Photography 101- Duh. Adapt.

I just had to share. I made something yummy and found a spot in the house with much better natural lighting to take pictures. So exciting! Natural light is just lovely, and totally missing in my kitchen. Bummer. Fluorescent lighting abounds in the cooking space. I have my camera set to deal with that problem, which I forgot while taking the natural light photos this morning. Every one of my pictures was turning out blue. Seriously. Then I realized my error and my pictures (in my opinion) went from being Ice Queen palpable to something I'd actually present to guests and eat myself.

Check it out:

Still working out the kinks and learning all over again how to do the photography stuff. Does the milk look weird? I feel like the milk looks weird.

Learning! It's what's happening over here right now.

Enjoy!
-m

p.s. Happy New Year's Eve!

Cheese Enchiladas

I have spent what feels like a very good amount of time lately at other people's houses cooking, eating and celebrating all kinds of wonderful things. It's been a hoot and while I'm totally exhausted (still) I came away with some interesting new insights. Really, I gained new, important, valuable, eye opening information whilst celebrating my holidays away.

lovely Christmas dinner table

This is what I mean about always learning, by the way. I'm completely enthralled with the act and idea of learning something new, no matter how inconsequential it may seem to anyone else. For example, I recently made tamales at a good friend's house. This is the same fabulously roomy (space! What a hot commodity!) kitchen that housed our Wednesday Thanksgiving this year and where I spent a good day making ninjabread men in ugly sweaters (see pic below if you don't believe me). I noticed the same thing on all occasions- cleaning as you go. It happens. Seriously, I saw it.

This is how it went down: 

We prepped.
Then someone jumped in and washed everything we just used to prep. There were 4 or 5 of us, so those extra hands were nice, but on the day I was making cookies and just one other person was prepping and cooking wildly, then she did all the cleaning solo. 
Then we cooked some of the previously prepped stuff.
Then, like magic, someone cleaned it all up!*

When we sat down to eat, everything was cleaned and the kitchen was immaculate. It was impressive, to say the least. 

*Yes, sometimes it was me, but mostly it was not. I just stared in awe.

ninja bread men in ugly sweaters

I have heard about such things occuring, but I have never experienced them myself (or I wasn't paying attention, my mom's kitchen never seemed messy but I was probably off in la-la land while all that cleaning occurred) I cook mostly at home, alone in my decently sized but relatively tiny kitchen and I just make one mess after another. It's kind of how I seem to roll through life, leaving organized chaos in my midst. I know where it all is, but it looks kinda nutty to the casual observer.
Dylan is always commenting on my ability to take a spotless kitchen and go all tasmanian devil on it with one fail swoop of my wooden spoon.

It's a bit demoralizing, really. I never want to cook after I've spent a good chunk of time scrubbing the kitchen down. And cooking is what I really love to do. It's quite a conundrum.

This is when my frozen meals really blow my mind. I have about twenty frozen soups and pastas ready for just this moment, when my kitchen looks great and I'm spent and I do not particularly like to get takeout or eat out on week nights. I used to throw down some delicious frozen meals from trader joes on nights like this, but I feel a little better about the stuff I make myself. We do the occasional gnocchi, no lie, but I know all the ingredients in my frozen potato leek soup and that soothes my weary soul (ha! weary. a bit dramatic, I know).

homemade enchilada sauce

Here is one of our favorite meals I keep in the freezer. Just a note: it's such a fabulous recipe that I never get a chance to take a picture of the final result... how unsatisfying, I'm so very sorry. You'll just have to make it yourself to see what it looks like I guess. Then take a picture and send it to me so I have a frame of reference, ok?

These enchiladas were inspired by the Pioneer Woman's recipe for sour cream enchiladas. The only real change is the fact that I didn't like the ingredients in the enchilada sauce, so I made my own- dag nabbit.
I got this step, adding a bit of sauce to the mixture going in, from the custodian at my school. She gave me what is probably a killer enchilada recipe, but I haven't tried it yet because I'm so in love with this one. Soon! Soon.

