A Few of the Things I Love

I love writing on this little blog of mine... although you wouldn't know it with my recent absence. Sorry about that.  Life gets hectic sometimes.  As a nod to yesterday's celebration of love, I thought I would share a few of the things I am in love with this morning.

I'm still in love with last nights dinner.  It may have happened last night... but I am still drooling over it this morning-- so it counts! We dropped the ball on getting V-Day reservations, so we went all out for dinner at home and made Lobster Thermidor with asparagus.  It was to die for!    

Mr. Trio gave me irises yesterday, and I'm totally smitten with how the morning sunshine sets them aglow.  And I'm equally smitten with the irises themselves-- they remind me of childhood. We had purple irises just like these growing in our back yard when I was little.

I'm loving on love notes. And that Mr. Trio knows how to woo me with flowers, cook books, and sweet nothings!  I'm so lucky to have such an adoring, loving, and caring husband.  I am constantly amazed at the ways in which our relationship and love continue to grow with each passing day.  I am endlessly thankful to have him in my life.

And then there is Boone, sweet Boone.  He's curled up beside me at this moment, napping in a pool of morning sunshine.  I would get a picture, but I don't dare move or I will wake him up.

I hope that your yesterday, today, and everyday are filled with love.

Smitten with a new cookbook

Earlier this last year one of my favorite cooking bloggers released her own cookbook.  I was lucky enough to get said cookbook (The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook) for Christmas.  Eek!

If you are not already familiar with Deb over at The Smitten Kitchen you should be. Never has a single recipe of hers failed me.  Last night I made my first recipe from the new cookbook, and true to form, it did not disappoint. 

The wild rice gratin with kale, caramelized onions, and baby swiss turned out amazing, and was served up with a roasted chicken, and Panko crusted fried squash.

It was epic.

My finished gratin certainly did not come out as picturesque as in the book, but was seriously amazing to taste.  We will definitely be adding this to our regular recipe list.

In other news, I spent the morning pulling fabrics for the Skill Builder BOM.

If you frequent this site you may remember my inspiration color card from this post.

Overall I am pretty happy with what I have pulled.  It does need a bit of tweaking though... one of those greens in particular is just not working for me.

I've been consulting Boone and I think he agrees. 

 

A sunnier day...

I tried working on a post yesterday, but was in a right foul mood from all the tragic news-- people didn't need to read about anymore of that sadness.  And I didn't find writing about it to be therapeutic, so  I decided to wait for a new day, a brighter day.

I love quiet Saturday mornings.  Coffee in hand, Mr. Trio snoozing away in the next room, and Boone snoozing next to me on the couch.  The living room lit up buy the early morning sun and the Christmas tree.

Ahhhh.

Yesterday I tried my best to focus through the sadness, and sew.  I dove into work on the t-shirt quilt for my nieces' graduation, and finally started some sewing on it instead of just staring at the layout.  I won't lie though, I didn't get too far.

What I did find both focusing and comforting yesterday was cooking.  The kitchen was my Zen zone.

On Thursday night we had a roasted chicken with root vegetables, which yesterday slowly became a stock for what will be today's soup.  And last night for dinner we had a nice slow cooked meat sauce on fresh pasta, with garlic bread, and a salad.  Simmering and stirring a sauce for hours was just what this girl needed.

Comfort food-- it's a comfort to make, and to eat.

  

And no week is truly complete without a bit of fabric stashing right?  I just got in a FQ bundle of the new 'Architextures' line by Carolyn Friedlander.  I am positively in LOVE with the elegant geekiness of this line! That's right, it's both elegant and geeky-- you heard me.  Mr. Trio Beautiful seems particularly drawn to the topographic prints.  I think my favorites are the graph paper with math notes.

I will be holding off on cutting into this fabric for awhile.  I want to wait until I have the perfect project planned, besides, I have plenty of other projects going on for now!

My Week: A Photo Journal

Friday to Friday... in photos:

The little Aspen in our backyard

Getting ready to make my camera case

First time I've ever gotten a workout from sewing!  That foam can be difficult to work with!

