Pantry Revisited

Hostess this week is one of my favorite blogger friends, Margaret, of Tea and Scones.   When we were up for recipe choosing for this month, this was my first choice but it had already been chosen by Margaret.  I was glad because I had been wanting to make it.  We loved loved it, however my photos do not do it justice.  Was in a hurry the day I made it, snapped a few shots, and went on my merry way.  I'm sure you have all been there on occasion.  This really is a great recipe and as Ellie's recipes always are, you can bet it is good for you as well. Simply delicious.  Full of vegetable surprises.  Hop over to Margaret's blog to find the recipe.  Come join us at Craving Ellie !  It is a small group of wonderful ladies sharing healthy recipes each week.

Hostess this week for our Tuesdays with Dorie group is Valerie and you can reach her blog to get the recipe by clicking on this link - http://unegaminedanslacuisine.com/ Valerie has a beautiful blog so you will definitely find it interesting. Calling all TWD bakers for some help figuring out where I went wrong with these cookies.  I made the dough.  I put into a baggie and rolled out just to Dorie's instructions.  I put in the refrigerator for two days.  It was very easy dough to work with.  I took a ruler and I cut the cookies exactly to 1 1/2 inch square.  I thought they looked a little thicker than the 1/4 inch Dorie specified, so I did squish them out just a tiny bit more.   I pricked each one with the fork.  I cooked for five minutes less than the recipe called for.  They had all spread out, run together, and they are thin.  Not at all like the pretty squares in our book.  And the fork pricks were no longer showing so I...

I am thrilled to announce the formation of a great new cooking and baking group.   “Ina’s Garden."  If you are a huge fan of Ina, a/k/a the Barefoot Contessa, you will love this group.  I love her recipes and her laid back entertaining style.  So several like-minded bloggers have gotten together to form this new blog hop group. We will be cooking her recipes together as well as discussing our experiences. This is how it will work: On the first Thursday of every month we  will all make the same recipe together.  You do not have to participate every month, just join in when you can.  Recipes will be announced in advance and on the day, you will be able to join with the co-hosts and link up your posts about them.  All you have to do is copy your permalink (please link to your actual post, and not just to your blog homepage).  Then click on where it says "add your link" in the linky below this post.  You will then be able ...

Posting a bit early on this one.  Hostess this week:  Leslie of Lethally Delicious   This salad did not appeal to me at all, but Leslie is one of my favorite blogger friends and I wanted to cook with her this week.  Hop over to her blog on the link above and get the recipe there for this salad. First of all, what ARE wheat berries?  I have never heard of or eaten any that I know of.  I looked for them at Publix, but did not find anything called wheat berries.  I thought a good substitution might be Bulgar Cracked Wheat.  I mean if I don't know what a wheat berry is, I could pretty much substitute anything I wanted to and call it a good substitution, right?  Actually, the photo of the wheat berry reminds me of Sugar Smacks cereal but I sort of figured that would not work.  This was a very easy to prepare and light dinner for us.  Funny, we liked it except for the Bulgar Wheat substitution.  I guess that will teach me!...

It is my week to host!  Yea!  It was really hard for me to choose a recipe this time.  We enjoyed all of Ellie's recipes.  I went with the Tuna Noodle Casserole because Chandler loves tuna and it looked like it would be a nice healthy meal for us.  Visit the Craving Ellie webpage and check out what the other members did with this recipe and what other delicious foods we will be cooking in the coming weeks. It was filled with a lot of good stuff.  First you sautee onions, celery and mushrooms.  Adding chicken broth and milk makes a nice creamy sauce.  It also has broccoli and peas in it. Although it called for whole wheat fettucine, Publix did not have any.  They had whole wheat every other type of pasta, but not fettucine.  So I just went with regular fettucine. I added almonds on top instead of the grated parmesan, just because I like almonds better.  Gave it a nice crunch.  I also cheated and did not make my own bread c...

Hostess this week for our TWD group is Sarah of Teapots and Cakestands.   Sarah chose the Strawberry Rhubard Double Crisp.  It is a double crisp because it has sort of a crust. I had issues with this recipe so I almost didn't make it, but Chandler loves rhubarb so I wanted to try it.  First, I am allergic to oats so the crisp part was going to be a challenge for me.  Second, it is not rhubarb season.  I did manage to find some frozen rhubarb at Publix and it worked really well.  I have only tasted rhubarb once in my entire life.  It was when we lived in Cleveland, Ohio and we bought a pie from some Amish ladies.  It was a strawberry rhubarb pie and whoever made it had flooded it with sugar.  Waaay too sweet for my tastes so I never pursued anything rhubarb after that experience. This however, turned out nicely and we really liked it. As I mixed up the filling, I realized my cornstarch was ancient and I tossed it in the garbage....

In our Craving Ellie group this week, Jennifer of The Rookie Baker chose the chicken fingers.  They could not be easier to make.  Go to Jennifer's blog on the link above to see how she fared with hers and to get the recipe. I'm home with workmen this morning hanging sheetrock, and today is Chandler's birthday, so he is coming home for a lunch of good chicken fingers!!  If he is a good boy, I might take him to the Cheesecake Factory tonight for dinner. The chicken fingers were simple.  Really just marinate in buttermilk, then coat with a cereal coating.  I used Multi-Bran Chex because that is what I had on hand.  I did add some red pepper flakes to the mix to give them a bit of a kick.  I took my friend Kayte's advice and cooked them on a rack in the oven with a cookie sheet underneath.  They came out very crispy all over.  Great idea Kayte.  Thanks! The honey mustard sauce is my favorite.   These were very good and a gre...

First, my deepest apologies to Jessica of Domestic Deep Thought of the Day who chose Coffee Ice Cream Tart this week in our TWD group.  I can only say ice cream does not like ME.  I am sure this tart is fabulous as are all of Dorie's creations.  I decided in order to keep baking along with the group, I would do a rewind of a cake that was chosen before I got into the group.  Big Bill's Carrot Cake.   Be SURE to hop over to Jessica's blog and check out the coffee ice cream tart by clicking the link above. This week my sweet husband celebrates his birthday (number 41 again and again and again - he is stuck on that number for some reason) and since he loves carrot cake it was the perfect choice.  I did make it in a 9x13 pan instead of the traditional layers. The recipe was really straight forward - nothing hard about it at all.  And let me tell you this is one fabulous carrot cake!!  Look at all those good for you carrots in it! ...