Peas In A Pod

Wrapping Up a Casserole...(Breakfast Casserole Recipe and Wrap Up Casserole Carrier Pattern Review)

I wonder how many of you do this....

At about 6:00 pm on Wednesday night, you think about the meeting you have at 8:30 tomorrow morning....the one to which one of your colleagues very often brings a yummy warm egg dish of some sort to share.  And you feel like a schlep because you never bring anything to share--you're too stinking busy during the academic year to be that thoughtful.

This thought pops in your head...."I should bring the food tomorrow morning."

So, you say to your husband (who does all the cooking), "Would you be willing to help me make a nice egg strata of some sort for tomorrow morning?"

If you're lucky, he loves to cook, and eagerly says, "Sure!" and gets his recipe book out.  "I need these things, however:  eggs, bacon...."  You get the idea.   Someone needs to go to the grocery store.  And it's already 7 pm by this time.

So you go.  Because your hubby is kind enough to cook it for you.  You get home around 8:15 pm.  He mixes it all up so all you have to do is stick it in the oven in the morning.  You put your cute kid to bed.

So, then you say to yourself, "I really wish I had one of those cool warmer things to carry this hot egg dish to the meeting in tomorrow morning.  I have a pattern and the fabric downstairs to make one.  I should really sew that up one of these days....Well, there is no time like the present."

And at 9:00 pm, you go downstairs and start cutting and sewing.

So, does it sound familiar?  Or do you think I'm totally loony?  Well, this was my story on Wednesday night this past week!

The breakfast casserole turned out fantastic.  It was a huge hit at my meeting.  I really liked it a lot.  One of my favorites of all egg casseroles.  Even the secretary at our meeting, who is a really picky eater, went back for seconds.

You want the recipe, don't you?  Papa Pea gave me permission to share it with you!

Breakfast Casserole

1 lb. sliced bacon, diced  (we used the thick sliced bacon)

1 sweet onion, chopped

¼ - ½ C. green or red pepper, chopped (optional)

1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)

4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed

9 eggs, lightly beaten     

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 ½ Cups small curd cottage cheese

1 ¼ Cups shredded Swiss cheese

1. Cook bacon and onion (peppers and garlic) over medium-high heat until bacon is browned
2. Drain and put into large bowl
3. Stir in potatoes, eggs, and cheeses (add seasoning to taste)
4. Pour into a greased 9X13-inch baking dish
5. Bake in pre-heated oven (350 degrees) for 45-50 minutes
6. Let stand approximately 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

And here is how my casserole dish carrier turned out.  It's cute, I think!

It opens up like this.  The first flaps are held shut with velcro.

The other flaps fold over like this, and the wooden spoons are the handles.  (It's hard to hold something in one hand and take a photo of it in your other hand....especially when you want to show someone how it is held!)

I made this from a pattern and fabric kit I bought at Nancy's Notions a LONG time ago.  I looked at the pattern, and it said it was last edited in 2006.  That sounds about right, in terms of when I probably bought it.  The kit came with the fabric you see on the outside (enough for the outside and inside), the wooden spoons, the Insulbright, and the pattern.  I had purchased the darker fabric, because I wanted my lining to be a different color.  So, I now have enough of both fabrics to make another.  (Boy, my taste in fabric sure has changed over the years.  I would not choose this now.  But I don't dislike it.  At least I'll use it, because I won't be afraid to wreck it!)

The pattern was really easy to follow, and the carrier is fairly easy to create.  It is a good beginner/easy project.  It would make a great gift.  I couldn't find this exact pattern on Nancy's Notions' website.  But I did find a similar one.  I think they have updated it again.  You can see it here, if you are interested.

One thing I would change....The pattern tells you to start the end of the velcro (which you can't see in any of my photos, but you can in the photo on the Nancy's Notions website if you click on "More Views" under the picture) 1" from the edge of the flap.  I would start the "hook" side of the velcro closer to the edge, or I'd make the "loop" strip longer.  I found that with my 9x13" pan, the ends of the velcro didn't meet and I couldn't velcro it shut.  It was sooooo close, but no cigar.  But it was not a big deal.  The flaps did stay closed.  You can just see in the photo where I am holding it that the flaps are not taught against the dish.  I suppose this could allow it to cool faster (or possibly slip out, but I never felt like it was going to do that).

