the cutest paperclip holder in town

The template for this is from the Toy Maker website. I cut it out and put it together on my lunch. I think it is hands down the best paperclip holder I have ever had at work. I do not have an exact-o knife handy at work, so the lines are a little less than perfect and there was no way to get in the wheel spokes but I am just crazy about it! I made another one for my friend downstairs and I think she put a penny in it! There are so many cute paper projects on the Toy Maker site that I could spend all night cutting a putting together little things.

hurt beagles and onion rings

My sweet beagle Pebbles has a partially torn ACL. Poor little bunny is on pain pills and is completely restricted from any exercise for 10 days. At the end of 10 days the vet will evaluate her to see if she needs surgery. I certainly hope that she does not. She wants to run up the stairs and be a silly beagle but we are having to control that. She is such a sweet little girl and the closest thing I will probably ever have to a daughter, so it breaks my heart to see her in pain. I am sure she will be fine.
I was really in the mood for junk food last night but not so junky that it was from a fast food joint, you know? I made chicken sandwiches and onion rings, which was a really good dinner, actually. The man I call my husband really enjoyed it, too. I did not take any pictures of any of the food for some unknown reason. My onion rings were not the battered kind, although those are really good, too. I basically slice two onions and dredge the rings in seasoned flour, then dip in evaporated milk and then dredge back in the flour. Then fry them in 350 degree oil until they are golden brown and so good and crispy.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. I am making dolls and kitties all weekend for a "homemade open house" my super cool friend and co-worker is hosting in July. I must have stabbed myself with a needle 10 times last night while doing a little hand sewing on some doll heads. I have never really gotten the hang of using a thimble. I guess I should learn, huh?

clam chowder and, more importantly, mini corn muffins

When a new resident moves to Maryland, they are forced to do two things - 1) Pay exorbitant tax on any car they wish to register and 2) you must agree to consume at least 3 pounds of Old Bay Seasoning a year while living in the great state of Maryland. I must say that number 2 has been much easier for me to accomplish! I kid, of course (about the state forcing you to eat Old Bay, not about actually eating that much)!

We had clam chowder last night (seasoned with Old Bay, of course) and while it was simmering, I realized that I really wanted corn muffins to go with it. Not just corn muffins, but mini corn muffins. So cute and really tasty. I asked the man who lives with me if he wanted mini corn muffins with the chowder and he said, "Oh, yeah!" in that kind of "we haven't had mini corn muffins in forever" way.

Okay, recipe time -

clam chowder
4 strips of thick bacon cut into 1/2 pieces
1 sweet onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, also diced finely - I love the taste of celery but absolutely do NOT want to bite into a firm piece of celery in my soup
3 tablespoons of AP flour
3 medium russet potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch pieces - the love affair continues between me and the russet
1 10-ounce can of whole baby clams, liquid reserved
3 cups of whole milk
1 tablespoon of Old Bay seasoning
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon of dried dill
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of cracked black pepper

Heat a big pot over medium heat, spray with non-stick spray and add the bacon. Cook the bacon until crisp and all the fat is rendered out. Remove the bacon with a slotted thing and set aside. You should have about 3 tablespoons of fat in the pot. Add the onions and celery and cook until the celery is tender. Add the flour and stir until dissolved - about 45 seconds, really. Slowly add the reserved clam juice and stir until thickened. Slowly add the milk - 1/2 cup at a time and letting it thicken between additions - this will prevent the roux from settling on the bottom and burning. Not good chowder at all. Once all the milk is added, add the potatoes and stir in all the seasoning. Reduce the heat so it simmers but does not boil or it will burn. Some folks pre-cook the potatoes but I want the starch from the potatoes in the soup for the flavor and the thickness. So, simmer the potatoes in the milk for about 15 minutes stirring so it doesn't burn or stick but gently so the potatoes don't get too broken up. Once the potatoes are done, turn off the heat and add the clams and half of the cooked bacon. Canned clams are already cooked, so they just need to be heated through. If they cook again they will get tough and rubbery. I like to serve the chowder with a little shake of Old Bay, some sliced green onions, and a little of the bacon on top.

mini corn muffins - make 24 minis or 12 full size
3/4 cup of corn meal
1 1/4 cup of AP flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 cup of milk
1 egg, lightly whisked
1/4 cup of vegetable oil

Whisk together all dry ingredients. Add milk, oil, and egg and stir until just combined. Spray a mini muffin tin with non stick spray and add muffin mix. I use two teaspoons to scoop up the batter and then push it into the muffin cups for the minis and a spring style ice cream scoop works well for full size jobbers. I cook them for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Obviously, I am like completely crazy about these things. I must say that they are awesome for breakfast the next day, too.

beef, broccoli and noodles, oh my!

