When I find myself

with an excess of lemons, I do what any good person does. I make lemonade. Lemons are one of those things that I always have in the fridge. I'm not a fan of the bottled lemon juice, preferring the fresh stuff so we always have a bag on hand.

Another thing I always have on hand is a frozen bag of spinach. Which is especially handy when you decide it's time for a breakfast casserole. Breakfast casseroles are great because they feed a ton of people and are easy to put together. This one is not Thatboy's favorite because it has loads of spinach in it, which he doesn't love. But he admits that he should eat more dark green leafy vegetables.

I apologize for the long lag in posts. It's already Wednesday - this week has flown by. But I have so much to update you on! Because of that, I'll be postdating my posts so you'll have something to read while I'm out of town. But fear not, when I return I'll remain in town for a good couple of months! Some things to look forward to upon my return:

• My first stocking! One of the women on my cooking board asked for help with a stocking for her son's first Christmas, so I jumped right in and knit one for her. I don't want to spoil the surprise by posting it yet, so once I get word she's received it I'll share it with you. As Thatmom said "It's the most extensive thing [I've] ever made!" A big jump from my usual holiday scarves (like the one I'm still working on for Thatboy).
• My first Thanksgiving! I spent all night Monday prepping - making cranberry relish, sweet potatoes, and brining a turkey. I never get to make Thanksgiving since it's my mom's favorite holiday so making all this stuff is super exciting for me!!!!
• Loads of holiday sweets and treats!
  

Spinach Breakfast Casserole

• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup cooked ham, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup Bisquick
• 3 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 375. Squeeze all liquid out of spinach and lay spinach in bottom of shallow baking dish.
2. Top with layer of ham, onion, then cheese.
3. Combine milk, bisquick, and eggs in blender on medium speed for 1 minute. Pour over casserole.
4. Bake 35 minutes.

Serves 8.
Each serving has:

Calories		175.7
Total Fat		8.3 g
	Saturated Fat	3.9 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.6 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	2.9 g
Cholesterol		103.4 mg
Sodium		561.9 mg
Potassium		288.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate		13.1 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.1 g
	Sugars	0.9 g
Protein		12.6 g

Baby's good to me

I think it's pretty evident that my go-to quick meal is pasta. It's so simple that even Thatboy can help prepare it. Well, he can boil the water for me. Preparing the pasta is still a little beyond his skill set. And while I'm quite happy with a steaming bowl of pasta, some version of sauce, and fresh cheese (goat, parmesean, mozzarella), Thatboy usually questions where our protein is. Mostly because growing up, pasta was always spaghetti. And spaghetti was always accompanied with meat sauce. (And we're all familiar with my thoughts on that sauce)

My meat sauce takes its inspiration from my mother's best friend. They've been best friends since they were teenagers, having met at summer camp. And though we keep moving farther and farther away, their friendship continues. There was a period of time when my mother and I would take trips back to "the old country" to visit my mom's family. Sometimes we stayed with her friend. I remember sitting at the kitchen table and watching as the two of them polished off a bottle of wine, laughing, and stirring a pot of bubbling sauce on the stovetop. You see, in Brooklyn, you were either Jewish or Italian (or both). Mom's friend was as Italian as you could get. She passed on her sauce secrets to my mom, who in turn passed them on to me. The secret to perfect sauce is the addition of ground sausage. Unfortunately, while I have ground pork, veal, turkey, and beef in my freezer, there is no ground sausage. So this meat sauce isn't my best ever, but it's good enough to keep in the freezer beside the homemade marinara. And there's meat in it, so it makes Thatboy oh so happy.

Meat Sauce

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 can whole plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1. Brown garlic and onion in oil in large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add beef and cook until browned.
3. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover.
4. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occassionally.

I often wonder

if the recipe exchange coordinators go through the blogs before matching up recipes, or if the world is just full of coincidences. I mean, just the other day I wrote about how this weather is making me all stewy and soupy, and what turns up in my inbox? My recipe exchange recipe, beef stew! And better than regular beef stew - crockpot beef stew! Meaning we can eat dinner at a far more normal hour.

