WE HAVE MOVED!

The Kitchen Curtains blog now has its very own domain. You can check out the new website at...

www.thekitchencurtains.net

Check out the new site. While you are there, take a look around and let us know what you think.

Send us an email, facebook, or leave a comment.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback. Thanks for following.

-the kitchen curtains

Summer Adoption Auction

The Kitchen Curtains blog now has its very own domain. You can check out the new website at...

www.thekitchencurtains.net

Check out the new site. While you are there, take a look around and let us know what you think.

Send us an email, facebook, or leave a comment.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback. Thanks for following.

-the kitchen curtains

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those of you who know me personally, know that my experiences living in Ukraine have made me a passionate supporter of international adoption. After working in Ukrainian orphanages for 9 months, I firmly believe adoption is somewhere in the Weinbender future.

Because of this belief, I am taking a break from my usual posts to help spread the word about the Chase family Summer Adoption Auction. Please head over to the Team Chase blog to read their story and follow their journey as they raise money to adopt two little ones from Ethiopia.

Even if you choose not to buy anything from the auction, I think an encouraging word would go a long way as they move closer toward bringing home their Ethiopian children.

You can also purchase coffee that will go toward their adoption fund here.

Mocha Frosted Chocolate Cake

The Kitchen Curtains blog now has its very own domain. You can check out the new website at...

www.thekitchencurtains.net

Check out the new site. While you are there, take a look around and let us know what you think.

Send us an email, facebook, or leave a comment.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback. Thanks for following.

-the kitchen curtains

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Memorial Day, we had a few of our close friends over for a little BBQ. The evening was enjoyable, filled with food, cornhole and a backstabbing game of phase10 twist. However, the evening was also a bit solemn as we said goodbye to two of our closest friends, Adam and Leslie Bean. A fabulous couple whom we feel privileged to have known these past 6 years. Adam was recently accepted to Johns Hopkins University so they will be moving to Baltimore after spending the summer at an archeological dig in Jordan. 

I have never been good at saying goodbye to those I love. I usually end up awkwardly changing the subject. To this day I cringe when I remember my response to my favorite youth pastor of all time when he and his wife told me they were moving away... 

"You're moving? Well, you sure didn't give us much time to throw you a going away party!" This is what I really wanted to say, "But, I love you! Why are you doing this to me! You can't go!"

As you can see, I am definitely not one for goodbyes. So, what is my secret to dealing with them now? Cake!

You can tell my degree of sadness by either the size of the cake or the amount of sugar added to it. I think the picture above should clue you in on how much we love the Beans.

This recipe is from the May issue of Real Simple magazine which had a section devoted to different cake, filling, and frosting combinations to mix and match. 

This is what I came up with...

Mocha frosted double layer chocolate cake with white chocolate chips and chocolate shavings on top. If that doesn't make saying goodbye easier, I don't know what does.

Chocolate Cake Ingredients: 

1 c. unsalted butter

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1-1/2 c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

1-1/2 c. milk

Chocolate Cake Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two circular pans, line with parchment paper, butter and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Mix butter and sugar on high until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs. On low, slowly add flour, then milk, flour, then milk, until all ingredients are mixed together. Pour batter into pans and bake until toothpick comes out clean.

I used two 9-inch round pans and baked them for 30 minutes. Let the cake cool completely before trying to remove from the pan.

Coffee Frosting Ingredients:

1 tbsp. instant coffee powder

1 tbsp. hot water

2 c. butter

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Coffee Frosting Instructions:

Combine instant coffee powder and water. Stir until powder is completely dissolved. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix butter on high until fluffy. Slowly add sugar, coffee mixture, vanilla, and salt. Mix on low until smooth. 

I ended up adding a second 1/2 batch of the coffee mixture to my icing (because I really like coffee), if you do this you must also add a little bit more powdered sugar or your icing will be too runny.

Frosting Tips:

1. Frost the top of the first layer, then stack the layers.

2. Frost the top of the cake before moving to the sides.

3. Allow the icing to firm in the fridge before adding toppings.

I hope your cake tastes as delicious as ours did. Happy baking!

Google Recipes

The Kitchen Curtains blog now has its very own domain. You can check out the new website at...

www.thekitchencurtains.net

Check out the new site. While you are there, take a look around and let us know what you think.

Send us an email, facebook, or leave a comment.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback. Thanks for following.

-the kitchen curtains

A guest post from a very talented individual Jack and I have had the pleasure of getting to know over the past 2 years. I love this new feature on Google. If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a shot. It is fabulous!

I am Mary Jackson, friend of Tiffany and co-worker (and friend) of Jack. I was talking with Tiffany about a blog post I was writing for the Milligan library blog that related to cooking. Tiffany suggested that it might be a good choice for her blog (which I love). 

 

This spring Google launched a new feature, Google Recipes.  I stumbled across it when I was craving lemon meringue pie. I did a regular Google search for lemon meringue pie, then realized while scanning the recipes that I didn’t have a required ingredient, cream of tartar. I went back to revise my search and what did I see:

I could now filter my results: by ingredients that I did (or did not) have, by cook time and by calories. WOW! I quickly clicked the NO box next to cream of tartar and instantly I had a new list of recipes that did not require me to make a trip to the store. The best part is you don’t have to do anything. If you type search terms into the regular Google search box and it yields results including recipes, the recipe features automatically pops up on the left hand side of the results. I love it! And the lemon meringue pie made without cream of tartar? Delicious.

My Blue Jeans

The Kitchen Curtains blog now has its very own domain. You can check out the new website at...

www.thekitchencurtains.net

Check out the new site. While you are there, take a look around and let us know what you think.

Send us an email, facebook, or leave a comment.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback. Thanks for following.

-the kitchen curtains


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think David Dundas' song "Jeans On" pretty much sums up my attitude toward blue jeans. If you have only heard the Keith Urban version please go to this link and listen to the original before reading further.

"When I wake up in the mornin' light
I pull on my jeans and I feel all right
I pull my blue jeans on
I pull my old blue jeans on (cha-cha)
I pull my blue jeans on
I pull my old blue jeans on (cha-cha)"

It isn't because the lyrics are all about the greatness of jeans (because they're not) however, the melody of this song is exactly how I feel when I pull my blue jeans on. 

 When I wake up in the mornin' light, pulling on my jeans really does make me feel alright. Cha-Cha!

This post was actually inspired by a post I read a few days ago at Made (I must admit, her post is much more amusing then mine), which showed images of her wardrobe consisting only of T-shirts and jeans in various colors.

If you are an avid blogger, or at least an avid reader of blogs, I'm sure you have run across the vast array of "style" posts. These are the posts that make you feel incredibly guilty for not looking like a size 0 model in $700 jeans every day of the week. The featured outfits usually include a few of the following: high-heeled boots, peasant blouse, vintage blazer, bedazzling jewelry, skinny jeans, large belts, leather hand bag, lots of makeup, and so on.

As much as I may like these featured outfits, I am the Queen of Practicality. It's true. Just ask my mother who sends me birthday money with a note saying, "do not use for bills." So, what does this practical girl buy every single time she reluctantly changes out of her sweatpants to run to the mall? 

T-shirts and Jeans.

Now, I'm sure you are thinking, "that's not a big deal, I wear lots of T-shirts and jeans." My reply, "you ain't seen nothin' yet."

The pictures I've included are just a few of the T-shirts and jeans that I currently own. The picture above features 10 pairs of jeans (2 are skirts), and 10 t-shirts/tanks. I have 6 more jean varieties in the closet and many more T's, not to mention all my Milligan t-shirt attire (2 drawers full).

Although the amount of jeans and t-shirts does seem to go against my previous statement of being practical, I do actually wear them all, all the time. That is more than I can say for the few dressier items I own. And, since I've pretty much been the same size since 8th grade, my jean collection is 9 years in the making. So, it's maybe only half as bad as it seems.

Do I ever dress up? Of course, I actually enjoy dressing up from time to time and I DO own a few dressier items, but jeans and t-shirts are the majority by far. 

A Pros list for practical me:

1. All of my jeans can be paired with all of my t-shirts. Talk about versatility and easy dressing.

2. Dress them up with heels, a jacket, and jewelry.

3. Dress down with flip-flops and a cute headband.

4. For cooler days, pair your t-shirt with a sweater and throw a pair of rain boots on over your jeans.

5. For warmer days, pull out the jean capris or skirt and a pair of flip-flops to keep you cool.

See, now the next time you are staring dazed and confused into the wreckage you once knew as a closet, just throw on your favorite pair of jeans and a t-shirt, thus allowing for more time to enjoy a cup of coffee, or actually eat breakfast.

"I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes. "
-Yves Saint Laurent

Gyro Pizza

The Kitchen Curtains blog now has its very own domain. You can check out the new website at...

www.thekitchencurtains.net

Check out the new site. While you are there, take a look around and let us know what you think.

Send us an email, facebook, or leave a comment.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback. Thanks for following.

-the kitchen curtains

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is not uncommon to find myself at a complete loss in the kitchen. Every few weeks I feel as if I have hit a cooking rut. There are only so many different ways to combine the same 7 ingredients. I know the simple solution is to incorporate more ingredients, but every time I find myself at the breaking point, another idea comes along. This time, my lovely husband provided the idea, a Gyro pizza. 

You see, we kind of like Gyros. Actually, that is probably the understatement of the century. We kind of LOVE Gyros! More specifically, we love Ozzy's Gyros in the mall. Not only are the gyros delicious, but we love Ozzy's family. In fact, we rarely go to the mall for the actual mall, we just go for the gyros.

