Shrimp & Crab Bisque...It's what's for dinner

 
This is a delicious recipe that looks WAY fancier and more complicated than it actually is. The first time I made it,  I made it to impress a guy that I was dating who I had invited to my house for the first time...he actually stood me up! His loss because, that dish came out so good, I was happy that I didn't have to share it with him!
Fast forward to present day...My hubby had been having a pretty intense week at work and I wanted to do something special to show him that he is loved. So, I went to work in the kitchen preparing this simple recipe that in the end he LOVED!

                               Shrimp and Crab Bisque

What You Need:

• 3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
• 1 pound medium shell-on raw shrimp
• Salt
• 4 large sprigs thyme
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• Cayenne
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons long-grain rice
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 can lump crab meat

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, heat 2 tbsp, EVOO over high heat. Add the shrimp, season with salt and cook, stirring, until pink and firm, 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the shrimp to a medium bowl and let cool slightly. peel the shrimp and transfer to a clean bowl.
 Return the shells to the pot. Add 8 cups water and 3 sprigs thyme, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 2- minutes. Strain the broth into a large glass measuring cup, pressing on the shells to extract any juices; discard the shells.

2. Add the onion, celery and remaining 1 tbsp. EVOO to the pot; season with salt and a pinch of cayenne. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste then the wine. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid is almost evaporated.

3.Add the shrimp, broth, lump crabmeat, and rice. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat, skimming occasionally, until the rice is cooked, about 1 hour.

4. Remove 6 of the shrimp and slice in half lengthwise; reserve. In a blender or food processor, puree the soup with the remaining shrimp in batches; return to the pot. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Season with more salt and cayenne.

Ladle the bisque into bowls; garnish with the reserve shrimp and the remaining thyme.

Bon Appetite and thanks for reading! If you like what you see, go ahead and leave a comment...if you hate what you see, go ahead and leave a comment...I'd appreciate the feedback :)

Wishing you blue skies and Happy Days,
Shereeta

DIY Ottoman

After the success of my couch painting project I got really excited to do another furniture project...or ANY project actually. The DIY bug had bit me hard. I was watching videos and stalking other people blogs and Pinterest for inspiration...and there was so much inspiration.
My kids were on spring break so whatever project I was going to do that week needed to be something that they could help with even though they didn't help...not even a little bit. They are still teenagers after all, their interest died when we pulled into the Goodwill to see if there were any pieces that could use a little DIY TLC.

                                       I WAS IN FOR A TREAT!

                                 This puppy was for sale for $10...I instantly thought, OTTOMAN

While it would require a little bit of work on my part, it was something that was simple to create and would be done in time for me to get dinner on the table. The first thing I decided on was that those ugly 1970's table legs were out so I went to my local Home depot and got some 14 inch table legs for about $5 each. I picked up some foam cushion, batting and the materials from the craft shop and I was ready to rock and roll. 

Once I got it to the workshop, I removed the legs and measured the dimensions. Using a 1x4 piece of scrap wood that I built an apron for the bottom of the table top for support. I used my kREG jig to create pocket holes so that I could screw the apron on to the table top without having exposed screws.

After I got the apron attached I then went to work on my legs...well...not MY legs but...you know! I used some white chalk paint that I had left over from another project to paint the legs and set the off to the side to dry. Chalk paint take almost no time to dry, much to my delight. After two coats, I did just a little distressing to the legs using a piece of fine grit sandpaper. 

 Once I got the legs painted I went back to work on the bench. The thickness of the foam pad that I had was only 2 inches thick so I cut it in half, sussed spray adhesive to glue them together to make a 4 in cushion for the seat. I also used some 1 inch foam from another project to place over the apron as well. I wrapped it up in cotton batting and stapled it underneath. 

Once it was all cushion and the batting was on, the only thing left to do was measure my material and get it placed and stapled on as well. 

