tea and coffee

o.k. it can be hard finding places that serve good high quality tea. There's nothing worse than going into a coffee house of cafe that has tea just to find out that they serve Lipton or generic no name brand. Well i a new place just ( JAHO, jaho.com )opened up in the south end right off of mass ave. i was pleasantly surprised when i walked in and discovered a wall of loose teas to choose from that's right i said WALL of teas. They also have mighty leaf tea which is very yummy too. I didn't get anything to eat but the food looked interesting too. I think i will be making another trip there at some point in the future.

mmmmm Sweets

I have a very pushy sweet tooth, so, to go along with the cooking i have been doing lately i decided to make some sweets too. I have a recipe for Candy Corn that i have been wanting to try for a while now so i decided to make it last Sunday afternoon.





It was time consuming but easy to make. Instead of using the traditional orange white and yellow i used pink and white for valentines day and gave them out to friends. I wanted to put the recipe on here but i can't seem to find it at the moment :( I am sure it is around somewhere so when i find it i will post it.



last night i made "Chewy Nutty Granola Bars" it calls for almond butter and almonds i did not have almond butter so used peanut butter and peanuts. this recipe has a lot of versatility. These bars would be great with almond butter cranberries and coconut or sunflower seed butter, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and cranberries. Or oh this one just came to me now, almond butter, dried pineapple and coconut. You could also use maple syrup instead of honey and add walnuts with dries apricots......


















Well enough of that here is the recipe:

1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 cups OLD FASHIONED ROLLED OATS
1 1/3 cups slivered almonds
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup almond butter
1/4 cup Brown sugar

- pre- heat oven 325
- melt butter an 1/4 cup honey in small pot
- pour butter and honey over oats and nuts mix well
- spread oats on baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes stirring half way
- let cool add raisins
- butter 8 inch square pan
- combine 1/2 cup honey, almond butter, and brown sugar in a small pot. cook stirring occasionally until it comes to a boil and sugar is dissolved
- pour over oat mixture mix well and transfer to baking dish, firmly press into dish
- place in refrigerator for 1 hour then cut into squares

comfort food

as we all know it has been a looooong and cooooold winter. I myself have been feeling a bit cabin feverish. So i have been seeking out things to do to keep my mood up, my mind busy, and my belly full.

I have been doing some cooking, baking, and candy making. ( hey that rhymed lol) Last Saturday i made pasta fagioli and it was easy to make and very very yummy.



The recipe made eight servings there was only three of us eating so i split it in half.

Pasta Fagioli


2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 diced onion
1 bunch fresh kale (i used baby spinach)
2 chopped garlic cloves
1 can diced tomato
2 cans white beans
2 cans chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups small shell pasta
Grated Parmesan for serving

1- heat oil in a large pot, cook onion for 5 minutes add garlic cook 1 minutes.

2- stir in broth tomatoes 3 cups water. bring to simmer. add pasta and Italian seasoning. cook, stirring, 5 minutes.

3- stir in beans, salt and pepper and baby spinach. heat through and serve.

260 calories; 5g fat; 13g protein; 48g carb; 8g fiber

I served it with Italian bread.

hats, hats, and more hats....

i was going through all of my winter accessories and realized that i have made a lot of hats over the past ten years. below i have put pictures of most of them there are three hats that i can think of that are MIA. Some of these are crocheted but most are knitted. Oh, and this isn't counting hats that i have made for other people there are at least three of them maybe more i cant remember.









With this many hats i shouldn't need anymore... right? well i seem to have an addiction to hats because i have plans and yarn to make two more! See the problem with most hats is they don't keep my ears warm when it is really really cold out. The wind seems to blow right under them. Well, an ear flap hat will prevent this problem. Now, i have two ear flap hats already but neither of them goes with my coat and I WANT A NEW ONE! I found some really cute helmet hats that cover your ears so i haven't decided if that is what i will make or stick to the ear flap one. The other one i want to make will probably be more of a cute hat and not so much a super warm one ( i am not sure i will see ) i have really nice soft yarn and two buttons that match perfectly i just can't decide what hat to make with it. who knows maybe i will break a record for making the most hats.

x-mas 2010

It is the end of x-mas day and i do have to say that all went well ( there was a little grumpiness is the house but not to bad ). My mom liked the x-mas stocking i made her ( i have to get a picture of it before it gets packed away)i did not finish hers socks in time so i wrapped them still on the needles, i only have a few more inches left to finish. However my mom didn't seem too impressed with the socks, she looked at them laughed and stuffed them back in the bag :( she hasn't been feeling to good so i won't take the reaction too seriously.

I got pj pants, socks ( ankle socks .... in the winter? ), miss matched socks, map for my car, turtle pin, white cocoa, calender, fancy cookies...






Dinner was really really yummy.... we had roast pork tenderloin marinated in a ginger sauce, roasted potatoes, and broccoli MMMM apple pie with ginger snap ice cream for dessert.

holiday season

hi all. the holiday season is upon us which for me means lots of baking, cooking, and crafting. i have put any knitting that i was doing for myself on hold until i finish knitting socks for my mom for Christmas. I am knitting both socks at once and i am 2 or 3 inch's away from the heel. I should have a problem finishing them in time. Of course now that i have said that out loud...

I enjoy baking, mostly i bake cookies. I have made cupcakes a few times but usually cookies or brownies. Well today for the first time ever i made biscuits from scratch!!!!!



that's right baking powder biscuits from scratch!!! They came out pretty good, i may have over worked the dough just a little. The biscuits had a little more chew to them than i would of liked but all in all they weren't bad.

Tea time

You have a Picture Mail from Donna Bellew

Message: Things that r good... Pop overs with jam, loose leaf tea, and knitting on a saturday afternoon :-) Mmmmmmmmmmmmm pop overs View Entire Message Send and receive Pictures and Videos through Picture MailSM. For more information go to www.sprint.com/picturemail.

Please be aware your friends can forward your picture, video, and album share invitations to others or post the unique Web link to your share invitation on any number of sources (e.g. blogs), through which others could also gain access to your online photos. If you have private or sensitive photos you are sharing, please share them only with those you trust.

© 2010 Sprint. All rights reserved.