Category — Recipes

I can not begin to tell you how difficult I find it is to even think about decorating this house for fall. It is still in the high 90’s during the day. Even attempting to place a real pumpkin outside would be asking for disaster.

At least the mornings and late evenings are finally cooling off to the low 70’s. That helps a little.

Plus, one of my favorite areas to decorate for the season is the front entry.

Last year it looked like this…

Today, it looks like this.

Hmm, at least the “caution” cones are a bright pumpkin orange. That might be all the entry decorating we get this year.

No matter ~ I vow to dig out the fall and Halloween decorations today and then do something with them.

The morning and evening cooler temps did instill in me the urge to make a double batch of yummy fresh corn chowder. A double batch because I wanted to share with my very generous neighbor, Cheryl.

You see…..

A few days ago, Cheryl anonymously dropped off culinary treasures at my front door (yes, she tromped through the dirt to get there). I don’t know for sure if she meant for the gift to be anonymous, but I wasn’t home and she left it with Connor.

Not surprisingly, Connor had no idea who Cheryl was, all he said when I ask who dropped it off was, “I don’t know, she was thin and pretty.”

Oh, thanks to Connor, that describes all my neighbors!

After a little detective work on my part, Cheryl fessed up.

This is Cheryl at the Christmas Crafts Class back in December 2012. On that note – watch for info tomorrow about my upcoming Fall Crafts & Decor Class …

So what was the culinary treasure that Cheryl gifted me with?

Homemade Croissants!

There were three of them!
Connor was home … so coincidentally there were three of us.
I ate one, and immediately hid the other two – eventually eating all three.
Connor did not know what was wrapped in the towel he had accepted.
Dave never knew they even existed.
They were mine. All mine. And they were delicious!
Thank you, Cheryl!

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Seriously! This is not a want, this is a need.

Construction, permits, late sub-contractors, inspections, failed inspections, rescheduling, early morning noise, dirt constantly at the front door, men, some men who act like little boys, “the city” and re-inspections.

I’ve been up since 5:45 AM, it is now 7:00 … and I need a cocktail! I did not have any alcohol (meaning a glass of wine with dinner) last night or the night before or the night before that. I am overdue and entitled!

I am going to throw caution and good sense to the wind and imbibe in a morning drink – I deserve it and I believe it will make construction more bearable.

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I’m calling these “Mexican-Chocolate” because of the cinnamon and chocolate combination. If you’ve ever eaten or cooked with the Ibarra brand of Mexican chocolate, you understand.

On a totally unrelated subject – I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I keep waking up before the sun – but that turned out to be a blessing yesterday.

I got out of bed at about 4:30 and decided to make these muffins since I needed to take something to our neighborhood Bunco later that evening.

The day was a whirlwind, I wasn’t home for more than 15 minutes all day. If I hadn’t made the muffins early in the morning … I would have never had time to make a thing and would have had to resort to bringing a bottle of wine.

As you might imagine, that doesn’t fly when you have a cooking blog and teach people to cook!

Sometimes sleep deprivation actually pays off.

Now, I know that for some, 4:30 or 5:00 is a normal and routine time to begin their day. I’ve had that schedule before, so I get it. But back then, I fell asleep before midnight or 1 AM too.

Let’s face it – sleep deprivation totally sucks! Conversely, these muffins do not.

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I consider myself a Trader Joe’s expert, a TJ Connoisseur, if you will.  So imagine my embarrassment and dismay when I learned that there was a product at Trader Joe’s, an exceedingly popular and rare product, that I had not a clue about!

Honestly, I’m going to have to be more diligent and thorough in the reading of all future Fearless Flyers!

This hot newish product is called Speculoos.

Speculoos Cookie Butter, to be exact and has proven to be a major phenomenon for Trader Joe’s. It took the top spot in Trader Joe’s annual “most popular products” list in 2012.

