New orders!

So, yesterday we found out that we have received orders to Misawa Japan! I am so incredibly excited. And a little nervous to leave everything I have grown up with (AKA, anything and everything American) and venture to Japan. But, life is what you make it, and I know it is going to a wonderful adventure. As long as I have the love of my life and our 2 wonderful children with me, I don't think anything will be terrible (maybe just slightly intolerable? Ha). I have heard nothing but great things about Japan's culure and people, so, I'm glad I'm going to get to experience that for an extended period of time. I will get to see the Cherry Blossom's for a few years, venture off base and get REAL Japanese sushi (something I have missed immensely since leaving California), maybe learn a little Japanese, and explore the surrounding towns and cities! Another thing I'm excited about is being able to shop at the local markets. I heard that the produce on base isn't very good, but off base at the markets it is amazing. Plus, John is very excited about fishing.
We'll be in Northern Japan, so, it will get pretty cold, but, we will be by the beach, so, even if its' cold, I'll still have my Pacific Ocean to keep me company! Plus, it'll still snow!! I love the snow, and when I'm stressed out, shoveling the driveway and sidewalks really helps me clear my head and take some time off from whatever is driving me up the wall, usually my wonderful children.
For those of you who are a little sad about me moving to Japan (mom) I would like to point out that we hardly see each other as it is now, so, it's not going to be that much different! Plus, if you ever scrounge up the money to come see us ($1500 for a plane ticket!) you'll be able to see a new country and create new experiences! Also, the offer to come visit extends to anyone who wants to make the trip!! We love entertaining.

Cinnamon Apple Stuffed Crepes

Hello everyone! I made a delicious (and spontaneous) breakfast this morning. I noticed one of our apples was going bad and decided to make crepes and use apples as the filling. After making them I wish I would have had 2 full apples instead of the 1 1/2 apples and perhaps some whipped cream to add (I could have made my own since we have heavy cream, but... I decided to not give Martha Stewart any competition today). I also wish I would have added in a bit more water since they were a little thicker than I would have liked. But, they turned out pretty good none-the-less.

I originally got the recipe from www.allrecipes.com. It was the "basic crepes" recipe. I then added vanilla and sugar to that, and a bit more milk. About 1/4 cup milk more than originally called for.

Here's what you'll need:

Dice up your apples, melt in a couple tablespoons of butter in a pan, add the apples and cinnamon. Sauté until soft. I ended up just putting them on low-medium and stirring occasionally while I mixed and cooked the crepes.

Pour in your crepe batter into a lightly oiled pan (I used olive oil Pam), and attempt to make it into a circle shape. Cook the batter for about 30-60 seconds (the time depends on the thickness of the batter), and then carefully flip the crepe over to brown the other side. Sadly, this one was one of my last crepes. There is definitely a learning curve guys!!

Stuff and roll up your crepes, put onto your finest china plates (notice mine are husband and child proof plastic from Target), and top with some powdered sugar and a tall glass of orange juice (I drank half of mine prior to taking a picture).

Cinnamon Apple Filling:

2 TB butter
2 apples - diced (any type you've got on hand, I used Gala, despite the Granny Smith ones in the picture)
2 TB cinnamon

Melt the butter in a medium frying pan on medium. Add the apples and cinnamon and sauté until soft, about 5-10 minutes. Reserve.


Crepe Recipe:

1 cup flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
2 TB sugar
2 TB melted butter
1 TB vanilla

Mix together the flour and eggs. Slowly add in your milk and water until combined. Add remaining ingredients and whisk until blended. Heat a large skillet or griddle on medium high and lightly grease with whatever you fancy. Once the skillet it heated, pour about 1/4 cup, or small ladle full of batter and spread into a circle. Cook for about a minute on each side, remove to a plate, spoon in your reserved apple mixture, top with powdered sugar and whipped cream, and serve to your hungry family! Enjoy!


Until next time,

Tiffany

Potato and Broccoli Soup

After snowing most of the day on Sunday, and then again yesterday, I decided I was going to make some yummy soup for dinner. I was sick of our usual soup recipes, and started googling new recipes using the ingredients I had on hand (even though I had to go out to the store anyway).
I came up with potato and broccoli soup. Usually, you eat a very small portion of this soup and feel like you just ingested the most terrible things for you because it is SO thick and creamy. I went for a different approach and went with a chicken broth base with a touch of milk to still have it hit that creamy note we all love.

