Yum!

Song - Green Onions by Booker T & the MG's

On Wednesday I decided that I was getting bored with our usual cooking - meat, veggie, carb, so I found a recipe that would kick it up a notch or two. A woman I follow on Instagram named Lindsay from Pinch of Yum came up with a spectacular idea - Spring Roll Bowls.  She uses all of the ingredients that you would find in a Spring Roll but she had made it into a bowl.

I made a recipe list and Whole Foods delivered all of the ingredients within a couple hours. I did make a couple of small changes - I didn't have a ripe avocado so I blanched some broccoli florets and I added sliced green onions. I think with this recipe anything goes! The Serrano peppers were a little too hot for us so next time I will use Jalapeño peppers. 

It was a huge hit and satisfied something deep.  The mint, cilantro and basil combo were incredible as well as the sweet, salty, tangy flavor in the sauce.

One word of advice that Lindsay says over and over again - Do NOT smell the fish sauce!  Mr. B didn't see that and he did smell it stating that "You will ruin this recipe if you use this!"  I am not a seafood person but I have cooked with Fish Sauce before.  It just adds a deeper layer to the flavors.

Thanks to Lindsay for the great recipe and I am excited to say we will be having leftovers for dinner tonight! Make it.....you will be glad you did!

Dueling Ladles

Song - Animal Crackers in My Soup by Shirley Temple

A winter tradition is held by our neighbors and friends, Bob & Chris. They bring together about 10 - 12 couples for an annual soup party where each couple brings a pot of their favorite soup to compete for the "Silver Ladle".  In 2017 Mr. B won with his Award Winning Tomato Soup (click the link to see his win and his recipe).

And on Saturday night......guess who won?

I came home with the Silver Ladle for my Award Winning Broccoli Soup!

If you would like the recipe, just click on the Recipes tab on right side of my site. 

It's a perfect meal on a cold winter night!

"Good manners: 

The noise you don't make when you're eating soup."

-- Bennett Cerf

Put the Lime in the Coconut

Song - Put The Lime In The Coconut by Harry Nilsson

 Or better yet put the lemon and vodka in the fettuccine!!!

On New Year's Eve Mr. B cooked me a yummy dinner as we had decided to stay home and have a low key evening together.  We had a recipe for Meyer Lemon and Vodka Linguine from our friend John  and I had another recipe for Fettuccine and Asparagus with Lemon Vodka Sauce.

Mr. B has a hard time sticking exactly to any recipe and decided to blend the two and add a touch of his own magic. 

Goodbye 2018 Lemon and Vodka Fettuccine with Asparagus


3 large Meyer lemons, the zest of one and juice of 3
1 pt. half & half
3/4 c. vodka
2 T salt
1 lb. fettuccine
1 T butter or olive oil
1 bunch of asparagus, cut into pieces and blanched until al dente
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
4 T fresh dill
1 sm. onion or leek diced
1 T garlic diced
6 oz Parmesan cheese - freshly grated

Grate the zest from 1 lemon, squeeze out the juice of all three. Soften onion and garlic in olive oil or butter.  Add 3/4 c. Vodka & reduce by 2/3rds. Add the cream and simmer for 5 minutes until it thickens. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil, add salt and cook your fettuccine until al dente.  Add asparagus.

Add the cooked asparagus, lemon juice and zest to the vodka sauce and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Drain the pasta (reserving some of the water), add to the sauce and toss.  Season with pepper, dill and Parmesan, stir. If the pasta is dry, add some of the reserved pasta water.

Top with Nutmeg if desired.

Serve extra Parmesan on the side.


Serves 4-6
1 hour prep and cooking time
Pre-cut and measure as much as possible ahead of time as it all comes together fast.



Eaten while watching The Thin Man series......Happy New Year!

"Waiter, will you serve the nuts? 

I mean, will you serve the guests the nuts?"

--Nora Charles from The Thin Man

Where Have You Been?

Song - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan

Where have you been my darling young one?

I'm a bad, bad blogger.....I forgot November and December!

Well I didn't really forget them.  It was more like they bowled me over!!!

 I babysat my son's sweet pup Chewy. What a cutie!

We had 22 guests for Turkey Day!

I completed two commissions and started a new painting.

