Pho reals

Business travel sucks, people.  Anyone who tells you that business travel is super-fun and glamorous was probably doing it when the investment banks were doing well and everything was soaked in booze and taking place in the Bahamas.

I was out of town last week from Sunday through Thursday, and then had a quick trip Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.  I am exhausted and very behind at work.

What I need is soup.  What I probably don’t need is to be making a soup that is kind of known for being difficult to make at home and that I’ve never made before, but whatever.  Details, details.

Crock Pot Slow Cooker Pho, based on this recipe found at SteamyKitchen.

Serves 4

For the Pho Stock:

4 pounds beef shanks (these are labeled “bones for soup” at our local store)

1/2 onion

4 inch section of ginger, sliced

Spices:  2 cinnamon sticks, 2 teaspoons whole coriander, 1 teaspooon fennel, 3 whole star anise, 3 whole cloves, 1 cardamom pod

9 cups water

2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce or to taste

1 teaspoon sugar

For the Pho Bowls:

16 ounces dried rice noodles

1/2 pound sirloin, sliced very thinly against the grain

For the table:

1-2 limes, cut into wedges

fresh herbs: cilantro, Thai basil, mint

2-3 chili peppers, sliced

2 big handfuls of bean sprouts

Hoisin sauce

Sriracha hot chili sauce

(From left, hoisin sauce, Sriracha sauce, bean sprouts, sliced scallions, Thai chilis, mint, basil, cilantro, and limes.)

Bring a large stockpot with water to boil over high heat. When it comes to a rolling boil, add the beef and boil vigorously for 10 minutes.  I used one of those pasta pots with the removable strainer insert.

When the bones have been pre-boiled, drain, discard water and rinse bones briefly to clean them. Add the bones to the Crock Pot or slow cooker. Add onion, ginger, and spices.  Fill the Crock Pot with fresh, clean, cool water to just 1-1/2 inches below surface, add the fish sauce and sugar. Cover and set the Crock Pot or slow cooker to cook on low for 8 hours. Taste and season with additional fish sauce if needed.

Strain the stock with a fine meshed sieve. Discard the solids.  (I run it through a regular strainer, toss the solids, and then run it through a strainer lined with a tea towel.  Makes it come out cleaner.)

At this point, I refrigerated the stock for about 10 hours; I started the broth at night and strained it before I went to work the next morning.  If you do this, remove the fat from the top of the stock (it will have solidified) and reheat the stock while you’re prepping the noodles and other items.

When you are just about ready to eat, prep the rest of the ingredients for the Pho bowls. Bring a kettle of water to a boil.  Put the noodles in a large, heat-safe bowl with a rounded teaspoon of salt.  Pour the water over the noodles and stir to submerge; cover and soak 5 to 10 minutes, until soft and pliable but still a bit al dente.

Line up 4 large bowls on counter. Distribute the noodles and thin steak slices evenly amongst the bowls. Ladle the hot Pho stock into each bowl. The hot stock should cook the thin steak slices.

Serve with lime wedges, fresh herbs, chili peppers, Hoisin sauce and Sriracha hot chili sauce at the table.

My finished bowl:

So how did it taste, you ask?  It’s awesome.  The broth is nice and fragrant but the spices are subtle in the finished product.  It is light in flavor and texture (probably from all the straining and then skimming the fat) – this one definitely doesn’t feel greasy or heavy at all.

A note on the accompaniments – Thai chilis are dangerous little monsters (thanks for the chilis, Niz and Peter!).  Curt confidently put a whole bunch in his and then nearly cried at the table.

I’m so, so happy this turned out well!  Now I can have pho whenever I want – because I can MAKE it.  This is one of those dishes that really makes me think “this is why I cook” when I eat it.

Productivity!

I have a mountain of unfolded laundry around me and I’m about to head out to party-hop til my heart’s content, so I’m making this quick. Today, I was pretty damn productive. Ahhhhh.

1. Waited by the phone for Amy to call to talk about the conference. She was supposed to call this morning. She didn’t. Sigh.
2. Emailed Erin from the State Department. Didn’t ask insightful questions, but still feel it was a decent email.
3. Worked like crazy on a job application. All the questions were open-ended and required long, involved responses. The finished product was over 6 pages. I worked so hard on it, I didn’t take a break until 1:00.
4. Ate breakfast (yes, sadly, this really was my first meal of the day).
5. Washed dishes.
6. Finished the application and sent it off.
7. Took a nap. Contemplated running.
8. Figured out plans for tonight. Played on Facebook. Went through some emails.
9. Ate lunch.
10. Cleaned and did laundry.

I feel very productive, although I still didn’t get half of the things done that I needed to. I hate how it always works that way. I shall be sending a loooooot of job applications over the weekend. I hope.

I don't recommend

I don’t recommend making pumpkin pancakes when there’s only one cup of flour in the house. At least not a full recipe. Or if you insist on making a full recipe, soak the rolled oats (the cup full you’re subbing for the missing second cup of flour) in the milk for a nice long time before baking. Or if you are hungry and can’t wait, be prepared to eat pumpkin pancake mush, hacked and mixed and mushed, burnt here and there, still nearly liquid in other places. Who knows if soaking would actually do any better.

On the other hand, they tasted good.

Last Hurrah for the Prudential Farmer's Market

That’s right, tomorrow is the last market of the season for Prudential Farmer’s Market. We had our doubts initially, but as the weeks went on, Rachel and I grew to love the Prudential Market. It’s hard for any market to establish itself, but the brand new Prudential Market has some strong points on its side. First off- location, nestled right in the heart of Back Bay close to hundreds of offices and one of the best shopping districts in Boston. Next- the selection. The Prudential Market is packed with local farm vendors, baked goods, breads, cheeses, maple syrup and of course, pasta! We have had a wonderful time getting to know our Boston customers and love the friends that visit us weekly (thank you Laura!). So before getting too sappy (I had enough of that during last night’s Biggest Loser… don’t even get me started), we’ll fill you in on tomorrow’s menu…

First off, we changed up our usual prepared pasta. Tomorrow we’ll have fresh rigatoni with roasted brussels sprouts in a roasted garlic brown butter and topped with parmesan and toasted pine nuts. We’re not lying when we say we have a new favorite– there’s just something about adding roasted garlic to our brown butter with a hint of apple cider, apple cider vinegar and a number of fall spices the come together to make the perfect autumn meal. Pop it in the microwave and YUM.

