In a World of My Own

My Bread Adventure continued: Oatmeal Bread with Molasses

2014-03-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Homemade oatmeal bread with molasses! #bread #homemade via caseygoduti

I am a big oatmeal fan. I was just thrilled when I came across this oatmeal bread recipe. You could add molasses or honey to add extra flavor and color. I decided to try the molasses. My Mother had molasses in her cabinet and she told me she hardly ever used it. So I decided to try it.
It definitely had nice flavor. This recipe made two loaves. If you are going to get good at making bread you have to make lots of bread.
I found this recipe in Fannie Flagg's Cookbook.
When I mentioned I put molasses in it, everyone thought it would taste like molasses but surprise, surprise it didn't.
Have to try the bread with honey.
I actually am not big on carbs in my diet. I try to stick with one carb at one meal a day. So that doesn't leave room for a lot of bread (or it means my bread just lasts a lot longer). There is always plenty to share.
What comes next is the recipe.

The bread was worth the time I spent making it, and everyone enjoyed it.

Other breads to make

Breads: The Italian Loaf

English Muffin Toasting Bread

Homemade Cinnamon Bread

Breads: Broiche

2014-02-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

This time I wanted to make something different, so I decided to make broiche. I hadn't made a French bread before. I was really enjoying baking breads. So this time I went to Better Homes and Gardens Complete Step-By-Step Cook Book again to see if they had a recipe. Here is what I found.

So I began making the broiche. This recipe was different then the other breads I had made. It sat in the refrigerator overnight, then it was suppose to rise again, and so it was baked the next day. The other breads I made all were made and rose the same day.
Here is what the bread looked like as it came out of the oven.

They were very tasty, if fact I shared some with my parents when I went for a visit. They were absolutely delighted. The bread is a buttery goodness, just as you would expect from French cooking.

Related Recipes
The Italian Loaf
English Muffin Toasting Bread
Homemade Cinnamon Bread

Cream of Wisconsin Cheese Soup

2014-02-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

Growing up my mother made us Welsh Rabbit. Our welsh rabbit contained no beer but was rather just a cheddar cheese sauce she had made, which she served on toast with a fresh slice of tomato. It was a very simple dish. Since I had enjoyed this dish growing up, I decided to try something new, Cream of Wisconsin Cheese Soup I found in the recipe book, Dining By Rail by James D. Porterfield.

I had made a recipe previously from this cookbook. A Cuban Sandwich. The soup I am sharing with you today was a menu served by The Fred Harvey Company. It was also a favorite of President Harry S. Truman.

This was my first time making a cheese dish before. I have made items with cheese in them, but not an actual cheese dish, so it was definitely an experience. After I added the roux, I thought perhaps I made made a mistake, then a added the cream, but the soup was wonderful. The only thing I did different was I used black pepper instead of white.

The one thing I can say is that I will be better when it comes to my next cheese dish. I don't cook with dairy that often, so making a cheese soup was new for me.

Breads: The Italian Loaf

2014-01-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

This time I decided I wanted to make an old world time of bread. Like the loaves people carry when they walk home from the European bakeries. I found this recipe for Italian loaves in Better Homes and Gardens Complete Step-By-Step Cook Book and I decided that was the recipe I was going to try.It was published in 1978. Slightly outdated since it is 2014, but baking hasn't changed that much. This was the result.

They were beautiful, so I definitely felt I was doing something right.
Here is the recipe directly from the book.

There is one change I made. I had a container of active dry yeast not packages. So 2 packages of active dry yeast is equal to 4 and 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast. I discovered this thanks to a little research on the web.
With all the problems I had with yeast and temperature, I have discovered that you can usually tell if the yeast is work if the dough sticks to something but comes off cleanly (this is after all the flour has been added, even if it is slightly sticky, it will come off cleanly).
As you can see from the recipe there are a couple of ways you can fashion this recipe. I just followed the top of half of the recipe. It is nice and simple.

There is my beautiful loaf of bread. Cut open and ready to be munched on.

