Jess Cooks

Surprise Cake Balls!

2011-01-07T20:22:00.000-08:00

This was a surprise result of my holiday baking frenzy. I set out to make cupcakes, and they failed into something way more awesome.

I was making cupcakes in some silicone molds, and they just didn't want to release from those molds, so I had to gouge them out in pieces. I threw the chunks into a big bowl, added half a jar of frosting, half a jar of caramel sauce, and the very end of a jar of marshmallow fluff, and mixed it all together with my hands. Then I rolled the cake into balls, refrigerated them for an hour, and melted some chocolate. I dipped the balls into the chocolate, dropped them on a lined cookie sheet, and covered them in sprinkles. They actually turned out pretty delicious, if a little irregularly shaped.

Try it some time! (If you need more direction doing this, just do a Google search for "cake balls." There's all kinds of instructions out there!)

Christmas Toffee

2011-01-03T18:16:00.000-08:00

Back in November, I decided I wanted to take on an overly ambitious self-imposed baking project for the holidays, and bake for two weeks in a row. I didn't make it. I think I ended up making about 5 things, one of which failed in a big bad way (photos forthcoming). This is one of the ones that did work out, and it was amazing. And so easy!

To make toffee, you will need:

One pound butter (4 sticks)

One pound sugar

Three ounces water

One teaspoon salt

One teaspoon vanilla extract

Twelve-ounces (one package) really good quality milk chocolate chips (i.e. NOT Nestle)

You will also need a candy thermometer (available at most grocery stores for as little as $5) and really good parchment paper OR a silpat OR waxed paper (last resort)

Combine the butter, sugar, water, and salt in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil, stirring often.

Cook over medium heat, stirring gently, until the thermometer hits 298 degrees. This was my first time making candy, but since then, I've looked at several candy recipes, and they all call for weird temperatures. Why 298F, why not 300F? It's a mystery, I tell you.

Anyway, once the toffee hits the magical 298 degrees, remove it from heat and stir in the vanilla. Be careful! It might jump up and get you. Pour it onto a cookie sheet that's been lined with parchment or a silpat or wax paper. (I used wax paper. It stuck a little when I was removing it, but everything came out alright. A silpat is definitely the way to go, if you have one. If not, they're pretty cheap--I picked one up at Macy's for about $20 a few days before Christmas.)

Let your toffee cool and harden. That may take as little as 30 minutes, or as long as a few hours. I let mine sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, then put it in the fridge for an hour-ish. Wipe off any condensation/grease that forms on top of the toffee.

While your toffee is hardening, melt the chocolate. When you're ready to spread it, it should feel cool when you dab a bit on the inside of your wrist, so make sure to test it, and don't burn yourself!

Use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate over the toffee, and sprinkle with toppings (chopped nuts, sea salt, etc) if you like. I used crushed candy canes. Festive! Let the chocolate set, and then break into pieces, and give to all your friends. The toffee tastes best at room temperature, but is much easier to eat (and doesn't get stuck in the teeth as much) if it's refrigerated. Enjoy!

Takes two to four hours, start to finish.

Makes one cookie sheet of toffee.

Difficulty: 2

Breaded Chicken Fingers

2010-12-27T19:21:00.000-08:00

These were easy and tasty, but I just can't ever seem to get the seasoning right when I use bread crumbs vs. flour, so they turned out a bit bland. I'd recommend throwing some salt and pepper into the mix.

You will need:

One pound boneless, skinless chicken tenders

3-5 large crusty rolls

One or more garlic cloves, peeled

Fresh rosemary, washed and dried

Olive oil

One egg

Tear your rolls into medium-small chunks and toss in a food processor with the garlic and rosemary. Pulse until you get crumbs.

Dump the crumbs onto a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with oil, and use your fingers to toss. Bake at 400F until toasty, 15 minutes or more, tossing often.

Break an egg onto a plate and whisk with salt and pepper.

Dunk the chicken in the egg, then coat with bread crumbs, pressing firmly.

Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375F for about 25 minutes, until cooked through.

Enjoy!

Takes about an hour.

Feeds four.

Difficulty: 2.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-26T16:58:00.000-08:00

Hi, friends.

So, here's what's up: Internet at home is extra-super sucky, and makes trying to do anything more complicated than send emails into an hour-long battle of wills, with the interwebs usually winning. I do have a couple recipes in the hopper, but I'm also dealing with new-computer syndrome: somehow can't seem to make the software work, so my camera won't yet download pictures to my computer. It's frustrating. Add to that the cold and flu season bugs that took me and Tim out of commission for the better part of the last two weeks, and I think I'm (slightly) justified in not posting anything for two months.

BUT! I have a terribly over-ambitious baking project coming up (probably even starting this weekend), and I have just finished successfully making homemade turkey stock for the first time ever in my life, so I'm feeling pretty good about getting back on the food-blogging bandwagon.

Can we talk about this turkey stock some more? I was a little worried about yesterday's bird--it was still a little frozen on the inside when I put it in the oven yesterday, and I basted it with a blush wine, so the meat came out pink to about a half-inch deep, which made me super nervous. My worst nightmare is to cook a huge meal for a bunch of friends and family and give someone food poisoning. (Tim's jabs and snide comments about my cooking certainly didn't help, either!) But we're 24 hours on, and I've heard no reports of anyone getting sick, so it must have been fine. Anyway, we refrigerated the carcass overnight, and Tim ripped it to pieces this morning so I could boil it down, scrape the rest of the meat off the bones, and make some super-yummy stock. It definitely took the better part of seven hours, but the house smelled amazing all day, and it only required about 10 minutes of my attention throughout the day.

A couple online recipes recommended using this soup base. Wish I'd known about that a week ago! At any rate, my stock is so delicious that I don't think anything else could make it better! The base might have sped up the process, but other than that, I don't know if it's all that important. All I did was toss in my bird pieces, chop up two carrots, a few stalks of celery, and an onion, and throw in about a teaspoon of poultry seasoning and salt. Then I simmered for seven hours, stirring and tasting occasionally. Once it tasted like an actual broth (and not just vaguely seasoned water), I turned up the heat and boiled for another 20 minutes, then turned it off, let it cool, strained the stock, pulled out the vegetables, and picked apart the rest of the meat. Voila! Stock. It's now in a large pot in the fridge, and I'll make soup tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Pictures!

2010-10-04T17:57:00.001-07:00

Obligatory Times Square tourist photo, after seeing Next to Normal. It's too bad you can't see how HOT we look!

It was really rainy. So rainy that I, an Oregonian, bought not one, but TWO umbrellas.

The Folio!

This, right here, is my holy book.

Haylie got in trouble for taking this picture of me. Sorry, Haylie! I was too overexcited to think that this is the kind of place where they generally don't want you taking pictures of 400-year-old papers and things.

Peacock room at the Freer Gallery at the Smithsonian. It's a crazy story--this guy (we'll call him Fred) gave the keys to his house to his artist friend (we'll call him Larry) before he went on vacation to Europe for two months and told him to go crazy. So Larry designed this "beautiful" dining room in blues and golds and very gaudy peacocks. Fred came home and was appalled, so he told Larry to fix it and went back to Europe for another couple of months.

But Larry was so proud of his work that he refused to change a thing. In fact, he started throwing dinner parties at Fred's house and inviting all his friends over so he could advertise what he was capable of creating. Fred came home again, and got reeeally mad.

I don't understand (or maybe Rachael said, and I forgot) why Fred didn't just hire somebody else to come in and fix it, but he didn't. Eventually, the room was auctioned off (yes, they auctioned a room), and this Freer guy bought it (apparently he was a fan of Larry's, and Larry's daughter asked him to buy it), and then it ended up at the Smithsonian.

Oh, and this burger was incredible. Bacon, BBQ sauce, onion rings...it's everything I ever asked my burgers to aspire to be.

New recipe coming soon!

2010-10-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

Friends!

I'm currently in the Amtrak lounge at Chicago Union Station, en route home (finally!) from a whirlwind tour of New York, DC, and Baltimore with my BFF and other lovely ladies. I spent a week doing things I can't do in good ol' FoGro, like eating fresh croissants while staring at the Washington Monument, or seeing a Broadway show, or making a pilgrimage to my Mecca to see my holy book (i.e. a copy of the First Folio at the Folger Shakespeare Library).

I've spent some time with some wonderful ladies (Tiffanie, Haylie, Sara, and Rachael), eaten some excellent food (croissants, muffins, cupcakes, duck fat fries, an incredible burger, a breakfast to die for), and seen some truly amazing sights (aside from the Washington Monument, a Broadway show, and the Folio, we also saw the Capitol building and got a backstage tour of the Smithsonian--complete with a jaunt through the tunnels).

Pictures and a new recipe are forthcoming; I just need to get home first. It'll be another couple days (I love the train, but it's been more than a week since I last saw my husband, and that's completely unacceptable), but the end is in sight. Oregon, here I come!

French Toast for the soul

2010-09-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

Oh, man.

