Happy St. Patty's Day...

So, another St. Patty's Day has come and is nearly gone and I nearly blew it! I almost forgot to buy and cook a St. Patty's Day dinner. Now, neither of us is Irish, that we know of but there's nothing to say we can't eat like an Irishman....right?! Dinner consisted of: fried cabbage and onions, boiled/roasted red potatoes and baked corned beef....I'm actually going to tell you how I did it....I don't always use recipes, I just throw stuff together. As I mentioned in the last post, I don't read recipes, I just look at the pretty pictures.

Here's my own pretty picture of dinner:

Oh my, this was so good. I know corned beef is not good for you but it sure is tasty and we don't eat it very often! Dinner tonight and leftovers for Tuesday....

I started out by boiling the corned beef to remove some of the salt. Holy ____, the broth sure is disgusting looking....don't look at it! Just dump it and boil the corned beef again, in clean water....shouldn't be nearly so salty! Ours was great! So, I drained the disgusting broth and prepared the corned beef for baking. 

Line a baking pan with aluminum foil (sure helps with clean up, I do this all the time when I think of it). Spread the spices that comes with the corned beef in the bottom of the pan. Place the corned beef on top of the spices, spread Dijon mustard over the beef. Bake in oven for 1-1/2 hours at 350 degrees.

When the beef has been cooking for an hour, clean and slice in half the red potatoes. Place in saucepan, boil until just slightly tender. Drain. Next chop the cabbage and slice the onion, add to oiled (I used Olive oil) large skillet, saute until just tender. Set aside. 

When the beef has cooked for 1-1/2 hours, remove from oven. 

Turn oven up to 450 degrees. Oil jelly roll pan, pour garlic salt (very lightly) and pepper over pan, place sliced potatoes (slices down) on one side of pan, add beef to the other side of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes on top rack. Remove from oven. Dish out on plate and you have what you see above! 

We thoroughly enjoyed tonight's dinner and it wasn't overly difficult to make. In fact, most of it was "hurry up and wait"....played some pool and watched a movie while waiting! 

But, oh man, dinner was WORTH THE WAIT! 

I love looking at FOOD!

Tonight, as I was cooking dinner (a stir-fry), I decided that I really like looking at food. I love the bright colors of crispy vegetables, I love the brown of carmelized meat....I just love looking at food. What decided it was when I looked in the cupboards at all my cooking magazines and cookbooks....I have NEVER read one, but oh, I can't tell you how many times I've looked at all the pretty pictures. Food is....Pretty! I have my favorite magazines, those that have the prettiest pictures. I love my Food Network and my Rachael Ray magazines because they have such bright, cheery pictures of food! Do I try the recipes? Very seldom...I just love looking at the pictures. My favorite cookbooks still look brand new because I just look at the pretty pictures, I don't open them to try the recipes....they don't have spilled food on them, although that would be pretty and I may have to try it! I love my Martha Stewart cookbooks, my Sandra Lee and my The Biggest Loser cookbooks....I love looking at the pictures! 

Don't get me wrong, I love to cook. See: 

Tonight's Dinner - Beef Stir-fry (thrown together from the fridge)

Chocolate, Whiskey and Nuts - OMG! 

Sausage and Tomatoes - Can't go wrong!

Cream Cheese Mints - Too die for! 

Strawberry Shortcake - So easy and not so bad for you! Yum!

See....pretty pictures! Not as pretty as magazines but still....pretty! 

I have my favorite Blogs and Websites that I peruse, not for the articles (okay, sometimes I read them) but for the pretty pictures! I love looking at the process of creating a dish and the picture of the final product....pretty! I don't need to eat it, heck, sometimes I don't even like it but I do love to look at it! 

I love these Blogs: 

She is now my Food Hero because of the beautiful chocolate cake on her home page: The Pioneer Woman

I love, love, love this blog for all her comfort food recipes: Just a Pinch

Love this site but not for the Spinach Pie shown today (hate spinach): Skinny Taste

My absolute Fave because it's ALL pictures: Punch Fork

Love this one for the Quinoa Bites alone: Fit for Success

Pretty, pretty pictures: Tung in Cheek

Omigosh....just look at that sandwich: Closet Cooking

Love the name but the food looks yummy too: Peas and Crayons

So guess what I got in the mail today.....Rachael Ray's wonderful magazine FULL of pretty pictures! Just the cover alone is gorgeous....Chicken & Spring Vegetable Lo Mein

I'm off to print some recipes....all have pretty pictures! 

I have THE most wonderful husband

I love my husband....he is the absolutely the most wonderful! He does so many things for me everyday to show me he loves me...he opens doors for me, hugs me, takes out the garbage, vacuums, carries stuff for me, kisses me, pushes the grocery cart, holds my hand in public, listens to me, talks with me, he always tells me I'm beautiful, he tells me that I'm wearing a cute outfit, he drops me off and picks me up everyday from work.....but most of all.....he let's me watch "chick flicks"! He even watches them WITH me! CHICK FLICKS How cool is that? He doesn't fall asleep, he doesn't read magazines or books while I'm watching them, he actually watches them WITH me! This wonderful husband not only watches them but he will pick a "chick flick" when we don't know what to watch. Get this, get this....he will pull a bunch of "chick flicks" to give me a "chick flick" month (everyday watching them)! How cool is he? He is THE best!

