Our Little Winner!

Maycie got 1st place in the baby contest for 0-4 months on Saturday at Orem Summerfest.

For winning Maycie got a t-shirt and a medal. . .

and a certificate. . .

I kinda felt bad for Annie, she didnt care, but it was a little strange so I made sure we took pictures of her too. . .

and it wouldnt be complete without attempting to take pictures of them together. . .

We have some gorgeous girls!!

Chicken Spaghetti

I have had this recipe about a month and we have had it 3 times. I think it is really good and super easy. That's what I like, easy, and it helps that it tastes good too.

Chicken Spaghetti

2 cups Cooked Chicken
3 cups Dry Spaghetti, Broken Into Two Inch Pieces
1 can Cream Of Mushroom Soup
1 can Cream Of Chicken Soup

2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 cup Chicken Broth
1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
⅛ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper
Pepper to taste

Cook spaghetti. Combine all ingredients except 1 cup cheese. Put in a casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes covering with tinfoil if cheese starts to cook to much.

Recipe Source: thepioneerwoman.com/cooking

A Simple Apron

I have these hobbies, cooking and baking. The biggest problem is that I am ruining a lot of clothes with splatters of food, so to solve my problem I decided to make an apron. It sounded simple. Go to the fabric store, find a pattern and sew. Turns out there are a lot of apron patterns at the store. So I waited until they went on sale, if you wait you can get all patterns for $1.99 instead of the 40% off they always are. I chose the most basic pattern, and some really busy material so if it gets stained I wont be able to see it as well . I figured it was just going to get dirty so it didn't matter if it was cute or not right? I got it home and changed my mind. So I went online and found a picture of an apron that I liked and made some small changes to the pattern I had purchased so I would like it better. So basically I am going to walk you through some of the steps so if you want to make one hopefully it will make it easier. 

First, with the material folded in half, cut out the main pattern.

Second, I placed the pattern on a piece of plain material to back my apron with so it would be thicker.

Then I laid them on top of each other and cut the lining about a quarter of an inch in.

Next I cut out the ties for the back and around the neck. The length just depends on how long you want them. I made my back ones really long so that I could tie them in the front. I made the ties for the back thicker than the neck ones. The thickness of the back ties is 5 1/4" and the neck was 4". Fold them in half, right sides together and sew along the edge about a 1/4 of an inch in.

Then cut the ends on a 45 degree angle and sew them also.

Turn them right side out and iron.

Then start working on the apron itself. Fold the edges a 1/4" in and iron.

Then fold them again and iron.

Place your ties where you want them for the back. Place them under the material so the raw edge is hidden.

Fold your material back over the top.

Then fold the ties over the edge of your material and pin.

Do the same with the neck ties.

Then you sew all of your edges.  I also added a pocket on the front of mine. So I just used the pattern for the pocket that it came with but I made it smaller because it was huge, and even with me altering it it is still way too big. Sew the top of your pocket the same way you did the edges of your apron before you sew it onto your apron so that it has a finished edge. Then fold and iron the edges of the pocket and place it on your apron and sew.

My finished apron...

My back ties turned out to be way to long but I wasn't about to unpick it. So they'll do for now.

Carbonara

My friend Victoia and I attempted to make carbonara while I was living in Scotland and all I remember is that we ended up going to Pizza Hut for dinner that night. So needless to say I was a little skeptical making this that it would actually turn out, but it did and it was so delicious. 

Carbonara

1/2 pound Bacon
1/2 pound Linguine Pasta
1/2 whole Large Onion
4 cloves Garlic
3/4 cup White Wine

3/4 cup Chicken Stock
2 whole Eggs
1 cup Parmesan Cheese

1/2 bunch Parsley
2 Tbsp sticks Butter
1/2 Tablespoon Black Pepper

First, slice up bacon into pieces about one inch wide. Once they’re sliced, just toss your bacon pieces into a stainless steel pan. Cook until browned and crisp.

While the bacon’s cooking, boil the pasta.

Next, chop your onion. When the bacon is cooked, scoop it out with a slotted spoon and set it onto a plate. Reserve the bacon grease! Throw the diced onions into the bacon grease. Give the onions a quick stir and let them cook down over a medium-high heat for a couple of minutes.

In the meantime, thinly slice the garlic. After the onions have cooked for a couple of minutes, throw in the garlic. Adding it after the onions have cooked a little will prevent the garlic from burning. After the onion and garlic have cooked for another couple of minutes, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Discard the grease.

Place the pan back on high heat until it starts to smoke a little. As soon as the pan begins to smoke, pour in the white wine. Whisk until pan is thoroughly deglazed and all of the brown bits have come off of the bottom of the pan. Add chicken stock. Return bacon, onion and garlic back to the pan. Let simmer over medium heat.

Crack four eggs into a large bowl. Add most of the Parmesan cheese, and rough chop the parsley, adding it into the eggs as well. Leave a little Parmesan and parsley out for a garnish. Mix well with a fork.

Drain the water from your pasta. Be sure the pasta is very hot. Add the pasta to the egg mixture and then add the bacon/onion mixture. Finally throw butter in there. Mix it all together well. Pepper to taste. Garnish with parmesan and parsley.

Recipe Source: thepioneerwoman.com/cooking

One Question. . .

Does this look comfortable to anyone?

 Annie sat like this for about 5 minutes. I don't know how.

My Little Maycie

So I know I posted about Maycie rolling from her front to her back, but at 3 months and 22 days she has now started rolling from her back to her front. She doesn't enjoy it . . .

and hasn't quite figured out how to roll back onto her back, but I was excited nonetheless. So thanks for letting me share my little news... and here's just a couple pics just cause I think she's pretty cute.

Cheesecake Brownies

I made these for a graduation party and they were a total hit! They are rich, chocolaty and are perfect with the cheesecake top. You will not be dissappointed.

Cheesecake Brownies

Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups plus 2 Tbsp Flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/4 cups Butter, softened
2 cups Granulated Sugar
3 large Eggs
2 1/2 tsp Vanilla
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Line dish with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on both long sides, then spray parchment.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. In another bowl, cream butter and granulated sugar with a mixer until smooth. Add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla, and beat until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture. Increase speed to medium; beat until incorporated.

Reserve 1 cup of dough; cover, and refrigerate. Press remaining dough into bottom of prepared dish. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bake until base is set and edges are puffed, 22-25 minutes (don’t overbake or this brownie layer will be too hard and crumbly). Let cool in dish on a wire rack.

Mix cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and remaining egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in a medium bowl. Spread over cooled base; crumble reserved dough on top. Bake until filling is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in dish on wire rack, then lift out using overhang. Cut into 24 squares. Squares will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days. (Really only 3 days, after that they are not very good)


Recipe Source: www.melskitchencafe.com