For fresh pastas, we’re bringing back our 3 cheese and roasted garlic ravioli, a roasted sweet potato and apple butter ravioli, white capellini and linguine and whole wheat & ground flaxseed ravioli. While we are very close to nailing down our list of stores where we’ll sell out pasta during the off-season, tomorrow may be the last chance for the next couple weeks to buy Nella Pasta in Boston, so come by and stock up! All of our fresh pastas freeze beautifully our dried rigatoni can be kept in the pantry for several months.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Mmmmm just the name of this sounds delicious! This seasonal pumpkin bread gets even more yummy with the addition of chocolate chips! We found this recipe on allrecipes.com and they have many more great fall recipes to try out! Try this one!

NGREDIENTS

• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 4 eggs
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 1 pound size coffee cans, or three 9×5 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Blend in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Fill cans 1/2 to 3/4 full.
3. Bake for 1 hour, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool on wire racks before removing from cans or pans.

(91) What a beautiful fall day

Today, well – getting up was a case of the Mondays, but once I was actually out of bed, I managed to get all of last nights dishes loaded up into the dishwasher and the dining room re-assembled and back to normal.  I love, love, love coming home to a clean house rather than coming home and knowing a lot of chores await.  I was excited for Nick to wake up and find all of that stuff done too!

After work today, Pinot and I set off to Lake Needwood for a bit of a fall hike.  She didn’t get too long of a walk yesterday, with Nick’s and my run in the morning and all her playtime with CJ last night, so getting her something out of the normal routine (i.e. walks around the neighborhood) was in order.  Nick and I ran the hiker/biker trail that begins up by Lake Needwood yesterday, and today I knew to go armed with the camera for some great fall foliage shots, today with the intent of heading around the lake.

Lake Needwood is one of those places around DC that we didn’t discover right away, but now that we know it’s there – (a) it’s amazing how far away from the city you can feel walking around and (b) hooray to it being actually really close to our house!  It pays to live in the boondocks.  Ha ha ha.  Actually, I’m starting to think that I wouldn’t mind owning a house over that way, if we end up here for good.  Providing that I can start telecommuting a couple a times a week, I’m getting too old for the Gaithersburg-Fairfax commute.

And so, today we bring you a selection of 5 photos – your choice on which one is the picture of the day.    With the exception of the photo of Pinot and I, these are all iPhone shots!  It’s not saying much for your point and shoot camera if the iPhone is taking better pictures on a day like today.  (Nope, I didn’t bring the good camera.  Maybe there is another leaf peeping excursion in my future?!)

As a side note on fall foliage, isn’t this xkcd comic the best?

Got home and started on dinner.  I think I was chopping for a good hour or so, but it was well worth it because I think this may be the best soup that I’ve ever made from scratch.  (Gingered Squash Soup ) If you have a lot of veggies laying around the house, this soup – with my modifications anyway – comes highly recommended!

Of Diwali, Chicken Biryani, Chocolate Brownies & Other Tales

How was your Diwali? I’m just so thankful that I haven’t become deaf yet.

We bought a new microwave from LG on Dhanteras. We were most excited and popped some corn to inaugarate it. Then , since yours truly was extremely excited about cooking something in her new microwave, we quickly peruse the cookbook (free with the microwave) and decide to make some chicken biryani. The list of ingredients called for whole (sabut) garam masala, boneless chicken, sliced onions, 250 gms of rice and 2 cups of water. The first instruction was to soak the rice in 2 cups of water for half an hour, then drain the water and then boil the rice in the microwave for 5 minutes. Ummmm..while yours truly was wondering whether or not to add water again, the Hujband issued instructions to follow the instructions as it were written and not to use my own discretion. Since yours truly being the good Bharitya nari (since the Hujband shelled out the dough for the microwave – it qualifies as “something” for the kitchen na and we being such foodies n all) decided to follow the instructions exactly as they were written, drained the water and put in the rice for 5 minutes. Result – Toasted rice which yours trule wondered whether briefly whther it could be masqueraded as some oil-free diet muchies at some party and then got dumped in the ol’ faithful bin in the corner 

Next yours truly decided to try her hand at making some chocolate walnut brownies (inspired by the umpteen dry fruit gift boxes given on Diwali). So we hunt for a recipie, take a printout, go to the market during the lunchbreak, speand 500 bucks on raw materials to make it (and feel very proud of making it apne haathon se and vow that henceforth, we shall make yummy deserts at home and save money while we’r at it since my Bong genes have to be kept satisfied). We reach home at 9 pm and quicky make the Hujband some khichdi (in the loyal Hawkins) and then start seiving the maida & melting the chocolate (In the naya microwave bhai). Brief moment of panic when shop next door had run out of eggs, but we got it from the shop down the road. So we seive and we stir ad we melt the butter and whip the eggs and finally we have the yummy batter ready (after we chase the Hujabnd away from the kitchen who is most amused to see everything going on and promising to take pictures next time cuz this time he’s too busy laughing). Then we grease the naya naya Borosil baking dish and pour in the batter (makign sure there is enough left to lick). And then…you sit and wait for the smells to come. 20 minnutes later there’s a ping and feeling very Julia Child & Martha Stewart-ish (only in the cooking from scratch part, not the fraud part) and we take out the dish. Alas!!!! The brownies are still not cooked completely so we put it in for ten minutes, still not cooked completely. Repeat process a couple of times more. Fourth time, you lose patience, enthusiasm wearing off and a quick glance at the clock shows it to be almost midnight and yours truly needing her beauty sleep. So we take out the dish, let it sit for some ten minutes and then take the brownie out. Too soft for a piece t be cut so we use a spoon to scoop some out and feed it to the Hujband who loyally declares it to be the best brownie that he has ever had and so on and so forth. He knows which side his bread is buttered.

