I have been making and remaking several of the recipes I have posted, so this cooking blog has turned into my personal recipe book, which makes me wish I was better disciplined at writing down some of my more recent experiments.

My husband and I moved in May to a new home, where we transitioned from a glass cooktop to a 6 burner gas stove and my life turned upside down (it should be in a good way, but when you are still developing your cooking skills, changing the rule book can mess with you a little bit). I also ended up with a convection oven (someday I am going to actually look up what that is and what it means other than the fact that my new oven bakes everything about 20 minutes faster than my older one). Baking is still one of those skills I will acquire soon-ish.

So now I am learning more about new appliances in a new house, which is a blast, but I feel like I have started over on the whole cooking thing.

I also learned my cheaper pans are useless and I pulled out the fancy “stick” ones (because that is what the non-non-stick pans are aren’t they, stick-pans?). Which also makes me have this deep desire to go buy the next level of pans, you know, the ones that have the handles that you can shove in the oven? That can happen after I master the art of not burning things on the gas stove (seriously, stuff burns fast when you aren’t paying enough attention, I blame wine).

Winter is when I spend more time at home honing my skills on the stove, so expect to hear from me just a wee bit more.

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The menu included:

• Lobster bisque with brandy cream
• Pancetta-wrapped filet mignon stuffed with spinach and boursin cheese
• Oven-roasted truffled frites
• Baby greens with candied pine nuts
• White chocolate cherry cheesecake

How can you say no to that menu? Don’t worry, we didn’t!

Pro tip: Measure everything out before you start. I have learned to do this more and more. If you have everything ready you aren’t scrambling to chop while something could be burning. Everything was pre-measured for us in the class and this is something I will definitely do more often.

We started with making the candied pine nuts. Strangely enough I had never candied nuts before and it was a lot less scary after doing it once (burned sugar anyone?). No salad is complete without some candied nuts (or at least I think so now that I made them once)!

The lobster bisque was admittedly, the most work, and I realized I didn’t have most of the equipment to make it at home (it required a a really nice fine mesh strainer, the problem is… now I want that fine mesh strainer. I found a cheaper one I ordered from Amazon.com). A fine mesh strainer makes your soup smooth and shiny.

The highlight of the night (and the recipe that is on my “must save” list) was the Pancetta-Wrapped Filet Mignon stuffed with Spinach and Boursin Cheese. Since this blog has turned into my place for recording my favorite recipes I opted to add it here.

Ingredients for the filet mignon stuffed with spinach and Boursin cheese:

Boursin spinach stuffing:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon finely minced shallots
• 3 (packed) cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons Boursin cheese

Filet:

• 4 (6-ounce) filet mignons
• 8 paper think slices pancetta
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 large shallots, very thinly sliced
• 4 teaspoons canola oil, divided

Demi-glace:

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 cup merlot (drinkable quality)
• 1 cup strong beef stock
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

First you need to make the Boursin cheese spinach stuffing to stuff in the filet:

1. Melt the butter over medium heat in a medium sized sauce pan. Let it foam and once the foaming has gone down, add the shallots and cook until the shallots are clear and soft, but don’t cook them long enough for them to brown which will take about 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted.

2. Boursin cheese spinach stuffing: Add the cream and Boursin cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir constantly and keep cooking for about 3 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly (about the same density as creamed spinach). Remove the Boursin cheese sauce from the heat and set it aside to cool all of the way.

3. Filets: Cut a horizontal 1-inch opening on one side of the filet. Use the tip of the knife to create a pocket inside the filet. Be careful not to cut all of the way through, but make the hole as large as you can.

4. Stuffing the filets: use a teaspoon to stuff the pocket with about one-fourth of the cooled spinach stuffing. Try to distribute it as evenly as possible.

5. Pancetta: Cut the pancetta in half. Wrap 3-4 slices around the filet (not covering up the hole, so wrap them around the circumference with the cheese side facing up). Tie a piece of butchers twine around the pancetta wrapped filet mignon. Season generously with salt and pepper.

6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.

7. Combine the shallots and 2 teaspoons of oil in a mixing bowl. Make sure the shallots are covered evenly.

8. Heat a large oven-proof saute pan over medium high heat. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil and let the oil heat all of the way through. Add the filet mignons to the pan and sear (brown) all sides until the tops and bottoms have formed a mahogany brown crust and the pancetta has started to crisp. This takes about 2 minutes per side.

9. Scatter the shallots in an even layer around the filets in the pan and place the pan in the oven. Bake 5-6 minutes for medium rare and 7 minutes for medium.

10. Remove from the oven and transfer the filets to a warm platter to rest. Cover with aluminum foil while you make the Demi-glace.

