diy: painted bamboo cutting boards

I saw bamboo cutting boards with a painted neon edge in a magazine a while back and loved the idea. I already have a couple of bamboo cutting boards that I thought were in need of a spring refresh, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I feel silly giving an explanation for this project. It's super easy!

Grab some paint -- I used Crafter's non-toxic acrylic paint in Pure Pumpkin and Tutti Fruitti -- and a foam brush and simply painted the edges of my cutting boards. I did tape off the surface at first but quickly realized that was completely unnecessary as it's really easy to keep to the edge.

Both colours required two thin coats of paint which I allowed to dry overnight.

Then I used a fast-drying polyurethane to seal the edges ONLY. I did not use it on the cutting surface. It's also very important that you allow the polyurethane to dry and cure completely before using your cutting board for food. (Here's some info if you're worried 1; 2; but since the edges are rarely coming into contact with food, you can breathe easy.)

That's it! Now my cutting boards are a little more lively and my kitchen looks a little happier!

{tip} My cutting boards slip all over my counter tops, so I stuck on four of those little grippy plastic bumps on one side of the board to act as feet. They're definitely a finger saver!

{also} One of my worst habits is not oiling my cutting boards often enough and it really shows (it's hard to tell in the pictures, but they were really dry and the bamboo does start to kind of crack at the joints). If you've got wooden cutting boards, make sure to oil them frequently!

{fyi} I don't use both cutting boards for cutting. One of them I use as a trivet when I need to set hot things on the counter.

creme brulee

I'm pretty sure I've never had crème brûlée up to this point, but, as most of my projects in food, this was a request from Idle Husband.

A few months back, he proclaimed his sweet love for creme brulee. I looked at him in disgust and cursed the restaurant that had this on its menu. He just had to go ordering the most finicky thing and then he just had to go loving it. How the heck would I pull something like that off? I'm going to have to get a torch? That's too much trouble, so just remember that dessert fondly cuz it's not coming out of this kitchen any time soon.

But before I knew it, I found myself trying to come up with birthday ideas and decided this had to be it. He'd forgotten all about creme brulee by that time and had stopped bringing it up at every meal. This would be the perfect surprise! And, yes, despite my annoyance, I'd track down a torch (they aren't too expensive at Home Sense and I printed a 10% off coupon. Just be sure to get butane and test it as they aren't prefilled) and even some real vanilla beans (another luxury I've refused myself to have. Too fancy! Too expensive! Too finicky!). This was a birthday treat, after all.

I assembled my ingredients and read through my recipe again, separated my eggs, measured out the cream and sugar, and... is that it? That's all? I didn't even have to lug out the KitchenAid? The entire project was too easy. Easier than a cake, actually. Maybe it's this recipe in particular, but I couldn't believe that by the time the cream had boiled, I was pretty well done.

My kitchen wasn't a disaster. I had used one bowl and a pot. The only issue I had was the bain marie but that was on account of having a too-small tea kettle, and I worried tremendously as I removed them from the oven as they seemed more wobbly than trembling in the centre as called for in the recipe.

Since creme brulee can sit in the fridge for up to three days, I made these a day in advance (without the sugar crust), and hid them in the bottom portion of the fridge (I can hide things practically in plain sight around here). They set up during this resting period, so I was no longer concerned about the wobble.

The torching is easy. Don't even worry about overdoing it. The burnt bits add a really nice caramel flavour. Just be sure to add a thin layer of sugar. I found that a thicker sugar top ruined my enjoyment of the custard (which reminds me of a very delicate vanilla pudding) since I had to crunch my way through each spoonful. A thin delicate layer gives just enough sugary crispness for texture. Also, save the vanilla bean and stick it in the sugar you're going to use to top the creme brulee. It's so delicious! I'm so sad this recipe made an uneven five ramekins for us. I want one last whole one for myself! But we shared it, even though I know we both felt the same way.

recipe from Alton Brown

pasta cooked in sauce

I've decided I'm not going to give you a recipe for spaghetti and meat sauce. Aren't you already overwhelmed with a hundredity-billion different pasta sauce recipes already? I kinda think so. And besides, anyone who's ever cooked anything already has a pasta sauce recipe tucked away in their brain. You don't need someone on the internet giving you another one (we both know you'd adjust it for what you have on hand anyway).

This is just a little suggestion for the pasta portion of spaghetti and meat sauce. I just tried it and it kinda worked pretty fantastically and I was so surprised it worked, that I had to share it with you.

