New variation...

We are preparing to leave for another trip this week, so I was looking for new snacks to bake and bring along. We needed something that would store well and survive the trip, so we went with a favorite... biscotti!

Polenta biscotti is made pretty much the same way we have done other biscotti. This time, polenta (or coarse cornmeal) brings a new texture into the mix. Also, a touch of olive oil is added - make sure to use a mild-flavored one so it does not overpower these crunchy cookies scented with vanilla. While they are not overly dry or too hard, these ache to be dunked from the added crunch the polenta brings. Next time, maybe adding lemon zest and a dip in white chocolate? Hmm... I wonder if we can finish these off fast enough so we can try that out before we leave!

Tonight's DVD from Netflix finally catches us up to the latest release of the potter series - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Since we have a short upcoming week of cooking, I imagine the planning will be short for tomorrow's grocery list. More later on where we are headed this time!

Recipes
Polenta Biscotti

Huh? You've never had what?

Living out here in the southwest has allowed us to try lots of things we normally would not have, but there are still some very common foods we have never had. Here's a food confession... both of us have never tried avocados! Weird huh?! Yes, that means no guacamole or if they were on a sandwich/salad we would just pick them off. Why? Who knows... fear of the unknown I guess.

It seems the past month or so there have been lots of magazines that had recipes focused on avocados - so I thought it was about time we gave them a shot! We probably should have started with a guacamole recipe - but why start simple? Tonight's dinner, Blackened Chicken and Grilled Avocado Tacos, impressed us on first bite. The lime soaked grilled avocados were still a bit firm (so they wouldn't fall apart on the grill), but quite creamy. The grilling dried them out somewhat, which seemed to make the flavor a little more pronouced vs. trying them raw.

To fill out the soft corn tortillas, chicken coated in a smoky and spicy seasoning blend were first grilled and then sliced thin. We layered the juicy chicken with crisp shredded romaine, red onion, habanero and lime salsa, the grilled avocado slices and topped it off with a dollop of tangy sour cream. Between the seasoning on the chicken and the spicy salsa, it was nice to have the sour cream and avocado to cool down the intense heat. So... now that we know we like them... I wonder what we will end up trying next?!

Recipes
Blackened Chicken and Grilled Avocado Tacos

And so it starts...

Here's the weather for the next 6 days... One thing that I don't think we will miss too much when we move is this...

What happened to the nice spring temperatures?! It's only going to get hotter from here too!

Oh well... when it's over 100 degrees outside, what do I decide to do? Bake bread.... hmm probably not the best of plans! At least the AC is working!

Rosemary-Apple Bread is a golden moist loaf studded with chopped tart granny smith apples and pungent fresh rosemary. It is a bit heavy, but in a good way, as there is no added fat inside the dough. The dough kneaded well without sticking much - I did keep the apple chucks semi large and it was a little tough kneading them in. When I added them, the dough got pretty sticky, but I used a touch of cooking spray on my hands and got them all in without having half of the dough stuck to my fingers. After the loaf is baked, melted butter is brushed on top to give the finished bread a very rich golden color. Next time, I think I want to add some shredded cheddar for a cheesy variation.

There are two parts to tonight's dinner. Five-Spice Tilapia with Citrus Ponzu Sauce was a snap to prepare and was done in minutes. Mild tilapia is coated in a spicy mixture of 5-spice powder, salt and red pepper. If you don't already have the five-spice handy, you can make your own as we did - mix together equal parts ground szechwan pepper, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, and fennel. The fish is cooked for just a minute or two on each side, or until it reaches the degree of doneness that you prefer. The tender flaky fish is then finished with a refreshing, salty and slightly sweet citrus sauce.