It worked great, too.  I took the casserole out of the oven at about 7:30 am.  We didn't open the carrier and dig in until about 8:45 or 9:00 am, and it was still piping hot!  Impressive!  (People liked my carrier, too!)

The other day, when I blogged the hot pads I made, I said that I used a layer of batting and a layer of Insulbright, and that seemed to get rid of the "crunchy" feeling and sound of the Insulbright.  I got to thinking later, that another reason the crunchy sound was absent could be that the hot pads are made of canvas...a fairly thick fabric.  I wondered how the batting trick would work if the project was just cotton and not canvas.  This was my chance to try.  So, I added a layer of batting to the Insulbright in this project as well.  It really did help the "crunchiness."  It's not bad at all, even when using cotton fabrics.  It's not as good as the canvas, but far better than without the batting.  So, that is good.  I learned something.

I thanked Papa Pea again for making this dish for me to take.  He pointed ad the casserold dish carrier and asked, "Is that what you made last night?"

I answered, "Yes.  And I was done by 11:00 pm.  I made it in 2 hours."

He said, "I gotta hand it to you.  You really bang them out.  Good job!  It's great!"

Good man.

So, I wonder if it will take me 7 more years to bang out the other one I have fabric for.  Maybe I should get it done right away.....

Have a wonderful weekend!  Friday night sew in for me!  (No, I'm not sewing another casserole carrier!)  Woo hoo!  How about you?  What are you up to?  And do you have any good stories for me about last minute sewing like this?

Until next time,

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Really Kinda Random--Spring Hopes Edition

I am linking up with Cindy of Live a Colorful Life for Really Random Thursday.  Be sure to hop on over to Cindy's blog when you're done here for some more lovely randomness.

Check out this video--sorry I couldn't embed it--This dad draws cool illustrations on his kids' sandwich bags each day.  I love it.

http://blog.flickr.net/en/2013/04/19/dad-illustrates-kids-sandwich-bags-with-imaginative-drawings/

I hope I can give Sweet Pea some sort of cool memories like this.

 

(Photo from shugarysweets.com)

One of my graduate students brought these Fluffernutter Krispie Treats to one of our end-of-the-year meetings.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  They are really good.  She gave me the recipe.  You can access it here:  http://www.shugarysweets.com/2013/04/fluffernutter-rice-krispie-treats

You're going to want to try them.  Trust me.  And there's only a few calories in them.  Ha!

Here are mine.  They aren't cut yet.  They are still setting up.  :-)

Hey, have you heard of a website called CraftFail?  My graduate students showed me that, too.  It's a site where people can post their photos of craft projects they found on Pinterest, etc., tried, and failed.  They show the "what-it's-supposed-to-look-like" photo and the "how-mine-turned-out" photo.  It's hilarious.  I hope my bars aren't a fail.  I don't think so.  They seemed to turn out okay!  I'm taking them to a party today.  I hope they taste as good as the ones my student made!

In hopes of raising lots of money for our school district, Sweet Pea's PTA had a spring carnival last weekend.  Good thing they always plan it for indoors, because it was freezing.  There was face painting....

Well done, PTA Mom!

I am still hoping Rosa, our kitty, turns up soon, but it's not looking good.  It's been almost 3 weeks now.

There was the Jail.

Here are the rules of the Jail.  You can click to enlarge the photo.  If your school has a spring carnival, you might want to consider having one of these.  It is easily the most popular activity every year!  I think all the kids hoped someone would care enough about them to throw them in jail.

This Sumo wrestling activity was probably the second most popular at the carnival.  The wait was almost an hour long, in hopes of getting to participate!  This was the first year they had this activity.  Sorry this photo isn't the greatest, but I didn't want to get Sweet Pea's friend Breanna's face in the photo.  The kids put on these suits, and the adults blow up the suits with a hair dryer looking thing....and POOF!  They are off, wrestling against each other.  They feel like big hot air balloons, says Sweet Pea.  You do it until you knock someone else over.  Sweet Pea's friend knocked over Sweet Pea two times, but Sweet Pea finally got a little too anxious and mad and ran into Breanna and pulled her down......and POOF!  Breanna was off the mat and out!  {Dictated by Sweet Pea.}

 

Did you know this week is Administrative Assistant Appreciation week?  Yesterday was the official day.  I almost always am unaware of this week until I see some flowers on our secretaries' desks.  Then, I feel like a schmuck for not having something for them.  This year I got lucky.  I went to the bagel shop for lunch one day, and I saw a sign in the Cookies by Design window, reminding people about Administrative Assistant Appreciation week.  I ordered each of my secretaries one of these cookie bouquets.  I had hoped to make them something, but that was not happening in the last couple weeks of school.

