Playdates and Pumpkins

Naomi and I have been having play dates with our friends (Gracie and Jennifer respectively) since the girls were a few months old as they are only a few months apart.  It's been quite an interesting relationship for the littles.  The first dates when they were old enough to actually play the sharing of toys on both ends was a challenge, things in that area have dramatically improved.  There was one play date at our house when the girls were around 1 and there was some toy that Gracie was crawling over toward and Naomi just plowed her down.  I thought for sure it would be the end of the dates.  Thankfully it was not and we still get together every few months for play time.  This past weekend we had Jennifer and Gracie over, it was some much needed Gracie and Mommy time, Gracie has a newish little sister and it was a nice outing for just the two of them while sweet baby girl was home with her daddy. 

Someday, their playdates will actually involve them playing together not just both in the same room at the same time :)

I like that it looks like they are sharing a giggle over something

So, I typically have a grand idea of some crafty and photogenic moment that we can all embrace and look back on fondly.  However, we were painting pumpkins this time and frankly I was a bit leery of trying to wield my camera around two little munchkins with paint all over their little fingers.  And Jennifer and I got lost in catching up while the girls painted.  The pumpkins did turn out cute though and both girls were such typical girls wanting to wash the paint off their hands right away :)  Funny.

Trying to get them both to look and smile was a bit of a challenge...

I think they were probably snickering at Jennifer and my attempts to get them to pay attention to us and smile!

It's a keeper - our little pumpkins with their pumpkins

I made a little luncheon for us to have together and made Bow-Tie Pasta with Peas and Ham.  It turned out alright, it was a little on the bland side for me, if I make it again I would add chives, garlic and a bit more Parmesan cheese.  Here's the recipe adapted from the Martha Stewart recipe:

Bow-Ties with Peas and Ham

1 lb. bow-tie pasta (farfalle)
Coarse salt & Ground pepper
3 T butter
1 onion diced
2 C frozen peas
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 lb cooked ham
Grated Parmesan cheese

1) Cook pasta in a large pot until al dente according to package directions

2) Meanwhile, heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion, cook stirring until soft, 3-4 minutes.  Add peas and half-and-half, season with salt and pepper.  Simmer until thickened.

3) Dice ham, add to sauce and cook until heated through, 1-2 minutes.  Toss sauce with pasta, serve with grated Parmesan.

HOWEVER, I didn't want to be cooking while our friends were over so I put it in a greased cake pan and baked it at 350 for about a half hour.

For dessert I made 7 Layer Bars.  Well kind of, growing up they were called Jane's bars.  I have no idea why they are Jane's bars or who the recipe came from, I am guessing she got it from Aunt Jane, just a guess though because we also have a recipe in the recipe box from Mom called Snook's pickles...there were two Snook's in our lives growing up, the lady we went to get our eggs from (do any of my sisters remember the chalkboard in her house or getting a stick of chalk from her? Insert weird random memory here) and also our Grandparents dog was named Snooks. I'm going to venture a guess the pickles came from the lady.  Back to the bars...what I know I can call them is gone...because I made the pan on Friday night and by Sunday afternoon they were G.O.N.E.  Yum.

Also, a note about my mom's recipes.  One of the many things that I miss about mom is talking about recipes, rarely would I make one of her dishes without calling to chat about it...I kind of forgot why until Friday night when I looked at the recipe and it has ingredients and cooking temperature and time listed but no instructions.  Nada.  Zilch.  Make it up as you go.  Once again, I am really starting to grasp where my cooking ideals came from :) Thanks Mom, even without detailed instructions they turned out heavenly.  Pun fully intended. 

Jane's Bars/SIX Layer Bars

1 C melted butter
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs (I used like twice the amount, it just didn't seem like enough!!!)

Here's where I am taking liberty on mom's recipe...adding instructions!  Mix the melted butter and crumbs together in a bowl and press into a greased 9x13 baking pan.

Layer remaining ingredients over the top of the crust:
1 C chopped nuts
1 C chocolate chips
1 C butterscotch chips
1 1/2 C flaked coconut
1 (15 oz) can condensed milk

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Cool then devour enjoy :)

Spaetzel, Pizza and Buttercream Frosting

It has been a very busy couple of days.  Tuesday was my last day at Mid-Wisconsin, after almost 10 years with the company, I am taking a new direction and working for Ryan's family's business at the Gun Store.  It's an exciting new direction for our little family and I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity. 

SO.  I have not tried a new recipe yet this week nor have I made any sewing projects but I am going to post on the delicious food we had over the weekend. 

An early start to the weekend was my first Spaetzel making lesson with Ryan's Grandma Ertl.  Spaetzel is a little dumpling that you boil and can serve just boiled or reheated by frying in butter.  Yep.  Frying in butter.  Y.U.M. 

Ryan's family is filled with wonderful cooks and his grandmother is no exception.  For Spaetzel, the recipe is a very simple dumpling recipe, the key here is the tool more so than the recipe.  The spaetzel maker reminds me of a flat grater with a box that you put your dumpling batter in and drop little dumplings into boiling water.

It seems to me that its not so much the flavor of the spaetzel but that it's a blank canvas for flavors.  Grandma made finely sliced pork loin combined with a creamy tomato sauce to go with it. 

The beautiful plates were Grandma's mother's plates, she told us that her mother saved $2 a week for a year to be able to purchase these place settings.  They truly are beautiful...and it scared the bejezus out of me to have Naomi using one at dinner but thankfully she didn't break anything!

With our left overs I made a chicken based dish that I just threw in some mushrooms and onions with it.  All in all, spaetzel is very versatile, would be great in soups and Naomi LOVED it.  I didn't take a true blue before picture of the meal at Grandmas frankly because I was too excited to eat it and forgot to take the picture!

Friday night was wine, pizza and a movie at Justin and Amber's.  They make their own wine which is awesome and Justin is the maestro of homemade pizza. 

Justin rolling the dough...

Amber cutting into the 1st type of pizza, tomato and spinach with a white sauce. 

It was awesome!

I forgot a bib for Naomi and their apartment is SUPER hot so Naomi got to eat dinner in her diaper :)  ha ha!

The last culinary adventure of the weekend was on Sunday, I am going to test run a few different types of cake and frosting combos before Naomi's birthday in March so this weekend was Funfetti (yes from a BOX) and a homemade butter cream frosting recipe that I got from the The Small Things Blog:

Homemade Buttercream Frosting

1/2 C butter, softened

1/4 C Crisco

1/8 tsp salt

2 C powdered sugar (keep it out, you'll need more)

1 tsp vanilla

approx 2 tbsp milk

1. Cream butter and Crisco until well blended.

2. Add salt, mix well.

3. Gradually add powdered sugar. Add milk to thin out/fluff up the frosting. Begin with 1 tbsp..add more if necessary. Add extra powdered sugar (approx.  6 tbsp) if you like it sweeter. 

4. Add vanilla and beat until light, smooth and creamy.

I couldn't get Ryan to leave the kitchen while I was making the frosting so I think it's a safe bet to say he liked it!  And Naomi ate all of the frosting off of her cupcake but not the actual cup cake...sneaky girl!

I am not 100% sure this is the winning combination but it's a good start...according to Naomi at least :)