My Favorite Things

Jo-Anna over at A Pretty Life in the Suburbs decided to throw a favorite things party in celebration of Oprah's Favorite Things being on the air once again! (Yep, it's on today! Check your local listings.) Who doesn't love that show? And who hasn't wished they were one of the lucky people in that audience? I know I sure have! I thought the idea of getting to create my own list of favorite things would be lots of fun. So here we go! Hope you all liked what I picked to give you.  ; )

Welcome to Catie's Favorite Things!!!

First up we have lip balm. I know it's small, but I have a bit of an addiction to the stuff. Burt's Bees is definitely one of my favorites because they're made with all natural ingredients. And a recently discovered new favorite is their cuticle cream. LOVE it!

Yankee Candles have got to be my absolute favorite when it comes to candles. They have amazing scents and the best part, you can burn a candle for an hour or so and your house smells that way for hours!

Source: weheartit.com via Catie @ Catie's Corner on Pinterest

This next one is boring and practical, but I love it! I have used a Brita pitcher for about 14 years. It's a great was to save money because you're not buying loads of bottled water. AND you're being environmentally friendly by filling your own water bottles. So it's a win/win in my opinion. 

Source: walmart.com via Catie @ Catie's Corner on Pinterest

This is my favorite perfume. I'll bet you would like it too. 

Source: google.com via Catie @ Catie's Corner on Pinterest

One store I really miss since moving to Canada is Trader Joe's.
Sooo everyone gets a $250 gift card!

Source: traderjoes.com via Catie @ Catie's Corner on Pinterest

Unfortunately I don't own a Kitchen Aid Mixer, but it is definitely on my ultimate gift list! And they come is soo many fun colors it would be soo hard to choose.

Source: amazon.com via Catie @ Catie's Corner on Pinterest

OK, now we're done with the gift I could actually give someone. Now onto the gifts Oprah could give!

First we have the Marc Jacobs watch that everyone is wanting or wearing.

Source: rstyle.me via Catie @ Catie's Corner on Pinterest

With this next one I had a hard time deciding between the classic plaid Burberry Hobo Bag and this gorgeous merlot colored one. Guess that means you get both. haha Which one would you pick?

Source: shop.nordstrom.com via Catie @ Catie's Corner on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Catie @ Catie's Corner on Pinterest

If you picked the classic plaid as your favorite you'll need something to match so,
YOU GET A CAR!!!

Source: tumblr.com via Catie @ Catie's Corner on Pinterest

I can't get over how cute this car is! I want one! 

How could I possibly top that? Hmm, maybe with a getaway to Fiji! 

Source: google.com via Catie @ Catie's Corner on Pinterest

Hope you enjoyed my favorite things! Thanks to Jo-Anna for coming up with this fun party idea! And don't miss Oprah's Favorite Things today. 

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Dinner Club & Tres Leches Cake

Hey All! Hope you had a great weekend. Mine was pretty good. This past Saturday night was my Dinner Club dinner. I don't think I've mentioned my Dinner Club before, so I thought I'd tell you about it. Once every six weeks or so me a and a small group of friends get together for dinner. No kids, no hubbies or boyfriends, just a group of women doing what we do best - eating, drinking and lots and lots of talking.

Now the dinner part does have a little bit of structure to it. The hostess picks the theme of the night. This last one was South American. Some dinner themes in the past have been Italian, French, East Indian and one that was favorite comfort foods. Mmm!! Anyway, the hostess cooks the main dish and then the rest of us choose to make an appetizer, side dish or dessert. And of course a few of us bring wine or something equally as tasty to drink. It's always soo much fun! Great food and great conversation, can't beat that!

Once I heard our theme this time was going to be South American, I knew the dessert I wanted to make, Tres Leches Cake. OMG, ladies. It was soo good! OK, now I'm getting ahead of myself. heehee Of course I jumped on Pinterest to find a recipe, and the one that had a lot of pins was from Ree's blog, The Pioneer Woman. After reading review after review of people raving, I knew I had found the one. Would you like me to share it with you? OK, since you asked soo sweetly.