I think they turned out very pretty.  I think my secretaries liked them and were grateful to be recognized.  I sure appreciate everything they do for me.  They save my life multiple times per week!  I hope they know how much I appreciate them.

Sweet Pea and Papa Pea went to the Father Daughter Dance a couple weeks ago.  They "double dated" with one of Sweet Pea's friends and her dad.  They had fun.  The theme was  '80's.  Sweet Pea and I had fun looking on the Internet at 1980's styles.  She put this outfit together out of her closet, based on the photos we looked at.  Pretty good, huh?!  We didn't have to buy a single thing!

Oh, and Papa Pea....well, he pulled out some clothes he still had laying around from the 1980's....his treasured satin jacket, a Gilley's t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes.  I think he looked great!  And it all still fit! (The t-shirt was a little tight.  But Sweet Pea said she thought it made her dad look "tough."  LOL!)

I hope the 1980's hairstyles never return...or the clothing, for that matter.  But the fact that Sweet Pea had everything she needed in her closet kind of scared me.

My brother sent me this photo.  He has a wreath on his front door.  The birds are loving it.  They built a nest in the wreath and have laid some eggs.  Beautiful, huh?  Remember, he lives in Boston.  Nice for them to have a little extra beauty and hope for new life in the world right now.

These are pretty spring colors, aren't they?  Hmmm....I wonder what this will become?  Can't tell you yet.  Soon!  I hope it turns out as it should, and I hope the recipient likes it.

We woke up to this the other day.  We are supposed to get more today.  I'm at least grateful I don't live in Minnesota, where I keep seeing bloggy friends with TONS of snow.

Spring is going to come, isn't it?  Please?  I hope with all my heart the weather predictions for next week--sunny and 70 degrees--are accurate!

Happy Random Thursday!  Here's hoping you have a wonderful day.

Until next time,

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Christmas 2012 Round Up

I'm feeling a little discombobulated by still not being caught up from Christmas.  So, today, I'll just round that out a little by showing you the last of my Christmas gifts I made.

I'll start with the gifts I made for my neighbors.  This year, I was so busy, I just couldn't afford the time to do a lot of Christmas baking.  There were no Christmas cookies or candies made at my house.  Instead, I decided a couple of mini loaves of bread would make a nice gift.  We started by making some of these Triple Chocolate Quick Breads, which I blogged about previously.  You can find the recipe over at Donna's blog, Sugar, Spice, and Southern Life.  It is soooo good, and pretty easy to make!

I coupled it with this Cranberry Orange/Lemon Loaf.  Wow, is this good bread!  My friend Adrienne gave me the recipe.  She also gave me permission to share it here!  You lucky dogs, you!  Get out a pencil or hit "Print."  Yer gonna want to save this recipe, too.  Here it is (you'll see some of my comments in parentheses):

CRANBERRY ORANGE/LEMON LOAF

                                  

1  2/3 cups sugar 

2/3 cup vegetable oil                               

2 heaping tsp lemon or orange zest (I used one tsp of each, fresh off the lemon and orange)

1/2 cup milk

4 large eggs                                                          

2 tsp vanilla

Beat together until well mixed.

Add:

3 cups fresh cranberries (1 pack) (I used Craisins.  I didn't realize she meant "fresh cranberries."  LOL  Don't know why.  Adrienne said mine was probably a lot sweeter as a result.  I'll say this....we thought it was delicious.)

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda                                 

1 tspn salt                                       

1/2 tspn baking powder                          

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (Adrienne does a little more than that, maybe 3/4 C; so did I.)

Method:

Set oven at 350 degrees F, .....oven rack in low position. Grease pan bottom.  Slowly beat together all liquids and eggs. When well mixed add everything else.

