mandalei

I can’t remember if I have posted this recipe here before and am too lazy to check, but this is an adaptation from the Sharon United Methodist Church’s Cookbook (submitted by Ben’s grandmother, Lucille Uphaus). This is my version:
1 small loaf of crusty rosemary bread, cut into cubes
1 lb sausage, cooked/drained/cooled
2 c milk + 6 eggs + 1 tsp salt + 1 tsp mustard, whisked
1 cup shredded grueyere

Directions:
Day 1 (the night before): put cubed bread on bottom of 9×11 baking dish (or whatever dish you need to have the bread cubes come up the side over halfway). Spread cooled sausage over, then sprinkle gruyere. Take eggy mix and pour over top, making all is covered and soaked. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in fridge overnight.
Day 2: preheat oven to 350. If your oven has a delayed start feature, this is an excellent time to use it. Take off plastic (hey, it’s early in the morning! you may need that step spelled out for you) and pop in oven for 40-45 minutes. Feeds at least 6 people with big appetite.

A blog too good to be true:

Cake Wrecks

It’s been a whirlwind last few weeks: my grandfather (mom’s dad) had a heart attack and has been in the hospital for almost two weeks; we’ve had the good fortune to have friends come to visit us for 3 weekends in February; we’re going on vacation soon.  We had eye exams today (yay for dilation), and Jack has been in a mood.  When it came time for dinner, the fridge was kind of empty of fresh things, and I hadn’t planned anything

This is where I feel on top of things.  With stuff we had on hand (pasta, frozen ground turkey, garlic, frozen peas/carrots, mushrooms, cheddar, moz, parm, bread crumbs), I managed to pull together a casserole, especially with Ben manning the chopping station.  I made the bechamel sauce, sauteed all the other stuff, and combined the half-boxes of linguine and medium shells we had on hand.  It’s in the oven right now, and smells divine.

I also made two loaves of bread for our week.  I’m feeling very goo about being handy in the kitchen right now.

He watches the Food Network.  Specifically, we watch Everyday Italian and the Barefoot Contessa. There’s something about the colors and the motion and the talking-to-the-audience that seems to really appeal to him.  At the end of the day, these are my go-to tricks that I pull out of the bag.

I think Jack has a confession though… his favorite is Rachel Ray.  Whenever she comes on, he hoots and smiles.  That’s too bad, because she’s kind of annoying, although I like her more now that I saw her biography.   Same with Bobby  Flay.

Still have a cold, still feeling stuffed up and tired. BUT! The weekend moves on. We have our last round of weekend houseguests, and then Ben takes off for a business trip (our friends are actually going to drive him to the airport on their way home). My friend Ms. V. and her little boy will be arriving on Tuesday to hang out, and I also host playgroup.

Everyone seems to make soup for playgroup, but I am determined to make something slightly unhealthy, and most importantly NOT SOUP. Don’t get me wrong, I loves me some soup, but I am tired of it. And tired of wilted greens in it which “pack it with nutrients” all the time. Last time I made homemade mac and cheese, and this time… not sure what I’ll make. Maybe chocolate cake? Artichoke and mushroom stuffed shells? that could be a winner, even if a carb loaded one.

This weekend, OTM:

Coq au vin (T. F. seems like a total doof to me, and pretty annoying–but his recipes tend to turn out really well and are relatively simple)

Apple pie (my own recipe–been making it for about 8 years now. No, I can’t tell you a specific list of what’s in it because I don’t measure, and the ingredients change based on my mood. Get thee granny smiths. And some other stuff.)

Sticky Rolls for breakfast** (from my King Arthur Flour book), some with pecans, some without (gotta try at least one new recipe each weekend!) This recipe was either a) meant to be or b) not supposed to happen. I squeaked by with the last of my AP flour by literally up-ending the huge canister (that holds a 10 lb bag with room for more) and shaking the hell out of it, and I barely had enough brown sugar. But they’re finished and… put into my 8 inch cake pans rather than 9 inch, which I don’t possess. Doh!

Also, I made Israeli couscous with lemon and mint, pine nuts and golden raisins on Friday, which was really good. Thanks, Martha! It’s not the most overpowering of flavors, so keep that in mind when you add your lemon and zest and stuff. The red pepper flake gives it a nice residual heat.

**interesting, I just searched for the rolls and found a post on the King Arthur blog about them. The instructions on their blog are TOTALLY DIFFERENT from the instructions in their book:

Blog: roll long way
Book: roll short wayBlog: roll beginning with filled end
Book: roll beginning with unfilled end.

Perhaps this is why their comments are closed???

UPDATE:  Sent them an email after I wrote this post and already got a response!  I asked for alist of errata, which they are sending to me, and they’re going to check and see if they have anythign specifically on this recipe.  The kind person at KA Flour also added this useful info:
“Actually, you can start at either a short end or a long end, depending if you want a greater number of buns with fewer spirals, or fewer buns with more spirals. but yeah, you should always start with a filled end and finish with the end whose last 1″ doesn’t have filling, so that you can more easily seal that unfilled edge closed.”

I am very, very impressed.  And to respond on a Sunday!

Today’s Friday sale on Amazon: a Professional Kitchenaid 5 qt mixer and Kitchenaid 6 qt mixer.  We have an Accolade, which I adore (they stopped making it) because it has metal gears. Since they’ve stopped making it, the only series that has metal gears in the Kitchenaid line is the Professional.