English Muffin Toasting Bread

2014-01-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

I started a journey of bread when I baked my first loaf of bread. I may have had to make the same loaf about eight times to reach perfection with the yeast but I finally accomplished it. This time I decided I wanted to make an English muffin loaf because I love English muffins. The best bread is sometimes the one that goes into the toaster. It was a lot of fun making the Homemade Cinnamon Bread, so I wanted to have more of the experience.
So I decided to make Bright Eyed Bakers version of the English Muffin Toasting Bread. It was very easy to make and excellent toasted with butter.
This bread only required one rising.
It was very easy.

Homemade Cinnamon Bread

2014-01-05T12:34:00.000-05:00

Here is the bread I made. I made this bread eight times now. I have gotten a lot of practice. I followed the Pioneer Woman's recipe for Homemade Cinnamon Bread. I have never made bread using a mixer, with a paddle and mixer.

A long time ago I had made dough by hand with a regular mixer, then kneaded the dough by hand.

I feel bad because I messed up on the most important part - when I mixed in the yeast with the milk and the butter the mixer wasn't between 120-130 F. When I made the dough before, the yeast, was either almost there, not quite, or almost dead, although I had one loaf that I was johnny on the spot without a thermometer. This loaf I was much smarter because I pulled out a thermometer a tested the temperature of the milk and butter before adding the yeast because it was so important.

You know, this bread is twice as good as Pepperidge Farm's Homemade Cinnamon Bread, as well as twice as big, and I am sure less then half the price. I can feel proud because I put hours of labor and made it by hand.

My Boyfriend was thrilled and the next day we had French toast.

And it was something to do on a cold and snowy day.

Snow in Clinton, Ct. #clintonct via caseygoduti

Cassandra

Holiday Baking: Peppermint Snickerdoodles

2013-12-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

Peppermint Snickerdoodles was an exciting new recipe for me to try. I have had snickerdoodles, and although wonderful cookies, I find the peppermint snickerdoodles quiet extraordinary. The candy cane gives the snickerdoodles spunk or wham. You can't miss the taste of the peppermint candy cane.

English: A candy cane. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Perfect for a holiday gathering, perhaps one this weekend.
I followed Baking Bites recipe for Peppermint Snickerdoodles. It was very easy.

Food, family and friends are what makes the holidays special. Food is what brings them together. The next best thing to do is to share.
All ready for Christmas!

Holiday Baking: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Simply Delicious!

2013-12-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

Starting new traditions can be fun. I love oatmeal cookies, and my boyfriend loves chocolate chip. So what do we have Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies for Christmas. You could say it's magic. Give the people what they want. There is also plenty to share with friends and family and for holiday parties.

This recipe is a Nestle Toll House recipe.

Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies
Yields:48 cookies (4 dozen) - it yields at least 5 dozen
Prep:15 mins
Cooking:10 mins
Cooling:1 min

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional) - I used less
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs _ I used extra large eggs
2 tablespoons milk - I used almond milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional) - I left these out
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.
COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat brown sugar, butter and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, morsels and nuts; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12 to 13 minutes for crispy cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

The cookies fresh out of the oven.
You can tell I live in a little apartment. The kitchen is the size of a galley on a boat. The pantry was made out of a coat closet. How else do you make a small kitchen bigger?

Starbucks Hot Cocoa for Christmas

2013-12-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

Recently I purchased Starbucks Hot Cocoa from the supermarket. I couldn't wait to try it.

Look at what it says on the side of the box about their vanilla brulee hot cocoa.

I make the Hot Cocoa and the great thing, it is perfect with milk, Almond milk actually.

Here is the packet with the directions right on it, although I have to tell you, I made it backwards. I heated up the milk in the microwave and then added the Hot cocoa and stirred. It was still terrific.

I even added whipped cream and it was low fat.

It's Stirfry Time!

2013-11-06T09:53:00.000-05:00

Here is the stirfry I put together. I put in some simple ingredients, seasoned, chopped and mixed. To tell you the truth, some of it I didn't even chop myself.

