When it rains it pours....

Well, now that I'm recovered, S has been in the hospital all week with pneumonia....no cooking for me as I travel back and forth from work to the hospital - doritos for dinner and a glass of wine for a bedtime snack! Looking forward to getting back to normal next week!

Artery clogging at its finest

I know I have blogged before about not being a big sweets lover. I mean, don't try to pry the cookie from my hands once it's there because I will beat you to death with it (if I can't indulge, no one can). But if you pass me the cookie tray or a cheese platter at a party, I will be the anti-social dork who ambles off with all of the cheese, ne'er to be seen again.

I am Dutch. Dutch people like cheese. And wooden shoes but that's a different blog post. My earliest memory of good cheese - not the supermarket kind, but the kind that comes on huge wax covered wheels - must have been pre-R. Pre-R is pre-little brother - there's almost a 6 year gap and all the fun stuff happened before you R!!! (ha..not, you are the fun stuff and I can't wait to see you Sunday). Anyhow, I digress, the pre-R memory was of a deli somewhere that took awhile to drive too. And there was an older bald guy behind the counter and he always gave me the ends of the meat he was cutting and a piece of cheese. All I remember is thinking it was the best treat ever! And then learning to NOT rub your eyes after holding salami...it burns.

To this day if I am looking to nibble or grab a quick bite to eat I head for the cheese drawer in my fridge. You will always find cheddar, parmesan, mozzarella, goat cheese, gouda, havarti, gruyere and brie. Lately there has been Guinness cheddar, blueberry cheese and a great goats brie that you can't go wrong with.

I was getting to the point where some of the cheeses needed to be used up so I could replace them and I hauled out a recipe for Modern Mac and Cheese that I had seen in Chatelaine. And here's where the artery clogging comes in...this recipe calls for 1 1/2 pounds of cheese...before the log of goats cheese! Heart attack on a plate? Maybe. A lot of salt from the prosciutto? Yes. Worth the 45 minutes on the rowing machine after?? You betcha!

This is it...THIS is the ultimate mac and cheese recipe. I have found it....I am in love. Until I see the next recipe for mac and cheese I want to try, this is the go to recipe if you are a cheese lover.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Grandma in a box.....

After perusing all my U.S. blogging friends delicious looking Thanksgiving recipes, I'm amazed at how many people have tried and true recipes that are passed down from family. And honestly, it makes me a teensy bit jealous!

My mom is a great cook/baker - but I was an obstinate teenager that refused to participate in anything domestic at our house. The few times Mom would try to teach me to make something would turn into an all out war......until Dad would clear his throat and fold his newspaper up. As I've gotten older I have gotten some great recipes from mom that I love...but they never taste the same as when she makes them (mom....I can't make a cinnamon jumbo cookie to save my life!).

And as for grandma's......dad's mom lived 1000's of km's away in Europe. I have a few recipes from her - olliebollen, rouladen - but not enough to actually be excited about. And for mom's mom....well, let's just say if you want to know how to make a jello salad, she was your woman!

So imagine my excitement when I came across a cookbook from heirloom cooking! These recipes have been passed down generation to generation...it's a Grandma in a box! Ok...Grandma in a book, but the book arrived in a box and seriously...that just sounds funnier (no casket jokes intended people!).

Now who doesn't love a good meatball? When I saw the 1920's recipe for Swedish Meatballs I started my Swedish Chef impression and got to work. Now, I admit there are some updates to these recipes....I don't think a food processor was the tool du jour in the 1920's......but holy crap does Grandma in box deliver!

Hands down these were the best meatballs I have ever tasted! The flavour of just the meatball was outstanding....the addition of nutmeg in my mind makes everything sing. And the use of two types of ground meat, half and half and cracker crumbs....ooooooooooooooooooh I was in heaven.

I am also not much of a sour cream fan, so was skeptical of how much sour cream was being used to make the sour cream sauce. Fear not...if you like stroganoff (I do), this tastes similar. I can't wait to try some more recipes from this book!

