Posts from — November 2013

On Thursday I asked you to help me, help you with your Thanksgiving menu. There were plenty of wonderful comments and questions, but only one actual recipe request.**

Marissa and Sharon asked for a bread pudding recipe. More specifically – for pumpkin bread pudding. Today I give you the recipe.

At the same time that I was working on this, I was testing a recipe I found on Pinterest for a “Peekaboo Pumpkin Pound Cake.” I’ll be making the cake on Wednesday, in the classes I’m teaching at Les Gourmettes. I will give you the cake recipe later in the week.

I mention it because I used the scraps from the pumpkin bread that was used for the cake recipe, in this bread pudding recipe.

If you don’t want to make your own pumpkin bread, go ahead and buy a loaf of pumpkin bread. I’ve seen it in all the grocery store bakeries and at Trader Joe’s.

The pudding would be too dense and heavy if only pumpkin bread was used. So we’re using three large croissants for two-thirds of the total bread needed.

Both the pumpkin bread and the croissants need to be torn into bite-size pieces and left out to dry for at least 24 hours before making the pudding, so plan accordingly.

Crème anglaise is a custard used as a dessert cream or sauce. It is a mix of sugar, egg yolks, and hot milk, often flavored with vanilla. It is also the base for vanilla ice cream. The pudding is especially delicious served with crème anglaise. Instead of going to the trouble and effort of making it from scratch, we’re just going to let some vanilla ice cream melt and call it Quick Crème Anglaise.  It can’t get much easier than that!

Note: When I make this again for our Thanksgiving dessert, I will be adding 1 cup of toasted chopped pecans to the bread in the baking dish before pouring the custard on top. I think the pudding needs that little crush and texture that pecans will add.

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This first funny is for my friend, Kim, who is a yoga instructor and who took me to my one and only hot Bikram yoga class, many years ago.

… or wine-ier.

… yeah, this is pretty much my “job” except with unlimited tea instead of coffee. And since I’m not a baker, no cupcakes either.

This may be a week late, but I still like it, especially since in Arizona we don’t have to worry about daylight savings time.

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Thanksgiving is two weeks from today… only 2 weeks, people!

With that in mind, I’m asking for your input, your comments, your suggestions, your help.

If you were to go over to the “Complete Recipe Index” over there on the top left side of this page, and you were to scroll down to “Holiday” then scroll to “Thanksgiving” … you would find more than 30 Thanksgiving Recipes, plus my “Thanksgiving Planning Guide” and about a half dozen Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipes.

But you don’t have to go to the trouble today. I’ve listed all of that right here on this page for you.

That’s right, direct links to the “Guide” and all of the nearly 40 recipes can be found below.

After scanning the recipes, PLEASE let me know, by leaving me a comment at the end of this post, what it is that YOU want, and what it is that YOU need a recipe for.

Perhaps, you’re looking for a new take on green beans.

More pecan, pumpkin, cranberry, or apple desserts, possibly.

A new exciting recipe for …. ???  You tell me!

I’m counting on you. I need and want YOUR input. Contrary to what my family believes, I am not a mind-reader! Please tell me what you’re looking for. What you’re hoping for. Your Thanksgiving dreams and aspirations…

OK, you get the idea. For goodness sake just leave me a comment!

The Ultimate Thanksgiving Planning Guide

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Before I get into today’s post – I want to take a moment to wish my mother-in-law, Patricia Hopkins, a very happy birthday! I love you. xoxo

I made brunch for the fabulous crew from Forevergreen Landscape Designs, Inc., the great group of guys who’ve been redoing our front yard and patio area for the past month.

The project was supposed to wrap up last Friday, but because of a mistake by the rock delivery dude, who delivered the wrong color rocks, the project is ongoing… it should be done by the end of this week with a reveal sometime next week.

Long before the nasty gray cement-like rock was delivered, I’d promised to make the guys breakfast or lunch on what was to be their last day… we settled on brunch. And since the majority of men on the job are Hispanic, I decided to make Migas.

As you can see, I was very stealthy and snapped a couple of photos through the screened windows of them enjoying their meal.