Thatboy really loved this recipe. It's different than my usual beef stews in that it is very tomato based. I cut the recipe in half, because I FINALLY cleaned out our fridge and I'm all proud of the empty space and lack of leftovers. Even cutting it in half ensured I'd still have lunch for later this week!

SLOW COOKER BEEF STEW

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds round steak, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 pound carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces*
• 1 pound small red potatoes, quartered*
• 1 (8-ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 red bell pepper, diced**
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes**
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 3/4 cup beef broth
• 1/3 cup red wine
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients in a 6-quart slow cooker, and cook, covered, on LOW 7 hours and 30 minutes.

*2 (1-pound) packages frozen stew vegetables may be substituted for carrots and potatoes.
**1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green peppers and onions may be substituted for red bell pepper and diced tomatoes.

Yield: Makes 8 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)

Words of kindness linger on

Thatboy gets very depressed some times for no good reason. On Monday night he turned to me and declared "Christmas sucks this year." Now I should point out that every Christmas since we've been together I have done everything in my power to make it a special time for Thatboy. I've had to - I'm the only one who will. This year I've gone above and beyond, planning all sorts of activities to get everyone in the Christmas spirit, so this statement was a little shocking to me.


"Why does Christmas suck this year?"
"Well normally we get our tree the first weekend in December, and we have it up all month. This year, we're not getting our tree till next weekend, and then we'll only be here for a week!" (Yes, Christmas for him is determined by having a Christmas tree...and probably the presents underneath, but that's a different story.)

And so, being Superwife, I suggested we pick up a tree after work last night. So last night I made a super quick dinner so we would have more tree trimming time. I made hot cocoa, put on a Christmas movie and we were off. I have to admit, that unwrapping the ornaments got us both in a great mood. I forgot how much I love all our ornaments! Christmas was saved!!!!!

And our super quick dinner? I don't know if it's just a California thing, but our farmer's markets have the best tamales ever. Heated up with some corn, cheese, and topped with fresh salsa - dinner comes together in a matter of minutes.

My dad is the first person to introduce me to homemade salsa. We were living in Pennsylvania and the only Mexican restaurant in town was Taco Bell. I'm not kidding. But we had a thriving garden and one summer night, dad went out and came back with an assortment of onions, peppers, and tomatoes which he proceeded to chop into small pieces and throw in a bowl. We couldn't dive right in, the flavors had to marinate for what seemed like years. But one bite and I realized there must be more to life than Taco Bell. My recipe is not my father's salsa. I no longer have the advantage of a 1/4 acre garden, or even a potted tomato plan. Instead I have a pantry which is always stocked and an imagination that won't quit.

Not My Father's Salsa

• 1 can whole tomatoes, chopped
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 fresh tomato, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jalepeno, chopped
  

1. Combine all ingredients in a nonreactive bowl and stir.
2. Cover and refrigerate 3-4 hours.

People tell me I'm lucky

No matter how great a time I have when I'm away, there's always something so nice about coming back home! Even though the weather here is getting colder, it's still not nearly as cold as where we were, and being away makes me crave homey comforts. I love that the weather is cold enough to use our fireplace every night, and I love making food that sticks to the stomach and ribs. While we are a chicken family, I find we eat a lot more red meat in the winter - it just feels heavier and warmer for some reason.

It gets dark so early now that by the time Thatboy and I eat dinner, it is often lit only by firelight and the warm glow of the television. And it's just so cuddly to have a warm stewy dinner by the fire!

Sherried Beef

• 1 lb lean beef stewing meat
• 1/4 cup sherry
• 1/2 pkg onion soup mix

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients in ovenproof pot and cover.
2. Cook for 2.5 hours.

Serves 2.
Each serving has:

Calories		451.1
Total Fat		16.2 g
Cholesterol		129.3 mg
Sodium		930.4 mg
Potassium		973.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate		11.8 g
Protein		53.8 g

And for dessert - Monster cupcakes! Inspired by Avenue Q!

