Jamie Oliver's Tear n Share Garlic Bread

Although my bread making has waned in the past month, for a while there I was really on a roll.  Making your own bread is so satisfying to me - fun and easy and nearly always delicious.  

This is Jamie Oliver's Tear n Share Garlic Bread - buns, really, all nestled together snug in a tray, and covered with garlic butter.  Yum!  

I was feeling quite proud of myself until the proofing stage - the recipe calls for 1 1/2 proofing and because our house was chilly, I set them in the oven with the light on.  It was too much of a good thing and they over-proofed.  They tasted fine but they looked awful.

They were, however, the hit of this particular Sunday dinner - this was the  one mentioned here with the super tough chicken that we all hated.  But the table looked nice.

Recipe - Tear n Share Garlic Bread

I'd really like to get back into bread baking, but I'm having trouble finding good recipes and finding the time to find good recipes.  I made a "best ever" sandwich bread that hardly rose, and some so-so foccacia.  I still have a big stack of books to go through for my Instagram reviews, so hopefully I can find something in there, but if you have any winner bread recipes, drop me a line!

Chicken Tacos

So easy, so delicious.
Toss your chicken breasts in a plastic bag with some:
ground cumin
chile powder
oregano
garlic powder
salt
pepper

And mix it all together well.  Let the chicken sit in the spice rub while you prep your taco toppings and any side dishes and preheat your bbq.
Cook the chicken until done, then thinly slice.

Take your tortilla and layer on:
sliced chicken
sour cream
salsa
guacamole
cheese
hot sauce

And whatever else your heart desires.

Quick and tasty.

Book Club - Long Way Down by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman

'Ewan was in Star Wars mode again. "Charley," he told me, "be mindful of your thoughts for they betray you." '

'I gazed the length of the stillness to low walls and the flat envelopes of the desert beyond. The place was beautifully kept with cactus growing in spiky flowers between the silent graves.'

'Time and again we had seen the effects of war and brutality on this trip, just as we had ridden along the Road of Bones in Russia.  We had spoken to mine victims in Ethiopia, child soldiers in Uganda.  Now here again we were in a country that had been ripped apart by war; the genocide of a million civilians that, as Kagame said, had achieved absolutely nothing.  But in each of these countries we also found hope for the future.'

Snapshot - Happy Sunday

This week our Thistle Farms food box contained 2 very pretty carnations; a treat whether you're a mom or not.

Cookie Cups

We have, much to the chagrin of myself and my expanding body, apparently become dessert people.  This has been caused by our Family Sunday Dinners with The Grandparents, so I blame them fully and completely.  It just doesn't seem like a complete dinner without something for dessert.  A terrible habit, which I want to break.  

But anyway, this dessert was for The Grandmother's Birthday!  I wanted to do something small, so there wouldn't be a lot of leftovers, and something a bit different.  I found this on Buzzfeed - cookie cups filled with no-bake cheesecake filling.

The cups were simple enough, although I balked at pressing the (store bought) dough into the muffin tins - I was afraid they would be impossible to remove, because it was taking a heck of a lot of force to squish it into the tins.  So instead we (The Mister helped with 2 before he lost interest and wandered away) flattened them into rounds in our hands and then formed them in the cups.  I don't know how easy they come out the original way, but these ones popped right out after baking and a few minutes of cooling.  

The filling was cream cheese, cool whip, powdered sugar and vanilla. I didn't really follow the amounts, I just tossed in what I thought looked good.  I really really loved the filling.  I could have eaten a big bowl of it as is, but I didn't, thank God.

Here they are plated up and waiting while we hunted for a replacement candle for the one that broke in transport.  Admittedly they look very plain, but they were very very delicious.  I am not a big fan of cool whip, so I probably wouldn't make this particular filling again (but it was very good!) but the cookie cup idea I hope to remember, because they would be equally fun filled with fruit, ice cream, or even whipped cream.

Gumbo Love by Lucy Buffett

Everyone has that one (or two, or 84) places on their bucket list that they would love to go to - say, Paris, or London, for some - and one of my dream destinations has always been to go to the Gulf Coast - to see the ocean and visit Texas, or Alabama, or Louisiana.  To see the water and the beaches and of course, eat the FOOD.  It's pretty unlikely that I will fulfill that dream to see that part of the world, but I feel a little closer to it thanks to Gumbo Love by Lucy Buffett.

