I can’t believe it. It’s over. Back in February my sister and I decided to go on a crazy culinary journey and now that journey for the timing being is at an end.
I won’t do a recap of every week here as I did that at 20th week marker(read here) but I will go week by week and do our top pick for the week. As a farewell to all the goodies…
Week #1 California
Burrito Bowl with Cajun Fries
Week #2 Lemon
Lemon Rustic Bread
Week #3 Favorites
Hot Milk Cake
Week #4 Soul Food
Buttermilk Biscuits, Sausage Gravy and Fried Apples
Week #5 Jane Austen
Root Vegetable Tart
Week #6 Redwall
Gatehouse Tea Loaf
Week #7 Coffee
Cardamom Coffee Braided Loaves
Week #8 Vegan
Vegan Birthday Cake
Week #9 Italian
Italian Breakfast Quiche
Week #10 Vietnamese
Breakfast Bao
Week #11 BBQ
BBQ Chicken Skewers
Week #12 Mom’s Picks
Italian Focaccia
Week #13 Harry Potter
Hot cross Buns
Week #14 Caribbean
Jamaican Coco Bread
Week #15 Icelandic
Kleina Fried Donuts
Week #16 Tay’s Birthday
Ale House Bacon Bread
Week #17 Non-break
Oatmeal Pies
Week #18 Hungary
Sour Cream and Cabbage Casserole
Week #19 Blueberry
Blueberry Cheesecake
Week #20 Tay Cooks
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
Week #21 Pizza
Homemade Pizza Obviously
Week #22 Swedish
Sugar Shortbread Cookies
Week #23 Scottish
Scots Eggs
Week #24 French
Pumpkin Soufflé
Week #25 Picnic
Chicken Tortellini Soup
Week #26 Sleepy Hallow
Apple Cider Cake
And that is it! Whew! What an adventure. Thank you so much for joining us on this incredible adventure. And our adventures aren’t over. Stay tuned for an extra special announcement!
Welcome back to the culinary cooking challenge! And this week we tackled Sleepy Hallow. Let’s get to it!
New England Clam Chowder 8 out of 10
I mean it’s creamy and fishy, so yeah it was amazing. Not the best clam chowder ever(that I got while visiting Door County, WI. read here) but still very good.
Extra Large Dinner Rolls 10 out of 10
And it was even better with these ginormous rolls. They were absolutely fantastic!! Like so fluffy and perfect. I will be making these again and again and again.
Harvest Spinach Salad 7 out of 10
I mean it was a good spinach salad…. But nothing spectacular or anything. Definitely a pretty salad.
Apple Cider Cake 10 out of 10
Speaking of spectacular this is probably my new favorite cake. It is extremely sweet and moist. I think ate most of this by myself… *oops*
Popovers 8 out of 10
First off make sure you really, really grease your pans. These babies stick like crazy. They are also amazingly tasty and uniquely different from my normal breakfast go to fare. So yes I liked them. (Tay did too in case you were wondering)
Walnut+Cranberry Bread
So I botched this recipe(hence why there is no pretty crow on my bread) but it was still a delicious bread. I can’t wait to try this recipe again and do it correctly.
Pumpkin+Maple Scones 8 out 10
Someone say yay! I love baking scones. Probably next to bread in my favorite things to make. These Pumpkin Scone got better with age and the maple icing was by far the best part.
Autumn Chicken and Roasted Veggies 6 out of 10
So this chicken+veggie sheet meal was not nearly as good as other chicken dishes I have made. Just another run of your mill meal.
Gingersnap Stamp Cookies 6 out of 10
Last but not least were theses “okay” gingersnap cookies. I love gingersnap cookies! They’re probably my favorite after snickerdoodle and that’s why these were kinda disappointing. Super cute but in the end lacking.
And that is it! We are out of town this next week, so we will be back with another cooking challenge the week after that. But what did you guys think of our Sleepy Hallow recipes? Let me know in the comments down below.
Hello, hello, hello! Who’s ready for a very magical round of cooking? (A very magically delicious week if you ask me) let’s jump to it!
Broccoli Salad 10 out of 10
Broccoli, turkey bacon, raisins, feta cheese and sunflower seeds covered in nonfat Greek yogurt, olive oil and rosemary. Yummy!! Yummy!! Yummy!!
Godric’s Bacon Cheddar Ale Bread 10 out of 10
So soft and sweet and buttery, loaded with bacon and cheese- So basically the perfect loaf of bread!
Yuleball Goulash 9 out of 10
Our first recipe of the week this one is amazing! Such a hearty, comfort food. Thicker and spicer than a soup this beef and noodle concoction will definitely be made again in the future.
Treacle Tart 7 out of 10
This was good but we both agreed not- wow material. Pie crust was heavenly(obviously- do you like my attempt at pie art? Uneven lace work is my specialty) but the thin tart filling was just okay.
Shepherds Pie 7 out of 10
Honestly I don’t know what I was expecting from Shepherds Pie but this version tasted a lot like sloppy Joes with mashed potatoes on top. So delicious just not what I had envisioned. Plus it makes a crap ton! We might be eating Shepherds Pie for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Hot Cross Buns 10 out of 10
These are so soft and delicious! Especially considering I almost ruined them by almost forgetting the egg- Yeeks! But thankfully these amazing little buns(which are perfect for breakfast by the way) turned out perfectly.
Pumpkin Porridge 6 out of 10
Thicker than oatmeal, but basically oatmeal. This vegan, pumpkin porridge covered in fruity goodness makes a very filling breakfast.
