rochellerella

COOKING CLUB

2011-05-11T11:52:00.000-04:00

I think I've briefly mentioned my cooking club to you all before.

Every Monday morning (well, probably a little closer to afternoon than morning), I meet with some friends (usually 4 or 5 of us total) for cooking club. We all pick a house, a time (then, mentally set the time back a 1/2 hour or more), and a recipe that serves 4.

We all share our chosen recipe through email, usually Sunday night--sometimes Monday morning, then tell each person whether we want their meal or not.

I tally up my partakers, and set out shopping for my recipes ingredients multiplied by however many people want my meal.
For instance, if 3 people responded yes to my recipe--I shop for 4 times that recipe (myself, plus the 3 others).

I keep my receipt, of course, then divide my total cost by 4 (or however many people I shopped for)--and that's how much each person owes me! It ends up coming out to $7-$12 per meal--although this week, I got a fantastic $2 meal!

With this system--I don't really have to go grocery shopping ever, I don't have to make dinner, we have TONS of food (plus leftovers!), and it only costs around $40 a week (for 4 meals--l usually only end up getting 1 or 2 meals since there are only 2 of us--which brings it to under $20 a week for us!)

Get it?

We meet at the designated house on Monday ~~morning~~ afternoon, at the designated time (that's been mentally pushed back at least a half hour by all), and we all cook our ~~designated~~ chosen recipes.

We all bring containers (which I usually forget, oops!) for the meals we've ordered from everyone, for easy transport back home.

It's genius, really.

That way, if I've chosen to get everyones recipe, I end up with 4-5 meals and I don't have to cook for the rest of the week! It's sort of like a I have my own personal chefs.
Insert Advertisement: Need a personal chef? I am know a recent graduate who is looking for clients!

We even have time while our meals are cooling to do fun activities... Like go to a greenhouse and pick out lots of pretty flowers and plants!

With all the fun we have, you'd think we never had any time to get cooking done.

But we do.

We sure do.

And it's delicious!

It's fun to see what other people normally have for dinners, and to experience their cooking. It's fun to try things you never would have thought to make yourself.

I'll try to share at least one recipe a week from cooking club...Maybe I'll make a Cooking Club Monday post every week.

Yes. I will. I will dub every Monday as Cooking Club Monday.

But this week, and this week only, it will be Cooking Club Wednesday.

This week I have for you:

Sausage Tortellini Soup

Printable Recipe

This recipe was made at cooking club, so these are the only steps I had to take at home in preparing the meal = Excuse for lack of pictures.

I told you I'd show you a picture of my pretty blue pot with its pretty blue lid.

See? Pretty.

Click to see the recipe!

Yummmmm!

Enjoy.

Thank You!

2011-05-11T09:53:00.000-04:00

Wow! I'm astonished!

I won the NoshGirl Chef Challenge!
Can you believe it?!

Thanks everyone for your all your votes... You guys pulled through!
And thanks to Serena at Big Apple Nosh for hosting the challenge--It was a lot of fun!

I'll share my prize with you all once it comes!

Woot Woot!

Fish Tacos with Avocado Tartar Sauce

2011-05-08T22:20:00.003-04:00

Just a reminder! Voting is open at Big Apple Nosh for the NoshGirl Chef Challenge! Be sure to vote for this recipe on that blog here!
Just leave a comment in the comments section (again, here).

Thanks!!!

____________________________________________________________

Let me pause for a moment so we can all drool over this:

Droooooooooooool.
It seriously tastes as good as it looks.
Just ask Paul, he literally applauded while eating.

I made this dish for a challenge I entered on a blog I enjoy reading... It's called the NoshGirl Chef Challenge. Serena, over at Big Apple Nosh chooses 3 different bloggers, gives them 2 ingredients to cook with, then everyone votes and chooses 1 winner. (Like my counting there? 3,2,1.)
(Yeah, so I'm gonna need you guys to vote for me starting on Monday!)

Sounds fun, right?
Heck yea!
It's like a bloggers take on Chopped.

The ingredients for this challenge?
Avocado & Cornmeal

After several days on writing down any ideas that popped into my mind of uses for cornmeal and avocado (yes, I dreamt about it too), I finally decided (with the Boo's input) to make those bad boys up there.

Cornmeal-Crusted Fish Tacos with Avocado Tartar Sauce

(Printable Version)

The items you will need for 4 servings:
2 firm white fish fillets
1 avocado
2 cups cornmeal
1 lime
cumin
salt & pepper
paprika
chili powder
chipotle chili puree
taco sized flour tortillas
1 egg
tartar sauce

For garnish:
grilled corn, cut off the cob (we grilled out last night, so I snatched a leftover cob)
shredded red cabbage
shredded cheese (I used chipotle white cheddar)
sour cream
cilantro
lime

Phew--that's a long list.

This is how it's done:

This is the fish I used...

I would have preferred to use mahi-mahi, but I couldn't find any. You can really use any kind of firm white fish you prefer.
If it's frozen--thaw it by putting it (in a sealed bag) in a bowl of cold water. It only takes about 20 minutes to thaw.

There, thawed.

Once thawed, cut it into strips and throw it into a medium sized bowl.
To the bowl, add the juice of one lime, 1 tablespoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of fresh, chopped cilantro.

Let me say, it's really nice to be able to walk out my back door and get my cilantro from this:

Isn't she getting so big!?

Anywhooo...
Give the fish a stir, fulling coating it in all the goodness..

Then set it aside.

While that's soaking up the goodness, grab a big plate and put the cornmeal on it.

To the cornmeal, add some salt (about 1 tablespoon), and some pepper..

Then add about 1 tablespoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder

Oooh, like a volcano.

Mix it all together with your fingers

Then, in a bowl, crack one egg and add a splash of milk to it. (no milk? water will do!)

Whisk it up with a fork.

Now we're ready to go! Woot woot!
Let's preheat the oven to 375˚ F.

To crust your fish, take a piece and roll it in the cornmeal

Then the egg wash...

Then back to the cornmeal.
Lay it on a baking sheet line with foil.

Repeat this until they are all coated. Make sure they aren't touching on the baking sheet--you want them to get nice and crunchy all the way around.

Stick them in the fridge for 10 minutes, then bake them in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until the crust is crunchy and the fish is flaky.

Next, prepare the avocado tartar sauce.
Cut an avocado in half.

Remove the pit.

Scoop out one half of the avocado into a small bowl.
Mash it up and mix it around.

Add 1/4 cup prepared tartar sauce (or just mayonaise will suffice).
Then add the juice of one lime.
1 teaspoon of salt.
A couple dashes of cumin.
And a spoonful of chipotle pepper puree (I had a can of chipotle peppers, I used the juice from inside the can.)

We like it hot around here, so I added 2 more spoonfuls of the chipotle (we still felt it could have used a little more heat.)

I'm getting so excited now, we're getting close to the end!!

By this time, your fish should be done and it's time to start assembling!

Spread a little bit of sour cream onto the middle of a tortilla, then layer with some shredded red cabbage, the cornmeal-crusted fish, grilled corn (off the cob), some shredded cheese, diced avocado, some chopped cilantro, and lime juice. Serve with the avocado tartar sauce.

You're in for a treat!!

A beautiful, refreshing meal. The fish is nice a crunchy, the tartar sauce tangy and spicy--a nice balanced mouthful.
This stuff is for real.

Remember, the voting starts tomorrow! I'll post a link then, so make sure you all go vote!

Portobello Ravioli with Heaven Sauce

2011-05-05T12:05:00.000-04:00

I'm backkkkk!

Well, I actually got back on Monday night--but things have been quite hectic since then. As it turns out, our power was out the entire week we were on vacation. No good. Very no good.

It was really really no good on Tuesday morning when I threw entirely everything away from my rotting, stinky refrigerator.

Next weeks grocery bill is going to break the budget, that's for sure.

But alas, vacation was splendid--it was nice to see everyone that we only get to see every half a year or so (the Hubs & I are both from Michigan so most of our family and friends are still there...)
My plants all survived the week--this year, unlike last year, I remembered to find them a sitter.

So, are you drooling from the preview of the recipe I'm about to share with you? I am. I actually made it a few weeks ago--and the thought of it still has me weak at the knees.

Portobello Ravioli with Smoky Sun-dried Tomato Sauce

Inspired by Ravioli de Portobello from Olive Garden

(Printable Recipe)

What you'll need:

For the raviolis:

1 batch of pasta dough

1 pound of portobello mushrooms

1 onion

1/4 cup butter
salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano

For the sauce:

2 cups of milk

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

8 ounces of smoked gouda
1 cup grated parmesan

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

For the ravioli:

You'll need 1 pound of portobello mushrooms--I used the baby ones.

To wash mushrooms--I usually run them under cold water for a second, just to get them wet, then with a paper towel, just wipe off any gunk or dirt. They will probably still look dirty, but as long as they are free of dirt, they are fine. You will never be able to scrub them entirely white.

Chop the mushrooms into a fine dice...

Annnd...keep chopping...

You'll need to do the same with a small onion.

This would have been a nice time to have a food processor. If you have one, please, by all means, use it. It's worth it.

Heat a medium fry pan on medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, add 1/4 cup of butter. When the butter is melted, add the onion stirring until translucent, then add the mushrooms.

Cook the mushrooms and onions until they are soft. Season this mixture with salt, pepper, garlic powder (or fresh chopped garlic--I was rushed), and oregano--to taste. Set this aside to let it cool.

