Hold the Tomatoes

Katie's First Birthday Invite!

2011-12-12T12:04:00.002-05:00

Big One Pink Birthday Invitation

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Beef and Two Bean Chili

2010-11-22T12:41:00.000-05:00

My husband has recently decided that he likes chili. A lot. All his life he's been a pretty picky eater but that's mostly been by choice. Because I love food and think that it's fun to experiment and try new things I've always encouraged him to be open-minded about food. At first, he resisted and hated trying new things, convinced that the reason he didn't like something was because he actually didn't like it, rather than he had just never tried it. Over time, he quit fighting me and started willing trying new things because he'd been able to find so many new foods that he really loved. We've been together since high school and I can't tell you how many things he has tried and fell in love with. Chinese food. Mexican food. Sushi. And, lately? Chili.

So he's been asking for me to make some kind of soup or chili for weeks now but it's just been too hot for me to think chili sounded good. Plus I hadn't found "the recipe." Over the last couple weeks here in Florida the weather has cooled off significantly (as in, it goes into the 60s on occasion) and I started thinking in earnest about trying my hand at chili. But I still couldn't find a recipe that spoke to me. So I took the things I liked about a few different recipes and adapted them to a recipe that suited our tastes.

Success!! I served this with cheese and sour cream for a garnish and biscuits as a side. Brad loved it and gushed all night long about how great it was! I really loved it too! Plus, it's a one-pot meal (read: easy clean-up) and makes a ton, which will probably serve us for a few more dinners and lunches. (I really love leftovers. Home-cooked meal without the work? Yes, please!) I subbed in green pepper for the more traditional celery (since neither of us are big celery fans) and the onion, garlic and green pepper made for a great vegetable flavor combo. The spices worked great together and the cornmeal gave the chili a great thickness without sopping up all the juices. One bowl is very filling and satisfying on a chili (pun intended) fall night. So here is the recipe. Hope you enjoy!

Beef and Two Bean Chili
(Original recipe by Layne)

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 16-ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
2 cups beef stock
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
3 Tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
¼ cup cornmeal

In a large stockpot over medium-low heat, saute chopped onion, garlic and green pepper until soft. Crumble in ground beef and cook until brown. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, stock, beans, spices and cornmeal to the stockpot and stir together. Cover and cook on low for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring frequently. Serve with cheese and sour cream.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-11-14T11:46:00.001-05:00

Who isn't looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe? And if you aren't, you should be. Of course, there is no one winner. Everyone has different opinions on what a chocolate chip cookie should be. And while sometimes we have different tastes and preferences, Brad and I definitely agree on this! Here's our take:

Chocolate chip cookies should be chewy, on the softer side and have a not-so-subtle brown sugar vibe about them. We also both tend to agree that the cookie part is better than the chocolate chip part. I definitely don't want an overdose of chocolate chips to drown out the wonderful brown sugar and buttery goodness of the cookies that they are suspended in. And, as far as Brad is concerned, the softer they are and the more they taste like cookie dough, the better.

So I decided I wanted to try to make not just good chocolate chip cookies, but GREAT chocolate chip cookies. I had two recipes in mind that held great promise: Alton Brown's "The Chewy" and Baking Illustrated's "Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies," which has been featured on zillions of food and baking blogs. They are both very similar and ended up I deciding on the Baking Illustrated version, mostly because of all the rave reviews.

I must say that these were amazing and did not disappoint. I'm convinced that they are my new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. They are chewy, with a great texture, and have a wonderful brown sugar flavor. Like all cookies, they are beyond phenomonal straight out of the oven but still hold onto their chewiness and flavor for a couple of days in a well-sealed container. Not much more to say other than we loved them!

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Recipe from Baking Illustrated, page 434)

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (10 5/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2-1 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.

3. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. (This batch should make about 18 large cookies.) Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.

4. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a metal spatula.

Grandmother's Spaghetti

2010-10-02T16:01:00.014-04:00

I grew up eating this spaghetti and thoroughly believing that THIS is what spaghetti should be. It was my grandmother's recipe but my grandfather made a mean batch too. I loved it and I would happily slurp it down whenever it was up for dinner. (Over to the right, that would be me - and my side-pony tail - along with my wonderful grandparents on picture day in grade school. Gotta love the 80's.)

Truthfully, I had a very hard time eating pasta of any other kind. Alfredo sauce tended to be much too creamy and rich. Traditional spaghetti sauce (you know, the meatless, tomato-saucy, chunk-less kind) just seemed so boring and thin. And, at the time, ricotta and I hadn't made friends so I wasn't a fan of most filled pastas.

Of course, over the years, I've turned into a huge foodie and now there aren't too many pastas that I don't love and ricotta and I get along very nicely. But as much as I love all the incarnations that pasta, sauces and Italian food can take, there is something about this version. It's just so comforting, so homey, so satisfying and hearty.

The following are some notes on the recipe: Now that I know more about food, I realize that it's not very traditional spaghetti sauce. First of all, it's a meat sauce and there are no huge chunks of stewed tomatoes . . . thank GOD. It also includes onions (fairly traditional) and green peppers (not so much) as the base vegetables. If you are a green pepper hater, no worries. My husband is too but I make sure to dice them up very small and cook until very tender and he doesn't even know they are in there.

There is also Worcestershire sauce, which may be a strange ingredient to some. But I am convinced that it is what makes the sauce. It adds SUCH a richness and depth of flavor. YUM. There is also quite a bit of garlic but keep in mind this recipe makes a TON of sauce. My grandparents used to add the cloves in whole, simmer them forever in the sauce and then remove them. But I LOVE garlic, so I decided to mince the cloves, saute them with the veggies and let them impart all their garlic-y goodness. Feel free to cut back if you're scared.

Enjoy!
~Layne

Grandma's Spaghetti Sauce

(Original Recipe by Layne)
serves 8-10, generously

1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 lb ground beef
29 oz. tomato sauce (or 2 15 oz. cans)
12 oz. tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Dice onion and green pepper and mince the garlic. Add olive oil to a large stock pot and place over medium-high heat. Saute onion, garlic and green pepper in oil until tender and fragrant, stir frequently to prevent sticking and over-browning. Crumble ground beef into pot and cook until beef is browned and cooked through.

Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomato sauce and tomato paste and water. Mix well. Add black pepper and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine. Allow sauce to simmer for at least an hour to allow flavors to meld. Serve over spaghetti (we prefer whole wheat), perhaps with a side of garlic bread, and enjoy!

Mushroom and Fresh Basil Pizza

2010-09-25T11:08:00.000-04:00

Brad has always been a cheese-only-pizza kinda guy. Every now and then he'll try a new topping but, for the most part, he tends to stick with what he knows. Meanwhile, I LOVE veggies on my pizza and fresh herbs. YUM! So it's pizza-by-the-slice for us since we can't agree.

Until, last month sometime, when we were at our favorite pizza/Italian place. We were discussing what looked good and we both had pizza on the brain. I decided that mushroom and fresh basil sounded yummy (although as far as I'm concerned there should be fresh basil on every pizza) and was surprised when Brad said that sounded good to him too! So we ended up getting an entire pizza and sharing it. We both loved it and that has been "our pizza" ever since.

Well, a couple weeks later at the farmer's market, we spied some great-looking baby portobello mushrooms and decided to do "our pizza" up home-style! I even had a new baking stone that I wanted to christen for the occasion.

Mushroom and Fresh Basil Pizza
(Original recipe by Layne, Pizza Dough adapted from a recipe by Tyler Florence)

Favorite jarred pizza sauce
Mushrooms, to taste (LOTS!!)
Basil, to taste (LOTS!!)
Pizza dough (half of recipe below)

Pizza Dough:
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups flour, plus more for dusting

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water; stir gently to dissolve. Let the mixture stand until the yeast comes alive and starts to foam, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Turn the mixer on low and add the salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the flour, a little at a time, mixing at the lowest speed until all the flour has been incorporated. When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium; stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook. Get a feel for the dough by squeezing a small amount together: if it's crumbly, add more water; if it's sticky, add more flour - 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix until the dough gathers into a ball, this should take about 5 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a few times; kneading until it's smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a round and place in a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot (i.e. over a gas pilot light) until doubled in size, about 1 hour. This is a good time to stick a pizza stone in the oven and preheat them to 500 degrees F.

Once the dough is domed and spongy, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter. Roll and stretch the dough into a cylinder and divide into 3 equal pieces. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes so it will be easier to roll out.