OK, here it is. It makes ALOT of soup

For this project, you will need:

A roasting pan or 2
A big soup pot (6-7 quarts or so?)
Blender (the stick blender is awesome for this)
Butternut Squash (about 4 lbs)
Olive oil
Some onions (I use at least 1, 2 if they’re smallish)
Some apples (about 2, whatever flavor you like)
Some garlic and/or shallots
Chicken stock (or veggie stock or water)
Some cider or apple juice (or apple sauce in a pinch)
Salt/Pepper
Parmesan
Maybe sage

Peel and chop up squashes into 1-” chunks (if you’re feling fancy, save the seeds to roast and use as garnish on your soup).  Coat chunks v. lightly with olive oil and roast at 425 until they’re soft and caramelizing, anywhere from 30 mins to longer (know thine oven!) Use 2 pans if you want lots of caramelization because if there’s too much  squash on a pan it will steam itself when the juices start getting released.  If you’re roasting on two racks, you might want to switch them halfway through, so they’re each close to the element.  MEANWHILE…

Peel and chop apple, onion and garlic +/-shallots (I really prefer shallots to garlic.  So I use at least 4 small shallots, when available).

When squash is close to being done, saute onion (and shallot, if using) in olive oil, until translucent.  Add garlic (if using) at end so it doesn’t burn.  Add apple.  Let apple soften a minute or two.  Add roasted squash straight from oven.

Add at least 4 c of stock and between 1 c of cider (up to 2 c), plus about another 2 c of water.  You can add more water after you puree, if you want a thinner soup.  This liquid combo makes a soup that is apple-y but not too sweet.  Feel free to futz with the level of sweetness.  Bring to simmer, and let simmer until everything is all soft and tender.  Add sage if desired.
Go to town with stick blender.  Watch out–HOT.

Add as much or as little salt/pepper/grated parm that your heart desires.  Remember that parm is kindo f salty so you may want to add it first, OR if you’re using parm as a garnish, maybe under salt by juuuust a tad.

Test for consistency, and if needed, add whatever liquid you prefer.  Eat with croutons, fresh bread, or grilled cheese sammiches (with cheddar and apple.  Or cheddar, apple, and bacon.  Or….)

Thankfully, I only had the actual “feeling crappy” stage of the bug for about 24 hours (hi everyone, thanks for the good wishes!), because we had a second round of weekend house guests who arrived on Saturday.  It was loads of fun to have them here, and we made some pretty good food (along with the eternal 2 layer chocolate cake, thanks to this recipe cheat sheet at angry chicken).  We had:

Butternut squash/apple/parmesan soup with homemade bread (white and wheat) for grilled cheese sammiches.  Wine (x2) No recipe to give, it’s made up from stuff on hand.
Biscuits (made with White Lily flour, imported from the South especially by my mom–recipe from back of bag)
Lunch from a local bakery (divine croissants!)
Mushroom risotto made with homemade turkey stock from our TG turkey inspired from this post by Michael Ruhlman, and angry chicken chocolate cake.  Beer (Fantome, Rare Vos, Hennepin) and wine
Breakfast today was chocolate cake and breads (King Arthur Flour cookbooks for general and whole grain baking).
Homemade pizzas using the pain a l’ancienne recipe from Bread Baker’s Apprentice

I know I have mentioned how much I have really been getting into cooking lately, but with the all the stomach issues I had the day before they arrived, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do anything really yummy.  It was actually kind of nice to know that I have made enough things now to have a pretty good idea of when/how/why I need to be doing things so that they actually happen and turn out the way they’re supposed to.  As I was making Jack’s baby food (zucchini and sweet potato, to be frozen), it occurred to me that I didn’t mind because I really enjoyed even doing something so simple as chopping that sh!t up and steaming it, and then whirring it to pieces with the stick blender.

We have another set of house guests coming on Friday to stay the weekend, and I am wondering what’s going to be on the menu.  I think three weeks in a row of chocolate cake, no matter how easy, is probably pushing it.  Maybe.  The only food restrictions for this coming weekend will be a) no macadamia nuts and b) no red peppers.  I think that can be accomplished.

In other news, I am waiting on a new metal closed-toe darning foot and bobbin holder (with special tension setting! have your eyes glazed over yet?) for my sewing machine to finish up their quilt.  I finally finished up the acres of quilted grid, and now am waiting for the darning foot to do the free-motion design and the border.  I really hopeI finish this soon, because, um, I don’t think I can work on this another summer!  That would be 3, and you can tell the hiatuses have wreaked havoc on some of the things lining up that are supposed to.

But oh… I have other projects in my head right now, like fabric collages and “pictures”, put together with my stash.  And another quilt, this one for a gift for friends who just got married.  I need to make Jack a doll, and I found a great tutorial for a rocket ship that I want to make him, too.  I still need to bust out my new paints and easel, too.  So much to try and do!

While my parents were up, we took the opportunity to make alot of food from scratch.  I love to cook, and this was a chance to cook for my family.  Here’s what we had, all made from scratch:

Friday
Baked eggs with herbs and homemade bread
Pizzas
(dinner out at Springwater Bistro–very good!)Saturday
Toast (still full from dinner the night before)
(lunch out at a local restaurant, maybe?)
Fresh pasta with butter and parm, fresh arugula mixed in, and sauteed lemon shrimp
Chocolate cake with whipped creamlayer and chocolate butter cream frosting.  AKA the Giant Ding-Dong.

Sunday
Cake for breakfast
Lunch out on the town (who knew brie and guacamole went together?)

Yesterday, I had a small crunchymom playgroup at my house, and made homemade mac and cheese and a salad based on one that I had from the Old Post Office restaurant on Edisto Island.  YUM.  of course, I think we need several days of recuperation time with all this food!  In other news, Jack had grapes for the first time yesterday and is in love with them.

Chocolate Panna Cotta with Rasberry Sauce.

YUM.