How to make your own table runner

On one of the first episodes of The Chew (and it actually may have been the VERY FIRST episode) Clinton Kelly made a very simple table runner (for Clinton Kelly's instructions, please go to The Chew and search under Clinton Kelly) . This was back in September. From the time I saw that segment, I knew I wanted to make them for Christmas presents. If you asked me 4 years ago who I would become, I never thought I'd turn out like this! I cook homemade meals more often than not, and now I make my own Christmas presents?!?! This truly is simple. I may be creative but I can't sew, crochet or anything of the like! These are NO SEW directions! Because of this, be VERY careful when cleaning the fabric!

• You want to preferably pick a cotton, or a cotton-poly blend for your fabric. Something that is going to be nice and thick and durable. I got my fabric from fabric.com but you can use your own reliable source for fabric, whether it be another website or a fabric store.
• Measure the width and the length of your table.
  • You want the table runner to be 1/3 of the width of your table. For instance, if the width of your table is 60-inches, then you want the table runner to be 20-inches. Then add 1 ½ inches to each side to allow for hemming. This would make your width measurement 23 inches.
  • You want the length of your table runner to be an additional 12-inches on either side than what you have measured. If your table is 90-inches long, then you would want the table runner to be 114-inches. Again, you must add 1 ½ inches to each side to allow for hemming. This would make your length measurement 117-inches.
    
    
    
    
    

• Cut your fabric to desired measurements.
• Measure ½-inch along all edges and fold into the backside of the fabric. Fold seam over again, this time 1-inch, to create your hem.
• Take some No-Sew Hemming Tape and press into the seam of your hem. Follow the directions on the back of the hem tape package to seal the hem into place.
  
  
  
• It is up to your own personal taste if you would like to keep the corners of the table runner square of if you want to angle it off. My best advice to you would be to make sure you MEASURE EVERYTHING OUT!

I used Christmas fabrics, so I opted to not use any extra embellishments on the runners. But if you don't find a pattern you like, you can always make a solid color table runner and then use fabric paint and a rubber stamp to decorate it. You can also make tassles for the edges if you'd like. Or even get some extra fabric and make some little place mats to go along with the table runner. With this project, the world is your oyster! Have fun!

Lentil Rice Pilaf

Like I said in my Irish Soda Bread Cookies post, I decided to try and start a New Year's tradition with my family. In the Italian tradition, it is good luck to make a lentil dish for the New Year. We aren't Italian, although my son and his father have a tiny bit in their blood. I liked the idea of a “good luck food” as superstitious as it sounds. I also like to try to incorporate new family traditions into our lives. I actually brought some over to my parents as well. This dish really seems perfect. Whether or not these lentils will bring us good luck this year, well it's still too early to know...

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs Olive Oil
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped carrot
• 3 Tbs minced garlic
• 2 cups broth, you can use either vegetable or chicken (I used homemade chicken broth)
• ½ cup uncooked brown rice
• ½ cup dried lentils; sorted, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (28.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 Tbs dried parsley

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion, celery, carrots and garlic and cook on medium until tender.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Add broth, rice and lentils to skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for a half hour. Add the can of tomatoes and the parsley. Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed.
   
   
   
   
   

You can also make this recipe sans rice. I only discovered lentils as a lenten side dish in the past year or so, and usually it is just made with the lentils, carrots, celery and onion. I figured instead of having to make a starch as well, it's easier to just incorporate everything into one dish.

Split Pea Soup

Apparently everyone that knows me, has my number.  This past Christmas, we spent Christmas Day with Bill's family, and they offered me the ham bone to take home and make split pea soup with.  They had also gotten me a soup maker for Christmas.  Sadly, I haven't been able to test it out yet because I am waiting for a chicken or turkey carcass to make more stock with!  Hopefully I'll be able to try it out soon!

