I love emails that start like this: "Darling, I found this recipe and I'd like to try in this weekend. What do you think?" Nick Jr sometimes sends out emails with kid-friendly recipes and he'd just signed up for their email updates. (I get them too, and my copy was in my inbox right before his forward)
Hubby forwarded me an email with six brunch items and told me to pick one. I chose Bacon, Egg and Cheese Cups and he put them together on Saturday morning for breakfast. Three favorite breakfast-y things, all put together into a treat you can eat out of your hand! The end result was a satisfying little muffin-like pastry that tasted like a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit. What's not to like there??? This recipe is definitely worthy to be put in the Notebook!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Beet Incident
Long day at work.....and I'm hungry as soon as my feet hit the front porch! Brian usually starts dinner because he is home first, but tonight it's me. I take a quick look at the menu posted on the side of the fridge and am delighted to see Maple-Pecan Chicken. It's a new recipe and I'm looking forward to it. A quick scan of the cabinet and I decide on rice pilaf and fresh brussels sprouts as accompanists. On a whim, I grab a can of beets, too. I adore beets... they're delicious hot or cold, in a salad or as is. I've always wanted to roast some fresh beets but I'm afraid I'm the only one who will eat them.
I put Sean in his highchair and share my snack of pretzels with him. I then proceed to take out all of the pans that I need, and grab a can opener and start to open the beets.
SPLASH!!!!! I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the can slipped out of my hand and beets and juice went EVERYWHERE!!!! I actually shrieked as it was happening! Then I just stared at the kitchen in total shock and disbelief:
Say it with me...OH. MY. GOD!!!
My my my my my...where to start. I'm covered with beets, my kitchen is covered in beets and now I have to figure out the least messiest way to dispose of this ungodly mess. So the first thing I could think of was to get rid of my clothes. That's right....stripped down to my underwear and carried the scathed clothing to my hamper so not to permanently stain my tan carpet. Soon after, Hubby came home with the Big One and I didn't even want them to go into the kitchen. Unfortunately, the doggie doesn't care for beets, otherwise cleanup probably would've been a snap.
Half a roll of paper towels, two swiffer pads and a load of laundry later....it's mostly clean. Beets sure make a mess, and the juice travels pretty far. I am pretty sure that there is a much easier way to dye my kitchen a lovely shade of pink!
I put Sean in his highchair and share my snack of pretzels with him. I then proceed to take out all of the pans that I need, and grab a can opener and start to open the beets.
SPLASH!!!!! I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the can slipped out of my hand and beets and juice went EVERYWHERE!!!! I actually shrieked as it was happening! Then I just stared at the kitchen in total shock and disbelief:
Say it with me...OH. MY. GOD!!!
My my my my my...where to start. I'm covered with beets, my kitchen is covered in beets and now I have to figure out the least messiest way to dispose of this ungodly mess. So the first thing I could think of was to get rid of my clothes. That's right....stripped down to my underwear and carried the scathed clothing to my hamper so not to permanently stain my tan carpet. Soon after, Hubby came home with the Big One and I didn't even want them to go into the kitchen. Unfortunately, the doggie doesn't care for beets, otherwise cleanup probably would've been a snap.
Half a roll of paper towels, two swiffer pads and a load of laundry later....it's mostly clean. Beets sure make a mess, and the juice travels pretty far. I am pretty sure that there is a much easier way to dye my kitchen a lovely shade of pink!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Birthday Pizza and Cupcakes
We hosted a small family get-together for Sean's first birthday last weekend. Since it was about ten people, we had "make-your-own" mini pizzas. BJ's sells a big pack of personal-size Boboli pizza crusts and individual sauce packets. They came out great! Everyone got to have exactly what they wanted for toppings, how much cheese, etc. Brian put them directly on the oven grates so they would crisp up nicely. Mmm.....
The birthday cupcakes were out-of-this-world!!! We went back and forth about whether to make them or buy them, and I'm so glad we made them. They're from the Cake Doctor's second cake book, and they were the cookie-dough cupcakes. Yellow cake mix with Tollhouse Cookie Dough in the centers, then frosted with a homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. The frosting was perfect, perfectly chocolate and not at all sickly-sweet. We served them as is, I'm glad I didn't add ice cream to the plate because then it would have been just too much and taken away from the goodness of the cupcake. Everyone loved them! Sean especially enjoyed his:
The birthday cupcakes were out-of-this-world!!! We went back and forth about whether to make them or buy them, and I'm so glad we made them. They're from the Cake Doctor's second cake book, and they were the cookie-dough cupcakes. Yellow cake mix with Tollhouse Cookie Dough in the centers, then frosted with a homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. The frosting was perfect, perfectly chocolate and not at all sickly-sweet. We served them as is, I'm glad I didn't add ice cream to the plate because then it would have been just too much and taken away from the goodness of the cupcake. Everyone loved them! Sean especially enjoyed his:
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Stockin' Up
In almost every cookbook, every food-themed magazine, I have read about the importance of fresh chicken stock.
