Lemon pudding

Ok everyone, this post is a little bit of a cheat. My husband announced that his favorite kind of pie is Sour Cream Raspberry. Who knew? after 5 yearrs I thought that was one thing I had down -- apple or cherry pie were the go-to-make every thing better-pies. Apparently not so much. He said he's never said anything because he's never seen them anywhere but Frontier Pies and that's out of business so he's settled for others.
Well, that got a bug going and I was determined to recreate his pie.  I even picked fresh raspberries.

BUT...This post isn't that pie :) The pie is coming soon. I made it. It was good but not THE pie. So, it's coming soon. However, after making the pie I had leftover lemon pudding, so I made us a fun little treat.

There is nothing fancy about this dessert. It probably shouldn't be blog-worthy. However, it's yummy, it took 5 minutes, it looks awesome and it was fun to have a "fancy" little treat on a friday night. So, next time you want to impress but want to keep it as simple as physically possible, here is your go-to.

{Ingredients}
1 package instant lemon pudding
2 cups COLD milk
raspberries, or berry of choice
mint leaves, optional

{Directions}
Pour milk into bowl, add pudding and whisk for 2 minutes. Let it sit for 5 minutes. It will be soft set. Yes, these are the directions on the pudding box. Pour into small individual cups, top with fruit and a mint sprig. chill until you are ready to dive in.

Yummy!

Come again!

Home grown-home canned, Dill pickles

We are growing cucumbers in our garden this year and when we got to the point that our entire kitchen was being taken over we decided that it was time to do something other than eat them for every meal. We just couldn't keep up. Do you grow cucmbers? I had no idea, they grow like zucchini and they get BIG F.A.S.T!!!!

Anyway, I'm not a big canner. I love to do my own jam but other than that, the few extra bucks in the store is so worth it to me.

However, when You have 900 cucumbers sitting on the counter (because you can't fit anymore in the fridge), you try your hand at some things :)

I am here to tell you today. I made my own pickles. 7 big ol' jars of them and they are DELICIOUS! I found the recipe online so here is the original link.

{Ingredients}

7 wide-mouth quart jars, lids & rings ( I did some wide mouth and some some not and trust me on this one, wide mouth is easier!)
fresh dill, heads & several inches of stems shaken free of bugs (or dried, just convert correctly!)
cucumber, washed, scrubbed
1 garlic clove (or more)

Brine:

8 1/2 cups water
2 1/4 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup pickling salt (Table salt works as a substitute for pickling salt if you don't have any)

{Directions}

GET ALL OF THIS GOING BEFORE FILLING THE JARS.
Wash 7 quart jars in hot, soapy water (or dishwasher), rinse and fill with hot water; set aside.
Fill canning kettle half-full with hottest tap water; set on burner over high heat.
In a medium saucepan, fit lids and rings together, cover with water, bring to a simmer.
In a large saucepan, bring water, vinegar and salt to boil; turn off the heat; set aside.

If using whole cucumbers, wash well. If using spears, cut cucumbers into spears.
Fill jars: place a layer of dill at the bottom of each jar, along with one garlic clove (if used), then TIGHTLY load the cukes into the jar to the NECK of the jar (depending on size you may get two nice layers with a few small cukes in the top--)---squeeze cukes into the jar tightly--uniform size helps; add a few TINY spriglets of dill at the top, too, and another garlic clove if desired.
Once jars are loaded, pour in the brine leaving half-inch head space in each jar.
Add lid and ring to each jar, tightening evenly.
Place jars into canner with water JUST to the necks of the jars.
Bring water ALMOST to a boil (about 15 minutes--depending on how fast it heats up).
Remove jars, set on a dish towel on the kitchen counter, cover with another dish towel & let cool.
Check for seal (indented lid), label jars or lids, store in cool dark cellar or cupboard.


NOTES: When washing/scrubbing cucumbers, sort them into piles by size. This really helps make your jars look nicer, if you have uniform sizes. And makes for easier packing, too.

