currently : cruising!

Currently... I'm on the Enchantment of the Seas Royal Caribbean ship with Kyle.  Specifically, we should be in Nassau today.

Oh don't you worry... I'm not blogging from the cruise ship.  This was written weeks ago!  But the Currently prompts this month were just too perfect to not participate!  It will be fun to see what actually happened on our cruise vs what I'm predicting here.

eating : hopefully some amazing foods on our ship!  From what I've read, conch fritters are a must in Nassau!

exploring : We flew out of Atlanta, landed in Orlando, boarded in Port Canaveral, spent the day on CoCo Cay yesterday where I hope we had some great snorkel time, Nassau today where I plan to do a few tourist attractions before parking our butts at a beach bar, and tomorrow is a day at sea before we head back Friday!

wearing : I managed to pack significantly light (compared to Kyle) because my wardrobe is much more versatile than his.  I hope to share my capsule style suitcase when I get back!  I packed for 3 casual nights and one formal night for dinner in the main dining room.  But I definitely made sure we both have swimsuits in our carryon so we can be sure to enjoy ourselves even if the airline happened to lose our bags!  

admiring : those crystal blue waters and palm trees; plus all the great activities to do on the ship!  I'm sure we will do the rock wall and mini golf at least once!  

collecting : souvenirs to bring home.  Hoping for some great finds in the straw market, and maybe some rum from the distillery I'm hoping to visit!  And lots and lots of good times with my man.  We needed this trip away!

foodie friday : shepherd's pie

I have never had shepherd's pie.  I'm not sure why, especially since Kyle is such a meat and potatoes person.  I have had a million versions of it come across my screen lately though, so when I scored 3 pounds of ground beef on clearance for my freezer, I decided it was time to test one of them.

I chose this recipe from myrecipes.com since it seemed straightforward and all I needed was the beef broth.  The only change I made was that I made my own mashed potatoes (a little creamier than normal so that they didn't dry out during the baking step) and I baked at 375F for 30 minutes per other recipes I had seen.  I did this because I had put it together during nap time and put it in the fridge for a bit while we waited on Kyle, so I wanted to make sure it heated all the way through.  

Tips for making it... make sure to have all of your ingredients ready to go before you start throwing things into the hot pan.  I felt like I was scrambling and justcouldnotfindtheteaspoon when it should have been a simple dump and stir.  Also, if you have plenty of potatoes, make more than what you think you will need.  This should have been a really quick recipe to make but took a long time for me because I only used 3 potatoes at first and that barely covered all of the meat in the dish, so I had to boil some more.

Overall, it was good.  I will file it under the occasionally make again tab for those times I need something that will have leftovers when I have a pound of beef to use up.  Next time I will probably throw in some thyme like I saw in a similar recipe just to add a little different dimension to the flavors.  I think maybe I would have enjoyed some roasted or sautéed veggies as a side.  Myles thoroughly enjoyed it, and Kyle ate his whole plate without any complaints.  

foodie friday : pumpkin spiced

Like everyone, I love the time of year that pumpkin spiced coffees make their debut.  But I really hate spending the money on them.  For the past couple of years, I have kept my eye out for pumpkin syrups, but nothing ever tastes right.  I have tried making my own, but it always ends in disaster.  

Then one day it hit me.  Maybe I should be trying to make my own creamer.  Maybe then I can achieve pumpkin spiced success!  I have had numerous store bought pumpkin creamers and they are all just ok; and like the coffee shops, completely fake in the pumpkin department.  So I started searching Yummly, and after sorting through some weird recipes, I found one that sounded very promising.  Of course I tweaked it to my liking and pantry stock (which I will share below), but the bones of the recipe are from My Organized Chaos.

REAL Pumpkin Spiced Creamer

inspired by My Organized Chaos

1 C half-n-half

5 Tbsp pumpkin puree

3 tsp pumpkin pie spice (make it yourself)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp real vanilla extract

1/2 C milk

Whisk it all together in a bowl, pour into a saucepan and slowly heat until steaming.  Remove from heat and occasionally whisk to prevent a skin from forming as it cools.  I chose to strained mine while I bottled it up to get out some of the larger chunks of spices, but you probably don't have to.  Refrigerate and shake before each use since the spices settle.

I use about 2 tablespoons or more (+sugar) in a mug of STRONG coffee for a close likeness to what I would buy out, except for every morning, late morning, and afternoon pick-me-up in my house.  Whipped topping is optional and totally recommended.  Leftover spices and puree can be mixed in to plain yogurt for a special treat, your pancake batter, or maybe I should try making mini hand pies?!

The best part is, you can buy pumpkin puree year round.  And all together, this recipe probably costs about the same as one grande fake pumpkin spiced latte at your favorite coffee shop.