So, of course, the idea of a Gyro pizza sounded genius to me. Here's what we did to make it happen.

Dough Ingredients:

2 tsp. dry yeast

1 c. warm water

2 c. flour

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. white sugar

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. garlic

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. basil

Dough Instructions:

Mix yeast in water and let sit until creamy, about 10 minutes. In another bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and mix. Add in the creamy yeast mixture and blend until dough is firm and joined. 

Cover the ball of dough and let sit until it doubles in size, roughly 30 minutes. Mine never doubles in size, but somehow Jake is able to make it work. Basically, if it doesn't double, you'll have a thinner crust. Since I love thin crust, I am ok with it.

Once the dough has risen, roll it out into the shape of your stone and get ready to bake.

Next, make my Greek sauce. This is very simple and is the same one we recently used on the Greek Turkey Burgers. You can view instructions here. Once you've made the sauce, coat your dough generously. Why generously? Well, aside from more being better, this tends to soak into the crust a little bit so you want to start with a healthy amount.

We used ground Italian sausage for our meat, mostly because it is easy and you don't have to season it. Just open the package and crumble bits over your pizza.

Jack and I wanted this to taste very Gyro-ish so we decided to add the traditional veggies after baking so it would taste fresh. However, I still love the smell of baking onions so...I went ahead and added 4 stalks of green onions to the pizza before popping it in the oven. I also added half of a package of feta cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. 

Once, your pizza is done baking, pull it out of the oven (thank you Captain Obvious) and add your freshly chopped tomato, lettuce, and sweet onion.

Last step, enjoy your Gyro pizza. So good.

A Few of My Favorite Things

The Kitchen Curtains blog now has its very own domain. You can check out the new website at...

www.thekitchencurtains.net

Check out the new site. While you are there, take a look around and let us know what you think.

Send us an email, facebook, or leave a comment.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback. Thanks for following.

-the kitchen curtains

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Jack and I celebrated three years of marriage on Tuesday. Woohoo! Here's a little tidbit about year three of marriage...apparently, leather is the gift of choice for three years of marriage because it is at this point the couple realizes the durability of their relationship. I don't know if that is true or not, but I like the sound of it. I can hear you married veterans chuckling right now, "oh newlyweds."

Anyways, I was able to take the entire day off for some much-needed R&R. Poor Jack still had to go in for most of the day, but I was able to catch up on a bit of cleaning and partake in a few activities I've been missing.

So, what did I do today, you ask?

After waking up at the delightful time of 9:30, I lazily walked into my kitchen for a cup of coffee and was greeted by a beautiful lily plant and a very sweet card from my best friend and hubby. This particular lily had three blooming flowers, one for each year of marriage. Awww.

Next, I enjoyed a cup of coffee on our front porch and watched the morning haze wear away. Here's a picture of our porch growing progress.

I then walked down to the mailbox and was blessed to find five anniversary cards from our friends and family. Thank you all for the well wishes. We wouldn't be where we are today without your love and support.

After a tearful read over the cards. I headed to the bank and then our local Starbucks to get coffee #2, but more importantly, to say hello to my friend Jane. 

After a brief visit, I made the trek down the block to Target for a little "window shopping," or at least that's what I told myself. Just look, don't touch, don't buy, just look. That didn't last long. I've been wanting a pair of boots for the farm since last summer. These were cheap and cute enough for me to finally cave. 

I mean, just look at these beauties, aren't they perfect for a wildflower farm? I love boots!

I wasn't completely selfish, however...I bought Jakie an individual mug/french press that he's had his eye on for months.

We decided the one thing we absolutely wanted on our anniversary was sushi. So, we headed to our local Earth Fare and bought a few varieties of sushi, artisan bread, and Tillamook cheese. Yes, we bought sushi from a store, not a restaurant. Trust me their sushi beats any restaurant in the area.

I thought Tillamook Cheese would be a treat as well since we can't buy normal blocks of it like we do back home. In fact, half the amount of Tillamook cheese costs double the price here in Tennessee. So, it truly was a treat. 

We also rented a movie we've wanted to see since February. You ready for this? Gnomeo and Juliet.It was SO cute and my kind of clever with remarks along the lines of, "What's in a gnome?" Yes, I am easily entertained.

We followed dinner with another favorite, French Silk Pie from Dairy Queen.

All in all, a very enjoyable anniversary, probably my favorite so far, and all for a reasonable price. Which, for practical me, feels wonderful. 

A fabulous day of all the things I love: coffee, friends, gardening, sushi, Tillamook Cheese, boots, French Silk Pie, and of course, Jack. And now, I am finishing the day with one last favorite, blogging. So, thank you for indulging me as I take a break from the usual crafts and recipes to bring you a few of my favorite things.