a place for everything...

...and everything in its place!

i baked today! but the jury is still out on the results so say tuned. for now, two household ideas that have been keeping me sane. the first needs a story...

{ door sixteen }

when my great aunt gave me a cookbook of her favorite recipes, some of them old family ones, she not only gave me the treasure of her time, her sweet and patient instruction, and her recipes but she, i think inadvertently, taught me a really useful cooking tip.

{ door sixteen }

it was because they threw away food in a trash can in the garage, that she would keep a plastic grocery sack on the counter while she cooked. as we chopped, peeled, wiped up and the like, we threw everything away in that sack right there on the counter, we could move quicker and keep things cleaner throughout the meal prep. at the end, we'd tie it up and take it to the garage.

{ that kitchen }

in truth, my first household sanity tip, with that practical example, is rooted in my perfectionist psychosis which causes me to crumble at large and seemingly daunting {read: unable to be done perfectly} tasks and often results in me never even embarking upon jobs i perceive to be daunting {read: cinnamon rolls}. so, to keep the final cleaning task small and therefore less overwhelming and craze-inducing.  

{1} clean as you go.

{ una mosca en la luna }

haven't you enjoyed these shots of beautiful shelves and clean kitchens, where everything is stacked and sorted neatly in nice little containers?

{ki}

my second sanity epiphany involved cellphone chargers. the cell phones always ended up getting charged the bar in the kitchen closest to our bedroom door, cords then littering the floor or the kitchen counter. pencils, pens, notepads and eyedrops always ended up out of the study, out of the bathroom and on the couch. loose change always ended up on the tv cabinet. my bobby pins, rings and earrings ended up on the counter rather than in the drawer.

{johanna}

so i put a basket right inside our bedroom door, nearest that odd bar outlet, that now houses all the chargers to our random electronic devices, cameras, cellphones, ipods etc. it also now holds the little little devices and their little accessories as well.

a little tin bucket went on a shelf near the couch for all those random tools needed for some reason near the couch: pens, eye drops {law school}, notecards and even now outgoing mail.

a change catch-all went on the tv unit and it also holds our restaurant gift cards so they're out in the open, not easily forgotten and easily snatchable.

a fleet of little shallow bowls for the earrings and rings.

{26oliveetsy via we heart it }

{2} sometimes its "place" needs to be wherever it ends up. so find a cute basket, bucket or bowl.

now, even though bobby pins allegedly live in the drawer, in reality they are ubiquitous when i want to clean and elusive when i need one. so perhaps epiphany two and a half:

bobby pins will haunt us.

{the proper care and feeding of polos}

I realized as I folded laundry this evening that I have a useful domestic tidbit worth sharing. It starts with a confession.

I was tortured as child. Granted, in her defense, my mom was a working teacher throughout my middle school and high school years and couldn't be bothered with the likes of our soddy laundry piles that showed up at their leisure with complete disregard for their sheer volume and soddiness. She had better things to do with her evenings at home after a full day of teaching Trigonometry to sassy high schoolers. Like eat bon bons and soak her feet in peppermint oil.

So she made us do our own laundry. Egad. I know. And it is within these roots that my domestic trivia begins. I still have some explaining however, so stick with me. We wore uniforms and I was a vain yet lazy high schooler. Who wanted to avoid ironing at all costs. So let's talk collars. In my vanity, I liked (ahem, like?) the look of a straight-standing, well curved collar. No flat collars and no creased collar curves. (Now, oxford collars are another matter, but laziness and thus the non-iron uniform brand were involved.) So in my lazy vanity, I discovered how a nicely standing, well-curved polo collar can be achieved with a little preliminary work and no ironing.
Please note: "The Prep." When a polo comes out of the dryer and is still warm, shake it out and promptly hang it. Button all buttons, and pop the collar. Hang in closet with the rest of its preppy friends.

Let's take a closer look at this red one here. What has happened? This is unfortunate.Now granted, this is a golf polo in which the sun and sweat and non-ironing facilitated an irrevocable crease. But if you have a husband who is outside often, or who does not differentiate between his athletic and non-athletic collared shirts, or who likes to wear sporty polos for their shininess at other occasions, or if you have a small, or large, boy whose clothes are often subject to sun and sweat and lack of collar ironing THIS could be your fate.