Roll or pat out a piece of dough into a 12 inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Dust a pizza paddle with flour and slide it under the pizza dough. Brush the crust with a thin layer of olive oil, and top with your favorite flavors. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and crisp. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Cheesy Grits Bread

2010-04-27T11:00:00.002-04:00

Okay, so recently I've become obsessed with yeast breads. I never thought I could be patient enough to enjoy baking, let alone enjoy baking with yeast! But something in me had to try it and after a few flops I've become quite good at baking bread! Who knew? I've made some wonderful boules lately and Brad has loved them! I've also tried my hand at some homemade honey, yeasty dinner rolls and they have been to. die. for. I would have shared them sooner but they tend to disappear quite fast. I'll be sure to share them soon, though. Promise.

But before the yeast craze, I was trying my hand at quick bread in hopes to avoid having to work with yeast. (Little did I know what I was missing!) Most were unimpressive. Dry. Heavy. Just yuck. Then I stumbled upon this recipe. Still like a quick bread but with a little yeast to give it rise and lighten it up. For some reason, it seemed less intimidating to me than most yeast breads. Like a gateway yeast bread. . . . Alright, I'm done now.

Anyway, this bread was awesome. Light and airy from the yeast, cheesy from the cheddar and slightly grainy from the grits. Like a more bread-y version of cornbread. Maybe that doesn't sound like a good description but it was delish!

Cheesy Grits Bread
(Recipe loosely adapted from Fake Ginge r, Originally from Southern Living)

1 cup milk
6 tablespoons quick cooking grits
1 teaspoon salt
5 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese (I just grated a big ol' pile and threw it in because, in my opinion, you can never have too much cheese!)
1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 (1/4 oz) packet yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp if you buy yeast in jars)
2 1/2 cups bread flour (I used all-purpose and it was fine)

Bring milk to a boil over medium heat; stir in grits and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; add salt and cheese, stirring until cheese is melted. Let stand for 25 minutes to cool, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, combine water, sugar, and yeast in a mixing bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Add grits mixture beating until well blended.

Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Dough will be slightly sticky. Shape into a ball and place into a well-greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch dough down and shape into a loaf. Place in lightly greased 9 x 5 loaf pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until golden. Let bread cool on wire racks for 10 minutes before removing.

Note: Like I said above, this was my first real foray into bread-making with yeast and it was a huge success. This is a very forgiving recipe and easy for beginners. The flavor of this bread was wonderful and the texture was spot on. I served it sliced with butter and I think it would be great for brunches or even as an accompaniment to one of my favorite kinds of meals: breakfast for dinner!

~Layne

Redo! Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

2010-04-23T09:52:00.000-04:00

So, I know I've already posted a recipe for Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Muffins. In fact, I've even already posted this one! But to be honest, they weren't that great the first time around. They were pretty dry and the peanut flavor was not very pronounced.

I was jonesing for these muffins again a while back. Well, not those muffins but the muffins I wanted them to be. So I decided to give it another try and really put my all into it. I also decided to make a half-batch because if I failed, I didn't want 11 dry, boring muffins crowding my kitchen.

Oh, but I did not fail. These muffins were glorious! Moist, with a great peanut butter flavor. They were just what I had been looking for and hit just the right spot. To accomplish this I added a little more peanut butter and a couple tablespoons more of brown sugar, both to add moisture and sweetness. I also subbed in whole wheat flour for about half of the all-purpose and added a couple of tablespoons of wheat germ for nutrition. I didn't notice that these had much of a negative impact on flavor but I know that they made these muffins more healthful . . . which made me feel better about eating them.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
(Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats, originally from Baking Bites)

Makes 6 large muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp wheat germ
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup, plus 2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy but smooth is fine)
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk (low fat or skim is fine)
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup honey roasted peanuts, chopped for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 6-cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, peanut butter, eggs and milk until smooth. Pour into flour mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Divide batter into your paper-lined muffin tin. Each cup should be filled to the top to ensure you get a nice dome on the muffin. Optional: sprinkle on some chopped peanuts for garnish. Bake for 17-20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the top of the muffin springs back when lightly pressed. Cool on a wire rack.

Herb Garden

2010-04-19T12:33:00.001-04:00

I have been very productive lately!! I have been wanting an herb garden ever since we moved into this house but I haven't gotten off my butt. Well, for some reason a couple of weekends ago, I was bitten by the bug and Sunday morning I woke up and asked Brad if we could go out and get all the things we needed for the herb garden. And so we spent the rest of the day at Lowe's and in the yard!

I decided to try and find (and plant) my favorite herbs and then the ones I use most often. (Like parsley, don't love the taste but it's great in everything for some freshness.) The front row (closest to the walk) has three herbs. Flat-leaf Parsley is the one that is farthest away, oregano is in the middle and basil is the closest, in the corner. In the back, near the house is dill (farthest away) and cilantro.

As you can see from the picture, Raina likes to be outside with us while I'm working in the garden. She loves to explore! Luckily she has she no interest in my herbs. Those are for the grown-ups!

I can't even tell you how happy I am about this herb garden. I'm scared to death that I'll kill it but so far I have prevailed. The first couple days I was afraid of drowning it so I avoided watering. I was told to be sparing on the water for the first few days!! But by day 3, they were looking wimpy, puny and all-around droopy. And I was convinced I had killed them. I read up and found out that after they are established they should be watered about every other day, about when the soil starts looking dry. So I dashed out and watered them right away. What do you know? The next day they bounced right back, must have just been dehydrated! I've taken to watering them about every other day and almost 2 weeks later they are doing great. Look at the "after" photo!!

Well, I do have one that is lagging behind! I had the worst time finding all the herbs I wanted. There were a few I was hoping for that I just couldn't find, or what I found was in pretty bad shape. Like the cilantro. It's tied with basil as my favorite herb. I just LOVE the stuff. (Oregano is Brad's favorite herb, btw). So I was beyond disappointed when after trips to 2 different places I couldn't find any decent cilantro. But I loved it so much I bought the only two plants they had that still looked half-alive. (For reference, I bought four of each of all the other herbs.) I planted them hoping that a little TLC would bring them back.

One shriveled up and died in about 2 days. Two weeks later, the other little plant is still hanging on! And it's starting to look pretty good! But it just can't quite grow and expand like the others are. Brad and I are planning a trip to the farmer's market this Sunday and I'm going to see if I can find any more cilantro buddies for the one I have that is growing lonely in my back yard!

I never thought I would have so much fun and interest in gardening. But as much as I love to cook (especially with fresh herbs) this garden really suits me. There is nothing like snipping a few fresh herbs and then making dinner with what you grew in your own backyard! I've already made salsa and some yummy pasta (to be posted soon) with my new herbs. Can't wait to use them again! Yum!

~Layne

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Tacos

2010-04-16T12:35:00.004-04:00

After stumbling upon the recipe for the best salsa ever the other day I knew that I had to change my dinner plans so that I had an excuse to eat more and so Brad (my husband) could indulge also. I had a pork roast in the fridge and I was planning on making my much-loved Crock Pot Pulled Pork. We had some leftover sandwich buns in the house that needed to be used and we hadn't had pork in a while so that was the plan for dinner. (Argh! Ever notice how much waste is created when you are cooking for 2? I don't need 8 hamburger buns for one dinner?!? Ugh, rant over.)

Anyway, I still wanted to use the pork for dinner but wanted to use it in a way that would allow us to also have the salsa with it. I immediately thought of Moe's. Brad and I love, love, love Moe's. It is an unfortunate obsession. In college, we easily ate there 2-3 times a week. The food was great and so cheap and the queso was to die for! When we started going, Moe's was still relatively small and didn't have a huge selection for their proteins, just chicken, steak and tofu. But they have added more meats (much to Brad's delight) and he likes to experiment. In the last year or so, Brad he really gotten into their pulled pork tacos and gets at least one every time he goes.

So I thought pulled pork tacos sounded perfect and immediately set about Googling for a recipe. I wanted to prepare the pork on the simpler side so that we could used the leftovers for different applications without the flavors clashing. I found a great recipe where I could do that and use salsa that I had just made. Perfect!

The verdict? Super easy and very tasty. Brad and I were both very pleased by the texture of the pork. It was so tender and just fell apart. There was no gnawing on the taco to get the pork to come with it. Nope, just one easy bite! Hurray! Another win for the slow cooker!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Tacos
(Recipe adapted from Real Simple)

2 cups salsa (I used homemade but you could easily use store-bought)
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 2 1/2-pound boneless pork butt or shoulder, trimmed of excess fat

In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the salsa, chili powder, oregano, cocoa, and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the pork and turn to coat. Cook, covered, until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily, on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours. When the pork is done cooking, lift it carefully out of the slow cooker and place it on a large cutting-board. Shred the pork by pulling it apart with 2 forks. If you would like to add moisture, spoon some of the cooking liquid over the pork and toss.

