Friday Things
1. Joseph has been so fun and animated lately, heโs just an absolute hoot.ย Heโs also starting to actually SNORT if he laughs hard enough and oh my gosh, itโs the cutest and funniest thing Iโve ever heard. I just want to scoop him up and snuggle him all day long, heโs such a blast.
2. Have you heard of bullet journals? I saw someone mention them on Facebook months ago, andย this past weekend, my sister said that she had started one. I think on a basic level, they are supposed to help your daily tasks and notes be more organized, but I started Googling about them and found BoHo Berryโฆ oh my goodness, her journal! Itโs beautiful and inspiring andโฆ I wish I were more artistic!
3. I got the chance to sample brownies and blondies from Greyston Bakery a couple of weeks ago and not only were they totally delicious, but the company has a wonderful hiring policy โ training and teaching anyone that wants to work for them. Fun fact: they make the brownies that Ben & Jerryโs uses in their ice cream! And bonus: you can order their goodies online.
4. Where are you on Christmas shopping? Um, I havenโt bought a single present yet. As in, not ONE. Ugh, Iโm so behind! On a similar noteโฆ while I love great weather as much as the next person, this 50-degree weather doesnโt do it for me in December. I want cold and snowstorms and a winter wonderland.
5. Do any of you use a pressure cooker? I saw that itโs one of the best selling products on Amazon, but Iโve never used one. Pros/cons? How does it compare to a slow cooker?
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address, and we'll send it straight to your inbox!
6.ย Canโt wait to dig into this list of 53 Books You Wonโt Be Able To Put Down!
7. Gumdrop and appetizer trees?! Genius!
8.ย After my fantasy football team did a nose dive at the beginning of the season, I scraped together a roster re-do and somehow made the playoffs, woo! Hereโs hoping Iโm not one and doneโฆ I play my father-in-law this week, so thereโs probably going to be some trash talking at Sunday dinner ;-)
9. We made it through the first two seasons of Blacklist on Netflix andโฆ wow! But now weโre stuck because the first four episodes of the new season are already off of on demand and it looks like weโll have to wait until the season is over and the whole thing is on Netflix to catch up. However, on the bright side, that means we can binge watch, which is soooo much better than having to wait a week between episodes!
10. TGIF! Buddies for life!
Got my wife the exact multicooker your pressure cooker link goes to for Christmas 2016. LOTS of recipes online. Potato bacon corn chowder, chicken and rice, several batches of greek yogurt, and much more all in less than a month. When I introduced myself on the Facebook website for this cooker, I had more than 100 replies per hour for several hours. Had to turn off notifications because of the volume.
Michelle, I had to search your site to see if you had any recipes for the Instant Pot & saw this post. I just got one last week at the Amazon Prime sale & I love it already! I think it is my favorite kitchen item ever! Iโm not sure if you have purchased one since this post but if you have or are thinking about it I cannot wait to see your recipes that you share with us!!!
Hi Cindy, I never got one! My aunt was just asking me on Sunday too because she loves hers. I need to jump on the bandwagon!
I have an electric pressure cooker and it is awesome! I was apprehensive at first, but then I tried this recipe http://www.hippressurecooking.com/lornas-sasss-pressure-cooked-meatloaf-with-cheddar-smashed-potatoes-and-carrots/ and I was in love. Meatloaf, carrots, mashed potatoes with a 10min cook time. You definitely should try it out.
Second vote for the InstaPot. I love mine! Use it all the time plus it has a slow cooker feature to it if thatโs what you prefer. I make pulled pork in mine all the time, pressure cook it 3 times and the meat comes out amazing! Will have to look into the bigger pot because itโs never enough!
gotta sayโฆI love the dog hair all over josephโs pants :D
Yes! I use a pressure cooker and itโs the greatest thing since sliced bread!
