Not Archived?

 I remember getting emails saying my blog would be archived and I didn't do anything about it. I'm rather surprised and pleased to see it still exists and I can still post to it. A lot has happened in 5 or 6 years. Including a couple of big moves, a pandemic and going to a Dodger's game on 4th of July to see fireworks!

Sunset at the beach is always a beautiful thing.

Dodger's Stadium is huge!

Taking a pic of other people taking a pic, haha

Sunset in our eyes, now we know which side of the stadium to not sit on if we ever go to another game. It was a lot of fun, but if I was to go again, I would bring a see-through bag with snacks. Food there is so expensive! Though it is fun to eat ice cream and French fries out of a little plastic baseball hat. 

I like how they line up around the freshly combed dirt to protect it as people went down on the field before the fireworks.

Since we were in the top row of the stadium, we could turn around and see fireworks all through the valley since the stadium is on a hill. We could hear them far away before it even got dark! The stadium fireworks were good.

Adventures in Flan

(written in 2018!)

Okay, not really adventures IN flan, but with flan. Now that sounds creepy, too.

Anyway! I've only tried to make flan twice and both times some of the caramel remained hardened and stuck to the bottom of the pan after inverting it onto a plate. Such a loss of caramel!

The first time, I tried to follow a recipe that included cream cheese exactly, unfortunately, I don't remember which one. It was smooth and yummy, except my caramel tasted slightly burnt and stuck to the pan.

This time, I combined two recipes.

This beauty from:
Home Cooking Adventure

And this lovely from:
Delish D'Lites

I wanted to try coconut milk instead of evaporated milk.

Be warned the sugar sure takes a long time to turn into caramel!

Caramel:
1 C sugar
1/2 C water (I really tried to resist stirring it while it was heating and bubbling)
1 Tablespoon of butter added after it is removed from heat and poured into the pan the flan goes in.


Custard:
1 8oz. package of Cream Cheese, room temp, blended til smooth
2 teaspoons of Lemon Juice
2 teaspoons of Vanilla extract (I don't remember if I put one or two.)
5 Eggs, room temp, added one at a time
14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon
a pinch of Salt

I didn't realize that the Coconut Cream Cheese recipe (from Delish D'Lites) had a can of evaporated milk in addition to the can of cream of coconut.

I probably didn't use the right kind of cream of coconut either, just a regular full fat can of coconut milk.

I used a hand blender and skimmed off the foam before baking and while baking had it in a water bath of boiling water.

I didn't cover it with aluminum foil.

It did get rave reviews from my parents and daughters. My boys (a.k.a picky eaters) won't taste flan.

One Pot Pasta

One Pot Pasta

2 T Oil

2 diced Chicken breasts (saute in oil)

1 T seasonings (total of: cayenne, onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper)

8 oz Sausage

3 cloves Garlic (saute together)

1/2 Onion

1 Red Pepper, sliced

1 Green Pepper, sliced

2 C Mushrooms, sliced (saute together)

Add 1 pound pasta

5 C Chicken Broth

Bring to boil.

Simmer 10 minutes.

Add 1/2 C heavy cream

1 C Parmesan Cheese

Crochet Steampunk Goggles

I crocheted a top hat for a friend and the hat just begged to have crocheted goggles placed atop. The hat was made with super chunky yarn, so that it would hold its shape.





















I began with a size F crochet hook and binder rings. I wanted them to be overly large, so I chose the 2.5" size rings.

Begin by crocheting all the way around the ring.

 Switch to a slightly smaller hook, chain 1 and single crochet in each sc around.

Switch back to size F and sc in back loops only all the way around.
Next row, still in back loops only, decrease 5-6 times evenly spaced around.
Crochet about halfway around (for me, 200 stitches).
Decrease one in the middle,
Chain 1, turn.
Skip first sc, SC across stopping before last sc.
Chain 1, turn, skip first sc. SC across.
Continue in pattern until it tapers to the thickness that you want the band.
Make 2 of these.

That is where my notes end. Ha ha. But, the rest is easy, just crochet the band til it's long enough to go around the hat, then make the little part that goes in the middle, an easy little rectangle.

Obviously too big to wear without the hat. 

Smoothie Recipe

(also untried due to not having rice protein powder)

2 T. Rice Power Protein

2 T. Ground Flaxseeds

1/2 C. frozen Berries

1/2 Banana

1 C. Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

Blend

Broth Recipe

I don't remember where I found this recipe, and I still haven't tried making it.

With that stellar recommendation...

3 Quarts Water

1 Onion, large

2 Carrots, sliced

1 C Winter Squash, cubed

1 C Root Vegetables; Turnips, Parsnips, Rutabagas

2 Celery stalks

1/2 C Cabbage

4 1/2 fresh Ginger slices

2 cloves Garlic

Sea Salt to taste

Add all ingredients & place on a low boil for about an hour. Boil to taste.

Cool. Strain (throw out cooked vegetables).

Store in a large, tightly-sealed glass container in the fridge.

Heat gently & drink up to 3-4 Cups per day.

True Confession

I was trying to make instant potatoes, but didn't have any milk!


hmm... what would you substitute? The only canned milk we had was sweetened condensed or coconut. We were out of sour cream. Mayo? I don't think so.

To begin with, for more flavor, I used chicken broth in place of most of the water (4 cups out of 6).

I did use the proper amount butter.

It called for 2 Cups of milk...I used a little bit of extra oil, like a quarter cup or less along with (drum roll, please) ranch dressing to fill the rest of the cup, and then replaced the other cup and a quarter with water.

I also used ground beef with all its grease and some extra potato flakes, less than a cup, to finish off the box.

It was good.

No one complained.