Recipe Blogroll items for January 2010

Currently Listening to "The Call," Regina Spektor

Recipe Blogroll is BACK, baby!!

Woo-hoo!!

A little different this time. Instead of listing a million recipes I'd like to try like last time, I'm going to shoot for four to five a month.

{I'm a deadline person. I'll do better with a deadline.}

Then, during the month, I'll write a review of the yummy recipe, share any tips ::remember, I'm still VERY new to cooking haha::, and post a small award for the recipe writer because I appreciate cooking blogs SO much!!

If you have any recipe you'd like to suggest for my February Blogroll, please let me know in the comments or by e-mailing me at class.and.coffee@gmail.com

**All pictures are from the recipe owner's Web site. Click on the Recipe name to read more about the recipe and to see more pictures!*

Recipe Blogroll Items for January 2010!

• Braised Chicken with Grapes: Posted by Healthy Delicious, this recipe uses grapes to help make some "fall-off-the-bone" chicken and, according to HD, some sauce that'll make you want to lick your plate. I'm in!
  
  (Pic by Healthy Delicious)

• Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars: Posted by My Tasty Treasures, this recipe sounds sooo good and perfect to break the Christmas-cookie marathon!
  (Pic by My Tasty Treasures)

• Linguine with Zucchini and Chickpeas: Real Simple Magazine, August 2009; This recipe was definitely intended for summer haha... but I can't resist! All the soups and stews we've been having... I'd love to have a light evening dinner like this soon. And hey, we'll just pretend it's warm :)(Pic from Real Simple)

• Applesauce Granola: Posted by Steph Chows, it's a recipe I've been looking for! I love granola... but it's so expensive! I would love to make it at home AND I think it would make a cute gift to give for friends at Valentine's Day!
  (Pic by StephChows)

• Pot Sticker Pillows: Posted by Slim Shoppin, this recipe makes AMAZING looking pot stickers that are only 30 calories each!! Which... probably won't matter much when I eat about 100 of them, but still...
  (Pic by Slim Shoppin)

Here's to a January filled with new recipes!! Thanks you guys!

So now all I've got to do is cook these 5 before the 31st, and I'll post a review for each.

I'll try to write down any helpful hints I come up with along the way... I've only been cooking for about a year now and I still feel very, very new at it :)

~*~*~

Want to try a Recipe Blogroll?

It's a great way to force yourself out of your cooking shell!

Feel free to use the button:

<img src="http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/classandcoffee/blog%20sections/recipeblogroll.jpg" alt="Recipe Blogroll graphic" width="200px" />

~*~*~
**Quick thanks to Fidgeting Gidget for giving me my new knitting project a great name: marf.
The Marf = The manly knit, manly colored scarf intended for a male
who may be leery of effeminate scarves... 


~*~*~

Your excited-to-start-cooking,

loving-the-new-classes,

marf-knitting,

New Girl Blogger

Recipes to Tackle: My First Recipe Blogroll

Goal: Tackle Some Recipes

Recipes to tackle- tackle because I'm no expert cook.

I really want to learn how to do these recipes... and how to do a lot of the cooking techniques involved in the recipes!

I'm gonna add a section to the right for "Recipe To-Do List" and cross these off as I try them :) ...I haven't done it yet, cause this took a little bit '0 time, but I will!

Quick Thank You:
Also, for all of you whose recipes are listed here, thanks! I really appreciate your inspirational recipe blogging :)

Here's a little, not-that-cool gift as a thank you if you'd like. I know not everyone is into the blog awards but I thought I'd use my Photoshop/Copy&Paste skills just in case. If you are listed below and you'd like one-- or both!-- please feel free... even if your blog isn't about cooking :) It's all fun, after all!



<a href="http://classandcoffee.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/classandcoffee/awards/inspirationchef2.jpg" border="0" alt="Inspiring Chef Award 2" /></a>



<a href="http://classandcoffee.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/classandcoffee/awards/inspirationchef.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a>

With that, here we go!

~*~*~

Chicken:

Blue Cheese Chicken Burgers

• Courtesy of Food Snob, who found the recipe on Mom on the Run's blog (love both of them!)
• Need to Learn: How to cook these inside. We don't have an outside anymore... I have a "griddle," I've only ever used it for pancakes... can I use that?

Simple Roasted Chicken with Brussel Sprouts and Zucchini for Two

• Courtesy of Not only Neurons
  
• Need to Learn: How to truss a chicken... his recipe comes with video instructions! ...but where do you buy butcher's twine?!?!
  

Skinny Buffalo Wing Sammies

• Courtesy of Steph Chows
• Need to Learn: How to cook the chicken tenders without burning.
  

Chicken Sausage Jambalaya with Shrimp

• Courtesy of Mom on the Run
• Need to Learn: Umm... do I have to devein shrimp? They sell them that way, right?

Other Meaty Dishes:

Sweet & Spicy Meatballs

• Courtesy of Duo Dishes
• Need to Learn: How to throw a dinner party so I can serve these!

Stuffed Flank Steak

• Courtesy of My Tasty Treasures
• Need to Learn: How to do... everything. This is the holy grail recipe.

Poached Salmon with Dijon Cream Sauce

• Courtesy of Phoo-D, who found the recipe on Epicurious
• Need to Learn: Do I really even know what poaching means? I'm just not sure.
  

Pasta/Bakes/Dinner Pies:


Shrimp Scampi

• Courtesy of Mom on the Run
• Need to Learn: How to not eat it all at once :) And what type of pasta should I serve this with?

