I hope this is good ...

Hybrid Breakfasts

2009-04-06T21:47:00.005-05:00

Since I'm on a total roll, I'm gonna hit you with some breakfast insanity! Not too long ago, my sister introduced me to Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, an excellent cook book that makes bread baking practically painless. And really impressive. After making 3 loaves of perfect, crusty bread, I tried out this recipe. Twice. There is no messing with this version of eggs and toast.

Mmmm...steamy.
I won't get into the how to of this recipe, as it requires some extra prep, but I will continue to endorse this cookbook and heartily congratulate you if you go out and buy it.

In other breakfast news, waffles have been kind of big in our house lately. I bought Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, made his version of waffles, and nearly fell over when I read one of the 12 suggested variations on the standard waffle: 2-3 strips of bacon laid over the batter after it's been spread on the waffle iron...

Drool.

There was no way we weren't trying this. So here is the variation of the recipe I used (I have been trying to use some whole wheat flour in place of white for the healthies)...and a little food porn. I'll let you imagine how sweet that waffle iron sizzle sounded.

Buttermilk waffles with Bacon. (OMGOMG!)
2 cups flour (or half ww/white)
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, separated
4 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together yogurt/milk and egg yolks. Stir in butter and vanilla.
Grease the waffle iron and heat it. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together. Beat the egg whites with a whisk or electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold them gently into the batter.

Spread enough batter onto waffle iron to barely cover it. Lay 2-3 strips of bacon over the batter. The bacon addition may add a minute or two to your regular waffle bacon baking time.

You cannot mess with this breakfast.

Progress. Or, Barack Obama the Cross Stitch.

2009-04-06T21:17:00.003-05:00

I couldn't resist this ridiculous undertaking which was certainly my biggest cross stitch project ever. Pattern thanks to subversive cross stitch for giving away this free Obama pattern with orders. I started stitching tiny x's on January 20th, inauguration day, and finished it several weeks later.

I messed up the pattern and forgot to put the Obama "O" on the lapel. I am comforted to see that sublime stitching made the same mistake in their sample. I think it looks better as the "O" of Hope.

I love the incidental art that occurs on the back of a cross stitch--so many nicely organized straight little lines.

Blackberry Jamble Shortbread Bars

2009-04-06T20:43:00.004-05:00

Do not ask me what a Jamble is. A Jamble Bar, however, I have recently become familiar with. This recipe comes from this cookbook my sister gave me for my birthday last year: Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth. They are not kidding--I'm surprised they didn't throw "rotten toothy" to their list of adjectives. Not only is this book jam packed with recipes for delectable sweets that make your teeth hurt just to look at them, the design is also totally cute (polka dots and stripes). This wins major points in my book.

This recipe begins as all recipes should, with a pound of butter and two cups of sugar. How can you mess with that?!

Blackberry Jamble Shortbread Bars (makes 15 large or 30 small bars)

1 lb unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup almond flour or very finely ground almonds (I ground almonds in a mini food processor)
1 1/2 cups blackberry preserves
1/2 cup chopped almonds
Confectioners' sugar for dusting (which I completely forgot about)

Combine the butter and sugars in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer set at medium-low speed, beat until creamy. Add the vanilla and salt and beat until combined. (I did this all in the food processor)

Beat the all-purpose and almond flours into the butter mixture on low speed, just until a smooth, soft dough forms.

Spray a 9x13" baking pan with cooking spray and press 1/3 of the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust. Wrap the remaining dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold and firm, at least 30 minutes. (I recommend doing putting this in the fridge for 30 minutes, then baking the bottom crust, just to make sure it is done.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees with rack in middle position.

Bake the bottom crust until it is firm and just beginning to turn pale brown around the edges, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and spread the preserves evenly over the crust. Crumble the remaining shortbread dough over the jam to form a pebbly, crumbled topping. Sprinkle with the chopped almonds. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes, or until top is firm and crisp and lightly golden in color. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature.

Cut with a sharp knife into 15 squares, then diagonally into 30 triangles if desired. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

These bars will keep for 1 week at room temperature if covered, or up to 1 month in the freezer.

Back-tracking pt. 1: Cookies

2009-02-20T10:17:00.003-06:00

In my blog-laze over the past months, I missed covering Thanksgiving and Christmas. I should be able to produce some kind of massive photo montage of the gastronomic insanity that was Thanksgiving (one word: Turducken), but the only thing I really photo-documented during Christmas was my favorite part: Christmas Cookies. We have been making the same recipe for as long as I can remember, and why would we change it? It is amazing.

Whenever I start making these I always believe there will never be enough cookies and make a double batch. I roped my sister and the in-laws into decorating a huge quantity of these cookies. I was careful not to thank them for their help until they were finished, because I didn't want the help to stop. So I will say it here and now: Thanks, you guys. Great work. I hope you do it again next year.

This recipe is credited to Mrs. Elmer L. Anderson, wife of former MN Governor, and is found in a 1974 church cookbook from my mom's library.

Roll Out Sugar Cookies That Never Stick

3 cups flour
1 cup butter
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar (found in the spice aisle)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, soda, tartar in food processor. Cut butter into dry ingredients, pulse a few times. Add eggs and sugar and mix together for just a few seconds until a dough ball forms.

Place dough in a bowl and cover snugly with plastic wrap. Refridgerate dough for at least 20 minutes, up to overnight.