By the way,  I'm under no delusion that these are 'healthy'. They are super tasty and satisfying and a great treat for after you've rolled out all the sod for your backyard (finally! yes! That happened! And I made enchiladas to celebrate! I love exclamation points! and cheese.)

Step by Step: Filling and rolling your enchiladas

Doing all these steps within the pan itself is genius and I thank my school custodian again for that tip. Makes so much sense! It's the kind of thing I might never ever think of myself.

Whenever I make these, I double the batch and make some more to freeze- though this batch makes two little 9x9 freezer trays pretty easily. This way, we never run out. Oh yeah. Enchiladas, always at hand. It's just how things work over here. 

Cheese Enchiladas
serves 6 (or two very hungry people twice with leftovers!)

inspired by the Pioneer Woman's Sour Cream Enchiladas 


print this recipe 

ingredients

2 15oz cans of tomato sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon+ chili powder (adjust to your taste)
1/2 tablespoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups sour cream
2 1/2 - 3 cups grated cheese (cheddar or jack work well)
about 1 cup chopped scallions
12 corn tortillas (or a flour/corn hybrid- I love those)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Get your 9x13 baking pan ready. 


Put the two cans of tomato sauce in a medium sauce pan over medium high/medium heat. Add the oil and the seasonings and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until the sauce retains that dark red color you know you're waiting for, about 10 minutes.
Mix the grated cheese, scallions and sour cream in a medium sized bowl. Add a dollop of the enchilada sauce and mix together.

Get your set up just right, I prefer to heat the tortillas up in the sauce as opposed to in oil, but you can use oil if you wish. I have a small frying pan loaded with some sauce heating up to about medium. Then I add the tortilla for a quick bath in the sauce, flip it over after about 15 seconds and then toss it in the 9 x 13 in pan, where you intend for it to end up, and fill it and roll it right in there. Continue with the rest of the enchiladas. Top with extra sauce and cheese and bake until the cheese is bubbly, 15-20 minutes.


Enjoy!
-m

Salted Caramel Bars

Happy Holidays!

I made these a few weeks ago, but the thought of them still makes my mouth water.

I hope your holidays went fabulously and that you are still reeling from it all.

Enjoy!
-m

for your reference (and mine, who am I kidding)

Can you tell I'm baking today? Gotta keep this handy! Here is the bigger version.

Enjoy!
-m

blueberry compote

You know what might be insightful, entertaining and educational? If everyone (ok, not everyone, but a select few people) shared everything they googled in a one week period of time. I'll start, because I'm good at sharing, with a few of my recent queries:

filet au poivere (I was mid-sear, wondering what comes first to the pan for a good saucy meat au poivere- peppercorns or brandy, my keyboard must wince every time I hover above it, wooden spoon or spatula in hand. I'd like to say I was planning ahead, but leaving meat to sear on the pan while I dash to the computer to figure out what to do right after I take the meat off the hot pan, was not in fact good planning).

ranger doug WPA (looking for some more art-type-stuff for the house, we love these WPA posters)

salt dough (project for work. When I taught preschool, I was all over the cool crafts. Since moving to 6th grade though, I often forget to plan for the crafty stuff as I get overwhelmed with the fractions, figurative language and adolescent drama- but not this holiday season! This holiday season we are turning fractions and figurative language into a crafty project where they will double a recipe, make the dough, cut out shapes and otherwise decorate it, then write about the process. We are totally doing that. Mess and all. Bring it on.)

compote (this word has been rolling around in my mind every single time I make this blueberry dish I'm about to share and I finally looked the darn word up to see if what I was making qualified as a 'compote'. It totally does according to wikipedia. )

map of Europe (long story)

I've said this before, I'm sure of it, and I'll say it again. I have only the faintest idea what I'm doing in the kitchen. Unlike some amazing and lucky food bloggers, I have not been trained in any of the realms of cooking. I just have my insane curiosity and propensity towards trying new things. This is all one big learning experience. So, I hesitate to use fancy shmancy (or lovely, fabulous and apt) words to describe what I'm doing. Compote? What's a compote? Well, it looks as though it might just be fruit cooked in syrup. I'm totally doing that, thus I'm comfortable-ish saying that I'm making a blueberry compote.

