It has been a few weeks since we had a new Pet of the Week here at the studio. Here is a crazy flashback to 2013!!!!!! I think I filmed this video. That guy looks like an alien.
Do you have a favorite pet from our archive? Did you ever get one of our Pets of the Week?
The aroma of baking, and the smell that takes over your house while you do it, is sure to bring back happy feelings and relieve stress! That is why I made my ULTIMATE favorite recipe today…Chocolate Chip Cookies. This recipe is actually one that I am using from Joanna Gains’ cook book, vol. 1! I LOVE HER. This cook book is honestly getting me through all of this craziness, so I wanted to share her cookies with you. Hopefully you can try them, too, and enjoy the relaxation of baking and the amazing smell of chocolate chip cookies.
Let’s get started! According to Joanna Gain’s Cookbook and my personal take on this recipe….
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In another bowl, or a stand mixer (I used the paddle attachment), add a stick of softened unsalted butter and 2 1/2 cups of brown sugar. Beat the sugar and butter on medium-high heat until smooth. Add 2 eggs and beat, then add vanilla and mix until blended well.
Stop the mixer and add in your flour mixture. Mix on medium for 1-2 mins. then turn up to high for a few seconds. Dough will be chunky.
Add in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips and mix on high. Or more! if you want 🙂
Drop spoonfuls onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, without rolling or making them flat. Place in the oven and bake for 8-10 mins. (until you start to see a light brown color on top). Place onto wire rack and cool.
This recipe makes 30-40 cookies.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/5 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or more!)
It’s easy to get bored or aggravated when you can’t go see family, friends or do anything fun that you have had planned for months.
BUT….having to stay home and canceling plans and getting to spend more time with my family has been a major blessing!
Trying to keep a 16 month old busy when you can’t go anywhere and when it’s been raining most days, keeping us indoors….does have it’s challenges, though! So we’ve tried a lot of new fun things to get us through.
Here’s what Lily has been up to as we’re all stuck at home 🙂 Scroll down to see our little home adventures…
Lily tried her first S’more….or s’mores…we made a lot at our campfire in our backyard!
Speaking of eating a lot…Lily has been VERY interested in my cooking and wanting to help..or rather taste test everything that comes out of the oven!
This girl…..yes, still eating…she broke into our snack drawer and found all of the goldfish. She’s obsessed with them, if you can’t tell!
We tried finger painting (and drawing with crayons) for the first time!! It was a LOT of fun for the first 10 minutes and then she wanted to throw the paper on the ground and touch Zoey (our dog) with her purple painted hands…yes Zoey ended up with a pretty purple streak on her head. It’s also partially Zoey’s fault…she had to sit on my lap while Lily painted..they love each other so much!
We also LOVE going on nature walks! Lily loves picking up sticks and this is a picture of the first “flower” that she picked!
BUT her favorite thing above everything else is reading books! We sit down and read books throughout the day, whenever she just feels like chillen’ and sitting in her big cozy rocking chair in her bedroom. Her favorite book is Goodnight Moon 🙂
<3 Katie Ryan
Brought to you by MCCutcheons Apple Products
Do you have a box cake sitting around? Want to make it BETTER?! This recipe is easy and taste so good, it makes the cake a little more dense and very moist. A little treat while we’re all stuck inside and I found all of the ingredients were things that I already had in my kitchen.
I used a box of Betty Crocker Super Moist Vanilla Cake mix. Grab a large mixing bowl and then add all of your dry ingredients- cake mix, all purpose flour, sugar, salt and whisk it all together!
Then add in your wet ingredients- 3 large eggs, water, vegetable oil, vanilla and the secret ingredient…sour cream! I mixed everything on low until it was combined.
Then I separated the mix into two 9” cake pans. It also works great for two 8” or three 6” pans.
Bake at 325 degrees for 50 mins.
Let the cakes cool on a wire rack. Start on your icing!
This icing is so good, we couldn’t stop eating it out of the bowl! Scroll down for icing recipe….