When ready, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough out 1/8" thick on a floured surface. Use your favorite seasonal (or not) cookie cutters. Be sure you have a few cookie sheets available so you can keep working while each pan is baking. Bake for 8-10 minutes per pan, but watch carefully and remove from oven when cookies start to brown. They burn really quickly, which makes everyone sad.

As for frosting, my technique is a little vague. The ingredients are powdered sugar, milk, butter, and cream cheese. I usually start with about 2-3 cups of powdered sugar, toss it in the food processor with a brick of cream cheese, half a stick of butter, and then thin it out with milk as necessary. You want it to be thin enough to spread a thin layer on the cookie, but thick enough that it doesn't fall right off. Plus you need to consider that it should be able to hold your decorations of choice. Then mix a couple of separate bowls with a few drops of food coloring of your choice. Does that help? Should we call it medium frosting?

Decorating is clearly my favorite part, my frosting friends can verify that I am a total slave driver in this department. But it is only because I love how creative people get when they are doing this stuff. Laura's MN Nice is my pick for best cookie this year. Congrats, Laura!

Chicken Soup For Your Mouth

2009-02-19T10:33:00.003-06:00

Hey. You know what is really, really good? Chicken soup. And apparently it is good for you too. For your soul. And your hunger. This particular recipe came from the wrapper of one of those 5 pound roaster chickens. I made some modifications based on what I had in the freezer, and added about three times the amount of noodles recommended because they are SO GOOD. I made this once and then made it again a week later because I couldn't stop thinking about it.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 c. sliced carrots
1 c. chopped onions
1 c. sliced celery
1 chopped red pepper
1 4-5 lb chicken
10 c. water (part or all can be broth, I used about half broth)
1 Tbsp salt
3/4 c (or the whole bag) frozen egg noodles
3/4 c. peas
3/4 c. frozen or canned corn
1/2 tsp thyme (plus other spices--I used rosemary and herbes de provence)

Saute carrots, onions, celery, peppers in oil for about 5 minutes or until tender. Add chicken, water/broth, salt & pepper, and spices. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove the chicken and skim the fat (I don't really get how to do this yet). Bring to a boil again and add noodles, peas and corn. Boil vigorously for about 10 minutes or until noodles are tender. This may take a little longer if you are using an entire bag of noodles, which I recommend.
Meanwhile, take the meat off the chicken, discard the skin and bones, and shred the meat. Add the chicken back to the soup and enjoy!

This makes quite a lot of soup, so there will be leftovers. Since there is so many noodles, a lot of the liquid gets absorbed while saving. When I reheat this, I rehydrate it with a little extra broth. I like using beef or veggie broth to change the flavor just a little bit. MMMM...soup.

Tamale Pie vs. Tamale Pie

2009-02-09T16:31:00.003-06:00

Oh hey! Remember how I have a blog? Sorry, I got a little distracted for a while there. Fear not, I have been making things at my usual break neck speed. Thanks to all of you who kept checking in on the blog despite my laziness. You really would think I would have upped my game when the blog was mentioned in the family Christmas letter.

Anyway, today I thought I would share a side-by-side comparison of two recent hot dishes ('tis the season for hot dish, aka winter)--Tamale Pie times two.

The first comes from Cooking Light Magazine. I made this for the first time a few months ago and Steve declared it one of his favorites out of everything I had ever cooked.

Chicken Tamale Casserole
1 cup preshredded mexican blend cheese, divided
1/2 cup fat free milk
1/4 cup egg substitue (I used 1 egg)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1 can (14 3/4 oz) cream-style corn
1 (8.5 oz) box corn muffin mix
1 (4 oz) can chopped green chiles, drained
Cooking spray
1 (10-oz) can enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

Preheat oven to 400. Combine 1/4 cup cheese with next 7 ingredients (through green chiles). Stir until just moist. Pour mixture into a 13"x9" pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until set.
Pierce entire surface with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese (or if you are me, more). Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove, let sit for 5 minutes. Cut into squares and serve topped with sour cream. Serves 8.

Like I said, this was pretty popular in our house. I kind of think corn bread should be prepared in the way the base of this dish is for regular old corn bread purposes. The only problem I found with it was that it didn't really satiate my hunger for a long period of time. I decided to look for other options with more stuff in them. As always, The Joy of Cooking comes to the rescue.

Corn Bread Tamale Pie

Saute in a large skillet over med-high heat:
1 lb ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1 medium onion, chopped

When meat is browned and the onion translucent, about 10 minutes, add:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can drained canned or frozen corn
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup water or broth
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Simmer 15 minutes. Set aside. Preheat oven to 450.
In a medium bowl, whisk together:
3/4 cup corn meal
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, whisk together until well blended:
1 egg, 1/3 cup milk, and 1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and whisk until well combined. Spread the meat mixture in a greased 3-quart casserole and cover with the corn bread topping. The topping will (supposedly) disappear into the meat mixture but will rise during baking and form a layer of corn bread. Bake until corn bread is brown, 20-25 minutes.

OK, this one did not work out as well as I had hoped. First of all there seemed to be waaay too much of the meat mixture, and then there wasn't enough of the corn bread to even cover the whole top of the casserole. So I decided to double the corn bread part of the recipe, which made the whole thing pretty dry. So fail on my part, but we ate it anyway. This was a while ago so I can't really remember what we did to remedy the dry corn bread problem, but it seems like just reheating it with a little broth or enchilada sauce would make it all better.