I have been making this particular bit of bubbling blueberry beauty since October Unprocessed- it is simply blueberries and a splash of maple syrup. It is now a staple in my weekly diet, I make it every Monday and use a tablespoon of it in my oatmeal (which has been my smoothie substitute in these 37 degree California mornings), I eat a bit of it with some tea for my after dinner treat. I find that a little goes a long way and it is very satisfying. The whole recipe lasts me until Friday. What will I do when I can't find blueberries? Make applesauce, duh.

I imagine that if you liked ice cream, I do not, you could drizzle this over some vanilla bean and call it a day. I do like a splash of cream on my blueberry compote when I'm feeling fancy, but ice cream is something I only really care for in a cone, on a hot day, walking down main street in Disneyland or along the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. I'm just crazy that way.

little splash of milk..mm..

This blueberry compote is another easy, quick, fairly healthy little addition to a meal. What would you do with it? I think the possibilities are endless. I often make it as I'm preparing my Monday night meal, and have it simmering while I cook. It doesn't need much attention, its no needy middle child (sorry middle children, I'm stereotyping there, forgive me).

Blueberry Compote 
print this recipe

2 cups (or about 4 or 5 handfuls, no need to be too crazy precise here)
2-3 tablespoons (or a nice, mellow drizzle) of real maple syrup

Pour your blueberries into a small/medium saucepan and turn the heat up to medium/medium high. Drizzle the maple syrup over the berries and stir gently. Heat until the berries darken and start to burst, about 3-5 minutes, releasing their juices and making the whole kitchen smell amazing.

Turn the heat down to low/medium low and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the juice thickens and the berries get a bit wrinkly.

Ta-Da! It's all yours now, do with it as you please.

Enjoy!
-m

food for thought

My name is Megan and last week I burnt caramel.

I burnt it, it smelled just like burnt sugar, but the optimistic side of me went right on ahead and poured that burnt, smoldering caramel onto the shortbread that was going to be part of the delectable caramel bars. Oops. You know what I learned, if it smells burnt. It's burnt. Leave it be or toss it out or make some caramel brittle. That would have been a good choice.

The next night, I made those caramel bars all over again to much more success, but in the process I found a few caramel recipes I really wanted to share and a few other delightful, interesting things as well.

food for thought

When I was making my caramel, I combined the caramel recipe I used for caramel apples with this fleur de Sel caramel recipe- I just really wanted to avoid the corn syrup step.

These salted caramel bars by What's Gaby Cooking were my inspiration for the caramel bars I ended up making- I used her shortbread recipe and I really loved the combination. I'll be sharing the whole process soon!

I taught preschool a while back, for quite a few years, and was a nanny for small children- so temper tantrums used be a big part of my daily life. This article on What's Behind a Temper Tantrum makes me feel a little bit better about my strategy for dealing with them- leave them be, make sure they are safe and so is everyone around them (they can really throw stuff in those tantrums!) but just let them get it out. I really enjoyed reading about the vocalizations the kids made during, the idea of studying this fascinates me. I would never, ever want to spend hours analyzing those screams and skirmishes but I'm glad someone else did!

I used to read the comics daily in our local news paper, and while I still receive the paper on the weekends (it seems so relaxing to me, paper and coffee and early-ish morning light) I still find ways to get my comics fix, here is one of them and here is another one (and a personal fav).

Enjoy!
-m

Leftovers Frittata: Staying Sane and Eating Well

I just hung up Christmas stockings. I went Christmas shopping at the Bazaar Bizarre in San Francisco, an amazing Etsy-licious craft fair. I bought some of my favorite gifts last year and I got some more fabulous handmade goodies this year. I can feel that holiday stress creeping up, but I honestly enjoy this time of year and revel in thinking about gifts to give and food stuffs to make. There is nothing that I enjoy more than giving people things that I hope will make them smile- and this time of year that is totally socially acceptable! Lovely! And all my goofy cooking experiments go up a notch with cookies and cinnamon rolls and the like. It's a messy fun time. 

leftovers heating up the night

But, the evenings can get weary. My students know the holiday energy is in the air and they get a little cooky. I come home exhausted frequently and I pour a good chunk of my energy into everything other than my daily meals, so this meal is a perfect thing to have on my weekly meal plan. In fact, it's on the plan almost every single week. Every Thursday, I take a bunch of the leftovers and make an easy, delicious frittata (or I make a soup, depending on if our meals were veggie heavy or pasta heavy).

