Testing: Day One

Today will be our first day of state testing.  HH gave me this great idea to announce to my students that they had all been chosen for the reaping. 

Here is what will be on top of their Cherry Almond cupcakes....

Next up will be District 11 bread!

Tonight's Dinner

I forgot to snap a picture, but here is what we had for dinner:

Seared Scallops with Citrust Herb Sauce (with Wild Rice)

3/4 lb. sea scallops
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
3 TBSP butter, divided
1 garlic clove, minced
2 TBSP chicken broth
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/8 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp tarragon (I didn't have this)

1.  Pat scallops dry; sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.  In a large skillet, heat 2 TBSP butter over medium-high heat.  Add scallops; sear for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown or firm.  (This seemed to take a lot longer for me.  I think I was too scared to turn the heat up too high.)  Remove from skillet; keep warm.

2.  Wipe skillet clean.  Saute garlic in remaining butter until tender; stir in sherry.  Cook until liquid is almost evaporated; stir in remaining ingredients.  Serve with scallops.

I used frozen scallops, and they didn't taste bad at all.  It's not like I can get awesome selections of meat from The Fresh Market, Trader Joes, or Whole Foods around here!

Taking Care of Business

Today is the last day of my "spring weekend."  I am making the most of it by doing some things around the house.

I Mailed:
* State Taxes
* Federal Taxes
* A skirt that wasn't me
* Bank Deposit
* Application for a new SS Card (lost my old one in the midst of setting things up once we got moved in)

I am so thrilled to find Giver's Log!  They have a section of the blog devoted to "Happy Mail."  It is all about the different things you can mail that are 13 ounces or less.  I want to mail Easter Eggs with fun items in them to my students.  I did read the comment section that some people were not allowed to mail them at their USPS.  I want to double check before I invest the work into making them.  I just need some fun packaging tape now.  Oh the ideas!

For the little ones at the daycare, I made Cherry Almond Cupcakes.  This is the first time that I've delivered the baked goods, so I kinda felt like a celebrity.  I am really enjoying making my own frosting with things.  I never knew how easy it was.  It gives you many more choices to make your desserts pop.  HH says these were the best cupcakes I have made so far.

I am also in loved with Almond Extract.

Tonight for dinner, I am making "Slow Cooker Apple Cherry Pork Loin."  This is already starting to smell good.  I didn't have fresh cherries, so I just used the ones from the can.

Bacon-Cheese Biscuits

4 slices thick-cut bacon (I used six)
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped chives
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus melting butter for brushing
1 cup grated Colby or Cheddar Cheese
1 cup buttermilk

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp.  Drain on paper towels and reserve 2 tablespoons drippings.  Finely chop bacon.

2.  Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chopped bacon and chives in a medium bowl.  Using a pastry blender or your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture until it is in pea-sized pieces.  Stir in the cheese with a wooden spoon.  Add the buttermilk and reserved bacon drippings and gently mix until just moistened.  The dough will be loose.

3.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead three to five times, just until it comes together.  (Don't overknead because the biscuits will be tough.)  Roll out to 1/2 thick, then cut out biscuits using a floured 2 inch-round cutter.  Arrange on an ungreased baking sheet.  Reoll the scraps and cut out more biscuits.  Brush the tops with melted butter.

4.  Bake the biscuits until golden borwn, 12 to 15 minutes.  Serve warm.

These biscuits were good.  There is a slight problem mentally though.  They look a lot like those awesome garlic cheddar biscuits you get from Red Lobster.  In your head, that is what you are thinking that you are about to taste, and it's not that.  Now, I've got to find a cheater recipe for those!

Easter Basket Re-Cap

We are all about candy.  We exchanged our Easter baskets on Saturday night.  :)

I actually had an overflow of my Easter basket.  There was a note that said to check the pantry. 

HH cleaned out the ovens at the house and church.  He said that it needed to be on a bit to get any last remnants out of the oven, so that it wouldn't get on my food I was making for Easter dinner.  I set it to 350 degrees.  HH reset it for 550 degrees.  I made my two layers for the cake, and put them in the oven.  I set the timer, and get set doing another project to get ready for church on Sunday.  I hear the smoke detectors go off.  I find these two black frisbee golf discs in my oven.  It is 8:30, so I call HH to run to the store before it closes, so I can have what I need to make this dessert.  Oh pride does come before a fall.  Somedays there is cussing involved in my cooking.

Bismarck, ND

HH and I left two for TWO nights, thanks to our "spring weekend."  We don't get a spring break here, usually because we need coverage for snow days, but this year there has only been two days off.  Technically, one of those was a wind/temperature day. 

The weekend included fancy restaurants, ones that serve beautiful dessert like this...

I also got to browse Barnes and Noble, and have the best pedicure I've ever had in my life.

