Home Sweet Home Owner's Insurance

If you were wondering how my day went.....


....I'd say it went pretty lucky. I decided at the last minute to pull under the carport instead of parking in the driveway like I typically do while Thomas is out of town. The only thing that might have been more scary sounding than an oak tree breaking 20 feet away from me would have been that sound followed by the crunching metal of a VW Golf being demolished.

This second picture is for Thomas' benefit since he is away and cannot inspect the damage. The broken board seems to be the most damaged we received to our property. God really protected us.

A big thanks to all who took care of me!!

Me, GENIUS? Oh how sweet :)

Thanks Abigail for the self-esteem boost!

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This is apparently far off base considering I had to double check the spelling of genius when titling this blog. Maybe cooking genius's can't spell words that aren't edible :)

Cough, cough :(

How Cute!! Don't be fooled, this is a rare moment of affection for one another.

I finally feel that my life is starting to ease into a pattern again. Work is at a good steady pace, my first big school are done, I'm finding time to hang out with Anna, Kellie and a few other people here and there (goodbye months of hermit behavior!), and my house is being cleaned on a regular basis :). So what's the first thing I do?? Try to find something new :). Seriously, I have no right to ever complain that my life is too busy or that I have too much going. My new found interest is most certainly a side effect of my becoming a voyeur of some craft and domestic arts blogs. Most of them revolve around knitting and baking, which I have tried and enjoy, but when one of them discussed quilting/sewing, I got really interested.
I stayed home from work today with a cold. All week I'd been going to work sick, but today I finally gave into the crusted eyes, soar throat and chest rumbling cough. Forcing myself to stay on the couch for an entire day is so hard, but I've used the time to read online sewing how to and think I've gathered enough info to start on my first project. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, but I don't do self-taught things very well. More than likely I'll need to enlist the help of a friend who sews. If you can sew well, please let me know! I pay in cookies :)

I really need to catch up on posting the pictures I've taken of the recipes we've tried. This blog originally started because we kept forgetting all the good meals we'd made and never knew what to make for dinner. So although this is entirely unrelated to today, here goes:
Martha Stewart's Living magazine has two sections that I almost always make when I get the monthly edition. Thomas has taken to grabbing the magazine first when it comes just to see what these sections hold, as he knows he will directly benefit from their contents.
Last month, the what's for dinner recipe cards section had a recipe for Marinated Flank Steak Sandwiches with Baked Sweet Potato Chips. I need to work on making pictures look more appetizing, but I promise it was tasty!


The recipe was pretty quick and easy and made good left overs. The entire sandwich can be reheated and the bread doesn't get soggy (I hate reheating sandwiches, hamburgers, tacos, etc with any type of cold produce on them like lettuce). This is my much loved and used bento lunch box (found at lunchboxes.com, gifted to me from Tom & Sylvia last Christmas). It helps me eat healthier lunches. The novelty of filling the little containers has yet to wear off in the 10 months I've had it.

Marinated Flank Steak Sandwiches:
Makes 4 sandwiches
1 small onion (the recipe called for white, I used red), sliced into 1/4 inch rings
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (from 2 oranges)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 2 to 4 limes)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, crushed (i used 2 tsp jarred minced garlic)
1 1/2 lbs flank steak, trimmed of excess fat
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 loaf ciabatta bread, split horizontally & halved lengthwise (I used wheat sandwich buns)
6 oz Gruyere cheese, thinly sliced (splurge on this one item above all others, it makes a difference)
1 whole dill pickle, thinly sliced crosswise
1. Combine onion, juices, cumin, and garlic in a shallow dish. Add steak, and let stand, turning once, for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat a grill pan to medium-high and oven to 400 (I just preheat the oven, with the grill pan inside). Pat steak dry, and season with salt and pepper. Grill to desired doneness, 5 to 10 minutes per side. Let rest.
3. Grill onion for 2 to 3 minutes. Discard marinade.
4. Butter bread. Grill, buttered side down, for 2 minutes. Place cheese on bottom havles, and bake in ove until melted.
5. Slice steak thinly, AGAINST THE GRAIN (if you cut with the grain, it's really hard to bite off). Top cheese with pickle, steak, onion, and bread. Halve each sandwich and serve.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips
2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced 1/8 inch think
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lime, cut into wedges for serving (do not skip the lime! it makes the dish)
Preheat oven to 400, with racks in center and lower positions. Place in bowl with lid, drizzle with oil, secure lid, and toss to coat. Divide sweet potatoes between 2 rimmed baking sheets and spread them in a single layer. Bake, flipping once, until centers are soft and edges are crisp, 22 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve with lime wedges.

