Curtis the Cheeseman.

I have a long lost brother who lives in North Carolina. 

Ok, he's really not long lost, we just don't get to see him often enough. North Carolina is too far away!

Luckily weddings bring family together. Curtis and Chelsea flew out for Corinne's wedding and stayed a little extra to play and visit. I'm so glad they were able to come! I really miss having them close. 

Curtis is the Cheeseman. For reals. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in food science at North Carolina State University. He is so smart. Just like my dad- so many good brains in those two. His research is dairy and cheese related. So he spends a lot of his time making cheese! Curtis and Chelsea haven't bought cheese in the 3 years since they moved to North Carolina. Curtis makes enough of it at work and brings home the excess he doesn't need for his research. Lucky ducks- cheese can be expensive!

My request while they were here visiting was to make cheese. Curtis recommended we purchase a cheesemaking kit from online because it had all of the necessary tools we would need, besides milk. It takes a whole gallon of milk to make just one pound of cheese. That's so much milk!

One afternoon we busted out the kit and made ourselves a pound of mozzarella. The kit says it has enough ingredients to make 30 one pound batches. That means we can make 29 more pounds of cheese! Yes!

Hailey started us off by dissolving the enzymes and citric acid in water.

Curtis added it to the milk and let it cook on the stove.

It felt like we did a lot of waiting for the milk to reach the proper temperature.

But then magic happened. The curds began pulling away from the pot.

When the curds were firm enough we drained them with cheesecloth. 

And squeezed out all of the excess liquid.

Back to the stove it went, just to heat back up in preparation for pulling and stretching.

Now our cheese is ready to be pulled. 

And stretched.

Just like taffy. But not as sweet. But still so delicious!

Ta-da! One pound of fresh mozzarella cheese. It was warm and delicious. Even a little bit addicting. I love cheese. :)

Now I really don't know the science behind it all. When I see Curtis I tend to pick his brain about all sorts of topics food and cooking related. I know I asked all sorts of questions wanting to understand the science of cheese. And now I've already forgotten it. I guess Curtis and Chelsea need to come back and make some more cheese with us. :)

I'm thinking the next time we make some cheese we should also make some pizza dough. And maybe even some homemade root beer or ice cream (or both!), and have a real homemade pizza night. Yes, sounds like a good idea to me! 

My New Blog

In the past year the traffic on this blog has grown quite a bit. A lot of it is coming from Pinterest, which is great! I’m so glad that people have pinned things I’ve done, and are interested in what I’m doing. It sure is a compliment to me, and makes me happy.

I love blogging. My original purpose in updating this blog is to use it as an open journal to chronicle what is happening in our family. For me, blogging is so much easier and more enjoyable than a private written journal. I love working on the computer, so it fits me.

Since this blog is more of a journal for me to share with friends and family, I’d prefer to direct Pinterest traffic elsewhere. I’ve decided to start a new blog, just for those things that are being pinned on Pinterest.

I present to you, http://hillmade.blogspot.com. Here’s a peek at it:

I plan to update hillmade with the extracurricular things I’m doing: sewing, learning activities with Hailey, and some favorite recipes I’m making. Follow along with me and see what I’m up to!

Spelling with Pretzels

I find I just don’t have a lot of free time these days. Newborns require so much attention. The constant feeding, holding, rocking, diaper changing… Beyond caring for Keira, our house clutters so quickly and it drives me nuts. I can let it go for a  little while, but it quickly bugs me. Some days breakfast and lunch dishes stay on the table or counter even after we’ve eaten dinner. I just can’t stand it anymore. So, when I’m not giving my attention to Keira, I’m trying to straighten up the house, mostly the kitchen. And then there’s the laundry. Piles and piles of laundry. How is it that one tiny person can have the most laundry to be washed? It takes me days, or an entire week to fold the laundry and put it away. By the time I get the laundry finally taken care of, it’s time to do it all over again.

I feel like I have plenty to do and not enough time or energy to do it all. Things are getting better from the time we first brought Keira home. I’m starting to get into a routine. But I still I feel like I don’t accomplish much everyday, yet I haven’t had the time to do much of anything extra. Funny how you can stay busy, but not be busy at all.

The point of this? I’ve found myself occupied taking care of Keira and the house, but I’ve slacked on giving Hailey quality attention. Hailey is so good at entertaining herself sometimes that I forget that I need to reach out to her and spend time with her as well. I know I’ll have more time to spend with her soon enough. I obviously have a little bit of free time right now as I write this post.

