Easy Christmas Craft!

Want a super easy crafty ornament to hang on your tree this year?

 Have I got one for you! 

Last year I was inspired by this post and created a keepsake ornament for us, our parents and grandmas to commemorate our wedding.

Wedding invitations, almost as pretty as when I sent them out!

And then had leftover glass ornaments hanging around for the last year.

I then saw some inspiration in the target Christmas section....clear balls with garland inside. Inspired!

Headed over to the dollar store, picked up some garland, cut some pieces, inserted into the empty glass ornaments and voila!

Glass ornaments, dollar store garland, scissors - that's it!

Open up the ornament, insert garland.

Easy! And gorgeous!

Halloween Pumpkin Style!

Every holiday that rolls around, Lo gets crafty!

A couple of years ago, I made these awesome be-dazzled pumpkins from foam pumpkins and jewel stickers, and of course, glitter!

This year, I was introduced to my new friend, Mod Podge. How have I never used this before?!! It's awesome!

I was inspired, of course by Pinterest, to transform a boring foam pumpkin to...a timeless, classic-book page masterpiece!

I collected my materials: mod Podge, foam paint brush, foam pumpkin, and a book I was ready to tear apart (enter library book sale and a falling apart copy of DRACULA was $0.30!) How fitting for a Halloween pumpkin!

All the supplies ready over newspaper :)

The beautiful result! You can even tell the pages are from Dracula!

I love the result. Don't you?

What's Cooking? Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce!

On a whim a few weeks ago I bought the latest issue of Food Network magazine. There were a few recipes that looked yummy and I was determined to actually cook one. How many times have I bought a magazine only for it to sit there with no recipes cooked from it? Not this time! 

I'd never made an alfredo sauce from scratch, but oh my goodness, it was so easy! (And tasty too!)

Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce 

(adapted from Food Network Magazine, also accessible here. Mostly I changed portions based for 2 and what I had in the house).

What You Need:

• salt
• 1 9-ounce package cheese tortellini
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
• Pinch of nutmeg (the original recipe had freshly grated nutmeg, but that's not practical for me!)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• Freshly ground pepper

So few ingredients, so much yum!

What You Do:

1. Cook tortellini according to directions on package..

2.  Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Stir in the cream and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to medium low; simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in parmesan cheese and cook until thick, about 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Butter and pumpkin smell so good together while cooking.

The sauce is coming together!

3. Add the tortellini to the skillet and toss with the sauce. 

It smelled amazing.

4. Serve with a yummy Cesar salad! And, dinner. Delicious.

This is fall goodness on a plate!

We will definitely be making this recipe again this fall. It was so easy and fast (about 20 minutes total) and so delicious. Joe was also a fan.  Later in the week I made a plain alfredo sauce to go with some other pasta with the leftover cream. I think I prefered the pumpkin version. Thanks, Food Network!

Full Text:

Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce 

(adapted from Food Network Magazine, also accessible here. Mostly I changed portions based for 2 and what I had in the house).

What You Need:

• salt
• 1 9-ounce package cheese tortellini
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
• Pinch of nutmeg (the original recipe had freshly grated nutmeg, but that's not practical for me!)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• Freshly ground pepper

What You Do:

1. Cook tortellini according to directions on package..

2.  Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Stir in the cream and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to medium low; simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in parmesan cheese and cook until thick, about 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the tortellini to the skillet and toss with the sauce. 

4. Serve.

Last Weekend's Update

Wow have I been busy. Between my cousin's wedding, our first anniversary and school, ay, I haven't had a free moment to say hello to the bloggy-blog world.

This past weekend, we were happy to share our "wedding date" weekend with my cousin Richard and his beautiful bride Cynthia. Here are some photos from the wedding. It was a great way to kick off our first-anniversary weekend by watching others we love make the same commitment!

Joe and I started by meeting some family members for drinks up at the Top of the Mark bar at the Mark Hopkins in San Francisco.

Drinks at the Mark Hopkins Hotel

Sisters & Cosmos

Paul decided he didn't need to wear a tie since Joe showed up without one!

