Hamburger and Potato Skillet

I've taken the week off, Tom and I had scheduled a vacation, then decided to cancel the reservations and stay home. Tonight, for dinner, I made a Hamburger and Potato Skillet.

Hamburger and Potato Skillet

Ingredients

• 3 cups frozen mini potato nuggets (from 28-oz. bag)
• 1 lb. lean (at least 80%) ground beef
• 2 garlic cloves, minced or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 cups frozen cut green beans (from 1-lb. bag)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 can (10.75 oz.) condensed cream of celery soup
• 1 cup shredded American cheese (4 oz.)

Directions

1. Cook potato nuggets as directed on package.
2. Meanwhile, in 10-inch skillet, cook ground beef and garlic over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes or until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain. Add beans, milk and soup; mix well. Reduce heat to medium; cook 6 to 8 minutes or until beans are tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Add cheese; stir until melted. Top with cooked potato nuggets.

When Tom started to complain about the smell (he's extremely sensitive to garlic) while I was cooking, I started to worry about how it would turn out. It ended up good - and above all, easy. Best of all, Tom said it was good, too.

Ravens vs. Bengals

What a great game! The Ravens defeated the Bengals, 20-17 in overtime. Even though I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of going into overtime, it was worth the time.

The Ravens played well for the first half, then not so well for the second half. The band's halftime show went well. We played the "Armed Forces Salute," and sounded great. We had a really cool show to go with it - we formed a tank and moved the wheels and track, an eagle that flapped it's wings, a boat with moving waves, an airplane with jets, a submarine that sank, and USA.

I even got a tiny bit of air-time.

I'm the only one where you can see the back of the head (bottom center)!

HdG Holiday Craft Show 2013

Well, it's finally over, the Havre de Grace High School Holiday Craft Show. Unfortunately, it was not very successful. I did not make enough money to cover the cost of the space, but from what I hear, this was the worst year in recent history. Some people that we talked to have done the show for four years, and they said this year was horrible, probably because of the economy and sequester. Aside from that, I thought it was a good experience. I got to make new things, and learned how to set up a booth and displays. Here are some pictures:

The last picture is of Joan's items. She's the mother of a co-worker, and I asked if she wanted to participate in the show with me, and she agreed. Unfortunately, she was very dissatisfied with the show, and said she wouldn't do it again. I will not be disheartened, and have signed up for a booth for next year. We'll try it one more time.

Scrabble Tile Ornaments

With Mom and Dad's visit this evening, I finally completed these Scrabble tile ornaments.

Even though there was some serious debate about how to complete these ornaments, I think they turned out well.

Chandelier Pendant Ornaments

Today, I finally finished making these ornaments for the craft fair.

After many days of looking for appropriate images, and resizing, printing, and cutting them out, I finished gluing the majority of them to the pendants yesterday, and while I was at work today, Tom painted the backs. We both think they look great. All that's left is finding a way to hang them from a tree branch.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Today was Huber's annual End-of-Summer Luau, and I decided to make Paula Deen's Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 3 cups cake flour, plus more for pan
• 1 cup butter, softened, plus 1/2 cup, melted
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups whole buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 (20-ounce) cans pineapple slices in juice, drained well (reserve 2 tablespoons juice for frosting)
• 1 (10-ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained well
• Pineapple Buttercream Frosting, recipe follows
• Chopped pecans, for garnish, optional

Pineapple Buttercream Frosting:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and coat with flour.
2. In a large bowl, beat 1 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, add the 3 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
4. Divide the brown sugar evenly into each pan. Pour the melted butter equally over the brown sugar. Arrange the pineapple slices and cherries over the brown sugar. Reserve remaining pineapple slices and cherries for another use.
5. Pour equal amounts of batter over the fruit and bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto wire racks to cool completely.
6. To assemble the cake, carefully arrange 1 cake layer, pineapple side up, on a cake plate. Carefully stack the remaining cake layer, pineapple side up, over the first layer. Frost the sides of the cake with Pineapple Buttercream Frosting. Press chopped pecans into sides of cake, if desired.

Pineapple Buttercream Frosting:

1. Beat all the ingredients in a large bowl until well combined.

Yield: about 2 cups

I think it turned out really well. It was easy to make, it tasted good, and it looked pretty. Tom thought that the cake should have been more mushy, but to me it was more angel food cake-y, and I like angel food cake.

Working in Slo-Mo

Today was horrible for me! I was in so much pain from the surgery, it made me rethink my memories from the last surgery. I also ended up taking pain pills, and crocheting a lot slower than I had the previous day. I was able to complete yarn flowers from LionBrand's Amazing "Glacier Bay."

These should make a nice addition to the selection of flowers that I will have for the craft show.