The thing I love about this frittata is that it is so easily adaptable to what you have on hand and what you are craving.

It has just a few basic steps:

spinach, broccoli, potatoes, sausage and some seasonings/herbs added in for fun

Heat up some of your leftovers in a skillet that can handle the heat of the oven. I've often used leftover pasta dishes here- ones with a sauce are especially delicious. I also use any vegetables from the week (broccoli here, I chopped it up pretty small) and I just love adding spinach to the mix. I find it so satisfying to throw in a huge bunch of spinach and watch it shrink down. Add any seasonings you like as well as salt and pepper- I use trader joes '21 seasoning salute' that has a combination of the best stuff like onions, thyme, etc.

Next, mix 6-7 eggs with a bit of milk and pour it over the leftover mixture.

Cook it on medium, letting the edges get solid and then doing this thing here- drag the cooked parts to the center and let the ooey gooey parts fill in the empty void. I go around the edges and do this once, then it's time for the cheese. Maybe you know a better way to do this, but this works fabulously every time so this is how I like to roll, frittata style.

Grate some cheese of your choice, I used jack and cheddar here (I love mozzarella when I use pasta with a marinara sauce and sometimes I splurge and use goat cheese) and sprinkle it around the top of the frittata. Place the skillet in the oven, preheated to 350 degrees, for about 10-15 minutes or until the eggs have set (resist the temptation to get it 'golden' or 'crispy' unless you like overcooked eggs!)

Let it cool for a few minutes before you slice it up and serve it. Pair it with a little salad, a slice of homemade bread, whatever you please!

Leftovers Frittata 
print this recipe

ingredients

leftover pasta, meats, potatoes, vegetables- whatever you have in the fridge
any fresh vegetables you want to add
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper (to taste)
6-7 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup grated cheese (of your choice)


Preheat your oven to 350. Heat up the olive oil and your leftovers in a skillet that can handle the heat of the oven. I've often used leftover pasta dishes here- ones with a sauce are especially delicious. I also use any vegetables from the week and I just love adding spinach to the mix. I find it so satisfying to throw in a huge bunch of spinach and watch it shrink down.


Next, mix 6-7 eggs with a bit of milk and pour it over the leftover mixture.


Cook it on medium, letting the edges get solid and then doing this- drag the cooked parts to the center and let the ooey gooey parts fill in the empty void. I go around the edges and do this once, then it's time for the cheese.


Grate some cheese of your choice, I used jack and cheddar here (I love mozzarella when I use pasta with a marinara sauce and sometimes I splurge and use goat cheese) and sprinkle it around the top of the frittata. Place the skillet in the oven for about 10-15 minutes or until the eggs have set (resist the temptation to get it 'golden' or 'crispy' unless you like overcooked eggs!).

Let it cool for a few minutes before you slice it up and serve it. Pair it with a little salad, a slice of homemade bread, whatever you please!

Enjoy!
-m

Savory Whole Wheat Monkey Bread

When I was in 5th grade I read a book about a group of kids who were trying to raise or save money for..something, I'm not sure and that's not the the point, it's how they did it! They decided to make... toothpaste. Seriously. I swear this wasn't just one of my super odd dreams. I remember thinking 'you can't make toothpaste!' and I was amazed that they did. They even had a recipe for the toothpaste in the back of the book. I was impressed and I started looking at everything around me and wondering how to make it myself (one thing that kept me up at night- what was in windex? why was it blue? Oh, the things I concerned myself with seem so strange now, but they seemed so vital at the time).