Cooking light wins this round.

Like Father, Like Son

2008-12-02T09:59:00.004-06:00

My friend Derek and his wife had a baby last week, named Harrison. I made a onesie to commemorate Derek's first tattoo, and kindly asked that he send me a picture of said onesie and said tattoo when they got around to it (apparently babies take up a lot of time or something). They got right to it! Congrats, you guys.

Mexican Coffee

2008-11-29T17:18:00.002-06:00

Mi Amiga Mary directed me to this delicious Mexican Coffee recipe. I had to convert the measurements from mL to tsp, but I think everything worked out as it should.

1/2 cup ground coffee beans
1/3 cup chocolate syrup
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 cup milk
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla

In coffee filter, mix coffee grounds, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Brew coffee as usual (I made 8 cups). Combine milk, chocolate syrup, and brown sugar in saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour sugar mixture into hot coffee(or vice versa), add vanilla.

This is delicious. Next time I make it I might toss a pinch of cayenne pepper in with the coffee to give it a little more of a kick.

Anticipation Cookies

2008-11-29T16:56:00.003-06:00

On Election Day (hereafter referred to as "Obama Day"), I took the day off work so I could be sure to vote. I walked to my polling place at 10 am, voted in less than 5 minutes, then started freaking out because THERE WAS NOTHING MORE I COULD DO. I realize this is not entirely true, but since I was suffering from election exhaustion and could not bear the idea of braving the streets to beg others to vote on my party's lines. I did make some calls from the Obama site, which made me feel a little better, but also creeped out by the fact that it was so easy to get people's first and last names, phone number, age and sex. And polling place. Anyway, I passed a little more time by baking cookies. This particular recipe comes from the inside of the oatmeal container and is called "Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies." Magic!

-2 sticks softened butter
-1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
-1/2 cup granulated sugar
-2 eggs
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1 1/2 cups flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-3 cups oats
-1 cup raisins (I used the rest of what I had, plus handfuls of chocolate chips and walnuts)

Heat oven to 350. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, add to egg mixture. Mix well. Stir in oats and raisins, etc. Drop in rounded tablespoons onto an un-greased cookie sheet (I used an ice cream scoop for ease and extra large cookies). Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool one minute on cookie sheet, then transfer to wire rack.

They worked! Obamarama!

Egg rolls that aren't so bad for you

2008-10-28T13:25:00.003-05:00

I've always been kind of grossed out by the frying process when it happens in my home. The first time I made egg rolls, I fried them in vegetable oil on my stove top in a college apartment, burned half the wonton wrappers, and had to live with the odor of burnt oil for what may have been weeks. Plus the oil splattered all over the stove, which was not fun to clean up, and probably got a few dirty looks from my roommates. Oops. To my disappointment, I really like both making and eating egg rolls, so I searched far and wide (google) for a solution.
I found it! Instead of frying the egg rolls, I bake them! The first attempt involved brushing the egg rolls with vegetable oil and then baking them. The result was OK, but not great. They were not very crispy and tended to fall apart. Plus, still covered in oil and probably not that great for you. My search continued (google). Finally I came across a recipe that involves baking the egg rolls, but instead of brushing them with oil, you brush them with an egg wash. They do not turn out as crispy, nor do they give you the satiety produced by a crispy greasy mouth full of fat. But again, going for a little health here. They do, however, maintain a solid wrapper for the tasty innards of your egg roll.

You can pick from a variety of items for egg roll stuffing. My recipe usually involves ground turkey, shredded cabbage, grated carrots, and some kind of peanut sauce. I cook the ground turkey first with some chopped onions and pressed garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin to taste.

The cabbage and carrots are easily sliced and diced using the appropriate food processor blades. Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl, add pre-made peanut sauce (or, if you have your own recipe for peanut sauce, please let me know).

Egg roll wonton wrappers are usually pretty readily available in the produce section of the grocery store. I am not even going to try to explain how to wrap these things, there is a really good visual aid on the back of the wrapper packaging.

Arrange the egg rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet. Whisk one egg in a small bowl, brush liberally over the tops of the egg rolls. Use another egg if necessary. It is ok if some of the egg mix collects under the eggrolls, it adds a little scrambled egg taste that is pretty familiar in stirfry or fried rice. aka, yum.

I baked these at 350 for about 15 minutes. The finished egg rolls have a shiny appearance and are good to eat.

I have to confess that these things do not keep as well in the fridge as fried egg rolls do, so try to eat them all in one sitting or have a party or something.

Ginger Pumpkin Bread

2008-10-28T13:06:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Everyday Food Magazine for winning me all sorts of compliments on this tasty fall-flavored bread.

Ingredients:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1.5 sticks), melted, plus more for pan
2.5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger (I usually use the prepared kind that is in a tube in the produce section, fresh grated ginger works too)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375. Butter and flour two 8.5 x 4.5 inch (6 cup) loaf pans, set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, pumpkin, melted butter, and eggs; add flour mixture, and stir until just combined (If using fresh ginger, mix with 2nd bowl of ingredients).

Divide batter between 2 prepared pans. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test. Let cool 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle with sugar glaze (below).