Serve over the tortillas and add whatever taco fixings you desire. For me it was cilantro, sour cream, lime, shredded cheddar cheese and, of course, extra salsa.

Enjoy!
~Layne

Best. Salsa. Ever.

2010-04-14T12:52:00.000-04:00

I love, love, love Mexican food. Or maybe I should be more clear. I love, love, LOVE chips and salsa. Which is funny because growing up I never really was a fan. Probably because the jarred salsa was so pervasive. At parties, holidays, BBQs. It was jarred salsa and Tostitos. Don't get me wrong I like Tostitos, salty and crunchy? What's not to like? But once I tasted real salsa and real corn chips, the kind you get at a quality mom-and-pop Mexican place. . . I was hooked. And weirdly enough, I hardly ever get cravings for "Mexican food." When I'm jonesing to go out to my favorite Mexican place it's always because I'm craving their chips and salsa. For me, salsa is a Mexican place's claim to fame . . if it's not good, I don't go back.

A couple things about salsa. First, if you know the name of this blog, you know that I'm NOT a raw tomato fan. I can do cooked tomatoes but NOT big chunks of them. So chunky salsa (which most jarred salsas are) is not my thing. Second, the salsas I get at my favorite Mexican places have that awesome fresh taste where you can really taste the herbiness of the cilantro, the bite of the onion and the tang of the lime juice. Like everything that was in it had just been yanked out of the ground and thrown in the blender and given right to me! Yummmm.

Recently I made one of my famous cheese quesadillas for lunch. It had been a while since I'd had the old cheddar and cilantro favorite (a new quesadilla had stolen my attention) so I was looking forward to it, when I noticed that the dregs of my salsa (yes, I caved and bought the only non-chunky jarred salsa I could find for home use) had started to go bad. Well, I had recently had a party where I served caprese skewers of raw cherry tomatoes, basil leaves and fresh mozzerella and I had leftover cherry tomatoes in my fridge! I also had an onion, some cilantro and some lime juice so I tried making my own salsa from what I had. Blech!! The raw tomato flavor was way too prominent and the salsa just didn't have the right kick to it.

Later, I search my Google reader for homemade salsa, determined to do it right. I found a very promising recipe on PW's site and her description of ideal salsa matched mine to a tee. Yesterday, I whipped it up, hoping to have found something good and Oh. My. Good. Gravy. This salsa was so amazing, I changed called Brad to let him know that I was changing our dinner plans so I had an excuse to eat more of this stuff. Yes, it's that good.

Best. Salsa. Ever.
(Recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman)

1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (I used 2 cans of "mild" because I'm a weanie when it comes to spicy foods)
¼ cups Chopped Onion
1 clove Garlic, Minced
1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin (I omitted this. Again, I'm a wuss.)
¼ teaspoons Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin
½ -1 cups Cilantro (more to taste!)
½ whole Lime Juice

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.

Notes: I made a few changes to the quantities in my salsa. First, I used a whole onion since the one I had was tiny and it probably gave me more like 3/4 cups. Also, I used more like a full cup of cilantro because I adore the stuff. I thought it was perfect but the hubs thought the cilantro flavor could have been dialed back a bit. Adjust this based on your tastes. Also, I did need to add a couple pinches more of salt to bring out all the flavors, the 1/4 tsp just didn't do it for me. But every canned product has different amounts of sodium, so make sure you taste your salsa before adding more salt.

I thought the final product was wonderful. I was worried that all the canned tomatoes would be too much for me but it turns out that canned tomatoes are cooked ever so slightly before they are canned. I guess it's enough to get rid of that raw tomato flavor becuase I loved this stuff! And the spice is just right for me, a little kick but nothing that knocks you over. So fresh tasting, tangy. Just awesome. Brad loved it too, saying he really liked that it was a great consistency and not too chunky. (Thank-you-very-much). Good thing too, because this recipe makes a ton of salsa. Too bad we've already gone through a third of it in one day!

~Layne

Ham and Brie Quesadilla

2010-04-12T19:58:00.000-04:00

I'm a quesadilla kinda girl. I have one at least twice a week for lunch and I love them. What's not to love? The crunchy tortilla? The melty cheese inside? Combined with a fresh salsa and some cool sour cream? Freaking. Awesome. Plus they are ridiculously easy to make. Pair them with some baked chips for lunch and they aren't too shabby in the health department either!

Usually I just do it up cheddar style. Throw some extra sharp cheddar and cilantro in a tortilla and saute until crispy and brown. Again, awesome. But I had some brie on had a while back and wanted to try something different. I love ham and brie together (the salty of the ham paired with the creamy of the brie just does things to me) so I decided to give it a try in my lunch time quesadilla. And, boy, was it a winner!

The next time I made this I decided to add another fave of mine, balsamic vinegar. We had some great balsamic vinegar in the house so I threw a few tablespoons into a saute pan and waited for it to reduce until it was the consistency of syrup. I drizzled a little of over the quesadilla and it was love at first bite. The salty. The tangy. The creamy. Nirvana. If you are looking for a quick, easy lunch that is tasty and will take no time, give this a try. It's sure to please.

Ham and Brie Quesadilla with Balsamic Reduction
(Original recipe)

1 whole wheat tortilla
2 oz thin sliced smoked deli ham
1 oz sliced brie

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Place tortilla in nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add ham and brie to one side of tortilla and heat for 2 minutes. Fold tortilla and continue to heat one side until golden brown and crisp. Then fold and crisp the other side. Place quesadilla on plate and slice into 4 equal wedges.

While cooking quesadillla, in a separate small saucepan, heat balsamic vinegar over medium-high heat until bubbling gently. Tilt pan side to side to keep balsamic moving while it boils. Once the it has reduced down to a syrup-y consistency (about half the original volume), remove from heat and drizzle over quesadilla and serve!

~Layne

PW Mac N Cheese

2010-04-09T10:56:00.000-04:00

I realize that this is NOT a very appetizing picture of this mac and cheese but let me tell you that despite that, this is one tasty dish. It won't be confused with light fare and I suggest a dinner salad with this and maybe some bread because it's very rich and is almost a meal unto itself. This mac and cheese is rich and decadent, creamy and tangy, just how I like it.

I have a habit of always adding powdered mustard to my cheese sauces because it gives them a great sharp tang. PW doesn't fail me here and I love her for it. Also, I have never been a fan of a breaded mac and cheese. I don't think the bread crumbs add anything in the way of flavor and they certainly take away from the velvety texture of this dish. Instead, I prefer the crispy, melted cheese topped variety. In short, this hits all the right notes for me. Try it and I'm sure you'll agree.

Pioneer Woman's Baked Macaroni 'N Cheese
(Recipe from Pioneer Woman Cooks)

Ingredients:
4 cups uncooked macaroni
4 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 tsp. dry mustard
1 egg, beaten
1 lb. cheese, grated (I used all cheddar, but I’m sure a combination would be great too)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/2-1 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cook macaroni according to package directions until slightly firm. Drain and set aside.

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook the mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly and being careful not to burn. Add the milk to the pot, stir in the dry mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook the mixture for five minutes until very thick. Reduce the heat to low.

Add the beaten egg to a small bowl. Take 1/4 cup of the warm sauce and slowly pour it into the beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid scrambling the egg. Whisk until smooth. Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth. Mix in the cheese, reserving a handful for topping, and stir until completely melted. Add in salt and other seasonings. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly. Add the drained cooked macaroni to the pot and mix well.

Pour the mixture into a baking dish, top with reserved cheese, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and bubbly on top.

~Layne

Herbed Balsamic Chicken with Blue Cheese

2010-01-14T15:35:00.001-05:00

My husband had long wanted a grill even before moving into our grill-friendly house over a year ago. He finally got an outdoor gas grill the Christmas before we moved into the house and less than a month later he had it set up in our new backyard. Ever since, he has loved to grill.

So I'm always looking for fun, easy recipes for him. Usually I prepare the food in the kitchen and he takes it outside to cook. We have grilled everything from kebabs, corn on the cob, salmon, steak, chicken. And it's all been delicious. Something about grilling over an open flame really adds flavor to whatever you're cooking.

