Little Match Girl

Sorry, kiddo, no ribeye for you

Our very own steak cook-off? Canceled.  This is the current state of our grill:

Order Up! 1/19/2007

On the table tonight: Beef and Bean Burritos with a Grilled Pepper Medley.  The tortillas blistered up nicely on the cast iron griddle.  Easy-peasy-shampoo-squeazy filling:  Browned ground beef mixed with a can of refried beans, an envelope of taco seasoning, and a "dump" of salsa.  Top mixture with a sprinkle of cheese, roll up tortillas, brown in oven and top with peppers.  Bon Appetit!

Short on dough...

One of my first cooking memories is of my grandma making homemade noodles.  She made it look so easy and the noodles were always delicious.  I remember her "measuring" the water using a cracked egg shell.  I have tried on a number of occasions to produce a passable noodle.  Today I tried once again.  I usually like to hand knead my dough, but being the gadget-gal that I am, I broke out my new-ish stand mixer and dough hooks. I could tell within 3 minutes that the dough wasn't quite right.  I went ahead and used it though.  It is drying right now, waiting for a chicken broth bath.  I would have gladly started over with fresh batch of dough, but I didn't have enough eggs to have another go at it.  If only I had picked up one of those precious cellophane bags of noodles. ~Sigh~

Too late after snack time for this program.

Want to know how to torture a little boy?  Make him watch the Great Steak Cook-Off on the Food Network 2 hours after snack time.  With snow days abounding around here, bedtime has been a little lax.  I missed the first airing of this show and felt pretty lucky to catch it on last night.  Unfortunately, my son enjoyed it a little too much.  He now has big plans on how to grill a ribeye (and only a ribeye will do) with his father this weekend.  I sure hope the grill thaws out in time.

The People's Choice Award winning steak

It WAS a holiday....

I will use any and all holidays as an excuse to make these rolls.  I made a vow that I would only make them on major holidays, but it looks like I am going to have to re-think the meaning of "major" holidays.  They went so well with a bowl of stick-to-your-ribs stew.

Order Up! 1/16/2007

Tonight's meal: Baked spaghetti, steamed broccoli, and garlic focaccia bread. 

The spaghetti was tossed with a jar of spaghetti  sauce, a carton of cottage cheese, an egg,  a dash of Italian seasoning,  and some Parmesan cheese.  I patted it into a 9x13 dish and put it into a 375* oven for 20-25 minutes.  The bread was a 3 cheese focaccia from the bakery, cut in half, spread with my own garlic butter sauce, and toasted in the oven.  Bon Appetit!

His signature chili

My husband rolled up his sleeves and got down to cooking this weekend.  A day with snow is sure to find him hefting our cast iron dutch oven out of the cabinets and onto the stove.  His chili is ever changing from year to year, but always mouth watering.  This year found him chopping onions and jalapenos for a southwest flair.  Day one was nice and hot, with cheese and sour cream floating on top.  Day two had him adding a can of corn and making it a bit on the mild side.  Day three is when the chili gets downgraded to a lunch food, making its way to work with him.  It did it's job well, and was much appreciated.

Baby, it's cold outside

Round three of the ice storm is slowly drifting away, leaving a glittering wonderland in it's wake.  Mittens were donned, boots pulled on and hats pulled down as the children went out to play.  The sled made its way from the garage to the backyard.  It took thirty minutes to dress them up for thirty minutes of play.  They came in dripping wet, cheeks beet red, and craving cocoa.  Mama was happy to oblige.  It was a great excuse to break out the rest of my homemade marshmallows.