This weekend was hellish. Our old, blind, deaf, declawed cat was accidently let out of our home Friday afternoon, and I spent Friday night and Saturday in hysterics over it. Tim, who was in Texas, flew home early to help find her. We both missed our dear friends' wedding because of it (D & R, we love you guys TONS, congrats!), which just added more hurt to the wound.

The good news is that Adina is home safe and sound, thanks to the goodness of people in our neighborhood. By the time I realized she wasn't in the house, she'd already been picked up, so she wasn't scared or alone in the rain. And our dear friends are off to Hawaii on a well-deserved honeymoon, and I'll just have to settle for watching the video as soon as it's done--with any luck, that will be less time than the 15 months my wedding video took!

So, since everyone is safe and happy and all is right with the world, here's a recipe for french toast that I made a couple weeks ago. It was delicious!

You will need:

Bread

Six tablespoons butter

One cup milk

One egg

Two tablespoons sugar

Two teaspoons vanilla extract

One teaspoon cinnamon

One-quarter teaspoon salt

Half a cup of flour

Place the bread slices on a cookie sheet and dry them in the oven at 200F for about 15 minutes.

Melt two tablespoons butter in a shallow dish in the microwave, and whisk it together with the milk, egg, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly whisk in the flour until smooth.

Melt one tablespoon of butter per batch in a large skillet. Soak two slices of bread in the batter, about 15 seconds per side, and transfer to the skillet.

Cook over medium heat about two minutes per side, until golden brown. Keep warm in the oven until all slices are complete.

And make sure your pets are tagged and microchipped! If your pets ever go missing, call this guy first: http://www.k9sardog.com/. His dogs came out yesterday and tracked our cat. They didn't find her, but they did help alleviate our fears--they were able to tell how far she'd gone, that she hadn't been killed, and that a person had picked her up. Big thanks to Harry, Willow, and Tyler!

Cinnamon Bread

2010-09-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

So, PW posted a recipe for cinnamon bread a couple of weeks ago, and I was dying to try it. BUT, my boss told me that I wasn't allowed to make it until I worked 12 days in a row. Slave driver!*

At any rate, this bread is excellent. Here's what you'll need:

One cup milk

Six tablespoons butter

Two and a half teaspoons active dry yeast

Two whole eggs

One-third cup sugar

Three and a half cups all-purpose flour

One teaspoon salt

Melt the butter and add the milk, then nuke it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so to warm it up. Add the yeast and let it sit for a few minutes.

In the bowl of a mixer, combine eggs and sugar. Add in the yeast mixture and stir till combined.

Add the salt and half the flour, and stir, then add the rest of the flour.

Switch to the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes or so. If the dough's still very sticky, add a little more flour.

Heat a bowl until it's warm, and then drizzle in a tiny bit of vegetable oil and toss in the dough to coat it. Cover it with plastic wrap and place it in a nice, warm place to rise for two hours.

When it's risen, dump it out on a clean surface and roll into a flat rectangle no wider than your loaf pan. Smear the dough with two tablespoons softened butter, sprinkle with a quarter cup of sugar, and douse liberally with cinnamon.

Smear your loaf pan with butter. Roll it up verrrrrry tightly, pinch to seal, and place it seam down in the pan. Let it rise another hour or two, and when you're ready, bake it for 40 minutes at 350F.

Yummmmm.

*Kidding. Stacie's totally lovely in every way, and I was the one who made the decision to work 12 days straight. It was a long road, but warm cinnamon bread at the end of it was a delicious reward!

Stuffed Potatoes

2010-08-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

Guys, this is delicious. Seriously. It was quick, relatively simple, hearty, filling, and excellently tasty! I even liked it, and I hate potatoes.

So, you will need:

One potato per person (I used Yukon Golds, but the original recipe asked for Russets)

Olive oil

Your favorite fresh herbs (I bought chives, but ended up using rosemary from my garden!)

Half a tablespoon of butter per potato

Milk

A shallot

A few slices of ham

So, fork your potatoes, rub them with olive oil, and nuke them in your 'wave for about 12 minutes, then let them cool for 8ish minutes.

Slice your shallots and sauté them in olive oil until just tender, about 3 minutes.

Chop your herbs and ham.

Split the potatoes down the middle, scoop out the flesh, and toss it in a bowl. (I thought I could bypass this step, which is why this picture shows the shallots inside the potato. Bypassing this step is not a great idea. Just sayin'.)

Mix it all up with the butter, shallots, herbs, and ham, and use milk to smooth it out.

Scoop the filling back into the potato skins and stick under a broiler for a couple of minutes, until warm and brown. Serve and enjoy!

Takes about half an hour.

Feeds as many as you need it to feed.

PW's Chili

2010-08-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

Do you know about The Pioneer Woman? She's awesome and I love her. I bought her cookbook months ago when it came out, but I'm sorry to say that I hadn't actually tried one of the recipes from it until now. (Although there are several recipes included in the book that she posted on her blog first, and I've tried--and loved--many of those.) The biggest reason (besides my lactose intolerance, and her penchant for milk products) is that the cookbook is gorgeous, and I didn't want to get anything gross on it. But I digress.

I made her chili tonight, and it was superb. I hate to say it, but it's almost better than my dad's chili. Try it! Love it! Do it now!

You will need:

A pound of ground beef

Two cloves of garlic, minced

One teaspoon salt

One teaspoon oregano (PW says ground, all I had was dried)

One tablespoon ground cumin

Two tablespoons chili powder

A dash of red pepper, if you like

8 ounce can of tomato sauce (all I had was puree)

Fritos

Optional: diced onion, jalepenos, beans, tomatoes, and so forth.

Combine all your spices into a small bowl.

Toss the beef and garlic in a pot and cook till brown, then drain most of the fat.

One of the things I've learned from my years of reading PW is that you should never panic if you're missing an ingredient or two. Just make do with what you have. The recipe calls for tomato sauce, but all I had was this can of puree, so I used that. And really, when it comes to canned tomato products, they're pretty much all interchangeable. So, toss in the tomato sauce and the spices, stir, and let it simmer for about an hour (this is probably a good time to throw in any extra ingredients).

I didn't have an hour for simmering. I had 15 minutes. But it was still ridiculously delicious. And so much quicker when it's not simmering for an hour!

Serve on a bed of Fritos and sprinkle with cheese. YUM!

Serves four.

Takes about 20 minutes, plus simmering time.

Difficulty: 2.

Broiled Chicken

2010-08-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a recipe I found in the bowels of my blog from last winter. I guess I never took pictures of it, which is probably why it was languishing in unpublished limbo. But I do remember making it, and I remember it being delicious (although, be warned: four bone-in chicken breasts is enough to feed a small army. Tim and I could easily be full on exactly ONE bone-in breast shared between the two of us).

Four bone-in, skin on chicken breasts

Half a cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Half a cup fresh parsley, chopped

One quarter cup fresh chives, chopped

One teaspoon dried tarragon

Preheat your broiler.

In a small bowl, combine the butter, parsley, chives, and tarragon. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Loosen the skin and slide the butter mixture under the skin on each breast. Melt any remaining butter and brush over the meat. Place the chicken, skin side down, in a shallow baking dish. Place under the broiler and cook for about 15 minutes.

Turn the chicken skin side up and brush with any remaining butter and pan juices. Broil for another 12-ish minutes, until the skin is golden brown and a thermometer reads 170F.

Toffee Cake

2010-08-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging. It's a miracle!

Seriously, folks, it's been quite a summer, and I apologize for my absence. Tim's had lots of swim meets, so I haven't been cooking a lot, and when I do cook, I usually make things that are old standbys, or I just throw a few things together and call it dinner. (And that was a really long sentence!) BUT, August is officially here now, and I have an entire month of meals planned. Some recipes are old, some are new, but as soon as I remember to bring my camera home from work, I should be back in the swing of things.

And so, without much further ado, a cake recipe. Excuse the icky photos; my camera's at work, so I took these pictures with my phone (and then spent way too long trying to get them from phone to computer).

This recipe comes from the Taste of Home magazine I swiped from my mother-in-law over Mother's Day weekend.

So, you will need:

8 ounces milk chocolate English toffee bits (at my grocery store, this was right next to the chocolate chips)

One cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Two tablespoons brown sugar

----

One cup butter, softened

One and a quarter cups packed brown sugar

Four eggs

One teaspoon vanilla extract

Three cups all-purpose flour

One and a half teaspoons baking POWDER

Half a teaspoon baking SODA

Half a teaspoon salt

One and a quarter cups buttermilk

Combine the toffee bits, chocolate chips, and brown sugar in a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter will look slippery, slightly chunky, and pretty gross at this point. Beat in the vanilla.

After I beat the heck out of my batter (with three eggs at this point).

Combine the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour, and add in two batches alternately with the buttermilk.

After the first addition of flour.

After the final addition of flour and buttermilk. Kids, I'm not sure I've ever seen a more luxuriant bowl of batter.

