Week 8, Day 5 - Dessert Before Dinner

Remember when I told you cakes were taking over my life?  It didn't stop.  I mean, it has now - temporarily - but I haven't finished telling you about the cake streak.  So here's two more before a week-long lull.  First, a cake for my son's friend's (or my friend's son's - confused, yet?) 4th birthday.  I made a pirate ship cake and attempted to ice it so it looked like wood.  It was great, too, because when looking at it you tend to assume it must be chocolate or vanilla of sorts, but no.  This was a carrot cake with cream cheese icing.  If I had been responsible, I would have snapped a shot of the cake baked, pre-decorating, or a shot after it was cut.  I have never claimed to be very responsible, though.  So, take my word for it - inside is a carrot cake chock full of 6 cups of carrot!  I received rave reviews from it's attackers eaters.  One person had me repeat "Smitten Kitchen dot com" three times before (like any smart man does) turning to his wife and saying "Will you remember that?"  I even received texts later that night about the leftovers and further comments days after the party.  All over carrot cake - who knew?

The next cake was for my grandmom's 80th birthday.  I don't think I've told you about my grandmom - the one who, even at 80, has more energy in one day then I can probably muster in a week's time.  The one who also is cooler than I in that she follows sports so closely we are taking her to a Phillies game in June with her decked out in the new jersey she received.  It will be a wonder if I can name more than three players.  Anyway, I made a strawberry cake with cream cheese icing (think I bought a lot of cream cheese this week?).  I failed on the decorating.  See, at this party my grandmom is "grandmom" to me but is also mom, mother-in-law, great-grandmom, and friend.  Not wanting to be selfish and let the grandmom title trump all, I simply wrote "Happy Birthday" on the cake.   Which is fine, except the cake is called a pink lady cake and is all cute and pink inside.  But do you think I wrote in pink?  Noooo - blue in fact - what was I thinking?  And in retrospect, I really should have skipped it all and just drew a Phillies logo to go with the gift.  Eh, I was told the cake was a lovely combination of strawberries and pound cake, so I'm thinking no one notice the icing faux pas.

Now that you've had your dessert, you need to eat your dinner.  We've been chickening it up around here the past two nights.  Tuesday night we had cranberry-walnut chicken salad tucked into soft wraps served with roasted sweet potato discs with a cheese, nut, and celery topping.  I love chicken salad only when it's decked out with things like cranberries and walnuts.  Always a bonus too when not only your husband is "Mmm"ing through dinner, but your kids are too.  Last night we had chicken legs topped with a dijon wine sauce.  Few things are quite as cute as watching your two year old chomp directly into his own chicken leg.  But I think the salad was the kicker - a bed of arugula topped with green beans and potatoes.  Something about putting potatoes in a green salad is new but genius to me.

- Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing
- Pink Lady Cake
- Cranberry-Walnut Chicken Salad
- Sweet Potato with Pecans and Goat Cheese
- Roast Chicken with Dijon Sauce
- Arugula, Potato, and Green Bean Salad

Week 7, Day 6 - Hello 100!!

As the craziness of life has begun to creep up on me, this project has somewhat fallen to the wayside.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still cooking in the Smitten Kitchen every night for dinner.  But I've lost the zeal for lunch and breakfast recipes and baking just because I feel like it.  I'm not too concerned - it will return.  However, amidst all the busyness, I complety neglected the fact that at the end of week six I reached the 100 recipe mark!!  Woohoo!  And, if you refer back to the ridiculous calculations I presented here (Eh, maybe don't refer back.  Just take my word for it.) you will see that I was actually ahead of schedule!  Which will make up a bit for my recent streak of laziness.  So now, let's catch up, shall we?  

We kicked off the week with a late night Mexican dinner called Migas with Chipotle Coulis (or, if you're my husband, "something Spanish").  Here's the jist of it all:  You make a savory coulis - think pureed goodness - of tomato, onion, and chipotle and top that with this cooked mix of chorizo, homemade corn chips, and scrambled eggs.  Then, if you're me, top it with cheddar cheese and serve with sour cream.  Straight up, the dish is not attractive.  But you're tastebuds will love it and one bite will have your eyes forgiving you.

Tuesday was Valentine's day which means basically nothing in our house.  However, it ended up being a good excuse to make a themed craft at playdate and while my friends took care of that, I made lunch.  Because it was supposed to be cold and snowy, I made this roasted tomato soup that sounded heavenly mostly because it is topped with a crouton "lid".  Deb makes these in individual mugs which are so cute that next time it will be motivation enough to go out and buy some oven-proof mugs.  Alas, having none, I settled with a pot and 12 mini croutons.  And though the snowy afternoon actually became a gorgeous warm day, the failure of meal-matching-weather did not spoil the deliciousness.  For dinner I made what I deemed a quintessential Valentine's day food - mushroom lasagna.  Something about Valentine's day makes me think Italian restaurant (hey, it's where my girl Sue got to go!) so I thought this lasagna fit the Italian bill but in a more grown-up way. Lasagna does not need to have red sauce.

On Wednesday I spent three hours in my kitchen baking six layers of two very different types of cake (more on these later).  Needless to say, I made dinner easy.  Linguine with an almond pesto.  The fresh basil and Deb's gorgeous beach-town pictures make this a wonderful summer dish.  Ah, summer...I can dream, right?

