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Candied Yams

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For our family, nothing says Thanksgiving quite like this simple but insanely yummy and craveable Candied Yams recipe!Candied Yams | Catz in the Kitchen | catzinthekitchen.com | #holidays #recipe #yams #Thanksgiving

 
This recipe was my Grandma Annie's that's been passed down to my mom, and now to me. I'm not sure how similar it is to other candied yam recipes, but since I've only had one other version that my Mother. In. Love. makes with sweet potatoes, I'm not really one to know. What I do know is that when I'm celebrating the holidays with my mom, this dish better be on the table.

For as long as I can remember, my mom has always made these yummy yams for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was the one dish that I looked forward to more than any of the others. It just isn't a holiday dinner without them. [Read more...]

Tuesday's Tidings for November 19, 2013

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So, I don't usually write Tuesday's Tidings, but I haven't had a meal to blog in a while (it's been almost a month - my last post was my Cinnamon Apple Spice French Toast back in October!), so Chels asked if I would want to write this post (maybe once a month going forward - we'll see). It's not that I haven't been cooking - I have - but with the new job and being sick for the last two weeks, I just haven't been playing with a lot of recipes or having time to photograph them. So, without further ado, here are my "Tuesday's Tidings!"

1. Leaves. They are everywhere. The picture above is from our side yard, which always has the most. There are several gorgeous trees that border the yard (some are ours, some are the neighbors'), and come November, all of that beautiful foliage is unceremoniously dropped on our grass. Without fail, the entire lawn is covered - not a green blade to be seen. I see raking in my future.

2. We started submitting some of our food photography to Foodgawker this week. Much like TasteSpotting or Tasteologie, Foodgawker is a curated food photography website, meaning, unlike Pinterest, you can't just post whatever you want. Each submitted photograph is reviewed manually (as in, by a human being!) and accepted or rejected. When the photos are rejected, the reviewer sends you an email with short critique, which I am finding very helpful (i.e., poor composition, white balance issues, overly shallow depth of field, etc). I think we've submitted about 20 photos, of which nine have been approved. I'm going to use a sports analogy (odd for me) and say that I'll take a batting average over .333 any day. You can check out the photos we've had approved here! Another thing I'm really liking about Foodgawker is that, unlike TasteSpotting, which can take weeks to approve or deny a photo, the site generally responds to your submissions within 24 hours. 
3. The trailer for Noah is out. If you haven't seen it or heard about it yet, Russell Crowe and Darren Aronofsky have decided to bring the Biblical story of the flood to the silver screen. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm all for the masses being exposed to Biblical stories, but (a) I doubt there are a ton of people out there who haven't heard the story of Noah and the ark, and (b) I doubt even more that many will be driven to read the actual story in Genesis based a Hollywood-ized version of the story. I'm sure Crowe can play a fine Noah, but Aronofsky at the helm is another concern - he's insanely talented, to be sure, but also way out there (The Black Swan? Requiem for a Dream?). All of that said, the trailer is great. Maybe I'll just watch that and be happy with it - pretend the movie's only two minutes long. 
4. It was dramatically windy here over the weekend (for us - we're talking 25 mph winds, nothing tornado alley-esque), which can be annoying, not only because it acerbates the afore-mentioned leaf problem, but also because it drives away the remaining birds that normally inhabit our backyard. However, even in the strongest wind, these little guys stick around, foraging on the ground, clinging to branches bereft of foliage, and seeking shelter in our little birdhouses. 