I'll take my chances

Whew! I have to say, I am beyond exhausted, but I have finally caught up! Well, almost caught up. Our place still looks like a tornado hit it, and the dirty laundry is starting to overflow the hamper, but all in good time, right? I mean I obviously had to catch up on my google reader, blogging, and cupcake baking, before cleaning.

Because of the timing of our return flight, I hit the ground running. 4 hours of sleep, 6 hours on a plane, and you want dinner???????? Sounds like the perfect time to use up pretty much anything that's left in the house.

SKA (Sausage, Kraut, and Applesauce)
Two polish sausage
8 oz sauerkraut
1/4 cup apple sauce
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.
Cover and cook 10-15 minutes or until warmed through.

Serves 2.
Each serving has:

Calories		387.3
Total Fat		32.7 g
	Saturated Fat	11.7 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	3.5 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	15.4 g
Cholesterol		79.5 mg
Sodium		1,368.0 mg
Potassium		376.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate		6.0 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.6 g
	Sugars	2.5 g
Protein		16.5 g

Run around

I apologize for the radio silence this past week...and I'm actually just jumping on to say it's not going to get any better.

November/December are busy busy busy months for me. Between the holidays and Thatboy's birthday I barely have a moment to sit down - and I think I'm out of town more than I'm in town. That means my cooking is usually me trying to use leftovers and keep the fridge empty. There's nothing worse than rotting food! This means there's not a lot to blog about when there is time to blog.

And in about 20 minutes I'm heading to pick Thatboy up from his office and head to the airport so we can take our FABULOUS vacation. I'm oh so excited. Which means you can expect a lot more of nothing over the next week. I think there'll be a return to normalcy sometime next week....for a little bit, until we're off on our Christmas trip!

Until then I'll leave you with a pictorial of what I've been up to:

Corned beef hash with roasted zucchini and red potatoes

Chicken baked in wine (this is a good one because it lasts us a full week!)

And then of course there are the cupcakes:
Candy Corn! (chocolate with vanilla frosting)

The Octopi (Chocolate with vanilla frosting)

Pink Lemonade


Turkeys! (Vanilla with chocolate buttercream frosting)

Not pictured: Margarita cupcakes and Chocolate chip cupcakes with chocolate glaze!

You don't know how lucky you are

All right, I'm going to use this post as a quick catch up. There's a lot that's been going on that I've let fall to the wayside, and you all deserve an update!

First, the moment you've all been waiting for - the winner of the Bossa Nova giveaway. Using the random number generator I got an integer to correspond with the entries. That integer matched up with.....drumroll please....... Lisa of Jersey Girl Cooks. Congratulations!



Second, I'm a winner too! I won the last Platinum Chef Challenge, which means I get to host this round! Does everyone remember the rules? If not here they again!

“Platinum Chef Challenge started as an activity on a cooking message board to encourage members to create a meal out of 5 selected ingredients. You might think they go together, and you might not. You might have used them before, or maybe not. Maybe you will have a recipe in mind, and maybe you will create a new one. Most likely, you’ll put on your creative (chef’s) hat and whip out something new and exciting. To play, just create a meal using the five given ingredients and blog about it. Please link back to this post, and feel free to include the event logo in your blog. The meal can consist of 1 or 2 dishes - so you can use all the ingredients in one recipe, or make two. Example: main dish + side, appetizer + main dish, main dish + dessert, etc. But, if more than one dish is created, each dish must use at least two of the ingredients (and, any ingredient may be repeated and used in both dishes if desired). You can add whatever other ingredients you like.”

I'm giving you an extra long time to do this one, because of the holidays, and because I'll be out of town a lot in December and I hate to keep y'all waiting for the results!

To participate, please post your dishes on your blog (linking back to this post), and send an email to platinumchefchallenge@gmail.com by midnight (PST) on Friday, January 9, with the following information:

Name

Location

Name of your dish(es) and your blog

Pictures you want in the Round-up

Link to the PCC12 post in your blog

(If you don’t have a blog, send recipes and photos in your email and I will include you in the PCC Round-up that way!)