I'm not sure if the next recipe should be served with fish, but when has that ever mattered to us? Grilled Bacon-and-Herb Grit Cakes is a combination of hot cooked grits, fresh thyme, salty bacon and sharp white cheddar. While still warm, the grits are still pretty creamy, but after it is placed in a baking dish and refrigerated for awhile, it firms up quite a bit. Now, you can either cut it into simple wedges, or be fancy and cut out shapes with a cookie cutter. These cakes are then grilled to warm them up - since we are getting ready to move, I just used The Griddler instead of getting the grill back out. We didn't get the dark grill marks, but it worked just as well. These were good, but a bit bland - I think I would up the spices some and maybe add some nutty parmesan to give it a boost of flavor. I would also like to try this with some crispy prosciutto instead of the bacon!

Recipes
Rosemary-Apple Bread
Grilled Bacon-and-Herb Grit Cakes
Five-Spice Tilapia with Citrus Ponzu Sauce

Small ingredient list... big flavors...

Sometimes recipes with few ingredients turn out to be much more flavorful than one would think. Tonight's dinner was a good example!

Chicken, Charred Tomato and Broccoli Salad is simply just cooked chicken breast, fresh from the garden tomatoes and crisp tender broccoli which is then coated in a quick dressing made in the same pan in which you charred the tomatoes. The invigorating dressing is a quick mixture of freshly squeezed lemon juice, olive oil and seasonings. If you want to speed up the time to make this, you could easily use already cooked chicken breast from the market (roasted or otherwise.) I can easily see us making this dish to take on a picnic or an outdoor event.

Recipes
Chicken, Charred Tomato and Broccoli Salad

Two bite cookies...

You know what today is already... it was another day of baking for Wednesday Treat Day so Jeff could bring in snacks for his co-workers. We went with a two bite cookie this time.

Tangy Lime Thumbprints may be petite, but each bite takes advantage of a crumbly base with an explosion of flavor coming from a bountiful tangy filling. The cookie starts off with a simple shortbread-like dough. Once rolled into balls, a dimple is made in the center of each one with your thumb. Each impression is then filled with the thick and zesty lime filling. The cookies are only baked until set to make sure they keep their light exterior to boast the light green center.

Tonight's dinner was a fun and different salad for us. Taco Salad has many flavors going on and allows you to set the level of heat to your own desire. Since we like it spicy, we used a Habanero and Lime Salsa from Trader Joe's. The romaine base is lightly dressed with a mixture of sour cream and the mentioned salsa. Ground turkey is then cooked with kidney beans (second time ever using them!) and fresh roma tomatoes. To add some smokey flavor and a southwest feel, cumin and chili powder are added in as seasonings. Right before serving, cilantro and more of the sour cream/salsa mixture finishes out the meaty filling. Once assembled, a sprinkling of sharp white cheddar and some baked tortilla chips rounded out our hearty dinner.

Recipes
Taco Salad
Tangy Lime Thumbprints

Kitchen is a buzzin....

Lots to talk about today... let's start off with the sweet side of things.

I mentioned yesterday that we would be pairing some succulent strawberries with black pepper of all things. I choose this recipe for two reasons; the ingredient paring intriged both of us, and it was a dessert for two! Strawberry-Black Pepper Tart for Two starts out by making a simple, yet delicious pastry crust. This crisp, flaky and slightly sweet crust is spiked with the nutty addition of walnut oil that enhances the whole wheat pastry flour. The crust comes together in minutes and I can't wait to use this as a base for many other ideas I have floating around.The filling part of the recipe is a combination of sliced fresh strawberries, sugar, black pepper and flour/cornstarch to thicken the syrupy juices. After rolling out the crust, the strawberries are piled in the center and the sides are folded onto the berries, leaving a deep red center exposed. This tart for two is baked until the center is bubbly and the crust turns a rich golden color. The groovy combination of the sweet berries with the bite from the chunky black pepper was surprisingly pleasing to us. Next time I think I might try a small drizzle of fine quality balsamic before serving (and that might be tomorrow as we really liked this!)

