I Almost Made a Cake Today

I like grocery shopping.  I really do.  Sometimes I even love it! 

I will spend time planning meals and writing out my list in anticipation of a shopping trip.  Once there, I will take time to smell the produce, sample whatever is being offered that day, pick up a coffee to stroll around with, and generally have an okay time all by myself.

However, one time when this is not the case is when I find myself needing to run to the store for only one thing!  This is irritating enough all by itself but what makes it worse is that the store closest to my house is one of my least favorite.  I don't go there for regular shopping.  If I am there, it is only out of necessity.

So, today I decided I wanted to make a cake.  I printed the recipe and started checking for ingredients only to find that I was missing one thing.  One!  But it was probably important. 

I debated about whether this was worth a trip to Store I Don't Like. 

Turns out, I really didn't want cake as much as I thought.

Do you have places you avoid even though they are convenient?

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this.

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day has never been a really big deal in my family.  We wear green and eat potatoes and all that but we're not those people you see in the parades with their costumes or in the bars drinking green beer. 

A tradition that we do have for St.Patrick's Day is an Irish-themed dinner.  Tonight was supposed to be corned beef, colcannon, soda bread, and maybe an Irish creme cake for dessert.

However, my son, the competitive chorus singer, has a rehearsal concert tonight.  The kid really is musically gifted and I absolutely love seeing him perform on stage!  So we will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day tomorrow. 

That's probably okay though because it's quite possible

that I am the only one in the house aware that
today is St. Patrick's Day as I am the only one wearing green! 

Best Bruschetta

Everyone seems to have their own ideas about what makes a great bruschetta and this one is my husband's absolute favorite!  Anytime we order bruschetta in a restaurant, he always compares it to mine
and points out how I could have made it better. 
He's awesome like that!  ;)

Here's the recipe:

2 cans diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings, drained

1/2c. sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4c. olive oil

1 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1/2c. fresh basil, chopped

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

French baguette, sliced

2c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1.  Combine all ingredients, except bread and cheese, in a medium size bowl.  Allow to marinate 15-20 min.

2.  Place baguette slices on a baking sheet and broil until lightly toasted.

3.  Spoon bruschetta over each slice and sprinkle with mozzarella.

4.  Continue broiling until cheese is melted.  Serve immediately.

I should have taken a picture prior to adding the cheese

because the colors really are gorgeous!

There's No Place Like Home...

I am currently out of town which really sucks because I miss my guys.  Although, I have to say that it's times like these that help us all to appreciate how great we have it at home.  The family is surviving on leftovers and take out and I am rapidly becoming a regular in the hotel restaurant. 

One more day of hotel food followed by a day of airport food and then I'll be be back at home,

my favorite place in the world.

Mmmm....Butter

I woke up this morning with a serious craving for butter.  Real butter, not that fake stuff.  So, as I was slathering butter on my toast and thoroughly enjoying every single bite, I realized that on the subject of butter, I am in complete agreement with Julie Powell when she says,

"Is there anything better than butter? Think it over, any time you taste something that's delicious beyond imagining and you say 'what's in this?' the answer is always going to be butter. The day there is a meteorite rushing toward Earth and we have thirty days to live,
 I am going to spend it eating butter.

Here is my final word on the subject, you can never have too much butter."

What Do You Put in Your Coffee?

If you had asked me this question a week ago, I would have said, "Two Splendas and a spoon of Coffee Mate".  That would tell you the brands I was using but not the ingredients that are going into my coffee.

See where I'm going with this?

Have you ever read the Coffee Mate ingredient label?

Here it is:

The number one ingredient is corn syrup, followed by vegetable oil, sugar, and who-knows-what.

The powdered stuff was fairly new but I threw it out and

replaced it with this:

Milk and cream.

I've also switched to organic coffee and replaced

the Splenda with pure honey.

Good stuff.

  

Awesome Old Bay Pork Chops

We love Old Bay seasoning around here and have used it on seafood, chicken, vegetables, and pasta but had never tried it on pork chops - until last night. 

OMG!  It was soooo good!!! 

I made a marinade of 1/2c. olive oil, 1/2c. apple cider vinegar, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 tsp. dried basil. 1 TBSP Old Bay, the juice of one lime, salt, and pepper.

Added 4 boneless pork chops and marinated for almost 4 hrs. in the fridge, turning every so often. 

Sprinkled with more Old Bay, salt, pepper, and just a touch of paprika.

Baked about 30 min. at 350* until done.

No leftovers here!

Truffle Lovers' Popcorn

The Inn at Little Washington serves a popcorn appetizer with freshy shaved truffles that is absolutely fantastic and today I wanted some of it.  Since driving there is not an option today, I decided to experiment a bit and see if I could recreate (even a little bit) that amazing flavor.  It's not quite the same since I did not use fresh parsley and can't afford to buy any of the $600/lb. truffles they keep locked in the produce department of my grocery store, but it did satisfy my craving.  Here is what I came up with:

Ingredients:

1 bag plain or light butter popcorn

4 tsp. white truffle oil

2 TBSP dried parsley

1/4c. grated parmesan cheese

sea salt

1.  Pop the popcorn in the microwave.

2.  In large bowl, toss popcorn with oil, parsley, and parmesan cheese; season to taste.

Cooking as Therapy

Ever have one of those days where you just have to accept that some people are never going to be what you need them to be?  Just to clarify:  I am absolutely not referring to my husband here. 

Everything is very good at home.  :) 

Without getting into details, I'll just say that, I've been going through some personal stuff lately and it has been an interesting experience to find real friendship in the most surprising places while also discovering a lack of support in others.