With the pasta dough (recipe here), I left you with your dough rolled into a ball, resting.

Uncover your dough, and start rolling it out. If it's sticky, dust the countertop with flour (it's okay to use a lot). Cut the dough into 4 sections--this will make rolling much, much easier.

At this point, I started to use my pasta machine to roll the rest of the dough. If you don't have one of those--just keep rolling! You want your dough to be relatively thin--about the thickness of a quarter.

Keep rolling, rolling, rolling...Keep that pasta rolling...Rolling, rolling, rolling...Roll outtttt.

When your dough is ready--lay it out in a sheet on the counter. Spoon tablespoon sized scoops of the filling onto the dough in a grid-like pattern.

With a finger, brush water or egg yolk in the seams.
Place an equal sized sheet of dough on top of your filling-mounds.

Carefully, start pressing the two layers of dough together around the mounds...

With a pizza cutter (or a knife), cut the ravioli into squares.
Seal each individual ravioli--pressing out all the air pockets.

You may to, then, trim the edges so the pieces are more uniform in shape.

Tada!

To cook these--heat a large pot of water. Bring it to a rapid boil and throw in a large handful of salt. I cannot stress two points enough: LARGE pot. LARGE handful of salt.

You need the large pot so the raviolis have room to swim around and not stick to each other.
You need a lot of salt in the water to season the pasta. The water should taste like saltwater. This really makes a difference, I promise.

These will only need to cook for about 3-4 minutes.

For the sauce:

Git yer gouda...

And shred it. All of it.

I want to tell you a secret about this gouda.

I was shopping for my gouda--looking in the fancy cheese section of my grocery store. There they had an 8 ounce block of Boar's Head Smoked Gouda for $8.99. $8.99! For a half a pound!

Then I thought about something...
I thought, "Hmm...We used to get Boars Head Smoked Gouda at work--and it came in a big block that you have to slice like a deli does...I wonder if the deli here has it too?!"

So, I wandered over to the deli counter--and lo and behold, they had a big ole block of smoked gouda. And guess what?! It was $8.99 for an entire pound! That's half the price!

I asked the kind, deli-sir to put the slicer as thick as it would go and slice me a nice chunk of the cheese. He rang it in--and it was on sale!
So here it is, I got .62 pounds of this cheese for $4.95, instead of .5 pounds of the same cheese, just individually wrapped, for $8.99--in the same grocery store.

I should be an extreme couponer. Except without the coupons. Just the brains.

I also grated about 1 cup of parmesan cheese.

Then I chopped up some sun-dried tomatoes to have them ready.

Next, I heated my sauce pan and melted my butter.
Once the butter was melted, I added the flour.

Stir the butter and flour around until it forms a clump.
Yes, a clump. That's the best word I can think of to describe it.

Once in clump state, slowly start adding the milk.
I added about 1/2 cup at a time.

Make sure the milk is entirely mixed in before adding more.
This will prevent lumps.
It's a slow process, but it will be soooo worth it when you sauce is velvety and smooth--not lumpy and floury.

You should end up with a thick, smooth cream that tastes really gross.
So lets make it taste better!
Add in the grated cheeses--save a little of the parmesan for sprinkling later

Also, add in the dice sun-dried tomatoes.
Stir in some salt and pepper, as well as garlic powder, until it tastes how you like it.

This sauce is absolutely delicious.
Drool.....

Cook your raviolis--then just dump gobs and gobs of sauce on top.
This will be the best ravioli you've ever had.
No, seriously. It will be.
Like, I licked my plate. I really did.

Yum.

Miiichiiigan

2011-04-29T09:37:00.000-04:00

I apologize for my lack of posts as of late.

The Boo and I took an impromptu trip to Michigan this week. We're still here, but we'll be home soon. (I'm not posting dates because I've recently become one of those people that's a freak about not telling anyone how long we'll be away, we could pop at home ANYTIME--so don't even try to break in. :) )

But, I promise, we will return home soon and I will continue my regular posting.
And when I do...

Yummm. Do not fret, it will come soon!

Easter, Deviled Eggs, & myPhone

2011-04-25T22:32:00.000-04:00

Happpppy Monday!

Hope y'all had a GREAT Easter weekend! I did.

I made the Boo and I a little Easter dinner just for the two of us. In between the 5 services he had to do at church yesterday, we had a couple hours to enjoy dinner.

Of course, I forgot to take pictures of everything.
Whoopies!

I managed to snap a few pictures from my iPhone--so that's what you get.

I don't think this recipe will be too useful to you now that Easter's done--but hey, there's always next year, right? And who knows, maybe you'll make deviled eggs a weekly staple for you?
No?

Deviled Eggs

What you need:
6 hard boiled eggs
1 green onion
1/3 cup mayonaise
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard (regular mustard will suffice if you don't have dijon)
2 dashes on hot sauce
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
salt & pepper, to taste
paprika, for sprinkling

It starts with hard boiled eggs. Here it is, the secret recipe. It's tricky, are you ready?

1. Put 6 eggs in a saucepan.
2. Cover the eggs with cold water--1 inch higher than the top of the eggs.
3. Put 1 tablespoon of vinegar in the water. (This keeps an egg from spreading if it breaks open. It helps it coagulate.)
4. Bring the eggs to a boil.
5. Let them boil for 1 minute.
6. Remove from heat and cover.
7. Let sit in water for 14 minutes.
8. Move eggs to a bowl of ice water--this will stop the cooking.

Tada! Perfect hard boiled eggs.

Okay. So, after the eggs have cooled, cut them in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks into a bowl, and put the eggs on a plate.

To the yolks, add the rest of the ingredients besides the paprika.

With a fork, mash up the yolks and mix all the ingredients together.

Put the filling into a piping bag, and pipe into the eggs. If you don't have a piping bag, cut the corner off a ziplock bag.... Or you can scoop it in with a spoon.

Sprinkle the eggies with paprika, and serve cold!

Yum yum.

I literally had 3 of these. Paul ate the rest.

Not bad pics for a phone, eh?

Speaking of my iPhone. I got it 4 days ago. Immediately I ordered a phone cover off the internet.

The next day, I got insurance on it from Best Buy. (It's pretty sweet insurance, it's only $15 a month and you can break your phone as many times as you want and they just send it in and in like 3 days you get a new one. FANTASTIC, right? )

I've been doing realllllly well, trying to protect my phone.

Today--I dropped it. On the cement.
It shattered.

3 hours later, I got my case that I had ordered in the mail. Convenient.

ARG!

Well, tonight I went to the mall to send it into the Best Buy to get it fixed, and I decided to stop by The Apple Store quick, to see if there's anything they could do. (They did replace Paul's iPad (FOR FREE) when he left it on top of his car, and it fell into the middle of one of the busiest streets in town and got ran over several times before Paul went searching for it several hours later)

Welp, Apple is good. They fixed my phone. For free. No sending it in. No waiting. Fixed phone. No cracks. Free.

Yay Apple. Recommended, for sure.
(Nope, they didn't even pay me to say this to you.)

The Civil Wars

2011-04-21T13:14:00.000-04:00

This is completely un-food related--but I just gotta share it.

A lot of you have probably never heard of this band, but I just can't keep them to myself--they are SOO good.

The Civil Wars

They are an indie folk duo (John Paul White & Joy Williams)
They are absolutely Fan. Tas. Tic.
They have AMAZING harmonies.

I've been listening to them for quite a while now, and all of a sudden they just blew up--they're getting rave reviews by everyone.

You should download their album, Barton Hallow--it's only $7 on iTunes. It's worth the $7.

A few weeks ago, Paul & I, along with some friends went to see them here in Louisville. They are equally good live as they are on their CD--which is rare.

I just can't find the words to describe their amazingness. Really. Do you see me stumbling here? They make me stumble.

At the show--John Paul White came out to introduce the opener, and well, his fly was down. Oopsies. The Boo sent a tweet to them, letting him know:

@thecivilwars john, being a brother here.... Looked like your fly was down when introducing the opening act... Louisville!

He was grateful. they loved it, and they dedicated a song to him:

Fantastic!

We even got a picture with them afterwards...Woohoo!

Doesn't he look like Johnny Depp?

Anyways, they are absolutely fantastic and I strongly encourage you to check them out.

How To: Basic Pasta Dough

2011-04-20T13:47:00.001-04:00

Homemade Pasta > Store Bought Pasta

There is nothing quite like it. It's hard to describe--that flavor...Mmm, and that texture...Yum! It actually has flavor, and it actually has texture.

AND you can control the flavor--that's the biggest advantage I see to making pasta at home. You want spinach pasta? Add a little spinach. Want herby pasta? Add some herbs.

The dough is very versatile and you can make whatever kind of pasta you want to out of it (ravioli, spaghetti, tortellini, etc..)

It's very easy, and it doesn't take too long either!

Basic Pasta Dough

Printable Version
Recipe by Tyler Florence

You'll need:
2 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Cornmeal, for dusting

Get your mise en place all ready.

Mise en place means 'everything in its place', meaning measure all your ingredients and have them handy before you start cooking. The first step to mise en place is always to read the entire recipe from start to finish, so you know what to expect.

Dump the flour onto a clean working surface, mix in the salt

Make it into a pretty little mound, then create a little well in the center

Beat the eggs (Oops, I forgot to!) and

Add the olive oil as well...