Have you ever considered cooking the pasta directly in the sauce?

Probably not and neither had I, but then I read it (on the internet, of course. It's where all my crazy ideas come from) and I thought that maybe it was possible.

After our pork and noodle dinner for Chinese new year, in which we seemed to both be scrambling to get the most noodles, I thought it was due time I made spaghetti. We don't have it very often so it usually really pains me to run all of that water for one tiny pot of pasta. Especially since I carefully measure the spaghetti portion to ensure we don't overeat and with that, it just seems like a whole lot of wasted water (and time waiting for it to boil) for a smaller portion of spaghetti in a huge pot.

I started making my sauce last night and I agonized over whether I should just try cooking the pasta in it. So what if it didn't cook? I could fish it out of the sauce and start again. It wouldn't be a big deal. I could just dump (almost) a full can of chopped tomatoes and their juices in and keep a couple cups of water handy just in case. And these types of things always stay on my mind until I do them and when's the next time we'd be having spaghetti, anyway?

Once the sauce was at the simmering stage (with all its lovely juices bubbling), I stuck a tiny wad of noodles into the middle of the pan and pushed them into the sauces so they were barely covered. Then I got braver and put another tiny wad, this time snapped in half, to each side (because only so much full-length spaghetti can fit in my frying pan) and pushed them down. Then I got about two cups of water and poured a little of that in to start so the noodles were just covered. Then I waited.

Overall, the entire cooking process took around 10 minutes which is almost exactly the same time it would take for noodles to boil conventionally. The only difference was that I had to keep checking on the noodles to see how done they were getting, to try and stir them up (to keep them from sticking), and to make sure they were still covered with liquid. I only added water when the spaghetti looked less covered with liquid and I ended up using about three cups of water (along with the tomato juices) in order to cook the spaghetti completely.

It worked so well and the pasta tasted... richer? More tomato-y? More one with the sauce, I guess. The sauce itself had thickened up a lot, too, by the addition of the pasta's starches. Overall, I'd call it a success which makes me wonder why we've all come to believe that pasta needs so much water to cook. All of it seems really wasteful now.

If you're adventurous (or eat a lot of pasta), this might be something you'd like to try. I don't think it would work with creamy sauces (mac and cheese... mmmm... probably not), but if you're making a tomato-based sauce already, this might be a nice option.

preserving herbs

I probably mentioned this trick in passing, but one great way to keep your fresh herbs fresh is to treat them like flowers. Trim the ends and pop them in a cup of fresh water. As long as you keep the water fresh, they'll keep like this for a little while longer than if you were to just store them in the fridge in a bag.

Now I have to share another trick I recently learned for keeping herbs around even longer.

All you have to do is freeze them.

Wash them, chop them, stick them in a freezer bag or a bowl covered with plastic wrap, and keep them in the freezer. Whenever you need a pinch while cooking, reach in and grab some. No chopping or washing or thawing required.

I was told this would work for everything except oregano. Don't ask me why not oregano. It may be because the Greeks have a special place in their hearts for oregano (and feta and tzatziki and olive oil) and they would never ever dream of freezing it. I don't know.

Since the oregano I planted twice refuses to grow, I couldn't test it for you. I did, however, test three herbs I do have growing right now. Basil, curly-leafed parsley, and chives. Plus I've already got a bowl of flat-leafed parsley in the freezer (that's it in the pictures above).

After freezing, I wouldn't use these herbs in anything requiring fresh crispness like a salad. But in sauces, on baked potatoes, hamburger mixes, soups, anything of the cooked variety they're perfect. The freezing process just makes them a little wilty once they've been unthawed. It's not that bad, but I don't think it would be very pleasant in a fresh salad. (Potato salad might be the exception since the texture is all pretty much one note and no one's really expecting crisp greens in that one.)

I don't know how long they'll last, but the bowl of flat-leafed parsley has been in my freezer for almost a month now. I keep meaning to transfer it to a bag because I feel like that's a better option for keeping it fresh, but despite the loose covering, it doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects.

