Friendsgiving

Last night was Friendsgiving over at Colleen's house. Everyone brought a dish or two and then we pigged out.

I made three Martha Stewart recipes: sauteed brussel sprouts and shallots, pecan pie, and roasted garlic mashed potatoes(follow this recipe, but first slice off the top of a bulb of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and roast in over for 45 mins. Then squeeze garlic into potatoes after you add the milk. Oh, I also kept on the potato skins.)





Mmmm...Piper's bruschetta was pretty.








[Clockwise from 12 o'clock: sweet potato au gratin, brussel sprouts, stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potato with raisins, butternut squash lasagna, and cranberry chutney in the center.]


Piper tries to get the dance party started.


We played several games of Celebrity. Can you guess which household name I am charading?

At 2am we ate Round 2 of the food and then went home and passed out.

Cheese in My Mouth, Thank You!

You know what I'm not known for? Taking pictures of food. I just want to get to the eating, damn it.



BUT - I made this amazing mac & cheese on Sunday and I highly suggest that you do the same sometime in the very near future. It has Swiss chard in it so it's kind of healthy in a really cheesy, starchy way.

You can find the recipe here at Bon Appetit's website.

Sunday Something

Sunday night Preeya and Dave came over for dinner. It started because Friday night Abe and I bought a new Homie and it looked like a Homie Preeya. Darn, I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it. Also, I wanted an excuse to make the Matzo-Crusted Chicken Cutlets I saw in Martha Stewart Living.

The cutlets did not work out. It's a whole long story about making my own matzo bread. I ended up just using bread crumbs to coat the tenderized chicken and baking it with slices of garlic and olive oil. I roasted some brussell sprouts, made a salad, and cooked some rice in the rice cooker. I felt like a mom making a real home-cooked meal.


I started eating and then tried to clean it up so I could take a photo

Then we had dessert.



Then Preeya played the tromboner.

Abe wanted to sign her to a record deal.

Yummo!

Abe is a really good cook. He doesn't flaunt it at all so it's very surprising, but the man is fantastic at making sandwiches and eggs. I think it is because he is very patient - I'm not and that is why a lot of the time my meals are a little questionable. Last night Abe made us chicken (that he tenderized!) on ciabatta bread with provolone cheese, mixed greens and tomato. He also made roasted french fries and a mixed green salad with dried cranberries and walnuts.

Rachael Ray isn't allowed in our house, but I think someone has been watching episodes on the sly.

This picture was taken after I had eaten most of my salad...and my sandwich is upside down.

Rhubahhhhb

I was in Shrewsbury this weekend and my aunt and uncle told me I could harvest some rhubarb and blueberries from their yard. Why anyone (apparently this person might have been in Mongolia - see below) decided to try eating a rhubarb plant is beyond me, but I'm glad someone gave it a shot because I love it. Growing up we would just dip the stalks in white sugar and eat it raw.


Abe being a fussy baby. He was put on blueberry picking duty after this.

A brief history on rhubarb from Wikipedia:

The plant is indigenous to Asia, and many suggest that it was often used by the Mongolians; particularly, the Tatars tribes of the Gobi Desert. The plant has grown wild along the banks of the River Volga for centuries; it may have been brought there by Eurasian tribes, such as the Scythians, Huns, Magyars or Mongols. The term rhubarb is a combination of the Greek rha and barbarum; rha being a term that referred both to the plant and to the River Volga. Varieties of rhubarb have a long history as medicinal plants in traditional Chinese medicine, but the use of rhubarb as food is a relatively recent innovation, first recorded in 17th century England, after affordable sugar became available to common people, and reaching a peak between the 20th century's two world wars. Rhubarb first came to America in the 1820s, entering the country in Maine and Massachusetts and moving westwards with the settlers.



Anyhoo, I modified a recipe for rhubarb cobbler that I found here and it was AMAZING. I forgot my camera this weekend so I am stealing a couple shots from the original recipe author's page.

My modifications include:

• Fresh picked blueberries (as many as you can pick - maybe a 1/2 cup?)
• 1 cup of sugar instead of 1/2 of cup (our rhubarb wasn't super ripe so I needed to cut the tartness)
• A tsp of cinnamon added to the crumble
  

Sunday Dinner : Pea and Prosciutto Risotto

I am reading the book Eat, Pray Love (I just finished two heavy books and this is the perfect "feel good" break book. I'm really loving it.) and in the first section the author is living in Italy and describing her experiences with the food and language. I've been laying around reading all weekend and by this afternoon I was dying for a big delicious meal so I decided to make risotto. I invited my friends, Dennis and Chelsea, over and we ate and played Scattergories.


This is the apron I got in the Sassy Apron Swap. I freaking love this apron. It has pockets AND it is reversible!

If you like peas, mushrooms and proscuitto I highly recommend this recipe. It was disgustingly delicious. The recipe doesn't call for mushrooms, but I love them so I added some baby bella mushrooms (or what I like to call "steak of the forest"). Also, I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and I used Asiago cheese instead of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Note: I just realized that there are 3 Brooklyn themed items in this one photo. Dennis' shirt from Brooklyn Industries, a Brooklyn poster on the wall from Ork Posters and a Brooklyn tray on the table from Fishs Eddy. Gotta show the love - Brooklyn is a magical place.

Stress makes me hungry

So it's 2 days before the BUST Craftacular and I am close to ready, but not quite - actually, I have so much to do and it's so busy at my other job I can't really even think during the day. So I finally got home tonight after running a couple hours worth of errands and what did I do? Make bread pudding of course! And it was delicious. (See below for the devil's dessert)INGREDIENTS:

• 5 slices white bread, crust trimmed
• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 cups milk
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly butter a shallow 12x8x2-inch baking dish. Butter bread slices generously with the butter. Cut each slice into 4 squares. Sprinkle raisins over the bottom of the prepared baking dish then arrange bread squares, buttered side up, over raisins. Sprinkle bread with the cinnamon.

In a saucepan, heat milk just until bubbles form around edge; remove from heat. Add sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved.

In a large bowl, beat eggs; stir in hot milk mixture then stir in vanilla. Pour over bread in baking dish. Set baking dish in a larger baking pan then add about 1/2 to 1 inch of very hot water to the larger pan. Bake at 350° for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Remove baking dish from the larger pan of water and let cool for about 15 minutes before serving. Can be served warm or cold. Refrigerate unused portion.
Bread pudding recipe makes 8 servings.