Mama's Tuna Casserole

This recipe is not trendy. It has no highfalutin vegetables like kale or rutabaga (in fact, it doesn't have any vegetables at all...) It uses that sinful ingredient that elite chefs sniff at and refuse to allow into their cupboards: cream of chicken soup.

Yet I really don't know how people survive without a recipe or two like this in their repertoire. It's quick to make, with ingredients I always have in my cupboard. Creamy, cheesy, and delicious, it's just right for those days when you feel terrible and need a quick, comforting casserole dinner. Plus, it has fish! Everyone knows we're supposed to eat fish once a week. Done!

It's also marvelously forgiving; you can increase or decrease the amounts to your pleasure (or to suit what you have in the fridge and pantry). In fact, mom never measures when she makes this. Neither do I.

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta, cooked just to al dente and drained. Rotini, macaroni, farfalle, and shells all work well.
1.5-2 10.5 oz cans cream of chicken soup
1 12 oz can of tuna packed in water, drained
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese + extra for sprinkling on top
Pepper to taste
1/3 cup milk
Crispy fried onions (like French's brand)

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta, cream of chicken soup, tuna, and cheese to taste. Pepper to taste (you can add salt, too, but honestly, there's already a lot of salt in the tuna, soup, and onions, amiright? I leave it as is, but feel free to add some if you're inclined!) Add milk and stir until desired texture (about 1/3 cup.) Pour into a casserole dish or 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with cheese and onions. Bake for 30-35 minutes until bubbly.

DIY Magnet Board

Delys and I are in the process of re-decorating a bedroom for her daughter, and one of the things that it lacked was a place to display favorite photographs and art projects. So I took a large, framed print that hung over her bed, removed the backing, took out the print, and threw away the glass. I carefully worked around the screw eyes and wire that we used to hang the picture so that we could use them again. (I wish I had taken a photograph of the original framed picture, but I thought about it too late.) With the same chalk paint that I bought to refinish her dresser (link), I painted the frame with two coats of paint, allowing the paint to dry thoroughly between coats, and then applied a thin coat of wax.

Then I made a quick trip to Lowes and purchased a 24 x 36" sheet of metal that I had seen in the plumbing department on a previous visit. (It cost $9.99.) Our frame is 24 x 30, so I used the print as pattern, drew on the metal with a sharpie, and then cut it to size with tin snips.

I smeared a liberal amount of E6000 glue on the back of the metal, making sure that the glue was close to all the corners and edges, and then glued it to the cardboard that had been the backing for the original print. I piled big books on the metal hoping that the weight would help everything adhere better.

After the glue was dry, I put the metal in the frame and secured it with glazing points.

And here you go!

Country Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I can't remember where I first discovered this recipe. I'm pretty sure it was during the baking frenzy of my high school days. (Remember the Barbie Cakes, anyone?) The point is, this recipe has been a staple in my repertoire for over a decade, because it's just that good and wonderfully simple to make. The secret ingredient? Buttermilk. Buttermilk makes everything it touches better, you know? Pancakes, biscuits, syrup, and bread.... mmm...

So without further ado:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter at room temperature

1 1/3 cups sugar, divided

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 TB cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, beat butter, 1 cup sugar, and the egg until blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk to the large bowl and stir until just combined. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon.

Grease a 8x4x2 inch loaf pan and add 1/3rd of the batter to the bottom, smoothing it out to form the bottom layer. Sprinkle 1/3rd of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the batter in the pan. Repeat the layers twice. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

Preschool Alphabet Lesson Plan: The Letter "U"

We recently studied the letter "U" in our preschool lesson and if I do say so myself, we did a mighty fine job of it.

Here are some of the things we did that worked really well:

• Talked about the letter "U" and made this craft with lots of "U" words: the big U is an underground tunnel, an up arrow, umbrella (the little "u" is the handle of the umbrella), unicorn, Uranus. While we worked on the craft, we listened to ukelele music.

• Read What a Treasure by Jane and Will Hillenbrand about a mole who digs underground and finds some seemingly ordinary objects that are treasures to the animals around him. As the mole found the underground objects (like a twig and shell and acorn), the kids drew them on their papers.

• We then pretended that we were at a University and each child picked a profession to pursue. One child wanted to be a doctor. Another chose to be a dancer. Each child had a notebook they used to draw pictures of or glue in odds and ends associated with the mini classes we did. For geography, we learned about the United States of America. For Astronomy, we talked about the planet Uranus. For Music, we taught each other our favorite dance moves and danced to "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid. (See how I tied in all the "U" words. Good times.)

In the end, we had a graduation ceremony and each student received a diploma. They got to dress up in the uniforms (yes, another "U" word) associated with their professions and they played the rest of the time. I sure love my little doctors and dancers.

Bonus: Here is a fun letter 'U' video the kids enjoyed:

Charmed by Chalk Paint

I was a bit slow jumping on the chalk paint band wagon. Although I was intrigued by what I saw on Pinterest and loved pieces that my friends had painted, it took a push from Delys to get me started. Last summer, she decided to give her kitchen a punch of color by painting a small hutch that began its life as bedroom furniture:

We had planned to go with Annie Sloane paint because, frankly, that was the only chalk paint brand we knew, but I happened to notice that Lowes carries a chalk paint, Valspar Chalky Finish Paints, and we decided to give it a try. We chose a blue that matches colors in her living room--which is open to the kitchen--and got to work:

We simply followed the directions on the back of the can and were generally pleased with the results. One of the things that we had been told about chalk paint, along with the fact that you don't have to sand the original surface, is that it has excellent coverage. This piece definitely required two coats. We let the paint dry over night and then applied Valspar Sealing Wax for Chalky Finish Projects. The wax provides a protective layer and adds a warm patina to the paint. (They also have a darker wax that can be used for a more distressed, antiqued look.) The can suggests using a brush for application, but we used an old T-shirt rag to rub on a thin coat:

(The galley kitchen didn't give me enough space to get a great picture, 

but this gives you a glimpse of the result. It turned out great!)

A few months later while I was visiting Elin, she decided to update a desk that she purchased years ago at a thrift store. Some creative little student, Max, had written his full name in large letters on the top of the desk with a permanent marker. (It was interesting that Elin chose, without any influence from Delys or me, the same color for her project.) She also updated the drawer pulls. I don't have a before picture, but here are a couple of afters. I love that the paint makes the decorative details in the wood pop:

Our most recent project is a dresser and mirror for one of Delys' daughters. It was another thrift store find and was in good condition, so we debated about whether or not to paint it at all: 

But we opted to go white because we thought it would stand out better against her moss green walls. (This project required three coats of Valspar. My plan is to do another piece using Annie Sloane to see if the coverage is better.) 

However, we do love the result: