Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Soup

Unfortunately I am not planning to review another children's film tonight because I actually cooked dinner and remembered to take a picture of it! Maybe I'll get around to Cinderella someday soon...


Tonight I made an adjustment to an old favorite and came up with this really simple and very delicious soup. Normally Joey refuses to eat things I make and tells me "not very tasty" when I ask how her dinner is. Tonight she ate three bowls of this stuff, so I'm calling it a great success! If a three year old who thinks mac and cheese is the height of deliciousness will eat this soup then I think any adult could enjoy it as well!


Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Soup

Ingredients
3 red bell peppers - seeded and quartered
1 really big onion (or 1.5 medium ones) - cut into 1-inch wedges
7-9 garlic cloves
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 can (15 oz) diced Italian-style tomatoes
2 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400. Place the garlic cloves, pieces of red bell pepper and onion in a 13x9 inch baking dish. Drizzle the olive oil on top and then add the thyme and oregano. Toss to coat the vegetables.

2. Bake the vegetables for 35 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.

3. When the vegetables are done place half of them in a blender or food processor along with half of the tomatoes and half of the broth. Puree and then place the soup in a large saucepan over medium to heat. Puree the rest of the vegetables, tomatoes and broth in a second batch and add to the rest of the soup in the saucepan. When the soup warms to bubbling it is ready to serve.

Slacking off

It's become clear that I'm a huge slacker as I have not managed to put anything up here in several weeks. I've been a little busy starting my job and really unimportant things like that. I have cooked but I have just been a little too lazy to put anything up here. That's not true, I would have put them up here except that I'm extremely particular. I take issue with recipes that don't include a picture of the finished product. I have cooked but not photographed and can't bring myself to share something if I can't show you what it looks like. That's a whole lot of explanation!

In order to make up for the lack of recipes (and because I had requests) here's something that I was told might be beneficial to others. On the tails of my adorable child explaining the story of Cinderella in her own words, I was confronted with the reality that Dave doesn't actually have any idea what most Disney movies are about (he knows Little Mermaid but I think he's interested in that one because of her wardrobe choices, not that he finds princess movies compelling). So here's a little help for the adult out there who may not know what the heck it is that their child is watching. I will preface this by saying I am really not making this up:

Snow White:

Snow White is a princess in some made up place at some random time that I think is described as being "long ago." Her step-mom is the queen and her father seems to be out of the picture. Step-mom looks like she's had an over-zealous eyebrow lift which fits because she's obsessed with being the prettiest lady in the kingdom. One day a floating face in the mirror tells her that Snow White is better looking than she is and she goes ballistic. Here's where I would say she's reacting badly to the news; she hires a hunter to kill Snow White and tells him to cut out Snow White's heart and bring it back to prove she's dead.

Cut to Snow White who is wearing an outfit that makes her look like a Dutch woman (big clogs) who likes patchwork clothing (meant to look like rags, I guess). She's hanging out outside and talking to animals. She sings a song down a wishing well and a "handsome stranger" is secretly watching her. Crazy man decides that the best way to introduce himself is to sneak up behind her while she's singing at a well (doesn't this sound like a recipe for "woman falls head-first down a well and obtains traumatic brain injury?"). Understandably she is a little freaked out and runs away. She is still curious so she peaks out of her window and they fall madly in love over a song. At some point he must just leave though because that's the end of that.

Moving on, Snow White and the hunter go out for a "walk," she starts talking to birds again, he tries to kill her but he can't do it, he tells her to run away and never come back, and then he goes off to kill a pig because he needs the heart for the Queen (seriously, I'm not kidding). Snow White runs through the woods at night and gets really freaked out before passing out. She wakes up and a forest full of animals are creepily watching her sleep. She asks the animals where she will be able to sleep and they show her the Dwarfs' house. She illegally enters the premises and makes fun of them for being sloppy and ridicules their size ("these must be messy little children").

In a move that seems a little wacky, she cleans the home of perfect strangers and then falls asleep in one of their beds. The Dwarfs come home and find her there. They are a little surprised but they take the news well. They are going to let her stay because she says she'll cook dinner. Snow White makes the Dwarfs wash their hands for the first time in their lives and they hate it. She lets them eat dinner. Then they have a yodeling dance party. It's all very surreal.