SO shake them out, get preppy with them and they will last long, stay lovely and you will be able to avoid the iron.

Thanks for your time.

recently...

fall! and well, recently i've been finding it much easier to muse over at my other blog {tied up with string}. but do not be dismayed, coaching season is nearly over and that {hopefully} means a bit more culinary adventures for {vittles} to dutifully document!

until then,
i'll be over there!
so come visit!

{image belongs to marthastewartliving}

utilizing your freezer

Check out this post from Whole Food's blog on how to utilize your freezer! Great for both weeknight meals and cooking in small portions. Clicking on a picture in the post will take you to its recipe. HEB sells bags of frozen shrimp that are perfect for portioned grabbing.

have you tried greek yogurt?

This summer, through various sources, I heard all about the wonders of Greek yogurt. It's strained differently so it's thicker while still having fat free options, and it's packed with protein. This week I've been enjoying the plain version and putting diced up fruit in it. I have the blueberry in my refrigerator waiting for lunch tomorrow. Check it out:

5.3 ounces of Stoneyfeild Farm's Oikos blueberry flavor has 120 calories 13 grams of protein. The plain version of the same size has 90 calories and 16 grams of protein which is a whopping 32% daily value of protein.
Fage is another brand that's a few cents more expensive at my local HEB. They carry both of these at the HEBs and Randalls near me, in addition to a few other brands. If you can't find them at a "normal" grocery story, I wager you won't regret the trip to a nearby Central Market or Whole Foods.

You can't get much more nutritious than that, and I think they're pretty yummy as well!

cooking in small portions

This attractive picture is that of a de-meated rotisserie chicken. An entire cooked chicken for $6.99 at HEB or $4.99 at Costco. Each baggie has about a cup of meat and will be frozen in a larger, dated ziploc bag.So I can grab an individual baggie from the freezer and make a fresh pasta or summer salad for one or both of us. Easily adding tasty, sometimes even flavored chicken without cooking enough meat for a family of 5.

dated

Wow. It's nearly been a week and I have nothing to show for it. What have I been doing with myself?
Nothing. Eating Hot Tamales and mourning my last days of summer before I have to be a crazed, working woman again.

So today, since I'm mourning the loss of my youth, today I leave you with this antiquated relic. Note the headphones, please.

a new toy

Just recently acquired these with the last of some wedding credit (yes, we've been married over a year. It happens to the best of folks) And oh the possibilities are endless! I could put them in little pots and label foods other than cheese. I could make a little window sill herb garden and label my loot. Maybe I could put them in cupcakes and write little notes or greetings or silly faces.
Oh what fun. When crafts and food collide.

happy birfday!

Lime and Kiwi Tart coming up next. I promise there's still vittles here at vittles for the voracious. But it's summer; my life is less routine and I feel like shaking things up.

So.

Happy Birthday to my dear little brother! I loved growing up with you and playing your Playmobile and Legos with you. I remember walking across a parking lot with you when you were little toddler sized you and Mom telling me to hold your hand. So I held out my finger, as a much wiser and mature 4 or 5 year old and you held onto just my finger with your little baby hand. Can't believe you're 21! I'm so proud of the man you've become!
aaaand. since you better be reading my blog from time to time...
Happy Birthday, to my sweet, adventurous, whimsical and fun beyond fun friend Meridith! Love you and miss you lots!

{p.s.}

As soon as I get over my lazy self and plug my camera into my computer we will have lime kiwi tart extravaganza! Try to contain your excitement.

. . . more nesting

Sorry if you came here for vittles folks, I haven't been making much that is noteworthy lately. But what I have been doing is reading too many diy blogs!

Taylor let me know, oh, about a year ago, that the wall behind our couch looked a little barren. Not wanting to invest in something in an apartment, first I stalled. Half - heartedly looked around, unsure of what I even wanted. I considered using some cool brackets and putting up some shelves. But anchors and I are not friends and I didn't want to do all the construction that I envisioned the task involving. Someday. Someday.

I had a few goals when coming up with this idea. {1.} Minimize holes in the wall. {2} Look cool {3} Incorporate things that I would use again in a real house. {4} Be cheap.

