They grow up so fast (part 2)!

Flashback photos of Monkey as a kitten (2007)

They grow up so fast!

Flashback photos of Avery as a kitten (2006)

Butter vs. Margarine

I recently switched from "margarine"  to "butter"  for cooking and baking.  I've made the apple-cinnamon coffee cake and the cinnamon rolls using butter.  I just laid out 4 sticks of butter on the counter (letting it soften to room temperature) for baking Neiman Marcus Cookies (one of the cookies Lockstep likes;  taking a bunch of these cookies to the in-law family Christmas Eve).

I'm still not sure which is better - butter or margarine.  I know there is much debate.  We don't eat enough butter/margarine on a daily basis to be too worried about it.  But I'd like to know if one is better than the other for baking.  

I'll stick with butter for a while - test some recipes and see if there's a difference. 

So the jury is still out:  Butter or Margarine?  

Cooking - Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe:  Cinnamon Rolls with Icing

From:  The Pioneer Woman (cinnamon rolls); Betty Crocker (icing)

Click here for the recipe link. 

Photo credit:  Lockstep

Notes:  

This recipe - 

• The recipe makes A LOT of cinnamon rolls.
• I didn't prepare the maple frosting from The Pioneer Woman's recipe because Lockstep requested "regular icing."  Plus, neither of us is real big on maple-flavored stuff anyways. 
  
• The dough is really sticky. 
• You need a lot of extra flour and extra space to roll out the dough. 

This time - 

• I prepared half of the recipe and still had 2 pans of cinnamon rolls.  
  
• This was my first time working with live yeast.  (I've been hesitant to try anything that requires yeast or a lot of kneading.)   Now I know that it's really not hard to make things with yeast!  
  
• The cinnamon rolls turned out delicious - Lockstep and I have been eating cinnamon rolls for days!
  
• For the icing:  powdered sugar, skim milk, vanilla.  Whisk together (and add more powdered sugar or milk) until get the consistency desired. 

Next time -

•  I'll only make 1/4 of the recipe (so only 1 pan of cinnamon rolls).
  
• Keep practicing with the cinnamon rolls - rolling/slicing the dough and neatness with come with practice.  Practice makes perfect, right?! 

Twilight Love

Cafe Press has some really cool stuff.  If you're having a slow day at work, then it's a fun site to shop around..

I love this:  "For the love of God Edward, Bite Me!" 

Tortilla Soup

Recipe: Tortilla Soup

Notes: This is a basic tortilla soup that we enjoy.  What we have in stock determines what goes in the soup.  It varies every time we make this soup.  

Ingredients:

chicken broth

roasted garlic (or minced)

chopped tomatoes (or canned diced tomatoes)

onion, chopped/diced

jalapeno peppers, sliced into rings

dried oregano, cumin, chili powder

shredded, cooked chicken meat (or leftover rotisserie chicken, shredded)

limes, juiced

extras:  

mexican blend cheese

sliced avocado

corn tortillas or chips

Directions:

--In a heavy pot, bring the broth to a boil.  Add garlic, tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, and spices to the stock.  Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes.

--Then add lime juice and chicken to the soup.  Simmer until chicken is heated.

--Pour soup into bowl and add optional/extra ingredients.

Stephanie Plum

I love the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich  (fun, easy reads).  This month's "Character Profile" includes reader recipes.  There are more reader recipes at the bottom of the page from previous years (around the holiday season).  Here's the link to the author's website with the reader recipes. 

cheetah

the cheetah is awesome.

cheetah conservation fund

PS.  The Houston weather will be back up to 75 degrees in like 3 days.  

Winter Wonderland

It is SNOWING in Houston.  

The snow/ice is sticking to the tops of the trees (that are outside our window).  I'll try to get some photos.  

Info below is from Wunderground.

See the green/yellow spots -- That precipitation is snow/sleet flurries

Quote - The Velveteen Rabbit

"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." 

-The Velveteen Rabbit

Cooking - Hershey Kiss Cookies

Recipe:  Hershey Kiss Cookies

From:  Hershey’s; Start Cooking

Ingredients:

1 bag of Hershey's Kisses (will only use some of these, depending on size of cookies)

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose white flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of shortening

3/4 cup of creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup of granulated sugar (plus 1/2 cup for rolling the cookies)

1/3 cup of light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 egg

2 tablespoons of milk  (I used skim milk)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Directions:

• Heat oven to 375 F degrees.
• Remove the foil from the chocolate kisses.
  

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and the salt. Set the bowl aside.

• In a large bowl, beat together the shortening and the peanut butter until well blended.

• Add 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and the brown sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.
  
• Add the egg, milk and the vanilla – beat well.
  
• Gradually beat the flour into the peanut butter mixture. 

• Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the remaining 1/2 cup of granulated sugar.

• Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. 

• Remove from the oven and immediately press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. The cookie will crack slightly around the edges.
• Remove the cookie from the cookie sheet and place on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
• The chocolate will firm up again once the cookies have totally cooled.
  

Yield:  3-4 dozen cookies, depending on size

Diet Drinks

This is a current favorite in our house:

Sierra Mist Free (or Diet Sierra Mist)

Quote - Ancient Indian Proverb

Thanks to Lee Jaster for this quote. 

"Treat the Earth well.
It was not given to you by your parents,
It was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,
We borrow it from our Children."

-Ancient Indian Proverb (Tribe Unknown)

Happy Birthday!

Lockstep is 28 years old today!!

Cooking

I've mainly been working/cooking out of cookbooks lately.  As a beginning cook, I value the additional information provided in the cookbook.  Plus I just felt like the recipes on the blogs and websites that I'd been reading and trying were not as tried-and-true.   I'll continue working out of cookbooks for now.  I'm liking Betty Crocker, Bridal Edition and Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything.  

After saying all of that.... I wanted to post a link to a website that looks to have potential.  I've only tried the Orange-Spiced Tea a while back (like last winter), but then forgot to check back on the site for more recipes.  The Orange-Spiced Tea is wonderful.  I love it! I make it pretty often in the colder months.  The ingredients listed in several of the recipes on SkinnyChef.com. look really good to me - our style of cooking (using skim milk, skim or 2% cheese, whole wheat, lean meats, etc).  Check out the modified versions of Scalloped Potatoes and Mac n Cheese.   Happy reading and recipe hunting! 

Science and Religion - I think it's all just one big puzzle

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

- Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955),"Science, Philosophy and Religion: a Symposium" (1941) 

(Thanks to E.Chang for sending this quote.)

Good times.  I want to go back. 

Moon/Jupiter/Venus

The Moon and planets, Jupiter and Venus, are so visible in the night sky.  Notice how they have moved significantly since a couple of weeks ago.  Now, the two planets are much closer together.  

In this photo the top largest dot is the Moon, the two dots right below it are the planets, Jupiter and Venus.  The dot below that (the one right above the tree) is the Goodyear Blimp flying over Reliant Stadium during the Texans game on Sunday night. 

Photo: by Lockstep