Then, in 2013, Trader Joe’s expanded the line and released a crunchy version. And like many Trader Joe’s items, the cookie butter is a knock-off of a brand-name product: Biscoff Spread, manufactured in Belgium by a company called Lotus. Made from thin, crispy cookies called speculoos (or spekulaas) that are eaten during the holidays. Biscoff’s cookie butter premiered in Europe in 2007. I just discovered that it is sold at Cost Plus World Market.

You’re reading this right – cookie butter is made of not ground-up peanuts and oil but rather ground-up cookies and oil. Cookie butter is like the rich, sweeter, and more handsome cousin of peanut butter!  You can smear it on toast or crackers or use it as a dip for pretzels, apples, or celery.

So yeah, it’s literally – spreadable cookies!

The Trader Joe’s flavor is gingersnap. Well actually, the label says – “A deliciously unusual spread reminiscent of gingerbread and made with crushed biscuits” – so basically gingersnaps.

And it is To Die For!

I did learn that one of the reasons I may be able to forgive myself for not knowing about Speculoos sooner, is because it has been in short supply since it made its TJ début in late 2011. So popular, in fact, that the spread has its own Facebook Page.

Now …  just in case TJ’s has a problem keeping this treasure in stock in the future, I’ve decided to try making my own.

The question was, “What flavor cookie should I use?” Peanut butter seemed too obvious and gingersnaps are already being done … to perfection. The cookies need to be crispy and crunchy  – not soft and chewy. No fillings, so that leaves out Oreos and such. Certainly no Fig Newtons (ugg)!

I scanned the cookie aisle and came up with five candidates. I made the five flavors of cookie butter and then sent a text out to six of my friends and neighbors on Saturday morning and asked them if they might be able to come by between 2:00 and 5:00 and do a taste test for me. Shockingly, all replied within seconds and said they could help!

Here is what greeted them when they arrived.

Each was asked to taste the five concoctions in front of them, to not ask questions about what they were eating, and then to rank them in order; #1 being their favorite … through #5 – being their least favorite. I then crunched all the numbers and found the average ranking of each of the cookie kinds of butter.

This is the average of how the ladies ranked them:

1. Snickerdoodle
2. Pepperidge Farm Chessmen
3. Chocolate Chip
4. Pepperidge Farm Coconut
5. Pecan Sandies

Only one person ranked the Pecan Sandies Cookie Butter higher than 4th or 5th place. In fact, four of my taste testers put it in last place, and two of those wrote “yuck” in their comments.

Of course, one of the reasons I chose to use Pecan Sandies is because I love those cookies, but they were right, they do not make good cookie butter. Snickerdoodles won by a landslide. Chessmen, Chocolate Chip, and Coconut were pretty tight in the scoring.

I pawned all the remaining Cookie Butter off on my neighbors on Sunday morning, leaving it on their doorsteps. I can’t have that stuff in the house. Well, I do still have the jar from Trader Joe’s but that doesn’t have to be eaten within 10 days, so I’ll keep it “out of sight and out of mind”… hopefully!

Many thanks to my fan-tab-ulous taste-test panel – Peggy, Lisa, Ronnie, Anne, Amy, and Melissa! xoxo

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It has only taken me a week, but I’m finally getting back to you with the second recipe using those polenta scraps from the Polenta Pesto Bruschetta recipe I gave you a week ago today.

This is almost the perfect “layer and bake” recipe, all you have to do is brown some Italian sausage. Although, you could easily make this dish even more convenient by omitting the sausage, thereby creating the perfect Mindless Meatless Monday Meal.

Dave was out-of-town when I made it, but Connor was home for the night, so the meat was called for. We enjoyed the spiciness that the sausage added.

Italian Polenta Bake

Polenta trimmings from this recipe, or a tube of prepared polenta, cut into rounds
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
8 ounces hot Italian sausage, cooked
1  1/2 cups purchased marinara sauce
2/3 cup grated mozzarella cheese

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My intention was to give you another recipe using up the polenta trimmings from this recipe.

