Shelley Bakes!

I'm back ... kind of (Cacio e Pepe)

2012-01-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

The cooking bug has yet to really return to me, so when I found myself seduced by a recipe this morning - I wasn't too surprised that it reminded me of comfort food from my childhood. Cacio e Pepe is simply what the title translates to: Pasta with cheese and pepper. It made me think of being a kid and the times my mom would make the simplest - but tastiest - dish ... boiled elbow macaroni with melted butter, a little bit of milk splashed in and plenty of salt and pepper.

I found this recipe at Ezra Pound Cake and tweaked the ingredients to serve one.

Merry Christmas! And a hiatus ...

2011-12-22T13:05:00.000-08:00

Is it lame for me to come to my blog to announce a hiatus when I haven't been blogging since, oh, October? I love cooking. I love looking at new recipes. I love the challenges that cooking and baking can present and the knowledge that comes after years of kitchen experience.

But I've been working on other projects and for the time being, I just wanted to poke my head in and say hello! Sorry I've been bastardly about posting lately. I'll let you all know when I decide to come back. :)

In the meantime - if you're looking for some last minute homemade gifts, these items have been found in the ShelleyBakes kitchen - easy Nutella sea salt fudge and homemade Bailey's Irish Cream. They are quick and easy.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Freezer Tomato Sauce

2011-10-19T00:26:00.000-07:00

Umm ... so I'm going to apologize that this blog post is about, oh ... a month too late? Although I've heard rumor that the unseasonably warm weather in Minnesota has had some people still picking tomatoes - I made this recipe right after Labor Day weekend when my neighbor had given me carte blanche to raid her cherry tomato bushes.

I found this recipe on Leite's Culinaria, which is one of my favorite food blogs out there. For those of you still harvesting tomatoes, give it a shot. And if you're like me and dreaming of next year's bounty, go ahead and bookmark this for next year.

Soups for a Saturday: Crock Pot Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili

2011-10-15T00:24:00.000-07:00

Earlier I expounded upon how food bloggers are particularly obsessed with pumpkin around this time of year.

After I tried this chili from Gina at Skinnytaste - I think I'm beginning to understand why.

There are no words to explain this chili. Only that I Facebooked the link on my ShelleyBakes page and that I emailed no more than four people about this particular chili. And since I used dried beans instead of canned, I actually started eating this soup when the beans were still a little crunchy.

I speaketh much truth ... this chili? Wow.

My alterations ... like I said - I used dried beans. No I'm not some dried bean purist who will tell you that there is some mythical difference between canned and dried beans that will result in unicorns prancing upon this earth.

There's a big difference ... there's a difference in time and convenience. And I do think there's a difference in taste ... I prefer canned chickpeas to ones I've cooked myself, likely because of whatever funky bean liquid they've been bathing in.

Having said that - I do think that dried beans take up less cupboard real estate in my cupboards than canned beans. Plus, there's less waste overall (I buy beans from the bulk bins - reducing packaging/carbon footprint/whatever.).

For this recipe, I soaked my beans overnight and picked through them to get rid of any rogue pieces of whatever comes out of bean fields. I then put in just shy of four cups worth of beans.

Since I put in soaked, but uncooked beans, I upped my chicken broth to four cups instead of two cups.

I also used ground turkey - the hot Italian sausage style, so I omitted the oregano.

Finally - I did not have chopped green chiles, but I did have a can of Rotel (10 oz.). So I dumped that in, liquid and all.

I served with some cornbread ... and it was goooood.

Low Fat Pumpkin Bread

2011-10-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

As sure as leaves fall on the ground during the fall season in Minnesota, the food blogs are full of recipes using pumpkin. And who can blame them? I mean - there's something about the warm scents of cinnamon and nutmeg that scream it's time to break out the jeans and sweaters. And to enjoy the 50 and 60 degree temperatures, because you can pack up all of your shorts and poof! Eighty degree weather will return for a week in the region. That, and experience cautions me that we could very well see snow by Halloween. Because that's Minnesota.

So to celebrate the season, I made this bread from Gina at Skinnytaste, but because I'm contrary and because I keep f-ing up bread recipes, I decided to put it in a Bundt cake pan. And it is gooood .... it's not *as* good as some of your more traditional pumpkin breads that get some incredible moisture from an asston of vegetable oil, but the pumpkin puree does the trick.

Here are the changes I made: Bundt pan instead of bread pan; omitted the pepitas, used Penzey's Baking Spice instead of pumpkin pie spice and sprinkled with some powdered sugar for the final product.

If you decide to bake in a Bundt pan, cut the cooking time down to about 40-45 minutes.

This is actually the second pumpkin bread that I made this season ... the earlier one was from Rebecca at Ezra Pound Cake. And while this one was good, the streusel decided to go rogue and dropped through the bottom of the bread. I have no clue what I did. But my neighbor Bonnie and my husband Ryan (and his D&D friends) did not really seem to care, so this was still a winner.

Twenty years ago ...

2011-09-23T06:24:00.000-07:00

I was reminded on Facebook this AM that Nirvana's "Nevermind" came out 20 years ago. In an instant, I was able to complete the mental math (because 33 minus 20 isn't exactly that difficult ...) and I realize that I was 13 years old and I remember getting a cassette dub of the album - "Nevermind" on one side and some of Pearl Jam's "Ten" on the other.

This album served as an antidote to some of the shenanigans of junior high. It didn't matter that I wasn't popular, that my mom wouldn't let me wear ripped jeans like I really wanted to, that my friends were geeks like me and that the worst possible situation of all time was pissing off Miss Smith in German class, the music of the Seattle grunge scene went beyond the badassery of bands like Metallica.

This morning, I've been going back and forth with an college classmate of mine who is in Norway. His opinion? Nevermind still sucks - never mind that it was an "awakening" of sorts in American music. As for me - I remember the awe I felt the first time I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit." (Oh yes, I had that deodorant, my friends ...) I remember the prickles that I had the first time I heard the posthumous release "You Know You're Right" (driving on Interstate 43, just right into Milwaukee ... not a good place to get distracted).

If "Nevermind" is a shitty album, I embrace my bad taste with glee. And my 13-year-old self approves.

Good wine article ...

2011-09-22T05:44:00.000-07:00

I think I've obsessed a time or two on this blog regarding "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness. (Love, love, LOVE that book.) And beyond the main character being a hunky vampire (no sparkles, thank you very much), said vampire is a huge wino.

Perfection? Perhaps ...

Anyway - the author is also a wine connoisseur (sounds better than wino) and has a blog called "Good Wine Under $20" that I have in my Google Reader. Today's blog post was about whether to drink reserve wines or just stick with the regular bottling. And I can appreciate a blogger who goes to the work of researching (i.e. - drinking good wine) in the name of writing a stellar wine article.

The ABC's of me!

2011-09-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite frugality blogs featured this post the other day and I thought it would be a fun one to share.

A – Age. I’m 33

B – Bed Size. Queen.

C – Chore I dislike. Dusting ... I have no clue why I don't like to dust, I just don't I'd rather clean the bathroom.

D – Dogs. I do not consider myself a dog person - when I was a kid growing up, we always had dogs and I always liked them, but I prefer the stubborn independence of my cat.

E – Essential start to my day. Talking to said stubborn cat while I'm making lunch for my hubby and copious amounts of coffee.

F – Favorite Colors. Blue, brown, green and gray.

G – Gold or silver? Either.

H – Height. I’m 5’8″.

I – Instruments I play(ed). Little known fact ... I took several years worth of voice lessons in high school and college and had a vocal scholarship to college. Having said that, I'm a fair-to-middlin' singer, the kind of voice that's really good for blending and not one to sing solos (which I am PERFECTLY fine with). Throughout school I played clarinet until I was a junior in high school and I started playing bass clarinet.

J – Job title. Proposal Manager.

K – Kids. A four-legged bastard cat.

L – Live. My husband and I have a house in southeast Minnesota.

M - Money tip I like best. I'm stealing what Frugal Babe put in her post, because it's simple and good. "Whatever you earn, spend less."

N – Never plan to… Never say never ... :).

O – Overnight hospital stays. Fifth-grade, getting my tonsils and adenoids out.

P - Pet Peeves. Intolerance and shitty drivers.

Q - Quote from a movie. "OK Ramblers, let's get rambling." I'm sure my friend Deb knows what movie that's from.

R – Righty or lefty? Righty

S - Siblings. I have an older brother ... we are by no means best friends, but we're fiercely protective of one another and tolerate each other slightly. I also have a cousin whom I consider to be the sister I was never gifted with.

T - Time I wake up. My mind starts waking up before 6 a.m., I can usually put off getting up until about 7.

U – Underwear. Yes please?

V - Vegetables I don’t like. Raw carrots.

W – What makes me run late. Me being me.

X – X-rays I’ve had. Dental and from when I broke my arm in sixth-grade.

Y – Yummy food I make. I've been known to make some good food from time to time.

Z – Zoo animals I like. Zoos are stinky, I'm not a big zoo person.

Do you have a blog? If you do, consider yourself tagged!

Vacation! (Otherwise known as "The beers I drank")

2011-09-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I took a short trip up to Lake Superior over the weekend ... here's some highlights. (Also known as the "beers I drank" because the Duluth/Superior area are blessed with a couple of great microbreweries.)


Thirsty Pagan Brewing was the first spot we hit after checking into our hotel. I found them on the Internet and was lured there with the promise of hand-crafted beers and gourmet pizza. We were not disappointed with either promise.


This is the Burntwood Black. I think I could drink this beer every day for the rest of my life. They even use it to make brownies.


Ryan had the North Coast Amber.

Rest assured though - our trip wasn't all beer tasting. I caught a sunrise on Lake Superior en route to the Barkers Island Farmers Market.

Later, there were ships to be watched in Duluth in Canal Park.


I could watch ships all day ... there is something amazing about seeing a vessel that's about the size of a football field come into this tiny little canal and make its way towards the docks.

But also - there was more beer ... these pictures were taken at Fitger's Brewhouse.

This was my chocolate cherry stout. It was like dessert in a pint.

Ryan went with the El Nino Pale Ale. Very good, very hoppy.

In short, it was a great weekend. Even if you can see the tan lines from around my sunglasses.

From the wine rack ... Hyatt Vineyards Cab-Merlot

2011-08-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

My husband bought me a wine rack for my birthday in July - capable of holding 72 bottles of beautiful, beautiful vino. I am never going to pretend to be a wine expert, but I am happy to drink what I love and tell others about my finds.

Pre-wine rack, I got an email from Groupon that featured a deal where you spend $25 and get a $75 gift card from Barclay's Wine. Curious to try Groupon and pretty fond of wine, I figured this was a win-win for me.

And boy was it ... Barclay's has a limited selection, but it had enough red varietals to pique my interest.

The first wine I tried out of my Barclay's stash was Hyatt Vineyards Cab-Merlot - a non-vintage blend hailing from Yakima Valley, Washington. And wow ... the bottle retails at $18, but given this is a fully-matured blend, I wouldn't blink at the cost.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Name: Hyatt Vineyards – Non-Vintage Cabernet Merlot

Year: Non-Vintage

Particulars: "This Non-Vintage Cabernet/Merlot marks a return to our original practice of assembling this easy-drinking introduction to Hyatt Vineyard's red wines from select lots of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot across several vintages. While the varietal components are 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, the Cabernet is 98% from the 2003 vintage and 2% from Reserve 2001; the Merlot is all 2002. Delicious blackberry flavors and clean, rich finish make this a great match for meats, tomato-based sauces and pure enjoyment." (From vineyard's website.)

Drank: August 2011

Where Purchased: Barclay’s Wine (as part of Groupon offer …). Normally $17.95/bottle (that's minus shipping and handling ... Barclay's has free shipping offers from time to time.)

Notes: This wine needed to breathe before consuming. After it had a chance to breathe, it was very rich, more of a darker flavor, very good. Special occasion wine.

**Amended note: On a whim and because I am operating the under the premise that if I find a wine that I like, I will try to find out information about said wine and determine whether I should acquire more of it, I sent an email to the contact information on the vineyard's website. That afternoon, I had an email from their national sales manager. This wine is ready to drink NOW and is fully developed. And the depressing part? The vineyard is discontinuing this wine, so once it's gone from Barclay's there is no more.

Toasted Israeli Couscous Salad with Grilled Summer Vegetables

2011-08-27T00:43:00.000-07:00

I've been working from home since the end of March. And about a month ago, 100 degree temperatures in the Midwest had me, the cat and my laptop fleeing for the cooler temperatures of the basement. It was there that I found myself watching Food Network while I was pounding out proposals.

Yeah - it wasn't the most productive couple of days of my life.

Regardless, I got some food inspiration from this exile, including this salad from Bobby Flay.


Toasted Israeli Couscous Salad with Grilled Summer Vegetables

This dish would be particularly good for a potluck - it is damn tasty and it makes a TON of salad.

Cavitini

2011-08-24T00:26:00.000-07:00

This is another one of my mother-in-law's recipes that gets requested when we head down to Dubuque for a weekend.

What's really awesome about this dish is that it makes a lot of food and it freezes really well. Which made it a perfect choice when I was getting some casseroles together for my friends Sharon and Joe. They are expecting their first baby in September and since I live five hours away, this is my way of "being there" when I can't actually be there.

Cavitini

1 lb. of rotini or small shell pasta
1 26 oz. container of pasta sauce (MIL uses Ragu, I used Hunts)
1 16 oz. can of pizza sauce
1 lb. hamburger
1 pkg. pepperoni
2 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese

Boil noodles according to package, leaving off about 2 minutes of cooking time, because this will continue to cook in the oven. Brown and drain hamburger. Cut pepperoni into pieces and add to the drained hamburger. Mix the sauces into meat and add to drained pasta. Transfer into a 8 x 11 pan and bake covered with foil at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. When there are about 15 minutes left to cook, remove foil and top with cheese.

**If you decide to freeze, follow steps above and instead of baking, freeze. Thaw out before you intend to cook and then cook according to directions.

Black bean quesadillas and roasted corn ... something-or-other

2011-08-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

My husband and I live by the Seneca Food plant in town here and this is the time of year where one of our main routes home is clogged by semi trucks bringing in sweet corn for processing. Which is great, in theory, talk about seeing where your food comes from. Except that on some evenings, the air smells like corn. Which is fine, in theory, until said smell lasts for several days on end. So as much as I loved sweet corn as a girl and still do to some extent, living near a canning factory makes me a little green around the gills when I'm presented with corn.

Which is what my wonderful neighbor Bonnie did the other day. A half dozen ears of corn and three fresh onions from her nephew's garden. (I was pretty psyched about the onions.) Faced with the prospect of having my kitchen smell like the canning factory, I shucked the corn and brought it out to the great outdoors and the grill. My idea was to make a roasted corn salsa with a bunch of other grilled veggies - tomatoes, onions and peppers. As this started to come together, I couldn't decide if this was a salsa, a relish or a salad. So we're just going to call this "roasted corn something-or-other."


You're gonna have to forgive the photo ... this is off the Blackberry, not sure where I put the camera. Sigh!

For the Black Bean Quesadillas
2 corn tortillas
about 3 T. of 2% Mexican-blend cheese
about 2 T. of black beans

Heat a skillet over high heat and place one corn tortilla on the surface, carefully sprinkle with cheese and beans. Wait until cheese is getting melty and press the other tortilla on. Then give it a careful flip. (And this is usually the part where I get cheese everywhere if I am impatient and do not wait for the cheese to melt.) Heat the other side until the filling is cooked through.

Roasted Corn Something-or-Other
2 ears sweet corn, husks removed and cooked on the grill
2 red peppers, sliced and roasted on the grill, then diced
1 green pepper, roasted on the grill, then diced
2 large tomatoes, roasted on grill, diced **
1 large onion, halved and roasted on grill, diced
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1 T. adobo sauce from chipotle peppers (optional - adds a strong kick of heat)
a couple dashes of hot pepper sauce
salt
Penzey's Adobo Seasoning

**FYI on the tomatoes - you're going to want a firm tomato so you don't get tomato juice all over your grates.

I am probably one of the last people who should be educating the masses on how to grill veggies. So go here. And here. Once these are grilled and given a little chance to cool down, start dicing your grilled and roasted vegetables. For the corn, take a sharp knife and cut the kernels away from the cob. (FYI - you can save the cobs to make the base for a corn chowder, if you are so inclined. Which I will be.)

Chances are good that the corn will cut off in cute, little slabs. You don't necessarily want this, so go ahead and dig in with your (clean) hands to break them up and incorporate them with the rest of the veggies. This is also where you'll add some regular cherry tomatoes - which is optional ... I added them for texture and color. And because I love tomatoes. Sprinkle liberally with salt and whatever Mexican-esque seasoning you have in the house. (Plain ol' cumin is a good choice, maybe some chili pepper.) At this point, the salad would be good as-is, but if you're craving a little heat, we added some adobo sauce from the chipotle pepper can and a little bit of hot pepper sauce.

We ate ours on the warm side, but this is going to taste fabulous after it's spent some time in the fridge and melding all the tastes together.

Detailed instructions ...

2011-08-03T03:53:00.000-07:00

My husband has temporarily left me for a bunch of nerds at Gen Con in Indianapolis. And God love my husband, he likely loves my cat more than I do at this point, but he seems to forget that the Cat and I were shacking up long before he and I started cohabiting.

Having said that, he has also trained the cat to NOT drink out of the toilet, so I only rolled my eyes a little bit when I found this note taped to the bathroom mirror last night.


Why yes, that's a picture of the Cat hanging in our bathroom ...

Bowls of fresh water are mentioned throughout. And the last item on the list mandates that the cat needs skritches! Every day!

Here's the object of my husband's affection.

"I'm stuck with you alone, again?"

Cat is not impressed.

DIY Iced Coffee: Saving you money and contributing to my caffeine fix

2011-07-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

OK - so I'm not the only blogger to be fixated on iced coffee lately. Ahem, Recipe Girl-Marcus Samuelsson-Ree Drummond. It must be the heat. Or maybe we're all fed up with paying through the nose to drink such ice-choked goodness. At least, that's where I'm coming from. I love iced coffee as an alternative to hot coffee (obviously) or iced tea. But when you go to Starbucks (although I lurve you ...) and you pay about $3 for a drink that's more ice than actual substance, you know you'd better find a cheaper vice or figure out a way to do it yourself. My local Trader Joe's helped me out by devoting an entire end cap to French Roast coffee and their easy-peasy recipe on cold brewing iced coffee. It's pretty simple:

1 lb. coffee (to quote The Pioneer Woman "the stronger, the better")
2 gallons cold water

Combine the two in a hella-large container and let sit for 8 hours.

