easter in hudson

April 6, 2015

Sometimes weekend plans foiled lead to even better weekend plans. Due to a ferry schedule we moved our Easter on Kelleys to one at another Rammel household in Hudson, OH. It was just as relaxing as the lake would have been.  With the added bonus of late night catching up sessions and a nonstop food fest.

On Saturday we left all the kids except Bing with a sitter and visited the West Side Market in Cleveland. A building full of fresh food is about as good as it gets in my book. After loading up on ingredients for dinner we decided it was time for some ice cream at Mitchell’s (Ohio has by far the best ice cream I have ever tasted. Proud Buckeye here!) and then lunch at the Great Lakes Brewery. It was the perfect morning for us and the kids. (Even Bingham since he had no idea he got stuck with the old folks.)

040615Oddly enough the last time we visited these guys was late last Easter. Our car had some work done involving the tires before our trip. We heard a noise, called the company who had done the work and were assured it was normal. Halfway between Hudson and home the front left tire flew off our car. Luckily no one was hurt and the shop took care of all the repairs. We joked about it happening again. I should have known better since the car did indeed have new back tires. The same noise started halfway home and we found ourselves pulled over at an O’Reilly’s on Easter Sunday hoping someone could help us. Luckily they did and we were on our merry way again. How that happens twice I have no idea. But the fact that it happened twice to us does not surprise me one bit.

Sitting in that parking lot very tired and ready to be home you’d think we would have been a little grumpy. It’s great how kids make it impossible to be grumpy sometimes though. Jettie got to sit in her dad’s seat while we waited for him to find some assistance. You’d thought I handed the girl a ticket to the Magic Kingdom. At the same time Bingham filled his pants and I was left having to change Captain Squirm in the car. He also chose this moment to discover his naked manhood – so yeah, poop everywhere.

During all this I told Jettie that I needed to feed Bingham once I got the mess in containment.  Her response was “But not with your boobs mom. Because you’ll have to dry them out again and wear salad.” I then hear a chuckle to my left and realized she had an audience. There is nothing left to do at this point but laugh and be grateful for Jettie’s logical advice.

I hope all of you had a holiday full of smiles and great memories (and no car trouble). I can’t wait to see what the season of weekend road trips and late days have in store for all of us!

xo,

brandyjsig

 

 

 

PS Happy Opening Day! Go Reds!

Posted in personal, the rammels | Tagged | 2 Comments

strawberry rhubarb margarita

April 3, 2015

Strawberry Rhubarb MargaritaStrawberry rhubarb – undoubtedly on the top 5 list of flavor combos when it comes to me and pie. Strawberry rhubarb in margarita form…there is no list for this one.  It wouldn’t be fair to the other margaritas. In fact I’m feeling slightly guilty for even posting this.  Look away other margaritas, look away.

Strawberry Rhubarb MargaritaThe fact that I have not been making these since I started making margaritas leaves me baffled. It makes perfect sense that fresh, tart rhubarb is the quintessential partner to tequila. It’s crisp, refreshing and out of this world good. I’ve got my serious face on when I say you absolutely must try this concoction.

Strawberry Rhubarb Margarita Fresh margaritas are fairly simple to make, you just need to give yourself a little bit of time to prep. This one calls for a homemade syrup. All this means is you throw fruit, sugar and water in a bowl. Boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and put in container you can seal. This can all be done while making yourself some coffee and breakfast. Don’t let syrup making stand in the way of you and a damn fine margarita.

If you like your margs on the sweeter side you will want to double the amount of sugar that I used in the syrup.  My preference is for more tart than sweet.  Plus I did not want to overshadow the freshness of the rhubarb.  If you want to go really tart forgo the berries completely and just double the rhubarb. Gosh wouldn’t that be a tart glass of euphoria…. Okay who has some rhubarb they can spare?

Strawberry Rhubarb MargaritaSure you can pull out the good ol’ champagne and orange juice for Easter brunch this weekend. Or you could whip up a batch of these bad boys and declare yourself the queen (or king) of brunch. We will be guests ourselves for the next couple of days.  I will be arriving armed with a jar of syrup and bottle of tequila. (Best houseguest ever award goes to….)

Happy Easter everyone!

