Welcome to my blog! My name is Stephanie and I was born, raised, and still live just outside of Boston. I’m a stay at home mom of two children that don’t really need me to stay home anymore, especially since one of them is in college. So I currently spend my days with my three insane dogs while owning a very small antique business. I love and appreciate all things old, whether antiques or architecture, and love to give items new life by repurposing.
I love food, too much, and I get immense joy from how my food can make others happy. One of the best compliments I have ever received was my daughter telling me that my cooking has ruined everything else for her. I’ll take that!
I’m much more of a baker than I am a cook. Not that I don’t like cooking, I just wish I didn’t have to do it every day. I’d much rather cook when I feel like it. But, since I don’t have a personal chef and my family is picky about eating every day, here I am. Part of the motivation behind this blog is not only to give me someone to talk to during the day other than my dogs, but to be able to share some of the recipes I’ve tried and really enjoy.
I also love to take pictures of every day things that just make me smile. So this blog is just going to be about “my slice of life” and I hope you’ll enjoy some of it!
Sugar cookies are such a fun cookie as you can make them into so many different shapes, sizes, and colors. I just made a batch in the shape of elephants for some students at my daughter’s college, whose mascot is an elephant. Next month I will be making some shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day. The other good thing about them is if you don’t feel like adorning them with colored sugar or frosting, they are just as tasty plain. Here is the recipe I use:
Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter flavor Crisco
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
In a large bowl combine the crisco, sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat on medium speed of an electric mixer until blended. Beat in the egg.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add into the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until combined.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a few hours.
When you are ready to make the cookies, roll out the dough on a floured board and cut into shapes. Maybe about 1/8 – 1/4″ thick.
Re-flour the board every time you roll out a new batch. Place on an un-greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. Remove immediately from pan to cooling rack.
I have never been very good at decorating cookies, but I found this really easy technique on-line that worked well. For the icing combine:
2 cups powdered sugar
4-5 tbsps. half and half
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
Food coloring
Mix the ingredients together until they form a thick icing. Dip the cookies into the icing and hold over the bowl for about 15 seconds allowing the excess icing to drip off. Then quickly turn the cookie over and gently move side to side to let the icing cover the entire cookie evenly. Allow to set on a wire rack.
In a large bowl combine the crisco, sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat on medium speed of an electric mixer until blended. Beat in the egg.
In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture on low speed until well mixed.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a few hours.
When you are ready to make the cookies, roll out the dough on a floured board and cut into shapes. Maybe about 1/8 – 1/4" thick. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. Remove immediately to wire cooling rack.
These brownies are absolutely amazing! Hence why I named them Amazing Brownies. It is the easiest recipe, and it only uses one bowl which is a huge bonus. They are fudgy and delicious, and honestly one of the best recipes you will find.
I have used this recipe for the Santa Hats and Brownie Trees that I have written about, and as I have mentioned it is the recipe inside the Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate box. I have been using it for years and will never switch or try anything else.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1 4oz. package Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup flour
In a large mixing bowl add the butter and chocolate. Microwave for 2 minutes, then stir until the chocolate is melted. It may take a a little while but it will melt from the heat of the butter.
Add the sugar and combine well.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Add the flour and mix until well incorporated.
Pour into a 9″ x 13″ pan lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray. You don’t have to use aluminum foil, but it is so much easier to cut the brownies this way. Once the brownies are cool just lift the aluminum foil out and put on a flat surface to cut.
I usually either add chocolate chips or M&Ms to the brownies. If you are going to add something I suggest waiting about 10 minutes after they are in the oven and sprinkling the chocolate chips or M&Ms on top, then continue baking.
Bake for 27-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted comes out with fudgy crumbs.
If you aren’t in the mood for chocolate, then give these buttery, sugary, chewy, yummy Blondie bars a try. They are not really a cookie bar, they are more of the consistency of a chewy brownie. You can absolutely make this recipe without the sprinkles, but don’t the sprinkles just make them look happier! 😅
Ingredients:
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9″ x 9″ or 13″ x 9″ pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. Combine with the brown sugar in a large bowl and mix well.
Look at all that butter! Yum! Brown sugar and butter just go so well together.
Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well until smooth.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Add to the butter mixture until well combined.
Then…..stir in the sprinkles!
Spread the batter into the greased pan and sprinkle some additional sprinkles on top. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let cool before cutting. The nice thing about using aluminum foil is you can just lift it out of the pan and it makes it much easier to cut.
We have had quite the cold spell recently, and what better to make on a freezing cold day than soup. It is such a comforting food that warms the soul. The other day as I was hunkered down in my house I made a batch of this delicious hearty soup. It is very easy to make and the only time consuming aspect is making the meatballs. I use ground turkey for my meatballs but you can substitute ground beef if you prefer.