These are my hella-large containers. The Pioneer Woman had way better equipment than I did. Just sayin'.

After a Herculean amount of patience and strange looks from your husband wondering why you are "wasting" what looks to be perfectly good coffee - this is where the fun (and the mess) begins. Take another container and use a fine-mesh strainer to separate your future iced coffee liquid from the used grounds (dregs of former glory?).


I told you this was messy ... Instead of using cheesecloth, I used a coffee filter. And then I got frustrated and just used my fine mesh strainer sans coffee filter. Coffee grounds will not kill me ...

And that's basically how you make iced coffee. After all of this, you will have made 2 gallons of iced coffee that gets diluted even further when you add it to an ice-choked glass. Two gallons of DIY iced coffee vs. what you would pay at Starbucks or even McDonalds ... that equals some pretty substantial savings.

This is what the finished product looks like.


Ignore the crap in the background ... you'd think that if I went to the trouble of staging a photo, I'd actually move junk from the shelves in the background. Not necessarily so ...

I took a page from The Pioneer Woman's book (as well as fond memories from my time in Malta and the Thai coffee from Newey's in Mantiowoc) and added a big tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk. Imagine what this would be like with a little Bailey's or Kahlua. That, my friends, you cannot get at Starbucks.

Light Lemon Cheesecake Cups

2011-07-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

Today I turn 33 years old and I have a weekend full of wonderful memories to mark the occasion. I am blessed beyond belief when it comes to the amazing people that I have in my life!

And I'm blessed to have found this recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes. She has a whole website full of Weight Watchers friendly recipes and one of the things I appreciate most is that she relies on the food itself to really stand out and doesn't clog her recipes with a bunch of artificial ingredients. This recipe uses a minimal amount of REAL sugar and a tiny amount of flour. And it's just perfect for summer. You can find Gina's recipe here - I did not alter a thing.

A new favorite sandwich

2011-07-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

This blog post has everything to do with getting over past food hatred and the amazing combinations you can discover after drinking too much Riesling.

First off - conquering food hatred. Pickled beets. I didn't even try them when I was a kid, the look of them was enough to make me declare that there was NO way that I would EVER like pickled beets. And my mom didn't argue with me. I now know that this was her way of keeping pickled beets to herself. (Smart lady.)

Fast forward over 15 years and a fateful stop at one of the Amish roadside stands near Harmony, Minnesota. I picked up a plethora of canned goods on my way to see my folks and remembered my mom's love of pickled beets - so I grabbed a jar. And then I tried them. And it was one of those life altering experiences that defy conventional powers of description. So I won't attempt to tell you how wonderful they taste - they just are. And these days, there is always a jar of pickled beets in my fridge.

A couple weekends ago, under the influence of some really good Riesling and good times with some friends, I discovered my new favorite sandwich - toasted baguette with some softened goat cheese and pickled beets.

And it is gooooooooood ...

OK, so wait - before you take off to the hills before getting this recipe because you think that beets taste like dirt, there's one technique I need to impart with you, because I didn't believe it worked until I tried it ... it is rubbing a baguette (or any bread for that matter ...) with pieces of crushed garlic. I never believed that such a weird technique could impart such flavor, but it really works and is essential if you're toasting up some baguette rounds.

Anyway - here's how to make my new favorite sandwich ...

French baguette - rubbed with crushed garlic (one clove for each side) and toasted in a 375-degree oven
Goat cheese, about 2 oz., softened and spread on toasted baguette halves
Sliced pickle beets, drained on some paper towels
Fresh cracked black pepper
Arugula or romaine (**Not shown up above)

Toast bread. After it is out of the oven, spread with goat cheese. Sprinkle black pepper on top of goat cheese. Place beet rounds on bread. Top with other baguette. Eat, enjoy.

Tex-Mex Something-Or-Other

2011-07-06T06:28:00.000-07:00

The original name of this recipe is Tex-Mex Tabbouleh, but can you have a tabbouleh if you do not use bulgur? As with all dishes I seem to make, I start with good intentions - but when you're surrounded by idiots in the grocery store and you find yourself in the parking lot having a "doh!" moment because you forgot to pick up the bulgur, but you're not enough of a martyr to go back to said store to be surrounded by idiots, you make do with what you have. And you make a tabbouleh that's quinoa based, as opposed to the traditional bulgur method.

I found this recipe on the Weight Watchers site. I wanted to make this because I wanted a healthy salad that incorporates lots of veggies, but doesn't make me feel like I'm eating a ton of lettuce. (Lettuce and I have a complicated relationship ...) I also dig a traditional tabbouleh salad (a Middle Eastern influence of cucumber, tomato, lemon juice and mint), so I was intrigued by the idea of a Tex-Mex take on one of my favorites. Even if I think that cilantro tastes like soap.

Yeah - I'm good for breakfast.

Tex-Mex Tabbouleh
adapted (barely) from WeightWatchers.com

1 c. uncooked quinoa, cooked
1 cup(s) tomato(es), diced (eyeball it ... use as many or as few tomatoes as you wish)
1/2 of a medium cucumber, diced (note - for future attempts at this recipe, I would peel the cuke)    1/3 cup(s) cilantro, leaves, fresh, chopped
3 Tbsp scallion(s), sliced
1/2 of a fresh lime, juiced
2 tsp olive oil, extra-virgin
salt and pepper, to tasted
1/2 tsp ground cumin (again, add according to taste - I used a generous amount of Penzey's Adobo Seasoning)
1 avocado, Haas, diced

Cook the quinoa according to the directions above (follow the link). Fluff quinoa with a fork and let cool to room temperature or until just slightly warm. Meanwhile, in a large serving bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumber, cilantro, scallion, lime juice, oil, salt and cumin. Add cooled bulgur to bowl; toss to combine. Gently fold in avocado and let stand 10 minutes for flavors to blend. Serve, or cover and refrigerate up to 6 hours. Let stand at room temperature about 10 minutes before serving. Yields about 2/3 cup per serving.

A moment of introspection ...

2011-07-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to say that it was the hardest case I ever covered, I can go years - apparently - without thinking of this particular case that I covered at the tail end of summer 2001 and into fall 2002. But today, as news of Casey Anthony's acquittal flashes across my computer screen - I think about a 13-month-old boy who drowned in a bathtub after his father left him there. The dad was surfing porn and downloading music off the Internet, not knowing that his actions would have tragic consequences.

Looking at the two cases is like comparing apples and oranges. Both are hideous crimes against children, but for the 13-month boy in my case - there was no elaborate cover up. The efforts of my town's EMTs and police officers tried to unsuccessfully revive the boy. The father was later convicted and although I don't remember all of the details of his sentence, one of the conditions was to write a letter to his son every year on the anniversary of his death for five years. That would have ended in 2007 or 2008.

Out of curiosity, I Google'd the name of this former defendant that I had known. He's still out there (he was only in his early 20s when his son's death had occurred) and the picture on his Facebook are of his two current children. I cannot say that they are cute - this is going to sound really bitchy, but the girl looks kind of goofy and the baby needs to grow into its face in that way that new babies do. But I hope that this fellow is now a good father. I need to believe that people learn ...

Is Casey Anthony guilty? It has always appeared so to me, but I haven't hung onto her case with the breathless anticipation that 25% of America did. I am now waiting for the announcement of a tell-all book that will net Casey Anthony a few million dollars and the made-for-TV movie that will star some C-list actress as the party-mom-turned-model-defendant. (With that long ponytail, I've been finding myself thinking more and more of the Mormon hairstyles on "Big Love." Seriously, that goes through my head.)

My cynicism when it comes to people like Casey Anthony ... it truly knows no bounds. I won't even write the snarky thought that went through my head when I saw that my former defendant had sprung two more children from his loins. (OK - yeah, I will ... I was thankful to see that they looked alive.)

But my cynicism stops when I think about the victims in these cases. Caylee, a Florida toddler and Logan, a 13-month-old who came from a very tumultuous relationship ... you're in a better place. The rest of us will remember you with love in our hearts. And we will continue to shake our heads at the people who brought you here in the first place.

East Berry Trifle

2011-07-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

I'm all about impressing people with my culinary prowess. I like to bake. I like trying new recipes. I can spend hours watching Food Network and obsessing, in detail, over the most minute detail regarding Guy Fieri's hair. (Confession: He used to annoy the hell out of me, but I'm kind of falling for his California-foodie/surfer dude schtick. And his hair doesn't annoy me as much any more.)

But then there are times where it's about, oh, 100 degrees in the shade and I would cheerfully give up beer if it meant that I didn't have to turn on my oven.

And that's where something like this comes in ... it looks kind of elegant, tastes amazing, utilizes convenience ingredients and allows me to keep my beer and a comfortable temperature in my home. (And if you're looking for something patriotic on the Fourth ... well, strawberries, blueberries AND Cool Whip? Oh yeah ... symbolic home run all in one.)

All ingredients/quantities are approximate.

1 Sara Lee Pound cake, cut into cubes
1 lb. strawberries, sliced
2 c. blueberries
2 T. instant vanilla pudding
1 16 oz container Cool Whip
zest of one lime (this part is totally optional - I was just getting in touch with my inner Giada and wanted to zest something.)

In a large bowl, mix together the Cool Whip, instant pudding and lime zest. Take a clear glass bowl if you have one, because this is all about showing off the layers ... Put a layer of the cubed pound cake, a layer of berries and a layer of the Cool Whip mixture. Repeat. You can garnish this dish with berries, but I'm lazy when it comes to garnish. Store in fridge until it's time to serve.

And speaking of Cool Whip ...

Just random thoughts ...

2011-06-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a lot lately. A lot ... and it is good:

Reading "The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Some magazine columnist had talked about how this book had transformed her life ... kind of like the first time that I discovered the Harry Potter books. I'm not feeling "transformed" yet, but I've been having this weird sense of deja vu. And that's when I remembered that one of the cable networks (TNT, I believe?) had adapted this book into a mini-series that I've watched. And enjoyed. So ... that works.

I've been OBSESSED with the books of JT Ellison lately ... she writes the Taylor Jackson series of murder mysteries and I've actually exchanged a few tweets with Ms. Ellison. She's a solid writer.

"True Blood" is back and I just finished the latest book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris - "Dead Reckoning." Although I love the TV series (ahem, Alexander Skarsgard), I'm kind of an ornery purist when it comes to the books and I wish that Alan Ball was a little more faithful to the books. Then again, he gave me Alex Skarsgard. I guess I can't be too ungrateful.

I have Steig Larsson's book "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and I want to see if I'll get sucked into that like everyone else in America. I also have Stephen King's latest story anthology to start reading ... thank God for the public library.

So now you know what I've been doing instead of cooking lately. :)

Italian Cream Cake ... and an awesome dad

2011-06-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

In the minutes before my husband and I were married, my dad and I were hanging out in the basement of our home church - a vintage, little "white church in the valley" sort of place that had been the sight of his own wedding some three-plus decades before.

"I brought this with me," he said, reaching into his pocket and hauling out a white handkerchief. Since I was worried about tripping over my own feet and thankful that I was fitting into my wedding dress, I spared him the withering glance that I had reserved for my family members who were on the verge of tears. But then he flipped it around and showed me the initial that was embroidered onto the fabric - a large "E" that stood for my late grandpa's last name.

"Oh dad," I said. "That is so sweet." And it was ... this wasn't even his father's handkerchief he was holding, it was my grandpa Stan's - my father's father-in-law. A huge absence in the group of loved ones that were gathered up above, waiting for the bridesmaids to hustle down the aisle and the appearance of my father and I at the back of the church.

All of the sudden it hit me - although I didn't plan on tearing up, I should likely be prepared in the event that common sense left me and I found myself weeping like a little kid. I gave dad a panicked look and he sprung into action - bringing me back a paper towel. I had to grin - we didn't truck with no Kleenex in my family - paper towels, toilet paper and real handkerchiefs were the snot rags of choice.

"I'm ready," I said. The following is one of my favorite pictures from the day ... my friend Weaver snapped it as my dad and I were waiting to ascend the stairs.

How do you honor an awesome man? You make him cake. And not just the kind where you crack open a box of Duncan Hines and faux your way to a good looking cake (although I do have a yen for a good marble cake with the canned chocolate frosting. It's childhood and comfort food wrapped into a single package.) So I made the Pioneer Woman's Italian Cream Cake. And no alterations were needed - I made the recipe as-is and uff da ... it was good. For Father's Day I made a layer cake, so I could be cool and impressive, but I made this before for a group of co-workers and put it in a regular 9 x 13 cake pan. I just adjusted the baking time to cook it longer.

This picture is straight off the camera and not really a great example of food photography. Not that I care too much ... cake is made to be consumed!

I hope that all the fathers I know out there had a wonderful day. And as for my dad? There's no one like him in the universe and I'm very glad that he is my dad.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Pizza

2011-06-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

I recently got the best email ever from the folks at Pillsbury. The subject of said email: "Peanut Butter, Beer & Bacon!" If you ask me, that's like a trifecta of perfection. And this sinful confection of chocolate, peanut butter and deliciousness was the prominent recipe in this particular email.


This pic is straight off the Blackberry. This recipe was too good to stage for better pictures.

A couple notes about this recipe - A) it's infinitely easy. It's all the good things that can happen when you utilize convenience ingredients and it's one of those recipes that will make people think that you're a rock star. Or that you must love them very, very much. (And since I made this for my Urban Family, yes - I love you. And I love the fact that you eat my cooking so I do not have to truck leftovers home and succumb to temptation.) B) The recipe says that it makes 12 servings. Um, yeah. If you're looking to be in a carb coma, cut this dish into 12 pieces. More likely, this can be cut into 24 wedges or stretch it even further by cutting it into squares.

Alterations I made: The original dish called for using chocolate chip cookie dough. I substituted peanut butter cookie dough (I'm a freak for that). Also, I omitted the additonal fudge topping on the top of the dish (I subscribe to the belief that there is such thing as too much chocolate) and forewent putting peanuts on this dish and used chopped up Reese's Peanut Butter cups instead. Because there may be such thing as too much chocolate, but there's no such thing as too much peanut butter combined with chocolate.

Tortellini Salad

2011-06-12T06:49:00.000-07:00

I've waxed ecstatic about the culinary things that I left behind in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. It still amazes me that after over five years of being gone from the Lakeshore (Manitowoc is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan), that I still dream in detail about things like Newey's Pad Thai, a sub from Fatzo's or the tortellini salad from Maretti's Deli. Luckily for me, Maretti's is still in existence and they still serve what was my favorite payday lunch - a half sandwich (ham and provolone on crusty white bread with a thick smear of butter) and the tortellini salad. Maretti's was only located a few blocks from the newsroom and typically on payday, someone would volunteer to drive over and pick up lunch. Maretti's had other salads - the mozzarella salad is also pretty notable - but there was something about the tortellini ... maybe it was the amount of garlic that they used and subsequently kept my editors away from me. This salad is magical. And this is my bastardized attempt to try and capture a little bit of that nostalgia.

Tortellini Salad

2 packages of refrigerated tortellini (I use Trader Joe's Spinach and Cheese Tortellinis)
1 c. basil pesto (You can make your own or use prepared pesto)
1/4 c. pine nuts, toasted
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste

Prepare the tortellini according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add rest of ingredients and mix gently (don't want to damage the tortellini, y'all ...). Chill before serving - four to six hours is ideal and will let the flavors meld even better, but overnight is optimal.

So does this taste like Maretti's salad? It's not an exact replica ... to come close, I think that I would need to add more garlic, but this is a nice approximation and good to bring for potlucks. And to ward away vampires.

And the winner is ...

2011-05-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Anne Polta!

Here was Anne's "mom" advice that was shared on the ShelleyBakes page on Facebook:

"My favorite mom story? Hm. One of her pieces of advice was 'never buy chicken on Monday.' When I attended Linda's bridal shower several years ago, we were asked to share advice from our mothers, so that's what I shared... and everyone was just screaming with laughter. But guess what... I do not buy chicken on Monday, ever."

Just a little side note ... I've known Anne since I worked as a rookie reporter in Willmar and she is very dear to me. Not only did she put up with me when I was a young(er) punk, she is also my beloved cat's "godmother" of sorts. Ten years ago when the Cat came into my life, she's the person I turned to for advice. She is a great mom to kids of the four-legged variety. :)

AND ... she's a blogger. You can find her blog "HealthBeat" here.

Thanks to all who commented! I really appreciate it!

A good gift idea ...

2011-05-15T00:41:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I didn't publish this before Mother's Day, but I was actually trying to surprise my moms this year instead of doing what I usually do. Which is not keep surprises very well. Because I'm just verbal and can't keep anything a secret.

Anyway ... this is a great gift idea for birthdays, upcoming graduation parties or if you just want to surprise someone you love with a gift that's heartfelt and hand-crafted.

These little dainties are made by my dear friend Cathy. I cannot say enough about my friend Cathy, but if I was going to start, I would tell you that she's an amazing cook/baker and an incredibly talented artist. She's one of those people that I pinch myself for knowing to make sure that I'm not dreaming of this very cool person who I call friend. Yeah - I'm pretty fond of her.

Anyway ... these necklaces represent a recent creation of Cathy's which miniaturizes some of her watercolors so they can be turned into pendants.

This one's mine ... I just can't get over the colors ...

Here's another one ... Cathy includes a ribbon to wear, as well as a black cord that fastens. It's good for folks like my mother-in-law who have metal allergies.

Here's some information about Cathy from the SEMVA Gallery, which is a gallery in Rochester that represents visual artists from southeastern Minnesota. These necklaces are available at SEMVA for my Minnesota peeps. Or I can connect you with Cathy - just drop me a note at shelleybakes@gmail.com

And because I really like all of you and because Cathy was generous enough to gift me with an additional necklace - it's giveaway time. Here's the rules ... leave me a comment on here or on the ShelleyBakes page on Facebook that tells me your favorite "mom" story ... either one that involves you with your momma or a mom moment with one of your kids (four-legged included). Make sure it's not too cringe inducing, because she might just read this ... :)

In terms of which necklace it is - it's whatever one that Ryan didn't choose to give to his momma. At press time, I don't know which one he's going to give her ...

The giveaway ends on Friday, May 20th at 5 p.m. CST. The winner will be drawn at random. Likely by my husband.

Better than a milk carton ...