I bring this up because I have those 'toothpaste' moments a lot lately. You can make wheat thins? goldfish crackers? That just blows my mind. Maybe you already knew that, and if you did- why didn't you tell me?? Hello! Share please! 

Since I beg you to share, it only seems fair to share one of my favorite 'oh no you didn't' moments in the kitchen recently. I make bread. No really, like homemade bread. What? That's no big deal? Well, it's whole wheat or whatever, so there's that. And it's easy. Seriously. I mix up a few ingredients in a big ol' tub and put it in the fridge, then I take out a chunk when I get home from work and turn it into a cute little loaf of bready fabulousness. I use this whole grain recipe and I love having it in my fridge.

So, when I saw this savory monkey bread recipe I thought I had to give it a try using the bread dough I already had in my fridge. What a cheater- I know! But isn't that the thing with 'traditional' (ha!) monkey bread? Don't people use biscuit dough or the like? I thought I was having a stroke of genius. I rolled out the dough. I diligently cut it up and rolled it around in delicious dill butter. Then I baked it and gobbled it up. Well, some of it. Then I tried a bit more. But. Hm. It was missing something. Yep. Missing something for sure. Don't you just hate that?

my hopes were so high

I thought it was maybe a 7 out of 10. It was good and the dill butter was phenomenal. I was afraid of dill before this (don't laugh) but now I'm totally in love with it. That's why I chose to include some rosemary. But I felt like I was left with an unsatisfied feeling in both. Maybe it was those amazing pictures from the recipe, maybe they set my expectations too high. It was good, and I'd make it again, but I wanted this to really float my boat and it didn't.

a little rosemary action

I thought it had so much potential though, so much so that I made it again the next day but made a batch of the dough that went with the original recipe, but I made it whole wheat-ish. It smelled so amazing, but it tasted pretty much the same to me (don't hate!). It did get me thinking though and I loved using my super easy bread dough to make something very different. It's these experiences that keep me coming back to cooking even when I'm tired or feeling burnt out. I'm just too curious to leave it be. I love when I'm cooking and I think 'what if...' I'm going to attempt some more savory monkey bread recipes soon. I'll let you know how that goes. And if you do, by all means, share!


If you want to make anything from above here are the links for your reference:


Whole What Bread Dough with Vital Wheat Gluten

Savory Monkey Bread with Dill Butter 

Enjoy!
-m

Thanksgiving Wrap Up

The Highlights:

Cider-Glazed Turkey from Food and Wine magazine: This was an amazing turkey. I especially loved the butter soaked cheesecloth that was draped over the turkey prior to cooking and remained there until we pulled it out of the oven. Peeling the cheesecloth off the bird and revealing a perfectly cooked, brown, crispy, gorgeous turkey was just about the most exciting thing ever. No, really. We 'oohed' and 'awed' very loudly. Gorgeous and delicious, this recipe is a keeper.

slightly overcooked but delicious stuffing muffins

Lemony Mushroom and Pine Nut Stuffing Muffins from Food and Wine magazine (say that 5 times fast!): Brioche, cream, lemon juice, toasted pine nuts, a multitude of mushrooms and a splash of stock make this an amazing stuffing recipe. The muffin idea is a cute one, but not super practical. I made two batches of this; one was cooked too long (45 minutes- too long!) but the muffins stayed together when removed from the pan, the other was cooked just long enough (35 minutes- perfect!) but they fell apart very easily. I would make this again in a heartbeat, but I think I'd go more traditional. The novelty of the 'muffin' wore off quick.

Brie and Pear baked in Phyllo Dough: This was a recipe of a friends of a friends, or a family member of a friend of a friends, I'm not sure but it was amazing. So simple, and a soon to be staple- I can just see it. It's quite simple, if I'm remembering it correctly, cut up a pear or two, saute in a few tablespoons of brown sugar and butter. Put a bit of brie (triangle, circle, whatever) in the center of the phyllo dough sheets, pour the pear/sugar/gorgeousness on top and fold the dough over it. Bake until brown and melty inside. This was heavenly.We gobbled it up with crackers in what seemed like seconds.

