Pheasant Nuggets (With Homemade Fryin’ Magic)

Happy 2015, everyone!

I hope the first couple weeks of the new year have been treating you well so far. How are your resolutions coming along?

I resolved to start recycling in 2015, and there is now an impressive little pile of glass jars and bottles in the garage. Alright, that’s really not impressive at all, but I’m working toward it! Today I browsed the interwebs for recycling storage/organization ideas and read my city’s regulations, and my hopes are high. 😀 Rob has been in the building mood lately, so I’ve asked him to build a recycling station or tower of some sort. My other resolutions include reading all the books on my shelf that I’ve been meaning to, getting back into marathon shape, and going deeper with the Lord. Oh and I also resolve to find a job I enjoy and am passionate about. This year is going to kick last year’s bum!

For today’s recipe, I’m sharing a variation of one of my dad’s specialties: pan-fried pheasant. Wild game was the norm around my house growing up; we ate pheasant instead of chicken, deer and elk instead of beef. For some, these are acquired tastes. For others, delicacies. For my family (and any other hunting family), it’s just what’s for dinner.

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Pumpkin Küchen

It’s family tradition time!

And, you guys, this is not a recipe you want to skip over. Of all my family tradition recipes, küchen is probably my favorite. My grandma is 100% German, and this is one of her signature desserts. I can’t make it, eat it, or even think about it without being reminded of her. Though she lives on the opposite side of this vast state, I am blessed not only to still have a grandmother, but also to still have the privilege of seeing her every now and then.

Cuatro Choco Cookies {& updates}

HELLO!
Were you beginning to worry about me?

I do apologize; I’ve been holding out on you.

It’s been months now since I created this cookie recipe, but the impending busyness of life (a full-time job plus two side businesses, et cetera) has prevented me from sharing it with you. Fortunately, the time has come!

These cookies are for those of you who crave and adore chocolate as much as I do. They’re brimming with FOUR different kinds of chocolate! Is it overkill? No, not at all. I assure you.

With cocoa powder, melted semisweet chocolate, milk chocolate chips, and dark chocolate chips (or white chocolate, if you prefer), these cookies are not for the faint of heart. For those who prefer fruity or salty sweets, these may be a bit of an overload. However, you should at least give them a chance. 😉

Homemade Parmesan & Herb Mini Croutons

Healthy eating is probably one of the most common New Year’s resolutions, right? Well, if you’ve resolved to eat healthier this year, make these croutons. They’re guaranteed to amp up your boring salads! The slight bit of cheesiness and the lovely herb notes are deliciously pleasing. I tell you what, these croutons are so good that I even eat them on their own sometimes as a snack! Plus, they’re way easy to make.

You know what else? They’re the perfect size. Maybe I’m weird, but I find it annoying when croutons are so large that they have to be stabbed with a fork, which then just causes them to crumble. No, these ones are perfectly small and “scoop-able.” Of course, if you happen to like giant croutons, you can go ahead and cut these into giant pieces. 😉

Quinoa Spaghetti with Homemade Tomato Basil Sauce

Well HELLO again!

Today I’ve got two things for you wonderful readers. First, I have a delicious and healthy recipe to share with you. Second, I decided it’s about time I fill you in on the exciting news I mentioned recently. 😀

So, first things first, I made some spaghetti.
I made it with quinoa noodles.
I also made some killer homemade sauce.

Wolftree Cake {show & tell}

Today, we’re having Show & Tell. 🙂

I made something kinda cool, and I want to share it with you all!

Some wonderful friends of mine recently started a local publication called Wolftree. It’s a publication “that aspires to encourage and share the stories of sincere artists, dreamers, and adventurers of the Midwest.” It’s pretty darn neat. Go check it out! Maybe even think about buying it… 🙂

Last weekend was the launch party of Wolftree’s volume 1, and I was presented with the exciting and challenging opportunity to make a cake for the party. Brooke, my friend and one of Wolftree’s creators, asked me, “Could you do an actual tree cake?! Earthy like?!” My first thought was, “Oh dear… I don’t know if I have the skills or tools to do that.”

However, I did lots of research– mostly scouring pages and pages of tree cakes on CakeCentral.com– and the dim light began to grow brighter, giving me hope that I could do this. I wrote down all the ideas I could think of and narrowed it down to the best one: Make the trunk out of rice krispies covered in chocolate, and use angel food cake for the leafy top.

What do you think? Did I do okay?

Blizzard Day– Donuts

No recipe here today, but I just wanted to share our blizzard day family tradition with you all.

Rob’s family has a tradition of making homemade donuts when there’s a big, bad blizzard.
Well, there was a big, bad blizzard yesterday. We invited some friends over after church, before the snow had trapped us in, and we carried on a favorite family tradition.

I will definitely share the recipe on here someday, but for now, you just get a little sneak peak.