Spread a third of the batter in a greased and floured 10-inch fluted tube pan. Sprinkle with half of the toffee mixture. Repeat with a third of the batter, the rest of the toffee mixture, and the rest of the batter. (Sorry I don't have pictures of this. But I'm sure you can imagine it.)

Bake at 350F for 55-60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

The magazine picture of the cake.

As you can see, my cake was still un-frosted when I posted this (mostly because it's still cooling). I'm not sure it needs frosting at all, what with all the delicious goodness inside. If I get a wild hare to frost it, I have a jar of caramel sauce sitting in my pantry that might be wonderful on top, or a mostly full container of chocolate frosting in my fridge that I'm sure would also be delicious. However, the recipe did come with directions for frosting, so here they are:

Half a stick of butter

Two teaspoons flour

One 5 ounce can of evaporated milk

One cup packed brown sugar

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add in evaporated milk and brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 4-5 minutes until thick. Cool, and drizzle over cake.

Monday morning post script: I ended up throwing together a bunch of things for the frosting, which ended up being more of a glaze. I grabbed half a jar of chocolate frosting, about a quarter-cup of caramel sauce, and two tablespoons of marshmallow fluff, stirred them together, warmed it up a little, and poured over the top of the cake. And guys? Can we talk about this cake? It is DIVINE. And exceptionally rich. I had a teensy piece at 7:00 and felt way too full until close to midnight. I think this might be an after-lunch cake, not an after-dinner cake. You have got to make this today. TODAY! And in the interest of world piece, take some to your neighbors. Because this cake will change the world.

Seriously, how delicious does this cake look?

S'mores Cake

2010-05-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

So we went over to see Mom & Dad for Mother's Day, and Tim's mom had cruelly left the holiday issue of Taste of Home on her counter. And on the cover was this stunning chocolate cake with strawberries on it, with a tag line that read "It's so easy!" So I picked it up and flipped through it, and then flipped through it again. And then put it away. And flipped through it again as were were putting the finishing touches on dinner (my sister-in-lawesome and I made boeuf bourguignon for Mother's Day dinner--it was excellent). And then I picked it up again before Sunday breakfast. And then I flipped through it again after breakfast. And then I smuggled it home with me.

There are ten recipes in there I want to try, including the aforementioned chocolate strawberry cake, and on the drive home, Tim and I decided to make the s'mores cake that night. (I say "we" decided--I mean asked Tim to pick between chocolate and non-chocolate cake, and then pick between s'mores cake and lemon cake). And then I bought the ingredients and made a cake! Voila!

"Give Me S'more" Cake

adapted from the January 2010 issue of Taste of Home magazine

Half a cup of shortening

One-quarter cup butter, softened

One cup sugar

Three eggs

One teaspoon vanilla extract

Three cups graham cracker crumbs

Three teaspoons baking powder

One can (12 oz.) evaporated milk--not condensed

Line two nine-inch round baking pans with waxed paper. Grease and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the shortening, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating very well after each addition. Preheat your oven to 350F.

Beat in vanilla. Combine cracker crumbs and baking powder, and add in two additions, alternately with the milk. Beat very well after each addition. (My brother was helpful and made the graham crackers into crumbs while I was adding the eggs. He's a good boy!)

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. (A note about bake times: one of my layers took 25 minutes, the other wasn't done until 30 minutes. Check your layers at 20 minutes, I think, and then every two or three minutes after that.) Cool in the pan for ten minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make sure the cake is not warm at all before frosting. I actually made the cake on Sunday and frosted on Monday.

About the frosting--there is an accompanying frosting recipe that I'll give you, but I frankly didn't trust it. So I bought two jars of marshmallow fluff, and that's what I used. So anyway...

For the frosting:

Four egg whites

One cup sugar

Half a teaspoon cream of tartar

One and a half teaspoons vanilla extract

About half a bag of mini chocolate chips--use your best judgement.

In a large heavy saucepan, combine the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar over low heat. With a hand mixer, beat on low speed for one minute. Continue beating on low speed over low heat until frosting reaches 160F, about 8-10 minutes. Pour into a large bowl, add vanilla. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.

Or, you know, buy marshmallow fluff. And if you do, nuke it for 20 seconds before you try to frost your cake; it makes it slightly easier to manage.

So, plop a dollop of frosting onto your serving plate to anchor the bottom layer. Stick a few strips of waxed paper or parchment paper under the edges of the cake to preserve the beauty of your serving platter, and plop about a third of the frosting on top. Spread it to the edges, and sprinkle liberally with chocolate chips.

Plop the other layer on top, cover with more frosting, and frost the top.

Use the remaining frosting on the sides, and sprinkle generously with chocolate chips. Enjoy!

Takes about 50 minutes of prep, plus about 20 minutes of bake time, plus cooling.

Makes one cake.

Difficulty: 2.

Chicken Casserole-ish

2010-05-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

So. About this "casserole"--it was less a casserole and more a soup with topping. But hey, it was tasty!

Chicken & Biscuit "Casserole"

4 cups shredded cooked chicken

1 stick butter

3 cloves minced garlic

1 whole small yellow onion, diced

3 stalks celery, sliced (I didn't have celery, so I used carrots)

2 tablespoons flour

1 can chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

Salt & pepper

2 cups Bisquick mix

1 cup shredded cheddar

⅔ cups milk

Preheat oven to 400F degrees.

Melt half the butter with the garlic in your microwave in 15-second intervals. Place the shredded chicken into a casserole dish.

In a saute pan, melt the remaining butter. Saute celery and onions for approximately 4 minutes.

Lower the heat, add flour, and then chicken broth. Simmer for 2 or 3 minutes.

Take off heat and add cream of chicken soup, add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour over shredded chicken and mix in well.

In a bowl, mix Bisquick mix, milk and shredded cheese. You might need a little more milk--I used about a cup. Drop this by rounded spoonfuls onto the chicken.

Baste the biscuits with the previously-made garlic butter and cook in the oven for 22-25 minutes.

Difficulty: 2

Takes about an hour.

Feeds 6.

Chicken & Noodles

2010-04-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

What a day! I got up, went to work, blinked, and it was 4:15. And while it was a pretty nice day when I woke up, it got pretty gross by early afternoon (which seems to be par for the course this month), and all I could think about was coming home and making some comfort food. And I did. And it was delicious.

You will need:

One whole cut up fryer, or some breasts.

Two whole carrots, diced

One onion, diced

Two celery stalks, diced (my supermarket didn't have celery, so we went without)

Salt

Half a teaspoon turmeric

Half a teaspoon white pepper

Half a teaspoon ground thyme

Two teaspoons dried parsley flakes

Frozen egg noodles, or whatever noodles you like

Three tablespoons all-purpose flour

Dice your vegetables.

Cover the chicken in water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for half an hour. Remove the chicken from the pot and shred the meat. If you have bones, return them to the pot and simmer, covered, for another 45 minutes or so. If you're just using breasts, shred them and toss them back in the pot with a teaspoon or so of chicken boullion.

(If you have bones, remove them now!) Add the vegetables and herbs to the pot, stir, and simmer for about ten minutes.

Increase the heat to offset the frozen noodles, and dump them in. Cook for ten minutes.

Mix the flour with a little water to make a paste. It should be thick, but not doughy, and smooth, but not runny. Dump it in the pot, stir, and simmer for another couple minutes. Add more flour if you need to.

Remove it from heat, and let it stand a few minutes, stirring occasionally. It'll thicken and get delicious and tasty.

And hey, on a day like this, doesn't that just sound delicious?

Oven Braised Short RIbs

2010-04-26T16:22:00.000-07:00

This extra special recipe is going out to an extra special pair of cousins of mine who are having an anniversary today! Happy anniversary, Angie and Lewis! May you have many, many more. And may you spend some of them hanging out with ME!

First things first! Dice a couple of carrots and your onion. Set aside. Salt and pepper the ribs, dredge in flour, and set aside. Pour out your wine and stock so that they're ready to go when you need them. Slice your pancetta.

NOW--in a dutch oven, cook the pancetta over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until most of the fat has been rendered. Confession: I love pancetta, and I may or may not have swiped a couple pieces out of the pot as soon as they were crispy enough to eat. Yum. Once all the fat has been rendered (and it might not be very much, as pancetta seems to have less fat than bacon), remove to a plate and set aside.

Add two tablespoons of olive oil to the pot, and brown the ribs on all sides, about 30 seconds each side. Remove, and set aside. (This is about the point I set off the smoke detector, freaked out my cat, and alarmed my husband--be careful, use your exhaust vent, and try not to burn your house down!)

Dump in the carrots and onions, and cook for about two minutes, until soft.

Pour in the wine and use a whisk to scrape all the yummy brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil and cook two minutes.

Add in the broth, season with salt and pepper, and submerge your sprigs of thyme and rosemary. Put the ribs and the pancetta back in the pot, put the lid on, and stick in a 350F oven for two hours. After two hours, turn the heat down to 325F and cook for another half hour. Skim the fat off the top, serve, and enjoy! I was planning to have potatoes with this, but I forgot that I'd bought corn on Sunday, and it needed to be eaten before it decided to go bad.