I will admit that the corners did give me a bit of trouble but I was still very excited about the outcome. Even the teenagers had something nice to say after it was all said and done :)

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog...If you like what you see (or hate it) leave a comment, I'll reply back.You can follow me here and on twitter (@shereetamaxey). If you write a blog let me know so that I can visit and show some love! 

Shereeta

Pear Dumplings

*Today's post is NOT for anyone following a strict diet ;)

 I love to bake. Over the last few months, pretty much ever since I retired from the Army after a 20 year career, I've taken my love of baking to a whole new level. I think it's due to the fact that, although I baked plenty while I was in, I have so much more time on my hands to really experiment with recipes now. My girls and and my fiancé have been the happy beneficiaries of all of my kitchen work. Some recipes work and some...well...totally don't.
One recipe that has REALLY worked is one that I picked up from a great blog, The Pioneer Woman for Apple Dumplings. If I ever met Ree, I'm seriously going to hug her for sharing that treasure. I stumbled on it a few months ago and ever since my family fondly refers to those sweet little treats as "crack"(!) My fiancé usually requests that I make them every few weeks, especially after he's had a rough day and I happily oblige. They are so good...and so easy to make...they really are THAT addictive. I guess the question that needs to be asked is, If I love the original recipe so much, why would I want to change it? Well, it's simple really, I love apple and I love pears....pears were on sale today at the grocery store...viola!

What you need:
3 pears (I'm not sure what variation I used)

2 cans of crescent rolls (regular 8 oz cans)
2 sticks of butter
1 1/2 cup of sugar
2 teaspoonful of vanilla (the original recipe called for 1 tsp BUT I really like vanilla)
8 oz Mountain Dew Soda (you read that right!)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9x13 baking dish. Slice your cleaned pears into wedges. You could peel them but I left the peel on. Roll each of the pears into the individual crescent roll triangles and place it into your buttered dish.
 

              After you gotten all of your pears rolled, melt your 2 sticks of butter the, add your sugar but only stir it A LITTLE BIT.  Next add your vanilla and stir it A LITTLE BIT. You want to keep the mixture as chunky as possible (you'll thank me later). Once you have everything combined, spoon the mixture on top of the dumplings and don't be shy about it! You want to make sure that you completely cover the dumplings. After they are completely covered, pour the Mountain Dew around the sides of the baking dish.

It doesn't have to be perfect so don't fret if you get it on the dumplings...either way, it's gonna taste amazing.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes then...get ready for your family and friends to sing your praises!

Bon Appetit! 

Our Low Tech Spring Break part 2 (Wax Paper Image Transfers)

After the success (and relief) that was Galaxy in a Jar we perused through Pinterest for more ideas on crafts that we could do to pass the time between board games and books. I was working on painting a cabinet to put on the walls of our half bath downstairs when I came across some decorative plates. In one of the examples the person had decoupaged pictures of her family to the back of the plate and it was very nice BUT I wanted something a little different...besides who wants pictures of their family members staring back at them when their trying to have a little private time in the John...? Not me, I needed to go in a different direction.

                  Image Transfer Using Waxed Paper

What you need:
Regular 8x11 printer paper
Wax Paper
Spray Adhesive (I used Elmer's Craft Bond)
Computer and Printer
Surface to apply the transfer

Each of us selected an image that we wanted to transfer and a white plate from the dollar store as our test surfaces. The idea of wax paper transfers seemed like an easy thing to do but, as we learned, there are some ways you can mess it up. If you do mess it up and your ink gets smeared, some simple glass cleaner will clean the slate and you will be free to try again :)

What to do:
After you've found your image remember, if it has words or certain designs you'll want to make sure you reverse the image.  If you don't the image will come out backwards on your surface...ask me how I know?? I used photoshop to flip mine but you may have that function on your computer.

