Finally fall

We've got cooler weather, falling leaves and open windows at our house, which can only mean one thing: it's fall. And last night I made the yummiest recipe that got me even more in the mood for cooler temps than I thought I could be.

I must admit, I've hardly cooked at all since I've been pregnant. It's actually sort of embarrassing. Most dinners have involved take-out, Chad's kitchen magic or leftovers (though, to be fair, I'm almost always on dog-walking duty so we are splitting the chores).

Last night Chad left work earlier than I did, so the deal was that I'd make dinner and he'd take Lucy out.

What was in our fridge? Pork chops. And that was about it.

I didn't want to grill them. I didn't want to just throw some seasoning on them and bake them. Anything marinated would take too long because, let's face it, it was 7:30 and I was just thinking about dinner. I didn't exactly have 8 hours to let something soak.

After a few minutes of digging, I found the world's best solution: caramel apple pork chops (no caramel required), which I was able to make with ingredients I already had in the kitchen. The other best part? They were almost done by the time Chad got back from their walk and we had eaten dinner by 8:15.

Here's the recipe, just because I feel like sharing:

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
4 (3/4 inch) thick pork chops
1 teaspoon vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste (I used 1/8 tsp salt and about 1/8 tsp pepper)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tart apples - peeled, cored and sliced (I cut ours into 1/2-inch wedges so they were bite-sized...and I didn't peel them)
3 tablespoons pecans (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Place a medium dish in the oven to warm.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brush chops lightly with oil and place in hot pan. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally, or until done. (It took about 10-11 minutes for our pork chops to be done, not 5-6.) Transfer to the warm dish, and keep warm in the preheated oven.
3. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt and pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add butter to skillet, and stir in brown sugar mixture and apples. Cover and cook until apples are just tender, about 4 minutes. Remove apples with a slotted spoon and arrange on top of chops. Keep warm in the preheated oven.
4. Continue cooking sauce uncovered in skillet, until thickened slightly (about 3 minutes). Drizzle sauce over apples and chops. Sprinkle with pecans.

Chad rated these "a solid 8 or 9", meaning he definitely thinks they're something we should make again. (By the way, I'm fairly certain that "10s" are reserved solely for Thanksgiving, thick steaks, or anything fried so this was high praise.)

The only thing we still haven't decided? Who gets to eat the leftovers.

Bottle it up

We've had the most incredible five days of weather here I can remember, and we had such a fun weekend!

Friday night, Chad and I hung out in the backyard, watched Lucy chase a ball (as much as you can chase anything in our tiny backyard) and then walked down to a new pizza place a few blocks away for dinner.

On Saturday, Chad got up at the crack of dawn - actually, before dawn - to golf with some friends and I went to kickboxing. In the afternoon, we took Lucy swimming at her favorite dog park. That evening, we had Janice and Nick over for shish kebabs - my summertime favorite - and played pitch until Chad fell asleep holding his cards in his hand.

Yesterday - Easter - we tried a new church (we gave it a 9 out of 10 with the only downside being that it's 20 minutes away) and celebrated our Easter traditions at Rachel's house with some incredible appetizers, ham, twice-baked potatoes and angel food cake. And Easter baskets! (She also made spinach, but that was kind of a dud...no offense, RT.) I brought Grandma Davis's rolls and a prosciutto, pear and walnut salad (my "new recipe" for the month of April - not bad but the dressing was a little too oily). The six of us sat outside until it got dark, all decided that the day after Easter should most definitely be a federal holiday, then went home and took Lucy for a walk.

What an awesome weekend. I wish I could bottle up days like these and bring them out when it's rainy, cold, or life has me stressed out.

Crabby

I've mentioned before that I am not the experimental one in our marriage when it comes to cooking. I don't really like to "try new things" and I don't like to deviate from the tried-and-true recipes.

So what I'm about to tell you could quite possibly knock your socks off.

For over three years, a group of six girls gets together on a somewhat regular basis to gab and eat. We rotate between restaurants and people's houses, and the host usually picks the menu (take-out or otherwise). Last Friday, it was my turn to host, and the deal was that everyone had to bring either an appetizer or a dessert and it had to be a recipe you've never made before.

This had me stressed out to no end. The pressure! I kicked myself all day on Friday for this idea. What if the recipe I chose was terrible?!? Usually Chad is my guinea pig on all new recipes - and he gives honest feedback.

I first narrowed down my appetizer to "dip" and then settled on crab dip. Why? It's so good, it's freakishly expensive at a restaurant, and there's no way I would ever just gamble on a new dip unless I was being challenged. Taunted, almost.

I found a recipe online that was popular, but many of the people who were reviewing it said it was a bit too bland. (It also called for onions, which I don't like.) So I did a little of this and a little of that to make it my own.

