A different kind of meal

okay, seeing as my spare time the past few days has been spent making food for my 6 month old...i thought i'd post some pictures of his first batch of food...as well as a pic to show his sheer LOVE of real food finally. His favorites are the pees, along with butternut squash, sweet potato, green beans, and applesauce. i steamed most of the food and then pureed it in my food processor. i got the little glad containers from walmart and they are the perfect size for one feeding!

Simple Gourmet

It seems I've said 'yes' to everything that's come my way in the last few months. As a result, I've been relying on some very simple recipes to enjoy yummy dinners without a lot of work in the kitchen. By far my greatest culinary discovery in the past year has been these handy Thai curry pastes. I bought them at a Chinese grocery store for less than $5 each. Cheap and they will probably last for the next 3 years. On the container is an easy recipe calling for coconut milk, eggplant, a teaspoon of paste, meat of your choice, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass (these last 2 can also be found at a Chinese grocer). With a little experimentation (aka - we don't have any coconut milk, what to do?!?!) we have discovered different variations that have all tasted good. Coconut milk can be substituted with a tin of tomatoes (which makes the curry way less spicy). Go veggie with Tofu. Add more liquid and you have soup. Mix and match your favorite vegetables. And then there is the lentil version.

A nice dish to serve with this would be a mango salad. To make it slice veggies (mango, celery, carrots, red onions) into long thin pieces. Mix with bamboo shoots, cilantro, crushed peanuts. Squeeze lemon over top.

And of course some lovely basmati rice on the side!

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

Last night we came home from church. It was late and we were hungry. So we whipped up a batch of IHOP buttermilk pancakes. They are quick and easy and taste oh so yummy! I like to double the recipe and freeze the extras. Then we can take them out of the freezer in the morning and pop them in the microwave or in a skillet to heat. Make sure your baking powder is fresh too! It helps with the flufiness of the pancakes!
Here's the recipe

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 egg
1 1/2 c buttermilk ( or use regular milk )
1/4 c sugar
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat sillet over medium heat. Use a pan with a nonstick surface or apply a little non stick spray. ( I use a cast iron griddle pan)
2. In a blender or with a mixer, combine allof the remaining ingredients until smooth.
3. Pour the batter by spoonfuls into the hot pan, forming 5" circles.
4. When the edges appear to harden, flip the pancakes. They should be light brown.
5. Cook on the other side for same amt. of time.
Makes 8-10 pancakes.

HUMMUS

Try this hummus. It is super easy and really yummy. I have adapted this from an epicurious recipe. It always gets lots of compliments and Canaan can eat a whole batch! I serve it with chips and carrots.

4 garlic cloves (or minced garlic)
1 teaspoon salt
two 1-pound 3-ounce cans chick-peas, drained and rinsed
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1/2 cup olive oil, or to taste


On a cutting board mince and mash the garlic to a paste with the salt. In a food processor or blender (I like to use a blender for extra creaminess) purée the chick-peas with the garlic paste, the yogurt, the lemon juice, and 1/2 cup of oil, scraping down the sides, until the hummus is smooth and add salt to taste. Add water, if necessary, to thin the hummus to the desired consistency and transfer the hummus to a bowl. The hummus may be made 3 days in advance and kept covered and chilled. Sprinkle with paprika before serving.

Makes about 4 cups.

Here are the quiz results for the Apron Swap....( I am still waiting on a few more)

Marisa Foltz

What are your favorite colors? I'm really into brown these days, and that brown and light blue combination. Also love pink and red.

How have you decorated your kitchen? lots of red, and some tan. Right now we're in a temporary (5 months only) apartment . . . so its not how I would normally like to have my kitchen.

If you are at the airport waiting for the plane, which two magazines would you buy to read? (types or names) "Real Simple" and "People" or "In Syle"

What are your 2 favorite stores to shop at and why? Target (you can get everything there . . . love it!) and I love "Anthropology", but can't afford it! :)

Favorite meal? Anything Italian!


Mindi Jentes

What are your favorite colors? Bright Tropicals (any) and of course, black (it’s slimming!!!)