All I did was chop the chicken. I purchased chopped mixed peppers, and mixed cauliflower heads, and broccoli heads, and mini carrots. Then I followed the directions on the back of the LaChoy bottle.

The directions are first you add sesame oil and heat it up, then add the chicken and cook for up a couple of minutes until most of the pink is gone. Next add the vegetables. For which I added the broccoli cauliflower and carrots first. Then I added the peppers. Then I added the stir-fry sauce. Then last but not least some more stirfry sauce. This is a fast and easy meal. I wouldn't suggest making stir-fries all the time, but this one is definitely on the healthy side. You can always try adding some squash then would make a nice addition to this meal.

Oh, by the way, did you see now I have a Facebook Community, feel free to join. I would love to have you has part of my community.

Here is the Acorn Squash I Made....

2013-10-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

I recently came upon a stuffed acorn squash recipe that I just had to try. I collect so many recipes and the recipe is so old, I don't even know where it came from. It was such a very easy recipe. Last year all I had was butternut squash, and pumpkin, can't forget to try some acorn squash to cook on its own. My Mother would could a filled acorn squash for me when I lived at home.

AUTUMN SQUASH BAKE 4 Servings
Cut 2 Acorn squash (about ¾ pound each) in half. Remove seeds and fiber.
Place cut side down in baking pan with 1/4 inch of water in bottom. Bake in a 350°F oven 45 to 50 minutes, or until squash is tender and can be pierced with a fork.
Meanwhile, combine ¼ cup Butter or margarine, ½ cup Dried tart cherries, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and ½ teaspoon Ground cinnamon. Heat on top of stove or in microwave oven until butter melts.
Fill center of each squash half with equal amount of cherry mixture. Mix some of the cooked squash with the cherry filling.
Serve immediately or eat one and put the rest in the refrigerator for later.

I found it quite a treat. A dinner in itself.

The Original Soupman Crab and Corn Chowder

2013-10-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

I brought home two boxes of soup and showed them to my boyfriend. Here is one of the boxes. On the back of the box it mentions the Seinfeld show and the Soup line at the Soup Kitchen. Would you believe, I am not a big fan of Seinfeld, even though I do appreciate some of the actors who came from the show. Here is the back of the box.

Here is a link to the website. If you look at their website you will see they make a bunch of different soups, and if you happen to be in NYC you can stop by the Soup Kitchen and try some. The grocery store I went to only had three available.

The Original Soup Man logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to their website their credo is "To make the best soup in the world!"

Here is the soup, hot out of the microwave. It is not the most glamorous of photos. It tasted good for a box chowder. The best are always homemade but if you don't have time to make a batch yourself maybe you might try The Original Soupman.

I checked the box with Buycott and it rated GMO free for anyone who is watching GMOs.

Apple Crumb Pie, Too

2013-10-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Autumn has arrived, and its time for more apple pie. In my home we love apple crumb pie. This recipe is as simple as they come. My Aunt came to visit from Hawaii. They live on the prettiest island Kauai. Her son and my youngest cousin who is in the army is going to Afghanistan soon. She stopped by to see us and her family in her travels.
For lunch my Mother served us a Pumpkin Curry soup and a Tortellini salad, and tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and a balsamic vinaigrette. My Grandma who is in a nursing home came to visit, and after we went back to the nursing home and saw a show and talked. We finished the evening with pizza from Fiore's in Old Saybrook. It was such a big day!

APPLE CRUMB PIE

1 9" unbaked pastry shell (If frozen allow to thaw)

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

7-9 green cooking apples, peeled , cored and sliced (I used Granny Smith)

½ cup of butter plus 4 teaspoons

½ cup of Sugar (or ¼ cup for sweeter apples are used)

Melt butter in pan under a low heat. Each of the prepared apples should have been cut into about 8-9 pieces. Add apples to butter and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, covered. Stir apples and butter mixture every few minutes till they start to look a little cooked and there is some apple juice in the bottom of the pan.

