January 7th, 2012

To overcome my winter boredom I committed to checking out cookbooks from the Library, lots of them.  I then go through them while watching TV and tag recipes I want to try.  I have discovered I have very little patience with cookbooks that do not have a picture of the recipe.  Little patience meaning I page through them at lightening speed with a small chance of selecting any recipes.  Not a flattering attitude for me to have at all.  Will work on that.

This was one of the first of my 2012 new recipe picks.  Trent loves Asian food and I love making soup.  It was a good compromise.

It was from the book called “Savory Soups and Stews” by Anne Egan. 

I omitted the water chestnuts (not a fan of their texture…) and added fresh bean sprouts as a garnish on top.  The soup was delicious and satisfying.  It was also healthy and quick to put together.  I took it from my “to try” section of my binder folder and gave it residence in my “Soup” section of my recipe binder.  That’s fairly good real estate.

December 30th, 2011

I have only had Cioppino, an italian fish stew, once at Charlie Gitto's on The Hill and it was absolutely fantastic.  I always want to order it at restaurants, but it’s normally so pricey and I feel silly paying $25 for a bowl of soup.  I was watching a Rachel Ray show while I was writing out my grocery list and she did a Cioppino for her “what’s for dinner tonight” segment.  It looked delicious and I promptly put the ingredients on my list to tackle. 

I stuck pretty close to her recipe, but used bacon instead of pancetta and added a can of cannellini beans and petite diced tomatoes.  It was absolutely delicious with a nice big piece of hot crusty bread.  I had quite a few fancy cioppino lunches that week and plan to make it again and again and again…you get the idea, I liked it. 

Rachel Ray's Crab and Cod Cioppino

December 25th, 2011

The holiday season went by in the blink of an eye and all of a sudden it’s Christmas!  The girls spent a bit of time leaving treats for Santa.

Lauren was concerned that Rudolf always gets the last bit of the reindeer food and made a special request that he go first at our house.

The next morning we awoke to quite a little mess Santa and his reindeers made.  They must have been in a hungry hurry.

But he did leave two little good girls some special surprises.

Patiently waiting on the stairs to start Christmas.

Trent loves the Grinch, so Lauren made a special place card for him on his plate.

Tables are set and family arrived for gifts and dinner!

Dinner time!

It was our annual Christmas dinner of braciole and baked pasta.  It was a very Merry Christmas.

December 8th, 2011

Our grocery store had an incredible price on artichokes and arugula.  1 huge container of arugula past it’s sell date for $1 in December, I bought 2.  The “past its sell date” part didn’t worry me, I was going to use it up and quick.

I wilted one container with some pasta and parmesan cheese for dinner one night.  The other night I had pesto on my brain.  But first, artichokes.

I had to make my breadcrumbs to stuff the the artichokes.  Breadcrumbs, garlic, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, and whatever herbs I have on hand.  Today is was chives, parsley, and oregano from the garden. 

I pull back the leaves (careful, they got little prickly points) and drop the breadcrumb mixture with a teaspoon.  Do it over a bowl or cutting board to be able to gather all the loose breadcrumbs to stick back in there.

Steam them on a low boil for about 1 1/2 – 2 hours.  Then let cool slightly to set up.  This way you can handle them and won’t burn your mouth.  Both good things.

Next I grabbed the same food processor, there is no need to wash, has great crumbs and flavor in it from the breadcrumb mixture (unless I’m cooking for my sister in laws, then big hot water and soap wash to ungluten the sucker).  Next up was arugula pesto.  The whole container of arugula, olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, salt, pepper, and about 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese.  Puree and you will get this. If it’s not blending enough, add more olive oil or water.

I also roasted some chicken sausage, but that is completely optional. 

I combined the cannellini beans, chicken broth, and diced up sausage in a pot to heat through with some salt and pepper.

Then dumped one pound of cooked spaghetti and the arugula pesto in the pot, stirred, added some parmesan cheese.

Which ended up breaking my absolute favorite grater.  Bummer!

Dinner!  But first our first course.

Oh, and I made dessert.  Traditional Rice Krispy treats and added some Christmas accessories to it.

I believe in the power of a good accessory to make the outfit.

December 7th, 2011

Lauren’s school had an early release day and we decided to go see Santa!

We also did a little shopping, when Santa’s in a mall I can’t help not walking around just a little bit.  On our way out, a girl at a kiosk asked if the girls wanted their hair curled.  She was marketing a new flat iron that can also curl your hair.  Of course, she was smart and asked the 4 and 6 year old and not the 36 year old.  We had the time, so Lauren and Sydney spent the next 20 minutes sitting perfectly still getting curly. 

We got home way later than expected and I love using that as an excuse to go out to dinner.  Even more, the girls had curls that needed to be taken out on the town.

We went to our local Pasta House.  We love that place!

My absolute favorite salad since I was in High School.  Lauren loves it too, so now I have to share.  Which is more than fine by me, I do not want to be known as the mom who won’t share salad.

Lauren and Sydney could eat their weight in these hot little rolls.  I don’t blame them, they’re good stuff.

Sydney got the cheese pizza.

Goof head Lauren got penne with a meat sauce.  That’s her standing order at Italian restaurants.

Trent and I split the fish with pasta and broccoli.  So good!  Definitely a fun afternoon followed by a fun evening.