How have you decorated your kitchen? Italian Renaissance (mottled, antiquated tans & greens, stainless steel appliances, natural cabinets with black pulls, rustic floor tiles with tans, rusts, and greens)

If you are at the airport waiting for the plane, which two magazines would you buy to read? (types or names) People Magazine & Decorating Magazines

What are your 2 favorite stores to shop at and why? Banana Republic (love to buy their clothes for my honey) and Barnes & Noble (love to grab some coffee from SBUX and check out new reads)

Favorite meal? Almond crusted Mahi Mahi with a blueberry glaze, garlic mashed potatoes, wilted spinach w/ bournaise sauce served with a fantastic imported Italian Pino Grigio!


Hannah Johnson

> What are your favorite colors? Browns, creams, pinks, and reds
>
> How have you decorated your kitchen? the walls are "mudslide" chocolate brown with a "coffee" theme
>
> If you are at the airport waiting for the plane, which two magazines would you buy to read? Health & Fitness and some type of home decorating

> What are your 2 favorite stores to shop at and why? I love a store called "Home Goods" because they have a little bit of everything for the home, from bathroom towels to kitchen utensils. My other favorite is "Henry's" which is a whole foods grocery store, they have cheap produce, organic meats, essential oils, and homeopathic meds.
>
> Favorite meal? It's a close tie between anything Mexican, bbq pulled pork sandwiches and bbq ribs.


Megan Smith

> What are your favorite colors? Can I say, "all colors" :) I love black and white, shabby chic colors, browns, blues,...I'm useless at these things!
>
> How have you decorated your kitchen? We re renting so it isn't my "ideal" kitchen. Nonetheless, I like an eclectic look. Some antique, some new. I love white ironstone dishes.
>
> If you are at the airport waiting for the plane, which two magazines would you buy to read? People Magazine and Country Home (I also LOVE Domino magazine and Cookie)

> What are your 2 favorite stores to shop at and why? Anthropologie b/c of the funky housewares and great ideas for home decor. IKEA--because, who doesn't love IKEA :) These are 2 stores that Mike and I love to shop at together. He's a great shopper!

> Favorite meal? Boy this is hard....why did I come up with these!! I guess it would be a really simple pasta dish with a glass of red wine. Also a great lobster bisque is yummy!

Kristie Harris

What are your favorite colors? Coral/burnt orange, brown, greens, blues

How have you decorated your kitchen? I would say, “fresh.” Kind of on the bright side. I have orange and green in it.

If you are at the airport waiting for the plane, which two magazines would you buy to read? (types or names)
Any parenting magazine—since that’s my life these days, and I need all the help I can get, and after that I’d pick up a home decorating or creative/crafty ideas or organization magazine.

What are your 2 favorite stores to shop at and why? For practicality, it’s Target. I can find just about anything there. It’s clean, nicely laid out, Sydney loves it—and I can splurge once in a while and drink a peppermint mocha from Starbucks while I shop. I love Anthropologie too—but I’m not quite cool enough to shop there or pull it off. J

Favorite meal? Oh my goodness… I love everything, but my all time favorite is TACOS.

Sondra Clark

* My favorite colors are red and yellow
* Haven't really decorated but the walls are squash and when the counter tops are refinished they will have browns, creams, coppers and yellows. I have a few funky little clay veggies with faces that Mike hates because he thinks they are evil or something, and a few copper pots.
* In the airport, I would read Southern Accents and Traditional Home to dream about the house that I would have to win the lottery to have, Travel for the same reason on vacations and Gourmet to get some new ideas.
* For home, I like to window shop at For Friends because I really can't afford real shopping there, and at My Favorite Things I love to by presents and pottery. For clothing I like AJ's Casuals (but only during a sale) and Peppermint Palm because I like the nice beachy colors and styles since I spend a lot of time at the pool and at swim meets all summer.
* My favorite meal is a hard one.......I like so many, so much... lets see...summertime on the berry farm: a picnic of baked chicken on bread with brie and some of the warm farm berries; dinner on the patio: calamari slaw and a glass of Riesling; summer Sunday dinner: fries chicken breast, farm fresh corn, garden tomatoes that are still hot from the sun, with sweet tea and peach cobbler for dessert (can't tell I'm from the south, Ha); Fall: baked turkey and dressing and stack cake for dessert....I could go on and on but I will spare you.

I don't remember where I found this recipe online, but I've also had it at our local Ohio's best seafood restaurant: R.J. Snappers. This is my very favorite dish on the planet!!!