Candied Mandarin Oranges and Cranberries from Bon Appetit: Hm. I loved the idea of this recipe, but in reality it wasn't so great. The issue I had was with the oranges- I couldn't get them to carmelize in the oven. Seriously. They had been under the broiler for 10 minutes and nothing, could have been user error. Also, the center of the oranges were tough and hard to eat. I would just use pieces of oranges instead of the whole thing next time, even if it is not as gorgeous. The cranberries cooked in the orange syrup were my favorite part- I saved them and served them the next day with some cheese and crackers. I had planned to photograph this entire recipe, and I did, but since it was hardly what I think of as a success, I won't be sharing it. I wish I had taken the time to photograph the stuffing! Darn.


Pecan, Bourbon, and Butterscotch Bread Pudding from Bon Appetit: Wow. That's all I can say here. Wow. This was such a winner. I'm making this again, and soon. I have to share the whole process, it's just too easy and delicious not to. You prepare the bread pudding the night before, which makes it super easy the day of. The butterscotch sauce is so easy and a perfect addition to the bread pudding. The poppy seeds add a touch of interest to the look- you know bread pudding can be kind of.. odd looking. The flavors in this were so fabulous- the vanilla bean especially. Try it!

pecan tarts!

There were many other amazing food offerings- pecan tarts, brussel sprouts and bacon, cake pops, spice cake, potato gratin and cheesy mashed potatoes- but these were the ones that especially stood out to me. I want to remember these for next year! Anything you especially enjoyed about your turkey day? Share!  :)

Enjoy
-m

Leek and Potato Soup

 I plan my meals pretty religiously each week. I buy mostly what we need for each recipe, but sometimes I buy a bag of carrots instead of just the one or two I need. Who doesn't? Seems normal to me. But it means I end up with weird left over things in the fridge and pantry. I almost always have a potato on hand. They have a very distinct odor when they start to go sour, those darn unused potatoes.

That's why, when I decided to make this soup because I had all the necessary goodies on hand, I decided to just use the rest of the stinkin' (well, not literally thank goodness) potatoes. The recipe calls for two, I used three. What's the big deal? It's just one extra potato. Extra heartiness, right?

Then it hits me. I'm thinking of tweaking this recipe, I'm not doing exactly what it says to do. Whoa. That's big for me in the cooking world, or it would have been in 2006.  I'm still such a.. what's the word? I still have a lot to learn. But I'm much more comfortable these days with using what I have to make a meal. That wasn't the case years ago. I would have just let that potato rot.
Because really, what do you do with just one potato?

I like to keep a tidy workspace. Ha! I was planning to freeze the leftovers and had these containers on the counter, it made for easy and clean prepping!

I have noticed the same thing with my running. I have a lot of gadgets and gizmos for running- gps watch, multiple water solutions, a cleverly disguised fanny pack, tons of technical gear. When I first started really running regularly years ago, I thought in order to be a real 'runner person' I would need some serious gear. Stuff. I read the magazines, they said buy the stuff. I read the reviews, I bought some of the stuff.

I love knowing I'm going to puree a soup- pieces cut funky? Who cares!

Now, like with cooking, I'm realizing that you don't need all that extra stuff all the time. I don't have to follow all the directions I hear and read all the time. The recipes. The reviews. The must-haves. The get-nows. I still love my gps watch just like I love my immersion blender, but I'm not taking it on every run.

People cook without recipes, without all this stuff, and they run without all this stuff as well. What exactly have I learned? I'm not really sure. I feel like I need a big moral of the story here, but I'm still figuring it all out. I'm just now noticing the pattern, that I'm relying less on the stuff and more on myself. It's kinda nifty. Sometimes it rocks, and sometimes I use one too many potatoes and make more of a mashed potato and leek thing than a soup. Then I realize I can just add more stock and a bit of milk and voila! Soup once again.

It was about this point, after simmering for 15 minutes, that I realized I'd made a starchy mess. Luckily, it was a delicious starchy mess.

This is one soup I make pretty often, it's pretty classic. I added some mascarpone cheese and whole milk to up the ante a bit and whoa, it didn't go unnoticed. Even with that extra potato heartiness.

