No? Then why do I feel like a hamster on a wheel?
It was lovely here last week, and I had boundless energy, now that the weather is all over the place, so is my attention. I have the essentials covered but I was getting kind of used to being productive. I guess there’s always next week.
Ahhhh spring break is over and spring weather is here. We’ve had a marvelous two weeks, filled with so many fun things, and are all anticipating the fun that warm weather promises.
For the moment though, it’s back to work, at my job, around the house, and in the shop
It’s Been a while my dears and I do apologize. March tends to be a very busy month around here as I put on my sewing shoes and create costumes for the bunnies’ preschool fundraiser, a children’s theater production. It’s alot of fun, but also a lot of work.
The dust has settled and now I’m on spring break… enjoying the delicousness of short getaways, family visits, knitting and sewing for pleasure and planning surprises for the Etsy shop. Want a peek?
I’ll be back to my regular schedule next week, in the meantime I hope you’re enjoying yourself half as much as I am!
Somehow the forces aligned over the past week and created a situation where I barely had to cook at all. I know, it’s pretty unbelievable if you know me. Normally I prepare meals 3-5 times a day. And although I enjoy it, I have been savoring this break. Maybe too much because when I tried to come up with my food Friday topic this week, I was completely blank.
Then I got a message in my Facebook inbox from the Clancy’s Fancy fan club. They are looking to expand their market. Ahhh Clancy’s Fancy, hands down the best hot sauce on earth. I don’t know how I made it to age 30 without the stuff (the last 8 years have more than made up for it). Mr. Slippers went to high school with Jessica Clancy and my lovely mother in law makes sure we always have some in our fridge.
We use it the way we would any hot sauce, but we also employ some old school Ann Arbor punk rock recipes too. Nothing tastes better on onion rings than Clancy’s mixed with a little bit of mayo.
If you’re not lucky enough to be able to obtain this stuff, take this opportunity to let the CEO of Clancy’s, Mark Schremer, know you want it in your area. You can send him an email at the address on their site. If you’ve got some, go make up a mess of these and mix up some Clancy’s and mayo and enjoy a little bit of heaven.
Me, I need to figure out what to cook for dinner, wonder where my frying pan is?
I have to thank Renrahs on Etsy for providing me with an incredibly fun challenge by requesting this custom Sackboy and Chinese Dragon mask. I am so pleased with the way it turned out. However I am also completely exhausted!! Thank goodness I can it squeeze in a little break over the next week. I hope you are able to rest a bit too.
Yes, I am typing this on a Saturday. But my oh my, it’s been busy around here. I have definitely been working overtime. I’ll share my projects in another post, right now I want to catch up on the food love. This one is a standard in our house. It’s my go to when I need to (literally) throw something together at the last minute. I threw this one together about a week ago, when Mr. Slippers had to work late. Like usual, I used the best mix of ingredients in my kitchen at that time. But the possibilities for substitution are endless. While I have made this many times, I’ve never made it the same way twice (isn’t that really what hash is all about anyway?). I would love to know if you make this, and am especially interested in YOUR variations.
Here’s my ingredient list:
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, diced
1/2 kielbasa, chopped in 1 inch dice
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 package frozen spinach, defrosted with excess water removed
1-4 eggs (I made 2 servings… I ate one poached egg and Mr. Slippers had 2, but sometimes we each have 2)
Here’s how to throw it all together:
Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet, you want it really hot. Add the onion and saute for about 1 minute until they begin to soften, then add the kielbasa.
Sometimes I make this with bacon or fresh sausage, when I do, I cook the meat first, remove the cooked meat to a bowl, then proceed with cooking and stir the meat in at the end. For this version, cook the meat and onions on high until both are slightly browned. Add the garlic and lower your heat to medium, saute for about a minute to soften the garlic (don’t burn it!). Then add the spinach and chickpeas, cook for a minute or two more to heat the mixture. Then season with salt, pepper and paprika (we are paprika freaks around here so I just add a pinch or two of hot, smoky Hungarian stuff.. delish!), and your hash is hashed.