Macademia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi with Blueberry Glaze
1.5 lbs. Mahi Mahi fillets, cut into 4-8 servings
1.5 cups diced Macadamia Nuts (you can use pecans or almonds too)
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. fine sea salt

Mix macadamia nuts with ginger in small flat bowl. Pat fish dry. Coat each piece of fish completely in remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roll fish in nut mixture coating entire piece of fish. Place fish fillets on sheet pan and bake at 380 degrees F for 20-30 minutes until nuts are golden brown and fish is flaky. Drizzle blueberry glaze (below) over each filet, when serving.

Blueberry Glaze:
Leave plenty of time to make this glaze!

1 pint (2 cups) blueberries
1 cup red wine
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup Dijon mustard

Bring ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan.
Reduce heat and simmer for up to 1.5 hours.

APRON SWAP

A couple months ago I mentioned doing an apron swap. Because of the hectic schedules of the holidays, most of you couldn't participate.
Since then some of you have mentioned that you'd still like to do one...so we'll give it another try!
Here's the idea.... you'll either make or buy an apron to send to another GG member. Along with the apron you could send a couple of your favorite recipes and anything else you may like. In return you will receive an apron and recipes as well!
Lets try to have the packages mailed out by the first week of March. This gives everyone a month to assemble a package and get it shipped off.
Please let me know by THIS WEEKEND who is interested in doing the swap. I will get you a name and address of someone by next week.
I think this will be so much fun. I love giving and receiving fun things in the mail.

CARROT CAKE MUFFINS

I made a batch of carrot cake muffins to send to our friend Peter Brunton for his birthday this Friday. I made muffins as opposed to a cake since they will be traveling to Orlando in the mail. I think I may try to freeze them this afternoon and then transfer them to a tupperware box to ship them. Hopefully they will be tasty when they arrive.
I started munching on one of them this morning. They are super moist and yummy! The only change I made was I used about 1 1/2 cup of sugar as opposed to 2 cups. And half of that was brown sugar. Not the most healthy recipe but yummy, nonetheless!


The recipe is :

Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons minced peeled ginger

For cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans. Line bottom of pans with waxed paper. Butter and flour paper; tap out excess flour. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, walnuts and ginger. Divide batter between prepared pans.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes. Turn out onto racks. Peel off waxed paper; cool cakes completely.

(Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.)

Makes 12 servings.

Bon Appétit
September 1999

All Day Chicken Stock

Do you ever buy those rotisserie chickens from the store? Or roast your own? We find that we do this quite often. I love to use the chicken for panini sandwiches or we take one on an impromptu picnic with cheese and french bread. At any rate, after we've eaten them I save the bones, etc... and freeze them until a day like yesterday.
Yesterday was a COOOOOLLLLLDDDD and nasty day out. We came home from church and ate a pot of beef stew and just settled in for a cozy day indoors. Perfect time to make some stock! I pulled out the bones I had been saving, along with some celery, carrots, onion, black peppercorns, and bay leaves, and filled it to cover with water. Then I just let it simmer.....all day long..... By the end of the day I had a rich, gorgeous stock that I will now divide into freezer bags in 2 cup batches and freeze for the times that I need chicken stock or broth (which is quite often). It is way cheaper and is so easy. Plus it makes the house smell yummy.

Blackened Salmon with Potatoes and Green Beans----20 minutes or less!!


This is one of our favorite meals. Blackened Salmon. I buy our salmon at Sam's Club in the frozen section. The salmon comes in individual portions and is ready to go without any de-boning or skinning.

Blackened Salmon
I make a mixture in a shallow bowl of paprika, garlic, seasoning salt, pepper, red pepper (cayenne), and anything else that sounds yummy at the time. I just rub that seasoning into the salmon while I have a pat of butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil heating in a pan (I like to use cast iron). Once the butter is melted, I put the salmon in the pan on a medium heat. I let the salmon cook, without moving it around, until it starts to cook atleast half way through. Sometimes I cover the pan with a lid, sometimes I don't. Once it has cooked half way through, flip the salmon and finish cooking.

Potatoes

For this dinner I was craving potato skins. But with potato skins you scoop out all the actual potato leaving just the skins and all the fattening stuff. For this recipe I left the potato in, just scooping out a tiny bit so the cheese didn't fall off.