We went out with a bang last night - short ribs on a bed of Swiss chard and pearl onions topped with a horseradish cream and sided up with creamy mashed potatoes.  Woah, I know.  We bought the short ribs this past weekend from the farm - a couple days defrosting, an overnight marinade, then hours braising in the oven led to a fall-off-the-bone red meat goodness that we sadly do not enjoy often enough.  Oh - and just when you start to feel like you know it all...My mashed potatoes came out gummy.  This was strike two.  Strike one was Christmas day when I was asked "Why are the potatoes like caramel"?  Who messes up mashed potatoes and who does it twice?  Well, I determined to get to the bottom of it, and I did - overmixing.  You see, in an attempt to move things along and also avoid using any extra ounce of energy, I came up with the brilliant idea to make them in my food processor.  Bad idea!  Lesson learned and hopefully lesson taught as well.

Finishing up the second of two cakes tomorrow, so expect sweetness ahead.

- Migas with Tomato-Chipotle Coulis

- Roasted Tomato Soup with Broiled Cheddar

- Mushroom Lasagna

- Linguine with Tomato-Almond Pesto

- Braised Beef Short Ribs

*New here?  Check out this post for all the details on the project!*

Week 7, Day 1 - Birthday Cakes and Tales

Cakes, cakes, cakes!  They are beginning to take over my life.  I suppose there are worse things that could take over your life, though, so no complaining.  This past week I made two birthday cakes for two very different women in my life.

The first cake was for a woman in my church whose age I was told not to make public though if I look and live half as good as her at that age I hope to have it shouted from the mountaintops on my birthday.  Let's just say this woman will tell stories of my mom bringing me to the nursery as a baby and I was by no means the first of the babies she watched - she had been doing it for years before I was even born.  She has a great sense of humor - loves to laugh - yet has a sensitive side she is never afraid to show.  Perfect example of this - when I first presented her with the cake, she laughed and laughed.  She was as giddy as a child - unbelieving that someone had made her a cake.  Yet, when we lit a candle and sang to her, she was so overwhelmed with emotion she hid her face and had to work through tears just to be able to blow the candle out.  Sight hindered by tears, though, when she went in to blow the candle out she knocked her face in the top edge of the cake, laughing the whole time.  Laughing and crying and so full of life, further inspiration for the life I hope to grow into.

Oh wait, did you want to know about the cake too?  It was a vanilla cake with lemon curd filling and a pearly white meringue icing.  Admittedly, I did not have any.  As it is, on the whole I do not like cake, but I especially do not favor any lemon desserts (With the exception of those lemon Girl Scout cookies.  Tried them for the first time and am obsessed.  Cursed bubbly girls in uniform get me every time with those cookies).  Sorry, I'm digressing into the woes of Girl Scout cookie season (which are hardly woes) - the cake!  Despite not trying any myself, I can tell you I brought it to this church dinner a whole 8in cake and - despite the chocolate, marble, and coconut cakes and brownies it had for competition - I received a clean plate back at the end of the night.  To even further it's credit, I rushed this recipe to it's breaking point - literally.  I was in such a hurry, I took the cake out far before cooling, managing to keep one layer somewhat in tact but having to strategically piece the other back together on the plate.  I also hurried the cooling process of each step in the freezer.  But all was well - cakes are strong like that.

The other cake and it's recipient - completely different tale.  She's an old gal as well, but I can say this only because she manages to beat me to 27 by two months.  Kim was my best friend in high school, keeping close though hours apart throughout college, bridesmaids in one another's weddings, pregnant with our first kids only a couple months apart, and continue having dinner with two of our other childhood bests every month.  Each month has a cuisine theme, and February being Kim's birthday month she chose a Caribbean island dinner.  She particularly chose an espresso chiffon cake which may not sound very fitting but that's only because I have yet to inform you that while each layer of cake was soaked in sugar-laden espresso they were soaked in an equal amount of rum.  I've watched enough of this guy to know rum is enough of an island drink to satisfy our dinner party.  As if espresso and rum weren't enough, it was further layered and covered with a fudge icing that made my chocolate-loving heart melt.

So quick, find yourself a friend to make a cake for.  Or a stranger.  Or yourself.  Not sure if most people need a reason to make a cake as delicious as these.

Lemon LayerCake
Espresso Chiffon Cake with Fudge Frosting

Week 6, Day 5 - Easy Soup, Salads, and Pizza

We haven't been feeling too well around these parts lately.  Well, I  haven't been feeling too well.  The wonders of winter - stuffy nose, itchy throat, the norm.  All I wanted for dinner were comfort foods.  So Monday night we enjoyed a very simple cauliflower soup alongside a loaded tuna salad and a simple Caesar salad with homemade dressing.  The soup was very much like a thin potato soup - I know people have swapped these two vegetables in other recipes and I hear cauliflower provides a bit more nutrients than the classic baking potato (though I have no intention of leaving my potatoes in the dust - ever).  The tuna salad had a great array of flavors in it - especially for a girl who typically only adds mayonnaise.  I think the addition of pine nuts was my favorite, though.

On Tuesday we had pizza.  I can hardly think of anything I'd rather eat when I'm not feeling well (or even when I am feeling well).  I made a broccoli rabe and onion pizza.  I've never tried broccoli rabe, so I was pretty excited to take the plunge.  It was not what I anticipated - much leafier - but it held up well in flavor.  My only complaint about the pizza was the amount of onion.  I think I would have been more ok with it had the onion bee cut into think rings or half-moons, but this onion was died and roasted and it just didn't do it for me.  I was a good girl and took my taste-testing bites, but then resorted to scraping most of it off, child-style.

I wasn't home for dinner last night - the husband helped in clearing out some leftovers - but I did make a cake for a dinner party I went to.  More on that and our guest of honor later.

2/6
- Silky Cauliflower Soup
- Deb's Caesar Salad Dressing
- Dill-Pepperoncini Tuna Salad

2/7
- Pizza with Broccoli Rabe and Roasted Onions

Week 6 - Baking Extravaganza (And a Dip...)