Arline Ryan's Swedish Meatballs with Sour Cream Sauce (1920s) - adapted from Heirloom Cooking with the Brass Sisters

1 1/2 pounds ground veal (I used lean ground beef)

3/4 pound ground pork

1 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup light cream or half and half (I used half and half)

2 tbsp flour

3/4 cup saltine cracker crumbs

3/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup white wine

1 x 14 oz can chicken stock

2 tbsp flour

2 1/3 cups sour cream

1. Place beef and pork in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until smooth. Add onion, cream or half and half, cracker crumbs, flour, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Pulse until texture is almost as smooth as a paste. Remove mixture from food processor and shape into balls, using about 2 tbsp for each meatball.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in each of 2 large frying pans over medium heat. Add meatballs and cook, turning with tongs, until evenly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of white wine and 1/2 can of chicken stock to each pan and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Remove pans from heat. Remove meatballs to a platter and set aside. Consolidate all of the cooking juices in one pan. Whisk 1/4 cup of the warm pan juices with the flour in a small bowl, return to pan and whisk to blend. Set pan over low heat and bring to a bare simmer; do not allow sauce to boil. Whisk in sour cream a few tablespoons at a time. Return meatballs to pan and turn in sauce until completely heated through.

And I am back......

Well, mostly back.....who knew pneumonia could take so much out of you? I'm happy to say I'm not coughing up a lung anymore but still a bit tired. And I can so operate on tired (hell I have for the past 3 years), so back to the grindstone at work tomorrow!

I braved the office xmas party last night too. Sorry, holiday party. 500 people and I made it through dinner and the awards...then home. I am not particularly in the mood for festivities of any kind - but it was an excuse to wear the very cute 1950's Mad Men'esque style dress that K and I spent a lot of hours looking for! For those that were brave enough to risk my germs and get close to me, they got to see that every other black stripe in the dress was see through (um yeah...I wore a black slip underneath....nobody saw nothin'!)

After living on toast, gatorade and bananas for 2 weeks (and still fitting into jeans that haven't seen the light of day for 3 years...insert happy dance), I was in the mood to bake something today. I didn't want to do anything too ambitious, and Joe and Jeff over at Culinary in the Desert routinely have the most delicious looking baking I have ever seen.

Now, their pics turned out 1000 times better, but these cookies are so good. Almost like a two bite brownie with....wait for it......a rolo shoved in the middle! The neighbor husband and goddaughter dubbed these the belly button cookies after watching me quickly stuff rolos into the centers once they were cooked.

I love caramel - way more than chocolate. So this cookie offers up the best of both worlds - chocolate for the chocaholic and caramel for....me. I think I may have over baked one of the batches but the overall flavour is great. Think two-bite brownie meets coffee meets caramel.

Chocolate Caramel Espresso Chews (Adapted from Land O Lakes and Culinary in the Desert)

For the dough

1 tablespoon milk

1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or coffee granules

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

16 tablespoons (2 sticks or 1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted

48 Rolo candies, unwrapped

For the glaze

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1 to 2 tablespoons hot water

1 cup confectioners' sugar

To prepare the dough

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, stir together milk and espresso powder.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until smooth and creamy. Beat in dissolved espresso powder and milk mixture. Mix in eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each. Mix in vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in pecans.

Shape dough into 1 1/4" balls, lightly flouring your hands as needed to prevent sticking. Set balls into miniature muffin tins lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Place into the oven and baked until puffed and set, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and quickly, but carefully, press 1 candy piece, top-side down, into each cookie. Set aside and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge of each individual muffin well, then gently remove cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

To prepare the glaze

In a small bowl, stir espresso powder into 1 tablespoon water. Stir in confectioners' sugar - if it is too thick to drizzle, stir in enough of the remaining tablespoon hot water to thin. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

Makes 48 cookies.

Great way to lose weight.....

Get pneumonia. Yep...what I thought was just another cold landed me in the hospital this weekend with pneumonia. After tons ofs drugs, today is the first day I can stay upright for more than 5 minutes (although I am quickly wearing out here).