And oh man, how delicious this was. Seriously. Soak it up.

Ginger-Marinated Flank Steak

2010-04-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned that I love Pioneer Woman? Because I totally do. Worship her, maybe. I'd planned to go see her when she came through Portland on her book tour this week, but the stars did not align, and I took a bath instead. Either way, I call it a win.

So anyway, here's another one of her super easy, totally delicious recipes.

You will need:

Half a cup of soy sauce

Half a cup of cooking sherry

Three tablespoons honey

Two tablespoons sesame oil

Garlic

Red pepper flakes

Fresh ginger

Flank steak (they come in big slabs, usually about two pounds)

(I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of the prep; I threw it all together in the 10 minutes before I left for work this morning.)

In a large dish, combine the soy sauce, cooking sherry, honey, and sesame oil. Peel and chop the garlic and ginger, and toss that in, too. (I used about 5 cloves of garlic, and maybe two tablespoons of minced fresh ginger? It was about half the small root I picked up at the store.) Shake in some pepper flakes (as many as you can handle), stir it all around with a fork, and submerge your beef. If you're able to turn it a few times throughout the day, great. If not, don't sweat it. Babysit your meat for about two minutes at the outset and turn it over every 20 seconds or so to get it nice and coated in the marinade. Chuck it in the fridge, and walk away.

When you're ready to cook the meat, heat your grill or broiler. (I broiled, because I don't have a grill pan yet.) Scrape off the excess garlic and ginger, because that stuff will burn and not taste yummy.

Cook it for about three minutes on each side for medium-rare. I did mine for three minutes on each side, then two minutes on each side, then one additional minute, and got medium-well.

Enjoy!

Difficulty: 1

Feeds 4-6

Takes 15 minutes of actual work, plus as much marinating time as you can give it.

Heaven on a Fork

2010-04-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

In case you're wondering, yes, I did just have one of the most amazing meals of my life. And in case you hadn't heard, Julia Child is a genius, a God-send, an angel, and my new hero.

Poulet Sauté aux Herbes de Provence and Pommes de Terre Sauté

(Chicken Sautéed with Herbs and Sauteed Potatoes)

Adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking

So, here's what you need:

A large skillet

A medium-large bowl

A whisk

Half a stick of butter

Thin-sliced chicken breasts, dried with a paper towel

One teaspoon thyme

One teaspoon basil (I used dried herbs, and totally forgot to add the basil--just thyme for me!)

Salt & pepper

Three cloves minced garlic

Half a cup of chicken broth

Two egg yolks

One tablespoon lemon juice

One tablespoon chicken broth

Another large skillet with a lid

One potato (Yukon Gold is my preferred variety)

Two tablespoons butter

One tablespoon olive oil

*Note: this is an adaptation of the original recipe. If you want the real directions, go get yourself a copy of the book. The recipes are on pages 257 and 527. =)

So, dry your chicken in paper towels, and peel and slice your potato. The slices should be less than half an inch thick. I used my mandoline to get them 3/8 thick, and I think I should have gone with 1/4 inch thick. While you're at it, pat the potato dry with a paper towel.

In your skillet, melt half a stick of butter over medium heat. When it starts foaming, add the chicken. Do not let it brown! Turn the chicken constantly for about 5 minutes, until it's cooked on the outside, but no deeper in color than yellow. Season with salt, pepper, and herbs. Reduce the heat to low, and cook gently for about 7 more minutes, turning occasionally, until done. Remove to a warm platter and keep warm in the oven (at 200F) until ready to serve.

In your other skillet, melt the remaining butter and olive oil. Add the potato slices in a single layer, browning each side about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 15 minutes, until tender, shaking the pan occasionally so the potatoes don't stick.

While the potatoes are working, make the sauce. In your chicken skillet, add three cloves of minced garlic and half a cup of chicken broth. Boil down by half.

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks until thick and creamy. Add in the lemon juice and remaining broth, and whisk till foamy. Whisk in the hot chicken broth (from the skillet) verrrrrrrry slooooooowly. Seriously. Add about a tablespoon at a time, otherwise you'll cook the eggs too fast and the sauce will be less a sauce and more a bowl of scrambled eggs.

Pour the sauce back into the pan and cook on low heat, stirring constantly for a minute or two. Turn the heat off, add the chicken back into the pan, turn to coat, and serve.

I was ambivalent about the potatoes (but I'm ambivalent about potatoes anyway, unless they're really exceptional), but the sauce? Ohhhhh, the sauce. Rich. Creamy. Warm. Tasted like cheese. I'm a happy girl. It was so good that I ate all the leftover sauce on toast. Holy yum, Batman.

Julia Child, I know you're dead, but will you marry me, please, and come make this sauce for me every dang day?

Takes about forty minutes, although if you're not making potatoes with it, it could probably go a little quicker.

Feeds four.

Difficulty: 3.

Baked Chicken Strips

2010-04-13T18:59:00.000-07:00

At long last, my return to the food blogosphere! My apologies for the long hiatus; our move-in date kept getting pushed back, but my kitchen was already packed. At any rate, we are now in the new house, and I've made my first new recipe. Enjoy!

You will need:

Chicken pieces (I used tenders, but you can use legs, thighs, wings, whatever)

Six pieces of your favorite bread

Buttermilk

Salt & pepper

One whole clove of garlic

Olive oil

In a large bowl, toss your chicken with the salt and pepper and about half a pint of buttermilk. Set aside to marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes to half an hour while you get everything else ready.

Preheat your oven to 425F. (I left my bread out all day to get a little stale, but you definitely don't have to. It's all about preference.) Tear your bread into manageable sized pieces, and toss into a food processor with the clove of garlic. Pulse until you get crumbs. Easy!

Dump the crumbs onto a baking sheet and use your fingers to toss with about three tablespoons of olive oil. Bake for 8-12 minutes until toasty and delicious, tossing twice. Transfer the crumbs to a large bowl.

Place a wire rack on a baking sheet. Working quickly, let the excess buttermilk drip off the chicken, and dredge in the bread crumbs, pressing firmly to adhere. Bake the chicken for 20-40 minutes (depending on if you have bones or not) until golden brown and oh-so good. We had it with sliced veggies and it was delicious. Of course, I liked it more than Tim did, but he's a stinky boy and always likes things better when they're doused in fat.

Enjoy!

Takes about an hour, start to finish.

Feeds four.

Difficulty: 2.

Boeuf Bourguignon!

2010-02-12T08:14:00.000-08:00

I made it! And it was delicious!

I'm not going to actually post the recipe, because you can get it just about anywhere, and I'm lazy this morning. And I didn't take pictures of the whole process, so this is really a half-done, lazy post. But it was SO good! Make it NOW!

Simmering the bacon.

Sauteeing the bacon.

Browning the beef.

Browning some more beef.

Browning the vegetables.

Browning some more!

And then I poured in the wine and the beef broth, and then I cooked it. And it was excellent. Don't be scared! Make it soon!

Chicken & Sausage in your Crock Pot!

2010-01-28T20:10:00.000-08:00

Well, friendly friends, this recipe is nothing special. It was a hot meal on a cold, wet night, and that's about all I can say for it. It was moist and tasty, but not especially flavorful or delicious. Anyway, I don't think I'll make it again, but it was simple and hearty, so it might suit your purposes quite well.

You will need:

Two bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts.

Two large carrots.

One pound kielbasa

One large onion

Two cups of chicken broth

Three cloves of garlic, minced

Salt, pepper, thyme, red pepper, and olive oil.

First thing, chop up your onion. Stick it on a plate and get it out of the way.

Next, dry your breasts with a paper towel so that they'll brown properly. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

In a medium-large skillet, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil (or vegetable oil, or canola oil, or whatever oil) over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Place your breasts in the pan and brown them on both sides, about two minutes per side. Remove, and set aside.

Throw your onion in the skillet and cook it over medium-low heat for about ten minutes, until soft.

Toss in two cups of chicken broth and stir to remove any yummy brown bits from the bottom of the skillet.

Add in the garlic, half a teaspoon of red pepper, and two teaspoons dried thyme, and stir. Bring to a simmer.

Put your breasts in your crock pot. P.S. Do you know about crock pot liners? Reynolds Wrap makes them, and they're amazing. I'll never go back to an unlined crock pot again. It's no mess, I don't have to clean and scrub and scrub and clean the ceramic part, and they create a better seal with the lid for keeping the heat in. Awesome.

So, put your breasts in the pot.

Chop up your kielbasa.

And chop your carrot, too.

Pour the onions and broth over the top of the breasts.

Toss in the kielbasa and carrots. Cook on low heat for three hours.

Sorry this picture is so dark. The flash overexposed it, but it was dark in the kitchen and there wasn't much I could do. Anyway, enjoy it!

Takes about 30 minutes of prep plus three hours of cook time.

Serves four.

Difficulty: 2.