The next morning the Dwarfs go to work and Snow White settles into life as a homemaker. She still wants the stalker prince to come along and find her and she is sure to tell the animals about him any chance she gets. As she is daydreaming about going off to a palace somewhere with a strange prince she barely knows, an old woman shows up out of nowhere. It's obviously the evil step mom who seems to now have magical powers in addition to the floating face in the mirror. She looks hideous and mean but Snow White is gullible and lets her in the house. With very little pushing the creepy "old lady" convinces Snow White to eat this poisoned apple. Snow White falls on the floor and is dead. The animals go get the Dwarfs at work and make them come home. They find her, they are sad, they chase the queen/step mom/witch lady off a cliff (really).

Now here is where is gets INSANE. The Dwarfs put her in her bed because they don't know what to do with her. They end up building an above-ground see-though casket for her dead body because they think that she is too pretty to bury. Gross! They put her in the nasty shrine and bring her new flowers every day. Then the prince rides up one day (he's been searching the land for the girl he harassed at a well). He sees Snow White, he opens the casket, he gets the odd impulse to kiss her, then she wakes up magically. Immediately upon awakening she says goodbye to the Dwarfs, gets on the prince's horse and rides away. Talk about a quick turn around.

I didn't remember a lot of those details about that movie and was a little surprised when I watched it with Jo. I hope that my synopsis helps you better understand and answer all the questions your child is going to ask you. I am still trying to figure out how to explain why dead people wake up when you kiss them. If I think up something brilliant I will be sure to post it!

Shatto Butter Oatmeal Raisin Chippers

Shatto makes butter and when I realized this I had to buy a whole lot of it. Then I had to come up with a way to eat it. First I made amazing english muffins (which I will likely post another day) just so they could carry the butter to my mouth. Then I decided to try them out in cookies and it turns out they were some of the best cookies I've managed to create all by myself. I'm still not Whitney, but I think I did a great job here. You might not have to use Shatto butter, but I would pose a question; knowing that they make Shatto butter, why would you NOT want to use it?


Shatto Butter Oatmeal Raisin Chippers

Ingredients
8oz (1 pkg) Shatto butter / 2 sticks of inferior butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Cream the room temperature butter and the sugar in a large bowl. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until combined.

2. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt and whisk to combine. Add the flour mixture to the delicious butter mixture and blend until incorporated. Stir in the coconuts and oats. Last, stir in the raisins and chocolate chips.

3. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. The bottoms will brown first and the top stays a little lighter. Don't let the bottoms burn!

Bison Chili

I'm not about to pretend I am not feeling brain dead right now. I won't have a lot to say about this dish but it's too bad because this was seriously yummy when it was cool outside last night.

Side note: bison is one of the healthiest meats you can eat, believe it or not. It's leaner even than chicken or turkey!


Bison Chili

Ingredients
1 lb ground bison
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can red beans
16oz vegetable broth
1 tsp cumin
4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste


Instructions
1. Brown the bison meat in a large heavy pan - it might need just a tiny bit of oil while browning so it doesn't stick to the pan. Once the meat is almost all the way browned, add the onion, green bell pepper and the garlic cloves. Saute until onion is tender.

2. Once the vegetables are tender, add the rest of the ingredients. Allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes and serve. It's really that easy and I wish I had the words to adequately describe how good it is!

Turkey and Brie Turnovers

I was watching the food network last night and this one gal with a diner was making turkey and brie turnovers. I thought it seemed like an excellent way to make dinner in a pocket. I like food that is self-contained.

I am still on the healthy eating spree - if you call 3 days a spree - and I tried to think up ways to make this healthier but still tasty. The one she made on the show was just turkey and brie in a pastry crust. I thought I would try a wheat crust and add some mustard and cranberry relish for good measure. Dave said it tasted like Thanksgiving in a pita. He was pretty much right! Jo had a great time making the crust for this as you will see in the picture...

Turkey and Brie Turnovers

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups wheat flour
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup milk
3 Tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp salt
mustard of your choice - I used Blvd Pale Ale mustard
sliced rotisserie turkey breast
about 6 slices of Brie cheese
cranberry relish

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Place flour in a large bowl and drizzle with the canola oil. Using your hands work the mixture together until it becomes crumbly.

2. In a smaller bowl combine the water, milk, maple syrup and salt and whisk to combine them. Add these wet ingredients to the flour mixture and mix well with your hands to form a ball of dough.

3. Transfer the dough ball to a floured surface and roll it out thin. Cut 6 rectangles (about 4 x 8 inches each) out of the dough. You may have to collect the scraps and re-roll a couple of times.