I promise you I am not a slacker.  You wouldn't know this seeing as how after not posting for two days I'm coming to you armed only with three desserts and a simple dip.  Where are the dinners?  Well, they've been scarce around here, that's for sure.  I had some planned, but time ran a bit short, desire for them died out, and someone cooked for us last night so I'm coming empty-handed.  But I've brought you three desserts.

First came the cake.  A blood orange olive oil cake to be exact.  The flavors blended nicely and I was impressed by the strength the orange flavor held.  The one drawback was this cute little process of "supreming the oranges".  Basically, get the orange off it's peel and membrane while still salvaging a decent amount of orange.  Oh dear.  At least my hands smelled fresh afterwards.  I don't even have a pictures to show for all my work.

No worries, though, because next came the cookies and there are few things for me that can not be improved when cookies have been made.  First, another recent post of Deb's because it seems her recent recipes have really been catching my eye.  Potato chip cookies.  Don't judge.  Not until you have made them and tasted them and after that if you still turn up your nose you can just bring the rest over to me.  Because I thought they were perfect - buttery and sweet with just a slight edge of crisp saltiness.  Indulge your curiosity and try them.

If potato chip cookies are too strange for you, how about some classic chocolate chip cookies instead?  Deb's favorite, in fact.  And I can understand why.  These beauties were chunky with the much longed-for chewy soft centers and crisp edges.  Drop the nuts if you're allergic, and I think the cookies would suffer little.

Finally last night I threw together a quick dip to bring to a game night at a friend's house.  Literally thrown together as you toss a few ingredients into a food processor, mix it up, and (if you're me) juggle it immediately out the door with kids in tow.  It's not the most attractive dip, but I know few dips that are truly attractive in their mashed up glory.  But it was quite tasty and I argue that more of it would have gone if we hadn't run out of crackers.  Note - one box is not enough.

So really, Renee - Why have you been so distant/busy?  

Alright, I'm not here to self-advertise.  But remember that cake I baked last week?  Well, I completed the project at the end of this past week.  You can see the results here.  As much as this blog is about cooking through the Smitten Kitchen, I worked hard on said project so encouragement over there is always welcome!

2/1 (Oh yea, I baked on Wednesday.  It took me this long to get it up)
- Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
- Potato Chip Cookies
- Our Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/4
- White Bean Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Week 5, Day 5 - Indian Food and Some Expletives

In the precious movie Julie and Julia, Julie Powell comes to a turn in her endeavor of cooking through Mastering the Art of French Cooking that she dreads - aspics.  Now, I wouldn't dare compare anything in the Smitten Kitchen to the gelatinous mess of a savory aspic.  Seriously, Julie Powell was a much braver woman than I to attempt such a feat.  However, I tapped a bit into that feeling of dread earlier this week when I forced myself to pick out some Indian cuisine for this week's menu.  Dreading...dreading...dreading.

There isn't one particular thing about Indian food I dislike - it's more of a culmination of events.  The spices, mainly, but also the ever-presence of chickpeas just doesn't jive with my tastebuds.  Fortunately, Deb's list of Indian fare is short - less than 10 recipes from what I remember - but I thought better to take some of it on now before I reach December and have a week full of Indian meals before me.

I will say that the meal came together quite easily.  Chana masala  is what I would define as a sort of Indian chili.  Chickpea and tomato based and loaded with Indian spices of every kind.  Now, Deb instructs you to make the investment and buy all these spices which I'm sure is great advice if you like Indian cuisine because you will then surely tap into them again.  However, if you're like me and cooking it merely to fulfill a project or you simply want to try it for the first time, I suggest going to Whole Foods where you may conveniently purchase a wide variety of spices in bulk and by bulk I mean 15 cents worth, which is exactly what I did.  I tasted the dish before letting it sit for a while and though it had some kick it was nothing compared to what it was after some time simmering.  My gracious husband ate his entire bowlful by taking a swig of milk between each bite then triumphantly yelling "FINISHED!" when he reached the end.

Alongside I made vegetable fritters with a curry lime yogurt dip - think latkes with many more vegetables.  I relished in the thought of my boys scarfing down vegetables for dinner and even explained to my son they are like pancakes and even come with "dippies" on the side.  He didn't object - even took a bite.  And here's where the expletives come in.  Alright, expletives was a total coy to get you to read, but in all honestly what he said should be considered expletives at the dinner table.  First was "This is disgusting!"  Well, unaware that he even knew what this word was, my husband and I failed in our parenting skills and both burst out laughing. Now egged on by the laughter, he followed it up with "Pee-you!" and "That's Gross!".  I did compose myself enough to instruct that he is never to react that way when someone cooks for him, but still allowed another night of noodles for dinner.  Apparently the boy has his mother's love of Indian food in him.  I, however, did not mind the fritters nearly as much and my husband even raved about the dip.  For being some of the most dreaded meals on the list, the night could have been much worse.

2/2
- Chana Masala
- Indian-Spiced Vegetable Fritters

Week 5, Day 3 - More Please!

Oh my goodness, as I write about tonight's dinner all I can think of is how badly I wish we were still eating it.  One of those meals in which you don't even want something sweet to follow it up because you want the taste of dinner to linger as long as possible in your mouth.  Nothing super fancy - not by a long shot - but flavorful beyond measure.

First, we start with the chicken.  Deb actually only recently posted this recipe - I mean, possibly last week if I can recall correctly - but it sounded so simply wonderful I wanted to take it on right away.  I only started marinating it this morning, though Deb suggests doing so anywhere from 24 to 48 hours in advance, but I don't know the chicken suffered for it (probably because I don't know what I'm missing from the longer marinade).  A buttermilk, garlic, paprika mixture that came together in seconds and brought plain chicken legs to a level of deliciousness I was hoping for.  I made six legs, thinking 3 for the husband, 2 for me, and 1 for the kids if I could get them to eat it.  If?  Heh - I couldn't get them to stop eating it.  When they had finished one and half my second one I selfishly cut them off.  A girl's gotta eat, too.

