Baklava Brie

I love cheese.

This is a recipe by Moi that I created based on a recipe that I loved, lost, and wished I still had,  from some lovely friends of ours in Alaska.

This is my Turkish inspired version of that lost recipe Brie. Oh, how I loved Turkey... Maybe someday we will get the chance to visit there again.

This dish is best served at a party to impress everyone.

The glorious final product waiting for a lucky bagel crisp to scoop up its gooey interior. 

Baklava Brie

Ingredients:
1 Mini-Wheel of Brie 8 oz. (I used President brand- Usually found in the deli section)
1 Pack Phyllo dough, you use about 15 sheets (Usually found in the freezer section)
2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans
6 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons Minced Garlic (I used pre-minced jar garlic that has some juice in it)
Bagel crisps


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Unwrap Phyllo dough. Place five sheets, one sheet at a time, in the middle of a pie pan, spreading melted butter in between each sheet.

2. Unwrap brie and place in middle of buttered sheets, wrap sheets around cheese using butter as glue as necessary. Set aside

3. Repeat step one. Now place covered cheese in the middle with the cheese face down and wrap the second layer of Phyllo dough around cheese.

4. Repeat step one. Then repeat step three and make sure to turn the cheese right side up again for this third time.

5. Now you should have a thrice wrapped cheese waiting for deliciousness. Pop into oven for 30 minutes or until Phyllo is golden brown.

6. While cheese is cooking, mix chopped pecans, honey, and garlic in bowl, microwave for a few seconds and stir. If too chunky/dry for you liking, add more honey until desired consistency is achieved.

7. When cheese is done, pull out of oven, top with pecan mixture, let cool for a few moments.

8. Cut with knife, put melty cheese, golden crust, and nutty topping on bagel crisp. Enjoy!

Done to perfection and eagerly awaiting honey-nut mixture.

Sweetness. 

Rain & Hail!

Welcome to west Texas. One day you turn on the air conditioner, and two days later you have to switch it back to heat!

Rain and thunderstorms, wind and hail! 

This is our back yard. That post sits in a bucket that always gets filled with rain water because it is right under the point of the roof where all the water comes shooting off in a stream. If you notice, there is also a huge pile of hail that is floating on top of the water. This pile was there for several hours. 

Also notice the fresh green weeds grass growing in our mild Texan climate. 

Welcome Spring!

DIY- Spray Paint: Floral Frame

I've had this frame since the 90's. It used to sit on my various dressers in my bedroom. Here is my attempt to freshen it up, and bring it into the 2012's.

Supplies:
Ugly Frame
White Primer Spray Paint
White Spray Paint
Old Cardboard Box (Spray Zone)

Directions:


1. Take frame apart. Remove back of frame and glass, set aside.

2. Dust and clean frame with damp rag. Let dry.

3. Place frame on old cardboard and spray with Primer, according to directions on back of can. Let dry.

4. Spray with white spray paint according to directions on back of can. Let dry.

5. Rotate frame and turn over to make sure you get it covered evenly. Spray again. Let dry between coats.

6. Wash glass and let it dry. When frame and glass are completely dry reinsert glass, insert photograph and close back of frame.

7. Revel in your accomplishment.

Be jealous.

Ready for a picture and Lucy's room. 

Peter's Memorial: Five Months

On March 3 was Peter's five month birthday. It is hard to believe that it's been almost half a year since Peter was born. I went into labor the Sunday night/Monday morning after General Conference in October, and General Conference is right around the corner again- March 31st and April 1st.

This month we decided to go to one of my favorite spots in town to release our balloon in memory of Peter- the International Water Lily Gardens. We didn't get the chance to share this beautiful spot with Peter while he was with us but I still think of him when we go there because we visited there with our family after he was born and still in the hospital.

It was a quick moment spent writing down our thoughts and releasing our little orange balloon into the Texan wind.

We love and miss you, Peter!

Sending our love to Peter

Uncle Boydie sending his love.

Sweet, sweet memories. 

Lucy loved giving Peter hugs and kisses.

Beauty of spring.

#4 Pinspiration: Drip Cake

I discovered this recipe on Big Red Kitchen after following the pin for her Pineapple Sheet Cake from Pinterest. Another successful cake that is moist and delicious! 




My slightly adapted version:


Drip Cake


Ingredients:
1 Yellow Cake Mix- vegetable oil, eggs according to directions on box (I think I will try this next time with Lemon Cake Mix.)
1 Can (14 oz.) Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Can (15 oz) Cream of Coconut 


2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 Tablespoons  Confectioner's Sugar




Bake one yellow cake mix in 9x13 pan according to directions on box.
While cooling, make holes all over the surface of the cake with the end of a round wooden spoon. 
In separate bowl mix together the contents of the can of Cream of coconut with one can of sweetened condensed milk. Pour mixture all over the top of the cake and let it flow into the holes you created. Refrigerate cake. 


While cake is cooling, mix together the heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and sugar. Whisk until stiff peaks form. Spread over cool cake. Refrigerate. Enjoy! 

Uh, let's just pretend that bottle of Olive Oil is actually Vegetable Oil- which is what I actually used in this recipe. Also, I wasn't sure which sweetened condensed milk to use, but I ended up going with the all-fat option. 