Chicken Marsala

• Courtesy of My Tasty Treasures
  
• Need to Learn: So... Marsala is a wine? Or something? I had no idea. Wow. Also, it looks like this recipe requires some careful planning and multi-tasking. I can do it.

Mushroom Bourguignon

• Courtesy of From a North London Kitchen, who found it on Smitten Kitchen
• Need to Learn: How to get boyfriend to like mushrooms... and by the way, "bourguignon" means served in the manner of Burgundy; or, basically, the inclusion of red wine in the sauce. There's your word of the day :)

Mac & Cheese

• Courtesy of Knitting Knoobie, who found it on Food Network
• Need to Learn: I had to look up what Gruyere was. I'm good now :0)
  

Appetizers/Sides:

Hummus

• Courtesy of Steph Chows
• Need to Learn: Where chick peas are in the grocery store

Lemon Dill Flatbread

• Courtesy of Duo Dishes
• Need to Learn: "Knead gently" is a little scary cause I've never kneaded dough. I don't think. But I'll just take it slow, since it's my first time (ha! ...sorry.)

Whole Wheat Cheese & Herb Biscuits

• Courtesy of Duo Dishes (one of my favorite posts from this blog!)
• Need to Learn: Well, this whole recipe is a little complicated. Just challenging enough for the New Girl. The slow incorporation of milk into the dough... I'm so awful at that. I always just want to throw everything together. But I'll focus!!
  

Healthy Shoe-String Potato Fries

• Courtesy of Steph Chows
• Need to Learn: How to cut these potatoes into strips without cutting my finger off. Can I somehow adapt this to my food processor?

"Fried" Zucchini

• Courtesy of Steph Chows
• Need to Learn: How to spell Zucchini (I had to double check!!)

Dessert and Decadence:

Double-Chocolate Biscotti

• Courtesy of From a North London Kitchen, who found the recipe on her friend Batter Splattered's blog
• Need to Learn: I'm just a bad baker, so I'll really have to focus, but now I have something to pair with my love of coffee! Need to learn not to drink more coffee just because of these.
  

Molten Chocolate Cake

• Courtesy of Duo Dishes
• Need to Learn: What can I use as a "ramekin" dish... wish I had stole some from my old waitressing job! Ok, no, I'm not a thief or anything, I wouldn't have. I'm just saying.

Malted Milk Ball Cookies

• Courtesy of My Tasty Treasures
• Need to Learn: How to chop whoppers without chopping my finger.

Quick-Fire Cookies

• Courtesy of From a North London Kitchen, who found the recipe on Smitten Kitchen
• Need to Learn: (1) whether or not I like almonds in cookies and (2) the "bake for about ten minutes, or until the edges are just hardening and they've risen slightly" has given me trouble before, as some of you may remember...
  

Fondue

• Courtesy of Sarah Says
• Need to learn: Which of my friends have a fondue kit!

~*~*~

Wow! What a list!
I'll try to do another one of these lists again soon-- it was fun!-- but only after I've tackled a bunch!

If you put a Recipe Blogroll on your blog let me know and I'll link it! Here's the image again:


<a href="YOUR BLOG URL HERE!" target="_blank"><img src="http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/classandcoffee/blog%20sections/recipeblogroll.jpg" alt="Recipe Blogroll" border="0" /></a>

Thanks to all of you food bloggers for your instructions and patience. I hope not to disappoint :)

And remember, if you ever see a recipe you think is easy enough for even The New Girl, let me know!

NEXT POST: I swear, I'll gossip about my fab mac and cheese/ bbq dinner. I just couldn't help but get this done!! So fun!!

~*~*~

Your probably-too-ambitious,
hopelessly-hopeful-about-cooking
New Girl Blogger

Recipe Blogroll Review: Pot Sticker Pillows; Cooking+Homework = Disaster

Currently Listening to "Yellow," Coldplay: Live 2003

Happy February, Everyone!!

I'm still in whirlwind mode; Matt and I spent last weekend in Wilmington, NC (the beach!) for Alumni Weekend-- some of you may remember that we met as undergrads attending UNC-W--  and had a blast!

Matt with two dates-- me and my
beautiful friend Leah at the Alumni
Awards Banquet. We didn't win any
awards or anything but there was
good food and open bar!

Still... as fun as it was to see friends and such, I'm totally exhausted.

There's something about losing your whole weekend... I mean, I'm a routine kind of girl. I need the weekend to cook and blog and knit and basically just wind down, and then Sundays I get started on all the week's homework...

Not this weekend. Spent a glorious weekend in Wilmington, but with all the food (and drink) and friends and festivities, I'm still exhausted.

BUT! Don't you worry; I still decided to undergo a cooking adventure on Sunday. I was exhausted and simultaneously trying to participate in a 5-person conference call for my online class group project-- but I cooked nevertheless.

Of course, it turned out awful, but as always I learned a lot and have a fun story to share :)

~*~*~


Pot Sticker Pillows:
Posted by Slim Shoppin

(Pic by Slim Shoppin)

Meal: (what did I serve this with?)
Jasmine Rice

Recipe Difficulty: (how hard was this to cook?)
3 / 5

Recipe Quality: (how well was the recipe written?)
5 / 5

Dish Deliciousness: (did it taste great?)
3 / 5
(My fault, though... read on)

Number of cooking mistakes: (how many times did I mess up??)
Too many to admit:

1. I couldn't find egg roll wrappers at the store
2. I thought I could make homemade egg roll wrappers
3. I thought I could make homemade egg roll wrappers and the rest of this meal before my group conference call
4. I wasn't finished dinner and had to try and teach Matt how to finish the meal while starting the conference call
5. I served dinner without trying ANY of it because I was on a conference call
6. The rice was undercooked and my homemade egg roll wrappers SUCKED

Repeat Likelihood: (will I try to make it again?)
5 / 5
SO want to try again!