Freezing is a great alternative to drying herbs for the winter and, when added to cooked meals, it really looks and tastes as though you chopped up something fresh. Come fall, I'll be chopping and freezing the bulk of the herbs I grew this summer (which wasn't very much due to all the excess rain). I'm sure I'll be able to make them last well into the winter without having to purchase more. It's going to be really nice grabbing fresh-ish home-grown herbs out of the freezer for meals during the winter months as a bright little reminder of summer.

balsamic cherries on salmon

The best recipes are always happy accidents or meals made out of necessity, aren't they? That's what I really love about cooking. Baking's so scientific but cooking -- cooking's game for anything. Throw a bunch of odd-ball ingredients together and you almost always get something good in return.

This was a necessity meal that turned into a very tasty meal, and I love it when that happens.

My favourite fish is pink salmon and usually I make it very simply. Lemon juice, salt and pepper, maybe some dried dill, under the broiler. This time, I had a bowl of cherries that just weren't cutting it. You know, I always have these grand ideas about cherries. They look so pretty and wonderful, but then I buy them, and they're no where near as good as I imagined they'd be. So they sit around in a bowl and get snacked on casually -- I say casually cuz we'll have a couple, remember they're not so great, then stop eating them until the next day.

I really hate wasting food, and I wanted to get rid of them before they all went south, so I came up with this. Strawberries with balsamic vinegar seems to work, so why not cherries? This isn't necessarily a recipe. It's more of an idea or suggested method if you've also got a ripening cherry problem on your hands.

{cherries}

however many cherries you've got (I had maybe 2 cups)

balsamic vinegar (possibly 1/4 - 1/2 cup)

olive or canola oil

salt & pepper

Pit the cherries by any means necessary. I don't cook or bake with cherries enough to own a cherry pitter, so I halved them with a pairing knife, then I picked each pit out. Labour intensive but satisfying cuz it's assembly line work (and that's my favourite kind).

Place all the cherries into some sort of frying pan (whatever you've got), place on medium high heat with a drizzle of oil and enough balsamic vinegar to cover the bottom of the pan. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the vinegar starts to bubble and cook off. Continue until the cherries have cooked down ever so slightly and the balsamic vinegar has reduced to a thickish glaze. Salt and pepper to taste.

{salmon}

I buy the frozen filets of salmon (when they're on sale, of course), but any kind your little heart desires will work

honey

Arrange the salmon filets on a foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle enough honey on each piece to lightly cover (use your fingers to spread it around if you must). Salt and pepper to taste.

Place under a preheated broiler until the fish is done to your satisfaction (it doesn't take very long at all. I always tend towards a little well-done which I like. They seem meatier to me that way). Once done, remove, place on a plate, and top with the cherries. Delightful!

sweet dumplings

I'm going to start off by saying that I was really wary of this idea at first because it involves frying. I don't like it, and I try to avoid it whenever possible. I've done a little shallow frying with mixed results and I think those experiences are good enough for me to cross frying off my list.

I've come to terms with it. I'm not good at frying. It's better I'm not, anyway. Otherwise, I'd probably be making donuts every month.

But Idle Husband kept seeing this stupid box of dumplings. And I kept reading the directions: Mix this dough, fry it in some oil, pour on some sugar.

And I would whine about the frying and the sugar and the frying of bread dough and the frying. And eventually, I'd get my way and he'd put it back.

Until one afternoon, he refused.

He'd make them for me. I wouldn't have to do any mixing or frying or sugaring, he'd do it all. Just please let him have some dumplings.

So I reluctantly agreed.

 

And throughout the whole process, I moaned about the frying and I complained about the oil and worried about him burning himself, because for some reason, Idle Husband doesn't compute that when things come out of the oven, they are hot.

 

And then we got to the frying and he read the directions carefully, patiently heating the oil to the right temperature.

And as he dropped spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil, it didn't splatter all over the place and smoke up the whole house. (Is that the trick to it?)

He tried to get them round like the picture on the box, but he ended up dropping them in dollups instead. Sure; they kind of look like chicken nuggets, but the objective wasn't esthetics. It was to get them crispy and golden and perfect. And that they were.

So I ate my slice of humble pie (or nugget of fried dough) and apologized for having absolutely no faith in his frying abilities and for doubting him at all.

Overall, the box looks shifty, but it's really quite easy to make and the dumplings turn out really pretty delicious, though I credit that entirely to the sugar syrup. Without it, the dough will taste exactly like nothing and then what's even the point to eating fried dough in the first place?

Idle Husband declared that they were exactly as he remembered them tasting in Greece when his mom would make them. So if you want to experience an authentic Greek dumpling, this is the mix for you. You can find Domo Dumpling Mix [probably] at any middle eastern supermarket. We happened to get ours at Al Salam Pita (aka Pita the Great), but I'm pretty sure I've seen it at Hellas foods, too.

