My friend Liz told me that I needed to cut back my avocado plant (It was about a foot tall, maybe taller, with big healthy leaves) so that it would become a bush instead of a tree. I was kind of nervous for the plant… I thought if I cut off all of the leaves it wouldn’t be able to photosynthesize and it would die! But I did it… and sure enough, it soon sprouted an extra “arm” with a couple of buds for more.

Now, a couple weeks later, the main new “arm” has 5 healthy leaves! I’m proud of my little avocado baby. It’s about a year old now.

Some of the things I’ve been making for Joyful Abode… they’ll eventually be online. I promise!
Annum napkin sets - with four napkins, each depicting a tree from a season of the year.

About a million aprons. Stripes, paisley, toile, coffee prints… something for everyone!

Other Joyful Abode news… you might notice some new links at the top of the page. I’ve added a link to my MySpace, so if you have one, please add me as a friend! I also added my Flickr link, and I’d love to have new friends there too. In my opinion though, the most exciting new link up there is to my portfolio at Trunkt. I’ll be adding more pictures to that, but it will serve as my portfolio to show prospective wholesale customers. So if you have a shop near you where you’d like to see my things, you’ll be able to give them my Trunkt URL so they can see if they’re interested in carrying my line!

I’m also working on a new web shop that will allow me to have more things listed in a more flexible way, and a new homepage for the website, so that is all very exciting!

I also have new helicopter change of address cards and birth announcements to add to the shop, and T-45 Goshawk moving cards and baby cards are coming soon!

Also, I wrote before about where I’ve been, and I mentioned that on May 8th, we’d find out what lies in the future for my guy’s training. Well, we found out that he got what he wanted! We’re going to Meridian, MS for him to train to fly “tailhook” which basically means planes that land on carriers. He’ll be learning on the T-45C Goshawk, which is a hot jet compared to what he’s been flying.

But guess when we’re moving!!

This FRIDAY!. The movers are coming on Wednesday, and we’re driving up Friday with everything we need for several weeks… The on-base housing is full, so we’ll need to stay in a hotel when we get there, so we can go house-hunting. What an adventure! I’ll keep you updated on what happens!

This was a simple dinner I threw together one night out of things we already had. I didn’t follow a recipe, but here’s how things came together.

• 2 bell peppers
• 1 box of “dirty” rice mix
• 2 Cajun sausages, taken out of their casings and browned (like ground beef)
• Chili powder, paprika, garlic, salt (to taste)
• Cheddar cheese
• Frozen hush puppies

Basically, here’s how it went. Cut off the tops of the peppers and de-seed them. Then, stick them in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit in a glass baking dish. I put a little bit of water in and around them, and wrapped them with tin foil, so they could sort of steam and soften.

While those are in the oven, cook the rice according to package directions, and throw in the Cajun sausage pieces (You can brown them while the rice is cooking). I think I also had an extra bell pepper, which I cut up and added to the rice, though this really isn’t necessary.

By the time the rice mixture was finished, the peppers should be starting to get soft (but not too soft!). Take them out of the oven, and get rid of any extra water.  Fill them with the rice mixture and top with cheese. Pop them into the oven with some frozen hush puppies (on a cookie sheet on the other oven rack) and in about 10-15 minutes, everything is ready to go!

Mmmm……

A few short hours later would find us happily munching the kernels off of the cobs, which we had buttered and sprinkled with salt. Delightful!

My father taught me how to eat the corn neatly so it wouldn’t get stuck in your teeth, by popping the kernels off one row at a time using your bottom teeth, rather than digging in with a CHOMP! It works, and has the added benefit of a typewriter joke. Finish the line of corn, say “Ding!” and start over. Well, that’s what my dad does anyway.

He also taught me the delights of eating leftover corn, still cold from the fridge, with a sprinkle of salt. It’s one of my favorite summertime treats to eat corn this way, so I usually get extras so I can intentionally have leftovers.

Unfortunately, when I moved out on my own, I discovered that I wasn’t actually sure about the right way to cook corn on the cob.  I tried microwaving it, boiling it endlessly, seasoning the water with a variety of things… but nothing was ever quite right.

So after reading about a dozen “recipes” and formulas for corn on the cob, the guy and I settled on this method (which is a conglomeration of a couple different ones), which turned out to be a happy discovery.  THIS is how corn on the cob shoud be!*

• Fill your pot with water.
• Add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of sugar.
• Drop in your corn.
• Bring everything to a boil, making sure the sugar is dissolved in the water.
• Boil for no longer than 8 minutes.
• Remove from the water and let it cool enough for handling and eating.
• Handle it and eat it.

