You don't have to be pregnant to have cravings

I've been dying for soup lately. DYING for it. Whenever Thatboy asks me "what sounds good" I always reply "soup." This has been happening since December. It started at his parents' house when we were trying to decide what to have for lunch. Of course, his parents don't keep soup in the house. (Who doesn't have a can of soup in their pantry?????) So on our drive home from Northern California we stopped for dinner so I could have a nice big bowl of, you guessed it, soup.

And the desire for something warm and cozy at the end of the night hasn't stopped. We've been having a nice bowl of soup for dinner for a week now, served with a hunk of nice warm toasty bread. What's especially nice is how easy soup is for dinner. Thatboy and I have started going back to the gym after work, so it's great to have a dinner that's quick when we come home exhausted in hungry. Sometimes the soup is so quick, I don't even remember to heat up our bread in the oven!

Cream of Almond Soup
1/2 cup blanched almonds, ground
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 cups cream

1. Put the almonds and chicken stock in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes.
2. Mix the almond extract with 2 Tbsp cold water, and add to the pot, simmer 10 minutes.
3. Slowly stir in cream and salt to taste. Heat without boiling.

Peppering the Pot

Today was a VERY busy day. Not so much at work, but after work I was running around like a mad woman! First there were computers to pick up. We're back to 4 working laptops! YAY! Especially yay given that there are only 2 we like to work on - 1 for Thatboy and 1 for me, and while his is working wonderfully, it was my favorite that was in the shop.

Next came a stop at the library. I love the local library system that lets me "order" books from any library in the county to pick up a couple blocks from my house. BUT, I've been a very fortunate girl to receive quite a few books for Channukah and "just cause" so it was time to drop off the library books I had.

Then there was a run to the grocery store, which luckily also had a bank so I could deposit some money, pick up some fixings for dinner, and of course, the requisite stamps so I could send out our holiday cards.

Things haven't slowed down since I've been home since I got right to work burning some Christmas mix cds. This meant, as usual, that I needed a quick dinner - and if you know anything about me by now, that means chicken! With some bell peppers and onions - kind of like you would normally pair with steak, or sausage...but you may remember I used up the leftover freezer steak earlier this week. So chicken it was!

Chicken with Bell Peppers and Onions

2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 chicken breast
2 Tbsp avocado oil - well, you can use olive oil...we've switched over to avocado oil in Thathouse
1 small onion, sliced
1 small green pepper, sliced
3/4 cup chicken stock

1. Mix flour, 1 tsp seasoned salt and 1/2 tsp lemon pepper in a shallow bowl. Coat chicken with flour, and reserve remaining flour.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add chicken. Cook 6 minutes per side, or until browned and cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet. Once cool, slice chicken into strips.

3. Add onions and bell peppers to skillet and cook 5 minutes while stirring.

4. Mix broth, reserved flour, and 1/2 tsp garlic salt. Add to skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer 1 minute. Add chicken back to skillet and toss with bell peppers and onion.

Teriyaki - not just for chicken

I'll be the first to admit it, chicken and teriyaki go together like peanut butter and jelly. And I fall back quite often on making an easy lunch by tossing together some chicken and teriyaki sauce.

But teriyaki works equally as well with that leftover steak you've got in the freezer just begging to be used. Yup, that's right - I'm trying to use up freezer foods again! Mostly because I'm in the process of another "new mom" batch of food and I need all the freezer space I can get. Between making my new mom food, and the fact that TWO of my coworkers have birthdays this week, I'm also falling back on whatever I can make quickly for Thatboy and I to eat. Yes, sometimes we suffer so others can benefit. We're good sports. Although it is easy to be a good sport when you get something warm and filling in your stomach.

This is also another one of those "fill up with veggies" meals. I was able to use a small piece of steak to feed both Thatboy and I by adding a ton of fresh vegetables into the mix. It's the perfect trick to keep a meal light while leaving you satisfied.

