Recipe Blogroll Review: Pot Sticker Pillows; Cooking+Homework = Disaster

Currently Listening to "Yellow," Coldplay: Live 2003

Happy February, Everyone!!

I'm still in whirlwind mode; Matt and I spent last weekend in Wilmington, NC (the beach!) for Alumni Weekend-- some of you may remember that we met as undergrads attending UNC-W--  and had a blast!

Matt with two dates-- me and my
beautiful friend Leah at the Alumni
Awards Banquet. We didn't win any
awards or anything but there was
good food and open bar!

Still... as fun as it was to see friends and such, I'm totally exhausted.

There's something about losing your whole weekend... I mean, I'm a routine kind of girl. I need the weekend to cook and blog and knit and basically just wind down, and then Sundays I get started on all the week's homework...

Not this weekend. Spent a glorious weekend in Wilmington, but with all the food (and drink) and friends and festivities, I'm still exhausted.

BUT! Don't you worry; I still decided to undergo a cooking adventure on Sunday. I was exhausted and simultaneously trying to participate in a 5-person conference call for my online class group project-- but I cooked nevertheless.

Of course, it turned out awful, but as always I learned a lot and have a fun story to share :)

~*~*~


Pot Sticker Pillows:
Posted by Slim Shoppin

(Pic by Slim Shoppin)

Meal: (what did I serve this with?)
Jasmine Rice

Recipe Difficulty: (how hard was this to cook?)
3 / 5

Recipe Quality: (how well was the recipe written?)
5 / 5

Dish Deliciousness: (did it taste great?)
3 / 5
(My fault, though... read on)

Number of cooking mistakes: (how many times did I mess up??)
Too many to admit:

1. I couldn't find egg roll wrappers at the store
2. I thought I could make homemade egg roll wrappers
3. I thought I could make homemade egg roll wrappers and the rest of this meal before my group conference call
4. I wasn't finished dinner and had to try and teach Matt how to finish the meal while starting the conference call
5. I served dinner without trying ANY of it because I was on a conference call
6. The rice was undercooked and my homemade egg roll wrappers SUCKED

Repeat Likelihood: (will I try to make it again?)
5 / 5
SO want to try again!

~*~*~

The Story:

So, like I said, we got home from Wilmington Sunday and even though I was exhausted I decided to try and cook anyway.

I thought I could finish dinner early and still have time for my conference call.

I thought that, even though I (1) had never made this recipe before and (2) was attempting to make homemade eggroll wrappers, which adds an extra step to the recipe, I would have time to make this in under an hour. It would have worked if it hadn't been for what I'm going to call the wrapper disaster.

The eggroll wrapper recipe looked fairly simple (see here), and was, but the dough was too elastic and didn't flatten well to fit over the filling.

I tried, I did. But the stupid dough wasn't cooperating, and I just kept making a bigger and bigger mess...

I didn't have time to finish the pot stickers, so I had to try and sign on to the conference call WHILE teaching Matt how to finish my unfinished cooking job.

(Good thing it was just audio and not video...)

He tried, but I didn't set up the pan to the right temp and they burned; then, we tried to eat and the rice was wayyyyyy undercooked.

Sigh...

Luckily...

I doubled the filling recipe and threw half of it in the jasmine rice.  It wasn't good that night since the rice was undercooked; BUT, I tried it again at lunch the next day over the stovetop and it was SO good.

Adding a little ginger to the ground turkey goes really well with the Jasmine rice!

Mmm.... seriously, best leftover lunch ever!

Now, I'm not giving up on this recipe because it looks like it would be amazing (if you did it right).

But... anyone know where to find eggroll wrappers??

:)

~*~*~

Comments: 
Thank you, Samantha, for this wonderful blog award:

I simply love the simply fabulous award!

This award requires me to blog about a woman who I think is fabulous. This woman can be someone I know in real life, a celebrity, or a fictional character. Then, I must pass the award on to five other fabulous bloggers.

Well, I have three sisters (four now, with the twins! (; but more on that later), and I think they're all fabulous for different reasons... and there were 4 girls in Sex and the City, so it's just too perfect :)

Courtney, Siobhan, Me and Caitlin at
Siobhan's birthday dinner last summer.

5 bloggers for the Simply Fabulous award:

1. Amy at Rainy Saturday
2. Kym at Bee Creative
3. The gamer's wife
4. Nikolett at Better Than Coffee
5. Renee at Nouveau (Not so) Riche

Enjoy, ladies!