One day last week I made a specific effort to do something fun and extra special with Hailey. I had Hailey help me make pretzels. They sounded good, and I thought she’d enjoy rolling out the dough. She loves to play with Play-doh. Making pretzels isn’t much different.

To make our pretzel making fun and educational, we spelled out our names with the dough. Hailey knows how to spell her name, and she knows how to write some of the letters. I thought this would be a fun way to continue to work on that. As we rolled out the dough, we talked about which letter comes next, and how it’s made. I asked Hailey to tell me what the next step was in our letter making (on the letters she knows how to write) and she helped put the dough in place. It was fun! Hailey especially loved eating each of her letters (we stretched it out over a few days).

When we play with Play-doh, this is often what we do. But this was better, because it’s edible. :)

If you’re interested, here’s the recipe we used.

Pretzels
4 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/4 c. warm water
3 1/2-4 1/2 c. bread flour (I just used all-purpose and it was fine)
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
4 c. water
1/2 c. baking soda
kosher salt for sprinkling (we used cinnamon and sugar, and garlic salt and shredded parmesan cheese as toppings)

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tsp. sugar in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 1/2 c. flour, 1/2 c. sugar, and 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Make a well in the center, add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix. Add more flour if dough is too sticky. Knead 3-4 minutes. Cover and let rise until double (approx. 30 minutes). Gently punch down dough. Cut the dough into 12 pieces. Roll each until about 15 inches long and the thickness of your finger. Twist into a pretzel. In a pot, mix water and baking soda. Bring to a boil. Dip each pretzel into boiling soda water for 5 seconds. Place on greased baking sheet, lightly sprinkle with kosher salt and bake for 8-10 minutes at 425 degrees.

A Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe to Solve all My Problems

I have struggled with making chocolate chip cookies the whole nine years I’ve lived in Utah. The high altitude kills me! What’s sad, is that it’s only been in the past year that I’ve realized that the high altitude was to blame. My cookies have always come out flat. They puff up big and then flatten out. I’ve done research, and tried so many things. I’ve started just upping the temperature of the oven and adding extra flour, and that seems to work ok.

But no more! I’ve found the cookie recipe to solve all my problems. And it makes me so happy that I want to share it with you!

I know there are 50 million chocolate chip cookie recipes on the internet. But I really love these cookies. My friend Brittney made some and shared with Hailey and I one day. We ate them at home, and I immediately texted her asking for the recipe. They are nice and crispy, but not crunchy, and they don’t puff up and flatten- they keep their shape. Hallelujah!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 c butter
1/2 c shortening
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 bag of milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter, shortening and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs and cream. Sift in baking soda, salt and flour. Mix in chocolate chips. Roll dough into golf ball sized balls and place on cookie sheets usually about 12 fit on a sheet. Bake for 12-16 minutes. Cookies should be browned on top.

Note: I don’t roll them as big, because I’m cheap-o and try to get as many out of the recipe as I can. I’m more about quantity than size. I just use my cookie scoop. If you do that, just bake them 8-10 minutes like normal.

When I last made these, I doubled the recipe and got 5 dozen cookies out of it! I only baked 12 cookies, and then froze the rest.

Now I have 48 cookies waiting in the freezer to be baked. Mmmm… yum!

Happy Halloween! & Eyeball Cake Balls

Yay! Halloween is here!

You know what I love about Halloween? Sugar, candy, goodies, treats… yes, I have a major sweet tooth. But actually, even more than all of that, now that I’m a mom, I totally just love that Hailey gets to dress up and that she’s so excited about it all! I told her yesterday that tomorrow (today) is Halloween. She got so excited. But also so upset when she didn’t get to go trick-or-treating after her nap (not that she took one). She insisted that she would be trick-or-treating after her nap. I know, a whole day- it’s a long wait for a little girl.

I’m not one to go all out for holidays. I just don’t really do much decorating, ever. In high school I used to love it- but these days I’m just not that motivated or interested. But, when I saw this pin on Pinterest to make eyeball cookies, I got really excited.

Instead of using oreos and making cookie eyeballs, I decided to try my hand at cake balls. I’ve eaten many a cake ball before, but never have I actually made any.

They turned out out ok. I haven’t tried one, but I’m positive that they taste delicious. The problem is they lack presentation. As is the case with any baking or cooking I do. Making good looking food and treats is just not my forte. Kyle and I have joked since we were engaged (6 years ago!) that we would someday open a restaurant or café called the Ugly Pie, with the tag line, It may look like crap, but it sure doesn’t taste like it.