4. Spread a thin layer of mustard over half of the rectangle, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Layer the slices of turkey breast on top of the mustard and top with a slice of Brie and and some cranberry relish. I broke up the cheese and spread the relish so they were evenly disbursed. Wet the border of the rectangle adjacent to the filling with water and fold the unfilled half over the fillings and join the corners. Press the edges of the dough with your fingers to seal them, then crimp them with a fork.

5. Use a large spatula to transfer the turnovers to parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned and when the dough feels more like crust than dough. Let cool because they will be very hot, then serve. Leftovers can be frozen and reheated later!

Southwest Barley Salad

In keeping with the eating healthy decision from yesterday, I cooked something new based on a recipe from my anti-cancer cookbook. This dish is excellent either hot or cold so it's sort of up to you! I didn't include any sort of garnish in the recipe, but I topped ours with goat cheese and it was wonderful (I still had some left after yesterday).

It was sort of a long day today because Jo got sick and then we spent the whole day at home. I used the home time to steam clean all the carpets and clean my car. Needless to say, this dinner is fast and there will not be a picture of a sick 2 year old eating it!

Southwest Barley Salad


Ingredients
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup pearl barley, rinsed and drained
1/4 tsp salt
1 can (15oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small tomato, chopped and as much juice preserved as possible
1 small can diced green chiles
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
juice of one lime
1 Tbsp olive oil

Instructions
1. In a medium saucepan bring the water to a boil. Add the barley, 1 Tbsp of the lime juice and the salt. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the barley is tender.

2. While the barley is cooking, combine the black beans, corn, yellow bell pepper, tomato, green chiles, basil, cumin, cayenne pepper, the remaining lime juice and the olive oil. Set it aside until the barley is done cooking. When the barley is finished, drain any remaining liquid and add it to the vegetables. Stir well, garnish with whatever sounds good and serve!

Butternut Squash Soup with Goat Cheese

Happy Gillis has some sort of famous Butternut Squash soup that everyone says is really wonderful. I keep going there and hoping to get to try it but every time I go it's not the soup that day! I finally realized that the universe may be plotting against me and I thought I would try to make up something like what I can only imagine this soup tastes like because I will never get to try it.

On a related note, Dave and I realized recently that our diet has taken a turn for the less healthy. We decided we need to get back on track with eating habits that don't invite congestive heart failure. That being the case, I not only planned to make this soup, but I made it in as healthy a way as possible and I think I was successful all around! I don't even think you have to like butternut squash to appreciate this soup. You might have to like goat cheese though.

Butternut Squash Soup with Goat Cheese

Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves - minced
1 large onion - coarsely chopped
2 medium butternut squash - peeled, seeded, chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 oz (1/2 pkg) Neufchatel
Goat cheese to garnish - I suggest lots!

Instructions
1. Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the butternut squash, chicken broth, lemon juice, paprika and cayenne pepper and simmer for 20 minutes until the squash is tender.

2. Remove soup from heat and let it cool slightly. Puree it in batches, adding a little of the Neufchatel cheese into each batch before pureeing. Return the soup to the stock pot and reheat it over medium heat, do not allow it to boil. Serve the soup with goat cheese sprinkled on top. Once you stir it in, it becomes marbled with goat cheese and it's pretty much the best ever.

Candied Orange Peel with Ginger

I bought three oranges today because I thought Jo might want to eat oranges and I thought I might use the zest from one of them to make more Bible Study Cookies. Nap time came around and I was free to do whatever I wanted within the confines of my home. I didn't really feel like making cookies anymore and I had neglected to set out butter so it could room temperaturize itself. I did a little web searching and it turns out that it's not terribly difficult to candy orange peels so I thought I would give it a try!

I couldn't just follow a recipe I found so I decided to add ginger to the mix. It seems ginger is the spice of choice when you're using a fruit that's a citrus or a peach of some kind. I think it paid off here, because these were delicious! This recipe might be worth doubling because this doesn't make too big a batch. I only had three oranges to work with so I had to mini-size this one.

Candied Orange Peel with Ginger

Ingredients
3 navel oranges
2 cups sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
3/4 cup water

Instructions
1. Wash the oranges well and for Heaven's sake remove the stickers. Cut the tops and bottoms off of the oranges and score through the peel only, dividing the outer skin into quarters. Remove the peel carefully and slice each peel segment into 1/4 inch strips.