After browsing a couple pricey Austin antique joints and tooling around some South Austin neighborhoods looking for cool junk, I looked on Cragislist. I found a guy in central Austin who was redoing his house and taking out 1940s/1950s style windows. So I grabbed my mom and we went up to check them out. I bought one, frame and all. I was not expecting the frame. Massive item. But we hauled it home in my trusty 4Runner, J.J. My dad helped me rip the frame off; I took out the glass panes and then assessed the situation.

The side of the window that had been outside was pretty worse for the wear. The side that had been on the inside looked like it had been painted light blue over white. There was a pretty stark transition between the paint and the raw wood that had been hidden by the frame. So I figured I'd just re-paint the whole thing and make the antique, distressed look myself. My mom and I started sanding to prep for repainting. I was trying to be all neat and gentle and even. I looked over at her side and she was just going to town on it. No mercy. Go Patti Go. Well, after scolding her, I realized that the way the white and original wood started showing through the blue paint was exactly the look I thought I was going to have to create with much more paint and sanding efforts. So I gave her permission to carry on...I envisioned hanging the completed window by a single hook and pictured something on the sides. Perhaps picture frames. . . So I ventured to Hobby Lobby and found three metal hooks and those great bird pictures.
The hooks weren't white nor were they antiqued but they were half off. Sold. To make them white, I applied a newly learned d.i.y trick. Before I spray painted them with Rustoleum Navajo White, I ran a tea light candle over the edges, where I wanted the dark metal to show through and dustedslashblew away the loose wax crumbs. After allowing two coats to dry, I rubbed at the edges with my hand and fingernail . . .glamorous, I know . . . rubbing the paint and wax off in a quasi- random fashion.
I used thick twine to hang everything. And below is the view from the kitchen.
Cost:
frame $7.50
hooks $7.00 {all half off at Hobby Lobby}
boxy bird prints $9.00 {also half off!}
twine $.60 {I used a 40% off coupon, printed online, BIG saver :) }
total: $27.10

Total holes in the wall: 5 tiny holes and no anchors!

lime green nesting

Since this is my blog and I do whatever I want, I'm posting pictures of the place that we typically eat our vittles. To be more specific, it's the place I always eat my vittles, and as long as golf or Harry Potter are not on TV, Taylor acquiescences to join me.

I've decided not to count the amount of plates I have slapped up on our walls. It's probably excessive if you consider my square-footage-to-plated-walls ratio. But hopefully everyone is just too overwhelmed by the awesomeness of our apartment decor to judge.

All these plates except one were bought at Home Goods in Sugarland with my friends Elizabeth and Caroline. I helped Elizabeth in her pregnant nesting state and it overflowed into my own apartment. The middle green one on the side called to me from our cabinet when I lamented about the lack of a third green plate to complete the ensemble. It's from Target in College Station and its really a saucer lacking a cup. I have no clue why I bought it at the time. Probably because I was engaged and nesting and decorating a non-existent home already (ask Hanna) and probably also because it was on sale.

The H is from my mother-in-law, who conveniently enough shares my last name. I didn't want to put plates on that side because not only, in my mind, would it look a little to overly balanced and composed but also because then people would probably walk into our apartment for dinner and say, "Oh, I see we're going to be eating on the walls tonight."
If you had told me a few years ago that lime green would be the color of unity in our apartment I would have scoffed at you. But if you can see, it ties in everything, all the way to the bedroom. Do you like my mismatched placemats? Thanks. There are two yellow ones and two of those green and blue paisley ones. I only own two of the paisley ones because that's all they had at Target in College Station, and that's all I needed to cook and whip up a little cutesty engaged spread for my visiting fiance. (again, ask Hanna)

The fake fruit is probably too copious in our apartment too. But look at how brilliantly they tie in my plates and my Target placemats and my green and white napkins that you can barely see. Taylor asked about six months into our marriage and of dining at this table, whether or not they were real. To his credit, that's probably just how long it took him to notice them.

So remember, if you can't paint your dining room a fun color, you can put some little saucer plates up and dream of the days of home ownership with walls big and bold enough to hang something maybe a little more grown up-ish. Like a platter.

ode to the crumblies

Dear Crumblies,

Today I have an ode
I want to send your way.
Because with just water, oil and eggs
Tay thinks you’re gourmet!

Your little mini can of berries
is really pretty cute.
That fact that you’re dubbed “crumblies”
is pretty much a hoot.

