Cashew Chicken

What do I do when there's almost 2 feet of snow on the ground ?

Other than spend my time in the kitchen cooking Cashew Chicken?

I watch my dogs play in the snow, of course.  Notice how I didn't say play together. 

Gus runs, Clyde tries to keep up until he gives up.

He then decides to lie down on the warm, cozy bed of snow. And occupy himself with the old standby, a stick to chew on.  

Until I chime in and say, "Clyde!  That's soooo not good for you!"

"Hmmph??  You wanna try and catch me so that you can take it away from me?"

"Didn't think so, hehe."

Today's recipe, Cashew Chicken, is really fast and easy to make.  Like, 15 minutes from start to finish fast.

Unless you're cooking it with kids, that is, which is what I did last night when we taped an episode of the cooking show.  In that case, it was fun and easy.  But I'll save that post for another day.

Baked French Toast

When I woke up this morning, I was relieved to see that it had finally stopped snowing.  

7 a.m. this morning, Clyde the party animal was his usual "Yee-Haw!" self.  Gus was like, "It's too early, kid."

Strange, isn't it, how easily I embrace imaginary dog conversations now that my kids aren't around?

They don't even look like they're part of the same conversation in this picture.  Gus looks like he's had enough of the cold and Clyde looks like he's still ready for his close-up.

I decided to make today's recipe, Baked French Toast, because I wanted to use up a package of rolls that I had in my freezer.  It's a perfect breakfast for a snowy day!

Cookies!

Well, this month has been a happy blur.  Anytime we are all under the same roof is a happy time!

Despite their somber expressions in this photo, Gus and Clyde have also enjoyed having the kids home for the holidays.

We also filmed another episode of the cooking show.  It was cookie-themed, but not necessarily Christmas-themed, because by the time it finishes airing it will be past the holiday season...and we didn't want to be pushing Christmas in January!

So we baked a bunch of cookies that were Christmas-festive, yet plain enough that they can be enjoyed year-round!

Printable recipe

Click here to be taken to the blogpost with the step-by-step instructions.

And before you begin to think that maybe I got the gift of mad photography skills for Christmas, I need to confess that the pretty photo above was taken by my daughter, Caitie.

Now that I've hooked you with a pretty photo, I'm going to pull the old bait & switch.  Continue on for the usual lackluster photos.

Almond Cookies

Most definitely my go-to cookie recipe.  Switch out the red & green sugar for ocean hues in the summer, add in some funfetti, or just bake 'em plain.  Click on the above link for step-by-step instructions or use the printable.

Sea Salt Caramel Rice Krispy Treats

My personal favorite!  Sea salt & caramel is a match made in heaven, and I simply won't make these unless I can bring them somewhere...because if I keep them here I will eat every last one of them!  Printable Recipe

Hope you are enjoying this final day of 2014.

Happy New Year!!

Apple Crisp with Sea Salt Caramel

Now that we're more than halfway through September, I'm finally accepting the end of summer.

I won't say that I'm happy about summer ending, but now I'm looking forward to apple-picking season!

Also known as fall.

I baked my first apple crisp of the season this week.  Since I'm still in the mood to smother everything I make in salted caramel, I decided it would be a good idea to coat the apples in sea salt caramel instead of cinnamon and sugar.

It did not disappoint!

Ravioli with Tomato and Basil Cream Sauce

There's just so much to love about summer.

Warm, sunny days.  

No school.  All my kids are here, home for the summer, everybody under one roof.

Which means there are more people around for Gus to play frisbee with.

More people around for Clyde to turn his puppy charms on.

Those eyes....are like two puddles of...okay, I'll give you whatever you want.  *sigh*

And now that it's summer, our local Farmers Market is open.  Today's recipe was inspired by the ravioli I bought from the pasta vendor there!

Lemon Meringue Pie with Shortbread Crust

Am I the only one who thinks that May and June are THE most hectic months of the year?

I'm trying to find the time to slow down.  Unsuccessfully, I might add.