I am going somewhere with all this....

In the mounting stress of the day, I found myself really looking forward to dinner prepartions for tonight.  I had pulled from the refrigerator:  pork chops, garlic, basil, cauliflower, parsnip, broccoli, and a lime.  Next to all of that, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, butter, and black pepper.

I had just started preparing a marinade for the pork chops when my 16-year old came in and announced that he had an event at school to attend tonight.  It was then that I realized how much I had been looking forward to completely submerging myself in the process of preparing tonight's meal.

I am convinced there is something therapeutic in food preparation.  Depending on what you are preparing, it does require a certain level of concentration to make sure that everything is timed right, properly cooked, and presented well.  Prior to that, there is all of the chopping, grating, washing, trimming,

and overall organization that goes on just to get ready to cook!

So, I ended up putting everything away until tomorrow.  No big deal, really.  On the positive side, I confirmed something about myself today that I had suspected all along: 

There are other benefits to cooking besides just eating!

I'm sure many of you will understand what I mean

when I say it was a very Julie &Julia, Aha Moment!

Gingerbread Pear Cake

I decided this morning that we should have some sort of holiday flavored dessert tonight.  No cookies though.  I think I'm starting to burn out on those already.  So I settled on a super simple gingerbread pear cake.   

Here's the recipe:

2 tablespoons real butter, melted

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 (16 ounce) cans pear slices, well drained

1/2 cup pecan pieces

1 (14.5 ounce) package gingerbread cake mix

1.  Preheat oven to 350*

2.  Mix the melted butter, corn syrup, and brown sugar in a 9-inch round cake pan.

3.  Arrange pear slices over sugar mixture.

4.  Sprinkle pecans around the pears.

5.  .Prepare the cake mix according to package directions, and pour over the pears and pecans in the cake pan.

6.  Bake approximately 50 minutes.

 

7.  Cool slightly before turning out onto a serving dish.

 

I just took it out of the oven a little while ago and my house smells AMAZING!!!

Homemade Bread Bowls

You know those super cute bread bowls used by some restaurants for serving soups and stews and such?  Well, they are really easy to make and, because you make them fresh just before you need them, they're softer than the restaurant ones too so you can actually eat the bowl!  The kids love them - and hubby thinks they're pretty cool too!  ;)

I use a recipe published on Allrecipes by Taste of Home Test Kitchens and these bread bowls come out perfect every time!  If you decide to try them, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy they are to make!

Does This Look Bad to You?

If you've ever wondered (and who hasn't?) if you can still use products beyond the date on the packaging, or how long to keep something in the refrigerator, check out this site:   http://www.stilltasty.com/  It is full of information on which foods will last and for how long. 

Did you know that the date on the egg carton is not really an "expiration" date?  I didn't.  According to this site, it's just a guideline for the stores selling the eggs.  I don't know who created this site or how scientific it is, but it's pretty interesting.

Christmas Baking Party

My friend throws a Christmas Baking Party every year at her house.  There are usually 20-30 people in attendance and this is how it works:  Everyone brings their own ingredients and we cook.  Everyone gets a personalized apron the first year with the year sewn on it.  Each subsequent year, you get that year's holiday themed pattern stitched on by her my friend's mom, who sets up her sewing machine right there in the kitchen.  Back to the food:  Once everything is made (this is an all day event, btw), bags are assembled with a sampling of all the cookies, candies, etc. that were baked that day.

I've been giving alot of thought to what I will make this year and have settled on Hello Dollies because they are super easy, quick to prepare, and really yummy!  This is all it takes:

1.  Make a crust by combing 2c. graham cracker crumbs with 1/4c. sugar and 1/2c. melted butter; press into an 8x8 pan.

2.  Top with 1c. semisweet chocolate chips, 1c. shredded coconut, and 1c. chopped pecans.

3.  Pour 14oz. can of sweetened condensed milk over the top.

4.  Bake at 325* for approximately 30 min.

I'll probaly triple the recipe for the party.  So easy!

Recipe Overload

My recipes collection is out of control and desperately needs to be organized. The books and the online recipe boxes are fine but the problem is with the binder that has become a permanent fixture in my kitchen.

The purpose of this binder is to organize recipes I print from various sites.  All Recipes and Food Network are probably the most common.  I also get Food Network Magazine, which is awesome!  I highly recommend it if you love to cook are not already a subscriber. 

Back to the binder:  It started out as a great idea.  I had little sections with labels like, Bread, Soups, Beef, Vegetarian, etc.  It was all very cute and organized - at first.  Now it just looks pitiful.  There is more paper crammed in there than the rings will actually hold.  I've considered getting a giant binder or spreading everything out in several.  This may seem trivial to some but, let me tell you , it's really becoming a problem!

I do have alot of recipes stored online so that's helpful.  Another good thing is I actually do know what's in here very well and can usually locate what I want fairly quickly.

December 1

Good morning everyone!  Please tell me I'm not the only one who woke up this morning, realized it's almost Christmas, and almost panicked at the thought of everything that needs to be accomplished - and soon!

Now that I've fully recovered from Thanksgiving, it's time to get serious about Christmas.  I did get the tree up and decorated yesterday and have some of the outdoor lights up so I guess that's a good start.  Today, I plan to finish all indoor and outdoor decorating and decide for sure what I plan to make at an upcoming baking party and test the recipe. 

Also, lots of shopping to do today...cards, paper, bows, tins, tissue, bags, tags, ...etc., etc. All the running around can get exhausting so I think it's important that I work in a stop at Starbucks for an eggnog latte.