And I got complimented by an old uncle with an American accent at a card party for being an honest hard-working person because we were the only who refrained from playng cards (He – because he refuses to gamble with his hard earned dollars and Me – because I am to wary of playing against the Delhi bhaiyas and bhabis who have grown up playing the game). That of course, only lasted till I told him that I was a lawyer by profession. I tell you, we lawyers are a much maligned profession. Give me money, I’l save anyone’s ass – we don’t discriminate on the basis of caste, creed or gender.

Other tales would also include my neighbours having taken the responsibility of making all those in the vicinity deaf and we literally turning a deaf ear for the next couple of days. What happened to the ten pm deadline and decibel limit etc? And the cops also turned a deaf ear to the whole proceedings. We were kept awake late every night till a grand finale with a 100o ki ladi at 2 am for three continuous nights.

Other tales would also include my work having increased  three fold, thanks to some administrative duties (all in the name of team coordination) being given to me. I don’t have an issue with additional responsibility, but this stupid North Indian mentality of refusing to take instructions from a woman makes things very tough for me. After all, how much can I tick someone off for not having done their work or how much can I run behind someone to do their work. I get majorly pissed off when people give me stupid attitude for no reason whatsoever. I am being very mature (*Pat on the back*) and letting them know politely it is not acceptable and that they need to pull up their socks because there is only this one point till when I can cover that person’s ass. Okay ranting over.

End post.

Whole Sale Green Coffee

I suddenly found a few sites that offer good prices for green coffee for home roasting. I guess you can’t buy directly from a plantation or something. Plantations only sell in very large quantities to whole salers. You have to buy from a whole saler. This one seems good. They have some very low prices. Can maybe buy 10 pounds at 4 dollars a pound. this is slightly cheaper than a micro-roastery, which has probably already bought it wholesale.

Coffee Whole Salers

the crock-pot

I have two versions of this organic free range chicken thing, one with Italian seasonings and one with Mexican. Today I’m doing Mexican. After it’s cooked, I will remove some of the chicken and shred it (it falls apart nicely) and make enchiladas, burritos or soft tacos for dinner. Then tomorrow or the next night I’ll serve it as tortilla soup by adding, well, tortillas. I’ll also bake tortillas and serve them on the side of the soup and add a scoop of sour cream on top with fresh cilantro for garnish.  All of the below is organic, just stick in the crock-pot and cook it all day.

First of all, because I must bitch, I have to shop at 5 grocery stores to get the ingredients I like, and a couple of these freaking stores are an hour plus drive. Not only does eating out here completely suck, but try finding great healthy ingredients to cook. And forget gourmet … blah blah … It’s all just hopeless.

boneless skinless chicken breasts and thighs (or sometimes, instead, I throw a whole chicken in there)

organic chicken stock

1-3 whole jalapenos which I remove after and slice for G because I’m not a fan of heat

homemade salsa made in the trusty Vita-Mix … as follows:

3 great looking tomatoes

1/4-1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup or so of each hot and mild fresh green chillies

lime juice

1 onion

coarse salt to taste

For soft tacos I serve with the usual … shredded cheese, lettuce, salsa, verde sauce,  sliced japs, sour cream and chopped cilantro

I’ll take a photo of this concoction later …  when I actually make it. Lord knows I can always become grumpy and sit and sulk instead, leaving my husband to feed himself Bojangles.

I Said "Bulgur," Not "Vulgar!"

a bag of bulgur

I am a new fan of bulgur.

“Bulgur? What the heck is bulgur? That sounds gross!” you may say.

Well, my friends, it is not gross at all. In fact, it is one of my new favorite foods to cook with.

This evening, I made chicken with bulgur pilaf. Several weeks ago, I made acorn squash stuffed with bulgur (recipe from Martha Stewart). Since I still have more bulgur left in the bag, I will soon be cooking more bulgur-inspired dishes.

Bulgur is a Middle Eastern staple, high in fiber and protein, and low in fat and calories. It’s filling, and it’s as simple to prepare as cooking rice. For more info, this site may be helpful.

Trust me, fellow eaters, you need to try some bulgur for yourself!

CSA Charleston: we used it all this week!

Another delicious week with our Pinckney’s Produce CSA!

This week our box included:

• 2 heads lettuce
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 bunch collards
• 5 gigantic carrots
• 1 bag field peas
• 2 heads broccoli
• 5 radishes
• 5 ears corn
• 2 acorn squash
• 4 bell peppers
• 6 tomatoes
• 1 pie pumpkin
• 3 ears decorative corn

Click on through to see what we did with it all!

The first night we received the box, I made the pumpkin and squash into a soup to freeze following this recipe from Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn.  The pumpkin and squash seeds were saved and toasted for snacks.  I also made and froze a batch of corn chowder using the corn.  And I went ahead and cooked the field peas, as I’ve learned to do since I left the first bag of them we received sit so long they got mildewy, with some garlic, onion, and bacon immediately, and I had a bowl of them for dinner that night, as I was home alone.

The next night we had a delicious vegetable curry made loosely following this recipe.  This used up the kale, several carrots, the bell peppers, and the tomatoes, along with some onion and potato I had on hand, and we had it over brown rice.  It was a LOT of food, and made for yummy leftovers the rest of the week, and I decided to freeze two quarts of it, just to see how it turns out.

Friday night we used the collards in the amazing Linguine with Collard Greens and Bacon again, a great accompaniment to an evening watching 30 Rock on the couch with my husband.

Saturday I was in the mood for some fall baking, as this week has been the first with a bit of a chill in the air. I had a fantasy about some sort of pumpkin bread/carrot cake hybrid. I could not find any actual recipe of this sort, so I adapted this spiced pumpkin bread recipe with a couple of shredded carrots in the mix.  It came out amazing. I’m already planning to bake more. I probably could have saved the pumpkin that came in the box and made it into puree to use in the bread recipe, but I had used it in the soup, so I made the bread with canned pumpkin. Still amazing.

Saturday night Jon served up the broccoli, sauteed, with some blackened salmon, and then we went and saw “Where the Wild Things Are.”  Both were yummy.