2011-05-11T14:40:00.000-07:00

I have been cooking, I swear. I've made this. I made this - wasn't too impressed with it, so I'm still tinkering. I've made this. That was on Mother's Day when my folks came up ... aside from having to tell them that the title of the recipe included the word "naked," I think they were a hit.

But I've been busy. There's a new job to acclimate to. Stuff to plant. Heatwaves to endure. (From high 50s one week to 84 degrees and humidity the next, yeow!) Wine tastings to attend ...

Ryan and I attended a wine tasting a couple weeks back that supported the Rochester Paws and Claws. One of my dear friends is very active with the organization and they hosted a wine tasting to raise funds for a capital projects. They are also selling wine as a part of that effort.

What's that you say? This cat looks familiar to you? Some of you have had close encounters with him? Why YES! That's our cat! On a wine label. (Which is much better than being on a milk carton, but I digress.)

Needless to say - Ryan and I are kind of thrilled to find out cat on a wine bottle. For my Rochester peeps who would like to be similarly blessed, but without the claws - you can find Fat Cat Merlot at Andy's Liquor. I got mine at the north location near Whistle Binkies North. Fat Cat wasn't out at the time, but when I asked the gentleman if there was any in back, he recognized my voice from the frantic phone calls I had made and brought me out some. So do not fear asking for the Fat Cat. There's also labels for you dog lovers and white wines for those of you who do not like reds.

In terms of the Cat, he was thinking about a career in modeling, but when I reminded him that he would need to be sociable and nice to people other than his parents, he was content to let this be a one-time thing.

Chocolate Wonderfuls

2011-05-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

There is only one thing that is wrong with this recipe ... it is as wonderful as the title proclaims it to be. And while my friend Paul has willpower, I do not, but I'm OK with that as long as people keep writing and sharing recipes that have wonderful stories such as this one that I found at my friend Lan's blog.

The recipe can be found here. I substituted walnuts for the pecans, because it is what I had in the house.

Low Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-04-23T00:08:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned previously, I've been trying to be "virtuous" lately when it comes to what I've been eating. But I have to be honest - sometimes all I really want is a cookie. A hint of salt to balance out the sweet, not too many chips - oatmeal in the batter is good. Nuts are even better.

In the interest of virtue ... these cookies are OK. They get the job done in satisfying my sweet tooth and I also appreciate the fact that they are "low fat" but don't contain any funky unpronounceable ingredients. Would I make them again? Maybe ... In the meantime, you can find the recipe here.

A quick lunch

2011-04-20T00:44:00.000-07:00

I have been on vacation this week and am readying myself to start my new job at home. This involves setting up a home office, getting rid of excess STUFF (how does one accumulate so much stuff?), watching "The Tudors" on Netflix while doing "important" things like going through my email and writing blog posts and getting my house cleaned up before next week's start date. Because as much as I am a messy marvin, I know that having a messy house will drive me mad if I'm here to witness it.

In interest of trying to eat healthy and because it's just really damn tasty, the above-pictured dish has become a "go-to" in my house. I was introduced to soba noodles when a friend of ours had my husband and I over for dinner. Ever since then I have been slightly obsessed with them. I feel slightly virtuous when I eat them because they allow me my noodle fix, but are buckwheat = healthy.

There really is no recipe to this, but this is what I've been making and eating lately ...

Soba noodles (cook according to directions on package)

Pan-fried green beans with garlic - trim and cut green beans into bite-sized pieces. In a large skillet, heat some olive oil and add a clove of garlic, roughly chopped. Add green beans and saute.

To this, I add a package of tuna - but you can also add any leftover meat you see fit - or omit altogether.

When the noodles are done, drain and add to the skillet. Toss with a little bit of dark sesame oil.

Absence and apologies ...

2011-04-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

Here's where I've been ... life is good.

We finally got to meet our niece ... here she is with her uncle learning the intricacies of the Internet and LOL Cats.

And during our trip to Dubuque to meet Sweet Pea, we also got to see this enormous sculpture of "American Gothic."

I recently got a new job. One of the perks of this is that I get to work from home ... hence I've been working on emptying a spare bedroom to make a home office. Here the cat is perched on what will eventually be my desk. He is really, really helpful. Really.

This past weekend found my friend Anne and I at the Willie Nelson concert in Rochester. It was awesome.

Sunday Morning Kitchen Sink Frittata!

2011-02-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

First thought: I hate snow. (After about a week of 40 degree weather, we're getting about six inches of snow. ARGH.)

Second thought: I really like cheese. And eggs. And sauteed vegetables.

So what if ... you combine those things? Including the odds and ends in your fridge that aren't enough to make a proper recipe. And the spinach that's about to become a science experiment in your refrigerator? And those artisan cheese curds that you bought at the Farmers Market that were cool in theory but lack flavor otherwise?

That's how you come up with a Sunday Morning Kitchen Sink Frittata! The exclamation point is extremely necessary.

This was instinctual, so there are no exact measurements ... just a sense of what would taste good.

Preheat oven to 400.
Grease pie tin, muffin tins or in my case - the scone pan my mama gave me for Christmas. (I have not actually made scones yet, but I wanted individual servings that I could wrap up and freeze for meals throughout the week.)

Broccoli florets, rough chop (probably about one cup)
Cauliflower florets, rough chop (also about one cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
Button mushrooms, sliced (1/2 package)
Spinach
Salt and pepper

Saute these together in a skillet with olive oil, until the mushrooms are lightly browned. Wilt in handfuls of spinach (I had about 3/4 package of bagged spinach that I needed to use.)

6 eggs
splash of milk
1 T. dijon mustard (**totally optional)
more salt and pepper

While the veg cooks, whisk together six eggs with a splash of milk, mustard and salt and pepper. When the vegetables are finished, fold them into the egg mixture. This is where I added about a handful of the crappy artisan cheese curds I acquired recently.

Spoon evenly into prepared dish. Top with cheese - in my case, it was a handful of parmesan and some leftover Swiss cheese I had (about 1/4 c.). Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes, until top is set and lightly browned.

Currently, the leftover wedges are cooling on a rack upstairs. I want to make sure they are totally cool and that the bottoms are not soggy so I can wrap them up individually and freeze them. I'll let you know how they reheat.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T00:18:00.000-08:00

Nothing says "love" like conversation hearts. The sugar cookies are my grandma's recipe and the frosting is Alton Brown's Royal Icing. The rest is pure snark.

And this one was suggested by my husband:

Inspired by this clip ...

Cornmeal Pancakes

2011-02-12T00:19:00.000-08:00

All I can really say about these are that they are quite tasty, but really not spectacular enough to make a repeat appearance in my kitchen. Because Ryan loves Bisquick. And pancakes aren't my favorite breakfast food in the world.

Having said all of this - this is a great, gluten-free alternative to a breakfast classic.

Cornmeal Pancakes
adapted from The New York Times

1 1/2 cups fine or medium cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk, or more as needed
1 T. vegetable or olive oil, plus more for frying (**It will not surprise anyone that I used ... you guessed it - bacon grease. I really need to break this habit.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Blueberries - optional (for me!)
Maple syrup and butter, for serving.

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Combine the cornmeal, salt and 1 1/2 cups boiling water in a bowl and let it sit until the cornmeal absorbs the water and softens, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Stir in the milk, a little at a time, until the batter is spreadable but still thick. Stir in oil and the vanilla.
3. Put a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. When a few drops of water dance on its surface, add a thin film of oil and let it become hot. Spoon out the batter, making any size pancakes you like. Cook until bubbles form on the top and burst and the underside is golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes; turn and cook on the other side until golden. (If you're going to add blueberries, do it after you've put the batter on the griddle.) Serve.

Yield: 4 servings (or two hungry Mahannahs.)

Bacon Swiss Meatloaf

2011-02-09T05:04:00.000-08:00

Let's have a moment, shall we? This is where I tell you how much I absolutely, unequivocally ADORE bacon. I think that I've always liked bacon, but it's only in my adulthood that I realize what a guilty pleasure bacon is. I mean ... under standard definition - bacon is not good for you. But oh, it tastes good. And oh, does it make an ordinary dish feel spectacular.

Last year for my birthday, my friends the Swensons gave me a copy of Taste of Home's "Bacon." You can only find it on newsstands and its chock full of recipes that feature ... you guessed it, bacon. On a recent evening, mindful that a little bit of bacon goes a long way - I adapted their Bacon Swiss Meatloaf recipe to be decadent, but a little lighter on my waistline.

Is there anything more beautiful than an end piece of meatloaf? Why yes - a piece of meatloaf that features bacon.

Bacon Swiss Meatloaf
Adapted from Taste of Home

1 egg
1/4 c. fat-free evaporated milk
1 1/2 c. shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1/2 c. crumbled cooked bacon, divided (I ended up using about 4 slices.)
1/2 c. Progresso Italian-style breadcrumbs (it's what I had on hand ... use whatever you have in your pantry)
1 tsp. garlic powder (to keep the vampires away)
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take a half sheet pan and spray with baking spray. (Hint: Next time I'm going to put a baking rack on my cookie sheet to get the meatloaf up off of the pan and out of the grease this recipe produces.)

In a large bowl, combine egg, milk, 1 cup of Swiss cheese, half of the bacon, bread crumbs and garlic powder. Mix together. Add ground turkey over the mixture. While thinking of a recent Ina Garten episode, I ended up using my fork to incorporate all these ingredients together. (She was saying something about using a fork instead of your hands. Point A - it keeps your hands cleaner, and point B - it keeps the meat from compacting and making a tougher meatloaf ... or in her case, she was making burgers. But I digress.) Dump onto your baking sheet and form it into a loaf-like shape.

Bake, uncovered, for one hour or until the meat is done. Sprinkle remaining cheese and bacon. Bake for 3-5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Usually, I eat meatloaf with mashed potatoes. But as I made this, I had an "oh sh*t" moment when I realized that I only had one potato in the house and not enough green beans to make a proper side dish. So, I punted and came up with this.

Shel's Kitchen Sink Rice Pilaf

1/2 c. basmati rice, cooked
1/2 c. wild rice, cooked
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1/4 c. sliced baby carrots
1/4 c. green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 c. water or chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. cooking oil/bacon grease ... whatever

I took my skillet and heated up a teaspoon of bacon grease. I'd like to tell you that I used bacon grease so I could match the flavors of the meatloaf, but no ... I just keep a jar handy of bacon drippings and use that to cook most of my foods that come from a skillet. (Decadent!) Saute garlic in the bacon grease for about a minute, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the vegetables, a little bit of salt and saute for about five to seven minutes. Add rice and water/broth. Cover skillet and cook on low until the vegetables are tender. Salt and pepper to taste.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A few random notes ...

* My friend Cathy has enlightened me on the joys of baking bacon. Seriously ... I don't know that I'll ever bother using a skillet to make my bacon again. The slices turn out perfectly crisp and don't curl up like they do in the skillet. Plus, there's enough drippings left over to satisfy my yen to saute everything in bacon grease and you still get the "cooked bacon" scent in your kitchen.

* Pre-cooking rice. Wild rice takes forever to cook and I'm not usually patient enough to wait for it to cook, so I don't use it as often as I should. I've learned though, that you can pre-cook grains like rice and store them in your freezer until you want to use them. It's very, very handy - I do it with brown rice and wild rice to pare off cooking time during the week. Basmati rice is one of my favorite, go-to every day rices because it doesn't take a fortune of time to cook.

Guardian of the Kitchen ... and a couple snack ideas

2011-02-06T03:33:00.000-08:00

I would like you to meet Digger - this is my cat who is also the guardian of the kitchen. And in case you're wondering what he's doing in this picture - he's "guarding" the top of the refrigerator. He's majestic. And a pain in the butt.

So I hear there's this really big game going on today? And although I live in a state that borders Wisconsin and spent a formative year and a half living about an hour south of Green Bay, I'm pretty much immune to sporting events in general. But I like any excuse to party. So in case you're looking for some last minute inspiration - all of these can be made without breaking too much of a sweat.

These are my Aunt Sue's Spicy Pretzels. Not to be confused with Whiskey Pretzels, but also decadent with a mustard dip.

These are my friend Deb's Pesto Pinwheels. Easy, tasty ... perfect snack food.

Buffalo Chicken Dip. Enough said.

Bastardized Crab Rangoons. These things are addictive.

Chipolte Roasted Peanuts

And now if you're looking for some sweet stuff, may I suggest ...

You want easy? This is my mom's Cherry Cheese Pie. It is super, easy goodness in a disposable pie tin.

Margarita Cupcakes. I don't know about the rest of you - but I'm pretty darn tired of winter. This reminds me of warmer times and how awesome it is to combine booze with dessert.

Guinness Cupcakes - this is what happens when you add stout and chocolate. And it is good too.

May the team you're rooting for win.

Spice Bread

2011-02-05T15:29:00.000-08:00

Now, the technical name of this recipe, as concocted by Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks is "Brown Butter Spice Bread." And trust me ... the brown butter spice bread? It is good. It is very good. It is so good that I was thankful when Ryan INHALED 3/4 of the loaf after it was made, because if he wouldn't have done it. I would have. The bread is good.

But I'm trying to be a good girl. There's a Biggest Loser challenge going on at work and I mean to help my team - the Zebra Hot Cakes - go for the gold and beat all of the pesky men at my workplace who can just give up drinking beer and lose 30 pounds in one week. (OK, so maybe they didn't lose that much weight in one week, but combined - they probably did. Because men lose weight easier than women do and that is just a travesty. Now I'm off my soap box.)

So I took Heidi's original recipe and I used all of the things that I've ever learned about healthy baking and I applied it to this recipe. And the end result? Maybe not as decadent as Ms. Swanson's original offering, but still a pretty decent treat to make every once in awhile.

You may find the original recipe here. And the picture down below is from that decadent loaf known as Brown Butter Spice Bread. Since my bastardized recipe did not have brown butter (or any butter for that matter), we're just going to call it Spice Bread and call it good.

This is the last fourth of the original loaf that I made. Then ... it was gone.

Spice Bread
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour **
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon garam masala (Acc'd to original recipe, you can substitute pumpkin pie spice if you do not have garam masala.)
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup fine grain natural cane sugar or muscovado sugar ***
2 large eggs
1/4 cup well-pureed roasted winter squash
1/4 cup pureed ripe banana
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup dried fruit (I used Trader Joe's Super Cranberry Pomegranate blend)
1/3 cup lightly toasted sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a a 1-lb loaf pan with baking spray. Sift t into a large bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl whisk the sugar, eggs, squash/banana, and milk. Whisk in the applesauce. Sift in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, garam masala, and sea salt. Stir until just combined. Fold in most of the almonds and the dried fruit.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle with 1 tablespoons of sugar and remaining almonds, and bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until the edges have browned and the center of the cake is well set.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

Several notes and some commentary: I used a butternut squash that I peeled and seeded. Cutting it into chunks, I roasted the squash in a 400 degree oven until they were cooked and tender. It was a real bitch getting the squash as smooth as I wanted it to be for this recipe ... it was a process that was made easier by adding the banana and the milk to the squash and using my (brand-new!) hand blender to puree it.

And now ... my asterisks.

** The original recipe called for 1 1/2 c. of whole wheat pastry flour. I have had some leftover buckwheat flour that I've been meaning to use up forever. In fact, it came from this recipe from 101 Cookbooks. AMAZING.

*** Are you saying "what the hell is fine grain natural cane or muscovado sugar?" That's OK, because I have moments like that too. What I ended up doing, because I'm kind of into making as big of a mess as possible in my kitchen, is that I used my C&H Washed Raw Sugar and I put it in my coffee bean grinder and blitzed it until it was super-fine. If you want to go this nerdy route, just make sure that you wipe out the coffee residue from your grinder before attempting. And then wipe it out again when you're ready to make coffee.

Nigella's Breakfast Bars

2011-01-29T15:58:00.000-08:00

I think I've told you all that I'm kind of in love with Nigella Lawson. Right? Right?

I've been wanting to find a good recipe for granola bars for some time. And although my friends were shocked that I didn't go my usual Ina route - they clearly don't understand the absolute love affair I have with sweetened condensed milk. I can't really explain why I love sweetened condensed milk, but I always remember being slightly disappointed that my mom was really good at scraping every last bit of milk out of the can when I was a kid. And I would always risk cutting off my finger to get some of its gooey goodness off of the lid.

I lived life on the edge - what can I say?

Now that I've told you all of that childhood nuttiness, you maybe understand why my inaugural attempt at homemade granola bars was courtesy of Nigella's easy-peasy recipe that contained a bunch of pantry ingredients and featured a binder of ... you guessed it - sweetened condensed milk.

Nigella's Breakfast Bars
from Nigella Lawson's "Nigella Express"

1 14-fl-oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 1/2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup dried cranberries (**I used 1/2 c. raisins and 1/2 c. dried cherries)
1 cup mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame - I just had sesame on hand)
1 cup natural unsalted peanuts (I used mixed nuts ... again, it was what I had on hand.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and oil a 9- x 13-inch baking pan. Because I knew this was going to be pretty messy, I actually lined mine with parchment paper so I could easily lift out and cut the bars when they were finished. Warm the condensed milk in a large pan. Meanwhile, mix all the other ingredients together and add the warmed condensed milk, using a rubber spatula to fold and distribute. Spread the mixture into the pan and press down with a spatula to make the surface even.

Bake for 1 hour, remove, and after about 15 minutes, cut into four across and four down, to make 16 chunky bars. Let cool completely. Makes 16 bars. I wrapped mine up individually in waxed paper to share with some of my co-workers. The rest, I stored in an airtight container. And they didn't last long ... :-)

Whiskey Pretzels

2011-01-26T00:20:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe from my beloved coworker Cindy. This is one of those recipes that is unbelievably simple and incredibly tasty. And it makes me a big hit at parties.

Whiskey Pretzels

2 Bags of Pretzel Rods
1 Stick Butter
3 T Whiskey
Heaping T of Brown Sugar
1/2 t. of Cayenne Pepper
1 t. Garlic Powder

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add whiskey, brown sugar, pepper and garlic powder. Stir until well combined. If using pretzel rods, place pretzels flat on jelly roll pan. (Cindy uses two -- one fits one bag). Drizzle melted ingredients & roll the pretzel rods to coat. Bake 20 minutes. Leave on pan to cool. Store in an airtight container.

At this point, I've made this recipe with pretzel rods and with mini twists (as seen above.) I really like the mini twists better, because they are better for dipping. In that case, I use the mini twists (two bags) and make the recipe in my roasting pan.

This is really good dipped in a mustard dip. Or it's excellent plain.

