Lasagna and More!

I'm a bit slow with the pictures. Sorry about that.

Anyway, here's the lasagna (recipe from Taste of Home, minus cottage cheese), the pull-apart garlic knots (from Comfortable Food) and the Blueberry Dessert (modified from CentsLessDeals):

The table setting:

It was Valentine's day, so I went a little fancy. Cloth napkins, wine goblets for our water. Croutons and sunflower seeds for the salads. And a foil pan for the Lasagnas. Ha! I made 4 of them. We ate that one, I gave one to a friend of mine who was trying to balance being a full time student, her job, being a single parent, and battling a sinus infection (poor lady!) and stuck 2 in the freezer. So we have freezer meals for later. Yum.

That plate next to the lasagna is the Balsamic and Basil dipping oil from Tastefully Simple and was excellent to dip the bread in. This bread... Oh man, this bread:

  

 

Just looking at the picture makes me wish there was still some left over. There's just something about (successfully!) making bread from scratch that gives me an awesome sense of accomplishment.

Don't you just want to reach in and grab a piece? It was crispy cheese, and chewy cheese, and garlicy buttery yeasty goodness. And those little brown crumbles on the top? Parmesan. I was in heaven with this bread. So very proud of how it turned out.

And then there was this bit of yummy deliciousness:

I was smelling the sauce all day long.  I was so ready to eat this when it came out of the oven I had to smack my own hands when I went to pick at the cheese on top! I don't use any cottage cheese in my lasagna. I use the 15oz tub of ricotta, an egg, some milk and mix it with some grated parm. It's good stuff.

Then we had this for dessert, and I felt like I was going to pop. Next time I make this, I will modify the butter/sugar on the top... I think it was too much. I'll just brush it, instead of pour 1/2 stick melted butter and reduce the amount of sugar on top. It was still good, it was just *too* much.

The taste was still amazing, but the amount of butter on top all pooled in the middle and left the crescent dough still a bit raw. So a lesson for next time: brush, don't pour, the butter... and sprinkle the sugar. Also, I was supposed to add 2 tbsp of vanilla to the cream cheese mixture. I did not. I added 1/2 tsp of lemon extract and it was more than enough. I wanted lemon berry and I got it. :)

So that was Valentine's dinner. Yesterday I did my nails again, with the water marble method, so I could get a more uniform look on my hands. I think I'm getting better with this. I used a rainbow theme, and these were the results.

Right hand:

Left hand:

I think they came out well! I love that they are all different and I'm not getting bored with them quickly.

That's all for now. :)

~Mandy

What a Crazy Week!

Monday wasn't so bad, then the rain come on Tuesday, the ice came on Wednesday, the thaw came on Thursday, and the earthquake came on Friday. I live in South Carolina. Ice and earthquakes are not normally on the menu!

Now it's Saturday, and while hubby is at work, I'll be preparing our Valentine's day feast. :)

First though, pictures of the crazy ice:

Seriously, ice everywhere. If you want to see the rest of my "I like to point my camera at things and push the button " pictures they are here.

During the icy nasty mess, I saw a picture thing pop up on Facebook about dripping nail polish into water, and then making designs and having it stick to your nail. The comments called it water marbling, and so I searched Youtube, and found this awesome video about how to do it, and decided I want this chick to be my friend. She's so happy! Also, the nail art looked fun.

We ventured out to the store yesterday, so I picked up a few new colors (mine are old and had thickened, the polish needs to be thin enough to drip off the brush easily). And then last night I tried it on my own, with a bunch of different polishes to see if they'd work. This is what I came up with:

Left Hand

I don't know which one is my favorite! I really like the pink/black/white combo on the pinky, the blue/green on the thumb... and the pink/purple/white on the pointer seems good for Valentine's day!

Right Hand

And on this one? I don't know either! I like the pink/black/orange on the thumb, the red/white/blue on the pointer, and hubby is a big fan of the green/white/yellow on the middle finger, because he's a Green Bay Packer's fan. :)

Anyway, if I can do it, I think anyone can... And that was my first attempt. It took me about an hour, but there was some panic in the middle of that hour about the random earthquake that shook my apartment. (Seriously Mother Nature, what gives?)

And now for tonight's (ice-delayed) Valentine's Day feast!

My husband and I... We're not big on crazy celebrations. We prefer to celebrate at home. So on most of the romantic dates (Valentine's Day, anniversary, birthdays, etc), I tend to make a more time consuming meal (the effort is part of the gift!) and we have a 'dinner and movie' date at home, courtesy of my kitchen, and Netflix!

Our main dish will be my husband's favorite food, lasagna. I base my recipe off of one I found on Taste Of Home a while back, but I tend to fancy up a traditional pasta sauce in my own way, rather than from a recipe. I wing it every time, no joke! Also, I skip the cottage cheese, and just use a whole 15oz tub of ricotta with the parmesan and egg. Seems to work well, and I don't end up with leftover ricotta or cottage cheese in my fridge, because I rarely use them outside of lasagna. I also make it in several small foil pans, instead of one huge dish, so I can freeze a couple of them, and we can have lasagna later, without the fuss.

And with pasta, you have to have garlic bread right? So I'll be trying my hand at these Pull Apart Cheesy Garlic Knots from scratch! Wish me luck on that, I don't work with yeast very often, so that might be tough.

And for dessert, I'm going back to the "yummy stuff between crescent rolls" easy option after all the work I'll be putting into the meal. The only sub I'll make to this recipe is the pie filling used. Instead of cherry, I'm using blueberry, because it's my husband's favorite.

I'll probably throw together a quick salad to go with it, so I can use my fancy hand painted bamboo salad bowl and utensils that my mother in law got for me for Christmas!

I'll take pics and post them in a follow up post.

Happy Saturday! :)
~Mandy