Uncover and add sugar and cinnamon. Coat apples by stirring, and leave uncovered allowing a syrup to form as the juice evaporates. Keep stirring apples till the syrup forms. Place partially cooked apples and syrup into a unbaked pastry shell and set aside, then prepare topping.

Topping

6 tablespoons butter (butter should be cold not at

¾ cup flour

room temperature)

⅓ cup sugar

Cut butter into ½" pieces and drop on top of flour, using a pastry blender (or 2 forks). Blend flour and butter mixture until it is crumbly. Add the sugar and keep blending till crumbs are formed.

Place topping over partially cooked apples in 9" pie crust working to spread evenly. Bake at 375°F for 50-60 minutes depending on your oven, top should be a little brown and juices should be bubbling.

Place your pie on a baking sheet or a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any juices if the pie may boil over.

Cool before cutting serve plain, with cheddar cheese or ice cream.

So that was lunch and dessert.

Roasted Chicken with a Herbes de Provence Stuffing

2013-10-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Originally I was going to make Roasted Chicken with Za'atar Stuffing from Avec Erci by Eric Ripert. Well this round I definitely did not plan very well, because I didn't have any za’atar spice in the spice cabinet. It was either that or purchase sumac and mix together za’atar spice myself. I just wasn't having any luck. So there was only one thing to do, make a replacement - so I did. I replaced the za’atar spice with herbes de Provence.

I followed Eric Ripert's recipe exactly except for the change with the spice. Above you will see I de-strung the bird. and you can see the beautiful stuffing. I used a hearty french bread to stuff the bird. The garlic was wonderful roasted at the bottom the pan. It was so aromatic.

Roasting birds is so easy and fast. This recipe is just as easy, whether you use za’atar spice or herbes de Provence.

Eric Ripert says "Every cook should know how to roast a chicken properly. The process is one of the most basic recipes and a good, roast chicken is one of my favorite things to cook and eat."

Chickens are always in season.

Mummies and Egyptian Chicken

2013-10-04T08:57:00.000-04:00

Blondie made the song "Walk Like an Egyptian" a hit in the 1980s. I did not become interested in Egypt and Mummies until the movie "The Mummy" came out, with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. The Book of the Dead was very intriguing, and in fact still is. Though all that action, adventure, fun and intrigue the only thing we didn't see them do is eat. This is the perfect meal to eat while watching the Mummy Trilogy.

The Mummy (1999 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Settle down to the movie with some Egyptian chicken fresh from the oven with some Tahini sauce and a side of potatoes and onions.

Egyptian Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Onions

This recipe is based off a recipe at foodofegypt.com.

Cut up into small pieces the same size

3 medium Idaho potatoes potatoes

1 white onion

Place in a 15 x 10 x 2 inch pan.

Preheat oven to 425 F

Season with salt, pepper, dried basil, fresh parsley, dried rosemary and hot pepper flakes.

Place 5 chicken breasts upon the mixture and the season with the same mixture.

Add 1 1/4 cups water to mixture at side as not to disturb the spices.

Place chicken in oven and cook for 45 minutes frequently or until done.

Here is the chicken right out of the oven.

Now for the Tahini Sauce or Yogurt Cucumber Dip.

You need 2 cups Greek yogurt

1 garlic clove, grated

1 cucumber, peeled and grated

Mix all together.

Dining at the River Tavern and the Theater

2013-10-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

Dining out, while taking in a night at the theater will give anyone a thrill if you are a person of culture. I can hop on a train, go into Manhattan, and head straight to Broadway and Restaurant Row. Living and growing up in a quaint small New England town, I can tell you that you can summer on the coast of Connecticut and enjoy these same joys, and not have to hop a train or travel to the city.

My Mother and I were ushering at the Ivoryton Playhouse, but before that, dinner at the River Tavern in Chester, was definitely going to be a treat. My sister-in-law recently celebrated her birthday there. It is her favorite place to eat.

River Tavern
23 Main St
Chester, CT 06412
(860) 526-9417
www.rivertavernrestaurant.com

The River Tavern is part of the Farm to Chef Program. Jonathan Rapp is Chef and owner.