{warning} This box makes a LOT of dumplings. We would have had even more had he shaped them into perfectly uniform balls (some of the dumplings could really have qualified as two) and had he actually finished frying all of the batter -- we decided to stop even though there was still a whole cup left to fry. If you want to finish it out, I would really suggest doubling the amount of syrup or do not let them sit in the syrup for 3 minutes (as suggested). He stopped frying them on account of low syrup (and gluttony). 

{fun post fact} Every time I had to type 'syrup', I typed it as 'syrump'

COOKIE MELTDOWN: St. Patrick's Day 2011

Have you ever used one of these? Well, don't. Just take this little piece of kitchen history and put it on a shelf as a display. It's much better as a display than a cookie press.

I had this grand idea for little crinkly green shamrock cookies and cutesy-ass photos but like all grand ideas, they never quite work. It's only the ideas where I think, "meh. I guess this might work", that actually work.

So I kept stuffing the dough into the press, then scraping out the dough and softening it up with egg whites then I'd squish it all back in and twist and turn the knob and, let's just say it was nearly impossible to produce uniform results no matter what I did. Only about a quarter of the time, did it produce these (I'm sorry I iced them. They look prettier iced). The other three quarters of the time, it produced three lumps or one large indiscriminate puddle.

Then the pump started getting greasy and my hand was getting sore from twisting that tiny poorly shaped knob (also greasy and impossible to grip), and after I had to redo one cookie about five times so I could actually fill a whole pan, I decided to use a cookie cutter. The dough was not made for cookie cutters, but I did my best.

There's really no reason to give you the recipe cuz it tastes exactly like a plain ol' sugar cookie with about three extra egg whites in it. This cookie has a lot of egg whites in it.

I also wouldn't have tinted the dough had I thought I'd be icing them. I also would have just made a proper sugar cookie recipe. Or shortbread with a green cherry pressed into the top. Or nothing. Cuz those ideas are all much better ones. And just to prove how much I didn't think I'd be icing them, I had exactly 3/4 of a cup of icing sugar in the entire house. So I even had to walk over to save-on to get more just so I could haphazardly do this.

here's the best artistic presentation (of the four better looking cookies) I could muster

here's my actual going-to-work presentation (yup. I let these bad boys out of the house). If you stand up and walk to the far side of the room you're in and squint a bit, they kinda look like clovers. So that's something.

I also made Irish potato candy as a back-up which, incidentally, I think look more like turds than potatoes, so I immediately started imagining scenarios where Idle Husband would have to constantly explain that they're Irish potatoes and not turds. Your wife made us turds?! How... thoughtful?

About the potato candy, it's very hard work and pretty tiring (remember, I'd just baked and iced 50+ shamrock cookies). I know it says it's an easy no-bake recipe, but this is something I'd only be making for special occasions. Trying to stir all of that together is by no means a simple task. I used good ol' arm power (as instructed), but I'll definitely be going with the stand mixer if I do it again. Good thing I have some of that nonslip drawer liner. It helped tremendously by keeping the bowl steady. I'm just really happy the recipe didn't produce very many candies (it probably would have had I not gotten tired of making them small) since the rolling is pretty tedius, too.

I think it's pretty impossible to ever get them looking like potatoes, so I figure you might as well embrace it. I'm thinking about making them as a Christmas gift next year. Reindeer poops or Snowman eyes or some other festive nonsense. If I can find black cocoa, they'd work as coal, too (oh man, cocoa and cinnamon for the win).

The potato candy is so friggin' delicious and amazing and fantastic, so we kept them (but only for the reasons mentioned above -- eh hem). We will properly appreciate their potato-like shape and will modestly enjoy one with a cup of tea after dinner (because that's how we enjoy desserts around here. Yes, sir, I swear).

jumping on the bandwagon

Remember how I wanted to bake donuts as a mini Dragon Age treat for Idle Husband's office? Well, after testing my fifth and final recipe (one that made exactly 3.5 donuts, I kid you not), I decided to scrap that idea altogether and make some generic cookies. At least I'd be able to whip out a large number of them with ease.