Teriyaki Beef
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 cups of your favorite veggies
1/4 lb sirloin steak, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 tsp crushed ginger
2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce

1. Heat oil over medium high heat. Add veggies, stirfry for 5 minutes.
2. Add steak and cook until meat is cooked through.
3. Stir in ginger and cook for 1 minute.
4. Stir in teriyaki sauce and cook until the sauce is heated.

Proof that I read into your comments

Well, due to the resounding lack of response to my last post, I'm going to assume that most of y'all aren't really into the idea of a holiday cd mix exchange. However, for the three of you that are, I'll personally send you a mix - just for playing. Jenny - if you could email me your address (contact info on my profile page) that would help.

For the rest of you - I'll get back to what you're more obviously interested in. Food. Growing up in a small town, I didn't have a wide selection of Asian cuisine available to me. We had one Chinese restaurant and one Vietnamese restaurant. But I grew up completely addicted to the Girl Talk series of books. One of my most vivid memories of the book is one of the girls in the group, Randy Zak was cool and from New York and her mother and she ate thai food takeout - straight from the container. First, I ADORE the idea of eating food out of a paper takeout carton. I'm always trying to get Thatboy to bring home cartons we can eat out of with chopsticks. But there are two problems with this. You'd be surprised how few places actually use them anymore, and it makes it hard to eat family style, which is how we usually eat. The other thing I got from the books is the exoticness of Thai food - which I always wanted to try. As soon as I was out of the house, Thai food became a staple in my diet. Luckily Thatboy is equally as interested in Thai food and the first two years of our relationship we had a semi-permanent booth at a local place near our college.

Thai food is one of those cuisines that is a little intimidating for me to make at home, so I usually go out when I have a craving. And it's just so easy because the place a block from our house is fantastic, and the waitstaff all know me. When I do make it at home, I go the easy route and usually use a premade curry which I then add meat and veggies to. But I have been looking for curry paste to attempt to make my own - and a couple weeks ago I found it. (I know, I wasn't looking very hard....I work right beside an Asian market. I just always forget to pick some up when I'm there.)

Once I had the curry paste, it wasn't very difficult to throw together the remaining ingredients. And this way I could add as much coconut milk as I wanted! Some of the Thai recipes I've attempted and featured in this blog are a little labor intensive, but this is insanely easy. Almost a cheater recipe. And while it won't ever take the place of my neighborhood haunt, if you pick up a takeout carton from Michaels you can eat it right in front of the tv!

Shrimp in Red Curry
1/2 can coconut milk
1 Tbsp red curry paste
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1/2 cup of snow peas and red bell pepper, sliced
1 Tbsp fish sauce

1. Heat coconut milk in skillet, just until simmering and stir in curry paste and sugar, sturring until disolved. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
2. Add shrimp and veggies to coconut curry mix. Cook until shrimp just turns pink.
3. Stir in fish sauce and remove from heat.

Proof that I read your comments

First, I'll address Amber who requested a post dedicated to my favorite Christmas songs.
In no particular order:

• Baby I't's Cold Outside - I'm a fan of the original, with Ricardo Montalban and Esther Williams from one of my all time favorite movies. But I have probably 5 different versions of the song. Thatboy and I do a rousing rendition that brings down the house.
• The Chipmunk Song - The Chipmunks (obviously)
• You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch - Thurl Ravenscroft
  
• Heatmiser and Coldmiser - I have no idea who sings these, but they're from my favorite Christmas movie, "the year without a santa clause"
• Little Drummer Boy - Bing Crosby and David Bowie
• Melekelikimaka - Bing Crosby
• Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
• Christmas in Killarny - Bing Crosby
• God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLaughlin
  
• Last year, Thatboy and I went to New York City the first weekend in December and while we were attending Avenue Q, the cast members were selling a cd called "Carols for Cure" to raise money for Broadwaycares.org. We purchased one and it is currently my all time favorite Christmas cd. It features the cast of every show on Broadway last year singing a Christmas (or Channukah) song. I love every song on the cd but my two favorites are:

