Veggie Soup For Your Soul

It's that time of year in South Texas.  Mountain cedar hit us full force last week, and that means every member of my little family has been suffering.  Just when it seems like everyone is getting better, I've woken up the past two mornings with absolutely no voice.  None.  *Sigh*

When I'm feeling a bit under the weather, the only thing to soothe my spirits is soup.  Alright, alright, soup and chocolate.  But for today we'll just focus on soup.  I absolutely adore homemade chicken noodle soup.  But with all of us feeling not so hot and no chicken or egg noodles in the house, my favorite chicken soup recipe became veggie soup with rice.



Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, diced


• 1 large parsnip, diced


• 3-4 medium carrots, diced


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil + extra for vinaigrette


• kosher salt


• fresh ground pepper


• 1 quart vegetable stock


• 1 cup of rice (I used basmati) + 2 cups water


• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (or vinegar whatever you like)


• 1 heaping tablespoon dijon mustard

I start just about every soup I make by sauteing veggies.  In this case I used what I had on hand...onion, carrots, parsnips, celery, and garlic.  Dice all your veggies roughly the same size and cook over medium-high heat in about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.  Season with a generous pinch of kosher salt.

For whatever reason, I cannot under any circumstance cook rice on the stove.  This frustrates me to no end...so I cheat.  I use a rice cooker.  To each his own.  While the veggies are sauteing away, start your rice in another pot.  Or, you know, in a rice cooker.

When you're veggies are lightly browned and nice and soft add 1 quart of vegetable stock and cover your pot with the lid.

When your rice is done add it to the stock pot.  Recover with lid and bring to a boil.  Once you've reached a boil, reduce heat to simmer.  Check seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

Now we get a little fancy.  There's nothing like feeling under the weather to kill your appetite.  Food just doesn't taste as good...flavors aren't as strong.  To remedy this, I followed Shauna Niequist's example from her latest book Break and Wine (LOVE!) and made a quick Dijon and Balsamic Vinaigrette to drizzle on top of our bowls of soup.



Oh. My. Word. Y'all.  It didn't disappoint.

I eyeballed 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil (about 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup oil I'd say), added a generous spoonful of dijon mustard, and a pinch of salt and pepper to an old jelly jar and shook until it was well blended.



Here is the soup all steamy and hot with a drizzle of vinaigrette on top.  The soup is fabulous on its own and is what I fed our sweet baby girl for dinner.  Everyone else got the gussied up vinaigrette version.  It's a great meal on its own, but it's especially fabulous served with this bread.  Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Icing {Cookie Exchange!}

This is one of my most cherished recipes.

Growing up, my mom was always volunteering for everything imaginable.  Need someone to sew costumes?  She'd sew.  Need someone to teach Sunday School or VBS?  She'd step in.  Need someone to be room mom?  There she was!

I always knew that my mom worked extremely hard to make things special for my brother and I.  Now that I'm juggling my own little family, I have even more respect for all the amazing things she did for us.  One of the things she was known for in her room mom days was her amazingly wonderful sugar cookies with buttercream icing.  These were made faithfully for just about every class party you could imagine.  I was always so proud to say "my mom made these" when all the kids lined up trying to grab an extra cookie.

So without further ado, here is her fabulous sugar cookie recipe.  I've made just a couple changes, switching out shortening and margarine to unsalted sweet cream butter.  Because butter only makes things better.  ;)

Mom's Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup of unsalted sweet cream butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add the butter, sugar, and eggs to a stand mixer (or a large bowl with hand beater) and beat until smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixer until everything is well blended and the dough starts to pull away from the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface, and roll out to 1/4" thick.  Cut out cookies using cookie cutters of your choice, and lay cookies on an un-greased cookie sheet, about 1-2" apart.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until edges are just slightly turning golden.  Allow cookies to rest on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks to cool completely.  Ice cookies once they are completely cooled.