~*~*~

The Story:

So, like I said, we got home from Wilmington Sunday and even though I was exhausted I decided to try and cook anyway.

I thought I could finish dinner early and still have time for my conference call.

I thought that, even though I (1) had never made this recipe before and (2) was attempting to make homemade eggroll wrappers, which adds an extra step to the recipe, I would have time to make this in under an hour. It would have worked if it hadn't been for what I'm going to call the wrapper disaster.

The eggroll wrapper recipe looked fairly simple (see here), and was, but the dough was too elastic and didn't flatten well to fit over the filling.

I tried, I did. But the stupid dough wasn't cooperating, and I just kept making a bigger and bigger mess...

I didn't have time to finish the pot stickers, so I had to try and sign on to the conference call WHILE teaching Matt how to finish my unfinished cooking job.

(Good thing it was just audio and not video...)

He tried, but I didn't set up the pan to the right temp and they burned; then, we tried to eat and the rice was wayyyyyy undercooked.

Sigh...

Luckily...

I doubled the filling recipe and threw half of it in the jasmine rice.  It wasn't good that night since the rice was undercooked; BUT, I tried it again at lunch the next day over the stovetop and it was SO good.

Adding a little ginger to the ground turkey goes really well with the Jasmine rice!

Mmm.... seriously, best leftover lunch ever!

Now, I'm not giving up on this recipe because it looks like it would be amazing (if you did it right).

But... anyone know where to find eggroll wrappers??

:)

~*~*~

Comments: 
Thank you, Samantha, for this wonderful blog award:

I simply love the simply fabulous award!

This award requires me to blog about a woman who I think is fabulous. This woman can be someone I know in real life, a celebrity, or a fictional character. Then, I must pass the award on to five other fabulous bloggers.

Well, I have three sisters (four now, with the twins! (; but more on that later), and I think they're all fabulous for different reasons... and there were 4 girls in Sex and the City, so it's just too perfect :)

Courtney, Siobhan, Me and Caitlin at
Siobhan's birthday dinner last summer.

5 bloggers for the Simply Fabulous award:

1. Amy at Rainy Saturday
2. Kym at Bee Creative
3. The gamer's wife
4. Nikolett at Better Than Coffee
5. Renee at Nouveau (Not so) Riche

Enjoy, ladies!

~*~*~

So I don't have a great start to February seeing as I'm still reviewing my January blogroll items-- but don't worry; I've got my eye on some sweeeeet February recipes and I'm almost done with January!

Meanwhile, I haven't knit a stitch in about two weeks. So... I'll go ahead and let you know that I'll give a blanket update next post, that way I have to knit some :)

Your just-finished-first-paper-of-the-semester,
enjoying-snow-on-the-ground!, still-pretty-tired,
New Girl Blogger

Sports, Meatloaf, MacChz II, Knitting, Construction. + Snickers.

Listening to "Lucky Boy," Matt Nathanson

What a week!

Tutoring
Almost done with most of my tutoring clients and starting to meet some of the new clients that I'll be helping for the summer. I love meeting new clients! You can always tell the kids who are a little shy at first... but who you know are going to be crazy, talk-non-stop fireballs later on :)

Also finished up my training in the tutor company Main Office. I'll be in charge of billing, filing, and some marketing. Next week I'll be calling local school counselors and asking if they'd like information about our company. Yikes! I hate cold calls. But Matt gave me a tip that seems to be working-- "It's hard for people to be mean to you on the phone if you're smiling. They can't see your smile, but they can hear it!" It works!

Getting Published?
I've also been working on a fun project-- editing my undergraduate honors thesis. What? Didn't I graduate from Undergrad already?

I did... but my school nominated my honors thesis to the NC Undergraduate Journal, a journal which includes work from undergraduate students in all 16 public NC Universities. So I've been turning my 100+ page honors thesis into a 25 page article! How exciting-- it might get published! I'll let you know :)

Sports
Of course! The Red Wings are vying for the STANLEY CUP '09! Matt is from Detroit... have I told you that? So it's exciting for them to have a Detroit pro team do well-- especially after the way the Detroit Lions performed: historically, embarrassingly awful. They were the first Pro football team to have a no win season. So luckily, the hockey team is bringing a better rep to the city!

Nice!

The Wings did suffer a disappointing loss last night, but I think they've been playing well and am excited for the next game.

Also-- NBA Finals!!

Howard, making Bryant look not as tall...

I'm rooting for the Magic because I think Dwight Howard should have a ring... plus, Kobe, you have a couple rings. But the Magic lost last night, and the Lakers are historically phenom when playing in a series after winning the series' first game. So we'll see how that goes!

You guys? Anyone else into these finals?

~*~*~

Cooking Updates:

Mac & Cheese: Part Deux
Last time I made Macaroni and Cheese it was good... but not great. It was a little too thick, like Mac & Cheese Cake.

