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Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:02:48 -0800

A Moment in the Day (Night) of the Life of Me

I got kinda lost for a few months. I'm back now. I think.

http://wildhoneysuckle.stumbleupon.com/review/26980474/

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:32:44 -0700

October Cooking Challenge - Recipe #22

Okay, so this is barely a recipe, but give me a break; I am very busy with Halloween stuff. The costumes alone have consumed much of my week. We have a Cinderella, a knight, a witch, and I'm going as a butterfly. When I say I'm going as a butterfly, I mean I bought a mask and some turquoise lipstick. That's dressed up, right? On top of that I'm voting tomorrow, chaperoning a bunch of 4-year-olds to the pumpkin patch, trick or treating, having a little Halloween party, and then I'm going out of town for a few days. So, like I said, busy, busy!

Last night I spent 2 1/2 hours carving a pumpkin with one of those little fucking pumpkin saws. I have no skin left on my right forefinger, but it's a bad ass jack o' lantern! I wish I could share a photo, but my stupid camera is broken (sad face). Think of the pumpkin head in Sleepy Hollow. That's what I was going for. When it's lit up it looks like it's eyes and mouth are made of flames. Very cool. Anyway, to the recipe..

Even though I carve a jack o' lantern every year, I have always just thrown all the goop into the trash. In fact, I don't believe I have even eaten pumpkin seeds since I was a little girl, so these were a real treat. Pepitas, or pumpkin seeds, are very good for you and quite tasty as well. I kept it basic with a simple coating of olive oil and salt. *Munch, munch, munch* I'll never throw these away again. Happy Halloween!

http://wildhoneysuckle.stumbleupon.com/review/26896798/

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:09:41 -0700

October Cooking Challenge - Recipe #21

Every single person I told that I was making Apple Sausage Pie wrinkled up their nose and looked at me like I was a total freak. What? I like apples, I like sausage, I like pie. Who doesn't? Not to mention the fact that the top "crust" is actually a mix of Fontina, Ricotta and Feta. That's right, three cheeses. I went into this one with something to prove, dammit.

Firstly, I was not excited about making the pie crust. Think of pie crust as my Kryptonite. I have attempted it a few times over the years with less than stellar results. I just can't bring myself to buy the pre-made stuff, though, so I keep giving it a go. I have to say, it wasn't half bad this time. Not bad at all. I'm getting there. Maybe this will be the first holiday I don't have to hide the Mrs. Smith boxes in the outside trash bin.

I could tell from the ingredient list that there was no way all this stuff was going to fit into a 9" pie plate, and I was right. Instead, I made a double crust recipe and used a 13x9" baking dish. I increased the amount of sausage to 1.25 lbs (1 package of Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage, casings removed) and I increased the eggs from 2 to 3. The proportions were just right. I filled up the crust with the sausage, apples and onions, tucked it all in with a blanket of cheese and slid it into the oven.

The scents whafting from my kitchen while this was baking were very encouraging. I peeked in halfway through and made googly eyes at the browning cheese crust. By the time it was finished, I had worked myself up into full starvation mode. I cut a massive corner piece, placed it onto my plate next to a garden salad, dished up a heaping, cheesy bite and put it in my mouth. Oh.. my.. goodness. For this, I am willing to make pie crust. For this I am willing to be looked at like a freak. It was delicious, homey and filling. Just perfect for a cold night like tonight, and pairs nicely with a sweet white wine. Naysayers - bite me. ;)

http://wildhoneysuckle.stumbleupon.com/review/26856745/

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:34:26 -0700

October Cooking Challenge - Recipe #20

Disaster has officially struck my household, for I have learned to make.. doughnuts! If you've read my blog at all then you know how much I love these warm, soft circles of confection. I don't allow myself to eat them very often, but when I do.. oooh. My eyes close, my tongue waters and a slow smile spreads across my face. It's the closest I'll ever get to heaven. For sure.

I can't take full blame for these. As mentioned in my last foodie post, I let each of my children pick one thing for me to cook this weekend. This was my son's pick.. chocolate glazed doughnuts. Yep, he's mine, alright! Have I told you how much I love that kid? I do. I really, really do.

I have tried to make doughnuts once before, a good ten years ago. They were an absolute disaster. Hard, heavy, greasy.. yuck. I must admit, I was a little intimidated going in for a second try. I needn't have been. Between this excellent recipe and my trusty breadmaker to do up the dough for me, it was easy.. err.. easier than pie!

I made eight big circle doughnuts and two dozen doughnuts holes. The big ones I dipped in Alton Brown's Chocolate Glaze (recipe on same page), half the small ones I dipped in chocolate and covered in sprinkles and the other half I tossed with cinnamon sugar. Yum. Yum, yum, yum! I am redeemed. And fat. And happy.

Cooking notes: If you have a breadmaker, just dump all the ingredients in there, set the dough cycle and you're done through to the rolling-out step. Both recipes call for whole milk, I used 2% with no ill effect. A deep fryer with a temperature gauge will make cooking these a lot easier. Make sure to let the temp go back up between batches. The chocolate glaze will indeed do two batches of doughnuts. I halved it and it was just right. The glaze was also a bit high on vanilla flavor, next time I will reduce it by half so it doesn't overshadow the chocolate.

http://wildhoneysuckle.stumbleupon.com/review/26834958/

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:36:38 -0700

October Cooking Challenge - Recipes #18 & #19

So, I promised my kids I'd let them each choose one thing for me to make this weekend. I've been feeding them a lot of new stuff lately, and I don't want them revolting on me. Tonight's dinner had my youngest daughter's choice of mac & cheese and oldest daughter's choice of some kind of chicken nugget. I chose Martha Stewart's Creamy Mac & Cheese which I found posted at Smitten Kitchen, and the Parmesan Chicken from Simply Recipes.