No worries because I made a green bean salad on the side that also had my older son asking for more.  Seriously, a two year old saying "Mmmmm" is the best compliment any food dish can receive.  This side dish is one that, had it not been for this project of insanity, I probably would have never tried.  Never a fan of green beans and really what is fennel?  But yet again - the beauty of forcing yourself to make and eat things you normally wouldn't.

I have some desserts planned for this week - so stick with me through this dinner exclusivity for a bit.  I promise things will get sweeter (oh the pun...).

1/31
- Buttermilk Roast Chicken
- Green Bean Salad with Fried Almonds

Week 5, Day 2 - Southern Cooking

Weather reports are predicting the next couple of days to be nearly in the 60's.  I would never complain about such lack of sincere Jersey winter weather.  However, it has put a twist on my plan to cook most of the winter food in the Smitten Kitchen.  I mean, who wants to eat a hot bowl of chili when you feel compelled to wear nothing heavier than a light sweater?

Fortunately for this week's menu, today was a typical winter day so we felt no remorse warming up to some chili and cornbread.  What my husband affectionately referred to as "southern food".  He went crazy over the thought of having cornbread with dinner, which goes to show that I have never made cornbread for us before.  Selfishly because I don't like cornbread.  Well, I didn't like cornbread, until tonight that is.  Of course I cook Smitten Kitchen's cornbread and suddenly I can't remember how many pieces I've had.  Honestly, it had a lot to do with it's partnering up with the chili.  I didn't care for it much on it's own.  But slathered in butter or sopping in chili - albeit cheating - worth the happiness it brought to the hubby.

The chili was a bean chili, which I especially appreciate as I don't always feel up for defrosting and cooking meat.  I've made vegetarian chili before and my recipe wasn't far off from this one.  Nothing that blew me away, but on this last day of winter weather for a little bit, it hit the spot.

1/30
- Deb's Three-Bean Chili
- Cornbread with Cheddar, Jalepeno, and Green Onions

Week 5 - Let's Catch Up!

Well hello there!  I get so used to being here every day, that when I miss two days I feel like I have been gone for weeks!  I apologize for my absence - I was vacationing in Mexico  gambling in AC  catching up on sleep - alright, truth be told I was being culinarily lazy.  I hardly made anything and even forgot to take pictures of some of them!  Ah well, let's catch up.

Let's start with breakfast.  I made cottage cheese pancakes Tuesday morning and realized I never told you about them. Probably because they were hardly memorable.  In the pancakes defense, I have made this Smitten Kitchen recipe before, and they were wonderful.  Who would have thought to put cottage cheese in pancakes?  And not even pureed into smoothness - just in their natural lumpy state.  But this time around, something was being fickle - the pan, the heat, the batter - I'm not quite sure.  They stuck over and over and when they weren't sticking they were burning.  But like I said, they've worked before, and regardless of their ugly state both my boys ate three a piece and left their mommy with only two!

Friday however, breakfast success - baked eggs in spinach and mushroom.  Similar to the eggs in tomato recipes I made earlier, sub lots of spinach and mushrooms and cream.  This is what breakfast should be - always.

Saturday night I made potato pizza for myself and some friends.  Yes - potato on pizza.  We talked about the fact that none of us would have even considered such a topping on pizza before.  It was delicious - the rosemary helping significantly like it did in the bianca pizza.  We did, however wish for cheese.  Perhaps it's pizza naivete to say that all pizza requires cheese.  And we're not saying all pizza requires it, but felt this pizza did.  But not a mozzarella - a strong cheese, with a bite - perhaps feta (though this could just be my love affair with feta speaking out).

Well, it's Sunday.  The start of week 5 - woohoo!  But I kicked off the week with zero recipes today.  Eh - that's a negative way of looking at things.  Rather, how about we focus on another 14 recipes down!

1/28

- Cottage Cheese Pancakes

- Baked Eggs

- Jim Lahey's Potato Pizza

Week 4, Day 5 - Italian Sausage Take Two

You didn't think I had forgotten about the rest of that Italian Sausage in my fridge, did you?  Surely not!  But I'll get to that in a minute.  This afternoon I overwhelmed my dainty little house once again with several friends and all our ankle-biters precious children.  I made a classic child's lunch - hotdogs with macaroni and cheese.  Although, it's hardly fair to the cheese to call this dish macaroni and cheese.  Really it should be cheese and macaroni.  Because the 1/2 pound of macaroni was hardly a match for the pound of cheddar and added cup of cottage cheese.  I was a bad friend in that I never warned my friends of the calories laden within this dish, but who am I kidding?  These are friends who pull two toddlers in a bike trailer while controlling their pitbull on a leash while pregnant (you know how you are).  Besides, against Deb's suggestion of sticking with the basic elbow macaroni, I used vegetable spiral pasta.  See, healthy.

And now part two of the Italian sausage.  Tonight's dinner was similar to the sausage risotto - tomatoes and that flavorful addition of white wine - but added the fullness of mushrooms and was paired with pasta rather than rice.  We ate and ate and ate until I realized it was all gone and I hadn't taken a single picture of it.  Food blogging 101 - Take pictures before you eat.  Lesson learned.

1/26
- Easiest Bake Mac-and-Cheese (By the way, note the word easy.  She's not lying - mix, bake, enjoy)
- Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Mushrooms

Week 4, Day 4 - Cake, Soup, and Pudding

Typed this up last night, but went to bed before I posted.  So read this as if it were Wednesday...