Sugar Glaze
In a small bowl, mix 1.5 cups powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons water until mixture is smooth but thick. I have also tried this with milk for a creamier texture. Drizzle over loaves and let dry for 15 minutes before serving.

Pets

2008-10-28T12:01:00.003-05:00

Most people probably know that Steve and I are proud owners of the cutest dog on the planet, Dr. Cornelius Gibson. Here is the best picture I have ever taken of him.

And here is a picture of his cousin, a Grizzly Bear at the Minnesota Zoo.

Did I ever tell you how to make Margherita Pizza on the grill?

2008-10-28T11:49:00.002-05:00

I thought not. I made this during the height of the tomato onslaught of '08, and was quite good.
Start with one of those Betty Crocker "just add water" pizza crusts. Make it according to directions (by adding water, I presume), and roll it out on a floured surface. I put mine on this metal grate-thing that is supposed to be for grilling vegetables that would otherwise fall through the grates of the grill. Help with a name, anyone? Or, if you are feeling brave, you can just paint some olive oil on the surface of the crust and toss in on the grill, oil-side down. Grill for a few minutes; long enough for the crust to be done on the outside, but not cooked all the way through. Brush the top of the crust with oil and flip it over. This was the hardest part for me, I think because I didn't have enough oil on the crust. Once flipped, top the pizza with round cuts of fresh mozzarella cheese, about 3 chopped tomatoes, a few handfuls of chopped fresh basil leaves, maybe 1/3 cup chopped red onion, and salt and pepper. Grill until the cheese melts, which is not very long.

"It's Delicious!" --Steve McPherson

Best Brownies. Ever.

2008-10-06T20:50:00.002-05:00

Steve says these brownies are like high school cafeteria material: a nice flaky top but still half-baked and gooey in the middle. Excellent. This recipe is from Everyday Food Magazine (thanks, Martha), which includes nom-ular variations such as cream cheese, mocha, chocolate chip, and nut. I opted for mocha.
Ingredients:
8 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp instant espresso powder

Preheat oven to 350.
Brush 9x9 inch pan with butter and line with parchment paper (leave edges hanging over so you can pull it out of the pan easily when you are finished. Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Place butter, chocolate, and espresso powder in a large heat-proof bowl and set over a pan of boiling water. Stir occasionally until smooth (2-3 minutes), remove bowl from pan. Add sugar, mix to combine. Add eggs, mix to combine. Add flour mixture, mix just until moistened. Transfer to prepared pan, smooth top.
Bake until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes (if you can stand it). Lift brownies from pan using overhanging parchment paper.

Supposedly you can keep these in an airtight container for 2 days, but let's be honest, these things are not lasting that long.

Roast Chicken with 49 Cloves of Garlic

2008-10-06T20:05:00.002-05:00

Hooray! The Joy of Cooking arrived at my house and all is well. I made an all-Joy meal the other night, which included Roast Chicken with 40 (technically there were 49) cloves of garlic, and roasted peaches. I was pretty pleased with the chicken roasting process, as I have never done it before and it seems a little intimidating. Turns out it is really easy. The only part that I found, um, disgusting was removing the spine from the chicken. The recipe doesn't actually call for this, but my dad suggested it so that the chicken could actually be stuffed, so to speak. It worked out really well but was gross.

Chicken with 40 (49) cloves of garlic, From The Joy of Cooking:
One 3.5-4 lb Chicken
Rub the skin with Olive Oil
Mix:
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp black pepper
Rub mixture on the skin and in the cavity.
Place 1 quartered lemon in the cavity.
Place the chicken, breast side up in a casserole, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (up to 24). Preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in center.
Add:
3 garlic heads, separated but not peeled.
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine
Bring to a boil on the stove, when boiling cover and place in the oven. Cook at 375 for 25 minutes, then increase heat to 450 and cook for an additional 30-45 minutes. Add chicken stock or wine as needed to keep liquid in the bottom of the pan.
Optional: Remove 6+ garlic cloves, peel and mix with2 tbsp minced fresh parsley or finely shredded basil. Mix paste in with the sauce.

I used extra garlic cloves to make garlic mashed potatoes...yum yum.

And then dessert! Baked Stuffed Peaches.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Halve 4 peaches.
Mix 1/2 cup orange juice and 1/4 cup powdered sugar until sugar dissolves. Toss peaches in juice mixture until evenly coated.
In a food processor, mix 1/3 cup slivered almonds, 1/4 cup dark brown sugar. Pulse until almonds are small pieces. Add 1 tablespoon cold butter and pulse until crumbly (I forgot to add the butter so ended up just putting small pats on top of each peach). Divide the almond mixture among hollows of peaches. Bake until pan juices are bubbly, about 15-20 minutes.

Pot Roast

2008-10-02T14:20:00.002-05:00

I have had a hankering for some pot roast since the first day it started to feel like fall. Here's how it went down:

Ingredients:
2 lb beef chuck Shredded/chopped/minced carrots, onions, and garlic
Various spices
Red Wine

Brown the beef on all sides w/ butter and a little flour. Add shredded carrots (I used 2, do not grate your fingers), 1 chopped onion, and 3 minced garlic cloves. Fill pot with water up to about 1/4 of height of roast. I added about a cup of red wine. This smells amazing. As for spices, my dad suggested thyme, and other recipes suggested marjoram and bay leaf. I have bay leaves but never have actually used them in cooking, so this was a must. Remember to remove bay leaf when you are finished, they are not totally edible. Dashes of thyme and marjoram. Also smells amazing. Cover and cook for about an hour, flipping the beef once. Keep the heat low so the juice doesn't boil like crazy. After an hour, scoop some of the juice/water/wine mix out into a small bowl and whisk in some flour to the thickness of your liking. Think gravy. Return this concoction to the pot. Chop up some potatoes, carrots and onions and add them to the pot. I may have added way too many potatoes, but hey, I'm Irish. Cook until the meat is tender and the potatoes are done.