Holes in cake made by the end of a wooden spoon, and Cream of Coconut/Sweetened Condensed Milk mixture poured over cake for optimum moistness. 

This part is a lot easier/faster if you have an electric mixer of some sort. Alas, we do not. (Thanks for the help, Zach!)

So proud of my lovely Drip Cake. 

 Hand Whipped Heavy Cream = Great Arm Workout

A super easy, moist, and yummy cake. When I try it again I might incorporate toasted coconut into the frosting, and try it with a lemon cake instead of yellow cake. Mmm. 

#4 Pinspiration: Dijon Chicken Linguine

Another delicious inspiration from Pinterest for my 2012 Goals.


Here is my adapted version:

Dijon Chicken Linguine with Mushrooms and Toasted Almonds

Serves 4


Ingredients:
1 package linguine
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
16 oz mushrooms, washed and sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
Salt and pepper to season
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 bundles of white asparagus, lightly peeled, and trimmed on the bottom (cut into bite sized pieces)4 oz chicken broth


2 cups whipping cream
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to season




Heat olive oil in a large heavy bottomed frying pan over medium low heat. Add chicken breasts, garlic, season with salt and pepper and continue to fry the chicken until completely cooked. 


While chicken is cooking toast slivered almonds by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts evenly on baking sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally and rotating the sheet half way through, until nuts are golden, 15-18 minutes. Keep a close eye on them so that they don't burn.


Remove chicken from pan and hold in a warm oven. 


Add to the pan:


4 oz chicken broth


Simmer until volume is reduced by half. Cook linguine according to package directions while sauce is reducing. Set noodles aside when done. 

Then add the following to the sauce:


2 cups whipping cream
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
Asparagus  (I just served it on the side, but I would put it in the sauce at this step in the future)


Salt and pepper to taste. (I added a lot of pepper, and tasted it multiple times until it had enough flavor.)

Simmer until sauce thickens enough to coat a metal spoon. Return chicken to the sauce, add the mushrooms and simmer for an additional 2 minutes. Serve over cooked linguine. Sprinkle with toasted slivered almonds.

Enjoy!

Delicious white asparagus.

The crew.  I also added Grey Poupon Dijon to supplement this mustard because I ran out. 

Prepping the asparagus by trimming off the tough ends, and then lightly peeling them with vegetable peeler.

Chicken, garlic, and seasonings cooking away.

Perfectly toasty slivered almonds. 

Chicken broth added and simmering until reduced by half. 

Cream, mushrooms, dijon and imaginary asparagus added.

Serve chicken over noodles, add mushroom sauce, and sprinkle with almonds. Bon Appetit!

I really enjoyed this dinner and will make it again. It did take longer than I had anticipated (mostly for the chicken to cook all the way through and the sauce to thicken.)


When I make it again I will slice the asparagus and add it into the sauce as well as cut the chicken into strips so that it cooks more quickly.  I would also add even more mushrooms than I already did, and find a more traditional Dijon mustard. Yum.


I'm curious to know if skim milk could be substituted for the heavy whipping cream.  Any experienced cooks out there know? Would it thicken into a sauce? Thoughts?

DIY- Spray Paint: Sunglasses Re-do

When we were checking Peter out of the hospital we had to go through a bunch of informative documents and notes from the doctor telling you what to do, and not do with your baby. Such as: your baby must always be in a car seat. This car seat must be correctly installed. Baby walker and bouncers are bad for your baby's muscle development, etc. One that stuck out to me was that babies and toddlers should wear sunglasses. 

Huh. I hadn't really thought about it before, but it made sense. We have Lucy wear a hat for sun protection when she goes outside, which is even more important here because we live in scorching west Texas. I've had "Lucy Sunglasses" in the back of my mind and finally decided to add it to my grocery list so I would remember to look for some. 

I finally remembered to look for some shades for Lucy this week. As we was heading towards the baby section of the grocery store, I noticed a spinning display stand at the head of the aisle full of kiddy sunglasses. Lucy tried on a few pairs and we finally decided on these. 

She loved them and wore them for the rest of the shopping trip and on the way home, even though there was a huge plastic tag attached in the middle that stuck out from her face. Why don't they have scissors at the check out counters?

Here is the re-do!

Before: I'm not really into the whole Tinkerbell thing, but I liked the shape, and they were small enough to fit Lucy's face.

Carefully pop lenses out and set aside. These were incredibly difficult to get out. I ran the glasses under super hot water to loosen the frames and eventually got them out without breaking them!

Spray with paint color of your choice. Let dry between coats, and flip frames over to fully cover all sides. I used a matte black because that's what I had on hand, I think these would look great with a shiny finish too.

After: 50's glam! I used nail polish remover and a Q-tip to rub the Tinkerbell icon off of the lens before putting them back in the frames. I had no idea if it would work, but was pleasantly surprised when it started rubbing off! Wash with water to remove any residual nail polish remover before re-inserting into frames.

Lucy loves her new glasses!

Home Girl.

No autographs, please.

Being a giggler.

Pointing out her new shades.

Modeling the "hair-fling" pose

Lucy's new favorite hobby: chewing on her fingers

I was afraid that the black spray paint wouldn't stay on the frames very well, but they seem to be holding up despite not having sanding them or priming them before painting them. I love spray paint!