Texas-Style Breakfast Casserole

2011-01-22T00:08:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to lose a few pounds, I've been with Weight Watchers since around my birthday last year. (I think that's the occupational hazard of being a food blogger ... you eat what you cook and if you're a good cook, you tend to eat a lot. Or as a dear friend would say about her gut, "I've earned this.")

And although I have my thoughts about things such as low-fat anything, I have found some pretty decent recipes on the WeightWatchers.com site and have adapted them to reflect my tastes.

This breakfast casserole is one that I've made for my in-laws and on some lazy Sundays when I want something substantial and want to use up some of the veggies that are threatening to become science experiments in my refrigerator.

On this particular day, I had some leftover spinach and tomatoes that I needed to use. This casserole is a good way to use up some vegetables that might be in danger of expiring in your refrigerator.

Texas-Style Casserole
adapted from WeightWatchers.com

2 cup(s) frozen hash brown potatoes
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup green or red pepper, diced
8 oz turkey sausage, thinly sliced (I use the kielbasa-style sausage for some extra kick)
1 cup milk (we are a 1% family, the original recipe calls for skim)
2 large eggs
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a medium square or rectangular baking dish with cooking spray. Place potatoes and then vegetables in baking dish; top with sausage. In a small bowl, beat together milk, eggs, salt and pepper; pour over sausage and then sprinkle with cheese. Bake until casserole is hot and cheese is browned, about 45 minutes. Cut into 6 pieces and serve.

Gloria's Cinnamon Popcorn

2011-01-19T00:53:00.000-08:00

I've already expounded on the theorem that my mother-in-law perfected recipes in an attempt to secure her daughters-in-law. (And it worked - both of her sons are married. Good work Gloria!) Well, here it is ... this is the snack that she always sent home with my then-buddy, future roommate and now hubby, when he would go home to visit his folks in Dubuque, Iowa.


My mouth is watering just looking at this dish of perfection. And I wonder where I put that extra bag of cinnamon red hots ... hrm ... Must. Find. Red Hot Candies.

Cinnamon Popcorn

2 sticks butter
½ c. light corn syrup
1 9 oz. package of red-hot candies
8 quarts popped popcorn

Spray pans, bowls, and utensils with baking spray. I use an air popper to pop the corn - you can also use a stovetop method. Place popped corn in large roaster that's been coated thoroughly with baking spray.

In a saucepan, combine butter, corn syrup and the red hots. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour over popcorn and mix thoroughly. My mother-in-law turns hers onto two cookie sheets, I actually just leave it in the roaster. Bake 250 for 1 hour-stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from pans (or roaster) and place on waxed paper to cool. Break apart. Store in airtight container or plastic bag.

Wash the pans and utensils immediately when baked or the corn syrup mixture will harden and be very hard to get off.

I originally made this recipe for some of my coworkers at Christmas. Pretty darn festive, if you ask me ... but it truly is good at any time of the year. Because it's addictive as all get out.

A guest post on "Finding 300" ...

2011-01-18T17:15:00.000-08:00

I had the very awesome honor of being asked to guest post on one of my friends' blogs. Katie writes "Finding 300." This is her goal:

"I’m coming up a list of with 300 things that are good about myself, not based on actually doing something (possessing the capability is different than doing), because this is part of my journey toward tackling my demons. For much of my life, I have always thought about what is wrong with me, or that I am only good enough if I’m doing something, and therefore I’ve turned to food as a little “release” if you will, a moment of bliss, that allowed me to escape from feeling bad about myself."

I was thrilled when she asked me to write five things that I like about myself and although I thought this was going to be a walk in the park, it actually was a really great challenge for me to write down the things that make me appreciate myself.

Go check out my post here. And while you're at it - stay for awhile ... it's hard to be in a funk when you're reading about someone who appreciates what they have.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2011-01-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

I will be the first person to tell you that I'm not the kind of girl who goes out searching for really spicy foods. I love Indian food, I love Mexican food and I love me some jambalaya every now and then, but for the most part - I'm proud of my Scandinavian heritage. That means meat, potatoes and this very distinct addiction to any kind of carbohydrate.

So I will be the first one to admit that I was very surprised when I fell in love with this dip that was featured at one of the several potlucks that my office had around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. This dip is great with tortilla chips, but is AMAZING with celery sticks. And if you eat it with celery sticks, it's better for you - right? Right?

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 (10 oz.) cans of chunk chicken, drained
2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese
1 c. ranch dressing
3/4 c. pepper sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot, my friend Jon who originally made this dish used the mild sauce from Buffalo Wild Wings)
1 pkg. shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat chicken and hot sauce in a large skillet over medium heat until heated through. I used a knife and cubed up the cream cheese before placing it in the skillet and incorporating it in with the ranch dressing. Stir until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese and transfer the dip into a slow cooker. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top, cover and cook on Low until hot and bubbly.

A couple of notes ... the next time I make this (because my husband hasn't quite forgiven me for bringing this dip to my coworkers and not making it for him yet), I will just add all the cheese at one time before putting it into my crock pot, because if you don't stir this dip while its cooking in the slow cooker, chances are that it's not going to get heated up in the middle and might get burned on the sides. I'm just sayin' ...

Also - you can do all the steps prior to putting it in the crockpot in advance. I made this the night before it was my treat day at work, so this dip refrigerated well and I transported it cold to work and then heated it up in the crockpot.

Best of 2010: Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T08:52:00.000-08:00

This was a damn good year ...

January found me eating the best damn carne asada tacos in Ensenada, Mexico. I still cannot believe that I was in Mexico.

February was about these amazing peanut butter, oatmeal, cinnamon chip cookies. They are so good that I'm seriously considering going upstairs and firing up the oven to make a batch. And that says a lot since my goal today is to see how long I can stay in my pajamas and do nothing but type and drink coffee.

March tested my theory whether or not Giada de Laurentiis was placed on this earth to get people hooked on garlic and cheese. Me thinks that is her purpose in life.

June was all about fresh asparagus and this incredible dish from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks site. This will be one of the first things that I make when asparagus is in season again.

In July, my mother-in-law briefly became a Facebook sensation when I started talking about her Pink Champage Cupcakes. The irony is that she isn't even on Facebook. The lasting result is that my co-workers request these cupcakes whenever we have any kind of celebration to mark at work. Love, love, love these!

One of my favorite August posts was in homage to an incredible sangria that I had in July ... I cannot wait for better weather to make this again.

And wow - I just realized that I didn't post anything in September. Not entirely sure how that happened, so we'll go back and throw in an honorable mention from July ... Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp. I'm drooling as we speak ... and wondering if I should go to the grocery store in my jammies to get shrimp and make this for breakfast.

2010 was the year of the weekend roadtrips. I'm not entirely sure how many miles Ryan and I clocked on our respective vehicles, but we made the most of gorgeous weather and our kind friends and family who let us crash at their places. In October, we logged about 550 miles to see Here Come the Mummies in Rock Island, IL (and Ryan's grandma, his folks and our 10-year college reunion on the way). Best. Weekend. Ever.

I also got to meet Ina Garten in October. I'm still mentally "squee-ing" over how wonderfully gracious she was.

November was a good month all around - my mom got to play impromptu therapist one Thursday night when I called her cursing about these apple pie bars - a nostalgic delight from my childhood, which she never bitched about making when I was younger. I love you mom ... bless you for being such an awesome baker and never letting on that some of our favorite dishes from childhood were a total pain to make.

And after four nephews, I finally was blessed with a niece in November. Kaylee (still affectionately known as "Sweet Pea" to her uncle and I) was born on Nov. 21 and has been known to be entranced by Ina Garten when she's on Food Network. That's my girl!

In December, I wrote about Gwendolyn's Snack Mix. I'm still in love with this snack mix ...

So there you go - 2010 in review. All of us here from ShelleyBakes (that's me, the hubby and our Cat) wish you a wonderful new year.

Holiday Snickerdoodle Cookies

2010-12-15T00:55:00.000-08:00

While there are several reasons why I married my husband (he's cute, he loves me, he puts up with the cat, etc.), I have a secret that I need to share with you. You know how that adage goes, "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?" I think my mother-in-law might have tweaked it to say "the way to get a daughter-in-law is to send home treats with her single son to woo potential suitors."

I'll be featuring her cinnamon popcorn at some point during this holiday season. (That's actually one of my most favorite things that she makes.) But this is my second favorite recipe of hers that started as a holiday treat and has now been tweaked to make a year-round appearance in her cookie jar.

I think the recipe originally came from a Taste of Home magazine. What's brilliant about it is that you can change the coffee creamer used to fit the holiday season. Gloria's used eggnog-flavored creamer in the winter months and uses French vanilla creamer at other times. You could also use some of the pumpkin-flavored creamers around Thanksgiving and Halloween, etc. These are also brilliant because they freeze brilliantly and a single batch makes about 100 cookies.

Holiday Snickerdoodle Cookies

½ c. butter-softened
½ c. shortening
2 c. sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. rum
½ c. evaporated milk
½ c. refrigerated French vanilla nondairy creamer
5 ½ c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Cream butter, shortening, and sugar. Beat in egg and extract. Add milk and creamer.
Stir in flour, salt and baking soda.

Shape dough into 1 in. balls and roll in mixture of 5 T. sugar and ½ t. ground nutmeg or cinnamon. (I used Penzey's Baking Spice.) Flatten slightly with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let rest on the cookie sheet for about five to 10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool.

Holiday Goodie Advent Calendar o' Wonderment

2010-12-11T16:51:00.000-08:00

You might notice that I have a new badge on my website - this is from Heather, one of the fabulous cooks from He Cooks She Cooks. I'm a little late to the game, but Heather is rounding up a bunch of holiday recipes from bloggers and linking to them on a special "Advent" calendar. O wonderment.

I'm thrilled to be invited to the party and will be participating in future posts. In the meantime, get your merry self over to the calendar by clicking on the badge. You will be glad that you did.

Soup Saturday: Easy Tortellini Soup

2010-12-11T07:40:00.000-08:00

I was making another soup recipe lately and I jotted in the margins of the page "soup is circumstantial." And although I don't exactly remember what I was getting at with that recipe (which is still getting tweaked ...), I know what it means when it comes to this soup. This one originally called for mushrooms, which I forgot to buy - so I substituted celery. It also called for frozen spinach. Though I recognize that frozen spinach can be really cool, I'm not that into it, so I used fresh. Don't like carrots? Don't use them. The sky's the limit with this very basic soup.

This tortellini soup (it's from Better Recipes.com and is called Tortellini, Mushroom and Meatball Soup) was brought to a work potluck by my coworker Pat. It's easy and utilizes convenient ingredients, and is a nice change of pace from some of the other soups that I make during winter.

Easy Tortellini Soup
adapted from Better Recipes.com

2 quarts chicken broth
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh thyme (**note on these, I just threw them in the pot as my soup was simmering and then removed the stems when the soup was done cooking.)
1 bay leaf
14-16 frozen prepared meatballs
1 3/4 c. chopped carrots
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small onion, diced
2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach
9 oz. frozen or refrigerated, prepared three-cheese tortellini

**Note on the herbs, the original recipe called for 1 tsp. of dried Italian seasoning. I did not have, so I substituted the rosemary, thyme and bay leaf.

Swirl a tablespoon or two of olive oil in the bottom of a large pan over medium high heat. Saute the carrots, celery and onion in the hot oil until the onion is translucent. (Add a little bit of salt, which will help the process). Add the broth, the herbs and the meatballs. Simmer for five minutes. Add tortellini and cook until the pasta is just tender. Wilt spinach into soup, heat through and serve.

As it seems with all soups - this is "meh" the night you serve it, but gets better as the days go on.

Seven Layer Salad

2010-12-08T00:15:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make: Some of the easiest recipes make me kind of panicky. I'll tackle a cheesecake or making my own beef stock with pleasure, but tell me to make no-bake cookies and there's a part of me that wants to hide. And why? Because cheesecake is complicated, making your own beef stock impresses people because of the time commitment involved. With more difficult recipes, there's a bit of wiggle room of forgiveness if you screw something up. "Easy" recipes? No such room for error.

So when my aunt Robin asked me to bring seven-layer salad to our family's Thanksgiving, I was relatively certain that I would be able to ace this challenge and then I panicked when I looked at other recipes online and didn't see one that looked like what my mom always made. So of course I had to call her and after a little bit of coaching, I realized ... my family's standard seven-layer salad is actually more like a six-layer salad. Somehow, that doesn't sound as enticing ...

Bacon. Eggs. Cheese. Miracle Whip. Peas. Lettuce. This is a non-healthy slice of heaven.

Mom's Seven (Erm, Six) Layer Salad

Hardboil four large eggs.
Crisp one pound of bacon

Layer the following in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan, shredded iceberg lettuce and one bag of frozen peas. Top with Miracle Whip (I used most of a 30 oz. jar). Sprinkle a bag of shredded cheddar cheese on the top of the Miracle Whip, crumble up the cooked bacon on top. Quarter and place hard boiled eggs on the top.

So what's so difficult about this salad? What caused me a moment of sweaty palm panic? It's pretty simple, actually ... do you know what a pain in the butt it is to spread Miracle Whip on top of frozen peas without pulling said peas up? It's worth it though ... who knew that "salad" could be so unhealthy?

I'll even throw in a bonus picture ... since I didn't really know what I was doing when I made this salad, I hard boiled way too many eggs. So I reached back even further to my nostalgia vault and made some deviled eggs.

My mama didn't use paprika, but I'm a rebel.

The filling for the deviled eggs is also pretty simple ... you combine the cooked yolks with a little mayo/Miracle Whip, mustard and pepper and then fill the egg white shells. Because I think it's pretty, I sprinkled with a bit of paprika.

Gwendolyn's Snack Mix

2010-12-01T00:06:00.000-08:00

This super-easy recipe is from my friend and co-worker Gwendolyn. I am in love with it because it combines my lust for things like cereal and sweetened condensed milk. What Gwendolyn loves about this recipe is that you can have the ingredients on hand at any time in case surprise guests appear at your doorstep. (Which I might start doing now that she's told me that she will always have said ingredients on hand.)

Gwendolyn's Snack Mix

8 c. Crispix cereal
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. cashews
1 c. pretzel nuggets

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Put cereal, cashews and pretzels in a large bowl. Combine sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in a smaller bowl. Drizzle over cereal mixture and gently stir to coat. Transfer to 2 lightly greased cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Immediately remove to waxed paper and spread out to dry. Store in an airtight container.

Soup Saturday: Hungarian Hot Sausage and Lentil Soup

2010-11-27T00:48:00.000-08:00

My obsession with everything Hungarian has everything to do with this book ...

At this point, I have lost count of how many times that I've read this book. I have given away copies of this book (sending one to Russia, I might add) and if ANYONE asks me for a book recommendation, 9 times out of ten I will recommend this book. It is the literary equivalent of mashed potatoes in my mind - totally satisfying and comforting ... even if the subject matter is Dracula.

So when I was trolling Food Network's site the other night, I stumbled across this Rachael Ray recipe and although it seems like the only thing Hungarian about this is the paprika that I used to season it, this is a very decent dish.

A couple of headnotes ... I ended up tweaking this recipe because when I originally made it, it seemed like a grocery store exploded into my mouth. Italian Sausage! Lentils! Portabella mushrooms! Potatoes! Too many really good things were crowded into one meager bowl and this soup seemed like it would work better if flavors weren't crowding to get my attention. So I swaped the 'bella mushrooms for white button mushrooms (portabellas are meaty ... they are used in vegetarian burgers, for Pete's sake! It was stealing the spotlight from the Italian sausage ... ). I was happy with this substitution, since it also makes this dish easier on my pocket book. I omitted the potato all together ... this dish has enough starchiness in it with the lentils.

Hungarian Hot Sausage and Lentil Soup
original recipe by Rachael Ray

    * 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    * 12 oz. bulk hot Italian sausage (**can substitute mild)
    * 3 cloves garlic, chopped
    * 1 medium onion, chopped
    * 8 oz. white button mushrooms, chopped
    * 3 carrots, chopped
    * 1 cup lentils
    * Salt and pepper
    * 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
    * 2 teaspoons smoked paprika (or substitute a mix of 2 teaspoons cumin, 1 teaspoon sweet paprika and 2 pinches cayenne pepper ... I actually use Hungarian hot paprika ... love it!)
    * 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, intact on stems
    * 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
    * 6 cups vegetable stock
    * 4 cups baby spinach

Heat a medium soup pot over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, then add sausage to pot and brown and crumble it, then add garlic, onions and mushrooms. Cook a few minutes, then add carrots, lentils, , salt and pepper, bay leaf, paprika or substitute mixture and rosemary (leaves will fall from stems as soup cooks). Add tomatoes and broth and cover pot then raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Uncover pot and place heat back a bit but keep soup at a good rolling boil. Cook 15 minutes until lentils and carrots are tender. Wilt in greens in small bunches, remove rosemary stems and turn off heat. Let stand 5 minutes.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

2010-11-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

This recipe made me fall in love with the concept of a gingerbread crust ...

OK ... this isn't the sexiest picture I've ever taken, but this a last ditch attempt to snap a picture of this decadence before it was decimated by my husband and I.

Pumpkin Cheesecake
original recipe by Rachael Ray

    * Cooking spray
    * 25 gingersnap cookies
    * 1-3/4 cups sugar
    * 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
    * Three 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
    * 5 large eggs, at room temperature
    * One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
    * 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    * 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
    * 1/2 teaspoon salt
    * Boiling water

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 325°. Lightly coat a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Using a food processor, grind the cookies with 1/4 cup sugar. Add the butter and pulse to combine. Press the mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake until firm, 3 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and remaining 1-1/2 cups sugar until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in eggs until blended. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, pumpkin-pie spice and salt and beat until combined, 2 minutes.

Set the springform pan with the cooled crust on a double layer of heavy-duty foil and wrap the foil tightly around the bottom and sides; set in a roasting pan. Pour the cheesecake filling into the crust. Transfer the roasting pan to the oven and fill with enough boiling water to reach about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake the cheesecake until the center is slightly wobbly but the edges are firm to the touch, about 1-1/4 hours.

Transfer the roasting pan with the cheesecake to a rack and let cool for 45 minutes. Remove the springform pan, discard the foil and let the cheesecake cool on the rack for 3 hours. Run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Wrap the pan in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 4 hours. Run a knife under the bottom of the cake to release it, then slide onto a serving platter.