Anyone remember the birthday cake I made for myself 3 years ago? Go on, check it out, have yourself a good laugh.

Anyway, I made some eyeball cake balls for Kyle to take into work.  I wish I had put a little more effort into it and made fun apothecary jars and labels and make it all spooky and gross, but… like I said, just not my thing. I do love that the cake itself is red velvet cake, so you bite into it and looks like blood. Now if only there were a way to make them gush a little red liquid when you take a bite… ha! That’d be great.

Yes, I ran out of candy melts, so there are five with no coating. But I’m sure they’ll still get eaten. I know I would!

09.27.12- Some Good Luck

I follow a few food blogs online. One of them being Real Mom Kitchen. Laura, the blogger on Real Mom Kitchen, did a review of a Blendtec blender and was hosting a giveaway for one blender. Occasionally I enter giveaways on blogs, because, why not?

I’ve been wanting a more powerful blender. Hailey and I love smoothies, but I’ve been so afraid that someday my blender would blow up while trying to process through all of the frozen fruit.

Anyway, I saw the post with the giveaway and thought, sure, why not? And guess what? I WON!

For reals. I really, really did win a Blendtec blender this week. Today the UPS truck brought it to my house. And I’ve been super giddy about it ever since.

I have yet to use it. I’ve been waiting for Kyle. Pretty sure he’s as excited about it as I am.

If you don’t know Blendtec, check out their “Will It Blend” videos. Kyle and I used to enjoy watching him blend wood and golf balls and other crazy things.

Anyway, this is a stinking nice blender and I’m really excited about it. I still can’t believe I won it. Who wins things like this anyway? Apparently I did this week. Crazy luck!

07.03.12

Strawberry freezer jam.

I sure do love all of the fruits in season this time of the year. Makes me so happy! I stocked up on fruit this week. And I’m loving it.

06.24.12

Hailey’s first Oreo. Of course she loved it.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Munchies

Our ward’s Relief Society had an activity tonight based on gifts and our favorite things. We were each provided a gift bag and given the instructions to put one of our favorite things in the bag and we would exchange gifts at the activity.

I struggled to think of something that is my favorite. I know I have plenty, but nothing came. All I could think of was food related! So… food it was.

Cookies to be exact: Chocolate Peanut Butter Munchies. Why these cookies? Because 1) I love chocolate and peanut butter. 2) I enjoy baking, especially cookies. 3) These are my favorite cookies to make- there’s something so fun about rolling balls and then smashing them.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Munchies
[Chocolate Balls]
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. peanut butter
1 egg
1 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

[Peanut Butter Balls]
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. peanut butter

2 Tbsp. sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, cocoa and baking soda. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 c. sugar, brown sugar, butter and 1/4 c. peanut butter. Beat in the egg, milk and vanilla. Add the flour mixture. Shape the dough into 32 balls. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and 1/2 c. peanut butter. Beat until smooth- knead with your hands if necessary. It will be crumbly. (I added 1-2 tsp. milk to help cream the peanut butter and powdered sugar together. Just don’t add too much, or it will be sticky and won’t roll. If that happens add extra powdered sugar until it is no longer is sticky.) Shape into 32 balls.


To form the cookies, flatten 1 chocolate ball. Place a peanut butter ball on top.


Shape the chocolate ball around the peanut butter center completely covering the filling. Reshape into a ball.


Repeat with the remaining dough.


Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Place 2 Tbsp. sugar in a bowl. Dip the bottom of a drinking glass in sugar and lightly flatten each cookie, redipping in sugar between cookies.


Bake for 8 minutes, or until the cookies are set and slight cracks form on top. Cool on a cookie sheet for 1 minute. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on a rack.


Pour yourself a glass of milk (you’ll want it) and enjoy a cookie, or two, or three…

And don’t forget the best part of cookie making- licking the beater clean!

“COOO-KIE”

A Week in Washington

Hailey and I left Kyle for a week at the very end of May and flew to Washington.

Miss Hailey, who is now 2 1/2, no longer flies for free. Sad day. But, that meant she was spoiled with her very own seat. She did great. Hailey cracked me up. I gave her the window seat. On our flight to Washington we sat just behind the wing. Hailey spotted the wing out the window and said, “Look mom! Airplane arm!” Clever girl.

