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Saturday, February 26, 2011

Pan Pizza Dough Recipe

Last night I made a pan pizza in my cast iron skillet with a recipe I found online. The recipe was different from my other one in that it included a little baking powder, garlic powder and onion powder. I thought it was worth a try even though my husband doesn't like pan pizza. I think the reason he doesn't like it is because they spray the crust rim with butter-flavored Pam. The secret to this crust was the fair amount of oil that's put in the pan with the dough as it rises. While making the dough I realized it was way too soft, almost like a stiff batter. I had to add more flour just to make it workable. I only used half the recipe in the oiled skillet knowing it would raise, and raise it did. It was almost up to the top when I figured I better get this baby going. The dough was still very soft and as I put sauce on it I could see it sink a little. The crust cooked up very nicely, just like pizza hut but it was still too much crust for me and I didn't taste any of the spices I had put in. It came out of the skillet really well and had that nice crunch on the bottom. I think if I make it again I will use my other recipe in the cast iron skillet and see how that turns out. At least I got this out of my system and learned a couple of things about pizza making.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Denim Blues Rag Quilt

I think I'll name my quilts that I make since that seems to be the thing to do. I'm basically done with my Denim Blues Rag Quilt except for washing and drying it which is pretty big but I'll talk about that later. This is a quilt in the making for years and years with saving jeans that we've all worn out over the years. As soon as they were ready to be thrown out, for whatever reason, I started cutting my squares. I used other parts of them too such as the back pockets for purses (Allison , her friends and Girl Scouts got those) and even the inseams that I used to make braided barrettes. None of them went to waste however I wish now that I had saved some of those back pockets for a quilt. Anyway, I also saved old flannel sheets to be used in the quilt too. This project only took about a week since mostly everything was already cut. I went through my stash of material looking for more that would fray easily, which is crucial to the quilt. The only thing I had to buy was a little more flannel because once I started laying out the squares, I realized that some of the thinner pieces would be too flimsy without more. What you do for this quilt is lay the squares wrong sides together and you sew the seams so they'll be on the outside. One side is a typical 9-patch with flannel, denim and a contrasting square in the center (also where the seams are showing) and then the other is just a design I made with alot of different patterns. I sewed each horizontal row, then all together and finished it off with a row of stitching all around the outside. The next step is clipping all those seams to facilitate fraying (hence those special scissors I bought) and then washing and drying so it will fray. The seams should then be like a tight fringe along all the seams on one side. It's a very country sort of quilt and I thought it was the next logical step for me. There's no actual quilting but it does involve piecing and I needed the extra practice. You really can't mess up this quilt unless you don't put wrong sides together. I think it'll look and feel great in the loft at the cabin.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Toaster Oven Recipes

Boy do we like this little toaster oven! I'm shocked that we've gotten so much use out of it so far. The tube biscuits I made in it the first night we got it were the best ever, even my husband said they were good. This week we made the frozen battered fish fillets in it and they really turned out great. It helped to do them on the rack for even cooking. Last night I made chicken in it. First I made 3 chicken thighs in it, just seasoned with salt and pepper, like my husband likes. At the end, I had to raise the temp to 425 because they weren't browning as quick as I thought they should. As for my chicken tenders, I marinated them in my olive oil, soy sauce and smokehouse maple seasoning for about an hour, then put them in the toaster oven after the thighs were done. I cranked it up to broil at that point and they were perfect - nicely browned but still moist and tender and very flavorful. I still have a couple left that I'll probably use in a salad this week. I have some more ideas I'll be trying so I'll keep you posted.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Media Madness

There was an article in today's paper about the PA State Liquor stores and something on GMA about a child suspended from nursery school that I'd like to comment about. It really isn't about the subject matter of either issue but more about how the media continues to stir the pot. As far as the state stores, the article was about discontinuing certain varieties of booze because of low demand. The article focused on a group that wants privatization of state stores and uses this example as a reason. He said they were making a decision based on statistics and not thinking about the customers. If you read the complete article you'll see that the discontinued items will still be available through special order. The bottom line is that the customer was considered in the decision because no one was buying it. The other news story was about the little girl who had too many potty accidents and was asked to stay home for a month. They came out of the woodwork with this one! In the end it was stated that the parents found another school for their daughter where she was very happy. So why give these stories air and paper time if all is well, if not to stir things up? This happens time and time again and I'm getting sick of it. It only gives fuel to the people who rely too much on the media and don't bother to ask pertinent questions about the issues. I'm seriously thinking of writing to the editorial page about this one.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Buying Power