Since I've only been writing here for a few weeks now, I haven't gotten much into details about myself personally outside my culinary experience and various other tidbits here and there.  With that, let me share something new about myself - I make cakes.  That seems very anticlimactic, I know.  They're not just cakes, they're custom cakes.  I mean, I'm not here to boast about myself, but they're fairly cute, people who order them seem to love them, and I simply love doing it.  For details on the cakes, go here.  Anyway, let's get back into the Smitten Kitchen, shall we?  The reason I bring up the cake side of me is because today I began baking my first cake project of 2012.  I'll be making a Thomas the Tank Engine themed cake for a little boy's 2nd birthday.  The boy's mom wanted a vanilla cake and seeing as there are dozens of cakes in the Smitten Kitchen, I knew vanilla wouldn't be hard to find.  I chose a recipe Deb had previously used when making a tiered wedding cake, so I knew it would be perfect for a tiered Thomas cake.  So this afternoon I completed the beginning process of baking, cooling, wrapping, and freezing 8 layers of vanilla cake.  Decorating to take place next week.

Having already spent a nice amount of time in the kitchen, I opted for a simple dinner of potato soup and a green salad.  This soup was easy to make, requiring very little effort as I think homemade soups should, yet was superbly filling and delicious.  Warm, soft starchy potatoes covered in cheddar cheese and sour cream.  Was there any doubt this would go wrong?

We topped off the night with some rice pudding.  I've only ever eaten this cold, but when you make it yourself it's too difficult (at least it was for me) to wait for it to cool down.  I'm glad I didn't too because it was wonderful warm.  Both my boys agreed - even though I cut the recipe down to serve one it successfully served three (bonus!).

1/25

- Vanilla Buttermilk Cake

- Baked Potato Soup

- Arborio Rice Pudding

Week 4, Day 3 - Italian Sausage, Take One

The last time my husband placed our food order from the farm, he ordered me a pound of sweet Italian sausage.  Wonderful, until we got home and realized he forgot to type the word "links" in the order, so we had been presented with a pound of ground sausage.  Knowing it was waiting for me in the freezer, I went on a hunt and managed to find two sausage-containing recipes that call for breaking up the links.  Perfect.

So, tonight was round one of sausage dinners.  Let me start out by saying that before I started this project I would have thought myself a decent cook.  Not afraid to try new things, open-minded, experimental.  Ugh - apparently not true.  Because tonight, I made risotto for the first time.  Seriously, poached eggs, galettes, risottos - what else have I not made?  Anyway, I'm very familiar with what a risotto is, but I never made one before because rice has never been a favorite of mine minus that which is swimming in soy sauce or served within my mom's stir fry.  I learned, though, that you can hardly refer to risotto as a rice dish since it is swamped with other things - in this case tomato, sausage, onion, spinach, parmesan.  It was horrible...complete lie.  I just wanted to type some different for once.  In an attempt to avoid redundancy, let me refer to my thesaurus here.  This dish was ambrosial.  How's that for a new one?  Actually, that word more refers to the wonderful smell it emitted, but let me just tell you about that smell.  The dish had white wine in it (Ah - another new one for me!  I never cook with alcohol cause we never have it in the house.  Please don't hold this against me Deb.)  Two minutes after I added it to the dish, my husband walked in the house and exclaimed "Something smells good!"  To which I replied "It's the wine!"  Gracious what a difference it made in flavor, too!  I'm overjoyed that there are several servings leftover for the next couple days.

After dinner, it dawned on me that I had only made one recipe for the day.  That just wouldn't do.  So I scanned the eternal list of cakes and managed to find one in which I had all ingredients on hand.  Chocolate muffin/cupcake darlings that - get this - Deb says you can eat with breakfast.  Another reason for my children to love me?  Yes please.

1/24
- Tomato and Sausage Risotto
- Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes

Week 4, Day 2 - Cookies, Finally!

Yes, after days of longing, I finally made cookies!  But wait, I was a good girl and ate my dinner before dessert. So let's talk about that first.

If you will recall, not even two weeks ago I made and nearly cried over my first-ever galette.  Cried, that is, because it was so good.  I managed to let an entire week pass by without making one, but could hold off no longer. Tonight's galette was filled with butternut squash, carmelized onion, and fontina cheese (which I bought for the first time this morning).  I'm feeling like a broken record here - it was delicious.  This particular galette was more filling than the first, but I will say that the crust did not quite live up to the previous crust.  The butternut squash galette was one of Deb's earlier galette recipes while the zucchini ricotta galette was posted years later.  In that time, she nixed a few things from the recipe, made the process a bit easier, and brilliantly added the egg white wash.  I will use that recipe every time I make a galette from now on.  Speaking of making more galettes, when my husband heard we were having another one so soon, he asked how many galette recipes Smitten Kitchen had (assuming there must be many).  Sadly, this is number 2 of 4 savory galette options.  Not that I can't repeat a recipe, but it's a little silly when I have so many other things to get cooking.  So Deb, if you're reading this, I strongly encourage you to make another.  If I'm correct, you haven't added a new one since 2010.  It's time. 

Alright, now those cookies.  Chocolate chips nestled inside a chocolate cookie.  Soft and gooey - the type of cookie that won't make it til tomorrow (at least not in this house).  Truth be told, I did cut the recipe down by 75%.  Sadly my 9 count recipe resulted only in 7 cookies, but that's probably a good thing in the end.  Because aside from the one my son ate and the whopping zero my husband will eat (ah to have his discipline), I will no doubt have my fair share of chocolate cookies.  The fridge and cut process of making them wasn't something I would normally opt for, but even after rushing them along via the freezer, they still turned out beautifully.