So that leaves the lettuce and the radishes and a carrot or two– those were eaten in a few salads which I took to work, and on a few burrito lunches for Jon. The decorative corn is in a bowl in our living room.

I think this is the first time we managed to use or preserve everything all in one week, so I’m pretty proud!

Service Book of Days 10/19/09

Outside my window… (weather, what do you hear, what do you see?) it is a little brisk on my side of the world today. We’ve had weather that was 14 degrees below normal for this time of year.
my thoughts…are about trying to regain my equilibrium in regards to my slavery. So I have decided to meditate and focus on my commitment to Master Void.

Today’s Quote…When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer ‘Present’ or ‘Not guilty.’ Theodore Roosevelt (1858 – 1919)

That was just funny…lol Hey not all quotes have to be meaningful in a serious way. Life is not really that serious all the time.

i am thankful for…always my family, all my moments – good and bad. I know I keep saying this but these are the things that I am most thankful for…everything else is just gravy, as the saying goes.

From my service training…(any skills, training etc; notes you want to share this week) I am learning quick but nutritious meals for the kids and getting them into good habits of nutrition. It is never too late to learn some good habits.

Also, I am going to start working again with my belly dancing DVD. Master loves sensual dance so this will be something worthwhile for me to learn. Exploring my sensual self.

From the kitchen…(menu for the week, what are you cooking?) I am learning that it is not just about cooking the food but creating comfort. A meal that is served well means just as much as the preparation.

i am wearing…my workout clothes. Trying to stay true to my health and fitness goals set by Master.

i am creating…(crafts, sewing etc;) nothing new at the moment. But I think I want to create something. Just not sure what yet.

my adventures this week…(where are you going this week?) Continuing to repair my house for selling.

Becoming well read…(What are you reading this week?)…Nothing this week. I am going to search for another good book on surrendering and slavery. Master recommended “Leathersex: A Guide for the Curious Outsider and the Serious Player”, by Joseph Bean and Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management (Oxford World’s Classics)

i manifest and co-create…(what are your hopes, dreams, and prayers this week) Peace and tranquility in my house and with my children. I pray for the people around us to not take their life for granted. Incidentally, the phrase “peace and tranquility” is Master’s new signoff tagline.

Todays Melody..(what music are you listening to? even if it’s just the sound of a bird…)  No melodies today…just quiet.

One of my favorite things…I am relearning my love for cooking.  For creating my own meals.
further plans for this week…housecleaning/clearing. Continuing my workout plan. Fixing up my house.

Still….life (share a picture you’ve taken OR a picture you found online that speaks to you)
Fractal.  I love saying that word.  It’s a fun word to say.

A fractal is “a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole,”[1] a property called self-similarity

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Here are the directions for this post if you are interested in starting your own:
Once a week on Monday you will respond to the above prompts.. more is better. Post your response on your blog or website.
Mention my blog and offer a link back to the main page of my blog. This way others can participate in the project as well! http://servicesavoirfaire.blogspot.com/

군만두 and grammar

I made 군만두 (goon mandu) for the first time yesterday. They are fried (and part-steamed) Korean dumplings filled with all sorts of yummy stuff. I was surprised how well they turned out. I should have taken my own photo, but here from the web is a photo of ones that look very similar…

Yummacious! Really! With some dipping sauce (soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sliced green onion etc etc)… mmmm….

And on to grammar:

~ても

“even if, although”  - used when that which is expressed in the main clause is not what is expected from the content of the dependent clause. (huh? what? eh???)

私は雨が降っても行く

I’ll go even if it rains

私は寒くても出かける

I’ll go out even if it is cold

To me, it seems almost the same as saying “despite” (though I’m sure there’s a different phrase for that in Japanese.. ^.^)

Some more examples:

中山さんは本を買っても読まない

Mr. Nakayama doesn’t read books even if he buys them

私は四時間歩いても疲れなかった

I didn’t get tired although I walked for four hours

〜てもいいですか？

^ this is an idiomatic expression used to request permission to do something.

ても can also mean “no matter what, who or where”

だれに話しても = no matter who someone talks to

何を話しても = no matter what someone talks about

どこで話しても = no matter where someone talks

It seemed a little confusing to me at first, but it is pretty easy to use this formation in every day speech. It comes quite naturally, since in English we often say “although x I still y” or “even if x I will still y”

That being said, I am going to go finish my coffee and play some pointless video games. I studied so hard for my linguistics exam (and got a 92%!!) so I feel justified in my slacking!! ^^;

Dinner Art

the beginning of tomato sauce

It’s been a very long time since I’ve cooked something.  Some of you know, I used to cook for a living (in a former life).  But it’s our first chilly weekend on the coast and I thought I’d pass on my usual Saturday night ritual of pizza at Cru Wine Bar and stay at home and cook my own dinner.  I’d forgotten that cooking is such a satisfying creative activity!  My boyfriend and I have recently broken up … (which is why my posts have been so negative and glum lately, I think.  I’m sorry about that, grieving and all ….I promise I’m working on it).  But I’ve spent the past year and a half eating out or he would make meals for me – (we tended to clash in the kitchen, so I just stepped aside …)  Anyway, I really enjoyed preparing this meal.  It’s a lot like painting … a very right brain activity, for sure.  Just put on some good music and say good bye to everything but the moment!

I’ve never cooked a spaghetti squash but it seems like an appropriate dish for a chilly day.  Tonight’s special – spaghetti squash with home made tomato sauce. My inspiration came from one of my new favorite blogs “Kath Eats Real Food”(see my” blogs I like” link in the sidebar).

tomato!

tomato sauce

top it off with fresh parsley

As I mentioned, I’ve never cooked a spaghetti squash before.  If you haven’t either, be prepared and have a chain-saw or hatchet on hand.  They are very difficult to cut and I cut my hand badly – with the DULL side of the knife.  It was reminiscent of an art accident I had in a class with Todd Greene when cutting cardboard for a mixed media painting which resulted in a trip to the ER for stitches.  I’m just saying … be careful!

the dangers of spaghetti squash!