Yesterday I wrote about the price of tomatoes among other things, then I went out shopping again. This time it was to JoAnn Fabrics, which I've written about before. Once again I found just about everthing I was looking for half off, which was great. It made me think about how I shopped and that sometimes I can shop for the sales and except for milk, I buy when it's on sale and freeze or store for later use. That can really save alot. But then there's the impulse buying or when you need it now and there's only one place to buy it. I guess that's where JoAnn's comes in. I didn't really have a choice of stores and the project I was working on demanded it now. It's nice to know that I can count on that store to always have things half off so as long as I'm a little flexible, I can still save. One thing I had been tracking was a pair of scissors with a spring in the handle. When I looked at Wal-Mart the other day, it was $11.97 which was a good starting point for me. I decided to look elsewhere and possibly use a coupon to get it cheaper. Because I didn't need it immediately, I had that option but when I went to JoAnn's, they had the same scissors for $14.99 and it was half off which brought it down to $7.49. I'm not sure what Michaels and A.C.Moore were selling it for, but I liked that price. Unfortunately, my creamer purchase was a real impulse buying moment. I had already paid more than I usually do at Wal-Mart and after that I vowed to watch for coupons but then I went to Target. I found, wait for the drumroll please, Peppermint Mocha creamer!!!! And yes it was more but it was Peppermint Mocha and I couldn't resist. If my husband wouldn't have been there I'm sure I would have filled my cart up with all they had, but I only bought 2. I pride myself on that restraint but in the back of my mind I'm wondering how I can sneak out of the house and make another trip to Target.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Price of Tomatoes

Have you noticed the price of tomatoes and many other things at the store lately? I'm a penny pincher for sure and proud of it. Everyone feels good about getting a good deal at the store whether they're shopping for food, clothes or whatever. I guess the difference in all of us is that we all have a certain limit we are willing to pay or our estimated value for things. But $4.98 for a pint of grape tomatoes! I realize they are off season and normally I don't even buy stuff like that now but with all these salads I'm eating, I like the variety. So the last time we were at Erie Co. Farms I paid $2.99 for the pint of tomatoes and I did it without a thought, knowing they would last a couple weeks, and they did. Then yesterday when I looked at Wal-Mart, yes, the place that prides itself on the lowest prices, they were $4.98. Bananas were up to 52 cents a lb. and my creamer was well over my $3.00 limit. There's some things we just can't squabble over and that's my creamer. So I bought the cheapest one I could and I'll try and cut back a little. I might find myself doing that more often, especially on staples such as milk and bread, but as long as I'm not wasting anything, I can handle it. This is also a dry spell for our trips to Sharp Shopper in Knox. Once we start traveling again that will be our go-to spot along with Aldi's, Erie Co. Farms and sales at the regular supermarkets. At least at Aldi's, things go up in price but you don't notice it as much. As a side note, there were no coupons in the Sunday paper. Wonder what's up with that!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Pizza Dough

Well, I made a pretty good pizza last night, in fact, I think my search for the best dough I can make is over, for now anyway. Not that it is the greatest but I think for all intents and purposes, it's the best I can do. It's not that I'm settling but, without the equipment and products that a real pizzeria has, it's a good place to stop. It's funny but the recipe is one that I've had for a long time and used it when I was making it in the breadmaker, which has since stopped working. I got it from a Cuisine at Home magazine but the two magazines I had included different recipes. I found the old one tucked away in my recipe box and got it out yesterday. The secret is the flour which is regular all-purpose flour with cake flour added. I didn't have the cake flour so I substituted a little cornstarch. I also added a teaspoon of lemon juice which is supposed to make a better texture and I notice a difference. I'm always looking for new tools to use in pizza making as is my husband so when we were at Gabe's and found a set that included a stone, peel, pizza cutter and server for 10 bucks, we grabbed it. This is the first time I've used the peel and it's kind of cool to slide things on and off. I guess I really shouldn't have said my search is over because I found a recipe yesterday for a Pizza Hut pan recipe that I'd like to try in the cast iron skillet. It sounds awesome and definitely worth a try. That would probably be for me as my husband has an aversion to that sort of crust. I'll keep you posted.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Scrap Afghan