On to tonight's dinner... keeping with a sweet theme for the day, I made Grilled Chicken with Cherry-Chipotle Barbecue Sauce. I highly suggest starting this the night before so the chicken will have plenty of time to be infusedwith this full-flavored marinade. Instead of discarding it, the marinade it is simmered into a thick, smoky and spicy sauce. I didn't happen to see any fresh cherries in the store yet (a bit early still I think?) so I used some frozen dark sweet cherries from Trader Joe's. The heat comes from the small addition of chipotle peppers in adobo (smoked jalapenos) - while it is hot, it is not overwhelmingly spicy. Be sure to watch the chicken as it cooks, because of all the sugars from the marinade, the outside of the chicken can easily burn.

We found some first of the season fresh sweet white corn at the market this weekend and I thought of a recipe I just marked to try. Roasted Corn with Basil-Shallot Vinaigrette begins by mixing the corn kernels and some olive oil, then roasting them in a very hot oven until they begin to take on a golden hue. Right before serving, the corn is dressed with fresh cut basil, red wine vinegar and seasonings. Clean, sweet, simple and a delicious summery treat.

Tip of the day - To ease the cutting of the kernels off the cob, I stuck the cob in the center hole of a bundt pan. As you cut down the cob, the kernels fall in the pan and not all over the floor!

Recipes
Strawberry-Black Pepper Tart for Two
Roasted Corn with Basil-Shallot Vinaigrette
Grilled Chicken with Cherry-Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

Recapping this past week....

We are back to full speed in the kitchen - 10 new recipes this week! Three stood out for us - the Mexican Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars, East 62nd Street Lemon Cake, and Creamy Spinach Lasagna.

Speaking of new recipes, this upcoming week is packed with quite a few! One of them that I am especially looking forward to will use these fresh berries we picked up today.

And to make it even more interesting, they will be paired with coarse black pepper!

Netflix brings us the DVD Sky High which stars Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston. Some of this week's menu will take us out of our comfort zone a bit and we will try to be a little adventurous in choosing recipes we might skip otherwise. Until tomorrow....

Stockin' the freezer

I have not had a chance to refill the freezer with muffins since we came back from the trips out east, so I took some time this morning to bake up a batch to start filling it up again.

Today's recipe, Caramel Apple Muffins, is a light and tender muffin packed with lots of chopped apples. While these golden muffins bake, tart apples soften and soak up the sweet flavor from the caramel topping that was added into the batter. Fragrant cinnamon and nutmeg heighten the flavor of the moist muffins and the healthy addition of rolled oats and ground flax seeds boosts the nutrition.

Tonight's DVD from Netflix, The Man, sounds like it should lighten the stress around here. It stars Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy. Another full week ahead, so I'll be planning the menu out tonight during the movie!

Recipes
Caramel Apple Muffins

So naughty, but oh so good...

Yesterday I gave a peek at some Mexican Chocolate that I used to bake up something. Jeff asked for something he could take in for Cinco De Mayo - the recipe may not be really traditional, but it worked for us!

Mexican Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars contains the chocolate in the base crust and also in the filling. Mexican chocolate is sweet, dark, has a hint of cinnamon and is a bit grainy from visible sugar crystals. These bars start with a dense crust made in the food processor of chopped toasted pecans, chopped mexican chocolate, and fresh white bread that is held together by melted butter. The thick filling of this exceptionally rich bar contains more chopped toasted pecans, robost dark corn syrup, sweet dark brown sugar and small chunks of bittersweet chocolate. A tiny amount of flour, some eggs and the rest of the sinful melted butter keep everything bound together.

These bars cut remarkably cleanly - I was a little nervous because I thought I may have overcooked them, but as I pulled them apart, I was very happy with the result. I don't think I would make these unless I was taking them to a party or if there would be plenty of people to share them with... I have very strong willpower when it comes to food, but the alluring smell that comes from these bars alone had my mouth salivating for a taste.