Buttercream Icing

2/3 cup unsalted sweet cream butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon milk
food coloring (optional)

Place butter in a stand mixer (or large bowl with hand beaters) and beat until smooth.  With the mixer on low, slowly add the sifted confectioner's sugar until it is all incorporated well.  Add the milk and vanilla while beating on medium-low.  Once the icing is a smooth consistency, you may add food coloring if you like.  If the icing becomes too watery due to too much food coloring, add a little more sifted confectioner's sugar until the consistency becomes a little more stiff.

You can use the icing to "butter" your cookies and then add sprinkles on top, toss it in a Ziploc bag with a corner cut to pipe easy designs onto the cookies, or use decorating bags and tips to make more intricate designs.  Keep it as simple as or make it as fancy as you like.

Enjoy!

P.S. For todiefor Gingersnap cookies, these are an oldie but a goodie. :)

P.P.S I'm linking up today with Edie at Life In Grace!  Head over to her beautiful blog to see more wonderful cookie recipes. :)

The Best Greens Evah {A Tale of Two Recipes}

My Mema can cook.  If I were in 3rd grade I'd say "my Mema can cook better than your Mema", but I'm not so I'll refrain.  ;)

There are some people who stick meticulously to their recipe cards and cook wonderful meals.  Then there are those people who have those recipe cards tucked away somewhere, but have committed them to memory and improved on them over the years.  When you watch them cook it's like watching someone create art on a plate.  A pinch of this, a heaping spoon of that, stir 'til it looks right, give it a taste test, and voila....a masterpiece.

Time is taking its toll, but in her hey-day that was my Mema.  Sunday dinner was magic.  If you are lucky enough to have one of her recipes, you do not deviate.  She doesn't just give you the list of ingredients, she gives you her tips on how to make it turn out right every. single. time.

But occasionally I come across someone else who shares that "art" of cooking and their recipe is a just a tad different from Mema's.  What's a girl to do???

The answer, my dears, is to take the best from both and create your own masterpiece.  :)

Greens were one of my Mema's specialties....but they are also a specialty of a former co-worker of mine!  They are a Fall staple in my house...even our little Poppy girl loves them {pureed and sans bacon fat}.  Using fresh greens yields the best result, hands down.  But frozen greens are what I reach for more often than not, simply because they are more convenient.  After a couple of years of tweaking, I've come up with the perfect combination of the recipes of the two ladies who taught me to cook fabulous, savory greens.  I think it honors the spirit of both their recipes.  Enjoy!

The Best Greens Evah

Ingredients:

2 - 16 oz packages frozen greens of your choice (I use mustard and collard) OR 8 cups loosely packed fresh greens, stems removed (you can buy fresh greens bagged, de-stemmed, and pre-rinsed...use two bags if you go this route)
1 ham hock
2 large cloves garlic (or 4 small), crushed
1 yellow onion, finely sliced
white vinegar
bacon fat (yes, bacon fat!)
salt
pepper

Directions:

Remove all stems (if using fresh greens) and put greens in large pot.  Add water just to cover and bring to a boil for 10-15 minutes.

Strain and rinse greens in hot tap water.  Return to pot and again, just cover with water.

Add ham hock and bring to boil.

Add garlic, onion, 2 Tbsp of bacon fat, and 2 capfuls of white vinegar (about 1-1 1/2 Tbsp).

Reduce heat to a simmer and let cook 30 minutes to a couple of hours.  The longer they cook the more intense the flavor will be.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.  Enjoy!

Mema's Peanut Butter Cake {with Peanut Butter Icing}

I've mentioned before that I come from a legacy of ladies who love to offer their hospitality to their families.  I'm fortunate that I got to grow up in the same city as both of my grandmothers.  We took turns rotating Sunday dinner...one Sunday at Mema's house, one Sunday at ours, the next Sunday at Granny's and the next again at ours.  This was our weekly and monthly rotation until I left for college (and because the universe does not revolve around me, my family carried on with this tradition even in my absence).

Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Icing was my Mema's specialty.  It happens to be my Daddy's favorite cake, and so we were guaranteed to have it at least once a year on his birthday.  But it is also the favorite of many of my cousins, aunts, and uncles, and so we usually had it 2 or 3 times a year.  It was always fabulous and it never got old.