This was from our Spring trip to Scotland - a piper greeted us in the Highlands near Glencoe.

My mom and I had some downtime at Lake Tahoe.

We had a great cousin's reunion which I did a lot of family tree work for.

David, Timmy & myself

And then Christmas just blew by......

And I was sick the entire time (3 months) with some kind of 

flu-bronchitis-pneumonia-cold-cough thingy! UGGG!

And being stubborn - I never went to the doctors.

Lucky for me, my husband and my boys all cook as well do their loveys, so I had plenty of help.

I hope you will forgive my absence for the last two months.

I'm still here!

As a treat I am going to share two special yummy recipes 

Pumpkin Bread a la Monica

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

1 ½ c. flour

½ tsp. salt

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. pumpkin puree

½ c. vegetable oil (I sometimes use ¼ c. water and ¼ c. oil)

2 eggs, beaten

¼ c. water

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. allspice

¼ tsp. cloves

½ c. chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour, salt, sugar, & baking soda together. In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, eggs, water, & spices. Pour into bowl with dry ingredients & mix until all are combined. Stir in the nuts. Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3-in. loaf pan, bake 50-60 minutes until done in the middle. Remove from pan, cool on a rack.

 

Jacque's Delicious Cranberry Honey Butter

 1/4 c. honey
1 c. butter
1/4 - 1/2 c. chopped dried cranberries
& orange zest to taste

Jacque placed the butter in small canning jars with handmade labels. 

“And now let us welcome the New Year —full of things that have never been.”

—RAINER MARIA RILKE

Jingle, Jingle, Jingle, Jingle.....

Song - Let it Snow by Chris Isaak

Pulling out my old recipe cards

this morning

got me thinking about how much joy

comes from the little things in life.

I looked over recipes

written by 

my mother

and 

my grandmother. 

I even have one 

that my dad invented,

a family favorite

that we only make on

Christmas morning

 - The Crawford Fizz!

I did do a little baking with my Grand Niece while she was visiting.  We made these fun reindeer cookies but they did lose their shape a little in the oven!

I wanted to share two recipes with you today in time to prepare for Christmas. 

One is for our favorite Tahoe Brunch Casserole with a few of Mr. B's changes included and the other is for dad's Crawford Fizz.  Enjoy!



Tahoe Brunch Casserole
(Mr. B's changes are in parenthesis)

Serves 8

This recipe should be prepared 24 hrs in advance.

3 Tbs butter, softened
12 slices white bread, crusts removed (or good Sourdough leaving crusts on)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, trimmed, sliced
2 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
salt & pepper, to taste
1 1/2 lbs mild Italian sausage (or ham)
1 lb Cheddar cheese, grated
5 large eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Salt & Pepper to taste
2 Tbs finely chopped fresh parsley

Butter the bread with the 3 tablespoons softened butter and set aside.  In 10-inch skillet, melt the 1/2 cup butter; brown the mushrooms and onions over medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes or until tender.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Cook the sausage, drain well and crumble into bite-sized pieces. (or just use Ham) Grease a 13”x 9” baking dish; add and layer half of the bread, mushroom mixture, meat and cheese.  Repeat the layers, ending with the cheese.

Mix the eggs, milk, mustard's, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a medium-sized mixing bowl. (Also add 1/8 tsp Tabasco Sauce, ¼ c Sherry) Pour over the meat and cheese casserole.  Cover the casserole and refrigerate overnight. (It may need a little extra egg mixture on it in the morning)

Heat oven to 350°.  When ready to bake, sprinkle the parsley evenly over the top of the casserole; bake uncovered for 1 hour or until bubbly.  Serve immediately.

Crawford Fizz

3 ice cubes
3 oz Orange Juice
1 tsp. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. Rosa's Lime Juice
3 oz Gin (optional but highly recommended)
3 oz Vanilla Ice Cream
1 egg (optional)

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.


And remember, don't drink & drive! Seriously, this dog was pulled over at a parking lot the other day and he doesn't look too happy about it!  Apparently he plays Irish Rugby so I think he can take care of himself!

“Joy comes to us in moments – ordinary moments. We risk missing out on joy when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary.”  - Brene Brown, Daring Greatly.