Cinco de Mayo Celebration - Tamales and Black Beans

I love Mexico and one of my favorite places to go there is San Miguel de Allende. San Miguel is a historic town founded in 1592 and is located 170 miles north of Mexico City. I purchased my Talavera dishes for my tablescape in a small village outside San Miguel called Dolores Hidalgo.

The margarita glasses and shot glasses (used as votive holders) were purchased in San Miguel.

Dolores Hidalgo is where I purchased the aforementioned sinks that I posted about that are now sitting in my garage. Yes, I can get a bit caught up in the moment. But, I actually use the Talavera plates. Mexican food is handsdown my favorite food and since Nashville is lacking in 'good' Mexican restaurants.....I am forced to attempt cooking it myself.

My fiesta tablescape would not be complete without my chips and salsa sombrero. My mother bought it for me 30 years ago as a wedding gift.

I bought the plastic chargers from the clearance bin at T.J. M after Christmas, $9.00 for a box of six. I love the random quanity; of course there couldn't be eight to a box!!!

The Talavera plates were $1 a piece and the salad plates and bowls were $.50 each. I bought an eight place setting along with several serving pieces. I spent less than $25.00. Best of all, I didn't pay shipping. My friends drove a huge cargo van and brought back my purchases for me. Very sweet!!!!

I'm excited about Foodie Friday this week; the theme is Cinco de Mayo. I've got my menu planned and can't wait to share with you my recipe for Miss Elsie's Black Beans. Elsie was a very good friend of mine when I lived in Houston; she was originally from Guatemala. I envied her kitchen skills; she was one of those women that could walk into any kitchen and get busy (so not like me!!!). Miss Elsie passed away from ovarian cancer. I think of her everytime I use one of her recipes. She was a dear friend and kitchen mentor.

Today I made pork tamales and Miss Elsie's black beans in preparation for my Cinco de Mayo celebration meal. But first, I would like you to meet two of the reasons I cook the dishes I do. They are my two kids. David, who just turned 30 on Saturday (yes, he's single ladies and he is one fine young man!!!). At age two he declared his dislike of cheese. There was no tempting him; no trickery or bribery worked. Imagine having a child that doesn't like mac and cheese!!!! Hannah my sweet daughter, is married and has blessed me with two grandsons, Beckham (4) and Crew (3). She wasn't as picky, she did like cheese, she just didn't like to eat. The reason I tell you this is that I was thinking about my Cinco menu and the fact that I have never been able to prepare those fabulous, cheesy, tex-mex type casseroles that are so tasty and easy.

Last year I took a cooking class to learn how to make tamales (David loves tamales) at Viking Cooking School. It was so much fun and I left feeling like I could tackle the job. They are easy, just time consuming. So today I prepared tamales and will freeze some for next week. I also prepared Miss Elsie's black beans.

Miss Elsie's Black Beans

Look and rinse 1c. dried black beans. Place in a small crockpot, cover with water and let cook until tender. (I start them in the morning for dinner the same evening).


Saute two garlic cloves, 1/2 c. green pepper, 1/2 c. onion in two tablespoons of olive oil. Add cooked black beans and 1/2 c. chopped cilantro. Season with oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Add 1c. of water or vegetable broth. Simmer for 30 minutes or so and serve over rice or quinoa.

Here is her secret ingredient:


Yep, you guessed it....it is a dash of freshly ground nutmeg. Elsie always added a dash of nutmeg or cinnamon to her latin dishes.


Now that the beans are cooking it's time to start working on the tamales. I cooked a pork roast yesterday. Today, I cleaned, roasted, simmered, and removed the skins of ancho peppers.



Soaking the cornhusks. If you are wondering why the lid is so small, the husks will float.


Infusing the pork with ancho pepper sauce and seasonings.


Mixing the masa.

Not pretty I know. But they turned out great, spicy and tender.


Tamales steamin', black beans cookin'....time for a break.


Dinner time! And yes, I'll have mine with cheese, please. I can't wait for my Cinco de Mayo fiesta meal next week. I will be cooking chicken fajitas and fried plantains in addition to the tamales and black beans. And to quench the thirst....Sangria! Ole'!

Thank you Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Tablescape Thursday and Michael at Designs by Gollum for hosting Foodie Friday.