And then I saw the oreo baked into a chocolate chip cookie and yes. I had to go to there. Not because we're oreo lovers (if we're buying cookies, we're definitely not buying oreos) but because it was a novelty. See, at first I thought I might do bacon chocolate chip cookies. Just so I could get away with doing something simple while still impressing with crumbled bacon. But then I realized that if I put bacon into a cookie, there was probably a pretty good chance Idle Husband wouldn't even take the cookies to work. He'd squirrel them away all for himself.

The oreo idea seemed like the safe choice since neither of us will dip into the oreo bag unless we're really desperate and the effort to make something for his staff would still remain relatively low. So I thought, yeah. Let's do that.

I spent some time reading a review and comments here, and I learned a couple of things. First, eating the humongous cookie, oreo, cookie cookie was like going into a sugar coma; second, I wasn't really cool with making 24 gigantic super cookies; and finally, the chocolate chips overwhelmed the oreo taste (that wouldn't usually be a bad thing in my book). Someone in the comments suggested mini oreos which made me think mini chocolate chips and so I figured I'd probably be able to get more cookies out of the dough if I did it that way.

I used the original recipe instead of my own perfectly delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe just because I couldn't remember whether my recipe was prone to spreading or not. I found the original recipe to be good. I mean, typically tasting like a chocolate chip cookie. My dough turned out a little dry which made it frustrating to wrap each oreo, but I think that was partly due to my KitchenAid. (I recently discovered you can adjust your mixer head, so I've been fiddling around with it as it's always had a little trouble getting the bottom ingredients mixed in. I last adjusted it for the whisk and I guess I have to do it differently for the paddle.)

I baked them for 15 minutes, but I wish I had underbaked them by a couple minutes or so. Mine are crunchy and equal in crispness to the oreo, so I can't really notice a textural difference between the two.

We discovered that the softness comes back with a quick 5 minute stint in the toaster oven on toast. They are 100% better warm and soft.

I did use the mini oreo idea, so I got 48 perfectly regular sized cookies out of the dough. But now that I've tasted it, I think it's definitely better to use double-stuffed oreos. To keep them regular sized, I would cut them in half or in quarters. Unless there're double-stuffed mini oreos somewhere out there, you're not going to taste the filling at all.

I also reduced the chocolate chips to 1/2 cup and chopped them up a little in my food processor. I get a slightly chocolatey, slightly oreo-y taste to the cookie, neither flavour is overwhelming. (To be honest, to hell with the oreo flavour. I'd rather have more chocolate.)

If you want to do your own experiment (for the good of humanity, of course), check out the original recipe.

christmas antipasta

cropped and doctored just cuz I figured I might as well do something with it

Holy! When I saw the photos (all two of them) relating to this recipe, I nearly fell over. They're just a tad pathetic (haha a "tad") compared to some of the others I've taken this year. It makes me want to unpack measuring cups and bowls (and buy ingredients -- cuz I literally have nothing in the fridge and we're probably going to eat pasta for the next two days) just to make this again only for the purpose of getting some proper shots of it. But on the bright side, it's made me realize how far I've come with my photography this year, and I'm going to work even harder on it in the new year.

So my beautiful antipasta was obviously lacking the photographic justice it deserved (even though it's not really that photographic to begin with), but that really shouldn't make a difference on whether to make it or not. I can definitely attest to its deliciousness. Antipasta is one of those food things that really makes me think of Christmas. Its savoury sweetness makes it a nice change from all those Christmas cookies and when paired with Ritz crackers, it's got that sweet salty thing going on that I especially love. It also makes a perfect gift for the holidays because (depending on what size of jars you use) it makes a not-too-overwhelming amount, leaving you with just enough to gift and enough to keep (so you don't feel shorted after all that chopping you just did).

Here's where I blogged about it (and where you can get the entire story) and here it is on Tasty Kitchen!

kinda genius

I don't remember where I read about this. I tried searching for it, but it was a near impossible search. Anyway, some blog I read was talking about some little kitchen tricks she uses for saving counterspace, keeping things clean, what have you. And she mentioned using a bowl by her cutting board for scraps. She does it so she doesn't have to carry handfuls of stuff to the garbage 50 times while prepping food and it also saves from having to keep a pile of scraps on the counter which takes up useable counterspace.

I thought that was kinda genius. It was such a simple idea and I have a ton of extra bowls to use, so I thought I'd try it out for a week and see whether it was as smart as it sounded.

I chose one of my more awkward glass bowls to use. I wouldn't use it as a mixing bowl because the sides are too short, and I wouldn't use it for salads cuz it's just too big and wide.

