November 15th, 2011

Wordless Wednesday: Building a Bed

We put together Spencer’s bed last week. He officially was foreman on his first IKEA project. The bedding and room are still a work in progress, Right now, he’s using the yellow blanket I used as a child and some green sheets that he picked out. He also chose the paint color and then selected this one from a few paint cards we selected. The semi-gloss finish made it look  lighter than on the card and I it’s close to veering into peach territory, but the green of the sheets and the grey of the wall make it look like a cute light orange up in his room. He loves it.

Do you have a wordless wednesday post? I’d love to see! Link up below:

November 14th, 2011

Carbonara Inspired Deviled Eggs

One of the reasons I started Soup or Salad Blog was a conversation about pasta salad. In fact, I wanted to start a pasta salad blog until I realized that was a little too focused. I wanted to turn dishes in to pasta salads, then regular salads, as an alternative to a hot dish: BLT salad, for example. One of the things I could never get to work was carbonara pasta salad. I thought about trying to make carbonara egg salad instead, but never got around to it. Last week, I needed to make deviled eggs to take to a potluck and I remembered the carbonara/egg salad idea and adapted it to stuffing it in an egg.

I hesitate to publish a recipe for deviled eggs because they can be a little temperamental. You may need more or less mayo or milk. You might prefer more or less pepper. This recipe would be easily halved or doubled (super egg party!) just taste as you do. The parmesan does make these a little dry out more quickly than my usual deviled eggs, so keep them covered and don’t make them more than an hour or two in advance.

Carbonara Deviled Eggs
Makes 24 halves
12 eggs
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons milk
2 heaping tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated, plus some for garnish
1/2 pound bacon (cooked/crumbled) about 1/2 cup or so
1 teaspoon yellow mustard (this is mostly to yellow up the filling, feel free to omit)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
salt (maybe. If your cheese is pretty salty, you won’t need it, but taste and see)

1. Cook the eggs (I bring to a boil, starting in cold water. Then, turn off the heat and let sit for 11 minutes. Drain. Then put in a strainer with some ice and let sit at least 30 minutes)
2. Cook the bacon and chop the bacon (while cooking the eggs or before. You will want the bacon at room temperature or cooler when mixing with the eggs.) I just make some extra when I’m cooking bacon and eggs or something.
3. Peel the (cooled completely) eggs and slice lengthwise.
4. Pop the yolk out into a mixing bowl and put the whites onto a plate or tray.
5. Mash egg yolks with a fork and add remaining ingredients (excluding cheese for garnish) one at a time and mix well between each addition.
6. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add more mayo a little at a time if it’s dry. The mayonnaise can over-power the parmesan cheese flavor, so use judiciously.
7. I usually use a piping bag for filling deviled eggs, but the bacon pieces got stuck. I had to use the heaping spoon method: Holding an egg white in one hand and a heaping spoonful of yolk filling in the other, press the filling down into the indented space in the egg white. Twist the spoon slightly to keep the yolk in the indentation and then use the back of the spoon to smooth the mound of filling. Repeat for all eggs.
8. Using a vegetable peeler, shave pieces off of the side of a wedge of parmesan and place on top of the eggs for garnish. Or, top with a mound of finely grated cheese, a sprinkle of extra pepper or a light dusting of a colored salt (pink sea salt or a grey smoked salt). I know paprika is a traditional garnish for deviled eggs, but the flavor would really overwhelm the parmesan in these eggs.
9. Take to a party and impress your friends! Or just eat them at home. Either way, delicious.

November 13th, 2011

Week in Pictures: Big Boy Bed

I swear this Sunday morning has seemed twice as long as the whole rest of the week combined. Can’t tell if it is the changing weather or this headache I can’t quite shake. We got a lot done this week, though, and today I even took the Halloween decorations down. Mostly.

Monday

Two of his favortie things.

Best chili ever, plus chips, cheese and guac

Tuesday

Gathering pinecones

and leaves

Otis! How many books do you read at bedtime. We read 7, seems like too many.

Wednesday

Playing guardian of the salsa.

Bedtime stalling.

Thursday

Supervising his bed assembly.

Friday

First bed nap

First night in the big bed. (Only took 2 hours...)

Saturday

Playing outside during a break in the rain.

Sunday

Drove Spence through the cemetary to see the flags.

Did you take phone pictures this week? Link up with Amy!

November 12th, 2011

In case you missed it the first time

BlogHer is spotlighting the post I wrote on religious schools, praying and toddlers. You can check it out here: When your child wants you to pray.

Have a great weekend!