Coffee, Caramel & Cream

This recipe was my Everest. It took YEARS to get it just right.

                                      

Let me start at the beginning....

Once upon a time I lived in New York City during a summer college internship. My roommate, Becky and I shared a teeny, tiny room in the beautiful, historic New Yorker hotel. It was so small our beds practically touched.

The hotel reserves one entire floor of rooms year-round for college interns. What a great idea! We were able to meet other college students of various career fields to spend our summer with, when we weren't working, that is. We became friends with Danielle and Samantha, two wonderful girls from Arizona.

It was on one fateful day in June that Danielle asked us if we had ever eaten dessert at Rice to Riches.

"What is that?"

Danielle explained to us that it was a little place on Spring St. right above Little Italy at Mulberry St. It was basically like an ice cream shop, except that instead of ice cream they served up a huge variety of unique rice pudding flavors.

I was hesitant, I didn't even eat regular rice pudding that often, what was I going to think of this place?

Well, one bite of their "Chocolate Chip Flirt" (all their flavors have super cute names) and I was hooked. I mean, head over heals in LOVE. It was creamy, cold, and delicious.

Oh look, here we are!

                               Becky, me, and Danielle in a booth at Rice to Riches

As far as I know this is the ONLY location. So until a franchise is available for me to put in my hometown ..... I had to try and re-create my own.

I tried, and I tried, and I googled and tried longer, over the course of 6-7 years. I can finally now say that it is done. I did it!

Creamy, cold, delicious!

The secret is that you have to use Arborio rice (Italian risotto rice). It's a high-starch, short-grain rice that becomes super creamy when it absorbs the milk.

                                    
Ingredients:

• 4 cups of whole milk
• 1.5 cups of heavy whipping cream
• 1tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Italian Risotto rice
• 1 extra large bar of dark chocolate  (coarsely chopped)

Directions:

Place the milk, cream, vanilla, brown sugar, and rice in a large pot and bring to a simmer.

                   
Once it's simmering, lower the heat to medium-high, and continue to simmer until the rice is cooked and the mixture is thickened (about 30 minutes).  Be sure to stir it frequently.

This is how it should look.


                                            
Turn off the heat and transfer the pudding to a casserole dish.
          
                                         

There's progress in the master bathroom! I can no longer lay in bed and stare right at the shower.

Once we passed our framing, plumbing, and electrical inspection last week. Jared got right to putting up the drywall.
                                                
Once he got to the inside of the bathroom, he installed the shower walls. The shower walls ended up being a special order and taking 3 weeks to come in!

                                
Here's a close up so you can see the slight tile texture of the wall.

                                     
The inspector was here yesterday morning and we passed the drywall inspection! He even said it was the best drywall job he's ever seen. Well, he didn't actually SAY that, but I could tell he was thinking it    ;-)

From here the only other inspection takes place when the entire bathroom is done. It's called the Certificate of Occupancy inspection.

That means no more waiting. Full speed ahead!

Jared already has the first coat of spackle up on the wall. I wanted to help him but he said he only had one set of spakle tools with him. I wonder if he did that on purpose......

                            
My room is a disaster, and yes it gives me the shakes whenever I go in. I can't wait to get it organized and make it a relaxing retreat from our zoo .... er, I mean house.

                                         
Be sure to check back for more updates.

Have a great day!

                                  

                                         

 You may have noticed that my posts have been a little scarce these last few weeks. I'm sorry. I have a good reason, though, I promise.

You see two weeks ago we brought home a new addition to our family! He's super cuddly and only pees on the floor a few times a day.

Would you like to meet him?

                           
This is Scout.

He's a beagle.

He's a BEAGLE Scout     ...... hehe

Jared and I have been thinking for some time now that we wanted to add another dog to our family. We have a 5-year-old chocolate labrador, Gracie, who is still a big fur ball of energy. She needed a brother.

                                                   
"Are you guys crazy!?  Don't you already have your hands full?!"

This is what most people in real life asked us when we shared our news.

And the truth is ......Yes, we are pretty nuts.

But when you are already nuts, what's one more?   :-)

                                              
I grew up in a house that always had at least 2-3 dogs. It was wonderful. I loved coming home to my dogs, I loved snuggling up to them by the fireplace, I loved the way they played with each other and ran circles around our pool. My home and heart was filled to the brim with dogs and I want the same for my girls.

Gracie and Scout have become fast friends. First Scout thought Gracie was his mommy, then Gracie thought Scout was her son.  Now they have realized they are brother and sister, they enjoy their afternoon races around our yard and games of fetch in our living room.

We think our family is complete now  :-)

                                          
Look at that face!!!  Oh cuteness!!!!!!

                                   Have a great day!
                                                

My girls LOVE to paint. At least once a day one of them comes up to me and begs me to spread newspaper on the kitchen table, bust out the paintbrushes and let them create swirly masterpieces. They make a huge mess, and love every second of it.


In my dining room I normally have a big canvas of painted waterlilies. I had the idea to have the girls paint a picture that I could hang during the holidays, not only to add to our holiday decor, but also to have a special keepsake of their "talents".

                                 

Since my girls are only 2 and 4, I had to think of some way to make the art noticeably holiday-ish, but not to be too restrictive (there is no way my 2 year old could paint a Christmas tree... or even color inside the lines of a Christmas tree.)

