Creations By Cathy - live happy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • RSS
Menu
Skip to content
  • home
  • about
  • blog
  • shop
  • contact
  • pinterest

Tag Archives: cooking

zucchini corn pancakes

4 / 1 / 15

zucchini pancakes with shrimp

 

I like to cook.

More importantly, I like the creativity and intrigue of cooking. I love to peruse cookbooks, the internet, Pinterest… all for recipes that sound, well, a little odd. Kinda like, I’m either gonna LOVE it… or,  perhaps, epic fail not-so-much.   Yep. I love trying new recipes, new restaurants, new chefs, new combinations of foods… outa the box kinda stuff. Now if you knew my family (of orgin), you would get a chuckle out of this. They are a “meat and potatoes, very basic, no condiments (of ANY kind)” sorta fam. My sister won’t even TOUCH a bottle of mustard. Literally. In our home we have a minimum of at least four or five different varieties of mustard at any given time.  Ya. My brothers and sisters look at me as a bit of a freak an odd bird. About a LOT of things, actually… but let’s keep to the subject of food for now.

So yesterday I was thinking about dindin. While researching recipes for my spring newsletter, I stumbled across a recipe for zucchini corn pancakes (click HERE). Yum. The more I thought about them, the more obsessed I got. Let me just say  that I was not disappointed. Garnished with a little Peach Salsa (Trader Joe’s), a dollop of sour cream (dairy free for me!) and a little minced cilantro… Boom! It was my lucky day because shrimp has been on sale (Fresh Market) so we had grilled shrimp and springtime oven roasted asparagus (both with a little Olive Tree olive oil) and some fresh blackberries. In a word… DELISH!

So… What’s next? Found a recipe for a family fav Indian dish that is prepared in a CROCK POT??  Served with a little “twist” on the usual basmati rice. Hmmm…

Post coming soon…

Zucchini Corn Pancakes from "girl vs DOUGH"
Zucchini Corn Pancakes from “girl versus Dough” (Click on pic)
2 Comments
Share
  • Pin it
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Email

steak soup weather

11 / 11 / 14

IMG_3289

Right off the bat I’m gonna tell you that I am a believer in recipes, but more as a guide than a rulebook. Sort of a suggestion on how to “begin the process” of creating your own personal culinary masterpiece!!

Or not.

Yep. That’s part of the deal when you allow yourself to be a creative cook. You must take risks, think out of the box, have fun and – yes – be willing to fail sometimes. Boo-Boos happen. So what. One of the biggest problems I have is trying to re-create something that does end up coming out pretty tasty. I start “creating” with a little of this, a pinch of that, a little more of the other and a whole lotta whatever.  At the end of the day, I have NO IDEA how much of this or that is actually in the final product. My poor hubbie… “Hey sugar lump; any chance you can duplicate this?” Ummm… ya… No. Sorry. And, sadly, he does not actually call me sugar lump.

So I’m getting better about tracking my “culinary creativity”. I have always been one to mark all over the recipes in my many, many (many) cookbooks.  Cross this out, halve that ingredient, omit this, sub that… What I have also started doing is making notes on a post it note until I get to the “final answer”. I write down the exact ingredients as I add them, updating the amounts as I go along. For example, I may start out by adding a tablespoon of minced cilantro to a dish; but after two more adjustments I end up at 1/2 cup in the end. The same goes for something you might add that you aren’t so keen on. Make a note. Cookbooks were meant to be tattered and dog eared and scribbled on!! It’s a sign of love and affection!  (Side note: the exception is BAKING.  For the most part, stick to the exact measurements when baking)

So it’s the first really cold day outside today.  All thoughts are on comfort food. So how ’bout some Steak Soup? I am going to give you the recipe as it was given to me, first.  Then we’ll talk.

STEAK SOUP

8 T butter                                                                                                                                                                           ½

1/2 c flour

40 oz. cans beef broth

¼ c diced carrots

¼ c diced onion

¼ c diced celery

½ c chopped canned tomatoes

1 T Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce

¾ t seasoning salt

¼ t black pepper

5 oz frozen mixed vegetables

½ lb lean ground chuck, chili grind, browned and drained

Melt, but do not brown, the butter in a large soup pot. Add flour and stir to form a roux. Cook over medium heat without browning for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add beef broth to roux and stir until smooth and slightly thickened. Bring to a full boil. Add the carrots, onion, celery, tomatoes and pepper. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are just tender, 20-30 minutes. Stir in browning sauce to achieve a richer color and flavor. Stir in frozen vegetables and cooked ground beef. Simmer an additional 15 minutes, or long enough that the flavors become well blended. Makes about 4 servings.