** A note ... the original recipe was "pumpkin swirl" cheesecake. I couldn't get this damn thing to swirl for love nor money, so I've modified this to take out the "swirl" part of it.

** Another note ... Happy Thanksgiving. I hope that you and yours have a wonderful holiday season.

Pickle Dip

2010-11-06T00:41:00.000-07:00

This is one of my latest obsessions when it comes to something that's easy to make, but has one hell of an impact on the tastebuds.

This recipe came from my coworkers who like to call it "tickle dip." Because they are slightly perverted, which makes me adore them. Despite the dubious name and the nature of this recipe, do not stop, pass go or collect $200 until you make this recipe.

Pickle Dip

1 tall jar of baby dills, drained and chopped
1 pkg. of Hillshire Farms honey ham, chopped
1 pkg. of Hillshire Farms corned beef, chopped (I could not find this, so I ended up using 2 packages of the Carl Buddig stuff)
1 8 oz. pkg. of cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. mayo

Take all of these ingredients. Dump them into your food processor. Blend until incorporated. Serve with crackers. Try not to eat the entire dish in one serving.

... Also known as those "f*!@ing" apple pie bars

2010-11-03T03:46:00.000-07:00

I'll let you in on a little secret ... there are times when not all goes well in ShelleyBakes land. Usually, the "not so good" things are when I try out a new recipe and it isn't what I expect it to be. And yes, there are occasions where I burn things. Or drop things. Or the pictures don't turn out.

And then there are those times when things just simply do not want to work out. And this, my friends, was one of those times. Here's a bit of back story on this particular recipe ... this dessert is hands down one of the best things that my mom made during my childhood - apple pie in flaky pastry bar form with powdered sugar frosting drizzled on top. This recipe is my BIRTHRIGHT, shouldn't be a problem to recreate it in my kitchen, should it?

One word for that misconception: Whatever. After struggling for 45 minutes to get the bottom crust of the bars to roll out properly, I sent a profane text to my mom. I believe it said: "I HATE these f*cking apple pie bars!!!!" And then my mom called me. Laughing.

"Oh honey, I forgot to tell you what a pain in the ass those are."

Sigh.

Regardless of my failure to properly execute this dish (the bottom crust - laughable, then I forgot the layer of crushed cornflakes and then I couldn't get the top crust to roll out at ALL, so I got pissed off and started flinging bits of pastry on top of the bars), I have to admit ... it still tasted really good. Good enough that they were inhaled within a half hour of my bringing them into work.

If you are brave and noble with a rolling pin, try these if you dare. I will begrudgingly admit that they are worth it and that I will make these annually until I master these bastards.

This is one section that actually got a covering of dough!

Danish Pastry Apple Pie Bars

2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 c. shortening (**note from my mama ... use lard. Don't be afraid of it, do not substitute Crisco. Otherwise, these will not reach the flaky consistency that will forever adhere to your thighs.)
1 egg yolk (note: Save the white!)
milk
1 c. crushed cornflakes (**note from me ... if you forget, it's OK. The bottom crust will just get a little soggy from the apple-y goodness that's to come)
8-10 Macintosh apples (pared and thinly sliced)
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Here's the shortcut that I took with the crust ... I blitzed it together using my food processor. Those ingredients are the flour, salt and shortening. After that was put together, I kept my processor running and I added this mixture: one egg yolk and enough milk to make 2/3 of a cup of liquid.

On a (heavily) floured surface, take half of the dough (**) and roll to 17 x 12 inches and put into and up the sides of a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with cornflakes.

In another bowl, slice up the apples and then coat with the sugar/cinnamon mixture until well incorporated. Put into prepared pan and roll out the remainder of the dough to place on the top. Beat the egg white a little and brush over the top. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes. The drizzle with some powdered sugar frosting. (I don't really have a recipe for this - I just take powdered sugar, enough milk to make it runny and some vanilla for flavoring ...)

And on the left hand side, you can see where I got pissed off and just started flinging dough to cover the fracking pan.

** Something that you will figure out during the course of the epic struggle known as rolling out this fracking pastry dough is this: The dough that's produced is really, really sticky. At first I thought that I had done something wrong (not enough flour?) and then I was worried that my dough wouldn't be crumbly and pliable because it took an epic amount of flour to get it from sticking to my counter and rolling pin. But during my therapy session with my mama, she told me that it does take an inordinate amount of flour to get the dough to roll out.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T07:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from us here at ShelleyBakes! I saw this article this morning in the New York Times and had to share. R.L. Stine was a fixture of my childhood reading and this commentary was appreciated and enjoyed.

#GreatHallowTweet: Eye (Cake) Balls

2010-10-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

Look deep into my eyes, my pretty ... these sweet things are my #GreatHallowTweet take on cake balls.

Red velvet cake balls, to be exact.

Here's the method to the madness ...

Take and bake a boxed cake mix to the specifications on the back of the box. (And yeah - if you're a super star, you can make your own homemade cake, but I've been traveling around the Midwest for the past couple of days - boxed cake was as good as I was going to get for this ...). Let the cake cool completely and then crumble it into a large bowl, using a fork to make sure the cake is good and crumbled.

Then take a container of frosting - for the red velvet cake, I used cream cheese frosting, because it just felt right - and mix about 3/4 of the frosting into the crumbled cake, stirring to incorporate.

Now here's the messy part ... take the cake and form it into one-inch balls. Place them on a cookie sheet and set in the freezer to chill and solidify (about one hour).

After your eye, erm ... cake balls, have frozen dip them in some melted white almond bark. Tap the excess off and place on sheets of waxed paper to harden the candy shell. To paint the eyeballs, I used food grade color gels (thanks to Coco Cooks and her marzipan eyeballs for the hint).

Ina!

2010-10-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has spent a modicum of time on this blog know that I absolutely adore Ina Garten. So when she announced a book tour to support her latest cookbook "How Easy is That?" I admit that I was disappointed that the closest she was coming to Minnesota was a stop in Skokie, Illinois. Then I put in a request for some time off.


Here's the line up at the Barnes & Noble in Skokie, Illinois. Folks started lining up at 8 a.m. for a noon book signing.

Ina! And a very red-faced me. And a slightly blurry Ina - I can only assume that the person who was taking this picture had shaky hands like I did.

So what was Ina like? She was incredibly gracious and friendly. I don't know what I said to her, but I tried really hard to not come off like an idiot fan girl (and I might have failed. But I'm OK with that.)

Some of the highlights of this trip (other than meeting Ina, of course), were the two ladies that I stood in line with. They were incredibly friendly and made the wait fly by. I also got to spend the evening with my cousin Kelly and her new one-month-old baby Owen. Thank you guys for your hospitality!

#GreatHallowTweet: Cauldron Crack Dip

2010-10-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

You'll have to forgive me for lacking a photo on this particular dish. I brought it to work last Friday and didn't feel like whipping out my camera in front of my co-workers to get a picture of what can only be described as "crack dip." You know what I'm talking about ... the kind of dip that is really, really bad for you, but you can't get enough of.

So here's the deal ... over the past few months, I've really tried to eliminate processed food from my diet. When Happy Meals can sit out for six months without getting moldy, there is truly something wrong with the make up of what we're feeding our children. But while I can totally get up on my soapbox about that - I have a confession to make: I have a secret love for Velveeta. I don't eat it all the time, because I get slightly disgusted with myself, but if I have it every once in awhile, I feel like my life has achieved some sort of nirvana-ic balance.

Anyway - the story behind this dip is that my co-worker Melinda made it one night when she lured me to one of those jewelry parties. I had toiled for an hour at a gym and had promised myself that I would be good at this party, but once I saw that she had a crockpot full of this cheesy goo, I could not help myself. And the best part about this dip? Have fun with it ... everything is approximate and if you don't like something - eliminate it. Replace it with something that you do like.

Melinda's Cauldron Crack Dip

1 small onion, diced
1 lb. hamburger, browned and drained
1 small box of Mexican Velveeta, cubed
1/2 large box of Regular Velveeta, cubed
1 can chili beans
1 small can diced green chiles
1 package/can of Spanish rice (I ended up using that Uncle Ben's stuff that you're supposed to microwave for 90 seconds. But I didn't microwave it.)
1 c. salsa

Dice up one small onion and brown with one pound of hamburger in a large skillet. The next part is totally up to you ... you can either incorporate all of the ingredients into said skillet and get everything melted down and THEN dump into a large Crockpot (make sure to keep the heat on low, for risk of burning the cheesy, processed goodness) or you can throw all of the ingredients in the Crockpot and then heat on low until the cheese is melted and everything is well incorporated.

P.S. - I only utilized my Crockpot because my cauldron is broken and they frown upon open fires at my office.

#GreatHallowTweet: Grandma's Beef Soup

2010-10-27T00:52:00.000-07:00

In last year's GreatHallowTweet, I got all nostalgic for my great-grandmas and their unlikely Halloween traditions. This year, I'm all nostalgic again, but this time it's for my grandma Boots.

I grew up in a very small town in Northeast Iowa and while that town was small (literally one stoplight, my friends), I actually grew up 10 miles from that town on my folks' farm. Needless to say, there's not a lot of opportunity to trick-or-treat in the country. Sure, there were a couple houses that we would hit up, but we were literally the only kids that would go to those houses and that was because they were neighbors. The serious trick or treating was done in Waukon. My older brother and I would go with our cousins Ryan and Tracy and our moms and hit a handful of houses before we'd retreat back to my grandparents' house. And every year, my grandma would serve this soup.

What's funny about this recipe is that I have the barest inkling of what went in it (except for the rutabagas - and that's because my old friend and classmate Aaron would supply them to my grandma). Here's the email that I sent my mom: "I know that I've asked you this before … but how did grandma boots make her Halloween veggie soup? I'm doing a Halloween week at ShelleyBakes and was going to feature that recipe."

Here's my mom's response ... "She boiled soup bones (beef) and then put in some leftover roast beef in the broth. It's pretty much the same as hamburger soup otherwise, but no tomatoes or sugar and when Aaron brought her rutabagas she'd add some of them cut up like the potatoes. Simmer it in lots of broth (add canned if you need to) with potatoes, carrots, onions, and add peas or corn if you want ... sometimes she just added a bag of frozen mixed veggies...as you can tell it was never the same twice! ... P.S. To save time she'd do the beef stuff and bones in the crockpot with water over it."

Sigh ... that's the thing with family recipes - sometimes they aren't really written down and you have to recreate them from memory. Even if it's a memory from about 20 years ago ... So this is my best guess.

Grandma Boots' Beef Soup

I made the soup for Sunday dinner, but it took a little bit of advanced planning. So Saturday, I made a batch of beef stock. I used about 8 cups of stock to make the broth for this soup and ended up using a couple tablespoons of dried au jus mix (and some Worchester sauce) to give the stock a little more color and flavor. (My stock is going to be a work in process ... it wasn't quite right this first time at bat.)

Olive Oil
1 lb. stew meat
1 medium onion, halved and sliced

4 lg. carrots, large chunks
2 medium potatoes, large dice
1 medium rutabaga, large dice
8 c. beef stock
2 T. dried au jus (I used the LeGout au jus base)
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper

Take whatever pan you make your soup in and put in 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown your stew meat in batches. After the meat is browned, deglaze the pan with a little bit of beef stock to get the browned bits off of the bottom. In this, saute onions until tender. Add remaining vegetables, the browned beef, stock (with au jus mixed in) and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Remain uncovered and cook until the vegetables are tender (about 45 minutes to an hour). Serve hot in bowls and salt and pepper to taste.

Obviously, this soup - like any others - tastes better the next day.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

So how did reality stack up to nostalgia? Well, the soup was good, but it definitely wasn't my grandma's. I also know that this soup would have really done well had it featured more herbs (Thyme? Oh most definitely.). But I was really focusing on trying to recreate a dish that I remembered from childhood and although many years have passed, I don't ever recall my grandma having fresh herbs in her kitchen. When I make this again (because the chunks of vegetables made want to swoon), I will definitely put more of a Shelley twist on things.

Thanks for indulging me in a little nostalgia. In case you're wondering ... here's a picture of my grandma. She was a pretty stylin' lady.

#GreatHallowTweet: Pumpkin Shortbread Cookies

2010-10-26T00:40:00.000-07:00

There is only one word to describe these cookies. And that word is: "da-a-a-a-a-a-a-mn." If it were appropriate to catcall at a cookie, this would be the cookie that I would choose to harrass in such a fashion. Because they are like eating pumpkin pie in a cookie form. And I love pumpkin pie. And cookies. You can imagine why I am so transfixed.

I got this recipe from Recipe Girl, and although the recipe takes a little bit of pre-planning (you need to chill the dough for four hours or just overnight), I think it's well worth the wait. Especially when you consider how gloriously simple these are.

#GreatHallowTweet: Slime Soup

2010-10-25T00:20:00.000-07:00

Oh, my lovelies ... it's that time of year again when everything gets a little more eerie around here. The recipes are influenced by the season and I start sticking plastic spiders into my soup.

Oh yes - this is the second year of the #GreatHallowTweet. This year, 18 cooks (including yours truly) are participating in this blog hop that features a week's worth of Halloween-themed recipes. Hugs to my friend Renee for continuing the tradition. You may also visit the other lovely hosts by clicking on the "GreatHallowTweet" sidebar.

Without further ado, here's my first offering for this year's GHT. Nigella Lawson's Slime Soup. Oh yes, the domestic goddess herself must like Halloween, because this was featured on a show of hers called "Fun Food."

This tastes just like you'd expect pureed peas to taste like. The spiders are crawling in for a closer look.

Slime Soup
by Nigella Lawson

4 cups frozen peas
1 green onion
3 cups boiling water
Chicken or vegetable stock concentrate or a stock cube
1 ball mozzarella, diced (approximately 10 ounces)

Cook the frozen peas and scallion in the boiling water with the stock concentrate, to taste, or stock cube until tender and cooked through. Drain and discard the scallion, and put the peas into a blender.*

Add the diced mozzarella to the peas in the blender. Liquidize the soup until smooth.

*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My thoughts on this? Well, first off - the picture above does not do justice on how ... green ... this soup is. I think I finally figured out what they must have used as the base for the slime they used to sling on "You Can't Do That on Television." Secondly, you don't realize how much a whole bag of frozen peas makes until you're faced with a blender full of this soup. If I was making this again (which I probably wouldn't, unless I wanted to seek some sort of revenge on my nephews or my future children), I would probably halve this recipe.

Finally - this tastes precisely what you would think some pureed peas would taste like. So yes - it's a cute novelty, but likely not a dish to make a repeat appearance in my kitchen.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2010-10-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

After two years of lovingly writing this bad boy, I've decided to give ShelleyBakes a facelift to look a little bit more modern and streamlined.

One of the biggest changes (other than the general look) is that I've cleaned up the "labels" tab. My old labeling convention had gotten out of hand, so I am trying to emulate the subchapters that you'd find in a cookbook. I've also added an "About Me" page that sounded so much cooler when I was formulating intelligent things to say when I was running errands this afternoon.

ShelleyBakes (or "SB" as I affectionately call it) isn't exactly what I planned it to be - which was "Simple Recipes for Lazy People." But we've grown together since this venture first started in October 2008. Stay awhile, feel free to comment ... be inspired. Or run for the hills when you check out my photography - there's a lot of love here. And a lot of bad photography.

Peanut Bars

2010-10-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

My brother- and sister-in-law (along with my nephew-pup Toby) recently moved cross country to Virginia. And while my sister-in-law took only a few kitchen necessities with her (they arrived ahead of the rest of their worldly goods), she was still able to whip this dish together, which she says is reminiscent of eating a Payday Bar.

You'll have to excuse me, I'm currently drooling ...

Peanut Bars

1. Bottom Layer:
Butter a 9x13 pan. Pour in 1/2 of a 16 oz. jar of dry roasted peanuts (Note from my SIL: On a subsequent try you may be tempted to add more peanuts. I only recommend adding to the bottom. More on top do not stick as well :))

2. Middle Layer:
Melt 2-1/2 T butter with 10-12 oz peanut butter chips. Remove from heat. Add 1 can sweetened condensed milk and 3 cups mini marshmallows. Stir to mix, pour into nut lined pan.

3. Top Layer: Add remaining nuts and press into mix.

Rosemary White Bean Soup

2010-10-20T00:56:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I had a rare weekend at home recently and after cleaning up my kitchen, I proceeded to trash it by baking scones, cupcakes and this soup from Ina Garten.


The bread is from Daube's Bakery in Rochester, Minnesota. This is their Onion Vienna bread. To die for ...

Just a note ... this soup is one that takes a little bit of advanced planning to let the beans soak long enough. I started soaking the beans on Sunday morning so we could have this soup for dinner. Another option would be to soak them overnight.

Rosemary White Bean Soup
from "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook"

Ingredients

    * 1 pound dried white cannellini beans
    * 4 cups sliced yellow onions (3 onions)
    * 1/4 cup good olive oil
    * 2 garlic cloves, minced
    * 1 large branch fresh rosemary (6 to 7 inches)
    * 2 quarts chicken stock
    * 1 bay leaf
    * 2 teaspoons kosher salt
    * 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a medium bowl, cover the beans with water by at least 1-inch and leave them in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight. Drain.

In a large stockpot over low to medium heat, saute the onions with the olive oil until the onions are translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook over low heat for 3 more minutes. Add the drained white beans, rosemary, chicken stock, and bay leaf. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until the beans are very soft. Remove the rosemary branch and the bay leaf. Pass the soup through the coarsest blade of a food mill, or place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until coarsely pureed. Return the soup to the pot to reheat and add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve hot.

You must have been a beautiful baby ... (Yellow Cake & Fudge Frosting)

2010-10-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

My beloved turned 33 a couple weeks ago. And he asked if I would make cupcakes for his regular Dungeons & Dragons group that meets on Wednesdays. Specifically, if I would make yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It gave me the perfect excuse to make Smitten Kitchen's Best Birthday Cake and her Instant Fudge Frosting.


At one point, this cupcake said "33" - that's before I took a bite out of it.

A couple of notes ... first off, the cake? Wow. This was some of the fluffiest batter that I've ever seen in my life. So much so that I do not see myself going back to box cakes (and as you all know - I don't have kids, so these words might be foolish and rash.) I ended up making 18 cupcakes and had enough batter leftover to make a round pan. (I get lazy after a bit with cupcakes - and I only have one cupcake pan.)

The frosting? Meh ... not so much. But here's a disclaimer - I'm not a big frosting fan, so no one should be surprised that I preferred my cake without frosting. Because I'm contrary like that.

