A Bookworm Creates

Several blog posts ago... Who am I kidding?  It's been months since I've updated this blog.  So many things have happened that have merely kept me moving forward and not thinking about my blogs.   I've updated photos in the etsy shop.  Check them out.  You know where to find the links.   My grandfather had a stroke.   My mother had a mild heart attack.   This heart attack has affected the family in more ways then one.  She currently can't cook - that falls on me.  There are so many restrictions currently in play.  Fats. Sodium. Carbs. Sugar.   A very long time ago I posted a baked salmon dish.   While not perfect (I overcooked it), the spice was on point and have been requested to make this dish again.       What did I do?  I reduced the Parmesan cheese.  Do you know how much sodium is in a mere fourth a cup of Pa...

Homemade Cheesy Hash Browns with Ham It's been a while and I have a few posts to get started on.  I really should remember to not let them stack up like I did.  The first for today: A Homemade Homestyle Bakes Inspired Meal.  Wait?  What? It's simple.  I was in the grocery store one day and saw this Homestyle Bakes box.  It was basically a cheesy hash browns with ham.  Hmmmm.  Ham.  Anybody who knows me knows that I like my ham, almost as much as chocolate and about even with bacon.  The thing is I am not big on the whole meal in a box thing.  I did that in college a few times and the pasta always went from hard to mush in 3 seconds.  There was no middle, perfect pasta ground.  Besides, making it from scratch means you can control sodium levels, how much cheese and ham goes in, and just how much you make.  You can make more for just about the same price as buying the box! There are two options.  Buy ...

Yes, yes, I know.  Anybody paying attention to the time stamps is aware that I've posted one post right after the other.  Why?  Because I've made both of these with very little time between them.  Tonight I made cornbread and it was easy so I thought that I would share.  This is will also be the second imperfect results post.  Why bother making a post about something that came out wrong?  Because part of these blog posts are for my friends who have difficulty cooking.  If you want technical, completely homemade, and wonderful, you need to talk to my friend Jammie or visit a recipe site.  He made a homemade vegetable potpie today from scratch for his lunch.  I asked him why he does not have his own food blog.  For the second time.  For the second time he did not answer me.  Go figure.  However, this is completely homemade yet not technical, but that's what can make cooking fun.  As discussed with Jammie toda...

Every now and then there are a couple of friends (the Twins) that I get to have a girls' night in with.  This usually involves Phase Ten (30 phases, they exist, Google them), other random card games, movies in the background, and dinner, most often with dessert.  When Sarah sent me the text, I was all for it.  The only problem we were having was with what to have for supper.  For a few days we sat on it and thought about it.  It is really difficult sometimes to create a meal when so many people have different tastes.  Finally it was settled, homemade pizza.  So, Sarah and Meredith (the twins) bought the pizza dough and cheese while I bought pepperoni and Canadian bacon (essentially ham).  Now, this can be done one of two ways, completely and utterly from scratch which will take a while due to yeast rising, etc, etc. Or you can buy a box mix.  (Yes, the sentence fragment slightly bugs me; I have a love/hate relationship with them....

I can honestly say that I never thought about making this fairly cheap version of mini pizzas that some college students make when they are feeling creative and want to do something in the kitchen.  At least some of my friends did.  So the other night, at 27, I wanted to do something different.  Sadly, sometimes different is not always completely creative, not like some of my cupcakes that I can concoct.  I also wanted pizza.  Instead of taking the time and making a pizza from scratch (I wanted to make something, not drive 10 minutes to the nearest Little Ceasers and pick up a pepperoni or cheese ready-made pizza!) I decided to try that little recipe that I had rolled my eyes at many years ago.  After all, how hard could it be.  So first, it was time to get the ingredients: English Muffin Pizzas 1 (or 2 depending on how many are being made) packages of English Muffins, halved.  1 jar of pizza sauce (I was being creative, not making thi...