I confess, I was less than thrilled going into this. Chicken nuggets are kind of the antithesis to this whole challenge. Ingredient-wise I didn't change anything. I did bread them up Shake 'n Bake style with a Ziplock baggie and fried them in a skillet after reading all the comments about them browning unevenly in the oven. They were okay, I guess. Not really worth the time and effort (I got bored babysitting the skillet) and definitely not worth the fat and calories (dipped AND fried in butter). I only ate two, the kids scarfed down the rest in like.. five seconds.

The mac & cheese had the exact opposite effect. I halved the recipe and used the Pecorino Romano instead of the Gruy�re. I think I would have preferred the Gruy�re, but balked at the $9 price tag. I followed the recipe for the most part, except for tripling the amount cayenne pepper. I was pleased with how it turned out. The contrast of creamy inside and crunchy exterior was very nice. The children were less impressed. They were expecting some sort of orange processed goo, I suppose, and there I went plunking down grown up mac & cheese in front of them. Now I have a 2 quart casserole dish full of it in the fridge, and no one to help me eat it! Sorry waistline, I'll go back to paying attention to you when this month is over.

http://wildhoneysuckle.stumbleupon.com/review/26825328/

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:40:55 -0700

October Cooking Challenge - Recipe #17

Ohm num num num.. I wanted something warm and salty to go with my beer and football today, and boy did these fit the bill. I have actually been planning to make this recipe all month, but kept putting it off because I thought with all the shaping and parboiling that they might be a bit of a pain. As it turns out, they were really quite simple!

I sorta cheated by using my breadmaker for the dough. I just dumped in the ingredients, then an hour and a half later took out the finished dough, molded it into somewhat acceptable pretzel shapes, boiled and baked them. I even used the same type of seasoning on top, as I always have Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning in the cabinet for my foolproof steak marinade. The big bits of pepper, garlic and spices made a much more interesting topping than plain coarse salt.

I would type more, but I just heard someone say there's only one pretzel left, and it's mine. MINE, dammit! Hands off!

http://wildhoneysuckle.stumbleupon.com/review/26811594/

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:26:42 -0700

xkcd.com

Me, too!

http://wildhoneysuckle.stumbleupon.com/review/26803883/

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:19:48 -0700

October Cooking Challenge - Recipe #16

Okay, I'll admit it, you could pretty much wrap anything in bacon and I'd eat it. Wrap shrimp in bacon and grill it and that, my friends, is a recipe for happiness. I mostly followed the Chipolte Lime Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp recipe from Simply Recipes, except I added a tablespoon of minced garlic. I put garlic in everything, in case you hadn't noticed. I used this for half the shrimp. Fearing that chipolte might be too much for my tot's palates, I made a second marinade of olive oil, minced garlic, shredded parmesan and lemon juice. This proved unnecessary as the amount of chipolte in the recipe was really mild. Next time I'll double it. I marinated the shrimp while I cooked the bacon in the microwave, then wrapped, threaded on bamboo skewers and grilled on my indoor grill. Mmm both recipes were sooo good. I served the skewers on a bed of rice with sweet corn on the cob on the side. There is absolutely nothing nutritionally redeeming about this meal. Ask me if I care. What's that? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of my applauding tastebuds.

http://wildhoneysuckle.stumbleupon.com/review/26775508/

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:26:57 -0700

A Moment in the Day of the Life of Me

Yaaaaay, today's my one year no-smokiversary! One year ago today I quit smoking cigarettes. I have not had one cigarette, not one drag, hell I haven't even stood too close to someone else who was smoking. Aren't you proud of me? I know I am. I'm freakin' bursting with it. One year. I made it! I only wish that didn't mean I was turning 31 in two weeks. Dammit, I just got used to being 30!

http://wildhoneysuckle.stumbleupon.com/review/26770522/

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:08:39 -0700

October Cooking Challenge - Recipe #15

Holy cow.. err.. holy pig these were amazing. Hands down, without a doubt, the best pork chop I have ever eaten ever. I found the recipe at Smitten Kitchen, but it originally came from Cook's Illustrated. This fact alone was enough to make me bookmark it, as CI is one of the best when it comes to time tested recipes.

I am not a stranger to making breaded pork chops. Twelve years ago, when I got married, I was given a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook as a wedding present. In that cookbook was a recipe for oven fried pork chops that were coated in an egg wash, breaded with crushed, boxed stuffing and oven-fried in butter. I have to admit that they are very tasty cooked like that. So tasty, in fact, that I have been making pork chops that way ever since. For twelve years. I would say it ranks in the top ten favorite meals around here, but I have always been a little ashamed of the boxed stuffing part of the recipe. Being such a purist, you know. The fried in butter thing wasn't much better. So I am thrilled, thrilled that this similar, but healthier version went over so well. We all agreed that this should be our new breaded pork chop. No more Stove Top.. hurrah!

Because of the reliable source of this recipe, I made very few changes. I didn't have white bread so I used two Kaiser rolls, I substituted olive oil for the vegetable oil and since I don't own a food processor (sob) I toasted the 1" pieces of bread with the seasonings first, and then crushed them with a pastry cutter. Other than that, I followed this recipe to the letter and it was perfection. Even after eating it I still don't think I'd change a thing and that's practically unheard of for me. I had never brined meat before but it worked a trick. The meat was soo tender and juicy and who needs to fry anything in butter when these turned out crispy crunchy without it. Don't even get me started on the egg/mustard wash. Taking the yolks out of the eggs and adding the kick of dijon.. genius. I really think I'm going to have to spring for a Cook's Illustrated subscription.