2. Place the strips in a small saucepan and put just enough cold water in that it would cover them (if they didn't float, but they do so you'll have to eyeball it). Bring to a boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, drain the peels and repeat the same blanching process for a total of 4 times. This makes them less bitter and takes less time than it sounds like it would. Set the peels aside.

3. Combine the ground ginger and the sugar and stir to mix well. Add the 3/4 cup of water. Place this mixture in the same saucepan you used to blanch the peels and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 8 minutes and then add the peels. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, until the peels are translucent. Do not stir at all - just swirl the pan if you want them to move around.

4. Drain the peels, roll them in more sugar to coat them, then let them dry on a rack for a few hours before you eat them all.

Plum and Raspberry Galette

This recipe comes from last October's Pie Party at Lauren's house. She made a "Plum Galette" and Dave has been requesting (demanding) that I make one almost since that day. Lauren finally sent me the recipe (which I probably already got from her way back when) and I decided to give it a go this afternoon. I couldn't leave well enough alone so Plum Galette became Plum and Raspberry Galette. I also may have increased the amount of lemon zest significantly from the original recipe. And of note, this could probably be done with just about any fruit you like. Maybe not bananas...

So I got this from Lauren and she got this from somewhere else and I only made minor alterations to someone else's wonderful recipe! Enjoy!

Plum and Raspberry Galette

Ingredients

Dough:

2 cups flour

3 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1/2 in. pieces

1/3 cup very cold water

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1 1/2 lbs ripe plums, pitted and cut in 1/2 inch wedges

1/2 lb raspberries

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp milk

1/4 cup (give or take) Turbinado sugar

Instructions

1. Using the amounts for "dough" above, combine the flour, sugar, lemon zest, and salt in a food processor* and pulse briefly until they are combined.  Toss in the chunks of butter and pulse until it becomes coarse crumbs.  Drizzle the water evenly over the crumbs and process until the dough is moist but still crumbly.

2. Shape the dough into a 5-inch disk.  Wrap and refrigerate until firm and chilled, at least 1 hour.  

3. After the obligatory hour has passed preheat the oven to 400.  In a large bowl, whisk together the "filling" amounts of sugar, flour and lemon zest.  Add the plums, raspberries and vanilla extract and toss until combined.
 

4. Roll the dough between two large pieces of parchment paper (best idea ever! I will use this for all pies from now on), lightly flouring, and form a rough circle slightly larger than 14 inches and about 1/8 inch thick.  Trim off excess dough to make an even 14-in round.  Transfer the dough to a parchment lined baking pan with a rim (like a baking sheet). I accomplished this by just picking up the bottom piece of parchment that I used to roll out the dough and setting the whole business on the baking sheet. Boom! No ripped dough and no wasting another piece of parchment. Also, I had just used the last piece of parchment but this was still a good maneuver. The dough will hang slightly over the edges of the pan.

5. Pile the filling into the center of the dough, leaving a 3-inch rim of dough.  Fold the dough edge up and over the filling, making pleats in the dough as you go.  (The galette will flatten out as it bakes.)  Press the pleats gently to seal.  Brush the dough with the milk and sprinkle the dough and fruit with the turbinado sugar, pressing on the sugar lightly to make it adhere.  Bake until the fruit is tender and the crust is browned, 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool and enjoy! Mine had exploded a little and leaked fruit juice all over the pan but it was still fantastic!

*You could also work a lot harder and do this part with a pastry blender by hand. I did not in this particular case because I hate to do that. Instead, I drove to my parents' and borrowed a food processor because mine mysteriously vanished years ago.

Bible Study Cookies

My mom was going to be short on time with the Labor Day weekend lake trip and asked if I would make cookies for her to take to Bible Study this morning. I took the opportunity to invent a cookie recipe to fill the morning cookie niche. I don't really have a problem eating a cookie any time of the day but I thought I would try to make something that would appeal to those who are not as easy going with their cookie schedule. My answer to that was to make sure these were not over-sweet or too rich. I made a last minute change to these (after 2 different test-batches this weekend) and it turned out to be fantastic! These would be excellent with coffee and I'm really considering making some more just so I can pretend they are breakfast later this week.

I know I wrote a lot of instructions for these but it's mostly  anecdotal because these are pretty darn simple. Also, I'm sorry but Jo could not make it into this picture because she could not be trusted near the cookies.