Mark Bittman swears that it makes every dish that he makes taste that much better and keeps it on-hand in the freezer. In "Kitchen Confidential" Anthony Bourdain insists that people who are serious about their cooking use it. And though I haven't heard it myself, I'm sure Brian's hero, good ol' Alton Brown, probably has an episode in the can of how easy and how much better homemade chicken stock really tastes.
Let's face it, canned or boxed chicken broth has something that homemade stock doesn't: CONVENIENCE. In a household where both parents work full-time and quite often dinner is a 20-minute affair, convenience of an ingredient weighs in heavily in preparation. But....making my own applesauce tasted so fresh and unlike its jarred counterpart. And pumpkin processed by us instead of paying for a can at Thanksgiving time? Heavenly!!
So, I have my eye out for a sale on whole chickens. There's going to be a weekend experiment; not just for flavor, but how much more difficult is it than just reaching for your can opener? Does it freeze well, and how much stock does one pot make? Is it worth coming off "the box?" Coming soon to a stockpot near you......
Mark Bittman swears that it makes every dish that he makes taste that much better and keeps it on-hand in the freezer. In "Kitchen Confidential" Anthony Bourdain insists that people who are serious about their cooking use it. And though I haven't heard it myself, I'm sure Brian's hero, good ol' Alton Brown, probably has an episode in the can of how easy and how much better homemade chicken stock really tastes.
Let's face it, canned or boxed chicken broth has something that homemade stock doesn't: CONVENIENCE. In a household where both parents work full-time and quite often dinner is a 20-minute affair, convenience of an ingredient weighs in heavily in preparation. But....making my own applesauce tasted so fresh and unlike its jarred counterpart. And pumpkin processed by us instead of paying for a can at Thanksgiving time? Heavenly!!
So, I have my eye out for a sale on whole chickens. There's going to be a weekend experiment; not just for flavor, but how much more difficult is it than just reaching for your can opener? Does it freeze well, and how much stock does one pot make? Is it worth coming off "the box?" Coming soon to a stockpot near you......
Friday, December 31, 2010
Ending the Year with....Meatloaf??
Last year the final post of 2009 was a gorgeous cake that we were bringing to a New Year's Party. And let me tell you, it was just as good-tasting as it was gorgeous!
This year=no cake. :( We're having a quiet New Year's celebration at home, with some snacks, TV and a hockey game. Plus, as I have learned in the past couple of months, if the sweets are in the house, I will pick at them until they are gone. That's why you didn't see a lot of posts about Christmas Cookies this year. Yes, there were some cookies (baked on Christmas Eve and then the leftovers sent home with my mom for another family party on Christmas day) because it just is not Christmas without some cookies. I weighed in last night at my weight loss group and I have lost (ta-da) EIGHT pounds since 11/12/10! That's a miracle!! Honestly, I haven't had a tough time thus far. I think it's because I have been eating things that I really want, just less of them. I still eat ice cream. I still put sugar in my coffee. And I still enjoy carbs. I just eat ice cream one or two nights a week instead of every night. I no longer take my coffee light and sweet. And I'm (still) learning that portion sizes don't have to be an entire plate. I'm starting to appreciate the simple flavors of things, like sliced cucumber with just a hint of salt instead of heaped with dressing. It's a whole new world out there.
So, I had mentioned in my previous post about a new cookbook for busy families. Brian perused it while making the menu for the week and came across a recipe for Mini Barbecue Meatloaves. We're always looking for something different to do with a pound of ground beef besides spaghetti sauce or tacos. The night it was scheduled to debut on our dinner table, he read the recipe as he was pulling out ingredients and discovered something displeasing: the reason why it was a quick recipe is because you cook the meatloaves in the microwave! (Ga-ross.)
I love the microwave. It's great for leftovers, melting butter for a recipe, warming up some formula for the baby and the like. But a main course started and finished there? Hmmmm....that sounds like a disaster. Meat tends to get rubbery in there. But still.....we forged on to give it a fair chance.
You know what it came out tasting like? Barbecue meatloaf. It was just fine! The meatloaf patties were moist and not at all rubbery. So we've made an agreement to utilize this oft-overlooked appliance and try more recipes with it. Because really, dinner ready in fifteen minutes is pretty cool.
