Goat Cheese…

This will be the new ingredient that I begin playing with soon… Soon hopefully being next weekend, as I’ve already got fondue on the menu for New Year’s Eve.
We spontaneously stayed overnight in Chicago this weekend, and we ended up at the South Water Kitchen for dinner. Actually, we ate in the tavern for [...]

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Note to Self…

I have to remember to make this dish again sometime after the New Year… it’s very tasty! It’s a perfect pasta dish to make over the weekend, and toss it in the fridge for a day or so. Then, simply put it in the oven one night after work and voila… a hearty, warm, wintertime meal! It’s a pasta, cheese, ground turkey or beef casserole with a tangy twist…

We’ll be cooking galore this evening… getting ready for Christmas Dinner tomorrow. We went with a simple yet elegant menu. A bit eclectic too, but that’s often a given. It would have been nice not to have to work today at all, but alas… So, this evening it is! We’ve been busy with holiday ’stuff’ lately, and I fear there’s too much in the fridge… I’m in the process of coming up with some weekend fare in order to use it up in a yummy way. We’ll see how it goes.

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Christmas Day Dinner…

Well, we’ll be cooking Christmas dinner and bringing it over to D.’s parents’ house. His mom has been under the weather, so we decided to do the food and bring it to them. We’ll finish the cooking there… It’ll be interesting cooking in a different kitchen! Oh, and with a gas stove [...]

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Mushroom Musings…

I’ll be cooking up some of these babies later today, as I plan to make a homemade pizza once we get home from some running around. Actually, I really like the way this picture came out… I just wish I could remember which camera I used for it!

I’ve just returned from the grocery store and there are lots of mushrooms in the fridge. Some for the pizza tonight. Some for Christmas Day, which will go with some rice as a bed for the stuffed chicken. And some just in case, as I’ve got a burrito night on the menu and I may toss some in there, too.

On a non-mushroom note, I was looking for some fondue at the store earlier, but did not find any. I used to have that as a dinner every couple of weeks during the winter years ago. I’d like to find some and try it out again. Of course, I could always make it from scratch, too. Why didn’t I think of that?? I used to make it that way also… Hmmmm… I think I have to go find that recipe now. That’d be a fun one to make!

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Pictureless Post…

I did have some early pictures of the Corn Chowder I made over the weekend. However, as the soup simmered further, it really thickened up! Hence, I scrapped the early pics and have yet to get the others here. It’s a good and tasty and thick soup. D. says he really [...]

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Stuffed Chicken a la D…

Big YUM! This fantastic meal was created and prepared by D. this evening. And oh my was it ever good! We’ve seen some Stuffed Chicken recipes that looked interesting, but tonight was the first time we, ahem, he, tried making one. Very very tasty! Fairly simple too, all in all. He made the chicken as I was making a soup. We’ll save the soup for tomorrow… I’m still savoring this chicken dish. Here’s what he did:

He made a cream cheese spread for inside the chicken breasts. The ingredients were cream cheese, roasted red peppers, a few artichoke hearts, garlic powder and onion powder. D. mixed this together in the food processor while I trimmed and butterflied the chicken. The chicken went onto a plate of dried garlic and basil first. Then, he put this spread on the chicken and topped it with some ham and shredded cheese. Then he folded them over and put in some toothpicks. Here’s that picture…

The baking pan was lightly covered with some of the broth I used in my soup. He tented the chicken with some foil, and then put it in the oven to bake. Voila! The chicken was so freaking moist and tender. The herbs on the outside tasted delicious. The cream cheese filling with the ham was delightful, and the extra cheese melted beautifully and added to the creamy flavor inside. All in all, a tremendously flavorful, tender and delicious meal!

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Menu for the Week…

The menu for the week, often includes items from the previous week. Now is nothing different. We did get the frozen corn from Granny’s house today, which means we will be making a corn chowder tomorrow… There’s a couple other things from last week that got carried over into this week. [...]

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Chocolate Sugar Cookies…

Well, these are White Chocolate Sugar Cookies… D. has been playing with the recipe and thinking of other things to put in them, such as White Chocolate-Raspberry chips or Peppermint Icing on top. I, personally, didn’t taste a lot of the white chocolate in this batch, though D. said he did. Of course, sweetness and sugar can sometimes overwhelm my sensitive taste buds.

I’m sure we’ll be seeing more cookies in the near future. Actually, I know we will, because my nine dozen cookie exchange at work is one week from tomorrow! I think we’ll be making some Dark Chocolate ones along with some White Chocolate ones. Drat… I keep meaning to ask my co-worker, who doesn’t eat chocolate, if she eats white chocolate. I should try to remember that for tomorrow…

Here’s the recipe that we’ve starting using and adjusting… We got it from D.’s dad, who made these cookies when D. was a lad. I’m not sure where it comes from originally, so we’ll call it a family hand-me-down…

• 3 squares Bakers Unsweetened Chocolate
• 1 cup (2 sticks) Butter
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 2 cups Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• Additional Granulated Sugar to coat

1. In a large bowl, microwave chocolate and butter on high for approximately 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is fully melted and combined.

2. Stir 1 cup sugar into the melted chocolate until well-blended. Stir in egg and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt.

3. Chill dough for approximately 30 minutes. Shape into 1″ balls and roll in extra sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes or until set. Remove and cool.

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Cheesy Pasta..

Tonight, I was in the mood for a cheesy pasta dish. So, I went the ol’ standby route, which we actually haven’t had in awhile. I went the easy way out and added some shredded mozzarella and shredded cheddar… I think what I’m looking for next time will be some shredded Parmesan. That’s been my hankering. My hankering has also been a baked Macaroni & Cheese, but I’ll do that one of these weekends here… For tonight, we had:

• Whole Wheat Penne Pasta
• Olive Oil
• Butter
• Garlic
• Red Onion
• Mushrooms
• Shredded Mozzarella
• Shredded Cheddar
• Dash of Half and Half

And that was about it! D. was making the dough for White Chocolate Sugar Cookies as dinner was cooking, then he finished up his baking after we ate. Busy kitchen evening! I’ll have his cookie recipe, along with some pics, tomorrow. But for a sleety, windy, cold night, Cheesy Pasta hit the spot!

Oh, and D. did make his Turkey Chili over the weekend. No pics, unfortunately, because it went to quickly… That, too, was a hearty and yummy cold-night meal!

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Chocolate Sugar Cookies…

This is the recipe that D.’s Dad used to make when he was a kid, and he says they taste just like he remembers. We did a test run this evening… And D. did all the rolling and balling up and sugaring while I finished the laundry. We did mix up the batter together though. I have a cookie exchange at work, so this will be the recipe I’m using. Somehow, I agreed to make nine dozen cookies! This batch did make three dozen, so three batches it will be. In a week and a half, we’ll be at this again!

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