I have made this with diced tomatoes, or mushrooms or diced bell peppers in addition to the spinach, made it without the spinach, used white beans, cubed boiled potatoes, and cubed sweet potatoes instead of the chickpeas, and thrown in some feta at the last minute when I could. But one thing I always do is top the warm has with poached eggs.
Poaching eggs is easy as pie, actually way easier than pie, don’t let it intimidate you. Fill a pot about 2 inches deep with water and bring it to a full rolling boil. Add about a teaspoonful of white vinegar to the water and gently drop in one or two eggs. They will spread a little, and foam a little but don’t fret. After a minute, use a
slotted spoon (I have a heavy plastic one that I love for this) to lift the eggs out of the water. Gently shake
off any excess water and you’ve got a poached egg. I put a mound of hash into a dish, and set the eggs on top,
season everything with a little salt and pepper and you have dinner… enjoy!
It’s been a wonderful Valentine’s Day. The bunnies had a great time making treats for their friends, enjoyed good celebrations at their preschool , and helped me decorate and create a wonderful meal for all of us. It’s been crazy busy for me lately, knitting custom orders and playing costume designer for a local children’s theater production. I can’t complain though… I do love these outlets for my craftiness. I seem to have more ideas than time these days and am itching to sew my big bunny some spring and summer dresses. And I am in complete AWE of the amazingness of this site. Sigh. So much to love there.
And speaking of love, I sure do love you blog-folk. I owe you some food, don’t I? I had a recipe all photographed and planned for yesterday but then I slacked and somehow “Overtime Hash” didn’t seem right for a Valentine’s day post. I think I’ll post it on Monday and give you some extra foodie love this week.
One last thing before I go soak up some of my bunny-love. I am so honored to have been asked to make a Valentine for someone else this year.. check it out, it’s pretty heart-melting.
Been busy this week! Lots of knitting and detail work, but so much fun! Want your own custom sackboy? Vist my shop.
Back in our freewheeling days Mr. Slippers and I spent many lost weekends in New Orleans. I’m grateful, because it will probably be a long time before we can get back. Our vacations now are mostly road trips with fast food and The Wonderpets on repeat play on the portable DVD player. On just such a road trip through Williams, CA last month we visited the newly remodeled Granzella’s. If you like olives, you really must go there. They KNOW olives. The intrepid Mr. Slippers, a huge olive fan, found this amongst the many delicacies on Granzella’s shelves, and waxed nostalgic for NOLA.
So, we bought it. And in honor of the superbowl foodfest this weekend, I made a muffuletta for Mr. Slippers.
I wouldn’t *exactly* call this a recipe, but if you can get your hands on a good jar of muffuletta olive mix, you can make one too.
First, get a round loaf of soft Italian bread. If, like me, you live in an area where this is not easy to find, make one. I used a Nigella Lawson recipe for soft white dinner rolls (from her book FEAST) and formed all of the dough into one big, round loaf.
Slice the loaf in half, horizontally so that you have two discs of bread. Then take a large spoon and hollow out a wide, shallow cavity in each disc.
Then drizzle some olive oil all over those discs, follow that up with a few splashes of juice from the olive mix. Next fill the hollowed out areas with generous amounts of olive mix.
On The disc that was the bottom of your loaf of bread, begin to layer hard salami, deli ham, thin sliced mortadella (or if like me, you can’t find mortadella in your town some uncured bologna), and provolone cheese. Here’s how I started.
When your meat and cheese is all layered up, gently put your sandwich together, being careful not to spill the olive mix. When it’s assembled, press down on the top of the loaf, you want it to soak up that olive mix. Now you’re ready to slice and serve this bad boy.
Nothing beats a *real* New Orleans muffuletta , but this sure does scratch the itch.
Feeling chilly? This will warm you up nicely.
Bunny Slippers 