last week, i made turkey meatloaf and mashed potatoes with broiled asparagus. i have never made meatloaf before, but i love it. i've never found a good recipe for turkey meatloaf, and we all know i can't have it with pork or meatballs in it. so i perused those and came up with my own. Jessie LOVED it. she came back after a show for more! the trick? olives. there were big ole' green olives in that hunk, and they made all the difference. also had onions, garlic, and breadcrumbs. i used plain tomato sauce on the top, with ketchup being too sweet, and also afoul to Bunny.

i totally didn't take good pictures, because by the time i got the loaf made, we were all starving- it took much longer to cook than i expected. i think i could have stood to raise the oven temperature by 50 degrees, but oh, well. note for next time. hence the "half eaten" pictures.

this week dinner was chinese food. i had to make 100 chocolate covered strawberries for a bridal shower, and after that and a hospital trip for friend who was mugged this weekend (he'll be okay, thank you, god), i was not making dinner. i didn't take pictures of the strawberries- they turned out really quite ugly. but they tasted quite good. they are also relatively easy, if you want to try it and have a double boiler. just give yourself LOTS of cooling time for them so the chocolate can harden- that was my problem.

hope everyone is well.

xoxox

ravioli FTW

James and i made ravioli. from scratch. bam! and James was man enough to wear one of the aprons my mom sent from montana. eat your heart out, ladies.

we actually made the dough (easy, actually, just flour, eggs, touch of olive oil and salt). let it sit, rolled it- courtesy of Steve's French Pastry Rolling Pin (make no mistake) and the cutting board my granddaddy DIck made for my mom- which was immensely helpful given that my countertops are tiled.

made sauce with tomatoes from the garden and stuffed the little guys with turkey, squash (from the garden), spinach, garlic, and onions. and spices. oh, the spices!

a keen eye will also notice some tomatillos there- also from the garden, with which i invented a sort of chunky salsa verde- it was really simple, actually. just tomatillos with avocado, lime juice, salt, pepper, onion, and cilantro. with tortilla chips- oooh, girl.

we ended up having to pull the leaf of the entry hall table up to make room for laying out the raviolis to dry at the of the stuffing process- you have to lay out the dough, make little piles of stuffing, then draw a circle around the pile with your finger after dipping it in water (seriously), then lay another dough layer on top- press, mold, cut, and rest.

and here we are peering over them like nervous parents...

it's not hard if you're considering trying this- but it is majorly time consuming. the dough has to sit for an hour. stuffed raviolis sit for an hour. plus prep and all for everything else (which can be done in between, but this took 3.5 hours with two cooks). i'm glad James was there to help- i'd have been in that kitchen LATE without him. and- Voila! 

it was a major, major hit. break yourself, fool!

chicken cacciatori

this was a first. i have never had chicken cacciatori, and have wondered what it entails and contains. answer- not too much prep and it's chicken, crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and garlic, rosemary, sage, and bay leaves, and olives. oh, yes. beautiful black olives. with a bit of wine and chicken stock to sauce it up.
i've seen some recipes that include frying the chicken or using dark meat, and alternate spices. it seems to include cooked carrots sometimes- i despise cooked carrots, so i put them in the salad. i used the recipe in my cookbook, and stand by it for now (having never tried the others, though the fried chicken is out for me). not bad. i also learned that the cacciatori means hunter or bird catcher. makes sense.
the best part, if i do say so myself, is that the tomatoes i crushed and stewed with stock myself were from the garden. as organic as it gets, baby!
i paired with a cold veggie salad (it is balls out hot here), and some easy (and on sale!) asparagus.

my birthday

was the jam. get the deets here.

twofer

having not posted dinner for two weeks, here's two bangs for your buck.

first up- one of all time personal favorites, watermelon salad! watermelon is ripe and delicious. i know this sounds weird, but trust me, this is the bomb- watermelon, feta cheese, salt, lime juice, and red onion. it's to die for, once you accept it. well, actually, i should say, you'll either love or hate this. i love, love, love it. paired with BLT's, green beans (snap), and fried green tomatoes- from the garden, no less! used onion sourdough for the BLT's, nice touch. i like mine with mayo- Bunny did not. once again, we were pleased to have Seth Wood join us for dinner.