Anyway, if you survive cutting it in half, just put it face down on a baking pan with a little water and cook for 45 minutes at 450 degrees.

cooked squash

Next, scoop out the instant spaghetti!

instant spaghetti!

Bon Appetit!

spaghetti squash with tomato sauce

It’s better than the picture gives it credit …  I’ve got plenty of leftovers if anyone is hungry!

Those truffles...

Remember these?

Here is the link to where Bakerella did her cute write up of the recipe, mine is much less amusing.

I thought they needed a little something and my book club girls thought the something was mint.  Well, wouldn’t you know it, Bakerella thought of that for St. Patrick’s Day and used mint oreos.

Anyway, here is the basic recipe, that could be modified in oh so many ways.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Oreo cookies
• 1 block of cream cheese, softened
• white almond bark

How did I do it?

1. Remove 5 Oreo cookies and process on high until they are a fine powder.  Keep creme centers in an all.  Put aside.
2. Pulverize the remaining Oreo cookies in the food processor then transfer to a bowl.
3. Add the cream cheese, combining thoroughly.  I used my hands to mix this up, a spoon just could not do this job.
4. Place parchment or waxed paper on cookie sheets, form balls with your mixture, then refrigerate a few minutes.
5. Melt almond bark per directions.  Dip balls, sprinkle with the crumbs of those first 5 cookies.
6. Refrigerate.
7. Eat.

Simple, eh? 

This is a toddler-helping simple recipe.

Irresistible Caramel Cake

8 oz. sour cream
1/4 cup whole milk
2 sticks butter,room temp
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temp
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
Caramel Frosting

Combine sour cream and milk in a small bowl and set aside.
Beat butter at medium speed until creamy, gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt; add to butter mixture alternating with the sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix at low speed after each addition until blended. Stir in vanilla.
Pour mixture into two greased and floured 9 inch cake pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes, remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

CARAMEL FROSTING
3 cups sugar, divided
3/4 cup whole milk
1 lg. egg, lightly beaten
1/8 t. salt
1 stick butter,cut up

Combine 2 1/2 cups sugar, milk, egg, and salt in a bowl, stirring well; stir in butter.
Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a heavy 3 qt. saucepan, place over medium high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar melts and syrup is light golden brown. Remove from heat. Stir butter mixture into hot caramelized sugar. (the sugar will lump, becoming smooth with further cooking)
Cook sugar mixture over medium heat until a candy thermometer registers 234 degrees, stirring often. Cool mixture 4-5 minutes.
Beat frosting with a wooden spoon to almost spreading consistancy (5-8 minutes). Immediately spread onto cake.
Yield:2 3/4 cups

Where The Wild Things Are

Just another update from Florence! Things are going well here. I have plans to visit Siena tomorrow and a vineyard in Chianti this Saturday with folks from our school and I am very excited about it. Other than that, I’m in class from morning till evening Monday through Wednesday.

Oh, our power has gone out twice now. apparently using the oven and anything else causes us to blow the fuse. This also causes us to loose hot water. After 5 days, we finally got our hot water back. nothing like showering with freezing cold water.

Classes are going well. I’m slowly beginning to understand the Italian language. It’s difficult though, and it doesn’t help that my brain has suddenly decided to remember how to speak French! Yes, between English, Farsi, and the little French I know, speaking in Italian has had its entertaining moments. Maybe if I decide to learn German in a few years I’ll suddenly be able to speak Italian correctly. My teacher is very patient though, and I’m appreciative of that.

Cooking class is, well it’s been an adventure all by itself. Tuesday, the day after the whole Mackerel ordeal, someone at the school thought we needed to learn even more about fish! So we made FISH SOUP! What goes into fish soup you ask? Well, let me tell you (warning, you may want to vomit after reading this): squids, calamari, shellfish, mussels, dogfish (??), and small fish. After they cook for a little while, they go through a food mill to separate the bones and stuff. Doesn’t that just sound YUMMY?? Yeah, moving on…

We also made Polpette Di Baccala, or Balls of Salted Cod fish. Now, this was one of the better foods we had made. They were basically like crab cakes with cod in them with a delicious tomato sauce to accompany it. Take a look for yourself (yes, I did decorate this plate)

Fried Cod Balls

And finally, for dessert, we made Buccellato, which was a sort of bread topped with strawberries set in red wine for an hour.

Strawberries soaking in red wine

Delicious! As with many of the other recipes, there are a few things I would change, but still, it was a great starting point! This was my main project for the day. I avoided both other dishes due to the presence of fish again. I even resorted to cleaning dishes so I could avoid the fish.

Well, I think that’s all for now. Gonna continue enjoying my thursday. I call it my thursday, cuz i get to spend it however i want. Oh, and I promise, the next post will have nothing to do with fish. Even better, maybe it will be about wine!!

Ciao,

Sheila

Cookbook Addict

I don’t know what it is about a cookbook that makes me want to curl up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and flip through the pages, dreaming about the next recipes I’ll try. And it’s not just the pictures and the references to roasted meats, fresh herbs or chocolate anything. It’s the whole experience – from planning the meal / menu, to making the grocery list, to shopping for the ingredients for my next masterpiece, to actually cooking it and it turning out right, and finally to having people enjoy my creation (and even ask for seconds!!). It’s a very rewarding experience.

That being said, I must have at least 30 cookbooks. Some I absolutely adore and refer to them regularly like the Barefoot Contessa ones. Some I always go back to for specific age-old recipes that have been successful over the years, like the Betty Crocker red binder (classic!). I won’t even get started on my collection of printed recipes and hand-written ones on bits of paper and notecards.

I love them all equally and they each have a special place on my bookshelf. I’ll enjoy pulling one out and leafing through the pages for inspiration. I have cookbooks on my nightstand. Cookbooks in the den. Cookbooks in the kitchen. The pages containing my favourite recipes have splotches on them that have been wiped away (with cloth or finger), and I love that. I make notes on the pages for substitutions that I’ve made, cooking times, other changes that worked well. Books should show some wear and tear – it shows that they’ve been loved. And that can’t be wrong.