{image: The Pioneer Woman}

 Tres Leches Cake

by Ree, The Pioneer Woman

Prep Time: 45 Minutes  |  Cook Time: 1 Hour  |  Difficulty: Easy  |  Servings: 12

  

Ingredients

• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 5 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Sugar, Divided
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1/3 cup Milk
• 1 can Evaporated Milk
• 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
• 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
• Maraschino Cherries, Optional
• FOR THE ICING:
• 1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar

Preparation Instructions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.
- Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
- Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
- Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.
- Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.
- Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.
- Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.
- Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. Cut into squares and serve.

My notes:

* After 30 minutes I checked the cake and it was done.
* I poked the holes in while the cake was still warm. I think it helped it cool quicker. I also poked some extra holes in it before I poured on the milk. 
* I added vanilla to my whipped cream and used powdered sugar instead of regular.
* I did not add any maraschino cherries. I don't like them and never even thought about the fact that the  other ladies might. Oops! Sorry Janet.  =)
* It was very tasty the next day with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top. Mmm. 
* And lastly, I kept the one cup of leftover milk mixture. I poured it in a jar and threw it in the fridge thinking it'd be good for tea. Oh boy was I right. I made a chocolate chai tea and added some - yummy!

OK, now for my review of the cake. WOW!!! It might have been the best cake I've ever eaten. You would think it'd be soggy, but it wasn't at all. All the ladies loved it. And Mr. CC, Miss E and Miss A all loved it too. The Mr. actually asked me tonight if I was making it again tomorrow. He doesn't even really like cake, so that's telling you something. And yes, I will definitely be making it again. Next time though I'm going to bake the cake in two round pans and layer it. I may even add a layer of dulce de leche in the middle with the whipped cream. How's that sound? My suggestion is to make this cake asap. You will not regret it. Hey Cinco De Mayo is coming up. That would be the perfect excuse.  =)

{A last pic because it looks soo tasty.}

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Potato Corn Chowder

Hi There! Today I'm gonna share a little chowder recipe I came up with a couple years ago when I had A LOT of leftover mashed potatoes. Usually I use them to make shepard's pie, but I was a little tired of that and wanted to try something new. I put my thinkin' cap on and voila`, potato chowder was born. Well, my version anyway.

This afternoon while looking through the fridge at what to make for lunch I spotted the potatoes and a cob of corn from last night. Hmm, wouldn't the corn be delicious in the potato chowder? Why yes, I think it would! So I started cooking. Of course, I didn't have "blog post" on the brain when I started, so I didn't take pictures at the beginning. Oops!  : )

Catie's Potato Corn Chowder  

3 cups mashed potatoes

1 cob of corn or about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of corn

1 large carrot or 10 baby carrots

1/2 onion

1 tsp minced garlic or 2 cloves minced

2 - 3 tbs butter

3 - 4 tsp soup stock mix

1 tsp parsley flakes

pepper to taste

3 cups water

1 cup milk

grated cheddar cheese, optional

(Blender or handheld immersion blender.)

1.  Chop carrots, onion and garlic. Add to pot with butter and saute until onion is tender. 

2.  While that's cooking, cut corn off of the cob and set aside. 

3.  Once onion is tender add the soup stock mix and water. 

4.  Stir in the mashed potatoes and corn. 

5.  Bring to a boil. Then turn down the heat and let simmer for about 20 - 25 minutes. Stirring occasionally. The liquid will reduce and the soup will thicken. 

6.  Add the parsley flakes, pepper and milk. Let simmer for an additional 5 minutes or so. 

7.  Blend 3/4 of the soup. If using a blender, add the soup back to the pot and mix. 

8. Serve and enjoy!! This is where I add the cheese.  : )

Mmmm!!

Easy and delicious! Give it a try. You can definitely play around with it and make it your own. I've stirred in cheese before for a cheesy potato soup. And like I said, this was the first time I added corn. Bacon on top with the cheese would be great too! Also, you can vary the ingredients to make more or less soup depending on how much mashed potatoes you have. 

What's your favorite use for leftover mashed potatoes? Please share! 