We were unable to snap any photographs at the ceremony, due to the fact that it was at gorgeous Grace Cathedral and the ministers at this church did not allow any. They were serious too, I saw a minister talk to at LEAST two people about it in the middle of the ceremony. It was a beautiful service, and it was nice to hear some of the same readings that we had at our wedding a year ago. :)

The reception was down the street at the Renaissance Stanford Court Hotel on Nob Hill. The food was amazing (maybe the best we've had at a wedding this year and we've been to FOUR!) and it was decorated the way maybe I wish I could have gone back and done our decorations! Oh, Cynthia, you and I have such similar, classic taste!

Loved this display on the escort card table!

Cocktail hour!

I loved the centerpieces! A perfect height to carry on conversations around the table!

Cake table! Oh wow those cupcakes were delicious!

Photobooth + Wine = Bizarre Scrapbook Page

Me with the handsome groom (my cousin Richard!) and his wife Cynthia!

Cousins! Kristen, Richard, me, and my sister Kim

Family! Teri, my mom, Richard, Kristen, my auntie Betty, me, Kim and Doug.

Looking good at the reception!

We had a blast at the wedding and possibly came home with a napkin full of cupcakes. Cynthia, Richard, if you're reading this it was Kristen's idea :). Joe and I hope you are having a fabulous honeymoon!

What a great way to kick off our anniversary weekend! 

Weekend Recap: Fleet Week!

Fleet Week is always one of my favorite times of year. It comes in October which, if you know San Francisco, is "summer" here. (One of the reasons we got married in October, but that's next week's post!) :)

I've gone to the Fleet Week Air Show in years past with my sister's family and enjoyed the show on the Marina Green. Joe and I have continued the tradition (save last year when he was in Las Vegas for his bachelor party!) We park our car at his aunt's house in the Marina district and walk down to the Marina Green with the Golden Gate bridge to the east of us and a view of Marin county to the north of us. A picture perfect place to watch the Navy's amazing Blue Angels do their demonstration flight.

Even the million visitors in San Francisco this weekend could deter us from our Saturday adventure. Joe was so excited to use his new camera lenses to get some close ups of the planes. We got our picnic lunch from Safeway on our walk down to the Green. We found a great spot, set up our chairs and enjoyed our afternoon on the grass with the Air Show. Enjoy some pictures from our fun day!

Ready for the Blue Angels!

Aww, Joe the budding photographer.

Marine photographers enjoying the air show

Hiking back to the car through San Francisco's Marina

What's Cooking? Chicken & Broccoli Pasta

When there's half a rotisserie chicken and some broccoli in the fridge, what are we having for dinner? Chicken & Broccoli Pasta with Pine Nuts!

It sounds so simple, but it's so good! My sister came up with this recipe years ago (and where she got it from, I have no idea.) I don't even use a recipe, it's that easy to make! But I will share with you what I used tonight to make our yummy dinner!

Easy dinner from leftovers? Yes, please!

Chicken & Broccoli Pasta with Pine Nuts

What you need:

1/2 Rotisserie chicken

about 2 cups of broccoli florets

a handful of pine nuts

chicken broth

olive oil

crushed garlic

balsamic vinegar

pasta (usually I use farfalle, but tonight I had spaghetti noodles so I used those)

parmesan cheese ( I didn't use this tonight)

(Most of the ingredients don't have measurements, I just use what looks good and add from there.)

What to Do:

1. Toast pine nuts in pan. (Don't burn the first batch like I did, those things are expensive!) Then set aside for later. Meanwhile boil water for the pasta in a separate pot.

2. Put olive oil and garlic in the pan and add chicken broth, vinegar and broccoli. Let simmer.

3. Shred chicken and place in the pan too. Let simmer and thicken. Add more broth and vinegar as needed.

4. After pasta is done, mix everything together and add pine nuts back into the dish.

5. Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan and enjoy!

What's Cooking? Coconut Chicken Fingers!

I've been feeling under the weather lately, so our dinners have not been super exciting. I did make a casserole the other night, but that's not super exciting. Today after our day date in San Francisco, I decided to make Coconut Chicken Fingers with sweet potato fries. I had originally planned this for last night's dinner, but we ended up going out to sushi. On our way home from San Francisco, I decided I wanted to also make some kind of salad with pineapple in it - and with a quick google search in the car (don't worry, Joe was driving) we stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up a couple of last minute items.