When milk is never stocked
impulse baking is a chore
but the streusel topping muffin box?
Paradigm of patient.
Forever it will store!

See, I buy the milk to make “real” muffins,
but it just goes bad;
and so I have to chunk it,
and that just makes me mad.

And if I buy blueberries
we’d have a pricey slew.
Babe. eat. these. berries.
I don’t care if you turn blue!!

So, crumblies in the red box, to you I say hooray!
Because with you it’s more than simple to brighten Taylor’s day!
The End.

mawwige

Today is our first wedding anniversary. We had brunch at Green Pastures where we were married a year ago. A venerable brunch spread they have there on Sundays! Whew! In the spirit of the day, I'd like to take some time to pay homage to a few things that have made this year great.

Besides being married to Taylor, of course.

I don't know where this simple device has been all my life, but I'm glad I had wedding credit enough to purchase one. Each morning henceforth, my coffee has been smooth and strong and not burned....

#1 The Bodum French Press

I finally recovered from an intense liberal arts high school education and an honors English college degree program that effectively squelched all desire from my spirit to read for pleasure...and I picked up a book to read on our honeymoon. Little did I know that Wicked would be the first of 26 books I would end up reading during our first year of marriage. Seven of those were that of the highly acclaimed Harry Potter series. Yes, I succumbed to the mass trend. It was worth it. It is good literature, take it from me, the over saturated in English Literature. There's a complex plot, complex characters, loyalty, bravery, honor....woven throughout all seven tomes. They're better than the movies too, as all books are.

#2 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

When one has to be a housewife and do housewiferly duties, something that makes one smile despite said duties is always a welcome treat. Whenever I decide it's time to dust, which admittedly is never often enough, this little thing never fails to make me chuckle....

#3 The Quick Dusting Mitten
(he he he)

The fact that I had been previously so diametrically opposed to this type of thing in my idealistic new wife state is important to note. I thought, well if Taylor wants cookies after dinner, I can make them. No need to spend money on that type of thing. However, my incapacity to control myself in presence of cookie dough combined with Taylor's odd notion that cookies would be "gone bad" after 36 hours, did not bode well for my wasteline, or for our trashcan, whichever won the fight over the dozens of cookies that one batch produced.

Not only do they come in a happy little package and make you feel charitable for buying prepackaged cookie embryos, but they have been the savior of my girlish figure, of my time of relaxation after a day of work and "dinner" concoctions and of Taylor's sweet tooth. He can make himself two or three warm and gooey "homemade" cookies without me having to get up off the couch or set one foot in the kitchen.

I mean... um... I can make him homemade cookies without him having to get up off the couch or set one foot in the kitchen ....

#4 Immaculate Baking Company's Better Bakes.
Triple Chocolate and Vanilla Sugar
site here

Thanks for reading about my endeavors this year!

life is just a chair of bowlies

Happy Saturday, friends!

Life is Just a Chair of Bowlies

thanks!!

Oh my gosh 1500 visitors! How exciting! What a milestone! What a fun number, easily divisible by both three and five!

Let's review our number sense...

1500 = (15 x 100)
1500 = (3 x 500)
1500 = (5 x 300)
1500 = (3 x 5 x 100)
1500 = (3 x 5 x 10 x 10)
1500 = (5 x 5 x 5 x 3 x 2 x 2)

Coming Soon:

Whatever Taylor gets for dinner tomorrow night.

pizza dough (with yeast!)

Yeast makes me nervous. It's this freaky alive substance that eats and grows. Kneading makes me nervous too. Releasing the gluten...gummy...silky...stringy...chewy. I feel that these are severely subjective adjectives. Don't underdo it and don't overdo it. Then there arises (heh) the issue of all these whilly nilly bread making peoples that just whip this stuff out without overmixing or overgrowing or "killing" things. Its just that this exact chemistry with specific water temperatures, hungry fungi and strange consistency specifications makes me nervous...
We are baking! This is chemistry, people! I need times! Specific times! Measurements! Specific measurements! I'm a rule follower! I can't handle whilly nilly!
The reason there is often a specified water temperature in bread making recipes is to proof the dough to ensure it's not dead. My heroine over at Smitten Kitchen skips this step for her pizza dough and saves me the uncertainty of water temperature measuring. We'll just assume my yeast is still alive and kickin...

