Pups in the Park

Since we talk about our canine cuties so much we thought a post about LuLu and Meg was quite appropriate now that the weather is getting sunnier and we can finally nab a few candid shots of the pups!  Firstly there’s LuLu, proper and perfect as usual!

And then there’s Meg the goof ball of the duo! and a good sport as well since she didn’t hold it against us for taking pictures first before pulling her hood up from her eyes

And there you have it ladies and gentleman, the two lovely souls that not only keep us company during those late night drawing sessions but keep us on a strict walkies schedule as well!

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A JamBear Press Take on Comfort Food: Mac & Cheese

Every now and again we get the hankering for rich, cozy comfort food; one of our favorites being Mac & Cheese.  However!  Sometimes we get adventurous with our recipes, the results being new takes on old classics; and if you find yourself so inclined, we would like to share one of our recipes with you!

JamBear Press Mac & Cheese

This recipe incorporates garlic and tomatoes into the recipe, for a heartier, robust flavor.  The cheese element is more of a cheese sauce that can either be poured over the pasta like you would a red sauce or tossed into the pasta like a traditional mac & cheese dish.

4oz Mild Cheddar Cheese (we recommend Organic Valley) – cut into easily meltable slices (more held in reserve depending on the consistency you like)
1 Tbl chicken broth (maybe 1-2 Tbl held in reserve depending on the cheese sauce consistency you like)
5 cloves of garlic minced (3 for the sauce, 2 for the pasta)
3 Roma Tomatoes, cubed
2 cups of pasta shells
4 Tbl olive oil

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.

Sauce:

• While the pasta water is coming to a boil, heat small sauce pan on low heat for the cheese sauce.
• Combine 2 Tbl olive oil with 3 cloves of minced garlic in the sauce pan and let the garlic soften, stirring occasionally.
• Once the garlic has softened, add 1 Tbl of chicken broth to begin the sauce base, let the garlic simmer in the broth for about 3 minutes.
• Add tomato cubes and increase the heat to medium low and cover. Stir occasionally and let the tomatoes release their juices to build up the sauce base.  Add an additional Tbl of broth during this process if necessary.
• Once the sauce begins to bubble, return pan to a low heat and slowly add your cheese slices slowly, stirring to incorporate.
• Salt & pepper to taste & continue to stir until ready to combine with pasta.

Pasta:

• Once pasta shells are cooked through, drain and let them sit and continue to drain while you prep the garlic-olive oil.
• Add 2 Tbl of olive oil to a pot (you can use the same pot you used to boil the pasta if you like, since it’ll already be heated up and ready to go!) and saute the 2 cloves of minced garlic until soft.
• Add your pasta to your garlic-olive oil and toss.

Combine the pasta and cheese sauce and enjoy!

This recipe goes really well with a soup and bread and serves 2 hungry bears or 3 moderately hungry bears.

Voila!

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Baking Adventure

Since it’s been a little chilly over here the past couple days, we decided to have a baking day.  We could not decide, however, on just one recipe to make.  As a result, our baking day turned into a baking extravaganza that we thought we’d share with everyone.  The glamor shot results:

As you can see we now have cookies to last us for days and the house is warm, cozy and smells like a bakery, an all around win!  Each recipe turned out wonderfully and we would like to share them with you.

For the pumpkin cookies, a we found that bit more vanilla in the icing really brings out the flavor of the spices and adding a little more butter to the melted chocolate will make the chocolate toffee cookies softer and smoother.  They spread pretty evenly.  To change up the madeleines, you can give them a hint of orange flavor by switching out the lemon zest for orange and squeezing some of the juice into the batter.

Enjoy!

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