My Original Image

My flipped Image

 










Once you have your image set and ready to go, get yourself a piece a piece of wax paper and regular paper. Apply just a bit of spray adhesive onto the printer paper, wait a second or two before applying the waxed paper with the waxy side facing you. Check to see if your waxed paper is waxed on both sides, if it is good! If not, make sure you print on the waxy side otherwise your image will not transfer....ask me how I know???
There are some tutorials that say that you can load the waxed paper directly into the printer but I tried that with some tissue paper (for another project) with disastrous results so I just found it easier to stick it on a piece of regular paper, print, then VERY CAREFULLY peel the waxed paper loose. Then, and this is the kicker, gently apply it to your surface. You want to make sure that you are steady and do not move the image as you will smear the ink and it will look like an inky mess...ask me how I know??
Carefully take a credit card (library card) or the back of a spoon and rub the back of the image. You don't have to rub very hard (at all) just be very careful not to move the inky image.
Once you've got it all rubbed down the way you want it, remove the waxed paper and you should have a nice clean image transfer!

Here are our finished transfer...the girls used a
paint marker to decorate their plates :)

Here is another attempt on my part...

Hope you enjoy and if there's anything you want to see in this blog or if you like what you see already say so in the comments...we'd love to hear from you :)

Wishing you love and laughter,

Shereeta

Our Low Tech Spring break part 1 (Galaxy in a Jar)

When I was a kid, it seemed like spring break always took forever to come and was far far too short....that sentiment seems to hold true for my kids as they excited looked forward to spring break which, consequently, came a little sooner for them as the school system here in Kansas lets out a couple of weeks earlier than their last school in Georgia.

                                                                                               

My sweet baby girls back in the day!

In years past, if I was able to get military leave (which wasn't often), we were able to go and do fun things like visit family back home in Indiana or, a couple of years ago, we visited Universal Studios in Orlando. That was a super great time but this year, the funds just weren't there for that kind of extravagance and honestly their attitudes of late had been very.....teenager-ish and snippy. Both of my girls had started to act is if I owed them something and social media was then end all be all. I was getting pretty tired of it so I did what any mother in this situation would do....

I took it all away.

That's right...no phones, no tablet, no social media, Facebook, TwitteR, Instagram, or Kik...all if it was gone and they were none too thrilled. When we made the decision to turn everything off, I was worried that they would revolt and things would be worse but instead what happened was that the more removed from the social media and electronics they were, the closer it seemed we all became. Now, I won't act like we all sang and danced the entire time and the kids were never bored BUT they were able to find things to do for themselves...they read a few books, played a few board games, and even had a few family discussions that were not cut off by a ringing cellphone or text notification.
So what did we do, if we weren't on our phones and tablets?

Now they're 13 &14 and sometimes....ughhh!

Well, one thing that we did was take a quick drive to out local Goodwill store and pick out some mason jars and glass plates that were 50 cents to a buck each (!) along with some other finds to work on and made our way home to do some crafting.


GALAXY (OR NEBULA) IN A JAR

This seemed to be one of their favorite craft picks after all of the different things that we did over the break so it will be what I write about...

What You Need:
Mason Jars
Paints in whatever color you want your galaxy to be (We picked pink, turquoise, purple, and dark blue)
Glitter
Water in small cups (to thin and contain the paint)
Cotton Balls

Once you have all of your supplies gathered and the paint gets thinned with a the little bit of water in the dixie cups you are good to go with your galaxy!
All you have to do is open the cotton balls a bit and put them at the bottom of the mason jar, sprinkle with some of the glitter and pour a bit of your paint onto the cotton. You can use wooden skewers to help with fluffing the cotton and absorbing the paint.
Continue the process with each color layering the cotton balls, glitter then adding paint

Looking Goofy and not believing that I was actually taking their picture for the blog...hahaha!

A different day but the same craft...

Here is the finished product of attempt #1

 Was it perfect? No...BUT perfection wasn't the point. The point was to get them off of the phone and engaged with the family and THAT was a smashing success! All in all we had a pretty fun spring break.

