Free Fonts I Currently Love

I love Pinterest.  I admit it.  I like to scour the site for pretty fonts.  I even have my own board dedicated to those pretty typesets.  Can they even be called typesets?  I decided to make my own very basic (keyword: basic) little visual for others to pin.  These are currently a few of my little darlings. 

 

Barrelhouse   A Yummy Apology  Burton's Nightmare

Coventry Garden  Little Lord Fontleroy  Elegant

Airplanes in the Night Sky

 

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Sometimes a person is just in the mood for some good old comfort food.  No counting calories or carbs.  Just something that makes you feel good.  I was at a loss yesterday with what to make for dinner.  Ken and A2 were going hunting and would want something rib sticking when they got home at night.

So what's a girl to do?  Hit Pinterest, of course.  I pinned this yesterday morning.  It's a recipe from Paula Dean, y'all.  Yeah, yeah.  I know, her recipes are loaded with fat and carbohydrates and super unhealthy.  But like I said, sometimes you just need comfort food and that is exactly what she does best.  This recipe comes courtesy of the Dallas Morning News.  Click on over if you want to see what their version looks like.

This was pretty easy to throw together.  I did make some changes to my recipe, which made it even more calorie laden than before.

Twice-Baked Potato Casserole

Ingredients

8 medium baking potatoes, about 4 pounds
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 pint sour cream
2 cups ( ½ pound) shredded sharp cheddar cheese (divided use)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup chopped chives, for garnish
6 slices bacon, cooked crisp, drained and crumbled, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Pierce potatoes and place on baking pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until very soft.

Peel and mash potatoes in large bowl with potato masher or back of fork. Add cream cheese, butter, sour cream and 1 cup of cheddar. Stir well. Add garlic, salt and pepper, and stir again.

Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place potato mixture in dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate casserole until ready to bake.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 F, remove plastic wrap and bake casserole 30 to 35 minutes until hot. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheddar over casserole and return to oven for about 5 minutes, until cheese melts. Garnish with chopped chives and crumbled bacon before serving. Makes 10 to 12 servings. 

 

What I Made

 

I didn't sprinkle the top with chives because I'm lazy like that.  I did add some minced onions for a bit of oniony flavor.  I used an entire pound of bacon (Oh, the humanity!) and mixed 3/4 of it in with the potatoes and sprinkled the rest on top.  We love our bacon.  Plus, I had a pound in the fridge that needed to be used in the next few days.

 

 Final Verdict

I liked it.  It is nothing special but it just tasted good.  Ken said he's not into this kind of food but it was okay.  A2 said it was "pretty good" and had two helpings.  I guess I'll keep this in the rotation but just as an occasional meal or side because it's so unhealthy.  It would be excellent for potlucks  though.

 

 

Homemade Cough Syrup

Well, we are sick in this household.  Ken has an awful cough and I have an earache, soar throat, sinus congestion, and general achiness.  I'm actually going to post this and crawl back into bed.  One of the nice things about working part time is that you can stay in bed when you're sick.

Anyways, I am a big fan of Pinterest.   It can turn out to be a huge time suck for me.  Especially when I pin things with good intentions to actually do them.  I have done a few things and will continue to do them.  I thought I would post about my successes and failures on Pinterest in a little series called Pinned It! Did It!


I'm a big fan of home remedies.  Since I try to keep chemicals out of my cleaning products and food, it makes sense to keep them out of my body when I'm sick.   I had horrible sinus congestion about a month back and decided to look for something to help my aching head.

I came across this glorious concoction on Pinterest a couple months ago courtesy of good food matters.  I knew I had to pin it with cold and flu season coming up.

I modified the recipe a bit so it looks like this.

Homemade Cough Syrup
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne
1/4 teaspoon ground Ginger
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar (use one that has the mother in it, ex.  Bragg's Organic)
1 Tablespoon Honey

Put in a small container and mix well.  It will make a suspension type liquid  that you have to mix well before each use.  Take one Tablespoon as needed.
 

The Finished Product

 I'm sure you are all wondering how it tastes.  It tastes like a salad dressing with a little kick.  It's not hot and actually tastes pretty good.  It helps clear up sinuses and knocked out my sore throat within a half hour.  I can't tell you how it works on a cough because Ken refuses to take any kind of medicine, especially my "snake oil".  

I keep mine in an old honey jar.  I removed the water from the original recipe to keep it shelf stable.  The dose I took this morning has been sitting for a month and was still good.  I added garlic and onion because I believe those ingredients are just good for you when you are sick.

Now for the necessary disclaimer:  I do not claim to have  expertise in any medical or pharmacological field.  Any home remedy I recommend is based on my own use.  Try at your own risk.