This time, the recipe was lovely and I actually followed it... YUM! Thanks Knitting Knoobie, for pointing me to that recipe! Another one checked off the Recipe Blogroll!

Unfortunately, I have not yet learned how to cook for two people, so I always make too much food. As such, some of the mac is in the freezer to be eaten at a later date :)

Mac and Cheese-- about to be frozen. Two
people can only eat so much!

Meatloaf
Also made a meatloaf-- per Matt's request-- pretty easy! Except I was halfway through the recipe when it said "loaf pan." Loaf pan? I googled it... and recognized immediately that it was a pan I did not have.

So I just put it on a cookie sheet and kinda molded it into a meatloaf-- it turned out just fine! Crisis averted!

All that's left since making the large
meatloaf last Friday. Matt's been eating
a lot of it! Guess we won't have to freeze this!

I'm hoping I'll have time to cook this weekend so I can tackle some more of those recipes on my recipe blogroll. I've seen so many great recipes posted on your blogs lately, so I can't wait to make my next blogroll!!

~*~*~

Knitting Update
Abby Jacket
Finally started on the sleeves...

Hoping to be finished by the time they
visit next weekend!

Checkerboard
Love this project. Sure, I restarted it a couple times... it was a hard pattern at first! But now it's pretty easy and I can't WAIT till it's finished!!

Look like a checkerboard yet?

Hopefully we'll be drinking beers outside and playing checkers on a Saturday afternoon sometime soon!

I've been trying to think of what I can use for game pieces. I want something with a little character. Bottle caps? Matt said he'd use New Caste beer caps, because it'll be good luck for getting "Kinged" in the game. He's a dork :)

Any other ideas?

~*~*~

Life:
Other reasons I've been busy...

Construction:
Insane construction outside our apartment. ALL week.

See the guy in the yellow vest? See the
door he's standing next to? Yea-- our door.

A pipe was clogged, so they literally had to dig a trench and replace the pipe. In the end, it's good that they're doing this and not just ignoring the problem. But seriously, all week it has sounded like a construction site here! Jackhammers were involved. As I'm typing this, they're chisseling away at some cement, or something equally as loud. Ohhh apartment living.

House Guest:
Finally, Snickers came to visit!

Matt's parents dog, Snickers. Took me like
100 tries to get him to hold still for a picture! :)

Snickers is SO cute. He acts like a puppy even though he's an older dog. He sits with me while I knit :) He went home yesterday, but not before Matt's parents took us out to Cheesecake Factory! YUM!

~*~*~

That's all for now, 'folks! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Your checker-board-knitting,
overtime-tutoring, sports-lovin,
construction-hatin,
weekend-anticipating!,
New Girl Blogger

Recipe Blogroll Review: Braised Chicken with Grapes; + yum wine, till morning...

Currently listening to "Pink Moon," Nick Drake

Yesterday seemed like the perfect day for some delicious cooking, for a couple reasons: 1 Matt had friends in town (and I wanted to impress them with my cookin skilllllz); 2. I actually remembered to take the chicken out of the freezer to thaw; 3. It's been a long week since I completed some intense internship applications, finished my first full week of school (my classes are done on Thursdays! woohoo!), and finished two conference proposals... 


So it was a good night to relax in the kitchen.

The recipe was good! It really was! Thank you, Healthy Delicious!

I'm just such a bad cook.

Ughhhhhh... just suffered a flashback of what happened last night.

Okay, I'll explain... but let's break this down first:

~*~*~

Braised Chicken with Grapes:
Posted by Healthy Delicious

(Pic by Healthy Delicious)

Dinner: (what did I serve this with?)

Braised Chicken was served with risotto, green beans, and a loaf of french bread

Recipe Difficulty: (how hard was this to cook?)
2.5 / 5
*Most difficult part was finding arrowroot spice in my grocery store!

Recipe Quality: (how well was the recipe written?)
5 / 5

Dish Deliciousness: (did it taste great?)
4 / 5 

Number of cooking mistakes: (how many times did I mess up??) 
3 mistakes total:

1. Cooking time of chicken quarters depends upon size
2. Don't accidentally buy red grapes because you didn't read the recipe and then go back for green ones because you're not sure if it matters but forget to bring your wallet inside the store and have to hold everyone in the line up to go get it so you can pay for $1.37 of grapes...
3. The microwave timer is there to be used so stop trying to remember then time, just to forget it later and wonder if things have been in for long enough
   
   

Repeat Likelihood (will I try to make it again?)
5 / 5

~*~*~

The Story:

Matt's work friend "Watkins" (his name is Matt too, but luckily he commonly goes by his last name Watkins as a nickname. Matt and I have such unoriginal names...) was over for a while, and Matt's fraternity brother from undergrad, Josh, was in town from Virginia.

I got home from class and immediately got started.  The cooking experience was enjoyable... everything was fairly easy, and the risotto was a good pairing since it's not particularly difficult to cook, and the smells from the kitchen were making the boys holler from the living room about how they couldn't wait to eat!

It took longer than I thought, but when I was done I was nervous.  I hadn't really thought about it... but the chicken quarters I bought were huge. I put them on a serving plate and was impressed with their size... they were definitely bigger than the ones in HD's picture. But hey, I figured, I'm feeding a bunch of guys so it should be fine... but I cut into the chicken to make sure it was done.

We all loaded our plates, the guys were talking about how great it smelled, and I'm wondering how I can sneak my camera and get a picture of my plate when....

...Watkins cuts into his chicken.

And it looks good. At first.

