Ramps, y'all! Again!

What's

She

Gonna

Do

With

ALL

THOSE

RAMPS

?!?!?

It's that time of year again...PUMPKIN MANIA!!!!!!!!!!

I  have to admit that I'm more a fan of pumpkins as decoration than food.  I'm just not a fan of pumpkin coffee, pumpkin beer or pumpkin muffins stuffed with pumpkin covered in pumpkin icing drizzled with pumpkin glaze.  However, I know I'm outnumbered.  And that's ok!!!  

Today it's difficult to write about fall, with the mercury climbing to about ninety degrees here in lovely Wheeling town.  But it's the time of year when I start thinking about what I'm going to do to decorate pumpkins for the season. 

I don't want to steal anyone's photos, so for now this post is a preview of things to come:

• swiss cheese pumpkins with little mice
• henna 'tattoo' pumpkins
• spiderweb pumpkins
• ribbon pumpkins
• pumpkins decorated with upholstery tacks/hobnails

Now, for those of you who love your pumpkin foodstuffs, here is a link to a pumpkin puree recipe on a TERRIFIC food blog called Annie's Eats.  Even if you have no interest in making pumpkin puree, check out Annie's food blog.  It's really fantastic!

Some pics of my own from a couple autumns ago...

Re-Introducing Myself...

I've recently been added as one of the bloggers linked to my hometown newspaper:  The Hampshire Review (thanks for having me, Sallie!).  This is exciting because it's another connection to my hometown of Romney, WV even though I now live with my two children in Wheeling (uh oh...the "other panhandle").  I'm the oldest of Royce and Sharon Saville's four kids (hi Mom, Dad, Ashley, Meagan and Philip!).  I don't get home as much as I'd like these days, but love where I had the good fortune to grow up.  I graduated from Hampshire High School in 1994.  I'm currently pursuing my masters of Criminal Justice at UMass.  I guess it's fair to call me a career student--I can't stay away.  I love to cook, knit, make my kids do things that generate good photos and try to wrangle an army of rescued dogs and cats.  You'll probably hear a little about all of that and then some.  Hope you find a neat tidbit to take away if you stop by to read for a bit. 

Without a Net

I've had a hard time with food blogging because I'm not good at following recipes (or documenting what I do when I'm cooking, period). Do I love recipes? Yes! Do I use them as inspiration? Absolutely! But I often find myself in situations where I've made something that I think is memorable, but I'll have a little trouble telling anyone else how to recreate what I've done.  The biggest culprit is that I'm not good about measuring--I'm certain this is why I do so little baking.

Does this happen to anyone else?  Do you just throw things around the kitchen and can't necessarily nail it down into a follow-able recipe if asked to do so?

A New Cookbook!

This has been out for a while, but I finally remembered to buy it while at BooksAMillion yesterday. I don't know if you would enjoy it if you're not a Sedaris fan, but if you are, please go get it. Now. I'm a lover of all things Sedaris, though moreso David than Amy. I honestly thought this would just be a spoof of a cookbook/entertaining guide, but it doesn't appear to be. It looks to be very real, just twisted in that snide, nonPC Sedaris way. There are several recipes for Greek dishes that look to be good and not overdone (has anyone else noticed that recipes for a lot of Ethnic foods end up getting glammed up and the simplicity of the original dish is lost, or is it just me?). Now, I have to admit that I keep opening this up and flipping through it to look at the photos. It's like a demented scrapbook. ...buy this book because nothing says "I Like You" like planning your dinner party using a book containing photos of Amy Sedaris in dayglo-nude pantyhouse and a '60s housedress...holding a bong.

Reconstructing Recipes...

Has this ever happened to you? You find a recipe that you think you'll love in a magazine, so you tear the page out, cook it, love it, and pencil in whatever modifications you have made. Then you make it some more...it's in your regular rotation, but you don't make it enough that you have memorized the recipe. Then you flake out, or move, or someone breaks into your house and steals your recipe box...and *poof*...it's GONE. That is me right now. I'm reconstructing a recipe for Banh Mi sandwiches of the beef variety. I am hoping this weekend to finish the project. I will post it here, save it to my hard drive, thumb drive, and perhaps I'll even print a copy and put it in our safe-deposit box. Yes, it's that good, and it's that important to me. And yes, I've printed out many other versions of this recipe, and they're just not the same as the one I found 3-5 years ago in, of all places, Real Simple Magazine. I've even emailed the magazine in hopes of recovering this little prize I've lost from my recipe repertoire. Aside from GA Pig pulled/chopped BBQ pork sandwich, it's my favorite, and I'm just lost without it. Wish me luck, and watch for some re-creation of Banh Mi soon!

Stove, Glorious Stove!

