Your Favorite Recipes of 2010

This year, I've struggled to find time to do a lot of the things that I love to do. Now, I've never been that huge of a cook, but now that I have VERY limited time to be in charge of the cooking, it's like a privilege that's been taken away. I did try a few things, like cinnamon rolls, the lemon-basil martini, and lots and lots of things out of our very first real-deal vegetable garden.

I get asked to participate in lots of recipe exchanges, and I always feel a little lame having not much to contribute. I get most of my recipes online or out of my favorite Giada cookbooks. But, I would love to be better about recommending recipes, because I always get great ones in return.

So, I thought I'd try something new. Why not do a recipe exchange blog post? Tell everyone what's been cooking in your kitchen lately. I'd especially love to hear your simple (fast? slow cooked?) and kid-friendly recipes. So do share! You can link to your own personal recipe (post it on your own blog), or anywhere in the World Wide Web!

Breaded, Not Fried

I love to bake, but I do get tired of all the sweets. What? Who am I kidding. I don't get tired of the sweets, but I know it's not good for us to eat so much. So I often branch out to bread. I tried the no knead recipe with good results. I also purchased the Tassajara Bread Book and went through the painstaking process of making it the "real" way with all the rising and punching and rising and kneading and all that.


But, I have found what I think is the "up my alley" bread baking book, perfect for a person like me with a short attention span and a busy life. It's the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The theory is that you make up a big batch of dough and stick it in the fridge. You can use it for up to a few weeks to make just about anything from regular old bread to cinnamon rolls. So far we made only one loaf and it was not only delicious, but easy and beautiful to look at.

I got the book from the library, and unfortunately I have to return it soon. But before I do, I'm thinking about trying the bagel recipe. Have you ever made bagels from scratch? Is it worth the effort? What are your favorite bread recipes?

Roasted Pumpkin and Squash Seeds a la Pumpkin Girl

There's a few things I love about Fall, and one of them is being able to turn on the oven again. In fact, it's so cold now that I can't wait for an excuse to turn it on and take the chill off the house. Breads, treats, pumpkin seeds...they've all been cranking out of my kitchen lately.

Most of you probaby already know that my nickname, Pumpkin Girl, comes from the fact that growing up my family ran a small pumpkin farm. We had somewhere around an acre of pumpkins that we hauled up to our driveway every October and organized into nice piles according to size. The money we made helped both my sister and I through college. We also got pretty good at carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds. My sister definitely excels at the carving, me at the roasting.

Here's my favorite way to make pumpkin or squash seeds. First, you need to clean them up. Make sure you get all the stringy stuff off and give them a good bath. Then, set them out on some aluminum foil to dry out for a day or so. When they're ready, mix up your "secret sauce." Now that I'm revealing the secret recipe, I guess I'll have to rename the sauce. Okay, let's call it the "super sauce." This should work for a fairly well covered cookie sheet.

2 T. butter, melted in the microwave
2 T. worchestershire sauce
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. garlic powder

Mix up your sauce and pour it over the seeds. Bake at 350 for 10 - 15 minutes. If you start to hear a popping sound coming from your oven, it's time to take the seeds out. These will keep okay in a bowl at room temperature for a few days if you don't eat them all (yeah, right). Cover them with plastic wrap.

What other treats are you enjoying this Halloween?

It's Apple Pickin' Time!

I don't know about you, but I love fall. I love feeling the humidity give way to cool, crisp air and that "good sleeping weather" when it's about 50 degrees at night. I also love taking a trip to the orchard. This year we had to seek out a new spot, and although the apples were great, the orchard made the unfortunate decision to hand us a list of orchard rules when we pulled in their driveway. Eeeew, that kinda ticked me off right off the bat.

Although I'm kind of a rule follower by nature, I can't stand being told what to do (that's my bossy side coming through) and I really hate it when people point out the obvious ("Don't let your bratty kids climb all over our trees." and "If you don't pay for those 40 bags of apples you stashed in your trunks, we'll call the cops."). Then I was really put over the top when we were told not to drive the 200 yards (from Ginger Gold to Macintosh, in our case) -- that they really prefer that their customers drive so as not to be in the way of cars. Really, what's a peaceful day at the farm without a long list of rules and some bossy bosserson doling out additional rules as you stroll the premises? I just can't imagine why, if you don't want to walk around the orchard a little, you would go to a pick-your-own apple joint? Why not just hit the supermarket? Beats me.