So are you ready for some eye candy? Here's a picture of my lovah now ...


Yup ... he's a cutie

And here's proof that at least one of us has the genetics to make adorable babies ...


18 months old. And on a hideous couch.

Love you honey! I am thankful every day that I got to marry my best friend ...

A warm weekend in October. With some (HCT) Mummies

2010-10-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

Again - no words are needed. But links to websites are probably helpful - especially if you wonder why my husband and I would drive 300 miles to see a bunch of musicians who dress up like mummies.

On Oct. 9, Ryan and I drove to Rock Island, Illinois (via North English, Iowa to see his grandma) to see Here Come the Mummies. (Their official site is offline currently, but when it's back up it will be here.) And if you wonder why they dress like mummies, see here.

This is Java and if you have to know what he's doing, he's playing a Cow Belt. Yup - a Cow Belt.

The venue was the Rock Island Brewing Co. We got there early for dinner and refreshments - the RIBCO is one of their "signature" burgers and featured onion rings, bacon and your choice of cheese on top of a 1/2 pound burger. Um ... yeah. It was one of the best burgers I've ever had. Ryan had "The Warmth" which was a marinated chicken breast with jalapenos on top. It was so hot I would have thought that it came directly from the fires of hell. It even made Ryan break his two beer rule because he needed something to quench what should have been called "The Blaze."

The food, the beer and the ambiance were worth the drive (we ended up logging over 540 miles that weekend to swing up to Decorah, Iowa to catch the dregs for our 10-year class reunion - sorry classmates! You were trumped by mummies.), but the concert was indescribable. Thank you, Rock Island, for a wonderful night.

Apple Cheddar Scones (and some fall scenery pics)

2010-10-06T00:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I don't need words.

The pictures above were taken at the Sekapp Orchard in Rochester, Minnesota. What the pictures don't show you are the multitude of parents and their adorable children who were out that Saturday morning picking out the perfect pumpkin to carve.

And since I'm now obsessed with all things apple and because I wanted to make something delicious for Sunday morning snacking (this was after staying up until 2 a.m. getting anihilated by my husband's mad Dr. Mario skills. You'd think that after winning only one of six games that I'd give up, but no ... I'm plotting next weekend's revenge.), I made these Apple Cheddar Scones that were created by Dorie Greenspan and featured in her book "Baking: From My Home to Yours."

The picture is a little bit of false advertising because they actually use dried apples instead of fresh, but that only makes this recipe perfect for year round.

Just a couple of warnings ... this is one hella-messy recipe, but is well worth it. Also, when I originally made these, I wasn't sure how much they would spread in the pan (they do, so separate them a bit) and I'd also use some parchment paper on the baking sheet.

Where have I been? (And a recipe for some kick ass cookies)

2010-10-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

I do love to blog. I love the people that I've gotten to know throughout the blogosphere. I love trying new recipes and I love weekends where I wake up and wonder ... "what am I going to bake today?"

Well ... here's what has happened to me this summer. My gorgeous hubby and I decided to go on a bunch of roadtrips. Over Labor Day weekend, we had a baby shower to go to for our future niece. I don't know what she's going to be named, but I like to refer to her as Sweet Pea. We've spent some great nights with old friends drinking a lot of wine. I've participated in a couple of 5Ks (that balances out my wine drinking) and even helped organize one. We've driven to many places in the Midwest. We've just had a lot of fun.

We celebrated summer's last hurrah recently with some of our family in Wisconsin. No, I'm not technically related to these people, but as far as I'm concerned - my dear friends Sharon and Weeve are my sisters. Sharon's folks are my folks. Joe is stuck with me as a sister-in-law and my husband has learned to accept that my already (ridiculously) large family is just made larger by this association.

These pictures are from the Wet Whistle Wine Fest in Algoma, Wisconsin. Every year, the Von Stiehl winery hosts this festival and this is our second year in attendance. So far, we've been blessed by extraordinary weather every time we've been there - the food, which is made by the Farm Market Kitchen, is ... I'm at a loss for words. Let me just say this - there are fresh French baguettes that are available for purchase. They hand you the whole baguette and tubs of REAL butter infused with garlic. Then you stand around and tear chunks of bread off the baguette and dip them into the butter? And this is while drinking wine bought on site at the festival ... by the bottle? I am not lying to you - in the week that preceded this event, I found myself salivating when I thought about the baguettes.

To my Wisconsin family - words do not say how much I look forward to this weekend. It restores my soul in ways that I cannot express. It also makes me participate in 5Ks. Because the bread is just that good.

From left, Joe; Dad (Charles to most people); Mom (otherwise known as Roxanne); and Sharon. The reddish-orange sleeve belongs to my beloved Weeve (who had an unfortunate incident last year with red wine and a white shirt) and the man in black is my husband. Mom is holding the bread that I dream about.

Ryan and I are having an "emo" moment where I'm reenacting some crucial scene in the "Twilight" book series. Or something. I had been drinking at this point.

These are my sistas. Note the empty boxes of wine in the background ... no, we did not drink that much. But it was pretty slick how they arrange it at the wine festival - you have about five wines that you can choose from and you can either buy wine by the bottle or by the glass. Folks work behind the scenes to make sure that the bottles are uncorked, minimizing the time you wait in line for the vino, as well as allowing me to travel corkscrew free.

This handsome fella is Joe ... I wasn't going to share this extreme close-up, but it provides a segue for the recipe I'm going to include in this blog post.

For the six-plus years that I've known Joe & Sharon, they have always been incredibly gracious to me (and later on to my husband) when it comes to letting me shack up in their spare bedroom, eat all the cheese in their house and drink their wine when I come to Manitowoc to visit. Since I love them and since I know that Joe loves cookies, instead of the usual 12-pack of Leinie's that I bring as a peace offering to Joe, this year I baked him some chocolate chip cookies. But not just any kind of cookies:

These are Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies with Cherries & Walnuts from the kitchn. I wasn't sure, at first, if these were going to make a good thank you gift or what, but between my co-workers who graciously sampled them (and made them disappear in a record time of 15 minutes from when I actually opened the container and set it out from when someone told me they were gone) and my husband who almost didn't leave any cookies for Joe ... these are good.

A couple of notes - I didn't have pecans, as the recipe specified, so I subbed walnuts. Still good. I used Ghiardelli bittersweet chocolate that I chopped up for the chocolate portion of the cookie. And instead of using whole wheat flour, I used buckwheat flour. Because I'm contrary like that.

Spicy Lentil Soup

2010-08-25T00:27:00.000-07:00

I really don't know what's with me these days - it's been topping out in the 90s here in Minnesota, but I get all excited when I see a new soup recipe that I want to try. I guess that this proclivity makes me thankful for central air conditioning.

When I first tried this recipe - found in the most recent issue of the Food Network magazine - I was imagining all the changes that I could do to make it better - maybe a mirepoix to start out with of carrots and garlic. A little bit of chicken broth, perhaps? But when I finally sat down to try my latest creation, I decided that it was damn good as is.

Spicy Lentil Soup
from Food Network Magazine, September 2010

2 c. red lentils
1 serrano chile pepper, chopped (if you want less heat - remove the seeds. If you are brave or maybe suffering from a head cold and need spices to knock you back into normality, go ahead and leave them in.)
1 large tomato, rough chop
1 1 1/2 piece of ginger, peeled and grated
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 tsp. ground tumeric
Kosher salt
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1/4 c. plain yogurt

Combine the lentils and 7 cups of water in a pot, bring to a boil. Add the chile pepper, tomato, ginger, garlic and tumeric. Simmer over medium heat for 18-20 minutes, until the mixture is thickened slightly. Stir in the cilantro. Season with salt. (Trust me - it will need salt.)

Mix the yogurt with 2 T. of water in a small bowl. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with some of the yogurt.

Kiddie Cocktails a.k.a. "Kitty Cottontails"

2010-08-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

I'd like you guys to meet my nephew Joe.

This is Joe ... he's pretty cute.

Recently, I got to go on vacation with my family - my parents, my older brother and his wife, and their three youngest sons - Jordan, 14 (going on 23); Cody, he turned 11 on the trip and Joe, who is six. I think. Anyway - my mom had broken her ankle, so she asked me if I would help out on this trip - unfortunately, my husband stayed at home - so I drove solo to the Wisconsin Dells to meet up with my family.

I had the honor of accompanying Joe on his first excursion in a waterpark. And after we had conquered the pirate ship (with some young punk demanding that we call him "Captain Jack."), I told my youngest boy that it was time for refreshments.

"I want a kitty cottontail," Joe stated.
"A what?"
"A kitty cottontail."

I looked over at my mom who translated for me. "He wants a kiddie cocktail." I was immediately transported to when I was a kid and we'd have happy hour over at my grandparents' house. Yeah, you read that right - a CC Sweet for grandpa, something with sloe gin in it for my grandma, kiddie cocktails for me and my brother and Keebler Butter Pretzel Twists all around, dipped in French onion dip. (Ooh, the decadence of French onion dip!) We'd then play euchre and revel in how sophisticated we were to have happy hour with my grandparents.

Given that my nephew Joseph Stanley was named after my grandpa Stan, there was something appropriate about his request.

Having a hankering for a kitty cottontail? You can find instructions on how to make them, here.

Tomato Cucumber Salad

2010-08-18T00:13:00.000-07:00

This recipe doesn't really need any kind of introduction - it's the kind of dish that celebrates seasonal ingredients and stands on its own. (And it's the kind of dish that I dream of come winter when cucumbers and tomatoes are available, but so incredibly pathetic ...)

Tomato Cucumber Salad
by ShelleyBakes! And an amalgam of about a dozen different recipes I've drooled at over the years

2 medium cucumbers, sliced
1 large tomato, cut into wedges
1/2 C of those little mozzarella pearls that you can find in the store
Fresh basil (to your taste - I didn't have very much, would definitely add more)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Toss ingredients with Simple Balsamic Vinagarette dressing. Let sit for about 45 minutes to an hour to let the flavors meld together.

Summer Berry Cobbler

2010-08-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

I admit that I'm kind of late to the Tyler Florence bandwagon. Yes, the man is handsome. Yes, the man can cook, but he's no Ina Garten. And for some odd reason, other than the occasional foray into "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" territory or a chance tryst with Alton Brown's "Good Eats," I like my food show hosts to be female.

I really don't know what that says about me.

Anyhoo ... I had some wonderful friends over for dinner a few weekends ago and although I did not intend to make dessert, I was celebrating the foods of the season - a tomato and cucumber salad with vegetables fresh from the farmer's market! Wine! (That never is out of season.) Grilled meats! Although ice cream would have done the trick, it really wasn't the finale that my meal was calling for ... so I went to FoodNetwork.com and typed in "cobbler." And this was the nummiest dish that they spat out at me.

Hello, lovah ...

Summer Berry Cobbler
Adapted from Tyler Florence

    * 1 pint blueberries
    * 1 pint raspberries (**I used some frozen ones that I had in my freezer. Didn't give 'em time to thaw, just chucked them in there.)
    * 1 pint blackberries
    * 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more, for dusting
    * Pinch cinnamon
    * 2 tablespoons cornstarch (**Can't find my fracking cornstarch - used a scant tablespoon of flour. Which didn't necessarily hurt the recipe, but didn't really help it either.)
    * 1/2 lemon, juiced
    * 1 recipe scone dough, recipe follows
    * Melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, combine berries with sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and lemon juice. Stir gently to combine. Spread berry mixture out on a 10-inch tart or gratin dish. Dollop spoonfuls of scone dough evenly over the top of the fruit; leave a border around the edge of the dish for spreading. Drizzle the surface with melted butter and dust with sugar. Set on a cookie sheet and bake for 25 to 35 minutes until the top is golden brown and the fruit juices bubbling.

Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with heavy cream, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

These are next day's leftovers. Can't tell if my husband actually likes the cobbler or if he's using it as a vehicle for ice cream ...

Scone Dough Recipe:

    * 2 cups all purpose flour
    * 1 tablespoon baking powder
    * 1 teaspoon salt
    * 1/3 cup sugar
    * 1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut in chunks
    * 3/4 cup buttermilk or cream
    * 1 egg

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; mix thoroughly. Cut in butter using 2 forks or a pastry blender. The butter pieces should be coated with flour and resemble crumbs.

In another bowl, mix buttermilk and egg together, and then add to the flour mixture. Mix just to incorporate, do no overwork the dough.

Morrocan Meatball Stew

2010-08-08T00:43:00.000-07:00

Because I want to fit into this really cute top that I recently bought and eventually spawn with my husband, I joined Weight Watchers last month. As anyone who has been on this program will tell you, it's nice because you can eat anything that you want as long as you follow the alloted points assigned to you and for someone like me, it really helps me with portion control.

Thie recipe comes from a Weight Watchers cookbook that I acquired awhile ago from my favorite thrift store. Boldly flavored, it's the kind of dish that makes you think "what diet?"

Morrocan Meatball Stew
Adapted from Weight Watchers

1 lb. lean ground beef
2 T. cilantro, chopped
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. paprika (I used hot Hungarian paprika - yeow! Good stuff!)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T. olive oil
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
3 oz. tomato paste (that's half a can)
3/4 c. water

Take the ground beef and add 1 T. of the cilantro, 1 tsp. of cumin and 1 tsp. paprika. Throw some pepper in there for good measure and salt if you so desire. Mix this up and make little meatballs that you'll set aside. (The recipe said it would make 24 mini-meatballs, I got 16.)

Next up, chop the onion and the garlic. Saute this in a large covered skillet with about 2 T. of olive oil for 3-5 minutes, until tender. Add the additional cumin, cilantro and paprika, as well as the tomato, water and tomato paste, stirring well to incorporate. Bring to a boil. Add the meatballs and cover the skillet, keeping at a simmer and stirring occassionally for 30-35 minutes, until the meatballs are done and the sauce thickens. (To get the sauce to thicken, I uncovered the dish for the last 10 minutes of cooking.)

During the last minutes of cooking, make yourself some couscous to pour the stew over.

One cup of couscous and one cup of the stew is 8 Weight Watchers points. Woo hoo!

Summer Sangria

2010-08-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

Two words: Drink this.

Summer Sangria
adapted from Ezra Pound Cake who got it from Bon Appetit

(Headnote from Ezra Pound Cake: "Feel free to use whatever fresh fruit you have on hand – strawberries, pineapple, mangoes, blackberries, chopped green apple, etc. – as long as you include at least one citrus fruit.")

    * 1 750-ml bottle of chilled White Zinfandel (**you may use the cheap stuff. Although, come to think of it - is there such thing as expensive white zin?)
    * 1/2 cup peach schnapps
    * 2 tablespoons triple sec
    * 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
    * 1 lemon, sliced
    * 1 orange, sliced
    * 1 peach, sliced into wedges
    * 1 can of Sprite or whatever lemon lime soda you have handy.
    * Ice cubes

1. Mix the liquor, the fruit and cinnamon sticks in a large pitcher. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

2. Pour in soda. Fill 6 wineglasses with ice cubes. Pour sangria over ice and serve.

32

2010-07-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

I am the cook in my family, but every once in awhile my husband will surprise me.

This is a birthday cake that celebrates my love for whomping ass when I'm playing Tetris. Thank you, honey!

Hummus with Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Hearts

2010-07-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

This recipe is a tribute to a recent boozy night with one of my dearest friends from college and our significant others. Not only did I help drain several bottles of wine, I also decimated a plate of my friend Nichole's hummus. I hadn't ever had hummus like it and she placed the bowl right in front of me, so yeah - that was pretty much the end of that appetizer.

Here's my adaptation of her recipe ...

Hummus with Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Hearts

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
one head of garlic, roasted **
about 2 T. of lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste

Throw all of these ingredients into a blender or a food processor and blitz until it's as chunky as you'd like it to be or smoother than a baby's bottom. Serve with veggies or pita chips.

My adaptation for this recipe is to roast the garlic. Nichole minces up about five cloves of garlic (or as much as you can stand, as she put it) for her hummus. I'm hoping that as the ingredients meld overnight in the fridge, that the roasted garlic taste is more pronounced. Right now, it's just really awesomely mellow.

**Roasting garlic? Here's what I do ... take a head of garlic, slice off the top, wrap in foil and place into a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until you can really smell garlic in your kitchen. (That's how I figure out when most of my dishes are done ...) Unwrap the garlic from the foil and let cool. Then squeeze all the nummy roasted garlic out of the bulb and store in the fridge or use immediately for what you roasted it for. Or, if all else fails, just spread some of that on a crusty piece of baguette and ward off evil vampires.

Chocolate Cherry Cake

2010-07-14T00:25:00.000-07:00

This cake defined my childhood. I don't know if it's something that my mother made all the time when I was growing up or if it was one of those recipes that she discovered and then became a regular offering in our household.

All I know is that it's very good. Very, very good. So good, in fact, that when she made it and if there were ever any leftovers, I'd just cut myself a slice and walk around the kitchen eating it. Forks? Nope. Plate? Absolutely not necessary.

So when my mother-in-law asked me to bring a dessert for her recent Fourth of July gathering, I thought about bringing something fussy. There was this raspberry custard pie I was eyeing. But since my mother couldn't make it to said gathering and I was missing her (she, instead, was laid up with a broken ankle from some Countryfest revelry), I decided to do a nod to my childhood. And I made this super easy, "I can't believe I'm publishing this" cake.

I love you, mom. You're just awesome - even if you're kind of accident prone.

Mom's Chocolate Cherry Cake

1 box chocolate cake mix
1 can cherry pie filling
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes until done. Cool. Top with Cool Whip or a dusting of powdered sugar. This cake will keep in a covered container for at least five days (if it lasts that long.)

Ina's Margaritas

2010-07-10T00:48:00.000-07:00

Um ... yeah. Ina doesn't mess around when it comes to her cocktails. On Friday, I tried to hastily put together a happy hour with some of my coworkers and although I was sad that it didn't work out, I couldn't be sad for long ... I decided I would go home and make margaritas. And since I've been trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup, I couldn't just break into the mix that I have lingering in my fridge (which is perfect for Margarita Cupcakes.).

So I went to the Food Network website and put "margarita" in their search engine. A zillion recipes were spit back at me, but of course my beloved Ina's was one of the unfussiest of the bunch. (After the week I've had, I don't really want to mess with making simple syrup - hear what I'm sayin'?) And although you could argue that juicing five limes and a lemon is fussy, I wasn't really fussed.