11. Demi-glace: Put the pan back on the stove at medium-high heat and add the thyme. Saute until the thyme is fragrant which will take about 2 minutes. Add the Merlot and cook until the wine has been reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Add the 1 cup beef stock and cook until the sauce has reached a sauce consistency. This will take about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and swirl in the butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

9. Remove the twine from the filets and place each on a warmed dinner plate. Spoon the sauce over each filet mignon and serve immediately.

The dinner was amazing! The one thing I did buy that night was a scoop cutter! It was less than $10 and is my new favorite tool to get my chopped food into the pan.

Amazon links are affiliate links, if you click on the link and choose to purchase an item on Amazon.com I may receive a small commission..

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My husband and I usually have several family events to attend around the holidays. So many that they have to be scheduled around each other so that we can attend and we can get pretty exhausted from going to one family gathering to the next, but we love our families so we manage to pull it off every year. With multiple turkey dinners to go to every year I have yet to ever make a turkey in my 32 years. My mom would usually send us home with leftovers, but this year my husband decided that leftovers would not suffice, we need our own turkey.

My husband’s birthday is the week of Thanksgiving, so I decided that this year I am going to attempt to make this gigantic bird for his birthday party. I feel pretty daring at this point. So one big turkey coming up and a big pot of mashed potatoes (aren’t I a nice wife).

My mom uses a turkey roaster to free up the oven, so I shopped around and bought a Rival Turkey Roaster on Amazon.com. I thought they were much more expensive than they turned out to be so I decided the extra oven space was worth the expense.

The purchase decision was purely made on reviews alone, so hopefully these people knew what they were talking about (I certainly don’t, I am a turkey newbie). This was the top rated turkey baker-extraordinaire. I was originally going to buy a turkey roaster that was stainless steal, but the reality is, this thing is HUGE – there is no way I am going to leave it out on my counter normally, so I guess I can be just a little bit less matchy match.

I am sure mine will look exactly like the one in the picture. Wish me luck (I may need it). Also please let me know any good tips or tricks on preparing my first turkey.

Links above are Amazon Affiliate links.

Here are some great food blog posts that I have referred to so far:

• How to Cook a Turkey from http://www.thekitchn.com
• Mom’s Roast Turkey from http://www.simplyrecipes.com

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Ok, what you are going to need to make this:

• Enough red potatoes (sliced at 1/2 inch thickness) to fill up a dish to fill an 8 inch square pyrex dish
• 1 1/2 cups of ham in 1/2 inch cubes (my husband threw in a full two cups because an extra half a cup was there on the counter)
• 1 1/2 cup chopped onion

For the cheese sauce:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

For flavor:

• Fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top before you bake

Depending on what cheese I have in the fridge I may use cheddar or Monteray Jack.

First step: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Butter your 8 inch square pyrex dish.

Slice the potatoes and layer a layer of potatoes > ham > onions and then start over. Kind of like a sandwich, only the potatoes aren’t cooked yet, so they may not taste very good as a sandwich…

Once you get everything stacked up nicely set it aside so that you can get the cheese sauce ready.

I didn’t learn how to make white sauce until I was about 24-ish. Which I should have known it since my mom would make this cheese sauce for eggs benedict instead of bernaise since it was yummy and less work. We ate a lot of eggs benedict growing up. I still eat a lot of eggs benedict. It is like me and lentil soup, I have to try everyone’s version…

Frequently with sauces that I worry about I will get the ingredients ready first (and I am getting better at doing hat altogether). First you melt the butter over medium heat.

Once the flour, salt and butter are mixed. Start adding the milk. You can do it slowly or get lazy and add it all at once (I usually go slow at first and end up pouring it all in at once and just stirring regularly until it thickens up). Once the white sauce is starting to look a bit like gravy add cheese slowly and add pepper.

As soon as the cheese is melted pour the cheese sauce over the red potatoes. Throw some shredded cheese on top.

Cover with tin foil and bake for 60 minutes. Take off the foil (maybe sprinkle on a little more cheese) and bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese on top is light brown.

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I almost always have to eat the lentil soup if a restaurant has it. I could quite possibly live on the stuff (quite frankly I sort of did for awhile). I am not sure what it is about lentils that I love so much. I have been playing around with creating this lentil soup recipe by experimenting with a variety of spices and flavors. It seems to evolve just a little bit each time I make it.

The first time I made lentil soup I think I used the entire bag of lentils. I spent hours adding water and more water and more water… Lesson learned: a cup of lentils can go a long way (for two people).

