Life as a Martha Wannabee

Cucumber Dill Salad

>> Sunday, December 27, 2009 – recipes

I remember my mother making cucumber salad during the summer when I was little girl. Her recipe was made purely with white vinegar and cucumbers. My mother loved it really tart. This is my take on her simple recipe but altering it to my craving for tart with a kick of sweetness. My father-in-law goes crazy for this recipe and I do too.

Like a lot of my recipes, especially the ones I learned from my mother and grandmother, I don't have quantities because I cook to taste. And frankly sometimes I am too lazy to measure and write down the quantities. For easy recipes such as this the quantities of the seasoning is subjective and really can be what ever suits you best. However, for other recipes where measurements are critical I will always give exact measurements.

Cucumber Dill Salad

Cucumbers
Apple Cider Vinegar
Sugar
Dill

This recipe is best made a day ahead because it gives the cucumbers adequate time to marinate.

Slice cucumbers to desired thickness. (I like mine on the thin side). Immerse cucumbers in vinegar. Add sugar to desired taste. I like a sweet tart taste but not too much sugar that the cucumbers loose their bite. Add dill. Refrigerate overnight and serve.

Cranberry Sauce

>> – recipes

I grew up on canned cranberry sauce and loved it. I didn't get to experience fresh made cranberry sauce till I was an adult. Because it was never made in my home growing up I just got it into my head that it was hard to make. Little did I know how easy it was until I found a recipe for it in Food Network magazine this past November. I made it for Thanksgiving and now I am cranberry sauce crazy. I could eat this morning, noon, and night. This recipe is so simple and tasty. It has just the right balance of sweetness and tartness.

Perfect Cranberry Sauce

12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries (can use frozen as well - I have only used fresh)
1 cup of sugar
orange zest to taste (can also use lemon zest)
2 tablespoons of water

Empty cranberries into saucepan with sugar, orange zest, and water. Cook over low heat , stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries are soft - about 10 minutes. Increase to medium heat and cook until the cranberries burst - about 12 minutes. At this point you can add a half a cup of cranberries to give it a little more of a tart taste. Add additional sugar to taste. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Meet Our Little Crumb Snatcher

>> – Donnie, photography

Here is our little guy Donnie during Christmas dinner. Always ready at a moments notice for an errant crumb to make its way to the floor.

He may be old and he may be slowing down but he can still snatch a crumb faster than a blink of an eye.

A Low Key Christmas

>> – entertaining, Holiday

We enjoyed a very low key Christmas - it was just my husband, my mother, and myself. Because it was only three people I did not pull out all the stops for Christmas dinner. I kept it relatively simple compared to holidays of the past.

I pared down the menu and did a buffet in lieu of the full holiday spread with complete table setting with our vintage china. It was so much less work and I was able to enjoy the day more. Plus clean up was a breeze since there were not stacks of vintage china to hand wash. I able to stick our appetizer plates from Crate and Barrel in the dishwasher. Yeah! However, my husband was not a fan of the little plates and he had to go back to the buffet numerous times to get his fill. But he was a good sport about it.

I even cheated a little and ordered smoked turkey breast and ham from Heavenly Ham. I didn't have the energy to brine and roast a turkey and quite frankly I don't think I can ever make ham as good as Heavenly Ham. Their ham is like a slice of perfection. I order one every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter and is the highlight of the holiday meal for me.

Here are the items I did make and will share my holiday recipes with you.

Sweet Potato Souffle - a recipe I learned from my grandmother and is a holiday staple
Macaroni and Cheese
Cucumber Dill Salad
Corn, Bean and Tomato Salad
Sausage, Apple Cornbread Stuffing
Cranberry Sauce

Happy Holidays

>> Friday, December 25, 2009 – Holiday

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

We have had a year filled with so many blessings and on this day we are especially thankful for all of God's gifts. We plan to rejoice and and revel in the love of our family and friends. Wishing you joy, peace, and love not only this day but every day. God Bless.

My Goto Gifts this Year

>> Tuesday, December 22, 2009 – Christmas gifts

Each year I choose one gift and give that to everyone. Some people may think this somewhat "tacky" and that it takes the personal element out of gift giving. But when you have a large list of people it just makes more sense. And this year I had even less time than usual to get gifts since work has been so demanding. I was ordering gifts as late as Sunday just making it in under the deadline for gifts to get there by Christmas.

I had two goto gifts this year.

One was Royal Riveria Pears from Harry & David. I constantly lament these days at the quality of fruit at the supermarket. It seems as though to get decent fruit you truly have to shop at higher end markets such as Whole Foods. So I look at Harry and David as an extra special treat. Their fruit is always the freshest and tastiest I have ever had. Unfortunately it is not something you can have every day and is reserved for special occasions. I would be over the moon ecstatic if I got a membership to their fruit of the month clubs. I keep promising myself that one day I will splurge and get myself a one year membership but I never do.

My other goto gift was the Brownie Sampler from Dancing Deer Company. After my auntie raved about them one year I consistently buy at least one of their gift sets each year. The packaging is so quaint and I love the wooden gift boxes which can be repurposed for other uses. Plus they are so rich and decadent.

Both companies have frequent sales throughout the year, and fortunately I was able to score free shipping in time for Christmas!

Snow Day the Morning After - Digging Out

>> Sunday, December 20, 2009 – Husband, photography

So while I was inside creating items for my etsy shop my husband was outside digging us out from the 14" of snow we got yesterday. While he was hard at work I stepped out to take some photos trying out my other lens (a 55-200MM).