Bake 1 hour   10 minutes (I did mini loaves and found I only needed to bake them about 50 minutes), and cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Adrienne gets two full-sized loaves from this recipe.  I got four mini loaves from this recipe.

I wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in these little 6"x6" boxes I picked up at the grocery store.  They barely fit!

Stick on a bow and a tag, and you are ready to go.  This was pretty quick and easy.  It made a nice presentation, too.

Two quick stories about delivering these:

1. I met a neighbor (Pam) who lives a couple houses up from us earlier this summer.  (We all live on about 5 acres each here, so we all don't run into each other much.)  So, I brought them some bread.  Pam said, "Well, isn't that just the sweetest thing!  Just like old times, when neighbors actually did this!"  Made me feel good.
2. We took a box to the grumpy old man across the street.  We were a little nervous, because he's been grumpier than ever this year.  When we first knocked on the door, he was grumpy...."Who is it?!"  I told him who it was and why we were there, and his voice softened. The next day, Papa Pea's phone rang.  It was him.  Papa Pea was nervous, because the last time he stopped over, the man called him up the next day and hollered at him.  Instead, this time, he left a nice voicemail that said, "I just wanted to call and say thank you for the Christmas bread.  It was really delicious.  It was very nice of you to give me a Christmas gift.  No one else does that.  Merry Christmas."  Maybe we're making progress!  ;-)

 
I also made more earbud pouches.  I blogged about the pattern and did a pattern review here.  These were for family members.

I made this one for my sister, to go with the iPad purse I gave her a while back.  I fussy cut the fabric for it.  Fun!

I made this one for myself, with my precious Lucy's Crab Shack fabric.

And some of my favorite fabric inside.  I use this all the time and love it.

These were for a young niece and for Sweet Pea.  For nieces and nephews, I tucked a little cash inside.  :-)

This was for my nephew.  He's a basketball fanatic.  When Sweet Pea saw this one, she wanted one of these, too.  LOL.

I like the "all-star" fabric I put inside of these.

I made this one for my mom, to match the tote bag I gave her a while back.  This is such a great pattern for using up scraps.  You only need about four 5" squares of fabric.

A nice surprise inside this one as well.  :-)

This was a Label Crew project one month from Sweetwater.  It's a fun little sewing jar made with Sweetwater fabric, Mama Said Sew.  I gave it to my SIL, SisLH.  Hope she liked it.

The lid is a pincushion, and there is a little needle book.  And there are three pouches for pins, buttons, and other goodies.  Fun.  Get the labels here.  Get the pattern here.

Throughout this photo shoot, Spidey kept getting in the way.  He kept checking out all the Christmas gifts....

...and even chewing on some!  LOL.  He's a fun cat.  He's getting pretty big.  He dwarfs his mother, and he's not even a year old yet!  (I was photographing these pouches, but I remembered I already showed them to you a long time ago.)

Okay, that about rounds out Christmas this year, I think.  Now, I can move on to some of my other backlogged photos!  haha!

Until next time,

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Really Kinda Random: Thanksgiving Edition

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!  I decided I wanted to do a Really Kinda Random post today, even though it was Thanksgiving--mainly because I have TIME today!  ;-)

I am linking up with Cindy at Live a Colorful Life for Really Random Thursday.  Hop on over there to check out more random posts.  (Cindy's random posts are always awesome!)

Because it's Thanksgiving, this won't be completely random....I'll tell you about some random things that I'm thankful for!  ;-)  (This is not ALL I'm thankful for....just a few small things [some not so small] that make a big difference in my life....)

I am thankful for chocolate.  Yes, I really am.

I'm thankful for friends out in blogland who share wonderful recipes.  Donna wrote about this Triple Chocolate Quick Bread she made with her daughter.  She blogged the recipe here.  I thought it sounded good, so Sweet Pea and I made it one day.  It was wonderful!  I think I'm going to make this as the Christmas gift for our neighbors this year.  Seems much easier than all the cookies and candy.  And this year, I'm all about easy.  You have got to try this.  Though Papa Pea said, "Why don't you call it what it is?  It's chocolate cake!"  I am sticking with it being bread.  You have got to try it!

