TGIF - a few puppy photos to make you laugh!

 This is Lady Grantham - she was not too pleased with me this morning because I woke her up from a very serious nap to go outside.  

Molly also takes napping very seriously - in fact, if it were a sport she would be captain of the varsity team!   Molly has taken over this chair, no one even bothers to try and sit in it anymore.  One time we had guests over and a person (god forbid) sat in Molly's chair, and she went and sat in front of them and whined until they moved.   

Clarabelle hates the mornings, she loves to sleep late.  Most mornings we have to pick her up out of her little bed to go outside, and when she comes back in she runs straight back to bed and goes back to sleep until she hears me getting her breakfast ready.  This is actually a special week for Clarabelle; Sunday is the three year anniversary of us rescuing her.  I think she will have a few licks of ice cream to celebrate!   

Molly wants to return to napping (shock).  Happy Friday.

Feel-Better Snacks

Our dear friend recently had surgery and I decided to bake her some goodies to speed up the recovery process.  I made two treats, both based on recipes from Giada.  The first is oatmeal almond bars.  Here is the link to Giada's recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/apricot-oat-bars-recipe/index.html

To start this I combine the dry ingredients: 

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

 Then I add the wet ingredients into the dry:

•  2 sticks melted better
• 1 egg 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

Last, I make the apricot filling:

• 12 oz jar of apricot preserves
• 10 dried apricots chopped into small cube-like pieces 

Take half of the crust batter and press it onto the bottom layer of the baking pan.  Then spread the apricot filling over it, and finally place the remaining crust batter on top of the filling.  

Bake in a 9 x 13 pan at 350 for 1 hour.  

These bars are dangerously good!  I had some left over and froze them for my husband's lunches!


The second feel-better snack that I made is peanut-butter chocolate cookie drops.

To start I assemble the dry ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa power
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Next, combine the wet ingredients:

• 1 stick room temp butter
• 3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar 
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 egg 

Next, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and beat on a low speed for 1-2 minutes.  Using a mini-ice cream scoop scoop take batter into your hands and roll into a ball.  Have a small bowl filled with sugar next to you, and roll the ball of dough in the sugar then place on the cookie sheet.  Go through this process until completed.  Bake for 15-18 minutes at 375 degrees.  

You could use creamy peanut butter in this recipe, however I find that using crunchy peanut butter adds nice texture, and makes it taste like a Reese's peanut butter cup!  Enjoy!

A Cabaret Performance Snack

Samantha and her brother Alex loved the mini-oreo cheesecakes, would highly recommend making them for kids (and adults!).  We watched Samantha's performance of Seusical the Musical at a Cabaret style theater last week.  Cabaret is a great atmosphere, epically because you can bring your own food and beverages.  I made a lovely little picnic basket that filled everyone at our table up.  First, I went to our local food co-op and got some really unique cheese, including; green onion cheddar, Stilton, and Swiss.  I then found some fun multi-grain crackers.  I also purchased a nice hummus spread to go with everything.  As an additional finger food I cut up some apples, peaches and put in a few vines of grapes.  I laid all of this out on a wooden cutting board which looked rustic and adorable.

The final finger food I made was figs with cheese and almonds - see below for recipe:

First you need to purchase 12-24 black mission figs.  These can be hard to find, but most food co-ops have them.  

 Cut the figs in half and place them on parchment paper on a baking sheet.  Place a small dollop of herb-ed goat cheese on top of each fig-half and press down so that presses into the fig.  Place an almond on top of each dollop of cheese.  Turn your oven broiler on high, and broil for 4-7 minutes, or until the almonds have turned crisp.  

 

I must say these were delicious! I would highly recommend making this for any party as an appetizer, it literally takes minutes, and people think its super complex!!!  Those are the best recipes.  

Samantha's Birthday Treat

The first cooking post for this blog corresponds to me making my beautiful niece a special treat for her birthday. Samantha's birthday was earlier in the week, however I am going to watch a performance she is in Saturday night and wanted to bring her something special to celebrate her birthday.  I started the tradition of making my niece and nephew special sweets for their birthdays 2(ish) years ago, and try to 'top' myself each year.  Last year I made Samantha a 'bunny' cake (her childhood nickname was bunny).  The cake tasted great, and was fun for the family party - it was far from professional - as you can see below....

 I never said I was an expert at making things look beautiful..... the kids loved the effort and everyone got a kick out of it! 

This year I decided to try something that involved a bit less artistry - clearly that is not my strongest area.  This year I am making mini-oreo cheesecakes.  The recepie is really easy and I think the kids will love it! 

To start, place muffin / cupcake liners in a muffin pan and place an oreo at the bottom of each lined cup.   

 Next, mix 16 oz of room temperature cream cheese with 1/2 cup of sugar. 

Next, add in 1/2 tsp of vanilla and two eggs and beat mixture.  Then add in 1/2 cup of sour cream and mix with electric mixer.  Finally add in 6 hand crush Oreos.  Do not use electric mixer after putting Oreos in - mix by hand.  

Fill muffin tins almost to the top and bake at  375 for 11 minutes

 

 When  you take the cheesecakes out allow to cool for several hours in the muffin tins, then store them for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. 

 These mini-oreo cheese cakes are all packaged up and ready to to Samantha's performance tomorrow night!!! 

Greetings!

Greetings, I"m Sara.  I decided to start a blog to share some of my favorite things about cooking, life, fitness, living in New England, and raising 4 crazy dogs.  I thought the first post should be a bit about me..... I live in the quiet corner of Connecticut and love it.  My husband and I live on 8 acres of land with our 4 dogs and spend as much time as possible outside, running, walking, gardening, hiking, fishing, biking, etc.  I truly feel blessed that we live in such a beautiful place (many pictures to come in the future - much of my cooking is inspired by my surroundings).  Speaking of my dogs - here are some pictures of them.

This is Molly.  She is our 14 year old lab and is simply the best dog in the world!  Molly is the queen of the house and keeps all of the other pup's in line. 

This is Clarabelle.  

Clarabelle is a 7 year old Havanese.  We rescued her through the Havanese Rescue League three years ago.  Clarabelle was in a puppy-mill in New Mexico before she came to us.  It took her a while to get comfortable in her new home, but now she is the funniest, sweetest pup on the planet.  

This is Lady Grantham.  Lady G was also rescued from the Havanese Rescue League.  Lady G is the baby of our bunch - she is just a year and a half old.  Lady G was my Christmas present last year, and oh-boy is she the gift that keeps on giving.  Lady G is full of energy, and always has a devious smile on her face.  Her favorite puppy activities are stealing socks, taking all the laundry out of the basket and dragging it around the house, running, running and more running, and getting tummy rubs.  

This is Chloe.  Chloe was also a rescue from the Havanse Rescue League.  Chloe is technically my sister's Liza's dog, however Liza lives in NYC and has some really long work days, that would mean that Chole would be all alone, so she came to stay with us - and we love her!   

Since i've mentioned the Havanese Rescue League several times I wanted to pass along their website:

http://www.havaneserescue.com

They are a wonderful organization!  Our three Havanese bring us so much happiness, laughter and joy!