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Guess what I got?

So I decided to do something completely selfish. I rented a violin and had my first lesson today. It was fun. Just learning all the basics so far and not even using the bow yet. My fingertips are a little sore from practicing. Big surprise, my brain isn't a fan of reading music yet. I rented the violin from a really nice shop for three months. My teacher says it is of high quality, especially for a student. But don't worry I still managed to make it sound pretty crappy :)

I've booked a lesson for every Wednesday this month. Payed in advance too - no backing out now!

 

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Peasant Bread

Tried a new "no knead" bread recipe that I found over at alaxandra's kitchen called Peasant Bread. Very good. My hubby ate half a loaf by himself so I knew it must be good. Turned out really springy and chewy. I've made it three more times. It is a great bread to use for french toast (my favorite).

 

very wet dough

 

I didn't have the 1 liter round bowls that she was using but I figured I could try out these 1.7 liter flat bottom ones. Turned out fine. Just make sure to butter the dishes well.

 

buttered and dough divided between the two

 

just out of the oven

 

I love no knead bread - so fast and easy

 

 

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Hot Dog Pizza

Oh yes, we went there. Hot dog pizza. I don't really know how to express the goodness that this turned out to be. It was delicious. Obviously you will need to like hot dogs to like this pizza. We prefer the brand Nathan's over everything else. I think I may need to give some credit to myself. I don't really know what we did differently but both of these pizzas turned out to be the best we have ever made. That's saying something since our pizza is pretty much always amazing.

Dough (double batch of large pizzas)

Ingredients for hot dog pizza - will also need pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Here is the pizza sauce I use (cheap). We miss our homemade sauce so much.

Mixed together some pizza sauce and mustard/dill relish.

mixed 

 Spread the mixture on the pizza. As you can see we were a little worried it wouldn't turn out right so we only went with half a pizza. (right side)

We used hot dogs, onion and our homemade red kraut. Pre Bake

Finished pizza 

So good! We can't wait to make this again. 

Fermented Red Cabbage

So we finally got around to making a batch of red sauerkraut. I was a little doubtfully because I'm not a huge fan of the red variety of cabbage. Since Paul loves it I decided it was worth a try, and man am I glad we did. It tastes great and is so pretty. It was only two small heads so it didn't make a huge batch. 

Here it is after I removed the weight that had been keeping the cabbaged submerged.

ended up with: 1 quart, 1 pint, and 1 quarter pint - the little one was for a friend to try

Fermenting may sound a bit scary but it is a very safe and great way to preserve some foods. I love how easy it is to do. Factor in all the probiotics that come along and you have a fun and easy super food you can make at home. Regular sauerkraut just doesn't taste good to us now. 

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

Needed to make some bread but just wasn't feeling like making the same old regular bread so I decided to give Rosemary Olive Oil Bread a try. No surprise I found it via Pinterest... So speaking of Pinterest, I have found that it is better if I self edit out the words "So today on Pinteret/Guess what I found on Pinterest/I was on Pinterest" when speaking with my hubby. His eyes glaze over and his hearing it temporarily shut off. Besides, if I don't bring up Pinterest it will make him think that it was something I thought up...right?? Probably not and I'm okay with that. Back to bread - it turned out really nice. I was a little worried about 2 tsps of dried rosemary so I knocked it down to only 1 tsp. but it still smells/tastes delicious. I will be making this again.

Yummy in my tummy.

 

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Nail Stamping

One of my favorite gifts for Christmas was the 2012 Shany Nail Stamping Plates. I'll show you how it works in another post. I just got so excited I forgot to take picture of the process. So first I used a base coat, then two coats of "Lily" by Revlon. Make sure to let this completely cure or you run the risk of smearing or denting the polish when you get to the stamping part.

It was so pretty by itself I was temped to skip the stamps.

I went a bit crazy on the stamping on my right big toe but I think it turned out cute anyways. Much easier than trying to paint all those hearts by hand.

 

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January in Honolulu

I think that January may be my new favorite month of the year. The weather is just perfect right now. I have all the windows open and there is an amazingly strong breeze blowing through the area for the last couple of day. It feels like a perfect spring day minus the cold in the morning and evenings. I even put on some jeans, just for the fun of it. Below are some more up to date pictures of the garden (taken today). 

From left to right: Aloe in a small pot, baby lettuce behind the aloe, some green onions from the store, two ladders of cucumbers, one giant non-producing eggplant - he may need to go soon, lots of baby radishes in need of a good thinning, broccoli in the far back corner, spinach, a massively out of control tomato plant that has just been re-caged, a smaller tomato plant and more radishes.

Is that what I think it is! Yes, my first strawberry. Not quite ready to be picked. Hopefully the slugs won't find it before it's ready to be eaten - by me.

 A super close up of my baby lettuce. First time I've planted lettuce in the garden - so far so good.

 A strange twisted cucumber

Failed close up of the green onions. When I planted them the all but died and have only recently perked up. I even found a little flower thing growing in the middle of one. Hopefully these will help to detour some of the bad bugs.

Flowers I still need to plant....

 Strawberry runners I sniped and am attempting to save. Stupid slugs are killing me. Maybe I need a duck...

What in the heck is going on with my blueberry plant?

The leaves are all turning brown and falling off.

Sage showing some slight wear and tear. Not really sure how to use this in the kitchen so it has been just hanging out in the planter. Hasn't really grown much in a while.

I find these yellow leaves in the backyard all the time. They are so colorful and they feel like a thin silky leather. They take forever to dry up and start to break down so I tend to toss them over the fence. 

Veggie bake

I've been waning to make something like this for a while, and I must say that it exceeded my expectations. Started by browning some onions and garlic in butter. Then sliced my veggies (potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, and zucchini) with a slicer - they are so handy, everything ends up the same thickness. I then put the browned onion into the bottom of a9x9 buttered baking dish and added the veggies. OCD kicked in and I had to make sure they were all the same. At least until the end when I started running out of items. Baked covered for 40ish minutes and then sprinkled with cheese. I used Parmesan, Romano, and some other kind I had sitting in the fridge but no longer remember the name. I used about 2 cups of cheese and baked uncovered (20ish minutes) until nice and golden/melted and bubbly. I think the cooking time all depends on how thick or thin the veggies were sliced up. In the future I will make sure to slice the potatoes thinner than everything else since they take longer to cook. Oh and I seasoned the veggies with thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper before baking it the first time. Pretty sure you could use whatever spices you like or have on hand. I also threw some quick rolls together (recipe said 30 min rolls - ended up more like 45). As you can see I had a slight problem with my math skills and some how manage to screw up the number of roll that should have filled the pan. Ended up with 11 but I was suppose to have 16. Next time.

Broccoli and cucumbers

Picked up a couple of broccoli and pickling cucumber plants. Paul likes the broccoli raw. Me, not so much - steamed and smothered in cheese is the way to go. Made a make shift tomato cage but I think we'll need to invest in something more sturdy soon.