Being a Type A workaholic, this is driving me nuts. It's budget time at work and I can't do anything....3 more days until I'm "allowed" to go to work. That's not to say I'm not going to sneakily work from home tomorrow (yep, today I am sleeping).

I will be cooking next week....promise promise promise. I haven't eaten anything more complicated than toast the past 5 days - great way to shed 5 pounds and fit into that Xmas party dress!

Seriously...again?

I seem to be sick again. Every 3 years I go through a cycle where I catch every bug out there. This seems to be that year. So once again, my cooking has been at a minimum this week (sorry). I did manage to take the goddaughter for sushi and to her first ballet. Unfortunately the ballet sucked and I fear I may have ruined that particular cultural experience for her. Nevertheless, the kids a trooper and we will try again with another ballet hopefully in the near future (maybe the Nutcracker?)

Cate over at Sweetnicks posted a muffin recipe a couple of weeks back that had me drooling. Banana, espresso and chocolate chip muffins - I mean, could you imagine such a thing? Unfortunately I never seem to have overripe bananas at my place as I eat one or two a day. I hid a couple though so I could attempt this recipe on the weekend.

I made 12 of these guys, and oh my god. They were easy, tasty and gone in 2 days. I only ate 2. S ate however many and the goddaughter snuck a couple out of the house with her. I would up the espresso powder though the next time I make these - there wasn't that much of a coffee flavour I found. Or my espresso powder is getting old and needs to be replaced. For something that was in the oven 10 minutes after I decided to make them, you can't really go wrong.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recipe courtesy of Sweetnicks

1-1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup milk

1 large egg

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips (I used dark)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each cup about 3/4 full. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and let them finish cooling on the cooling rack. Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Yield: 12 muffins

Oh la la la lasagna

There are some things that happen when you grow up that shape your existence. I'm not talking about anything overly traumatic, just some "things" that parents say or do that stay with you forever. And this one I blame on my dad..........no Christmas anything in the house until after December 1. We were forbidden from playing Christmas carols before that. Oh the records would start creeping out towards the record player (how old am I...dammit), but we knew better! Heaven forbid Dad hear a jingling bell or a ho ho ho or anything before the first!

And I get it.....I get that November is too early. It pains me to see Christmas decorations out already and the stores doing their holiday push. I get that it's a fun time of year, but seriously - why not start the rush in say July?? Or hell, leave the tree up all year long!

But even the best laid plans go awry. In my staunch NO CHRISTMAS BEFORE DECEMBER 1st rule, my goddaughter who had just gotten over the flu last week wanted to go to a movie. And she wanted to see the 3D A Christmas Carol to boot. Who am I to deny a cute 13 year old a movie after a week of painful coughing????? So off we went, pretzel bites in tow and I allowed myself to enjoy a Christmas movie....before Remembrance Day. (No Shauna, no xmas carols in the office STILL until Dec 1st)..........

After the movie though I had an intense craving for lasagna. I have a tried and true recipe that I have yet to blog about.......not sure why as I am sure I've made it this year. But this is not that recipe! Nope, I had been eyeballing the Pumpkin Lasagna in the latest Food TV magazine. It looked good and really, I am a sucker for pumpkin anything.



I didn't find the recipe all that time consuming to make. The flow of the cooking steps was actually pretty smooth - not a lot of hurry up and wait or things that needed to be done all at the same time. It looked (and smelled) fabulous coming out of the oven. I went with a spicy Italian sausage for the meat and only used one zucchini...I would recommend going with 2 though next time.

Tell me why I can never get a good picture of lasagna straight out of the pan?

The verdict? Great!! I like this version as much as my tried and true recipe. You cannot really taste the pumpkin at all. It lends a slightly nutty taste to the lasagna (think butternut squash flavour) and the texture is on par with the ricotta. I actually ate the leftovers on this one for dinner last night! I definitely recommend stepping outside your comfort zone for lasagna and trying this recipe.

You can find the recipe HERE.