Ingredients: I got the recipe here!
-1 box vanilla cake mix
-1 cup all purpose flour
-1 cup granulated sugar
-1/2 tsp salt
-3 large eggs
-1 1/3 cup water
-2 tbsp vegetable oil
-1 cup sour cream
-2 tsp vanilla extract
I used my mixer to make the icing! Start out with the softened butter and blend the butter with the confectioners sugar.
Add in milk and vanilla and continue to mix until its very smooth. You can add milk to your preferred thickness. Then, if you want a little color add in the food coloring.
Ingredients:
-1/3 cup butter, softened
-3 cups confectioners sugar
-1 1/2 tbsp. milk
-1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
-food coloring
Brought to you by McCutcheon’s Apple Products
Still celebrating St.Patty’s Day this week! So if you missed out on Corned beef and cabbage, make it! Actually, I think I’m going to start making this more often…it’s THAT good!
This recipe is quick, easy and will cook ALL day and make your house smell amazing.
Start out by chopping your onion into large chunks and place it all in the bottom of your crock pot. On top of the onions, place your corned beef and then sprinkle the seasoning packet all over the beef. Add garlic and bay leaves.
Add in chopped carrots (I used about 3), potatoes about 1lb. (Note- I did not have potatoes in mine…couldn’t find any at the time!) Wait to add the cabbage!
Pour a 10.5 oz can of beef broth over everything in the crock pot. Then add water to cover the sides of the corned beef.
You’re going to cook it on low 8-10 hours, but two hours before serving add cabbage wedges to the slow cooker.
Remove corned beef from slow cooker and let rest 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with potatoes, carrots and cabbage.
It was so good…I started eating it right away and forgot to take a final picture for you 😉
Ingredients:
Even though we can’t eat out in restaurants right now we can support local restaurants by ordering take out. Check out these local deals!
***Remember the City of Frederick has established curbside pickup parking zones. You do not need to pay the meter to park for 10 min to receive carryout orders!***
Brewer’s Alley- $13 Bangers & Mash, $15 Corned Beef & Cabbage
Bushwallers- Free St. Patricks Day Swag with To-Go Orders all day (March 17)
Manalu- 10% off total check and free salad with dinner
Pistarro’s- Dinner Deal- $18 2 House Salads, 1 Pepperoni Pizza, 1 Cheese Pizza, 4 Chocolate Chip Cookies, 1 2L Pepsi
Thurmont Kountry Kitchen- $9.99 Corn Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes and Carrots, $13.99 8 pc broasted chicken with 2 pint sides
If you’re bummed to be spending St. Patrick’s Day at home this year, here are a few tips to help you celebrate while social distancing . . .
1. Watch some Irish movies. “Harper’s Bazaar” posted a list of more than 20 good ones you can look for on various streaming services. And Screenrant.com ranked the ten best St. Patrick’s Day SITCOM episodes of all time.
2. Attend a virtual St. Patrick’s Day party. The Milwaukee Irish Fest is the largest Irish event in North America. They’ll be live-streaming performances and videos on social media. Also, the Dropkick Murphys are streaming a show live from Boston with no audience. (Distractify.com has a list with a few more.)
3. If you’ve got kids, lean heavily on arts and crafts. They’ll need something to do that won’t require going anywhere. And you want it to take a while, so YOU can relax. “Woman’s Day” posted a list of 35 ideas you can check out. And YouTube and Spotify have a ton of traditional Irish music you can stream while you get crafty.
4. Brush up on your Irish-American history. About 33 million Americans have Irish ancestors. So it might be a good day to check out sites like Ancestry.com. The website IrishTimes.com has a good guide for getting started.
5. Cook some Irish food. Delish.com has a ton of recipes. Just don’t DRINK too much. Alcohol weakens your immune system, which is exactly what you don’t want right now. It’s not clear what a “safe” amount looks like. So definitely dial it back this year.
(The Wise Brothers Media)
