Day 14.2: Stale Bread

Two Sundays ago, now, I went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of food. You see, I had just watched Ratatouille and that movie always makes me want to cook!



Goodies!


However, unbeknownst to me there was a hole in the baguette's bag! And the whole freaking loaf went stale! I was initially very very sad- I wanted to make bruschetta, you see...and you need some good bread for that!

I did not despair for long, as I remembered that stale bread is NOT useless and should not be thrown out, for you can make HOMEMADE CRUTONS with it!!!!!!!!!! WOOO HOOO!

The great thing about homemade crutons is that they are SO simple to make, but they sound really impressive. Or I like to pretend they do, at least.

All you're going to need is the following:

stale bread
olive oil (about 2tbs)
salt (I used a sea salt grinder)
freshly ground pepper

And for prepping/baking- a cutting board, knife, pastry brush, and baking sheet

You can also add other spices if you wish, maybe some garlic powder for garlic crutons, or maybe even some cheese! Yum.

To get started, you're going to want to get the oven preheating at 375degrees and then cube your bread. Since this baguette was rock solid...it took some work!



First, I just cut it into rounds and then cubed it up.

Ta-da! Bread cubes!



Then, you want to lay them out on a baking sheet. They can be close together, farther apart- doesn't matter.



Next, brush the olive oil on the bread cubes.



You can do this individually if you want even coverage or sort of haphazardly if you don't really care...

Now! It's time for salt and pepper!















You're looking for somewhat even coverage with the s&p so you don't have some REALLY salty crutons or burning-hot pepper encrusted ones either. Like this,





Bake for 15 minutes or so- it depends on your oven and the bread, really. You're looking for some nice browning on the edges.



Voila! Tasty homemade crutons!

R


Ps- You don't have to make crutons out of stale bread, you can make them out of fresh bread too if you so desire :)

Day 14: Bad Bad Blogger!

I have been a bad bad bad blogger... I blame school, sickness, being busy, being distracted, and planning a trip to NEW YORK CITY with my best friend! Talk about the food that will happen on that trip! I am so excited!

I promise to update more. Promise.

Today is Valentine's Day... so to the blogosphere, Happy Valentine's Day! Whether you are single, dating someone, engaged, married, or whatever, I think everyone can enjoy Valentine's Day. For me, I've had a Valentine once... and the holiday isn't that big of a deal to me, but it is a great opportunity to talk about the indoor picnic!

Here in North East Ohio we've been having some warm weather for winter- 48-50degrees! But that's not quite warm enough to back a picnic basket and head outside, right? So, I have one simple suggestion: Have a picnic inside.

At first it might sound strange... even silly... and it could be, but I've never been one to really mind doing silly things.

For Valentine's day I'm thinking of two different approaches...both involve blanket forts!

Do you remember making blanket forts when you were little? It's. so. fun. It's whimsical! And who doesn't need a little whimsy!

Things you are going to need:

Chairs
Couches
Blankets!
Pillows
and maybe a lamp...


At my house we have these great tall stools, which are perfect. I put one on the middle and throw a big blanket over it. Then, strategically place other chairs and stools around, draping the center blanket over them and adding more to make a pretty good size tent. If you don't want to put a stool in the middle, if you find a way to stretch the blanket tight enough- you could use a broom or mop handle to make a higher peak.

For kids (or adults I guess), the picnic food can consist of sweets only, because it's Valentine's Day. You could make cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, or just various candies. You could make heart shaped pb&j sandwiches with this:


Isn't in darling!?!
Blanket forts are perfect for movie nights, and since this Valentine's day falls on a Monday which is a school and work night, spending the evening in might not be a bad idea. Pizza would also be a perfect dinner to eat under a blanket fort!

So what do you think, will you be constructing a Valentine's Day blanket fort? ;)

-Rachael

Day 6: Sickness

Well, I'm not following Ree's advice very well BUT I think I have some good reasons...

1.) I have been crazy sick since Wednesday :( This is the second time I've battled this illness in less than two months!

2.) The internet has been so so so slow because of the weather/inches of ice on our satellite dish. I did TRY to post but the pictures I wanted to upload would not cooperate. So I made a Flickr account to try to make it easier...but, alas, the interwebs was going to slow and the pictures wouldn't load onto flickr! I will be on campus (for the first time since Tuesday) tomorrow and will have legit internet so HOPEFULLY I will be able to post those pictures.

Just a thought: Since I am sick, I could have had a soup picnic in my living room under a blanket tent! But, I was far to lazy for that!

I'll be back tomorrow-
Rachael

Ps- Instead of watching the Super Bowl I watched Ratatouille and I plan on making ratatouille now :) I've wanted to try making it since I watched this movie the first time. Such a good movie! Anyone can cook!

Day Two: Gearing Up1.0

Hello again!

The Wise Ree Drummond once wrote that bloggers should write something, no matter how small, everyday. (I'd link the exact post, but I can't seem to find it...) So, with 50 minutes left of the day, I am taking her advice.

As I mentioned in my first entry, for the time being I am going to write about picnic gear and indoor picnics. Today, I am going to cover one of the essential items required for a picnic...

The basket.

I own two, and a few years back, I bought my mom one for Mother's Day. Now, picnic baskets can get expensive. I've seen some online for $120! Fortunately, I've gotten mine for much less. One was free! :) I won it at my Winans' family reunion a few years back. It is so fun- it's brightly colored, orange with some multi-colored accents, and includes 2 plates, cups, napkins, and sets of silverware in a nifty front pocket. I almost forgot! It also has a corkscrew! The body of the "basket" is more like a cooler bag- it has that silvery plastic lining, which is awesome in the event of a spill. The other one is an actual basket that has an adjustable leather strap and cream linen lining- inside it has plates, mugs, goblets?, napkins, cute knife & fork napkin rings, and sets of reusable plasticware. I got it at the thrift store for something like $10! What I love about this basket is that the previous owners showed some creativity. They added the two goblets?, napkins, and napkin rings. The downside to their initiative is that, once the goblets are in the basket- there isn't any room for food :/

I encourage you to keep a vigilant eye at thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales- you never know when the most amazing basket will fall into your hands :)

In case you don't want to wait for serendipitous-amazingest-basket-finding, you have so many options online and in a number of stores. Today I will share with you two really good websites, for not only baskets but a wide variety of picnic gear: http://www.epicnicbasket.com/ and http://www.picnic-basket.com/ They have everything in handy categories so you can find a basket that meets your needs, fits in your price range etc.

A few things to consider when purchasing a basket- how many people are you usually going to be packing the basket for? Do you want it to be lined with plastic, or is linen fine? Do you want an empty basket so you can find the dishes you like? Or, do you want a basket that has everything in it already? Do you want a woven basket-basket? Or would a "backpack" style "basket" work for you? Price is another factor you will want to consider. The websites I listed ARE great sites, but only if you want to dish out some $$$. If you can't find anything on one of them you can afford, keep your eye on store shelves- for instance, Target usually carries picnic baskets at some point in their seasonal section.

That's all for today- stay tuned for more entries about other gear!

Pax,
Rachael

Welcome to the Revolution

I don't think people go on picnics enough anymore.

I love picnics, so I have decided to start a picnic revolution!

In this blog, I will post about picnic gear, great picnic locations, food to make for picnics, and everything else related.

For the time being, most of my posts will be about gear because it's Winter in Ohio, where I live.

I hope to show people the joy of picnicing!

Viva La Revolution!

-Rachael