on the go

Remember when I made this?

 I made it again last night. Remember when I made these?

I made them, too. Remember how I have cheese and crackers with about 48% of my meals?

Yep.

I'm having one of those weeks where I don't eat dinner before 9pm, if I get to eat it at all. So Wednesday night, I stopped at Star on my way home and picked up a bag of spinach so that I could make a Dinner for One that would make Judith Jones proud.

I think she would be very proud of me.

Saturday night, my friend Kasia and I are having a movie night. What should we cook that would go along nicely with a film of the vampire genre? (And no, it isn't a Twilight) Let me know. Until then, I'll be writing a paper. Have a great weekend!

m

the moon is right, the spirit's up...

what'sthatfrom?

Most of you who know me well know that I have a strict "no Christmas between January 1 and Thanksgiving" policy. I know this is probably because growing up, we would wake up on December 26th and there would be no sign of Christmas whatsoever in our house. It could've been July for all we knew. Obviously, this has carried over into adulthood, although I allow it a little longer than my mom did. But now that Christmastime is here, I have shifted from autumn-themed recipes to holiday roasting and baking. I am helping co-host a party next weekend, so this week between finals and papers, I will be looking for some impressive party treats. Any ideas?

I know I promised you a cranberry bread recipe today, but Sanne's got the funk that's been going around. Hopefully she will get to feeling better soon, and it won't continue making the rounds in our house. Susie is still here, however, and he has made us his specialty.

don'tcha wish your roommate was Indian like mine...

our nameless tree

every time a bell rings

Later, I decided to make the apple cheddar bites that I didn't have time for Thanksgiving weekend. Silly me, they took 15 minutes, start to finish. You probably have an apple lying around, some leftover cheese bits from T-day and perhaps some crescent rolls or pastry crust of some sort. Here's what you do with it:

Bam. Leftover recipe #2.

Have you started decorating yet? Any holiday baking plans?

m

leftovers, pot pie style

I've been wanting to make a pot pie for a while now, and now I finally have my chance! Pounds and pounds of leftover turkey in the fridge, begging to be mixed with other various leftovers and covered with pastry. It's the weekend, which means Susie is over, so he helped me out with this one.

I browsed the web for some recipes and drew from several different ones. Here's what I landed on:
roughly...
1 1/2c shredded turkey
3/4c chopped crimini mushrooms
frozen peas
1 chopped onion
2-3T butter
1/2c leftover gravy
1 splash milk
1c or so leftover thanksgiving vegetables
s+p
pastry of some sort. I had a pastry sheet like the one I used for my baked brie, but I would've used crescent rolls, too.

The first step is to sauté mushrooms and onions in butter.

Then, I added the peas and then gravy. I had probably 1/4c of that leftover. The recipes I found called for things like 6T butter or a cup or so of heated milk or, God forbid, a can of mushroom soup. I decided to use gravy as my liquid, and then added a splash of milk at the end until I got to a consistency I was comfortable with.

Then add some Thanksgiving vegetables. I used Sanne's roasted root veggies with harvest grains. Next, add the turkey.

Then, spoon the mixture into a 9" pie dish, or a few individual dishes.

...cover with pastry and pinch edges. Be sure to cut a few slits for the moisture to escape. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees.

I'de never made a pot pie before, of any kind. This was pretty easy, and since I already had everything I needed on hand, I didn't have to make any extra trips to the store. I think this might be a new week-after-Thanksgiving tradition.

Mmmm. Pot pie, Sam Adams and the Muppets. I am a very happy person right now.

Merry Christmastime! Tomorrow, Sanne will give you a bread recipe using some more leftovers, we'll show you our Christmas tree/decorations and I'll hopefully put a dent in my two 10-page papers that I haven't started yet...

I still want to see/ hear about your leftovers recipes. I've heard talk of a cornish game hen pot pie on Facebook that I'm dying to see, but I'm also interested in a fresh take on turkey sandwiches. Come on, people! Send them our way! fedishblog@gmail.com

m

pumpkin carving and seed roasting

Sanne found this recipe where you cook pumpkin seeds in olive oil, maple syrup, salt and cayenne pepper. She cooked them for about half an hour, until the syrup cooked down.

delicious

And I did a regular batch baked in the oven with salt.

Count Olaf

Happy Halloween!
m&a

Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome...

Sanne and I had this meal on our list for a while now, and I'm really glad we got around to it. I actually started thinking about it at work, and realizing that I was going to be homesick at dinnertime that evening. 

I don't know about you guys, but growing up, there were a handful of meals that my mom had in rotation. I don't remember her being particularly experimental in the kitchen when I was younger. Then again, my sisters and I were never picky eaters, so she could've been and we certainly wouldn't have complained...

Sunday night, I marinated some chicken legs in some barbecue sauce...

stained-glass chicken

I let that marinate over night in the refrigerator, covered, of course.

So, with the barbecue chicken meal, you have to have macaroni and cheese. I didn't have Sharp Cheddar, which is what my mom always used. But the basic recipe is this:

2c dry macaroni
2T melted butter
3c milk
1 egg
s+p, to taste
1lb sharp cheddar cheese
paprika, sprinkled on top

Cook and drain pasta. Mix with the rest of the ingredients, and bake in a 9 x13 pan at 350 for 1 hour. I halved the recipe. I used Mexican cheese, and added some chopped mushrooms and onions. Also, I'm trying to buy only wheat pasta, since its healthier. This is why my pasta dishes are browner than they used to be. :)

As for the chicken, I covered it with tin foil and cooked it for about 45 minutes. Then I removed the foil, drained some of the juices, added a little more sauce and cooked it for another 45 minutes. Holy crow, it smells amazing. Like my childhood. 

Of course, you have chicken and a starch, you have to have a couple more vegetables. And one of them HAS to be green. Sanne sauteed some broccoli in garlic and olive oil. Perfect.

And we had a few more lady-sized corns leftover, which rounded out this summer supper beautifully. As my mom would say... Actually, I'll let her say it in the comments. What do you think, mom?

What meal reminds you of home?

m

post script... we added "reactions" below... try it!

Where's my dinner?

Today was the last day of my week-long literacy class. It's been amazing to be away from my office for a bit, talk to other teachers, and learn more than I ever knew there was to learn about vocabulary and literacy from some brilliant educators.

But enough of that, you aren't here to read about school. Let's talk about the food. Actually, there isn't much to talk about. I haven't cooked since last Sunday. It's been mostly take out and PB&J around here. But, it's about 9:45pm, and I still haven't had dinner. I'm itching to cook something on the lighter side; something straightforward and fast.

After a quick assessment (applying my teacher terms here...), I found that some tomato, parmesan, onion and fresh(?) rosemary. A flatbread pizza is what's for dinner.

I saw something like this on a food blog last week, but I can't remember which one. So please don't go around telling people that I invented this amazing thing, because I didn't.

I caramelized about half an onion in some oil with a small teaspoon of sugar to move the process along. After the onion, I sliced some tomato as thin as possible, shredded a little parmesan and sprinkled some rosemary. I topped it off with a drizzle of olive oil and popped it in the oven. Top and pop.

I am satisfied.

What do you eat when the moon is high?


m