I felt like we needed to go easy and have a clean healthy dinner tonight, so I made Creamy Spinach Lasagna. Nutty whole wheat lasagna noodles are layered with marinara, smooth mozzarella cheese and a thick white sauce mixed with caramelized onions, garlic and spinach. This is definitly a dish you will want to set plently of prep time aside because there are a few steps to bring this together. I layered this earlier in the day and let sit in the refrigerator until I started to heat the oven. The lasagna has a noticeably fresh taste and is considerably filling as a main dish. We thoroughly enjoyed this fine meat-free dish.

Recipes
Mexican Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Creamy Spinach Lasagna

Bring on the tartness!

On Sunday, I talked about how we were excited to find fresh rhubarb in the store again. I have a few recipes that I have been wanting to try it in, but it will be hard to top the one we made tonight.

Rhubarb Pudding Cake starts with a base of chunky rhubarb that is sprinkled with granulated sugar to tame its inherent tartness down a notch. Next, a spicy light batter is dolloped on top - it is ok if it does not cover everything, this batter will spread into all the nooks and crannies as it bakes away. This results in a light and tender cake scented with vanilla that hides a bottom layer of tart juicy rhubarb. I think some rhubarb muffins will have to be the next adventure with the next batch we buy! *Tip - If you find rhubarb with the leaves still attached, make sure to remove them as they contain toxic levels of oxalic acid.

Okay, so we are suckers for breaskfast at dinnertime. Why not add another to the list? And this one comes with a twist for the syrup! Buttermilk-Banana Pancakes with Pomegranate Syrup are light and fluffy pancakes enriched with dry farina. Buttermilk keeps them tender and to make sure the banana flavor is present in each bite, leave some large bits when you are mashing them. While these tasted good by themselves, the sweet syrup made from pure maple syrup spiked with an equal amount of pomegranate juice moved them from good basic banana pancakes to "quite tasty - I'll have more please!" Because the juice thins the maple syrup down, cornstarch mixed with a little more juice is added to bring the consistency and thick mouth feel back to the syrup.

Recipes
Rhubarb Pudding Cake
Buttermilk-Banana Pancakes with Pomegranate Syrup

Two new favorites to add to our list...

Treat day is back again for this week! Tuesday is the day I do baking for Wednesday Treat Day so Jeff can bring in treats for his coworkers. We have not done a cake type item for awhile so I wanted to do something with that. I mentioned that the star ingredient would be lemons and do they ever demand your attention in this cake!

East 62nd Street Lemon Cake is a dense and bright yellow buttery cake filled with bits of lemon zest. The glaze for this cake is a bit different - instead of a thicker glaze, usually made with confectioners' sugar, this cake uses a syrup mixture of lemon juice and granulated sugar. Do not make this syrup ahead of time, wait until you are ready to coat the cake - otherwise it will begin to crystallize. While the cake is still quite warm, this is brushed all over the cake which quickly absorbs it. It seems like a lot of syrup, but the cake will eagerly drink it up. This creates a sweet lemony crust on the outside as it cools. It also helps keep the inside very moist.

When we cut into the cake, we were surprised how much you could see the bits of lemon zest swimming throughout. I like how the top (well it was the bottom while it baked) of the cake came out very smooth - I used Pam with Flour and nothing stuck at all to the pan. This is one cake where we were wowed by the intense lemon flavor.

Linguine with Asparagus, Parmesan, and Bacon was the dish for dinner. I think we were both surprised with how much we liked tonight's meal. I do have to say, I think there was a bit too much asparagus for us and it kind of overwhelmed some of the other flavors if you got too much in one bite. If you decide to use dry pasta instead of the fresh, make sure you only cook the asparagus for just a couple minutes. Fresh pasta cooks in a short amount of time, so if you use dry and follow the directions, the asparagus will be way overcooked. To start off the sauce, bacon is cooked until crisp - you then saute onion, garlic and oregano in some of the flavorful drippings left behind. Halved cherry tomatoes are added in and then some chicken broth. To bring some richness to the sauce, just a tablespoon of butter is added along with some salt and pepper to season. Once everything is mixed together and plated, a good amount of nutty paremsan cheese and salty crumbled bacon is added on each serving.