And, just in case you were wondering, here's another fun fact about us: We absolutely love, adore and cherish balsamic vinegar. In everything. So when I found this recipe in an old issue of Bon Appetit, I knew it would just be a matter of time before we were making it.

The balsamic marinade gave this chicken amazing flavor and the blue cheese added a tangyness that just put it over the top. My only critique would be the addition of the dried herbs. Frankly, they got even drier and slightly burnt on the grill and only added a bitter flavor and paper-y texture to the chicken. I ended up scraping the herbs off and enjoying the chicken much more without them. If you have fresh herbs to add, I might suggest that or adding the dried herbs to the marinade. But the dried herbs directly on top of the chicken just didn't work on the grill.

Herbed Balsamic Chicken With Blue Cheese
(Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, June 2009)

6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (5 to 6 ounces each)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning blend
1 3-to 4-ounce wedge blue cheese, cut into 6 slices

Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag. Whisk vinegar, 3 tablespoons oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in small bowl. Add to chicken; seal bag. Chill 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Prepare grill (medium-high heat). Brush grill rack generously with oil. Arrange chicken on grill. Sprinkle with herbes de Provence, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. (Note: I didn't use herbes de Provence because I didn't have any. Instead I substituted Italian seasoning, which was fine.) Grill chicken until cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer to plates; top each with slice of cheese.

Enjoy!
~Layne

Chicken in Puff Pastry

2010-01-11T15:31:00.003-05:00

This is such a simple and tasty meal. It started when I went to one of my (still) favorite lunch places in college. It's called the Wine and Cheese Gallery and it's in Gainvesille, FL. It's a great wine shop and they only serve food for lunch but everyday they have the most amazing salads, sandwiches, quiches, etc.

One day they had a special. It was chicken, cheese and herbs in puff pastry served with a spinach salad. It was wonderful and had me hooked! From then on I always looked at their specials first to see if their puff pastry special was being offered that day. If it was there, my lunch choice was made! They also served it with shrimp which was also amazing.

A while after we moved to Orlando, I bought puff pastry for something else I was making. Since puff pastry comes in packages of 2 at a time, I had to think of something to do with the unused sheet. I remembered the amazing dish at Wine and Cheese and decided to attempt to recreate it!

The original dish used fresh herbs but I didn't have any so I threw in pesto instead. It was absolutely delicious! If you have fresh thyme, basil, oregano or parsely, throw those in because they would work well with this. Otherwise, feel free to use store-bought pesto. I also decided to saute some mushrooms and throw those in for more flavor. (Also, since Brad isn't a huge fan of veggies, I try to throw them in wherever I can!)

For the most part, I just threw this together based on my memory of the dish. I didn't really measure as I went along and just added what sounded good to me. I tried to estimate as best I could for the recipe below. Be warned, the recipe below makes quite a bit of filling. If you don't think you'll use it all, cut back on the cream cheese and the rest of the ingredients to reduce the amount of the filling. Or just refrigerate the leftover filling and make these again for dinner later in the week!

Chicken in Puff Pastry
(Original recipe, inspired by Wine and Cheese Gallery)

1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup sliced mushroom
8 oz. cream Cheese, softened
1 cup shredded or diced cooked chicken (NOTE: Can be pre-packaged fully-cooked chicken like this or leftover grilled or rotisserie chicken)
1 Tbsp Dijon-style mustard
2 Tbsp tore-bought pesto (This is my favorite brand.)
Salt and pepper, to taste

1 sheet of puff pastry
1 egg
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 400 F. Thaw puff pastry sheet at room temperature for 30 minutes. Beat egg and water together in a small dish and set aside.

Add onion and garlic to a medium saute pan over medium-high heat and cook until onion starts to soften and turn translucent. Add mushrooms and cook until tender. Remove from heat and strain. Combine cream cheese, chicken, mushroom mixture, mustard, and pesto. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir gently to combine. Refrigerate 30 minutes to an hour to allow the mixture to firm up. (Note: This is optional but I found that making the pastries was easier when the stuffing was less runny and more firm.)

Unfold on puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll out slightly to create a 14" rectangle. Cut pastry in 4 squares and lay each square of pastry onto a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray.

Fill the center of each square about 1/4 to 1/3 full of cream cheese mixture. Brush the sides of the pastry squares with the egg wash and fold in half diagonally to create a triangle shape. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal. Once all of the pastries are finished, brush the tops with more egg wash and use a sharp knife to cut 2-3 slits in the top of the pastry to allow the steam to vent. Place in oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the pastry has puffed and is golden brown.

I served this dinner with a side salad dressed with a vinaigrette. While these little pastries taste amazing, they can me quite heavy and are almost a meal to themselves!

Enjoy!
~Layne

Homemade Bread

2010-01-02T13:22:00.000-05:00

I have been absolutely dying to try baking bread. My husband and I love bread plus we are carb-a-holics and the thought of warm, home-cooked bread right out of the oven for dinner sounded amazing to me. The only thing holding me back was the fact that I had a minor fear of working with yeast. Or more specifically screwing it up. I also worried that baking bread would be time-consuming and something that you would have to plan way in advance and then stick to a strict time table if you wanted to enjoy it. But I had heard rave reviews about the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking. I've read about it on several blogs and I thought it would be a great book to try out getting started with yeast. The recipes in this book are very user friendly and allow you to make the dough and bake bread in as soon as 2 hours or up to 2 weeks later! I was hoping to get for Christmas but I didn't. But I did get gift cards so I ordered it right away! Should be here Monday!

However, I was too excited to wait and the master recipe from the book is available all over the internet. It's called a boule, which is just the French word for "ball" and is a traditional rustic loaf shape. I tried this for dinner recently and we were both blown away by how great it was! Please try it! It's amazing and so simple to do.

Simple Crusty Bread
(Recipe adapted from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, published by NY Times)
Yield = Four 1-pound loaves.
Recipe can be easily doubled or halved.

3 cups lukewarm water (a little warmer than body temperature, about 100º F)
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (or 2 packets)
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt
6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour, measured with the scoop-and-sweep method
Cornmeal for the pizza peel.

1. In a 5-quart bowl, mix the yeast, water and salt. Add all the flour, then use a wooden spoon to mix until all ingredients are uniformly moist. It is not necessary to knead or continue mixing once the ingredients are uniformly moist. This will produce a loose and very wet dough. (Note: You’re finished when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches of flour. Dough will be wet and loose enough to conform to the shape of the container.)

2.Cover with a lid (not airtight). Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse, about 2 hours, but no more than 5 hours. After rising, the dough can be baked immediately, or covered (non completely airtight) and refrigerated up to 14 days. (Note: The dough will be less sticky and easier to work with after at least 3 hours refrigeration.)

3. Before baking, prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the bread from sticking when you transfer it to the oven. Uncover the dough and sprinkle the surface liberally with flour. Pull up and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough (serrated knives are best). Store the remaining dough in the bowl and refrigerate for baking at another time.

4. Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won't stick. Create a smooth ball of dough by gently pulling the sides down around to the bottom, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. The bottom of the loaf may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will flatten out during resting and baking. (Note: The entire process should take no more than 30 to 60 seconds.)

5.Place the dough on the pizza peel. (Note: If you aren’t planning on baking the bread on a pizza stone, just let the dough rest on a cornmeal-covered cutting board.) Allow the loaf to rest for about 40 minutes. It does not need to be covered. The bread may not rise much during this time.

6. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 F. If using a pizza stone, place on the center rack of the oven. Remove any upper racks. Place a broiler pan on a rack below the pizza stone or on the floor of the oven. When the dough has rested for 40 minutes, dust the top liberally with flour, then use a serrated knife to slash a 1/4-inch-deep cross or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top.

7. Slide the loaf off the peel and onto the baking stone with a quick jerking motion. (Alternatively, butter a Pyrex dish or baking pan and place the bread in the pan.) Quickly but carefully pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch. Allow the bread to cool completely, preferably on a wire cooling rack.

One final note! As a result of the baking frenzy this holiday season, I was starting to run very low on all-purpose flour. So about 1/4 of the flour I used for this recipe was whole wheat flour, rather than all purpose. The bread was still amazing but I have a feeling it was slightly denser than if I had used all AP flour . . . which I will do next time since I have finally replenished my stock. Oh, and yes, there will definitely be a next time!

