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Veteran’s Day

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I used to look cute in hats!

Today is Veteran’s Day in the US.

I come from a long line of military service members.  (Not unlike Lieutenant  Dan from Forrest Gump.) I’m not sure where that comment came from, but that’s the kind of day I have had.

Brief family tree lesson:

I was born in a Navy hospital in Virginia.  I participated in NJROTC in high school.

Both of my grandfathers served in WWII.

Both my mother’s brother and sister served in the Army.  My Uncle Dusty once told me that there was a secret door into Ft. Knox. I have a sneaky suspicion that he might have been joking around, but to this day I have never told another living soul the location of that hidden entrance.  My Aunt Sandy served in Alaska.  She unknowingly opened up my eyes to the amazing untouched vastness of the tundra, and a spirit of adventure that I never knew existed.

My bonus Papa is a retire Marine.

I can trace my paternal linage soldiers in the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

Further into the past, I can trace my branches to warriors in England and the Crusades, Vikings and Romans.

Chipped Beef Gravy

So in honor of all of the brave men and women who have served this country, I decided that we would have the mess hall favorite S.O.S for dinner. (S.O.S. stands for S#!T on a Shingle)

Some people call S.O.S. chipped beef gravy.

It’s a quick and easy comfort food, that doesn’t photograph well…

Ingredients:

  • one two ounce package of shaved beef
  • 1/4 cup of butter
  • 1/4 cup of flour
  • 2 teaspoons Onion Onion Seasoning
  • 1/8 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
  • 2 cups milk

Directions:

  1. Remove beef from package and rinse.  (Rinsing will remove some of the salt used in the processing.  This is a fantastic job for a rambunctious almost 4 year old, if you happen to have one hanging around.)
  2. Cut beef in ribbons and set aside.
  3. Melt butter in pan over medium heat.
  4. Add Onion Onion Seasoning.
  5. Whisk in flour and freshly ground pepper.
  6. Slowly add the milk, mixing constantly.
  7. Gravy will thicken as you stir. Add beef ribbons and let simmer about five minutes.
  8. Serve over toast, biscuits or rolls.

Cappuccino Cups

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This past Friday (the 8th of November) was Cappuccino Day!  I had planned to make some coffee flavored cupcakes.  As I started gathering the ingredients, then it hit me…why limit myself to coffee flavored cupcakes?

I spent some time working as a barista at Starbucks.  One of my favorite drinks to prepare is a cappuccino.  Real cappuccinos are mostly foam…sweet, delicious, fluffy foam.  Ok, I have been accused of being a bit of a coffee snob, but I think that is a part of the barista training.  And a public service announcement: the drink that comes out of the machine at the gas station is not really cappuccino.  But I digress…

To appeal to a larger audience, I decided I wanted to make a cupcake that wasn’t coffee flavored.  I know some of my co-workers that I would be sharing these treats with were not fans of coffee, neither is my oldest son.  Then the idea was born!

Because a cappuccino is mostly deliciously foamy milk, I decided to bake one small cookie scoop of brownie mix in a foil cupcake wrapper then top with a fluffy white frosting.

Just a start

I decided to try a new frosting.  I had never prepared a frosting that included egg whites or cooked sugars!  It was definitely a positive experiment.  No major injuries (always a plus!)

So fluffy!

The frosting was this fluffy marshmallow-y dollup of amazingness.  I have already been asked to use the frosting on a chocolate sheet cake soon!

one of my better experiments

The final product was definitely a hit.  I am grateful to have such an amazing group of people around me that are patient and willing to be the guinea pigs for my culinary experimentation!

Recipe details:

Brownie: Tastefully Simple Truffle Fudge Brownie mix

Frosting: http://www.food.com/recipe/fluffy-white-frosting-55965

Happy Boston Cream Pie Day

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As I sit here preparing this post, I realized that some people might think this food holiday has something to do with the World Series.  Game 1 will be played in Boston on Boston Cream Pie Day … coincidence?  Totally!

This post was supposed to be about cupcakes, but I really think I want to write about baseball.  And since it’s my blog, I’m going to do just that.

I played softball for eight years.  I have brothers who played baseball, and the youngest is the only son to have not played (he’s almost 4, so there’s still time!).  We’ve celebrated birthdays at Victory Field in Indianapolis.  Our youngest wears a Cubs hat almost every day.  Although he just calls it his “blue hat with the red C on it.”

Z's 10th

We lived across the street from the Ball State’s baseball field.  I loved to hear the ping of the bat hitting the ball.  I love going to the Indianapolis Indians games or a Cubs/Reds game in Cincinnati and hearing the crack of the bat.  I have to say that I am partial to the sound of a wooden bat.

I hope that one day we can take the boys to Wrigley to see a game.  There is some thing about old ballparks that I love.  New parks are beautiful, but the depth of history in old ballparks will win out every time!

Honestly, I haven’t been to a ballgame in years, and we don’t have regular tv to watch a game.  I take that back.  I watched some of the Little League World Series in a pizza place in Indy after a day at the zoo.

I just looked into getting World Series tickets for the Saturday game in St. Louis. The cheapest tickets were $312.00 … each.  Oh My Ganache!  I guess that will be a dream for another day!

