Paul and Cori

Things we love: cooking, photography, crocheting, reading, math and board games.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A very crochet Christmas

Now that Christmas is over, and everyone has opened their gifts, here are some of the things I made this year.
 I sent a huge box to Koleen to distribute to family- thanks again sis!

For Nancy and my Dad, a ginger bread house.  For Amy, Angela and Mike, stockings. I love these retro stockings! Very Christmasy, and beautiful too- I will probably make some for Paul and I one day.
copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010
 For Paul, monkey slippers, so funny and cute. I had made him some before, but they are now too stretched out and no longer stay on his feet. I am better at crochet now though, and these will stay good for a long time!   For Chloe and Mia, skirts. Mia's is shades of teal. Chloe's is purple and sparkly to go with her dance studio's colors- I even sequined it myself!  I also made a matching skirt for Kelly (Chloe's American girl doll).
copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010
 For my Mom and Jon, a tart tote, filled with tarts that smell like Christmas on a beach- their dream!
copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010
 For Allison, a shawl with a button- a very cool button.
copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010
 For Gabriel, a monkey. :)
copyright: Cori 2010














Koleen sent me pictures of Mia and Gabriel opening their gifts the day they arrived, Mia said, "that is soooooo cute!" Gabriel was very excited, look at his face!

Christmas cookie

Paul and Amy put cookie cutters in my stocking this Christmas. Plus, Amy got me a new hand mixer, so I had to make cookies.
copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010
These cookies are from What's to Eat, a dairy- nut- and egg-free cookbook, Paul's sister, Sara, got for us a few years ago. Water, oil and baking powder take over for the egg and they also have a little orange juice in them. They are good, I think next time I will be sure to have sprinkles.
The dough is pretty sticky, I refrigerated it for a bit after it was mixed, then made sure not to roll it too hard (or grab it too forcefully at all) and always kept my surface, the rolling pin, and the dough heavily floured. I also used a spatula to transfer the cookies onto the cookie sheet.
Hope everyone's Christmas was as jolly as mine!

Friday, December 10, 2010

enchiladas

Adding more tomato and using flour tortillas (instead of corn) in place of cheese really helps my enchiladas not to be too dry. I really enjoy making Mexican food and embracing my heritage that way. In October we visited my Nana in Florida, and learned a very easy (and delicious) way to make salsa- a can of crushed tomatoes, 4 jalapenos, 2 cloves minced garlic, diced onion, a little salt and pepper. Nana has a molcajete she crushes the jalapenos in and then just stirs the other stuff in. Let it sit for a while so the flavors mix and enjoy!

Back to the enchiladas. My major grievance of our grocery store is that I never know what sorts of chilies they will have, or how spicy they will be. The jalapenos can even range in spiciness from one to the next. For this recipe I recommend using one jalapeno or serrano (medium spiciness) and one poblano chile pepper (mild spiciness) for the 2 green chiles. This time of making them, the store didn't have any pobalnos (which are dark green and medium sized) so we got a light green large one and it ended up being very mild, almost lacking in flavor completely, so our enchiladas where not as spicy as we like, but they still smelled really good (which made it harder to tell that they weren't going to be spicy).

copyright: Cori 2010
Anyway,
1 lb. ground turkey
1 diced onion
3 tbls. minced fresh parsley
1 tea. pepper
3- 8oz cans tomato sauce with no salt added
2/3 c. water
3 cloves minced garlic
1 diced green bell pepper
copyright: Cori 2010
2 minced green chiles
1 tbl. chili powder
1 tea. dried oregano (2 tea. fresh)
 1/2 tea. ground cumin
10 medium (soft taco size) flour tortillas

Heat oven to 350. Cook turkey over medium heat until brown, drain.
Stir in onion, parsley and pepper, cover and remove from heat.

copyright: Cori 2010
copyright: Cori 2010
Heat tomato sauce, water and the remaining spices in 2-quart saucepan to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
Mix meat mixture and sauce in large bowl.
copyright: Cori 2010
 Line 13 X 9 baking dish with foil and spray with cooking spray. Dip each tortilla in the sauce, fill with a little filling and roll tightly- folding in edges. Pour remaining filling over enchiladas, if necessary cover with a can of diced tomatoes (plus a little more pepper, chili powder and oregano) to cover the tortillas completely- this will prevent the tortillas from becoming crunchy in the oven.
copyright: Cori 2010
copyright: Cori 2010












Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. I enjoy these  enchiladas served with cilantro-lime rice.
copyright: Cori 2010
copyright: Cori 2010

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

crochet for a cause

Using my crochet skills to help people in need is a big ambition of mine. Angela has a fantastic idea for a non-profit organization to help young adults suffering from hard times transition into adult-hood and make something of their lives. Which will use our photography skills as well as crochet. I'm very excited about being a part of this, and I'm sure I will have may more blog posts about it in the future.
Right now, to help obtain non-profit status, we are beginning her organization by selling goods at local flea markets and using the money to do just what we hope to do after she has non-profit status- help young adults transition into adult hood.

copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010
I made these coffee cozies, and Christmas ornaments this week to give Angela something more to sell at the flea market. I hope this fantastic idea works out!


In addition to the non-profit with Angela, I am also going to make a bear for The Mother Bear Project, and crochet some squares for Knit a Square, to help people in Africa. More on that later, by spring. :)

Monday, December 6, 2010

Thanksgiving Dinner

Yum! I'm hungry even thinking about it :)
Stuffing is probably my second favorite thing in this meal, after turkey. It tastes so good with fresh rosemary flat bread, celery, onions, fresh garlic, sage and thyme, olive oil, chicken broth, and maybe a little wine. mmm, mmm!
copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010






copyright: Cori 2010



 Of course, I also love gravy! We make our gravy every year, not only because it tastes so delicious, but also because Paul can't eat any gravies I've seen in the store. It does take a long time though! It probably seems longer because the turkey is done at this point. Paul made the gravy this year, except for a little stirring relief at the end from Amy- not that we didn't offer to help sooner, mind you.

copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010
 I so enjoy making our whole meal from scratch every year! And having Amy over to enjoy in the food stuffed relaxing lazy days!
copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010