Happy New Year, everyone! (or to the four people that read this) I hope it brings good food, good times and great memories. :)
This year=no cake. :( We're having a quiet New Year's celebration at home, with some snacks, TV and a hockey game. Plus, as I have learned in the past couple of months, if the sweets are in the house, I will pick at them until they are gone. That's why you didn't see a lot of posts about Christmas Cookies this year. Yes, there were some cookies (baked on Christmas Eve and then the leftovers sent home with my mom for another family party on Christmas day) because it just is not Christmas without some cookies. I weighed in last night at my weight loss group and I have lost (ta-da) EIGHT pounds since 11/12/10! That's a miracle!! Honestly, I haven't had a tough time thus far. I think it's because I have been eating things that I really want, just less of them. I still eat ice cream. I still put sugar in my coffee. And I still enjoy carbs. I just eat ice cream one or two nights a week instead of every night. I no longer take my coffee light and sweet. And I'm (still) learning that portion sizes don't have to be an entire plate. I'm starting to appreciate the simple flavors of things, like sliced cucumber with just a hint of salt instead of heaped with dressing. It's a whole new world out there.
So, I had mentioned in my previous post about a new cookbook for busy families. Brian perused it while making the menu for the week and came across a recipe for Mini Barbecue Meatloaves. We're always looking for something different to do with a pound of ground beef besides spaghetti sauce or tacos. The night it was scheduled to debut on our dinner table, he read the recipe as he was pulling out ingredients and discovered something displeasing: the reason why it was a quick recipe is because you cook the meatloaves in the microwave! (Ga-ross.)
I love the microwave. It's great for leftovers, melting butter for a recipe, warming up some formula for the baby and the like. But a main course started and finished there? Hmmmm....that sounds like a disaster. Meat tends to get rubbery in there. But still.....we forged on to give it a fair chance.
You know what it came out tasting like? Barbecue meatloaf. It was just fine! The meatloaf patties were moist and not at all rubbery. So we've made an agreement to utilize this oft-overlooked appliance and try more recipes with it. Because really, dinner ready in fifteen minutes is pretty cool.
Happy New Year, everyone! (or to the four people that read this) I hope it brings good food, good times and great memories. :)
Post-Christmas Cooking
Santa was very good to us this year. Brian got a full-size food processor! This is going to make a big difference in our kitchen, as a mini-processor is great but can't do all jobs. He also got many different spice blends and a bottle of real vanilla extract. But the coolest gift of all?
A cast-iron enameled dutch oven!!
Dude, this thing weighs a ton! When "Santa" bought it at Kohl's, (s)he had a four year old boy with him/her and the boy wanted to run off in the parking lot. Imagine running after that kid with a cast-iron dutch oven in one hand, AND your car is parked at the far end of the lot. Yep....good times.
The first meal in the Dutch oven: Mark Bittman's "Chicken and Garlic Stew" from "How to Cook Everything." One of our favorites, as there's a saying in this house, "there is no such thing as too much garlic!"
A cast-iron enameled dutch oven!!
Dude, this thing weighs a ton! When "Santa" bought it at Kohl's, (s)he had a four year old boy with him/her and the boy wanted to run off in the parking lot. Imagine running after that kid with a cast-iron dutch oven in one hand, AND your car is parked at the far end of the lot. Yep....good times.
The first meal in the Dutch oven: Mark Bittman's "Chicken and Garlic Stew" from "How to Cook Everything." One of our favorites, as there's a saying in this house, "there is no such thing as too much garlic!"
It was a very Mark Bittman year in our house. I got a copy of his "Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating" for my birthday on December 19th and his "Kitchen Express" book for Christmas. What can I say, I love the guy's work. Not quite as much as Brian loves Alton Brown (whose Good Eats: The Middle Years" was also under the Christmas tree) but I do love his fresh ingredients and easy preparations. Brian also got a cookbook from Taste of Home for busy families, that one should be interesting.
Merry Christmas to All! A little late, but always welcome. :)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
How to make a Philadelphian Happy!
It's not hard....it just takes some wins against New York. Philly has humiliated New York on three fronts in the past week so there's been some jubilation in this transplanted Philadelphian's house this week. But nothing beat what came in the mail today
A Flyers Limited Edition Tin....
......Filled with a variety of Tastycakes!
Brian said that he would share them with me if I could name two of the four players on the lid. I totally bombed the challenge. Luckily, I'm not a woman scorned, because he goes to bed earlier than I do and I seriously considered a third photo of me raiding the tin.
Love you, honey! :)
A Flyers Limited Edition Tin....
......Filled with a variety of Tastycakes!
Brian said that he would share them with me if I could name two of the four players on the lid. I totally bombed the challenge. Luckily, I'm not a woman scorned, because he goes to bed earlier than I do and I seriously considered a third photo of me raiding the tin.
Love you, honey! :)
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