But enough harping, the apples were great. We made an almond apple galette, some applesauce to save for the littlest pumpkin and today I made a Caramel Apple Tart for our relatives, who are bringing the main course for dinner. Pretty nice for $17 worth of apples, and there are still quite a few left.

Have you hit the orchard yet? Whatcha pickin'? Hopefully something good!

People in my Neighborhood: Sugar and Flour

If I'm not crafting, I'm baking. That is, if I'm not at my full time job, or taking care of my cutie patootie kid, or whatever. You know, my spare time. Baking is something that I love so much in this weird therapeutic way. Like, if I need to "turn that frown upside down" I'll bake. It clears my head. And don't get me wrong, I have a sweet tooth. Oh, do I have a sweet tooth.
I recently came across this awesome shop called Sugar and Flour, and what to my surprise, it's in my own backyard -- Franklin, Wisconsin. I decided I had to know more. Granted, I haven't tasted these cookies yet, but they're on their way to my house. I ordered some trains and dump trucks to be delivered to my son while I'm in the hospital with baby #2. Hopefully he'll save me a bite! Here's what I learned about Sugar and Flour...
Tell me a little about yourself. When did you start baking up such beautiful cookies?
My name is Karen Herrera and I live just outside of Milwaukee WI with my husband, our two young girls and our dog Charlie. Before becoming a stay at home mother I was a baker at a few different places. I quit my job to stay home with the girls but now one is in school full time and the other is in preschool so it is time for me to get back into the swing of things. I started Sugar & Flour last year to give myself something to do while still being able to be at home with my girls when they need me. It's worked out well.What are some of your influences/sources of inspiration?The inspiration for my cookies comes from a few different places. Sometimes I might see a neat cutter that I feel I just MUST own and the design comes from that. Other times I will see a pretty picture that inspires me. Sometimes it could also be just a color combination. I try very hard not to copy cookies that other people have done. They've worked hard to be original and I don't think it's right to take that away from them. I know how much it bothers me to see my work copied.
I see you make some of your cookies using cutters you've made yourself. Tell me more!
There's been many times that I've had to make cutters from scratch. My first one, the Choo-Choo Train, was designed to match a boy's party invitation. I do actually make a working cookie cutter out of metal - it's not just a cardboard picture that I cut around. I like being able to customize the shape of the cookie to suit what a client needs. It makes the cookie that much more special. The custom shapes that I chose not to have available in my store I show on my Flickr page so that they can still be seen. I'm proud of them.
Your Etsy sales have been great! Do you have any tips for other Etsy sellers?
Etsy has been very good for me. I actually found the site through my sister (hi Diane) when I mentioned to her that I wanted to somehow sell cookies online. Her suggestion was to start on Etsy and see what happened. I had no idea how successful it would become. There's a few things that I think are essential for success on Etsy and can also cary over to any online business.

*** The most important thing would be ORIGINALITY. What's the point of doing something that someone has already done? I do look at other cookie makers online to see what they're up to but your ideas need to be your own. Originality is key. When I came out with my Itty Bitty cookies last year it was to draw people to my store with something they could try inexpensively without needing a special occasion to buy for. They were a HUGE success. Now there are a couple other people selling their own version so I have to share that success with them. Oh well.

*** Beautiful clear pictures are also a must. It's not like someone can walk into your store and see your cookies. Your pictures are what they're going by so they need to be perfect. I like to have a few close-up pictures to show the texture and finer details and also some farther away pics to show the whole cookie. I also like to use pretty bowls and plates. For me, white props look best. They make the cookies look pretty without being a distraction. Also, consistency between listing pics is important. I think you can tell just at a glance which listings are mine on Etsy because they're all done in the same style. Find something that works for you and stick with it.

*** Have a quality product. Be known for something spectacular. I'm a trained baker and I can make all sorts of wonderful things but I've chosen to focus on just sugar cookies. Over the past year and a half I've figured out the best way to make, ship and store my cookies. I've also learned new techniques for decorating. I'm sure things will evolve over time... I'm always looking for ways to improve my product.

So, neighbor...tell me about your perfect Milwaukee-area day (I'm new here, I need ideas!).
I suppose a perfect Milwaukee day would be packing up the kids and going out to Barthel's Fruit Farm in Mequon. Doesn't matter what time of year... we go for strawberries in the spring and apples in the fall. We'd spend time goofing off there and then head home to have some lunch together. Maybe have friends over later for the girls to play with. We don't do much... we just like to relax at home.