The restaurant gets local produce from Four Mile River Farm in Lyme, White Gate Farm in East Lyme, Old Maids Farm in S. Glastonbury, Stanton-Davis Farm in Pawcatuck, Barberry Hill Farm in Madison, Scott’s Orchard in Deep River, Soeltl Farm, in Salem, and Hay House in Old Saybrook.

The table is very simple. The little bowl of coarse salt, and pepper mill is actually quite cute on the table.

We were the first to arrive at the start of dinner which is 5pm.

Chris Flahaven is Executive Chef, and is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute.

Here are the menus for the evening we dined. The menus change daily.
We decided to dine from both menus.

From the Bar menu:

Local ricotta with heirloom tomatoes, fried parsley, croutons, pine nuts & balsamic reductions

Salad of local greens, apples, feta cheese, walnuts & poppy seed-buttermilk dressing

The salads were light. I had never tasted ricotta cheese that tasted so fresh. The Balsamic reduction and tomatoes had the perfect blend of flavors, and the pine nuts were not to missed. The apple salad was just as heavenly with the walnuts. Perfect for autumn.

From the Dinner menu:

Seafood stew with monkfish, scallops, calamari & mussels with confit tomatoes, fregula, saffron & grilled bread
Note: This seafood dinner was split into two meals.

We loved stew. The scallops and mussels were excellent. I loved it, although my mother did not care for the monkfish.

No time for dessert, time to rush off to the theater. What is playing at the Ivoryton Playhouse?

I Love You, You’re Perfect Now Change

Image Courtesy of the Ivoryton Playhouse

The show runs through October 13th. It is pure fun, with lots of love.

Plenty to do on the shoreline.

Butternut Acorn Squash Bisque

2013-09-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

I couldn't resist visiting this favorite. Butternut Squash soup is truly one of my favorites. In passing I came across a recipe that mixed acorn squash and butternut squash. Who can resist the flavors of autumn. This soup I put bought all the ingredients and literally just put the soup together. Although, after I made the soup I listened to The Splendid Table and heard more scrumptious items to put into the bisque. My soup was very thick and creamy.

Butternut Acorn Squash Bisque
About 1 2 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks
About 1 3/4 lb acorn squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks
3 cups chicken stock
1 white onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, peeled and chopped with leaves
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 teaspoons curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup almond milk
Place sauce pot on heat to warm over medium heat, and add olive oil to heat. Add celery, carrots, and white onion and saute until translucent. Add the garlic and brown slightly. then add the chicken stock and squash. Add the curry. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 20 minutes or until heated through. Once heated through, process the soup in a food processor until blended smooth, or blender, or with a hand blender.

I headed back to school like many of kids. I headed off to school online with Quinnipiac University. This is my first time heading to school online and I can say it is quite an adventure.

Quinnipiac University (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Enjoy the soup,

It is Time to Get Artistic in the Bakery ... How about a Zebra Cake

2013-09-03T08:32:00.000-04:00

Here is the Zebra Cake that was made for my Grandma's birthday.

Here is the zebra cake inside. Definitely an artistic delight. The icing gave it that extra dark chocolate fudge goodness.

This is the cake mix I used, although it should be noted to make a two layer cake, you need two boxes of cake mix. The cake mix is Chef Duff Goldman's from Charm City Cakes in Baltimore.

Chef Duff and Michael's (Photo credit: Stacie Joy for CTTC)

Here is Chef Duff if you haven't seen him before. He is not your average cake baker. His friends who help him decorate the cake aren't your average cake decorators, but I think most people have heard the story. He has personality.

Here is a layer...

Picture perfect.

If you take your time you can have a beautiful cake, and beautiful cake slices.

It was yummy!

Ratatouille and Podcast to Feed the Soul

2013-08-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

I ate very healthy this weekend, and actually was able to get my boyfriend to try ratatouille. He is a meat and potato guy. If he had it his way he would have hamburgers and hot dogs every day of his life. (To me that would be a very boring food life). I had my ratatouille with polenta.

