October Daring Bakers Challenge

The October Daring Bakers Challenge was Pizza Dough!! It made 6 crusts too, so I will get to try this one several times. I really was excited about this challenge, but something went wrong. I followed the instructions closely. The dough looked & smelled great. I even put the baking stone in the oven before hand. After tossing the dough, I placed on the baking stone & it shriveled up. I tried to roll it back out on the stone, but it just didn’t work that way. I bake it anyway, and it wasn’t bad. It just didn’t look as pretty as I had imagined it would. I used a traditional tomato sauce on it and topped it with hamburger, pepperoni, and cheese. Here is a picture of the dough before I tossed it. The good news is that I put the rest of the dough in the freezer, so I’ll get to try this one again.

Thanks DBs for another fun month!!!

Pansies

We planted pansies for the first time in our front beds. I don’t just love pansies, but for our region, it is one of very few flowering options for winter. My husband prepared the bed for me, and I planted them. I love how they turned out. I couldn’t believe all of the varieties of pansies they had at the store. It makes me want to go get a few more flats and plant some more. Maybe I will……

Dog Food

Do you have any idea how controversial the subject of dog food is? We have been using a national brand of dog food that I considered a good brand. Well, when we tell people what we feed the dogs, we get lots of head shakes. Soooo, I decided to do some research. Turns out they were right, my dog food was on the “no – no” dog food list. After much research we have now switched to an “approved” dog food. The dogs’ breath is still bad. They do seem to like it better though. They are eating more regularly, and they finish their “plate.” I don’t really think this is the platform to promote any particular brand, but if you want to know if your dog food is “approved,” go look here.

Fall Pumpkins & Mums

We finally got our pumpkins and mum’s out this weekend. We went to get the mums, and the selection wasn’t great. I didn’t feel like we were too late in the season to be buying them, but I guess we were. The selection was very picked over. Overall, I think we got some good plants though. We put these out on Saturday, and Saturday night we had some pranksters in the neighborhood, knocking on doors, and then running. Once I realized what had happened, I ran outside to check on my pumpkins & mums. I was more worried about them than anything else. They were safe. While we were outside, I looked in the window & I saw this. I couldn’t pass taking a picture of it.

Frenchy Bag Take 3

I made yet another Frenchy Bag. I went back to the shoulder bag version as I think it is a better size. I really liked this fabric because it had this golden yellow color in it. I thought it just really made the entire bag stand out. I have started working on Christmas gifts. I am so excited about them, but I’m afraid to share. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag.

Dog Bed

I have been meaning to make Lola & Maggie a new bed for a while. I got some new fabric several weeks ago, but I just never got around to doing it. I finally broke down & put it together. Honestly, it took me a little less than an hour to make. Historical I have made the dog beds shaped like a bed pillow. This time I decided to make it like a cube. It usually takes the dogs a few days to get used to a new bed, but Lola liked this one immediately. Now I just can’t decide where to keep it…..

Dinner Rolls

I’ve been on a bread kick. I guess I mean I’ve been in a baking bread kick. I have always loved bread. This is nothing new. The baking part is somewhat new to me. I love that with a lot of recipes, you just throw it together and let it rise. I was perusing the November 2005 edition of Cooking Light (yes, I still have it), and I found a recipe for Flaky Dinner Rolls. The other night, David called & said he would be home late. Since I had more time to prepare dinner, I took the opportunity to try these out.  They were sooo yummy. The recipe made 12, so I put some back for dinner another night. If you were making for a crowd or for Thanksgiving dinner, you might consider doubling the recipe. I particularly liked this recipe because you roll the dough, like a jelly roll, and then sliced. It turned out really pretty.

Halloween

Maggie is going to be a hotdog!! She doesn’t mind wearing the costume, but she would prefer chewing on it. We’re still working on Lola’s costume. To be continued……

Scallops

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While we were in Italy, we saw tagliatelle pasta on the menu at most restaurants. It was wonderful. It was much lighter than regular pasta we are accustomed to here. I was at the supermarket the other day & I saw a complete display of tagliatelle pasta. I ran to it & grabbed up 3 packages. I was itching to use it, so the other night I kind of thought up this recipe. It’s very similar to dishes you see in restaurants a lot, so I can’t take that much credit. I cooked the tagliatelle according to the package instructions. I prepared an Alfredo sauce on the side, made of 1 stick of butter, a little box of heavy cream, and fresh Parmesan cheese. I then seared the scallops with pancetta for 3 minutes on each side. I topped the pasta with the sauce and the scallops. We loved it. The entire meal was ready in about 15 minutes.

Dried Tomatoes

I actually got this idea from my sister. Tomatoes are abundant in our region all summer long. The problem is that they seem to go bad quicker than I can use them. I tried the salsa thing, but it only keeps for a few days after you make it too. The solution – oven dried tomatoes. I sliced up the tomatoes that I would have otherwise thrown away in a few days.  I put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and baked for about 10 hours at 200 degrees in the oven. It really worked. The tomatoes shriveled right up like a sun-dried tomato.  Everything I read indicates that these will stay good for a while. I can’t wait to throw my dried tomatoes in the next pasta dish I make. I will never throw a tomato away again!!