Start to lightly beat the eggs, gradually draw flour into the mixture while beating.

Slowly, but surely, draw more and more flour into the mixture until a firm dough starts to form.

Then, start kneading the dough.

If the dough is too dry and hard to knead, add a little hot water.
Knead until elastic-ey, form into a ball. Dust the tabletop with cornmeal as needed to prevent sticking.

If you're using an electric mixer...It's even easier!

Put the ~~flower~~ (oops) flour in a mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment...

Add the eggs and mix on low.

Slowly drizzle in the olive oil...

Mix until it comes together as a dough, then dump out onto a floured/cornmealed surface.
Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic-ey.

This is what a picture looks like with horrible lighting.

Roll the dough into a ball.

Orrr...

A butt! Bahahaha.

Then cover it with plastic and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Ta da! Pasta dough.

To use the dough, simple roll it out into a thin sheet & cut it into whichever shape you'd like.

To cook homemade pasta--it takes MUCH less time. Cook in boiling, heavily-salted water for 3-4 minutes until al dente. Serve with your favorite pasta sauce, pesto, or simply butter & parmesan cheese.

Bon Appetit!

Doggy Treats & Little Miss Mae

2011-04-17T22:00:00.001-04:00

Today, this 17th day in April, 2011, is Gracie Mae's 3rd Birthday; therefore, this entire post is devoted to her.

Little Miss Mae is celebrating her third year of life. I still remember her first day with us.
Look how much she has grown! Wasn't she just a darling little peanut!?

For her birthday, we typically go for a nice long walk, or to the park, and then we go to the pet store and let her pick out a couple new toys of her choice...And, yes, she really does chose them.

We always have a little photo shoot, to document her growth, and her day. And this year, we added something new into the mix--I made her yummy homemade doggie treats (and yes, Paul & I both tried them.)

Homemade Pooch Treats

Printable Recipe

These were super-duper simple, and Gracie can't get enough. Plus, they are healthier (and cheaper) than her normal Milkbones ~~that tend to make her constipated and change her poop weird colors~~.

I did a little research before making these--a lot of recipes I came across had garlic in them, apparently fleas hate the smell of garlic, so garlicky food keeps them away. Unfortunately, garlic is bad for dogs. Like onions, garlic can cause anemia in dogs--which can cause death. No, thank you!

A lot of the recipes also had animal flavors in them, like chicken or beef bouillon. I opted not to add these because of the typical sodium content, but feel free to if you'd like.

In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of rolled oats..

...and 1/3 cup softened butter.

Then pour in 1 cup of hot water (just like you're making oatmeal!)

Mix it together a bit, and let that sit for 10 minutes.

Measure 1/4 a cup of cornmeal,

and grate 2 carrots.

Put the carrot shreds into a piece of paper towel and gently squeeze the juice out.

Next, chop up 1/2 cup of parsley...

..and measure 1 cup of peanut butter.

Add this all to the bowl with the oatmeal.

Next, add 3 cups of flour.

I would have used whole wheat flour if I'd had it--but I didn't...So, I just used plain ol' all-purpose flour. If you have whole wheat flour, I recommend using it.

Add 1 egg and 1/4 cup of milk, then mix it all together.

It should look something like this.

You may be tempted to eat the dough at this point--it smells like peanut butter cookies. Don't let yourself be fooled--this is going to be dog food. Remember? But mmm, it smells so good.

Mmm, smell them?

Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface. The dough should be firm, not too sticky. If it's sticky, dust it with flour and knead it a bit until it becomes firm.

Form it into a ball.

I rolled the dough a bit and found it was too much, so I cut it in half.

Roll your dough to about 1/4" thickness.

Use a cookie cutter to cut it into whichever shape you desire.

Lay the cookies on a grease cookie sheet. Bake on 350˚F for 45 minutes--until hardened.

Let them cool, and share them with your favorite pooch!

Exciting News

2011-04-13T22:57:00.000-04:00

Here it is, the big reveal!

After several weeks of eagerly waiting, anticipating, and stressing, the day has arrived that I can finally share this HUGE news with you all.

I am pleased to announce the growth in our house!
New life is blossoming here in this family, and I couldn't be more excited to finally share in this with you.

I am thrilled to be able to celebrate this joyous day with everyone!

That's right!
My herbs are finally in bloom!

I've been wanting to tell you guys for a while. To shout it from the rooftops. But I've been waiting for the basil to finally make an appearance.

On Monday, it rained and rained and rained, ALLLLLLLLLLLLL the live long day. And I, being the horrible gardener that I am, left all my pots out on the steps while I was away all day. My face paled and my stomach dropped to my toes when I was at cooking club and remembered that my pots we're still sitting outside on the porch.

They were doomed, I knew it. All that water. All the flood warnings...they were done for.

Apparently, all that rain was what they needed because the next day, this happened:

Happy, tiny, little basil sprouts started to appear.

And that's when I knew it was time. Time to share the joyous news of the growth of de herbs with you.

The cilantro made its appearance first.

It's clearly doing the best of all the herbs. It's even starting to take its shape.

I picked a piece and ate it, and it's delicious. Mucho cilantro-ey. I cannot WAITTTT to use it this summer! It will be so nice to not have to run to the store all the time for herbs.

The parsley made it's appearance next.

It's not quite as full and robust as the cilantro--but I'll take it. It will come, in time, in time. It also hasn't started to take it's signature flat leaf parsley shape. It will get there, I know it will.

Next, my marigolds started to sprout.

I'm a little underwhelmed with the state of these. They haven't done much growing since they first sprouted, and come on, where are all the brothers and sisters? They are going to need to start appearing if I am going to have the beautiful welcome plant on my front stoop like I had hoped...

Then finely, the lone basils started appearing. I almost missed them--two tiny little sprouts on the very side of the pot. Last year, the basil were the quickest growers.

They're shy this year, they must be.
Maybe that's why I can't seem to find basil at any grocery stores this year...They're shy.

Anywhoo...
Precious herbs.
I can't wait to see how they grow up.

Pssst. You may notice in the picture about that my deck is one color, and the stairs are another. This was an annoying story.

Yesterday morning I came outside of my condo to take my precious Gracie potty--there was a strange man at the bottom of my stairs with a power washer and a bottle of wood stain. He had removed all the stain from our stairs, and re-stained it. The stairs were dripping wet with stain, and there I was, stuck at the top with my dog who had to poo. I asked if I could walk on it, and the strange man replied with, "Uhhhhh....You're not supposed to."

HELLLOO--Those are my only stairs. My only way out. What am I supposed to do? Fly down? Glide down on the rail? A little warning about the staining would be nice, don't you think? Well, I picked up Gracie and we went downstairs anyway. Psh. Don't tell me what to do, homeboy.

The deck is still a different color than the stairs. Annoying.

More herby updates to come, promise.

OH! And it's Gracie's birthday on Sunday. She'll be three. I might die--my baby is THREE.

Random.

Goodbye!

Cauliflower Gratin

2011-04-12T11:50:00.001-04:00

I just have a minute, so I'll share a quick side dish with you.

Cauliflower Gratin was something I grew up eating. I loveeee cauliflower, and this is one of my favorite dishes. It's pure melt-in-your-mouth cheesy goodness. It's sort of like au gratin potatoes, except cauliflower.

Credit of this recipe goes to mi Madre. I know I poked fun of her pork steaks, but this cancels that out...Right?

Yum yum.

Cauliflower Gratin

(Printable Version)

What you'll need:
1 head of cauliflower
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
salt & pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
8 oz swiss cheese

First, trim the cauliflower into bite sized pieces.

In a saucepan, melt butter on medium-high heat.

Add the flour to the melted butter, and whisk until combined.

It will be kind of lumpy. This is called a roux--it's a thickener. You can add a roux to any sauce to thicken it.

Side Topic: Roux
To make a thickened sauce from a roux, melt the butter, then add the flour, then the liquid. It's always equal parts butter to flour (1 tablespoon of butter--1 tablespoon of flour.)

If you're thickening an already made sauce (or soup), melt the butter and add the flour. Then add some (a cup at a time) of the already made sauce (or soup) liquid to the roux. Whisk it until liquidy and smooth (not lumpy). When the roux is thick, but smooth, then add it to the sauce (or soup). Then, bring it to a boil. It thickens at a boil--so don't forget this step.

I'll have more on this in a later post, I promise. Maybe I'll do a How To post.

End Side Topic.

Slowly, SLOWLY, add the milk--stirring to incorporate. I cannot emphasize slowly enough, this prevents lumps.

See. Thick. Lump Free. Looks like gravy.
Add your salt and pepper, and garlic powder.

You just made what our grandma's call a "white sauce".

Pour this white sauce over the cauliflower in a 9x9 baking dish. Mix it in and make sure the cauliflower is saturated with sauce.

Then, grate your cheese.

My favorite step, clearly.

Cover the cauliflower with the cheeeeeeeese.

Stick it in the oven at 350˚ F for 25-30 minutes, until the top is golden and the cauliflower is tender.

See. Yum.

Serve it with your favorite meal to make it even more delicious.

Chicken & Asparagus Crepes

2011-04-08T11:06:00.000-04:00

I know I told you I'd have this recipe for you yesterday, but it was such a gorgeous day--one of the first one's we've had this season, and I just couldn't have myself sitting at home indoors. Sorry!