This is one of those recipes that I was so sure was missing something - either another ingredient or some special technique.  The first time I made it in my college apartment the cake was dry, dry, dry and the eggs in the icing curdled lickity-split.  So I put it on the back-burner, intending to ask my Mema what I did wrong.

A wedding, two moves, and two coasts later I decided to try again in our tiny apartment in San Diego.  The cake turned out marginally better, but once again the eggs in my icing curdled.  This time I called my dad to see if he knew what went wrong.  He told me that he'd never mastered the icing, but he knew for a fact my Mema switched from making cake from scratch to adding peanut butter to a box mix ages ago.  In fact, he wasn't sure I'd ever had her cake truly from scratch.

Well I never.

I have come back to this cake periodically.  With the box cake mix knowledge under my belt I ditched the cake recipe (the flour measurements never were specific) and began using a yellow cake recipe with a heaping dose of peanut butter added.  My cakes immediately improved...but my icing was still the pits.  I learned about tempering eggs...my icing improved a bit, but it never has been as good as Mema's.

This week Mema had a stroke.  Sitting in the hospital waiting room talking with my aunts and cousin we started reminiscing and I mentioned that I never have gotten this recipe to work.  I love the women in my family.  They are warm, loving, and encouraging.  Immediately everyone jumped in with little bits of wisdom.  "The icing turns out ooey and gooey like Mema's when it's technically undercooked...It makes more of a hard shell glaze when you cook it as long as the recipe calls for...Temper, temper, temper the egg whites...don't rush it...go little by little."

And so, armed with the knowledge of many, I came back to try it again.  To do my Mema proud.  Oh y'all...this time it was perfection!

Mema's Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Icing

Can use two 8" pans, two 9" pans, or one 13x9" pan.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups, plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus extra
3 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, plus extra
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter

Directions:
Allow your eggs to come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes.  Grease your cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, mix 2 1/2 cups of the flour with the baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and set aside.

Using paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beat the butter on high speed for 30 seconds.  Reduce speed to medium and slowly add sugar, beating until well combined.  Scrape down the sides of your bowl.  Add 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk (reserve egg white), one at a time and beating after each egg is added.  Add 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and beat.  Reduce speed to low and alternate adding flour mixture and 1 1/4 cups of milk.  Add 1/4 cup peanut butter and beat until evenly distributed.  Spread batter into the pans.

Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes for 9" pans, 40-45 minutes for 8" pans, 35-40 minutes for 13x9" pan, or until cake passes the knife/toothpick test.  Cook cake for at least 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool on wire racks.

For the icing, beat egg white on high until it forms stiff peaks.  Keep in mixer and set aside.  Then combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 cup buttermilk, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan set on medium high heat.  Stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil where you can't stir down the bubbles.  Add 1 tablespoon peanut butter and continue to cook for about 5-6 minutes, stirring constantly.  Stir in 2-3 drops of vanilla and remove from heat.  Turn mixer with egg whites on low and add 1/3 of the boiling mixture to the egg white, one spoonful at a time.  Go slow, slow, slow...don't rush.  Return egg white mixture to the saucepan with the rest of the peanut butter mixture and fold to combine.

Ice cake, making sure to give a generous layer of icing to the middle if you are stacking layers.  I find it works best to ice in thin layers, letting each layer set before adding another.  A silicone basting brush comes in handy for making sure every nook and cranny is iced, as this icing is gooey like a thick ganache.

Feel free to drizzle any extra icing on your slice.  ;)

Pour yourself a tall glass of cold milk and enjoy a slice of peanut butter cake heaven.  :)

Carrot Salad

When you come across something not once, not twice, but three times in one week it might just be a sign that it's meant to be.

First, when reading A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, she made mention of the carrot salad her host-mom made regularly while she lived as a foreign exchange student in France.

Then when reading Bringing Up Bebe, Pamela Druckerman mentioned the wonder that is carrot salad when discussing how French parents feed their children.