This is the groundhog who lives under my neighbor's porch.  He just waddles around aimlessly, poking through the grass.  He seems to have all the time in the world.  I'm kinda jealous of his free time.

Clyde has lots of free time.

Gus isn't one for lounging around.  His definition of "relax" involves some sort of manual labor.

See the frisbee...

catch the frisbee....

...stick the landing.  It's important to stick that landing so he doesn't crash into the rocks.

I think that I'm cut from the same cloth as Gus.  My favorite way to relax is to find something that requires focus, something that takes my mind off the myriad little stresses that usually crowd my day.

Am I the only one who thinks spending a couple of hours in the kitchen is a great way to relax?

It definitely is, especially when the end product is a lemon meringue pie!

Sea Salt Caramel Cocoa Crispy Treats

I can't tell you how excited I was this morning when I found a tiny little patch of flowers blooming in my backyard.

Yeah!  The flowers are finally blooming!

I may have said that out loud.  

I whipped out my phone to take a picture and just as I snapped it Gus stepped into the shot and dropped a tennis ball.

"What's a dog gotta do to get a little attention around here?  Seeing that you're in such a good mood, maybe if I drop this filthy, dirty ball on your flowers you'll play catch with me."

Flowers for me, a dirty tennis ball for Gus.  That's all it took to make us happy on a drizzly morning.

Okay, let's get to today's recipe.  It's a slight twist on the Sea Salt Caramel Rice Krispy Treats

that I posted last summer.

Click on the link above to be taken to the recipe.  Yes, it is still the same recipe that you see in this picture.  The difference is that I didn't scorch the caramel on the treats in this picture.

To make the cocoa treats, you simply follow the same recipe with two substitutions: chocolate extract instead of vanilla extract, and cocoa rice crispy cereal instead of Rice Krispy cereal.

And this is what you'll have.  Oh. MY.

Happy Things!

I feel like spring is finally here!  Three days in a row with 50+ temps!

The only fun thing about the rainy weather this past weekend was watching Clyde sashay through the house.  He wears the towels we dry him with as if they're a fancy cloak.

Sometimes he carries the end of the towel in his mouth like it's the royal train.  And he looks at me as if he's saying, "Cue The King's March.  I have arrived."

Plopping himself down to take a nap.  I think he keeps the towel wrapped around him so that he will have royal dreams...dreams where he waves a perfect royal wave to his subjects.

Or maybe he just wears the towel because it's comforting on a rainy day.

Thank you to all who commented about their favorite comfort food to enter the giveaway for the Whole Foods gift card last week.  The winner was Carly G., whose favorite comfort food is "a toss up between baked mac and cheese and biscuits with gravy!"

"Biscuits?  Did somebody say BISCUITS?!

Hope you are all enjoying some glorious spring weather wherever you happen to be!

Lemon Ricotta Muffins

Every day, every walk we take, Clyde picks up a stick or a branch along the way.

Today, this one stopped him in his tracks.  He turned around and looked at me as if to say, "Yikes!"  Then he did an about-face and dragged me home.

We came home and he promptly took a nap so he could sleep off his trauma.

While he slept, I baked a batch of muffins.

  I wanted to take a picture of the muffins, and the best place for natural light is on this bench in my dining room.

Gus understands the meaning of "look but don't touch."  Clyde--not so much.  Good thing he was sleeping.

If you haven't yet entered the giveaway for the Whole Foods gift card, head on over to this post and leave a comment telling me what your favorite comfort food is.  The winner will be announced on March 31.  Good luck!

Comfort Food Cooking Show...and Whole Foods Giveaway!

  I'm so ready for the snow to be gone!

Even though it is fun to throw snowballs for Gus.

Got it!  Clyde usually looks on in admiration, he simply doesn't have the desire to catch snowballs. 

 We filmed another episode of the cooking show this week.  With the freezing temperatures outside, it only seemed fitting that the theme of this show should be comfort food!

What did we make?

 Chicken Pot Pie

A large, family-sized chicken pot pie and cute li'l individual ones.

Lentil Soup.

Puff Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce

Click on the links to be taken to the recipes.

