book club 35 - The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

 2022-35

 

mac and cheese

 We made a really good mac and cheese a while back, and when the craving hit us again a couple of weeks ago, wouldn't you know that of course we couldn't find the darn thing.

I did a fast internet search and settled on Baked Macaroni and Cheese from Trisha Yearwood.

 It's easy and uses basic ingredients so it could be a good weeknight supper, which it was for us.  I of course had to sample it before it went into the over to bake, and I would say that I think I liked it more unbaked - it was a bit more creamy.  Maybe some extra sauce would keep it creamy in the oven?  Will have to test that theory out.

book club 34 - e book - My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey

 2022-34

 

Chinese meat pies

 For a few days on the old Tickety Tok I was seeing videos of a girl living in China eating out at restaurants and one thing she ate that looked SO good were Chinese meat pies from a Chinese meat pie shop.  I immediately starting googling.

I went with this recipe here - Chinese Meat Pies - and while it takes a bit of time, it's not super time consuming - couple of hours? - you end up with suuuuuper good, flavorful pies, that thankfully reheat well because you will make a bunch of them.

 

 Make sure you make the scallion ginger butter.  So delicious!

book club 33 - Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

 2022-33

 

my nana's yorkshire pudding recipe

 Every once in a while, not too often, when we would visit my grandparents, my nana would make a roast and yorkshire puddings.  Yorkies have always been once of my very very VERY favorite foods my entire life.

I have tried recipes and mixes over the years, some worked, some didn't - one of the best is still Jamie Oliver's recipe - but the number one in my heart was my nana's.

I was shocked and beyond excited when my dad handed over my nana's yorkshire pudding recipe to me this Fall - from my nana to my mom to me.

Its a simple, easy, perfect recipe and made beautiful yorkies, which The Boy loved and The Girl did not, so I guess I know who the recipe goes to next.

 

Merry Merry

 

book club 32 - The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

 2022-32

 

book club 31- audiobook - Faking It by Portia MacIntosh

 2022-31

 

REMINDER - bean salad

 That's it.  That's the whole reminder, that my mom's bean salad recipe is so, so good.

book club 30 - Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 2022-30

 

Sunday Dinner - my mom's split pea soup recipe

 The weather changed suddenly and horribly to winter early this year and now we have had daylight savings and it's dark all the time and cold and snowy and I hate it.  I am NOT a winter person, even though I made this pretty snowflake craft out of paper bags and will make more once I get my hands on more paper bags

I pulled out the big ole green binder to find my mom's pea soup recipe because pea soup sounded so comforting.

We had meat and cheese  - pimento cheese! - and bread and some raw veggies too.

My Mom's Pea Soup - with some changes from me

2 cups dried yellow split peas

1 1/2 - 2 lb smoked ham hocks

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, sliced

1-2 potatos, chopped

1 TB salt

2 litres water

Wash peas in a sieve under cold water - discard any that are discolored.  Place peas in a heavy 5-6 quart pot and add remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour.  Remove the cover and simmer 20 minutes more.  Transfer the ham hocks to a cutting board and pull off the ham, cut into bite size chunks and return to the pot.  Simmer until peas and vegetables are tender, and adjust seasonings.

more bread by the mister

 

 

cookbook cleanup 38 - Simply Julia by Julia Turshen

 Book 38 is Simply Julia by Julia Turshen.  I am a big fan and was excited to get this as a gift (that I bought myself and then handed to the Mister and said here give this to me for mothers day).

 This is a really cool, easy to read book that is divided into 10 interesting chapters - Eleven chicken recipes,  Eleven favorite breakfasts.... with lots of stories and asides sprinkled throughout.

We've tried 6 recipes so far - 

Blueberry Crumble - classic and delicious

Stewed chicken with sour cream and chive dumplings

 

Sled Dog Muffins - the only "fail" for us - these were too dense and healthy for the fam.

 

Llubav's Green Spaghetti - spinach and kale and basil and feta....mmmmm

Sticky Chicken - a bit too salty, but easily fixed next time

 

We also tried Doug's Tex Mex Turkey Meatballs which were delicious,  and the Carrot and Chickpea Korma which was outstanding and the best dish we tried.  There's a lot more I want to try and will get back to this book soon.

Back on the bookshelf - 17 Donated -21

book club 29 - The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield

 2022-29

 

cookbook clean up 36 and 37 - another one bites the dust untested

I tried to consolidate all my cookbooks into one area in the house and give The Mister an area for his bread books - both the ones he's stolen from me and his own.  I underestimated space before I started and so they don't all fit on the bookshelf but maybe that's incentive to be a bit more ruthless with my cookbook cleanups.

The area behind the books stacked vertically does not have cookbooks in it, but some stuff that for now I don't have another place to put.  But by gathering them all together I discovered some books that I completely forgot about and am excited to get to.  I have not been cooking much interesting food lately but reading through cookbooks isn't appealing either.  Is ANYTHING appealing these days???

Anyhoo, say goodbye to - 

 Which just isn't sparking any interest, so goodbye.

We'll also say goodbye to this one, which I think I have already gotten rid of?  Or misplaced? Not sure.  But if I find it still here, it's on its way too.

