Locked Out? No, Locked IN!

Once upon a time, many moons ago (and by many moons, I mean November), I got locked inside of my mom's house with my boyfriend Bill. Bill had brought me home to change for work (and to take me to work). Everything seemed fine until Bill tried to open the door to leave.

I was in the kitchen, saying goodbye to my mom, and making sure that she would be picking me up at whatever time I was done when I heard Bill call out to me that he couldn't get out. So naturally, I go up to the door and think it's just locked and maybe Bill got confused. Nope.

I tug and tug at the door with no give. I even did that stupid thing people do in the movies by putting their foot up on the door and pulling, no dice. Bill had to climb out our front window (which is pretty high up off the ground) and call out to my neighbor, Jamal, who was on his stoop. Jamal thought Bill was robbing the place! (Who in their right mind would rob a place in the broad daylight, wearing a florescent yellow hoodie, and go out the front window? No one, that's who.)

Once Bill explained himself (and I hollered out the window to my neighbor that, no, this man was not robbing us), Jamal got to work helping us. Bill had to piggyback down on to Jamal's back to get out, and then I had to go the same on Bill's back!

Those two tried everything they could while my poor mother was stuck inside. Unfortunately, I had work, so I didn't get to stick around and see the shenanigans unfold. By the time I got home, all was well again! Bill saved the day by getting us a new doorknob and fixing the door up right. He's such a good egg.

That was a fun day. Work that day was pretty dismal in comparison to what I went through beforehand. Anything like that ever happen to you?

Oh, and by the way, I'm writing a guest post on Cattails & Cardigans next week! To be posted the same day of my doctor's office visit. I'm much like an animal when it comes to those—see the vet and run...

Chicken Pot Pie Surprise

Last night was a bit of a surprise—I didn't have to cook! Our friends Chrissy and Larren made chicken pot pie for dinner and invited us over. I guess that was one way to christen their new table ;) Served over biscuits, it was to die for. I can actually still taste it now, and got very hungry...

Seriously! Just looking at that picture makes my mouth water. Perhaps it's time for lunch....

Hope all is well with you! Just been working on a bit of design around the blog. What do you think of the new stuff?

Bill Bakes for the Blog!

Don't interrupt me when I'm getting my bake on!

To begin, make sure you have the necessary ingredients.

First, you'll need to add ~1.5 - 2cups chocolate chips, 1/4 cup butter (cut into cubes), and one 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk into a large glass bowl. Set this aside.

In a mixing bowl, add your favorite box of cake mix (I used Betty Crockers Chocolate Fudge here, but have also used Funfetti and Yellow cake mix before), 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and 2 eggs.

Put the glass bowl containing the chocolate chips into the microwave on HIGH for 45 seconds.

Remove the bowl, mix with a non-stick rubber policeman or wooden spoon. Re-heat the mix in 45 second intervals in the microwave until this is fully mixed and smooth. Its very easy to burn chocolate, so stick to short intervals and you should be ok. This usually fully melts in approximately three 45 second cycles.

Time to set the oven to 350F, allow it to pre-heat for at least 10 minutes.

While melting the chocolate chips, start to mix the cake portion by hand. This is best done using a large rubber policeman and folding the batter onto itself. This will eventually form a VERY thick batter. I would not suggest using an electric mixer for this as it will likely get stuck.

And voila! This will be the base for the snack. Continue to fold this onto itself until the resulting batter is smooth (no visible dry cake mix left).

Using a 13x9x2" well greased or non-stick glass/metal pan, place 2/3 of the cake mix batter into it and spread evenly across the bottom.

Next, pour the molten chocolate mixture on top of the batter and try to get it to spread evenly across the top.

Using the remaining 1/3 cake mix, make several "balls" or "disks" to place on top of the chocolate. Try to spread these evenly across the top.

This is the final result before baking. I've used several small balls of dough before, but I prefer the "disks" better as they tend to spread better during the bake. Place this into the oven for 20-25 minutes. This is done once the cake portions on top start to lightly brown.

This is the final result. Aptly named "Can't Leave Em' Alone Bars" they combine the texture of brownies with a smooth creamy chocolate center. Similar to substituting the cake mix, you can also use white chocolate or peanut butter chips (or others...) to yield the same result for an endless combination of flavors! Enjoy!!

--Bill

Mozzarella-Stuffed Meatballs

Monday was one busy day! It started off by me prepping meatballs for our spaghetti dinner. Because I didn't have mozzarella balls, I had to modify the recipe a little bit.

First, we start off with mixing everything together. They are as follows. 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, 1 lb. lean ground beef, 1 egg, 1/2 c. finely chopped white onion, 1/2 c. panko bread crumbs, 1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 1/4 c. milk, 2 tbsp. minced garlic, 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp. yellow mustard, 1 tsp. hot sauce, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp. garlic salt, 12 to 14 (1-in.) fresh mozzarella balls. I actually didn't use panko because I rather dislike the taste of it, to be honest.



Mix everything in a big bowl.

On our shopping trip, Bill and I didn't get mozzarella balls, because we already had shredded mozzarella at home. I kind of wish we got the balls, because trying to out the shredded mozzarella into the meat in ball form was actually quite difficult. So what ended up happening was this: I just threw a bunch of cheese into the bowl for what looked right for that amount of meat.

The meatballs are starting to take form! And my handy, dandy helper, Andrew helped me get the dish into the icebox while I had meaty hands. He also took the pictures for this post!

While those were in the icebox, I started to make banana bread. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I got of it/the process. I made it for Bill's bowling team, and they devoured it! Everyone said it was really moist and delicious.

Nibbler kept us company in the kitchen the entire time, and we got a quick picture in while I was cleaning up!

Unfortunately, Andrew couldn't stay for dinner. Too bad, he missed something really delicious! The finished products.

Bill got to stay for dinner, though ;). One happy customer, I'd say! He said everything was really amazing, and he hopes that I make these again sometime.

So that's everything I have for you this time. Did you like that there were lots of pictures? Let me know in the comments below! Perhaps next time I'll do a dessert? Or maybe I'll have Bill do a dessert, and guest-blog one day! What do you think of that, sound like a good idea?