Thanks, Karen! And best of luck!

Big Bread

Maybe it's the winter weather that brought it on. Or maybe it's my awesome new kitchen. Whatever the reason, ever since moving to Wisconsin, I've been Betty Baker around here. Hardly a week goes by when some treat or other isn't in our kitchen. We made a huge batch of bread dough from Tassajara Bread Book and used one for bread, the other for the world's yummiest cinnamon rolls. I also tried the recipe for British Flapjacks from Bon Apetit, and later my hubby basterdized it into a chocolate chip version. There's been gingerbread cookies, beer bread, and an awesome Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake from Dorie Greenspan's Baking cookbook. Good thing I'm pregnant, or the 15 pounds I've gained in the last few months would really be a problem!

I guess I'm glad the weather is changing. I'm not quite as obsessed with being in my kitchen at the moment (although there IS a pan of brownies on my counter). But I don't think my baking days are quite over, so what's the best thing you've baked lately?

Run, Cookie, Run!

When we moved to our new house, we were talked into subscribing to some mega-super 80 million channel cable package. Now, it's strange, because we don't spend much time watching TV at all. I mean, when we're not making butter with our toddler, or knitting sweaters, we're on the internet or painting our house! But, the salesperson was convincing, so we went for it. We quickly discovered the Kids on Demand feature and, subsequently, Nick Jr. On Demand, which brought us to the magic that is Little Bear. Have you seen Little Bear? You should.

Little Bear is this sweet, funny little cartoon with some of the most relaxing music ever. It puts our daddy bear to sleep every night, in fact. We were particularly inspired by the episode in which Little Bear and his friends make gingerbread cookies and then are forced to chase after them when they take off out into the snow. We decided we had to make some gingerbread ourselves. I used this recipe and was very happy with it. They were easy to cut out, and very spicy and crunchy.

We've unfortunately run out of new On Demand Little Bear's to watch, as well as the local library's collection. But, it's good enough that we will probably just go back and watch them all again. And watch those gingerbread men (and gingerbread stars, and bulldozers and doggie bones and hearts) disappear.

What's Fer Dinner?

Oh man, I hate to brag, but we ate the yummiest food all weekend. We tried three new recipes and every single one was a total winner. And they were all relatively easy, too.

Friday night I had a craving for Asian food of some sort, so we settled on the Pork, Mushroom and Snow-Pea Stir Fry. The pork was super tender and with brown rice, even the wee one ate it up.

Today we had to entertain ourselves indoors all day because it was 40 degrees and rainy all day (yay! not.). I decided we'd whip up the Dorie Greenspan Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. We carted wee one's little table into the middle of the kitchen, rolled up our sleeves, and let him go to town dumping all the dry ingredients in and helping to mix it up. When the dough was done, I thought the cookies would never turn out. The dough looked way too thin. But, even though we ran out of parchment paper for one of the cookie sheets, they all turned out and didn't spread out into a thin crisp cookie like I thought they would. They were VERY chocolatey, and brownie-like.

For dinner, Mr. Pumpkin (upon my request) made Spinach and Red-Pepper Calzones, which were absolutely heavenly, and vegetarian, too. Instead of store bought dough, he made regular pizza dough, but I don't think you'd need to. The roasted red peppers were awesome and the smokey mozzarella gave it great flavor.

Well, enough about that, I'm headed to the cookie jar...I'm hungry!

Sunday Cupcakes, Lattes and Other Indulgences

Today was a good day. I wasn't so sure when I woke up and saw snow outside, covering everything in sight, but it turned out okay (and now the snow has already melted). First (after a fantastic Mr. Pumpkin quiche), we took a walk down to our local coffee joint Lily's for coffee and a treat. The wee one enjoyed it because he got to see some dogs and trucks and buses along the way, and I liked it because the top of my caramel latte tasted exactly like a perfectly toasted marshmallow (and looked like it, too).

We had guests coming for dinner (buy some art...DO IT) and it was a great excuse for me to get out some Pampered Chef tools I've never used. I made cupcakes with hidden vegetables (thanks Jessica Seinfeld) and topped them with pink and purple frosting. Yum. The homemade mac 'n' cheese wasn't bad, either. There was a lot of kid chaos and Wee Pumpkin loved every minute. As they walked to their car to go home, he looked at us and said with conviction: "More?" So, needless to say he likes playing with other kids. Especially adorable little girls.