I am going to say right up front - I love everything about this book.  The photographs are gorgeous - food and scenery that leaps from the page to grab you.  Lucy's introduction shares a bit of her life story and her personality comes through.  One of my favorite parts of the book is her "Ten Grateful Ingredients For A Bright Life And A Happy Kitchen".  There is always room for more gratitude and optimism.

And the recipes!  Once you've read the short section on gulf coast cooking essentials - roux, file, stocks and more - you get to Chapter 1 - desserts first!  This made me happy and continues the wonderful tone of the book.  In total there are 10 chapters of recipes and one of menu planning and suggestions.  The book covers a lot of territories - snacks, mains, vegetables, salads,  sandwiches, drinks, sauces, and soups and - yes, lots of Gumbo.

The recipes are clear and easy to follow, with helpful hints substitutions offered by Lucy.  Most recipes are a page to a page and a half long, and none feel overly complicated or daunting.

I wanted to start with a gumbo (of course!) and  we chose Gumbo Z'Herbe or Green Gumbo - loaded with veggies and greens and sausage.  It took about 2 hours to make, and was AMAZING.  Even the kids ate some, which is high praise.  The Mister and I loved it and each had 2 bowls and argued over the leftovers.  It was a dish I was pretty impressed with myself for making - damn, I'm good.

To make the gumbo I also had to whip up a batch of Lulu's Crazy Creola Seasoning.  Simple but has a total punch of flavor.

We also tried the Salted Butterscotch Blondies (without the optional but encouraged icing) which were very easy to make and very very delicious.  I took some to work to share and not only did they disappear quickly, but I had multiple requests for the recipe.

I whipped up a batch of Wow Sauce, a spicy and flavorful sauce to spread on pretty much anything you can think of, and a batch of the Fresh Herb and Garlic Cheese Spread, which was another amazing recipe.  The Mister and I both loved it a lot, but the real fan was the 2 year old, who parked herself at the table and ate the cheese spread on carrots and celery until we feared there would be none left for us, and we took it away from her.

The last dish we tried was the Easy Breezy Island Shrimp Curry, which was so easy and so delicious - everyone loved it. (The book calls for serving with rice or spinach, but we went with noodles for the kids and it was very good.)

That's all we've tried so far, but I have a super long list of recipes I want to try soon, including Honey Ale Pimento Cheese, Garlicky Good-Woman Chicken, Southern Fried Cream Corn, Chocolate Angel Food Cake, and French Onion Soup.  Yum!

Gumbo Love is being released tomorrow, and I really encourage you to buy it. It's a fun, informative and above all delicious book.  It's really great.

Thank you so much, Hachette Books!

Sunday Dinner - Easter Dinner - butternut squash and apple crisp

I have no photos from our Easter dinner - it was madness as usual, trying to get everything to the table at the same time, all still hot.  As much as I dream about owing a bakery/cafe, I would not be good at the cooking part because I have terrible timing to get things all ready at the same time.

We did a ham, and it was fine.  There were scalloped potatos, and roasted beets, and peas, and some raw veggies too, and a very nice pureed butternut squash, courtesy of Pioneer Woman.

The recipe could not be simpler, and even The Boy liked it, although he did not want to admit it.

Recipe:  butternut squash puree

I made a good apple crisp too; not too sweet, which is the way we like it.  I made it ahead of time and then after the ham was out and the oven was off I put the crisp back in the oven to warm up while we ate.  There was vanilla ice cream and coconut whip cream on the side.

Recipe: old fashioned apple crisp

Something I Like - The Leather Special

"My dad, like, has MS and is in a wheelchair and it's, like, I'm just psyched I can fucking move.  How are you going to complain? Shut the fuck up. You're alive. You can move. You feel good!"

Tiny Happy Tuesday

Hillary has started Tiny Happy Tuesday - what are you grateful for today? 

I'm moving slow this morning - The Boy threw up at 3am, the second time in 4 nights this has happened.  WTF?  He has no symptoms of anything.  By the time we got him and everything else cleaned up (shudder) and laundry started, there was no point in going back to sleep.

I wish The Mister was up right now to make me another breakfast taco, like this one that he surprised me with the other weekend.  Lookit!

The Boss snuck out and bought us doughnuts from PDK Cafe, which I haven't been to yet and if my pants ever stop hurting I will have to check out.  This was toasted coconut and it was amazing.