I tried something new yesterday.

I went to Zumba class.
Zumba is a dance fitness workout.
Oh boy, oh boy!! Is it ever funnnnnnnnn!!!

Now, I'm not a huge workout buff--and I definitely cannot dance. I am very long limbed, and clumsy as all get out--but Zumba was fun. And I sweated. Boy did I ever. It was a great, great, fantastic workout.

Afterwards, I didn't feel exhausted like I normally would after sweating that much, I felt incredibly energized.
Have you tried Zumba?
You should.
My friend got me a Groupon in our area for Zumba--TRY it! It's FANTASTIC.

Annnyywhooooo, back to these delicious Crepes.

Deliciousness wrapped in a perfect pancake-omelet.

**I must post a disclaimer: As I said in the last post, my camera was a little wonky during crepe-time--so these pictures may be a little funky. Also, I am not an excellent editor. But please, please don't let un-delicious looking pictures distract you from the deliciousness that this meal truly was. We all have our moments**

These ended up being very similar to enchiladas (in the step-by-step, not the ingredients or flavor.) You fill them, you roll them, you bake them, and you cover them with sauce. See the similarity?

Let me tell you something, though: These were better than enchiladas.
I am a huge enchilada lover, myself--and these were better. Why am I even talking about enchiladas?
These crepes, they are not enchiladas.
They are cheesy-chickeny-herby goodness, wrapped in a sort of pancake, sort of omelet, then smothered again in creamy, cheesy, goodness.

Um, yes please.

And now, I share with you--the secret of these heavenly bites...

Chicken & Asparagus Crepes

(Printable Version)
Adapted from here.
What is required:
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups shredded chicken
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (such as dill, parsley, mint, or chives), or...
1 teaspoon of each dried herbs (I used thyme, parsley, and dill)
salt & pepper, of course
1 teaspoon garlic powder
8 crepes (recipe here)
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 pound asparagus
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup half & half, milk, or cream (whatever you have)
1 teaspoon lemon zest

First, shred the chicken into a medium bowl.

I just used 2 leftover chicken breasts leftover from the night before. You can do the same, or just boil and shred some or you can use rotisserie chicken.

Then add the ricotta.

Yep, that's ricotta--not ice cream.

Then grate some Parmesan...

My favorite part of grating cheese in when you do allll that work grating, then you finally get to lift the grater up, and you have a nice big cheese pile.

Add the Parmesan, herbs, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper to the chicken mixture.

Mix it. Mix it good. Mix it....Mix it reeeeaaal good.

Next, you'll need a 9x13 baking dish, lightly sprayed.

In the dish, lay out 1 crepe, and spread a little of the chicken mixture on it.

Roll it up, and push it to the end.

Do it again....

And again.

Until all 8 crepes are rolled.

See, looks like enchiladas.

Stick this in a oven that's been preheated to 425˚ F.
No need to cover it. It will only be in there about 15 minutes--while we make the sauce.

For the sauce:

Chop up a shallot or 2 (I used 2, mine were small.)
Do you know what a shallot is?
A shallot is like an onion--but it has a much milder, sweeter flavor.

These are shallots:

But wait...Aren't those onions?

Nope--they're shallots. They're mini.
See:

Anywhooo, chop them up--just like you would an onion (be careful though, they're small.)

Then, get your asparagus ready.

First, cut the ends off (not the end shown in the picture--the other end....Someone in school cut off the end in the picture--oy.) You want to cut the dry parts off the end--they are just that, dry, and not good to eat.

To know where to cut, bend the asparagus gently.

It will bend naturally near the end...

Then bend a little harder...

And it will break naturally where it should be cut.

You don't have to do this to all of them, just one. Then you can chop the ends off the other ones about the same distance up as where the one broke.

*Can I just say that I'm mortified by my nails in these pictures. Please don't judge me by these pictures. Some people like chipped nails--like my old college roommate (Hi Mouch!). I; however, do not like chipped nails, and I can assure you that the problem has been addressed and the nails have since been properly manicured.*

Back to it, back to it...

Heat a skillet on medium-high heat.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil or butter..
Then add the shallots.

Cook for about 1 minute, then add the asparagus.

Add the broth..

Then add the cream, salt, and pepper, and lemon zest.
Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, to thicken a bit.

Remove the crepes from the oven--serve with sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
YUM.

See! So easy!

I'm off to start my weekend...It's another gorgeous day--maybe I can convince the Boo to take the pup and I to the park...

Do you have any big weekend plans? Anything exciting happening in your neck of the woods?

soooon.

Enjoy!

Pancake Omelets...Errr, Crepes.

2011-04-06T11:20:00.003-04:00

I had been missing out on the deliciousness that is a crepe for the first 22 1/2 years of my life.

I had my first crepe experience when the iHOP came to town. (Don't get me wrong, I had eaten at an iHOP before, they had plenty of them in Michigan--but when the first iHOP came to Louisville, people went CRAZY for it.)

So, although I hadn't been missing out on iHOP, I had; however, been missing out on crepe-ness.

The idea of this pancake thing, which is kind-of like an omelet too...kind of like a pancake omelet...a pancake omelet that can be filled with delicious pastry cremes and syrupy fruit with whipped cream and goodness... or that can be filled with melty cheddar, and salty ham, and topped with a sinful hollandaise and some grilled veggies..... That idea... it's ridiculous.

Ridiculously fantastic.
And ridiculously easy. Ya dig?

Follow me here...

Basic Crepes

(Printable Version)
All you need for these delicious pieces of heaven is:
1 cup of all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Measure milk...

Flour..

And water.

Get 2 eggs...

Add it all to a bowl:

Add 1/4 teaspoon on salt...

Then add 2 tablespoons of melted butter.

Mix it all together.

It should be a thin batter.
If it's not, then you messed up.

Next, heat a small non-stick saute pan on medium-high heat. Lightly spray the pan with cooking spray.
Once the pan is hot, ladle some batter into the pan.

Swirl the pan around to spread the batter evenly on the bottom of the pan.

Allow the batter to swirl a little bit onto the side of the pan. This will make it easier to flip later.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes on the first side
Start to loosen the edges of the crepe with a spatula...

Shake the pan a bit to loosen the rest of the crepe, if it releases evenly from the pan, it's ready to flip.

To flip the crepe, hold the pan in one hand push it away from your body, then quickly pull back to your body.

I had to call the Boo in to help photograph the flipping.

Let me just tell you, it's hard to take pictures while demonstrating cooking. Weird, twisted, angles and limbs occur frequently. This recipe was particularly hard because the batteries in my flash were dying, so it took about a minute for the flash to charge again. Half of my pictures turned out completely black. Oy

Okay. Rant over.
After the Boo took his picture, I decided to give it a go myself, you know, so you could see it from my perspective.

Not bad, right? I was proud.

Phew. The hard part is done.
Now, just let the crepe cook for another 2 minutes on the second side, until its just a little bit brown.

Flip it out of the pan and get started on the next!

This recipe will make about 8 crepes.

Mmmm....

You can serve these as dessert crepes--with whipped cream, powdered sugar, and fresh fruit.
Or you can stuff them with chicken, and sprinkle cheese on them with fresh vegetables.

Delicious. Versatile. Crepes.

Don't fret, I'll have a delicious recipe to use the crepes with tomorrow!

Baked Eggplant Stacks

2011-04-04T23:52:00.003-04:00

The Boo and I have been on a mission lately to try to eat a little healthier. We've been eating at home a lot more, and aside from buying two 5-pound bags of Sour Patch Kids from Target, (on clearance for $2.79, each!) we've been doing decently.

Do you have foods that you crave, but don't really like?
I do.

I crraaaaveee mozzarella sticks and their melty, cheesy, fried goodness. I order them a lot. I don't actually like them. I never do. I'm always disappointed when I order them. I order them, knowing I will be disappointed with them. I can't help it, I crave them.
I guess I crave the idea of them.

Eggplant is the same way for me.
They are so cool, eggplants. These big, squishy-ish, purple squash-like things. They feel hollow. How could you not love them?
I guess I don't. I crave ~~the idea of~~ them, though.
I drive around town, going to [literally] five different grocery stores looking for them.
I buy them, and make a simple, beautiful dish.
And hate it.
Every. Single. Bite.

I'm not selling you on this meal, am I? The Boo liked it though, I promise. He loved it, in fact.

If you like eggplant, you'll like this dish.
If you like eggplant parmesan, you'll like this dish.
If you like a combination of eggplant, cheese, and tomatoes, you'll really like this dish.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan Stacks

(Printable Recipe)

adapted from here.

What You Will Need:
1 eggplant
salt
olive oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 14.5 oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes w/ garlic, undrained
3 tablespoons flour
2 egg whites
1 cup breadcrumbs
6 thin slices fresh mozzarella cheese
6 large, fresh basil leaves (or 2 tablespoons dried basil)
3/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon each garlic powder, dried oregano, dried parsley, & dried thyme

This Is How It's Done:

Friends, meet the newest cast member of Veggie Tales...

*Please disregard my quick, horrible Photoshop skills (or lack thereof)

Tom, the Eggplant.

I just realized that this is going to get incredibly morbid, incredibly quickly.

The first step is to cut ~~Tom~~ the eggplant into 1/2 inch wide slices, then ~~pour salt in his wounds~~ coat the slices liberally with salt. Put them in a strainer (in the sink, or in another bowl/on a plate) and let them sit for 30-ish minutes.