Now, I'm in pajamas, enjoying listening to the song Notorious by Duran Duran. Does it get better?

Hope you had a good weekend!

Molasses Chocolate Chip Puff-Cloud Cookies

My wee one and I stole a few moments alone together this morning while daddy ran some errands. Kiddo's under the weather, so we stayed indoors and "winged it" on a batch of cookies. I dragged my wee one's little table into the kitchen so he could reach everything and I let him "dump" all the ingredients into the bowl. He loved running the hand beater, and also enjoyed banging all the measuring spoons and cups against the bowl. And, much to our delight (and my surprise), the cookies turned out awesome: a "happy accident" in the words of the late, great Bob Ross. They are light, fluffy, a little spicy and chocolatey-riffic!

Molasses Chocolate Chip Puff-Cloud Cookies:
Makes approx 2 doz.

1/3 C. vegetable shortening
1/3 C. butter
1/2 C. sugar
8 T. molasses
1 egg
1/3 C. whole milk
2 1/3 C. all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. salt
1/2 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Cover cookie sheet with parchment. Cream shortening, butter and sugar together. Add the molasses, egg and milk and beat until smooth. In another bowl mix all dry ingredients except chips. Stir dry mixture into wet mixture. When it forms a soft dough, add the chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

These are best enjoyed warm!

What's cookin' at your house?

Cake and Choo Choo

This past weekend was a bit of a birthday bonanza at our house, with both an auntie and a grampy having birthdays. We celebrated at our house, so we didn't have to travel, which was nice. It did mean we got to do all of the cooking, which I will gladly opt for rather than a long drive with an antsy toddler. I hustled around the kitchen to make sure everything was *just right* and I think it was. I made some sun-dried tomato and chevre scones, a gorgeous cake out of my new Dorie Greenspan book, and we put a pot of white bean and ham soup on the stove to cook all day (which was the easiest and yummiest thing I've eaten in a long time...basically throw two hamhocks, 12 cups of stock, 2 quartered onions and two bags of navy beans in a pot and cook on medium low). Yum!


To get out of the house, we loaded up the entire family and headed to the Twin Cities Model Railroad Museum to see the miniature Minneapolis and St. Paul train system they had set up. It was pretty remarkable, and even included a hobo campout on the sketchy side of town under a railroad bridge. Right now, through February, they're doing their Saturday "Night Train" exhibit where they turn off all the lights except the train lights after 6 PM. I wish we'd seen it, but it's too late for our wee one -- by that time he's usually finishing up dinner and getting into pjs. I do want to try to get back there for the circus trains, though. Cool. And man, that place was filled with nerds. We were in our element, being nerds ourselves!

What's going on in your neck of the woods? We're gearing up for another snowstorm and hoping it melts quickly!

Happy Heart Day

I had a lovely little date with my boys on Valentine's Day. We picked up pizza and frosted our valentines cookies. I gave the wee one a bath and let him play extra long. The highlight of wee one's day was when we spotted a helicopter outside our window. Oh, the joy and excitement! Hubby and I did what we usually do -- played on the internet, watched some TV, made fun of a couple on HGTV and went to bed by 10:30.

Today we all ended up at the Mall of America by accident. Wee one wore his new "Kid Banz" that we got him at Pacifier (and which he loves and mama loves, too, because they actually stay on). The wee one was enthralled by all the roller coasters inside the mall. He kept pointing and saying "choo choo!" He could hardly be torn away, and had absolutely no interest in Lego Land. It was all about the choo choo.

Ah, the domesticated life. Did you do anything fun? Sounds like some lucky souls have the day off tomorrow. Not this poor sap. I'm back to the office again, jiggedy jig.

Sweater Knitting and Scone Baking

I have a tradition, two years in the making, to make (rather than buy) Little Pumpkin's Christmas and birthday gifts. The way Mr. Pumpkin and I see it, he gets spoiled enough by his grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, that he doesn't need more from us.

Last Christmas I knit him his first stocking and this year I decided to knit him a sweater. I chose a free pattern for a ribbed baby jacket that I got online that originally appeared in Prima back in 2005. The pattern is also in the book Special Knits by Debbie Bliss. I only saw it pictured for girls, but I think my version in indigo (and I chose not to do wool so it would be washable) with a manly leather-covered vintage button turned out pretty good. It's kind of his "old man" sweater. Now, I'm going to wrap it up and he can open it on Christmas and act surprised.