My parents had used one when I was young, you know back in the days where if you didnโt know what you were doing they could sort of explode on you! However, I have a glass topped stove & according to my manufacturer it would not support the weightโฆthen I heard about the electric pressure cooker called Instant Pot! I bought the 6 qt. thinking it would be large enough for two people. Big mistake, at that time they also offered a 7 qt. with a yogurt making setting. I decided that since I already had a yogurt maker I didnโt need that big of a pot. The women on Instant Pot Community are so crazy about their IPโs the majority of them have two! However, after the first of the year theyโre coming out with the 8 qt. & thatโs the baby that will be my second IP! There is NOTHING that you cannot cook in an IP. check out the Instant Pot Community on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/groups/InstantPotCommunity/?fref=nf
One more site to check out by Barbara Schieving, she contributes a lot to the IP community
http://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/
When you see how awesome this group is, how many things they accomplish with their IPโs you will want to try one. However go for the 8 qt. when they come out, Donna Haney of Instant Pot community said theyโre supposed to come on the market after the first of the year. They do cheesecakes in them, yogurt, all sorts of desserts. If you like a roast medium well done that slices to perfection then you can do a 4lb.roast in 55 minutes to perfection. I do mine longer because my husband loves them falling apart. I can clean 1 lb. of dried beans (mine is a 6 qt.) rinse them well put them in a pan of hot water bring them to a boil remove them from the fire to sit for an hour. Drain them, rinse them again, place them in the IP with ham or smoked ham hock, some chopped onion, a can of Ro-Tel original tomatoes, garlic, whatever trips your trigger put the liquid about 2 inches above the beans and pressure cook them for 25 minutes, you can let the pressure release naturally (about 15 minutes ) or do a quick pressure release & youโve got flavor that will not quit. the instructions in the book say not to fill more than half full to allow for the swelling of the beans. However the way I do it, the beans are already swollen so you can add a little more to the pot. Thereโs flavor to a pot of beans pressure cooked that canโt be beatโฆdishes that you would cook in a slow cooker will taste the same in an IP but cook in a faster time, HOWEVER, that said the IP also has a โslowcookโ setting.
BTW besides pressure cooking Barbara Schieving also has a baking site
http://www.barbarabakes.com/
I wish you and yours a very blessed & merry Christmasโฆ.Joseph is getting so big, he will have a blast this ChristmasโฆGet plenty of pictures of him opening Christmas giftsโฆthe first Christmas when theyโre this age comes only once in lifetimeโฆKeep up the fantastic job that youโre doing on your blog. Your love and dedication always shines through!
I cook artichokes in my pressure cooker, even though I have a very old one. The only way to cook an artichoke!
Have saved that list of books, have read a few already, bought some but havenโt read them yet. Have you watched The Fall? (If you havenโt, you should!). I die a little every week waiting for the next episode and as there are only 6 episodes per season, it was hard waiting almost a whole year for the second season. I watched How The Grinch Stole Christmas on TV last night which sort of put me in the moodโฆitโs hard in Australia! Iโm going to put my decorations up today and have pretty much finished my shopping. I need to soak my fruit today for Christmas cake (way behind there). The photo of Josepah and the dogs is adorable!!!
Michelle, I own the Instant Pot 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! First, pressure cooking is awesome: quick, easy, flavorful. Iโd be lost without the Americaโs Test Kitchen Pressure Cooker Cookbook, though. In addition to the recipes from that, I use the pressure cooker to make hardboiled eggs, quinoa, yogurt, steam veggies, make beansโฆ The Instant Pot is extremely versatile with its 7 functions. You can saute, pressure cook, steam, make yogurt, slow cookโฆ You have to buy the glass lid separately to use its slow cooker function, though, but itโs worth it (both the lid and the function). I highly recommend getting one.
I have the Power Pressure Cooker XL and I absolutely love it meals are done in no time. It is so easy to use ribs come out falling off the bone , there are a lot of time saving dishes you can make using it. There is also a slow cooker feature on mine that I have also used and the food is always done on time and if you canโt be there when it goes off it automatically goes to a keep warm feature. You will not go wrong if you choose one !
Thanks, Michelle, for the great links. :-) LOVE this weekโs photo!! Merry Christmas!
What a precious photo of the three of them?
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
Love love love pressure cookers! My mom used to ( and still does) use it every other night for dinner. Being Indian we cool a lot of lentils (dal), legumes, and meat curries which all normally take hours but are done in less then 30 min in the pressure cooker. Also my mom just had major surgery on her elbow, so when I went back to school she bought a multipurpose one ( with a browning and slow cooker feature) so she could start cooking again with minimum effort. Couldnt live without it!
I was going to say that you can probably catch The Blacklist episodes online on NBC.comโฆ.it might not be as nice as watching it on the tV but you will still get the full episode like 2 days after it airs.
Joseph looks adorable in that outfit โ he really is a happy baby and I can just imagine him snorting โ itโs great to see him getting along with Duke and Einstein so well.
Have never used a pressure cooker โ but maybe some dayโฆlolโฆ
Will definitely check out the list of books โฆhave bought a couple of presentsโฆneed to only buy two more to be done
check out facebook the blacklist they show episodes a few days after they air
I love my pressure cooker too. Like they said above, itโs the exact opposite of a slow cooker since itโs made to cook faster. Electric pressure cookers are totally safe and easy to use, although they do cook a little bit slower than their stove-top counterparts. I think the only downside about pressure cooking is that you need to have some liquid to create the pressure, so for instance you canโt make dry ribs like you would in a slow cooker. But itโs great for stews, soup, rice, etc.