1/23

- Butternut Squash and Carmelized Onion Galette
- In Which World Peach Eludes Me (chocolate chocolate chip cookies)

Week 4, Day 1 - Orecchiette and Savory Biscotti

Ah, the beginning of another week.  In all honesty, this project has been pretty easy up until now.  Despite what many often ask, I don't spend hours on end in the kitchen day after day and I don't regret starting this adventure. But I'll be honest, these past few weeks have been rather quiet.  It's been the day-to-day, no more no less.  But that's not going to keep up for long.  I have a rather hectic couple of weeks ahead of me - ok, hectic couple of months - and I'm anxious how I'm going to keep up with all the cooking on top of everything else.  Alright, enough with the worrying.  Let's talk food.

Food - of which we had none in the house as of this afternoon.  We go food shopping on Monday mornings, so it's not a lone case that we find ourselves scraping the bottom of the barrel on Sundays.  Typically we would use this as an excuse to treat ourselves to takeout.  That was before I set my sights on cooking some 700+ recipes this year.  Besides, cheaper to buy a few odds and ends to get a dinner together than to buy an entire dinner out, right?

I threw together a simple pasta dish with cherry tomatoes and the last of the arugula I had in the house.  I'm so happy to have experimented with arugula - it's rocks a normal pasta dish like most greens don't seem to do.  We followed it up (only because they weren't done in time to eat them in true appetizer form) with parmesan black pepper biscotti which we dipped in spiced up tomato sauce.  Seeing as we ate dinner hours later than we normally would, my food coma has carried me straight to bed and I'm about to drift off with a belly of contentment.  Goodnight all.

1/22
- Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula
- Parmesan Black Pepper Biscotti

Week 3 - A Pizza Ending

I've eaten a lot of pizza in the last two days, and I am not complaining.  I spent Friday night with my two little boys and made a very simple rosemary-sprinkled pie as well as a ricotta and tomato sauce rendition for my little one who seeks for things to look "normal" before he eats them.  The rosemary crust was delicious, though next time I will be sure to add even more rosemary as it made the pizza pop.

Tonight I had plans to make yet another pizza, this time being so kind as to let my husband choose which kind (from the Smitten Kitchen, of course).  He chose the fresh ricotta and red onion pizza which meant I needed to make fresh ricotta.  Deb has two recipes for this on her site that I am aware of.  The first is included on the aforementioned pizza's post.  The other has a post all of its own.  I decided to go with the latter due to the fact that I had no buttermilk on hand, as the former recipe needed.  I dreaded having to use 3-4 cups of milk to make a cup of ricotta when we are currently going through nearly 3 gallons of milk a week at $7/gallon!  So, I cut the recipe in half and combined it with the remaining store-bought ricotta I had in the fridge.  Sadly, my ricotta never amounted to anything non-liquidy, but I think my use of cheesecloth is to blame, and I plan to get it right on the next recipe (yes - goals!).  Regardless of my lack of fresh ricotta, this pizza was superb.  I ate my first three slices and made the adult-like decision to not overindulge and instead save my final slice for lunch tomorrow.  Truth be told, "lunch tomorrow" became 30 minutes later...but it only helped me to learn that this pizza is somehow better when it's cooled down to room temperature.  See, overindulging can have its advantages.

I'd like to say that I ended the week out on a sweet note.  Especially after pizza - my body begs for something sweet after pizza.  But alas, my kitchen is currently void of sugar and there is still snow and ice on the ground that would require more energy to get out to the store than I could possibly muster.  Sigh.  Perhaps cookies tomorrow.

1/20

- Jim Lahey's Pizza Bianca

1/21

- Rich Homemade Ricotta

- Fresh Ricotta and Red Onion Pizza

Week 3, Day 5 - Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Once or twice a month we order food from a farm in Pennsylvania.  Organic meat, eggs and raw milk.  But I'm not here to get into the raw milk discussion, I'm here to talk about the chicken.  Same as in the store, the chicken is cheaper when purchased whole.  Typically I pop these guys into my crockpot with some seasoning and call it a day.  But there's no crockpot chicken in the Smitten Kitchen.  There is, however, whole roasted chicken.  It was beautifully seasoned and browned - delicious without doubt.  I will say, though, that for efforts sake, I'll probably return to the crockpot next time around.  However, I'm switching to fresh herbs - huge difference.

The time spent on the chicken was all forgotten though when I tasted the bread salad.  I had great expectations for this dish - a stuffing (er, dressing for my southern friends)-like mixture on top of a bed of greens with a vinaigrette and chicken drippings dressing.  Are you drooling yet?

After the little one went to bed, I brought my older son into the kitchen to help me make cookies.  Earlier I had browned some butter into a brown nutty liquid and popped it into the fridge to resolidify, so all we had left was to finish off the basic final steps in making cookies I've been eyeing up for over a year.  Brown. Butter. Brown. Sugar. Shorties.  Five simple words that were meant to be together.  I want so badly to say that these cookies panned out just as the bread salad did, meeting every high expectation I had set for it, but it just wasn't the case.  I could not get the dough to be doughy - I was left with sand.  If I were one for expletives, I may have pulled a Lily here.  But here's where Deb's honesty pulls through.  You see, I'm not the first to have issues with the recipe, so Deb put a warning right up front that the recipe has failed some.  I knew going into it that it was a possibility.  After pulling a couple baker's tricks, I managed to salvage the batch and though they look nothing like Deb's cookies, they're brown butter scrumptious.

In the morning I whipped up a cream cheese pound cake and some mixed berry coulis to bring to playdate.  It was flawless.