Gorgeous, Delicious Bread

2010-01-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

So, I planned to make a new crock pot recipe this week (look for it on Wednesday or Thursday), and the cookbook recommended I serve it with a crusty bread. And just a couple weeks ago, the King Arthur Flour blog (my baking blog/flour brand of choice) posted a recipe for a crusty loaf that looked ridiculously easy. And guess what?

It was.

I didn't plan to post the recipe here, so I didn't take any pictures of the process, but you can find step-by-step instructions and the recipe at www.kingarthurflour.com/blog. But after I baked the bread this morning and sliced into it this afternoon, and then subsequently devoured the entire loaf and didn't leave any for dinner, I figured I should probably post it, because it's AMAZING.

So, thanks, KAF, for this delicious, simple, amazing bread. Now go forth, and make it immediately.

You will need:

A big freaking bowl.

A wooden spoon.

Salt.

Water.

Flour.

Yeast.

I don't know what the difference is between instant yeast and active dry yeast, but active dry is what I keep in my fridge and what I will always use. KAF noted that they used instant yeast for this recipe, but I went with my standard Red Star active dry, and I had excellent results.

So anyway, in your big freaking bowl, combine 32 ounces of flour (two pounds, or six and a half to seven and a half cups), one and a half tablespoons of yeast, one tablespoon of salt, and three cups of lukewarm water.

Stir, stir, stir until it all comes together. I got in there with my hands for a couple minutes. And then cover it with a towel and walk away. Let it rise for a couple hours at room temp, and then stick it in the fridge for at least two hours, and up to a week or so.

When you're ready to make the bread, reach in and pull out a big handful of dough. Shape it into a ball or a loaf and slap it on a lightly greased baking sheet and let it rise for an hour. It won't rise upwards very much, but it'll come to room temperature and settle nicely.

Preheat your oven to 450F and slice the bread with a sharp knife. Put a shallow pan on the lowest rack of your oven, and get one cup of hot water ready to go.

When it's time, put the bread in the oven and pour the hot water into the shallow pan on the bottom. Shut the oven door quickly! The water will steam, and the steam will settle on the bread, and it'll make for a nice, crunchy, chewy crust. Mmmmm....

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the bread is a deep golden brown. Then let it cool on a rack and slice into it. And enjoy it!

I baked mine for 34 minutes, which was probably a touch too long, and my crust got just a tiny bit burned on the top. But friends, I can't even tell you how delicious this bread is. It's dense, chewy, moist, flavorful, and excellent in every way. Oh, and when I put it on the cooling rack, it started making adorable little crackling noises! Precious.

P.S. If you're not planning to bake all the dough at once, you should probably cover your dough with plastic wrap or something to keep it from totally drying out.

Now...ready for pictures? Look how pretty my bread is!

Simple Baked Chicken

2010-01-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

This recipe is so simple that I'm not even sure it qualifies as a recipe, but my boss told me she'd fire me and then punch me in the face if I didn't put a new recipe up soon. So anyway, the deal is that I just haven't cooked a single new thing this month because we wanted to start the year off with comfort and familiarity.

So anyway, here's the easiest way to make chicken ever.

Preheat your oven to 450F.

Take a couple chicken breasts and stick them on a cookie sheet.

Brush them with a little melted butter...

...and then some salt and pepper. Bake them for about 30 minutes. The end.

Like I said, a little too simple to even be called a recipe. But yummy!

This is the house that Jess built!

2010-01-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

Hi folks!

I've got a new recipe on the way (although it's so simple that I'm not even sure I can call it a recipe), but for now, here are some pictures of my house!

So I took this picture a couple weeks ago, but it hasn't changed much since then. They've done a lot of work on the inside, but not much on the outside.

This is near the 10th-ish of January, before they put the shingles on.
Building the roof...
Annnnd, before there was any roof at all! It's been a very quick process, much quicker than we anticipated. We think we'll probably move in around the middle of March, and then you can all come over and play!

Lots of love,

Jess

Ahem.

2009-12-28T19:48:00.000-08:00

Ahem.

*Tap, tap.* Is this thing on?

I am now the proud owner of my very own copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Gastronomical bliss is forthcoming.

Year-End Bonus Recipe!

2009-12-27T17:31:00.000-08:00

I love the holidays, for three reasons:

One--it's a season of spending time with family, and whether that's my brother and dad or Tim's spectacular parents and sister, I know I'm going to be laughing and full of love.
Two--it's a season of eating, and I love to eat! Tim's parents are excellent cooks, and I love to bake, so there's no shortage of delicious food to consume in the month of December round these parts.
And three--Tim's swimmers like to send him home from practice with treats. (See above bullet point about how I love to eat.)

Last week, or maybe this week, or maybe some other time, one of Tim's swimmers sent him home with an adorable little Christmas-y lunch box filled with miniature poppy seed muffins. Tim hates poppy seed muffins. I adore poppy seed muffins. I'm not a big muffin person in the first place (I hate blueberry, pumpkin, orange, banana, cranberry, and most other types of muffins, and I've only ever met two or three kinds I'll eat), but there's something about poppy seed that really makes my heart leap. At any rate, it had never occurred to me to attempt to make poppy seed muffins before, but after eating a full dozen mini muffins in one sitting and still wanting more, I figured I'd better find a recipe and hop to it!

So, without further ado, Poppy Seed Muffins, just in time for the new year!

One stick butter
Three-quarters of a cup of sugar
Two eggs
One and a half teaspoons almond extract
One and a half cups of flour*
One and one-eighth teaspoons of baking powder
Half a teaspoon of baking soda
One-quarter teaspoon of salt
Half a cup of buttermilk
Two and a half tablespoons of poppy seeds

* I suppose you could use any old all-purpose flour you like, but I used cake flour, which is specially formulated for soft, light, fluffy cakes. I figured it couldn't hurt my muffins, so I went for it.

Oh, and please forgive the bad photography. It's winter in the PNW, and my kitchen is very dark even in the middle of the day. Poor lighting is not my fault!

Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add in the almond extract.

One egg...

Two eggs!

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in two additions each, alternating dry-wet-dry-wet.

Dry addition #1...

Buttermilk!

Dry addition #2...

All done!

Fold in the poppy seeds.

Pour the batter into 12 prepared muffin tines --either line them with paper or thoroughly grease them.

Bake for 15-18 minutes till done. Use a toothpick to test like you would any cake. Mine took about 17 minutes.

Mmm...golden, light, moist, heavenly poppy seed muffins. Enjoy!

Makes 12 muffins.

Takes about 20 minutes, plus bake time.

Difficulty: 2

Stuffed Breasts!

2009-12-18T19:09:00.000-08:00

OMG Yum.

This has been a week of surprising recipes. Monday's beef tenderloin was wayyyy easier and more delicious than I expected it to be. Tuesday's chicken noodle soup was surprisingly bad--the noodles were ridiculously starchy, and it ruined the whole thing. And these stuffed breasts were phenomenal. Enjoy!

You will need:

Chicken breasts

Prosciutto

Olive oil

Garlic

Salt & Pepper

Chicken broth

Parsley & Basil

Either buy thin-cut breast filets to begin with, or flatten your breasts as thin as you can between a couple sheets of wax paper. In a small bowl, combine a quarter cup of olive oil, two cloves of minced garlic, two tablespoons chopped parsley, one tablespoon chopped basil, and plenty of salt and pepper.

On each breast, lay one slice of proscuitto (it's an Italian ham (I think) that you can find at the deli counter) and a spoonful of the parsley mixture. Roll it all up tight and secure with a couple of toothpicks. I don't have toothpicks, so I chopped up a couple of bamboo skewers. I really must invest in toothpicks.

Place the chicken in a baking dish, seam down, and bake at 350F for 15 minutes.

(The chicken's in a baking dish, and not, in fact, just sitting on the burner. Don't despair!)

Blurry, dark oven action shot!

Warm up a cup of chicken broth in the microwave and use it to baste the chicken. Bake for another 20-25 minutes, basting often, until the chicken is done.

Spoon the juices over the top and enjoy!

Takes about 40 minutes, start to finish.

Serves as many as you need it to, just make more parsley filling for more than 4.

Difficulty: 2

So, this is probably the last recipe you'll see this month. With Christmas and New Year's coming up, I'm either not cooking much in a week or relying on old standbys for every day in the week. I had to scrap a couple complicated recipes I'd planned because I suddenly find myself employed! I don't know how long it'll last, but it seems like it'll be fairly steady for a couple months. I don't want to say too much about it because I don't want to jinx anything, but I think it's enough to know this: I'm finally back in a productive, positive environment where I love what I do and I love the people I'm working with and I'm putting my considerable skills to good use. I've had a phenomenal week and I'm really quite thrilled. Big ups to Brooklyn!

Beef Tenderloin

2009-12-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

I now present to you, for the first time on this blog, "The Easiest, Quickest, Classiest, Yummiest Dinner Ever."

Here's what you're gonna do:

Preheat your broiler and adjust a rack to the top position.