I will post the recipe for the cupcakes that I made later.  But for now, here is a photo …

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Making The Most Of It

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So today was one of those days where everything seems to happen at one time. Everything needed to be done ASAP. Luckily, it’s easier to calm people down with chocolate cupcakes. How I managed to go all day without eating one of these bad boys I don’t know!

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Now we are sitting around watching Ghostbusters! Takes me back to the good old days!

“Why worry? Each one of us is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back.”

Go big or go home

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Tomorrow is Chocolate Cupcake Day, according to my “official” food holiday calendar. (Oh and today is Pasta Day, so we had ravioli.) So I decided to make some chocolate cupcakes. And by some, I mean 97. When asked why I made so many, I replied, “go big, or go home.” To which he replied, “you’re already home.”

Hopefully I can put together a recipe post for these, because they are amazing. Worse case: I have to make them again…

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Keep Your Fork

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The thing about plans is that no matter how hard you try, life happens. Our dinner plans for this evening were dashed when I didn’t leave work until 6:30.

(This post was originally going to be about how rediculous some holidays are, like bosses day, but how amazing some holidays are, like chocolate cupcake day on Friday!)

Our youngest fell asleep less than two miles from daycare. We grabbed some Chinese on the way home. After dinner, I cleared the plates, but told the guys to keep their forks.

Some of my favorite memories growing up included dessert. Gramma would tell us to keep our fork when the plates were being cleared, and I always knew dessert was on the way!

Recipe for this pistachio cake coming soon!

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Happy Mushroom Day!

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Tonight I had every intention of posting a step-by-step on how I make stroganoff. But of course, I started cooking before I took photos. And then I had a my youngest telling me, in a very loud voice because obviously I hadn’t heard him the 400 times he had told me, that he wanted cereals for dinner. And no that isn’t a typo, cereals is plural because he wants a whole bowl. Try arguing with that logic…

So I resigned myself to posting a recipe without the tutorial, but with the finished dinner plate instead.

And then we ate…without the photo of the stroganoff, noodles and bright tricolor medley of corn, carrots, and green beans. And of course I didn’t think about it until after I had “lunched up*” the leftovers.

* lunched up is a verb meaning to place leftovers from dinner in containers for lunch.

Feeling a bit morose, I decided to slice up the cake I had baked, only to realize that I had forgotten to take photos of the cake too!

After thinking that I have the be the worst blogger ever, I told the guys that I will have to make everything another time so that everything can be photographed.

Everyone smiled as they ate their cake. How could I torture them with all this delicious food again!!

Tonight’s blog post might not have turned out the way I had planned, but so it goes. My family is fed. All is well.

Menu Planning and Holidays

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Last Friday, I decided to make a menu and grocery list.  I looked ahead on my food holidays calendar, and created a menu to celebrate those holidays.

Monday: Columbus Day – which means Italian – Angel Hair and Alfredo, wedge salad with Italian dressing, and garlic bread made with Jimmy John’s day old French bread

Tuesday: Mushroom Day – Stroganoff with extra portabellos

Wednesday: National Boss Day (Is that a real thing??) – Shepard’s Pie

Thursday: Pasta Day – Ravioli with sausage in a chunky red sauce

Friday: No real holiday, which means choose your own holiday…well not really but we haven’t had BLTs in a while

Weekend: we’ll have a full house, so it’s a little less structured.

Anywho… I have had this all planned out, groceries bought, meals prepped, when I realized at work this morning that today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada.  HOW DID I MISS THAT?! I mean, you would think I would remember that being 1/32nd Canadian…I guess I will have to chalk this up to poor planning.  I am sure that my great-great-grandparents would say don’t worry aboot it, eh?

So It Begins…

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I did it!

My Kickstarter Project!:  Field research for my historical fiction novel based on surprising members of my family tree

Edward I and Eleanor of Castile

Edward I and Eleanor of Castile

After a conversation with my Gramma a little over a year ago, I started a family tree project. I didn’t expect to find anything too interesting. But was I wrong!

It didn’t take too much digging to find that we are related to the royal families of Europe! I know that many people can say they are related to royalty, and it’s not like I am asking to be call Princess Amberleigh or anything (unless you wanna!).

After this revelation, I dove into European history. I was reading everything the library had to offer and more!  One of the couples that I found myself thinking about most often was Edward I of England and his first wife Eleanor of Castile.

The more I wanted to know about the pair, the less I found.  They had a remarkable story, and it wasn’t being told.  So I have decided to tell their story.

I have decided after a year of research that I need to dig a little deeper.  I need to go to London.  And I would like your help to do it!

I have created a Kickstarter campaign to fund my research trip.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambleigh/research-for-my-novel-twelve-nights 

I am asking people to back my research project and upcoming novel!  Any monetary amount is welcomed, and there are rewards for specific dollar amounts.

I will be posting updates and answering questions posted on the Kickstarter page, as well as on my blog.

Feel free to pass the link on to friends and family, I would love the support!

 

Amberleigh

 

Are You Ready For an Adventure?

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I have been researching a novel for about a year.  It’s a story about my 22nd great grandparents: Edward I and Eleanor of Castile.

I am currently creating a Kickstarter project to fund a research trip to England.  If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, it is an innovative way to fund a creative project.  From their website:

Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. Everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. Kickstarter is full of ambitious, innovative, and imaginative projects that are brought to life through the direct support of others.

I will be launching my project soon, and will post a link once the project has gone live!