The big reason Hailey and I made the trek to Washington was because my little sister, Corinne, graduated from high school. (Remember when I took some senior pictures of her?) I can’t believe she’s all done with public education. I remember thinking, long ago, that I would be so old when Corinne graduated. 2012 sounded so far away. And now it’s here, and I’m really not that old. :)

It’s off to BYU-Idaho in the fall for her! Yay Corinne! It’ll be so fun! There are some days when I miss college and all of the fun we had. I had the best roommates. Seriously.

Not only did the end of the school year bring graduation for Corinne, but it brought an end to Caroline’s stay with my family. Caroline was a foreign exchange student from Sweden. My family loved having her with them. And I loved being able to get to know her a little bit on a few occasions.

One of Caroline’s favorite American finds is frozen yogurt. Before she left for Sweden, my family went out for frozen yogurt one last time. Hailey and I were lucky enough to tag along. Mmm… I love ice cream and frozen yogurt way too much.

Speaking of love and food…

Bruchi’s: A sandwich shop, specializing in cheesesteaks and subs. My favorite? The Chicken Malibu. Chicken, ham, pineapple, cheese and mayo. I always add a little fry sauce (Yes! Fry sauce outside of Utah!) and fries (Which are so good… crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.) And it is amazing. And now I’m hungry.

Bruchi’s is our absolute favorite place to eat. Whenever we’re in Kennewick we eat there as often as possible. This trip I made it 3 times. And it was so good. And I always ate way too much. But it was so worth it.

Our last trip to Bruchi’s was in honor of Kyle’s sister Chelsie, who celebrated her birthday the day we flew back home. Chelsie’s sandwich of choice is the kids turkey and cheese sub. I tried to get a picture of Hailey and Chelsie enjoying their kids meals, but Hailey was too busy being Hailey. Oh well. Thanks for letting us celebrate with you Chelsie! And thanks for picking Bruchi’s. Always a great choice.

We had a great trip and loved visiting with family and friends. Hailey was in heaven with new-to-her books and toys. And I loved letting her loose and partially ignoring my motherly duties. I love vacation. Let’s do it again!

No worries about Kyle. Really, I think he enjoyed being a bachelor for a week. He was able to get things done he’d be wanting to do for a while. And he signed up for a free trial of Netflix (which we’re still taking advantage of.) He was set with plenty of Top Gear and movies to watch. It was as much of a vacation for him as it was for us, minus having to still go to work. :) 

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Kyle and I love to make homemade pizza. And we love to get fancy with it. Or at least Kyle does. Left up to me I just slap on some pepperoni and cheese. But when Kyle makes pizza, he makes pizza. And I love it.

Kyle made a BBQ Chicken pizza for our dinner tonight. And it was so good. Mmm…

He cooked the chicken with onion and garlic. Then he seasoned it with some cajun seasoning (which I’m so glad I brought back with me from Texas), and lightly with black pepper and cayenne pepper. In the same pan, he heated bacon (I buy the pre-cooked kind). He mixed the chicken and bacon together, and diced it all up.

The pizza crust (which I made) was topped with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce (our favorite), and then sprinkled with the chicken/bacon mixture. He also topped the pizza with diced tomatoes, followed by mozzarella cheese. After the pizza cooked, Kyle sprinkled on chopped spinach. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any cilantro. Cilantro would have been so good. Next time.

The sweetness of the BBQ sauce evened out the spiciness of the chicken. It was good. More please?

05.16.12- Lazy Cake Cookies from I’m a Lazy Mom

I have a love/hate relationship with baking cookies with Hailey. I love the idea, and I want to enjoy it. I love that Hailey loves helping me bake and gets so eager and excited. Which is why I also dislike it. Hailey wants to do it all, makes a huge mess, doesn’t always listen to my instructions, and isn’t ever patient enough to wait for me to help her. (Really, I shouldn’t expect any different. She’s 2 1/2, that’s the story with everything we do.) So, when I find a simple recipe, I’m all over it.

Hailey and I tried out the Lazy Cake Cookies recipe from I’m a Lazy Mom (found via Pinterest.) All you need is 1 cake mix, 2 eggs, 5 T. melted butter, and chocolate chips or M&M’s. Mix it all together, spread in a 9x13 pan, and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Easy peasy!

It was totally the perfect recipe for toddler baking. Minimal mess and Hailey can do most of it herself.

The bars are perfectly soft and so good. We’re keeping this one. Yum!

03.23.12

JDawgs- quickly becoming a BYU classic

Kyle’s parents flew into town today. We picked them up from the airport and headed to Orem/Provo for the weekend. We grabbed linner (a late lunch- not lunch, but not dinner) at JDawgs. Mmm… that is one good hot dog. And a big one at that.