Until closer to the bone, his knife hits some kind of vein or something, and the chicken starts bleeding on his plate.

...really? yes.

It was disgusting.  Everyone else's was fine, but just in case I quickly swiped up everyone's chicken, tossed them back into the pan *luckily I hadn't cleaned it yet* with some chicken stock to cook longer.

I swear, they all looked done!! Does that just happen sometimes?? All his meet looked totally cooked I swear, but there was just this random vein I guess... ugh it was so gross.  I cut everyone's chicken a little in the pan before I served it again about 10 minutes later...

Ughhhhhh.

But you know... I'm lucky, because if it was going to happen to someone, I'm glad it happened with Watkins. He's a great guy, and a true southern gentleman.  He's from a smalllllllll town in NC, and was raised not to curse around women, to say "yes, Ma'am," the whole nine yards.  He's very polite and kind-- plus, he's a huge hunter.  So a little bit of blood didn't bother him at all, lol. He thought it was kind of funny.

I didn't, though. I was so excited about serving a good dinner! It all ended up tasting great-- I loved the sauce, just like HD said we would, and grapes really are a great pairing with chicken!

This was my first time cooking with chicken quarters, and I had no idea what I was looking for when I went to the store. Now I know not to get the huge ones...

I'm gonna try this one again, HD. 
And you guys-- I definitely recommend it :)

I'd like to try this recipe again with skinless chicken breasts, but then again I don't want to be scared off chicken quarters. I mean, the chicken was really good!

It was just... ughh. Embarrassing. Learning to be a good cook can be embarrassing....

ANYWAY...

The recipe calls for using a semi-sweet wine... HD used guwurztraminer, which I couldn't find in the store, but I found a great looking riesling.

I think it made a great sauce, and it was fun to drink during and after dinner...

...I just shouldn't have drank as much of it.  I was just sipping on it... but we stayed up late since Josh was here and I ended up sipping a lot I suppose...

woke up this morning with a HUGE headache. I forget that white wine gives a headache like no other... I'm used to drinking red wine, which I swear is nicer to you in the morning...

so anyway, I'm going to drink another cup of coffee... my cut off is usually no more than two mugs before lunch, but I'm making a hangover exception.

~*~*~

Comments on my last post:

Recipe Blogroll items for January 2010, posted 1/15

Thanks for the blog award, Nikolett!

My first one of 2010!

I'll pass it on in my next post... thanks a lot for thinking of me, Nikolett! Go check her out over at Better Than Coffee.

Speaking of my next post-- that's where I will also talk about those Tiramisu Cheesecake bars that I found over at My Tasty Treasures blog... some of you were drooling over the pic, as did I.

Yes, they were amazing, and yes, you should make them!

But wait till I post, cause as a new baker I've got some great tips to help you not screw it up... lol

And Kim, no worries, if I make Steph Chows' granola I'll definitely send you some. Unless I eat it all first... then I'll make a second batch and send you that :)

~*~*~

Thanks for the great recipe, Healthy Delicious! 

Your still-kind-of-embarrassed,
feeling-very-new-at-cooking, 
apparently white-wine-slurping,
New Girl Blogger

Hate-Me Mac&Chz, Southern BBQ, blog award/contests!

Listening to "Happier," Guster.

First of all-- thanks for all your comments on my recipe blogroll! I can't wait to get started and all of your advice/support has definitely helped. But before I start on your fantastic recipes, I must provide...


As promised:
The mac and cheese + bbq post!

A couple weeks ago, Matt put in a dinner request. He usually doesn't, letting me experiment with this new cooking hobby on my own, but he expressed a want for some baked mac and cheese.

I went to Smitten Kitchen first.
Of course, she had a recipe.

In the description, she wrote:
"Sadly, finding a good recipe [for macaroni and cheese] was not that simple, and seriously, when did mac-and-cheese get so gussied up? Bacon? Onions? Mushrooms? Blue cheeses? Heavy creams? Bechamel sauces with low proportions of mild cheeses?"

When I read that... I got to thinking.
How can I gussy up macaroni and cheese?!?!

I know, I know, that's not what she meant. I was an English major, and I can interpret the author's tone: Smitten Kitchen was telling me to keep it simple. But I didn't listen to her advice... or her recipe. I kinda listened, but mostly improvised (that's why I'm such a bad baker!!!)

Here's what Smitten Kitchen told me to do... I crossed out what I didn't do and bolded what I added, just so you could see the craziness...

You'll-Hate-Me Macaroni and Cheese

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup cottage cheese (not lowfat)
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch cayenne
I used: red pepper flakes
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese
I used: 1 pound of the 5-cheese italian cheese from Harris Teater, 1/2 pound cheddar
elbow pasta, uncooked.
I added: 8 slices of yummy deli turkey, chopped into small squares
I added: A mix of Bread Crumbs, red pepper flakes and a splash of milk (used food processor for a second to really get it mixed!) to go on top!

1. Heat oven to 375»F and position an oven rack in upper third of oven. Use 1 tablespoon butter to butter a 9-inch round or square baking pan.

2. In a blender, purée cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper together.* Reserve 1/4 cup grated cheese for topping. In a large bowl, combine remaining grated cheese, milk mixture, turkey and uncooked pasta. Pour into prepared pan.

Before the bread crumbs...
I made a little too much :)
M&C is a fantastic leftover food,
though!!!

3. sprinkle heavily with bread crumb mixture, cover tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.