Slap two beef tenderloins (or however many you need) on a baking sheet, or broiler pan if you have one.

Season with salt and pepper. (I used a seasoned salt blend, and it was delicious, but I usually use kosher salt for this kind of thing.)

Slap the whole thing in under the broiler, and use tongs to flip every two minutes for ten minutes.

Done.

This picture is overexposed as all get out, but I like that you can see the steam.

Here's a better picture. Still poorly lit, but it's winter, so give me a break.

I'd meant to have salad with this, but when I got to the store this morning, I realized I'd left my list at home, and forgot. So we had pineapple instead, which I did remember to buy.

Feeds as many as you need it to.

Takes ten minutes.

Easy as pie.

2009-11-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I hope all your gastronomical dreams come true today.

What are you making? My sister-in-law's doing the bulk of the cooking at Grandma's house today, but I've got an apple pie in the oven right now, and as soon as it comes out, Mom's rosemary bread goes in.

And, oh yeah, my house smells amazing right now. Happy Turkey Day!

Beef Kebabs

2009-11-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

One and a half pound beef sirloin steak, cut into one-inch cubes

One-quarter cup grated yellow onion*

One tablespoon minced garlic

Two tablespoons ground coriander

One tablespoon ground caraway

Two teaspoons curry powder

Half a cup coconut milk

Two tablespoons soy sauce

Two tablespoons lemon juice

In a small bowl, combine the grated onion, garlic, coriander, caraway, curry, coconut milk, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Add the beef and marinade to a plastic bag and shake a little to evenly distribute the marinade. Allow to stand at room temperature for an hour.

Preheat a grill and slide the beef onto skewers. Grill about 8 minutes for medium, turning occasionally. Serve with steamed white rice. You can also do this on a baking sheet under the broiler, like me!

Tim really liked these, and I didn't like them at all. For me, it was wayyyy too much caraway. Possibly that's because I used seed instead of ground, so make sure you have ground caraway before making this.

*My grater squished the onion more than anything, so I gave up and just diced it. Worked for me!

Difficulty: 1

Takes about 20 minutes of prep, 10 minutes cooking, and an hour soaking.

Feeds 6.

Oven Braised Chicken

2009-11-07T13:32:00.000-08:00

A couple months ago my sister-in-lawesome gave me a Williams-Sonoma cookbook chock full of mouthwatering recipes for all my favorite meats. She said she didn't think she was accomplished enough to attempt these recipes, but I think she could do it. Anyway, I'm glad she felt like she couldn't handle it, because this is wayyyy too fabulous to miss out on. November's meals are 100% out of this cookbook.

Oven Braised Chicken with Vegetables

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Meat & Poultry cookbook

One roasting chicken, 3-5 pounds

One yellow onion, halved

One head of iceberg lettuce, cored and sliced lengthwise*

Two carrots, peeled and chopped

One green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

Two tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

Half a cup dry white wine

Half a cup chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Chop your onion in half.

Peel and chop your carrots.

Seed and chop your bell pepper.

Slice your lettuce.

Rub the chicken's cavity with salt and place the onion halves inside. Place the lettuce, carrots, and bell peppers in the bottom of a heavy oven-proof pot.

Rub the outside of the chicken with butter, and then season with salt and pepper. Put the chicken in the pot, breasts up.

(That's not actually butter on my chicken, that's margarine. I fully support you using butter, but you know, I'm lactose intolerant. So I choose to forgo it.)

Add the wine and the chicken stock. Cover and put in the oven for an hour. Remove the lid and continue cooking until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh away from the bone reads 170F, about 30 more minutes.

Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a platter and spoon the juices over the top.

This was good--tender and moist--but there wasn't a ton of flavor. And the lettuce got really gross after being cooked for 90 minutes. So next time I make this, I think I'll skip the lettuce (and maybe the pepper, too, since Tim doesn't like them) and chunk up a potato instead.

Serves four.

Takes about 20 minutes of prep, plus 90 minutes cook time.

Difficulty: 1

* I actually chose to use Boston lettuce, because my market sells it in tiny heads. There's just no way we can use a whole head of lettuce before it goes bad. And seriously, if I'd used an entire head of iceberg, I don't know how I'd have fit the chicken in the pot. It was a tight squeeze with all those veggies!

Marinated Flank Steak

2009-11-03T19:13:00.000-08:00

Here's my thing about Rachel Ray (besides the fact that I generally find her loud and abrasive)--I don't feel like she gives you crucial bits of information at crucial times. Like tonight, when I was making this recipe. When it comes to steak, I generally prepare it and then make Tim take it outside and grill it. But it's super cold this time of year, and if I wait for Tim to get home and grill, we may not eat until 7:30 or so. And that's pretty much too late for me. So I was really excited when the recipe noted that I could cook this steak in a cast iron skillet on the stove--except the recipe neglected to note that I would burn part of the steak, create a heckuva ton of smoke, set off the smoke detector, scare my cat, worry my husband, and generally feel like I'd failed at life. So anyway....the recipe.

Marinated Flank Steak & Bacony Potatoes

Adapted from Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals

Two cloves of garlic, minced

One tablespoon of your favorite grill seasoning

One teaspoon chilli powder

Two teaspoons tabasco sauce

One tablespoon worcestershire sauce

Two tablespoons red wine vinegar

A one-and-a-half-pound flank steak

One pound small red new potatoes

Four slices bacon

Mix the garlic, seasoning, chilli powder, tabasco, worcestershire, and vinegar in a plastic bag. Insert the steak and shake a little to evenly cover with the marinade. Let it sit until you're ready to cook it, at least 15 minutes. (I didn't have red wine vinegar, so I used apple cider vinegar. I think regular white vinegar would be fine, too.)

Cut your potatoes in half and place in a medium pot. Cover with water and liberally salt. Potatoes need salt, people! Cover with a lid and heat until the water boils. Then remove the lid and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
Chop your bacon and cook it.

Heat a grill or cast-iron skillet over high heat. Cook the steak on the hot pan, about 6 minutes per side. Please note: this will create a lot of smoke, so turn on as many fans as you can. Also, any garlic still adhered to the steak will burn! It is 100% worth your effort to remove as much garlic as possible before adding the steak to the pan. If you set off your smoke detectors (like me), put the skillet in the oven at 350F for an additional 5 minutes or so, and then cut into it to figure out if it's as done as you need it to be. And just keep putting it back in the oven until you get it there (that's what I did).

Smash your potatoes with a bit of milk and butter, or sour cream, or chicken broth, or half & half. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the bacon! Mmmmm....

Enjoy! For all my whining about smoke and feeling like I'd failed, the steak actually turned out pretty amazingly delicious.

Feeds four.

Difficulty: 2

Takes about 45 minutes.

General Tso's Chicken

2009-10-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

I'm no General Tso aficionado, but I thought that this tasted exactly like it was supposed to. It's got a fair few ingredients, but the prep is pretty easy, and it's still a fairly quick recipe.

General Tso's Chicken

Four tablespoons cornstarch

One cup snow peas

Four cloves of garlic, minced

Two teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced

Three tablespoons brown sugar

Two tablespoons soy sauce

Half a teaspoon red pepper flakes

Two egg whites

Coarse salt and ground black pepper

One pound boneless skinless chicken breasts

Two tablespoons vegetable oil

Cut the snow peas in half and set aside.

Mince the ginger.

Dice your chicken.

In a medium bowl, whisk together one tablespoon cornstarch with half a cup of cold water until smooth.

Add the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper, and snow peas. Toss to combine.

In another bowl, whisk together the egg whites, remaining three tablespoons cornstarch, half a teaspoon of salt, and a quarter-teaspoon pepper.

Add the chicken and toss to coat.

In a large skillet, heat two tablespoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Shake the excess coating from the chicken and add to the skillet. Cook until golden-brown, turning occasionally. Remove to a plate.

Add the snow peas and sauce and let bubble for a minute or two. Add the chicken back in and stir to combine. Serve with rice.

Feeds four.

Difficulty: 2

Takes about 35 minutes.

So hey, what are you all planning to make for Halloween dinner? My dad always made us chilli before we went out trick-or-treating. We're not trick-or-treating this year, nor are we attending any parties, but we'll probably still have my dad's chilli. What about you? It's sort of a special day, are you making anything special? I love to hear about other peoples' food choices.

Hoisin-Glazed Salmon

2009-10-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

While I wasn't wowed by this recipe, I have to give it props for being a ridiculously quick meal. Seriously. Twenty minutes, tops, if you're being slow.

Salmon

Two tablespoons hoisin sauce (find it next to the soy sauce)

Two teaspoons honey

One tablespoon fresh orange juice (I just sliced an orange in half and squeezed it)

Position a rack in your oven to about 4-6 inches from the broiler and preheat it. Whisk the hoisin, honey, and orange juice together to create the glaze.

Season the salmon with salt & pepper. (When it's just me and Tim for dinner, I don't usually bother portioning it.)