Here are your five challenge ingredients:

Potatoes! Idaho, Russet, Red, Purple, Gold, White. Whatever your favorite is.

Pear: Bosc, Asian, Bartlett...again, I'm not picky.
Egg: For this you HAVE to use cage free organic eggs.....Naw, you can use whatever eggs you want. Even egg beaters. Even if you just want to use the white. And by the way- I am now queen of recipes that use up extra yolk or extra whites if you ever need any help.

Parsley: Personally I prefer the flat-leaf Italian parsley, but who am I to tell you what you like best!

Fingers! Oh wait, those are carrots aren't they. Yeah, to be on the safe side, let's use carrots instead of fingers.

All right, and now to catch up on memes and awards.
Giz of Equal Opportunity Cooking has tagged me with a compliment meme. Which seems fitting in the holiday season.

*List the Last 10 people who have commented on your blog.
*If you appear on my list, you are tagged and have to do this meme on your own blog too.
*So - who were my last ten commenters?

10) Wan from Wan Life to Live
9) Kayla from Central Cooking
8) Katie from The Summertree Cafe
7) Just Another Small Town Girl (no blog?)
6) Pamela from Cookies with Boys
5) Psychgrad from Equal Opportunity Kitchen (is this cheating?)
4) Tiff from Tiffany's Temptations
3) R from Married Not Buried
2) Karen (no blog?)
1) Nina from My Easy Cooking

Now answer the following:

1. What is your favourite post from number 3's blog?

R keeps us updated with her friend Spunky's battle with Leukemia. Spunky is 5 years old, and although we've never met, Spunky's battle touches me in a very personal way because of my own experiences with a friend who lost the same battle. R doesn't know it, but I can't get through a single Spunky post without dissolving into a mess of tears. And yet I crave each new entry in the hopes that this time it will have a happy ending.

2. Has number 10 taken any pictures that have moved you?

I LOVE the pictures Wan takes of the Bean. Seriously - if there are any talent scouts out there check out her blog for the cutest baby pictures ever.

3. Does number 6 reply to comments on their blog?

I don't think she does - but then again, I don't think she gets many questions. I have no doubt that Pamela would reply to any queries in a heartbeat!

4. Which part of blogland is number 2 from?

?????

5. If you could give one piece of advice to number 7 what would it be?

I think I get a pass on this one too. Although maybe I would recommend that she may enjoy "Rock of Ages" if she happens to be heading to New York any time soon.

6. Have you every tried something from number 9's blog?

Not yet, but I have a couple bookmarked!

7. Has number 1 blogged something that inspired you?

Nina always inspires me. She makes the most gorgeous bites, using ingredients I would never have thought of, and she also manages to corral a couple kids in the process! In addition, she's played a ginormous role in Garden Village, a gardening project that is meant to feed both the body and the soul.

8. How often do you comment on number 4's blog?

I don't think I've ever commented. But I will start!

9. Do you wait for number 8 to post excitedly?

Don't you? Especially when I'm trying to decide what to pack for lunches!

10. How did number 5's blog change your life?

Change my life? That seems a little drastic. Psychgrad (and Giz) have definitely made me appreciate my relationship with my mom!

11. Do you know any of the 10 bloggers in person?

I know both Wan and R.

12. Do any of your 10 bloggers know each other in person?

I'm going to keep it safe. I know Wan and R know each other, so I'll stick with that answer.

13. Out of the 10, which updates more frequently?

I'm going to go with Wan. Even when she has nothing to say, she still finds time to post!

14. Which of the 10 keep you laughing?

I'm going to stick with Wan on this one.

15. Which of the 10 has made you cry?

I think I kinda answered this with the first question!


And last but not least, Pamela of Cookies with Boys has awarded me the Kreativ Blogger Award. Awwwwwwwwwwww. It's nice to be recognized for being creative. I'm just hoping "Kreativ" is the creative spelling and not the result of too much to drink on the part of the creator.