween (one of my favorite holidays)

- Brightly colored yarn for new crochet projects

- Bright fuchsia nail polish

- Our electric fireplace in the living room

- Bringing out our heavy comforter for the first time for the season

- Apple cider and homemade apple sauce

- A sleeping kitten on my lap

- Thrift shopping

- Looking at old family photos

-Crock pot dinners

Sweet as a Georgia Peach

As the summer is winding down, so is our garden and the selection of wonderful cheap produce in the grocery store. But, have no fear; canning is here!!

Canning is an art that is almost all but lost, but thanks to hipsters and hippies it is starting to make a come back!

So last night, I decided to put on my most ironic t-shirt and over sized glasses and give canning peaches a try.

It is actually pretty simple, but a little time consuming.

The secret ingredient to any type of canning is to have a very large pot. I am talking huge lobster pot. (You know what I mean, the type that is either black or blue with white specks all over it.) Fill the pot almost completely with water and bring to a simmer.

Once you are simmering, very gently drop your peaches down into the water. Let them get all nice and toasty and when you can easily peel the skin off with either your fingers or a fork, then plunge them into an ice bath.

When they are cool to the touch start peeling. I found it was easy to use a fork to start the peel and then you can just pull it off. Once peeled, cut them in half with a knife.

After you are finished halving the peaches, start making your simple syrup. If you have never made a simple syrup it is actually, well, pretty simple. We decided to make a lighter calorie version where we combined 1 cup of sugar with 3 cups of water. (If you want a more sugary syrup then do a 1-to-1 ratio). You stir until the sugar is dissolved, bring to a boil and then turn down the heat.

Before you add your syrup you need to put the peach halves into jars. Then, cover to the fill line with the syrup. Make sure to wipe all of the syrup and peach stuff off of the rim, put the lid on and tighten the collar.

Next step is to plunk the jars into the boiling water. For where we live in Pennsylvania, we set them in the water for 35 minutes. When your time is done, bring them out of the water and let them cool. If you press on the lid and it doesn't making the popping sound, then you are good. If it does make the popping sound, don't worry. You can still eat the peaches, you just have to use them soon and refrigerate.

As you can see the process is pretty easy, but it does require some time.

I hope you give this forgotten art a shot. In the end it will help you save money and will give you a sweet reminder of warm summer days in the dead of winter.

Happy Wordless Wednesday!!

Edition 01: Sunday Supperclub

Let's pretend that I haven't been a horrible blogger and haven't posted since the ice age. (The reason for not posting is because I had just started two part-time jobs and was continuing to write for our local paper.)

But, in the form of a peace offering, I want to introduce a new feature here on The Daring Domesticate called "Sunday Supperclub."

I want to try to focus on yummy homemade meals that take a little extra time and TLC to prepare.

So, in this first edition, I want to share with you one of my favorite comfort food meals: tomato soup and grilled cheese. But, because it is Sunday Supperclub, we have to make things a little more fancy than just slapping some American Cheese on some Wonderbread and opening up a can of Campbell's tomato soup.

As some of you know, I am a complete Disney nut! My husband and I have been going to Disney for five years now and are addicted. One of my favorite things to do is to try and bring a little Disney pixie dust home. A simple way to do this, has to been to recreate delicious Disney dinners at home.

This recipe is for Tomato Bisque from Sunshine Seasons restaurant at The Land pavilion located in Epcot. I found the recipe from All Ears , a great resource for anything Disney!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 cans of diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh basil
1/4 cup chicken broth
8 cups of water
cornstarch
pepper to taste
salt to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream

Method:

1. In a large soup pot, Melt butter.
2. Saute onion, tomatoes, garlic, sugar and basil and blend until smooth. (A stick blender works really well for this. Just watch out for splatters!)
3. Add chicken broth and water.
4. If needed, make a corn starch and water slurry to thicken soup. (We had to do this step.)
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Add heavy cream.

What is tomato soup with out it's partner in crime; grilled cheese?

Grown-up Grilled Cheese

1 loaf of a nice and crusty artisan style bread (we used simple neo-Tuscan boule)

4 slices of provolone cheese

1 smallish wedges of brie cheese

Some EVOO to brush on the bread to toast it

1. Heat up your pan/skillet/panini press and spray with cooking spray.

2. Grab your bread and cut into slices.

3. Spread on EVOO both sides of each slice of bread.

4. Law down two pieces of provolone cheese on two pieces of bread.

5. Cut off two hunks of brie for each sandwich. (Yes, a hunk is a form of scientific measurement.)

6. Put the last piece of bread on top, and toss the baby into the pan or press. (We used the press which made this whole process really easy. If, you are using a pan don't forget to flip your bread over.)

7. Keep cooking until the cheese starts to ooze out of the sides of the sandwich.

8. Enjoy!

It doesn't matter if you are a "dunker", or a "separatist" with your tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich, it will still be a wonder supper for any Sunday!