Bible Study Cookies

Ingredients
2 sticks of butter - room temp
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 plus 1/8 tsp vanilla
1 plus 1/8 tsp pure almond extract
1 tsp orange zest
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Instructions
1. Cream butter and sugar with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer. You could use a hand mixer, I doubt it would make a difference. Add the eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and orange zest and blend until combined.

2. In a small bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder and whisk together. Add the flour mixture a little at a time to the butter mixture, blending on low until each round of flour is well incorporated.

3. Pat dough into a disk shape and refrigerate for at least 1 hour! This is important because you will become extremely frustrated if you try to cut cookie shapes out of this before it is set-up enough. I learned this one the frustrating way.

4. After waiting at least 1 hour (I'm serious) preheat the oven to 350. Roll out the dough that you have refrigerated for at least the prior hour and cut it into whatever shape you desire using the cookie cutter of your choosing.

5. Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 10 minutes. Depends a little on the shape of your cookies, so keep an eye on them. You will know they are done when the bottom edges start to look just a little bit golden - do not wait for browning of any kind.

Lemon Chicken Spedini

Tonight I hearkened back to my days waiting tables in an Italian restaurant and tried to make Chicken Spedini. Actually, I was inspired by Whitney's suggestion that I make Chicken Parmesan with chicken that had been marinated in lemony-ness. This was better than I even thought it would be! Not that I thought it would be bad, I just wasn't sure, considering the worrisome amount of just making stuff up I was doing. That being said, the amounts below are my best guess because I really didn't measure anything (at all). And, of note, the picture also includes a salad with eggplant that Lauren made. I don't know the recipe for that one, but it was tasty too and it makes my Spedini look all official on the plate! Be sure to wear your favorite watermelon swimsuit and make rude faces when you enjoy your Spedini dinner.

Lemon Chicken Spedini

Ingredients
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 large chicken breasts - pounded thin
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1 cup breadcrumbs
fresh spinach leaves
1/3 cup mozzarella/feta cheese blend (or any delicious cheese you like)
sauce of your choice

Instructions
1. Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Marinate the thinned-out chicken breasts in this mixture in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

2. Preheat the oven to 375. Whisk the egg and milk together in a small cup. Place the breadcrumbs in a shallow plate or bowl.

3. Lay the chicken breast out on a cutting board. Layer some spinach leaves on top of the chicken breast and then sprinkle the cheese over the top. Roll the chicken breast up around the fillings and use toothpicks to hold it shut. Do not be embarrassed if it takes lots of toothpicks and looks really silly, you will remove them later.

4. Brush the outside of the chicken roll-up with the egg mixture and then coat it with the breadcrumbs. Place coated chicken breasts on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes.

5. Serve with any sauce you like (pesto, marinara, alfredo, all three...). I used the same tomato cream sauce recipe that I made for the Polish Cabbage Rolls and it worked really well here too!

Polish Cabbage Rolls

Exhibit A:
alarmingly delicious

Before you freak out and think this is going to be disgusting based on the name, hear me out for just a second. Imagine taking a delicious meat loaf/ meat ball and wrapping it with something that, although it is a little less delicious, is fairly healthy, and then topping it off with some extremely tasty tomato sauce! Doesn't that sound fantastically enticing?!? I'm exaggerating a little but I'm trying to tell you that this is in fact, alarmingly delicious (see exhibit A, to the right) and I'm probably going to make it regularly (on nights when I have plenty of prep time) when it is nice and cold outside. Just try it, I promise it is not yucky. As I made these I thought of how proud Whitney is going to be when she sees that this meal includes not 0, not 1, but 2 types of meat!

Polish Cabbage Rolls (Golabki)

Ingredients
Rolls:
Head of cabbage
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1 small onion -finely chopped
3 garlic cloves - minced
salt and pepper
1 egg
1 cup (uncooked volume) brown rice
can diced tomatoes

Sauce:
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
can tomato sauce - the smaller kind, 12 oz I think
can diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1/4 cup milk or cream
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp thyme

Instructions
1. Core the cabbage head, remove the outer leaves and boil for 20 minutes. Prepare the rice as instructed on the package.

2. Preheat oven to 375. Combine beef, pork, onion, garlic, salt and pepper, egg and rice in a large bowl. Mix well.

3. Line a 9x9 baking pan with cabbage leaves. Next make the rolls by overlapping two leaved (long-ways) to form a longer wrap. Place the leaves in your hand and put a large scoop of the meat mixture in the center. Roll it up tightly like a burrito, pulling in the sides. Line the rolls up over the cabbage leaves in the pan. When all rolls are completed (I got 5 big rolls), pour a can of diced tomatoes over the top, then cover the entire top with cabbage leaves.