i must admit, my fried green tomatoes were a little soggy, but the dredging i invented was fantastic. flour, garlic powder, red pepper, black pepper, white pepper, and spike- yum! La Rae put hers on her BLT- ooh, girl!

following week, i invented a new one, dubbed christmas pasta. yes, in july. gemili pasta with sauteed shallots, edamame, and asparagus, a bit of shredded spinach, and basil from my windowsill. toppped with beautiful, fresh local tomatoes, and parmesan cheese. red, green, and white= christmas pasta!

paired with some Amazing homemade bread from my next door neighbor, Lisa, holy moly. we ate both loaves. will have to get the recipe from her. this was a lovely, healthful meal- quick and easy to boot. was delicious cold the next day, too.

french!

last week for dinner, i made french cuisine. oh, yes. but i made the easiest kind one can make. french onion soup, roasted root vegetables, and crocque monsieurs. here are all of my onions ready to be diced and put to good use in the soup.

it was actually a really easy meal- the soup is basically just onions and broth. a crocque monsieur is basically just a hot ham with fancier meat and cheese. i used french loaf bread, gruyere, and proscuitto for them. YUM. the veggies were sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips, and green beans from the garden. the soup is finished off with some torn pieces of bread and shredded gruyere, then put in the oven in the serving bowls until the cheese bubbles. easy, impressive sounding, and delicious!

surprises

Blindaroo was a fantastic success, which is not a surprise, but a few things this week were. the show was a blast and we felt so loved with faces rocked off. thanks to everyone, and i'll keep you posted on the progress of the philly trip.

other than that...

while Derrick Brown was here, we tried a new burger joint with Lala- which was amazing. local stuff, cool interior, fresh buns made every day by- no joke- their bun master. they had a bit of a wait, and we walked down 12th to kill some time. there is a jeans store i still don't know the name of it, but it's across from the mosque and the hipster taco truck parks there periodically. they make the jeans IN THE STORE. look at these fantastic patterns

(hanging from the ceiling),

grommets

(shining beautifully in mason jars),

seghers (bam!),

and industrial machines (just like i had in college).

i was drooling. you can make ANYTHING with the set up these guys have going. i want to break in and make stuff.

even though i hate jeans and they cost $200 a pop, this place was bomb. they know their shit, everyone was nice and not pushy or haughty (even though they were def hipsters), and they even had a beautiful happy dog. the atmosphere was amazing and they had cool shit everywhere. gorgeous vintage belts, massive necklaces, retro newspapers, and old photographs. bloody great.

last week's dinner (which was on saturday, rather than sunday, due to dad's yearly memorial day bbq- hamburgers, YES) included quite the surprise. evidently, back in the day, the italians made pasta sauce with peaches instead of tomatoes. i saw an interesting looking recipe for it on television and decided to try it after running it past the family to determine their level of adventure. peach pasta win!

this is extraordinarily easy and doesn't taste like anything you've ever eaten. to make the sauce, peel the peaches and saute with a cup of white wine. the rest of the bottle is for the chef, of course. simmer. boil some noodles and while they cook, chop a few shallots. place in the bottom of the serving bowl with a few slices of butter. once the pasta is cooked and drained, throw it over shallots to cook them. when the sauce thickens add some fresh thyme and shave in some of the darkest dark chocolate you can find. stir, simmer a few more minutes, and toss on the noodles. shave some nutty hard cheese over it and YUM. it's really good, great for summer, and a definite new addition to any dinner rotation y'all got goin'.

xoxox

sooo...

i slacked last week. sorry. new job is keeping mama BUSY. which is a good thing, and it's going well.

dinner last week was hamburgers, nothing fancy or impressive enough to photograph, but they were quite delicious if i do say so. i used my father's super secret hamburger recipe and we used the community gas grill on the green (well, the boys did) to actually serve those babies up instead of using the Foreman. word. they were bomb. paired with corn on the cob (not quite to it's summer yumminess, but not bad) and green beans.

