Divine Spa Day

Kirk and our friend Dani conspired to get me out of the house this morning for a girl’s day out. I had no idea what he was up to but figured he was hatching something And it was truly appreciated, fabulous would be a better description! I came out so relaxed I don’t think I could have driven home.

Dani and Kirk had cooked up the idea and her choice was Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door Spa at The Bravern in Bellevue. In all honesty though I am a very low maintenance girl. I rarely wear makeup, like simple hair do’s. It feels TOO indulgent to go to a spa. So by sneaking it up on me I didn’t protest. Smart husband/friend……..

They set me up for the Mother’s Dream with Pregnancy Massage. The massage was divine, I felt so relaxed after. I can see why they work wonders on a tired back. Big belly, big back pain too often.  I came very close to falling asleep during my facial, very soothing. We dined on a light lunch catered from Wild Ginger. A long and relaxing pedicure and then a manicure. I have matching Heather (a very pale lavender) tootsies and fingers now.

I feel overly pampered and tired. Sleep will be nice tonight. It was a treat I didn’t know I needed – and that made it so much better.

~Sarah

Bravern’s Trophy Cupcakes

Out this morning we popped into the new Trophy Cupcake location in The Bravern in Bellevue.

I picked three to try (left, clockwise): Hummingbird, Chai Cardamon and Smores. Ford loved the Smores – with its mallow topping and crunchy layer. Kirk and I agreed that the Chai one was divine. The cake was fragrant and moist, the frosting adult sweet.

Well worth the price, these cakes would have been perfect with one of their bittersweet mochas as well!

~Sarah

Shepherd’s Pie

I was craving a big bowl of Shepherd’s Pie recently but got thinking – it had been a long time since I had made it. I think actually the last time I had it, Kirk made it maybe 6 years ago? Not sure why I haven’t done it since. But what they hey, I am embracing my casserole roots more often these days.

So after looking at maybe 100+ recipes and not seeing anything that even looked remotely good (canned gravy? cream of mushroom soup? versions with no gravy at all?) I was getting disillusioned. So I thought it out and decided I’d make it up as I went and write it down. I used what I had on hand and as always, I used Bison for the ground meat. On the potatoes I had a bag of mixed Yukon Gold, red and blue potatoes that I used. I quartered them, with peels on. On the buttermilk, if you haven’t used it, try it! It is thick and tasty and more so, low fat.

Yes, the color of the mashed potatoes is a bit odd, that is what blue potatoes will do though

Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients:

Meat Filling-

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb ground bison

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

2 cups lower sodium beef stock

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1 lb bag frozen peas and carrots, thawed

ground black pepper to taste

Mashed Potatoes-

2 lbs potatoes of choice

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

ground black pepper

2 cups grated Tillamook medium cheddar cheese

Directions:

Wash and quarter the potatoes. Steam them till fork tender using a steaming basket in your pot if you have one. Drain off the water and let the potatoes sit for a couple minutes to dry out. Meanwhile melt the butter in the hot pot over the still warm burner, toss in the potatoes and start mashing. Add in the buttermilk, fresh ground black pepper to taste until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the grated cheese till melted.

Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium high heat in a large non-stick skillet. Add in the meat and cook till nearly done, then add in the garlic and finish cooking. Drop the heat to medium, stir in the flour and let cook for a couple minutes. Add in the beef stock, wor. sauce and ketchup. Let cook till bubbling and thickened, then stir in the vegetables. Let heat through till bubbling again. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste (and salt if you so desire).

Pour the hot meat mixture into a 9″x13″ oven proof casserole. Top with the hot mashed potatoes using two spoons to drop then gently spread. Spread the remaining 1 cup grated cheese on top.

Bake in a 350° oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Serves a hungry crowd!

~Sarah

Book Review: Homesteading

Kirk and I were running errands this morning when I saw the just out book, Homesteading: A Back to Basics Guide to Growing Your Own Food, Canning, Keeping Chickens, Generating Your Own Energy, Crafting, Herbal Medicine, and More, at Costco. Costco is selling it for $14.99, a great bargain indeed. If you read the original version of Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition back in the day (my parents had a first edition copy from 1981), the new Homesteading is a great companion to it. While Skyhorse Publishing has also updated Back To Basics back in 2008, they mostly left the original concept intact – which while a super book can be out of date for the more modern person – who wants to learn certain crafts but wants them still modern. Back To Basics taught me how to render tallow (how many people ever say “Hey, this farmer who gets lattes from my coffee shop has offered me a ton of natural raised beef’s tallow for free! Weeeee! Wonder how hard it is to render the fat so I can make soap?” PS: That tallow made the BEST lye based soap….