After scrubbing 3 potatoes, I pricked them and put them in the microwave until they were soft enough that a fork went through them fairly easily. I then sliced them in half lengthwise and let them cool a minute. Once they cooled enough to touch, I scooped out just a slight bit of potato--enough to make a little pool for the stuffing. Then I used "real" bacon bits (or if you wanted to take the time to fry bacon and crumble it, you could), then I sprinkled on the cheddar cheese. Next, stick them under the broiler on low for a minute or two to melt the cheese. Serve them with sour cream. YUM!

Green Beans

I love fresh green beans but this time of year, they aren't looking too good in the stores. So I resort to frozen ones. I use a small pan with a touch of butter and olive oil heated. Then I throw in the beans and let them saute for a minute with some salt and pepper. Next I add a key ingredient; stock or broth. I use any kind I have around. Chicken, beef, or vegetable. This gives the beans a great flavor. I put just enough broth in the pan to steam the beans for a few minutes. Cook till tender.

Enjoy!!!! Dinner in under 20! Leftover blackened salmon is great too!! I love to make a green salad for lunch and top it with the cold salmon. Super healthy and yummy.

We had friends over last night for dinner. They brought Chinese and I made desserts. I remembered them saying that on a trip to France they had fallen in love with macaroons. So yesterday I attempted to make french macaroons. I researched and realized that french macaroons are vastly different than the macaroons I was used to seeing here in the States. The ones I see are all coconut lumps. (I did make a batch of those as well). But the french macaroons are essentially pulverized almonds and sugar. They were a bit time consuming and after seeing the finished product I was skeptical. I chilled them as directed (an ESSENTIAL step) and served them last night. As I put them on the table our guests gasped and said "are those macaroons"? The first good sign---they looked the way they were supposed to. They took a bite and said they were just like the ones they had eaten in France.---YEAH!!!! And my skepticizm was laid to rest when I ate one myself. They were suprisingly delish even though they did look like a plastic hamburger.
All that to say---try these!!! They are worth the effort and taste amazing! They need to be served cold. YUMMY!!!!!

Chocolate Macaroons with Chocolate Filling

Chocolate filling
3/4 cup whole milk
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped


Macaroons
1 1-pound box powdered sugar
2 cups whole blanched almonds
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup egg whites (about 6 large)




For chocolate filling: Bring milk and butter to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer to small bowl. Cool. Cover and refrigerate until thick and cold, at least 1 day and up to 3 days.


For macaroons: Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Blend powdered sugar and almonds in processor until nuts are ground to powder, scraping sides of bowl often, about 8 minutes. Add cocoa and blend 1 minute more. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold nut mixture into whites in 4 additions, making thick batter.

Spoon half of batter into pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch plain round tip. Pipe batter onto each prepared sheet in 12 walnut-size mounds, spacing mounds apart (cookies will spread slightly). ** note: I used the bag but ended up finding it much easier to just use a spoon to put them on the parchment paper.

Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until firm to touch in center and dry and cracked on top, about 11 minutes. Slide parchment with cookies onto work surface; cool cookies. Repeat with remaining batter, cooling sheets completely.

Assembly and serving: Arrange 1 macaroon, flat side up, on work surface. Drop 1 scant tablespoon filling onto cookie. Top with second macaroon, flat side down. Press lightly to adhere, making sandwich. Repeat with remaining macaroons and filling. Arrange macaroons on platter. Cover; chill at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Serve cold.

Makes 24 sandwich cookies.
Bon Appétit
Cooking Class
May 2001

Happy Holidays everyone!!!! As you may have noticed, I have been slacking a bit in my postings and communication with you all. The holidays sure can be a crazy time, eh? I am 99% done with Christmas shopping. Now it is a matter of wrapping, packaging, and shipping many of the gifts to family and friends around the country.
Needless to say, I am sure many, if not all of you, are as busy or busier than me. So on that note, lets aim at picking up the recipe swap again in January. Sound ok?
I am going to try to post some recipes with pics of my own on here throughout the month so check back for some recipe ideas. Tomorrow I am making a trifle, some macaroons, and chocolate cookies for some guests we are having over. I'll post the results tomorrow or the next day so look for that!
Feel free to drop a line, a recipe, a Christmas idea, or whatever is on your mind.
Love
Megan

It's not even Thanksgiving and I already have leftover turkey. Mike's work had a little Thanksgiving lunch schindig and he came home with the leftover turkey I sent him with. At any rate, I found a recipe for Turkey Tetrazzini and adapted it to what you see here. Its super easy, fast, tasty, and healthy. Enjoy!!