5. As I've mentioned in many a post, I like to cook with hot oil, and I almost always burn myself. The tips of my fingers are so burnt at this point that I barely have any feeling left in them (very nice when playing a steel string guitar, I have to say). Unfortunately, though, I still have plenty of feeling left in my forearms. When I was making breakfast on Saturday (I was testing out a new breakfast potatoes recipe for you - it turned out, but the pictures didn't), a pan of oil heated up far faster than I anticipated, and when I added the potatoes, my forearms were splattered in hot oil. Looks like the burns are second degree, because they're blistering. Yay. Showers will be fun for awhile. 
6. So, lighting is hard. We've had our DSLR for about nine months now, and though we've learned a lot, it feels like we're still just beginning to scratch the surface (which is undoubtedly true). Where food photography is concerned, our primary challenge is lighting. Yes, composition, setting, angles, etc are all areas we can work on, but none of that seems to matter if the lighting is poor, and now that it gets dark at 4:30, well...dinner is tough to photograph. So, shall we prepare everything ahead of time and reheat for dinner, photograph only on the weekends, or invest in some lighting equipment?
7. Christian has had quite a week! All at once, he is army crawling (Chels calls it zombie crawling because of his personal twist on the conventional style), pulling himself up to a sitting position from being on his stomach, hanging on to the furniture, referring to Noel (the cat) as "didi," and preferring all of our food over his. Some of these are "early" and some of them are "late," but as I'm always telling Chels, every baby is different. Our experience with our three babies has certainly borne that out. Still, this week it was hard to keep up!
8. Poor Edie had a reaction to her flu shot (which wasn't really a shot, as she keeps reminding me - "Daddy, it was a vaccine..."). It was a nasal spray this time, which is nice, but 24 hours later she had a fever and felt awful. Edie never (ever!) gets sick, so it was hard to see her dealing with that. To make matters worse, we were over at my parents' house for my brother's birthday, which she wasn't really able to enjoy - she loves a party!
9. Speaking of my brother, Jeff, he turned 21 last week. Which is insane. That is all. 
10. Actually, that's not all. He's taking an engineering class at Portland State University, and he's been working on building and programming a fan. Yeah. It doesn't sound like much, but it's amazing how complicated it is. He had to design the parts, have them cut and shaped out of plastic, wire the engines, and then write the programming code that would govern the fan speed, when it started and stopped, and the oscillation. I found myself quite fascinated by the process. He finished it while we were over for his birthday on Saturday night - he was underwhelmed as the fan blade spun and the head moved back and forth. I'm sure it seemed a minor accomplishment after weeks of work, but I was ecstatic and very proud - he made it work! I have infinitely more respect for my oscillating fans at this point. 

Weekly Menu 11/18-11/24

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Here it is...the last week before the week of Thanksgiving. Are you feeling the stress of it all? I hope not. I know there are a ton of things to prepare for when Thanksgiving rolls around- family rolling in from out of town, groceries to buy, decorating, and a whole meal to prepare. How many people are you hosting at your house for the holidays? We are going to have a whopping 23 people at our house...and guess what? We don't have enough seating, lol! But, I think it's going to be so much fun. I figure we will all just have a Thanksgiving picnic in our living room and I'm actually not stressing about it at all. I think it will be fun. However, we have already begun to buy things for the event!

We're having a relatively easy dinner week here at home. We will be celebrating another birthday, and a Thanksgiving dinner at Awana. Plus, I believe Josh and I will be having an afternoon date on Saturday. I'm looking forward to that and this easy week of dinner planning.

Monday
(Meatless)
Caprese Flatbread Pizzas with a Salad
Tuesday
(Taco)
Wednesday
(Awana)
Thanksgiving Dinner
Thursday
Chili Cornbread Bake
Friday
Birthday Dinner with Family
Saturday
Swiss Chicken, Broccoli, and Rolls
Sunday
Fried Egg Sandwich and Smoothies

Why I Prefer to Brine My Thanksgiving Turkey

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***Forgive the terrible lighting. We cooked this turkey over the weekend and the sun was hiding. #foodblogginginthepacificnw

I brined my first turkey a few years ago when I hosted Christmas at my house and I was blown away. It was the moistest turkey I had ever eaten. The flavor of the brine soaked right through the skin of the turkey and right into the meat. While Josh was carving our turkey, he commented that the meat was so tender, that it was falling off the bones!


I like roasting turkey's and to be very honest...roasting a turkey is easier than brining one, seeing as there aren't as many steps. But the problem I find with roasting vs. brining, is that the turkey is very hit and miss when it comes to keeping it from drying out. For me, brining the turkey and taking the extra steps is worth it, when ensuring delicious flavor.

So what goes into brining a turkey?

Before you create your brining liquid, you need to have your turkey picked out. I always buy the frozen turkeys. But if you are going to brine, you either need to buy a fresh turkey OR watch the salt content in your brining liquid because a frozen turkey is already injected with salt.

The last few times I've brined my turkey, I've used The Pioneer Woman's brining recipe, but I knock the salt content down by about half a cup in her recipe. By doing that, I've never tasted a salty flavor ever. So while she doesn't recommend using a frozen turkey, sometimes, finding a fresh turkey is hard and expensive. So there is an alternative.

Combine all the ingredients you are going to use in your brine into a super large pot and bring it to a boil. Once it's boiling, turn the burner off and cover the pot and allow its cooled. Now, this...takes awhile. It could take all day if I let it. But about 1-2 hours into the cooling process, I fill my sink up with freezing cold water and place the pot into the sink and let it hang out there until the liquid is completely cooled.

Once the liquid is cooled and they turkey is completely cleaned out, place the turkey into a brining bag (NOT AN OVEN BAG).  In the above photo, I am actually using an oven bag. I thought I had an extra brining bag, but I was wrong. All I had was oven bags. Reynolds used to make one but after going to the 3 nearest grocery stores by my house, I quickly discovered that if they still made them, my stores did not carry them.  You can find them in stores like Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, and even Amazon.