~*~*~

So I don't have a great start to February seeing as I'm still reviewing my January blogroll items-- but don't worry; I've got my eye on some sweeeeet February recipes and I'm almost done with January!

Meanwhile, I haven't knit a stitch in about two weeks. So... I'll go ahead and let you know that I'll give a blanket update next post, that way I have to knit some :)

Your just-finished-first-paper-of-the-semester,
enjoying-snow-on-the-ground!, still-pretty-tired,
New Girl Blogger

Recipe Blogroll Review: Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars are Amazing and Help You Make Friends

Currently Listening to "Once Was Love," Ingrid Michaelson.


EVERYONE loved these cheesecake bars.

Seriously. EVERYONE.

But wait-- before I get into that-- a quick birthday shoutout.

~*~*~

 Happy Birthday to Tom!

Tom and my Mom

My step-dad's birthday was this weekend. We're having family game night tonight to celebrate. :)

~*~*~

Ok, more about the cheesecake bars. You really need to make them!

It's such an impressive dessert to say. Just imagine:

Me: Anyone feel like dessert?
Friends: Sure, what do you have?
Me: Oh, [wave of hand], just some homemade Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars... you interested?

::cue the droooolllllling::

My boyfriend and I don't eat sweets much, but we were in love. My step-mom isn't a coffee person, but she enjoyed them. And, most importantly, my morning cup of coffee and these cheesecake bars snuggled together nicely... but even those two were no match for this dessert and a late-night glass of red wine... mmm...

they're definitely all gone. lol. only took a couple days.

anyway, on to the review!

~*~*~


Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars:
Posted by My Tasty Treasures

(Pic by My Tasty Treasures)

Meal: (what did I serve this with?)
Best served with a glass of milk, a digestif, or a hot cup of coffee

Recipe Difficulty: (how hard was this to cook?)
2 / 5

Recipe Quality: (how well was the recipe written?)
5 / 5
*LOVE the pictures :)

Dish Deliciousness: (did it taste great?)
5 / 5

Number of cooking mistakes: (how many times did I mess up??)
2 mistakes total (one wasn't really mine!):

1. I almost forgot the vanilla
2. Matt put some in a tupperware that touched the top of the bars... no good. Immediately rips the topping off and they look kind of weird. They still taste good, though :)

Repeat Likelihood: (will I try to make it again?)
5 / 5

~*~*~

The Story:

I think that how you choose to make these depends on your schedule.  The cream cheese needs to be room temperature, and my Mom always told me that whenever baking, it's helpful to have most the items around the same temperature.  So I also left the egg on the counter so it would be room temperature as well.

Here's another tip from My Mom:

When whipping ingredients together for a fluffy effect, it helps to use a cold, metal mixing bowl.  Put your metal mixing bowl in the freezer for a little bit before mixing, and you'll be surprised by the difference it makes!

So here's what I did to fit this baking adventure into my schedule...

My method:

• Bake the crust bottom at night; leave the rest of the ingredients out on the counter to reach room-temp and let the crust cool on the counter
• In the morning, make the cream cheese filling and when finished, cool in the fridge
• Come home for lunch and make the whipped topping!
• YUM by dinnertime!!!

It worked out well and really ended up not taking much time at all.

And I can't stress this enough-- they were so good.

~*~*~

Comments

Everyone-- thank you.  Your sweet comments about my embarrassing, gross cooking mistake were really nice.

Healthy Delicious pointed out-- she uses organic chicken, and mine were probably huge in comparison.  I should have realized! But hey, another lesson in cooking :)

And the recipe was still good! I'll just do better next time.

I loved the idea that Stephanie and Jenn@SlimShoppin shared-- a meat timer. Definitely investing :) Thanks again, everyone!

~*~*~

Thanks to Krysten over at After I Do for passing on the fabulous GLOB Award!

GLOB, you say? Yup!

I wanted to pass this one on to my blog friend Ace

I've followed Ace's blog since... probably since I started blogging... and I recently read a post of hers that I thought was so inspiring and exciting. It's all about her new outlook on working out and being healthy. Anyway, you can read it here.

and Ace, here's the GLOB award for you!

Thanks again, Krysten!

~*~*~

Also, thanks again for this blog award, Nikolett!