A little less than a year ago, I made a split pea soup in my slow cooker:  Savory Pea Soup with Sausage.  Let's just say, hands down, this recipe blows that one out of the water!  Yes, it is more time consuming and you need to be a bit more hands on, but the flavors are magnificent!  Of course I LOVE making things from scratch, and if I have the time, it's the more complex, the better!  Even though I soaked the split peas overnight; in the slow cooker, they just didn't come out soft enough.  Overall, everything just tasted better this time around, although if I didn't have the time, I would certainly make the other recipe again.

If you can't use the left over ham bone right away, cut as much of the remaining meat off as you can, then cube it and put into zip lock bags and freeze.  They can be frozen for up to a month.  Then put the ham bone into a large freezer bag, or bundle into plastic shopping bags, removing as much air as humanely possible.  Freeze until needed.

Ingredients:

• 2  1/2 cups of dried split peas
• 2 quarts of cold water
• 1+ lb ham bone, if the ham bone is relatively clean, reserve some of the ham and dice up.
• 2 onions, either thinly sliced or minced
• 1 tsp dried crushed marjoram
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 potato, peeled and diced
• about 1 1/2-2 cups of chopped carrots
• 3 stalks of celery chopped

Directions:

• In a large stock pot, soak dried split peas in 2 quarts of water overnight.

• After the split peas are soaked, add the ham bone, onion, marjoram, pepper and salt.  Cover, heat to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 2 hours.

• Remove ham bone (I used tongs, be VERY careful as the bone will be VERY hot!)  Cut off any remaining meat and dice; return meat back to soup.  If the bone wasn't meaty enough and you reserved any extra meat, you can add that to the soup now.  Also add your potatoes, carrots and celery.  Cook on medium-low heat, uncovered, for another 45 minutes.

Irish Soda Bread Cookies

My friend Erin had recommended this recipe to me right before Christmas.  Around the time she had posted this recipe to my facebook wall (Irish Soda Bread Cookies), I was eagerly searching for a New Year's tradition to start with my family.  I had decided that I was going to make a lentil dish (which I still have yet to post), possibly a pork dish (although there aren't specific New Year's main courses that pertain to good luck, pork seems to be a common New Year's dish) and of course we would get the rest of our baking itch out with some sort of cookies.  This seemed perfect.  I already make an Irish Soda Bread for St. Patty's Day, and I really wasn't looking to replace it with the cookie version.  As a particularly enthusiastic Irish family, what better way to bring in New Year's than with a dish that reflects our heritage!  

Unfortunately, there were personal circumstances that prohibited us from making these cookies for New Year's Day.  My household was in complete pandemonium the week between Christmas and New Year's.  Next year will be different, and I will finally start this part of our New Year's tradition.  Since I already had everything for the recipe, and I was lucky enough to have Martin Luther King Day off, I made the cookies this afternoon.  They taste part cookie, part Irish Soda Bread, and part biscuit.  They have just enough sweetness without being a complete sugary cookie.  You can make it with currants, raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries or dried blueberries.  I made some with dried cherries and some with dried cranberries.  Eoin eats raisins on a daily basis and Bill hates raisins, so I decided to switch it up a little.  I think the next time I make these, I may try the dried blueberries, I'm very intrigued!  

I have placed the link to the original recipe above, below I will show you what I used and how I made my cookies...

The original recipe says it yields 3 dozen cookies but that all depends on how small or large you make your cookies.  

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup of butter (1 stick butter, softened)
• 1/2 cup dried currants, raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries or dried blueberries
• 1/4 cup buttermilk, start with this amount; you will definitely need more as you go to get it to the right consistency
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350º F.
• Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  With a pastry blender (if you do NOT have a pastry blender, don't worry!  You can also use a fork to mix everything, OR, you can use 2 butter knives and cut the mixture into opposite directions so mix it), cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Stir in your choice of dried fruit.

• Mix in beaten egg.  Pour in milk and mix with a fork to make a soft dough (may need a little more milk, see above).
• The recipe then calls for this step, which I skipped:  On a floured surface, shape dough into a ball and knead lightly 5 or 6 times.  Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut into squares or triangles with a knife (approximately 2 inches in diameter).
  I instead:  Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, which you can soak in cold water, I scooped dough and dropped into balls onto a parchment paper lined and sprayed baking sheet.