Enjoy!
~Layne

Peanut Butter Pie

2009-12-30T17:46:00.000-05:00

Consider the fact that my husband isn't really a fruit person and combine that with the fact that he really doesn't want fruit "messing up" his dessert, you may be able to understand why this is the only pie that Brad eats. And it really is pretty darn tasty. Kristen actually introduced this pie to us years ago and Brad loved it, so I knew I had to keep it in my arsenal. It's yummy and simple so it works for any occasion but you could spruce it up with some whipped cream or ganache drizzle if fancy is what you are going for.

The biggest con to this dessert is that it is a frozen pie and starts to lose it's texture if exposed to room temperature for too long. Also, you need to give this several hours in the freezer before it is firm enough to serve, so it doesn't lend itself to any last minute applications. That being said, it's definitely a people-pleaser. It's very light but the peanut butter flavor definitely stands out. I've served it to adults and kids and they all loved it!

Peanut Butter Pie**
(Original recipe by Hold the Tomat o)

1 cup milk
8 oz cream cheese
2/3 cup peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
12 oz Cool Whip
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 9-inch graham cracker pie crusts

Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl and beat together. Once combined, stir in last 3 ingredients. Pour mixture into the two prepared crusts and freeze for several hours or overnight. Remove from freezer a few minutes before serving and garnish with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle, etc.

**This recipe is for two pies but can be easily halved. In fact, I rarely make the full recipe.

Enjoy!
~Layne

Homemade Marshmallows

2009-12-26T20:25:00.000-05:00

This is one of those recipes that I never thought I'd be able or willing to tackle. I know that I can make my own marshmallows at home and I know how wonderful they are but I also know enough to know that they are a huge pain in the rear! In other words, I hadn't convinced myself that they were really worth it. Plus I'm a huge mess-a-phobe and that even extends to the kitchen and I was worried that there was no way that I could make these without creating a disaster area in my kitchen.

Kristen had the guts to tackle these lovelies a couple of Christmases ago and, of course, they were little pillows of heaven. (Especially yummy in hot chocolate.) And she even brought her own horror stories back about mixing madness, crazy-sore arms and sticky gunk, oh my! And I was still content to let her do all the work once a year and partake in the yummy afterward.

Well, no longer! We had a baking day recently and this is one of the recipes she had on her list. Since I was participating I got a chance to see exactly how bad this stuff really was. The truth? Not too terrible! Sure, there are hurdles in this recipe and you have to be smart enough to know how to maneuver around them. But Kristen has done a pretty good job of finding the annoyances in the process and sidestepping (or outsmarting them) them as much as possible. So I am a convert and am no longer afraid of homemade marshmallows. I'm sure I'll be tackling these again next holiday season . . . or sooner if the craving hits! ;-)

So here is the recipe and I've included our notes to help you through the process. It can be done with minimal frustration and mess, just take a breath and follow along!

Homemade Marshmallows
(Original recipe by Alton Brown)

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Nonstick spray

Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of water into the bowl of your stand mixer. Attach the whisk attachment and let gelatin solution stand. In a small saucepan, combine remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat and bring to a boil, allowing to cook for several minutes until the mixture reaches 240 F. (Note: AB's recipe says this will take 7-8 minutes but ours took longer.)

Using a candy thermometer is the easiest way to monitor this, but we didn't have one so we used the "cold water test" to determine which stage our sugar solution was at. You want your solution at the soft-ball stage. For a great description of each sugar stage and how to determine when you've reached the soft-ball stage, go here.

Once your sugar solution has reached this stage, remove from the heat and turn your mixer (with the gelatin solution in it) on low. Slowly add the sugar solution to the mixer while running. Once the syrup is all added, increase the mixer speed to high and continue to mix for 12-15 minutes. The mixture will turn white and become very thick, very sticky, and increase in volume significantly. During the last minute of mixing add the vanilla (or any other flavorings you want) to the marshmallows.

During this time, combine powdered sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Spray a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with nonstick spray and coat the bottom and sides with powdered sugar and cornstarch mixture.

NOTE: Up until now, the process will have run relatively smoothly. But this next step is where things can get very messy. The best advice I can give you during this whole process is to avoid touching the marshmallow mixture at all costs, unless absolutely necessary.

Once the mixture is ready, tilt the head of the mixer back (with the whisk still attached) and let the mixture attached to the whisk drip off. It will fall, very slowly, back into the bowl. Do not be tempted to scrap the whisk clean. If you try to battle this stuff or hurry it up . . . you will lose. After a minute or so, most of the mixture should have dripped off the whisk. Invert the mixing bowl over your coated pan and again use gravity to dump most of the mixture into the pan. Then use a lightly oiled spatula to get the rest.

NOTE: If you are an obsessive bowl-scraper, like I am, please understand that you will have to let that go on this recipe. There will be a good size mass of goo on the sides of the bowl that you will not be able to scrape down. Just do your best and walk away!

Alright, you're almost done now! Once the mixture is into the pan, use moist hands to flatten out the marshmallows into a sheet. If the marshmallows start sticking to your hands, just re-wet them a bit and continue smoothing the mixture out. Dust more of the cornstarch mixture over the top and let stand for 4 hours to overnight to allow the marshmallows to cool and set.

To cut, use a pizza cutter to slice the marshmallows into squares. Once cut, toss once again in the cornstarch mixture to lightly coat the remaining sides. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks!

One last thing. While I am not a fan of mint, Kristen wanted to try adding some different flavorants to the marshmallows. So after mixing, she separated a small batch and added some peppermint extract, mixed well and then added a drop or two of red food coloring and folded that once or twice into the mixture to give it a roughly swirled pattern. From what I hear, they were great . . . but I will take her word for it!

OH! And one of the most important notes I can give you, from one mess-a-phobe to another, it this: the clean up on this is actually NOT BAD!! Just make sure to soak your sticky dishes in warm, soapy water and all that sticky goo will just dissolve away! Just make sure the water is warm and cleanup should be a breeze!!

Enjoy!
~Layne

Saltine Toffee Candy

2009-12-25T13:25:00.000-05:00

This is one of those recipes that seems to be everywhere in the food blogosphere. And with good reason . . . because it's fan-freakin-tastic and ridiculously easy. Only right that we should include it here also.

I first saw this particular version on Peabody's blog where she said she preferred butter crackers but after a little bit more searching, it seems like the larger preference is saltines. And who am I to mess with popular opinion? Kristen and I first made this last Christmas and we were skeptical, at best. But, lo and behold, it was amazing. It was such a simple idea. Use saltines as a base for homemade toffee, melt and spread chocolate on the top, cool and break into pieces. The result is a wonderful "bark"-like candy that is an absolute winner!

This year I had some white chocolate chips laying around so we got the idea to experiment with the topping. On half, we repeated last years version, which was milk chocolate with sliced almonds. On the other half we used white chocolate with red and green sugar crystals to add color and in the middle we swirled the white and milk chocolates together. They were all amazing but we all decided that the milk chocolate and almond combo is still the best.

Saltine Toffee Candy
(Recipe adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody)

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup brown sugar
Enough crackers to make a layer on a cookie sheet
1 cup chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips)
Sliced almonds, sprinkles, toffee pieces, etc (for topping)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with foil (very helpful lator on when you are trying to break the candy). Put a single layer of saltines on the cookie sheet, close together. Bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil in a saucepan and simmer it for about 5 minutes. Pour the brown sugar mixture over the crackers and bake for about 6-10 minutes at 350F.

Remove and immediately pour the chocolate chips over the crackers, evenly distributing them. The following are Peabody's instructions and I really think she has nailed doing this the easy way:

"The recipe will tell you to spread immediately…I don’t. I let it sit for about 30 seconds. Then with the back of a spatula I move the chocolate chips just a little bit. I wait another 30 seconds and repeat. I start to slowly move the chocolate around being careful not to move the crackers. I let is sit for another 30 seconds and at this point it pretty much spreads like frosting."

At this point, top the candy with whatever you like. Like I mentioned above, we've tried different types of chocolate with colored sugar and nuts. I'm not a fan of mint so we obviously went another direction, but crushed candy canes would look very nice and festive for the holidays. Use your imagination! Cool the candy in the refrigerator until hard and then break into bite-sized pieces and serve!

Enjoy!
~Layne

PS: I hope everyone is having a wonderfully Merry Christmas today!!!

Too. Much. Sugar!

2009-12-24T12:13:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is actually how many sweets are currently residing in my fridge. It's scary really. SIX CONTAINERS worth!?! Two containers are from cookie baking adventures that I had with my mom last week. We made Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, Chocolate Crack Cookies and Bourbon Balls. Toward the end my mother started losing it (baking is not her forte) and we got into some Lucy-and-Ethel type troubles. Think forgetting ingredients and mistaking flour for powdered sugar. The Bourban Balls bore the brunt of the badness but (surprisingly) still turned out very tasty!