The salt will draw all the moisture from the slices so they won't get soggy later when they are baked.

While the eggplant is dehydrating, you can get started on the sauce...

...And I can show you my new pot.

Isn't she pretty? She looks really pretty on my stove.

(She looks prettier with her top on, but I forgot to get to that. I will, eventually. Pinky promise.)

That's where she lives. On my stove...whether I'm using her or not.

The Boo got her for me as a graduation present.

Did I mention I finished school? I did. I'm done. Finished. Finito.

Sorry, sorry...Back to this meal...

Heat a pot on medium high heat.

Once the pot is hot, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Once the oil is hot, this only takes a few seconds, add 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

Stir them for about 10 seconds.

Don't let them burn.

They will burn.

Quickly.

Add the finely chopped onion.

Saute the onion until softened, 5-10 minutes.

Add the 2 cans of tomatoes.

Don't drain them.

(This is what the can looks like--so you can find it easier.)

Add in the garlic powder, and herbs here.

If you like things really flavorful, you can add more.

I did.

Like double-more.

I also added dried basil (2 tablespoons) here, because I didn't have any fresh basil leaves.

Just don't add any salt yet. We'll add that later. If you add it too early it will become too salty because the liquid will evaporate and the flavor will be more concentrated.

Let the tomatoes stew until the liquid has evaporated. This will take about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F.

Next, I sliced up the fresh mozzarella.

Then, I set up my breading station.

The standard breading procedure is dry, wet, dry.

Remember that. Dry. Wet. Dry.

In this case its flour (dry), egg whites (wet), bread crumbs (dry).

A note about breadcrumbs. I buy unseasoned, that way I can season them myself to whatever I like. I like to control my flavors.

So, if you're also using unseasoned breadcrumbs, now is the time to add seasonings.

I added salt (1 teaspoon), pepper (1/2 teaspoon), dried basil, dried thyme, dried oregano, and dried parsley (1/4 teaspoon of each).

Then I added about 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese.

And mixed everything in really well.

By this time, the eggplant slices have been draining for about a half hour.

Rinse them off really well with water.

Then pat them dry with paper towel.

Now, we bread them, using the standard breading procedure.

How's that go again?

Dry. Wet. Dry.

Coat them in flour.

Then egg.

Then breadcrumbs.

Place them on a baking sheet lined with foil.

Bake them 10 minutes, flip them, and bake another 10 minutes.

When they are done, they wont look too much different than when you put them in. They wont really be browned, just a little less dense.

Taste your tomato mixture--add salt if needed.

Layer tomato sauce on half of the eggplant slices.

Top with mozzarella.

The add a basil leaf. Grated parmesan. And top it with an eggplant hat.

Put it back in the oven for 5 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Then serve it immediately.

*I tossed the remaining tomato sauce with some pasta and served it with the eggplant.

Looks Yum, right?

OH! And it's healthy, too. Somewhere around 300 calories.

...I'm craving eggplant again....Uh-oh.

The Magical, Disappearing Seedlings

2011-04-01T11:47:00.000-04:00

Remember last week when I was making my pretty flower pots? ...Well, there was a bit of a mishap. A small hiccup in my plans...

I had planned to plant my herbs (cilantro, basil, and parsley), and some marigolds for the front stoop. I also thought I'd give a shot at growing my own tomatoes this year. After a trip to Lowe's for some planters, soil, and seeds, I was ready to give my green thumb a go.

Here we were, Gracie & I, just minding our own business on the back porch, painting pots, planting seeds, and enjoying a glorious day.

My herbs and marigolds were sunning on the rail, and I was just finishing taking pictures of everything to share with you lovely folks when, suddenly, the unspeakable happened!

My tomato seeds went missing!
GASP!

Now, let me tell you, I searched high and low for this mysterious, disappearing seed packet. I thought, maybe the wind blew it off the porch and it was floating around down below. I searched, and searched, and search...No seeds were found.

Finally, I gave up my search.

I cleaned up the porch, and went inside to put my pots in the windowsill, when, finally, I found the culprit.

DUNDUNDUN

Case closed.

Oh, and I'll be sure to keep you updated on the other plants that are warming in my kitchen.

How To: Chop an Onion

2011-03-29T18:09:00.000-04:00

[From a lefty's perspective. If you're a righty...just pretend.]

What you will need:
A sharp knife
An onion
A cutting board

Grab an onion. A simple, yellow onion will suffice.

Chop the non-rooted end off.

Chop it in half.

Peel it down to the shiny-whites.

Lay it flat and put your palm on it. (Fingers & thumb up!)

Put a good slice in it, parallel to the cutting board. Watch those fingers!

And another, a little further up--still parallel to the cutting board.

Keep slicing it, all the way to the top.
Turn the onion 90 degrees so the rooted side is away from you.

Start slicing it--perpendicular to the cutting board now.

Slice it all the way across

Rotate the onion 90 degree again, back the way it was when you started.

Slice it, perpendicular to the cutting board, but parallel to the last slices.
Like a grid.
So much math involved in this.

Keep going, you're almost there.

Done!

Discard the rooted-ness.

Now you try!

Let me know how it goes.

Loin of Tender Pork (With Leeks & Apples!)

2011-03-28T09:03:00.000-04:00

While growing up, whenever we had steak for dinner, it was always pork steak.
The idea of pork for dinner now grosses me out. It's just not appetizing. My idea of pork is a dry, chewy, flavorless piece of meat. (No offense, Mom--love you!)

Needless to say, we're not big pork eaters here in this household. (Besides bacon, of course of course!)

I decided to give pork a try again. It was on sale, I had no choice.
I bought one of those tenderloins that is sealed in a marinade.
Did you know they had those?
They do.
It looks like this:

The goal here was to create a super tender, flavorful, and moist piece of meat.
Even though it was already soaking in flavor, I wanted to add some more.

In a bowl, mix together some seasonings to make a spice rub:

(I mixed minced garlic, rosemary, sage, salt & pepper, thyme, parsley, paprika, ancho chili powder, and olive oil)

Slather the tenderloin on all sides with the spice rub.
Slather it good, baby. Flavor, flavor, FLAVOR!

Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Once the skillet gets hot, add about a tablespoon of oil.

Saute the tenderloin, creating a nice, crunchy crust on all sides. You don't want to cook it through here, we're just sauteing until brown to make the crispy crust and to seal in all the flavor.

Once browned on all sides, put in 350˚F oven to finish cooking. Bake for 25-30ish minutes, until it has an internal temperature of 145-150˚ F in the center.

In the meantime.....

We're gonna make our apple & leek salad to go with de loin of de pork-o. This is the best part, in my opinion.
Be gone all thee meat...Bring on thee fruits & thee veggies, YUM!

For this you need 2 leeks, and 3 red apples.

It surprises me that a lot of people don't know what a leek is. I looooveeeeee leeks. LOVE LOVE LOVE them.

Friends, meet Leek.

A leek is like a super huge, yet super, super mild green onion. (Word of the day: super.)

In leekdom, you only want to use the end of leek--the white and light green parts.

Cut the leek in half lengthwise, then cut it in 1-inch chunks. Fill a big bowl with cold water and put the chopped leeks in. Separate the layers and let them sit in the water for 5 minutes.

The dirt from between the layers will fall to the bottom of the bowl--skim the leeks from the top.
Make sure you dry the leeks thoroughly

Next, thinly slice your apples.

In the same skillet you used to sear the tenderloin, add a little more oil and saute the leeks until tender.

Add zeee apples...

...and stir until softened.

Remove from heat, then add 1 tablespoon of honey, and 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar--season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Remove the pork tenderloin from the oven and let rest 10 minutes.

This resting step is crucial for juicy, delicious meat. All meat needs to rest once it's done cooking--if you cut it before it rests, all the juices flow out of it, leaving you with a dry piece of meat. Blah!

After 10 minutes, slice the pork into medallions. Serve with the leeks & apples.

This is delicious.
Seriously, delicious.

It's sweet, and salty, and juicy and flavorful.
No, really. It is.
I promise.
Try it.

Recipe:
Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Leeks & Apples

Ingredients:
Pork tenderloin

oil for sautéing

Spice Rub:
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon sage
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

2 leeks, halved & sliced into 1-inch pieces
3 red apples (such as Gala), thinly sliced
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt & pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 350˚F.
Mix spice rub ingredients in a small bowl. Mixture should be pasty, but easily spreadable. (Add more oil if needed). Rub mixture on pork tenderloin.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet. Brown pork tenderloin on all sides, remove to sheet tray.
Bake pork tenderloin 25-30 minutes, or until 145-155˚F.
Meanwhile, in the same skillet used for pork, add chopped leeks. Stir until tender.
Add sliced apples and cook until softened. Add honey and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove tenderloin from oven. Let rest 10 minutes, then slice into 1-inch thick medallions. Serve with leeks & apples.

Pot de Herb

2011-03-23T14:27:00.001-04:00

I showed you my herb garden 2 years ago. Remember? Wow, I can't believe that was 2 years ago. I never did update you on how my first attempt at an herb garden went.

Well...
It failed.
Badly.
Horribly, badly.

You see, all was well. Everything was going wonderfully in my little herb-growing land.
Everything was coming up nicely, the sun was shining A LOT that summer, and things were getting to the point where they were about ready to start using.

And then, something happened.
Vacation happened.