• Bake 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned.

Easy-Peasy Shepard's Pie

Happy New Year to all!  I still have so much updating to do, specifically some Christmas goodies.  Life has been pretty hectic recently.  I've been working 45 hours a week since the beginning of November, so I've been doing the majority of my cooking on the weekends.  We have also had a devastating loss in our family.  Even when something is expected, it doesn't hurt any less.  Dealing with every day life, and all the stress that has been accompanying it recently, has left little to no time to update my blog.  As I strive to be a little more consistent, I just ask my readers to bear with me.

Tomorrow is food shopping day.  Because of this fact, I have an up-to-date inventory of my cupboards, refrigerator and freezer.  I realized that within my inventory, I had the basics I needed to make Shepard's Pie.  It's def not my Mom's Shepard's Pie, but it was simple and easy to prepare.  This is easy enough to even be done on a weeknight after work!  I eventually want to try and make my Mom's Shepard's Pie, and when I do, I will post the recipe here.  I am sure this recipe can be turned vegan or vegetarian, using some sort of soy fake ground beef, turkey or what have you.  If there are other ways my readers have prepared this dish, please share!  I am also eager to hear feedback from my readers!  I would love to include a vegan or vegetarian version, and I'm sure you could also substitute ground turkey, chicken, pork, or lamb.  Please feel free to include pictures of the dishes within your feedback as well!

Yields about 8 Servings

Ingredients:

• 2 packages of Instant Mashed Potatoes (I used Betty Crocker's Butter and Herb twin pack)
• about 1 1/2 cups of chopped carrots
• 1 can of peas, drained
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 3 teaspoons of all-purpose flour
• 1 package of brown gravy mix
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2-1 cup of shredded cheese, traditionally cheddar, but whatever your preference works fine as well

Directions:
Prepare the instant mashed potatoes as per the directions on the box.  Set aside.

Bring a small saucepan of water to a rolling boil.  Add the carrots, and boil until just tender.  Drain.  Mix carrots with the can of drained peas.

Heat oil in a large skillet.  Add onion and cook until translucent.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Add the ground beef to the skillet and season with Worcestershire sauce.   Cook beef until thoroughly browned.  Drain excess fat and then stir in flour and cook for about another minute.  Add the gravy mix and the water and cook until the sauce thickens.   

Spread meat mixture on the bottom of a casserole dish or baking dish.  Next, spread a layer of the pea and carrot mix.  

This is followed by a layer of the mashed potatoes, finally being topped with the shredded cheese.  

Bake until the cheese melts and starts to brown, around 20 minutes.

Michael Symon's Delicious Homemade Turkey and Dumpling Soup

Anyone who has heard me talk about cooking lately, knows that I have a huge crush on Michael Symon. Not a crush in the sense of “OMG he is so physically attractive!” Not that he is a bad looking guy, but it's more in the sense of my utmost respect for him. I love his techniques, his recipes. I love just watching him cook! Ok, so I am not entirely thrilled that the show he is currently on replaced one of my beloved soap operas, but if The Chew was on the Food Network at a different day and/or time, then I would still watch it. But it is what it is!

My Mom offered me the frame of our Thanksgiving turkey to make stock out of. A day after offering this, I was watching The Chew and Michael Symon made a Turkey Dumpling Soup. I figured what a great way to use whatever leftover turkey there will be from Thanksgiving! I plan on making this soup again right after New Year's, since I will be making another roast turkey right around then. Although this soup is time consuming, it is delicious, a definite winter staple! We happened to eat all of the initial dumplings as the leftover wore on, which is no problem because the dumplings are so simple to make. I reheated the soup until boiling and then made a fresh batch of dumplings. I ran out of chives, but it was ok because the dumplings still came out great! The next time I make this, I plan on freezing half the batch (without the dumplings) since it did yield a lot of servings. When I eat what I freeze, I will definitely update the blog as to how well it froze. If you don't want to make the soup, you can just follow the directions for the broth. Put it into ice cube trays and freeze, then put into a labeled zip-lock bag. It makes a great base for all other soups!