Ina Garten's Margarita Recipe
from FoodNetwork.com

1 lime, halved
Kosher salt
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (5 limes)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
1 cup Triple Sec
3 cups ice
1 cup white tequila

If you like margaritas served in a glass with salt, rub the outside rims of six glasses with a cut lime and dip each glass lightly into a plate of kosher salt. (Yeah - I so skipped that ... I ran the glasses I was using - a Mason jar and a pint glass - under the tap until they were moistened and then I went a little overboard on the salt factor. But it was sooo worth it!)

Combine the lime juice, lemon juice, Triple Sec, and ice in a blender and puree until completely blended. Add the tequila and puree for 2 seconds more. Serve over ice. (Another note ... I was so excited about margaritas that I added everything at once and then I blended. I don't know that it makes a difference.)

If you want the recipe for frozen margaritas, you'll have to go to the website. I'm all about margaritas on the rocks.

Another note ... I have to be honest, when I first tried this drink I told my husband that it was strong enough to put hair on his chest (to which he answered, "I already have hair on my chest.") . So I'm warning you - Ina Garten isn't no Sandra Lee with her frou frou cocktails - that lady knows how to mix her margaritas. I also wondered if I shouldn't cut it with a little simple syrup. But no - this was one hell of a good drink.

grEGGs!

2010-07-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

I finally have a source for free range eggs: My co-worker Greg. These are his eggs.

In today's delivery, Greg decided it would be awesome if he took a Sharpie and wrote on the eggs. As his marketing guru, I think it's equal parts frightening (what the hell is that Sharpie ink going to do when I hardboil my morning egg?) and fracking hilarious. (**UPDATE** According to the henmaster himself, he's using a food-safe ink on his "wise cracks." EXCELLENT!)

Here's a sampling of Greg's wit and wisdom ... "Liquid Chicken Enclosed"; "Am I in Mazeppa?" (that's where Greg's from - where my precious liquid chickens come from) and other odd little endearing things. Still not sure where "Trout" comes from.

My favorite egg is the one on the very left. You can't see the whole message, but here's what it says: "Your frying pan is hot!"

Oh how I love my grEGGs. We're working on marketing as we speak. In the meantime, my beloved Rochester peeps - I might be able to score you some eggs - I need to talk to the Henmaster himself though to find out what the production sked is.

P.S. - In case you're wondering why some off the eggs have smeared ink, Greg found out that it's easier to write on an egg when it's warm from the chicken. Not cold. Didn't know that until today.

Giada's Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-07-07T00:46:00.000-07:00

Someday I need to do a bake-off of chocolate chip cookies, because by virtue of the man I married, I end up baking a lot of this variety because it's his favorite.

This is Giada DeLaurentiis' version of chocolate chip goodness. Supposedly, she loves them so much that she baked over 200 of them for her wedding reception. I cannot attest that they are that good, but you really can't go wrong with butter, sugar, chocolate chip cookies, oats, eggs and flour.

Yes, that's a garden hose you are seeing in the background. Just focus on the cookie goodness.

One note - I think the next time I make these, that I would up the oats content to 3/4 of a cup or a whole cup. These aren't the sturdiest cookies that I've ever made and I think additional flour or oats would make these a bit better and reduce them spreading all over the fracking cookie sheet.

Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp

2010-07-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

I had never tried Thai food until I was a reporter in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. There, within walking distance of the newspaper office, was Newey's - an authentic Thai restaurant run by Newey Boonperm, a Thailand native who happened to marry a Wisconsin girl. I would go into detail about this amazing restaurant, but I'm not going to torment you - Newey's is no longer. All I know is that a lot of my reporter's salary went towards Newey's pad Thai, his amazing curry dishes and Thai coffee.

So when I was looking for some calorie-friendly Asian-inspired dishes the other day, I didn't even regard my husband's suspicion of seafood when I made this dish from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes site. It wasn't as good as Newey's cooking, but it didn't matter - it was Thai-inspired food made in my very own kitchen. And my husband went for seconds. I call this a winner.

You can find Gina's recipe here.

Olive Foccacia

2010-06-23T00:48:00.000-07:00

OK, so now I'm getting a little cocky. But given my ability to bake with yeast and needing to bring something to nosh for a recent get together with friends, I decided to try this recipe from The Pioneer Woman: Olive Foccacia.

I taste better than I look.

Here's the deal - I don't care if you're afraid to bake with yeast like I am, it is time to get over the fear and make this. Now.

What's even better about this is that the recipe is basically pizza dough that's studded with olives. So now you have a double-duty recipe that can be made into pizza crust or modified into a kick ass appetizer.

Thank you, Pioneer Woman.

Milk Bread

2010-06-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

It took a couple of absolute fails and while I'm far from actually being excellent, I'm slowly getting over my fear of baking with yeast.

Oh yes, my friends - I am finally baking real bread.

The first recipe that I tried was one from King Arthur Flour. It said it was foolproof and included potato flakes, but this fool could not master the recipe and I produced something that looked like one of the paver stones from my garden. My husband gamely tried it and nearly broke a tooth. We didn't eat the rest of that loaf.

Then I was trolling the interwebs and I found this recipe from Fork Spoon Knife. It's called Milk Bread and it has flour, milk, sugar, salt, oil (I used olive) and yeast. It's not the sexiest loaf of bread out there, but it has provided me with some training wheels. It's really good fresh out of the oven with some salted butter and it provided a really decent base for Giada's Crack Cheese Garlic Bread.

But most importantly? I'm finally baking bread!

Grandma's Coleslaw Dressing

2010-06-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday marked an extra-special event in my life - my oldest nephew Kyle celebrated his graduation from high school. I've known Kyle since he was a small boy (not to confuse anyone, but he's my sister-in-law's son from a previous relationship, so I met him when he was probably six or seven years old.) and while he usually confounds me with his hairstyles and baggy pants, I'm very proud of him. (I'm still jealous from the super awesome red color he achieved four summers ago - my grandpa had passed on and Kyle had pink hair. Since that wouldn't do for a funeral, he slapped a brown shade over that and it just looked gorgeous. Bastard.)

These are three of my four nephews - Cody, Kyle & Jordan - this is while we were hiking in the Badlands last summer.

Because I rarely show up for family events and when I do, I'm usually empty handed, I asked his mom what I could bring to the graduation party. She told me a salad, my mom told me to bring coleslaw and specifically to use my late grandma Sophie's recipe for the dressing.

This is my late grandma Sophie. The adorable chunky monkey she is smooching is none other than yours truly.

Grandma Sophie's Coleslaw Dressing

1 pint mayonnaise (do not use low fat, do not use Miracle Whip, do not even think about cheating on this ingredient or I will thump ya.)
6 T. sugar
6 tsp. vinegar (I used apple cider ... I think that any kind can suffice)
1 c. heavy cream
dash of pepper (in my maddening, frou-frou way, I used freshly ground black peppercorns. Because I'm contrary like that.)

My mom usually takes a clean jar (canning, leftover peanut butter container or even the jar that the mayo came out of) and measures in the ingredients. Then she puts the cap back on it and shakes it like mad. If you don't want to do this, you can dump all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk together.

I doubled this recipe and used it to dress three pounds of pre-shredded coleslaw mix. (It was a graduation party - I wasn't messing around.) I had about a cup of leftovers. And it was good. Not Grandma Sophie good, but good enough to make my momma happy.

Homemade Blueberry Muffins

2010-06-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend, we had the "southern Mahannahs" up (that's how we refer to our brother and sister-in-law.) For Saturday morning brunch, I cut up a bunch of fresh strawberries and mixed them with red seedless grapes and blueberries. And because I had a ton of fresh blueberries on hand, I decided to mix up a batch of blueberry muffins. This recipe is adapted from Land 'O Lakes.

Homemade Blueberry Muffins

1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Coarse sugar for sprinkling on top (used about 1 T.)

Heat oven to 375°F. Combine milk, 1/2 cup melted butter and egg in large bowl. Add all remaining muffin ingredients except blueberries; stir just until flour is moistened. Gently stir in blueberries.

Spoon batter into greased or paper-lined muffin pan. Sprinkle the top with coarse sugar (I use raw sugar from Crystal.) Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly; remove from pan. (**Note, because I wanted HUGE muffins, I used a Texas-style muffin pan. I increased the cooking time to 27-30 minutes.)

Coconut-Braised Beef

2010-05-26T00:53:00.000-07:00

This was another Sunday night dinner - cooked slow. I found this recipe from Mark Bittman on the Diner's Journal at New York Times. Slow is the operative word here, because this method takes a cheaper cut of beef and cooks it until it is fork tender.

Coconut-Braised Beef
from Mark Bittman, New York Times

    * 2 hot dried red chilies
    * 3 garlic cloves, peeled
    * 1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
    * 1 T chili powder
    * Juice and zest of 2 limes, or 2 tablespoons rice or other mild vinegar
    * 2 T olive oil
    * 1 1/2 pounds beef, preferably chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
    * 2 cups coconut milk (or 1 can, about 1 1/2 cups, plus 1/2 cup water)
    * Salt to taste

1. Put chilies, garlic, ginger, chili powder, lime juice and zest in bowl of a food processor, and process until everything is minced, or mince by hand and combine.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a skillet that can later be covered. Add spice paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add beef, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and covered with sauce.
3. Pour in coconut milk, and bring mixture to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer, stirring only occasionally (but making sure mixture is simmering very slowly, with just a few bubbles at a time breaking the surface) until meat is extremely tender, at least an hour and possibly closer to 2.
4. Uncover and cook until sauce is very thick and caramel-colored, stirring frequently so it does not brown. Season to taste with salt (it needed some, that was for sure), and serve with white rice.
Yield: 4 servings or two very starving Mahannahs.

Another note ... I cook with a gas stove, so the instruction to simmer slowly was darn near impossible for me, even with the flame turned very low. It was still fine. I also simmered my beef for about 1 1/2 hours and then served over basmati rice.

Pink Champagne Cupcakes

2010-05-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

This is the recipe that made my mother-in-law a Facebook sensation ... well, at least to my friends. :) She made these cupcakes on a recent weekend when we were visiting and man ... it took all of my willpower to not eat all of them.

I think this would be a great recipe for a wedding or a baby shower. For any event, you can change the color of the food coloring or omit it all together.

Pink Champagne Cupcakes

1 box SuperMoist white cake mix
1 ¼ c. champagne—room temperature
1/3 c. oil
3 egg whites
4 drops red food coloring

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix and champagne. Add oil, eggs, and food coloring. Beat 2 minutes. Bake 17-22 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan before removing. Cool another 30 minutes.

Frosting
½ c. butter, softened
4 c. powdered sugar
¼ c. champagne, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
4 drops red food food coloring

Combine. Just a warning - this makes a ton.

Pastitsio - Otherwise known as "Greek Lasagna"

2010-05-08T00:34:00.000-07:00

I love Sunday dinner. When I was growing up this meant a couple of different meals at my folks' house. On Sundays where we didn't have a ton going on, slowly baked pork roasts served with mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed peas or scalloped corn and biscuits with my grandma's strawberry freezer jam. If we were busy, mom would usually doctor up a couple big cans of Chef Boyardee's Spaghetti with a ton of garlic powder and serve Texas Toast that she turned into garlic bread. Either meal was fabulous and if I close my eyes, I can remember so many details of those wonderful dinners.

Sundays at my house is either a "thing" (i.e. - really good planned out meal) or cereal. On a recent Sunday night, I turned to my beloved Ina for some inspiration and made this heavenly pastitsio - or as she referred to it, a "Greek lasagna." This dish was time consuming, yet it made a ton and was heavenly for about three days after I originally made it - it makes for great leftovers.

This is like a relationship in a pan ...

Pastitsio
by Ina Garden

For the Tomato Meat Sauce:
    * 3 T. olive oil
    * 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large)
    * 1 pound lean ground beef
    * 1 pound lean ground lamb **
    * 1/2 C. dry red wine
    * 1 T. minced garlic (3 large cloves)
    * 1 T. ground cinnamon
    * 1 tsp. dried oregano
    * 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
    * Pinch of cayenne pepper
    * 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes in puree
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper

** To be honest? If I made this again, I would not use lamb. My untrained palate really couldn't tell if the lamb made this better and it was just freakin' spendy. Use 2 lbs of lean ground beef. OK, now I'm officially going to foodie hell.

For the Bechamel (Editor's note: Do not be intimated by the bechamel!):

    * 1 1/2 C. whole milk
    * 1 C. heavy cream
    * 4 T. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
    * 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
    * 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    * 1 1/2 C. freshly grated Parmesan or Kasseri cheese
    * 2 extra-large eggs, beaten
    * 2/3 C. Greek-style yogurt, such as Fage Total
    * 3/4 pound small shells

Directions

For the sauce, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pot. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the beef and lamb, and saute over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until it's no longer pink, crumbling it with the back of wooden spoon. Drain off any excess liquid, add the wine, and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the garlic, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, and cayenne, and continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 40 to 45 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the bechamel, heat the milk and cream together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until simmering. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for 2 minutes. Pour the warm milk and cream mixture into the butter and flour mixture, whisking constantly. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until smooth and thick. Add the nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Stir in 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the tomato and meat sauce, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Stir in the eggs and yogurt and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Don't over-cook because the pasta will later be baked. Drain and set aside.

Add the pasta to the meat and tomato sauce, and pour the mixture into a baking dish. Spread the bechamel evenly to cover the pasta and sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake for 1 hour, until golden brown and bubbly. Set aside for 10 minutes and serve hot.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

2010-05-05T00:23:00.000-07:00

One of the weirdest compliments I've ever received about my cooking (other than the "wow, this looks terrible but sure tastes good" one) was when one of my former co-workers told me that I was unabashedly un-humble about my baking skills but that she understood why I raved about my own work.

Although I'd like to chalk up the fabulousness of this recipe to my mad skills, I have to give tons of credit to the creators at Picky Palate and Sinful Southern Sweets for making and blogging about this cookie. Chopped peanut butter cups added to peanut butter cookie batter - how could that be wrong? Unless you have a peanut allergy, but barring that - this cookie is ... well, words fail me. Just trust me and bake these.

"C is for Cookie ... that's good enough for me ..."

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

2 sticks softened unsalted butter
1 C. packed brown sugar
1 C. granulated sugar
3 T. corn syrup
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 lg. eggs, plus one egg white
1 T. pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 C. all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
5 pkgs of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer beat the butter, sugars, peanut butter and corn syrup until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Mix only until just combined. Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes until just turning golden around edges. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Lemon-Blueberry Swirl Cake

2010-04-21T00:33:00.000-07:00

This is another dessert concocted by my sister-in-law Amanda and I for our Easter brunch. This was simple, but delicious. Also, another dessert that's relatively healthy (as long as you don't decimate the entire cake like we tried to do ...) Amanda also noted that the cake could be made without the cream cheese layer in the middle, saving additional calories.

Lemon-Blueberry Swirl Cake
from Kraft Spring 2010 magazine

Ingredients:

1 pkg (2-layer size) white cake mix
3/4 c water
3 egg whites
2 T oil
1 pkg (3 oz.) Lemon flavor gelatin, divided
1 c blueberries
1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 whole egg
3 T water

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Beat cake mix, 3/4 c water, egg whites and oil until well blended. Add 1/4 c dry gelatin mix; beat on low 1 min., then on medium 4 min. Beat cream cheese and whole egg in small bowl until well blended.

Pour half the cake batter into greased 12-c fluted tube pan or 10-in tube pan; cover with layers of cream cheese mixture and remaining cake batter.

Bake 45-50 min or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan 10 min. Loosen cake from side of pan with knive. Invert cake onto wire rack; gently remove pan. Cool cake completely.

Place cake on plate. Microwave 3 T water in microwaveable measuring cup on HIGH 30 sec. Add to remaining dry gelatin mix; stir until dissolved. Brush over cake until mixture is absorbed. Refrigerate leftovers.

Makes 16 servings.

Tabasco and Asparagus Quinoa

2010-04-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

Asparagus is one of those vegetables that I didn't eat when I was a child. I almost wrote that "I didn't eat a lot," but that isn't true - I didn't eat asparagus at all. I'm not sure if it was something that my parents had tried once and didn't like or if they had never really ate it either, but I remember that the first time I tried asparagus was when I was out of college and in my 20s. It was the start of a seasonal love affair. I have never tried frozen or canned asparagus and I doubt that I ever will, because there's something so decadent about asparagus - I don't ever want that sense ruined by something that's sub-par.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I tried this recipe from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks. I was a bit intimidated by the idea of liberal amounts of Tabasco, intrigued to cook quinoa for the first time and excited to cook a dish that promised to be healthy and something different for my lunch box.

As Heidi mentions in the headnote of this particular blog post, the taste of the Tabasco is subtle ... it's enough to bring your taste buds to attention, but not enough to have you running for a water glass. The notes of lemon and mustard marry well with the butter.

My husband even liked this dish - I imagine that this will be one for the books and one that will be incorporated into our repertoire for years to come.

Tabasco & Asparagus Quinoa
from 101Cookbooks.com

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
25 drops Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

**Just a note - knowing that this was going to make more Tabasco butter than needed, I ended up halving this recipe. It worked just fine.

1 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch segments
4 cups cooked quinoa*
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted (I omitted)
scant 1/4 cup creme fraiche - optional (I omitted)
more Tabasco sauce to taste

Start by making the Tabasco butter. I used my mini food processor and combined the butter with the mustard, Tabasco sauce, lemon juice and salt.

Boil the asparagus in a large pot of well salted water, for just for a minute or so - depending on the thickness of your asparagus. Drain.

Take 4 cups of hot cooked quinoa and toss with 3 tablespoons of the tabasco butter. Stir in the asparagus. Serve with more Tabasco sauce on the side.

Serves 4 - 6.

*To cook quinoa: Combine 2 cups of well-rinsed dried quinoa with 3 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 25 - 30 minutes or until quinoa is tender and you can see the little quinoa curliques.

Lemon Crumb Cake

2010-04-14T00:14:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of spending my Easter holiday with my in-laws this past week. And although I missed some of my family's traditions, my sister-in-law let me loose in her kitchen and we made a couple new traditions. This lemon crumb cake was for our Easter supper.

Lemon Crumb Cake
from Healthy Cooking April/May 2010

Cake:
2 c buttermilk
1 c sugar
2 eggs
2 T butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla
3 c all-purpose flour
1-1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 can (15-3/4) oz. lemon pie filling

Topping:
1 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c sugar
1/3 c cold butter
1/4 c sliced almonds, toasted
Reduced-fat vanilla ice cream, optional

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, beat the first five ingredients until well blended. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; gradually beat into buttermilk mixture until blended. Pour into a 13-in x 9-in baking pan coated with cooking spray. Drop pie filling by teaspoonfuls over batter.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in almonds; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
3. Cool for 10 min on a wire rack. Serve warm with ice cream if desired.