It's in! We need to pull it again to cut the countertop so we can slide it back in further, but it's operational (and was almost 12 hours before our party last night, so my husband didn't have to die). It's a GE Cafe model, and so far I love it. I haven't done too much with it yet, but I'm so happy to have no more electric stove in my life.

Holiday Party Menu

We had our 3rd annual holiday party/open house last night. I enjoy throwing this so much! I always overcook, and several people bring food with them, too. Somehow, nearly all of it gets eaten. This year's menu:

• Cider Baked Ham with Mini-Croissants
• Shrimp Cocktail (thanks Stacie)
• Baked Reuben Dip with Rye Bread for dipping
• Buffalo Chicken Dip with Blue Corn Chips
• Cowboy Caviar with Tortilla Scoops
• Hummus with Pita Chips(thanks Becky)
• Taco Dip (thanks Caroline)
• Mini Meatballs and Cocktail Franks in Homemade BBQ Sauce (thanks Becky)
• Biscuit-wrapped Mini Franks (thanks Angela)
• Fresh Pico De Gallo, Guacamole and Blue Corn Chips (thanks Angela)
• Pickled Eggs (thanks Kate)
• Veggie Tray
• Chocolate Raspberry Yule Log (thanks Jon's parents)
• Trifle (thanks Karen)
• Assorted Cookies (thanks Kate and Becky)
• Cream Puffs
• Punch in a Pinch (and we made up a new spiked recipe during the party that is oh-so-good)
• Wine and Beer

Wow that was a lot of food. Amazingly, there are nearly no leftovers. I'd say we had 25-30 guests throughout the evening. It's great to see everyone, even though I always feel like I don't get to visit with everyone individually as much as I would like!

Me and my Big Mouth(tm)...

I have a teeny, tiny (OK, maybe medium-sized) food processor. It takes I don't know how many rounds to pulse/chop/shred/slice/etc whatever I'm processor-ing. So, in the midst of my stove fit (and the fact that I'm currently being overcome by gas fumes in my kitchen as my husband installs a new stove), I asked Jon to bring home the biggest food processor he could find. He said locate it, he'd bring it home. I checked everywhere online that had some local brick-and-mortar store Jon could go to and buy the item, and I have learned some things. The largest food processor I could find was a 14-cup model. I don't use a food processor often enough to justify spending $200-300 on a new one, even though when I use it, it's always for a large job (or big mess, as the case may be). So, the hunt was on. This is what I found. The Hamilton Beach 14-cup Big Mouth Food Processor. Jon picked it up at WalMart for $49.88 (My sweet, errand-running husband picked it up where it was available in our local area, which was The Evil Empire. For anti-WalMart-ers, it's available at other retailers, too.) I'm hoping it's worth the price, because as I said before, I couldn't justify dropping what it would cost to buy a KitchenAid stand mixer! More later! I am doing what I can to fill the time it's taking for Jon to finish installing my new stove. That will be another post. See what you have to look forward to?!?!

Favorite International Foods online stores...

Often I have to order ingredients to stock my pantry, or take a trip to Pittsburgh. These are some sites I've found that may make finding some elusive items a little bit easier!

I stumbled across this website in Rachel Ray's magazine...


La Tienda


They have Spanish foods and serving/dinnerware. I have never ordered from them, but intend to soon.

MexGrocer

Another one I haven't tried, but they seem to have a good selection.


Import Food


They have lots of Thai and Oriental cooking staples, at good prices. I have ordered from this website numerous times (even some of their fresh produce). Their customer service is good, and they have a great selection of basics for Thai cooking!

A New Find!

Yesterday I received a catalog in the mail that I have not seen before. It's called 'The Baker's Catalogue' and it's affiliated (apparently) with King Arthur Flour. There are some great recipes, they sell all-natural baking mixes, food-of-the-month and sampler gifts, and my favorite...GADGETS :-)

Inaugural Post

OK, this is not just a copycat blog, I promise (although thanks for the idea, Pioneer Woman, and to Kate and Jaime for being the people I know who did it first). More than anything, this will serve as a filing system/method of scrapbooking that is very effective for me. I have a jump-drive full of recipes, my favorite place in my house is my kitchen...I just love food. I love finding new recipes, tweaking them, making them and then hearing that the people I love have enjoyed them. I love to go out to eat--when we travel, I'm usually most excited about the culinary adventures we might have. I love all kinds of food...I appreciate everything from a dripping basket of buffalo wings to a five-star-chef-prepared meal. When I'm at home, I love finding opportunities to cook for family and friends. I have dreams of winning the lottery and clearing out Williams-Sonoma. Hopefully this is a good explanation of what this will be...not just a bank of recipes, though right now that will be the case. I just need to get what I have uploaded and then maybe will add photos as I remake the recipes, but I can't guarantee that I'll be as organized as my friends who've gone before me. I'll also talk about food reviews, kitchen gadgets, etc. Because I can :-)