With this lentil soup I opted to use the slow cooker because lentils take awhile to cook and I love being able to throw the ingredients in the pot and enjoy the aroma all day. I usually use the crockpot more in the fall to make soups like my easy slow cooker chicken taco soup, crockpot roast beef (the rub on that roast beef is simply amazing), and  my fall favorite: crockpot chili. Frequently I will get everything in the crockpot the night before and throw it on before I head to work in the morning, but weekends offer the luxury of having plenty of time to prepare the food in the morning while I am making lunch.

This lentil soup recipe is very filling. I dished up a huge bowl and realized that I didn’t need quite as much as I had dished up, but never fear, lentil soup is delicious when reheated (it will be a main item in my diet during the work week).

I learned to add balsamic vinegar from Cafe Johnsonia’s best lentil soup.

Ingredients for the slow cooker lentil soup:

• 1 cup mixed lentils
• 1/3 cup barley
• 1/3 cup sliced baby carrots
• 1/3 cup chopped celery hearts with leaves
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 teaspoons parsley
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 7 cups chicken or vegetable broth (more or less to taste)
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Add the lentils and barley into the crockpot.

Chop up all of the onion, celery, baby carrots, red potatoes and mushrooms and add them to the slow cooker. Go ahead and add the tomato paste, parsley, garlic, oregano, basil and sage. Add the 7 cups of broth. If you find the soup too thick go ahead and add more broth as needed (I tend to make thicker soups).

I cooked this on a Sunday afternoon, so I had the crockpot on high for 5 hours and turned it down to low for an hour while I waited for my husband to get home). It was pretty much fully cooked after being on high for 4 hours. If it was a work day I would have started it on low in the morning and let it simmer all day while I am at the office. Cook until the lentils are cooked thoroughly and not chewy. I added a little salt and balsamic vinegar at the end as a finishing touch (I let it simmer on high for about 10 minutes after I added the salt and vinegar).

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I love smoothies, yogurt smoothies, ice cream smoothies (I guess that would be more of a shake), green smoothies anything smoothie. When I was in chemotherapy I found it hard at times to eat properly. I would range from a complete lack of appetite to eating anything in the house. I tended to find that I could usually work on drinking a smoothie when nothing else sounded good. I used Greek yogurt for my smoothies frequently because chemo can also hurt the lining of your stomach and getting some good probiotics in the tummy can’t hurt. Smoothies are a great food for cancer patients (at least as far as I am concerned, I am no expert).

Ground Flax Seed – One trick I learned from a nutritionist is to add ground flax seed to your juices and smoothies, it adds a nutty flavor and it is a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids. I don’t eat a lot of fish and I am not so great at taking fish oil regularly. Studies have been done about whether or not Omega-3 suppresses the formation of certain cancers with nothing conclusive (as most nutrition/cancer tests tend to be).

Ingredients:

I throw all of the ingredients in a plastic cup that came with my hand mixer and mix until the peaches are thoroughly blended. It is a little thick at first, but thins out as the peaches melt into your delicious peach greek yogurt smoothie.

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One of my favorite things about fall and winter is making soup recipes. I experimented with making a lot of new soups previous years. Chicken noodle soup and cheese ravioli are about my two favorite things in the world. I usually have some frozen ravioli in the freezer and I was craving chicken soup, so I figured I may as well combine the two into some chicken ravioli soup.

Ingredients for Chicken Tomato Mushroom Ravioli Soup:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 3/4 – 1 lb raw chicken breasts 1 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup diced onions
• 5 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 1/2 cups slices mushrooms
• 1/2 cup sliced tomatoes (I used fresh, I imagine you could use canned)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon parsley (fresh chopped or dried)
• 8 cups chicken broth (or 4 14.5 oz cans, it comes out about the same)
• 1 pound pre-made cheese ravioli  (I use frozen)
• Grated Parmesan cheese for garnish, optional

To make the chicken ravioli soup, add one teaspoon of olive oil to the pan. Turn heat up to medium high and add thawed chicken cut into 1 inch squares, with pepper and salt. Stir frequently and cook until chicken is opaque and turn the heat down to medium. Add the chopped onions and cook until they are see through.

Add the tomatoes and sliced mushrooms to the chicken mushroom tomato and ravioli soup.

Now you can add the pressed garlic (you may want to peel them before you start cooking, I was fighting with peeling garlic and trying not to burn the chicken). Apparently I need to work on my garlic peeling skills. Add the thyme and parsley with the garlic.

Start adding the chicken broth one cup/can at a time. Now you can stir a little less often. Once all of the chicken broth is added turn the heat back up to medium high heat. Once the broth is at a mild boil you can add the frozen ravioli. Cook until the ravioli is cooked all of the way through and turn the heat down to simmer. Simmer for about 10 more minutes and serve. I like to sprinkle fresh grated parmesan cheese on top.