I didn't take any pictures except for the cheesecake, but rest and relaxation was enjoyed by us both!  :)

I am cooking the two dessert I tried out last week for Easter potluck tomorrow.  I am also doing my first ham.  I decided to do the Cola Ham from Paula Deen.  You can't go wrong with her right?  I am making mine at the house, since we will be having 4 hams in total, and we are so close to the church.  HH is going to come back to the house to get me, because I am afraid I'll drop the thing on the way to the car or into the church!

Here are some things that are coming up soon in the kitchen:

• Seared Scallops with Citrus Herb Sauce
• Cherry Almond Cupcakes
• Lofthouse Sugar Cookie Bars
• Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken
• Slow Cooker Apple Cherry Pork Loin

I am also on the lookout for a great Springfoam pan, because I want to start making cheesecakes some. 

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

For church on Wednesday, I made slow cooker Chicken Stroganoff...Thanks Chef-In-Training!

I also surprised HH with a "man-quet"...made of beef jerky.  Thanks to the genius of the Dating Divas.  (You will have to scroll down to see this in the post.)

Teacher Bakes

I've been all about the baking this evening.  I wanted to bake tonight, and give out treats tomorrow and Thursday.  I hope to have most of them passed out tomorrow, so I can leave with clean dishes when we head out of town for two days Thursday at 3:30!  :)

Better than Sex Chex Mix

This is going to my favorite girlfriends!  I am also putting it on an cute Easter egg plate, and attaching this awesome free printable card.

Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies

Sunflower Peep Cake

Peanut Butter Cupcakes
(from a magazine)

1 package yellow cake mix
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter.
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup canola oil

Frosting:
1 2/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar

1.  Combine cake mix, peanut butter, eggs, water and oil in a large bowl; beat on low speed for 30 seconds.  Beat on medium for two minutes.

2.  Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

3.  Place chocolate chips in a large bowl.  In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil.  Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth.  Cool, stirring occasionally, to room temperature.  Add butter and confectioners' sugar; beat until smooth.  Frost cupcakes.

White Texas Sheet Cake

My Class "Egged Our Principal" Today....

The kids wrote super sweet notes to her.

Resurrection Rolls

Thanks to Courtney at Women Living Well, the kids at the daycare will have a yummy treat tomorrow.  :)  HH is busy making them up.  We did counseling this evening, and I am wiped.  He is such a trooper. 

Resurrection Rolls

(Yeah, there is a dud or two in here, we'll have to eat them in the name of cooking experiments everywhere.)

I'm having a problem with stealing in my classroom.  :(  It has been a while since I've dealt with this.  Much more so than my previous school, students here are given everything.  Since they are, there is a difficult time understanding the concept that anything cost someone money.  I've even started telling them how much money it cost me to make a particular recipe that I brought in for them.

I made three of my coworkers have an awesome day with this great printable from eighteen25.

Slow-Cooker Black Bean and Sausage Soup

This was awaiting HH and I when we got back from visiting our friend Darla from school.  Can I ever stop singing the praises of the invention of crock-pots?

Crock Pot Black Bean and Sausage Soup

1 (16 ounce) package dried black beans
1/2 (2.2 ounce) package been onion soup and dip mix
5 cups of water
1/2 pound smoked pork sausage
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bay leaves
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons hot sauce
Garnish: chopped green onions

1. Rinse and sort beans according to package directions.  In a large bowl, place beans, and cover with water.  Let stand for eight hours.  Drain.

2.  In the crock-pot, stir together beans, soup mix, 5 cups water, sausage, carrot, celery, salt, and bay leaves.  Cover and cook on LOW for ten hours, or until beans are tender.  Remove and discard bay leaves.

3.  In the container of an electric blender add three cups of bean mixture; process until smooth.  (When processing hot foods, the heat needs to escape.  Remove the cap from the blender's lid, and cover with a dish towel before processing.)  Remove sausage, and chop into small pieces; add sausage and pureed bean mixture to the remaining bean mixture in the slow cooker.  Stir in tomatoes and hot sauce.  Garnish with green onions.

HH liked it, but said it had too much sausage in it (I doubled the amount of sausage), so he got heart burn.  HH put all of our window A/C units in today.  I am a very cranky gal when it comes to not having a cool place when it is warm.

I am making my first Easter Ham.  We need four hams for church on Sunday, so I volunteered to make one.  I am thinking maybe a Coca-Cola/Pineapple/Brown Sugar type recipe, but I am open to other ideas too.

White Bean Bundt Cake

Joy the Baker...one of my heroes.

She posted a recipe for White Bean Bundt Cake.  When I told HH that I was making a cake with white beans, he said he was waiting for me to start laughing.  I didn't.  I said that Joy the Baker didn't play, and if she made it, it was awesome and worth replicating. 

I don't like coconut, so I put pastel colored sprinkles on the cake.

Hop over to her site to get the delicious White Bean Bundt Cake recipe.  I'm taking it to a lady at school who HH and I are visiting with tomorrow.