                                  
Using painter's tape, I spelled out the word "Joy".  Then I went around the edge of the letters with scissors to make them smoother.

First layer, green. Let dry

                                      
Then red. Let Dry.

I tried to teach the girls how to make "swirls" with their brushes to get a marbled effect. I was only semi successful. In fact to be honest, the perfectionist in me kept loosing my temper and wanting to take over to make it "perfect". But then I kept looking at the word "Joy" and needed to remind myself that this painting wasn't supposed to be "perfect".  It was about them, and the joy they bring to our lives. They were having a blast, and that is what I will always remember when I look at this painting, not that the swirls aren't evenly distributed!

                                       
Then gold. Let dry.

                                        
Then if you really want it sparkly (you know I did), do a layer of silver.

                                
Once that was fully dry. Peel off the painter's tape.


You could just leave it white (which was my intention in the beginning) however, I felt the white seemed a bit too graphic and "cold". So I painted the letters in the same green I used for the first layer.

                                   
(It is very hard to get a photograph to accurately show the texture and color of  how it looks in real life. I am not a great photographer and took about a million pictures of this and I think the closest representation is the picture with the "Joy" letters still in white.)

Here is a close up for you to really see the marbly texture.

                                      
This may be my single favorite decoration in my house. It's always shimmering and serves as the perfect reminder to take comfort in the big and small joys in life.

                                       
Joann's almost always has their stretched canvas 40% off. I got that huge one for only $23.00!

Even if you don't have kids, you could make (a much more polished) painting using the same steps. Try the words "Love" or "Hope"for a picture to keep up all year long.

Although, I may keep this one up all year long.

It's the most wonderful time......of the year  :-)

                                                            Take care, friends.
                                                                          


                                       

My bridal shower was on November 4th, 2007.

The only reason I remember that date is because my bridesmaids gave all attendees a recipe card (with the date) and asked each person to gift me with one of their favorite recipes. I now keep all those precious cards in my recipe box. Over the years I have LOVED trying them all out, especially when I feel I'm in a cooking rut.

One of my all time favorites is my husband's grandma's recipe for Italian Stuffed Shells. Grandma may not be Italian in nationality, but boy can she cook a mean dish of pasta.

We always joke that everything Grandma cooks turns to gold, because seriously EVERYTHING she makes is amazing. She makes a ham and cheese sandwich gourmet. Her nut roll will change your life.

So when I saw that she had gifted me with her recipe for Italian Stuffed Shells (a dish that I've swooned over the entire time I've known Jared)... I was over the moon excited to make it.

Ingredients:  (serves 6-8)

• 1lb ground beef or turkey
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 cups of hot water
• 1 (12oz) can of tomato paste
• 1 tbsp. beef bouillon granules
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 (16) oz carton of cottage cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese - divided
• 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 box jumbo pasta shells cooked and drained

Directions:

In a large skillet brown beef , onion, and garlic. Drain extra liquid.

                      

Stir in water, tomato paste, bouillon and oregano

Simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes  (Your house will smell heavenly! Jared came home from work while this was simmering and said he smelled it outside!)

                                      

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan cheese and egg. Mix well

                                    
Stuff the shells with cheese mixture. Nothing will make you feel more like an Italian grandma than stuffing pasta shells  :-)


Arrange the shells in a greased 9x13 baking dish

Pour meat sauce over the shells


Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese

Bake 5 minutes or until cheese is melted

                                   
What a beautiful sight. This is such a hearty dish, but you always will want seconds. Enjoy with a nice glass of red wine. Or two or three ... ya know how that goes  :-)

Mangia!

Wow, has it been two weeks already?? 

I am ecstatic to announce the winner of my prize in A Crafter's Dream Giveaway is.....

Congrats, Mia!!   You have won a complete set of supplies to make your very own holiday ribbon wreath!

If you didn't win, but still would like to make your own, totally customizable ribbon wreath, check out my instructions here.
                                    
Thank you all for entering!!  If you do make one, please post a picture on my Facebook wall ..... it makes my day  :-)

Think you need to own a sewing machine to make a blanket? Not true! Here is a great option for those who want a new-sew project.

These blankets are everywhere. You can't even walk through a local craft show without seeing at least 5 vendors with tie-only fleece blankets. So please note that I, in no way, am claiming that this is an original idea. I just think that fleece is sooooooo cozy!

When I was in college I made my first no sew fleece blanket to use over my comforter. It was brown with pink flowers and super, super warm and snugly. I wonder what ever happened to it. It must have been one of those things that gets lost when you move. (Like my serrated knife... where is that thing?)

When I was at Joann's I noticed that their fleece was 60% off. There were the cutest patterns. They'd be perfect for a blanket for our friend's new baby. I decided to make her a new sew blanket because babys LOVE the ends of them since they can hold the strings and knots and feel different texture. Sort of the same idea as a "taggy" blanket.

I picked two coordinating fabrics. (Baby polar bears and penguins wearing winter gear, I heart you.) You could absolutely use just one fabric for both sides also.    
                              

                                   
Cut strips about 1 inch apart using those 5x5 squares as guides. You can measure if you want, but I just eye-balled it. (You can see I used my pinking shears. You can use regular kitchen scissors too.)


                               
After you cut the strips on one side, go through and start knotting them. You can tie them in a "shoe-lace" knot if you want a messier look. I tied them neater by holding both pieces together and knotting them.