3. Uncover pan, stir gently, sprinkle heavily with reserved cheese and dot with remaining tablespoon butter. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes more, until browned. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

So I took a mac and cheese recipe... which, let's face it, isn't included in many healthy cookbooks... and made it more fattening. Right before bathing suit season I'm throwing around a more-fattening-than-necessary recipe.

And it was SO good.

Sorry! I plan on making a healthier (no breadcrumbs, less cheese, and even some veggie!) version next time that Knitting Knoobie pointed me to. Find it here.

Also, the BBQ:
This is my step-mom's recipe. I am so glad to finally make it!

----

NOTE: BBQ up North and BBQ down south are about as different as Elton John and Tim McGraw. This below is a recipe for the southern kind of BBQ, the vinegar-style pulled pork. If you've never had it, try not to think of it as northern BBQ. Because it's not. But it's reallllll good.

----

Southern-Style Crock Pot BBQ

You Need:
3-4lbs pork shoulder (or butt!)
4 cups Cider Vinegar
Salt and Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1/4 Cup OJ

1. Rub the pork with salt and pepper flakes. Stick the pork in the crock pot with the cider vinegar and red pepper flakes for at least 8 hours. Don't get rid of the cider vinegar mixture when you're done!

Look at that beauty!!
Gotta love the Crock Pot!

2. Shred the pork with a fork *should fall right apart!*
3. In a bowl, combine 2 cups of cider vinegar (from the crock pot!), ketchup, oj and red pepper flakes (more if you like spicy, less if you don't).
4. Pour mixture over shredded pork. Add to bun and enjoy!

Yum. Yuuummmm.

Felt guilty about the (so yummy)
M&C that I skipped the bun on
the bbq. It was all sooooo good.

Blogging News:
Now, I wanted to continue this post with additional blogging news, a shoutout to ACE as thanks, thanks, thanks! for giving me a blog award, and a point to Mom on the Run since I just won one of her really fun contests!

BUT Matt is sick!!! Like really, really sick. Poor guy... he almost never gets sick... but when he does, it's bad.
So I'm going to go be a good girlfriend and pour him some gatorade, find him an extra blanket, maybe even put on some episodes of The Office.

Is it just me or is some crazy spring sickness really going around??!

So, I will catch up on the blogging excitement next post, promise!!

Hope you're all having a great week so far!

~*~*~

-Your southern-bbq-loving,
nurse-for-a-night,
kinda-fat-from-M&C,
New Girl Blogger

Cooking Update and Donating Life

Listening to "If You're Gone," Matchbox 20.

I just wanted to say thank you for all the nice comments on my last post... I still get a little sad sometimes about the change of plan, but I'm getting used to it.

I have the choice to:
1. Accept the limited funding and no TA position, enroll in school as is and graduate by Dec. 2010 or, at the latest, May 2011.
Plus side: graduate faster, stay in school. Negative side: Lots more loans, will have to find better job OR
2. Take a year off school, enroll again in August 2010 with the TA position, but put off graduation till May 2012.
Plus side: no loans, maybe even make money. Be a TA! Negative side: WAY longer till graduation, what will I do in my whole year off? Will I end up going to school after a year off? Never know what could happen!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to stay in school, get a different job, graduate on time and try to be a TA while working towards my PhD. Everyone seems really supportive of my decision and I think it's what's best. But I'll let you know :)

~*~*~

Cooking Update:

Recipe Blogroll Experiment of the Week:
Mom on the Run's Shrimp Scampi:

• Simple and Delicious Recipe

• I didn't devein my own shrimp... I bought some frozen ones that were already like that. I know-- cheater!!
  
  
• I added red and green peppers, only because we had them in the fridge and they were about to go bad. But even without it, would've been a great recipe...
  

because the shrimp were SO good!

Thanks, Mom on the Run! I'm happy to have enjoyed your recipe and happy to scratch it off on my Recipe Blogroll.

~*~*~

Finally, I just received this e-mail:

Marie is declining daily.

New symptoms this past weekend of bleeding and blood levels off have raised her score on the liver transplant list for a dead person's liver; however, she has thousands ahead of her. The doctor's at Duke assure me that if there is an emergency, they can complete the evaluations for Marie, Joe as the donor, get 2 operating rooms and staff, and maintain her for 3 days. They are doing the best they can.

People, pray that we never go there with an emergency. Marie is increasingly tired, frustrated and wants this to be over NOW. Please pray for peace and patience for Marie, clarity and wisdom for the doctors and staff at Duke, peace for Joe and Lydia, patience and strength for Brenda, and TIME!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, if anyone is TYPE A blood, would you consider donating blood in Marie's and Joe's name because we need to start banking some.

Love to all,
Bren

~*~*~

If you live in the NC area and would like to donate blood in Marie's name, let me know and I will give you this family's contact information.

Otherwise, bloggers, I had an idea-- something we could all do, no matter where we live.

I know everyone has a story, or knows of a story, in which someone's life depended on other's donations of blood. It's the fastest, easiest, and most common way for us all to save a life. So, if you'd like, post a story and maybe even post this supportive button on your blog somewhere. You can link it to your own post about blood donation-- in the code below, where it says "PUT YOUR LINK HERE," copy the URL of your personal blog post about donating blood.

<a href="PUT YOUR URL HERE-- DONT DELETE THE QUOTATION MARKS" target="_blank"><img src="http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/classandcoffee/awards/donatebloodbutton.jpg" border="0" alt="donate blood" /></a>

One small way we can all remind others about donating blood.