I made a batch of my childhood favorite, Popovers for Piglet, to go along with the soup and I had a very happy family at dinner. Have you tried Piglet’s Popovers yet? Here is the link to the recipe if you haven’t:
These are the same meatballs I make anytime I make meatballs. When I make them to cook in red sauce I use a full pound of turkey and double the other ingredients. For this soup we only need half a pound of turkey to make plenty of meatballs.
Meatballs are one of those recipes I have been making for so long without measurements that it is difficult for me to say exactly how much salt, pepper, and garlic powder I use as I just sprinkle it in. The same goes with bread crumbs, but for this recipe I used about 1/4 cup, maybe a little more.
For the meatballs combine all of the meatball ingredients well in a mixing bowl.
Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan. Shape the meat mixture into small bite size meatballs and add to the pan and brown on all sides.
You aren’t trying to completely cook the meatballs, just giving them a nice browning on the outside. Once browned put them on a plate lined with paper towels to remove the excess grease.
Remove the stems from the spinach and roughly give it a chopping.
When you are ready to make the soup bring the chicken broth to a boil. Season the broth with some pepper to taste. Chicken broth already has quite a bit of sodium so I prefer not to add salt to the broth. There is so much flavor in the meatballs that the soup doesn’t need anything other than the pepper.
Add the meatballs, chopped spinach, and uncooked orzo to the broth and continue boiling for 10 minutes.
That’s it! Your delicious soup is ready to eat.
Once you ladle the soup into bowls top with a little grated parmesan cheese. Yum!
Combine turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, grated cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper well in a mixing bowl.
Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan. Shape the meat mixture into small bite size meatballs and add to the pan and brown on all sides. Once browned put them on a plate lined with paper towels to remove the excess grease.
Remove the stems from the spinach and roughly give it a chopping.
Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Season broth with pepper to taste.
Add the meatballs, chopped spinach, and uncooked orzo to the broth and continue boiling for 10 minutes.
My family is a huge fan of buffalo chicken everything, so I decided to give my Chicken Pot Pie recipe a buffalo sauce spin. I had to make a few adjustments to the recipe to get it the way I wanted as the added buffalo sauce made the “gravy” too loose. A little added flour and less chicken broth did the trick and my second try was perfect and absolutely delicious! I did not use homemade crust for this recipe as you can probably tell, but if you are looking for a pie crust recipe here is the link to the crust I use:
I am a little bit of a wimp when it comes to spicy food and my family always laughs at me while I struggle through foods that they don’t even find remotely spicy. With that said if you like your food more on the spicy side you may want to use the higher end of the buffalo sauce measurement in the ingredients.
Ingredients:
Pie crust
2 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups frozen peas and carrots
1 large stalk of celery, chopped
2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup half and half
Salt and pepper
Onion powder
1/4 – 1/3 cups buffalo wing sauce
2 tbsp. (or more) crumbled blue cheese
1 egg
In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the peas, carrots, and celery and cook for 3-4 minutes stirring frequently.
Add the chicken and cook for another minute.
Add the flour and stir until it is absorbed into the chicken and vegetables. Cook for another minute then add the chicken broth and stir well.
Bring to a boil and cook until it starts to thicken, about 3 minutes or so.
Add the half and half and cook for another few minutes until it starts to thicken. Add the salt, pepper, and onion powder to taste and stir well.
Stir in the buffalo sauce and remove from the heat.
Of course if we are adding buffalo sauce we need to add blue cheese right? You can use as much or as little as you like.
Scoop half of the chicken mixture into a pie plate, top with half of the crumbled cheese. Add the second half of the mixture and the rest of the cheese.
Top with the pie crust and brush on an egg wash. To make the egg wash beat one egg and combine with 1 tbsp. of water.
Bake at 375 degrees until bubbly and crust has browned, approximately 30-35 minutes. I put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil in case there is any spilling.
In a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Add peas, carrots, and celery and cook for 3-4 minutes while stirring frequently. Add chicken and cook for an additional minute.
Add flour and stir until absorbed into vegetables and chicken. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil and cook until it begins to thicken, approx. 3-4 minutes.
Season to taste with salt, pepper, and onion powder.
Add half and half and boil until it begins to thicken, approx. 3-4 minutes. Stir in buffalo sauce and remove from heat.
Scoop half of the chicken mixture into a pie plate and top with half of the blue cheese. Repeat with remaining chicken mixture and cheese. Top with pie crust.
Make an egg wash by combining 1 tbsp. water with the beaten egg. Brush over crust. Bake until bubbly and crust has browned, approx. 30-35 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.
When you candy fruit with this method you are creating a hard crunchy candy shell on the outside of the fruit. You can do this with many different types of fruit, but I chose to candy strawberries. This kind of candied fruit is typically served on wooden skewers, but I wanted to jazz up my cheesecake a little and thought they would be a fun change. The candying really does make the fruit look beautiful and shiny, while adding a sweet crunch!