Sweet Boone

We were treated to a half dozen fresh eggs from someone who keeps chickens-- so we made a sausage, mushroom, and Swiss cheese quiche

The case lining is coming together

Handsome Mr. Trio Beautiful cracking walnuts.  We celebrated two years of wedded bliss this week!

Roasted chicken with root veggies... and chicken noodle soup the next day

Boone having a blast playing in the snow this morning

Almost done...

Done!

For the drawstring bag I used a home dec weight fabric called Sketchbook in blue, from Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room collection

A peek inside

And a sneak peek at the new project I started today!

Linked up on {Sew} Modern Monday

Stuffed Acorn Squash

This recipe is one of our fall favorites.  It's also one of our meatless meals, is super cheap to make, and is really simple to put together.  And as if all that weren't enough, it also happens to be A Trio Beautiful original.

That's right folks-- I made up this recipe all on my own.

Don't follow this card to closely, I've tweaked it a bit.

To be fair though, I did use a reference book of sorts.  The Flavor Bible was my go-to resource when it came to checking myself on how my ingredients were going to work together.  The Flavor Bible is not a cookbook, but more like reference material for your kitchen shelf.  It is perfect for when you come across dishes that a missing that "something."  You simply look up some of your ingredients, and look for commonalities in what their flavors pair with.  I. Love. This. Book.

You will want to start with your oven preheated to 400.  Cut the acorn squash in half and clean out the cavity.  Put it cut side up in a lightly oiled baking dish, brush olive oil lightly over the halves, and dabble with butter if you would like.  Lightly salt and pepper.

Bake them for about an hour, until you can easily insert a fork.

Once you have the squash in the oven you will want to get your quinoa going.  I find that for stuffing one squash you only need about 3/4 cup of quinoa.  Put the quinoa in a small saucepan with 1 1/2 cup broth (I prefer chicken, but use vegetable if you want a completely vegetarian meal), cover, bring to a boil, and turn heat to low.  If you're using a low sodium broth you will want to throw in a dash of salt.  It will take about 25 minutes to cook up.

Chop up half a large onion and sautee in olive oil over meduim heat until translucent.  Add two or three cloves of finely chopped garlic, and  three or four chopped crimini mushrooms... let those mushrooms cook down really well.  Throw in some finely chopped fresh sage & thyme, then toss in about 1/3 cup of sunflower seeds-- let them toast up for a bit.

Trust me.

Now mix all that sauteed goodness into your cooked quinoa, and toss in about 1/3 cup dried cranberries.  You can also use raisins.  Or even a combo of both.  Stir it up.  Be sure to give it a taste, and adjust the seasoning if needed.

To finish it off simply stuff your squash with the quinoa.  Top off with a bit of parmigiana.  And bake and additional 15 to 20 minutes.

If the idea of a completely meatless meal freaks you out, some ground sausage would be wonderful in this.
If you give my recipe a try, be sure to come back and let me know how you like it!

Ready to go in the oven for their final baking

Loose ends

It was a good day for wrapping things up.

When I got home from work (that's right... work on a Sunday) I set straight to finishing off my Fall tote.

I love it!

It has a strong, stiff interfacing on the base which gives it a nice structured bottom to sit on.

I opted for canvas straps instead of making my own quilted ones.  It's the first time I have done this, and I will be sure to do it again.  Easy peasy this way.

It's huge too.  Did I mention that yet?  It came out a bit deeper than I had originally intended, but I am ok with that... I carry a lot of shit around anyway!

Pardon the lap shot again, but I've been doing a little hand stitching this evening to finish up my feather pillow.  I'm pleased with the results.

Using the scraps from the feathers I whipped up this little 12 x 12 pillow.

What do you mean you don't see it?  It's there... you'll have to look beyond the head of that cute puppy... see that scrappy thing?

I suppose I will have to get a better picture of it later.  You know, where you can actually see the whole pillow.  I couldn't resist this picture though.  Something in my heart melts a little every time I see Boone cuddle up to my patchwork.