**Because of my slight aversion to canning I don't actually own a canning kettle. I filled a stock pot half full instead and brought that to a boil. Follow directions exactly as they say, just as if you did have a canner, it works, promise!

These were so yummy! Thanks for stopping by!

Restaurant Review: Emmet and Ethel's

Emmett's and Ethel's
90 E Main Street, Lehi, UT 84043
801-753-0705
http://emmettsandethels.com/
$
1-Star
Family friendly, VERY casual


For those that aren't sure how this works, look HERE 


This place is a burger and Ice-cream joint. It's about the only mom-and-pop shop around and when we discovered it we were so excited. After trying it twice here is our opinion....
We found Emmett's and Ethel's shortly after moving to Lehi, UT and decided to try it for dinner one night. As we left we looked at each other and decided we were glad we had tried it but we probably didn't need to go back. The food was about the same as you would get at any normal fast-food joint but way more expensive. I will say though, Mr. Chef likes his fries and is quite picky with them. If they aren't great, they aren't worth it. These were NOT worth it. None of us even finished our meals. This first visit, however, we were impressed with the ice cream. They have specialty sundaes, shakes, malts etc. We shared a sundae (a black and tan to be exact) and it was really yummy. So, we decided that if we ever came back we would be back for dessert but that's it.

Fast forward and year or two...My little girl has been earning prizes with some charts she is working on. Well when she earned her first prize she asked if we could go get ice-cream to celebrate her accomplishment. We thought Emmett's and Ethel's could be fun. So, Labor Day afternoon we went to make a big deal of our little 3-year old.

As we walked in we should have taken into account all the red flags and walked right back out but we gave them the benefit of the doubt and went ahead and ordered. All the ice cream bins (?) were either almost gone, had a lid half way on them or were missing. It looked like they were closing or cleaning. I asked if they were doing either and the high-school kid at the counter looked super confused and said, no -- all of our ice cream is available, as he grabbed one of the lids off and threw it onto the counter behind him.
So my 3 yr. old really wanted chocolate ice cream, they were out. What? What ice cream parlor runs out of chocolate by 2:00PM? Well, she ended up choosing M&M and seemed pleased with what was coming so we didn't worry. We all ordered and sat down. As we walked to our table, however, our feet stuck to the floor the whole way there. The table was semi sticky too. GROSS!!!

When our order came the 2 sundaes ordered came several minutes before the kids ice cream cone. Lame. When hers finally came, there was only 1 M&M in the whole thing, it was at the very bottom and she never even saw it -- and it was FREEZER BURNED!!! Like, BADLY FREEZER BURNED. She didn't even come close to finishing it because it was straight vanilla ice cream with ice all over it.

We vowed then and there to NEVER RETURN.

On our way out Mr. Chef took our one year old to wash up in the bathroom and came out completely disgusted. He said he basically had to peel his feet off the floors, there was black stuff smeared all over the walls, it stunk and there were no paper towels. That was the final straw.

So - to sum it up. After spending ***$15**** on ice cream, (ridiculous!!!!!!!!) we had one of the worst experiences we have ever had at any restaurant.

Don't waste your time. It's over priced, gross and dirty. 
 
 

Parmesan Rock Fish

We love fish around our house. Even our girls, ages 1 and 3, gobble it right up and usually go for seconds. This recipe is so easy and fast, it's a great dinner on those nights that you want a yummy meal around the table but don't have much time.

 {Ingredients}

2 Rock Fish Fillets

1-2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

Kosher salt to taste

1/4 C Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated

{Directions}
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
Pat fish dry and sprinkle kosher salt to taste. Generously sprinkle fish but it is overwhelming if you get too much. Use your judgement and remember play it safe, you can always add more after it's cooked. Set aside.
In an oven safe dish melt butter in oven. Once melted, place fish in dish, (did you hear that rhyme? ha ha) and cover with parmesan cheese. Make sure that fish does not overlap.
Bake 20-25 minutes.

Serve immediately.

This has already been repeated twice in the past 2 weeks at our house, hope you love it as much!

Brynn