Sooo…I like to think of myself as a pretty decent baker. I’m no Bakerella, but I can hold my own. Last night, I needed a simple cookie recipe, and I wanted to try something new. I used a recipe site that I’ve used several times before (which will remain nameless) and it was, well…bleh. I mean not horrible, but not something I would voluntarily waste calories on! I double checked the recipe, and I didn’t forget anything, so maybe it was the recipe and not my failure in the kitchen. But it doesn’t make me feel any less inadequate! Either way, I wanted to share this failure with you, my blogworld friends, so you  know that it’s not always peanut butter tarts and perfect chocolate chip cookies here. Sometimes you get…well, this:

Twenty Dollar Tuesdays is usually reserved for helpful hints and decorating ideas. But…I’ve decided I’m going to give you a recipe today (Because I’m just that WILD!).  I am NOT a mango eater. I usually think they taste like iced tea in fruit form…BUT a year or so ago, I ordered a crab cake at one of my favorite restaurants and it came with mango salsa. This stuff was AMAZING and was the perfect compliment to the crab cake. So, a few weeks ago, when I decided to make crab cakes, I thought to myself “Kate, you could pretend you work at a fancy restaurant and whip some of that mango salsa right on up”.  And so I did! It was my first time working with mangos (and I confirmed that I STILL do not like them in non-salsa form), and it turned out great! I’ve made it several times since then and I just love it! It’s great with meats, with chips, and tonight I had it with a veggie quesadilla. YUM!

So why am I including this in Twenty Dollar Tuesdays, you ask? Well friends, I think if you have a recipe that is this versatile, well, it’s worth at least $20! So, without further ado, Mango Salsa:

Mix together:

*2-3 mangos, diced

*1 bunch of green onions, diced

*1/4 cup or so of cilantro, diced

*juice of one lime

*(optional) red or green pepper, diced

Combine and add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

I went to a teeny weeny public school in rural Missouri. I went to the same school K-12 and had 21 kids in my graduating class (crazy, eh?) So every single day of my school career K-12 I ate lunch in the same cafeteria. I was a bit of a picky eater, but, this may come as no surprise…but I LOVED desserts. One of my favorites? Peanut butter chocolate squares. Last fall, my mom sent me the recipe for them, and this weekend, I FINALLY made them.  They were so simple, and just as yummy as I remember!

De-lish!

I think one of the most important things in cooking and baking is the plating. When you go to a fancy restaurant, you tend to see things like this:

Learn Food Photography

Or this:

For the Love of Dessert

But it doesn’t have to be that fancy! When I was laid up last week, my hubby made me lunch quite a few times. He’s pretty darn sweet like that. And my favorite lunch of the week was a simple roast beef sandwich with chips and carrot sticks. But he made it special for me! He served it up like this:

The Hubby

The little things he did for me like this made my week at home fly by!

So, moral of the story? Don’t forget to plate your food…your efforts in the kitchen will look that much more amazing (look what it did for a sandwich!) And you might just make someone’s day!

So how long DOES it take two college boys to eat a plate of cookies? Well, when it’s THESE cookies (and there were 22 on this plate…I may or may not have snuck two before I brought them out)…it turns out about ten minutes.

Saturday was kind of a weird day. I really just wanted to hang out a bit at home…you know, watch old movies, CSI reruns, and Cops (yes, I know I have very eccentric taste in media). But, we ended up cleaning up the house a bit and hosting two midshipmen (college guys getting ready to enter the Navy) who were visiting. You see, when you are at the Naval Academy or in NROTC, you spend two weeks of your summer vacation each summer with Officers actually in the Navy. So one summer you might be on a boat, one summer you might go with a helecopter squadron, and for these two guys, this summer they spent two weeks with my hubby’s squadron. They didn’t have a car or much to do, so we invited them over to our house Saturday night.

I was in a baking mood, and decided to make these World Peace Cookies. Wow. They. Were. Awesome. After making a batch, I set them out for the boys, and they ate every single one! Wow. I think I’ve found the way to prevent myself from eating all my own baked goods! Apparently you just need to employ college boys to eat all your food! I mean, my hubby usually does a pretty good job, but his calorie intake pales in comparison to these guys. I wish I had that sort of metabolism!