They used paint markers to decorate their Jars

The Best Hooch You'll Ever Taste (Limoncello)

It's probably a little sad but a few weeks ago, as my family and I were getting settled into our new home here in Manhattan, KS, I was feeling a little homesick for the warmth of our old place in southern Georgia. There isn't much of a winter there but DANG...it's cold here in Kansas! I haven't lived somewhere this cold in quiet a long time so I have been very spoiled by the nice warm winter temperatures of the south. It had only been 2 whole weeks and I was already miss the days of complaining about 50 degree temps instead of looking forward to them like I do now.
During the summers in Georgia it gets pretty darn hot and muggy. In the evenings one of my favorite things to do was to sit outside with an icy cold drink to cool off and relax after a long hard day of soldiering. One of my favorite things to sip on a hot summer evening is Limoncello and it is so easy to make BUT...you have to have a bit of patience and forethought because it takes a few weeks to get it all together.

What you'll need:
12 Lemons (I'm not going to specify variety but try to get organic if you can)
 750 ml Everclear (Some recipes I've seen call for Vodka...I say use whichever is your pleasure but if you go with Vodka go with 100 proof)

Simple Syrup: 5 Cups of Water
                        4 Cups of Sugar

1. The first step in creating a sweet and refreshing Limoncello is to make sure to properly cleanse your lemon. Use hot water and a veggie scrubber to ensure that you get off all of the pesticides and waxes that are put on to the fruit.

2. Go ahead and pour your Everclear or Vodka into a glass jar or container

3. Once all 12 of your lemons are clean and patted dry you are going to careful zest your lemons making sure to only harvest the peal and NOT the pith. The white stuff underneath the rind is very bitter and gross and will ruin what will be a perfectly sweet and delicious drink. As you are zesting the lemons add that zest to the Everclear in the jar

4. Now here's the fun part...put the lid on the jar and let it sit at room temperature for at least 2 weeks. If you're a really patient person you can let it sit for up to a month...that's right...a month. THIS is why I said that you need patience and foresight because this drink is not something you're gonna have for the party this weekend BUT it is soooo worth it! You don't need to shake it or stir it during this time. You will be able to see the Everclear take on the pretty color of the lemons and just imagine that fresh flavor that's transferring! YUMMY

*The next time I make a batch I won't shred the rind into such small pieces...
Also I will take having to add the simple syrup into account and ensure that I start with a bigger container...but hey, you live and you learn

5. After your 2 weeks to a month have passed, You're going to make your simple syrup by combining your sugar and water in a large sauce pan and heating it until the sugar dissolves (DO NOT STIR). Let it boil for about 5 minutes then cool it down. Once that is all set up and cooled you will add it to your lemons and Everclear and let that sit for another 2 weeks to a month

6. Finally after the second rest period you are ready to strain out the lemon peels using a moistened cheesecloth...a coffee filter works just as good. After the old lemon rinds have been removed you are finally ready to bottle up your limoncello, freeze, and enjoy a drink. It is the best hooch you are ever gonna make!

P.S. You don't have to only drink it...you can use it as a drizzle on top of fresh strawberries or over pound cake...it's sooooo good...enjoy!

Wishing you Love and Laughter,
Shereeta

Go Big or Go Home...I Painted A Couch For My First Project

                Wow...it's been a while since I've posted and a LOT has happened in that time. So, when I first decided to start my blogging adventure we had just moved from Georgia to Kansas. We found a great house to move into, with a great school for our kids to get enrolled into, and speaking of school, I had just started yet another semester in school (I am a full time Information Technology major and business minor) Aaaaaand I decided that I also wanted to fulfill my dream of doing DIY projects and blog all about it. I'm a little out of breath just reading that....

That's not to make excuses as to why I haven't posted anything in a while but..well... I just wanted to let you guys know that I haven't given up on this. In fact, I actually have a project to report on and it was a doozy....

I PAINTED MY COUCH

When my fiancé and I decided to move in together and combine our households we'd decided to move the majority of my furniture into a storage unit until we could move into a bigger place as his home was already filled with furniture that seemed to really fit in where we were. I 'd had my couches for almost 10 years and they were starting to show their ages so when we made the big move my original plan was to place them curbside and give them to whomever wanted them. My fiancé thought that was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard....Man, I'm so glad I listened to him BUT not at the time... It seemed that every time I went to that darn storage unit, there they were...in the way.