Here is the finale container. I did not use a mandoliue to make mine. I followed Smitten Kitchen's recipe for ratatouille.

I have been listening to a lot of Podcasts on my IPhone. I can't seem to get enough of them. I am listening to

The Splendid Table has interesting tidbits about food, restaurants and recipes. Listeners also ask questions. All their information can be found here.

And if you haven't heard Jacob Nawrocki at Operation Self Reset. You should start listening to him. He has lots of energy.

Information about his podcast can be found here.

The Resourcefulness of Peasants

2013-08-07T09:23:00.000-04:00

Here is my poor little upside down chicken. My chicken has actually had a tremendous adventure before jumping into this pan. This recipe was really very simple but then again, it is peasant food. The was drenched with chicken stock. To be more specific this chicken swam in it.

Juicy Roasted Chicken
Recipe Original by Evelyn Rogers
Adapted from : Vidalia Onions: Blue Blue Recipes
1 chicken, about 4 1/2 lbs
3 cups water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped into pieces
1/2 cup dry sherry
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt
Mix the water, sugar, Vidalia onion, dry sherry, salt, and ginger in a pot and bring to a boil.
Clean the chicken. When the mix comes to a boil, add to the chicken and boil for 10 minutes. After you add the chicken you may have to turn the heat down slightly.
Take the pot off the heat and let rest for 20 minutes.
Take the chicken and put it into a shallow pan with a pan and roast at 375F about 40 minutes or until tender.

Here is the chicken stock that is leftover.
Cool this chicken stock. Pour them into freezer containers, label and freeze.

Now I have never made chicken stock before, let alone tried it in this fashion. So I definitively know it is different.

Where are the empowering Girl Toys?

2013-08-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

I am sitting down with a hot cup of tea mulling over these two presentations.

Superhero action figures from Cassandra Goduti

Superhero action stickers from Cassandra Goduti

I recently created, and these super girl stickers which I can thankful say I have never bought. The only thing that comes to my mind, what were they thinking?

I am not always big about destroying artwork because this is someone’s artwork. Superheroes to me have always been empowering, so having female superheroes are even more empowering to me. The artwork in these stickers are not empowering to me.

Superheroes are always branded with bold colors, not pinks and pastels. If a little girl wanted these stickers, I think she would want them for the colors, and she would have no idea who Supergirl is. So there is a whole disconnect.

DC Superheroes (toys) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Women ought to be able to be women. I don’t think they should be made to feel like they have to be the one to raise the kids (by herself), clean the house (by herself), and cook the meals (by herself). Family and marriage is a partnership. Even though husbands are unable to bear the children, that doesn’t mean that they can’t bear some of the responsibility of running and taking care of the family and the household besides paying the bills. I know there are families already where husbands share in the responsibility; well it should be reflected in the toys. This leads to what we are selling to the kids.

It is very hard to find female action figures, or, of course, superhero stickers, with female superhero stickers because there are none on the market. I am pretty sure the companies will tell me there is no market for these toys/stickers and that is why they are not selling them. If I were in their office they would pull out all their facts and figures, based on fifty years of sales. Since all they care about is the bottom line there are no female superheroes, even if they are in the movie theaters. Little boys want to play with little male superheroes and all little girls want are things that are girly pink and purple. The parents may not be happy with the choices but they have to choose between the toys available on the shelves unless their kids are deemed unpopular if all their friends are playing with these toys.

The stickers and the female action figures can be as empowering in some ways as the arc reactor was for Tony Stark in Ironman. He used it to power his gadgets, and he used it to empower himself.

All these items are ready and available for boys when you go down the action figure aisle and the sticker.

Merida is a lovable character, who can be inspirable; well I was really appalled to see these stickers.

Merida is not a puffy sticker type of girl. She rejects anything girly. Any girl who is a real fan of this character will probably not purchase these stickers, because to me they show the merchandisers don’t know anything about the products they are selling. So I say ‘Eewww!

Were all these products created by men?