Cheers!

brandyjsig

 

 

 

strawberry rhubarb margarita
 
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Author:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • For the syrup
  • 1 cup chopped rhubarb
  • 1 cup chopped strawberries
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup sugar (1 cup if you prefer sweeter)
  • For the drink
  • 5oz rhubarb syrup
  • 3oz silver tequila
  • 2oz orange liquor (triple sec is fine)
  • 4oz freshly squeezed lime juice
  • Sugar and sea salt for rimming glass
  • Rhubarb spears for garnish
Instructions
  1. Syrup Combine fruit, sugar and water in saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce and let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and strain juice into container through a fine sieve. Discard fruit. Allow juice to cool and store in airtight container in fridge for up to a week.
  2. Drink Dip 2 glasses in a little syrup and rim with sugar/salt combo. Fill glasses with ice.
  3. Fill shaker with ice and pour in syrup, tequila, lime juice, and orange liquor. Shake around 15 times.
  4. Pour evenly into glasses and garnish with a rhubarb spear. Enjoy!
Notes
For large batches simple double (or triple) the recipe and mix ingredients together inside a pitcher. Serve with rimmed and ice filled glasses.

 

Posted in cheers!, Cinco de Mayo, recipes | Tagged | Leave a comment

avocado egg salad

April 2, 2015

Avocado Egg SaladIt’s funny how a song, cultural event or even a recipe can take you right back to days that feel like a whole other lifetime ago.  “What If God Was One of Us” by Joan Osborne, the OJ Simpson verdict and egg salad sends me to my brief life at Eastern Michigan University.  The first best, worst decision I made as an adult.

Unfortunately I do not possess an overabundance of great memories from my short stint up North.  That egg salad though, it reminds of a sweet soul named Kendalynn. A girl from the  Upper Peninsula with a strong Dutch accent and as Catholic as they come. After some compromising, persuading and eventually force Kendalynn became my roommate.  While we were very different on many levels we did share a common moral foundation that we so desperately needed to find in another person.  (Although to be fair, Kendalynn was practically a nun compared to me.)

Our dorm had eateries in the lower level which consisted of a “kind of” Taco Bell and a deli.  I have always liked egg or tuna salad but would often hesitate to order in front of others. (Siting a traumatizing lunch room experience with me, my container of tuna salad and a dozen crinkled nose girls saying “ewwwwwww…what stinks??!!”) Kendalynn green lighted my choice in lunch cuisine though by proclaiming she loooooved egg salad. Which in turn made me love her. We both agreed the egg salad was subpar but regardless we enjoyed a wheat pita stuffed with egg salad at least 3 times a week.  It was my favorite part of the day.  Lunch with Kendalynn – the girl who made it okay to like egg salad and most importantly be myself around.

Avocado Egg SaladThis version of egg salad is far better than that basement deli offering.  No dull, boring tasting salad here.  There is zip on top of zip in this recipe.  Even better than that is the no mayo factor (unless you substitute it for the yogurt but even at that it’s only a measly tablespoon).  Avocado adds the creaminess, as well as that dreamy green color.  This is one wide awake egg salad.

Avocado Egg SaladWhat you want to eat your salad with, or on, is totally up to you. Lately our home is filled with bagels because our local bakery makes some of the best I’ve ever had (this is good and bad news for obvious reasons). Sticky and Jettie have made a routine of walking downtown for the BOGO offering of day old bagels.  We enjoy them many different ways but I’d have to say the opened faced, egg salad topped version is my current favorite.

Avocado Egg Salad Avocado Egg SaladIf you have Easter egg dyeing plans in your near future this is a recipe worth saving.  We will definitely be making another batch – hopefully if Kendalynn is reading she will too…  (Wouldn’t that be something?!)

Enjoy!

brandyjsig

avocado egg salad
 
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Author:
Recipe type: vegetarian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
  • 2 hard boiled egg whites, chopped
  • 1 large avocado
  • 1tbsp plain greek yogurt or mayo
  • ½tsp dijon mustard
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • ¼tsp red pepper flake
  • 2tbsp chopped green onions
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Combine chopped eggs and avocado in bowl and mash with fork until avocado is creamy.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  3. Serve on favorite bread, with veggies, crackers or pita chips.

Posted in healthy eats, recipes, vegetarian | Tagged | 3 Comments

strawberry banana scones

April 1, 2015

Strawberry Banana Scones | www.prettyplainjanes.comScones, I absolutely love them.  But not the hard as rocks, shouldn’t be allowed to be called scones, scones. No, no. I’m talking soft on the inside, slightly crunchy on the outside, eat with your coffee and have a you moment scones. These are those scones.  And if I can make them so can you.