It was perfect! Well, almost perfect. It was early-season corn and not the best I’ve ever had, but it was delicious and cooked properly! With just a smear of butter and a few shakes of salt, it was delicious with our dinner of tomato pie.

And I had my 2 ears of leftover corn reserved in the fridge for later, when I enjoyed them cold, and sprinkled with salt.

*Unless it’s grilled, which is equally as delicious, and always a special treat. I LOVE grilled corn on the cob. 

1. I figured out that I like this dish even better (if that was possible!) if I peel the tomatoes first, and
2. I have gotten much, much better at food photography.

So, here’s the same recipe, a second time around!

I make my own crust (the recipe is here), but store-bought should work fine too. If you have a pastry crust recipe you like though, feel free to use that!

If you’re using a commercial crust, you may want to pre-bake it for a few minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you’re picky like me, you might want to peel and de-seed your tomatoes before you slice them. If not, slice away. Lay your tomatoes on paper towels or cloth to absorb the excess water. No one wants a soggy pie! When your tomatoes are ready, fill your crust with them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, basil and onion powder. Like I said in the original post, I am very liberal with the basil and salt.

Then, mix 1/2 cup mayonnaise with 2 cups of your choice of shredded cheese (this time I used mozzarella). Spread this over the tomatoes.

If you’re using homemade crust, you can add the top now, making sure to poke vents into it. If you’re using a commercial crust, don’t worry! It’s just fine without a “lid.”

Protect the edges of your crust with a shield. If you don’t have a pre-made one, aluminum foil will work perfectly.

Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, then remove the foil.

Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until your crust is goldeny delicious.

If you can wait, it’s good to let the pie sit for 10-15 minutes, so everything can congeal inside. I couldn’t wait this time, so the slices in these pictures are a bit oozy. (Mmm….) If you let it sit, it’ll slice into pieces that are actually triangular, rather than triangular-plus-oozage.

I missed some seeds I guess! But a few don’t bother me. Doesn’t it look delightful? Mmmmmm! Tomato Pie!

I don’t like to eat the ooky seed/slime part, so I always de-seed my tomatoes before slicing them or cooking them. I am also kind of weird about the skin. It’s fine if I’m eating slices of tomatoes on sandwiches or plain with salt, but if the tomatoes are cooked, I can’t stand eating the skin. It’s just a weird texture by itself, I guess.

So I had to figure out how to easily peel tomatoes for when I make my beloved tomato pie. I figured it would be easier to do all at once before cooking it than to pick out the peel pieces before/during each bite I take. haha!

First, you’ll need tomatoes, of course…

And a bowl of ice water…

And a pot of boiling water.

It’s really very simple! All you have to do is put the tomatoes into the pot of water , leave them there for one minute, then fish them out with a slotted spoon.

Submerge the tomato in ice water until it’s completely cool.

Now, barely pierce the skin with a paring knife, making a small slit.

And start peeling. You’ll find that the skin comes away from the tomato quite easily.

And you’ll be able to peel off large pieces…

Until the entire lovely tomato is free!

It’s so quick, it only takes a little while to do a whole bunch of tomatoes. You can put them all in the boiling water, then ice water at the same time. After that, it’s just a simple slit and peel for each!

After this, I de-seeded them and made the best tomato pie I’ve ever made! More on that later. *sneaky grin*

But then… given what’s been on my plate lately, I CAN believe it.

Let’s see… I think some of you know that I’m a preschool teaching assistant. For the past month, we’ve been getting ready for their graduation ceremony, and it was on Friday. The kids were all dressed up and SO CUTE. They all got stage fright simultaneously though, so the songs we had been practicing sounded like they were being sung by a chorus of semi-mute mice. It was really sweet.

The weekend before last weekend, my parents came to visit. We took them to the Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola, to the beach, had a cookout, and went to a few restaurants.  It was a pretty awesome visit.

Then last weekend (the one that just finished), I was an exhibitor at the Gulf Coast Women’s Expo! It was a huge thing to get ready for, and I was so nervous. Now that it’s over, I’m a little relieved, but I’m glad I did it. I handed out tons of business cards and free recipes, met some awesome people, and made some sales. But now I have a LOT of stock to add to my online store! It’s going to take me a whiiiiile.