Anyhow, the new Homesteading has the same format and layouts with tons of photos/illustrations clearly showing everything. Covering from gardening, harvesting, composting, raising small animals, canning, preserving, candle making, making paper, how to give massages, make lotions and even how to make lye based soaps…..it also covers alternative energy sources, how to make buildings for rural or semi rural living and even how to live a rural lifestyle in a city, covering how to start community gardens and raising food even on balconies.

I would say that this book is friendlier for the average person than BTB is, it is easier to understand and you don’t need experience to do most of the items, just a desire to learn!

~Sarah

Quick Noodles

Noodles sounded good as did little effort and with a little thinking we had a massive bowl of pasta for dinner.

Quick Noodles

Ingredients:

1 lb whole wheat spaghetti, broken in half

1 lb baby carrots, roughly chopped

1 cup sesame ginger dressing

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1/4 cup chunky peanut butter

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp diced dried garlic

Directions:

Steam the carrots till tender. Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook spaghetti for time on package. Mix the dressing, sesame oil, peanut butter and spices together. When the carrots are done, toss with the sauce in a large bowl, then toss the hot pasta with it. Makes a LOT.

~Sarah

Necco Wafers Going Natural

I was very happy when I read the news this morning about Necco Wafers having changed over to natural dyes and flavorings! Necco Wafers are one of those weird candies you either love or hate. I love them. I haven’t had one in well over 3 years. If I want to torture myself I go wander the candy aisle at the local drug store and reminisce about what I used to be able to eat before I stopped consuming artificial colorings (they are a major trigger for my migrianes). This is one I will be looking for. It is so rare now I get to enjoy junk food candy!

Another one is Haribo gummy bears. In the US they are made with artificial coloring, yet last month my husband was over in Romania, then in Germany. In Germany the hotel he stayed at left tiny bags of the bears as a treat in his room. And…they were dyed with natural dyes! (It is handy having a husband who is pretty fluent in German) The taste of the German version was clean and clear – they were like candy from when I was a child. Before corn syrup and a lab of flavors and colorings took over America….But unless he gets back over that way I won’t get anymore (I cannot find that version exported). Kirk hadn’t looked at them – and he was “If I had known” he would have brought me back bags of them!

With Europe leading the removal of artificial dyes out of food, we can only hope more will do this as well!

And hey, Jelly Belly? You could do better than having two whopping choices to choose from.(Sport Beans don’t count…)

~Sarah

Hamantaschen

This was a recipe I found in the search to replicate the cookies my mom and I made as I was growing up. I have seen many versions but overall this seems the closest to what she used. As for the filling there are the traditional prune or poppy seed fillings but my mom left tradition and often used homemade jam instead. Everyone liked that better, so I just added your favorite jam as the filling!

Hamantaschen

Ingredients:
Cream cheese pastry:
3-ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces
3-ounces unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of kosher salt
1 Tbsp sugar

Filling:
Jam of choice

For sealing:

1 egg, beaten

Directions:
Place cream cheese, butter, flour, salt and sugar in a food processor and pulse until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Remove from processor and form into a ball. Chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to about ¼-inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out 3-inch circles, gathering and re-rolling scraps as necessary. You should have about 12 pastry bases.

Place a heaped teaspoon of filling mixture in the center of each pastry round and brush edge of each circle with a little beaten egg. Bring pastry edge up around filling on two sides and pinch together to make a point of sealed pastry; repeat two more times (pinching pastry well to ensure that it seals together) so that filling is almost enclosed and cookie looks like a three-cornered hat.

Bake for 15 minutes or until pastry is golden. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to a rack to cool completely. Makes about 12.

~Sarah

Homemade Tartar Sauce

In making fish and chips the other night this is what I whipped up for a tartar sauce. It does need at least 30 minutes for the flavors to meld, an hour is even better.

Homemade Tartar Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup diced dill pickles (well drained)

1 Tbsp lime (or lemon) juice

1 Tbsp honey Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp dried onion

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

Mix together well and stash in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Excellent the next day as a sandwich spread for fishwiches.

~Sarah