Leek and Potato Soup
adapted from one of those cookbooks without an author that I'm unable to find online. What's up with that? 

print this recipe

ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 leeks chopped (whatever you can find or have on hand!)
3 potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 1/2 - 4 cups of vegetable stock
2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese)
1/3 cup milk
salt and pepper
chives or green onions for garnish


Melt the butter in your big ol' soup pot. Add the onions, leeks and potatoes and cook for 5-7 minutes until they cook through a bit.

Pour in the 3 1/2 cups of stock and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

Take the soup off the heat when the veggies are all soft and fabulous. Puree with your preferred method of doing so- immersion blender, blender, whatever you please, then pour it back into the pot and bring the heat to medium low. Add the mascarpone cheese and stir to combine, not that anyone would complain if they got a little chunk of that cheese on their spoon. Add the milk, salt and pepper to taste- as well as any more stock if you desire a thinner soup. Garnish with chives or green onions.

Enjoy!
-m

food for thought: Rain!

This has been one of those weeks where no amount of sleep is enough. I went to bed last night before 9, and I woke up at 5:30 and I'm still tired. I could make a daunting list of all the thoughts swimming in my mind, but I don't particularly care to right now. Instead, I'm heading towards distraction-ville. Where I won't think about the fact that it's going to be a straight up rain storm on Sunday, the day I signed up to run a crazy 13.1 miles in Monterey. Check it out:

 

from weather.com

  Yep.

So, I would like a distraction. That's where the lovely internet comes into play.

Food for Thought

My food/life/whatever blog is pretty much a youngin. It hasn't been around very long and I'm always looking for ways to make it better,  to have more fun blogging and all that jazz. I've read quite a few posts about it on other blogs, but none as succinct, honest and enjoyable as this one. 
I especially like his suggestion about recipes that work- I tried a penne with cheese pasta last night from a food blog that tasted good but looked like vomit, I'd never serve it to a crowd, and I'm not sure I want to check out that blog again.

Do you ever have to ask people what date would work best for them for a family gathering, meeting, vacation, coffee talk? I hope so! If not, you may be bossy. Telling people when to meet and what to do.. I know you. If you want their opinion in the planning process- I highly suggest this site for a quick, easy survey of dates when people are free. I really love it!  (and the name. doodle? Come on! Could you love it any more?)

Wreaths. Love them, or hate them? I'm going through a 'love them' phase right now. I was insanely jealous of everyone's kooky Halloween wreaths a while back and now I am bound and determined to acquire a fabulous one for the winter festivities- I'm using these as inspiration.

And this. This Chicago deep dish pizza is on my list 'to make very, very soon but probably not until December soon'.

My husband is an avid mountain biker and our lovely, large dog sometimes gets to go with him on his adventures- here is another biking duo that is almost as cute as the duo I live with. This video really made me smile, it was just what I needed. Isn't little Lily just the cutest darn thing?

I woke up this morning and sauntered out to the kitchen to get a cup of glorious coffee, only to notice I hadn't left the coffee pot in the coffee maker which had done it's job and automatically made the coffee I diligently prepared last night- all over the counter, the floor..

After cleaning that mess up, I made another pot of coffee and decided to start my day with a bit of chocolate. You would agree that that was the wisest choice at the time, wouldn't you? Here's the kicker. It's not just chocolate. It's like holiday happiness in a wrapper, it's the most amazing chocolate to grace my kitchen junk drawer (that's where I hide my chocolate, shh). A good friend of mine recently traveled to the wonderful city of Portland, Oregon and was willing to share a bit of this, holy moly delicious chocolate, and I suggest you get on that website and buy some yourself. It's amazing, really. I take teeny tiny bites so as to savor the bar for days. Mm. It's gingerbread chocolate for goodness sakes! I'm not sure how I survived so many holiday seasons without it.

I teach a lot about writing, in 6th grade writing can be such a blast and I think literary devices make it even more fun- but so hard to teach at times. I think I need a big print of this in my classroom- it sums the literary devices up so well!