Potato and Broccoli Soup
Serves 4-6

   Prep Time: 10 minutes
+Cook Time: 20 minutes
   Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon butter or olive oil
2 small yellow onions - chopped
3 cloves of garlic - minced or grated
3-4 small potatoes - cubed
2 cans great white northern beans (or similar buttery white bean)
1 large head of broccoli - rough chopped
1 can condensed milk
3 chicken bullion cubes in 4 cups water (or 4 cups chicken stock)
salt and pepper to taste
Optional Toppings:
Garlic Croutons
Sharp Cheddar Cheese - shredded
Crusty French Bread
Cubed & Cooked Chicken
Steamed broccoli
Bacon
... You get the picture!


Steps to get to deliciousness:

1. Melt butter in a large stock pot on medium high. Sauté onion and garlic until onion is soft and clear, about 3-5 minutes. Add in your stock, milk, potatoes, broccoli, and beans. Simmer until potatoes and broccoli are cooked, about 10 minutes depending on how large of chunks you chopped them into. 
2. Now, I pureed the entire soup, but if you want some larger pieces in your soup, you could just puree half. Be VERY carful not to over load your food processor since you will end up with a giant mess if you do. I think I pureed my soup in 4 different groups, but do as many as you need because, like I said, it will turn into a giant mess. 
3. Put it all back into your original pot to keep it warm. Taste test, and add your salt and pepper.
4. Place croutons, shredded cheese, chicken, bread and whatever else you'd like to serve with this on plates. Ladle the soup into bowls, and serve!

My family really enjoyed this. It's definitely going into our soup rotation this winter!

Dessert Quest Recipes

After quite a few people asking me for the recipes of this years dessert options, here they are, in time for you to make them for your Thanksgiving!!




Mile High Pumpkin Caramel Pie: I found this YEARS ago in a Rachael Ray Magazine. It was a fan submission, and thankfully I wrote it down since I threw out the magazine on accident one day. I am not sure if it's online, especially since I changed the name and can't remember the original one, but if you want to search for the original one, go for it.

Mile-High Pumpkin-Caramel Pie

Ingredients

• 24 Squares chocolate graham crackers, crushed (1 ½ cups)
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 LG egg white, plus 3 whole eggs
• 2 ¾ cups heavy cream
• 1 15-oz can pure pumpkin puree
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp salt
• 28 caramel candies
• 1 oz bittersweet chocolate for grating

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, stir the graham cracker crumbs and butter until combined. Press the mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of the 9-inch pie pan; freeze until set, about 15 minutes. In a small bowl, beat the egg white with a fork and lightly brush on the pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes; let cool.

• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the 3 whole eggs, 1 cup cream, the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt until just combined. Pour into the pie shell and bake until just set, 40-45 minutes. Let cool slightly, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours, refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• In a bowl, microwave the caramels with ½ cup cream at high power until melted, about 1 ½ minutes. Stir until smooth, then let cool to room temperature.
• Using an electric mixer, whip the remaining 1 ¼ cups cream until soft peaks form. Drizzle in the caramel and beat until well blended. Spoon the caramel whipped cream on top of the pumpkin filling and refrigerate until completely chilled. Before serving, coarsely grate the chocolate on top of the pie.

Brownie Pecan Pie: This I actually received in my inbox today from one of my all time favorite blogs in the world: www.bakerella.com. I haven't tried it, but, it does sound and look super yummy!!

http://www.bakerella.com/my-kind-of-pie/

(this below is copied directly from her blog)

Brownie Pecan Pie

———————————

SUPER-FUDGY VERSION
3/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon self-rising flour
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups pecans

1 package brownie mix and ingredients listed on the box

2 frozen deep dish pie shells

———————————

OR

———————————

BROWNIE BASE VERSION
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon self-rising flour
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups pecans

1 package brownie mix and ingredients listed on the box

2 frozen regular pie shells

———————————

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place brown sugar in a large bowl and work out lumps. Add flour and stir together until the flour disappears.
• Add corn syrup and vanilla. Stir until thoroughly until combined.
• Add melted butter. Fold into mixture until it disappears.
• Loosely beat two eggs in a separate bowl and fold into mixture until the eggs disappear.
• Stir in pecans and set aside.
• Prepare brownie batter as instructed on package.
• Remove two frozen pies shells from freezer and divide brownie batter evenly between the two. (Deep dish for fudgy version and regular-size for the brownie version.)
• Spoon pecan pie mixture evenly between the two pie shells.
• Bake fudgy deep dish version for about 40-45 minutes. Place a large sheet of foil across the top of the two pies for the last 10-15 minutes to avoid pie crust from browning too much.
• Bake brownie regular pie shell version for about 35 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool.