* I Wonder As I Wander - The Broadway Cast of Spring Awakening
* Christmas In My Mobile Home -The Broadway Cast Great American Trailer Park Musical


Second - I'm using y'all as a sounding board. Inspired by Laura's 560 song mix, I was inspired with an idea. How would you feel about a holiday mix exchange? Different than your typical recipe exchange or ornament exchange, participants would each make a mix cd with their favorite holiday songs and then send it to some one else. What do you think? Would you be interested? And this could be done one of two ways to protect privacy. Option 1: I could collect the names and addresses of everyone who wants in and match them up, then email you with the address of your match to send the cd. Option 2: if it makes you feel safer, you can all send me the cds and then I can send them out to your match. In the comment section let me know if you'd want to participate and whether you'd rather option 1 or option 2.

And for those of you who HATE Christmas music, and only tune in for the pictures and recipes, well I wouldn't want to disappoint you.

Slaw Burger

• 1/2 cooked brow rice
• 1/2 lb lean ground beef
• 1 Tbsp taco seasoning
• 1/2 cup cole slaw

1. Combine rice, ground beef, and taco seasonings and form into two patties.
2. Grill patties over medium high heat until cooked through (about 10 minutes)
3. Top each burger with 1/4 cup coleslaw.

It's beginning to look a lot like.....

Tonight after work Thatboy began what will go down in the history books as "preparation for the holidays weekend." Technically I started it earlier when I started creating my "Christmas Mix." It's something I've been known for since college, and although it's never been as large a selection as when I was in college, this year we're at 300 songs. The roadtrip later this month is going to be SO much fun.

Tonight we went and picked out our Christmas tree. The best part about being married to a Jewish girl is that there are no fights about Christmas. I leave it entirely in Thatboy's hands. Thatboy grew up with real Christmas trees, so we have always gone out to get real Christmas trees.

We packed up Thatdog and headed to our local lot (that does free delivery - score!) We love the people here, and Thatdog loves running around the lot.




This is Thatdog impersonating a deer in headlights. We call this his "goat ears" look. I have no idea why he does this with his ears whenever we try to take his picture.



I picked out three trees which Thatboy vetoed. Then he picked out a 9 footer, which I vetoed. Eventually we found this guy! See how the light above looks like a tree topper?



Now look how the light above looks like a Thatboy topper!



All picked out, they wrapped up our tree and we headed home to make dinner and wait for the delivery.



Decorating the tree is a whole event in itself and will be done some night this weekend - complete with movies and hot chocolate! But Thatboy just can't wait and as soon as the tree came he had to put the lights on it.


While he got to work on the tree, I got to work on dinner - the ugliest chicken ever. It's an easy recipe, but yields a less than attractive result. At least it tastes delicious! And it's red - perfect for our pre-holiday festivities.


Salsa Chicken

• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/2 jar of your favorite salsa

1. Heat oil over medium high heat. Cook the chicken 5 minutes per side, until brown.
2. Add salsa to chicken and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Mango Tango

Have I told y'all my mango story? Thatmom is SERIOUSLY allergic to mangoes, so we never had them in the house growing up. Apparently mango allergies aren't that uncommon as the mango is in the same family as poison ivy and the skin contains the same chemical. And because it's the oil of the mango that causes the problems, Thatmom has had a reaction requiring trips to the emergency room just by having someone who has recently touched a mango, touch her.

So until I was in my late teens, I never hade a mango, and I never knew what I was missing. Then, when Thatmom was out of town for a week, Thatdad did it - he brought home a mango! He had dutifully given them up upon finding out about Thatmom's allergy, but he never forgot their splendor. I remember watching with awed anticipation as he removed the thick, colorful peel and revealed the bright yellow flesh beneath. And I think I can remember my first wonderful bite. I was hooked. From then on, we had a 3 day rule. As long as Thatmom was out of town for longer than 3 days, we'd celebrate her leaving with mango! The three day rule has stuck with me, and I've imparted it on Thatboy - we don't eat mango within 3 days of seeing Thatmom. But otherwise, all bets are off.