My Boo and I took an impromptu, week-long trip to the homeland (Michigan) and IIII forgot to hire a plant sitter/waterer/surrogate mother.

I came home to a dried up, brown, crunchy mess. It was not pretty.

And that's how my green thumb turned brown.

I took a summer off to mourn, and here I am--at it again.

I'm hoping to be a supportive, nurturing, green-thumbed mother to these herbs this time around so I can actually eat them. You guys need to keep me up to it, kay?

I made these.

Really. I did.

Want to know how? Because, I'll show you.
I will.
If you ask nicely.
Pretty please?
With sugar on top?

Okay, I give. I'll show you. It was easy, I promise. And relaxing.

Ingredients:

Some terra cotta pots

Acrylic paints, your choice of colors

Paint brushes (I used the big sponges, but it would have been nice to have a smaller brush for touch ups)

Also needed (not shown):

Exacto knife/Scissors

Paper

Printer

First you need to paint the pots the colors of your choice:
After about 7 different paint schemes, I finally settled on white & green.

Then I changed my mind after I took this picture and painted one blue.
So white, green, & blue. Perfect.

Next, print off the labels you want, in the font of your choice. The bolder the font, the better.

With the exacto knife, or scissors, trace the letters to cut then out. (We're creating a stencil here, folks.)
For the letters with a middle, (like the p, a, e....etc), leave a little connector. If you forget, like I did a few times, no worries, just keep the middle.

Then, just tape your stencil to the painted pot:

For the middle of the 'P' and the 'A' that I accidentally cut out, I just stuck a little tape to the back and taped it in place.

Then, with your paint brush, paint in the stencil. I found that dabbing or blotting works best. That way it pressed the stencil down as it painted so I didn't get and bleeding edges.

Remove the stencil, and TADA!:

Beautiful!! There were just a few edges to touch up (this is where a small brush would have come in handy.)

Repeat with the rest of your pots:

For the little flower thingy, I just used a rubber stamp with a stamp pad that I had and pressed it on for added detail.

And there you have it!
Simple, easy, and great looking herb pots!

I'm all ready to start mothering and nurturing my herbies!

Pigs in a Blanket

2010-12-18T10:41:00.000-05:00

Back to the dinners!

Yes, we have been eating dinner around here. Yes, I have been taking pictures of [most] everything. I just haven't gotten around to posting everything--I needed to take some time off for finals.

But now, finals are DONE! Break it here. Let the good times rolll.

I am sad, and slightly embarrassed to say that Pigs in a Blanket are quite the staple around the Yerrick household. They are pretty much our go-to dinner when I don't feel like cooking, but we don't feel like going out either, or if we're in need of a speedy dinner. The whole dealio, from start to finish, takes about 20 whole minutes.

You may be wondering, "Does she realllly need to share a recipe for Pigs in a Blanket? Doesn't everyone know how to make them?" My answer, my friends, is this: Yes. I need to share because, No, not everyone knows. Actually, most everyone makes them differently.

Now, for those few of you that are completely lost, wondering, WHAT THE HAY is a Pig in a Blanket? I mourn for you. I mourn for your childhood, lackless of little delicious piggies wrapped in crunchy, flaky blankets.

I present:

Pigs in a Blanket

What you'll need:
1 package of Lil'Smokies Cocktail Weenies (I got the cheese filled ones for extra deliciousness.)
1 package of crescent roll dough
salt & pepper
chili powder
garlic powder

Yep. That's really all you need. No, I'm not kidding.

Here's what you do, although you can probably figure it out from the picture...

Get your supplies ready.

Pop the can (I can never get the dang thing to pop...Just once I'd like it to pop normal without me having to bang it on the counter several times to dent it, UGH!) and roll out the dough on a sheet tray lined with foil.

Separate all the pre-cut triangles.

Now, those are too big for my Lil'Smokies, aren't they? Plus, there are about a million Lil'Smokies in a package and only 8 dough triangles. What to do, what to do?

I'll tell you:

Cut the dough triangles into 3 or 4 long-mini triangles with a pizza cutter. Tada! Now you have 8 times 3 or 4 (that's 24 or 32) pieces of dough for your million Lil'Smokies.

Let the rolling begin!

Put the Smokie on the fat side of the triangle and roll it towards the smaller end. It makes for a nicer presentation, and we all know, it's all about presentation on these suckers.

See? Gorgeous.
Keep on rollin' til you have a little weenie farm.

I just said weenie farm. Ha. I said it again.

Weenie farm, weenie farm, weenie farm. I need some coffee.

Well, now that that's done...This, folks, is where things are about to get craaazy.

Sprinkle them all with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder. Just for a little extra bit of flavor.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375˚ for 10-12 minutes, or until done.

This is what you get. Yum. Simple. Yummmm.

I'm guessing that most normal people don't eat these for dinner. We do. Don't judge. They are great for an appetizer or an after-school snack as well. For dinner, I usually pair them with Mac and Cheese and a vegetable of sorts, for a well rounded meal.

I've also heard that Paula Dean has her own version of these. I'll have to look into that....

Baked Ziti

2010-12-04T22:21:00.002-05:00

No, no. I haven't forgotten about you guys--promise! It's just been a really busy week. I haven't forgotten to take pictures of my cooking, though. I just haven't had time to post what we've had for dinner the rest of the week.

I left off with Monday when we had delicious Scallops & Pasta. On Tuesday night we ended up going to our friend's house for dinner. Then, Wednesday, I broke we broke our no going out to dinner deal and went out to dinner. Boo, us. But, in my defense, when you've had a long week by Wednesday, you deserve some good comforting Mexican food. Right?

So, back to Tuesday. We went to our good friend's house and scarfed down an Italian Feast! Phil made us all a delicious baked ziti--and he shared his top secret recipe with me! So, while I don't have step by step instructions for you, I do have a scrum-diddly-umptious recipe for a rather simple and satisfying dinner!

Baked Ziti Made by Phil Brock. Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

Yumyumyum. Delicious and simple. Serve with garlic toast and a caesar salad. Perfect weeknight dinner!

Outtake: While I was setting the timer...

I should have Pork Tenderloin with apples & leeks and cauliflower gratin for you tomorrow (or Monday)...Until then, I leave you with a brain-teaser :

At 7 a.m. a high-speed electric train moving 90 mph leaves New York heading for Chicago. At 8 a.m. a train running 110 mph leaves Chicago heading for New York. The distance between the two cities is 700 miles. The weather and the wind speed is exactly the same for both trains. Since neither train experiences any delays, when the two trains meet which one will be closer to New York?

Scallops & Pasta

2010-11-29T21:43:00.001-05:00

I've never made scallops before. Apparently it's just not something they teach you in school...So I Googled it. You find anything on Google. I learned how to crochet from Google. I learned how to use Oxyclean from Google. I learned how to get my dog to stop barking from Google. I learned how to cook scallops from Google.

Now, via Google, you will learn too.

Tonight for dinner we had Scallops and Pasta.

Paul LOVES scallops. He's not able to eat them very often, but I'm sure if asked, he'd say they are one of his favorite foods. Me, eh, I'm not the biggest fan--but anything for my boo. I do like pasta, though. Yummm pasta...So this dinner worked well for the both of us--and it was really quite simple.

The first thing you need to do is put a pot on to boil the pasta. Don't forget to salt the water. I cannot stress this enough, folks! You need to salt you pasta water! And I'm not just talking a pinch, I'm saying add a good tablespoon. A good fistful. A good amount of salt!

Adding salt raises the boiling temperature of the water. It doesn't make the water boil faster, like most people believe, but it does make the pasta cook faster because it allows the water to get hotter than 212˚ (boiling point). I learned this from Google as well. The reason I stress salting the water though is not to make the pasta cook faster, it's to season your pasta. This is the only way to actually season pasta because the salt won't really stick once the pasta is cooked...so why not just cook it in salt? Salt, yummmmm.

So. First: boil your water.

While your water is boiling, chop up 1 tomato, a couple sprigs of parsley, 2 garlic cloves, and slice a lemon in half.

Also, measure out 1 cup of white wine (or chicken stock, or beer) and 1 tablespoon of butter.

Set all that stuff aside--once your pasta is done cooking, drain it and set it aside as well.

Now, for the scallops:

The most important thing about pan-searing scallops is to make sure they're dry. So when you get them out of their package, put then on a plate with paper towel. Then flip them over, to dry the other side. Then, move them to a brand new dry paper towel. Then pat the top again. As they sit, their juices come to the surface, so make sure you pat them right before you put them in the pan. Oh, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

Please excuse my nails. I had to remove my nail polish in a rush this morning before school. Grossss.

For the most perfect, golden brown, crunchy sear that you really want on these bad boys--make sure your pan is piping hot. Hot hot. Not burning hot, but hot. To test if its hot enough, get your finger wet and splash just a drop of water on it. If it sizzles, it's hot enough.

Drizzle a dab of oil in a hot hot large skillet, about a half dollar size. I used olive oil because it was handy, but you can use vegetable oil if you desire. I don't recommend butter because it burns faster than oil. You don't want to burn these suckers. Swirl the oil in the pan so it coats it.

Lay the dry scallops in the pan with plenty of space in between them. You want them to have enough room to get a good sear. Here's a secret when you put them in: DON'T MOVE THEM!

Leave them be. Let the scallops rest. Let them get nice and toasty brown. Let them get a delicious crust. Let them sit in peace for 2 whole minutes.