Coat the salmon with half the glaze and put it in the oven. After about six minutes, pull it out and baste it with the rest of the glaze.

Return to the oven and cook until it's opaque throughout, about an additional 5-7 minutes.

Feeds as many as you need it to (for more than 4, double the recipe).

Difficulty: 1

Takes about 20 minutes.

Chicken Cutlets with Herbed Butter

2009-10-24T09:29:00.000-07:00

Chicken Cutlets

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Three-quarters of a cup of chicken broth or dry white wine

Two tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Two tablespoons butter, chopped in pieces

One-quarter cup flour

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a little olive oil over medium-high heat and dredge the chicken in flour. Cook it until it browns on both sides, about 3 minutes a side.

Remove to a plate and cook until all pieces are done, using more olive oil as needed.

Chop your parsley.

Pour in the chicken broth and boil until it reduces by half, about 4 minutes.

Swirl in the butter and parsley. Add the chicken back in and turn to coat.

Difficulty: 2

Serves 4.

Takes about 30 minutes.

Vegas got cancelled, but I had a nice little birthday with my hubby, and I still got to see my bestie, albeit under unhappy circumstances. And the good news is that we're going to break ground on our house next week!

Roast Beast!

2009-10-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, so my roommate came down with the swine flu and so I forgot to take pictures of the finished product. But hey, he lived through it, and I lived through it, so I really think it's nothing to worry about, so everyone needs to calm down about it. Sheesh.

You will need:

A two-pound top round roast

Fresh thyme

Salt & pepper

Olive oil

Three-quarters of a pound of new potatoes

So, remove the roast from the fridge about 30 minutes before you need to start cooking it and pat it dry with paper towels. Then, preheat your oven to 400F and heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Season the roast with coarse salt and pepper and brown it on all sides. Please be careful when you put the roast in the hot oil; it will splatter and burn you. I have really hideous burn welts on both arms because I was foolish. And they freaking hurt. So be careful. PLEASE.

Put the roast on a rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with two teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves.

Cut your potatoes in half, season with salt and pepper, and place on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil.

Roast for 45 minutes, then check the temperature. It's ready to come out when an instant-read thermometer measures 150F. Let it rest for about 10 minutes, then slice.

Difficulty: 2

Takes about an hour and a half.

Serves 6.

Also, for the record, tomorrow's my birthday and on Thursday I leave for a weekend in Vegas with some friends I haven't seen in a very long time. So suck it, losers who have to stay in the cold and rainy Northwest!

Not really. I like you all. You don't have to suck it. =)

Pan-Fried Pork Chops

2009-10-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

I'd planned to make an entirely different pork chop recipe, but it involved three cups of milk (can't have that anymore) and two hours of oven time, which I wasn't emotionally prepared for on a Monday. Sooooo, I took a leaf out of The Pioneer Woman's book and fried up some pork chops real quick. It was fast--20 minutes from the time I opened the fridge to the time I sat down--and delicious.

So anyway, here's what you need.

Thin pork chops

Flour

Seasoned salt

Red pepper

Salt & Pepper

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper.

On a plate, combine about a half a cup of flour and as much seasoned salt and red pepper as you can handle.

Heat a half cup of canola oil in a skillet over medium. Coat both sides of the chops in the flour and put them on a clean plate. Fry them three at a time for about three minutes on the first side and two minutes on the other side.

Remove to a paper-towel lined plate. Serve with applesauce. Eat them up! Yummmmm.

Mark approves.

Serves as many as you need it to.

Difficulty: 1

Takes 20 minutes.

Apricot-Glazed Chicken

2009-10-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

This recipe is fantastically easy. With three ingredients, it's hard to go wrong!

You will need:
Chicken breasts
Apricot jam
Red pepper flakes
Also, salt & pepper, but since everyone always has them in their kitchen, they don't really count.

Preheat your broiler and adjust a rack to 4-6 inches from it. In a small bowl, combine a quarter-cup of jam and a teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

Line a baking sheet with foil and season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Put the chicken in the oven for 5-6 minutes, until it starts to turn opaque. Remove and coat with the jam.

Place back in the oven for another 5-6 minutes, until done.

Easy! Also, delicious.

Serves as many as you need it to.
Difficulty: 1
Takes about 20 minutes, start to finish.

A new recipe AND a house update!

2009-10-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

Teriyaki Salmon & Green Beans

I made this for Tim for our six-month-iversary. He liked it. I liked it, too!

2 six-ounce salmon filets, skinned

Three tablespoons teriyaki sauce

One tablespoon sesame seeds

Three cloves garlic, minced

Four tablespoons soy sauce

One tablespoon brown sugar

One tablespoon sesame oil

Red pepper, crushed or powdered

Juice of one lime

Green beans

Remove the skin from the salmon. (Ask them to do this at the store before you buy the salmon; it's easily the hardest thing I've ever done while cooking. That said, it is quite possible to do it yourself.)

Cut the salmon into bite-size chunks and coat with the teriyaki sauce. Place in the fridge to marinate at least 30 minutes, not more than four hours.

In a small sauce pan, cook the garlic over high heat for about a minute. Add in the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and lime juice. Add a couple shakes of red pepper, depending on how spicy you like things. Reduce the heat to medium and allow it to bubble undisturbed for 8 minutes.

In a medium skillet, cook the salmon over medium heat. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top.

Steam the green beans for about six minutes.

Pour half the sauce over the salmon and half over the green beans. Serve. Devour! This recipe is a winner.

Takes about 30 minutes, plus marinating time.

Serves two.

Difficulty: 3, but only because removing the skin from uncooked salmon is hard!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

House update!

It's been awhile, I know. Everything was going smoothly until communication totally ceased. I'll spare you the details of the complete nightmare it was, but it sounds like the company went under and didn't bother to tell anyone. Long story short, we're back on track with a new floorplan (this one is better!) and a new designer, and if everything stays on track and people do what they say they're going to do when they say they're going to do it, we should be able to move in by mid-February, depending on what kind of winter we have. Yay life!

Lemon Rosemary Chicken

2009-09-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to notice a pretty distinct theme in the recipes I post here-- garlic... rosemary... lemon... thyme... salt... pepper... etc. Well, I like what I like, and you can't fault me for that! Here's a recipe so delicious and simple (and quick!) that you'll be oh-so happy I supplied it for you.

You will need:

A pound and a half of boneless/skinless chicken breasts

Four cloves of garlic

Four sprigs of fresh rosemary

Half a cup of chicken broth (or dry white wine, if you're into that sort of thing)

A lemon

Salt & pepper

Any other favorite seasonings

Olive oil

Preheat your oven to 450F.

First things first, dice your chicken into large hunks, chop your rosemary, and mince your garlic.

Toss the chicken into a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic, and seasonings of choice, and stir around a little to coat.

Stick in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Remove, squeeze your lemon over the top and add in the chicken broth. Stir around a little and return to the oven. Turn the oven off and let the chicken chill out until you're ready to serve it (at least 5 minutes, no more than 15).

Stir the chicken around a little more and serve it straight out of the pan with the juices spooned over it. We had it with green beans generously gifted to us from Tim's assistant coach's garden. Thanks, Nancy!

Feeds 4.

Takes 30 minutes start to finish.

Difficulty: 2.

This recipe goes out to a very special uniter of hearts and minds, our lovely friend Ellen, whom we hear turned 25 yesterday! Happy birthday, Ellen!

Pork Loin!

2009-09-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

Another recipe I forgot to take pictures of! My head's not in the game this week; I apologize. But this is another one of those ridiculously simple recipes that doesn't need picture instructions. I also made it up completely by accident; I bought a pork tenderloin instead of a beef tenderloin and so I just sort of went with it.

One pork tenderloin, about two pounds (or smaller, if you can find it).

Lawry's (Do you know about Lawry's? I'd never seen or heard of it until I made this recipe about a year ago, and it's never left my pantry since. I use it all the time. It's delicious on everything.)

Lemon-Pepper seasoning, if you can find it.

A couple tablespoons of whole peppercorns

Preheat the oven to 390F.

Pummel your peppercorns! Use a heavy can, a mallet, a rolling pin, or your husband's thick head to break those babies up. They don't need to be much more than cracked a couple times, but this'll still take you a few minutes.

Put your tenderloin on a baking sheet and sprinkle exceptionally liberally with Lawry's and the lemon-pepper seasoning. Roll it over to make sure you get all sides. Press the peppercorns onto the loin and stick it in the oven for about 45 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to make sure it's completely done, and enjoy the heck out of it. I got a couple bites here and there that were a touch salty for my taste, but overall, it was incredible. Moist, succulent, juicy, tender....just really exceptional. Enjoy!

Feeds 6.

Difficulty: 1.

Takes about an hour.

Breaded Baked Chicken

2009-09-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

Tim loved this. He said it was delicious and refreshingly simple. And it's so easy! Enjoy!

One and a half pounds chicken breasts or tenders

About a cup of bread crumbs

One egg

Olive oil

Garlic

Your choice of seasonings!

(I used salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme, about a teaspoon of each.)