It's ended up working perfectly for this. Anything I'd carry over to the garbage goes in the bowl. Peelings, tops of onions, egg shells, that sort of thing. It's also made clean up super easy, too. Peeling carrots? I just pull the bowl over and peel into it. Wiping the counter down, I just brush all the dry crumbs into the bowl and wipe away.

When I'm done cooking for the day, I take the whole bowl over to the garbage and throw everything out. It's saved a lot of back and forth trips to the garbage, yes, but I think the best thing that's come out of this trick is that it's helped keep the counter mess free -- there's less juices ending up on it, so I don't have to wipe it down as much (from egg shells as an example, or even that weird dirty starch mess left from potato peelings).

It's been a huge revolutionary update to my kitchen routine.

I'm also working on a little project that involves this fantastic colour, but like all little projects, it's turning into a multi-step headache. Stay tuned!

cold brewed tea or Be Gone, Servant of Juice!

This is a great discovery. The only thing that sorta irritates me is that it takes about 8 hours to fully steep. Otherwise, cold brewed tea is like THE most exciting drink in my life right now.

I really love iced tea, but I really hate the price of Crystal Light and the complete lack of flavour choice (I only like the peach tea and it only comes in singles -- WTF, Kraft?!) and I also like the President's Choice brand of powdered juice, but only green tea pomegranate which again only comes in singles (am I the only one who's boggled by this completely unnecessary, totally environmentally unfriendly trend? This is one of those trends you'd think people would want to start phasing out by now. And what irritates me even more is that I have to buy them because the flavours I like aren't available in a larger, jug format. So I'm unwillingly part of the problem!)

Operation Marshmallow Fluff

I have to make cupcakes next week (spoiler alert!), so in preparation for that, I thought I'd try to make my own marshmallow fluff. Yeah, I know. I'm totally out of my mind, but I'm actually not as crazy as you'd think. I'm doing this as PREP. Which means, I'm not going to attempt this crazy assed idea the day BEFORE I need said cupcakes. That's smart. That means I've got all my marbles. right?

I got my gelatin softening then continued on with phase 2. One cup of light corn syrup. Uh oh. Do I have enough? Please please please...a tipped up, drained out corn syrup bottle later, and I'm left with 3/4 of a cup. Crap. Do you know how much I love Google? It's saved my life time and time again. I honestly don't know what I was doing before Google. Probably just abandoning the project altogether for a quick (angry) drive to the store.

Anyway, honey can be substituted for corn syrup (this freaks me out a little because I kinda refer to corn syrup as the sugar devil). So shrugging my shoulders and figuring Kraft Canada knew a little more than I did on the subject, I topped up my cup with honey.

honey and corn syrup don't mix

researching 2

I was super inspired by Julianne Moore's decorating style in this issue of Domino.

By mixing expensive with the inexpensive she actually pulls off a really lux look.

I especially love those yellow curtains and the hazy grey-lilac colours

I also love the lines of that sofa. She found it at Crate and Barrel which we don't have in Edmonton (it's in Toronto which figures, they ARE the only good city in Canada, apparently *eye roll*...oh wait...what the deuce?! Calgary, too? You bastards!) eh hem. Nevertheless, I'm still inspired by it's classic, tailored lines (And by every other friggin' sofa on their website. Nerds.)

She also put carpet tiles in the kitchen! I'm interested in that (if only for an area rug that'll stay put) and I love how she used a skinny bookcase as an extra storage and display area. I have that exact bookcase right now (only it's brown). I also know exactly where in the kitchen I could put it if I were to use it there.

 

***

In other news, it's been raining all day today. It's so nice, I hope it rains all weekend. I'm definitely a rainy-day gal. Rain makes it feels so right to sit under a blanket and watch movies all day. Unfortunately, I developed a sore throat overnight. I don't know if it's the start of a cold or what, but I'm going to pretend like it is and start taking homeopathic medicine just in case. I swear by this brand, and I use it for everything not just the flu. Forget that stupid Cold FX. That doesn't work at all. Get this instead. The rain also made me nostalgic for comfort food, so I made a lasagna for supper. I strayed from my usual, family tried and true recipe (my mom's famous for her lasagna) and used a mixture of  ricotta, cheese, and spinach instead of bechamel or cottage cheese. Should be interesting (and by interesting, I hope delicious)!

Also, Happy Birthday Mom! You're like a fine wine, you only get better with age! haha Corn-nay! I love you!