Another two containers are from the much-less-exciting but still very, very tasty cooking adventures of Kristen and I earlier this week. We made more Crack Cookies, this time Coconut Crack Cookies, half rolled in powdered sugar, the other half rolled in flaked coconut. (Oh. My. God. YUM!) Also, on our list was Saltine Toffee Candy and Homemade Marshmallows. All turned out amazing and more to come on those. . .

The pretty round tin was my "cut" from Kristen's family's baking ventures. Too many yummy sweets in there to name but all great! And, finally, for some strange reason, I was in the mood to bake this last weekend and made whole wheat chocolate chip muffins with an oatmeal, brown sugar crumb topping. Of course, the recipe made 12 muffins and Brad and I only ate them for breakfast this weekend. We have been slowly whittling away at the rest of the batch since then.

The next couple of posts are a few recipes that Kristen and I made for the holidays. Obviously many many cookies, candies, pies, etc. . . were made for the holidays by the both of us but these recipes were the ones we made together. Oh! And there are amazing. So we thought we'd share.

Enjoy!
~Layne

PS: Merry Christmas Eve!!

French Toast Bread Pudding

2009-11-20T00:04:00.001-05:00

Back in October (October? Has it been that long?!?) I had plans to go to a potluck brunch and when I thought about what I wanted to bring I instantly had an idea. French toast bread pudding. I absolutely adore bread pudding and french toast is a relatively obvious breakfast choice so why not combine them?!? It sounded delicious and perfect for a potluck situation when a casserole-like dish would be so much easier to bring and keep fresh-tasting than servings of french toast which would probably stick together, get cold and be limp before anyone could dig in.

I knew I could probably wing it and be okay but I decided to Google "french toast bread pudding" to see if I could find any existing recipes or at least get an idea of what others did. I found a few but none were exactly what I had in mind. Some had the nutmeg and cinnamon I knew would make it taste warm and fall-y but didn't have the maple flavor, others had the maple but didn't use the light, egg-y challah that I knew would be so good in this dish, and so on and so forth. So I took the parts of each I liked and made my own Franken-recipe. I do this a lot. Really. A. Lot.

So here is what I came up with and it is wonderful. Not overly sweet on it's own but puffy and light with a slightly crispy top. Add a smidge of your favorite syrup and it's perfect! Enjoy!
French Toast Bread Pudding
(recipe loosely adapted from Dozen Flours)

1 (1 pound) loaf challah, cut into 1 inch cubes
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
6 tablespoons maple syrup, divided

Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange the bread cubes evenly in the dish. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and 3 tbsp syrup. Pour over bread cubes, cover, and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and maple syrup; heat until bubbling. Pour over bread and egg mixture. Bake in preheated oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Bread pudding should be puffed, browned and crisp on top. Serve with maple syrup!

Enjoy!
~Layne

PS: On another, slightly related, note here are some pictures of the lovely ladies that attended that brunch. Kristen and I are both there, can you spot us? Well, if not, the next picture is just us. Don't ask what was so amusing?!?! I couldn't begin to tell you. :-)

Chocolate/Peanut Butter & Cinnamon/Sugar Crescent Rolls

2009-10-22T12:04:00.000-04:00

I found the recipe for these crescent rolls on For the Love of Cooking and thought they were a brilliant idea. It's one of those things that's so simple and obvious you think, why didn't I think of that? Well, I didn't think of it but I did take credit for it!

I brought these delicious crescent dessert rolls to Kristen and Justin's Housewarming party last weekend and they were a hit. And they paired wonderfully with all the other delicious food that Kristen and her family prepared for the party. They are great for an afternoon snack or a wonderful dessert or appetizer. Try them! They are too easy and too delicious to pass up!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Crescent Rolls
(recipe adapted from For the Love of Cooking)

1 tube of crescent rolls
Peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
Chocolate chips

Preheat the oven according to the package directions. Place the unrolled and separated crescent rolls onto an foil-lined cookie sheet sprayed with Pam. Spread a layer of peanut butter on each triangle and top with chocolate chips. Roll from the bottom of the triangle to the point, ending with the point on the top and center of the roll. Place in the oven and bake for 10-11 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve while hot.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Crescent Rolls
(recipe adapted from For the Love of Cooking )

1 tube of crescent rolls
Cinnamon-sugar*

Preheat the oven according to the package directions. Place the unrolled and separated crescent rolls onto an foil-lined cookie sheet sprayed with Pam. Sprinkle triangles liberally with cinnamon sugar. Roll from the bottom of the triangle to the point, ending with the point on the top and center of the roll. Sprinkle additional more cinnamon-sugar to the top of the crescent rolls, to taste. Place in the oven and bake for 10-11 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve while hot.

Enjoy!
~Layne

*Make your own cinnamon-sugar by combining 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 4 tsp cinnamon.

Housewarming Party

2009-10-21T09:51:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, October 17th, my husband and I threw a housewarming party to break in our new home. The house was open from 2pm until 2am and we had a variety of munchies all day long. Here's a peek at the menu:

Appetizers

stuffed cold shrimp

BLT bites in cherry tomatoes

Greek-style deviled eggs

pepperoni pinwheels

tortilla chips and salsa

cheddar cheeseball with crackers

cucumber-yogurt dip with vegetable dippers

chocolate "crack" cookies

chocolate peanut butter crescent rolls

cinnamon-sugar crescent rolls

cream cheese-Fluff dip with fruit

balsamic-strawberry cups

Dinner on the Grill

hot dogs

hamburgers

Andouille sausages with roasted onions and peppers

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

2009-10-16T18:44:00.001-04:00

This meal was another great surprise. I love cooking in my crock pot because it's so gosh-darn easy. And I love the feeling at the end of the day that dinner is done and the whole house smells good and it doesn't feel like I had to do any work to make it happen. I had tried pulled pork before but it was an on-the-bone cut of meat that roasted in the oven for hours, required regular basting, was very difficult to shred and, in the end, wasn't the greatest. I decided to try to find a recipe that included a boneless cut of meat (read: cheaper and easier) that could be cooked in the slow cooker. And voila! This made for an amazing dinner.

I found this recipe and was hoping it would be a winner. It was so easy, used mostly staples that I always had on hand (except for the pork) and was very budget friendly. My husband and I aren't really into spicy foods, so I omitted the tobasco sauce. I also omitted the liquid smoke just because I didn't have any in the house. When my husband came home from work and started drooling immediately, I knew it was a good sign. Because I didn't start this until after lunch, I opted to cook it on the high setting and planned to let it cook for 4 hours. Well, this smelled so good that we lost all control and dug in just shy of 3 1/2 hours in. Even still, the meat was super tender and fell apart when I took two forks to it. I really think this recipe is foolproof and worth a try!

Crock Pot Pulled Pork
(adapted from Prudence Pennywise)

1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 lb. pork chops
1 teaspoon or more tabasco sauce (optional)
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

Place first 5 ingredients in slow cooker and whisk to combine. Add pork chops and turn to coat. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Remove pork chops and use two forks to shred meat. You can use the sauce that was created as your BBQ sauce by adding the pork back to crock pot and tossing with sauce. We chose to use our favorite BBQ sauce instead but did spoon a few tablespoons of the sauce in the slow cooker over the pulled pork and tossed to combine. This just added more moisture and flavor to the pork. Slap on a bun for a very tasty pulled pork sammy!

Enjoy!
~Layne

PS: I served mine with some yummy sweet potato fries which made for a very tasty dinner combo!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-10-14T10:40:00.000-04:00

I love baking but I don't do much of it. It's a shame and I've been wanting to get into the habit of baking more. For a while I had the hankering to make some wonderful homemade, baked, sweet something. But what? I wanted it to have some semblance of healthfulness. Zucchini bread. Bran muffins. Oatmeal cookies. Something that wasn't all calories and fat and sugar and guilt.

When it comes to healthfulness my biggest challenge is my husband. It's not that he doesn't care about being healthy but to say veggies really aren't his thing would be the understatement of the year. I try to sneak any form of nutrition into what I cook for him but it's definitely difficult to say the least. Brad was pretty wary of the whole vegetables in dessert idea so I postponed the zucchini bread in favor of some oatmeal cookies. He had had some at a party a couple weeks prior and really liked them and I knew I could make something healthy and delicious with them. So I decided to find a recipe and play with it.