we were graced with the presence of our talented friend, the very mister Seth Wood who sang digitally for his supper by sending me his EP after dinner. nice! i should do business like this more often... you can find him here.

last night's dinner also wasn't too exciting in the chef department, i'm sorry to say. i had too much to do- homework, gym run, and a mother's day belated movie trip that took twice as long as it should have, so we ordered in. sue me. i'll make something interesting next time.

nashville is still cleaning up from the flood. there are lots of ways to help, hands on nashville seems to be the best if you're lost on how to help http://www.hon.org

xoxox

no sunday dinner, but...

no sunday dinner this week- we told Bobby about Blindaroo, the show in his honor at the Mercy on June 4th. you're all invited. we're having a big show to raise money (along with foundation fighting blindness and best buy) to send Bobby to have his eyes properly evaluated and see what his options are as far as gene therapy. woohoo! bands are heypenny, run with bulls, lasalle, spring hill spider party, field days, and the mary nails. yay!

also, a note on compost. i'm composting in my freezer. please see photos. i am helping Mir in her garden, in exchange for vegetables (yes, i will work for food), and since i have nowhere to compost, Mir told me to freeze it. brilliant! anything that is compostable [sic] goes in these containers and is frozen. when they are full, i take them and throw them in the garden. awesome!

connect four pasta

rather than hitting the cookbook this week, this evening's dish is actually from my stepdad's recipe for three pepper pasta (green, red, and orange bell peppers), to which i added chicken and a fourth pepper (yellow). consequently, Louisface came up with connect four pasta, rather than my plain four pepper pasta. if you take the dish to the next level, you gotta take the name there, too.

this dish is SUPER easy and pretty quick. boil chicken, set aside. chop garlic, onions, and the four peppers. while the pasta water is boiling and the noodles cooking (i used angel hair), saute the garlic in a little olive oil (i do this with the stems from the basil to flavor the oil, and then fish them out), then the onions and peppers. by the time the noodles are done, the veggies are nicely cooked. add, toss, eat. Done. we had it with microwaveable edamame. and some pecorino romano grated on top.

extremely healthful and colorful meal. i've definitely noticed the more colorful meals are better. no big surprise here, as it's spring now, and the veggies that are good, available, and affordable are much easier to come by than in the winter. i try to even make something monotone like beans and rice as colorful as possible with herbs, different beans and lentils, etc., but nothing beats fresh light veggies. of course, one's tastes are different in the winter- we want more carbs and foods that cook longer, which always kills color to an extent, more comfort food. thank god it's spring!


xoxox

oh, yeah

forgot about this hilarious but useful kitchen stylism and tool, because my crazy soon to be xboss gave it to me. bustin' it out this spring sunday. dinner later.


xoxox

dinner mash

i totally blanked and didn't take pictures of dinner last night. we ate late and i was hungry. fail.

we had-
polenta with monterey jack cheese (served warm, freshly made, consistency like grits. you can refrigerate this overnight, cut it into squares, and grill it.)
homemade salsa
asparagus (made from frozen- do Not do this. it was better than canned, but subpar compared to fresh. i went to two grocery stores, both were out. i should have just gotten green beans and been done with it.)
shrimp (broiled in olive oil and lemon juice)
and louis sauce (no joke. and with him in attendance, we got a big kick out of it. this is a mayonnaise based sauce, and i made even that bit myself. booyashacka!)

we watched most of 'the boondock saints' in preparation to watch the sequel, which i hope doesn't suck. the original is great- so smart, different, and well done. Wilhem Dafoe is amazing. and Sean Patrick Flannery is HOT. yes, indeed! if you haven't seen it, i highly recommend. it's a cult classic, because the director evidently fudged his deal and pissed off his studio, yadda yadda yadda, limited release.

in stealthy news, the annual easter sneak attack bunny leaving eggs at midnight went well. evidently, Finnegan ran out for the eggs and scuffed up his dress pants, to my brother's chagrin. oops. La Bon's brother set a freakin' booby trap knowing that we were coming- he tied a newspaper to fishing wire and ran it across the yard so we would pull it. scared the Crap out of us. we kept hearing something and then when the motion light came on, only saw a newspaper. we both thought it was a ghost, D thought it was a raccoon. we were bested, i hate to admit.
damn.