TURKEY TETRAZZINI


10 ounces mushrooms, sliced thin (about 4 cups)--you don't have to use. Its fine without
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2T all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups milk (or water)
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
10 ounces whole wheat pasta (I used spiral)
3 cups coarsely chopped cooked turkey
1 cup cooked peas or any other vegetables you desire
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/3 cup bread crumbs




In a large heavy saucepan cook the mushrooms in 1/4 cup of the butter over moderate heat, stirring, until most of the liquid they give off has evaporated, stir in the flour, and cook the mixture over low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add in a stream the milk, the broth, and the wine, stirring, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring, and simmer the sauce for 5 minutes. In a kettle of boiling salted water cook the spaghetti until it is al dente and drain it well. Put the pasta into the mushroom sauce.
Add the turkey, the peas, and salt and pepper to taste, stir in 1/3 cup of the Parmesan, and transfer the mixture to a buttered shallow 3-quart casserole. In a small bowl combine well the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan, the bread crumbs, and salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle the mixture evenly over the Tetrazzini. Bake the Tetrazzini in the middle of a preheated 375°F. oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until it is bubbling and the top is golden.

Serves 4 to 6.

I love it that you sent a picture along, Leslie...Thanks so much!
Also, thanks to Carrie for the neat Thanksgiving ideas!! I love the great idea of tackling the Thanksgiving day-post eating- clean up.
Now that I have you girls at the blog.... scroll down to see anything that you may have missed. Please let me know "yea", or "nay" about the apron swap. I hope to get those who want to be involved details on it later this week.
Hope everyone will be trying out some of these recipes this month. I know I am dying to try the Carmalized Onion and Gruyere Cheese dish submitted by Heather.
Also, I have another blog running at http://hiphome.blogspot.com Let me know what you think. I am going to post later on today or tomorrow my new FAVORITE fabric that I found at Walmart of all places!!! And my new cookbook find on Ebay that I am super excited about!

Leslie's Ginger Molasses Cookies

Ok, gals! I am sitting here looking at my calendar and it seems that if we could have recipes submitted by Sunday the 29th of October then I can get them out to you gals by the beginning of November. (a week and a half for you non calendar users:)
Lets try to theme this month around Fall foods. Maybe our favorite Thanksgiving recipe or something along those lines. Don't forget to give a little explaination about your recipe and remeber that it needs to be a recipe you have already tried and like.

The quote at the top of this page was so profound to me. There is never a time I am cooking that an ingredient, a recipe, a smell, or a taste doesn't envoke some sort of memory of someone or somewhere. There is something very magical about food and I am glad that we can all share, in some small way, the magic together!

So many of you are on board for another round of recipe swaps! Hooray! I'll send around an email to let everyone know when to get recipes in by. I am thinking if we can have them in by the last week of October then I can have them compiled and posted on this blog for the beginning of November. I haven't heard from you gals concerning the apron swap. What do you think??? Any interest?

The Great Apron Exchange

I mentioned in the email that I thought we could have an apron exchange for the upcoming holiday season. What do you think? I discovered this idea from another blogspot called
http://apronswap.blogspot.com/ Check it out to see what I am talking about.
That particular one is more involved. Each of the members has their own blog and the swap is secret. You only know who you are sending one to not who is sending to you. It is your responsibility to research the person you are making an apron for and try to make one that fits their personality. It is a bit more involved. I am willing to get as involved in it as you girls are.
Post some thoughts on it and let me know what you think. I would ideally like to do the swap by the week of Thanksgiving so we can have them to wear for the holidays. But if that is too soon we can do it the first week of December.

Hello girls! Time to start swapping recipes again. This time I will be posting the recipes on this blog instead of sending them through email. Hopefully this will make it more convinient for you gals to access them and use them. Also it will allow us to share our thoughts and ideas by posting comments as well. I hope you will all find this to be as fun and interactive as I hope it will be.