Purgatory's Kitchen

Reality Show #2.  That is, if I survive “Targeted” …..

I know, “Hell’s Kitchen” is already taken by the spokesman for culinary onanism, and I don’t need the name anyway.  As much as I dislike my kitchen, it’s not hellish, but it does feel like a place of never-ending penance from which I pray to someday be delivered.  

 

Perhaps there are a few cooking/lifestyle shows that have a shred of real life in them, but not like mine.  Viewers will be amazed that I can pull off anything more complicated than a peanut butter sandwich using an outdated kitchen that was badly and cheaply updated by a previous owner in the mid ’80s.  

 

My stove is vintage 1920s.  We have to light it with a match, which is why my two boys still cannot make their own grilled cheese sandwiches.  Next to the stove is our dog’s large crate, the top of which handily doubles as extra counter space.  Dishwasher?  Yes indeed, handed down from a friend years ago, it’s a harvest gold, roll-to-the-sink, hose-hookup classic, but what I love more than anything about it is that… it washes dishes.  Floor:  old maple floorboards whose planks are far enough apart to fit whole Cheerios; one could fashion a meal out of all the food particles to be found in the crevass-riddled, uneven surface (anything dropped will roll east).

 

 

Twenty-seven Hail Marys may not be enough

 

 

Despite the picture I’m painting, I’m a pretty good cook most of the time, you just may not want to see how it’s done.  Therein lies the thrill of the reality show.  Dropped food on the floor?  Let’s dispense with the 5-second rule, which is ridiculously stringent when a good 5 minutes will do.  In my best Julia Child voice I’d chirp, “Who’s to know?”  Do you like to see chefs work with fancy appliances and utensils?  Years ago I whipped up a multi-dish full-on chicken dinner and trimmings using nothing but a teaspoon, all the while cradling a 6-week-old infant in my left arm.  Iron Chef, my ass – they’ve got nothing on the One-Armed Chef.  Though I don’t even drink coffee, I’ve lovingly ground coffee beans for Mr Crow with a mortar and pestle, looking and feeling like a peasant in an antique Columbian lithograph.  Our kitchen compost bucket is a plastic detergent tub, not a celebrity chef-designed….uh, plastic bucket.  For suspense, tension and cliff-hanging two-part episodes, we occasionally host holiday dinners for Mr Crow’s enormous family, sometimes staging – if not exactly entirely cooking – dinner for 38-40 people.

 

To keep things interesting on my show, I’ll happily lick my fingers like Nigella Lawson and bend over the dishes like Giada – my boobs are bigger but probably won’t film as well as hers.  I always love how Nigella’s fridge shows unlabeled plastic baggies of leftovers and lots of Snickers bars.  Mine has a whole cow eyeball in formaldehyde which I use when teaching Sensation & Perception; it was obtained from a student who’s father has some unclear connection to the Erie County Medical Examiner’s office, but he offered, and that’s not the kind of thing I turn down.  It’s right between the homemade fig and rosemary jam and a ramekin of bacon grease.

 

Food Network, enough with the “Overweight Guy Eats Weird and/or Diner Food” programs.  Get real.  It’s the least you could do after unleashing Rachel Ray on the world.  We have a place in Purgatory for you, if not lower down.

 

 

Charming kitchen vignette designed to distract you from the harvest gold dishwasher

 

 

 

rice pudding'ed

Thank you Columbus for finding this chunk of land and allowing me to have the day off today. Amen. I used to eat rice pudding as my mid-day pick me up in NYC because they are at every other store, but not here. So I made my own tweeked from this recipe.

And it was surprisingly easy. Cook some rice, add some sugar, milk, spices…voila!

Just look at that steam!

Recreating an Atticus Classic: Black Bean Soup with Cumin & Jalapeno

Tim and I are spending a quiet long weekend in the Berkshires.  Given the cool mountain air, I decided to make soup.   I asked Tim what kind of soup I should make.  He answered (very definitively), “black bean soup, like Atticus.”  Tim never demands particular foods or dishes so I decided I would try to recreate a classic from one of my all-time favorite spots in New Haven.  I probably went to Atticus almost everyday my junior and senior years at Yale.  It was conveniently located between where I lived, where most of my art history classes were, and the Yale Daily News where I spent countless hours.  The had the most amazing soups, breads, and capuccino granitas! I found the below recipe on Epicurous.  The recipe looked too simple to be truly amazing but then I read the reviews.  Everyone had the same reaction — wasn’t expecting much but the flavors came together beautifully.  I have no idea if this recipe is remotely close to Atticus’s but it was delicious.  I do know that Atticus uses a pork base.  This recipe uses chicken broth.  If you want to make the soup vegetarian, just use vegetable broth. Instead of pureeing 3 cups of the soup in a blender, I used my immersion blender.  I just pulsed the immersion blender 20 or 30 times to thicken the soup.  The only other change was using petite diced tomatoes with jalapeno.  I also added the fresh jalapeno but the spice really wasn’t overpowering. I served the soup with feta cheese, avocado, and scallions. Plus, we had a simple cheese quesadilla.  Overall a very delicious meal that I will be making again.

Black Bean Soup with Cumin and Jalapeño
Bon Appetit

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 to 2 teaspoons chopped jalapeño chile with seeds, divided
• 2 15- to 16-ounce cans black beans, undrained
• 1 15-ounce can petite diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth

for serving

• Chopped fresh cilantro
• Chopped green onions
• Crumbled feta cheese

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, and garlic; sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 6 minutes. Mix in cumin and 1 teaspoon jalapeño. Add beans, tomatoes with juice, and broth; bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until carrots are tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer 3 cups of soup to blender and puree until smooth. Return puree to pot. Simmer soup until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon jalapeño, if desired.

Ladle soup into bowls. Pass cilantro, green onions, and feta cheese separately.

Today I cooked tagine....