Here’s the recipe:

Korova Cookies or World Peace Cookies
(makes about 36 cookies)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 11 tbsp unsalted butter, softened at room temp
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp fleur de sel or 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into tiny bits

Method:
1. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda. Set aside dry ingredients. I don’t actually have a real sifter. So I sift things through a rice colander I have. It works JUST as well, and then I have one less multi-tasker in my kitchen. Ya-Hoo!

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla and mix for 1 minute. Don’t beat too much air into this batter, or else your cookies will turn out flatter than Kansas (Which is REALLY flat. I know. I’ve driven across the whole state. Funny fact about Kansas, they have a lot of museums. Seriously. TONS of museums. At least one per town, I’d say. My favorite? The Museum of Telelphonary. Really. That’s what it’s called.)

3. On low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Add the chocolate bits and mix just to incorporate. Try to avoid eating lots of dough. Otherwise, you’ll only end up with 24 cookies rather than 36 like this recipe says it makes.

4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it into one mass and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1.5 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days. I dare you to try to leave them in your fridge for 3 days! Ha!

5. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or silicone mats. I really need to get some of those silpats.

6. Remove the chilled logs of dough from refrigerator. Using a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are about 1/2 inch thick. Place slices on your prepared sheet pan, about 1 inch apart.

7. Bake for 12 minutes. The cookies won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. They’ll firm right on up as they cool. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack.

8. Invite college kiddos over to prevent yourself from eating 36 of these cookies.

I love my Hubby. Dearly. He’s my best friend. My rock. He keeps me sane when I go crazy (which is often). He sticks around even when I decide to redecorate a room at 11:oopm at night. Or when I go into a dressing room with fifty dresses and decide I don’t like any of them. Or watch Real Housewives of New Jersey. Or New York. Or Orange County. He’s pretty awesome.

But sometimes I REALLY don’t understand him. And the number one disagreement in our marriage? I LUUUURVE Peanut Butter. He doesn’t. Seriously. How can someone born and bred in the United States NOT like peanut butter?!?  I’m pretty sure it’s un-American. I’m frankly surprised they even let him in the military with his hatred of Peanut Butter. The man likes peanuts. Just not peanut butter! And definitely not peanut butter with chocolate. He shuns desserts  like these Squirrel Bars or these Peanut Butter Brownie cups and yes, even these Muddy Buddies. I just don’t get it.

Because of this marital difference, my friends are the happy recipients of many peanut butter/ chocolate desserts. This Sunday, my friend Tess hosted a baby shower for my friend Leighanne–this fabulous lady right here:

LOVE her! Leighanne is a fellow peanut butter/ chocolate lover. So I did what any good friend would do..I made her this guy:

This is Martha Stewart’s Peanut Butter tart. And boy was it YUMMY.  I even bought a special tart pan for the occasion (which I’m very excited to use for many other tarts in the future!):

And my favorite part of making this dessert? Shaving the chocolate with a vegetable peeler to make these little garnishes:

Aren’t they fun? These would be a such great addition to all sorts of delicious desserts! So there you have it…I guess my hubby just doesn’t know what he’s missing!

Remember these?

Or perhaps this?

Or this bad boy?

Or these little little gems?

You see, I have a problem: my pants seem to be shrinking. Or at least I hope that’s what’s happening. But it might possibly also be from the above culprits. I don’t think that’s the case, I think it’s more likely that my pants are shrinking. But just to be safe, I’m going to try to lay off these puppies for awhile. Well…starting on Monday. Because this weekend I’m making this and these (They’re for a baby shower. And Mom-to-be HAS to have these. I can’t say “No” to a pregnant lady!!!).

My little sister Caroline pointed out to me that my blog post “cliffhanger”  last night was about how I reorganized my pantry. I’m such a dork.

But, I do legitimately get excited about reorganizing my pantry…so really, I think it goes to show how AUTHENTIC I am. Right? Authentic. Pantries. Uh huh…. I digress.  But really, without further ado…here’s what I purchased, four of these little babies:

Yup just four.  Because I’m really not in a position to be dropping cash on pantry organization supplies right now. Luckily, with my $30 gift card I only spent $7 or so! Not bad considering I was lusting after about $400 worth of pantry organization supplies a few months ago at The Container Store.

Once again, the before shot:

Very Messy.