My friend Jen over at Overeducated & Underemployed, had given a recipe for Coconut Chicken Fingers in the sweet cookbook she and her husband made as wedding favors in May. I didn't have any Panko bread crumbs, so I used a recipe I found over at Kraft Recipes thanks to google. I got the recipe for Pineapple & Cucumber Salad from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. (I cheated and got frozen sweet potato fries from Target.)

~Ingredients for chicken fingers and pineapple-cucumber salad~

~My assembly line: chicken, egg, coconut mixture~

 ~Going for a swim in the coconut bath~

~Ready for the Oven~

Recipe: Coconut Chicken Fingers (adapted from Kraftrecipes.com)

What You Need:

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup flour (I used whole-wheat)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne powder (I added this)

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken strips

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup melted butter

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Mix coconut, flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl.

3. Dip chicken strips in egg, then coat with coconut mixture.

4. Place in a baking pan then drizzle with butter.

5. Bake for 25 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked through. Turn after 15 minutes.

~Pineapple Cucumber Salad, yum!~

Recipe: Pineapple-Cucumber Salad (recipe adapted from marthastewart.com)

What You Need:

1/2 pineapple chopped (I used precut pineapple spears and chopped from there.)

1 English cucumber, cut into 1/4 inch slices.

1 or 2 limes for juicing

cilantro leaves to taste

What You Do:

1. Combine lime juice, pineapple, cucumber, and cilantro. Leave to set until dinner is out of the oven.

~One yummy meal~

Long story short, Joe and I both enjoyed this meal, and it is definitely easy enough and yummy enough to make again!

Things to Do Before I'm 30...(Part 2)

In my last post, I detailed how I came to start my Things to do before I'm 30 List. With 3 months to go before the big day, I thought I'd add to the list.

1. Quit a job.
2. Try sashimi.3. Think of other things I'd like to do before I'm thirty.

4. Finish reading "Pillars of the Earth." (It happens to be on my bedside table and I have started it many times to no avail. I have three months to finish it.)
5. Visit Alcatraz (pretty incredible I've lived in the SF Bay Area for my entire life and never been!)
6. Decide where to celebrate my 30th birthday.

For Joe's thirtieth birthday a few years back, I took him to Las Vegas. It was the first time either of us had been there. 

~Happy 30th Joe! Las Vegas,  2009~

He recently asked me where I wanted to spend my birthday. 

The short list? Las Vegas, Disneyland, New York, Austin. 

The tricky part is that my birthday is on New Year's Day which makes travel 1. expensive and 2. difficult due to Joe's retail work schedule. 

We shall see.

Recipe Review: Caramel Apple Milky Way Cookies!

First of all, thank you pinterest for alerting me to the fact that Caramel Apple Milky Ways exist. Also, thank you Target for selling them :)

And thank you to pinterest and the domestic rebel for the recipe I'm reviewing today. 

I made these cookies last night. You can see my review at the end of this post. 

Caramel Apple Spice Milky Way Cookies 
(recipe adapted from www.thedomesticrebel.com)

What You Need:
1 box spice cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 medium gala apple, peeled and roughly diced
1 tsp cinnamon
About 20-24 Caramel Apple Milky Way candies, unwrapped
1/4 cup cinnamon sugar*

*to make my cinnamon sugar, I combined 1/4 cup sugar with a teaspoon of cinnamon at a time then shook in my little container until I got my desired color - I think I used about 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.)

~Ingredients ready to go ~

~Diced my apple!~

What to Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with silicone liner or spray lightly with cooking spray. (I used the cooking spray this time.) Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs and oil until blended. Stir in the apples and the teaspoon of cinnamon to combine.

3. Scoop out heaping Tablespoonfuls of dough and place it in your palm. Press an unwrapped candy in the center of the cookie dough ball and gently fold the dough around the candy to enclose it. Place the filled cookie dough on the baking sheets, 1-2″ apart. (At this point, I thought these were the hardest, messiest cookies to make ever. My "dough" was very slippery and sticky. I finally just plopped a scoop of the dough directly on the cookie sheet and set the candy on top and used a spoon to fold over the dough over the candy. This made my cookies a bit larger, so I only ended up with about 18 cookies.)

