Spam recipes for Katie

Since my husband is a full time doctoral student, money for groceries is tight. Spam is a cheap meat to use in casseroles and such as it tastes just like ham. I have often served it in the following recipes to company who were none the wiser. Plus, I must admit that I really do like spam. It's tasty fried up with eggs or in a grilled cheese sandwich. Check out the spam website for more recipes and fun facts.

This brings up a question for my blogging friends. I love getting tried-and-true recipes from pals to help liven up our mealtimes. What would you all think about helping me and Katie Bruno with a recipe swap blog? We could do a theme each month (i.e. one-dish dinners, hearty soups, recipes using 5 ingredients or less) and share our cooking secrets. We're not sure of the exact format of this recipe blog so any ideas are welcome.

Happy spam cooking!
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Spam and pepper quiche

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40-50 minutes
Serves 6-8

Pie dough:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups flour
water, to mix

Filling:
1 red, 1 yellow, and 1 green pepper, seeded and diced
7 oz. spam, finely diced
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
5 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
salt and pepper

1. To make dough, melt butter slightly and then add flour. Mix until mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in enough water to make a firm dough. Knead lightly. Roll out dough and line a 9-10 in. pie pan. Cut a few slits in dough to prevent swelling. Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes or until slightly browned.
2. Lower the oven heat to 325 degrees and remove pie crust from the oven. Spoon in spam, peppers, and cheese. Beat the eggs, milk and salt and pepper in a bowl. Carefully pour egg mixture over the filling. Bake 45-50 minutes or until the eggs are set. Serve hot or cold.

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Cheesy Spam Casserole
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 4-6








1/2 cup salad dressing
2 cups broccoli flowerets
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups chopped spam
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups corkscrew noodles, cooked, drained (half a box)
1/2 cup chopped green or red pepper
3/4 cup croutons

Mix all ingredients together except 1/2 cup cheese and croutons. Spoon into 2 qt. casserole dish. Sprinkle with croutons and remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

How nerdy are you?

My mom says I'm not a nerd. Ha! Blog surfing this week I stumbled across this fun nerd test. You can take the test yourself by clicking the graphic below. Wow, I thought I was nerdy (gracious me I majored in math/science and I work a part time online job!) but it turns out I'm just a low-rank nerd. How nerdy are you?

Snow Day

Today it is snowing beautiful big fluffy flakes in northeastern Ohio and Chloe and I are housebound. We did venture out onto our porch to play for a bit. Enjoy our snowy pictures!

Smiley happy Chloe

Ignore my posting from last week that Chloe is not a smiley girl. She has proven me wrong as the picture here demonstrates. Last week she must have been irritable due to teething aches because this week she is a new baby. I hardly do anything to get her wriggling with glee. This photo was inspired by the delightful "buh" sound that Chloe adores. Doesn't her smile make you smile? Her smile radiates the entirety and purity of her joy.

Hope our dear Chloe's grin brightens your day!

Chloe's new discovery

Our Chloe has recently found her feet! She concentrates with all her might and pulls them as close as she can to her mouth. She hasn't successfully gotten any toes in yet for a taste test but I'm sure that's coming soon.

It's so amazing and fun to see Chloe experience things for the first time. This morning I took her out on our porch, since it was a balmy 52 degrees, and she flailed with excitement at seeing the cars rush by. I know this is just the tip of the discovery iceberg. I can't wait to see her taste ice cream for the first time, cuddle a puppy, or roll around in the grass.

What were some of your children's memorable first discoveries?

Chloe's strange laugh

This posting is really just an excuse to put up some new Chloe photos for the Horn clan. Chloe does have a unusual laugh though. She is turning out to have a reserved temperment (if I may predict her inherent personality at 5 months). I am a fairly animated person and I go through an unbelievable amount of work to get a half smile from my Chloe. About the only way to coerce her weird chuckle is to bury your face in her tummy and pretend to eat her. She then grabs your face (and if you're me, she tugs on your hair with all her might) as pictured above.

Here are a few cute photos of Chloe enjoying her play-station-walker-thingy:



























Ain't she a doll? See what I mean about her reserved disposition? Straight-faced Chloe. I love her to pieces.

28

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me . . .

I hate to admit it, but I'm getting ever closer to the big 3-0. Yesterday I celebrated my 28th birthday with my thoughtful husband and my adorable daughter. We don't have much money to do a big shindig for birthdays but my husband Matt did his best to make me feel special. I think I've inherited a correlation between eating and special events from my mom. Matt was right on target when he bought me Grape Nuts and Breyer's butter pecan ice cream as birthday gifts. I was thrilled! I can't remember the last time I had creamy Breyer's butter pecan in my own freezer.

This birthday has been a precious one now that our family includes Chloe Abigail. I feel overwhelmingly grateful for her and for my husband. This year I spent some time reflecting on the blessings God has graced me with. In honor of my 28 years of life, here's a list of 28 things I'm thankful for:

1. the grace of God
2. my completer - Matthew Clive Horn
3. the smell of Chloe's freshly washed hair
4. my ever generous mom
5. mi hermanita
6. my vibrant grandma
7. my dear Chloe in her fuzzy yellow pajamas
8. health
9. good food to eat
10. freedom to love and worship God
11. a coherent (most of the time) mind to think and to reason
12. my extended Horn family that has accepted fully and loves me as one of their own
13. electricity
14. warm socks
15. bubble baths
16. a house to call home
17. memories
18. friends like sisters
19. laughing with Matt and Chloe
20. neat words like gelid
21. freedom from oppression or gender persecution
22. cheese
23. pink converse tennies
24. a home in heaven
25. uplifting music
26. snuggling with my Matt
27. the ability to learn and to grow
28. life

Now that I'm on a roll, I feel I could keep going and going with this list! We really have so much for which to be thankful. Post a comment and let me know what you're thankful for.

Chloe riding high

Chloe's new favorite activity is riding on daddy's shoulders! Poor Matt. Now that Chloe is teething she is a chewing drool factory. Matt's head often becomes a teething toy during these shoulder rides. Here are a few more cute photos I took of Chloe and Matt this morning:

Happy New Year!

Our little family spent the New Year's weekend in Michigan with the Ben Horn family. They threw a big shindig of games and food with a few other families. Divided into teams, we had indoor basketball and volleyball competitions. Unfortunately, my team did poorly in the competitions but we sure had a fun time playing. I'm trying to persuade Diane to do some word games for next year's soiree. Then my team will reign supreme! Here's a picture of my team (Whiplash) trying to fend off Paige's team (Angels).















Wouldn't an all night Scrabble marathon be a blast? Or a crossword competition? How about a limerick writing contest? I fear my somewhat athletic family will overrule my input. I suppose they're just afraid of my domination in such word nerd events. Oh well. Here are a few more photos of our weekend:















Daddy and Chloe. She stayed up late to enjoy the New Year's activity.
















Chloe and her cousin Grace communicate.

So, what did you and your family do to ring in the new year? Am I the only one who feels old now that it's 2006? It doesn't help that I'm turning 28 this month. Yikes!

Here's to a blessed, healthy, peaceful, and safe 2006!

Home Sweet Ohio

We are finally home again after 13 days of traveling, visiting, and reveling with friends and family for the holidays. Chloe's picture below sums up how we feel - tired! Check out our photo album of yuletide adventures.