Yum.

The following recipe should also be called "how to hold onto your pregnancy weight."  Despite this small set back, however, this is the kind of recipe that will get added to our regular rotation (you know, the same 10-15 meals that you always seem to make despite owning more than 20 cookbooks and having subscriptions to 2 food magazines...).  There has always been something elusive about the perfect mac n cheese recipe for me.  Inevitably, the cheese used didn't pack enough punch, the topping was soggy, or the the end product too runny.  So, when I read the rave reviews for Martha Stewart's Macaroni and Cheese recipe, I was skeptical, but hopeful .   I made a few tweaks to the original recipe, but not much.   As illustrated below, this dish was a beautiful, rich , creamy, stick-to-your-ribs mac n cheese that you must try yourselves.  The recipe makes a massive amount of food--we had to use an overflow pan becuse it wouldn't all fit in one 9x13.  So, you might consider halving the recipe, or freezing some (if you do this, let me know how it freezes--I've never tried freezing macaroni and cheese).  In summary:  yum. 

Macaroni and Cheese

slightly adapted from Martha Stewart's Perfect Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

6 T. unsalted butter, plus 2 T. for topping

5 1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

4 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 1/2 c. grated pecarino romano cheese

1 lb. whole wheat elbow macaroni

3/4 c. breadcrumbs

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9"x13" pan (or any 3 quart casserole dish you have).  Prepare macaroni according to package directions, but remove noodles 2-3 minutes early from water.  You want it slightly undercooked.  Rinse under cold water and set aside.

2.  In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk.  In a separate saucepan (I used a dutch oven), melt 6 T. of the butter.  When butter is boiling, whisk in the flour, adding a little bit at a time until all mixed in.  Cook for 1 minute.

3.  Slowly add the hot milk to the flour/butter mix, whisking constantly.    Continue whisking until the mixture is thick and bubbling.  Then, remove from heat and add salt, pepper, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and cheese.  Stir until cheese has melted.

4.  Pour cheese mixture over macaroni noodles, stir to coat, and pour into prepared pan.

5.  Melt the remaining 2 T. of butter and mix with the breadcrumbs.  Sprinkle evenly over macaroni and cheese.  Bake about 30 minutes, uncovered, or until top is golden brown.

Let's try this again...

So, I attempted to return to this blog once before, and without success, but here goes another try...

First of all, one big announcement: our family has grown by one tiny member. Lincoln Danger is here! He was welcomed into the world on December 19th at 9:20 pm. We had a great, natural birth experience (notice I say great, despite the pain!) at a birth center. The only people present were myself, Lucas, our midwife, and her assistant. We had a very relaxed atmosphere and were back at home 5 hours after the birth! Lincoln is thriving and we can't imagine our lives without him!

And of course I have to share a picture of the cuteness:

Or two:


Or three:


Ok, four. But this one is food related! See, he's already helping me cook!


Since this is the first post in awhile, I'm going to keep it pretty simple. If you recall, we had planted a garden way back when. Well, unfortunately, most of it was lost in Hurricane Ike, but we did manage to eek out a couple items. Below is our largest watermelon. We actually harvested 2, but this one was our best hope. We were forced to harvest much earlier than planned due to a freak Houston snow this fall. So, the watermelon was only half-cooked. When we cut into it, the flesh was pale, pale pink. Lucas was brave enough to sample a piece, and declared it tasted like eating the rind. Yum, huh? So, our lesson learned was: plant earlier, so we can harvest earlier!



The combo below is kale and basil. The kale spent its time in the ground labeled as red leaf lettuce. It was from a seed packet of mesclun, and I had no idea how many leaf varities were in there. This one had red leaves, so I figured it must be red leaf lettuce,having had no previous experience with kale. When I harvested it, it looked and felt nothing like red leaf lettuce, so I was off to do some internet research. This led to my proclamation that we had ourselves some kale! I looked up recipes, had such great plans, washed it, dried it, lovingly placed it in a ziplock bag in the crisper...and promptly forgot about it. The next time I discovered it was much much too late (*shudders* to think about it...). So, another lesson learned: don't forget about your harvest!