After eating all of his chicken ravioli soup my husband asked if this was my own recipe or one from the internet. This one would be my own, and one of my new favorites (and now it is on the internet).

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I usually make waffles using a mix that comes in “homemade” looking box, so I figure that is just about as good as cooking homemade right?

This weekend I was determined… fresh milk in hand… to make some Belgian waffles. I picked this Taste of Home Belgian Waffle Recipe to try out. I was going to try a yeast kind but this one sounded good. I figured out why once I melted an entire cup of butter to add to the mix. That and 3/4 cups of sugar. So, the recipe doesn’t state that you should bring the milk to room temperature before you mix it, but luckily I caught that in the comments before I ventured into creating lumpy butter.

I started to whisk the egg whites to a “stiff peak” by hand. Whoa. By hand? I learned that lesson pretty quick and whipped out my mixer and went to town. Once I reached “stiff peak” perfection I folded the egg whites into the mix.

The verdict, wow, homemade belgian waffles with a lot of butter are definitely tasty, but I think half my bowls got dirty in the process (I believe I counted eight) of making the homemade Belgian waffles (this may be why I am not much of a baker). They are really sweet and would probably make a good dessert waffle, you almost don’t need syrup on these guys. My husband loved them and ate extra waffles toasted in the toaster as a snack later on.

Self portrait of what my hair looks like after making homemade Belgian waffles.

I may dare to do it again, but when I went grocery shopping this week I bought Belgian waffle mix. Don’t judge. .

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1. Acorn Squash Recipe (not fancy I know)

When I learned how to bake acorn squash, acorn squash soon became a regular item at our dinner table in the fall. We have grown acorn squash in the garden the past two years and I regularly visit this recipe to remember what temperature to cook the acorn squash and a reminder on the sweet stuff I put inside (Mmmmm butter).

2. Crockpot Chili Recipe

My chili is a popular dish at my house. Since I am cooking for two it is often a good excuse to have a few friends over and play some board games. It is more of a winter/fall favorite, but it seems like wintertime is when I spend more time in the kitchen.

3. Ham and Cheesy Red Potatoes Au Gratin Recipe

Due to a surge in my purchasing red potatoes (I love love love red potatoes with the skin on, which may explain why I have so many recipes that use red potatoes) I opted to throw together some au gratin potatoes. It is a regular that I love to make (along with red potatoes I am also addicted to cheese).

4. Pork Chili Verde Recipe

This was honestly the first time I ever made chile verde. It was a gamble (but I have learned to write down the recipe when I gamble with food, which has led to many unpublished dishes, but it also leads to the published dishes). We loved it so much that I haven’t tampered with it one bit (other than doubling or tripling the recipe for a party). Something about oven baking the garlic and tomatillos that gives this verde a richness that I love.

5. Stuffed Green Bell Pepper Recipe

I love the green peppers like this, my husband could just live on the stuffing (we are working on him eating more of his vegetables). I love the melted tomato cheese goodness that I stuff inside these peppers and I try to make this recipe as often as I have too many green (or red) peppers around the house..

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I was looking around for an easy to make foccacia bread that didn’t take a long time to sit or to rise (dinner was in 3 hours, so I was limited on my rise time). I came across the King Arthur no fuss focaccia bread and decided to go ahead and try it out, it was an immediate hit and I even would make it and bring it to parties with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip it in. It also goes great with pasta dishes. As you get your ingredients ready, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Ingredients for easy focaccia bread:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3 1/2 cups King Arthur flour
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast

Add all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix in your mixer or by hand. It doesn’t take that long to mix and you come out with a very sticky dough.

Spread the easy foccaccia bread out on the pan over the olive oil.

In a lightly greased pan drizzle some olive oil along the bottom and add your dough and spread it out to about 3/4 of an inch thickness. Cover the pan and let it rise at room temperature for about 60 minutes (I let my easy focaccia bread rise for about 90 minutes because it didn’t seem like it had risen a lot, but it came out perfect in the oven).

Poke your finger every two inches down to create the dimples in the bread. Cover with your favorite flavors (for this version I used a pinch of parsley, oregano, basil, garlic powder and shredded cheddar cheese).

Bake at 375 degrees and cook for about 25-35 minutes. The bottom should be a nice crispy golden, the top shouldn’t brown as much (I could tell it was done because the edges of the dough that were thinner were a nice golden color).

Easy focaccia bread after it has been baked. The top is barely brown.

The bottom of the bread should be a nice golden color.

Enjoy! This focaccia bread typically doesn’t seem to keep well for more than a day or two, so I always prep it the day that I need it. It is amazing right out of the oven!.

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