I pack mango in our lunches, we have mango sorbets and margaritas, and one of the few times we order dessert out is when mango and sticky rice is on the menu.

This summer when I was ALL over the fruit salsa kick, I whipped up some mango salsa. It was excellent over shrimp, but went just as well with chips when Thatboy brought it into work for his coworkers. I also imagine it would be lovely with fish....if you like that kind of stuff.

Mango Salsa

• 1 cup rice vinegar
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 mangoes, peeled and diced
• 1/2 papaya, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 serrano chili pepper, sliced (the more seeds you remove, the less spicy the salsa will be)

1. Combine all ingredients
2. Refrigerate overnight to let flavors marry

Pies and More

Thanksgiving is a huge holiday in Thatfamily. Preparation starts weeks in advance. Everyone had their jobs. Thatmom did most of the cooking. Thatdad made all the "weird" dishes - like a turducken, or a specialty turkey, or a new and unique stuffing. I was in charge of all the desserts save three - Thatdad's ice cream and Thatmom's twenty pound cake and apple crisp. Several days before Thanksgiving, Thatdad would start making the ice cream. He had to work in advance, because once the oven got cooking, it would be too hot for the ice cream to set. Two days before Thanksgiving Thatmom got to work on her twenty pound cake and apple crisp. The day before Thanksgiving all the sides got made, leaving the day of for stuffing, turkey, and gravy. Repro and his family brought the green veggie and mashed potatoes and we'd all feast along with whatever Thanksgiving stragglers we had picked up that year - from Thatparents' students, to friends, to new additions to our family.

This year things were going to be a little different, and Thatmom, Thatboy, and I were all a little concerned as to how Thanksgiving was going to play out. Thatmom is naturally distracted more than usual, which means we had the same conversation 7-8 times about who was making what and when. Even the carefully written out list with the guests, who was bringing what, and when we each had to make each dish didn't prevent a phone call about every three days asking what "so and so" was bringing.

Taking Thatboy away for his birthday weekend, and continuing celebration on his actual birthday gave me 1.5 days to prepare before we headed to Thatmom's house to start the holiday preparation there. I had made the pie dough the week before and froze it to give myself a head start. This year I took over Thatdad's role as ice cream maker and made his specialty - fudge swirl with chocolate chunks and wet walnuts. I made that Monday night along with baking the won ton cups. Tuesday night was all about pie as I made the pumpkin apple and pumpkin pie. And of course some pumpkin ice cream, for those who don't love chocolate. (Along with some pecan muffins for our coworkers) Wednesday Thatboy and I took a half day at work and headed up to Thatmom's house where I made the polenta and biscuit dough. And Thursday I just made myself useful - and finished up the other appetizers.

For ease of reference, we'll divide the meal into three courses. Each course took up an entire table of food.

Course 1: Appetizers. Knits and I were in charge of these, but since it's my blog I just have pictures of what I made.

Salad in won ton cups

Polenta squares with goat cheese - these were good as is, but even better when I repurposed the leftovers for breakfast:

goat cheese polenta squares topped with black beans, sunny side up eggs, and salsa

The hit of my appetizers was the baked brie with cranberries and apple. This went over so well, that I'll probably make it again for Christmas with the inlaws.

Course 2: Turkey Dinner

How gorgeous does Thatmom's turkey look? After Thatboy raved about my turkey last year, Thatmom let me brine this 24 lb bad boy. We're not normally briners, but we will be from now on. Everyone agreed this was the moistest turkey they've had. The turkey is stuffed with Thatmom's famous chestnut stuffing. Then I used the turkey drippings to make the gravy - which Repro described as "strong." I'm also now the official gravy maker of the family, which is fine, because I think it's the easiest part of Thanksgiving.

My not to be missed biscuits. I call them cream biscuits because they have 1 cup of cream in them. I actually ran out of cream after the ice cream and almost made them with half and half. Thatboy decided we shouldn't mess with perfection.