A very productive Saturday

2008-09-21T12:03:00.003-05:00

I have been working on getting into a pretty nice Saturday routine. Sleep in, take Gibson to the dog park, lounge around, make some delicious foods. Yesterday I threw in ordering The Joy of Cooking and subscribing to Martha Stewart Living (a long-time dream of mine). I am excited.
As previously mentioned on this blog, we bought into a CSA this summer. It has been great and not so great. As Steve puts it, "you really have to love vegetables" in order to enjoy the CSA. I do love vegetables, but have felt a little overwhelmed by the quantities of things that I don't necessarily know how to use, slash do not have the gastronomic capacity to consume it all on my own. Yesterday, I decided to do something about the tomato situation in our house. Again, love tomatoes but had about 4 gallons of them yesterday. I did a little internet research and "triangulated" recipes, as my dad would say, and made up this number. My true inspiration was the tomato-basil soup at The French Meadow in Minneapolis, which Steve and I often refer to as "crack soup." It has insanely addictive qualities.

Calley's Tomato Basil (Crack) Soup

About 20 tomatoes, various sizes and varieties (I honestly didn't count them)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 small onions
1 can chicken broth
about a cup heavy cream
1 cup loosely packed basil leaves
3 tablespoons butter
Blanch tomatoes, remove peels and seeds. Puree in small batches in food processor. Try to get all the big lumps out. It turns out that tomatoes are really acidic and turn your fingernails yellow and your skin to paper. Awesome!!
In your big pot that you will be cooking the soup in, melt butter and saute the onions and garlic until soft. Add tomato puree, chicken broth and cream. Chop the basil (I used a mini-food processor) and add that in too. Salt and pepper to taste. Heat to your liking. I am going to freeze some of this, so I'll let you know how well it keeps in a couple of months.

Next on my list of things to do yesterday was to finish a birthday gift I had been working on for our friend Courtney. She loves robots--please, please! visit her blog and read her Wall-E story. Start here, then read this. It is truly heartwarming. I found this Sublime Stitching robot iron-on and knew I must put it on something for Courtney, decided on dish towels and then found out that her birthday was coming up. What a happy coincidence! She liked them, I am happy to report.

Finally, I decided to make this sage-walnut pesto recipe I found on this blog. I have a sage plant on my deck garden that I haven't used all summer, and decided this sounded like a pretty yummy dish. And I was correct. It tastes a lot like regular pesto, minus the sometimes-overwhelming garlic flavor. The sage flavor is pretty subtle, though I think you could mix pretty much any leaf with olive oil and cheese and get the same general flavor. Next week I am going to make geranium leaf pesto.

This one I ate on as an open-faced pesto and smoked swiss on wild rice multi grain bread. It went very well with the crack soup.

Coconut Curry Chicken in the Crock Pot

2008-09-21T11:37:00.004-05:00

I discovered this blog called "A year of CrockPotting" in which the blogger has spent much of the past year making something in the crock pot every day. Ambitious. I was drawn to this Thai Chicken Curry recipe, but made a few modifications. I really like the sweet potatoes in the recipe, but the chicken turned out a little tough. I think next time I will try to cook it longer or keep the chicken closer to the bottom of the pot so it breaks down a little bit more and takes on more of the saucy flavor. I ate this with brown rice and made everyone at work jealous of my lunch. Yum!

Burn-your-face-off Guacamole

2008-09-07T18:28:00.004-05:00

I picked up some avocados and jalapenos at the produce market the other day, and made up some guacamole.

Ingredients:
2 avocados
2-3 garlic cloves
1 Jalopeno, chopped with ribs and seeds removed
2 smallish tomatoes, chopped
Salt and pepper

Mash up the avocados and mix in all the other ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

I ate the guac with red-hot-and-blue corn chips, which are also hot. This stuff did not last very long in our house.

State Fair 08!

2008-09-07T17:41:00.004-05:00

Sorry I have fallen behind on my posting, I blame my computer and the internet for being rude to me. Also... State Fair!! Thank you to the 2-4 people who have continued to look at my blog daily. I seriously doubt it is on purpose. Allow me to return to business with a gastronomical summary of my two (2!) trips to the Minnesota State Fair. Beautiful. Let us begin with day one with Steve and Nell...bring on the unflattering photos

Steve was immediately drawn to the "Big Fat Bacon" stand...rightfully so. The bacon is large, is on a stick and is glazed with maple. Yes.

Mini Donuts...The world's most perfect breakfast food.

Sausage by The Sausage Sisters. Chunks of Sausage wrapped in some kind of breadiness, smothered in spicy peanut sauce.

Lemonade in a classic State Fair cup.

Cheese Curds. This picture will make everyone who has moved away from Minnesota insanely jealous and everyone else insanely nauseated.