Bangers and Mash 8 out of 10
We ended our week like any good British cook and threw all our leftover bits and bobs into one yummy meal. I mean is sausage, gravy and mashed taters… Can’t really go wrong here.
(Also not pictured here, because I forgot to take a picture is Pumpkin Juice. Which Tay makes every year around Halloween time. So an obvious 10! I am so happy to get a pre-taste of fall.)
And that’s it guys. A day late and yet so worth it. Super excited about the coming week of cooking! Our new word is Caribbean. Just perfect for the summer heat.
Hello everyone surprise post! I thought it would be fun to do a quick Halloween post of my favorite scary movies.
I’m the puppy at the end next to the dragon.
Let’s be clear growing up my family never really celebrated Halloween. We were the type to turn off all the lights and act like we’re not home; type of people. And while we were hiding inside we would watch a scary movie. For your perusal my top picks!
The Village
Really any of M. Night’s early movies(Signs, Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Split or Glass) could have made the list but this was always my favorite(if the least scary) Mainly because of the love story.
Gaslight
An oldie but a goodie; this movie coined the term gaslighting and after you watch this movie you’ll now why it had such a cultural impact at the time.
World War Z
I am not a zombie person- though as a teenager I was known to play Nazis Zombies with the siblings. But this movie was surprisingly well done. I know it detoured away from the book on which it was based but having never read the book I don’t mind.
I am Legend
Following that end of the world vibes this is one of my absolutely favorite scary movies of all time. Since the creatures in the film aren’t technically zombies I can handle this one with more ease. Though I may never forgive for Sam.
Shadow of Doubt
Again I could have listed quiet a few of Hitchcock’s movies(Rear Window, Suspension, Psycho, The Birds and on and on) but I picked my absolute favorite of his movies.
The Mummy
Okay so it’s not actually that scary anymore(ya know after seeing it five billion times) but that doesn’t stop it from being an absolutely great movie and a blast to watch.
Marrowbone
If a good ole fashioned ghost story is more your speed than this one is worth it! So terrifying(in the best way possible) and stars two of my favs George MacKay and Anya Taylor-Joy, so the acting is on par.
A Quiet Place
Let’s finish this one of with a bang. I mean this movie has is all right? Drama, alien monster things that rip you apart even at the slightest noise you make, and Emily Blunt with a shot gun. Perfection.
Well there you go a complete list to give ya the shivers and chills.
…Thus far anyway. I think as soon as October hit everything I cooked baked or others made was pumpkin infused, spiced or shaped. And I am pretty sure my sister(my official taste tester is done with fall foods)
When my sister moved in with me the first of the year(read post here) we came to an agreement. I would do the cooking and laundry and she would do the cleaning and dishes(two things I am not such a fan of) But in the last month or so(partly to do with my new health journey) we decided to do one home cooked meal a week, one dessert and one soup/salad. Then we would eat on the leftovers the rest of the week.
Not all the recipes have been successes. In fact normally the dishes I like she doesn’t and vise versa.
I decided to list a few of my favorite recipes from this month in an effort to spread the love… calories.
This is my lil Sis’s top secret recipe so can’t share. I could share it but then I would have to kill you. Which might be worth it cause this is absolutely amazing!!
Click Here (If you make this- which I highly recommend you do- I would humbly suggest leaving out the chocolate chips. Both my sister and I felt the distracted from this amazing Dutch baby)
Pumpkin Pastries
Click Here Because it wouldn’t be October without a Harry Potter marathon and Potter themed food 😄
Well I hope you’re all appropriately hungry. So get out there and cook and eat and repeat.
As established in a pervious post I love to dress up. That being said my family never really did Halloween. We normally turned off all the lights in the house and watched a “scary” movie. (I’m talking the Mummy, Signs or I am Legend) So this is the first time in a long time I put together a Halloween costume and since I really didn’t want to buy anything I used things in my closet I already owned. I think it turned out pretty good.
Cool right?! So what I’m wearing is my brand new(as in I just bought it), vintage biker jacket, RoyalReese “blondie” t-shirt which is out of stock so here’s the actual shirt, a plaid shirt from Forever 21 I think, and my Levi’s vintage jeans. Lots of love, Tally
So I had never been to a costume party before- Well except for a Girl Scout cowboy night and a handle full of Halloween events, but other than that nothing. This year, so far (the year is till young after all) I have been to two!
Guys I love costume parties! I don’t think I can ever go to a regular party again (not that I go to a lot of parties let’s be honest) But I thought with Halloween right around the corner this would be a good time to share some inspiration if you’re struggling picking out a look for yourself. Below are my costumes from both parties. I think I might have gone a little bit too method; watching so many, many videos on the appropriate makeup and hairstyles. I even watched a 20/20 murder mystery set in the 80’s while I got ready for the 80’s party… Yeah… But if ya gonna do it, do it right! Right?
“Special thanks to my boss, my Mom(my inspiration for the look) and my brother-in-law for all the 80’s advice!”
I got the jacket and pin at a garage sale; then just a black tank, my Levi’s 517 vintage jeans and my turquoise sling back shoes from Old Navy.
2. Gypsy Living
Okay so these are awful photos but they’re the only ones I took.. I am so ashamed of myself, because normally I take thousands of pictures.
So I bought this on Amazon. A specially thanks to my Mom who picked it out!
So whatcha think? Any great costume looks? Please leave a pic below or on my Facebook page, I’d love to see it! And hay if you guys haven’t liked “A Nanny’s Notebook” Facebook page please do so. That way you stay up to date on all of my misadventures. Until next time…
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