 

 

 

Back on the bookshelf - 16 Donated -21

Pimento cheese

 The Mister and I were trying to figure out something for Sunday dinner and he discovered a ham hock in the freezer that I'd bought this summer for pea soup and since Winter showed up and kicked the door in to announce its arrival, I thought pea soup for dinner sounded good and moved on to looking for my moms recipe in the big old green binder.

The binder long ago abandoned being organized in any sort of sensible way, so instead I just flipped the pages, commenting on recipes that we haven't had for a while, or haven't even tried yet.  Honestly, some of this stuff is from the beginning time of my blog - 2004 for God sake!!!! - and we STILL haven't tried it?  

AnyHOO, I before I found the pea soup recipe I found 2 pimento cheese recipes and so The Mister and I started reminiscing about pimento cheese and the probably 4 times we've ever had it.  Next thing I knew The Mister was in the kitchen yelling that we had all the ingredients and how much cheese should he grate.

I didn't note where the recipe came from but it looked it was from Bon Apetit or Gourmet (RIP).

Basically for half a recipe you want 2 cups shredded cheddar, 1/2 cup finely chopped pimento, 1/4 cup (or more) mayo, and season with celery salt.

Ideally we should have used the finer cheese grater for a smoother texture but honestly it doesn't really matter.  It's SO good on bread, chips, toast, sandwiches, crackers, a spoon......yum.

book club 28 - the humanity project by jean thompson

 2022-28

 

Instant Pot HK Beef Curry

 I was rooting through the freezer and I found some stew meat.  I made a mental note (HA!) to keep that in mind to use up soon.  A couple of days later I realized that the little butternut squash and sweet potato I had bought on a whim a few weeks ago were still sitting on the counter.  I needed to use those up!  But how?  Ooooh, maybe a curry!  With coconut milk.  Over rice!

I decided last weekend to make a veg curry for dinner and then remember the beef.  Might as well use that too.  I started googling and soon came up with a potential winner curry to make in the instant pot so that the beef would be tender without me having to cook it on the stove all day.

By 4:30 I was pretty darn tired after tacking some extra cleaning jobs in addition to our usual weekend clean and my knees were so sore from getting up and down off chairs, being on the floor to clean out cupboards.  It was a bit depressing.  I started loosely following the curry recipe with The Mister backseat cooking over my shoulder.  The kids were apparently starving like the hadn't just eaten a snack 20 minutes earlier, so when the rice was done, it was chaos in the kitchen.  I was so focused on trying to get them sorted out and stop the complaining from both of them that I completely forgot the last few steps of the recipe - adding the coconut milk (NOOOOOOOOOOOOO), a bit of sugar, thickening the sauce...... 

 

In the end, it was delicious, and we all enjoyed it - The Boy even had seconds!  But I will make this again and add more curry - The Mister made me stop at 1 1/2 TB - and the rest of the ingredients.  What an idea!   I also realize as I write this that I didn't add the squash or sweet potato, which started this whole dang thing.  Jeez.

Recipe - Instant Pot HK Beef Curry

book club 27 - The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

 2022-27

 

book club 26 - Alone Time by Stephanie Rosenbloom

 2022-26

 

oatmeal raisin bars

 I am at a point lately where I am so mentally and physically exhausted that even making cookies seems like too much work, so I've been looking for bar recipes instead.  Just chuck it all in the oven at once and be done with it.

I decided to try to find an oatmeal raisin bar because I had some raisins and craisins to use up, and it had been a while since I'd made oatmeal raisin.  I soon realized WHY it had been a while when both kids started complaining about me using raisins and could I not swap them out for....oh, I don't know....maybe CHOCOLATE instead???

No.  No I could not.  

 

I used this recipe from Martha Stewart and these were so, so good.  Soft and chewy and comforting and delicious.  And ignored by most of my family, those weirdos.  I found these are best eaten within a few days as even in an airtight container they dry out quickly.

I am hyping myself up to make actual cookies today - I'm still a few hours away from it actually happening, so there's still time for me to wimp out but we'll see.

Happy Sunday.

book club 25 - The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King

 2022-25

 

a bunch of stuff we've eaten

 

I may or may not have recently had a birthday, and got some BEAUTIFUL flowers from my BFF.

I made Hambāgu but only followed the recipe loosely - used pork, didn't measure anything, no wine, lots more broth - and it was delicious.

We did not bad using up the zucchini from the garden.  We air fried these zucchini sticks - of course air fried is never as good as FRIED, but they were good.

 Also made some VERY delicious zucchini muffins that disappeared quite quickly. 

AND this very good loaf pan zucchini lasagne (although in our opinion, this is best fresh, not as leftovers)

We also made KFC Fried Chicken Rice but The Boy ate so much of the chicken that we really didn't have enough leftover for the recipe but we made it work.  So good.

I tried cooking a whole chicken in our air fryer and it was game changing - truly.  If you've been around a while you might know that I hate cooking "whole" things like chickens, turkeys and roasts because I'm afraid I will over or worse - under-cook them and ruin everything.  Cooking the chicken in the air fryer somehow made the process seem easier and it was a damn good chicken too.

We managed - barely - to get through all the peaches we bought, and we made 2 peach desserts - peach melba tart and peach crisp.

 

Best dessert lately was definitely these chocolate chip cookie bars.  Delicious!