Ok, I think that we are off to a good start! Let's hope I can stick with things this time around!

~Kelly

Zucchini Bowtie Pasta

I think I've mentioned before that we eat a lot of pasta. A lot. So, what better thing to write about than a dish we eat at least every other week? We like to vary our pasta forms, so for this dish we use bowtie (farfalle) pasta. We've used rotini in the past, but it's just not the same. Well, I guess it does taste the same, but...eh. The shape seems to at least hold a mental importance. In some dishes, the shape of the pasta is actually important--there are certain pasta varieties that are suited better for different textures of sauces. For instance: linguine, fettuccine, and other thick strips of pasta are generally suited for heavy, creamy sauces. Thin pastas, like angel hair, do well with light sauces, thin sauces. Shaped pastas, like rotini, ziti, or mostaccioli , do well with chunky sauces. Check out this website for ideas on what to do with all those other fun shapes you find at the store.

This recipe is really simple and fast. It should be, since it was adapted from a Rachael Ray 30 minute meal. It can also be used as a side dish for a main dish such as chicken Parmesan or breaded chicken, or the like. Very versatile!

Zucchini Bowtie Pasta
adapted from 30 Minute Meals by Rachael Ray

Ingredients:
16 oz. bowtie pasta
1 zucchini, cut into matchsticks
1 yellow squash, cut into matchsticks
5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced (we do this is a mini food processor)
about a cup (or more) shredded Parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper


Directions:
1. Cook bowtie pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1-2 ladle fulls of starchy water for later and drain the rest.
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Saute garlic in oil 1-2 minutes. Add zucchini and squash and saute until soft (8-10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add the reserved starchy water to the skillet and stir 1 minute. Add pasta to skillet and stir all together (water should begin to absorb into pasta). Sprinkle cheese over top and stir until cheese is melted.


Enjoy!

The first harvest

Our garden has produced its first harvest: 2 cherry tomatoes! Lucas does not like tomatoes, so these were enjoyed only by me. I had to savor them, because I'm not sure the plant will produce any others...it seems to have developed some kind of disease (perhaps blight?) and has no signs of further tomato growth at this point. I plan to continue to water it in hopes that we will get a few more, but at any rate, I am happy to have at least these 2 in my first gardening attempt! Our squash plants are enormous now and have a few flowers that bloomed this week. Although I am really excited about them, I am also a bit sad in that in their growth, they have begun to take over some of the other squares of the garden, completely hanging over and blocking the sun of the peppers and parsley. Both peppers and parsley still seem to be hanging in there, so we'll see...The watermelon has also begun to vine out of the box and we are now trailing it along the side of the deck. And, the basil, which I thought was a lost cause, is finally starting to grow! We also have mesclun, which is fair to good. Something ate half of the red leaf variety, but the rest is looking good. I'll have to get out there soon and take some updated pictures.

Barely food related...

August 2nd, or sometime around then, we're not really sure on the exact day, was our puppy Wembley's first birthday. I had these grand schemes to invite all his doggy friends (really, just our friends who happen to have dogs roughly Wembley's size) over for a fun filled afternoon of water fun. Lucas was having none of that (staunchly determined not to become "those dog people"). I can see how having a birthday party for your dog may seem a little bit overboard, so I was willing to compromise. Instead of inviting other dogs to join in the fun, we bought Wembley a sprinkler. Wembles is a huge water fan anyway and loves the hose, so we figured he might enjoy a sprinkler. Enjoy it he did--he played a good 30 minutes straight in the water, pausing every so often to roll around in the grass to get good and dirty (this birthday party ended with a bath for Wembley--probably not his favorite present ever). When we thought he might fall over from exhaustion, we presented him with his cake (see, there, I mentioned food! This still counts as a food post!): 5 wheat thin crackers topped with peanut butter--his favorite treat. So, happy birthday to Wembley! Fun times. Note: the last picture is a video.