FYI – The fudgy version is really good refrigerated and I liked the brownie version best at room temperature.

And lastly, the Chocolate and Pumpkin Pie Shortbread Bars. These are from another of my favorite blogs (I seem to follow a lot of these things) Picky Palate. www.picky-palate.com

http://picky-palate.com/2010/09/23/chocolate-and-pumpkin-pie-shortbread-bars/

(below is copied and pasted directly from her blog)


Chocolate and Pumpkin Pie Shortbread Bars

2 sticks softened butter

1 Cup granulated sugar

1/4 Cup packed light brown sugar

1 3/4 Cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 Cups canned pumpkin

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

1/2 Cup heavy whipping cream

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

1 Cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips

Sprinkles of choice if desired

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a stand or electric mixer cream the butter and sugars until well combined.  Slowly add in flour and salt until dough forms.  Press into the bottom of an 8×8 inch baking dish that’s been lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray.

2.  To prepare pumpkin layer, mix pumpkin sugar, cream, eggs, cinnamon and nutmeg into a mixing bowl until well combined.  Pour over shortbread layer.  Bake for 45 minutes or until pumpkin layer is golden brown.

3.  Let cool for 30 minutes then cut into bars.  Melt chocolate over a double broiler or in microwave until smooth then spread over bars.  Sprinkle with white sprinkles if desired and serve room temperature or chill until ready to serve.

12 bars

It's that time of year again!!

We are having our 3rd annual Thanksgiving at the Cates' this coming Thursday, and there is so much to do. Not only do I need to get this house in tip-top shape, but I need to grocery shop, cook and bake!
This year, I'm torn between 3 different desserts. I've decided to leave it up to my Facebook friends and whoever reads my blog.
So, here they are

Option 1: Mile High Pumpkin Caramel Pie

Option 2: Brownie Pecan Pie

And Option 3: Chocolate and Pumpkin Shortbread Bars

Vote by commenting on this blog! Voting ends Tuesday at noon!! Thanks everyone!

Sneak Peek!!

We did some family photos today, and our photographer gave us a sneak peek of a picture of each of the girls. We're still in the process of picking the 15 pictures we like, but, here are 2 of my favorites!!

Busy Busy Busy!!!

This week has been chaotic! It's been one thing after another; Suicide Awareness Training, Key Spouse Function, Christmas Shopping, and now the Squadron Thanksgiving party. But, I've had a really great time so far, I just REALLY need to lock myself in the house starting tonight and not leave until it's spotless. Ha, yeah, right.
I have been gone a few nights this week, and the other nights I don't think I cooked either because I was just so exhausted from trying to clean up. Seriously, I pick up all the toys and odds and ends around the house, do a few loads of laundry, and then I turn around and Victoria has taken ALL her toys back out, scattered John's flash cards for his next test as Staff Sargent, and because I was too busy trying to feed Annie, potty train Tori, and make sure I was drinking my 8 glasses of water a day (harder than I expected), I see that the laundry I washed has piled up, and the house isn't getting any cleaner.
How mothers manage to keep the house clean on a daily basis amazes me. My theory is that you either ignore the housework or you ignore your kids. There is NO happy medium. I guess that makes me a good mom? Ha. I definitely play with my kids and color and run around playing Victoria's version of hide-and-go-seek, or peek-a-boo with Annie, and who knows what else. But, the only down part is that by the time I get them to sleep at night, I am exhausted and all I want to do is curl up with my husband who I haven't seen all day and watch a show or two before we crash at about 9.
I honestly wish I was better at multi-tasking, or teaching my children early on to clean up after themselves, but, Tori just doesn't seem to listen. We have clean up songs, clean together, etc, and after about 30 seconds, and on her second or third toy, she gets distracted and wants to play with it. I am just at a loss. I wish we could afford a house cleaner who could come over every night and just pick up everything, or maybe help me pick up everything. I think I would feel guilty (even if I was paying them) if I didn't help out. Either that or I need to convince John to help, but his whole outlook on it is, I am a stay at home mom. My job is to keep the house up and raise our children. Whoever told men it was possible to do both is crazy. Haha.
Anyway, it's about time to pull the turkey out of the oven, feed the girls, get everyone dressed, put Mr. Turkey in the car, and head to our squadron Thanksgiving party. Oy Vay!