I call this one the Bluth Banana. Chocolate-covered frozen banana with sprinkles (or jimmies, depending on how you roll). Sorry about the suggestive nature of this photo.

Sno-cone. Steve asked the vendor what the best flavor is, and without hesitation he replied, "Blue raspberry and lime." He was right.

Nell noms on some french fries.

Day Two with Amanda and Margaret!

Pronto pup. They use a paint brush to apply the ketchup and mustard.

The best damn ear of corn you will ever eat. I am not really sure how they do it. And they have compost bins for the ears. My personal trainer inexplicably called me at this point in my day at the fair, asked me what I was eating, and congratulated me on how well I was doing so far. Glad she didn't call me on day one.

Sweet Martha's Cookies and All-You-Can-Drink Milk. This is a feat, considering you have to jog half way across the fairgrounds from the cookie stand to the milk booth while carrying a teetering pile of piping hot cookies. It is truly a tragedy to see how many cookies fall to the ground and are stomped on my humans and animals alike. Milk and cookies go really well together, it turns out.

Best deal of the day! You buy a pitcher of really crappy beer and get a basket of fries for free! A total steal at 18.75. Not joking.

This was a new one for me: Walleye cakes from this place called Giggles. I guess it was the best new food at the fair in 2002 and I was still all caught up with getting my cheese curds and seeing the butter heads. These babies have walleye, salmon, wild rice and panko flakes in them...ohhhh so delicious. Excellent while watching the lumberjack show.

Aaaand finally, Australian battered potatoes by moonlight. I only ate a few bites of these but are adorable because they come with an Australian flag in them, and are smothered in ranch dressing. When I tried them, I thought of when Aunt Selma tries smoking a cigar for the first time and said, "That's like smoking five cigarettes at once!" Well, think of french fries x5. And smothered in ranch dressing.

Two Takes on Pickles. (easy)

2008-08-17T17:24:00.003-05:00

I love making pickles because when you feed them to your friends everyone is super-impressed and the general response is, "You MADE these?!" It feels great because it only takes, like, 15 minutes to make these and as with all meals containing mostly vinegar and sugar, they are delicious. So here it is ... Dill Pickles versus Asian Pickles, both recipes from Everyday Food Magazine. (Free Martha.)

Dill Pickles:
4-6 Cucumbers (the little Kirby ones are best), quartered lengthwise
1 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon dill seed
2 garlic cloves, smashed

Put the quartered cukes in a pan that is big enough to lay them all flat and be able to cover them with liquid. I used a 9 x13 Pyrex pan. In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, salt, dill seed, garlic, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Once they've dissolved, pour liquid over cukes, making sure the seed side of the spears is submerged, for better absorption.
Put that pan in the fridge for at least 2 hours, then transfer to Tupperware of some variety. Keep them in liquid until ready to serve. The flavor gets stronger the longer they stew. The recipe says good for 2 weeks, but I don't see what could go wrong with all that vinegar.

Take 2! Super Fun Happy Times Asian Pickles!!

This recipe starts the same as the dill pickles, with the quartered cuke spears in a Pyrex pan. THEN!

Cut 1-2 carrots in half lengthwise and then 1/2 inch diagonal slices.
In saucepan, combine:
1 cup rice vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons coarse salt
1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 cups water

And then as above ... Bring these items to a boil, simmer and stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Pour over cukes. Refrigerate for 2+ hours. The ginger flavor grows as they sit. Deee-lish!

Pesto (aka the taste of summer)

2008-08-10T17:55:00.002-05:00

My dad makes the best pesto and I have tried to replicate it several times, to no avail. Today was no exception. I called Dad today and tried to get him to reveal his source, which he claims is The Silver Palate Cookbook. Here is the recipe he gave me:
2 cups basil ("You're going to need a lot")
4 medium garlic cloves ("Easy on the garlic though, that can get pretty strong")
1 cup nuts ("You can use any kind of nuts")
1 cup olive oil
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Romano cheese

Combine basil, garlic, and nuts in food processor until well chopped. Add olive oil in a thin stream while food processor running. Add a liberal amount of fresh ground pepper. Add cheeses.

Easy! My mistake today was not thinking about the quantity of nuts. He may have been lying about that. Typically pine nuts are used, which I love. However, the last batch of pesto made by my dad he accidentally used some Macadamia nuts that Nora brought home from Tanzania. He thought they were peanuts. Incidentally, it was really freaking good pesto, not to mention extremely valuable. Since I had some Macadamias that Nora gave me as a gift a while back, I thought, why not? Fortunately my error was not so grave that it destroyed the valuable pesto--it turns out 1 cup of Macadamia nuts is enough to take over the flavor of the pesto. I added more basil and things seemed to have turned out OK. Good but not as good as my Dad's.

I could eat pesto on everything. Today I had it on really good rustic bread that had olives in it. I will probably eat it on some pasta for dinner. Yum, and yes, I have terrible garlic breath.

Salsa Shark

2008-08-10T17:28:00.002-05:00

Ahh, summer. In addition to my CSA basket arriving every Friday, I love going to the St Paul Farmers' Market and loading up on veggies. Steve is really pumped about veggies, too. I am not sure he knows it yet. This week I bought a, how do you say, salsa kit? It was a cute little basket full of everything you need to make fresh salsa: tomatillos, jalapenos, onions, a green pepper and a tomato. All for 5 bucks!