That has been put on the back burner. Instead, I could not wait to share with you our family’s new favorite way to eat broccoli.

Bonus: The recipe is easy peasy lemon squeezy. It has three ingredients… well five, if you count the salt and pepper.

All you need is a head of broccoli, a bit of olive oil, and 3 garlic cloves. I like to use the 3-pound bag of broccoli florets from Costco.

I use half of it one night, saving the zip-lock bag I’ve tossed the broccoli in (fold it up and stick right into the bag with the broccoli) throw that in the fridge and then pull it out, a night or two later, and make another batch.

Warning: This stuff is toasted, roasted, crispy, crunchy, and completely addicting!

Important Tip: Do not wash the broccoli right before using, do it well ahead of time and allow it to dry completely, otherwise your roasted broccoli will not crisp up the way you need it to.

I like the broccoli just as the recipe is written, but feel free to “jazz it up” with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, just before you put it on the table. Then watch it disappear!

Note: Maybe you’ve already seen something close to this recipe. For example, Ina Garten’s Barefood Contessa Back to Basics cookbook from 2008 has a Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli recipe in it. It has 8 ingredients – plus salt and pepper. I made Ina’s recipe, way back then, and although we liked it… we love this streamlined version.

One More Tip: The recipe serves four. If you have four people, I guarantee there will not be leftovers. If you only have two people, there still may not be leftovers… but if there are, do not reheat in the microwave! Fire up that oven and throw the leftovers back in for 5 to 8 minutes to re-crisp. The microwave ruins it! Zaps the crispness, the crunchiness, all the goodness from it! Trust me, I learned the hard way.

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Yesterday I told you that I’d give you some ideas on what to do with those leftover polenta trimmings you accumulated when you made the Polenta Pesto Bruschetta.

Idea numero uno is these “easier than easy” polenta croutons.

After you look at the recipe, be sure to go to the end of the post to see some of the delicious food I enjoyed at my Les Dames d’Escoffier meeting yesterday. Oh my!

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Connor and I had a blast in Disneyland and California Adventure. When I say a blast, I not only mean a great time but a heat blast too.

It never fails, I leave this Godforsaken desert to find some refreshing cool air and the heat follows me! It was 95 every day we were there. The weatherman is predicting a lovely 75 degrees for Tuesday! It’s not right!

Oh well, fall is coming soon… I hope. Until then, I have the quickest and the easiest appetizer for you …. plus a few Disney vacation photos at the end of the post.

Most grocery stores carry the tubes of prepared polenta … and prepared pesto too. Although, I used some frozen arugula pesto I had on hand. I brought this to a surprise party on Sunday that our dear friend, Amy, threw for her husband, our dear friend, Scott.

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This salad is so beautiful, full of color and healthy goodness. The glistening arils from pomegranates, the red chewy dried cranberry, the creamy richness of avocado, the crunch and spicy bite of the pepitas – oh my!

I use the one-pound box of greens from Costco, their “half and half” mix, half baby spinach, and half colorful spring mix.

Any lettuce or combination of greens you prefer works just fine. Be sure to use a full pound though, this is a “big” salad! Once the dressing is added to the greens, the salad won’t keep for long, so be sure to wait until the last minute to put it all together.

I use my Candied Spiced Pepitas. These Candied Almonds would be wonderful too.

Quick Tip: This vinaigrette uses sesame seeds. Store sesame seeds in the refrigerator. Those little things go rancid in a hurry if they are stored at room temperature.

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Today is my Aunt Patty’s 60th birthday. Patty is the youngest of eight in the family and my mom is the oldest. My mom was 18 when Patty was born and she married my dad in November of that same year.

We celebrated yesterday with a birthday party at my Uncle Mike and Aunt Silvia’s lovely home. This is the cake that my sister, Sloane, had made at Honey Moon Sweets, for the occasion. The following recipe is one of the two salads I brought. The other salad will be posted tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Patty!

And a very Happy Labor Day to all of you.

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