In other news, baking-wise I think I may be back in action. I baked these scones this weekend from my Dorie Greenspan baking book and they are PHENOMENAL. I substituted whole milk for buttermilk, and they are still awesome. I could seriously sit down to a plate of them, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Three days later they are still tasty and delicious. Maybe cookies just aren't my thing right now. We'll see, though. I have a batch of Greenspan's Midnight Crackles chilling in my freezer. Here's hoping they're edible!

At work lately we've been doing a lot of recapping of 2008 accomplishments. I think I might have to recap my personal accomplishments this year, just to see if I've been more productive at work or at home. It's going to be a tight race between "refiled random papers in cubicle to appear more productive" and "taste tested many batches of cookies to determine missteps and correct errors." If I do the recap, I'll post it here.

Vintage Wreath Goodness

I really wanted to write about how I got a new baking book, Baking by Dorie Greenspan, and how I made some awesome cookies out of it and how I am now the queen of the universe, at least by baking standards. I mean, I am a pretty good baker. I do bake a lot. Usually things turn out delicious. However, for the last two weeks, I have been cursed by the totally flat, crisp cookies (not like good crisp, but weird, greasy crisp). I so wanted to join Tuesdays with Dorie, but alas, I suck. My cookies are a wreck, and I decided I better hope I get invited to a cookie exchange where I just get to take the cookies and don't actually have to give any.

BUT, I did accomplish the patching of a few pairs tiny pants and finishing of a wreath I started last holiday season all in a night. See, when these things start to pile up in (what once was) my neat and tidy sewing room, I get anxious. So I get a few things crossed off the list and moved to other piles and I breathe a small sigh of relief.

This wreath has a kind of funny story behind it. Well, okay not really, but I have to write about something, right? Well, I saw so many awesome wreaths on Flickr that I wanted to make my own. Like this one from Alicia Paulson, or this one by SweetImaginations or this one wrapped in yarn by KatieRunnels or this cute quilted style one. So last year I wrapped my styrofoam wreath in a nice, felted sweater and there it sat. Then over the summer my hubby, whilst stay-at-home-dadding around town, stopped by a granny's garage sale and bought the "mystery bag" of craft supplies for me. It was mostly a bag of total junk, but I did manage to store the little santa head, wreath with bell, gold leaves and weird flower thingie that I incorporated into this wreath. Not bad for a buck, I think.

Can you believe it's December 10th? Shit, only like 10 more days to figure out why I suddenly suck at baking!

Popover, It's Nice Here in Minnesota!

It's the weekend after Halloween here in Minnesota and Global Warming is upon us! It's actually HOT outside. Whereas in years past we may have had a blizzard, this year I took off my jacket and opened up the windows (the same ones I put storm windows on just yesterday...bad timing!). We took the opportunity to drive to one of our favorite places in this neck of the woods: Stillwater.

As for what we actually did on Halloween, I have to say not much. We dressed Baby P up in an engineer outfit (all we had to buy was the hat) and handed out candy. Maybe 10 kids showed up in total. Everyone liked the decor outside, but one little tot wouldn't come near the door so she made her sister do her dirty work. Of course I was kind of snotty and said "Where's your costume?!" and then felt like crap when I saw the little kid out on the sidewalk, afraid to come up. Luckily this year we weren't visited by any other costume-less kids, cuz that drives me a little insane. I mean how many "rappers" (their words, not mine) does one Halloween need? I guess rap is dead this year, because none of them came here.

Anyhoo, not doing much baking right now, maybe due to the heat. I did make some popovers a few weekends back that were out of this world good. I can't believe that growing up I actually thought popovers were gross. I must have been out of my mind. Baby P didn't think they were gross. He ate two!

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

County Fairs and Cardamom Cake

Phew, another weekend sped by at lightning speed. I'm sitting at the end of it, in my pajamas, belly full of wine and cake, wondering if 8:30 is too early to call it a night and hit the "hay". Saturday Baby Pumpkin checked out the cows, horses, pigs, and all manner of farm animal at our county fair. It was pretty awesome. He even got to ride a pint-sized tractor (we had to pull him away screaming he loved it so much).