Here it is during much happier times in it's life :)

Fast forward to our big move to Kansas. We'd done a pretty quick search for our new home and found the perfect place for us. It was a three bedroom home with kind of a wonky floor plan. One bedroom on the first floor between the kitchen and a small living room and the rest of the bedrooms upstairs along with a larger family room. Most importantly it had a two car garage that will never see a car as he and I both agreed instantly that it would be our workshop. 

Now, we had two living room spaces needing to be furnished but the one downstairs was too small for a full living room set. One problem we faced was that the move was brutal for my aging furniture and who wants to pay for new furniture after a move halfway across the country? Not me so I had to come up with another plan. I am still really new to the DIY life so re-upholstering was out of the question (at the time...lol). I took to Pinterest and saw a few blogs from people that painted their furniture. I figured, what did I have to loose? If it failed, I could finally get rid of these couches that were now taking up space in our garage workshop!

The first thing that had to be done was a bit of repair work on the trim and legs as all of the moving had not been kind to my poor couch! One of the couches was beyond repair and died on the operating table but my sweetheart was able to save one. He did most of that part since I was a little nervous around the power tools...I got over that pretty quickly though!

Once it was repaired it was time to mask the body of the couch so that I could paint the trim first...NOTE: If I could go back I would paint the trim LAST as I did have to go back and fix some areas that got messed up. 

After I got finished painting the trim it was time to bite the bullet and paint the whole thing. I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit overwhelmed as it was my very first attempt at anything DIY but I've always been a bit of a *GAMBLER* so I figured go big or go home.

The colors that I chose were white and Behr Intergalactic, a color that I absolutely love (they didn't pay me to say that but if they wanted to, I'd totally take the check!)

In all of the blogs that I read the key to a successful paint job was fabric medium and I am not one to re-invent the wheel so I made sure I had plenty on hand which was it's own part time gig as the hobby lobby only stocked a few bottles on the shelf at a time (4 to be exact...I bought them out a couple of times).

As per the other tutorials that I watched (I think I watched every single one online) and read, I used 1 part paint, 1 part fabric medium, and 1/2 part water. I, however, did not apply the coats of paint by hand, opting instead to use out Graco paint sprayer to make fast work of getting the paint on the couch. 

For the first coat of paint I first used a spray bottle of plain water to dampen the surface of a small section of the couch before I sprayed that section with the paint mixture. After I applied the paint, I worked it in with a scrub brush to get it down into the fabric and not just on the surface. The paint acts as a dye to color the couch.
I did not do a great job at taking picture during the first part of the process but here are a few of how things looked after a couple of coats...I have to admit that I was nervous that my first project would be a failed one....

The cushions after the first coat

You can still see a bit of gold

It's finally starting to look quite a bit more grey much to my relief!

After about 4 coats of the paint mixture it finally started looking good and I started to feel relieved that I wasn't going to totally fail at this!

To answer a few question that people have asked me as I started to share this experience...

1. It feels more like leather than the original material

2. The color does not rub off or transfer, I did apply some minwax finishing wax to protect the color 

3. It's not "crunchy" at all...the feel of the cushions is kind of like an outdoor patio cushion but all in all not bad. To avoid the crunchiness I sanded the couch down after each coat of paint...nothing too strenuous but I read that it helped so that's what I did.

4. I am not one of those Pinterest Queens that can just whip up a great project in no time flat. I had classes, kids, and other parts of my home that needed attention..this one took me a bit of time...I let it dry 24 hours between coats. We live in Kansas and it was pretty cold in our garage workshop...I ended up using a blowdryer on the last two coats to speed up dry time and catch some of the streakier areas. It took me about a week from start to finish

So THAT was my fist project and now it's sitting in our newly minted sitting room...I was feeling pretty good about myself so I actually went a little further and made the pillows for the couch myself as well...Hopefully I'll get to writing a quick post about that here soon as it was a piece of cake to do. All in all this was a pretty fun project for me and I'm already at the Goodwill and looking through craigslist for my next piece of furniture to paint!

