Two Lives, One Lifestyle

Since when does Rochester stay high and clear of a snow storm!? So un-Rochesterian.  Today was filled with food- I was hoping to sleep in after a long day of travel but no, woke up at 8 (6 AM Colorado time), just like usual.  Surprisingly I was the only one awake and I tried some Total Cranberry Crunch because it sounded so good.  I poured a little and realized it smelled SO sugary.  It had more sugar than the Captain Crunch in the cupboard- 16 grams!  (I would like to point out my brother is the spoiled only child now, we never got to eat sugary cereal!) I read the ingredient list and the first three: whole grain wheat, sugar, corn syrup.  Aw, Totally let me down.

I rarely throw out food so I finished the little I had poured and hours later when everyone woke up, my stepdad Bobby and I made scrambled eggs with mushrooms and broccoli.

Saute the vegetables,

Beat the eggs,

Add eggs and stir,

Add a tiny bit of shredded cheese,

Finally, enjoy.  Oops. I enjoyed too fast and didn’t take a picture!

I caught up on blog reading after breakfast while having some Traditional Medicinals Gypsy Cold Care.  I also wrote out a grocery list for Christmas baked goods (Cookie day on Monday!).

How fun it was to go to the store with some external funding !  I set to work right when I returned and made these pretty chocolate and peppermint covered pretzels.  I followed the recipe from RhodeyGirl Tests.  I used small pretzel rods, a whole bag of dark chocolate chips, and two 12 packs of candy canes.

A small spatula was definitely helpful.  I dipped the spatula in the melted chocolate and then rolled the pretzel on the chocolate-covered spatula.

Crunch crunch!  I packed them up for my big huge family party tomorrow.

Then, I made Rosemary Roasted Cashews from The Kitchen Sink blog.

Salty + sweet: the best combination. Everyone kept stealing these!  I will definitely keep this recipe on hand for future parties.

I took a break to have dinner at Cerame’s Italian Villa, where my sister works.  The minestrone soup was excellent and my baked rigatoni was just like homemade- I have lots leftover too.  I tried the eggplant parmesan which my brother and dad both ordered because my sister swore it’s the best she’s ever had.  They bake it in just a little bit of olive oil rather than deep frying like a lot of places do.  Since eggplant soaks up oil like a sponge, I like the baking method or else it tastes like a deep fryer. If you’re in Rochester, it’s a cozy little family (not my family- family friends) restaurant making delicious Italian food.   Our waitress persuaded us to try a cannoli and my brother, Leo, and I split a perfectly sized chocolate cream one.  I also recommend that for sure.

Back to the kitchen!

Ever since I read about this beer bread on Shedding It & Getting It, I decided I would make various loaves for my extended family.  I’m pretty sure you will be seeing much more of this because it’s such a versatile recipe- chocolate stout with dark chocolate chips? Hefeweizen banana bread?  I love sampling beer and it just took on a whole new purpose.  Since there are a lot of people, I used mini loaf pans and some random circular ones.  First up, I wanted to make a cheese bread with an amber beer.  I Googled it so I would use enough/not too much cheese and followed this recipe.  There were a lot of ingredients but it turned out irresistible.  My mom suggested I make a few small “loaves” in a muffin pan and we ate all 3 in a matter of minutes.  I’m sort of sad I plan to give this away!  I used Great Lakes Brewing Company Eliot Ness Amber Lager.

The finished perfection:

After that, I followed the original recipe on Shedding It and it was much simpler.  I added rosemary and cranberries and used Edmund Fitzgerald Porter.  Fancy pants names!  Oh heck yes, the porter and rosemary smelled like heaven together.

Like my mom’s winter flowers? Oh yeah..

Festive colors!

I actually have not tried this combo yet but I will get back to you on the flava.  Ok well, I think that should finally do it!  I have to wrap up the last two loaves and let the dog out and bedtime!

Katie