First, I wanted to eliminate most of the fat by replacing the 3/4 of the butter in the recipe with apple butter. You can also do this with apple sauce but while I'm not really a fan of applesauce, I love apple butter and had some in the house. The apple butter I used had less that half the calories and NO fat compared to the butter I was using. So I saved 540 calories and 96 grams of fat JUST by making this substitution. (This counts the whole batch of cookies, but still.) Also, because apple butter adds a lot more sweetness than butter would, I also cut out some of the sugar in the original recipe.

I also added some wheat germ to the mix. For those who don't already know, this is a great option to any baked recipe to add nutrition. I add wheat germ to pancakes, waffles, cookies and muffins. It adds nutrition without changing the flavor. One note of caution, though. When you are baking the ratio of dry ingredients to wet ingredients is important. Since it has a dry, powdery consistency, wheat germ may throw this ratio off some. To counteract this, if your mix seems too thick add more of a wet ingredient. For example, in my pancakes I add a splash more milk. In the case of these cookies, the dough was fine so I didn't need to add anything.

One last thing I do in almost all of my baked recipes is switch half of the flour needed from all-purpose to whole wheat. Again, by only switching out half the flour for whole wheat, you can maintain the flavor and texture while still dramatically increasing the nutrition.

So these cookies were absolutely the surprise of the season. I thought they would be good but since I was seriously tweaking the recipe and wasn't sure exactly what the outcome would be. To both of our surprise these were amazing! It must have been the apple butter because there was this depth of flavor that couldn't be explained by anything else. If it's at all possible, these cookies really taste like fall, not too sweet with a great mix of spices and a burst of chocolate every now and then. They didn't puff up the way most cookies do, I think because of the lack of "real" butter . They held the shape they had in their raw form and just got nice and golden. But it didn't really bother us. Really it just added to the rustic, homebaked look of them.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Crepes of Wrat h (originally from Quaker Oats)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) softened butter
3/4 cup apple butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp toasted wheat germ
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups dry oatmeal
1 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the flours, wheat germ, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In large bowl, beat together the butter, apple butter and sugar until light and fluffy, at least 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and beat well.
3. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat together until just moistened. Stir in your oats, then stir in your chocolate chips.
4. Drop the dough by heaping spoonfuls onto foil-lined cookie sheets.
5. Bake the cookies 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool for a bit on the cookie sheets before transferring elsewhere to cool. Makes approx. 3 dozen, depending on size of your cookies.

2009-02-13T16:27:00.000-05:00

Ok, now I was tagged by Layne to post six things that make me happy. And, since this is a food blog, I've decided that my six things will pertain to food. :o)

Here are the rules: Link to the person who has tagged you. Write down six things that make you happy. Post the rules, tag six others and let them know you did it. Then tell the person when your entry is complete. Six Things That Make Me Happy, in no particular order. . .

1. CHEESE (what more can I say?)
2. Stuff that goes with cheese (like fruits and crackers and veggies and WINE)
3. Big parties with small hors d'oeuvres (there is nothing better than creative finger food)
4. Meat... don't get me wrong, I love vegetarians... I eat vegetarians at almost every meal!
5. Desserts that are way too rich and filling to take more than a couple of bites
6. Last, but not least, sharing food with my friends and family (awh... I know, cheesy, but true)

I'm tagging Layne, Alan, and anyone else who feels like responding. ;o)

Grilled Pesto Chicken

2009-02-09T16:59:00.000-05:00

Brad just got his first grill for Christmas so we are grilling a lot lately. And, luckily, he loves it! I like it not only because the grill adds so much flavor on it's own, but also because it's very easy to stay healthy and low fat by grilling. On that note, I adapted this Cooking Light recipe last week and it was wonderful! By far the best thing we've had on the grill.

Grilled Pesto Chicken
(adapted from Cooking Light)

2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup basil pesto
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 tsp minced garlic
Juice of one lemon
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a bowl, and stir well. Place the chicken in a baggie and add half of the sauce to the bag and. Seal bag and turn to coat chicken well. Marinade in refrigerator for 30 minutes (longer would be better, up to 4 hours but I didn't have much time).

Prepare grill. Place chicken breasts on grill rack and grill for about 6 minutes per side or until the chicken is done, turning occasionally.

Remove from grill and top with remaining pesto mixture. We served this with grilled corn, sauteed mushrooms and rolls. It was delicious. Very moist chicken and the sauce was so flavorful!

Enjoy!
~Layne

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2009-01-31T16:11:00.000-05:00

So this is the first post that truly tested the limits of the whole hatred-of-tomatoes theme. I love tortilla soup but I'm pretty picky about it. I'm not a fan of the very thin broth-y soups that taste very much like tomato soup with taco seasoning and some tortilla chips thrown on top for good measure. For me, those soups don't have any interest or character and taste way to much like raw tomatoes to be tasty. No, I prefer the creamier versions where you can tell the flour tortillas have lent their starchy goodness to the whole soup and it really tastes like a chicken taco on a flour tortilla with all the fixin's was just blended up and stuck in a bowl for you.

Since it has been unusually cool these last couple of weeks, I've been thinking a hot bowl of soup would hit the spot. I found this recipe on Cooking Light and decided to give it a go, but of course I tweaked it a bit. Since it was our main course I added some chicken to the soup. I also decreased the tomato sauce and added some skim milk to help add a creaminess. The end result: my official taste tester (Brad, the husband) approves. In fact, he loved it. I actually really liked it too but it bordered on almost too tomato-y for my taste. Next time I may add a little less tomato sauce and a little more milk. I like to play around with ratios until I get it just right, even still I really enjoyed it. But I couldn't eat the whole bowl. No worries, Brad finished off his and mine too. And he went back for seconds and thirds, that's right, he had it for dinner three nights in a row. He just couldn't stop talking about it! I always love having his seal of approval.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
(adapted from Cooking Light)

3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken tenders
1 whole wheat flour tortilla diced into bite-size pieces
1/2 red onion, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 cups water
1/2 cup skim milk
1 14 oz can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup favorite bottled salsa
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon fresh cilantro

Optional Toppings:
shredded sharp cheddar cheese, light sour cream, tortilla chips, etc

Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides and sear in a soup pot over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes per side. Remove from pot and slice into bite size pieces and set aside. In the same pot, add onion and saute over low heat until soft and almost translucent. Add garlic and saute for another minute or two. Then add tomato sauce, water, milk, broth, salsa and spices. Be sure to stir well and scrap up all the browned chicken and onion bits from the bottom of the pan (read: flavor!) Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10-12 minutes.

This is where I did something I have a feeling most would find strange. I tend to like my soups either super thick or pretty creamy and not really anywhere in between. So I pulled out my handy-dandy new immersion blender and blended the soup while still in the pot on the stove to make the texture nice and smooth. Of course this step is optional.

Afterward, I added the diced chicken and tortilla pieces back into the soup and simmered on low for another 2-3 minutes just to combine the flavors. (Beware: only add the sliced tortillas to the soup if it's going to be eaten immediately. We learned the hard way that if they sit in the soup too long they got real soggy real quick and I wasn't a fan.) Serve with a dollop of light sour cream and a pinch of grated cheddar cheese. I also served this soup with a spinach salad and side of black beans.

Enjoy!
~Layne

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

2009-01-27T11:19:00.000-05:00

I got the idea for this particular recipe from Annie's Eat's. She claims that she doesn't understand the obsession people have with the peanut butter and chocolate combo. I developed this particular obsession in college and today, I'm hooked. It's absolute heaven. Don't tell anyone but I've been known to spread peanut butter on a graham cracker and top it with chocolate chips as a sweet snack. ::drool:: Anyway, that being said, she has quite a bit of chocolate-peanut butter recipes on her blog. So this is where I went on Saturday evening when I was looking for a dessert recipe to make with my new Kitchenaid stand mixer.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
(adapted from Annie's Eat's)

1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup brown sugar plus more for topping
3 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°. Line a muffin pan with 6 paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, peanut butter, eggs and milk until smooth. Add in the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Divide batter evenly between prepared muffin tins, filling each to the top. Optional: Sprinkle the top of each muffin with brown sugar. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

This is a half-batch, so it made 6 muffins. The batter was a little bland so I added the vanilla and since I love a crunchy muffin-top, I also added the brown sugar on top which caramelized nicely in the oven. I would have to say that these weren't my favorite muffins ever. Definitely tasty but they were a bit heavy for my taste and the peanut butter flavor wasn't all there. Now for those of you not all that into PB, that may be a good thing. But for me, I was really looking for the big BANG! of the chocolate PB combo and it just wasn't there. I may tweak the recipe and give them another go. Again, they were definitely tasty, just some room for improvement.