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Movie Night : )

Hey All . Hope you had a fabulous week! Mine wasn't too shabby. I'm sure you're looking forward to the weekend. I know I am. Even though I've been on holidays the past two weeks, it's still nice when the weekend comes. And Friday night calls for a movie. This is gonna be a movie night with just me and Matthew. McConaughey that is. LOVE him! He's my fav! Just a little trivia for ya - he and I share the same birthday, not year, just the day, November 4th. Nice, huh?  : )

Yep, I'm watching The Lincoln Lawyer all by myself. Well, maybe Mr. CC will join me, but I don't mind watching alone. ; )  I've been wanting to see this since before it came out. I even rushed out and bought the book a week before it opened, but then I was told I should actually see the movie first because it wouldn't be as suspenseful if I already knew what was going to happen. So, I've had the unread book since March. I'll have to start reading it tomorrow.

So, what are your plans tonight? Have you seen or read the Lincoln Lawyer? If so, how'd you like it?

I'm off to get the little one ready for bed. Then I'll be popping some popcorn and puttin' on my movie. Yay, movie night!! Have a good one.  : )

Summertime Salads

Hello again! Hope you had a great day. Ours was very quiet and relaxing. I even had a little nap! I'm back now to share a couple salads I made up for dinner today. I bbq'd some chicken and these went perfectly. I love summertime cookin'!

First on the menu is a tomato and cucumber salad. Healthy, quick, easy and delicious.

Here's what you'll need: 

2 tomatoes

1/2 long english cucumber

1/4 of a red onion

dressing of your choice

(I chose roasted red pepper & parmesan. It has only 1 gram of fat per serving and is 

sooo tasty!! I use it all the time. Can't you tell by the nearly empty bottle?)

Here's the tough part of making this salad, the chopping.  : )  Chop everything into bite size pieces. 

Wasn't that hard? Phew, I'm exhausted! : )  Last, mix in about 1/4 cup of dressing, more or less to your taste. Cover and let chill in the fridge for at least an hour. The longer the better, the tomato and cucumber really soak up the flavor. And if you like, transfer to a cuter serving bowl. 

Doesn't that look like summer in a bowl? I love this salad! It's soo light and fresh tasting. 

On to our next salad, classic potato. Mmm!! Now bare with me. I never measure, except when I bake, but I'm pretty good at eyeballing amounts. 

Here's what you'll need: 

8 potatoes

4 eggs

1/4 of a red onion

3/4 - 1 cup mayo 

(I use the 1/2 the fat kind.)

about 1 tsp mustard

1/4 - 1/3 cup relish

pepper

First we have to peel and chop the potatoes. Yes more chopping, and we're not done yet. Put potatoes into a large pot and fill with water. Now I'm gonna tell you a little cooking secret, shh. When you fill the pot with water, put in extra water, then add your eggs and cook them in the same pot!! Wow, I know! Once your potatoes are tender, 10 -12 minutes, your eggs are done too! This little tip works when making macaroni salad too. Tricky.  ; )

Aren't my arrows helpful? : ) 

 While those are boiling you get to chop some more. Finely dice the onion. Once your potatoes are done, drain them and set the eggs aside in a dish with cool water. Be careful handling them, they're hot! Put the potatoes into a large pot. Next add the mayo, mustard, relish, and onion. After that your eggs should be cool enough to handle. Chop them up, toss 'em in and gently mix it all together. Keep in mind that the potatoes are still hot and extra tender, so the can get mushy if you're stirring too hard. Transfer to serving bowl, cover and chill for at least two hours.

 I sprinkled on a little paprika for some added color. 

Oh yum! Doesn't that look good? I still have some in the fridge. Hmm.... 

So there you have it, two salads in one post! Aren't you lucky? I will warn you, the potato salad is REALLY good and may be addictive.  : )  

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The Calgary Stampede

Howdy y'all!! Ah, just joking. There's been a bit of that country feel in the air the past 10 days, the Calgary Stampede has been going on. And let me tell you, this city goes cowboy for it! Everyday there are free pancake breakfasts all across the city and a lot of businesses host Stampede bbq's for their employees and clients. The Stampede bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth". Maybe this year it was. Remember my post about the Royals, Will and Kate, coming to town to kick off of the Stampede? They pushed the button that opened the 99th Calgary Stampede and began the parade. And they did cowboy fashion in royal style, while donning their white hats! The white hat is the traditional gift from the city of Calgary to important visitors. Not just anyone is presented a white hat.   

photo: Phil Noble/Reuters
Not to shabby looking are they? 