Preheat your oven to 450F.

In a food processor, combine bread crumbs, one clove of garlic, and seasonings, and pulse till combined. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and pulse till combined. Transfer to a shallow bowl.

Scramble the egg in a shallow bowl. Dip the chicken in the egg, allowing the excess to drip off, and then dredge in the crumb mixture. Transfer to a baking sheet and stick in the oven! Bake for 12 minutes. How easy is that?

Tim thinks it's tasty!

Feeds 4.

Difficulty: 1.

Takes about 25 minutes total.

Penne & Meat Sauce

2009-09-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

Le sigh. It's Tuesday and Tim goes back to work tomorrow. I've been sort of preoccupied all day, and thus forgot to take pictures of this recipe until I was putting the dishes in the dishwasher. Also, I'm not 100% sure where my camera is, so there you have it. BUT, this was way more delicious than I expected it to be, and so I'm thrilled. (Also thrilling me: Betty Crocker came out with some gluten-free mixes, and so far, they're available at my local grocery stores AND they're delicious! I'm a happy girl.)

One pound ground beef (on the other hand, we had LOTS of leftover pasta, but not so much leftover sauce, so doubling this might be handy if you're trying to feed more than 2 people.)

Half an onion, diced

Two cloves garlic, minced

One 14oz can of tomato sauce, or two 14oz cans of diced tomatoes. Or some combination thereof. Whatever make you smile on the inside.

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Thyme--ground, dried, fresh, whatever makes your heart sing.

About a pound of pasta. I used gluten-free penne,* and you should feel free to use whatever kind of pasta makes your soul take flight. Just saying.

Firstly, dice your onion and mince your garlic. Pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and heat it over medium heat. Toss the onion in and let it cook for a couple minutes, just until the onions start to get clear. Throw in the garlic and stir. Toss in the beef and cook until brown.

Drain the fat, sprinkle in a little salt and pepper, and add a healthy shake or two of thyme. Add in the tomatoes and cover. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Uncover and simmer again for another 30 minutes. Cook the pasta while this happens.

Taste the sauce for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Spoon over the pasta and serve individually. You can also stir in some parmesan, but I didn't do this for all those lactose-intolerant reasons. Tim did, and he liked it.

The sauce was incredibly flavorful and succulent. It was the exact right amount of salty and meaty; possibly the only time I've gotten the perfect salt-to-meat ratio in a sauce. Enjoy!

*The pasta I used was made with brown rice, and it was fantastic. There was no discernible difference in taste between it and regular wheat-pasta, unless I took a bite without sauce.

Serves 3 with no leftover sauce, more if you double the sauce recipe or are feeding small children.

Takes about an hour.

Difficulty: 2.

Our house, in the middle of our street

2009-08-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

I promise I'm not trying to be Pioneer Woman. I'm really not. It just sort of happened that she had a cooking blog, and then I made one, and then she added her home-remodel to her blog, and now I'm adding my home-building to this one. But she has sections I'll never have, like photography and homeschooling, so see? We're totally different.

But anyway, the point is that we're building a house and whether you like it or not, you're coming along for the ride. I don't really have the luxury of ruminating over color and fixture decisions, so I probably will never ask you what you think about granite counters vs. tile counters, or oak vs. maple, or brushed nickel vs. copper, I'll keep you posted on construction, color palates, and furniture choices. And once we move in, you guys can help me decorate.

To begin, here's our lot.

It's the 2nd biggest lot available in the development, but it's oddly shaped. Sort of triangular, but with a flat side instead of a point at one edge. There are a whole bunch of silly rules governing where on our lot we can build. Like, nothing can be built within 10 feet of the sidewalk, and the garage has to be 20 feet back from the street, and we have to have a two-car garage, and we can't build within 15 feet of the back property line. It all seems quite silly to me, but I suppose they have reasons. The property backs up to a "green space," which looks like it'll be a tiny wetland in the winter. On the other side of the blue house you can see is Highway 47. We can't hear it too much just standing on our lot, so when our house is built and we put trees in and get other houses going up next to us, we won't be able to hear it at all. Also, we'll only ever have neighbors on one side, but we'll have two neighbors on that one side. All in all, it's a great lot in a great location and we're exceptionally pleased with it.

I tried to upload the floorplans as well, but they're in PDF format and Blogger wouldn't let me. Just as well, I suppose, since they're not final. We need to add a fireplace and a coat closet, and we're going to see if we can tweak the garage a little so that we could put an office out there. We also want more windows in the kitchen. Things we LOVE about it so far: The placement of the stairs, at the back of the house; our HORMOUS master bedroom, which runs the entire length of the house, includes a walk-in closet the size of a dorm room and a bathroom bigger than any I've ever seen or heard of; the island/bar in the kitchen; and a pantry. I'm a happy girl.

So we're talking to the architect about the floorplans today. Once we get them to a place we're happy with, then we go out to Bend to pick colors/fixtures/counters/cabinets/etc. Once we're happy there, they tell us how much the house is going to cost. Then we scrap all our decisions and pick cheaper colors/fixtures/counters/cabinets/etc. In theory, that's all done within a week. Around that time, the lot will close and they can start construction. Then I set up camp across the street and watch my house go up.

Then we move in, break for Christmas, and come back in a frenzied whirlwind of activity to get the house ready for our New Year's Day housewarming party.

Should be a fun couple of months.

Rosemary-Garlic Chicken

2009-08-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm....simple, easy, delicious.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Great Food Fast cookbook.*

Two tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

One-quarter cup of olive oil

Two cloves of garlic

One lemon

Salt & Pepper

Chicken breasts, legs, thighs, wings, whatever.

In a small saucepan, bring a third-cup of water and the chopped rosemary to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let it steep for 5 minutes.

In a blender, add the garlic and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. (I decided not to use my blender, because it seemed like an awfully small amount of stuff to put in my giant blender; I've still never used my blender and it didn't seem worth it to pull down, unpack, clean, and then fit the blender in the dishwasher for such a small amount of stuff; and I had this handy dandy little perfect-sized food chopper that was a Christmas present from my mother-in-law, and I figured it would be perfect. Don't be like me. Use a blender.)

Add the rosemary-water and puree until smooth.

I made a mess.

Combine the chicken and the marinade in a zip-lock bag and let it marinate the desired amount of time (at least 15 minutes; I let it sit for 2 hours in the fridge).

Heat a grill to medium and let the excess marinade drip off the chicken. Baste it with the juice of one lemon while you grill it, turning occasionally, until cooked through, 10-30 minutes (depending on how many and what type of chicken pieces you use). Serve it with corn!

Do you know how to cook corn? Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 4 tablespoons of sugar, and boil the corn for 6 minutes. It's delicious!

Serves 4.

Takes 20 minutes of prep, plus cook time.

Difficulty: 2.

*This is a fantastic cookbook to have if you're an omnivore. It's a pretty dang good cookbook to have if you're vegetarian, but obviously there are a lot of meat dishes that you won't eat. At any rate, all the recipes are simple, relatively easy, and take just about as long as they say they do. (I always find that a recipe will take 10-15 minutes longer than it says it will, because they don't usually factor in chopping and getting-things-out-of-the-fridge time.)

Flank Steak

2009-08-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

I just finished eating this about 10 minutes ago, and it was unanimously declared delicious. And the bonus is that I don't feel nauseous! (Yet.) If I can keep that up, this recipe is a real winner. I didn't have the presence of mind to take pictures of any of it, but it's so simple that you don't need step-by-step instructions.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's 'Great Food Fast' cookbook

The juice of 4 limes

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 scallions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons peeled minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

One and a half pound flank steak

Salt and pepper

In a zip-lock bag, combine all the ingredients and marinate the steak for 30 minutes or more (I did two hours). Remove, let the excess marinade drip off, and season with salt and pepper. Heat a grill to high, and cook 8-10 minutes until it's reached the desired doneness. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes, slice thinly, and dig in!

Serves 4.

Takes about 45 minutes.

Difficulty: 1.

P.S. I'm having varying degrees of success getting my stomach under control. The upside is that I'm ingesting lots more fruit and vegetables. The downside is that I've dreamed of nothing but cheese for the last 3 nights running. Anyone know any vegans or similar who know of a really good non-dairy cheese substitute? Something that tastes and acts like actual cheese? I'm desperate.

Hiatus explained

2009-08-11T19:48:00.001-07:00

Friends,

I apologize for my prolonged absence. I hadn't realized it'd been more than a month. Long story short, I've just found out that I'm pretty severely lactose intolerant and possibly allergic to wheat, as well. This last month has been an uphill struggle trying to figure out what I can and cannot eat and has therefore affected my cooking. I'll spare you the gory details of my stomach's rebellion, but suffice it to say that every day is a challenge and I feel ill most of the time.

However, I seem to have hit on a couple food groups that I can eat without feeling instantaneously nauseous, so I plan to be back in the swing of things come September. Until then, please bear with me and know that I have a delicious month in the works.

Until then,

Jessiker