~*~*~

-Your coffee-sipping,
loving-Saturday-afternoons,
New Girl Bogger

A Weekend with the Boyfriend's Parentals, DPN hat

Listening to "Forgive Me," Missy Higgins (I'm really, really into her music right now! Amazing voice, and all her songs have a different sound...)

I'm back! I have internet!

Ok... I really wasn't gone that long. But still!

Updates:

The Visit with Matt's Parents

I think it went well.

I always worry... do they really like me? They seem to... but I'm a worrier and I'm never really sure.

Well, there was a really fun breakthrough this weekend. Matt's Dad made a really funny joke at my expense!! I know, I know... you're thinking He made fun of you? That's a good thing? YES.

Mark Twain once said, "Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place."

Eisenhower said, "A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done."

I really believe that the minute people are comfortable enough to make jokes at each other's expense, that there is a profound understanding, a sweet level of comfort, even a leveling idea of respect.

In my family, we're always joking with each other, telling funny-yet-embarrassing anecdotes, etc. It's what we do. That act of humor, when used benevolently, can be a very powerful tool. It's like saying... I respect you enough to make this joke, because I know that you're a strong person and that you'll think it's funny instead of taking offense. I love you and your mistakes/differences/humorous personality traits. I'll joke, You'll laugh, I'll laugh, and we'll be all the closer because of it.

So what was this joke?

Well, Snickers (Matt's parent's dog) was staying at our apartment while the parentals did a little shopping around Raleigh. When Matt's parents dropped him off they were giving me the run down (He probably won't eat too much food... he'll let you know if he needs to go out...) and Matt's dad said:

"If Snickers gets riled up, turn on Fox News. It really quiets him down."

My heart kind of sunk a little, but I shook my head and said "Ok, no problem." Then a quick look at Matt's father's face let me know that he was kidding. He was just saying that 'cause he knows I don't like Fox News. We all laughed.

You see, Matt's parents are very conservative. Now, they've never really engaged me in serious political discussion, but I'm... well... not very conservative. I think they've just come to understand this over the years (I can't believe Matt and I will have been dating for 3 years this August!!)... and they made a joke about it.

And I am taking that joke as "We accept you, even though you're different from us."

:)

Disclaimer: (Unnecessary? Maybe.) Now, I am a very open person. I don't judge others based on their political or religious affiliations, and this post was not designed to argue that there is a correct political affiliation. I have mine, you have yours, this is the Internet and here all ideas and types and partisanship meld together. So please don't think that I was attacking a way of thinking. I just really enjoyed the little laugh that Matt's parents and I shared.

Bad News:

Matt is still at his parents.

Matt is a Financial Planner, and a lot of his clients live on his parent's lake or around the lake. Now is definitely the time to be talking to your financial planner, so he ended up lining up a lot of appointments in that area. He's going to stay at the lake and meet with a lot of his clients...

A lot as in-- he won't be home until WEDNESDAY.

Wednesday?!?! What am I going to do until Wednesday?!?!

I know, I know, this isn't really bad news. In fact, it's just wimpy news. My dad is in the Army, so I know 3 days is no long stretch to be missing the Matt... in fact, we used to be in a long distance relationship where I would see him once every one-to-two weeks!! So what am I complaining about?

The apartment is just more fun when he's here. Sigh. I wish we had a dog. Well, at least I can watch some of my Sex and the City DVDs...

Cooking Update:

1. New Recipe Idea: Matt's Mom made homemade pizza! IT WAS SOO GOOD!! She promised to give me the recipe for the dough, which was delish. I talked her ear off while she was making it, and it didn't look too hard!! Can't wait to try (and share!) the recipe!
   
   
2. Recipe Blogroll Sidebar: I have finally added the sidebar affiliate to my "recipe blogroll." This was inspired by Tamela's Goal list that she has in the sidebar of her blog. What a great idea!
   
   
3. Recipe Goal for this week: Mom on the Run's Shrimp Scampi!
   

Knitting Update:

Knitting lessons:

Matt's Mom always shows me some new knitting trick. This time it was with DPNs.

I learned how to knit with DPNs from my mom and from a video I found on Knitting Help. But both taught me to knit in the INSIDE of the double pointed needle. When you knit on the inside, you're holding your work so that your "knitting space" is in the inside, between the DPNs.

This picture kind of
demonstrates what I'm saying
(Ignore the "english style"
note, it's just to show how the
"inside" DPNs hold their work):

Matt's Mom taught me how to knit on the OUTSIDE of the double pointed needles. It went much faster! I did find this video that also shows the DPN technique that way.

When you knit this way, your
work is facing you like so:

Much easier! More space to work in.

After her lesson, I quickly finished my DPN baby hat!

Lamby is modeling my DPN baby knit
because... well, I don't have a baby!
Plus, Lamby is so cute!!!

Now I'm still working on the little green jacket for Abby... and no, I haven't finished the lining for my Cable-stitch purse. I really want to but I need some down time with my Mom to figure that one out.

I think I've thought of a way to easily knit a little flower that I can attach to Bria's bag. I already gave it to her, but she asked if she could paint a flower on the knitted bag and that's just probably not a good idea.

Blog Update:

A BIG thanks to Tamela for this new blog award!

I really like this award. A Superwoman who does it all? Sheesh... Thanks! I must say... I definitely don't do it all, there's a million more things I wish I had time for, but the secret to what I can get done: Coffee.

