Yummy Brunch dish

* Tiny bit of leftovers. I would have taken before pictures, but I was running late to the potluck.


I'm at it again. This morning I prepared crepes two ways for a potluck brunch. I fixed the sweet crepe recipe from Cooks Illustrated, which I have made many times and have found to be a strong recipe to use always.

I then made a sweet filling which consisted of a package of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, a few tablespoons of confectioners sugar, zest of one lemon, 3-4 tablespoons of canned pumpkin, and a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice.

Next, I wanted to make a savory filling. I had come across this fabulous looking Rava dosa recipe in the November issue of Gourmet (last issue, very sad). I figured I could use the same sweet crepes instead of the rava dosas and then just make the potato chickpea masala filling. Man, this filling is awesome! My whole house smells of curry, but it is definitely worth the good eats. The recipe was a hit at the potluck and I got many requests to share it.

Oh, blogging has also brought to my attention that I need a much better camera if I am to keep this up...my pictures look extremely blah next to some of these other foodie blogs.

Three months later...

I am not doing a very good job of keeping up a blog. Therefore, in this post I'm going to try to include as much as I can from the past 3 months.

First I'm including pics of several different meals I've made and managed to take pictures of. First off is scrambled eggs with a potatoes and bacon hash served with pita bread and cinnamon roll. I'm on a serious pita kick right now.

Next is chicken on top of a bed of pesto pasta with white beans served with steamed lemon green beans.
I also got out my yogurt maker. I made nonfat blueberry yogurt (sorry no pic). It was good, but I don't think I will use skim milk again. I like my yogurt a bit creamier. Or if I do use skim milk, I will strain it through cheese cloth and try to make nonfat Greek yogurt which is always nice and creamy (and high in protein!).
This is a Sweet potato chicken hash recipe from Bobby Flay. It has chipotle peppers in it which give it a nice smokey and spicy flavor. This is the second time I made this recipe. The first time I made it...let's just say it was pretty spicy. I opened the can of chipotle pepers and smelled their smokey sweet goodness and thought "hmm, the more the merrier"...so instead of a 1/4 cup I added more like a cup and a half. My hubby and I tried to eat...I mean it tasted awesome...but it was hard to get past the burning sensation. Lesson learned. I definitely got it right the second time. Love this recipe. I served it with warm homemade whole wheat bread topped with butter and honey. This is another recipe that I've made frequently, which is unusual for me. As my mother and husband will attest, I rarely make a recipe more than once.
Our neighbor shared some spinach with us from her garden!
Hubby and I went to Boerne, Texas for a wedding. We experienced the hill country, Taco Cabana breakfast tacos, and HEB Grocery Store that we miss so much. It inspired me to try to make homemade tortillas when I got home. I used Homesick Texan's flour tortilla recipe since it sounded like she understood our quest for the perfect Texan flour tortilla - which is really what lays the foundation for a good breakfast taco. I think I must of erred in the preparation because my tortillas turned out kinda hard and chewy, not the moist lightness that you associate with Texas flour tortillas (the sort you find at Tias, Taco Cabana, or El Guapo's) I will try again.

Since we are moving in January to DC, I am attempting to sort through my piles of foodie magazines and pull all the recipes I could ever possibly dream of fixing and then recycle the magazines. The resulting problem, however, is a large quantity of recipes, not to mention all the recipes I have printed off the internet. Does anyone have any good suggestions for how to deal with this massive heap of recipes?

I am also sad to note that Gourmet, my favorite magazine and monthly indulgence, will be no more after November. :( I just received the last issue in the mail today.

Lastly, I went with a friend to the Rock and Shop Market in Durham today. This event was pretty cool. There was a fashion show, live bands, beer, and lots of cool artisan pieces to purchase. I bought this "Evelyn" necklace, a pretty milk glass flower vase (kinda like these), and a birthday gift for my bro. It's been a good day.

A second shot

After a year of giving up on trying my hand at blogging, I'm going to give it a second shot. I finally finished my masters degree and am enjoying having more free time in the evening and on weekends. During this free time I have found myself exploring other foodie blogs as well as my friend's very crafty blog and the craft blogs that lead from there. These folks, their words, and their projects have inspired me to share more with my friends and family about my activities and attempts at various projects, mostly cooking, but who's to say I won't try my hand at sewing a bit more...with others' assistance of course. Most of all what I hope to gain from this is a fostering of more project ideas and better development of what it is I actually want to do with my free time and why...this is where comments/feedback and continued exploring of other folks' blogs comes in.

It's Sunday and here are the projects I have taken on today... I recently discovered the Wednesday Chef blog and I am making the Molly Wizenberg's French Chocolate Granola recipe I found on her blog.

This granola is sooo delicious. I don't think I will buy cereal ever again. I plan to make this on a biweekly basis switching up the nuts and sweet bits...I will definitely add in dried cranberries in the next batch.

Next, I have started on some cold brew tea from a recipe I heard on The Splendid Table on NPR last Sunday. They promise that this tea will be less bitter and more refreshing...I can't wait to try. I've thrown in an ensemble of teas, which I'm hoping blend well together. It's black cherry and mint.
Lastly, for dinner, I am going to fix an old-school favorite that I was reminded of on the blog, Homesick Texan....King Ranch Casserole. My fellow Texans will definitely remember this staple from growing up in Texas. She offers up a fancy-pants (her words not mine) version and an old-school version. Typically, I am one to go the fancy-pants route, making everything from scratch, but this time I opted the simpler route, largely because I know how much my husband enjoys casseroles with cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup and I'll be packing up the leftovers for him to live off of the rest of the week (this is a whole other topic that may be covered in another post). Now don't get the idea that I am the casserole queen...I rarely fix casseroles or use canned soup for anything for that matter, but I think this is an excellent excuse for an exception.The casserole turned out pretty much how I remembered it, but maybe a little runnier. My husband suggested I turn it into a dip...yes, I am definitely not the casserole queen.