Afterwards, Hubby and I got a craving for this wonderful cardamom cake we'd had at Bread and Chocolate a few weeks ago. I made this recipe, but it didn't really cut it. Too doughy, not sweet enough, and without the glaze it was a little blah. Anyone have a good recipe? This week I'm making strawberry pie for Little Pumpkin's birthday party, but maybe another week I'll have time to give it a second try. It did turn out beautifully, though, didn't it? Looks like a snow-covered mountain! Oh, and the SMELLS from my kitchen...DEEeee-licious!

Saturday is the big first birthday party, and we have relatives coming from all over to celebrate with us. Funny how I thought we'd totally not make a big deal out of this birthday. Now I'm wound up all in knots about making it perfect. I already ran out to the store to buy every kind of soda and for those who don't drink soda, there's iced tea, plus chips, and for those who don't like chips I got pretzels, and the list goes on. Not to mention all the Gourmet-magazine side dishes I'll be attempting...it's a recipe for a mama meltdown, most likely. Thank goodness I'm also planning to load up on a Martha recipe for sangria.

Because I'm a glutton for punishment and hold myself to high standards for entertaining out of town guests, I've also decided that it's absolutely *required* that we have a fire pit to sit by after the party's over. Can't you just see us, smartly dressed, perfectly sun-kissed, drinking sangria in front of our beautiful backyard bonfire? Anyone know how to build one...???

Summer Good Eats

Today I made this awesome looking Blueberry, Pear and Strawberry Crisp (similar to this Mixed Berry Crisp). It looks so awesome doesn't it? It's only half done here, and I guess maybe it could look like brains or something but I think it looks delicious. I'll never know.

We went to a friends for a BBQ and took this little treat with us. We figured the eating would commence before baby Pumpkin's bedtime, but come 6:30 no eating had commenced. Of course, we were the only people in the bunch with a kid, so no one else was in any sort of hurry to get anywhere. So, I really didn't care about the dinner, but I was really disappointed to leave my dessert there without even so much as a sliver for myself. Ho hum. Methinks tomorrow I'll just make another one.

I hope you had some delicious food and celebrating to honor our country and our freedom. Freedom fries, perhaps?

Stash to Treasure

After I cleaned up my craft room, I discovered many little treasures I had been keeping around for years, waiting for a purpose. What better purpose than to make them into something to sell on Etsy.com, eh? Of course some of the stash will be made into gifts, maybe some for my family, but ideally I'd like to get it out of my house and in the hands of a new owner.

This tote bag I put together over the last two nights. It was fun, and I hope someone likes it.

Tomorrow night I'm hoping to make one of those cute bird ornaments from Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. I'll let you know if it turns out.

My crafting in the kitchen last week turned up an amazing recipe. It's the Oven Crespella from Gourmet. It's a new favorite, it's SUPER easy, and it features copious amounts of Nutella. How can you go wrong!? Sunday I'm going to dinner at a friends, and I'm hoping to try Giada's Nutella Ravioli's. Any reviews?

Butter Pecan Me, ASAP

I went on a bit of a baking frenzy tonight. I made two things, both of the butter pecan variety. Why, you ask? Well, it's my dad and sister's birthdays (technically it was last weekend), and I wanted to make something other than the usual birthday cake.

First, I whipped up these truly phenomenal pecan shortbread cookies from Gourmet magazine. Can I just say how much I love Gourmet magazine? I'm not really that good of a cook, so I rely on Gourmet to put together awesome menus and have a great variety of stuff in each issue. And they even have a section of stuff that takes under 15 minutes! But, I digress.

I also made a batch of butter pecan ice cream out of my new Ben & Jerry's cookbook. I just pulled it out of the canister and it tastes like frozen whipped cream. I guess that's because that's sort of what it is. It is so freakin good I can't believe I didn't sit down with my spoonula and eat the whole thing myself.

Back to Gourmet. I am also making this month's vegetarian cassoulet for the birthday dinner. No one is a vegetarian and I've got some picky eaters of the under 6 variety, so we'll see if it goes over. Hopefully we don't have to order pizza. I guess we can always just eat ice cream and cookies and be done with it. That's all I need, really.

Baking Bread for Dummies

I like to bake bread, but I don't do it that often. When I was a kid, my mom would buy the frozen loaves and rise them and bake them herself. I just can't get that awesome smell out of my head, so I like to bake my own, too. I tried the bread machine, but it just doesn't quite cut it for me. So this weekend I tried out the awesome No Knead recipe I saw on Tastespotting. The bread was great, and tonight it made awesome sandwiches with chicken breast, fennel, muenster and spinach. Of course, also with some yummy mustard. Delish!