Cuban Sandwich

So I have been pretty busy lately with organizing the end of year events for Sweets school and haven't had a lot of time to get creative, but we still have to eat so I still have to cook. Which leads me to the Cuban bread, if you have ever had the joy of a good Cuban sandwich then you probably need no explanation about how freakin' good the bread is and if you are like me and could live solely off of bread alone than you will appreciate this recipe. My husband and I had the good fortune to live for a while near a grocery store that sold Cuban bread by the loaf and had been voted best Cuban sandwich in the city. We no longer live there but still get to enjoy Cuban food occasionally at a local restaurant. So I decided I could surely make it myself if I just tried and sure enough it is really easy to do, my recipe for the sandwich may vary some from some of the others I have seen, but then again they all seem a little different. I have to also add that after making my sandwich I went with my mom to a restaurant we shall refer to as O'Crappy's and ordered their new Cuban sandwich, I got two slices of hard as rock bread, dried out pork and ham that was so hard I couldn't even bite into it, dried up pickles (gross) and some bizarre tasting sauce that was pretty inedible. I think from now on I'll make it myself or go to the authentic Cuban restaurant. So with that warning out of the way I highly recommend you make this bread even if you don't intend to make a Cuban sandwich, we had it one night with some soup and it's good regardless. You can find the recipe for the bread here. I did change it ever so slightly by adding 3 tbs of vegetable shortening to the recipe, traditional Cuban bread calls for lard, which is not in this recipe, I can't bring myself to use lard so I substituted the shotening.

Cuban Sandwich

1 loaf Cuban loaf
1/2 lb thick sliced ham
1/2 lb thin sliced deli turkey
1/2 sliced red onion
yellow mustard
sliced pickled banana peppers
sliced pickled jalapenos
sliced dill pickles
swiss or provolone cheese slices (I used both)

Slice the bread open evenly spread out the ham and then top with the turkey slices and the cheese slices. Place under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is melted. On the inside of the top of the bread spread yellow mustard, place onion, peppers and pickles on top of meat and cheese, top with bread top. Slice and serve.

Wonderful Wednesday

Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday!!! Can't you see how excited I am about it being Wednesday? It's wonderful!! Okay, enough of that I'm just trying to get myself excited, but I mean Wednesday sucks, it's still way to far from Friday and it just seems like the longest day of the week for me. But I will try and persevere and keep myself entertained with some lovely finds from the web and of course I shall share with all of my friends out there. First up is a tute which I have used many, many times to make shirts and dresses for Sweets, it is a very easy versatile pattern that a beginner can easily tackle and it comes from one of my very favorite sites Just Tutes. Next is this adorable pattern for a kids picnic table, I haven't actually made this, since the kids already have one but the instructions look really simple. Then we have a giveaway and tute for a really cute red velvet clutch at Sew Christine. Last but not least today I leave you with my first of many recipes for a simple summer dessert. When I say simple I mean it, this dessert takes five minutes start to finish to put together but tastes so good. It's perfect for the warm weather when you hate to be stuck indoors cooking. Here is the recipe:

Lemon Icebox Pie

1 prepared graham cracker crust
2 boxes cream cheese
1 can lemon pie filling
1 tub of cool whip
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 c. confectioners sugar

In the bowl of your mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth, add half of the lemon pie filling, confectioners sugar and 2 tbs, lemon juice, stir until combined. Add 2/3 of the cool whip and lightly stir until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared pie crust and spread evenly. Top with remaining lemon pie filling and spread until even. Put a dollop of cool whip on top to decorate and sprinkle with a little lemon zest. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