The spread and the crowd. We turn the kitchen island into a buffet of good foods. Two tables, and 14 people from across the county gather to enjoy. This is also the best vantage to see Toxicesq's cranberry relish and Repro's famous mashed potatoes (both the guilt-free and guilty versions), and broccoli.

Multiple plates of turkey and stuffing so no one has to wait too long to fill their plate. My favorite - candied yams, and Thatmom's favorite - cranberry relish. Because you can never have too much, we require two of every dish.

Course 3: Dessert - not pictured are Thatmom's twenty pound cake and apple crisp. And the baklava that my mom's sister sent from New Jersey.

Nissan brought pumpkin cheesecake from the Urth Caffe.

My pumpkin apple pie. Thatbrother, Thatboy, and Thatmom were very skeptical of this pie, but it ended up being a hit.

My take on Thatdad's fudge swirl ice cream with chocolate chunks and wet walnuts. Mine ended up having a lot more chocolate in it. Who would've guessed?

Bass LOVES pumpkin pie. (I'd like to say he loves my pumpkin pie, but I'm fairly sure he'd eat just about anybody's). He made a special request this year that I make a graham cracker crust instead of my usual pie crust. GOOD SUGGESTION! The pumpkin pie with graham cracker crust was a hit. Everyone loved it. Even Thatmom loved it and ate it two days in a row - and she doesn't like pumpkin pie! She declared it the best pumpkin pie ever.

This pumpkin pie ice cream from Foodnetwork.com also raised some eyebrows. Then Petman tried some and declared it "awesome" and soon the rest of the family followed suit. I heard murmurs of "did you try the pumpkin ice cream yet" from everyone. And each person who tried it fell in love.

Pie recipes:

Pumpkin Apple Pie

1 pie crust, unbaked

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3/4 Tbsp flour

3 granny smith apples

1 egg

1 cup canned pumpkin

5 oz of evaporated milk

1. Preheat oven to 425. Line a 9 inch pie pan with unbaked dough. Mix 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour in bowl.

2. Peel, core, and slice the apples and toss them in the sugar/cinnamon mixture, coating well.

3. Heat 1/4 cup sugar in a small pan on medium heat with 1/16 cup of water, stirring until dissolved. Allow to cool.

4. Combining remaining sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in medium bowl.

5. Add egg and beat with a whisk.

6. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and cooled sugar water and mix well.

7. Spoon apple mixture into pie pan. Pour pumpkin mixture over apple mixture. Bake 15 minutes.

8. Reduce temperature to 350 and bake 40 more minutes.

Pumpkin Pie

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 6 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter

1 15 oz can pumpkin

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 large eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 425. Mix the graham crackers with sugar and melted butter and press into bottom and sides of 9 inch pie pan. Chill while preparing filling.

2. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt in bowl.

3. Pour pumpkin mixture into graham cracker crust and bake 15 minutes.

4. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake for another 40 minutes.

The Birthdaying Begins

One of the things Thatboy and I have in common is terrible birthdays. Both because of timing. My birthday happens to fall during finals, or summer vacation. There was even a year when my entire family was on vacation without me. For Thatboy the problem is Thanksgiving. His family never really celebrated his birthday because they were too busy celebrating his brother's birthday 2 weeks earlier, or Thankgiving itself. During our dating years, I never got to celebrate his birthday with him because he went home to his family. My family would throw him a little party when he returned - but it wasn't the same. As soon as we were married, Thatboy began spending Thanksgiving with my family and the birthday celebrations began.

I've done everything in my power to make a big deal out of Thatboy's birthday, and this year is no exception. The celebration starts tonight when we'll head out to celebrate with Thatboy's birthday twin, H. And then I'm whisking him away for a surprise weekend - shhhh he doesn't know. The celebration will continue alll the way till DH's actual birthday next week. So stay tuned for lots of birthday fun.