And, ifIdosaysomyself...it was fabulous. Even RT liked it.

Ellen's Almost-Famous Crab Dip

8 oz. cream cheese
4 T. mayo
1 c. sour cream
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
16 oz. lump crab meat, drained
1 c cheddar or colby jack cheese
1 round bread loaf (Italian, sourdough, etc.)
1/4 c. cheddar or colby jack
 
Mix cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, garlic, Old Bay, 1 c cheese and a dash of salt and pepper. Gently add in the crab. Put it in a glass bowl and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

While it's baking, cut a hole in the top of the bread, tearing the pieces into chunks for dipping. Put the bread bowl and bits on a cookie sheet. Take the crab dip out of the oven, place it in the bread bowl and sprinkle 1/4 c. cheese on top. Put it back in the oven for 10 minutes.

Take out and serve.

The other food we had was also amazing: phyllo cups with brie, pear and honey; mini quiches with pepperoni and olives, plus some with just veggies and curry; mini mac and cheeses in ramekins, little pastries with hummus and veggies; strawberry shortcake; sweet potato and banana empanadas... And I think I'm missing something.

We ate for four straight hours. I was still full the next morning.

Cheaper by the dozen

Earlier this week (during my terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-day, in fact), my future brother-in-law Nick really bailed me out. He came over to wait for the dryer repair man while I was at work and, while he was here, fixed some screens in the front windows. To repay him, I'm baking a bunch of cookies for him to take to the fire station.

It's also a co-worker's birthday tomorrow. And I haven't sent Chad with any cookies for his office lately. So I decided to make a double batch. They're crunchy jumble cookies (chocolate chips and Rice Krispies, the perfect salty/sweet combo) and they're in the oven right now.

While I was baking away, I got to thinking. Here's a list of the random stuff that was in my head:

• Baking is therapeutic. I should do it more often.
  
  
• I'm so glad this kitchen has a ton of counter space.
  
  
• Thank God for Costco. I love buying in bulk. When I ran out of chocolate chips, I realized I had another five pounds -- no joke -- unopened in my pantry.
  
  
• What did women do before Kitchenaid stand mixers? I guess they didn't have to go to the gym, at least.
  
  
• When recording a recipe, make a special note if you doubled it when you wrote it down. Instead of doubling the recipe tonight, I quadrupled it. I have cookie dough coming out of my ears.
  
  
• Oh man, is this mixer overheating? I ended up having to split the batch to put in the chocolate chips -- the bowl was too full!
  
  
• I wonder how Becca (my sister-in-law) always makes perfectly-round cookies? I will have to ask one of these days.
  
  
• Mom used to tell me that when I was a grown-up, I could eat all the cookie dough I wanted. (This was justification for why I couldn't when I was a kid.) Tonight I took her advice. I ate so much, in fact, I'm sitting here with a stomachache.

A matter of thyme

Since it's been a dreary and chilly weekend, we decided that chili sounded good for dinner, but we had to get it made before the Bears play the Falcons.

We were in the kitchen trying to figure out what ingredients we still needed before Chad headed to the store. Rummaging through our spice rack, I asked, "How much thyme do you need to make your chili?"

Chad looked up with a blank expression on his face. "I don't know. I think I'll just start making it as soon as I get back from Safeway."

It took me ten seconds to understand what he thought I asked.

Cooking class

On Monday night I made a beef and shrimp stir-fry from scratch without having to go to the grocery store for supplies. I was quite proud of myself, as I don't deviate from recipes very often but needed to since I was not in the mood to go to Safeway for $5 worth of ingredients. Chad took a picture of this to commemorate the occasion. He wanted to title this picture, "Ellen finally cooks." (He loves to give me grief for not cooking every single night of the week, but don't let him fool you. He actually enjoys making meals a few nights a week. Or at least that's what I tell myself!)


He then focused his attention on the dog. I asked Chad why he was taking more pictures of Lucy than me, to which he replied that "Lucy does a better job of posing." So here she is, too, sitting patiently nearby and hoping for something to fly out of the wok:

Easter traditions

Last year, I blogged about my favorite Easter memories. Afterward, I remember being concerned that there was really no way to tell "my" Easter apart from others. Even from one year to the next, things were different. But this year, I think we've nailed down two Easter traditions:

Grandma Davis's homemade rolls. These incredible rolls are Chad's favorite and, rumor has it, even though he shunned potatoes and breads and rice and pasta as a kid, he could eat and eat Grandma's rolls. Last year for Easter, I surprised him by making these after she was kind enough to send me the recipe. While I'm sure these come second-nature to her, I'm still learning. Anything that involves kneading is not my forte, but they turned out well. (Not as good as hers, but they were a lot better this year than last.)