In addition to prepping for the kids’ graduation, my parents’ visit, and the expo, I’ve also started two new writing jobs. I now am a co-blogger at Start Cooking which is quite awesome! I get to write about food-related stuff that’s very different from what I do here on Joyful Abode. They’re more professional, informative, primer-like articles, rather than the trial and error recipes and step-by-step how-tos I do here. I also landed a sweet position as a tea blogger for TippyLeaf, and I’ve been having a blast reading, researching, and learning about tea, and then sharing my knowledge (and awesome tea finds and events) with the world.

So… that’s where I’ve been.

I can guarantee you’ll see more of me in May than you did in April! It’s going to be a fantastic month.  To everyone who’s reading this: Thanks for sticking with me even through my little bit of down time. And to my BRAND NEW 90 subscribers (I’m up from 340 to 430 according to Feedburner), welcome! I hope you enjoy what I have in store for Joyful Abode in May!

Also… the Guy is almost finished with his primary flight training as a student Naval aviator. On May 8th, we’ll find out what track he’ll be on for Advanced, and if/where/when we’re moving!  It’s going to be so crazy. Wish him luck!

If you’re looking for a deliciously simple way to dress up a steak, a whole chicken, or any number of other things you might be cooking, this rub may just be the answer! Named “Ron’s Rub” after my dad, this is a yummy mixture of only four ingredients.

Equal parts:

• black pepper
• kosher salt
• brown sugar
• paprika

Rub it on a steak, throw it on the grill, and a couple minutes later you’ll have this! (Provided you already stuck your sweet potatoes into the oven about 45 minutes ago).

My favorite thing in her shop might be the “baby genius quilt” though… It reminds me of the I-spy quilts that some people make. You could spend hours playing I-spy with your toddler and this quilt!

My favorite thing in her store though has GOT to be the Monster Away Spray: lavender scented monster repellent. It kills and prevents monsters anywhere you spray it!

I am loving these felt poesy pins!

On the list was granola bars.

But do you know what??? They’re not all healthy! Some of the granola bars you can buy in stores may as well be candy bars, with the amount of sugar and “fluff” they include in their ingredients. And most of them (except Kashi) also have high fructose corn syrup as a main ingredient. Disgusting. While I love Kashi granola bars, the guy and I tend to go through a bunch of those, so it gets pretty expensive.

So I decided to take matters into my own hands. After reading tons of granola bar recipes (and throwing out the ones that sounded like disguised candy), I came up with my own mixture that works deliciously well to create healthful, filling granola bars. If I eat half of one of these and a small piece of fruit, I’m good to go for several hours. And it makes me happy knowing that I didn’t eat anything disgusting to feel full.

So here’s my recipe. Let me know if you try it out!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Gather your ingredients:

• 2 cups oats
• 3/4 cup wheat germ
• 3/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup peanuts, crushed
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• approximately 8 oz. dried fruit

To crush your peanuts, put them in a plastic bag and smash them with a heavy mallet, measuring cup, or sauce pan.

Then, mix the peanuts, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds in a baking dish with sides. Toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so that they don’t get burned.

Meanwhile, prepare a glass baking dish (about 11 x 13 inches) for your granola by lining it with waxed paper lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray.

Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. (I forgot to take a picture of this step, but it looks so pretty!)

By now, your  grains and nuts should be toasted, so mix everything together in a large bowl. The grains, the liquid “glue,” and the dried fruit. Oh, and turn off your oven, because you’re finished with it now.

Mix everything REALLY WELL  because you want to make sure the “glue” gets all over everything. Now, dump your granola mixture into your prepared baking dish.

Spread out the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Now fold over the sides of the waxed paper or add a sheet on top, and PRESS HARD all over the granola. You want to compact it together so that your bars won’t fall apart when you cut them.

Wait 2-3 hours or until the granola has totally cooled.

Then, open the waxed paper …

And carefully turn the granola onto a large cutting board, peeling away the rest of the paper.

Now, firmly pressing down with a big knife (not sawing), cut your granola into whatever size bars you’d like.

I wrapped ours individually in plastic wrap, so that we could just throw one into our bag or lunch box in the morning. If you’d like to save on packaging though, you can store yours in an airtight container, between sheets of waxed paper (so they don’t stick together).

Enjoy!

Of course, you can mix up the recipe. I used peanuts because they’re what we had, but next time I’m going to make the granola nutless at first, but during the pressing-down part, I plan to press almonds into the top of the bars.

Another combo that would be fun to try is macadamia nuts, dried pineapple, and coconut flakes.

Or try dried cranberries, walnuts, and white chocolate chips (just a few).

I also plan to add flax seed to my granola mix.

Different flavors of honey would also probably change the final outcome too. Mmm…

So many options! Good thing we have time!