Autumn

Autumn

Monday, August 29, 2011

Simple Potato Hash

Good morning!  I've recently been blessed with a gift of lots of garden fresh potatoes, and I've been trying to think of various ways to use them.  So far I've microwaved them, made mashed potatoes, and baked potato fries.  Last night I decided to switch it up again, so I made my own version of potato hash.  The recipe is below:

Simple Potato Hash

3 small red potatoes
1 large onion
2 eggs
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Place oil, onion, and potatoes into a covered skillet and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.  Then add eggs and spices and continue stirring.  Cook until everything is heated thoroughly. 

It's that easy!  I think I'll experiment with adding different spices, but this still turned out well.  Below is the finished product:



Sunday, August 14, 2011

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Hello all!  Today I'm going to share some pictures with you that I took on a recent trip to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.  It is a beautiful place to hike, swim, and sightsee.  You can really get a workout hiking up the hills and walking through the sand!  I absolutely loved it and was lucky enough to be there as a storm came through, which meant I got some awesome pictures.  Oh, and I also got soaked... but I survived :-).





The last picture is of the Chicago skyline!  I was so happy to be able to see it, since it's not always visible.

Thanks for reading!  I have a busy couple of weeks coming up now since classes resume for me on August 22.  This summer went by way too fast, but that's probably because I was having so much fun :-).  Now I've got to focus more on school and work.

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Saturday, August 6, 2011

Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't do much baking since I don't like to have a lot of sweets in my apartment, but I recently attended a cookout and decided to bring some cookies along.  I have a nice, large bottle of olive oil, so I decided to find a cookie recipe that used it instead of butter.  Olive oil is healthier too :-).

I found a few recipes, took bits and pieces from each and concocted my own since I can never seem to find a recipe I want to follow exactly.  My version wasn't too sweet, and the cookies tasted like shortbread with chocolate chips.  I liked them, and so did my friends, though some mentioned that they would have liked them to be sweeter.   Below is a picture and the recipe.


Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. olive oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 large egg
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. flour
2/3 c. chocolate chips

Directions
Mix together sugar, oil, vanilla, and egg. Then add baking powder. Next stir in salt and flour until well absorbed. Add the chocolate chips last.  Scoop spoonfuls of dough onto parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 min at 350 degrees until edges are slightly brown.

Enjoy!!

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