Pour the liquid over the turkey and fasten the bag up, place it in a large pan and allow it to soak for at least 16 hours, but 24 hours would be even better, making sure to turn the turkey from breast to back half way through the brining process.

At this point, once the turkey is soaked you can go ahead and roast it as you usually do, but I follow Ree's roasting method and it works really well for us.

So you can see, there are quite a few extra steps when it comes to brining a turkey and even maybe a little added expense. But I find that it's worth it in the end to ensure a completely flavorful, moist Thanksgiving Turkey.

If your interested in different brining recipes, I know Allrecipes has some or you can even pick up a pre-made blend from one of the stores I listed above.

Cranberry Bliss Cinnamon Rolls

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cranberry bliss cinnamon rolls

I have a weakness for Starbuck's Cranberry Bliss Bars. They only serve them in their stores this time of year and I can never wait to get into the stores and buy one. Last year I posted a very similar version of their beloved bliss bars that I had found from Taste of Home. But I love the combination so much, I thought it would be a lot of fun to make them into my newest obsession. Cinnamon rolls.


I make cinnamon rolls at home probably way more than I should. Ever since I got over my fear and made them back in June at my friend Lisa's Hospitality & Cooking class, I've been kind of hooked. So many different things you can do with them.

cranberry bliss bar recipe

I mean, c'mon! Doesn't a Cranberry Bliss Cinnamon Roll just sound completely amazing?! As soon as I got the idea in my head, I couldn't escape it. I was dreaming about them constantly. And let me tell you, these are even better than the ones I dreamed up!

You can eat these for breakfast. You can eat them as a snack. You can even eat them as a dessert. You just have to make these! And this recipe makes a ton of cinnamon rolls. So make sure you share a pie plate with someone you love. I saved one batch for us and gave the other plate to my in.loves. since they were all kind of sick and under the weather.

cranberry bliss recipe

Cranberry Bliss Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe by Chelsia Rief

Cranberries, sweetened cream cheese, and smooth white chocolate wrapped up into a cinnamon roll. The only thing better than one pie dish of this is having two pie dishes full so you can share!

Prep time: 45 min

Cook time: 20-25 min + additional 15 min of whipping frosting

Total time: 1 hr 20 min

Yield: 18-20 rolls

Ingredients

  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1 tbsp yeast
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 6 cups all purpose flour
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened and divided
  • ½ cup sugar divided
  • 3 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup dried cranberries, divided
  • 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 4 oz white baking chocolate, melted

Cooking Directions

  1. Add yeast, sugar, salt, and oil to warm water and let sit until yeast starts to bubble, about 5 minutes. Pour into bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if mixing by hand) with the dough hook attachment. Add egg and flour. Mix until dough forms into a ball. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
  2. Divide dough into two balls. On a silpat or floured surface, roll one of the balls into a 19" long by about 11" rectangle. (About the length of a rolling pin.) Spread ¼ cup of the room temperature butter over the dough. Sprinkle with ¼ cup sugar, about 1 ½ tablespoons of cinnamon, ¼ cup brown sugar, and ¼ cup dried cranberries.
  3. Roll it up and pinch seams together. Slice into even rounds, about the spacing of your thumb length wise. Place in prepared pie dishes. Repeat with second bath of dough and ingredients. Let sit covered for about 25 minutes or until dough is "puffy."
  4. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Take out of oven and while the cinnamon rolls are cooling, prepare the frosting.
  5. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Over a double burner, melt the white baking chocolate until smooth and velvety. Cool slightly, and mix in about ¼ of the white chocolate into the cream cheese and stir to combine.
  6. Frost the cinnamon rolls with the cream cheese and white chocolate frosting. Evenly sprinkle the remaining cranberries over the top of the rolls. Take a whisk and drizzle the remaining of the white chocolate over the dried cranberries.

Tuesday's Tidings for November 12, 2013

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1. I came across this recipe the other day in my recipe box. It is the closest recipe we have to my great-grandmother's Molasses Cookies. Let me tell you, these cookies are amazing! But no one in my family can quite replicate them because my grandmother died many years ago. When she gave the recipe out to my mom and grandmother, the ingredients were always a bit off because my grandma never really wrote the recipe down anywhere. Well, now that I've re-discovered the recipe, I need to make it. I need these cookies. My memories over her are very much tied to her cooking, so I need to replicate these cookies and lately, I find myself missing her a lot!

