New Addiction

A month or so ago Glenda posted on having "Egg Roll Guts" for dinner. It got me thinking about the days when I used to make egg rolls from scratch. I love how blogging does that! I decided I needed to brush off the skills and try again. This time, however, I knew I would be making them in spring roll wrappers not egg roll wrappers like our favorite Chinese joint, Chi Tung. So out I went, happy that they were easy to find here in Chi town! I cut the veggies up small. You can use what you wish. I used chicken, celery, cabbage, snow peas, and carrots on this night. I stir fried them up in a little oil for about a minute. I then added a mixture of soy sauce, pepper, water, and corn starch. Poured that in and stir fried about 4 more minutes. I then drained the whole mess so it wouldn't make the wrappers soggy. I made a paste of egg whites and flour which worked quite well for keeping them together. We friend them in peanut oil. Couldn't do that for just everyone, like our Oberdieck friends, but it makes them really yummy! We ended up making them for Christmas this year. Everyone loved them. I had extra. I froze them to see what would happen. I put them in the freezer before being fried. I took them out and put them in the microwave for a little bit first. They were perfect! I justify eating them because they have veggies in the! Tee Hee!!! Hope you give it a whirl. It is a lot of fun!

I Cheated!

Every year I make the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey's kiss in the middle. This year with some help of coupons, I was able to get peanut butter cookie mix for a really good deal. I used the mix to make the cookies this year. They are good, but mine were much more moist. They were quite a bit cheaper though! If you take my shortcut, make sure you roll the dough in sugar before putting on the cookie sheet! This is one of Ben's favorites!

Chocolate Mint Dreams

I treid this one because my friend Melodee from college gave the suggestion. If you give me yours I will bake and post them too!

My only advice on this one is to not leave the dough in the fridge too long! It gets REALLY hard! They are yummy and I think they look pretty.

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. soda

1/3 cup brown sugar

6 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. water

1 cup chocolate chips

1 egg slightly beaten

In a small bowl stir together flour and baking soda; set aside. In a medium saucepan combine brown sugar, butter, and water. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Add chips and melt. Pour in a bowl to cool for 10 minutes. With a wooden spoon pour egg into chocolate and mix. Ad flour mixture and mix. Cover and chill one to two hours. Make into one inch balls and bake two inches apart for 8 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove from the oven and place a candy cane Hershey's kiss in the middle and move to a rack to cool.

They are crunchy and yummy!

Christmas Cookies!!!!

I am so excited to be baking soon. I LOVE making Christmas cookies! I always have. My dearest childhood friend, Peter, had a mother who did some wicked baking. My mom did her share too. Between the two of them, I did a ton of baking! I even remember getting my friends to come over and help me bake during the holidays in high school. Well...I have been making a lot of the same cookies for years, and thought some of you might want to help me try some new ones!

Here is what we will do.....you send your favorite recipe, I will try and bake it and post pictures of it along with the recipe and my experience with it. I am hoping that this doesn't get out of hand. Makes me think of Julie and Julia! LOL! I have two that have been sent to me already. I will be making them next week. You can send yours to me on Facebook if you are my friend, or post a comment here! I think this could be a lot of fun! Come join the fun. You might just find one you really like!

Even in the City!

So, I will put new pictures of the house up soon.....we have just been trying to get pictures and things up on the walls of the remaining rooms.

I just wanted to show the bounty of goodness we got from our garden here in the city last week! Can you believe it? I don't know that we have ever had this many tomatoes in our garden out in the country! The squirrels do a bigger number on them here though. They are vicious little critters in the city. I need John to come and hunt some!!!!

By the way, the garden was planted for us before we arrived. How sweet is that?

Upstairs...Ben's Room

Between the guest room and the studio are two staircases. One goes to the basement and the other upstairs where the our bedrooms and Rich's study are. Today I am posting the pictures Ben took of his room. We purchased new furniture for him before leaving Lanesville. They did not send the part to hook the mirror to the back of the dresser, we didn't notice. So, besides that, he is all settled in! He loves his room. He has a great view of our backyard from his room. "Not such a great view of the neighbor's backyard)

The Rest of the Main Floor

These are the final pictures of the main floor. I love the big storage cabinet. It is full of all sorts of things! The calendar spot and shelf are great for keeping paperwork organized.

Our spacious guest room is a perfect place for the Chicago getaway! I already have guests book on three different dates at the Heinz Bed and Breakfast! We are looking forward to seeing all of you.

It wouldn't be a Heinz house without a Disney bathroom. The black and yellow tile lent perfectly to it!

Come visit! Call first and make your reservations!