Dixie Quick's Magnolia Room

While I was visiting my family this past week in Omaha, my mom and I met my brother for lunch one day at Dixie Quick's Magnolia Room. The building itself, from the outside, is nondescript, not even a sign except for some paint on the windows telling you that you have just driven past the restaurant. Inside, it is a cute little diner, with murals painted on the walls, a chalk board listing the menu of the day, and an art gallery accessible through a doorway in the dining room. The tables were covered with butcher paper and a cup of crayons on the table indicated that drawing all over your tablecloth was encouraged. The menu featured both breakfast and lunch items, and my family ordered from both areas. I had the magnificent french toast dish pictured above--it was topped with fresh berries and whipped cream and served with maple syrup. Delicious. The picture (from the Dixie Quick's website...click on it to link back to their site) doesn't give you an accurate picture of how monstrous it is--the stack of toast was huge. Being pregnant, I was able to give it a good effort and ate nearly 3 pieces. My mom helped out with the rest. For her meal, she had the grilled tomato, basil, mozzarella sandwich. She loved it. My brother had the black bean and corn quesadilla, also declared to be quite tasty. Dixie Quick's was featured on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" on Monday night and got rave reviews. I don't know if it is available to watch online or not, but I'll see if I can find it. The menu changes daily (or even during the day), according to Chef Rene Ortuna's preference. I'm looking forward to going back next time I'm in Omaha, and recommend it to anyone that lives there or will be visiting!

Dump Cake

At the moment, the most delicious smell is wafting through the house. I just talked to Lucas and told him if he found me on the kitchen floor when he gets home from work, it is because I have just eaten an entire cake and cannot move. Seriously, this thing is dangerously good smelling. And also, dangerously awful for you. After just posting about how we are eating healthy and cooking with non-processed ingredients, I am completely contradicting myself with this post. None of this cake is from scratch. It took maybe 3 minutes to assemble. I don't even want to ask about the nutritional value. But, I haven't eaten it since college, and I have never made it myself, so it isn't like this is a normal occurrence (although maybe it should be...). And, I am further justifying it by the fact that it isn't for us (not all of it, anyway). In about an hour, if I haven't eaten the whole thing by then, it will be traveling to a friend/coworker's home, where she and her husband will join us in our self-destructive behavior. We are actually taking a whole meal over, as they are the proud new parents of a new baby girl, who we get to meet for the first time tonight! The Dump Cake was a last minute addition to the meal, because I had forgotten to plan a dessert. As previously mentioned, Dump Cake is super fast to make, so it was easy to through together in the last few hours before we head over there. I am hoping it is just as good as I remember, and judging by the smell, I think I'm in luck!

Dump Cake
ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
1 can sugar free cherry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple in water (don't drain)
1/2 c. butter, thinly sliced into pats

(I know, 4 ingredients, how can that even be considered cooking? Well, friends, deliciousness apparently is more concerned with quality, not quantity.)

directions:
1. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray, or coat with butter.
2. Open can of cherry pie filling and spread over bottom of pan with spatula.
3. Open can of pineapple and spread over pie filling, mixing together.


(for those of you who are asking yourself, "Aren't those pineapple tidbits? I thought the recipe called for crushed pineapple!", congratulations on being so observant! That will pay off when you are at the store and looking at pineapple cans--be sure to look for the word "crushed." I obviously was not so observant...hence the tidbits in my cake above.)

4. Sprinkle cake mix over top of fruit mixture in an even layer.


5. Place cut butter pats across top of cake mixture.


6. Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees, or until top is golden.
7. Try to hold off eating until you are actually at the dinner party (good luck with that).


I like to console myself by thinking that there are 2 types of fruit in this dessert. That totally counts as a serving of fruit. Let's forget that I plan to top this with a generous dollop of whipped cream, and can't completely rule out second helpings...mmmm.