Recipes
East 62nd Street Lemon Cake
Linguine with Asparagus, Parmesan, and Bacon

Smoky Whole Wheat Penne with Corn and Cherry Tomatoes

Smoky Whole Wheat Penne with Corn and Cherry Tomatoes (Adapted from Veg Times)

1 tablespoon butter
2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
2 cups corn kernels
12 ounces whole wheat dry penne
1 chipotle chile (from canned chipotle in adobo), finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces goat cheese
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup chopped cilantro

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add corn and saute until they begin to get a golden color. Stir in tomatoes and cook 1 minute. Scoop out onto a plate and set aside.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to the package directions.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-low. Add chopped chile and garlic - saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in goat cheese and water, stirring constantly; cook until the sauce is smooth - about 2 minutes. Let the sauce simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and mix in cilantro and remaining 1 tablespoon oil.

Drain pasta and place back in the pot. Stir in corn, tomatoes and goat cheese sauce. Add salt and pepper to your taste.

Makes about 4 hearty servings.

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Fresh and light dinner...

Lemons were used in both of the dishes tonight for dinner. I mentioned yesterday that they would be used quite a bit this week in savory and sweet recipes - tomorrow look for them to be used in a sweet way.

For a side tonight, I made Whole-Wheat Couscous with Parmesan and Peas. Since we discovered that Jeff actually likes peas now, this sounded like a great way to use up some pantry staples. Since the couscous takes just 5 minutes to cook, this is a fast and healthy side dish. The small pearls of pasta are enhanced by the bright zest from a lemon. I stirred in the nutty parmesan with the rest of the ingredients at the end instead of sprinkling on top - I wanted it to be a little more dispersed in the couscous. I ended up leaving the dill out as we forgot to pick some up at the market - but I'm sure it would have fit in well!

The main portion of tonight's meal was Lemon-Arugula Chicken Paillards. A quick side salad is made that has a refreshing dressing from lemon zest, tart lemon juice and a bit of garlic. I mixed the peppery and slightly bitter arugula with some fresh baby spinach to tame the flavors a bit. The paillard part comes from flattening the chicken until very thin - which speeds up the cooking time a fair amount. The chicken is then simply seasoned with salt and pepper and sautéed in a hot pan until golden and cooked. When done, the chicken is removed and a colorful mixture of yellow/red cherry tomatoes along with white wine are added. When the tomatoes have absorbed the flavor of the wine and loosened up the flavorful bits left behind from the chicken, they are served along with the juicy chicken breasts.

Recipes
Lemon-Arugula Chicken Paillards
Whole-Wheat Couscous with Parmesan and Peas

Can't wait to get started....

Well, only 6 recipes with 5 being new for this week - expect it to go back to normal somewhat as we'll be home all week. The Ginger and Pistachio Scones from yesterday were probably the favorite for us.

For those wondering about housing updates - the open house was yesterday, but since it was more of a spur of the moment thing, we didn't get much traffic. The cookies went over well though I think. We are waiting to do serious house hunting in MD until we have a contract here in Phoenix - I would hate to fall in love with a house, but loose it because we have yet to sell this one. We could carry both, but we would rather not unless we absolutely had to.

I can't wait to get started on the recipes this week - here is a couple of the ingredients that will be used is various dishes.

Fresh rhubarb - I was happy we finally found this in the market again!

Many of the savory and sweet dishes planned for his week will also be using zest and juice of these bright yellow lemons.

Tonight's Netflix movie will be Prime starring Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep. I had fun planning out this week menu last night since it felt like it has been forever since I've planned a full week. Stick around and see what happens with the fun ingredients this week!

The oven was lonely until today...