It's a Good Life with Iced Matcha Latte

2013-07-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

This is my Iced Matcha Latte. I followed the recipe found on Appetite for China. Diana, at Appetite for China, has a beautiful picture of the latte on her blog. It is really a cool and simple beverage. For this recipe I used a cocktail shaker, so the recipe was really easy to make and healthy.

I used Matcha DNA which I found on Amazon. I was pricing all the green tea powders, and thought that this was worth the price. It came out to about thirty cents to one teaspoon in terms of price which I thought was fair. When I received the package.

I drink my Iced Matcha Latte while I listen to a podcast on my iPhone. Today I am listening to. the Good Life Project.

Jonathan Fields interviews many types of entrepreneurs and learns their journeys. Many of their lives are very creative, and much of their lives deal with helping people, and overcoming some sort of obstacle. Many of the stories are very inspiring. The podcast can be found here.

A fine way to relax and put your feet up.

Why Alton Brown was Right About Cucumber Water

2013-07-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

This picture may not look like very much, but this is my homemade cucumber water. The thought came to me recently when I was listening to the Alton Brown Podcast. Alton confessed his love for lemonade to quench his thirst, but his true love of cucumber water.

I became very curious of cucumber water since I have drunk lots of glasses of lemonade, and wanted to see what makes cucumber water so special.

Cucumber water is actually crisp and refreshing to drink. If you want you can stick in a piece of cucumber and a piece of lemon, and some ice cubes. You can even add mint. I keep my water in the refrigerator when I am not chugging away.

There are a many recipes for cucumber water on the internet.

I have a water container in the refrigerator so that I always have cold water. I took a medium sized cucumber and scrubbed it well, and took off about half the skin and cut it into slices. I then took the pieces of cucumber and put them into a cheesecloth type piece of fabric and stuck that into the water container, and placed the cover back on top and placed it in the refrigerator. You can throw out the cucumber the next day.

Within an hour my water tasted like cucumber. I was drinking more of it than regular water.

Footloose

2013-07-11T22:07:00.001-04:00

Footloose by caseygoduti featuring a wedding jewellery

Joules joule
$60 - zalando.co.uk

Durango cowboy boots
durangoboot.com

Jolie leather charm
lordandtaylor.com

Pendant necklace
modcloth.com

Wedding jewellery
etsy.com

Cowgirl hat
$7.45 - fashionunion.com

Scotch Soda Faded indigo flannelette skirt
melijoe.com

Orange-Balsamic Glazed Chicken

2013-06-30T07:55:00.000-04:00

For dinner last night I settled down to a nice Orange-Balsamic Glazed Chicken, some leftover brown rice, and baby carrots with which I dipped in ranch dressing. It was Curry and Comfort's recipe and it was wonderful.

In a World of My Own

My Bread Adventure continued: Oatmeal Bread with Molasses

Breads: Broiche

Related articles

Cream of Wisconsin Cheese Soup

Related articles

Breads: The Italian Loaf

Related articles

English Muffin Toasting Bread

Related articles

Homemade Cinnamon Bread

Related articles

Holiday Baking: Peppermint Snickerdoodles

Related articles

Holiday Baking: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Simply Delicious!

Related articles

Starbucks Hot Cocoa for Christmas

It's Stirfry Time!

Related articles

Here is the Acorn Squash I Made....

Related articles

The Original Soupman Crab and Corn Chowder

Related articles

Apple Crumb Pie, Too

Related articles

Roasted Chicken with a Herbes de Provence Stuffing

Related articles

Mummies and Egyptian Chicken

Related articles

Dining at the River Tavern and the Theater

Related articles

Butternut Acorn Squash Bisque

It is Time to Get Artistic in the Bakery ... How about a Zebra Cake

Related articles

Ratatouille and Podcast to Feed the Soul

Related articles

The Resourcefulness of Peasants

Related articles

Where are the empowering Girl Toys?

Related articles

It's a Good Life with Iced Matcha Latte

Related articles

Why Alton Brown was Right About Cucumber Water

Related articles

Footloose

Orange-Balsamic Glazed Chicken

Related articles