One thing to keep in mind is the fruit will not stay crunchy for long so these should be made right before you are planning on serving them.
To candy fruit you will need:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
Strawberries or other fruit
Ice water
Clean and fully dry the fruit. If using strawberries you can keep the stems on if you choose, but I sliced off the tops of the strawberries as I was using them on a dessert as I mentioned earlier.
Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. The mixture needs to be at 300 degrees which takes about 5-10 minutes. Once it hits this temperature you can test to see if it is ready by dipping a spoon into the sugar and then immediately into a glass of ice water. It should form a hard candy crust on the spoon.
One thing I learned the hard way is not to allow the sugar to go above 300 degrees because it will start to burn. It got very dark brown and tasted horrible and then became what I believe might be molasses. It was quite a mess lol.
When your sugar is ready dip the fruit into the hot sugar with a wooden skewer and coat evenly, then dip into the ice water immediately and the fruit should have a hard coating. Place them on parchment paper until you are ready to serve them.
These do not stay crunchy very long so do not make these ahead of time as they are best served right away.
These adorable candles are an easy fun craft perfect to do with children. If you are looking to make a properly colored candle, crayons are not the way to color them and you will need to use candle wax dye. However, as far as a craft goes, this is a perfect way to do it. You can be as creative as you want and depending on how much time you want to spend, you can make multiple layers.
For these candles you will need:
Candle wax
Crayons
Mason jars
Candle wicks
Find some crayons that you don’t mind parting with and think of the colors you would like to put together. This is a perfect use for all of those broken crayons you have laying around that the children no longer color with.
For the wax, I use soy wax but you can use whatever candle wax you choose. You can either melt the wax and crayons on the stove as I have, or melt them in the microwave if that is easier. For the stove method, add a small amount of wax to a saucepan along with an unwrapped crayon broken into pieces.
I made two identical small mason jar candles and used about 4 oz. of wax per layer with one crayon for each layer.
The wax and crayon melt very quickly. The color will be streaky as crayons don’t mix perfectly with candle wax.
Take the pan off of the heat and let it cool for a few minutes.
While your wax is cooling anchor the wick to the bottom of the jar. To do this dip the bottom of the wick into the melted wax before placing in the jar. Keep in mind once you pour the hot wax into the jar the wick may move. Be sure to either hold it in place while pouring or use a wick holder which sits on the jar.
Once the wax has cooled for a few minutes you can pour it into the jars. The easiest way to do this is to use a funnel. It not only helps you by not spilling the wax all over your counter, but also helps to keep the wick in place. I’ve tried a few different ways and the funnel was definitely the best option.
Let each layer set for about 30 minutes before repeating the melting process and adding another color.
Once the candles are set trim the wicks with scissors and they are ready to light.
I am constantly purchasing antique mason jars whenever I see them at estate sales and use them for so many different things. I absolutely love old jars, all kinds of jars actually. I have made snow globes out of antique mason jars, have many decorating my sunporch filled with shells and seaglass that I’ve found, and some on my kitchen window sill helping me root plantings I have cut. As an antique dealer I often use them to sell fun decorative collections of vintage marbles and thread spools. The repurposing possibilities are endless, and I wanted to share another fun use for those fantastic old jars.
Of course you don’t have to use antique jars to make candles, new mason jars will work just as well.
Making your own candles is quite easy, the only somewhat difficult part is calculating the wax to container ratio, and the fragrance to wax ratio. You have to remember that wax is measured by weight and not by volume. What this means is if you have a 3 oz. jar that does not mean you use 3 oz. of wax, you use 2.4 oz . I have included a chart below to help you calculate the measurements.
The first number represents the size of the container by volume, and the second number next to it represents the amount of wax needed by weight.
3 oz. – 2.4 oz.
4 oz. – 3.2 oz.
6 oz. – 4.8 oz.
8 oz. – 6.4 oz.
10 oz. – 8 oz.
And so on.
If you decide to add a scent to the candles, use fragrance oil specifically for candles. As far as the measurements go, I used .5 oz of fragrance oil for 1 lb. of wax, and .75 oz of fragrance oil for 20 oz. of wax and they smelled nice and not too overpowering.
You can also color the candles but you need to use dye specifically for candles. Food coloring or crayons will not work perfectly. I did make some candles with crayons for a fun craft idea, but the crayons don’t blend well with the wax and the colors aren’t as nice they would be with candle dye.
To start you need some candle wax, I purchased 10 lbs. of soy wax.
You will need a scale to measure out the wax. I used a kitchen scale that I had and just scooped the wax onto the scale.
Once the wax is measured, transfer it to a saucepan and melt it on medium heat on your stove. It melts very quickly and easily.