I did end up making some cookies this morning, but it was not really a new recipe. I used the Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but used M&Ms instead of the chocolate chips for the open house.

I did bake something else new today though!

Ginger-Pistachio Scones is the third scone recipe we have made and I think this one has the best combination of flavors from the ones we have tried. These do have a bit more fat in them than the others, which I am sure helped some. I needed to use up some half-and-half, but you could use cream or even milk in the recipe. It will be less rich and the texture may not be the same if you used milk though. The bits of nutty pistachios was a pleasant pair with the kick from the spicy sugared ginger. The scones are soft and light, but a little dense in a good way. Next time I might try a sprinkling of raw sugar before baking to give a sweet crunch on top.

Back to DVD weekend nights again! Netflix sent us The Island with Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. We both looked at each other when we opened it and said "Who selected this one?" Neither of us remember hearing about it... hopefully it will keep us entertained! We will finally be at home for a couple weeks without interruption, so I'm looking forward to going through the recipe lists to pick out the upcoming weeks menu. Until tomorrow...

Recipes
Ginger-Pistachio Scones

Saturday can't come fast enough....

Hmm.. where to begin? Today was just one of them days you want to forget about. Here's how it went for us today. We had to leave the hotel in NJ this morning at 4:45 in order to get to the airport to catch the plane back home to Phoenix. I told Jeff "Just in case, please set up a wake-up call" to which I got a "oh don't worry about it the clock is set... but ok i'll do it anyway." Guess what? Alarm didn't go off... but the wake up call did its job!

We get everything together and head down the elevator. We stand outside waiting for the car - that we had set up the night before - to bring us to the airport. 10 minutes later Jeff goes to the front desk and asks what is goin' on - They have no idea and called them to find out... "I think someone took their car, but we'll send another one... it will be 10-15 minutes." It shows up, finally; we get to the airport and get checked in. I didn't notice it at the time, but my ticket was a bit different than Jeff's. We get to the busy security check point and Jeff is whisked off to some speedy lane; I try to go with, but the guard pipped up and said "No, Sir - your ticket says you have to go into the *special* lane." Wonderful... I was flagged to be thoroughly (and it was -very- thorough...) checked out by security. So that took about another 30 minutes. We got there just in time to board thankfully.

Okay... on the plane... we're good now right? I swear, that was the bumpiest plane ride we have ever been on. I had just gotten out my breakfast (whole wheat bagel with peanut butter!) when it started and the bagel flew off the tray table to land peanut butter side down onto the window. It stuck... I had to peel it off. The total trip time was something like 5 1/2 hours, and it was bumpy for about 70%.

Anyway, sorry about the rant! Not much news on the house front yet - we are having an open house tomorrow though. I'll probably bake some cookies before we leave so the realtor can hand them out if he wishes. I was so tired by the time we got home I just wanted to go to bed, but I decided to just go get my exercising done and hoped it would wake me up. It did and I then ran off to the store to get stuff for tonight's dinner.

To end our crappy day, I made Pork Chops with Maple Mustard Glaze along with a cheesy baked potato. The chops came together in a snap and were done in less than 20 minutes. The chops are first seared in some butter to give them a golden crust and then kept warm while you make the sauce. Dijon mustard, pure maple syrup, broth and spices are made into a thick sauce, in the same pan, so you can get all the tasty bits that stuck to the bottom. A small amount of cream is added for a kiss of richness and then the chops are added back to finish cooking in the simmering sauce. They are very tender with a hint of sweetness and a slight twang from the mustard. If your chops are fairly large, you may want to finish them in the oven so they don't burn. The white bits on the potato are kosher salt, we sprinkle it on after we rub them with touch of olive oil for a crispy skin.

Recipes
Pork Chops with Maple Mustard Glaze

Learning to like...