After 2 minutes, flip them over. Let them cook again for another minute and a half--again, DON'T move them! Drizzle a little more oil in the pan and swirl it around after you flip them.

After a minute and a half, remove the scallops from the pan and transfer to a new paper towel.
(Note, these cooking times are for large sea scallops, cooking times are different for smaller sea scallops.)

Next, reduce the heat in the pan to low and add a tablespoon of butter (unless you have a lot of oil remaining in the pan from the scallops.) Add the chopped garlic. 10 seconds later, add the diced tomato. After about a minute, turn the heat back to high and add the wine (or chicken stock, or beer).

When you add the wine, the pan should steam a whole lot and all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan will be released. Use your spoon to scrape up these brown bits as you stir around the wine. Add the chopped parsley.

About a minute later, add the cooked pasta to the pot and mix it well. Sprinkle with fresh squeeze lemon juice (half a lemon).

Serve in a bowl with the scallops. Garnish with parsley sprigs.

Yumyumyum. My first scallops experience was a success and it only took about 20 minutes. Paul LOVED it too, an added bonus!

The easy to follow recipe:

Scallops & Pasta from Steamykitchen

4 ounces, weight Dried Pasta Of Your Choice
10 Sea Scallops (or Jumbo Shrimp)
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Butter
2 clovea Garlic, Finely Diced
1 whole Tomato, Chopped
1 cup White Wine, Beer, Or Vegetable Stock
3 sprig Parsley, Finely Minced
Just A Bit Of Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
Salt And Pepper

1. Cook the pasta in salted water per the instructions on the box. Drain and set aside.

2. In the meantime, prep all the ingredients and have them at the ready nearby. For the scallops (or shrimp), use a couple of layers of paper towels and pat very dry. Move the scallops to a clean sheet of paper towel and pat dry once more. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.

3. Heat a large frying pan or saute pan over high heat. When hot, swirl in the olive oil. Add the scallops to the pan, not touching. Give each scallop ample room so that they can sear properly. Cook for 2 minutes without touching (1 1/2 minutes if using smaller pieces of scallops or shrimp) then flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes until cooked through. Remove to a plate.

4. Turn the heat to low. Add the butter and the garlic. Saute for just 10 seconds and then add the tomatoes.

5. Turn the heat to high and add in the white wine (or beer or vegetable stock). Let it bubble a bit for 30 seconds and use your spatula to scrape up the bits in the pan. Season with salt and pepper, throw in the parsley and then add in your cooked pasta. Stir well to let the sauce coat the pasta. Serve with the scallops.

Gotta go! I'm chatting with my Boo on Facebook chat....Well, umm...We're on the same couch too...

Enjoy :)

Polenta with Sausage Ragout

2010-11-28T19:30:00.003-05:00

Well, I've done my shopping (thanks to coupons and bargains, I managed to get all this food for about $60) and now I will share with you what we're having for dinner this week (or 2 weeks, if I can stretch it) in the Yerrick household.

In the month of August we spent nearly $450 on eating out. FOUR HUNDRED & FIFTY DOLLARS! There are only TWO of us. That's a LOT of money.

I know what you're thinking...Aren't you in culinary school? Aren't you supposed to cook?

I do! I do cook! I cook all day at school...then I cook all night at work. The last thing I want to do when I get home is cook some more. But I'm going to do it. I will, and Paul has agreed to help me. The Yerrick's are eating in. No more dining out...Okay, not no more, but less. Far less. About $400 dollars less.

I love polenta. Have you had it? Have you heard of it? It's delicious. What is it? It's basically just boiled cornmeal. Gross, right? Nope. It really is scrumptious. It's scrumptious when you add loads of parmesan cheese and butter, and salt (3 of my favorite foods!). It has a wonderful smooth and creamy texture, and it's super rich and satisfying. It's kind of like mashed potatoes, but, dare I say...better. And a lot simpler.

Well, I've been craving it lately...and I had all the ingredients, so I made it last night. And then I ate it. Sooo, I decided to make it again tonight, and tonight I made it with sausage ragout (rag-goo). Don't be afraid, ragout sounds fancy but it's basically just a hearty stew (or sauce, in this case) with vegetables and seasonings. Kind of like Ragu spaghetti sauce....Hmm, I wonder where they came up with their name.

Anyways, I ate polenta again. But this time, I took some pictures to share with you. Without further adieu, I present:

Polenta Cakes with Sausage Ragout

For the polenta you will need:

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal (not the quick kind)
4 cups water
1 teapoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3/4 grated parmesan cheese

(you're going to have it grate it yourself, the stuff in a jar just wont work.)

Firstly, bring the water, along with the salt and pepper, to a boil in a medium saucepan.

Once the water is boiling, slowly add the cornmeal, whisking constantly. Don't add more cornmeal until the stuff already in the pan is mixed in, this will prevent lumps. You don't want lumps. It's not like lumpy potatoes that are good. In polenta, lumps = gross.

When all the cornmeal is added, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer until thickened. Make sure you keep an eye on it and stir it about every minute or so. It should look about like this:

Once it looks like that, stir in the parmesan cheese and butter until both are melted.

Now, you could eat it just like this. Straight from the pot to the table. It's scrumptious this way, this is the way I ate it last night. But tonight, I did something a little bit different.

Pour the polenta into a 9x9 pan, and put it in the refrigerator. Ideally, you should let it cool a bit before refrigerating, but if you're hungry like I was, you're going to put it in right away.

While the polenta is cooling, you can make the ragout. For the ragout you will need:

1 small onion, chopped.
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
6 mushrooms, halved then sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb italian sausage
2 cups prepared spaghetti sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

In a large skillet, brown the sausage. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and italian seasoning.

Add the onions, wait one minute, then add the red pepper. Wait another minute, then add the zucchini, mushrooms, and garlic. Once the vegetables are tender, add the spaghetti sauce. Reduce heat to low, and set aside so the flavors mingle.

The polenta should be cold and firm now, so pull it and slice it into 9 or 16 slices, depending on your preference.

Heat a small skillet until hot hot hot. Add a drop of olive oil (or butter), then add your polenta squares. Saute them until both sides are golden brown and crispy.

Remove them onto a plate with paper towel (to absorb the oil, of course.)

Serve the polenta squares on a plate with the sausage ragout spooned over them. Garnish them with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

I promise you, you cannot go wrong with this dinner. Paul has had 3 1/2 servings today, he just can't get enough.

Now, we're off to try to make our own ice cream--I'll let you know how that goes!

Chicken Tetrazzini

2010-10-14T20:51:00.001-04:00

Last weekend I was able to FINALLY visit my best-best-best friend Claire and her family in Texas. Paul had a "business" trip to Texas, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get out of here and go visit my bestie.

Claire's husband, Stephen is in the Army and althought they are from Michigan (like me!) they are stationed at Fort Hood in Texas. I had so much fun visiting Claire, Stephen, and their precious 16 month old, Rylee--and also got to learn all about Army, Army life, and Army lingo. Unfortunately, the only pictures I managed to snag of Claire were of her picking wedgies--so I'll save her the embarrassment of posting those.

While visiting, Claire treated me to one of my absolute most favorite dinners from our childhood, Chicken Tetrazzini. Claire's mom always made THE BEST chicken tetrazzini, but she only made it when someone died or for birthdays, so it was always a rare, special treat. Until last weekend, it had been more than five years since I had had this delectable dinner--but it's amazingness was not forgotten by me.

So, without further adeau, I present to you:

Chicken Tetrazzini recipe adapted from Marilee Ludwick

What you'll need:
1 lb spaghetti noodles
2 cans cream of chicken soup
16 ounces sour cream
2-3 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
2 cups shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon garlic powder

Boil your pasta and your chicken

Meanwhile:

Mix the chicken soup and sour cream in a bowl. We also added a small can of mushrooms--your choice. You could even add peas, beans, asparagus, or any other vegetables you like.

What a mooch!

Banana's. Yummy!

Oh. Sorry. Distractions.

Back to the food!

Strain your s'ghetti

(WHAT? A man in the kitchen?)

Shred your chicken.

Add it all to the bowl, along with your seasonings, and stir until combined.

Dump it into a 9x13 baking dish, and top with the shredded parmesan.

Then, just pop it in the oven at 350˚ uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly and brown...

Like this!

YUM.

You WILL NOT be disappointed with this dinner.

I PROMISE.

So good.

SO so good.

Yum.

Chicken Chilaquiles!

2010-09-30T15:46:00.008-04:00

Chicken Chila-what-ees? Chicken chilaquiles, I say. (Chee-lah-key-lays)

In light of my current trip, (I'm in TEXAS, visiting my best friend, everrr!) I've decided to give you a nice spicy, Mexican recipe.

This. Is. One. Of. My. Favorite. Dinners. (Paul's too!)

This meal, chicken chilaquiles (let's see how many times I can say it in one post!), is delicious. What are chilaquiles you might ask? Chilaquiles are a Mexican dish, traditionally with corn tortillas and a tomato-ey sauce with cheeeeese.

My recipe-bestie, Martha (yep, we're on a first name basis), does a yummy spin on this traditional Mexican dish that's spicy, warm, filling, satisfying, and authentic tasting--we could eat it every day of the week here at the Yerrick house. I a million-billion times recommend trying this recipe--you won't regret it, and you'll crave it daily. Also, you can make a big batch like I do and freeze the left-over's for later!

