Yum

Shirleys and Pizza

4.30.2013

Finals ended last week. Which means Adam has a lot more time at home. Right now all that is going on in his world is baseball. This morning he told me, "I love not having school because when I'm not at baseball I just get to focus on you, you, you!" Since school has ended Adam has done so many things for me. Cleaned the house, gotten the groceries, taken me to lunch, cooked multiple dinners, and taken time to watch my shows with me. Last weekend he made a really yummy dinner for us. Really simple and really yummy combining his favorite of pizza and my favorite of Shirleys. I asked what I could do to help and he said, "It is really easy... so you can just sit on the couch." So instead I got up and took photos.
When he put the pizza in the oven I asked how long we needed to leave it in. His response? "I don't know! I'm making this up!" I would tell you the recipe... but since we made it up I don't even know what we turned the oven to. Oops! While it was cooking we relaxed and made Shirleys.

On our honeymoon all I wanted was Shirley Temples. But we didn't buy a soda card so I didn't get any the whole time. Finally, on the last night of the cruise I decided to order one at dinner. It was heavenly. And Adam remembered and when he came home with dinner materials he also had all the things you needed for a real, honest to goodness Shirley. And it was much better than the one on the cruise. Oh, and the pizza was so good! Adam should make up recipes more often. I think next time we will jazz it up a little more, you know, take it to the next level? Have any suggestions for our french bread pizza experiments? Or do you have any other easy recipes for us?

Love,
Deidre

Easy Chocolate Caramel Brownies || Recipe

2.12.2013

It is a Saturday afternoon and your husband texts you, "Drew invited us over for (fill in the blank) tomorrow." In our case. It was the Super Bowl. And Adam didn't text. He told me when he got home at 7 PM from his baseball trip to St. George. "Great! We should probably take something, yeah?" But... I was tired and Adam had homework. And we didn't really want to make something from scratch. So we went to the store to figure out what we could buy.... what box mix? Brownies. But not just any brownies. Ghirardelli with a twist.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Caramel Brownies

Ingredients:
One box mix Ghirardelli brownies
One bag Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Squares
One egg
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup oil

8" x 8" pan and something to grease it

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix together brownie mix, egg, oil, and water.

Grub Tour || Cranky Chuckie's

1.23.2013

Adam and I decided to try a new restaurant last weekend. We had a groupon for Cranky Chuckie's in Provo, UT. It was a place neither of us had heard about... but we have been in the mood to try new eating places lately. Cranky Chuckie's is located above Ruby Thai over by condo row and J Dawgs. At first when we pulled up I said to Adam, "How the heck are we supposed to get up there?!" I couldn't see a stairwell.. maybe because I was looking on the wrong side. Adam pointed and said, "Probably that door..." And sure enough, right in the middle of the building was a door with a sign that said Dave's Cranky Chuckie's. I just smiled and said, "Oh... yeah... that C should have given it away." Anyway... up the stairs we go. As soon as you get to the top of the stairs you take a right and enter... What the heck? Am I in Seattle now?! I love it. The atmosphere is really laid back, the walls are all painted a dark blue, there is some Red Hot Chili Peppers (at least when we first walked in) playing, a small stage (for an open mic night someday), and overall it seems like a best kept secret. The whole atmosphere makes me feel like I just walked into some little hipster secret in Seattle. So great. I wont lie, at first it was a little awkward because there isn't a hostess directly when you walk in. you have to walk in a few steps towards the bar to find someone to seat you. The night we went was fairly busy and so the waitress was running around a bunch. Either way. We got seated (if you go on a weekend make a reservation!) right away.

Well. First things first. I love the simplicity of the black table cloths. But even more. I love the glasses. They were so tall. And so fun. I drink a lot of water, so it was nice to not be needing a refill every three seconds. The menu is pretty simple, but each item has it's own unique twist. Adam and I didn't take much time to decide what we wanted. Neither of us were super hungry, so we can't smaller items. But one thing is for sure. I will be trying the meatloaf next time I go!

I had the Open Faced Turkey Sandwich. It was much better than I expected. Imagine this. Sourdough bread, turkey, a sort of pesto-like sauce, cheese, tomato, and lettuce. Sounds good, right? Well. Then top that with a farm fresh fried egg. It was one of the best sandwiches I have ever tasted. And it filled me up perfectly. The fries were great too. I am not a big ketchup person. It is fry sauce or nothing. But I could eat these fries without any sauce, which I appreciate in a french fry.

Adam had the sausage and mashed potatoes. Here is his review, "The mashed potatoes with sausage at Cranky Chuckies was completely different than what I expected. It turned out to be delicious. When we were seated, a couple next to us was eating the mashed potatoes and sausage. I had already looked at the menu but when I saw what they were eating, I decided to choose what they were eating. The mashed potatoes had pineapple in it, which caught me off guard at first, but turned out to be a nice addition. The serving size was large enough to where I couldn't finish it. I will return to Chunky Chuckies and I will get the mashed potatoes and sausage."

So there you have it people. If you want to try new twists on great food and feel like you are in Seattle at some trendy restaurant with tall glasses. Head to Cranky Chuckie's.

Love,
The Skinnys

Dear Taco Soup,

11.12.2012


Taco Soup
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Serves 6

INGREDIENTS 
1 LB. Hamburger 
1 onion chopped 
1 can corn 
1 can kidney beans 
1 can chopped stewed tomato 
1 pkg. taco seasoning 
2 cups water 

TOPPINGS
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Tortilla chips (We like Salsa Verde Doritos or Fritos) 

DIRECTIONS
Brown hamburger and onion together. 
Add in all the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. 
Serve over tortilla chips and top with sour cream and shredded cheese.

Nice and easy. Light and breezy. And that is how it is done.

Love,
Deidre

Dear Corn Chowder,

10.25.2012

Like I have said before. It is soup season. Here is the latest installment from the Skinnys' home.
CornChowder

Creamy Corn Chowder
Serves 6-8

2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. water
2 1/2 c. milk 
2 regular-sized chicken bouillon cubes or 2 tsp. chicken broth
1/2 lb. bacon (optional)
1 small onion, minced
2 potatoes, diced into small cubes
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can corn, drained or about 1 1/2 C frozen fresh corn
Salt and pepper to taste
A few dashes of hot sauce or cayenne pepper

Fry bacon until crisp.
In the meantime, melt butter over low heat in a soup pot. 
When melted, add flour to make a roux and whisk until it comes together in a little ball. 
Add water and whisk until completely combined and there are no lumps. 
Add milk and chicken base or bouillon and bring to a simmer. 
Add potatoes, onions, and garlic, and simmer (but don’t boil!), stirring very frequently, for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. 
Add crumbled bacon and corn and heat through. 
Add a few drops of hot sauce and then salt to taste.
Ladle into bowls.
Garnish with extra bacon and/or cheese if you want.

And when I say "if you want" I mean... you should do it. It is more delicious than you would believe with those extra toppings. Now go, soup it up!

Love,
Deidre


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