And last but not least, when I re-read French Women Don't Get Fat (because I was on an all-things-France kick thanks to Molly and Pamela) Mireille Guiliano mentioned the same carrot salad!

And thus I was introduced to my new BFF, Carrot Salad.

Carrot Salad with basil

As a woman born and raise in the American South, this carrot salad smacks of slaw.  My mom used to make a version with carrots and raisins which I detested growing up.  But this is fancy slaw.  This is French-inspired slaw.  This isn't slaw per se - this is Carrot Salad.

Ingredients:

shredded carrots (1-2 per person)
vinaigrette or a creamy salad dressing (the one in this recipe is fabulous)
raisins, walnuts, pecans, fresh herbs, avocado slices, cherry tomatoes...anything extra you'd like to add

Directions:

Shred your carrots (I use a box grater and call it a workout, but you can use a food processor for this).  Add vinaigrette/dressing to taste.  Top with raisins, nuts, tomatoes, etc.

Yup, that's it!  Simple, quick, and delicious.  It's a great way to use up miscellaneous ingredients and yes, I know it's a slaw.  You're right...really, it is.  But I've taken to calling it Carrot Salad and serving it to my family as a first course...you know, as they would in France.  Bon appetit!  ;)

Why I Could Never Go Paleo {Todiefor Pasta Salad Recipe}

It seems like everyone (yes, everyone) is jumping on the Paleo bandwagon these days.  And while I have seriously considered doing a Whole30, pregnant and all, I find it easier to show you why I simply cannot see myself going Paleo long-term.

Enter the best pasta salad you've ever had.  Ever.

My Scrappy Pasta Salad {Yes, I used the word scrappy.  Think Monica Gellar scrappy...quick name that Friends episode!}

The Dressing
3/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp white vinegar
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp salt

Add all ingredients to food processor and process until nice and smooth.

The Salad
1/2 lb pasta of your choice (I used whole wheat gemelli)
1 carrot, shredded
1 cucumber, shredded
1 tomato, finely diced
1/8 cup green olives, sliced

Cook and drain your pasta.  Add remaining 4 ingredients and 1/2 cup-ish of The Dressing.  Chill and serve or be impatient like me and just dig in.  ;)

Goes fabulously with the best bread ever and a nice dab of butter.  And grab yourself some iced tea while you're at it.

Fast Fried Chicken {For Your Sunday Dinner}

Happy Sunday!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day and are getting some much needed rest and relaxation.

As requested by my sweet friend Janna, here is the recipe for the fried chicken I made for dinner last Sunday.

Y'all should know I never do this the same way twice, and it's super quick because I slice my chicken into tender sized pieces.  Smaller pieces = faster cooking time.  Fried chicken is super easy, as long as you don't set the kitchen on fire (again, I am so, so sorry mom!).  Just keep your fire extinguisher close and remember...don't use water to put out a grease fire! ;)

My Fast Fried Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

1-2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced 1" thick
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt (I use Kosher)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk (or faux buttermilk - 1Tbsp lemon juice+1 cup milk...or just use regular milk)
1 Tbsp chili poweder
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
olive oil or canola oil for frying (make sure it's an oil that can withstand high heat...no EVOO here!)

Directions:

{Note: I use pie plates for dredging my chicken slices, but you can use a regular plate or a shallow bowl...whatever you have will work.}

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat.  In one pie plate mix 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp salt.  In a second pie plate add egg and next 4 ingredients and mix very well.  When skillet is smoking hot, carefully add 1/4-1/2" oil.  While the oil is heating, dredge one third to one half of your chicken slices in the egg/milk mixture.  Let them soak for about a minute, then dredge them in the flour mixture.

Your oil should be nice and hot now.  Carefully add your chicken to the skillet, making sure you don't crowd the skillet.  After about 4 minutes, flip your chicken slices and cook for another 4 minutes or so.  Your chicken should be a nice golden brown and not be pink at all on the inside.  Remove cooked chicken and place on a paper towel covered plate to drain.  Repeat dredging and frying the remaining chicken slices.