Finally this evening I used the leftover chicken (as one is usually two meals, plus broth) to make chicken tacos and salsa fresca.  Nothing new in this household, but enjoyed none the less.  Even without cheese, which is nearly criminal in my tacos, these were wonderful.  So much so, it never even occurred to grab my camera.  Luckily, I think I can safely assume you all know what a taco looks like.

1/18
- Zuni Cafe's Roasted Chicken and Bread Salad
- Brown Butter Brown Sugar Shorties

1/19
- Cream Cheese Pound Cake and Strawberry Coulis
- Chicken Tacos and Salsa Fresca

Week 3, Day 3 - Comfort Food

It rained today.  And despite the rain, I still took both little ones out to run a couple of errands.  One of those things where beforehand all you want is to get them out of the house, then as soon as you are out, all you want is to get back inside.  Battling the process of getting in and out of the car multiple times in the dreary weather took it out of all three of us to the point where my older son actually asked if we could take naps.  Music to a mother's ears.  So I napped, but not for long as I had ravioli to make.  Yes, Deb has become such a driving force in my day that I actually sacrifice nap time to get in the kitchen.  Ok, not really - my dad taught me how to power nap years ago - but still.

Anyway, did you notice the part where I said I made ravioli?  Before today, making ravioli meant boiling water.  Heating up red sauce if you were really feeling crafty.  But oh no, not when you're in the Smitten Kitchen.  First, I made the pasta dough -  from scratch.  Deb rolls her pasta dough into beautiful thin strips with a pasta roller.  I don't have one, but of course that didn't stop me.  After meticulous rolling, interspersed with distractions from junk I should not be worried about catching up on, I made 4 raviolis.  I had cut the recipe down by...I don't even remember how much.  But once I topped it with her basic pasta sauce, it was the perfect sized lunch.  Considering by the time I was finished making it all it was 3pm, I didn't want to overindulge anyway.  I didn't want to spoil my dinner...

The beef, barley, and leek soup was again so appropriate for the weather conditions.  It's like a crockpot meal in that you basically throw it all into a pot and come back hours later and it's wonderfully waiting for you.  Unfortunately I didn't pull the recipe up til 4pm, and it required a minimum of 3 hours to simmer.  Now, for most of you, eating dinner at 7pm is not only fine, it's normal.  Well, think of us as the Beavers or the Waltons or one of those other tv families I'm really far too young to be siting.  We eat at 5:30pm, sometimes even 5pm.  Eh - crank the heat up a bit and distract the family til 6pm..?  It worked.  When dinner was finished the combination of satisfying warm food, watching my children actually eat some vegetables, and knowing we would be staying indoors all evening, sent me into a euphoric state of contentment.  One of those moments where you sit in your seat smiling for seemingly no reason at all.  Which made me declare out loud, "Tonight is a cookie night."

Fast forward past following my one year old on his brother's quad throughout the house and listening to my husband sing Thomas songs over and over and an unfortunate run to the store for more butter, and I had 18 mini muffin cookies brownies baking in the oven.  I changed my mind on the cookies.  Two brownies topped with vanilla ice cream while nestled under a blanket and watching a Brad Pitt movie.  Sheesh - you can't make such idealistic scenes up.  A wonderful ending to a comfortable day.

1/17
- Basic Tomato Sauce
- Fresh Pasta
- Arugula Ravioli
- Beef, Leek, and Barley Soup
- Best Cocoa Brownies

Week 3, Day 2 - Cabbage Cuisine

I begin today with a confession.  Every year my mom cutely makes stuffed cabbage on St. Patrick's Day.  And every year, being the supreme hostess that she is, she invites me over for dinner.  Here's where the confession comes in:  I think I decline every year.  The reason is, I childishly don't like stuffed cabbage.  Now, I'm not saying you're childish if you don't like a particular food.  I'm saying it's childish to claim you dislike a food you have never tried.  Seriously, my mom makes it every year, claiming it is wonderful, but I have refused to even taste it.

I think you know where I'm going with this.  Yes, tonight I not only made stuffed cabbage, I actually ate it too.  Is it an overdose of repetition if I say that I really enjoyed this dish?  It's strange because as I was making it I was certain I would hate it.  There didn't seem to be enough spices (ahem, none) and there were no exciting levels of flavor.  I also threw it together in a maddening rush as I finished rolling the last one at the very time I should have been arriving to my haircut appointment.  Regardless, the flavor was rich - almost spicy - and the texture wasn't at all slimy as I had always imagined.

Due to my lack of cabbage confidence, I made the potato roast to go alongside, thinking I could mix the two if necessary.  But the juggling of cooking around my appointment got the better of me, so the potatoes weren't finished until the stuffed cabbage was enjoyed and leftovers refrigerated.  I cut the roast recipe in half and fit it perfectly into a 6in pan.  Let's just say the leftover stuffed cabbage will not have a potato friend this evening.

Earlier in the afternoon I enjoyed a cabbage-based salad, knowing I would feel better having gotten two dishes out of the bowling ball vegetable I never purchase.  The dressing paired perfectly - always a bonus to save the $4 on salad dressing, too!

Days like today are a wonderful reminder of why this project is so good for me.  How many years would I have gone without tasting cabbage?  Maybe it didn't change my life, but I think I grew up just a bit tonight.

Ps - You can follow this site on Facebook now, too!  I'll provide a status update whenever a new blog post is available to read.  Thanks again for following!

1/16
- Napa Cabbage Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
- Alex's Mom's Stuffed Cabbage
- Crispy Potato Roast

Week 3 - Lazy Sunday

I'm not going to lie, today was a rough kitchen day for me.  Lazy, if you will.  See, as I sat at my kitchen table after church, I had 2 options.  Here is what I saw when I looked to the left and to the right:

So, curl up on the couch in the warm sun with my snuggly, fat dog OR clean the dishes piled in the sink (apparently I have no shame) only to fill it again after I diligently cooked something.  Must. Cook. Food.  Must. Resist. Nap.  So I cooked - heh, hardly the truth.  I cleaned and tore up some kale, popped it into the oven, sat back down on my butt, then removed them 20 minutes later.  And those dishes...?  Let's just say I knew  they would be there waiting for me when my energy returned.