IMG_3267

IMG_3272

Here’s how I “personalized” this soup to make it mine… I gathered whatever veggies I had fresh, and oven roasted until tender, rather than boiling them in the soup. (In this case that included carrots, onions and tomatoes.) I had frozen peas and corn on hand, so those were my frozen veggies. (On the fresh and frozen veggies – I don’t measure. Just add as much as you want) I also had some oven roasted sweet potatoes leftover from the night before, so in they went as well. I don’t use butter.  I use a combination of a little olive oil and some of the stock.  I use unsalted beef stock, eliminate the seasoning salt and add in 1-2 packets of beefy onion soup mix.  My hubbie likes a meaty soup, so I double the amount of meat… or more!! I also add dried thyme; to taste. (I like a lot) and I double the pepper to 1/2 t (or more).

So there we go.  My version of Steak Soup. Would love to hear what YOU add into your Steak Soup to make it special…

live happy

4 Comments
Share
  • Pin it
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Email

creative thinking

4 / 9 / 14

being creativeCreative thinking.  That’s what I was thinking about today.  Ya – Pretty much all day. Now I should have been thinking about dusting.  My house really needs it. But there is always time to dust. Later.  Back to the creative thinking…  This is a subject that I think I could go on and on and on about… but I am really gonna try and make this a quick post.  No really…  Don’t worry though, we will revisit this subject again.  And again. So my friend, Dawn (@ Joyful Scribblings – check out her blog!), and I are going to another blogging conference (SNAP!) in two weeks. This particular conference is geared towards more creative thinkers; people who blog about the things that I am passionate about.  Photography, Food & Entertaining, DIY (Do It Yourself)/Crafting… love, Love, LOVE! So we are participating in some of the fun & creative “extras” at the conference – One of them being a “decorate your door” contest!  That brings me to the task at hand for today… finding some of the goodies for our door, as well as other supplies for the conference.  OK.  So I try to go into crafting places like Michael’s, JoAnn’s, Hobby Lobby, with a plan.  Maybe even a list.  But I seem to subconsciously check all of that at the door somehow.  My soul is suddenly filled with the hope and promise of possibility thinking.  Ideas flow through my veins at an almost overwhelming pace.  “I could do this.  Or that.  Or this and that and…”.  Right.  You get my point.  

Truth is, creativity is a huge part of my life. Not just in what I do, but in who I am. It affects my actions, thoughts, decisions.  It permeates my photography, my cooking, my decorating.  It is why my dining room chairs are mismatched (on purpose) and I hate to iron.  Or dust.  It is deeply woven into my relationships, how I make friends, how I raised my kids. It is why I have trouble focusing; why my “to do” list never shrinks.  It is me. Or, a (very big) part of me, anyway.

DAYDREAMING
daydreaming…

So I stumbled across an article tonight, from The Huffington Post, entitled “18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently“. Here were a few of the things they listed:

  • They view all of life as an opportunity for self-expression.
  • They surround themselves with beauty.
  • They get out of their own heads.
  • They follow their true passions
  • They lose track of the time.
  • They constantly shake things up.

Found the article to be quite interesting, really. Kinda, sorta made me feel validated, in a way.  Like something on paper; in print.  Something they have officially “studied“… Nice.  We’re always looking for answers, explanations, excuses (?) aren’t we. I’m a Taurus, so I’m stubborn. I’m the oldest child, so I’m bossy responsible. Yadda, yadda, yadda.  So tonight my brain is absolutely exhausted from all this creative thinking.  Doggonit.  No time to dust.  It will simply have to wait until tomorrow.

“And then she remembered something very important… She was not bothered by dust.  She was, after all, creative.”  the end

1 Comment
Share
  • Pin it
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Email

“50 shades of grey” cooking

4 / 3 / 14

food is funCooking is one of those things that seems, at first, to be pretty black and white.  You either love to cook, or you don’t.  However…  After much deep thought, I have come to the conclusion that most of us are actually quite grey on this matter. On one extreme we have the “food network” gurus, restaurant chefs, food bloggers… At the other end we have the folks who still have the factory tape sealing their oven door, as well as telephone numbers for every local take out on their speed dial. Where does that leave the rest of us? Some shade of grey.  So –  where do you fall?

Personally – I really enjoy cooking; provided I am not rushed. Cooking, for me, is an act of love. I am focused on the person, or persons, for whom I am cooking. I want to be in the moment and enjoy the entire process.  A little music, a little wine… (RELAX!  I’m talking about dinner! Mimosas are for making breakfast, silly!!)