03.14.12- Individual Chocolate Pudding Pie

Happy pi day!

It’s pi day! 3.14. I love pi day! Why? Because it’s a great excuse to indulge in pie!

I made individual chocolate pudding pies for Kyle’s coworkers. They were so easy and fun to make.

I used a muffin tin for transporting all of the cups.

Individual Chocolate Pudding Pies

(makes 12)

Graham Cracker Crust:

1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers (You know how a box comes with three smaller packages? One whole little package made enough for me.)

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

Mix the three ingredients together. Press 2 tsp. of crust mixture into the bottom of 12 (9oz.) plastic cups. Let chill fro 30 minutes.

Pudding:

2 (5.9oz.- the bigger ones) boxes of chocolate instant pudding

6 cups milk

Whisk the pudding mix into the milk for 2 minutes. Pour 3/4 cup of pudding into each of the (12) graham cracker bottomed cups. Top with whipped cream and serve! (Or chill the pudding until ready to serve and top with whipped cream just before eating)

Yum!

02.27.12

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips with Fluffy Strawberry Dip

Our evening snack tonight. It was good.

Kyle was sitting on our bedroom floor organizing his Legos when I came in carrying these two bowls. I sat them down next to him, so we could enjoy these chips and dip together. After a minute or so I got up and started taking the bowls away, so I could photograph them. Kyle insisted that I leave them there and take my pictures on the floor, so he could keep snacking.

I found this idea on icantstopcrafting.blogspot.com. She cut her tortillas into snowflakes, which is fun. But I chose to be not so crafty and just use my pizza cutter to cut wedges. Kyle suggested next time to use a round cookie cutter to make circles for easier dipping.

This snack is easy to make. Cut your tortillas in the shape you want. Place them on a baking sheet and spray the tortillas with cooking spray. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top, and bake them at 400 degrees for 4-5 minutes.

The dip is just cool whip (she made her own by whipping, whipping cream) and jam. That’s it!

02.26.12

Tastes Like Lasagna Soup and Homemade Breadsticks

This is what our dinner looked like tonight. And it was delicious. Pinterest has done it again.

Go on, try it.

Tastes Like Lasagna Soup- I opted to leave out the sausage called for in the recipe. And of course it was still good. I’ve made it both ways and honestly, I think I like it better without, it’s less greasy and fatty. I also added twice as many noodles as called for. I’m not a big tomato soup fan, so for me the more pasta-y the better. Plus that way it stretches the meal out a little farther and we have more leftovers. Which means I don’t have to cook tomorrow, or possibly Tuesday, and I’m saving us some money. Pasta is cheap.

Oh. And be careful with the red pepper flakes. If you’ve never used them before, they are potent. Seriously. If you like spicy, use the full 1/4 tsp. called for. For us, a dash is plenty. If you can’t handle the spice, just leave it out entirely. When I used Italian sausage I didn’t add any red pepper flakes. The sausage is spicy enough, even the mild stuff.

Homemade Breaksticks- This recipe has become my go-to everyday breadstick recipe. It’s quick and easy. Mix it up, let the dough rise for 30 minutes, roll it out, and bake it. Easy as that.

By the way, the recipe says to roll the breadsticks in butter. I definitely don’t do that. I just bake them and then lightly brush them with butter and a little garlic salt after I take them out of the oven. They don’t need a butter bath.

02.15.12

To eat a cupcake or a cookie? How about a cupcake AND a cookie!

Once a month Kyle and his coworkers have a birthday lunch at work. Being men, they grill some sort of meal for themselves. Today was brats.

I like to make treats. Way too often. And I don’t want it all in my house, because I’ll eat it all. So, I send most of whatever I’ve made to work with Kyle.

This month I was volunteered to make a cake for their birthday lunch. So Kyle and I made funfetti cupcakes, because cake always tastes better when there’s sprinkles in it. Since Hailey has a brand new apron, I needed to do some baking with her. So, yesterday Hailey and I made Orange Creamsicle Cookies (which I found via Pinterest- are you seeing a trend? Pinterest is beginning to dictate my life.)

Since I didn’t want all the cookies in our house, I had a plate for Kyle to take to work with him. Kyle decided it would be a better idea to put the cookies on top of the cupcakes. Which actually turned out to be a good idea, because when we covered the pan with foil, the cookies prevented the frosting from sticking to the foil. Apparently Kyle is a genius.

01.30.12

FHE snack: JELL-O Pinwheels

So easy, and so good. Try it!