On the topic of loose ends... tonight I finished up the leftovers from last nights dinner.

Chicken pot pie-- another homage to fall.  It was from scratch, and it was awesome.  Also, it turned out mighty pretty if I say so myself.

Cajun Shrimp Pasta

Dinner tonight was freaking delish!

Too good not to share.

Cajun shrimp pasta.  Based on a recipe from my step-mom, Kathy, who was born and raised in Louisiana.  I have to admit though, I've never written the recipe down... which is why I say it is 'based' on her recipe.  I am positive that it's pretty darn close though.  Every time I make it I do so off the cuff; the result is something a bit different each time.

I like to have fresh pasta for this dish.  I feel like it really makes it.  You know-- gives it that extra touch of awesomeness.  I am not, however, going to go through how to make fresh pasta during this post.

This dish will cook up fast, so you will want to get your water set to boil while everything else is cooking.  If you use fresh pasta it will only take about 3-4 minutes to cook once the water is boiling.  Contrary to popular belief, do NOT add oil to your pasta water.  Your sauce will not stick to the pasta if you do.  Instead, once you drain it, toss in .5 tbsp of butter and some fresh grated parmigiana. 

Ok, enough the the pasta already.  You'll start with about 2 or 3 small stalks of celery finely chopped, and half an onion roughly chopped.

And butter.  This recipe will use a copious decent amount of butter.  

Turn your burner on medium/med-high (depending on your range) and toss in about 2-2.5 tbsp of butter.  When it's all melted toss in round one of veggies.  You will want to let these cook up for 6-10 minutes.

 Veggies round two: half a red pepper, half a green pepper, and a good chunk of asparagus.  All chopped roughly.  

Normally I throw some tomato in there too... but I spaced this time.  I have to say I didn't notice the difference.  In fact, of all the times I have made this, this time came out the best.  So maybe I will leave it out from now on.

So toss in round two.  If most of your butter seems spent from round one-- throw in another tbsp.

You want to make sure you are using a large enough pan so that the vegetables are mostly in a single layer.  This is important because if your pan is too small, and your veggies are two inches deep, you will end up steaming them and the result will be a soggy mess.  Keep that in mind if you ever make stir-fry and don't have a proper wok (I don't).

Let rounds one and two of veggies saute together, stirring occasionally, until just after the asparagus turns a neon green.

Pour this awesome smelling mixture in a bowl off to the side.

 Next up-- the shrimp.  You will want about a pound.  Peeled and deveined.  I leave the tails on, but that is just a matter of aesthetics. 

In your now empty pan throw in another 1.5-2 tbsp of butter.  Then add the shrimp.

On top of that tasty shrimp press 2 cloves of garlic, sprinkle some pepper, parsley, and dried chili flakes to taste (depends on how much of a kick you want).

Also some Cajun seasoning.  I use Tony's Creole Seasoning-- at Kathy's suggestion.  I omit salting anything at this point because the Tony's seasoning has a decent amount of sodium in it already.

After about 2 minutes on one side, stir the shrimp.  Turn your pan up to med-high and add a splash of a dry white wine.  It should quickly evaporate by half.  Only about 2 more minutes is necessary for the shrimp-- you don't want to overcook them or they will become rubbery.  No one likes a rubbery shrimp.

Gently mix in your veggies to reheat them.  Taste your sauce and adjust any seasonings accordingly.

Voilà! 

  

Fall Friday

Yesterday was wonderful-- and my day off I might add.  I woke up nice and early (thanks Boone) to a crisp fall morning, and a day of food filled aromatherapy.  

It has been cool enough these past few days to finally use the oven again, and I'm not missing out on a single chance to!  Thursday night we had roasted chicken with root veggies, and before heading to bed I threw the carcass dearly departed remains of that bird into the stock pot.  If you've never made your own stock before you don't know what you're missing.  Next time you have a chicken or turkey you should give it a try.  Just toss the carcass (sounds appetizing I know) into the pot with a few sticks of celery, carrots, one or two onions, a few whole peppercorns, and cover it all with water.  You don't even have to take the time to prep the veggies; peel and roughly chop the onion, that's it.  Cover the pot, put it on low, and let it slowly come to a simmer and stay there for a minimum of four hours.  I recommend doing all of this right before bed and letting it simmer over night.  Because then you get to wake up the next morning-- on a cool fall morning-- to a house filled with the most delectable scent. 