First, let me say that I LOVE this cookbook. It's by far my favorite cookbook right now.

It has pretty little pictures of every recipes--and the recipes are always divine. I have yet to make a bad dish from this book. My favorite part is that it's divided into seasons and uses ingredients that are easily found that time of year.

Now, to begin this divine experience...The cast of characters:

The original recipe calls for rotisserie chicken--but I just boil chicken and shred it. You can do whatever you prefer.

Anyways, you'll need 3 chicken breasts. Boil them, let them cool a bit. Shred them, then set them aside.

Next, you'll need a red onion. A beautiful, delicious, juicy red onion.

Cut the top and the bottom off, then cut it in halt from top to bottom. Then, cut it in half again--also from top to bottom. Turn it on its side, then slice it very thinly. Set aside.

Chop up some garlic. I use 6-ish cloves--depending on my mood. I'm a huge garlic fan. Anywhere from 4-8 cloves of garlic will suffice, depending on your taste.

Heat some oil in a stock pot on medium high heat and saute the onions, until tender, then the garlic, until fragrant.

Heres a quick tip about garlic...If you want the garlic flavor to stand out, then add the garlic at the end. If you want it to be more subtle, saute the garlic near the beginning.

Next, add in your can of tomatoes. You can really pick any can of tomatoes you want. The original recipe calls for whole peeled tomatoes, I don't really like using these because I don't like big chunks of tomatoes in my food. This time I chose to use crushed tomatoes, but sometimes I use diced tomatoes. It really doesn't matter, canned tomatoes are canned tomatoes.

After your tomatoes, stir in your tomato puree--about half the can.

Yay! Now it's time for my favorite part. The chipotles. Where do you buy chipotles, you ask? Well--they are in the ethnic foods aisle, by the Mexican food. They come in a little can like this:

There are other brands, so your can may not look identical to this one--but you get the idea, right?

These bad boys are SPICY. They pack some punch. Be wary if you heat them by themselves. You. Will. Choke. And cough. And gasp for air. One time, I made chipotle burgers and it was bad bad news for everyone in the room--but that's a whole different post. (By the way, while typing this I spelled 'news' 'noos' because I was sounding it out in my head...yeah, long day.)

Anyways, back to the wonderful can of chipotles. Chop up one, two, or three chipotles (depending on the level of spiciness you desire, I went with 2.)

Add them to the pot. These will add a delicious smoky and spicy flavor to the dish. One of my favorite kitchen ingredients.

Get a few of teaspoons of the adobo sauce that the chipotles are in and add that to the pot too--things are about to get crazy in here.

You can easily transfer the remaining chipotles and their sauce to a different container and store them in the fridge for later use.

After the chipotles, add a cup of chicken broth.

Then a tablespoon-ish of salt (this should be adjusted to your liking).

Add 2 tablespoons of cumin.

Then add pepper, oregano, chipotle powder (optional), cayenne, chili powder, and a dash of garlic powder.

Rinse and drain 1 can of black beans. Add it to the pot.

And finally, add your shredded chicken to the pot.

To heat to medium low, and let everything simmer for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, grate some monterrey jack cheese and chop up some cilantro. (I like to grate my own cheese as opposed to buying pre-shredded cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in flour and gives things a different texture--it leaves a gritty feel behind. When you grate your own cheese it tastes creamier and it also melts better. Plus, it's less expensive!)

After 15 minutes, stir in cilantro.

To prepare your bowls, line a bowl with corn tortilla chips. Ladle chicken mixture on top of chips, then top with a dollop of sour cream, grated cheese, and fresh chopped cilantro.

You will NOT be disappointed with this heaven.

Chicken Chilaquiles recipe adapted from Martha Stewart.

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

4-8 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 cups shredded chicken

1 teaspoon oil (vegetable...olive...butter...whatever you have, really)

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 can tomato puree or tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, finely chopped (reserve sauce)

1 can black beans, drained

2 cups low sodium chicken broth broth

1 jalepeno, finely chopped (optional)

salt and pepper, to taste

4 T cumin

1 T dried oregano

1 t cayenne pepper

1/4 t chipotle powder

1 t chili powder

1 T garlic powder

1 T coriander

1/2 c cilantro, chopped

Corn tortilla chips

Shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Sour cream

1) Heat oil in pan and saute onions until soft. Add garlic (and jalepeno) and saute until fragrant.

2) Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato puree, chipotle chilis, 2 T adobo sauce (from chipotle can), chicken stock, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, cayenne, chipotle, chili powder, and garlic powder and 1/4 cup cilantro. Stir in shredded chicken and black beans.

3) Let simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4) Serve with corn tortilla chips and topped with sour cream, Monterrey Jack cheese, and fresh cilantro.

Enjoy!

For Erika. Whoopie Pies!

2010-06-23T22:05:00.003-04:00

This post is dedicated to my loyal follower, Erika, who makes me feel guilty for not posting more often.

I'm on break from school right now and I must say it's fabulous and very much needed. I'm nearing the end of this two week break--I start school again on Monday. :( This whole week so far has felt like a Sunday night. You know, that feeling when you try everything to stretch out a Sunday night because you know the weekend is about over and it's back to school again tomorrow. A whole week long Sunday night is no fun--I need to get out of this mindset and enjoy the last few days of this amazing, very, very, much-needed. break.

I'm almost done with school. Can you believe it? One year ago I was starting school, and now I'm almost done--only 3 quarters to go. I will be finished in March of 2011. This quarter (Summer quarter), I don't have a lab. That should be sort of nice, to only have regular classes, but it will be kind of weird to not be in the kitchen everyday. I will, however, be doing my internship. I'll be working for Juleps Catering, which is the catering business at school, and hopefully I'll have some cool events to work at--I hope.

During school, I don't really cook much. Ask my husband. It's a lot of Kraft Mac'n'Cheese, hot dogs, and frozen pizza for dinner. Between cooking all day at school and cooking all evening at work, going home and cooking is the very, complete, absolute, last desire on my list. I have been able to find some time, and enjoy it, cooking & baking over this break.

A yummy treat that I enjoying making in the past couple of days were Whoopie Pies. Wikipedia says Whoopie Pies are a Pennsylvania Amish tradition--to me they are a lot like Oreo Cakesters. They are very simple, and quite tasty and sweet/chocolatey satisfying.

Whoopie Pies
Cookie recipe from Martha Stewart

First, you need butter. You always need butter. Let it sit out a while so it's room temperature. Make sure it's unsalted. Always get unsalted butter so you can control the salt content in your food. Always use butter because butter is better--none of that margarine stuff around these parts. Woof.

While your butter is coming to room temperature, get some flour.

Some cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, & salt...

And, some sugar.

Hi!

Sift your dry ingredients. Look at all those clumps from the cocoa powder--we want none of that! Be-gone clumps.

When your butter if softened, mix that and the sugar...

Until light and fluffy. (This could have been lighter and fluffier...)

Then, grab some eggs.

And beat them. Beat your eggs before adding, that way you don't have to wait for them to break up on their own when mixing, thus mixing faster. You kinda want to do the least mixing you can when baking, especially after adding the flour (except when making bread).

[Insert picture of room temperature buttermilk & vanilla]

[Insert picture of buttermilk being added to butter and flour and being mixed well]

What can I say, I forgot to take pictures here.

Then my batter curdled.

It curdled badly.

(I blame this on either the fact that my buttermilk wasn't room temperature like the directions said, or the fact that it was buttermilk and buttermilk curdles.)

It's okay though! It all came together fine after I added the dry ingredients a scoopful at a time.

Then I mixed until just incorporated.

No more.

No over-mixing.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

I didn't have parchment paper, so I used foil and sprayed it with a little Pam.

Actually, I lied. It wasn't Pam.

It was Butter Flavored Cooking Spray.

Same difference.

Why do some people insist on using name brand products? I don't get it. It's a waste of money. I know, I know, some things are better in name brand (i.e., Heinz Ketchup, and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese*), but other things are just the same. Pam, and Kroger brand Butter Flavored Cooking Spray work just the same!

*Heinz & Kraft are not paying me to advertise their products.

Sorry, sorry. I got distracted by a peeve.

This is the part where I post pictures of me scooping the batter with a 1 oz cookie scoop onto the tray and baking them for approximately 11 minutes until they are done and cake-like...but I forgot to photograph that as well...oops.

Next,

Have a photo-shoot with the Whoopies while they are cooling on racks.

Then, stuff them with yummy, marshmallow filling (recipe following) and take more pictures.

This one's for my boo, he had a long day.

This one's mine. Mine was longer.

Just kidding.

You can wrap these sucker's up in plastic wrap and they'll be good for a week...

If they last...

Whoopie Pies
Makes 2 dozen sandwiches

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. Line two baking pans with Silpats (French nonstick baking mats) or parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Slowly add dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

2. Using a 1-ounce ice-cream scoop, place cookies onto lined baking pans, twelve per pan. Bake for 11 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining batter.

3. Spread 2 tablespoons of frosting onto each of twenty-four of cookies. Sandwich together with remaining twenty-four cookies. Store in an airtight container.

Filling:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup marshmallow fluff
1/2 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup marshmallow fluff
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat butter and remaining ingredients until light and fluffy.

Ps. You can substitute peanut butter for the marshmallow fluff and make peanut butter Whoopies!