pasta salad double win

the pasta salad was such a hit that it was on the menu thursday night for girl's night. we watched project runway, of course, and i was delighted when my favorite designer came back after another one could not take the pressure and left. not only that, he was a co-winner for the episode. booyashacka! the ones i like never win, so i'm doubtful that he will, but hopeful, none the less.

more later on tonight's dinner. also, i've found a japanese designer with whom i am totally obsessed. more on that soon, too.

pasta salad WIN

sunday night's dinner was a big hit. and this is a great spring recipe- full of veggies and color. very easy to make and hard to screw up. the only fattening things in it are feta cheese and mayonnaise in the dressing (which i made), but i always use light on both accounts. you can't tell the difference once it's in there. left the olives on the side (not everyone likes them) and the dressing is mixed in before eating. i wanted to be sure everyone liked it before committing them to it, and wanted to get a picture with all the beautiful veggies. color = healthy, unless you're eating peeps. and we made the clean plate club. A's peanut butter pie was a great finish, and everyone was happy and satiated.

i am so ashamed.

Jessica Simpson has inspired me. I KNOW. wtf? she's doing this show on vh1 about what makes women feel beautiful all over the world. she went to thailand where women try to be as pale as possible (hello, they'd be all over me), and some wear the golden neck rings that elongate their necks and show that they are prosperous. she then went to paris to a fashion show, and here's the thing- the women being primped for the fashion show, in a way that seemed normal to me (hairspray, makeup, etc.) were in the same position as a girl having rings put on her- things applied to them by someone else. and this blew my mind. mascara, teased hair, eyeliner, etc are just as ridiculous as those rings. but here's the big thing- the girl having the rings put on her is following a tradition, and her mother was putting them on her. she was happy. she felt beautiful and connected to her culture. the models they showed in paris scowled, and were being jerked around with combs, brushes, and appliques. the little girl was so beautiful, and those models looked like shit. like trendy, gone tomorrow, hollow, controlled shit doing as it was told. and even dumb Jessica Simpson had grace and understanding of the magnitude and beauty that tradition can hold over some haughty french crap.

the other thing they discussed that i've been thinking about, is anorexia. most of you know that being overly thin is my only serious beef with fashion. and i love the most ridiculous of the ridiculous- hello, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood. but they spoke to a girl named Isabelle Caro who is anorexic (after wanting to be a model and having a rough childhood) and appeared the following ad:


now. this is a powerful ad, and i agree with the point it's trying to make. however- this girl did not make it as a model because she was not thin enough- now she's famous for being super skinny. i'm not sure how i feel about that. but someone get her a sandwich, for real.

sunday nights

so, i stumbled into this sunday tradition. L, A, J, LR, and Bunny used to watch Dexter (oh, how we love him) every sunday. it made sense for us to have dinner before the show, and since i had Showtime, became the weekly cook (although, sometimes A cooks, and has made her world famous chicken pot pie, enchiladas, and various to die for desserts). luckily, my mother gave me The Joy of Cooking for christmas and i have my stepfather's hand written recipes. i've been working through them both.

i'll start posting better lists and possibly photos of what i make. i'm trying to remember everything i've made, and can't believe it took me this long to think to post this, because, not to toot my own horn, some of this stuff is THE BOMB. and i'm proud to have made it all from scratch myself.

so far i have made (and can remember)....

chicken spaghetti
chili (veggie and meaty)
pad thai
egg drop soup
manicotti stuffed with chicken, artichokes, and mozzarella with a lemon cream sauce
tortilla soup
beef stew
two cakes (the first of which was an epic fail, i'm sad to say)
lemon grass soup

there have been a ton more. why can't i remember them? i mean, Dexter is 10 shows at least!

xoxox

lightbulb

by the way.

i'm going to start posting the dinners i make every sunday, i think it will be fun. i got the Joy of Cooking and have been trying recipes on the Dexter crew once a week.
more later.

xoxox