What are we cooking?

Shockingly, Husband and I actually thought about dinner for this week...or at least part of the week. Most of our cooking tends to be whatever we happen to throw together when we get hungry. Sometimes I'm good and actually do a bit of menu planning. This week we planned two meals (go us!).

Our throw together dinners tend to be relatively simple. Last night we made a simple pasta with onion, garlic, zucchini, green bell pepper, mushrooms, and kalamata olives with white wine, butter and lemon juice. We tossed the pasta with olive oil, parmesan cheese, and what I think was lemon basil (a random basil that grew from the seeds my friend planted) before adding the veggies. After tossing with the veggies we served it up and topped it with a little more parmesan, some cracked black pepper, and a few red pepper flakes. Simple and yummy - and all stuff we had on hand.

Tonight we made lasagna (it's in the oven right now). We've had some Spicy Italian Sausage in our freezer for a couple months and wanted to use it before it gets freezer burn. We had planned to make it in November or December - but that didn't happen. So yesterday we took the meat out of the freezer to defrost in the fridge - forcing us to use it this week! I made sure to buy all the cheeses we needed as well as sauce when I went shopping yesterday - and we already had veggies to put in it.

Tomorrow or Thursday I plan to make soup - either chicken tortilla or chicken and rice - I haven't decided yet. I originally was planning to make chicken and rice - but then Pioneer Woman posted chicken tortilla soup yesterday and it made me crave it. I have what I need to make either one so it depends on what I'm in the mood for I suppose.

The reason I say tomorrow or Thursday on the last one is because Husband informed me that we may be doing a leftovers exchange with some friends of ours for dinner tomorrow...so we'll see.

Lasagna should be done soon which is good since writing about all this food is making me hungry!

Happy eating!

Merry Christmas!

Guess what I got for Christmas!

Woohoo!

Plus I got the meat grinder attachment...do you know what that means???

It means I will no longer be subject to the shortage of Italian Sausage in Honduras (we've found it once in the 9 months we've been here) because I can make my own! Again - Woohoo!!!

Lingerie Shower Bra and Panty Cookies

How fun are these!?!?

We threw a surprise lingerie shower for my sister who got married this weekend so I made these cute cookies! They really are so easy - you just use heart cookie cutters. I used two different sizes because in our family, the butt is bigger than the boobs (proportionally speaking). For the boobs I cut off the pointy end of the heart (the first batch I cut it off after baking - the rest I cut off before baking and it worked out much better.

For these I used Bridget at Bake at 350's recipe for the cookies and royal icing. I just recently discovered her website and I'm already in love. Her directions for royal icing are so easy to follow there's no way it can't come out right if you follow her directions.

I can't wait to make these again!

Snowflake Cookies

I love that Christmas gives you an excuse to bake! I made these cookies for a Christmas party that one of husband's bosses had a couple weeks ago. They were a big hit!

Please ignore the ugly ones...I do not claim to be talented in an artistic way...

I used Alton Brown's recipe for Sugar Cookies and Martha Stewart's recipe for Royal Icing.

I think they turned out OK for a first try...I made other cookies while I was visiting Texas for my sister's wedding - I'll post those soon with links to the recipes...I think they turned out better looking - I used different recipes and the consistency of the icing was easier to work with.

My Dad's Turkey Gravy

This was a huge hit at our Thanksgiving dinner - and I am so thankful that we have tons of leftovers!

You have to start out really early by making the Giblet Broth (I know the giblets freak some people out but trust me - it's fantastic when you do it this way).

Giblet Broth

Giblets from Turkey
1 c. Carrot
1 c. Celery
1-1/2 c. Onion
30-40 peppercorns

Put everything in a bot and cover with water (~8 c.)
Simmer all day
When broth is ready, strain through mesh strainer.
Discard gizzard, and dice liver and soft parts of kidneys.

Dad's Turkey Gravy

Giblet Broth

Turkey Drippings
Diced Giblets (if desired)
12-14 T. Oil (get oil on top of giblet broth and turkey drippings)
12-14 T. Flour
1/2 c. White Wine
4 oz. Heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper

Begin by making roux.
Heat 12-14 T. oil in pan.
Add flour until mixture reaches paste consistency.
Heat until just starting to brown then set aside.

Combine giblet broth and turkey drippings to get 7-8 c. total liquid (if you need more, just add some chicken broth).
Bring to a boil.
Add half of the roux, whisking strongly.
Add more roux until desired thickness is achieved.
Add white wine and heavy cream.
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Add diced giblets at end if desired.

My Mom's Stuffing

Probably my favorite part of Thanksgiving is the stuffing...it's so moist and flavorful.

My Mom's Stuffing

3/4 c. Minced Onion

1-1/2 c. Chopped Celery

1 c. Butter

9 c. Soft Bread Cubes (I used regular wheat sandwich bread)

2 t. Salt

1-1/2 t. Crushed Sage Leaves (I used ground sage because that's what I could find)

1 t. Dried Thyme Leaves

1/2 t. Black Pepper

Saute onion and celery in butter until tender.

Stir in about 1/3 of bread cubes.

Turn into deep bowl.

Add remaining ingredients and toss.

Stuff turkey or put in buttered casserole just before roasting.

Before stuffing in Turkey

Stuffed Turkey

Fabulous Finished Stuffing

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know Thanksgiving is over but between the cooking, eating and enjoying time with our friends, I didn't have a chance to post about my Thanksgiving cooking! Get ready for some awesome Thankgiving recipes! I'll be posting them each in separate posts so they're easier to find later.

We spent Thanksgiving with many of our friends and everyone contributed to the meal making it absolutely fabulous!

Half of our spread

Husband carving the Turkey

Trevor and Raj hanging out before dinner

Christie making Mashed Potatoes

Hanging out outside after dinner

Rock Band after Dessert