2. Josh played with the title of our website over the weekend. What do you think? I'm loving the change. It feels so clean and fresh.

3. I went ahead and asked my mom today if she would watch all 3 of my kids on December 6th so I can go see The Pioneer Woman and get my cookbooks signed. She said," YES!" I'm so giddy with excitement I can't even tell you!

4. Who likes Pandora and who likes iTunes radio. I'm kind of a Pandora fan. iTunes is always sticking random country songs in our Christmas radio stations and I'm not a fan. My fave pandora station right now is Sarah Brightman...but soon, I'll be making a Trans-Siberian Orchestra station! I love the holidays!

5. About 4pm every day I get snacky. Most days, I'll just eat an apple. But I get hungry again pretty fast. What is a great low-calorie snack that is actually a bit filling?

6. This is the wooden rod in my closet. The plastic dohickey that holds the rod up has obviously broke and soon, all of my clothes are going to be on the floor because we keep forgetting to buy a new plastic dohickey (surely, there is a name for the dohickey). Since I'm a girl, you would think this would be a bigger priority!

7. We bought our first Christmas gift yesterday. With my two coupons and added discounts, we ended up only paying like $2 and some odd cents for it! It's the little things like that, that just make my day.

8. Speaking of Christmas gifts...how many of you are done? How many have started? Josh and I are planning on starting earlier this year.

9. I'm kind of annoyed. Every year, I go to the Country Christmas Bazzar a few miles away from us and every year they have these delicious marshmallow squares that are coated in toasted coconut. My mom and I flip out over them every year. I drug Josh and the kids there yesterday and guess what? No  Toasted Coconut Marshmallows. I could of cried. They are so good!

10. I'm totally excited-I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year for my entire family. Not just my family, but for in my in. loves too! It's going to be a full house with a lot of eating on the floor and stuff, but it will be the best Thanksgiving Living room Picnic EVER!

Weekly Menu 11/11-11/17

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Happy Veteran's Day! Thank you to all of the different outlets of our service men and woman who have all fought and continue to fight for us!

I love long weekends. Last night, Josh and I stayed up late watching "The Guardian." That is such a great movie about the Coast Guard. We hadn't seen it in years, but the acting is very powerful. As we were turning the movie off, I told Josh that I didn't think we ever hear anything really about the Coast Guard in the news, which makes me sad because they should be recognized for their bravery, strength, and perseverance. But, I don't think the people of the Guard go into that career thinking about getting recognized. They do it to save lives.


Josh is still recovering from his cold. He's better, but he's still got a pretty bad cough.  I can't blame him for not wanting to do much...but the sweet guy has been all over my computer working hard on the blog. He's gotten us registered on Food Gawker and Taste Spotting and we've applied to work with Blogher as well. We're crossing our fingers on that one.

When I first started this blog, it was just as a hobby. Something for me to do. Then I kind of went back and forth a lot on if this was something   I wanted keep up and maybe make a business out of. I went back and forth on that for probably two years. But at the beginning of the year, I've come to the conclusion, that I really love writing about food and sharing recipes and hearing other people's thoughts on the recipes we make. I love it! This hobby...has changed our family so much! We all loved food before the blog, but now it is something our entire family gets into. Even the kids are involved. It's brought us closer, it's been good for me as a stay at home/homeschooling mom. It's just been a fantastic way for us to bond. I'm at the point, where I would love to see where this would go if we were to start actively start making the move to business. And I would love all of your help with this too! If you enjoy what we do here at Catz and you think your friends would like us too...please, spread the word. Tell your friends about our Facebook page. Subscribe to our foodie emails, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter. I would love to hear from everyone!  Okay! Now, onto the menu!

Monday
(Meatless)
Mushroom, Spinach, Swiss Quiche
Tuesday
(Taco)
Wednesday
(Awana, Crockpot)
Thursday
Turkey, Pesto, Provolone Panini's
Friday
B-day Dinner
Saturday
Chicken Curry with Rice and Rolls
Sunday
Fried Egg Sandwiches and Smoothies

Mexican Lasagna

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Mexican lasagna

I knew how to cook when I got married. But I was inspired to cook by Rachael Ray! This Mexican lasagna was the very first thing I ever watched her cook on her show "30 Minute Meals" on the Food Network channel and this was the very first recipe of her's that I made.

From her appearance on that episode, I would guess, that it was one of her earliest segments. Her hair was shorter, she had bangs, and she looked very young. I mean, she still looks young now...but this was when she was really young! And I loved it!

Mexican lasagna recipe

Her enthusiasm for the meal was catchy and I wanted to make what she was making. So I did. I made her Mexican Lasagna and it was fantastic! I've been hooked ever since.

