So ready for a weekend.

It sure has been a busy week. And Fridays are always the busiest of them all. Want to know how I spent my day today?

6:00 am - wake up
6:10 am- study for Chemistry exam
8:00 am - say good bye to Sage as he head up to Campus
8:15 am -  get ready for the day
9:00 am - head up to campus
9:30 am - take Chemistry test, very hard,  not expecting a great grade
10:30 am - sewing class, working on a pair of dress pants
12:30 pm - leave sewing class a few minutes late
12:40 pm - arrive to work (the engineering computer lab on campus) a few minutes late
1:30 pm - leave work, eat lunch (cottage cheese with peaches, yummy)
2:00 pm - back in sewing room fixing a mistake on pants
2:30 pm - arrive at cooking lab (we made breakfast food today, also yummy. I can now flip a crepe, pretty neat.)
4:30 pm - leave lab, look for Sage(we have one phone, makes meeting up on campus kind of interesting)
4:40 pm - find Sage, walk to work. Talk with Sage outside of work (have not seen each other all day remember)
5:20 pm - someone from work saw me and asked me to cover them from 5:30-7 (my normal shift is from 7-10:30)
5:30 pm - come to work (study for my online Interior Design exam)
6:00 pm - take my Interior Design (online, and timed) exam, what I was planning on doing before I came to work I am now doing at work.
6:55 pm - finish exam with 5 minutes to spare
6:55 pm - bathroom/drinking fountain break (found Sage in Lab, gave a kiss)
7:00 pm - begin working on my Interior Design report
9:00 pm - finish and submit my report
9:10 pm - shut down half of the computers
9:20 pm - Sudoku break
9:30 pm - talk to Sage (I love Sage)
9:40 pm - begin writing blog post
10:00 pm - finish and publish blog post
10:00 pm - finish Sodoku
10:15 pm - begin shutting off more computers (reminding people of our closing time)
10:30 pm - close the lab (after I gently kick people out)
10:35 pm - drive home with Sage
10:40 pm - arrive at home
11:00 pm - find bed, pillow and soft blanket
11:05 pm - sound asleep.

Okay, so I just guessed what I will be doing from when I finished writing the post until I fall asleep, but I am pretty predictable. That was my busy day. (wondering how many people actually ready it to the end) Well to wrap it up, I have a headache, my consistent Friday night pal. And I could not be happier that tomorrow is Saturday. And then the next day is Sunday. Oh, how I love the weekend.

Hope you all had a great day and enjoy your weekend! I know I sure will!

Skype and Waffles

Last night my honey and I enjoyed a wonderful double date with my sister Molly and her husband. They live in New Hampshire so we had out date over Skype! We played a very fun game of Pictionary. For those who have never played that before, it is a team played game of drawing pictures and guessing what they are. Pretty simple but very fun. After wards we made some yummy waffles for dinner. So yummy that i am going to share the recipe. :)   

Cornmeal Waffles with Peach Maple Syrup
This recipe was in the Statesman (the Utah State University newspaper)

For the waffles:

1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the syrup:

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 medium-sized, ripe peach, peeled and pit removed.

We did not try the syrup but I included it because it sounded yummy. Instead we had some runny peach jam that was just as yummy I am sure. Oh and don't forget the whipped cream on top!

Directions:

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and Salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla, and beat until well blended. Note: If you want to make the recipe a little healthier, you can substitute applesauce for some or all of the sour cream. (we used sour cream)

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together just until they are combined. Be careful not to over mix the batter, because it will result in chewy, dense pancakes with no spring or fluff to them.

Heat your waffle iron to medium and lightly butter it. Make sure you wait until it is fully heated so that you do not have to wait too long for your first waffle to cook and then burn your second waffle. Patience pays off here.

 Once the iron is ready, scoop the batter on and cook until the waffles are golden brown. Serve with sliced peaches and peach maple syrup. Note: You can also just make pancakes with this batter. Just make the recipe according to the directions and cook the batter on a skillet or frying pan instead.

To make the syrup, puree the pealed peach - either using a blender or a food processor - until it is completely smooth.

Meanwhile, combine the maple syrup, brown sugar and butter in a sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the butter melts, the sugar dissolves and the resulting liquid comes to a boil. Boil for two minutes, then stir in the heavy cream and bring the mixture to a boil again.

Remove from the heat, stir in the peach puree and let sit for five minutes before serving. This allows the flavors to blend and the syrup to thicken. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Note: The best way to freeze these waffles is to lay them in a single row on a baking sheet and place in freezer for 1-2 hours until the waffles are totally frozen. Then you can just gather up all the waffles and put them in a Ziploc bag together, and store it in the freezer for up to three months. You can reheat then in the toaster, microwave or on a baking sheet in the oven at 400 degrees.

-Jennelle Clark rights a food column in the Utah State University's Statesman and also runs an online food blog foodislikeart.blogspot.com. Check out her post of this recipe here.

 

Baked Oatmeal

Today's post is a favorite. This recipe came from my mamacita who I am pretty sure got it from my sister. Anyways, it is very delicious. It is a make ahead recipe which makes breakfast the morning after a breeze.

Prep time: fast and very easy
Bake time: 35 min.
Serves 6 (unless you want a second bowl. I recommend doubling this one if you are feeding more than 4. Then you might have some for the next morning as well.)
Ingredients:
- 1/2 c. vegetable oil
- 3/4 c. white sugar*
- 2 eggs
- 1 c. milk
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1 T. baking powder
- 3c. oats (We prefer the old fashion variety rather than quick oats but it turns out with both.)
- 1/2 c. raisins (These are optional. I like using craisins when I have them but it is great without.)
- 2 T. brown sugar
- 1/2 t. cinnamon

*(Sage does not like it so sweet so he has been trying to get me to add less sugar but I always forget before it is too late. If you happen to try this with less sugar I would be very happy to hear how it turns out.)

Beat together oil and sugar. Mix in eggs, milk, salt, baking powder and oatmeal. Beat well, then stir in raisins or craisins or disregard this step if you are having it plain. Pour into lightly greased pan, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. (I mix them together first then sprinkle.) Refrigerate overnight. Next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake until firm, about 35 min.

Serve warm with some milk (like cereal). Cow's milk is what we always have but Soy milk is a yummy treat as well. The first time I had this was at my sister's house with hazelnut cream (any kind of cream is very yummy) and some fresh blueberries. This can be eaten a variety of ways. I would love to hear how your family likes it best. (Mmm, strawberries and cream would be so tasty. No, fresh raspberries and cream. There is a huge garden in our backyard that had TONS of fresh raspberries about a month ago. I can't believe we didn't try that. I have made myself hungry thinking about it. Well, guess what I am making tonight?)

Enjoy!