-Kim

Spring Decorating Ideas

I have been very neglectful of my blogging lately, but in my defense I lost my card reader so I couldn't upload any pictures, but I finally found it today. Anyway I promise to be better about posting in the future.
So my hosting of Easter went over without a hitch and I was so glad for it to be over. It did get me thinking about my decorating scheme a little and I managed to get a few things redone before the brunch. The first was the top of my china cabinet, I had really planned on doing some sort of Easter display there, but on one of my thrift store trips I came across these two old milk glass mixing bowls and after picking them up I found a few more pieces of milk glass at the same store. So I walked around with the bowls for a bit trying to decide if I really needed them all the while keeping the other pieces in my mind. So eventually I could clearly see some sort of Martha inspired collection of milk glass pieces on top of my china cabinet. The only problem with this plan was that it was about a week before Easter and the only milk glass collection i had to speak of was the one in my shopping cart at the thrift store. So I bought it anyway, thinking I would try and hit some more thrift stores and maybe find a few more pieces. Well the original few pieces sat on my china cabinet looking pretty sad and bare until the Friday before Easter when I finally found time to do some shopping. I went first to my local Peddlers Mall since they have such a wide variety of vendors and lots of glass and pottery. Well I totally hit the jackpot and was glad I went there first. I found a few cute pieces as I walked around and they were all under 4 dollars apiece, but then I came to a booth that only sold milk glass. I almost literally squealed in delight. I picked out several pieces all a few dollars a piece. All in all I bought about five or six pieces that day and spent less than fifteen dollars total. I hadn't been to that peddlers mall in a few years but I will for sure be going back, the prices are crazy good. So anyway I know most people spend years collecting stuff, but quite frankly I am impatient and change my mind to often to devote that kind of time to a collection so I put mine together in a week!! The next thing I did was a little centerpiece for my dining room table. I made the table runner out of some beautiful home decor weight fabric that I picked up at Hancock's for four dollars a yard. Then I got these four glass candy containers at the thrift store once again for about a dollar a piece, and my thrift store had a bunch of them in different sizes. I then filled them with candy in colors to match the runner, yellow, orange and green. It looked as pretty as flowers in my opinion and my guests were able to snack on them, so none of the waste of flowers. I also think I may reuse these for the kids party putting m&m's and other bright colored candy in them. I hope you can take some of the ideas and put them to use for yourselves.

-Kim

Wonderful Wednesday

It's Wednesday again folks and I have some great tips and ideas to pass onto you. First up this week is my absolutely favorite new site skiptomylou There are so many terrific ideas here that I can't even begin to list them all, but basically anything you want to learn to do or events or occasions that you need ideas for you can find here. Make sure to check out the great ideas for Teacher Appreciation Week which is coming up. Next is instructions for making some sweet hair bows for your special little one here. I know everyone is starting to make their spring and summer clothing purchases, creations and refashions so why not make some cute hair bows to go with. Or if you aren't feeling particularly crafty check out these awesome hair clippies to buy from Aubrielle Designs Etsy shop. While you are making some stuff for the kiddos for spring why not give yourself a little something new too or refashioned that is. This tutorial for refashioning a thrifted sweater into a cardigan is one of my favorites and pretty easy too. Last but not least now is a great time to start planning some outdoor projects to share with your kids. I have wanted to make one of these garden teepees for a while now I'm just going to have to find some kind of vine that will grow in a shady spot. So here are some fun ideas to keep you feeling crafty this Wednesday and I'll be back soon with some projects of my own to share with you.

Kim

More Easter Ideas

I am seriously bursting with Easter ideas and plans and keep finding more great ones. So for today here are a few super fast and sweet ideas from my many bookmarked sites. I am going to use these sweet chocolate bunny place card holders to place in front of each dish to let people know what it is. Also I love this Mother hen and chicks table set that you can download and print out from Martha Stewart. I'm going to use the Hen for an arrangement of lilacs. This bunny box template is going to be used to package some candy for Sweets teachers if I can find the 18x18 inch paper it calls for. I have 12x12, but I don't think I've ever seen 18x18, may have to get creative with that one. Then there are these darling vintage Easter images that you can download for free here. These are so sweet, they would make lovely cards, place cards or whatever else you can think of. So it's not too late for Easter crafts with these quick projects that you can do with your computer and printer.


Kim