For the dinner rolls I used this One Hour Dinner Rolls recipe I found through The Nester (y'all remind me I need to make those folding chairs one of these days).  They really do only take an hour and are delicious!!

Also on our table were green beans (with a good dab of butter), carrot and potato mash from The Petite Appetite Cookbook, and for dessert we rocked some Strawberry Ice Cream from Blue Bell.  For my friends not living in Texas, I'm so sorry.  But you can always have it shipped to you!

Fast and Delicious Broccoli Stir-Fry

Dinner is a never-ending conundrum in my house; I'm not gonna lie.

Despite the fact that I have a well-stocked pantry, and regularly cook meal after meal for my family, sometimes I just come up short with new ideas.  Couple that with the fatigue, extreme nausea, and all-day-sickness I had for the first five and a half months of this pregnancy and, well, let's just say my family hasn't eaten all that well for a while now.

Not that it hasn't been homemade....it's just been a lot of sandwiches on homemade bread and pizza on homemade dough.  Maybe some chili or soup thrown into the mix.  Maybe a roast thrown in the crockpot every other month.  And a LOOOOOT of requests from me to the Hubster for Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, and french fries from Whataburger.  Because when I couldn't keep a potato down any other way, I somehow miraculously could if it was a french fry.  Go figure.

But I digress.  Now that the pleasantries of pregnancy are random and not daily, I find myself with more energy and actually eager to eat lots of green veggies.  So the pendulum can swing both ways!

I found this recipe in the January issue of Southern Living and my whole family absolutely adored it.  So last night, when I came up short on ideas for dinner for me and the Kiddo, I decided to make an even faster variation on this theme....up-ing the ginger quotient and minus the heat to please my preggo palette.

Fast & Delicious Broccoli Stir-Fry {with Basmati Rice & Lentils}
Serves 4. 

2 Tbsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 16 oz. bag of Organic Frozen Broccoli
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup low-sodium organic beef broth
1 Tbsp. organic light brown sugar
2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. lemon juice (or lime, I used what I had on hand)
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
Mix of 1/2 cup organic Basmati rice and 1/2 cup lentils, cooked

Rice and lentils are my friend because you don't have to pre-soak either the way you do beans!  For this meal I added 1/2 cup Basmati rice and 1/2 cup dried lentils to my trusty rice cooker, along with 2 cups of water, a splash of extra-virgin olive oil, and about 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt.

Once I got the rice/lentils going, I pre-heated my cast-iron skillet on high heat.  Once it was hot and smoking I added 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and let the oil heat for about a minute or two, then I added the bag of frozen broccoli.  (Warning!  Since it's frozen broccoli and you're adding it to hot oil, the oil will have the tendency to splatter a bit.  This shouldn't be a problem if you use fresh.)  I tossed the broccoli a bit with tongs to make sure it was evenly coated and allowed it to cook for about 5 minutes.

While the broccoli was cooking, I mixed the salt, pepper, broth, lemon juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl and whisked to combine.  Once the broccoli was nice and browned, I added the broth mixture to the skillet and let cook for another 2 minutes while I grated the fresh ginger and sliced the garlic.  Then I added these last two ingredients to the skillet and stir-fried with the tongs for about 5 more minutes.

It smelled amazing and I was so tempted to eat all the broccoli straight out of the pan!  Since my stir-fry was finished before my rice and lentils, I lowered the heat to simmer and covered with aluminum foil to keep it warm.  Once the rice and lentils were done, I served the stir-fry over the rice and lentils and added a tiny drizzle of extra soy sauce to each plate.

This was such a fast and easy way to make sure the Kiddo and I both got our protein and green veggies...and we both cleaned our plates!  That child hasn't eaten broccoli in FOREVER, so I'm calling this one a success.

The fabulous thing about this recipe is you can absolutely modify it with what you have on hand.  After I cooked up the stir-fry it occurred to me that I should have also tossed in some carrots and turnips which are looking a little wilty in my refrigerator crisper drawer.  No worries...if I don't add them to a soup soon, I'm sure I'll be craving this dish again within the next couple of days.  :)

I've been holding out on you...