Pound (cup)Cakes with Strawberry Filling

12 oz strawberries, hulled
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp water
1/2 lbs butter
1 2/3 cup sugar
5 eggs
2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine the strawberries, sugar, and water in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves.
2. Stir in cornstarch until smooth. Boil 3 minutes or until thick.
3. Preheat oven to 325. Cream the butter, slowly add sugar and beat until light.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each in well.
5. Stir in the flour, salt, and vanilla and combine well.
6. Spoon into cupcake liners in muffin pan and bake for 25 - 35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before moving onto a rack.
8. When cupcakes are cool, cut a cone shape out of the top, being careful not to create a hole clean through the bottom of the cupcake.
9. Fill this cone shaped hole with strawberry sauce and replace the cake cone you cut out. (You may need to trim the bottom of the cone so it doesn't force out all your filling. This is a good time to call your husband into the kitchen to eat all the cone cuttings. He will love you forever)

Just a bit late

As usual, my blogging is a bit backed up, so these recipes are actually back from Halloween-ish. I already wrote about our experience going out and finding the perfect pumpkins, but we held off on carving until right before Halloween.

Pumpkin carving is a HUGE deal in Thathouse. We make an entire evening out of it and it's the one time of year I let Thatboy rent whatever gorey scary movie he wants without complaint. I hate scary movies. I get nightmares. My dreams are usually strange and vivid to begin with, but after a scary movie I can't sleep at all. We each sketch out our pumpkin designs on paper before getting to serious work.

For dinner, I like to make something that can cook as we work, so I don't have to be in the kitchen. Besides, carving works up quite the appetite. This year I went with enchiladas. And Thatboy has decided this is his new favorite enchilada recipe. Know how I know? He told me that it reminded him of Taco Bell - which is only his all time favorite fast food ever. He loves my girls night outs because it means Taco Bell for dinner for him.

But since Taco Bell isn't my idea of good Mexican food, I harken back to my days at El Torito Grill and the sweet corn cake that came with all the meals. I thought AVM's corn pudding would serve as a nice substitute. And the corn pudding was good - although Thatboy didn't think it went as well with the enchiladas as I did. I liked it smothered in the enchilada sauce.

Corn Pudding a 9 year old can make (recipe available at animalvegetablemiracle.com)

Chicken Enchiladas
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup Picante Sauce
2 tsp chili powder
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
4 whole wheat tortillas
1 tomato, chopped
1 green onion, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix together sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder.
2. Take one cup of this mixture and combine with chicken and cheese. Reserve the rest of the sour cream mixture.
3. Divide the chicken mixture between tortillas. Roll up tortillas and place seam side up in baking dish. Pour reserved sour cream mixture over the filled tortillas.
4. Cover dish and make for 40 minutes.
5. Top with chopped tomatoes and green onion.


Frieda Kahlo's Pan de Muerto (recipe available at animalvegetablemiracle.com)
November 1 is traditionally Dia de los Muertos, which is celebrated in many areas of San Diego. Not surprising given that we're a mere moments from Mexico. It's a celebration of ancestors and frequently characterized by those crazy skeletons. Whether they're dancing, or playing in a mariachi band. My "pan de muerto" came out looking a little Edward Munch-ian but they were delicious. So delicous in fact, that Thatdog ate almost this entire basket you're looking at right now. Yeah....he can be sneaky.

You say potato...

Just in time for summer - a plethora of potato salads! Oh wait, it's not summer anymore? I know friends, I was just as skeptical as you when I saw that AVM had all these potato salad recipes in their October chapter. But, I made them anyway. Because I'm crazy like that. And I found that "potato salad" is a misnomer for half these recipes. Roasted potatoes and veggies are the perfect side for autumn. And they go so well with the mountains of chutney we have!

Unlike most of the recipes in AVM, I can tell you these are fantastic. Thatboy and I enjoyed each one.

"Fall" - roasted red potatoes with roasted veggies. (recipe available at animalvegetablemiracle.com) Served with satay skewers and chutney. Thatboy loved the satay skewers, loved the potato "salad" and loved that I served the chutney on the side so he could ignore it.