Pizza with Homemade Dough
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
1 1/2 cups flour (can replace up to half of this with whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast*
1/2 cup warm water (may need up to 1 or 2 tablespoons more)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
*If using instant yeast, use a tiny bit less
Stir dry ingredients, including yeast, in a large bowl. Add water, honey and olive oil, stirring mixture. Dump all clumps and floury bits onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball.
SmittenKitchen recommends: "If you are finding this step difficult, one of the best tricks I picked up from my bread-making class is to simply pause. Leave the dough in a lightly-floured spot, put the empty bowl upside-down on top of it and come back in 2 to 5 minutes, at which point you will find the dough a lot more lovable."
Knead it for just a minute or two. {update: this maybe what s.k. said but I found it needs to be kneaded for about 5 minutes. Or more. Knead until a piece of it stretches in your hand without breaking. Lightly oil the same rinsed mixing bowl with shortening, butter or cooking spray. Dump in the dough, turn it over so all sides are coated, cover it in plastic wrap {update: a cotton dishtowel} and leave it undisturbed for an hour or two, until it has doubled in size. It's ready when two fingers pressed firmly leave an indentation and the dough does not bounce back into shape.

Dump it back on the floured counter and gently press the air out of the dough with the palm of your hands. Fold the piece into an approximate ball shape, and let it sit under that plastic wrap for 20 more minutes.
Sprinkle a pizza stone or baking sheet with cornmeal and preheat your oven to its top temperature. Roll out the pizza, toss on whatever topping and seasonings you like.

Bake it for about 10 minutes until "it’s lightly blistered and impossible to resist."
Then clean your kitchen.


{notes}
I used instant yeast instead of dry active yeast. It made me nervous.

After the intensive google research I conducted to figure out the difference, I gathered that I was supposed to do a tiny bit less instant yeast. Something about 80%. Though the consensus among many random "authorities" on various bread loving message boards was that it "didn't matter." Those whilly nilly bread peoples!

All that I was really able to determine was that the instant yeast would make the dough rise faster. Naturally, the name is a give away. Thanks for nothing, whilly nilly bread people. Once I began making the dough, I read the package of instant yeast. The conversions were in grams and I didn't feel like troubling to convert grams to teaspoons. So I did a scant 3/4 t. instant yeast. My confusion began when the package said to double the water. Now that's a lot more water and a significant deviation from my original recipe. And that made me feel scared. And whilly nilly. I think I ended up adding about an additional 1/4 cup of water. It seemed "silky" and didn't break when I took a chuck and spread it out in my hands (windowpane test?). Smitten's one to two hours timeframe also was a little too whilly nilly for my taste and was merely fuel to the fire of my confusion about this whole instant yeast fiasco being faster.

I let it rise in my pantry for about an hour and 15 minutes.
I cooked it at 500 degrees.

It was good. Success!

breakfast tacos made easy

The key to good breakfast tacos is a good tortilla. I'm sorry if you don't live in Texas (let me know if you want me to export these to you) but these HEB tortillas are my new favorite thing (thank you demographics). It's a package of uncooked tortilla dough. So I can take the bag out of the freezer, allow it to defrost for a few minutes then place the rounds on a skillet. Instant tortilla amazingness. I would not lead you astray. Please go find these right now. They can be found in the refrigerated section near the dairy and eggs.

The pictures are deceiving because what I most sincerely recommend is not documented here. I suggest using your favorite hot-as-hot, big and chunky hot sauce and whisking it in with the eggs before scrambling. For Taylor this morning, I mixed in some cheese and cooked ground taco meat with the egg. Or you could dice a potato, seasoning salt and pepper it and cook it in a skillet with butter or olive oil like you're making homefries. Then add that to the eggs before scrambling.
Look, three minutes to tortilla heaven. Hold me back. Add to skillet, flip when bubbly.
Breakfast Tacos
yield 2
3 eggs
1/4 c. grated Monterry Jack cheese
ground pepper
3 tablespoons milk (optional)
GOOD tortillas!
{suggested additions}
hot salsa
cooked ground beef or sausage meat
1 diced, cooked potato (with skin on recommended)
sauteed onions
sauteed green peppers
canned chopped jalapenos
(ok I'm getting carried away)
DIRECTIONS
Cook HEB tortillas according to package directions. Or heat 1 tablespoon butter on medium heat and warm and toast prepared tortillas in skillet, about 2 minutes per side. Store under foil.

