Recent Recipes

I have been meaning to blog about some recent recipes that I have tried and since it is a Friday night and it is snowing inches upon inches, I have found a window of time. I have pinned my pins and now here I go...

Recipe #1: Clam, Chard, and Bacon Pizza

Source: Uploaded by user via Meghan on Pinterest

A week or so ago Stephen and I took a night off from the gym and made a fun dinner. I was flipping through a Bon Appetit and found this recipe for clam, chard, and bacon pizza. I love clams, so I was hooked. Of course, when I was at the grocery store trying buy all the ingredients, store #1 did not have Swiss chard and I had to go to grocery store #2. Additionally, I had a little bit of anxiety about cooking and eating Swiss chard--I never had done either. The Swiss chard cooked down like spinach and tasted perfect. In fact, I might need to make more foods with Swiss chard. The only other snafu I encountered was not having a cast-iron skillet (which I have since inherited). I simply put my pizza dough on a cookie sheet and half-baked it before the toppings. It was delicious and I am looking forward to making it again. Next time I can use my new skillet and maybe even make my own pizza dough. I will keep you posted. Either way, I recommend this recipe, it is simple and easy to follow.

Recipe #2 Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Source: Uploaded by user via Meghan on Pinterest

My mom and I made these cupcakes last weekend when we were visiting my parents in Edgerton. I have not done a lot of baking so I was excited to have a co-chef as I tried my hand a new recipe. Plus, my mom has a Kitchenaid Mixer that makes cake batter and frosting nice and easy. These cupcakes have an Oreo cookie on the bottom, several Oreo cookies in the batter, and then the crumbles you see in the cream cheese frosting on the top of the cupcake. Needless to say, these are rich. I think it took more than a whole package of Oreos for one batch of 24 cupcakes.

The recipe is very easy to follow and I am even thinking of following the Annie-Eats blog. I am glad I got to bake these with my mom and I am thankful we were able to leave half the batch 60 miles away so I didn't eat them all. Also, thank you to the Fritz household for their supply of powdered sugar--one should always check all the ingredients before beginning to bake.

Now I am off to have someone else fry my some fish..yum!

Pinterest Condensed

This past weekend was the perfect combination of visiting with friends and family, entertaining and be entertained, working out, running errands, and relaxing. Despite how all-accomplishing it appears, I was exhausted by last night and dreading the work week. Perhaps I tried to do too much. With that in mind, here are three things that made my weekend simply successful:

1. Frozen grapes: I read on Pinterest that you can freeze green grapes and use them as ice cubes for cooling a white/chilled wine. They keep the beverage cold but don't melt. They were a success Friday night when we brought a bottle of wine over to a friend's house and Saturday night when we invited friends over. They were a fun, added touch. Plus, a few extra vitamins are never a bad idea.

2. Fresh and homemade salsa: I totally stole this from a friend's blog. It is a recipe for delicious homemade salsa. The key was roasting the vegetables in the winter - since tomatoes aren't always stellar in the winter. It was so quick and easy - thanks to my new food processor. The salsa received rave reviews by friends and family and the batch is all gone.

3. Chocolate fondue: I whipped up some chocolate fondue for desert on Saturday. Really, truly, it is so easy. Heavy cream and bittersweet baking chocolate. I used a Rachael Ray recipe. I served it with pound cake (store bought), marshmallows, pineapple, and strawberries. It was very fun to sit around with our friends Aaron and Emily - chatting, and dunking strawberries in chocolate. The only thing not fun: the chocolate pots. They are still soaking in the sink. (Thanks to our friends Ben and Jenna for the wonderful wedding gift.)

Here's to a fabulous week - hoping to try a new baked french "fry" recipe. I will keep you posted.

Cauliflower and Pinterest

In the past few days I have discovered a few new things. I stumbled upon a college friend's blog - she blogs a lot about food and family (aren't they the two best things?). I like how she highlights daily moments or quotations. Needless to say, I am inspired.

I also, finally, obtained an invitation to Pinterest. All I can say is that I have found my inner-crafter. In addition to a zillion DIY (Do it Yourself) crafts, the site collects so many wonderful ideas. For me, the most useful aspect of the site is the "boards" feature. You "repin" ideas. I just repinned lots of different ideas for my sister's wedding shower, and they are saved - and not on a sticky note I will lose on my desk. In four months I won't wrack my brain trying to remember what I saw and how to do it. I will try to keep you posted on any crafts or DIY projects I attempt.

I have also been having fun with my Christmas presents. I got several new cookbooks and a new food processor. For the past week, nearly every night has had a new meal or more efficiently processed sauce or side.

Tonight was one of those glorious nights where you start dinner, open a bottle of wine, and plod through laundry. A glorious night at home my husband. My night was made even better with the success of a new recipe. Stephen grilled steaks and I made Giada's Cauliflower and Pancetta Gratinata. It tasted delicious and goes well with something easy like steak because the it creates many dishes to wash.

Here is how it turned out:

You can get the recipe by either Googling it or following this link to Giada's cookbook. I did halve the amount of pancetta - it is rather salty, and we had plenty using just 4 ounces. The recipe also calls for 2 cups of breadcrumbs, but I believe 1 cup is more than enough. Finally, I nixed the capers. Does anyone really like capers?

Please let me know if you try it - bon appetit.