IMG_2610OK – CONFESSION: I do not clean up as I go. Yep. It’s true. I make a MESS!! None of this cooking show stuff where everything is premeasured in little bowls and things get cleaned up during the commercial break.  When I am done cooking, there isn’t an inch of (clean) counter space anywhere!! The good news? I have acquired quite a collection of happy little aprons.  (They keep the food from getting stuck in my sequin dress while I’m cooking – wink, wink)  Hey. What can I say.  Creativity is messy!

IMG_2605

I love to read cookbooks and try new recipes that intrigue me. I recently purged rather unsuccessfully, however – so I’m down from “a lot” to…say… something less than “a lot”? OK – Lies. I still have a lot.

IMG_2606Some are stacked decoratively, some are stashed inconspicuously… but they are all scattered about.  Here and there. To and fro. They are a part of me; they illicit memories and provide inspiration. One of the weird things that I really enjoy is the challenge of creating a meal with what I have on hand.  Lucky for me, my family LOVES (most) food, and they support my creative culinary experimentation.  They accept the fact that some dishes are going to be amazing, and others… well… not so much. 

birdie bread

So if you are feeling a little “light grey”… perhaps it’s time to just throw caution to the wind and experiment a bit. You DO have an inner creative self. Everyone does. Don’t be afraid to go there.  Baby steps. Fall in love with a beautiful new cookbook. Take a “hands on” cooking class. Watch (my fav show) “The Chew”. Peruse Pinterest boards for inspiration. There are NO RULES… Just. Have. Fun.

 

 

 

 

2 Comments
Share
  • Pin it
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Email

“just do it”

6 / 24 / 12

I turned fifty just over a year ago.  Let me just tell you right now, I love it!!  That year between fifty and fifty-one was one of the most important years of my life, so far.  It was the year that I began the process of “re-discovering myself”.  Since I plan to continue this procees well into my 100’s, I’m about halfway there.  Plenty of time.

For a long, long time, I played around with the ideas of taking my business, Creations, in a fresh new direction.  I dreamed of “following my passion”; a shabby chic with a French accent kind of direction. But, Oh my… all the changes that I would need to make!!  New logo, business cards, website and – Oh ya – how about all new merchandise?!  So there I was, one random day, in the middle of that glorious year of awakening.  I just decided that the moment was NOW.  So I did it.  No regrets.

I love cooking and healthy eating.  This is a good thing.  I hate exercise.  This is a bad thing.  Went to a presentation on “healthy lifestyles” from a gal who knows what she is talking about – Mitzi Dulan.  She speaks all over the country and is very well known in her industry and beyond.  She also teaches “Boot Camp“.  OK, let’s be honest here.  Me going to Boot Camp is so far out of the box that the box is in Russia.  But there I was, all “50 something” and crazy confident, so I grabbed a friend (love ya, Deb!), and we did it.  Four weeks, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:00-10:00.  After the first day, my friend Deb and I were certain that we were dying.  It hurt to lift my pinky finger.  As one of my kids said, “there’s a reason why they call it Boot Camp, Mom”.  Yep.  There sure is.  Crazy as it sounds, we even did a second session!  I have to say – I was so proud of myself.  Besides the physical benefits, there was that deep sense of accomplishment that comes from doing the impossible.  And trust me – I saw Boot Camp as Impossible.  Capital “I”.

And so the positive wave of my “50’s” continues.  More changes.  Some baby steps, some much bigger.  I turned 51 in May, and I am already planning my 100th Birthday Party, so consider this blog your “save the date” card…  May 2061.  In the meantime; Enjoy every day.  As Nike says… “Just do it”!!  live happy… laugh, love, dream, create

Leave a comment
Share
  • Pin it
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Email

Hello, friends!!

I love mismatched chairs and organized closets; springtime thunderstorms and Sunday morning coffee; pearls and puppy breath; welcome home hugs and walking the beach; fresh flowers and flea markets; autumn leaves and afternoon tea.

Follow Me!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • RSS

Pins!

  • Choppy Piece-y Blonde Bob #ShortHairstyles
  • Coastal Living™ by Universal Furniture Solid Coffee Table | Wayfair

Recent Posts

  • creations test post
  • home
  • happy fourth…
  • be the bird
  • zucchini corn pancakes

Categories

  • create
  • dream
  • laugh
  • live happy
  • love
  • Uncategorized
  • yummy
Site made with ♥ by Angie Makes
Angie Makes Feminine WordPress Themes