I have since learned that the rolls are a permanent Easter fixture. When I asked Chad what he wanted for dinner, I think his response was something like, "You mean other than Grandma's rolls?" I'm pretty sure he mentioned them before ham.

Easter baskets. Who says kids should have all the fun? Starting this year, anyone who comes to Easter at my house gets an Easter basket. And they have to hunt for it. I had a great time finding candy and little lip balms and other trinkets for our guests' baskets this year. And in true Grandma Cathy fashion, we used hats instead of baskets. That was my Plan B after I went to four stores and they were all sold out. You wouldn't know we're in a recession from the bare shelves in the Easter section around here.

A puzzling purchase

After experimenting with a lot of different chili recipes in the last year, Chad has decided to venture out and make up his own. He wanted to put his concoction in the crock pot all day to let it cook while we're at work. (I already can't wait to get home for this!)

When cutting up all of the ingredients last night before bed (and having already made one trip to the store), he realized we were out of chili powder. I suggested we get up a few minutes early and go to the store on our way to the gym.

At 5:30 a.m., we pulled in to the parking lot, but Giant was still closed. As one of the benefits of our urban landscape, there was a CVS right next door, which is open 24 hours. I ran over really quickly to see if they had any spices, knowing my chances were slim.

Two minutes later, I walked out with a container of chili powder. Just one. The time was 5:32 a.m. The total was $1.01.

I would LOVE to be a fly on the wall when the marketing manager at CVS headquarters tries to understand the rationale behind that purchase!

Everything's better with bacon

About five years ago, Chad and I were having a discussion with some friends about the merits of bacon. Not the health benefits, mind you, but how adding bacon as an ingredient just naturally makes everything better. Salads, sandwiches, steaks...really, think about it. (I'm sure it comes as no surprise that the men were leading this conversation.)

Since then, we have occasionally stumbled back on this topic. Inevitably, someone will suggest a food item (soup? bread? ice cream?) whose marriage with bacon seems suspect. But every time one of these food groups is suggested, somebody else finds a way to incorporate bacon that makes it seem feasible. (As repulsive as it may sound, there is a bacon ice cream. I checked.)

But today, I found one that trumps all for the bacon lovers I know. If we ever have our "Everything's Better With Bacon" party, which has been threatened, I am making the Bacon Explosion, which was featured in the New York Times earlier this week. They call it a "massive torpedo-shaped amalgamation of two pounds of bacon woven through and around two pounds of sausage and slathered in barbecue sauce."

As my friend Robert asked when I emailed him this article, "Does the cardiologist come with it, too?"

Cookie catastrophe

I had a brilliant idea at the end of last week to make some fire engine and fire hydrant cookies for a party we were having for our friend Nick, who just graduated from the fire academy. I was sure that this was going to put Martha Stewart and me on the same level.

So, I found the cookie cutters, bought all the ingredients, rolled out the dough, cut the cookies, baked them, frosted them, decorated them...and four hours later, I was wondering where my evening went! (To be fair, Janice helped--and we did enjoy each other's company at least.)

To make matters worse, the cookies got fat in the oven and didn't even resemble fire trucks when we took them out (see below). As a final touch, in my failed attempt to make the frosting a little redder, I added a few drops of blue in the hopes that it would darken. I must have missed the day in third grade where I would have learned that red and blue make...purple. Though they did at least taste good.

I have no idea how people have the patience or the skill set for this. "Cookie decorating" is going on the list of things that I do not plan to do again. Right after making another meatloaf.

Souper duper

I have been loving this tasty soup we make lately, so much that I have to share the recipe. Here are its benefits:

1) Good for you. (Really! Low in fat, carbs, calories...you name it)
2) Easy: It can be made with most things you have in your cupboard or, even if you have to buy a few of the items, they keep for a really really long time in the freezer or fridge.
3) Quick! As in, less than 15 minutes.

Without further ado, here's the recipe for our new favorite soup.

Stir-Fry Beef & Vegetable Soup

• 1 lb boneless beef top sirloin or round steak
• 2 tsp. dark sesame oil, divided
  
• 3 14-oz. cans of low-sodium beef broth (or make your own from bouillon, about five cups total)
• 1 package (16 ounces) of frozen stir-fry vegetables (if you don't like those, substitute a package of frozen broccoli, green beans, snow peas, etc.)
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced (you can easily keep these out, I don't think they make a huge difference)
• 1/4 cup of stir-fry sauce (a little thicker than soy sauce, you find it in the Asian food aisle or with the marinades)

1) Slice beef lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1/8-inch strips.

2) Heat Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1 tsp. sesame oil and tilt pan to coat bottom. Add half the beef in single layer; cook one minute, without stirring, until slightly browned on bottom. Turn and brown other side about one minute. Remove beef from pan; set aside. Repeat with remaining one tsp sesame oil and beef; set aside.