Mexican or Tex-Mex Migas is a traditional breakfast dish consisting of scrambled eggs mixed with strips of corn tortilla, diced onions, chile peppers, diced fresh tomatoes, and cheese.

My version uses crushed tortilla chips, minced serrano, and Parmesan.

Chip Custer is the owner of Forevergreen Landscape Designs. He is the very talented landscape designer who did our backyard. If you go to his website HERE, you can check out photos 2, 3, 8, 10, and 12. Those are a few of the before and after pictures of the backyard project, we did with Chip five years ago.

Now you see why I happily cook for these guys!

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Hey, today is 11/12/13 – that’s all.
I just think it’s Cool!

Have you ever read a recipe that you wanted to make and noticed some ingredient or instruction that didn’t seem quite right?

You have a few options here:

You either decide to make the change or adjustments that you think will make it better.

Or you skip the recipe altogether.

Or… option 3 … you go against your better judgment and move forward with the original instructions.

That is the mistake I made when I found the main course recipe I wanted to make for the European Dinner Party. It was a Tyler Florence recipe I’d found on FoodNetwork.com.

I love Tyler’s food and have never found a recipe of his that didn’t turn out exactly as expected – so I went against my first instinct and made the recipe as directed.

That was a mistake.

No, I wasn’t making Cookie Monster cupcakes as my main course, and it wasn’t as epic fail as that was!  It was a delicious-sounding recipe for lamb shanks with a potato topping.

The problem was in the potato topping. The recipe read,

“Peel the potatoes and cut in half lengthwise.

After the shanks have been cooking for two hours, remove from the oven and arrange the potatoes on top to completely cover the shanks – you may have to cut some of the potato pieces smaller to fit…”

This didn’t make sense to me when I read it. Large potato halves on top of the shanks – just didn’t seem right. But I did it that way.

I was not at all happy with how it turned out. Slicing the potatoes thinly and then placing them on top of the shanks was my first instinct and would have made the difference in the dish. The potatoes would have cooked more evenly and the presentation would have been extremely pleasing!

The photos, of course, reflect how I made the recipe, but the way I’ve rewritten the recipe is how I think it should be made and how I’ll be making it the next time I serve it.

And there will be the next time.

It still is a delicious main course!

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That is French and translates word for word into Salad. Green. Bitter.

It sounds poetic in French but it certainly does not sound as lovely or appetizing in English. So we shall give it a nicer English name … Bitter Greens Salad with Pomegranates & Parmesan.

So much better. This, of course, was the salad from the European Dinner Party.

I put out store-bought cookies and candies at the end of the meal, so there will not be a dessert recipe. The main course is all I have left to post. Expect that recipe tomorrow.

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These are all swiped from BuzzFeed from a post titled “16 Helpful Charts That Every Twentysomething Needs”

I have two Twentysomethings and the following 4 flowcharts are the ones I felt most applied to them. One or two apply to just Marissa, another is just Connor and at least one applies to both of them!

Enjoy.

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Our soup at the European Dinner Party uses one of my favorite vegetables – the artichoke.

Fresh artichokes are not the easiest vegetable to work with, but when you use canned (or frozen) artichoke hearts, they are a snap to use.

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If you know anything about my entertaining style, you know that I love to offer a “Signature” or “Welcome” cocktail when my guests arrive.

For the European Dinner Party, I decided I needed two. That may seem a bit excessive for only four people, but I honestly couldn’t decide between apple or pomegranate on that beautiful autumn evening, so I settled on both.

Sangria is a Spanish and Portuguese beverage that is traditionally served throughout Spain and Portugal during the hot summer months. It is made with summer fruits and juices.

I figured, why not use fall and winter fruits and juices and serve it all year long? Ole!

Spiced Apple Cider Sangria

1 bottle Pinot Grigio
2 cups spiced apple cider
1/2 cup brandy
2 Honeycrisp apples, cored and then chopped
2 Bosc pears, cored and then chopped
1 cup club soda, chilled

Combine all ingredients together, except the club soda, in a large serving pitcher.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

Pour sangria into ice-filled glasses; use a slotted spoon to add a few of the apple and pear pieces to each glass. Then top each with a splash of the chilled club soda.

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Note: I found the sparkling pomegranate soda for the next recipe at Trader Joe’s.

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