Business as Usual

This is my wonderful cozy living room, with two even cozier cats. It looks nothing like this right now :). In fact, it's rarely looked like this all semester. This welcoming sitting area is now piled high with text books, articles read and unread, lists of TEKS, art album discs, etc, etc.
I am trying to decide if i have given myself too much to do or if I am the type of person who is easily overwhelmed and suited better for a simple lifestyle.

Turning album designing into a company is an awesome dream; however, it would be great if someone could just hire me on to create albums and they took care of the websites, taxes, marketing, contracts, and so on that comes with the business side of things. I don't think I'm cut out to do it. The truth of the matter is, when I start to teach, there will not be time for this company, at least, no more time than I give it now. And isn't that the ultimate goal of what I'm doing? To get a job teaching? I like album design, but it's not painting and it's not teaching art. Should I just chill and not try to actively grow the company? I could keep working at Elliott until I find a teaching job. It shows a lasting position with a company and it has good benefits. It's also not a bad job :). Album design is just so interesting. It could be 0 - 5 years before I find a teaching job so it's hard to plan. Also, album design would be good for when I have kids- working from home............
(Thanks for reading through that short list of pros and cons, I'll spare you the rest, of which there is a lot). Suffice it to say, it's so hard to decide how much work to put into this.
But I will mention that I am possibly being hired on part time (case by case basis) with an album design company out of California. YAY!!!

To top that, and add more stress (happy stress), a friend of mine in Alaska, who works for an interior design firm, showed my work (paintings/prints) to her boss. It's apparently not quite the right style to show in their office space as they often do for local artists, but she likes my work and wants to get a good portfolio from me to keep on file to show clients in search of art pieces. Thanks Lisa for playing art dealer!!

I feel like I've already said too much about myself, but after all it is my blog and I should mention for those curious that I rocked my teaching assignment Thursday. I sounded confident and knowledgeable (not hard to do when you are teaching the kids about the four seasons :) ) and most impressive of all, I got all 60 kids to be quiet at one time! For like 10 minutes! Booya! Te he. Then I had fun getting them all rilled up and excited about watercolors for the next 30 minutes. Art is great :). The best part about it was that I wasn't nervous when I was standing in front of 75 people who were judging every move I made. I was exhilarated. I love teaching!!
I celebrated by drinking a lot of Raising Cane's Lemonade. I've never eaten their food, but that lemonade is like crack.
Whoo! So much running through my little brain....

Dulce De Leche Cookies

Whew! I'm on the uphill climb and I can't wait for Thursday evening. One album down, another one begun and I have a major project due Tuesday in my art ed class. THEN, on Thursday, I teach!!! It's kind of nice to get my week of teaching done early in the semester, but I still feel a bit unprepared and nervous. I have to make 70 people (60 of them children) listen to me all at once and get them to learn something. I want to teach, and it's very exiting, but this group is so big and so unruly. Last week someone taught them the color wheel. I spent two minutes at one end of my table (the 3rd graders), and by the time I got to the other end, those kids had painted their hands :). Thomas gave me some really great ideas and I just need to get my props together.
Speaking of Thomas, he gets really excited when the monthly issue of Martha Stewart comes in because the last page is the cookie of the month. This month's was especially delicious. He begged for a week or two before I had time to make them, but it was well worth the wait. I don't know how hard it is to find dulce de leche in other states, but this south it's in every grocery store.