4. Sprinkle the dough balls with cinnamon sugar, then bake for approx. 8-10 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking time to ensure even cooking. Allow to cool 5 minutes on the pan, then carefully transfer to wire racks to finish cooling. (In my oven, or maybe due to the size of the cookies, my cookies took upwards of 15-20 minutes to finish cooking completely).

5. These cookies can be stored airtight, at room temperature, up to 2 days.

~Smellin' good in the oven!~

~Deliciousness on a plate.~

Review: These were really easy to make, though I am not sure how I could make the dough less sticky and slippery during step 3. Joe said the house smelled like Christmas as they were cooking. They tasted great! (I think they were even better this afternoon!) I would totally make these again!

It is definitely fall and time to bake at the Gianino house!

Random

These exist. I need to have these. That is all.

My First Printable

I was inspired by some Parent Volunteer forms I found on pinterest, but nothing seemed to fit exactly perfect for what I needed for Back to School night tomorrow.

So I made my own.

If you can use it, great. If not, share it with a teacher you know :)

All the fonts are from the no-longer-existent sugarfrogfonts. Thank goodness for the Way Back Machine, you can also download the fonts here. I used "SF Scribbled" and "SF Carissa." 

I'm pretty excited about my first printable!

Helping Hands Worksheet

What's Cooking? Chicken Tikka Masala!

I think the first time I had Indian food I was with my friend Jen in Davis, which was only a few years ago. I have no idea it took me until my late-20s to try Indian cuisine (I must have been afraid it was "spicy" or something). 

Meanwhile, Indian food turns out to be something Joe and I enjoy together quite a bit. He's introduced me to some of the most delicious hole-in-the-wall places in San Francisco, and one of our favorite Indian places is right near us. We found Curry Up Now at a "Off the Grid" food truck night and found out they had a brick-and-mortar restaurant selling delicious Indian street food in downtown San Mateo. Oh my gosh. Amazing. Our very favorite Indian dish? Chicken Tikka Masala.

Anyway, I did not intend this to be a review of Curry Up Now, but rather, a story of how I was inspired by Trader Joe's delicious frozen Indian food to find a recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala. Chicken Tikka Masala is amusing because it was invented in England and is the national dish of the United Kingdom (well, if you believe Wikipedia). Again, I digress.

On Pinterest a few months back, I found a recipe for Chicken Tikki Masala in the Crock Pot. Hallalujah! Real Simple's version as pinned on pinterest.com.

I adapted my recipe to fit the ingredients I had at home (like, I don't have garam masala at home, though I'm sure plenty of my neighbors do!) 

~All my ingredients ready for the crock pot! ~

Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala

What You Need:

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 small can of tomato paste

1 large onion, chopped (I use sweet onion)

4 cloves garlic, chopped (I used minced already in my refrigerator)

approximately 3 tablespoons of garam masala mixture (recipe follows)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 - 2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken thighs (I had chicken breast tenders, I used those)

1 cup heavy cream (more/less for correct coloring of sauce at the end)

Garam masala mixture (this is already doubled and should be enough for the recipe)

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

I like to mix this in a small bowl and can make more using the same proportions.

What to Do:

1. Add everything but chicken and cream into the slow cooker, avoiding splashing the sides (to avoid burning).
2. Lay chicken pieces on top.

~My chicken tenders ready to slow-cook in a tomato bath!~

3. Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours. (I usually do high heat and leave it "warming" until it's time to add the cream.)

4. Just before serving, remove chicken from the sauce and stir in heavy cream. Return chicken to sauce. Add more cream or tomato paste if it's too pale in color or to taste. (In this case, I added a bit more tomato paste and a touch of cream to cut the tangy tomato taste).