I got this recipe from Every Day Food here. It was really very good. I made ramen noodles with it, actually. I just throw away the salt pack, I mean the seasoning pack and season the noodles myself with some soy sauce and green onions. I was surprised at how good the noodles tasted, honestly. I couldn't resist buying them at $1 for 10 packs instead of $2.79 for one pack of lo-mien noodles one aisle over in the grocery store. Frugal and tasty and actually low fat!

rum raisin rice pudding

Rice pudding is one of those foods that "snuck up" on me. I remember being a young pastry chef and the restaurant chef telling me he wanted me to make rice pudding from left over arborio rice. I was totally stumped, as I had never eaten or made rice pudding in my life. This particular chef was truly American when it came to desserts and that means as long as it was sickenly sweet, he liked it. I took the left over arborio rice, mixed it with a very sweet creme' anglaise that was infused with cinnamon and orange. I served it in martini glasses with fresh whipped cream (again, overly sweet). The chef proclaimed it a success. I was off the hook to cook in his kitchen another day!

This rum raisin rice pudding is a little less sweet AND it has rum and raisins in it. I did not have short grain rice on hand so I wanted to cook the rice to very tender, since long grain rice stays noticeably firmer. My husband enjoyed this very much. Sometimes I think I should rename my blog to "cooking for the man who lives with me" or just "cooking for the man" since most everything I make it to please him.

rum raisin rice pudding makes about six 1/2 cup servings
3 cups of cooked white rice
2 cups of whole milk
2/3 cups of sugar
3 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of rum extract
1/2 cup of golden raisins
1/2 cup of dark raisins
Zest of half an orange
Seeds from 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Combine all ingredients except zest and vanilla in a large sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 - 30 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is quite mushy. Remove from heat and stir in orange and vanilla. I like it served cold but you can serve it room temperature and that is nice, too.

zuppa di lenticchie, ya'll!

Here's is some lentil soup with garlic chili oil that I made from the homemade chicken stock that I carried on about for like 3 paragraphs. What can I say, it was that good. The lentil soup is a variation of a lentil soup from Mario Batali. I added 2 lbs. of diced, peeled, seeded tomatoes (about 6 Roma tomatoes or 28 ounces of canned tomatoes) and I used Vidalia onion since I really do not like to cook with red onion. Well, that is mostly true since I do love red onion cooked with raspberries. It is awesome on steak. Anyway, the soup was really very good. I also did not have the Italian Lentils that Mario calls for named Castelluccio Lentils. I really prefer petite French lentil when I cook lentils. They are brown, small and have a nice earthy taste. I enjoyed the chili oil very much with the lentil soup but the soup would be good without it, too. The recipe can be found here.

I am really very glad that I have a three day weekend coming up here in more hours than I care to count down. I plan to do nothing but clean house and make cute things that will hopefully improve my mood which has been less than stellar the last few days. Happy Memorial Day to everyone; have great cookouts!

frugality be thy name!

When my husband and I were first married we were so poor we didn't have 2 nickles to rub together. I had basically started over with a new career after leaving the world of professional cooking and he was fresh out of seminary without a job. I always looked for inexpensive dinner options then and although we make a lot more money now than we did then, I find myself looking for inexpensive dinner options due to the high price of food.

I must admit that I grew up eating home cooked meals. My mother did not work outside of the home until I was 15. I never ate Hamburger Helper, frozen meals or even fish sticks as a kid. My mom prepared all of our meals from scratch, really. Another big craze I missed out on (tongue in cheek here, I wasn't really "missing" anything) was the popular use of a big name commercial soup brand used as a sauce to cook with. I tried it out when I was first married since many inexpensive meals seem to revolve around it and found it too salty and just plain embarrassing for a former chef to do. So, I make my own cream of mushroom soup and go from there. I find this much more tasty and completely lacking in embarrassment for me. Every one's happy, right?

homemade tuna noodle casserole - makes a whole lot (6-8 servings?)

3 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of AP flour
2 cups of whole milk
10 ounces of fresh button mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 6-ounce cans of good quality tuna in water, drained well
12 ounces of egg noodles (my hubs loves kluski style noodles)
4 ounces of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon of salt
fresh black pepper

Cook the noodles according to package instructions in well salted water. Drain and rinse, set aside.

Heat the over to 350.

Melt one tablespoon of butter over medium high heat in a medium sauce pan. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook until onions and mushrooms are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the remaining butter and melt. Stir in the flour and stir until the flour is dissolved. Add the milk 1/2 a cup at a time stirring well to help the flour mix in. Don't add the next 1/2 cup until the milk begins to really thicken. Once all the milk is added, reduce the heat to low to keep the sauce at a simmer and let simmer for 3-5 minutes.

To assemble - mix the noodles, sauce, tuna, salt and pepper together in a casserole dish gently so as not to break the tuna up too much. Cover the top with the cheese and place in the over until brown and bubbly - about 20 minutes. I like my cheese a little darker, so I turn the broiler on for the last 2 minutes. Sometimes I like to mix peas in there, also. Others may claim the title, but I really am the Queen of the Frozen Pea.

We had this with some homemade rolls from this book and a vegetable on the side. It was pretty tasty and super cheap. Whatever happened to that guy on Food TV that had the "Good Deal" show? Dave Lieberman? It would be nice to have some frugal recipes again. Remember the Frugal Gourmet on PBS. He was super cool, right?