"Summer" (recipe available at animalvegetablemiracle.com) - fairly traditional German-style egg salad...which could be why Thatboy and I loved it so much. It was the egg. The combo egg/potato salad would be PERFECT for summer barbecues and picnics. This will probably be my go-to potato salad recipe from here out. Served with pork chops covered in chutney.



"Winter" - roasted fingerling potatoes with roasted veggies. (recipe available at animalvegetablemiracle.com) I have to say, this was pretty similar to the fall recipe. Which was fine, we liked that just fine. The difference would obviously be the vegetables that are seasonal. Served with turkey tenderloin cooked in chutney....can you see why Thatboy might be tiring a bit of the chutney?



"Spring" - boiled new potatoes with peas and mint. (recipe available at animalvegetablemiracle.com) This was similar to the summer recipe, but we preferred the summer one. Although I like the fresh peas in this, and liked that I could boil them together. Made it very easy.



Pumpkin Soup (recipe available at animalvegetablemiracle.com)

While the potatoes might not have screamed "October" the pumpkin soup definitely did! Thatboy was so impressed by the presentation. Which is really the only reason to serve it in a pumpkin shell. Because it sure as hell doesn't cook better in there. Even though I followed the precautions, I still managed to scoop out the bottom of the shell - leaving me with a giant hole...just like the author got when she made it. Luckily the roasting pan kept everything inside the shell. I do love my roasting pan. I wasn't expecting much from this since the pumpkin inside kept scraping off really stringy. Even after pureeing it. But both Thatboy and I were pleasantly surprised by the flavor of this soup. It'd be a great, impressive starter to your Thanksgiving.

Straight from the bird

Why hello out there! Some of you may recall that this blog used to feature food and recipes. And then life got busy and I stopped being home to cook. Then I was home to cook, but didn't have the time to blog about it.

Well I can't say that life has slowed down at all, but I actually have some food and recipes that are back-piling up, just waiting for me to share with you. I know. It's exciting.

I don't know where the saying came from that "real men don't eat quiche." It's simply not true. Not only is Thatboy more than happy to eat quiche, but he'll even eat frittata and strata. And he almost knows the difference. What makes me even more sure that real men eat quiche is that Thatboy will even eat it for dinner. Well, frittata - but remember, he can't tell the difference.

Veggie Frittata (recipe available from animalvegetablemiracle.com)

Egg dishes are fabulous for two things - using up veggies you have in the fridge, and getting a non-veggie eater to eat veggies. And even AVM can't mess up a frittata too badly. It helps that the ingredients are eggs, cheese, and veggies and I love all three.

Spicy Turkey Sausage (recipe available from animalvegetablemiracle.com)

And to go with the eggs, I made the turkey sausage from AVM. These you could go wrong with. Even though they were nice and spicy, they were surprisingly bland - like a lot of the other recipes. I can't understand how a recipe can have so many herbs and spices and still be bland.

Recipes for Disaster

After that first canning experience I knew I had been beaten. But since I don't give up easily I armed myself with better tools and determined to forge ahead.

First - I went out and got myself an actual canning kettle. One that was made for pint jars because honestly, I don't see myself canning quarts anymore.

And because my timing is always dead on, the day I bought the kettle, I got a call from Thatmom saying she found all of Thatdad's canning gear.

Second, I started all my prep the night before. With the right gear, and all the tomatoes pureed, onions and apples chopped, I figured this canning process would be a breeze.

I was so wrong.

Now, I know that it is completely a sign of a poor cook to blame the recipe. But honestly? There is something completely wrong with the recipes in AVM. I know I've said it before, but as I stood in tears in Thatmom's kitchen I knew there was nothing I was doing wrong. I am fairly positive that no one ever tested or made these recipes.

The first obstacle I ran into was the amount. Seriously - do people can in the bathtub? Who has pots big enough for this nonsense? And I really don't think the Kingsolvers really ever made this recipe whatsoever because really - the amount of tomatoes they call for does not match the number of quarts produced and the number of quarts the recipe calls for makes WAY more product than they claim it will.