Here's an update on my crocheting projects that were started right after New Year's. I finished my scrap afghan! I had a hard time deciding on the pattern for this and even started it and then almost scrapped it. I never liked traditional Granny afghans and when I found the Granny's Daughter afghan I knew that was the one. It involved making over 800 tiny granny squares (the first row) and then crocheting them together in a vertical pattern with off-white yarn. Of course, I started that in the late 1990's and didn't finish it until 2005 when I was home recovering from my broken knee. I didn't have a specific place for that so when it was done my daughter snatched it up. The only other scrap afghan I made took almost as long to complete and that was my knitted stained glass window afghan. It was done with the black in horizontal rows and I often refer to it as my memory afghan. So this one that I made is more like the stained glass one in that I use the black to border all my squares. It's a vertical pattern but it has granny squares done in singles and doubles. There's definitely nothing subdued in this afghan but I like it. Unfortunately, I still have some scrap yarn leftover and maybe a pillow will come out of it, I'm not sure. I do have a second knitted scrap afghan that is in the works with yarn that is not as conducive to crocheting. There's something I really love about the knitted afghans - it might be that they are lighter in weight. Anyway, progress is being made and my hands are always busy.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Spitting

I know this is a repulsive subject but why doesn't Tiger and all the other spitters out there know that, too. Why do they do it? As far as I know spitting is a male thing, baseball players in particular because of their chewing tobacco habit. If you're not chewing tobacco then why are you spitting? I used to see alot of the kids at school spit and I figured it was like not flushing the toilet - no one ever told them not to do it. What's so different about guy's spit that they need to get rid of it wherever they are? OK, now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'm done talking about it. But the next time, if ever, that I see someone spitting I'm speaking up. P.S. The word spitters doesn't even show up on the spellcheck menu!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Fish Dinner

Last night we headed out to Edinboro Hotel for their fish dinner that my husband found on their website. It was not listed on their specials, in fact, according to the menu there were no Friday specials. However they offer half-price chicken wings and a white fish dinner for $7.99. Fish sounded good to me and the only fish I like is a beer battered kind similar to Long John Silvers. I do have a recipe I've wanted to try for a breaded baked fish but as yet haven't tried it. What I liked most, besides the great crust on the fish, was the choices I got with my meal. Since being on a diet and not wanting fries, it's been a challenge. We got a salad (and they had a light Raspberry Vinaigrette, yea) and instead of fries I could have a vegetable medley. It turned out to be green and yellow beans, broccoli, cauliflower and a stray carrot swimming in a sea of butter. I just let them drip before I ate them and figured I was still doing ok. We got 2 huge pieces of fish with a very crispy batter and they were really good. I didn't end up eating it all (fish) as I was leery about how my stomach would react to the grease. As usual service is good down there and the place was busy. We've never gone on a Friday before and that's the day when everyone stops by for a drink after work. We even had to sit in the back room which was nice for a change.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Commercials

There's always alot of talk about the commercials during the Super Bowl and how some people just watch it for that reason. We flipped around Sunday night just for the score but didn't watch anything except that I did see the Chevy commercial with the Glee stars (I liked that). What gets me is that there have been fabulous commercials over the years that I'm amazed people could come up with these. The best, in my book, has been the California Raisin commercial singing I heard it through the grapevine. What a genius! Lately I've been fascinated with the insurance commercials with Flo and Mayhem. I think the real stroke of genius is having a single actor in a recurring role - that really seems to draw us in and what distinguishes them from a single commercial on Super Bowl Sunday. Save your money and come up with something decent to run for awhile.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Buttocks Injection

This is in the headlines all over the place this morning. I watched GMA and heard what the doctor had to say about it. He said with so many large arteries back there, it was risky to inject silicone for fear of sending it somewhere else. I get that but then he said that exercise will give you the same effect. Hey, I've done those sort of exercises and I know they can be felt but will they really give you the same effect as injections? I think not at least not with normal use and then it's hit or miss. I still think genetics play a big part in how high your butt is and it's shape. Don't get me wrong - I still think exercise is better than any injection or artificial means but let's be realistic here. Especially in our sedentary lifestyle, it would take alot of butt exercises to show a real transformation. There's even exercises for the face and neck that are supposed to reshape and uplift. But with the invention of Botox, it's easier to just get a shot. Anyway, I'm happy this came out about the dangers and if someone hears what this doctor said and wants to try exercise instead, more power to them.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Old Rock Star Songs