I am thankful that we have the wherewithall to purchase tickets to shows that come to campus.  A few weeks ago, I finally got around to purchasing our tickets for the year:  West Side Story, Mannheim Steamroller (next week!  can't wait!), Hair, and Celtic Woman.  We almost missed West Side Story, because I had waited so long to call and get all our tickets.  Sweet Pea went with us, as she LOVES this show.  She was glued to the stage the entire time and was mouthing the words to all the songs.  It was pretty amusing.

I am thankful for friends and family members who give me hand-me-downs!  My friend's mother is moving.  She had this lamp in her house and gifted it to me as part of the moving process.  I love how the antique bobbin is used as the lamp base!  The fabric on the shade seems a little dated, but I'm thinking if I put it in my new sewing room, where I hope to paint the walls turquoise, it might fit in nicely.  I'll have to think abou whether or not I want to recover the shade.....Ideas?

I am really thankful to lovely friends and bloggers who do awesome giveaways and that Mr. Random chooses to bless me now and then.  My good friend Terri has started a new business selling her hand screenprinted designs.  (She designs them herself.)  She had a giveaway to announce the opening of her new business. And I won this set of butterfly cards.  They are so beautiful and very professionally printed.  I just love them.  Thank you, Terri!  Go visit her shop to see more of her work!  (These would make great Christmas presents, and what a nice way to support your small, independent business people at Christmas!)

She also threw in some other goodies, which I believe she is offering now in her shop as well.  So awesome!

Even her note to me was so professionally presented.  (Sorry, I forgot to take a photo before I tore into it.)  Here is how she sealed the envelope.

And here's the notecard that was inside.  Just wonderful.  Made me feel so special!

I am thankful for so many sources of quilting and other crafty inspiration that surround me.  I finally had a chance to read this magazine, which has been sitting around my house for a while.

I really want to make this.  Bad.  I'm thankful for pinwheels.  I love them.

I am thankful for a husband who loves to cook....so I don't have to, because I hate it.  I'm also thankful that he's not very rule-governed.  We didn't feel like a big turkey dinner this year, not because Papa Pea doesn't want to make a big meal for us.  He'll make a full-on turkey dinner any weekend of the year, just because he feels like it.  But not today.  Today, he decided he felt like making lasagna....from scratch.

I thought this was a funny picture.  He and Sweet Pea made pie crust last night, and this morning, he made pumpkin pie.  He had it sitting on the counter, while behind it he's making lasagna.  The only thing in it that is not homemade is the sauce...we like Classico.  But here you can see him spooning in his own, homemade ragu for inside the lasagna.

But of course, mostly I'm thankful for the wonderful people in my life.  My family and my friends, both real (people I've met in real life) and imaginary (those of you bloggers with whom I interact but we've never had the chance to meet in real life).  The wonderful people in my life are so special to me.  And I am thankful that Sweet Pea likes to craft with me.  She's really getting into paper crafts these days, which is kind of fun for me.

Well, it's 64 degrees here today, if you can believe it.  We may go for a bike ride.  Who knows.  I hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving if you live in the U.S.  If not, I hope you are still having a wonderful day!

I feel a little bad, because we didn't do a big turkey dinner and invite my students over who didn't have other places to go. But to be honest, I really needed some down time!  So, I'm taking it today.  In the next three weeks I have Sweet Pea's birthday to worry about, getting all my Christmas shopping and baking done, finishing up the semester, getting all the finals grading done, and getting grades submitted.  After that, the holiday traveling starts.  So, it will be crazy.  Today is my calm before the storm!  I'm trying to savor it.  Hope you get to do the same!

Until next time,

Baking for the boys: Grapefruit Cups In Wine Syrup

via bakingfortheboys.blogspot.com

You might remember that last year, my friend, Melissa over at Baking for the Boys blog, posted all her cookie recipes for Christmas. Well, this year, she is posting all sorts of great recipes for your Christmas morning breakfast. She's had a lot of good ones. I just haven't had enough time to blog them. Today she posted this one...Grapefruit Cups in Wine Syrup. I love grapefruit, and this looks yummy. If you are still looking for some Christmas morning breakfast food, go check out Melissa's blog, Baking for the Boys. You won't be sorry. She only posts recipes she loves and has tried/perfected!