Thanksgiving 2

Our second Thansgiving was at my parent's home.  My mom and dad have been restoring our old family farm house for about the last two years, and it is really starting to take take place.  My mom's most recent edition was the upstairs TV room.  She painted the walls a deep purple/beige color, and bought a deep blue/grey funiture (love seat and chair).  It looked absolutely lovely.  I will try to get her to post some pictures.

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving.  It was a full house, with all the trimmings. We had homemade noodles, turkey, ham, carmel rolls, green beans with almonds, stuffing, potatoes, pies, and a jelly roll.

Thanksgiving 1

On Saturday M and I left for Iowa for one week with family and friends.  On Sunday we had Thanksgiving with M's side of the family.  The festivities started with blueberry pancakes (which were delightful), and a nice strong cup of coffee and cream (this is really the way to start your vacation off on the right foot).  The rest of the day was spent in the kitchen.  M's mom got up early and put the turkey in, but there were still several sides that needed to be completed.

We had the following for Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, mash potatoes, squash with carmelized onions and sour cream, crab salad (Ukrainian dish),  Oyster stuffing, stuffing, green bean casserole, and bread. Everything was splendid down to the last detail.

My contribution was the stuffing.  I LOVE stuffing, and here is a simple recipe for awesome stuffing.  I have to give some credit to my mom she gave me a similar recipe (one she developed) to the one I am posting, but I have tweaked it to add in a few more ingrediants that I prefer. The most important part of this recipe is the bread.  It is important to choose a loaf of whole grain bread - it has the most flavor.

Step One

1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
3 sticks of celery (roughly chopped)
1 t salt
1 t cracked pepper
1/2 c butter

Combine the aforementioned ingrediants in a medium skillet over medium heat and let simmer until onions and celery are soft.

Step Two
1 loaf whole grain bread (cut into cubes)
2 eggs
1 T Parsley
1T Thyme
1 T Basil
1/4 cup pine nuts or slivered almonds

In a large bowel, combine the mixture from step 1 and the ingredients in step 2.  Once combined add a ladle of turkey stock or chicken broth.  Keep adding the broth until the bread is moist (not so wet that the bread is falling apart).

Line a baking sheet with tin foil and place the mixture in the center and cover with tin foil. Cook the mixture for an 1 hour on 350 degrees.

Other than the food, the company was also delightful.  Half-way through the afternoon M got an idea to take a traditional Thanksgiving photo.  We all gathered around the table and M's mom held the turkey.

 I have to say the picture turned out really well :)

All and all it was a great Thanksgiving.  Stay tuned for more on Thanksgiving 2.

Cinnamon Rolls - To Die For

My friend M told me about this wonderful blog - the pioneer woman.  The first time I went to the website I saw this recipe for Amish cinnamon rolls with caramel frosting.  I love cinnamon rolls and I love caramel rolls, this recipe is like the two of them together.  Even my husband who swore that he didn't really like cinnamon rolls, well he is now sitting next to me eating two, so that is how good these are. For the recipe, check the site below.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/breads/amish-cinnamon-rolls-with-caramel-frosting/

It is alive!!

Pizza - Who doesn't love it?

This weekend we had some friends of ours over for games and dinner R and H.  We planned to order pizza, but I woke up on Saturday morning craving a really good pizza  (believe it or not I have yet to find a good pizza place in all of Los Angeles). 

I pulled out my favorite cookbook "America's Test Kitchen"  (btw: This is the best cookbook ever).  And got the recipe for pizza dough.  Surprisingly pizza dough really isn't that hard to make.  It really only takes about 20 minutes or so of hands on time, and the yeast really does do the rest of the work. I guess what I am saying is for a Saturday night this is totally worth it (especially if your husband is an expert pizza dough tosser :). 

I would actually love to post the contents of the recipe for the dough online, however, since the cookbook is copyrighted I will respect that and not post the contents.  So if you want it I suggest you buy the cookbook, it is a great investment.

Okay after looking at a couple of recipes for pizza sauce I came up with my own which is listed below: sauce. 

1 28 oz Can Crushed Tomatoes
1 Tablespoon Sugar
3 Garlic Cloves Minced
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
S and P to taste
*5 dashes of Worchestire Sauce (about 2 teaspoons)

I combined all of the ingredients in a medium sauce pan and allowed it to simmer over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. 

Toppings:  We made three pizzas.  Personally, I think a good pizza starts with good cheese.  In the Los Angeles area I prefer Trader Joes for gourmet cheeses as it has the best prices (if I don't have time to make it into the farmers market).  I bought a whole milk motz. and an Australian Parmesan, and then grated the cheese by hand. 

Pizza 1:  Veggie
              Cheese - Motz and Fresh Parm (both grated by hand)
              Artichokes
              Kalmata Olives
              Sliced Cherry Tomatoes
              Baby Portebello Mushrooms

Pizza 2:  Meat
              Pepperoni
              Sliced Cherry Tomatoes
              Mushrooms

Pizza 3: Sweet and Swine
             Pinnapple
             *Prosciutto (instead of regular ham - so much better)

I baked all of the pizzas at 500 degrees on parchment paper placed on a baking stone for about 12 minutes.

Although all of the pizzas turned out really yummy.  The Sweet and Swine with the prosciutto ended up being the house favorite.

          

Tower of Terror

Matt and I went with some friends of ours to California Adventure this weekend.  Neither Matt nor I had ever been, and I don't particularly like rollercoasters, but this day I decided that I needed to feel a little "out -of-control." 

So one of the first rides we went on was "California Screamer" which was  what most people would consider a moderate rollercoaster. You can check out the ride on YouTube at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upHZ2ptl3WA.

Also, there was the "Tower of Terror" well I wouldn't really characterize this as moderate - terrifying is basically the best word for it.  You will understand what I mean after you watch this home video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeB2D7oCmCY&NR=1.  If you have even a little fear of being dropped several stories in a elevator - this is probably not the ride for you.
After the day was over - I felt sufficiently out-of-control.

Lake Tahoe (September 2010):

This year for Labor Day weekend we met Matt's sister, brother-in-law and our goddaughter in Lake Tahoe, California.  What a wonderful vacation.  It was just what both Matt and I needed.  It was about a seven and a half hour drive from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe, but it went pretty fast. 

An idea for recipes: Index Card Rings

 When I was a Sophomore in high school I started writing my favorite recipes on index cards and put them in a recipe box, but a recipe box just doesn't work for me when I am cooking.  When I get out a recipe, I never seem to put it back, and a recipe type binder just takes up too much space in a small kitchen when you are trying to prepare food - enter index card rings.  I used these types of rings when I was studying in law school, but it never occurred to me until recently that I could also use them for my recipes.  I put recipes for main dishes on one ring, desserts on another, and appetizers and sides on another.

Here is what you will need: index cards,  a whole punch, and index card holder rings.