Ciao for Now

Confession time...

I've been blogging somewhere else lately.  Why didn't I tell you, you ask?  Well, I wasn't keeping a secret, per se...I just didn't know what my new blog was going to become yet.  And now I {sort of} do!

click the picture to visit the new blog

Honestly, I was tired of the limits.  I wanted a place where I could write about whatever I wanted!  A lot of that time is still sharing food photos & recipes, but it's also random reviews on books or movies, trips I take and oh, so much more.

I'd love to have you join me over there!  You'll still see many more new recipes to try, hopefully for many years to come.  You can follow by "joining the site," which of course boosts my self-confidence haha, and you can also scroll a bit down to "follow by email."

The DK will still stay live and, who knows, I might be back on here one day.  For now, I'm liking the simplicity of one blog. :)

See you over there and have a good weekend!

Creamy Corn & Roasted Red Peppers

One of the new dishes I tried for Thanksgiving this year was surprisingly a success.  I actually was hesitant about making it, but either people were just being nice or it really hit the spot!  The hesitation mostly came because I was making something (actually everything I made this year was) new to me and that's daring when it comes to a big group of people!

If you need a quick [to prepare], easy side dish and have an accessible slow cooker, this is your dish.  Print the recipe here!

Cheese Ice Cream?

It has been a COLD last several days here.  Not only that, but after receiving our first electricity bill since 9 months ago, our mouths gaped open and we turned down the heat even more.  I spend my days in at least 3 shirts, sometimes 4 – two of which are usually a thick sweater AND a heavy hooded sweatshirt.  A little crazy, right?

Well, I suppose there’s something even crazier…as you can see, I made ice cream.  It wasn’t on a whim and it wasn’t because I was needing a cool-off.  There actually was a reason for making it, but still – what kind of crazy person makes ice cream on a wet and frigidly cold Oregon day in the middle of winter?

I guess me.

So, my friend Erica asked us to help with her kids' missions lesson on Peru this month.  Long story short, this was the reason I made Peruvian ice cream - for the children!  It is called Queso Helado Arequipeño, which literally means Cheese Ice Cream from Arequipa (the city we lived in).

Don't worry, there is no cheese in it, although I'm not so sure how bad that would be?

It was fun to mess with the kids just a little bit, along the lines of “fear factor,” by pretending that this ice cream was really made from cheese.  We dared them to try it, and after the first one did [and loved it] they all suddenly were brave enough to try it, too.

I never perfected my Spanish vocabulary in the “food” realm so when I asked my dear friend Lely for her recipe, I definitely had to look up some words to make sure!  But, alas, I have it properly translated for you in an easy format.  And it's authentic because she is, of course, Peruvian!

Print the recipe here.

Make sure you turn up the heat to enjoy this…or save it for the summer!

Note #1: For any of you who are mostly lactose intolerant (or just want to be), I actually made this with Lactose-Free milk and it turned out well!

Note #2: Have I mentioned how much I love my kitchen scale?  It's just fun.

And, last but not least, check out this video I found on YouTube to watch the more authentic way of making Queso Helado.  You can find these ladies in many places around Arequipa, Peru!

It's February 1st - You Know What That Means!

Valentine's Day is in 2 weeks.  The dreaded holiday for my husband but one of my favorites!  Probably mostly because it's a different excuse to eat lots of little heart candies...

and cake pops!

I made these over the weekend.

And I was finally able to use Mike's cake pop platform he made for me a few months ago.  We tried to get it ready for the last ones I made, but the paint wasn't quite dry enough.

I LOVE IT!

See those two smaller sections?  Well, they are removable for 1) smaller platforms and 2) more holes in the main one.

My favorite part of cake pops is sharing it with as many people as possible.  Not counting the 20+ Mike ate the day I made them (no exaggeration), I packaged them all up and brought them to church with me on Sunday.  It was a blast handing them out to random people all morning!

Like I mentioned last time, these do take more time to complete than most desserts, so I'll probably just stick to the few-times-a-year plan.  Nonetheless, they are very fun to create!

What are your plans for Valentine's Day?

P.S. In the middle of this post, I ran out of free Blogger photo space.  I guess that means I'm a blogging machine!

Crockpot Lasagna?

Who would have thought?

Admittedly, as much as I enjoy Italian food, the classic dish of lasagna has never been one of my favorites.  So when a bunch of us were getting together for a party and multiple people signed up for lasagna, I planned on having lots of room for dessert...ha.

When the night finally arrived and dinner was served, it was hard to resist trying a little bit of everything.  I served myself some of someone's lasagna...Um, was I just ravenous or was this the best lasagna I'd ever tasted?!  I think "B"!

Several weeks later, having obtained a copy of the recipe from my friend Heather, I HAD to break out the really nice wedding Crockpot!

By the way, we are just about all unpacked! Thanks for sticking with me!  I hope to be slightly more active on here again...

We had our first guests over a few days ago.  Needless to really say on this particular blog, I LOVE feeding people. :)  Plus, it was my family so I was really looking forward to having them over.  We'd only spent the last 8 months living in their basement, but I guess I wasn't too tired of them!  Nor they of us...heh.

Okay, all that to say - I plumb forgot to take final pictures.  I was just chatting away with my mom, planning to play a freshly unpacked game with my dad and sister and I was very distracted!

You will need these ingredients:

Chopped Onion (I used more than what the recipe called for just because I love it)

Minced Garlic

Ground Beef & Italian Pork Sausage (I used a little more than a pound of each)

S&P, Tomato Paste, Crushed Tomatoes

Lasagna, of course!  I used half whole wheat and half enriched "regular"

And one of the best ingredients...Cheese!

Like I said, I was too excited (or something..."spacey" comes to mind...) to take any more photos.  Now you will just HAVE to make this easy recipe that, so far, everyone I know has enjoyed.

Click here for the printable recipe.