~Layne

An amazing dinner...

2009-01-15T12:29:00.000-05:00

Layne and I made a pretty amazing "Christmas dinner" for ourselves and our husbands on New Year's Eve. It was the first chance we had to actually sit down together, just the four of us, to have a nice meal and exchange Christmas gifts. Then, following the meal, we threw a pretty rockin' New Year's Eve bash into the wee hours of the morning!

I'm sorry it has taken so long to get these pics posted, but you know how the holidays are--busy, busy, busy!!!

We wanted to incorporate some really nice steaks into our meal, but we've definitely done the "seared filet mignons with blue cheese" thing before. So, we instead decided to go with something a little more special--perfect for the big occasion. Here was the dinner menu:

- Individual beef wellingtons with petite filets and herbed cheese spread

- Cheesy potato gratin

- Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic

- Honey butter-basted rolls

Layne and I mostly made up the recipe for the individual beef wellingtons, checking with a recipe from Emeril that helped with cooking times. We liked the idea of wrapping petite filets in puff pastry, but skipped the pate and added herbed cheese spread instead (parmesan peppercorn flavored).

For the potato gratin, we adapted our version from this r ecipe that honestly didn't call for much cheese. That just doesn't fly with us! So, we added a healthy handful of grated sharp swiss cheese and substituted feta for the goat cheese (since my local grocery store was out of the goat variety). The result was sharp and tangy, wonderfully seasoned potatoes with a nice crust of cheese on top for good measure.

The mushrooms and rolls were simple. Layne sliced down some small cremini mushrooms, then we sauteed them with a little butter, olive oil, and tons of minced fresh garlic. For the rolls, we mixed regular unsalted butter with local tupelo honey, in about equal parts. Then, we toasted Hawaiian brand sweet rolls in the oven, smeared with the honeybutter goodness. Yum!

Overall, I think the meal was a success, although it looks a bit monochromatic when all on the plate together. But, we loved it and so did the boys (not that they could complain... they got to play video games while we cooked).

YUM!
~Layne
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Then, it was on to party time!!! The spread looked awesome but of course we were too busy having a good time to take pictures, so you'll just have to trust us. Our late-night menu for the evening consisted of some old stand-bys and a few new additions:

- Cheddar cheeseball (8 oz. cream cheese, 8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese, ½ tsp minced fresh garlic, 1 tsp. spicy mustard, 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste) with crackers for spreading

- Spinach dip (recipe on the back of the Knorr vegetable soup mix packet) in a bread bowl with vegetable crudites for dipping. It's amazing how good this boxed recipe is!

- Roast beef and herbed cheese in mini puff pastry cups (we used Boar's Head roast beef, from the grocer's deli, and parmesan peppercorn flavored Aloutte spreadable cheese)

- Cheezy Beer Whiz (my own invention: jar of Cheez Whiz + half a bottle of good beer--I like Sam Adams... I know it may sound odd, but it's brilliant... try it!) with chips for dipping

- Saltine toffee candy (amazing recipe) made with almonds

- Peanut butter truffles rolled in chopped peanuts (adapted from the following recipe by adding about 1 TSBP peanut butter instead of flavored liquor--the other flavors failed, but this one would have been our favorite anyway!)

- Red sugar-rimmed white chocolate martinis, a Layne holiday drink staple. Made with 2 parts Godiva White Chocolate liqueur to one part vanilla vodka. If it's too strong, you can add a splash of milk or cream to tone down the bite.

- Champagne and strawberries (to ring in the New Year!)

All-in-all, it was a wonderful way to say goodbye to 2008 and start off 2009 with a bang! Cheers to lasting luck, fantastic friends, and memorable meals!

~Kristen~

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

2008-12-28T23:21:00.000-05:00

First, let me preface this by saying that I adapted this recipe from a Paula Dean recipe that had seen on a show of hers and knew my husband would love. I saw that a meatloaf "blend" was on sale in the grocery store so I grabbed some and remembered this recipe. That being said, anyone who knows anything about Paula Dean, knows that her food can't exactly be called healthy. So fair warning, this is not for the timid of heart or stomach. But my husband deserved a great meal and this is what I gave him. It will be greens for the rest of the week, to make up for it! :-)

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf
(adapted from Paula Dean)

1 pound ground beef (I used a mixture of ground beef and pork because it was packaged together on sale.)
1 teaspoon House seasoning**
1 teaspoon steak seasoning salt
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
2-3 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled
2-3 slices of white bread

For the glaze:
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together except the white bread and the ingredients for the glaze.

Shape the meat mixture into a loaf and place on top of foil-lined baking sheet or loaf pan, with the bread slices underneath. These will help absorb extra grease and should be discarded after the meatloaf is finished cooking. (This is how my set-up looked.)

Cook meatloaf until a thermometer inserted in the center reads 155 degrees. For me, this was about an hour.

During this time, combine the ingredients for the glaze in a separate dish.

Spread the glaze onto the meatloaf after about 50 minutes of cooking.

You will notice that my recipe strays quite a bit from Paula's. My "sauce" is more of a glaze and instead of adding sour cream for moisture and as a binder, I used one egg. Most of the other substitutions came about based on what I had in my pantry (bread crumbs instead of cracker crumbs, etc). Also, I used precooked bacon and all I had to do was zap it in the microwave and crumble it. Super easy. This meal was very hearty and, of course, rich. I paired it with a baked potato and salad and the result was goodness! And, for your information, yes, I did gratuitously put my Gators tumbler in the pic just for the opportunity to shout out my team! Go Gators!!

**House seasoning is very easy to make. Make your own by mixing 1 part garlic powder and 1 part black pepper with 4 parts salt.

And so it begins. . .

2008-12-14T17:48:00.000-05:00

To begin with the introductions, there's Layne. She's always enjoyed finding and trying new recipes. And, honestly, her knack for finding great recipes is amazing. Her food is often tasty but she also has her hits and misses. Over the last six months or so she has become addicted to lurking on food blogs. The idea to start her own food blog did not come too much later but alas, she knew that she would never be motivated enough to do it on her own.

And then there's Kristen. She's an amazing cook. Not only are her creations very yummy, but she also manages to make them look beautiful. She has the artistic streak in her that Layne lacks. Layne can make it taste great but Kristen can do that and make it look amazing. She throws and caters amazing parties. People come for the food. So Layne proceeded to tell Kristen about the wonderful world of food-blogging and convince her (as a fellow foodie) to join her in starting a blog of their own.

----------

Both of us have our own quirks that make us unique and yet we are also very similar. It is probably why we make such good friends, huh? Both of us share a love of food--whether it's cooking, eating out, or hosting a get-together. And we both describe ourselves as unabashed foodies. We have other things in common too. We are very smart (well, we are), independent, organized, motivated, and we are both are self-professed "Type A Personalities" (again, unabashedly).

And funnily enough we share one more, very important trait--an all-consuming hatred of raw tomatoes. Not all tomatoes... marinara is good, ketchup is great, even sun-dried tomatoes can be tasty. But raw, gooey tomatoes on a salad? No way! BLT? B and L are fine but hold the "T," please! Salsa? Great! Pico de gallo? Yuck! In short, you will find no raw tomatoes here. Stewed tomatoes tend to be out, too. Wherever we go, it's always, "hold the tomatoes." So it seemed like an appropriate motto and title for our blog. Tomatoes (if included in the original recipe) may be mentioned but they will always be optional.

Finally, we don't exactly know where this blog will take us. The goal and focus are still undetermined. Recipes will be shared and reviewed, for sure. There will probably be restaurant reviews and maybe even cookbook reviews. Maybe there will even be some party planning. Most topics will likely center around food, but some real-life may be thrown in for good measure as well. For now, we will leave you with an infamous recipe (in both Layne's and Kristen's household). This recipe is for a cookie that is so delicious, it is addictive (hence the name) and wonderfully simple. Enjoy!

Crack Cookies
1 Box of chocolate cake mix**
1 large egg
2 1/4 cups Cool Whip
powdered sugar (for rolling)

Mix all ingredients together well on medium speed. Warning: batter will be very stiff and sticky (almost taffy-like). Drop batter, by the teaspoon, into powdered sugar and roll into a small ball. Place, 2" apart, on un-greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until just barely set.

**(any flavor can be used, but chocolate is amazing)

These cookies are amazing. Think brownie batter, in cookie form. Try them, you'll love 'em!

~Layne and Kristen~