Nutrition facts: yields 20 servings; 1 piece (w/o ice cream) = 295 cal, 7 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 62 mg cholesterol, 255 mg sodium, 53 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 5 g protein.

Spicy Lentils

2010-04-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

Digging in my formerly dormant garden. Trying to make healthier food choices. Starting a new job. Spending time with family. Quitting a part-time job. Embracing change. Re-reading Tolkien's books. Re-watching the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Letting emails pile up. Letting dishes pile up. Enjoying the sunshine on my face. Planning camping trips. Thinking of flowers to plant.

These are all the things I've been doing other than cooking and blogging. But I'm back and while I love you all, I've also been in love with simple dishes and eating simple meals in the garden. (Incidentally, I don't really have a garden - it's a huge work in progress, so we eat outside in the driveway looking at what will someday be a garden. :) ) But this lentil dish wasn't overly complicated and kept me from having to make a trip to the grocery store. As for the cornbread muffins, I just used the recipe that's on the side of the Quaker cornmeal container.

Spicy Lentils

Adapted from Recipezaar.com

2 cups green lentils
2 carrot, sliced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 beef bouillon cube (used a chicken boullion cube)
6 whole cloves
6 peppercorns
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1-2 hot chili peppers (I used ancho chilis)
3 cups water (used chicken broth)
1 tablespoon oil

In a large pot warm the oil under medium heat, then add the sliced carrot and minced garlic, fry for about 5 minutes just until the garlic has cooked. Then add the bay leaf, peppercorns, whole cloves and chilies (leave out for a non-spicy version), you'll fry these for about 2 minutes, this brings out or release the flavors and scents of the spices. Next add the paprika, salt, bouillon and lentils. Stir to distribute all the spices and lentils. Now add water to the pot. (Note for every cup of lentils you add one and half cups of water.)

Bring the lentils to boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and continue cooking until the lentils are soft. It depends on your taste if you want the lentils to have more of a soupy texture than you'll need to add more water. Check on them often to make sure they don't get too dry.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

2010-03-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe that my sister-in-law Amanda discovered on the back of a bag of shredded cheese. And it is gooooood.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole
from Kraft

1 lb. chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 c. frozen corn kernels
1 jar (16 oz.) salsa 'o choice (I used medium because I'm lame and afraid of stomach acid flare-ups)
1 bag of shredded cheese, Mexican blend
1 c. sour cream
corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut your chicken into bite-sized pieces and start browning in a medium-sized skillet. Finely chop a green pepper and an onion, add to chicken (at about halfway through the browning process ...). Once the chicken is basically cooked through and the veggies are softened, take off heat and add a cup of frozen corn kernels, salsa and sour cream. Mix.

Spray a 9-by-13 cake pan or whatever you usually use to bake casseroles. At the bottom of the dish, place a layer of corn torillas. Like so:

Top this with about half of the chicken mixture. Like this:

Sprinkle about half the cheese on top of the first layer:

The rest of the pictures look about the same as these do, so I'll spare you the imagery. However, you will lay down another layer of tortillas and then repeat the layering sequence. Tortilla, goop and cheese. Then you put it in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until cooked through.

This is what you end up with ...

And it is gooood - even if it photographs poorly.

A couple of notes:

1) Spraying your baking pan is a must. Just ask my SIL, although my husband and I helped her pick out the tortillas that got stuck to the bottom of her pan. And then we ate that part. This casserole is that unabashedly good.

2) I think that you could totally omit the sour cream in this recipe or cut in half, saving you valuable calories and fat grams. I'm not sure if I'm going to go that far though ...

3) For people who don't really care for chicken, I am confident that ground beef would also make for a good switch. I could also see adding some black beans because I really like them. The possibilities are damn near endless.

And finally ... while this is awesome when it's fresh out of the oven, this is one of those cases where the leftovers aren't great the second day - or as my husband said "the flavors are better, but the chicken is spongy and the tortillas are meh." You have been warned.

Crack Cheese Garlic Bread

2010-03-13T00:02:00.000-08:00

Dear World, I would like to introduce you to these little bites of cheesy garlic bread. Why do I call it crack cheese garlic bread? Because I snarfed down half a loaf of this appetizer like a junkie seeking a fix! These are incredible. They are also incredibly addictive. And I am relatively certain that they are not good for you whatsoever.

I got this recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis. And even though the woman drives my husband mad with her massacre of the word "mozzarella," even he admits that these are pretty damn tasty.

Cheddar Garlic Bread
adapted from Giada's Cheddar and Scallion Bread

1 loaf ciabatta bread, sliced lengthwise
8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
6 oz. room temperature butter (I use unsalted, it's how I roll and what I put on my rolls. Ha! Um, lame ...)
2 cloves garlic, chopped

Take the cheese, the butter and the garlic and blitz them in a food processor until its a nice, combined and spreadable mixer. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, spread cheesy goodness on the bread and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden and bubbly. Cut into slices (hint - it's easier if you use a pizza cutter ...)

A couple notes:

1) When I went about making this for the first time, I didn't have the recipe in front of me and ended up playing by ear - and making a ton. Basically, I used two bags of grated sharp cheddar and then 2 sticks of butter. (Along with the two garlic cloves.) As you can imagine, this made a ton of spread, but it's stored itself really nicely in the fridge and I've been pulling it out and softening it as needed. So far, it's been in the fridge for three days. I give it until the end of the week until I freak out and throw it out.

2) Please, please, PLEASE listen to Giada and use the ciabatta bread. It has these crazy little holes that fill up with cheesy, buttery goodness when this is baked. And my God ... if there are appetizers in the hereafter, methinks this will be served.

3) In terms of ciabatta - when I first made this, I bought a big loaf, but I also used some ciabatta rolls that I found - same thing, just smaller. I really liked this because I didn't have to do as much cutting when it came time to serve my apps.

Creamy Polenta with Parmesan and Sausage

2010-03-03T00:10:00.000-08:00

During my junior year of college, my life was majorly altered when I decided to study abroad for a semester. I traveled with a group of 12 others to the Mediterranean island of Malta, spending six months in a different culture - learning a lot about myself (Did I really want to be an English major? Would Amsterdam be a good country to be exiled in? Do I really have to go home? When do I get to go home?), learning a lot about other cultures and living with three extraordinary other women. My flatmates were named Heather (the lady who ran the hotel gym across the street always called her "Heeter," I still call her Heeter), Gretchen (I usually just refer to her as "G") and Andrea - we called her "D."

While I have incredible stories about our times as a group and my times spent individually with these great people, this particular dish reminded me of Heather. Although D and I would sometimes commandeer the kitchen and make stuff that reminded us of our Midwest roots, Heather was the spontaneous and adventurous one who was on a first-name basis with the butcher down the street, the green grocer who was around the corner and taught me how to de-ink a squid in our flat's kitchen. She was also the first person to introduce me to polenta, which I would cheekily call "Pacino." And while I remember little about what she served polenta with or if I even liked polenta the first time I tried it (there were few of Heather's dishes that I didn't like, so I'm sure I loved my Pacino too), this dish reminds me of when I was younger, a little more reckless, actually liked seafood, had access to wine that I would kill for now and of my dear friends. I love each and every one of you ...

Creamy Polenta with Parmesan & Sausage
by Mark Bittman - New York Times

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 good-quality sweet Italian sausages (I ended up using chicken sausages with roasted red pepper in 'em ... divine!)
1 cup medium-to-coarse cornmeal
Salt
1/2 to 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste
2 tablespoons butter
Freshly ground black pepper.

My sausages were pre-cooked and only needed to be heated, so if you need to cook your sausages - here's the directions for that: Put oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add sausages and cook, turning occasionally, until well browned on all sides and cooked through, about 20 minutes. Set aside.

Meanwhile, put cornmeal in a medium saucepan along with 1 cup water and whisk well to make a slurry; continue whisking mixture to eliminate any lumps. Put pan over medium-high heat, sprinkle with salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, whisking frequently and adding water as needed to keep mixture loose and free of lumps, between 3 and 4 more cups. If mixture becomes too thick, simply add a bit more water; consistency should be similar to sour cream’s.

Polenta will be done in 15 to 30 minutes, depending on grind. Add cheese and butter. Taste and add salt, if necessary, and lots of pepper; serve topped with sausages.

Yield: 4 servings.

Here's my take on polenta as a 31-year-old ... while it will never replace mashed potatoes as my comfort food of choice, it is still pretty damn good. And like most dishes - it tastes better the second day when the flavors really get a chance to meld together. I actually ate the leftovers for breakfast over the next couple of mornings - it was hearty and filling.

Chana Masala

2010-02-27T00:45:00.000-08:00

Lately, I feel like websites like Smitten Kitchen and The Pioneer Woman have been in tune with my cravings. That is kind of weird if you pause a moment and consider that ...

It's a Saturday night and I'm munching on the last of some naan bread. Originally, I was going to make some black bean soup for dinner, but since I torpedoed a rare weekend off (I worked Saturday and then had a family obligation on Sunday), I figured that I'd suck up to my husband by making some Indian food. After all, the family that burns out their taste buds together inevitably sticks together. So I made Smitten Kitchen's recipe for chana masala.

So first off - I really need to share more of my reaction with you guys than just my standard "oh man" or "holy awesomeness Batman," but to be honest - my first reaction was a bit of meh and then my nose started running, which unclogged the rest of my senses and I was wowed by this dish. My reaction became "oh man, my husband is going to ADORE me."

You may find Smitten's recipe here. A couple of notes:

1) I have no knife skills. They have improved over time, but if I was a contestant on any cooking show, some judge would throw my butt out of the kitchen because I suck with a knife. So I use the handy dandy miniature food processor that I inherited from my beloved late grandma Boots. She used it as a "nut chopper" (don't ask) and it's brilliant for small-scale cutting like onions and garlic.

2) I have finally conquered my fear of ginger, so much so that the next time I see soap that is scented with ginger, I am buying it. Long after I had grated what I needed, I sniffed the remaining ginger like a junkie seeking some sort of a fix. "It smells like ginger ale!" my mind crowed and shifted to images from my childhood. Not that I drank a lot of ginger ale as a child, but it's a wholesome thing to drink and, um ... Ginger. Fear conquered!

3) Do not rub your eyes after you have cut and seeded hot peppers. You will cry. Many tears.

4) The cumin seed needs to be toasted and crushed. I had not performed that task prior to dumping the spices into my skillet and was left standing with a plastic container full of cumin seeds. So I omitted.

5) Target makes good naan. Sure, it's probably more Minnesotan than authentic, but it sure is tasty. Don't waste your time on the whole wheat stuff. It tastes like arse.

Oatmeal PB Cinnamon Chip Cookies

2010-02-24T00:11:00.000-08:00

On the night before Valentine's Day, there were a group of women in my town who had been abandoned by our husbands so that they could go to New Ulm and drink copious amounts of beer at the Schell Brewery Bock Fest.

*Sniff* I was one of those *sniff* wives. (I can just hear my husband faux-coughing at his computer as I write this: "Mexico!") And true ... the majority of the women I was abandoned with had been part of January's three-day cruise weekend - so if you really look at it, we spent three days in the sunshine. Our husbands spent one morning and afternoon drinking beer in 30 degree weather.

I'll stop complaining now.

Anyway - I wanted to treat my friends to some mini cheesecake bites that I had found over at Smitten Kitchen, but I realized at 1 p.m. that they needed six hours to chill in the fridge. Dinner with my friends was at 5:30 p.m. and I was scheduled to work until 2 p.m. You do the math ... So when I got home, I whipped together a cookie recipe that I found over at Evil Shenanigans. For those of you who are regulars here, you'll remember the Spiced Cake with Brown Butter Frosting. I still have friends who mention that reverently ...

Anyway - this is an old family recipe from Evil Shenanigans and the only alteration I made was to replace the semi-sweet chocolate chips with Hershey's cinnamon chips. And man - my friends are lucky that there were any left ...

Nut Cake with Jam & Whipped Topping

2010-02-20T00:43:00.000-08:00

Notice an inordinate amount of whipped cream? Yeah, this was a plate I fixed for myself.

The older I get, the more that I realize that your standard birthday cake, bakery cake, what have you is pretty much overdone. Not over-baked, but overdone. Most of the time, you get a sub-par, mass produced baked good that is then smothered in enough frosting to put a person into a sugar coma. Don't get me wrong - I love me a good chocolate cake, red velvet is one of my new best friends and every once in awhile, I come across a decent whipped frosting on some of the "mandatory" cakes I'm forced to buy for birthdays, retirements or graduations. But by and large, I'm getting burned out on cakes in general.

But every once in awhile on the food blogs I find something that looks incredibly simple and seems to promise everything that I've been missing in my cake life. And this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, who found it from the now defunct Gourmet magazine (bastard publishing industry), fits that bill. Toasted nuts, ground up and mixed into everyday ingredients and topped with fruit preserves and lightly sweetened whipped cream? Oh man - I could have gladly rolled around in this batter and would serve this cake to royalty.

I made a couple adaptations and would probably make a couple more the next time I make this dish:

1) I could have swore that I had walnuts somewhere in my pantry, but when I was envisioning this recipe, I envisioned pecans. So pecans are what I used.
2) I guess the original recipe called for apricot or raspberry preserves. Deb @ Smitten Kitchen used black currant. I used black cherry Polaner All-Fruit. Love. Love. Love.
3) When you look at Deb's pictures and the original recipe, it calls for the baker to top the cake with a layer of preserves and then just put the whipped cream on top. My husband has this odd aversion to any fruit that is not a strawberry, so I put both toppings on the side so our guests could choose if they wanted to use the fruit or whipped topping.
4) I really loved the whipped topping and had never used sour cream before in this manner. But next time, I think I would grate some lemon zest in there and would consider putting in a bit more sugar. It was good, but I felt like I wanted it sweeter. (As I rail on about sugar comas and over-processed foods.)

You may find Smitten Kitchen's recipe here. Happy baking!

Roasted Cauliflower with White Bean Citrus Salad

2010-02-17T00:28:00.000-08:00

Here's how this went - I had a head of cauliflower that was begging for attention in my crisper drawer. (I shit you not, every time I opened up the fridge I heard voices ... "Shelley, you need to cook meeeee." And then I would grab a beer and just shut the door. Maybe the beer had something to do with this?)

So one morning I was trolling the blogosphere on the interwebs and I found this recipe from Michael @ Herbvoracious.com. It would fit two needs - 1) It would get rid of the talking, guilt-inducing cauliflower and 2) It looked like it would provide me for a relatively healthy lunch during the work week (and cut down on my Jimmy John's addiction.).

And wow - the finished product? I was not disappointed, in fact, I uttered a spontaneous "holy hell!" when I first bit into a bite of cauliflower that had been slightly flavored by the citrus vinaigrette of the bean salad. And although Hubby and I had just had a late brunch of gut-busting scrambled eggs, I devoured the plate that I had arranged for purposes of blog photos. This dish? A little bit of roasted heaven.

You may find Michael's recipe here. A couple of notes and alterations.

1) I used Great Northern Beans. Garbanzos would almost be too dense for this dish.
2) I did not have the orange-infused olive oil mentioned by Michael. So I zested a lemon (about 1 tsp of zest, maybe more ...) and used regular olive oil. I also used lemon juice instead of the vinegar mentioned.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

2010-02-13T00:50:00.000-08:00

Romance starts here.

Or ... erm, well, maybe not, but I have to share the "squee" moment that I had recently when an old colleague of mine wrote me and asked me some menu ideas for the romantic Valentine's dinner that he was cooking his girlfriend. I had an Ina Garten moment, you know what I'm talking about - she's on her show and she's cooked or concocted something fabulous for one of her equally fabulous friends. If she's letting her friend do the work, she devises up a recipe, writes it down with her Sharpie and sends it along with her friend - complete with pictures so they know what mashed potatoes should look like.

Well, my friend Chris isn't getting the Ina treatment, per se, but I did spend the past few nights whipping together an entree that is worth a snog or two from his extraordinarily lucky girlfriend. (My husband told me I couldn't use the term "sex-worthy." Sigh!) I remembered an entree that I had made a few years back - stuffed chicken breasts that had featured spinach, mushroom and feta. Then I thought about a Rachael Ray dish that I made this weekend that featured roasted garlic, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. This dish is a hybrid of both, brought together with a velvety bit of goat cheese. Because nothing says "I love you" like goat cheese. At least that's what I think.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts
by ShelleyBakes
(I concocted this dish to serve two, but if you're being generous this Valentine's Day and want to double date, you can easily double this and serve four.)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - trimmed of any visible fat
4 oz. button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
1/2 bag of baby spinach
5 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced/chopped (the kind packed in olive oil)
2 oz. goat cheese, cubed
handful of Parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Wash and slice mushrooms, mince garlic. Heat a skillet over medium high heat with about 2 T. extra virgin olive oil. Saute mushrooms for about one minute, add garlic (careful not to burn, because that's typically what I do) and saute until golden ... about five minutes. Lower heat and add spinach, stirring the pan to let the leaves wilt down. Remove from heat, dump into waiting bowl that is holding the tomatoes and goat cheese. Add about a handful of Parmesan cheese and incorporate all ingredients together.

In the meantime, take your chicken breasts - you can either cut a slit in them for filling or you can flatten them. I put the chicken breasts individually between sheets of waxed paper and then pounded the hell out of them with my rolling pin. You're basically aiming for consistency - you want an evenly distributed chicken breast, not with one side heavier than the other. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Spoon half of the filling in the middle of each of the flattened chicken breasts, bring the ends together and secure with a toothpick. Brush the outside of the chicken breast with some olive oil and sprinkle with more salt and pepper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes. (Or when you take a steak knife and ascertain that the chicken is done by hacking into the poor bird.) Remove toothpicks. Serve.

Serving suggestions: This would be great to serve with some roasted vegetables - baby carrots and baby reds that have been roasted with some olive oil and rosemary. Baked potatoes could also suffice. I also told my friend to pair this with a green salad and some good crusty bread.

And for the record, my husband is not getting stuffed chicken breast for Valentine's Day dinner (he had it twice this week, so he's probably thankful to be spared yet another night of chicken ...). We're ordering in from our favorite pizza joint and I'm going to attempt these Molten Chocolate Cakes. :)