I'm posting the recipe here, but you can also find it, with feedback at www.thechew.com

Yields 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

For the stock:

• 1 carrot (thickly sliced)
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 bay leaf
• turkey frame and wings
• 1 onion (quartered)
• 1 head of garlic (halved crosswise)
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns
• 2 gallons of water

For the dumplings:

• 2 eggs
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup flour
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup chopped chives

For the soup:

• 1 ½ gallons of turkey stock (made from turkey)
• 2 large carrots (diced)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• roasted turkey meat, pulled from frame and roughly chopped (the recipe calls for 8-10 lbs, but any amount of meat you have leftover will do. Obviously, the more, the meatier.)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 large onion (diced)
• 1 bunch of celery (diced)
• 1 cup tarragon (chopped)

Directions:

For the stock:

• Combine all stock ingredients in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil , then reduce to a simmer and skim any impurities that rise to the surface. Simmer for 5 hours. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard solids.
  
  
  

For the dumplings:

• Make a well in the flour in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Add the eggs and milk mixture to the well, then add the nutmeg and chives and whisk together until smooth.

For the soup:

• Heat butter over medium heat in a large stockpot. Add the vegetables with a large pinch of salt, and sweat the vegetables until translucent. Add the pulled turkey and stock, cover and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 45 minutes.
  
  
  
• Bring soup to a boil and cut dumplings by placing batter on a damp cutting board and using a bench scraper or knife to cut into bite sized dumplings. (You can also just use two spoons, put them into the boiling soup and scoop the dough with one and scrape with the other into the boiling soup) Drop the dumplings into the boiling soup, and wait for them all to float to the surface. Let boil another minute, add tarragon and serve.  
  
  
  

A thankfully simple Turkey Gravy

So this Thanksgiving was a bit bittersweet for my family. My Gram has been in and out of the hospital since July, so she wasn't able to be with us this Thanksgiving. I usually go over to her house in the morning and help her get the turkey in the oven. It is such a wonderful tradition that we've created, and I really hope that one day it continues with my children and either my Mom or myself. Before I volunteered my services, we used to get both Thanksgiving and Christmas catered. While the catering was good, I missed the home-cooked holiday dinner. So for roughly the past 10 years, a little longer if memory serves correct, I've spent every Thanksgiving morning with my Gram. We would chat and prep the holiday dinner, have a cup of tea and watch part of the parade. This year I still wanted to help out any way I could, so in the morning, I went next door to my Mother's and helped her get the turkey in the oven. This was her first year ever hosting Thanksgiving. Although the company was different, the tradition was still the same. We chatted, and I had a cup of tea.

After the prep work was complete, I went home, got ready and the boys and I went to the other side of the family for brunch. But went back to my Mom's for dinner later on. Of course I asked my Mom if she needed any help when I got there, so I wound up making the Sweet Potatoes on a whim. After my Dad took the turkey out of the oven, the topic of a homemade gravy came up. I said that it was simple and that although I've never made it before, I could certainly try it out. Never be afraid to try to cook something. Especially if you have a backup sitting on the counter next to the stove!

My Dad strained the drippings, skimming all the fat off of it, I think we had about 100 ounces altogether. Just take the drippings a little at a time in a saucepan. Adding a teaspoon at a time of flour, whisking it in until you get your desired thickness. Make sure you whisk out any and all lumps. Since the turkey was seasoned with rosemary and thyme, I added a little of each of these spices into each “batch” of gravy that I made. It came out fantastic! It really was so, so simple! From now on, I will be making my own poultry gravies, and saving a huge amount in the long-run! If you become afraid of cooking, afraid of something being too complicated, or of something not coming out edible (never mind even being good!) you genuinely hinder what capabilities you may have. And please, don't just use this advice in the kitchen!