The whir of my mixer is almost as awesome as the hum of my sewing machine.

 While the stock was cooling (for ease of skimming the fat off the surface) I baked some sandwich bread.  After a year of trial and error with a thousand different bread recipes, I finally found the perfect sandwich bread recipe.  I don't change a thing on it.

A shameless product plug that I don't even get paid for-- Fiestaware bakeware is AMAZING. That is all.

Bread is not difficult to make, just time consuming.  Worth. Every. Minute.

I put these puppies in the oven right before getting into the shower (it was early afternoon, don't judge).  I stepped out of the shower to the house filled with the aroma of fresh bread.  It was about as awesome as waking up to the stock.  They were equal in their awesomeness.

And behold the glory of grilled cheese made with fresh bread, served up with chicken noodle soup from scratch.

Yum.

And don't think I let a day off pass without a little sewing.  I'm just not going to show you yet.  Maybe later today ;)

Not so spicy, spicy lentil dhal...

I tried a new recipe tonight, which can always be hit or miss .  We try to have at least one meatless meal a week around here, and tonight was that night.  The recipe was for spicy lentil dhal.  

Start with some sesame oil, onion, garlic, and fresh ginger if you have it.  I seem to recall that recipe said two cloves of garlic, but I'm thinking they meant more like 3 or 4.  Everything is better with more garlic.

You also need a cup of red lentils, rinsed and picked over.  So pick out all those funky discolored ones and toss them aside.  

Heat up about 1 tbsp. of the sesame oil over a medium heat.  Finely chop up a cup of onion (I used a bit more), as well as the garlic and ginger.  Toss it all into the oil and cook until the onion becomes translucent.  Savor that wonderful aroma wafting out of the pan and inhale deeply... that smell right there is my favorite aromatherapy.  

Our house is lacking in fresh ginger so instead I added some dry ground ginger in with the rest of the spices.

(1 tsp. coriander, cumin, turmeric, and salt; 1/4 tsp. cardamom, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper)

The recipe calls for just dumping in the four cups of broth, lentils, and spices at this point.  Instead, I tossed in the lentils and tossed them to coat with the oil.  Then I dumped in all my spices (including the ginger), and stirred to coat again.  If it seems too dry just give it an extra splash of oil.

You'll want to let it cook for about three or four minutes, until the spices start to smell nice and toasty.  This really easy extra step will help really imbibe all those awesome flavors into the lentils.  Once that was done I added the broth and brought the whole thing to a boil, covered the pot, and reduced the temperature to a simmer.  I used chicken stock, but if you want the meal completely vegetarian then you can use water or vegetable broth.  When ever I use store bought stock I look for the low/no sodium options, that I way I can have total control over the salt.

While the dhal is doing it's thing, get your rice started.  If you're using brown rice be sure to start a little earlier since it can take longer to cook up.

When the 20 minute simmer is complete, uncover the pot and add 2 tbsp of tomato paste (use a touch more if you're feeling adventurous).  

See that cute little dish- the one over there on the right? It's my new kosher salt bowl.  I'm in love.

Who knew one little vintage looking sugar turned salt dish could make a girl so happy?

Back to the cooking.  Stir that tomato paste in really well, making sure to get rid of any clumps.  After that I just let it continue to simmer, uncovered, until it was the consistency I wanted.

Then you just spoon it up on top of some rice and you've got your self a wonderful, cheap, meatless Indian meal!

The final dish, while none to pretty, tastes divine.  It is packed full of flavor, and fills the belly.  This is definitely going on the list of meatless meals for us, and is one for the recipe box.  I think the only real change for next time will be to up the ante on the cayenne pepper-- 1/4 tsp could barely be tasted.