Have a wonderul weekend!

Nola @ The Bloom Girls

A Healthy Start for Spring!

I have been eating oatmeal almost every morning for about eight years. At first I was not overly fond of it and ate it more for its health advantages. Now, I love it and feel like my day is not complete unless it was started with a bowl of oatmeal and fruit.

I buy organic steel cut oats by bulk at Whole Foods. If you’ve never had steel cut oats, they are nuttier with a little more crunch. They take a little longer to cook on the stovetop than rolled oats and of course I still haven’t mastered how to keep them from boiling over. So here is how I cook them…..
One small crockpot
1 cup of organic steel cut oatmeal
4 cups of water (can vary slighty)
Yields approximately four cups of cooked oatmeal.

I set them out in the evening and they cook through the night. I have a little nacho cheese crockpot purchased years ago that works perfectly.

Here's a couple of ways I like to eat oatmeal:

1c of oatmeal
1 sliced banana
Sliced strawberries
2 oz of chopped walnuts
Honey to sweeten
1T freshly ground flaxseed

1c of oatmeal
1 small chopped apple
1t of maple syrup
Golden raisins
Dash of cinnamon
Honey to sweeten
1T freshly ground flaxseed

The possibilities are endless and the health benefits are substantial. I try to limit my refined sugar intake and find adding fruit and golden raisins will sweeten the oatmeal enough to avoid sugar products completely. Please read here to see what Dr. Oz has to say about steel cut oatmeal.

Most people, myself included, are rushed in the morning and it's hard to find the time to prepare breakfast. I keep fruit cleaned and ready to go in the refrigerator and it only takes a few seconds to cut up a banana. Walnuts and flaxseed are always on hand and ready to go. I do have assistants that help me and I couldn't do it without them.....

Gotta have my cup of coffee!

For grinding walnuts.


Used for grinding flaxseed.

I love my scales. I use it all the time for portion control and in the morning I use it to weigh walnuts. Have you ever actually seen what one serving of pasta looks like?

And lastly, the star of the morning show.....my little workhorse that has just about seen it's last brew. It's just not getting the coffee hot any longer. This little guy is probably the least expensive coffeemaker by Mr. Coffee and has been super!

Thanks to our hostess Michael at Designs by Gollum for another Foodie Friday!

Make it a great day!

Nola

Breakfast with Mermaids...

Many of you already know that there are TWO Bloom Girls, me (Karyn) and Nola and we take turns posting. Well we are kindred spirits for sure!
Did you ever hear that “myth” that everyone has a twin somewhere? Well this proves that it can be true, even if they are not identical!

Take two women, hundreds of miles apart, send them out to scout out a great deal on some beautiful home décor and guess what you will get? They will come home with the SAME DISHES! Nola and I purchased the same dishes last week! She posted our “Tablescapes for Less” feature last week comparing a PB tablescape and one she put together for a fraction of the cost. Here is my vision of the “Stay-cation” tablescape for those of us who will not make it to the beach this year!
I included some shells gathered by the family from beach vacations past.....I mixed and matched my place settings as I like to do, Green on White and White on Green...

Each place setting has a coffee cup as well as a La Rochere glass in a beautiful seashell pattern

These sea shell handle spreaders are so cute!

Another awesome find at Home Goods, a sea shell bowl at only 4.99!

My favorite find: The La Rochere glasses for only 4.99 at Marshalls! An adorable juice pitcher and salt and pepper shakers help complete the table.

Everything was purchased at Bargain Prices and each place setting cost aproximately $20 (with the exception of the flat ware) If I remember Nola’s post last week, each one of the PB napkin rings cost about that much! Did I mention how much I love Home Goods, Marshalls and TJ Max!

A Huge Thank you to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for hosting Tablescape Thursday!

Blessings to you!

Karyn

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.....

I thought I'd continue the shoe topic from Karyn's blog yesterday....

My romance began with me perusing a fabulous blog...A Gift Wrapped Life.... It was an unexpected encounter; a magical moment where I swear my heart skipped a beat. Oh my, to only own a pair of red soled shoes.....

Aren't these lovelies luciously, exquisitely, dreamy????

Suddenly, the bargain shopper in me arrived and I reluctantly returned to reality. A girl can dream, right?