Wanted to pass that one on as well:

Tamela at A Brunette Making it One Day at a Time

Krysten over at After I Do

Iva at Iva Messy
Stephanie at Les Jou Jou
Ali at The Way I See It


Happy Blog Awards, everyone!

~*~*~

Alright, back to homework. Matt, if you're reading this, I swear I read for class before I started this blog post :) (I'm always telling him I have such a busy day, and then he sees an update on my blog. lol)

Your missing-the-cheesecake-bars,
loving-our-sunny-weather, been-23-for-a-month!,
New Girl Blogger

Recipe Blogroll Review: Braised Chicken with Grapes; + yum wine, till morning...

Currently listening to "Pink Moon," Nick Drake

Yesterday seemed like the perfect day for some delicious cooking, for a couple reasons: 1 Matt had friends in town (and I wanted to impress them with my cookin skilllllz); 2. I actually remembered to take the chicken out of the freezer to thaw; 3. It's been a long week since I completed some intense internship applications, finished my first full week of school (my classes are done on Thursdays! woohoo!), and finished two conference proposals... 


So it was a good night to relax in the kitchen.

The recipe was good! It really was! Thank you, Healthy Delicious!

I'm just such a bad cook.

Ughhhhhh... just suffered a flashback of what happened last night.

Okay, I'll explain... but let's break this down first:

~*~*~

Braised Chicken with Grapes:
Posted by Healthy Delicious

(Pic by Healthy Delicious)

Dinner: (what did I serve this with?)

Braised Chicken was served with risotto, green beans, and a loaf of french bread

Recipe Difficulty: (how hard was this to cook?)
2.5 / 5
*Most difficult part was finding arrowroot spice in my grocery store!

Recipe Quality: (how well was the recipe written?)
5 / 5

Dish Deliciousness: (did it taste great?)
4 / 5 

Number of cooking mistakes: (how many times did I mess up??) 
3 mistakes total:

1. Cooking time of chicken quarters depends upon size
2. Don't accidentally buy red grapes because you didn't read the recipe and then go back for green ones because you're not sure if it matters but forget to bring your wallet inside the store and have to hold everyone in the line up to go get it so you can pay for $1.37 of grapes...
3. The microwave timer is there to be used so stop trying to remember then time, just to forget it later and wonder if things have been in for long enough
   
   

Repeat Likelihood (will I try to make it again?)
5 / 5

~*~*~

The Story:

Matt's work friend "Watkins" (his name is Matt too, but luckily he commonly goes by his last name Watkins as a nickname. Matt and I have such unoriginal names...) was over for a while, and Matt's fraternity brother from undergrad, Josh, was in town from Virginia.

I got home from class and immediately got started.  The cooking experience was enjoyable... everything was fairly easy, and the risotto was a good pairing since it's not particularly difficult to cook, and the smells from the kitchen were making the boys holler from the living room about how they couldn't wait to eat!

It took longer than I thought, but when I was done I was nervous.  I hadn't really thought about it... but the chicken quarters I bought were huge. I put them on a serving plate and was impressed with their size... they were definitely bigger than the ones in HD's picture. But hey, I figured, I'm feeding a bunch of guys so it should be fine... but I cut into the chicken to make sure it was done.

We all loaded our plates, the guys were talking about how great it smelled, and I'm wondering how I can sneak my camera and get a picture of my plate when....

...Watkins cuts into his chicken.

And it looks good. At first.

Until closer to the bone, his knife hits some kind of vein or something, and the chicken starts bleeding on his plate.

...really? yes.

It was disgusting.  Everyone else's was fine, but just in case I quickly swiped up everyone's chicken, tossed them back into the pan *luckily I hadn't cleaned it yet* with some chicken stock to cook longer.

I swear, they all looked done!! Does that just happen sometimes?? All his meet looked totally cooked I swear, but there was just this random vein I guess... ugh it was so gross.  I cut everyone's chicken a little in the pan before I served it again about 10 minutes later...

Ughhhhhh.

But you know... I'm lucky, because if it was going to happen to someone, I'm glad it happened with Watkins. He's a great guy, and a true southern gentleman.  He's from a smalllllllll town in NC, and was raised not to curse around women, to say "yes, Ma'am," the whole nine yards.  He's very polite and kind-- plus, he's a huge hunter.  So a little bit of blood didn't bother him at all, lol. He thought it was kind of funny.

