Hitched!

The hitching went off without a hitch! It was a great weekend of celebration, family, and fun! Lauren had our mom's wedding dress altered a bit (removal of sleeves and hat;) and look at how gorgeous she looked:


The "theme" was Tuscany/wine and cheese. The cake was awesome!
Beautiful flowers (althougth I'm sure you guessed that without my caption)

We had the "Catholic gap" between the ceremony and reception. (no, we're not Catholic!) so we went and hung out at the hotel and waited to go. We had a good time there too!

On the bus on the way over, about thirty minutes after officially becoming husband and wife.

Congratulations Lauren and Zac! Love you guys!

Congratulations Sis!!

Pretty big week for my sister--graduated on Sunday, and she's getting married on Saturday! Congratulations to Lauren and Zac for all the big things happening right now. So proud of you! (and I'll be sure to get some pictures to share from this upcoming big fun weekend!)

Giving Back

I am so proud of my students that I have to brag on them. Throughout the year, we sell some pretty amazing chocolate chip cookies (warm between classes..can't beat that for high schoolers!!) and raise money. At the end of this semester, they decided to spend the money they raised on Toys For Tots, two children at the Angel Tree, and another portion to the Humane Society. They also made about 40 scarves to be donated to Norris' students at the school he works at, where they don't have much to keep them warm during this bitter cold. I had them pose with their goods this morning..not convinced they like pictures :) but what great kids! (this is just one group of them). Merry Christmas!

Toasties

These are from a little Holiday Appetizer cookbook I have. I was looking for a savory finger food for our holiday "party" for my Professional Cooking class and wanted to try something different. They are basically a meatball delivered on a cracker toast. The kids really enjoyed them!
Another perfect appetizer for a holiday party--no forks required (don't even need a toothpick!). Very simple to put together. We made the filling and cut the bread circles a couple days ahead of time, then assembled them and baked them the day of.

Toasties

1 ¼ lb lean ground beef
½ cup grated cheese
½ cup green pepper, chopped
6 mushrooms, sliced and cooked
1 can cream of mushroom soup
¾ cup bread crumbs
½ cup onion, chopped
1 egg
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
about one loaf of sandwich bread
Butter

Mix well all except for last two ingredients.

Using a cup or round cookie cutter, cut bread into rounds. (we got three rounds per slice of bread)Butter one side of rounds and put buttered side down in muffin tins. Add about 1.5 tablespoons of the meat mixture and bake at 375 F for approximately 25 minutes.

Makes 42 toasties.

Easy Popcorn Snack

Another great snack that doesn't need cold or heat. Simple: pop three bags of light butter microwave popcorn (or go all out and pop your own kernels on the stove!). Melt one package of white almond bark. Toss with popcorn, lay out to cool, and consume! Mix in some M&M's or nuts if you like. Cheap, easy, great snack that everyone will enjoy!

Cheese Straws

Looking for an easy appetizer to put out at your holiday party or to bring to a work potluck? These don't need any refrigeration OR heat, so they are perfect to set out! They're like a giant fancy cracker kind of--really cheesy and great. You can cut them in whatever shapes you want.
Very simple to make and a great salty snack to balance out all those holiday sweets.

Cheese Straws

Ingredients:
· 1 stick plus 6 tablespoons butter (14 tablespoons), room temperature
· 3 cups sharp Cheddar cheese
· 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
· 1/8 teaspoon salt
· 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, more or less
· 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Preparation:
Put the butter and cheese in the container of a food processor. Add the flour, salt, cayenne, and Worcestershire. Cover and blend thoroughly. If a food processor is not used, put the flour, salt and cayenne in a bowl. Add the butter, cheese, and Worcestershire, and using two knives or a pastry blender, blend thoroughly. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 300°.
Roll small amounts of dough into a long tube about the width of a straw and cut in desired lengths. Or, roll dough out on a floured surface to about 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thickness, cut into strips, and gently twist. Arrange the strips on 1 or 2 ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in preheated 300° oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the straws are crisp and lightly browned. Remove and let cool.
Tip: If you roll them into straw shapes, use a flat block or flat wide dish bottom to roll them uniformly. Makes about 5 to 6 dozen.

recipe from All Recipes

Black Bean Soup

So, have you figured out yet that we did a soup lab last week? We actually had a successful lab in that everything turned out well and it all tasted good!! This recipe is from All Recipes, but we had to make a few changes in the amount of liquid--the original amount turned out basically refried bean consistency. We also added a little cheese. This was excellent!

Black Bean Soup

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
5 cups chicken broth
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cumin
Olive oil
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream (optional)

Saute onion, garlic, and green pepper in oil over medium heat until tender. Add beans and water and season with salt, pepper, and cumin. Stir well and simmer for 15 minutes.
Pour half of the soup into blender and puree. Return to pot and reheat over medium low heat.
Pour a few drops of olive oil into each bowl for added flavor before serving. Top with sour cream.

Serves 4 (but with additional liquid, it would probably make six decent sized bowls)