Whisk all desired taco ingredients together. Pour egg mixture onto nonstick skillet, or well greased stainless skillet, on medium to medium low heat. Allow to cook untouched about 1 minute then begin scrambling by mixing and flipping with large spatula. Remove to prepared tortillas as soon as they look done, about 3 minutes.

I don't recommend using larger than a 10 inch skillet as egg mixture will spread out too quickly. But I'm probably just weird.

Behold, tortillas.Don't forget to add salsa if you're like my husband and opposed to scrambling it with the eggs. You're missing out. But this has been a very opinionated and regionally limited post so I'll withhold further judgments and recommedations. Contact me with questions or taco addition assistance.

Just find those tortillas!

the little pea

Well, my future children have no hope when it comes to avoiding a massive book collection. Old books, new books, picture books, board books, chapter books. I envision myself at the age of 50, with all my children off to college, thumbing through stacks and stacks and stacks of books, smelling them, yes smelling them, and being unable to part with a single one, each with it's own unique justification for why it should get to stay. That's just how much I love books. And how unable I am to throw things away. Right mom?? And if you've never smelled one of your favorite childhood books, you really need to go back and smell Goodnight, Moon or the Velveteen Rabbit or Try Again, Sally Jane. Something will change for you....

All that to preface a book I just HAD to feature on vittles. I found this on Oh La Tart and followed her link to Amazon.com. It's about a Little Pea (obviously) who has to eat five pieces of candy before he gets to eat his vegetables for dessert. Cute.


And how can you not think these simple, happy illustrations aren't just precious? It takes some illustrative skill to make an ill formed green circle lovable. You're laughing at me now, but I told you I love books. And I love reading books to cuddly little p.jammied people.










"yum. yum. extra yum." How cute is that!?














photos: Amazon.com

introducing...

Baby Rosemary! My mom brought this home for me from our new favorite grocery store in South Austin, Newflower Farmer's Market .....which, by the way, is life changing. Especially on Wednesdays. Last week, I got blueberries for 88 cents instead of 3.89.


Back to Baby Rose. Now whenever my recipes call for rosemary, this is where it will be coming from! ....and maybe even when they don't call for it. If I can keep her alive, I may start a little potted herb garden on our patio.

the leaning pear

Here is a new feature to my loyal readers, a restaurant review. For Valentine's day Taylor humored me and we took a trip to Wimberley. In addition to this restaurant, we also visited the Cookie Jar and Driftwood Vineyard.

We highly recommend The Leaning Pear to anyone venturing into the hill country or traveling on R.R. 12. Owned by a pair of fellow Aggies, The Leaning Pear states that they use the freshest seasonal ingredients and in our opinion, did a fantastic job of giving classic dishes a unique, memorable yet tasteful twist --pun intended.

To start, we split the Hill Country Cobb salad which, much to my pleasant surprise, was made with real, leafy greens (not iceberg), included avocado (a Cobb essential) and was mixed with an ample but not excessive amount of zesty 'southwestern ranch dressing.' Taylor "branched out" and ordered the Soup and Sandwich combo. He got the Grilled Chicken Club with avocado, provolone cheese and sundried tomato aioli on what we think was freshly in-house made grilled ciabatta bread. For the soup, he ordered a cup of one of the soup specials, Potato Curry, and said it had a nice kick at the end but wasn't too spicy. He said the soup was fantastic and that it made the meal.

I ordered Crab Cakes, another of the specials. It was a great big, single crab cake with generous (and colored) crabmeat chunks. The cake also included corn kernels and some cooked red peppers for a subtle southwest twist. Crab cakes are always served with the same type of aoili or rémoulade sauce and what sold me about this dish was that they did a pesto version of that standard sauce. Any addition of pest0 = heaven. So I was sold. Also, the breading fell apart beatuifully, indicating that it was not prebattered and then frozen. Obviously no one wants a crab cake with a McFish Fillet battering.

We arrived at 11:35am right before the crowd. It's a hoppin' little spot and, from what we could tell, with good reason.