I didn't, though. I was so excited about serving a good dinner! It all ended up tasting great-- I loved the sauce, just like HD said we would, and grapes really are a great pairing with chicken!

This was my first time cooking with chicken quarters, and I had no idea what I was looking for when I went to the store. Now I know not to get the huge ones...

I'm gonna try this one again, HD. 
And you guys-- I definitely recommend it :)

I'd like to try this recipe again with skinless chicken breasts, but then again I don't want to be scared off chicken quarters. I mean, the chicken was really good!

It was just... ughh. Embarrassing. Learning to be a good cook can be embarrassing....

ANYWAY...

The recipe calls for using a semi-sweet wine... HD used guwurztraminer, which I couldn't find in the store, but I found a great looking riesling.

I think it made a great sauce, and it was fun to drink during and after dinner...

...I just shouldn't have drank as much of it.  I was just sipping on it... but we stayed up late since Josh was here and I ended up sipping a lot I suppose...

woke up this morning with a HUGE headache. I forget that white wine gives a headache like no other... I'm used to drinking red wine, which I swear is nicer to you in the morning...

so anyway, I'm going to drink another cup of coffee... my cut off is usually no more than two mugs before lunch, but I'm making a hangover exception.

~*~*~

Comments on my last post:

Recipe Blogroll items for January 2010, posted 1/15

Thanks for the blog award, Nikolett!

My first one of 2010!

I'll pass it on in my next post... thanks a lot for thinking of me, Nikolett! Go check her out over at Better Than Coffee.

Speaking of my next post-- that's where I will also talk about those Tiramisu Cheesecake bars that I found over at My Tasty Treasures blog... some of you were drooling over the pic, as did I.

Yes, they were amazing, and yes, you should make them!

But wait till I post, cause as a new baker I've got some great tips to help you not screw it up... lol

And Kim, no worries, if I make Steph Chows' granola I'll definitely send you some. Unless I eat it all first... then I'll make a second batch and send you that :)

~*~*~

Thanks for the great recipe, Healthy Delicious! 

Your still-kind-of-embarrassed,
feeling-very-new-at-cooking, 
apparently white-wine-slurping,
New Girl Blogger

Recipe Blogroll items for January 2010

Currently Listening to "The Call," Regina Spektor

Recipe Blogroll is BACK, baby!!

Woo-hoo!!

A little different this time. Instead of listing a million recipes I'd like to try like last time, I'm going to shoot for four to five a month.

{I'm a deadline person. I'll do better with a deadline.}

Then, during the month, I'll write a review of the yummy recipe, share any tips ::remember, I'm still VERY new to cooking haha::, and post a small award for the recipe writer because I appreciate cooking blogs SO much!!

If you have any recipe you'd like to suggest for my February Blogroll, please let me know in the comments or by e-mailing me at class.and.coffee@gmail.com

**All pictures are from the recipe owner's Web site. Click on the Recipe name to read more about the recipe and to see more pictures!*

Recipe Blogroll Items for January 2010!

• Braised Chicken with Grapes: Posted by Healthy Delicious, this recipe uses grapes to help make some "fall-off-the-bone" chicken and, according to HD, some sauce that'll make you want to lick your plate. I'm in!
  
  (Pic by Healthy Delicious)

• Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars: Posted by My Tasty Treasures, this recipe sounds sooo good and perfect to break the Christmas-cookie marathon!
  (Pic by My Tasty Treasures)

• Linguine with Zucchini and Chickpeas: Real Simple Magazine, August 2009; This recipe was definitely intended for summer haha... but I can't resist! All the soups and stews we've been having... I'd love to have a light evening dinner like this soon. And hey, we'll just pretend it's warm :)(Pic from Real Simple)

• Applesauce Granola: Posted by Steph Chows, it's a recipe I've been looking for! I love granola... but it's so expensive! I would love to make it at home AND I think it would make a cute gift to give for friends at Valentine's Day!
  (Pic by StephChows)

• Pot Sticker Pillows: Posted by Slim Shoppin, this recipe makes AMAZING looking pot stickers that are only 30 calories each!! Which... probably won't matter much when I eat about 100 of them, but still...
  (Pic by Slim Shoppin)

Here's to a January filled with new recipes!! Thanks you guys!

So now all I've got to do is cook these 5 before the 31st, and I'll post a review for each.