This year I hadn't really planned to go to the grounds, but last week my mother in law called and said she was taking my two nephews and would buy our all day rides passes if we wanted to go too. So I changed my mind and Ms. A and I went with them on Friday, for the entire day, 11 am to 10:30 pm!! Before we went I didn't know what to expect. The weather here hadn't been very good and Ms. A had never been on a ride before. This was the first time she'd gone. I always vowed I would NEVER have a stroller down there! Way too many people to try and push through. Anyhoo, I packed up our lunch, snacks, lots of water and sunblock and we were off to the Stampede. I'm happy to report we had a blast!! It was soo much fun and the weather was perfect!! To my surprise my sweet baby girl turned out to be a ride junkie. She loved them and when we weren't at the rides she kept asking when we could go back. 

While we were there we took in a couple shows. One being Terry Stokes a well know hypnotist. He was hilarious! I suspect his adults only show would be even better.  ; )  We also saw the Superdogs. They're always good family entertainment. I think I liked them better than Ms. A did. Twenty minutes into the show she started asking if we could go back to the rides. We also saw David "The Bullet" Smith jr. shoot himself 150 feet at 80 mph out of a cannon. Yikes!! 

Yeah, my camera was too slow to get a shot of him flying out of the cannon at 80 mph. 

Shows aside there's lots to see, cows, horses, baby chicks, baby pigs, sheep, and llamas. The baby chicks and pigs were our favorite. They're just soo cute!! 

She was soo excited to got the feed the horse.  

Check out the horns on this Texas longhorn cow! 

This one's for you Janet.  ; ) 

We wanted to hold them soo bad! 

This poor mama!! The piglets were only 8 days old. Soo sweet.  

There's also lots and lots of booths for shopping. Pretty much anything you can think of you'll find down there. I bought the cutest little silver ring with two sparkly cz flowers. I'm tellin' ya, if a guy gave a girl one of these rings when he proposed she wouldn't know the difference. Gorgeous ladies!

Oh, and I can't forget the food! It being a fair and all, I had to have a $5 corn dog. Yep, $5 for one little corn dog!! We had the mini donuts too. A must when you go to the Stampede. And my trip there wouldn't be complete without a bag of sweet and salty kettle corn. LOVE that stuff!! : ) 

We had a great day! Ms. A actually declared, "it was the best day of my life!" Being 5, that's a pretty good day.  : ) We're already looking forward to going again next year. I can't wait until she's big enough to go on the good rides. I did go on two with my oldest nephew, but I'd rather be going on those rides all day than the little kid ones. Oh, and Ms. A's favorite ride, the ferris wheel. She loved being up soo high and being able to see the city. 

Sorry about the crappy nighttime pic! 

So what about you? What were you up to this weekend? 

Smores on a Stick!!

Happy long weekend all!! I have a tasty little summertime treat to share with you today - smores on a stick. This is a great one to make if you don't have access to a campfire or it's too windy for a fire, like it is here. And it's oh soo easy! First grab your ingredients; bag of marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate and some sort of stick. I cut kabob sticks in thirds. You all know how I love to use kabob sticks. If you don't check this out.  : )

As you can see in the picture I crushed up some graham crackers, about three. I kept some bigger pieces so it actually tasted more like a smore than pie crust. Know what I mean? And I melted the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. Now I would suggest doing this on a low power level for a short amount of time and watch it. I had it on a low power level, but apparently is was too much time. It burned! And I mean smoke bellowing out of the microwave burning. Yep, the whole house reeked!! Mr. CC called it a cooking fail and it was.  : (   So, make sure you watch it!!

I'm sure you get the idea. Put a marshmallow on a stick, coat it with chocolate and then graham cracker. Easy enough, right?

Don't they look yummy? I must say, they were pretty tasty. But they are CRAZY sweet! Ms. A and I could only eat one each. Give these a try at your 4th of July BBQ or anytime this summer. I'll bet the adults love them just as much as the kids!

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