4. Bake for 1 hour. Make the sauce when there are about 30 minutes left on the rolls.

5. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir, allowing to cook for just a few minutes to form a blonde roux.

6. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, garlic, milk or cream, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes. Add chicken broth and thyme and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

7. When rolls are finished allow them to cool slightly and them serve them topped with tomato cream sauce.

French Toast Pie (Breakfast!)

It turns out that Betty Crocker is NOT a real person, she is a name thought up to sound homey and like some sort of reliable source for domestic things. Oh well. Despite this huge blow, I still mustered up the courage to enter the kitchen this morning and make the French Toast Pie. It sort of sounded like a lot of work when I was making the candied almonds myself but it turns out that it's not at all hard or time consuming to candy nuts. Who knew?! I did do the nuts the day before though, that probably saved time...

Dave requested that I mention how much he really liked this one because he thought I was making him sound really negative about my cooking. So Dave thought it was the most delicious breakfast he has ever had the pleasure to ingest. Jo looked at me during breakfast and said, "Mommy, you make the best French Toast in the world!" I don't know how many other times she's eaten French Toast but I'm going to graciously accept the compliment and assume she is right.

French Toast Pie

Ingredients
5 slices sourdough bread
2 eggs + 1 egg white
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups (chopped) candied almonds*
1 microwave baked apple**
Butter for non-sticking a pan

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400. Whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Slice the bread into strips and soak for 2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, butter a pie pan and sprinkle 1/2 of the crushed almonds over the bottom.

3. Arrange half of the bread slices in the pan and top with the apple pieces. Layer the remaining bread on top and then sprinkle the top with the remaining almonds. Bake 15 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve with syrup if you are so inclined.

*Make some nuts: 1/2 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt. Mix together and heat in saucepan over medium high until boiling. Add 2 cups of any kind of nut you like (almonds) and stir constantly until almost all liquid is gone. Spread on wax paper and separate with a fork to dry (15 minutes)

**Microwave an apple: Cut apple into bite-sized pieces, place in a microwave safe container with a tiny drizzle of water and as much cinnamon as you see fit. Microwave for 2 minutes. Done!

Veggie Lettuce Wraps

It seems that the free time I have before starting my job has turned into a daily challenge for me to try to cook something I haven't made before. I mean, I knew I was not good at not having things to do, but I never thought I would try to turn myself into Betty Crocker. Mind you, I am not saying that I think I'm the greatest chef on earth (or that Betty Crocker is, for that matter - is she even a real person? I think I feel hours of time wasted on wikipedia coming on) but I never used to try something new every single day. It's just not practical in the long term.

After that lengthy introduction I don't really have that much to say about Veggie Lettuce Wraps except that I made them and I liked them. They were pretty easy, tangy, and super messy to eat (but I would put all lettuce wraps in that category). It helped that I made something Asian-inspired a while back and already had things like rice vinegar and sesame oil, but I am sure substitutions could be made. Heck, I bought them at the regular grocery store so I am sure someone else can find them. It's not like I have grocery super powers or something cool like that.

Veggie Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
1 can vegetable broth
orange juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar (mine was "seasoned" and "roasted garlic" flavor)
2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 small onion - coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves - minced
1 red bell pepper - coarsely chopped
3/4 cup sliced mushrooms - coarsely chopped (how many times can I write that?)
1 small can diced water chestnuts
2 Tbsp sesame oil (I already had this on hand or I probably would have used canola oil or something normal)

Instructions
1. Pour the can of vegetable broth into a 2 cup measuring cup and add orange juice to bring it up to 2 cups of liquid. Combine broth mixture and quinoa in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

2. While the quinoa cooks, combine rice vinegar, 1/4 cup orange juice, and the soy sauce. Set the mixture aside. In a large skillet, saute the onion and garlic in the sesame oil over medium high heat until onion just becomes tender. Add red pepper and mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms are soft, then add water chestnuts and the sauce mixture. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. When quinoa has finished cooking, stir it into the vegetable mixture. Serve in lettuce leaves and if you want (which I did) use lime slices on the side. If you really want to follow all my steps you would next take a picture of it on your phone and then, and only then, eat it.