This fun Mexican dinner is super easy and super customizable. It doesn't take me long to prepare it and served with a salad on the side makes dinner a cinch. The flavors are smoky with a bit of heat, the tortillas nice and crisp, and lot's of delicious cheese! This dinner is a crowd pleaser, but more importantly for me, it's a family pleaser too!

easy Mexican lasagna recipe

Mexican Lasagna

Recipe by Rachael Ray

A simple dinner that's full of all of your favorite Mexican flavors. Serve this lasagna with a salad and you've got a complete meal!

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 20 min

Total time: 30 min

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lb ground turkey breast
  • 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ sweet yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained
  • 1 can (15 oz) golden corn
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 6-8 flour tortillas (depending on size)
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. In a high rimmed medium-large skillet, add 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. Add ground turkey and brown the meat. Once the meat is almost browned, add in the onion, chili powder, and cumin, mix to combine. Add the salsa, black beans, and corn. Heat the mixture through for another couple of minutes.
  2. Coat a 9x13 baking dish with 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil. Cut the tortillas in half. Layer half of the meat mixture on the bottom of the dish and top with enough tortillas to cover the meat mixture, then add the cheese. Repeat: meat, cheese, tortillas, and cheese. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cheese brown and bubbly. Top with chopped cilantro and serve.

Pear & Cranberry Crisp

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Pear & Cranberry Crisp | Catz in the Kitchen | catzinthekitchen.com | #pear #cranberry #crisp #dessertOkay, Halloween has come and gone which only means it's time to bring on the HOLIDAYS! Yes, I was that crazy person who was listening to Christmas music this weekend. Hey, I know there is an unspoken (okay, sometimes spoken) rule about no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, but you guys...I'm just so excited. Last year, I was pregnant and while I was loving the holidays, my heart wasn't in it as much as it usually is because, hello...I was very, very pregnant and for me the holidays just meant one more thing I had to put up and take down while either still pregnant or with a newborn in the house. So this year...I'm going full swing...watch me go! [Read more...]

Tuesday's Tidings for November 5, 2013

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1. Last Thursday was Halloween!!! Our kids love hitting the streets with their best friends, Teah (the pirate), Emma (the Indian), and Malia (not pictured). Teah is just about 9 months older than Grace. Seriously! Her mom was pregnant and about to give birth when Josh and I got married. I got pregnant on our honeymoon and BAM, 9 months later...HELLO, GRACE! They were destined to be best friends.

2. Ever since I heard that Nicole Kidman was portraying Grace Kelly in Grace of Monoco, I knew I had to see it. Nicole Kidman is perfect for the role and Grace Kelly is like one of my all-time favorite actresses. You need to watch the trailer if you haven't already. P.S. I love Grace Kelly so much, that's where Grace got her name.

3. For the record, my husband is pretty much a saint. He doesn't do many things that irritate or grate on me. He picks up his clothes off the floor, doesn't leave the toilet seat up, cleans up most of the little hairs on sink after he shaves...but the one thing he does not do is put the silverware in the dishwasher correctly. He is always sticking the head of the spoons, knives, and forks face first into the dishwasher, leaving them dirty and spotty. I've talked to him about this. I've even joked with his mother about it, and she can't believe he does that either. It's a pet peeve. I'll break him of it soon.

4. Speaking of Josh, he's been sick since Saturday morning. Here's where he and I differ. When he is sick, he doesn't let it stop him from doing things around the house. He likes it when I rub his neck or give him hugs. He is helpful, gets up with the baby, etc. Me? Leave me alone. I want to sit on the couch or in my bed. I want to be waited on hand and foot, and don't even think about touching me unless it is to rub my head. The difference between us is it is still all about what he can do to make other people happy and for me, sadly, but truthfully, it is what can you do to make me happy! LOL!

5. I'm doing a 30 days of gratitude photo challenge on Instagram right now. If you aren't already following me,  you should and join in on the challenge too! #gratitudechallenge

6. I saw this cat stocking holder in the Christmas section of our grocery store and I want it so bad! We need to get a new stocking holder for Christian, but our collection is of deer, not cats :(

7. We watched Monster's University and The Croods over the weekend. So cute! I enjoyed Monster's University more and I didn't want to see The Croods at all. But it was pretty good. Emma Stone has a great voice for animation!

8. My Sister. In. Love. was here in town weekend before last and gave me a sourdough starter to play with. I'm going to feed it for the first time tonight. How many of you have experience with sourdough starters and recipes you can use with it. I would love it if you would share some of your favorite tips or recipes with me in the comment section!

9. I think this bread pudding looks amazing!

10.  What's your favorite Thanksgiving pie?