Almond Cookies

Here's the view from my driveway.  I'm not a snow person, but I'll be the first to admit that it sure is pretty.

Gus will tell you that it's fun to play in.

I'd almost say that Clyde and Gus have more fun playing in our backyard full of snow than they do playing in our sunny backyard in the summer.

Almost.  I myself prefer the sun to the snow, and I don't want to say anything that might tempt the fates to favor my dogs' wishes over mine.

Heaven knows, their wishes very rarely get denied around here.

It's hard to ignore the stare of persuasion.  Especially when it's accompanied with the harder-to-ignore whine of imploration.

 Hey, Clyde, help me out here.  I'm being ignored.

Happy to oblige, Gus!  I'll melt her with my pleading puppy face.

Mission accomplished.  No whine necessary.

I tell myself...look away, Fran, look away.  If I don't look away, I'll be baking dog cookies instead of almond cookies!

Okay, today's recipe is my go-to cookie recipe.   The drawback is that you have to mix them up in advance because they need time to chill before you bake them.

Let's be optimistic instead, and say that it's a PLUS that you have to mix the dough and scoop the cookies in advance.  The dough will keep for a few days, so it's like having ready-to-bake cookies in your fridge!  

Clyde's 15 Minutes of Fame

A friend of mine sent me an email with a link to

Cute Emergency .  She wrote, "That looks like Clyde in your yard! Is it?"

I clicked on the link.  It brought me to the twitter page for Cute Emergency, and I found this picture of Clyde:

Golden loving that snow was the caption.

How Clyde ended up on Cute Emergency, I have no idea!

I had taken that picture of him last year on Christmas day, when he was 3 months old.  

Here he was yesterday.  This is his serious pose.

And here's the goofy pose!

Clyde and Gus had lots of fun romping around.

Have a nice weekend!

Puppy-Sitting, and Pumpkin Dip

A lot has happened since my last blogpost.

The Red Sox won the world series!!!

 Here's a picture I took of Clyde and Gus, during the final inning.  They knew I was getting excited.

Clyde was getting excited, too.  He's such a party animal.  Gus was just very concerned.

Here's a picture I took after the final out was made.

Mr. Terrific raised his arm in triumph, quite a display of emotion for him.  Clyde is off partying somewhere.

Gus is still very, very concerned.  It was way past his bedtime and he just wanted to call it a night.

Meet Georgia.  She's an 11-week-old Silky Terrier.  

She belongs to my friend, Maureen.  Maureen needed a puppy-sitter for a short period of time last week, and I volunteered.

Clyde volunteered, too.  Gus happened to be at the groomers that day, so it was up to me and Clyde to entertain Georgia.

I wasn't sure how to go about letting Clyde and Georgia play, so I decided to separate them at first.  I leaned a gate against a doorway, with an opening at one end that was only big enough for Georgia to fit through.  I figured it would be her call whether she wanted to play with the big old behemoth staring at her from the other side of the gate.

Ladies and Gentleman!  On the far side of the gate, at a robust weight of 68 pounds--CLYYYYDE!!!

 And on this side, tipping the scales at THREE WHOLE POUNDS, Georgia!!

And that is how they stayed for a few minutes, Clyde on his side of the gate, watching Georgia as she ran back and forth on her side of the gate, barking up a storm.

Due to laziness, or perhaps because of a desire to make himself smaller and thus less of an imposing figure, Clyde decided to drop his bones to the floor.

I vote that he was just being lazy.

At that point, Georgia quite boldly walked through the gate.

And proceeded to explore the fluffy giant, Clyde.

This is my favorite picture.  Not long after I took this picture, Georgia got a little too friendly and Clyde got spooked and ran away.  I was laughing so hard at my 'fraidy-dog I forgot to take pictures.

But he quickly came back and settled himself down so that their game could continue, with Georgia pouncing and exploring and Clyde barely moving a muscle.  Except for his furiously wagging tail, that is.

Georgia finished off the play date by attacking her squeaky hedgehog toy.

Enough, already!  Here she is, begging me to stop taking pictures.