I got this recipe from delish.com.  I made it with pork chops since that is what I had on hand.  Tagine is a Moroccan stew and it was cooked in the crock pot.   It was very good, sweet with exotic spices which I love.  I might use canned tomatoes next time because the skins were tough.  Very good dish however.  Here is how it’s made~~~

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2 inch cubes

2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup raisins

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

5 thin, lean pork chops

2 cups plain prepared coucous

1/2 cup green olives

Directions:

In a 6 quart slow cooker, combine squash, tomatoes, onion, garlic, beans, broth and raisins.  Combine the spices and sprinkle over the chops.  Place the chops on top of the vegetables.  Cover and cook according to the manufacturer directions, low 8 hours, high 4 hours.

Ten minutes before serving, prepare coucous according to the package directions.

This is a great fall meal!  Enjoy!

Can't Eat Right? Drink a Shake

I have been reading bits and pieces lately about the health and wellness of our nation.  It is scary.  The increase in High Fructose Corn Syrup consumption among Americans alone is disturbing.  Well, I guess maybe it is only disturbing if you give a shit about your health.  I don’t know why people think it is so oddball and weird that I am extremely health conscience.  If anything, I think it is more screwed up that people are still eating donuts and HoHo’s in the year 2009.  I also think that achieving health in our nation is a pipe dream.  If people wanted take care of themselves, they would be doing it already. 

As I have mentioned previously in other posts, I’m not advocating six pack abs and marathon-like endurance.  That is not the point.  The point is that people are choosing television over getting outside at 2p.m. in the afternoon on a Saturday, in the Summer.  Think about that.  Better yet, look at the statistics regarding kids under the age of twelve in modern day society…  I heard from Brian Grasso on a podcast like a year ago that 1:3 kids under the age of twelve was either OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE.  Come on people.  What are these parents doing while there kids are pre-disposing themselves to disease before they even enter middle school?  Nintendo Wii is cool, but it isn’t going to get you into shape by flailing your arms around for 2 hours a day… bowling.

The rant is over.  What I really wanted to touch on is how on-the-go eating is kind of an art.  Maybe more like a planned science.  It isn’t that difficult once you make it habit.  The best way to create a habit (a good one) is to stay disciplined and do it everyday.  Eventually it becomes second nature, and you will even find yourself stumbling upon better ways to effectively complete your habit. 

For example preparing food.  The ideal daily food intake involves whole foods throughout the day.  Sometimes, based on the environment or the time constraints, it might not be an option.  Nutrient shakes save me on a daily basis.  Seriously, analyze the following ingredients of my preferred shake:

Blueberries

Banana

POM (pomegranate juice)

walnuts

protein powder (maybe the most sketchy out of all listed)

probiotic plain yogurt

milk (enough to bring it all to a drinkable liquid)

 

Best drink ever.  The best part about the way that I eat is that I genuinely enjoy what I consume on a daily basis.  Plus, I can justify everything that I eat.  When you can whole-heartedly justify everything that enters your mouth, my best bet is that you will then be on the right track to healthful food consumption.  Stop counting calories, and start putting things into your body that are rich in nutrients, and make sense.  Proper nutrition is just common sense.  I get the general sense from speaking with people is that most people know what they SHOULD be doing when it comes to food and exercise.  What is glaringly obvious is that despite KNOWING, they are AVOIDING.  It’s an interesting psychological battle.

 

Cheers…

Oh My..

Evan’s birthday is Saturday. We’re having a wienie roast, and I’m making spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Today, I had to go buy the stuff to make the cupcakes, and I saw what could possibly be my downfall.

via Pillsburybaking.com

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is cream cheese frosting in a can. I can see so many benefits to this product. Easy to use (no more spreading!), cute frosting jobs on cupcakes (no more spreading!), no need for a spoon when I want a taste (my hips are spreading just thinking about it!).

I didn’t buy it. I passed right by it and went with the regular container of cream cheese frosting, because at our expensive little grocery store, I couldn’t justify paying $4 for a can of frosting that would end up in my tummy rather than on cupcakes.

And no, Pillsbury is not paying me or giving me free cream cheese frosting in a can because of this post (although I have to admit that I would take it. Oh, I would definitely take it and then I’d eat it straight out of the can, forget the cupcakes).

There are just some things that I really can’t have at home. Ever. And today, I have three of them. Chips- I love chips, any flavor. I will eat entire bags of chips. Chips are not safe when I’m around. And sweet potato casserole. My mil introduced me to the beauty that if sweet potato casserole a couple years ago, and oh, it’s to die for. Love it. Mom introduced me to premade sweet potato casserole at Aldi’s. Not quite as good as mil’s, but still pretty darn good. And cream cheese frosting. I have two containers in my cabinet, and a large handwritten note that says ‘HANDS OFF.’

Sad that I wrote the note. Even sadder that I wrote the note FOR ME.

Evan got a birthday card from his great-great grandparents (side note: isn’t it awesome that he has great-great grandparents?). While Ev was opening the card, Dylan stood right there and said ‘There could be money or a credit card in there!’

Note to self: don’t let Dylan open cards around family. Also, teach Dylan that they’re called GIFT cards.

Hot Chocolate

One of our household favorite drinks is scotch Hot Chocolate. We’ve even abbreviated the name to “HC”. Here it is used in a sentence. “Would you like HC with your toast?”

Anyway, make this beverage your fall/winter staple and you will gain 15 pounds have everyone in the house asking for a piping hot mug of HC.

[IMG]http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u53/reranna/IMG_2596-1.jpg[/IMG]

HC

1 c. milk (the fattier the milk, the tastier your drink will be)
2 tbs. cocoa powder
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
Marshmallows or whipped cream (optional, but highly recommended)

Heat milk in a small sauce pan.  Add cocoa powder and stir with a whisk until well combined.  Stir in cinnamon.  Serve hot with marshmallows, whipped cream or both.

Dinner Time

Stir fried mushrooms (brown, shiitake and oyster)
Stir fried broccolini
Fried salmon (marinaded in light soy sauce, brown sugar and oil)
Nasi Goreng (packet sauce)

Hubby was not happy again with what I prepared for dinner.  It was either he gets confused with what’s on the table or he knew that if he did not eat them all up, some would end up in the fridge till the rubbish collection comes on Friday.