Spiced Apple Custard Pie

After my late addition Pear Custard Pie to the pie party last night I was motivated to cook even more pie today, if you can believe it! I thought the pear was fine but it seemed like something that might work even better with apples. I sort of wish I knew which variety of apple is tart and bakes up perfectly but I had to wing it at the grocery store, so I went with Granny Smiths.

This pie made my kitchen smell like Thanksgiving or Halloween... fall. It's a fall-y flavor. Jo loved it, I loved it, Jon ate it, and Dave said it was "fine" and "not as good as regular apple pie but still enjoyable" - whatever that tells you! If you want to make pie and not make any crust then this is definitely a way to go!

Spiced Apple Custard Pie

Ingredients
2 large apples (I have no suggestions on which type is best)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch pie plate.

2. Core the apples and cut them into thin sliced. Toss them into a sealable bag, add the cinnamon and nutmeg, close the bag and shake until the apples are evenly coated. Then arrange the apple slices in the pie plate as you see fit (artistic license).

3. In a stand mixer blend the eggs, milk and vanilla. Gradually add the butter while mixing on low speed. Combine flour, sugar and salt in a small bowl and add gradually to the egg mixture. Increase speed to high and blend until smooth.

4. Pour the mixture over the apples, dust the top with cinnamon, then bake for 40 minutes. You kitchen will smell fall-y.

Gazpacho

Cinderella and I made ourselves gazpacho for lunch today! When I was studying abroad in Spain the lady I lived with made it all the time and I pretty much loved it. Dave pretty much hates it so I thought that it might be a good time to have it when he wasn't around today.

The original recipe that the Spanish lady wrote out for me is barely legible and in Spanish so I'm going to go ahead and translate it and type it - you're welcome. Before I do though, I will mention that the batch I made today could have used a little more olive oil because it was on the thick side and I might have opted for a milder onion in retrospect. I think I'll be breathing fire for a few hours (another reason it's great that Dave isn't here).

Gazpacho (a la Spanish lady from Granada)

Ingredients:
4 tomatoes
1 cucumber
2 garlic cloves (or if you want it translated literally, she wrote "2 garlics")
1/2 onion (vidalia or something - save yourself from the halitosis)
1/2 red pepper (I used the whole thing - so what)
6 Tbsp olive oil
1 piece of bread soaked in vinegar (I used balsamic but I'm sure other types are fine)
1 Tbsp salt (I did less for sure, but I don't love saltiness)

Instructions:
1. Coarsely chop all the vegetables and the piece of bread.

2. Throw everything in a blender and blend.

3. Refrigerate and enjoy!

Bananas Foster Oatmeal

I know you probably don't care about oatmeal but would it surprise you to discover that I do?! Granted it doesn't rank anywhere near gravy when we're talking about breakfast foods, but doesn't Bananas Foster Oatmeal sound like an even more fantastic way to eat oatmeal? That's what I thought when I heard someone mention it.

So, it may not have been breakfast time but I felt like cooking something for afternoon snack with Joey today and it turns out that the wonderful snack I felt like cooking became Bananas Foster Oatmeal. I'm such an amazing cook that I just conjured it up right there! Also, there were no recipes on the interweb for it that I was able to locate.

It didn't take very long, it was thoroughly enjoyed by a two-year-old, and I might have eaten nearly a tureen of it too. Long story short, I'm thinking you might already want to make this:

Bananas Foster Oatmeal

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Quick-cooking Oats (even though I hear the Old Fashioned are somehow healthier)
1 Tbsp Sugar (I used the turbinado kind because it makes me feel special)
Banana
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Instructions:
1. Combine the oatmeal and 1.5 cups water in a microwaveable bowl and microwave for two minutes. As this is microwaving you might be looking at the label on the oatmeal and realize that I actually just wrote out the instructions from the back of the container, and you would be right. Once the oatmeal is finished, set it aside.

2. Unpeel a banana and place it on a microwaveable plate. Use a fork to mash it up a little bit, then microwave for two minutes.

3. While the banana is melting, heat the sugar in a small skillet or saucepan over medium high heat. Gently shake it occasionally until the sugar begins to melt. When melting occurs reduce the heat to low. Allow all the sugar to melt and try not to stir it too much. When all the sugar is melted, add the oatmeal to the pan and stir until it is all mixed thoroughly. Dump in the banana and the vanilla. Stir and serve to a two-year-old.

*pictures of this just looked like oatmeal so I'm allowing my lovely assistant to liven these images up a bit!