I love shoes and buy often. It is not uncommon for me to set out to buy a new outfit and walk out of the store with shoes. When I was a little girl...a few decades ago...I would always have three pair of shoes at a time, a pair for school, for play and for church. I can still hear my mother telling me to change into my play shoes after returning home from school and church. Getting a new pair of shoes was a very special event and I would love them so much I would sleep with them for the first couple of nights.

Here are a couple of my latest bargain purchases:

This pair of Oh Deer pumps retail at $169 and I got them for $26.99 at one of my favorite shoe stores, Marti and Liz. Marti and Liz is a discount shoe store with a few locations in Tennessee.

I love this little pair of reds, most likely the closest thing to red soled shoes I'll have. I've been wearing them quite a bit with skinny jeans and they are great to wear when I am in need of a pedicure.

These are also Oh Deer shoes and were only $24.99 at Marti and Liz.

My latest favorite garden shoes have been these very comfortable wellies from Target for $19.99. They are looking a bit worn; they really have spent time in the garden. I also look forward to rainy days so I have a great reason to wear them.

Be sure to visit Sande at A Gift Wrapped Life. She is having an awesome giveaway and you must enter by April 30.

Make it a great day!

Nola

Walk a mile in my shoes...or not!

Do you ever just stop and laugh at yourself? I think as women, we are always striving for perfection in every aspect of our lives. Sometimes we try so hard that we end up totally stressing ourselves out. Well let me just tell on myself a bit!

Easter Sunday, I jump out of bed extra early to ensure I am ready for the early service at church. For those of you who know me, or have been visiting with us for awhile, you know that getting myself ready to go anywhere is not really the issue. We have foster children, our own children, etc and Easter Sunday I had one extra 3 year old! (In a nutshell 4 children ages 4 and under)! Get the picture… Anyway, after getting all 4 kids in their Sunday best, hair bows, fancy shoes, brushed, combed, diaper bag packed, lunch ready to roll when we got home, we made it to church just in the nick of time!

The service was great; we collected all the children, spoke to crowds of many on the way out the door and even ran into an old friend I had not seen for about 8 years. We made our way to the car and due to the huge amount of people in the parking deck, it took us 35 minutes to even get out but we finally made it home.

We were expected at a friends for Easter dinner so I finished preparing the food I was taking and was about to take it all to the car. I zipped over to the corner where I had kicked off my shoes so I could load up the food and…

OH NO! The horror! These were NOT the shoes I Had worn to church! Oh, but they were… this was not a bad dream, this had actually happened. I had worn TWO DIFFERENT SHOES! And this was not one of those navy and black mishaps, it was an “In your face”, “this woman is too stressed out” neon sign! The shoes were the same style but totally different colors!

I stood there as if in shock for a minute and then just started laughing and could not stop. The rest of the family, thinking I had lost my mind, had to come see what all the noise was about. Everyone else had a good laugh too! I didn’t feel so bad then, after all, none of them noticed and they had been with me all morning!

I am just “banking” on the fact that everyone at church was looking at our mini Easter parade (all four kids in their finery) instead of me! Oh well, so I am not perfect but I do know that “He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” Philippians 1:6

Laugh at yourself once in a while. It is fun!

Blessings to you!

Karyn

Incredibly Easy Bird's Nest Candy

This recipe is great any time of year! It is fast, easy and delicious! Madison and I whipped these up to take to a friend’s house and everyone loved them.

Ingredients:

1 bag of chocolate chips
1 bag of butterscotch chips
1 ½ bags of the thin chow mein noodles
Cadbury candy coated milk chocolate eggs

• Melt all the chocolate chips in a double boiler over medium heat (or a regular pan over low heat, watching carefully so mixture does not burn)
  


• Pour in chow mein noodles and stir until thoroughly coated.
  Using two teaspoons, drop onto wax or parchment paper and make a small indentation into the center of each.
  


• Add two or three small Cadbury eggs to the center of each and push gently so they adhere to the nest.
  


• Allow to sit out until they set up. If you are in a hurry, you can place in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
  
  Aren’t they cute!! Have a blessed weekend!
  
  Karyn

Thank you to our hostess Gollum http://www.designsbygollum.blogspot.com/ for hosting another wonderful Foodie Friday!