Michelle: My husband and I own this very model of pressure cooker and let me tell you it is without a doubt the BEST kitchen appliance EVER! We never use the stove top anymore. My husband has made so many great things in it including cheesecake, fruit cake, lasagna, soups, stews, roasts and soft boiled eggs (only takes 2 minutes)! You can saute, keep warm, slow cook, pressure cook, make steel cut oats in a fraction of the time it usually takes and make your own home made yogurt. Seriously, you need to invest in one. Between this and our Breville convection oven, the regular stove and oven have become obsolete! The oven now stores extra bakeware! The best thing about this pressure cooker is you literally press a button and walk away. No anxious hovering. When it hits pressure you barely hear it. Hope you get one! (PS: this is not a paid endorsement but it ought to be, I have purchased these for family members and several friends).
1. Love what Joseph is wearing โ especially since we have the same thing for our littlest. #CartersForTheWin :-)
2. My sister LOVES her pressure cooker. She makes all kinds of things in it, including soups and macaroni and cheese, which I never really thought about making in a pressure cooker (then again, I donโt know what I thought I would make in a pressure cookerโฆ).
3. Amazon and other online shopping has been our Christmas present savior. Iโm not really getting out of the house right now, so itโs either I send my husband out with a list (dangerous), or we shop online. I donโt have Amazon Prime, but my mom does, and Iโve been using that to get things here quickly. I should mention that we really only started our โshoppingโ this weekโฆ
Totally with you on the snow and winter wonderland. Here in Colorado we are like a season behind so our snow and cold comes about the time you are pining for spring and golf and everything else. Typically our white christmas is limited to a powered sugar dusting on the christmas morning pancakes :)
Modern day pressure cookers are way safer than their predecessors. Take Grandmaโs cast iron skillet but if she offers you her pressure cooker, politely pass :) Cooks Illustrated has a nice write up on them in their equipment reviews.
Good luck in the playoffs, Big Ben going off on Sunday night eliminated me as I was in a tie-breaker situation. Did I ever tell you I love and loathe fantasy football at the same time?
I have bought ONE Christmas present so far and thatโs for the fiancรฉ. We just bought a house in September and weโre getting married in March so money is tight so weโre going light on gifts this year. Iโm going to make my mom a pumpkin loaf, my dad banana bread and Iโm participating in a secret santa where my person requested books so they are getting a book store gift certificate. As for everyone else (sister, brother and best friend) I have nothing. Probably just Christmas cards, maybe gift cards if I can scrounge up some money. Oh and for future parent in-laws I think fiancรฉ and I are getting them a restaurant gift certificate.
I donโt use a pressure cooker but I have a friend that loves her. She throws frozen chicken breast into and itโs cooked in 20 minutes! It seems super handy for that kind of thing.
I have actually finished Christmas shopping and it must be a fluke because itโs never happened to me before. I finished a couple of weeks ago!
Your boys are so cute.
Thank you SO much for the feature, Michelle!
My mom sent me a pressure cooker similar to this one for my birthday, but I havenโt had the time to take her for a test drive yet. Basically, with a pressure cooker you get that slow-cooked effect in a tiny fraction of the time. I used one yeeeeeaaars ago and loved it so I canโt wait to try out this modern version :)
Just love that picture of your boys at the end! I have never used a pressure cooker, but have always thought of pressure cookers and slow cookers as having different โrolesโ. Until recently, my mother-in-law always used her pressure cooker to cook her potatoes for mashed potatoes, and they were hands down THE best mashed potatoes ever! Iโm a little scared of them, but thatโs probably due to a lack of understanding on how to use them properly. I find it quite intriguing that they are one of the best selling products on Amazon. Makes me want to learn more about them. And that one pictured in the link you give looks SO different from my mother-in-laws, but hers is a dinosaur. Maybe theyโre not so scary any more???
I just googled pressure cookers, and the pictures that came up are newer versions of what my mother-in-law has (and what I am used to seeing when someone says โpressure cookerโ), but they definitely look like hers. I think that one in the link is a multi-function cooker which would explain the vast difference in appearance.
Yes! For some reason I feel like I always heard they exploded or something?? So itโs stuck in my head that theyโre dangerous and unsafe.
I think my mother-in-law did have hers explode once. When she was using hers on a frequent basis, she always made a big deal about watching the pressure gauge on top and when she opened it. So I think is why Iโve always shied away from getting one and using it. But she has always made THE best mashed potatoes :)
Michelle,
A pressure cooker is the opposite of a slow cooker โ it cooks foods quickly. I donโt know anything about the new ones, mine is so old itโs probably considered an antique, but I love it! I use my pressure cooker for cooking meats that would normally take a long time to become tender. It takes 15 minutes to pressure cook meat that would normally have to simmer for an hour or more to be tender enough for soup, stew or noodles. Itโs a must for wild game! I have an old pressure cooker that when the top is removed, becomes a deep heavy saucepan. I pressure cook meat, then take off the top and add vegetables or noodles, and cook the soup or beef noodles in the open pot. Works great! With your little guy keeping you busy, you will appreciate a timesaver :)