I really hope you enjoyed this installment...let me know what you think in the comments!

Until next time (which won't nearly be as long...I promise).

Take care :)

What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do

 Once upon a time...20 years ago, there lived a girl who had no idea what to do with her life. She was nothing special,  average grades, average friends, just an average 18 year old girl who wanted to have a life...maybe go to off college, pick a career, find a husband a live happily ever after. **RECORD SCRATCH**  well, that's not exactly what happened... during those days back in 1995 she just didn't know what to do so she prayed...She prayed and she thought about ways she could make her life what she wanted it to be, on her own terms and she ultimately decided on using the U.S. Army as a springboard into...well...something. As these things usually go, 18 year-olds don't necessarily think through their entire life plan. 

                   20 YEARS LATER......

That girl grew up into me...the woman that I am now and what am I now? Well, I am a Soldier at the end of a successful 20 year career. I've had the pleasure of working under some of the best leaders this country has to offer and have had the privilege of training, leading, and being the official butt kicker of some of the best people on the planet. I've gotten to travel all over the world learning different cultures, meeting people, tasting food and drinks...living life and making memories.

 Professionally speaking,  I did pretty good for myself. Personally speaking, things are definitely looking damn good. I have 2 beautiful daughter who light up my world and I'm engaged to marry the man of my dreams after years of broken hearts. 

SO WHY ARE WE HERE...? Well, it's simple really...I'm in the exact same spot I was 20 years ago...I'm not quite sure WHAT TO DO.  

In this time of personal transition out of something I've been doing my entire adult life, I did the exact same thing I did 20 years ago...I prayed.  I prayed a lot and after a bit of time of self reflecting I made some decisions about what I want to do when I finally do decide to grow up. 

I'm back in college, at long last, finishing my degree and I'm enjoying the time to work on little projects and exploring my artistic and handy side...I'm a credentialed project manager and would love an actual job managing projects but as it stands right now, an opportunity hasn't presented itself. So, in the meantime, between schoolwork and networking, I'm doing something that I'd always wanted to do but never really had the time...I've started this website, What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do.  This is my way of helping you guys and gals who may feel like you don't know what to do. 

Maybe you need a little advice, it could be that you've invited Mr Right (or Miss Right...come on fellas...you can heat up a pan or two on the stove...) over for dinner and you don't know what to serve and you need a quick recipe, maybe Ms Right has morphed into Ms "How Did I Go So Wrong" and maybe you want to read about someone else's life for a spell to distract you from what's going on around you (we ALL could use a break from time to time)...I don't mind sharing...the good, the bad, and the ugly.

WHAT MAKES ME SO SPECIAL?

Absolutely nothing... BUT, I'm still willing to put myself out there to show you that you don't have to be a super Beyonce to have something to offer people. I don't know the first thing about running a website/blog/advice column and I'm also pretty new at crafting...but I'm willing to give it a good shot and see where things go. 

So...here's my first piece of advice for anyone who's not sure of what to do...no matter what the situation is and no matter who/what you believe in, I know that prayer works. If you don't believe in prayer, that's fine...quiet reflection works as well. Whatever you call it, take the time when you first wake up, when you're driving alone in your car, or out walking...it doesn't matter what you're doing really. Take that quiet time to listen to what's in your heart, listen to your gut, and trust yourself.  We often know exactly what we should be doing but sometimes it's hard to decipher with all the other distractions, pleasant or otherwise, around us. 

So, that's it...this wraps up my first installment of What to do...if there's something you want to see on this site or anything you want to talk about hit me up in the comments and I'll get right on it!

Until we meet again friends! 

Wishing you Love and Laughter

-Shereeta Maxey Young