Heather Cass put this in her blog and I was bound and determined to figure out how to show it on my blog. There's an awful lot to learn about all this computer stuff. I'm not usually the one in the family to look at YouTube. In fact, when my husband talked about watching it, I thought he was saying "You, too" and I was a little irritated. I wondered why he was attacking me! As you can tell, I didn't have a clue as to what it was. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this video, if it works.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

More Traffic Stories

I'm sorry but I have to share a couple more stories that were in the paper that interest me. It kind of follows the blog about the man in the street. By the way, the driver of the car will not be charged with the aggravated assault but probably the DUI. Anyway, another death involving cars and booze happened but this had a different sort of twist. A 14 yr. old girl was driving a car with another friend and her intoxicated dad when the car slid off the road and got stuck. As the girls waited on the other side of the road and the dad got out to look at the car, he was hit by another car and was killed. The daughter must of been upfront in confessing she was driving the car because that seemed to be the emphasis in the article. They said it was an accident and no one would be charged, even the girl, as she probably suffered enough just by seeing her father be killed. Talk about a gray area! I'm not sure how it came about but she was more than likely left no choice but to drive and not let her drunk dad have control of not only her life but her friend's. Another article on a lighter note was in the editorials where a lady was complaining about getting a parking ticket ($10) on a meter that still had time on it. She paid it already but I wonder if she bothered to look at the license number on the ticket. Could someone have placed their ticket on her car hoping she wouldn't look that hard to see if it was really hers? That really would be a bold move on someone's part because if she had looked and not paid it, he'd really be in trouble.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Bob's Power Walk

Here's another exercise DVD review. I have to be honest about this - I did not actually do the DVD but I watched it as I always do with them. I can pretty much tell if it's something I will be able to do or if it fits into my routine. So this was the one from Biggest Loser and Tara, who I loved and wanted to win, helps to teach. Tara, as you might recall, won so many of the challenges even over the men. I knew in advance that they were doing 16 minute miles which is slow compared to the Leslie Sansone Walk Slim program but I thought I'd give it a shot through Netflix. It was tough to watch for several reasons.
  1. When Bob was doing the routine, he did one or two reps and then walked around. I know Jillian will do this with some of her programs and I want the instructor to do it with me. I realize that it takes much more effort to talk while you're doing it but others do it and that's what I want to see. They're professionals and they should be able to do it and maybe get a little sweaty.
  2. There were a couple miles where just the contestants did the routine and that was difficult to watch. They were clumsy, not as prepared as I thought they should have been and just very awkward. Believe me I sympathize with them but when you're asking people to pay for this, it should be a higher quality.
  3. Lastly, they did the unspeakable in my book - mix cardio and weights. I keep my weights and any strength building exercises to a separate day so this doesn't work for me. I do have several programs that include the weights during the routine but I either don't use the weights or use that as a strength exercise only.

So, that's my review and I already sent the DVD back, along with Eat,Pray,Love which I wasn't that impressed with either and how much more of a strong, female lead can I get!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Man in the Street

Here's a story in the paper the last couple days that really got me. A guy lying in the street in Erie was hit by a car and eventually died. The driver of the car was intoxicated and will probably be charged. Looking beyond the fact that there was booze involved, it brings to mind an incident that happened to my mother and I a long time ago. She was driving and we were going across the bridge in town when we saw they were working on the side of the bridge. There was more than likely someone on either side of the area with the stop and slow signs. As we approached the area we saw something on the road that looked to both of us as a bag or paper extending beyond the work area. As my mother was told to go, she went around the item on the road and then, looking back, we saw it was a man on the ground working. It kind of surprised both of us and I remember my mom saying how she was initially going to run over it but at the last minute swerved around. How awful that would have been for all involved but it very well could have been prevented by having a cone placed by the man or more direction from the workers. Now getting back to the incident in Erie. Why was that guy in the street, was he drunk and did the guy driving even realize that it was a person in the street? I'm not saying either one of these people are blameless but sometimes circumstances have to be taken into consideration. It all just makes me a little more careful as I'm driving, especially downtown.