So you may remember me sharing during the 31 Days of Cooking at Home how my family makes our own bread.

Well a couple of things happened to change this shortly after my 31 days of blogging insanity.

First, I saw Edie's lovely home tour and noticed a lovely loaf of bread and a cookbook called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.  I made a mental note to look into that.  And if you haven't seen Edie's gorgeous beyond gorgeous home go check it out.  Like now.

Then, after I'd made my mental note to find the cookbook that gave Edie the perfect loaves of bread, The Nester posted on the same cookbook.  And she mentioned that the authors had a blog with their master recipe posted for the whole world to see.  For free.

So I clicked over, saw that I had all the ingredients, and made a batch.

I have never looked back.  Our bread machine is so sad.  She has sat all alone in a cabinet for the better part of a year.

I did end up buying the book and a nifty dough whisk. My thought was, if this is just the tip of the ice berg, I want to know what else is in that book!  And that master recipe is ah.maz.ing.  It can be used for pizza dough, cinnamon rolls...endless opportunities.

So if you've never tried to make homemade bread, I implore you...try it!  This is the one to try.  You will not mess it up.  It will rise without your help.  It will bake with a lovely, crispy crust.  You will eat the entire first loaf in one sitting.  It is so good.

One more photo to drool over...

Now go make some for yourself!

Ma's Buttermilk Pie

Edie at Life in Grace hosted a lovely linky party this week with all kinds of recipes for goodies.  You must, must, MUST check it out.  But only after you put your fat pants on first.  I intended to join in, but the week got away from me.  Sooo...I'm linking up now!  Better fashionably late than never, right?  ;)

Without further ado, I give you {drum roll please....}

Ma's Buttermilk Pie

This is a family recipe if ever there was one, and it is my Christmas gift to you my friends.  Ma is my Great-Grandmother on my Daddy's side...my Daddy's Mother's Mother.  I never had the pleasure of meeting Ma, but her legacy of good home cooking has been passed down to me and I am eternally grateful.  Here is her recipe, as was handed down to me, for the pie which must be present at all our family functions from Thanksgiving to New Year's. 

Ingredients:

3 eggs {just stir up}
2 cups sugar
2 heaping tablespoons flour {table spoon off the table, heaping with as much as spoon will hold} 
1 stick margarine melted {don't tell Ma, but I use unsalted butter instead!}
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt {I use kosher...it's easier to pinch ;) }

Mix ingredients in order given.  Pour into one 10" unbaked pie shell {or double recipe and use three 8" or 9" shells}.  Bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees or until done. 

It's best if you let it cool to room temperature before cutting into it.  But...who am I kidding?  We always make 2...just because we can't let it cool and end up "tasting" half the pie every. single. year.

Now get your fat pants out and enjoy!!

Day 31 | Todiefor Gingersnaps and Halloween {cue the finale music}

Happy Halloween friends!

It's the Great Pumpkin!

We made it to Day 31!  Can you believe it?!

In honor of the wonderful Fall festivities which are upon us, I give you Todiefor Gingersnap Cookies.  This recipe was given to me by Dr. Julie Sweet, my Colonial American History professor my last semester at Baylor.  Dr. Sweet was passionate about the subject she taught and worked hard to make Colonial America come alive - including baking for these fabulous cookies for her students.  I have never forgotten her or her class, and I take a small trip down memory lane every year when I bake her gingersnaps.  Enjoy!

Dr. Sweet's Todiefor Gingersnap Cookies {I added the "todiefor" ;) }

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup margarine, softened {I use unsalted butter}
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves

In mixing bowl, combine half the flour and all other ingredients.  Beat until combined.  Add in remaining flour and beat well.  Shape dough into one inch balls.  Roll in sugar.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  Cool cookies on wire rack.

And because everyone loves babies...I give you our official candy distributor. ;)  He loved Halloween and cried huge crocodile tears when we took him out of his pumpkin costume for bath time. 