Once the wax is melted stir in the fragrance if you are using one, and remove it from the heat to cool.
While your wax is cooling anchor the wick to the bottom of the jar. To do this you can dip it in the melted wax and stick it to the bottom of the jar. Keep in mind once you pour the hot wax into the jar the wick may move. Be sure to either hold it in place while pouring or use a wick holder which sits on the jar as I have.
Once the wax has cooled for a few minutes you can pour it into the jars. The easiest way to do this is to use a funnel. It not only helps you by not spilling the wax all over your counter, but also helps to keep the wick in place. I tried a few different ways and the funnel was definitely the best option.
Once the candles have set, trim the wicks with scissors.
Now they are ready to burn. I am loving not only the coffee scent, but how it looks in this aqua colored antique jar!
Whenever my daughter and I would get coffee at a local coffee shop she would always get a slice of their ricotta cheesecake. There was no crust, just the cheesecake and it was delicious. Of course this became something on our list of items to bake, which we did and it was also delicious. This cheesecake is not your typical cheesecake like the recipe I have shared before which you can find by clicking this link:
The ricotta and lemon juice give it a distinct flavor difference as well as the fact that there isn’t a graham cracker crust.
As you can see my cheesecake unfortunately cracked despite taking all the right steps to prevent cracking. To prevent the cheesecake from cracking you can either wrap the bottom of the springform pan with aluminum foil and place in another pan with about an inch of water in it, or place two 9″ pans of water on the rack below the cheesecake. I chose to do the two pans of water beneath the cheesecake, and I think next time I will try the other method. You also should not open the oven while it is cooking or while it is resting in the oven after it is turned off.
Ingredients:
2 8oz. blocks of cream cheese, softened
16 oz. ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
3 tbsp. corn starch
3 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
16 oz. sour cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a springform pan.
In a large mixing bowl combine the softened cream cheese and the ricotta cheese. Make sure the cream cheese is very soft so that there won’t be lumps. Mine was a little lumpy because my daughter didn’t realize this and the cream cheese was just not quite soft enough.
Add the sugar, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla, corn starch, flour, and butter and mix well.
Stir in the sour cream until just combined, and pour into the springform pan.
Right as you are about to place the cheesecake in the oven reduce the heat to 325 degrees. Place in the oven along with pans of water, or inside a pan of water as mentioned earlier.
Bake for 1 1/2 hours without opening the oven. Shut off the oven but do not remove the cheesecake, keep it in the oven for an additional 2 hours also without opening the oven.
Cool on the counter for another 1-2 hours before refrigerating. Refrigerate overnight before eating.
The next day remove the springform part of the pan and it is ready to eat! You can eat it plain or with your choice of topping.
I was going to mix some sugar with sliced strawberries to make a topping but we decided to play around with the strawberries a little and make Tanghulu strawberries, which are candied strawberries. You can see that the strawberries look glossier than normal. I also decided to shave some chocolate on top to somewhat hide the large crack.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a springform pan.
Combine the softened cream cheese and ricotta cheese in a large mixing bowl.
Add sugar, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla, corn starch, flour, and butter and mix well. Add sour cream until just mixed, do not over mix.
Pour into the springform pan. Reduce heat to 325 degrees when putting in the oven and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Do not open oven. Shut off the oven but keep inside for an additional 2 hours, also without opening the oven.
Cool on the counter for 1-2 hours, then refrigerate overnight before eating.
Often when I am taking pictures for my Blog I am actually cooking dinner for my family. When these burgers were done my family was sitting patiently at the table waiting for them to be served. I quickly snapped a few pictures of the burger before handing them off and not realizing how strange the colors look on the blue plate. Ugh. By the time I realized it the burgers were long gone, so I apologize if they look a little off. I am not a chef with a commercial kitchen and a camera crew, I am just a woman with an iPhone sharing my favorite recipes.
Now let’s talk about this burger. It is so good! The prosciutto gets a wonderful crisp texture and the flavors are fantastic together. I used to use balsamic vinegar, but I have become a huge fan of balsamic glaze. If you have never tried it, I highly recommend getting some the next time you are at the grocery store. These burgers are very easy to make, and look and taste impressive.
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground lamb
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 tbsp. parsley
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp. milk
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 lb. sliced prosciutto
1-2 tomatoes, sliced
Basil
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar or glaze
Mix together the breadcrumbs, parsley, egg, milk, parmesan, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
Add the ground lamb and mix well.
Shape into four burgers and wrap each with prosciutto.
Heat about 1 tbsp. of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the burgers and cook for approx. 6-8 minutes on each side until cooked through.
Look how good that prosciutto looks!
Serve topped with slices of tomatoes and fresh basil. Drizzle with olive oil and either balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze.
