Pantry Revisited

Bri over at Yoshimi vs Motherhood chose this wonderful and healthy Ellie Krieger's recipe for penne pasta using fresh tomatoes, garlic and cannellini white beans for our recipe challenge this week.   We grilled some chicken to accompany the pasta and it was delicious.  I did not have fresh basil so I used some italian herb blend.  I did not have fresh grated parmesan because unbeknownst to me, Chandler had eaten it all, so it has regular parmesan on top.  Thank you Bri for a delicious pick this week!  I just love Ellie's recipes. Just a little ranting on the side here about a non-food subject.  So. . . I took a western shirt to the dry cleaners.  Don't ask why I have a western shirt.  It's not important.  When I picked it up, they had charged me $8 for cleaning it.  I asked to speak to the manager and asked why that shirt was $8 and the rest of the shirts were $2.50.  He said because it had "spe...

This is my first time to participate in Chocolate with Francois.  Of course I wanted the end result to be perfect, so perfect that you would all be uber impressed with my baking abilities.  Well you know when you start out with that attitude, chances are something will go wrong.  And it did.  I had no idea what these were supposed to look like so I just winged it.  I should have googled them first, because after I made them, I googled and found a photo and mine are. . . shall we say . .  a little fluffy in comparison!  And. . .  I made these twice.  The first time, I overcooked my syrup and it was 260 instead of the 250 required.  I also took it off the stove and it sat for just a nano-second while I was getting ready to pour it into the beating eggwhites.  When I poured into my egg whites, it turned to a big sugar lump.  I forged ahead however thinking it would beat up, mix up and work.  Also, when I mixed the ...

Josie of  Pink Parsley Catering  chose Scalloped Tomatoes.  I found this recipe interesting and uncomplicated so I made it on a weeknight after work.  It was delicious!  We paired it with pork chops the first night, and the second night we used the leftovers to put on top of some pasta.  Although the bread in it was a bit soggy the second night, it was still delicious.  Gwenn of Cooking in Pajamas  chose Sour Cream Coffee Cake for this month's second selection.  It was very easy to make and very tasty.  I froze half of it and took the other half to my dance club that night and shared with my friends who all enjoyed it very much.  The only substitution I made to the recipe was I left off the drizzled confectioner's sugar on top because I am trying to cut back some on my sugar intake.    Another delicious pick!  See the recipes below and try these out for yourself.  You won't regret it. Sour...

Our CEiMB is back up and running after a short break!  Margaret of Tea and Scones chose our recipe this week for the group.  I decided after checking out the recipe it would be something Chandler would love so I prepared it for his lunch on Father's day!  The only substitution I made was the sausage.  They had chorizo sausage at Publix, but it did not seem to be too fresh as the last date of sale was two days from now.  So I substituted Cajun smoked sausage and it had quite a spicey bite to it!  I was not quite sure how green olives would blend with this mixture of meat and rice, but they added a very nice flavor to it.  If you notice the tomatoes are missing in this photo, they are!  I forgot to add them when I was preparing it, but they did get added after the photo.  And my photo is not very good because as usual, I was in too much of a hurry to plan and stage a lovely photo! I don't know how it is in your part of the country, but ...

This week I have had hair issues. One hint of moisture in the air and my hair, being naturally curly, just frizzes and gets huge making me feel like I need to carry saws with me to expand doorways to be able to walk through them. Other days, the sun is shining and I use my Instyler and pull those curls out to straight perfection. Yes, I actually have an Instyler and I love it! Have you ever noticed though that men actually define themselves by their hair or lack of it. "Oh you remember Joe Smo. He's younger than me, but has less hair." Or, "I saw Jim Beano at the store. He's going bald." Or, how about "John Frank's forehead just keeps getting higher and higher."  Also the "I wish I looked like George Clooney or at least had his hair." Chandler is always saying he will not go to a hair salon that gives those quick, cheap cuts. I tell him why not - it doesn't take an expert to cut those two hairs on the top of his head! He did have ...

After taking a much needed break from my baking group, I realized how much I had missed all of those quirky, funny, smart, talented, beautiful ladies and I decided to jump back in and start baking along again! I was thinking just yesterday about getting older.  You know, thoughts like I can't do everything I did when I was 22 any more.  Heck who am I kidding.  I can't do all I did when I was 40.  It's a fact.  I am even having to ration myself on reading decorating magazines, because those photos of toilets in beautiful bathrooms can cause a warm drizzle to go down my leg.  Not to mention my cottage cheese legs.  They just won't firm up no matter how many hours a day I "watch" Denise Austin videos.  Before tattoos were even popular, I wanted one.  Now I am afraid to get a rose tattooed on my breast because before long it will be a long-stemmed one!  Beautiful five inch sexy, come hither shoes are a thing of the past for me as...

I wanted to make a special cake for my friend for her birthday.  I looked through tons of recipes.  I finally chose this Berry Torte because fresh berries are in season and it looked like a 4th of July cake.  I know it isn't the 4th yet, but it will be soon. You make the cake in two layers and then cut the layers in half making four thin layers.  My top layer fell apart because it stuck to the cooling rack.  I just stuck it on with the frosting and went with it.  The raspberries my husband bought for me to use were moldy.  I couldn't even salvage one berry.  That should have been my first two hints. I did not love this cake.  The frosting was too sweet.  I should have made a cake from scratch.  This was a white cake mix.  The frosting is canned fluffy white frosting mixed with cool whip.  Then you put berries on top and cover with a strawberry jam glaze.    I won't be making this again.

Our group is missing their leader and we are hoping everything is okay!  To help her out while she is MIA, my friend Joanne at Applecrumbles and I decided to forge ahead and just keep cooking those delicious Ellie recipes!  Thanks also to Liz at thenotsoskinnykitchen for her help in trying to locate/email everyone in the group.  Joanne chose Shortcut Collard Greens.  Kathryn of Grandma's Kitchen Table is choosing Salmon Florentine and Quinoa Pilaff for next week's recipe.  Please look in Ellie's So Easy book on pages 196-198 and cook along with us next Thursday! Now I'm a southern girl and you don't have to ask me twice to cook or eat those wonderful greens!  My DH, the yankee, however is a different matter.  He hates greens of any kind.  He also hates onions.  So I made this recipe and instead of chopped onions I just used some dried ones.  I figure I can usually slip those in and he does not notice so much.  This was a beau...

We had such a good time last Saturday night at our Fifties Party.  Wanted to share a photo of us with our great friends Noel and JP.  Don't you love my poodle skirt and rah rah shoes?  Also, drumroll. . . .after a short break, I have rejoined the group Tuesdays with Dorie and I am so looking forward to baking along with those wonderful gals again!  Check out my blog on Tuesdays for new and delicious treats.