I was Lucy and Hubster was Charlie Brown. :)

Hope y'all are having a wonderful evening!

Check out all the other 31 Dayers here.

Day 29 | Pasta with Lentils, Kale, and Spinach {YUM!}

I must have been hiding under a rock all my life, because until this fall I had never {ever} had kale.  Or lentils.  And now I love both.  I just about died when I came across this recipe on Epicurious.

I only made a couple of changes to the recipe - adding spinach and parmesean.  This recipe is definitely going into rotation at my house.  This serves 4 and it didn't even last 5 hours in my house.  Hubster had 2 servings at dinner and I couldn't resist making a midnight snack of the remaining serving.  ;)

Pasta with Lentils, Kale, and Spinach {based off of this recipe}

Ingredients:
1/2 cup lentils, cooked and ready to go
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/4 lb kale
1/4 lb baby spinach
1/4 cup shredded parmesean
3/4 lb short dried pasta
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, then add onions, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper.  Saute for about a minute over medium high, then reduce heat and continue to cook for about 20 minutes or until golden.

While your onions are cooking, remove the center stems from the kale and cut kale into bite sized pieces.  Boil kale in a 6-8 quart pot of salted water for 5-8 minutes, or until cooked through. 

 Remove the kale with tongs and strain in a colander.  Add your dried pasta to the already boiling pot of water and cook until al dente.  Add lentils, kale, and baby spinach to the skillet with the onions and simmer for about a minute.  Check for seasoning and add salt/pepper as needed.

Once pasta is al dente, add pasta to skillet, plus about 1/3 cup of pasta water.  Toss to coat and simmer for another minute or so. 

Transfer to serving dish and add parmesean and a drizzle of olive oil.  Toss one last time and serve immediately.

Seriously, this is my new fav.  :)

 
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Day 28 | Grits Are Good!

I hope you all will forgive my lazy blogging these last couple of days.  The Hubster is on vacation and I have been enjoying time spent with my little family.  :)

Texas is an interesting state.  My old History of Texas professor used to say that Texas was really like two states in one; the Eastern half {east of Austin onward} was part of the American South, and the Western half {Austin and westward} was part of the American Southwest.

As a child I never understood the term "The South".  I didn't understand how those "Northern" states like North Carolina could be considered the South.  I mean, you can't get further South than Texas without going to Mexico.  As far as I was concerned, Texas was the end-all-be-all Southern state.

So imagine my surprise when I learned of a "traditionally Southern" food that I'd never had: grits.

 
I guess I grew up in the part of the state that's a little more Southwestern than Southern.  My only experience with grits was limited to a very paste-like version which was dumped on our cafeteria trays at summer church camp.  They looked like paste and tasted like paste.  I couldn't believe people actually liked them.

Enter the April 2011 edition of Southern Living and it's drool-enducing Spring Brunch...including cheese grits made with Gouda.  They looked todiefor.  I had to try them.  And once I did, I was hooked.

 My very battered and splattered copy of April 2011 Southern Living.

I don't keep Gouda on hand, so I have tried these grits with every kind of broth/cheese combination I can think of {including American cheese} and I LOVE them nomatterwhat.  If you have never tried grits, or think you hate grits, you must, must, MUST try these.

Here is the variation I made a couple of nights ago {there were absolutely no leftovers even though this was supposed to serve 4}.

Cheese Grits {based on Southern Living's Gouda Grits}

Ingredients:
2 cups chicken broth {or whatever you have on hand...even boullion works}
1/2 cup of half and half
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup of stone ground yellow cornmeal {or quick cooking grits, whatever you have}
1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup skim milk
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp Frank's Hot Sauce {plus an extra shake or two}

Bring the first 3 ingredients plus 2 cups of water to a boil in a dutch oven or large pot.  Once boiling add grits/cornmeal slowly while wisking to prevent lumps. 

 Thank you Alton Brown for your idea of using cornmeal instead of hominy for grits.