Yesterday morning the sunrise was so beautiful and strong while I was practicing my yoga.  I turned off the lights so it was just me and Mother Nature.

I had to stop mid pose and grab my phone to take this one.

And then again, a couple of minutes later.  Come on!  So pretty.

(I am also grateful for our new washing machine as it cleans up the boys sheets and blankets and towels after our night.....)

Sunday Dinner - Chicken Mamou and excellent bread.

This was a super delicious Sunday Dinner - the sort where everything was perfect and went great. And then the next 3 weeks of Sunday Dinners were all disasters.

Let's talk about this one first - this amazing bread is from

The New Best Recipe and I was so proud of it.

 Look! Artisanal Bakery Perfection.

The pasta was from Guy Fieri's Family Food and was called Chicken Mamou.

It was delicious and made a ton - we ate it for days.

I don't recall dessert - might have just been ice cream?

It was all downhill from there though.

The next Sunday I made a turkey sandwich from the same Guy Fieri book and it wasn't very good.  It had an orange cranberry spread that was too sweet, too sour and too harsh all at the same time.  It overpowered everything else.  Disappointing.

The next Sunday I tried to bounce back with a chicken dish with a creamy sauce.  The sauce was amazing but the chicken was awful - so tough we couldn't chew it.  Everyone was discreetly spitting out wads of partially chewed chicken, as discreetly as one can do that.  I was MAD.  Next Sunday would be different! I vowed.

Well, it was and it wasn't.......

We tried the New York Times version of the Mississippi Roast, but with a sub for roasted peppers instead of pepperoncini, which is fine, but we had kid activities, and then needed to do some shopping, and by the time we got home we were running low on time for cooking.  The roast got the minimum cooking time, but it needed more.  The flavor was nice, but it wasn't very tender.

I don't think I'm a super amazing cook, or anything like that, but 3 less than stellar Sunday Dinners in a row was a kick to the pants, yanno?

Well, back to the grind......

Book Club - The Gatecrasher by Madeline Wickham

‘Congratulations, young man,’ said Johnny. ‘I despise the game of golf and everything associated with it, but congratulations nevertheless.’

Book Club - Counting Back From Nine by Valerie Sherrard

The voices in the back of my brain will not stop.

hinting, probing, whispering words that
cannot be true and do not belong.

I hate them because I know they
are false - must be false and yet
they will not leave me no matter
how many times I
tell them to go.

Book Club - As Always, Julia

"I am absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of work you have all put into this.  Swept off my feet.  Knew before how good the book would be but never felt it quite this way before.  Masterly.  Calm, collected, completely basic, and as exciting as a novel to read.  This can't be just my own reaction because I'm nuts about food - I think many, many people will feel the same way."

Letter to Julia Child from Avis DeVoto, 1954, 7 years before the cookbook would be published.

Kamloops Museum

Sunday Dinner - Spinach Lasagna, Foccacia Bread, Brownies

Guys - big news over here. I think I have figured out why I've gained 15 pounds in the last year and a half. It might have something to do with cooking meals like spinach lasagna, foccacia bread, and brownies.  What do you think?  Am I on to something?

The lasagna came from my America's Test Kitchen book and is pretty easy and really tasty.

The foccacia was from Hot Bread Kitchen, which I got as a gift last year and I'm excited to get more into it.  The bread was fine; wouldn't rush to make it again.  

The brownies were from Cook with Jamie, which did not survive its review and return to my bookcase.  They were good brownies, but they were the 

only thing we liked out of the book, so away it goes.

Yup, I'm still doing the Instagram purge of my cookbook collection.  I've reviewed or contemplated 121 books so far, and gotten rid of another.......70? 80?  100?  I didn't keep track as closely as I'd hoped to.  I'm in the "final" stretch now, maybe 40 ish to go.  I'm stalled out on them right now, but I'm hoping to get back into it soon.  I'd like to get it done, not only to be done with cleaning out the books, but to maybe not feel obligated to make spinach lasagna, foccacia, AND brownies all for the same delicious, delicious meal.

Dinner at Match

Last month we took The Grandparents out for dinner for their anniversary.  After much discussion and scouting, they chose Match Eatery and Public House at the casino, next to The Buffet, which The Mister and I lunched at a year and a half ago.  We picked it because it seemed family friendly (ie no one would glare at my loud children), it had food that interested The Grandmother, and we had a coupon.