I bought another little bunch of regular tomatoes because I like them in salsa. I had a few baby ones from the CSA, so I threw those in too. I did a little research on how I should be making fresh salsa and most recipes involved things like roasting, stewing, or other varieties of standing over a fiery stove, so I decided to make up my own recipe. Basically I wanted to use the food processor and the internet was not giving me the recipe I wanted.

Here's how it went down:
1. Quarter 5-6 tomatoes and pulse in the food processor a few times until the chunks are the size that you want them. Pour this stuff in a bowl and set aside. Think about how juicy you want your salsa because you will probably have to dispose of some of the tomato juice.

2. Chop the onions (probably 1 big one or 2 mediums) by hand and set aside.

3. Cut off the stems of the 1 green pepper and 2 jalapeno peppers. Clean the seeds and ribs out of the green pepper. I kept the seeds and ribs of the jalapenos for extra heat, which I anticipate will get stronger the longer the salsa sits. Yes.
Pulse those bad boys in the food processor to the size of your liking, paying particular attention to the size of the jalapenos. I ended up realizing that my jalapenos were still big enough to burn a hole in your face and then had to kind of pulverize more of the chunks than I had originally intended.
Dump peppers in bowl with onions.

4. Clean and quarter tomatillos. Again, pulse in food processor to chunk size of your liking. Mix in with peppers and onions.

5. Toss a handful of cilantro in processor with 2 garlic cloves. This one you can process to a paste. Add to peppers, onions, and tomatillos.

6. Revisit those tomatoes. Dispose of any unwanted juice (probably most of it--you will be adding salt, which will pull out more juices). Mix it all together, salt and pepper to taste.

Hooray! You made salsa! It is a good thing this makes a big batch, because I could eat this stuff for like, 2 hours straight.

Embroidery: An Apron for Amy

2008-08-05T11:14:00.002-05:00

I embroidered this apron for my friend Amy for her birthday (I finished it only 3 months late). I used a plain old white dish towel and sewed a ribbon across the top as the tie (thanks to my mom for sewing machine help). Once again, iron-on patterns are from Sublime Stitching.

The campfire is my favorite. I used thread for the fire that changes colors as it goes, which worked out really nicely. The marshmallows look really yummy too.

Gibson approves.

Dill-er Potato Salad

2008-08-04T22:13:00.004-05:00

Another CSA item that I have been loving is dill weed (tee hee). I have been putting sprigs of it in salads and eating it plain. I have big plans for next week's bunch already. But this week's dill weed award goes to potato salad. I adapted this one from a recipe from a television network that specializes in food. I forget what it is called.

Start with 3 lbs red potatoes. Leave the skin on and quarter them, boil until tender (about 25 minutes). Let cool to room temperature.

The dressing goes like this:

-1 cup Mayonaise (I used half regular and half low-fat)
-1 small onion (another CSA item)
-1/2 cup dill weed, chopped
-1 tablespoon vinegar
-1 tablespoon grainy dijon mustard (I used the last of the fancy french dijon we bought in Paris)
-2 tablespoons lemon juice
Mix these items together. Pour it over the potatoes and gently mix it all together (don't smash the potatoes!)

Refrigerate promptly. I don't want anyone getting food poisoning from potato salad that's been sitting out in the sun all day.

And here is a picture of the fabulous summer meal we had at Nell's new house, including the beets, delicious asian slaw by Nell and summer-approved BLTs by Dad:

Drop a Beet!

2008-08-04T21:41:00.002-05:00

I bought into a CSA this summer, and have been picking up a basket full of homegrown goodies weekly. One of the veggies I never knew I liked before is beets. I was pretty unsure of what I should be doing with these ruby beauties, but my sister suggested a recipe with balsamic vinegar and sugar. I was able to round up this one:

Peel and quarter 7-9 beets
Combine in a pan (preferably a super cute heart-shaped Le Creuset) with
-1 1/2 cups water
-3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
-2 tablespoons butter

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Simmer down until most of the liquid is gone.
This stuff is good! And I've heard beets are pretty much the best veggie you can feed yourself.

But be careful! These things will stain anything they touch. And I have also heard that they turn your pee red. So watch out. Nell has a funny story about this.

Also, I am watching Purple Rain right now and I reaaaaally wish I could have been at First Ave when Prince was singing "Baby I'm A Star" in a pirate outfit. Awesome.

Grilled Eggplant Parmesan

2008-07-31T12:12:00.004-05:00

I made this for the first time the first summer that Steve and I were dating and it has really held up as a summer staple. It is a great farmers' market meal too--almost all of the ingredients can be bought locally during the summer. Plus it is on the grill so you don't have to heat up the whole house to make it, which is nice when it is 90 outside. Also, it is vegetarian, but filling and delicious. Here is the recipe:

1 1/3 cups shredded four-cheese mix or pizza cheese
2 tablespoons Italian-style dry breadcrumbs
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil 1 medium eggplant (about 1 pound), cut lengthwise into1/2-inch-thick slices
8 ounces plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 cup garlic-flavored olive oil (I crush 1-2 cloves garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil and let it sit a while before using it)
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Stir cheese mix, breadcrumbs, and 1/3 cup basil in medium bowl to blend. I added some chopped green onions because I had them on hand.