So, what do we watch? These are our faves......

Mamma Mia 

Leap Year 

Letters to Juliet 

Pride & Prejudice 

Under the Tuscan Sun 

Must Love Dogs

Serendipity 
Because I Said So  

And if I'm really, really good....he'll let me watch Dirty Dancing...
Okay, truth be told....Dirty Dancing....he actually leaves the room for that one! That is the only one he doesn't watch...I'm not sure why he doesn't watch it...what could be more romantic than a man saying: "no one puts Baby in a corner"!

Other chick flicks the most wonderful husband will watch...
Coyote Ugly
27 Dresses
When in Rome
Definitely Maybe
Hope Floats
Lake House
Sweet Home Alabama
While You Were Sleeping
You've Got Mail
Pretty Woman
My Best Friend's Wedding
Runaway Bride

and my all time favorite, the one he just hands me the box of kleenix and I know we are watching:

P.S. I Love You 

So, you have to agree....I have THE most wonderful husband! He Loves Me!

In Case You're Interested....

So, I'm cleaning out the art room of items I don't use. Most of the stuff is brand new, hardly used! I'm starting with magazines and books, I also have a Sally Jean necklace and some brand new - local, hand spun yarn and crochet needles for sale (I tried my hand at crocheting, it's NOT for me), a couple  XL Magenta rubber stamps. 

If you are interested, please check out my Ebay Sales, I will be adding stuff weekly, until I've sold all that I'm willing to sell! 

Here's a preview of a couple items: 

If you are local, and win an auction, you won't have to pay shipping....we'll meet up!

Car....Shoes....Car....Shoes

So, you know where this post is going? HA! A boy and his car....a girl and her shoes! Yup! That's where I'm going with this post!

Today...a beautiful, warm (15 degrees), sunny Winter day! A ride in the boy's new car! A ride in the boy's new car wearing the girl's favorite shoes!

Car - 

Boy's new Metallic Pearl, Honda Crosstour...

Shoes - 

Girl's favorite Chocolate, Converse All-Star sneakers...

What a great day for a ride...in the boy's new car, wearing my favorite shoes....with my boy! 

I didn't realize just what a great backdrop snow is for taking pictures....look how great the shoes look in the snow! Hmmmm, will have to take more shoe pictures in snow! Might be kinda chilly with the open toe dress shoes and the sandals, but hey, I'm game! 

The boy would find the pics of the car more interesting but the girl....well, they are SHOES! 

A boy and his toy, a girl and her shoes....

Lovin' this day! 

So, what do you think?

So, I was told (and rightly so) that my blog was difficult to read because the white swirls covered the white text.....so, I changed it all out. I want the blog to be fun and what is more fun than bright colored shopping bags?

Tell me what you think....is it easier to read? Is it fun? Do you want to come back to read the blog? Am I boring you with my rambling? Should I go look for another theme? Post some feedback here under comments so I can make adjustments!

I want you to WANT to come back! 

Yummy! Strawberry Shortcake - Easy Make!

Doesn't that look SO yummy? It couldn't be easier to make......

I started with a sugar free, store bought Angel Food Cake (hard to find, but doable). Cut the cake into 3 slices (horizontally), set aside. In separate bowl, mix sugar free whipped cream with chopped nuts. Spread whipped cream mixture between layers of cake. slice strawberries and place on top of cake. See - Easy Peasy!

You can vary the dessert by adding chopped strawberries to the whipped cream mixture, drizzle with caramel or chocolate, change out the fruit (pineapple would be delish), add chocolate curls to the top.
OR OR OR.......add/change out:
Sprinkles
Chocolate
Nuts
Fruit
Chopped Candy Bars
Caramel
Edible Sugared Flowers

 

From Aliens to Spring...Hope SPRINGS Eternal!

So, I am ready for Spring....I want to go for long walks, for bike rides....I want to go to the river for relaxation and fun! I want to go walking through the Botanical Gardens and look for Aliens! Aliens....not the big eyed, green, fly in the sky kind! Wanna see...they look like Aliens to me:

Spooky but Beautiful!

Another Alien!

Looks like it's Ready to Attack!

Another Beautiful Alien! 

I so badly, want to see Aliens right now! I know Spring is coming...it'll be here soon, but not soon enough! We are having wonderfully, warmer temperatures....in the 20's! Beautiful March Day in Alaska! Right now, you won't see beautiful flowers....at least not outside:

Okay, so I've shown you the Aliens and now, you see the beautiful flowers of the Botanical Gardens in Fairbanks....I took these photos last Summer and I'm ready to go out again! Charge up the camera battery, dig out the hiking shoes! Hope SPRINGS eternal!