Strawberry Banana Scones | www.prettyplainjanes.com Let’s talk a little bit about what one should expect from a scone. First off the texture needs to be spot on.  In other words it absolutely should not be dry. Not even a little. Secondly there should be an airiness to the inside, reminiscent of a fresh out of the oven biscuit. And speaking of biscuits it will sort of taste like one but just a tad sweeter. But not a lot sweeter, this is not a donut people.  This is a scone.  And it is wonderful.

Strawberry Banana Scones | www.prettyplainjanes.comWhile it may seem intimidating to make a pastry that is often given a bad name, I am here to ensure you that scones are a cinch.  There are no eggs, no yeast, no rolling, no fuss.  You simply mix the ingredients, form a disc of dough and cut some wedges.  The two most important things to remember are ice cold butter and no over mixing.  Keep those in mind and you will not have hard, dry hockey pucks…you will have light, tender, scrumptious scones.

Strawberry Banana Scones | www.prettyplainjanes.comWhile a good lemon blueberry scone will always have my heart, I have to admit this strawberry banana combo is creeping up on my list.  But really, how could it not be?  Strawberry and banana were meant to be together.  Not to mention that banana gives the scone a boost in the moisture department.  Oatmeal makes an appearance in the list of ingredients as well – almost making the scone a little less serious.  I appreciate a laid back pastry, especially one that tastes this delicious.

Strawberry Banana Scones | www.prettyplainjanes.comLooking at these images makes me want to grab a cup of joe and stuff my face with scone. Unfortunately the clock is creeping on midnight as we speak.  I think I’ll spare myself the inevitable self-loathing. Besides there is always the morning… you know, the more acceptable time to indulge in buttery pastry goodness.

Enjoy!

www.prettyplainjanes.com

 

 

strawberry banana scones
 
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Author:
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 2cups flour
  • 1tbs baking powder
  • ½ cup frozen cubed butter
  • ¼cup sugar
  • ½tsp salt
  • 1¼cups oats
  • ⅓cup half&half
  • 1 banana mashed
  • ½tsp vanilla extract
  • ½cup diced strawberries plus additional slices for topping (optional)
  • Add'l half&half and sugar for finishing
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven 425degress. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Combine flour, baking powder and butter in a food processor. Pulse until it is a coarse consistency.
  3. Place flour mixture in a medium bowl. Add sugar, salt and oats. Stir until combined.
  4. Add half&half, mashed banana and vanilla to mixture and stir until combined. Fold in diced strawberries. Dough will have a crumbly consistency.
  5. Dump contents of bowl onto the lined baking sheet. Form a large disc (about 8" wide) with your hands and cut disc into 8 wedges (like a pizza). Gently separate wedges and place 1" to 2" apart on sheet.
  6. Brush half&half onto each scone and dust with sugar. Garnish with a strawberry slice if you wish. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, until golden brown. Best served warm.

 

Posted in breakfast, brunch, recipes, something sweet | Tagged | 1 Comment

messy criss-cross ponytail

March 31, 2015

Between working out and a grabby nine month old my hair is almost always in a ponytail.  One way I avoid the rut of it all is by switching the way it’s pulled back as much as possible.  This trick is a new favorite because it is fantasticality easy.  It’s also low, loose and comfortable – perfect for anyone who normally gets a headache from ponytails and buns.  Give this a go the next time you need to pull that mane back!

messy criss-cross ponytail1Take a large section of hair at the top of head a lightly tease with fingers. 2Using both hands grab a 3″ to 4″ section on each side of head. 3Pull sections around to the back of head and criss-cross over each other. 4With sections still in hands wrap underneath the rest of hair, at the nape of neck, criss-crossing again underneath.  (You can flip your head over to help get the sections around your hair.) 5Secure ponytail with elastic hairband. 6Take a small section of hair from the ponytail and wrap around hairband to conceal it.  Secure with bobby pin and finish with hairspray.

Looking at the above images makes me think two things.  1 – I could have curled my hair a little better and 2 – it’s time for my at home hair toning trick.  I did at least paint my nails today.  (Something that very rarely happens.)

xo,

brandyjsig

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