Oodles of Noodles

When my 16-year-old daughter and I make a trip to the city to visit the mall one of our favorite places to stop and have a bite to eat is Noodle & Company.  We love the Asian noodle entrées the best.

When Ree over The Pioneer Woman shared her Simple Sesame Noodle recipe you want to bet I jumped on that band wagon and whipped them right up.  They were delish and everyone in the family loved them.

This evening I decided to doctor up the recipe just a tiny bit.  So here’s what I did.

• I made Ree’s Simple Sesame Noodles, only I left out the hot pepper oil and the green onions (I didn’t have any on hand).
• I then stir fried some frozen oriental veggies in peanut oil and sesame oil.
• I added some sliced almonds
• I placed the noodles on the plate.
• Top the noodles with the stir fried veggies
• Sprinkled some hot pepper flakes on top
• And tada! Yummy Asian style noodles with stir fry veggies just like Noodle and Company!
• Well, almost.

Kids get a KICK out of Cooking

Our KICK (Kids in the Community Kitchen) After-School Program is starting its first session this Monday!  This is a free program where local kids get together and learn about healthy eating and cooking.  Stephanie, our Registered Dietitian has been busy putting together lots of fun activities and delicious recipes for the kids to enjoy.

Response to the program has been amazing with the October sessions already full, but there are still spaces open for the November sessions.

If you’d like to register your child for an upcoming session or get more information, visit our KICK Program page for all the details.

Fall. Sunshine. Park. Grill.

This was not dinner:

Full Moon Bridge at Garvan Woodland Gardens

It was, however, one good reason I had a good appetite for dinner, of which we have no photographs because, well, we just don’t. And it was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was good.

It’s been a busy Saturday. Lucy Lu and I went to the Farmers’ Market this morning, where the vendors are beginning to call her by name. A shameless flirt, she is. I was going to cut back this week, but, well, I just couldn’t. Zucchini, yellow squash, onions, tomatos, potatos, corn, butternut squash, eggplant.  And sausage.

So tonight, we had grilled chicken breasts in barbecue sauce, potato salad (with tiny redskin potatos, boiled in the skins and halved or quartered), roast corn and zucchini fritters. And it was some fine stuff, I might add.

I was less-than-entranced with the barbecued chicken, I think mostly because breast fillets being such that they need a longer marinating time or a roasting in something other than barbecue sauce. The potato salad, with my usual dressing of Hellman’s, mustard, ketchup, sweet pickle relish, seasoned salt and paprika, was excellent, and I’m glad I made a lot because now I have some left over. The corn was, of course, succulent and wonderful because it’s really hard to mess up buttered and seasoned corn, wrapped in foil and cooked on the grill. And the zucchini fritters were good, albeit Child C will not eat nearly as many of them as Child A does.

Also picked up apples to make another apple upside down cake, as Child C loved the one last weekend. I guess I’ll do that tomorrow, when it’s supposed to be rainy all day and it won’t be a gorgeous early fall day like today to be outside.

In between the market and cooking, Lucy and I went to Garvan Woodland Gardens, one of the loveliest places known to modern man and one of Hot Springs’ hidden treasures. It’s a 200-acre plus botanical garden, designed and maintained by the University of Arkansas’ landscape architecture school, and it’s just beautiful. Plus it wears Lucy out and now she’s asleep on the couch with me rather than driving me nuts wanting to play.

Tomorrow, if the rain holds off, she and I are going to walk the greenbelt park along Hot Springs Creek, and then come home and cook. I’m thinking chorizo and lentil soup; I have some tomatos that are about to go, and they need to be used. And the sausage and biscuits for next week, along with Child C’s cake.

Meanwhile, I’m watching the Razorbacks and TX A&M, early in the second half, and the Hogs are up 30-10. Woooo, Pig! Soooie! You and y’mama ‘n ‘em go call the Hogs.

Just call me Betty Crocker!

So, besides gracing the blogesphere with not one but TWO posts today, I also popped open this little discounted lovely:

(That’s right, that’s an extra large bottle, at an extra low price. Love. It.)

I’ve also been meaning to update you on some of my cooking/baking achievements (and also not so much “achievements”, but definitely some “needs-improvements”.)

Ahem.

First we have the Apple Raisin Oat Walnut Bread, that I’ve told you about before, but I guess I just feel impressed with myself when I say “Bread? Yeah, I made some. It was yummy.”

Applessauce. This I decided to make after visiting my first apple orchard of the season, and finding myself with an over abundance of apples. Applesauce seemed the perfect solution. And it was, until I decided to be lazy and not skin the apples. The result is now I have some yummy applesauce mixed with some not so yummy but very chewy apple skins. Ewww. Definitely falls under the category of “Needs Improvement,” but not a total loss.

Since I STILL had apples left over (even after the applesauce) I decided to try my hand at Apple Cinnamon Raisin Muffins. Alas, this also falls into the “Needs Improvement” category. You see, the recipe called for wheat flour, and all roomie and I had was about 4 bags of white flour, 2 of which were open (we’re not the best at keeping track of stuff like that. meh.) So I decided to use the white flour instead. I mean, how much of a difference can that make? Well, the muffins turned out tough and chewy. And they stuck to the paper. Hmmmmmm……… Wheat flour it is!!

(Maybe the bag of apples I got at the orchard was cursed? I’ll have to be more careful next time.)

And last but not least…………..(drumroll please)………………….

Finally! Something I did right! Check out my Tomato, Spinach and Feta Cheese Quiche. YUMMMMMMMY, this one is a keeper! The picture kind of speaks for itself. It was that good.

And that’s all for now. Next recipe I want to try is for Minestrone Soup, made in a crockpot. Yes, crockpot season is once again upon us. I love my crockpot. I don’t care if that means I’m an old lady, and you’re picturing me puttering around my kitchen in a ruffly apron and oven mits. I love mixing stuff together in the morning, turning it on, and then coming home to the blessed smell of a homecooked meal.

Love. It.

Soup is tricky though, so I’m hoping this one turns out.

 

Care to share your favorite Fall recipes?