Reduce heat to medium low and allow to simmer until cooked, stirring occasionally.  When grits are cooked through {should be thick like cream of wheat or mashed potatoes} remove from heat and stir in cheese and remaining ingredients.  Serve immediately and don't blame me if you become a grits addict.  ;)

Cheesy, creamy goodness.

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Day 27 | Fall Breakfast. Fast.

I love oatmeal.  I eat it year round.  But there is something about waking up to the first cold Texas morning that makes you want a really good bowl of oatmeal.  Nothing instant and powdered, but it still needs to be quick.  Because we've got places to go and people to see on this beautiful Fall morning.

There is nothing like oatmeal made on the stove top.  But that is a rare occurrence in my house.  The general rule of thumb with oatmeal is the same as with rice.  1 part oats to 2 parts liquid.  I use thick organic oats, so they aren't "super" quick cooking, but they're still pretty dang quick.

My Favorite Fall Oatmeal

Ingredients:
1/4 cup organic oatmeal
1/2 cup organic apple juice
generous helping of ground cinnamon
handful of organic rasins

Add everything to a microwave safe bowl.  Heat on high for about 2 minutes {more or less, depending on your microwave}.  Let cool for 1 minutes before diving in and devouring.

Warm Fall goodness.  :)

You might like milk or water instead of apple juice in your oatmeal.  Apple juice is naturally sweet so I don't add any extra sugar, but if I use milk or water I often add some brown or turbinado sugar, or a drizzle of real maple syrup.  You can add dried cranberries, nuts, a dash of wheat germ, flax seed {whole or ground}...your only limit with oatmeal is your creativity.  It takes all of 30 seconds to toss everything in a bowl and 3 minutes to heat and cool, so oatmeal is my go-to healthy, warm breakfast for a busy, cold morning.

Enjoy!

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Day 26 | Grandpa's Salmon Dip

Our leftover wild Alaskan salmon turned into the most lovely dip!

Grandpa's Salmon Dip

Ingredients:
1 salmon fillet, seasoned, cooked and shredded
3 heaping table spoons {from off the table, not measuring} of mayo
Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Enjoy with your choice of chips or veggies {we loved Fritos with this dip}. :)

 

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Post edit:  So sorry for the wonkiness of this post!  We were traveling and I was using the Blogger App on my phone.  :/

Day 25 | Dinner with Extended Family

We are visiting Grandma and Grandpa this week! So I'm not technically cooking at home, but we aren't eating out either. It's lovely when someone else takes the reins and cooks for you. :)

The Hubster and Grandpa did the grilling. Alaskan Salmon from Grandpa's fishing trip and beef steaks, mixed veggies, and sweet potato fries. They kept it simple and it was so good!

 

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Post edit:  So sorry for the wonkiness of this post!  We were traveling and I was using the Blogger App on my phone.  :/

Day 24 | Kale. Marinated.

I took off Day 23.  It was random and not planned, but I needed a Sabbath and I had one! 

Last week our little family decided to check out a new vegetarian restaurant that just opened by our house.  We were not disappointed.  Everything off the menu was todiefor, right down to the vegan cupcakes.  What I loved about this place was that it was comfort food, vegetarian style.  You just can't beat comfort food.

I had a portobello "steak" with sweet potato mash and marinated kale.  It was hearty and delicious.  I love me some kale, so I was super excited to try to make my own version last night.

Marinated Kale

Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale, washed and dried
2 tbsp soy sauce {I used low sodium}
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large ziploc bag

Add the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and olive oil to the ziploc bag.  Seal the bag and shake to blend.  Trim the stalks from your kale and tear kale into bite size pieces. 

Add kale to your ziploc bag, seal shut, and shake to coat.  Remove the air from the bag and reseal.

Spread the kale out so that it is in one layer inside the bag and has as much surface area touching the marinade as possible. 

Let sit for 1 hour or overnight.  The longer it sits, the more the kale softens and absorbs the flavors from the marinade.

We had ours with roasted organic chicken and mashed potatoes made from half white and half sweet potatoes. 

 YUM!


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