The only pot I had big enough for all the ingredients was the new canning kettle I had purchased. And even that was a little on the full side.

The next problem was that NOTHING thickened. Ever. The barbeque sauce never got thick after HOURS of boiling. Now I'm a science girl. I understand the properties of heat, liquid and evaporation. There's no reason why the sauce shouldn't have thickened. But it didn't. And the peach sauce? Sugar, water, fruit. I've used this combo time and time again for filling and it always thickens. And yet, this recipe refused to thicken. Which gave me three different "products" that were all liquidy sauces.

My third problem proves to me that no editor went through and attempted these recipes, because the second part of the recipe has a list of ingredients that AVM fails to tell you what to do with........as in, there are no directions telling you when to add the garlic and tabasco. Do you add them to the peaches? The peach "syrup" (or in my case peach water)? The sweet and sour sauce? This is pretty much when the tears started.

The final issue was the amount of product created. The recipe calls for 14 pint jars and 7 half pint jars. After filling these jars, I had SO much chutney left over. Into tupperwear it went and Thatboy and I have been having chutney for dinner every night. And probably will for weeks and weeks to come. Roast chicken with chutney, Roast pork with chutney - tomorrow night's dinner is chicken satay with chutney. I'm lucky Thatboy is so easy going with dinner. Although it helps that I've promised never to can again after this last debacle. And the amount of product I have will last me pretty much until we die. (and maybe a week after that)

Barbeque Relish, Sweet and Sour Sauce, and Chutney (recipe from animalvegetablemiracle.com)

You can can-can too

I have an uncanny ability for biting off more than I can chew. Since July I've been planning on making the next recipe from AVP - which calls for a brand new process for me. Canning. Even before reading the book, canning has been on my list of "things to do this year."

Canning is practically in my blood. I grew up in rural rural rural Pennsylvania. A place where literally moments before dinner my parents would send us out to the backyard to gather ingredients for the evening's salad - lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, beans.... Back then, Thatdad was a canner. Actually, his canning probably went back much further, but my memory doesn't.

I had planned to do my canning at Thatmom's house, because Thatdad had a whole canning setup. Of course, when it came to actually finding the kettle, Thatmom and I were SOL. We checked everywhere we could think of. Unfortunately, Thatparents had moved just months before Thatdad's death, and many of their possessions remained boxed up in the garage. Following Thatdad's death, Thatbrother "organized" the boxes, which means now we can't get at most of them, and have no idea what they contain.

Undaunted as ever, I decided to proceed sans canning equipment. I figured I'd improvise. This was probably my first mistake.

The recipe was supposed to make 6-7 quarts of tomato sauce. Well friends, the recipe LIED. 30 lbs sure seemed like a lot of tomatoes, but what do I know? I'm a beginning canner. Thatboy watched me pureeing the tomatoes and said "You're crazy. Do you own a restaurant I don't know about?" Nothing like a little spousal support. As I pureed, I noticed the beginning of problem number 1. The biggest pot Thatmom had was quickly filling up. I called for reinforcements and Thatboy found me a turkey roaster. Even that got dangerously full.

However after several hours of simmering, it reduced to a much less scary amount - although still far more than 6-7 quarts.

As the sauce finished, I ran into problem number 2. I had grossly underestimated the amount of time the dishwasher would take to sterilize the equipment. So I sat for another hour waiting for it to finish while I started getting concerned about problem number 3. Even without the canning kettle, both Thatmom and I were pretty sure there was a gigantic pot which I could use for the water boiling portion of canning. Like the kettle, giant pot was no where to be found. The only pot I could find tall enough for the quart jars would only hold 2 jars at a time.

Remember how I said there was much more than 6-7 quarts? Well there was over 10 quarts of sauce. Which meant 5 rounds in the water bath. Which would take forever. And it did! From pureeing to finish, it took about 12 hours- and of course, that doesn't include the cooling off period. Maybe Thatboy was right about me being a little crazy.

Family Secret Tomato Sauce (recipe can be found at animalvegetablemiracle.com)