Heat grill to medium heat. Sprinkle eggplant and tomatoes with salt and pepper. Brush 1 side of eggplant slices with some oil. Grill, oiled side down, until bottom side is tender and grill marks appear, about 3 minutes. Brush second side of eggplant slices with more oil; turn over and top grilled side with tomatoes, then cheese mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Drizzle with remaining oil. Cover and grill until tomatoes are tender and cheese melts, about 7 minutes. Transfer eggplant slices to plates. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons basil and serve.

I forgot to put the last basil on ours but it was still good. (Forgetting the finishing touches will be a recurring theme here because I usually am too excited and starving by the time the food appears ready). We ate ours with a side of parmesan-garlic cous cous.

Food Network Granola

2008-07-31T11:47:00.004-05:00

A friend at work brought in some really good homemade granola and I later learned that it was a recipe from food network. I managed to find this one, though it is clearly not the same recipe I had previously tasted. It is killer. And it makes a massive quantity of food, so you can eat it for breakfast for like, 2 weeks. It keeps really well, plus the Barefoot Contessa guarantees regularity. Because I am afraid being sued by the food network, I will not reprint the recipe here. Here's that link again. Supposedly the recipe will only be up there for a limited time, so if it disappears, let me know, I will hook you up.

I substituted golden raisins for figs because I think figs are kind of a pain to work with.

Here's the photo documentation:

Yum. I recommend it mixed in a bowl of Banilla yogurt.

Oreo Cupcakes

2008-07-31T11:04:00.005-05:00

I made Oreo Cupcakes for Nody's Baby Shower. The recipe came from these two fabulous baking blogs. Here is my adapted recipe:

24 paper liners for cupcake pans
1 pack Double-Stuffed Oreo cookies
1 pkg plain white cake mix
1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your over to 350 and line the pans with paper liners. Count out 24 Oreos and separate the top and bottom wafers. Place one wafer, icing side up, in the bottom of each paper liner. Place the non-icing side with the rest of the cookies that will be smashed.

Crush the remaining Oreos and non-icing halves. I recommend using a food processor. Set the crumbs aside.

Place the cake mix, oil, yogurt, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and beat again on medium about 1.5 minutes more. Fold crushed Oreos and fold these into the batter.

Fill your liners 3/4 full with batter and place the pans in the oven.

Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes until they are golden and spring back when lightly touched with your finger. Cool in the pan on wire racks for about 5 minutes and then remove cakes from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

COOKIES AND CREAM FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 pack regular oreos (not double stuff)

Set aside at least 12 whole oreos. These will be cut in half and stuck in the tops of the cupcakes, so if it is hot and sticky outside, it might be a good idea to stick them in the freezer for a few minutes before using. The rest of the cookies go in the food processor again! Smash 'em good.
Mix together butter, confectioners sugar, and a pinch of salt until it's creamy. Increase your mixer speed to high and beat until its light and fluffy. Add whipping cream and vanilla. Beat until its smooth. Fold in crushed Oreos, saving a little to sprinkle on top.

After frosting the cupcakes, stick the oreo halves on top of the cupcake in whatever way you would like, and sprinkle more crumbles on top. I garnished mine with a mint leaf. These are the best cupcakes I have made to date. I love the cookie on the bottom--and the thick layer of icing remains remarkably intact through baking. Delicious.

Baby Bibs

2008-07-30T21:58:00.009-05:00

Here are a few recent embroidery projects I have completed for babies that will be arriving shortly. Patterns (with the exception of the MN/WI one) are from Sublime Stitching, my stitching teacher, mother, secret lover.

Lucky Cat

Rocket

Monkey!

Cupcake

Home States (for Nody)

Mmm...Breakfast

Clarifications

2008-07-30T20:43:00.000-05:00

Ok, I may have lied when I said I have never had a blog before. When I was 14 and the internet was new I had a website that was mostly text and probably totally impossible to read. I wrote about what I did on a daily basis. My sister who was in college at that time found it very amusing, so I hope that she finds this blog amusing as well. I had a few friends who were much more computer-geeky than I was who helped me out with animated gifs and stuff like that. Pretty sweet.
The other blog I have taken part in is the infamous breakfast blog, to which I think I only contributed one post. Nevertheless, I like to think I was an important contributor. I think I will be more successful with this blog because I don't have to review things (like a restaurant I had never been to before, nor have I been to since), I just have to explain what I do. And tell you what to do, another strong suit of mine.

So with this blog, as I mentioned before, I am going to tell you what I make. And thanks to Steve, after this post I will be changing the name of this blog to "I hope this is good..." because that is what I say whenever I am cooking or stitching. Things usually turn out A-OK. I also ended up picking the url that I did because someone already picked "stuff I made" and I usually require a lot of guidelines with making stuff. I am not feeling sorry for myself; you will see I make cool stuff in spite of it all.

Am I supposed to be explaining this much on a blog post? I am new here. I feel like I am explaining why a joke is funny. On with the stuff I made already!

Dear Blogiary

2008-07-30T15:27:00.000-05:00

Blogiary sounds like a nasty ailment. I started this blog today. It is going to contain...stuff I made! Delicious food that I make, crafty stuff, other domestic stuff (I promise I won't detail my cleaning secrets). And if you are lucky maybe I'll tell you about some of the gross stuff that I see and do at my job. Lucky you! I have never had a blog before, so you will have to tell me if I commit any terrible faux pas, etc.
More to come, hopefully today.

Love,
Calley