My New Computer Review

I am typing this on my new computer, a HP Envy dv7.  I was a little mad because I had intended to hurry up and get a new laptop before Windows 7 was gone. I waited too long and now I have Windows 8.  I've been using it for like 4 days and it isn't as bad a I thought it would be.  You can pretty much make it behave like the old Windows if you just ignore the ap screen.

I will miss my old laptop because I don't think I'll spend that much time with this one.  I can see it is going to be a good computer but now we are using our phones to look at stuff more and I don't sit for hours online like I did in "my youth".  Haha.  I have noticed that while I've been typing this, the keys don't always punch what I'm typing if I don't tap hard enough.  I guess I will have to get used to that.

I didn't get a touch screen version because I didn't want to spend the extra cash.  I think this will be fine though.

Finished - "Colors by" Crossed Wing Collection

So, I just finished this cross stitch design called Colors.  The designer makes mostly bird cross stitch patterns and dyed materials.  I chose to stitch this on white linen.  There was also a saying along the bottom of the design but I opted to omit the saying and just continue the border pattern all around. This was the largest cross stitch project I have ever done.  There were 9 pages in all for the pattern.  I think I've never done any design that was more than 3 pages.  It was really epic.  Here are some pics of the progress of the project. 

There was so much green in this picture.  It seemed a little tedious at times making all of the leaves.  The birds were also very small and detailed.  So, I think I took longer than I should have completing this.  Now that it is done though, I am looking forward to moving on through my stash of patterns and going on to the next project.

No cooking since March?

I haven't posted anything since March.  I guess I don't really like cooking in the summer. 

Banana-Walnut Muffins

The William Sonoma Muffin Cookbook is so awesome.  These muffins turned out really good.  They even look better than the picture in the cookbook.  I was afraid they would be moist like banana bread but they are more "muffiny." The walnuts make the texture of the muffin very nice.  I will definitely make these again.

Happy New Year! Picadillo "Pockets" (Sans Pockets)

So, to continue my trend of cooking orangy-red chili type foods. I found this recipe in the Women's Day Cookbook (1995).  It was really tasty.  It is made with ground turkey, onions, green pepper, cumin, golden raisins, tomato paste, and green olives.  I guess it's supposed to be stuffed into pita pockets but it also suggested corn bread.  I was going to make corn bread but I was really tired tonight so I just bought corn muffins at the store.  I would definitely make this recipe again. 

Christmas Cookies

I made two batches of cookies today.  This is the first weekend in a long time that I actually stayed in my apartment for two days.  It sort of makes me feel like I didn't have a weekend.  I didn't want to really go out because the stores are crowded and I'm finished with my Xmas shopping.   At least I got a lot of cleaning done. 

So, today I made a batch of cookies called Drop Sugar Cookies from The All New Good Housekeeping Cook Book (2001).  This is one of my favorite cookbooks.  Almost everything I have tried in it has been a success.  The only complaint I had with this recipe is that it says it makes 42 cookies and it really only made about 30.  I followed the instructions and I even used my cookie scooper.  I might have doubled it if I wasn't already planning to make another batch of different cookies.  I started out putting red sugar sprinkles on the first batch.  I thought they looked okay but I decided to do the rest plain.  They taste really good and are much easier than having to use a cookie cutter to make sugar cookies.

The second batch of cookies I made were my grandmother's anisette cookies.  I have the recipe in my old recipe box tin that I've had since I was a little girl.  I don't think I really copied the instructions for the recipe right because I left out some of the ingredients in some of the instructions but it was easy enough to figure out what to do.  These cookies really need to be formed using a cookie press or pastry bag.  My grandmother used to make them with a meat grinder with a pastry attachment hooked onto it.  I couldn't remember if I had a pastry bag but I had a pastry tip.  So, I tried using a freezer bag that I had cut the corner and placed the tip in the corner.  I went through three bags that kept bursting and I just gave up and made the cookies into balls.  After you bake the cookies, you  ice them with a glaze made from confectioner's sugar and milk.  If someone reads this blog and wants the recipe, email me. 

Veal Schnitzel & Egg Noodles With Mushrooms

First let me say that this recipe set off both smoke detectors in my apartment.  That was a first.  I guess I had both pans warming too long while I was chopping...I also just realized that I forgot to sprinkle the chopped parsley on it before I ate it.  Oh well. 

These recipes are from Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Meals 2 (2003) which I barely ever use.  I guess I don't like this book because it gives all the meals together like main dish & side dishes together on the ajoining pages.  I think this makes it really hard to find recipes for things you want.  You can use the index though.  I have another cookbook that does this and I don't use it as much.  Anyway, I'm going to try to find more recipes in it that appeal to me. 

This veal recipe was pretty good. She said to use cracker bread crumbs and that you could find them next to the regular bread crumbs or near the fish.  Well, I looked near the fish and then I looked near the bread crumbs and none of them said "cracker bread crumbs".  So, I just bought panko bread crumbs.  I don't know if that's what she meant.  The whole time I was cooking it, I was saying to myself "this better be good because I could have used this veal to make veal scallopini or veal parmesan."   It was pretty good though.  The noodles were just cooked mushrooms with shallots and butter.  They were very tasty.