Who can I pass the award to? That's almost too easy! I'm a nanny, so I'm going to give it to all the followers of this blog who are MOMS!!

YAY Moms!

I only nanny for 8 hours at a time and I'm EXHAUSTED by the end of the day. So here is YOUR award, mom followers: Mom on the Run, Ace, Donna-FFW, Hogan Family's April, Sarah Says (you're almost a Mom!), Knitting Knoobie, I'm Busy Knitting ... I think that's all but if I missed a Mom follower let me know and feel free to take the award!

[Post-Post Note:I did miss a Mom follower-- two, actually!
Tales of a Teacher's Mary &
Forever, Wherever's Kim
-- you're Superwomen, too! ]

Congrats on being a Super Woman! You know you are!

Here's the code for your award:
<img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_v9olpeRf0oU/Sd6nToyfdAI/AAAAAAAAAJc/TzV_ZupnRfI/s320/Image3.jpg" width="152" height="152" alt="Super Woman Award!" />

~*~*~

That's all for now, hope you all had a GREAT weekend!

~*~*~

Your ousted-liberal,
knit-loving, coffee-slurping
New Girl Blogger

Recipe Blogroll Review: Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars are Amazing and Help You Make Friends

Currently Listening to "Once Was Love," Ingrid Michaelson.


EVERYONE loved these cheesecake bars.

Seriously. EVERYONE.

But wait-- before I get into that-- a quick birthday shoutout.

~*~*~

 Happy Birthday to Tom!

Tom and my Mom

My step-dad's birthday was this weekend. We're having family game night tonight to celebrate. :)

~*~*~

Ok, more about the cheesecake bars. You really need to make them!

It's such an impressive dessert to say. Just imagine:

Me: Anyone feel like dessert?
Friends: Sure, what do you have?
Me: Oh, [wave of hand], just some homemade Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars... you interested?

::cue the droooolllllling::

My boyfriend and I don't eat sweets much, but we were in love. My step-mom isn't a coffee person, but she enjoyed them. And, most importantly, my morning cup of coffee and these cheesecake bars snuggled together nicely... but even those two were no match for this dessert and a late-night glass of red wine... mmm...

they're definitely all gone. lol. only took a couple days.

anyway, on to the review!

~*~*~


Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars:
Posted by My Tasty Treasures

(Pic by My Tasty Treasures)

Meal: (what did I serve this with?)
Best served with a glass of milk, a digestif, or a hot cup of coffee

Recipe Difficulty: (how hard was this to cook?)
2 / 5

Recipe Quality: (how well was the recipe written?)
5 / 5
*LOVE the pictures :)

Dish Deliciousness: (did it taste great?)
5 / 5

Number of cooking mistakes: (how many times did I mess up??)
2 mistakes total (one wasn't really mine!):

1. I almost forgot the vanilla
2. Matt put some in a tupperware that touched the top of the bars... no good. Immediately rips the topping off and they look kind of weird. They still taste good, though :)

Repeat Likelihood: (will I try to make it again?)
5 / 5

~*~*~

The Story:

I think that how you choose to make these depends on your schedule.  The cream cheese needs to be room temperature, and my Mom always told me that whenever baking, it's helpful to have most the items around the same temperature.  So I also left the egg on the counter so it would be room temperature as well.

Here's another tip from My Mom:

When whipping ingredients together for a fluffy effect, it helps to use a cold, metal mixing bowl.  Put your metal mixing bowl in the freezer for a little bit before mixing, and you'll be surprised by the difference it makes!

So here's what I did to fit this baking adventure into my schedule...

My method:

• Bake the crust bottom at night; leave the rest of the ingredients out on the counter to reach room-temp and let the crust cool on the counter
• In the morning, make the cream cheese filling and when finished, cool in the fridge
• Come home for lunch and make the whipped topping!
• YUM by dinnertime!!!

It worked out well and really ended up not taking much time at all.

And I can't stress this enough-- they were so good.

~*~*~

Comments

Everyone-- thank you.  Your sweet comments about my embarrassing, gross cooking mistake were really nice.

Healthy Delicious pointed out-- she uses organic chicken, and mine were probably huge in comparison.  I should have realized! But hey, another lesson in cooking :)

And the recipe was still good! I'll just do better next time.

I loved the idea that Stephanie and Jenn@SlimShoppin shared-- a meat timer. Definitely investing :) Thanks again, everyone!

~*~*~

Thanks to Krysten over at After I Do for passing on the fabulous GLOB Award!

GLOB, you say? Yup!

I wanted to pass this one on to my blog friend Ace

I've followed Ace's blog since... probably since I started blogging... and I recently read a post of hers that I thought was so inspiring and exciting. It's all about her new outlook on working out and being healthy. Anyway, you can read it here.

and Ace, here's the GLOB award for you!

Thanks again, Krysten!

~*~*~

Also, thanks again for this blog award, Nikolett!

Wanted to pass that one on as well:

Tamela at A Brunette Making it One Day at a Time

Krysten over at After I Do

Iva at Iva Messy
Stephanie at Les Jou Jou
Ali at The Way I See It


Happy Blog Awards, everyone!

~*~*~

Alright, back to homework. Matt, if you're reading this, I swear I read for class before I started this blog post :) (I'm always telling him I have such a busy day, and then he sees an update on my blog. lol)

Your missing-the-cheesecake-bars,
loving-our-sunny-weather, been-23-for-a-month!,
New Girl Blogger