Is anyone else as excited about Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me getting a tv show? If you have no clue what I'm talking about, you are missing out my friend.

That's quite a bit of distraction, just the perfect recipe for my tired mind and hopefully yours, not that I hope you are tired.. you know what I mean.

Enjoy!
-m

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I did that thing I'm not supposed to do.

I tried a new chocolate chip cookie recipe.

After October Unprocessed I was left curious about how I can make some of my favorite things less processed. I had tried to simply add whole wheat or raw sugar to other recipes and found that it doesn't always work that easily. Sometimes you need a recipe that is tailored to the new ingredients, so I turned to a cookbook I haven't used much but that I drool over often, Good to the Grain.

The only thing I wanted to change in the recipe was the sugar. I've been noticing that refined sugar makes me jittery and makes it hard for me to sleep, so I've been using raw sugar or honey whenever I can. This would be my grand experiment with these cookies- make them whole wheat, as the recipe suggests, but to change the sugars to raw sugar, honey and molasses.

The recipe calls for 1 cup of refined sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar. I used 1 cup of raw sugar and 1/4 cup of molasses and 1/4 cup of honey. I was worried about the moisture I was adding, more than I was worried about the flavors. That's why I started with the small amounts, 1/4 cup seemed small but also seemed like a lot of a much more viscous liquid than the sugars I was replacing.

Here I was, sitting in my kitchen doing math. I'm totally going to use this in a math lesson, as I do often. I bring in my recipes where I have halved or doubled a recipe and had to do real life math, adding fractions or converting them to decimals since me and fractions have a love/hate/super despise relationship. The kids always seem in awe of the chicken scratch pencil math above the recipes and the crumbs I so proudly leave in the crevices of my cookbook. It's fun. It's real.

The dough was much darker than your average cookie dough but it tasted amazing. The baked cookies were even more so. But the darkness of the dough did make it hard to identify when they were done in the oven, golden? They were golden to begin with! I went with a dark golden. I'm such a smarty pants with that one, eh? I actually always use the bottom of the cookies to tell when they are 'done'. I really really don't like crunchy cookies, so I just check the bottom of one cookie. If it looks golden, crispy and solid (as in, will provide a solid base as opposed to a floppy base) then they are done even if the tops looks less than done.

I wish I had made more. I want to have these around always. They were that good. Don't get me wrong, they were definitely a 'healthy' version of a cookie but they didn't taste like a cracker or a muffin (if you have ever attempted to convert any traditional recipe to a 'whole wheat' or healthy alternative I'm sure you'll know what I mean there- one time I tried to make whole wheat cookies and Dylan walked in the front door and asked me why I was making homemade cereal. That's just how it smelled, like I was making homemade bran flakes).
They were all cookie and all delicious. They were moist and chewy and the chunks of chocolate were just perfect. You can make them super large, 3 tablespoons of dough (!), or smaller, 1 tablespoon worked as well.

Even after a few days in an airtight container, they were still moist and tasty.

 
If you are looking for a healthy twist on a favorite, give these a try. I plan to include them in my cookie rotation.

Whole Wheat Cookies
adapted from Good to the Grain

click here for printable recipe

ingredients

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
8 ounces cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces dark chocolate, cut into medium-large chunks (depending on what you prefer)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, line your baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together and set it aside.

Add the raw sugar and butter to the bowl of a mixer and mix on low speed until the mixture has blended. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the honey and molasses, waiting until it is mixed together before adding each. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.

Add the flour to the wet mixture and stir until it is combined, then stir in the chocolate. The cookies were best when made large, about 3 tablespoons of dough, but also worked well with about 1 tablespoon of dough. Decide what size to make your cookie and drop the dough on the cookie sheets. Bake the large cookies for 14-18 minutes, and the smaller ones for 12-16 minutes. Keep your eye on them, pull them out when they are golden, but not dark, around the edges. I take them out before they seem done, when a finger pressed into the cookie leaves a little dent. but I'm crazy and love moist cookies.

They kept well for 3 days in an airtight container.

Enjoy!
-m