3) Add broth to Dutch oven; cover and bring to a boil. Add vegetables (still frozen); reduce heat and simmer 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are heated through. Add beef, green onions and stir-fry sauce; simmer one minute.

Then it's done! This is really easy to double and also to freeze. As further testament to how good this is, Rachel cleaned her bowl when she had it (and many of you can attest how rarely that happens!).

Happy eating!

Holy smokes

Let me preface this by saying that Chad is a very good cook. His specialties include breakfast, grilling, chili and seafood. He loves to try new recipes (unlike me, who tends to be a tried-it-and-liked-it-so-plan-on-it-every-other-week kind of cook) and everything he makes turns out well.

Except for the other night.

Chad brought home tuna from the store, which we make on occasion. A new recipe he found called for both butter and olive oil to saute the meat. I don't know what they were smoking--maybe literally--but that combination caused one holy mess.

As soon as the butter and olive oil went in the hot pan, rolls and rolls of smoke began escaping the kitchen. We had every window in the downstairs open, plus the ceiling fan going at full blast, and still could barely see (or breathe). Lucy escaped to the basement to wait it all out. The tuna turned out really well, but it took hours for the smell to subside.

We also learned that we need a new smoke detector. It didn't go off.

Christmas comes early

All of the appliances are here! The range was delivered today, which finished the project.

Strangely enough, I was a bit sad to get rid of my stove. The fridge and dishwasher I couldn't care less about, but I had a lot of memories with that oven...one of the most memorable being when it died one Thanksgiving and I had to go to a friend's house to bake the pumpkin pie I promised to take to Chad's boss's house for lunch!

But it also saw me through lots of great meals, too. It's funny that one can be sentimental about a stove.

Anyway, here are a few pics.

A kitchen mystery

This morning, Janice came upstairs and asked if I knew where the cinnamon rolls went (they were left over from yesterday's breakfast). No, I said, I hadn't seen them.

Chad followed behind her, separately. "Did you eat the cinnamon rolls?" No, I said, I hadn't. Well, he explained, there was a plate downstairs on the counter with frosting and two forks. Someone clearly had eaten them.

I had half a mind to blame Lucy, except that she wouldn't have known enough to pull out the forks. I thought Chad might have eaten them, as he tends to get the munchies if we're still up late at night. But that still didn't explain the two forks. We did have friends over after dinner, though I didn't think they'd be so presumptuous as to munch on things from my fridge without asking. After a few minutes, I started wondering if maybe I did eat them after all.

Figuring that we had something to do with their disappearance--though we still had no idea how--Chad went to the store to get more cinnamon rolls. Not thirty seconds before he returned, Janice announced that she had found yesterday's leftover rolls in the back of the fridge.

The forks covered in frosting? They were the remnants of a cupcake Janice and Nick shared last night. Mystery solved.

Ode to the forgotten cookie

I promised to bring dessert to a work cookout yesterday and, as usual, was scrounging around to figure out what ingredients remained in the cabinet before committing to anything specific. I didn't have enough marshmallows for Rice Krispie treats, so I made revel bars (you can never go wrong with an oatmeal and chocolate combination) and, on a complete whim, decided to make snickerdoodles.

I haven't made snickerdoodles since probably the seventh grade, when I made (and ate) them so often I got sick. At the time, they were my trademark. Eighteen years later, I impulsively decided to give them another whirl.

And that's how I discovered the forgotten cookie. People raved about them. (Personally, I thought they were too crunchy.) And, the best part...after five years of working here, I learned they are my boss's boss' favorite cookie. Talk about brownie points!

Home cookin'

I made stuffed peppers last night. They were good. But somewhere along the way at dinner, Janice and I got to talking about things that mom used to make. All of a sudden, my meal wasn't as good as:

• Tuna noodle casserole
• Egg salad sandwiches
• Breaded roundsteak
• Tater tot casserole
• Beef & noodles

I didn't say my dinner wasn't healthier, I just said it left a bit to be desired. And don't get me started on mom's great desserts!

Looks like I need to hunt down some recipes the next time I'm home.

Meat & the musical fruit

Today is National Chili Day. (Or, it's next Thursday, depending upon who you believe.)

At any rate, what better way to celebrate this crappy, icy weather than with a nice, hot bowl of goodness?

Throw a little cheese on top or some mac if you want to be really racy. Just watch out for those beans!

Rhubarb recipes

Why on earth is rhubarb an ingredient in anything? It tastes terrible and makes most things worse, not better. I am trying to make a dessert for this weekend and everything fruity has rhubarb in it. I have never known a person who truly liked this nasty plant.

I'm convinced it is just added filler. Kind of like bread crumbs in meatloaf.