Posting two days in a row?  And on the first day of the week?  What gives?

Ah yes - again, this is an ever-evolving project.  Original goal - post once a week.  See, the project is all about the cooking, not so much the blogging.  Well, my wordiness got the better of me, so I split week 2 into two parts.  But last night I spent two hours getting things together to post (albeit, all the while slightly distracted by the Miss America Pageant and nursing my pride over another year of not picking the winner).  Meanwhile, I'm actually writing every day, and just saving until the grand post on Saturday.  But now that's seeming silly.  From now on, if I'm writing, I'm posting. 

All that to say, I wrote earlier that today had been a lazy kitchen day.  And it had, except that I did return to it once more and made myself some creamed spinach.  Admittedly I measured a bit incorrectly and therefore had significantly more cream than spinach - think spinach dip - but sometimes we need more creaminess in our lives - especially when it's some 26 degrees outside!  My 1 year old also thoroughly enjoyed this - so much so he pulled me down and we ate it together, right there on the kitchen floor.

And now, as I have yet attended to those dirty dishes, I must in preparation for another day of cooking tomorrow!

1/15

- Baked Kale Chips

- Creamed Spinach

Week 2b - Cream Cheese Enlightenment

As I draw to a close on week 2 of this culinary adventure, I amazingly find myself looking forward to the week ahead.  I've started planning my menus further in advance, so as I recount the delicousness of this past week, I also salivate for the one ahead.  But I won't get ahead of myself.  First, a recap:

Thursday morning began with a simple late (always late) breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast.  I've taught my 2 year old how to make scrambled eggs, so what revelation could possibly come from something obviously so easy to make?  Well, slathered on the toast was a nice layer of cream cheese (Deb used goat cheese, of which I am not a huge fan, but graciously offered cream cheese as an alternative).  I've never combined the flavors of egg and cream cheese before, as I usually opt for butter, but the marriage of the two and the chopped scallion ending was a delight I did not anticipate.  That night for dinner I made a gallette - turn here for details.  I admittedly had never even heard of this before, but the zucchini ricotta galette I made was this amazing hybrid of quiche, pizza, and even lasagna with its cheesy creaminess.  And that flaky brown crust..?  Goodness I am about to run off right now and make another.  I had the final surviving slice for breakfast on Friday, woefully wishing there were more.  So simple, yet so delicious.  I implore you - make this as soon as you can.  The carrot avocado side dish was consumed almost entirely by my son, so doubt it was a winner.  In an attempt to start knocking out some of the Smitten Kitchen cakes (because there are a lot) I let a good friend of mine pick one out for a Friday treat (if you're wondering how you can get such special treatment, be the one who gives me a paycheck every other week, then we'll talk).  She chose the root beer float cupcakes, which I cutely topped with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, minus the cherries.

Friday afternoon I whipped up a meatball rigatoni dish for neighbors of mine who just had their first child.  Before you go giving me any neighborly awards, let me admit to having lived here 3+ years and never having introduced myself.  In fact, not only did I not know their names when I went over there, I did not know whether they had had a baby girl or boy.  I'm happy to say I now know their names as well as their precious daughter's name.  Anyway, I had made this warm dish last year, so I knew it to be a crowd pleaser. I fly solo with the kids on Friday nights, so instead of trying anything new I went over my parent's house and mooched off their cooking instead.  They supply food, I supply grandchildren, everyone is happy.

Remember that first picture I posted on here last week of my shakshuka breakfast?  It's been an entire week - let me refresh your memory.  Tomato, garlic, egg, feta cheese, toast - you know, world's best breakfast.  Well Deb has an earlier more simplistic rendition of this that still made a great start to the day.  No shakshuka, but no short of wonderful.  Later we started dinner off with small bowls of Dominican beans.  This little dish required an hour and a half of simmering.  Really?  I knew people in Tennessee who spoke of cooking beans for days, yet still over an hour seemed extensive.  I mean, they're beans.  But I did as I was told, starting dinner prep at 3pm, and - no surprise here - these beans were fantastic.  I'm talking lick-the-bowl goodness.  Seriously Deb, how do you do it?  I chiastically ended the second half of this week with yet another cream cheese eye opener - blended and baked into a spinach quiche.  A new staple for me.

I've changed things up a bit, as I'm still getting settled into the new site.  If you clicked on any of the above links, you may have noticed it took you to one of my personal pictures.  I will continue to list the dishes with their official names at the bottom of each post, but it's those links that will take you to the Smitten Kitchen recipe.  Click and cook - you will not be sorry.

1/8

- huevos rancheros

- mushroom marsala pasta with artichokes

- martha's macaroni-and-cheese

1/9 - artichoke-olive crostini

- escarole and orzo soup with meatballs

- salted chocolate caramels

1/10 - feta salsa

- grilled lamb kebabs + tzatziki

- crisp rosemary flatbread

1/11 - crisp black bean tacos with feta and slaw

- charred corn tacos with zucchini-radish slaw

- blondies, infinitely adaptable

- acorn squash quesadillas + tomatillo salsa

1/12 - scrambled egg toast

- zucchini and ricotta galette

- roasted carrot and avocado salad

- root beer float cupcakes

1/13 - baked rigatoni with tiny meatballs

1/14 - eggs in tomato sauce

- spinach quiche (includes Dominican beans)

Another 24 recipes down!!