Dulce de Leche Cookies
Makes 18
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dulce de leche

1. Whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder. Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg, yolk, chocolate, and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 1 hour.

2. On a lightly cloured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch think. Cut 36 rounds with a 2-inch cutter, and space 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 375. Bake until set, 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool. Top half of the cookies with 1 heaping teaspoon dulce de leche and top with another cookie.

Whew! How did I go from trying to live a slow life to being this busy?! There really hasn't been that much baking... or blogging.... lately. There hasn't been much of anything aside from school, work, and albums. School is great. We teach K-5th graders, 60 all at once, in an after school program on Thursdays. They're so cute! I'm a little stressed about school and I don't know why, but I've had a few anxiety dreams. You know, the kind where everyone in your class, your teacher, and your friends all stand around and tell you you're going to fail? I think the real root of my anxiety is an opportunity I've been given to expand my album design business. Jill sent me a link to an album design company out of California who is growing too fast and needs a few part time designers. In a crazy moment of "what could happen" thinking, I sent them an email with links to some of my work. They responded mostly positively and have invited me to design a sample album for them in October as an interview. What am I thinking!?? It would be great if this took off and I could quit my job, but that would take me believing my work is at the professional level. This is a jump I am not ready to take and I'm terribly fearful of rejection. So, yeah, anxiety much?
Despite everything going on, I did find time to put in a last ditch effort to accomplish a few of my summer plans before school got into full swing. I have an herb garden again!

This garden is not nearly as cool as the one Emily and Tex gave us as a wedding present (the cats aren't getting fresh catnip anytime soon), but it's so nice to have fresh basil and oregano again. Our favorite bean salad is much tastier with fresh ingredients. It's perfect for days when you want a light meal and don't have much time.

Texans complain a lot about the weather, but lately, it has been perfect! Low 80s, good breezes, clear skies. I've found myself on the porch a lot in the last week studying (it's also quieter outside, than inside with Thomas :) ). Every once in a while a good breeze comes and all the smells from my herbs get stirred up. While making the salad below, I was able to stab myself with a new knife, injuring my hand badly enough to make me think I needed to have stitches. Three hours later in the emergency room I was being handed a band-aid and feeling very sheepish. Oh well, better safe than sorry. A big thanks to Anna for taking me :). Don't worry, the food wasn't contaminated. Thomas was sweet enough to finish it for me.

Herbed Black Bean Salad
from Better Homes and Gardens Smart Diet
a present from Cyndi (THANKS!!!)
1 15oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup snipped fresh basil
1/4 cup snipped fresh oregano
2 green onions, sliced
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

In a medium bowl combine the garbanzo beans, black beans, tomatoes, basil, oregano, green onions, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Let salad stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to 2 hours to allow the flavors to blend.
We always serve this salad with cornbread.

Chicken and Dumplings

Abigail and Brett got married! It was a beautiful, fun wedding and I wish them both much safety and happiness. I got to hang out with Hung and Doug and a bunch of other people I rarely see. Weddings are great for hanging out with old friends.
So in my last post I'm shown serving an entire cornish hen to Thomas and another entire one to myself. The portion size for the recipe was, as you could imagine, a bit large. I don't like wasting leftovers, so I thought I should try my hand at chicken and dumplings. I have a few great cookbooks full of southern style home cooked menus, just to mention one, Pattie Labelle's Cooking Light :), but none had a recipe for cooking chicken and dumplings when the chicken was already cooked. I finally found a recipe on recipezaar.com. The recipe was pretty good, although a little different from other chicken and dumplings I've had because the cloves were so strong. All in all it was pretty easy and satisfying.

10 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1 bay leaf
3 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 onion, chopped
1 potato, shredded
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
3 cups Bisquick baking mix
1 cup milk

1. Place first 8 ingredients in a large pot and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Add vegetables and simmer until vegetables are just tender (20 min.).
3. Mix Bisquik and milk to make drop biscuits.
4. Drop by large spoonfuls into soup which has been brought to a rolling boil.
5. Cover and reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes, or until dumplings are done.
6. (Be sure to remove bay leaf and cloves.).