Over the past year or so, we have slowly been adding in red bell peppers when recipes call for them. Before, we would either leave them out or skip the recipe as we have had bell peppers before (only green though) and could not stand the taste. When we tried roasted red peppers, they gave us new insight on them and we have been having them raw and cooked in small doses. We really do like them now; but the green ones are still a bit to harsh for us.

This pasta recipe, Roasted Pepper and Goat Cheese Pasta, uses quite a few peppers to create a fresh and spicy sauce to coat some bow tie noodles. Instead of using jarred roasted peppers, you can easily make your own by roasting them in the oven. When the skins turn black, you can simply seal them in a ziploc bag and as they cool, the skin will slip right off. Make sure to not peel them under running water, you wouldn't want to waste that roasted flavor!

The amount of sauce is pretty generous - a bit too much though - and was a little thin, but we both loved the taste. Next time I would maybe add a little less chicken broth and probably reduce the sugar by a teaspoon - it was almost a little too sweet. The thin slices of basil added to the freshness with creamy bits of goat cheese that tempered the heat from the crushed red pepper.

Recipes
Roasted Pepper and Goat Cheese Pasta

Yep... treat day is back!

Since we had been travelling, we missed the last two Wednesdays, which means we missed making treats for Jeff's co-workers for Wednesday Treat Day. As I mentioned on Sunday, we were going to be using pistachios in this weeks treat... and when Jeff took a bite and said "Wow! These are really good... do we have to bring them in?" I guess we picked the right thing to make!

Pistachio White Chocolate Chunk Cookies have a wonderful thick crisp outer edge with a slight chew as you nibble towards the center. Rolled oats are whirled briefly in a food processor to chop them up a bit - this gives the cookie a toothsome texture. Instead of using white chips, I used a block of real white chocolate that I cut into fairly large chunks. In addition to mixing the pistachios inside the batter, some of them are reserved so you can sprinkle them on the raw dough before baking. This gives them nice appearance and adds some crunch on top. If you can find them, make sure you use plain, raw and unsalted pistachios - I get the already shelled variety at Trader Joe's. I got about 53 cookies from this batch, and they were fairly large cookies!

Recipes
Pistachio White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

It's tofu... again... and it was really good!

I mentioned in the post yesterday that we had a bunch of cherry tomatoes and I wanted to get them used up tonight. Tonight's dish also introduced us to another use for tofu... it was turned into a sauce!

Creamy Spinach and Tofu Spaghetti starts out by roasting halved cherry tomatoes until the skins burst and they turn tender. While they are cookin' away in the oven, you make an interesting sauce for the spaghetti by pureeing fresh spinach, basil and silken tofu. Sharp cheese is also added with a splash of red wine vinegar that brightens up the flavors. This turns into a generous amount of a silky smooth sauce that coats each strand of the nutty whole wheat noodles with a fresh from the garden taste. The juicy soft tomatoes bring color and add to the very heathly nature of this dish. To finish, toasted pine nuts are added that bring a delicate, rich and buttery crunch. *Be sure to store your pine nuts in the fridge or freezer - since they are pretty high in fat, they can go rancid fairly fast.

Recipes
Creamy Spinach and Tofu Spaghetti

What's on tap for this week....

Because of all the travel, we only got in 3 new recipes this week... boo! The Peanut-Chocolate Half-Moons were definitely the favorite of them! I also updated the recipe section to the left - I was about three weeks behind, but they are all up to date now! *You may need to hit refresh to see the new additions.

Keeping with our Sunday tradition of giving a sneak peak at the upcoming week recipes, here are a couple items that will make an appearance (not together of course!) These muti-colored cherry tomatoes will be used in tomorrow's dinner.


The bright green pistachio's will be turned into something for the Wednesday Treat Day for Jeff's co-workers.

Not a ton to plan for this week because we will be travelling a couple days again, but I do have some other recipes we have done that have not yet made it on the website! Thanks for the house selling/buying wishes - I hope we hear something soon so we can get the next ball rolling on this whole move thing! Until tomorrow...