~Ready for the rice~

5. Serve with basmati rice.

I like to serve this with the Trader Joe's palak paneer (spinach and cheese dish) and basmati rice. I had forgotten to cook the basmati rice, so I microwaved some instant brown rice instead! (Basmati definitely tastes better though.) I also heated up some Naan (not surprisingly, also from Trader Joe's.)

~Yummy dinner!~

Printable Version:

Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala

What You Need:

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 small can of tomato paste

1 large onion, chopped (I use sweet onion)

4 cloves garlic, chopped (I used minced already in my refrigerator)

approximately 3 tablespoons of garam masala mixture (recipe follows)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 - 2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken thighs (I had chicken breast tenders, I used those)

1 cup heavy cream (more/less for correct coloring of sauce at the end)

Garam masala mixture (this is already doubled and should be enough for the recipe)

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

I like to mix this in a small bowl and can make more using the same proportions.

What to Do:

1. Add everything but chicken and cream into the slow cooker, avoiding splashing the sides.
2. Lay chicken pieces on top.

3. Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.

4. Just before serving, remove chicken from the sauce and stir in heavy cream. Return chicken to sauce. 

5. Serve with basmati rice.

Dishwasher Mishap - A Cautionary Tale

I was productive when I got home from work and loaded the dishwasher. I put all my coffee cups in the dishwasher. One says "dishwasher safe" and the other does not.

My apartment also smells like burnt plastic and smoke. That will be awesome when Joe gets home. Plus I'm sure it's really healthy to be breathing.

I am now down one coffee cup. Luckily it's my "holiday" mug....

~My mug is fine....but ~

~The lid didn't fare very well~

Ugh! Happy Thursday!

What I Love Wednesday...or, a tribute to The Godfather.

I've been in hiding for a while, school started last week and I've been tiiiiiiiired. Like naps on the couch after work tired. (Ok, that only happened twice...)

School's been good, I have a lovely group of students! I can't believe it's already been almost two weeks!

Anyway, to restart my blogging, I decided to share what I'm loving today....wines from our favorite winery, which happens to be owned by the director of our favorite movie (The Godfather)....Francis Ford Coppola.

~ Wine Club Delivery Day!~

Oh my goodness, it was almost two years ago when Joe and I got a groupon to visit the "new" Francis Ford Coppola Winery up in the Sonoma Valley. Note to self on future wine-trips: always eat breakfast before your 11:30 tour. We ran out of time for breakfast, had a fantastic time on the tour and ~magically~ enjoyed every single tasted we had in the tasting room. Yes, by noon I was a "Wine Family" member. And every few months I'm pleasantly surprised with the delicious wines they send us. (It also makes shopping for wine very easy - I don't have to do it!)

Today's yummies? We have a Diamond Collection Sauvignon Blanc, a Director's Cut Pinot Noir, a Diamond Collection Malbec, and a Rosso & Bianco Chardonnay. Can't wait to bring these puppies to a party to share! And another perk of today's shipment?! A fantastic wine carrier bag! So excited.

Here's a fun fact: the tables at our wedding were named for characters in The Godfather. Also, Joe and his mom shared their mother-son dance to The Godfather Love Theme  (you know it, in fact, you're humming it right now....)

Crazy, I'd never even seen the movie til dating my husband... :)

School Days Are Upon Us

It's that time again, the first day of school is quickly approaching----tomorrow! I think my classroom looks ready to go, what do you think?

View from the door

With upwards of 30 students this year, I decided to put my kiddos in rows. I had to rearrange a bit, so you see my word wall has moved to above my teaching area. It's so cute with it's vintage alphabet cards, I like it.

View from the back door

Here you can see that each student has their pile of supplies/books/folders they need for the first week of school. And their activity for when they first come in. It's an activity I usually do with 2nd graders, a "Treasure Chest" but I think if parents and I help out, my little firsties can do it!

My family for the next 180 school days

I'm excited because it's my first year officially as Mrs. Gianino. That should be fun for the little ones to learn :)

Happily tomorrow is a minimum day so we only have students until 1:00. A good way to get back in the swing of things for both students and teacher ;)

Oh, I'm so glad I have my coffee maker ready for me tomorrow morning...I plan to be at school by 7:30. That's....early for me. :)

I'll be back tomorrow to let y'all know how it went!