I'll try to write down any helpful hints I come up with along the way... I've only been cooking for about a year now and I still feel very, very new at it :)

~*~*~

Want to try a Recipe Blogroll?

It's a great way to force yourself out of your cooking shell!

Feel free to use the button:

<img src="http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/classandcoffee/blog%20sections/recipeblogroll.jpg" alt="Recipe Blogroll graphic" width="200px" />

~*~*~
**Quick thanks to Fidgeting Gidget for giving me my new knitting project a great name: marf.
The Marf = The manly knit, manly colored scarf intended for a male
who may be leery of effeminate scarves... 


~*~*~

Your excited-to-start-cooking,

loving-the-new-classes,

marf-knitting,

New Girl Blogger

Your Man ___? Finding the Man Scarf. + First Week of Class!

Currently Listening to "California," Rogue Wave.

Your Man __?

Kym was cracking me up in the comments of my man scarf post, talking about how "Man ___" is always funny. And she's totally right! Man purse is funny no matter what "cool" bag the man is carrying. (Anyone else obsessed with The Hangover?? It's a satchel! Indiana Jones wears one...)

Another favorite of mine was always "man cave." It means a room in the house where men are allowed to do and decorate how they please. Think leather chairs and pool tables, I suppose?

I never understood these men who, in their own houses, had to fight for a basement or upstairs room or-- really?-- the garage, just so they could have their own space. I was always all, "why don't they just share and compromise??"

BUT...

Now that I've lived with my boyfriend for a little over a year, I can honestly say that while I'm still happily in love with him and look forward to seeing him everyday...

His Scarface poster is the FIRST thing that would go in his man cave.

Haha I remember trying so hard to get him to get rid of that when we moved in together...

Then my step-dad saw it when he was helping us unpack and was all, "That's awesome!!"

So now it's in our office. Black matting, gold frame and all.

lovely.

The things we do for love...

Anyway, speaking of lovely things, I think I've chosen a scarf for the "man scarf" project!

Finding the Man Scarf

Fidgeting Gidget shared the Basketweave Scarf pattern from Knitting Daily, which I looooove. I'm so making this for myself lol.

Isn't it cute?? I'm going to go ahead and get this on the needles next because I think it's so cute. I'm afraid Matt won't like the sides... it could be seen as a little "ruffled." Guys are so hard! I can totally understand Steph Chows forgetting the scarf and crocheting her hubs an afghan!!

But like I said... I like the scarf. lol. So FG, I'll make that one for me. You can never have enough cute scarves, I think!

SO. For Mr. Matt, I felt better when Concord Carpenter promised that 1. Using one color is best (that's what I was thinking!) and 2. Wide is ok.

THEN Stephanie posts two scarves, one of which is the Extra Warm Men's Scarf by Cotton and Cloud.

Love it! Manly looking stitches (can stitches be manly? Guess so!), nice gray-black simple man color...

I've got my scarf :)

So now, on the needles:

1. Extra Warm Men's Scarf by Cotton and Cloud. (Thanks for the suggestion, Stephanie!)
2. The Hoodie Baby Blanket by Nikol Lohr

Thanks for your help, everyone!

First Week of Class

Now, this is my 2nd day of class during my first week of the semester...

It's my third semester and after this I'll only have two more to go... (May '11, baby!)

And after all that, this is my first online class!

I've got two traditional lecture courses (ENG 518 Publication Management, ENG 519 Online Information Design and Evaluation) but my one online class is EAC 581: Advanced Instructional Design in Training and Development.

It's funny... because it's Advanced Instructional Design, and I've never even taken an Instructional Design course... or a EAC course (EAC is Adult & Higher Education Dept.) at all, for that matter! AND it's my first online course.

...that's a lot of first.

Hopefully I'll survive.

I was a TOTAL DORK and when I signed on to the course, realized everyone was posting introductions in the "forum" so I went around and commented on EVERYONE'S introduction...

...well, there's only 15 people in the class, but anyway...

commented on EVERYONE'S introduction, only to realize afterward that the only other person to comment ON EVERYONE'S INTRODUCTION....

...was the professor.

At least I proved you can still be a dork, even in online classes...

Maybe everyone will just think I'm really nice! lol.

Next post: Cooking, Recipe Blogroll Update!

Your still-freezing-in-NC,

tired-of-cold-weather, making-a-big-stew-to-help,

man-scarf-knitting,

New Girl Blogger