Zucchini Sticks

One thing I really enjoy as an appetizer out at a restaurant is zucchini sticks, so when I saw them on pinterest I pinned them.  The recipe is from King Arthur Flour and it comes with a great dipping sauce, well it comes with a recipe for the dipping sauce.  The sauce isn't your usual run of the mill marinara for the sticks but a sweet onion sauce, yummy.

I started with the cutest petite zucchini from Trader Joe's, I quartered them and salted them for about half an hour.

Rinsing off the salt, then drying on a paper towel.

Instead of dirtying up another bowl, I put the dried sticks into a ziploc with the egg and shook up the bag.  Then laid them out in a single layer on parchment brushed with olive oil.

Well when they came out of the oven they were delicious, a hands down keeper.  The sauce was good, but I felt like it needed a little horseradish or cayenne for a "zip".  What did I do before pinterest?

Will you be mine?

Valentines day is right around the corner and I wanted to make cards for my husband and two boys.  I recently purchased a heart punch because I had some ideas.  I also found some inspiration from pinterest of course, using paint chips.  You can find lots of shades of colors and they are free.  I took one of each from the red family.

Crockpot Caramel

There is a running joke between me and my husband about what I look at on the computer in the evening.  I usually spend an hour a night skimming through pinterest, he calls it "Missy Porn".  Well on pinterest was where I spotted a picture of a can of caramel, and who doesn't love caramel?

The recipe, which wasn't really a recipe more of directions, and even they were not challenging, was to place a closed can of sweetened condensed milk into the crockpot and cover with water.  Cook on low for  8 hours.  Cool for am hour and open & serve.

Well I have to tell you I expected it to me a little smoother, silkier maybe.  The consistency was thick and not pourable, so I heated a small amount in a glass bowl in the microwave figuring it would melt.  Well I was wrong, it created a more undesirable consistency, kind of lumpy.  Overall the flavor was good, but without that pourable consistency I don't know if I would make it again.  Never say never though, it probably would make a great frosting or filling for a layer cake.


***UPDATE***  I have to tell you after is was chilled in the refrigerator I liked the consistency better, so I would make again to fill a cake with.