And the after shot:

Not bad for $7, right? Okay…$37 if you want want to be exact. But I was pretty darn happy with the outcome either way! I used the tubs I bought to hold all the boxed meal stuff (mac & cheese, rice pilaf, and the like), Nuts and Berries, Pasta and Rices, and Spreads (Peanut Butter, Nutella, etc.). I had a galvanized steel tub that we use to hold white wine at parties (in the lower right above the trash cans) that usually sits with my party supplies; now it does double duty and holds are snacks, too.

I used some metal mixing bowls I already have that I rarely use to hold root veggies and breads. And I used cake pans (1 square and 2 round) to hold other spices and sauces I rarely use on the highest and lowest shelves.  Now they’re actually serving a purpose when they’re not in use…not just collecting dust!

I also really wanted to make two levels of cans on that shelf. So I scrounged around our house and settled on leftover tiles we had sitting on a shelf in the garage.  I just stacked them until they were high enough for me to see both levels!

And then I moved my cookbooks from the top shelf of my pantry, which was always an awkward place for them to live, to another place in my kitchen, and moved some appliances right on in. Lastly, I made some labels on my handy dandy label maker!

I’m so happy with how it all turned out!

But perhaps the funniest thing I found, was this can of soup:

For the most part, everything that was I took out of the pantry went back in…but I did call into question a few things. Like this soup. To my knowledge, we have never eaten this flavor of soup in our house. So I questioned whether or not to toss it. I decided to check for an expiration date to help me with my decision making.  I found one: June 17, 2006. Yup. It’s been expired for four years. The best part? That’s right around the time I moved in with my hubby. And we’ve moved twice since that date! This soup has been living with my hubby longer than I have. How romantic! Needless to say, it’s now in the garbage. Sorry, Chunky.

And there you have it. Just another day for This American Wife.

I’m currently trekking back to Northeast Missouri for my mom’s ordination as a pastor on Sunday. I’m so excited!

But boy has it been a crazy day.  Everything seemed to be going smoothly…my flight from LAX to Denver (my layover) seemed to be getting off to a great start…that is, until a lady on our plane went berserk and the LAX police had to be brought on board! And when she started ATTACKING them (she scratched the cornea of one of the guys!) she had to be tasered, handcuffed, and physically removed from the plane! Seriously! After that, the flight attendants a few pass-angers on the plane had to give their statements to the police about the whole thing.  Even with all that, we only left 20 minutes late! I was psyched to be back on track…but when I FINALLY arrived in Denver, I found out that my flight from Denver to Kansas City was delayed two hours!

I complain, but actually, it hasn’t been that bad. I’m actually sitting in the USO (a club for military members and their families found in big airports), as I type. So I really can’t complain TOO much. But wow…what a crazy day!

Since I’m not at home to craft, decorate, cook, or bake this evening, I’d like to share with you the dinner my hubby made for me last night!

My hubby is a fabulous cook.  And one of his favorite dishes to make (and my favorite to eat!) is his spicy shrimp.  It’s an evolving dish that he changes a bit every time he makes it. He starts with shrimp (these were pre-cooked):

Jalapeños seeded and cut into slices:

Cheddar Cheese cut into small strips:

Bacon cooked until it’s very crispy and cut into squares:

And this was a new addition to the dish, cilantro:

Place the shrimp on top of the bacon, and then the cheese and jalapeño (and cilantro if you’re using it) on top of that.

Bake at 425 for 4-6 minutes (if you’re using raw shrimp, bake for 20-30 minutes and add the cheese halfway through). This is the result:

Gooey, spicy, goodness! Yum!

No…not those kind…this kind!

This rustic tart is my new favorite dessert to make.  It’s soooo easy! All you need is a refrigerated pie crust, cornstarch, sugar, egg, and whatever fruit you have in your fruit bowl (I used strawberries and a nectarine).

Start by laying out the piecrust on a cooking sheet and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Next, chop up the fruit into bite-sized pieces, and stir with a tablespoon of cornstarch and two tablespoons of sugar.

Pour the fruit mixture into the pie crust and begin folding the pie crust edges around the fruit.

Finish folding until all the pie crust is folded around the edge. Brush with egg and sprinkle with a bit of sugar.

Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. It should come out like this:

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream! Enjoy!!!