The pub is split into 2 sections - a lounge area at the front, and a more "restaurant" area at the back, where you can take kids.  We were there on a weekend so it was busy and loud.  Between the people and the 400 tv's the volume level of my kids was nothing to worry about.  The thing to worry about was the Ultimate Fighting show that was on all of the 400 tvs - if you took your eyes off your plate there was someone getting kicked in the face, and blood everywhere.  Considering we were in the "family" area of the place and none of the other tables (which included other families with grandparents and kids, and friends gathered for birthday parties) seemed to be watching the fighting, we wondered why it needed to be shown in the part of the restaurant.  All the cheering and clapping was coming from that front lounge area; we didn't appear to have any UFC enthusiasts sitting among us in the back.

Our server was lovely and helpful, and at the end of the meal he brought my parents a free dessert to celebrate their anniversary.  Here's some photos I snapped while trying to keep the kids from watching the fights, lest they get any ideas to try at home:

We started with the pretzel appetizer because we love them.  The pretzel was good, but the mustard sauce was too harsh.

I had a steak sandwich.  It was good, but the fries were dry and flavorless.

The Mister had the chicken and waffle sandwich, and it was very good.  

The Boy had fish and chips and The Girl had mac and cheese, both off the kids menu.

The Grandmother had salmon,and The Grandfather had a steak that he liked very much.

I've heard mixed reviews on this place from others - I know a couple of people who go here on a regular basis and love it; I've also heard from a few who didn't enjoy it at all and don't plan to go back.  All I know is I'll be checking the sports schedules if we ever plan to return.

Tiny Happy Tuesday

Hillary  wants us to share some happy parts of our days.  Here's mine this week.

My Fam surprising me at work to bring me a mid-morning pick-me-up of  kisses, ice tea, and a plant for my window ledge.

Cinnamon Sugar toast on Sunday morning.

My yoga mat at work means there is a class in my future.......

Book Club - Everything Is Perfect When You're a Liar by Kelly Oxford

"I realize I'm on a goddamn Las Vegas stage with a full bladder beside THE David Copperfield, and he's just asked me to pick up a scorpion."

practice any art

The full text, supposedly, from the above quote -"What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow."

I have always been the most least artistic person around.  No talent for drawing or painting or anything like that. My Father is a very talented artist, and The Mister is pretty good at it too, and he comes from it honestly - his Grandmother was a very accomplished painter.  Talent all around me!  We've been trying to encourage The Boy to work on his art skills lately, just for fun.  

And I've been working on mine too.

I've taken 2 "Paint Night" classes in the past couple of months, one with My Boo (my BFF) and one with The Mister, and while I will not be showing you my work here, it was pretty fun, 

and I was pleased with my work.  From me.

It's made me want to play more, try some painting with watercolors, and  My Boo and I are contemplating trying our hand at pottery too, and I'm a little excited about it.

“Art doesn’t have to be pretty. It has to be meaningful.” ~Duane Hanson

A Tale of Two Cakes

The Mister had a birthday recently, and I accidentally left the cake planning to the last minute.  Whoops.  

I found 2 delicious cake recipes on the internet that I thought were good; 

one was an interesting sounding chocolate cake, and the other was a pumpkin cake.  

I was really leaning towards the chocolate cake because it sounded fudgy and 

delicious, but I knew that he would really rather have the pumpkin cake, as he 

is a fan of all things pumpkin, PLUS, I had a can of 

pumpkin puree, so problem solved.

I ran to the little store by my work and spent a ridiculous and painful 

amount of money on some butter and cream cheese, and that night 

after dinner I went to make the cake except - where was the can of pumpkin?????  

I tore the kitchen apart but didn't find it.  So Plan B, chocolate cake.

I did not need to butter and crumb the pan all the way to the top, apparently.

The cake was easy to make and was pretty tasty - rich and delicious.  A little went a long way.

The Mister enjoyed it, but he was sad about the pumpkin cake, 

so that weekend I bought a can of pumpkin puree and made the pumpkin cake.

What.  A.  Cake.

Moist, tender, perfectly spiced, delicious.
(I skipped the brown butter icing in the recipe and made some cream cheese frosting instead.)

Both were great and I would make them again, but The Mister was especially 

in love with the pumpkin one.  Can't blame him a bit.

Swedish Gooey Chocolate Cake

Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Icing