Tonight I have been busy prepping for a meeting with one of my clients regarding skincare...not a bad (self given) homework assignment. I want to have glowing skin when I walk into the meeting :)

Tonight I have been busy prepping for a meeting with one of my clients regarding skincare...not a bad (self given) homework assignment. I want to have glowing skin when I walk into the meeting :)
Ingredients needed:
7 - 1/2 pint mason jars (or any jars that will seal for canning)
6 (ish) lbs fresh tomatoes (6 lbs was aprox 18 medium sized tomatoes)
2 large white onions
Olive oil (for cooking onions)
1/2 cup chopped basil and/or 1/8 cup fresh oregano
juice of 2-3 lemons or 1/4 cup vinegar
salt and pepper to taste (start with 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and don’t over season)
I pulled this gorgeous jewel toned silk slip-dress out of my closet this AM. I had originally bought it to be a staple throughout my wardrobe this summer; however every time I tried to style it I just didn't like how it looked.
Skip to fall; I now LOVE this dress with tights and a cardigan! Yeah for shopping my closet.
For years I have been using baby oil to remove make-up on my face! Initially I was scared to put actual oil on my face (especially since in high school I was told oil was the cause of all breakouts so only purchased oil free products for many many years). My best friend turned me onto this miracle product (sometime in college) and I have been in love ever since. My face has never felt softer and the oil removes any pesky make-up! I am also approaching the big 3-0 an don't have any wrinkles in sight (wish I could say the same about grey hair) and have super soft skin! The other great (arguably best) part of this product is that it's very inexpensive and lasts a long time (I have to refill cotton balls before I refill the oil)!
I recently purchased this pretty green glass bottle to house said oil; doesn't it look pretty!
Last night I had the urge to make homemade bread. I have made it in the past and it's been so delicious! I tried a different recipe this time (I think I'll try the old one to compare). The bread came out a good but not great. It was a little hard in the middle (I like it nice and soft and almost hard to cut).
Below is the recipe I used as well as an image! Hard or soft; homemade bread is the best!
Honey Wheat Bread
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour, divided
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon salt
Directions
In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups whole wheat flour and yeast. In a saucepan, heat milk, water, honey, butter and salt to 120 degrees F-130 degrees F; add to flour mixture. Blend on low speed until moistened; beat on medium for 3 minutes. Gradually stir in remaining whole wheat flour and enough of the remaining all-purpose flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Shape into two loaves; place in a greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 375 degrees F for 40-45 minutes. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks.
This is kind of funny for me because I don't really like pasta but have strangely had this obsession with learning to make it! So when I saw a steel of a deal of gilt city for a BYOB pasta making class for pennies I jumped at the chance! I bought two tickets (prior to having anyone to go with)!
I invited my friend Jillian (featured below) - she is the best date and we had so much fun! Randomly Jillian also knew the owner of the company (who also randomly attends the church my husband and I go to).
We made four kinds of pasta (and I am kicking myself for forgetting to grab the recipes on the way out) and all were delicious!
- Fettucini
- ravioli (spinach ricotta filling)
- tortellini (spinach ricotta filling)
- dessert ravioli (ricotta honey filling - berry balsamic topping)
- delicious simple tomato sauce (tomato, basil, oregano, carrots, onion, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper)!
I want to recreate this meal (need to convince the husband that we need the pasta kitchen aid attachments as I don't think hand rolling the dough is doable) every night!
Lessons learned -
- fresh pasta is not like anything else (boxed pasta is no good)
- it's not that hard (with the right equipment)
- dessert pasta is delicious - I already have additional recipes brewing in my head foe additional desserts!
-cooking with friends is a fabulous way to spend Tuesday evening!