Updates

Hey everyone. I haven't disappeared...I just haven't really had time to do regular posts...it is the silly season after all. I'm just going to throw this out there; why does everyone get snow except for me? It's just not fair. I know...the winter weather hitting the northern regions of the country are out of country and people are sick of it. But the holiday season just isn't the same when the landscape is barren and brown and gray. And with the next day or two pushing to 50 degrees...it's wrong.


So what have I been up to...

Over the weekend I made Pfeffernusse cookies. Dense, dark German spiced cookies. They are similiar to a chewy/cakey gingerbread, without ginger. A nice treat that's different from all the sugar cookies. And as far as cookies go, these really aren't that bad for you. Whole wheat flour, honey, molasses, only 2 TB of butter. And a little glaze to sweeten them a touch. Also, the recipes calls for ground almonds. I didn't have any, so I substituted ground pine nuts. I think they add a little more flavor than almonds. Not that you can say "hey, there are pine nuts in there." But they are a little more pleasant.


I recently made another attempt at creating a delicous Deep Dish Pizza. I'm getting better. I made a few changes this time around. One I won't do again. The other I will. The first noticeable change; instead of white flour, I used whole wheat flour. The flavor was nice, but the crust became much more tougher, almost unpleasant. Instead of the touch of sugar the recipe calls for I used honey. That was fine, not noticeable. The other major change. In the past, when I sliced the pizza, the filling poured out, my sauce was too watery. This time I used whole, peeled tomatoes that I had drained. This worked pretty well. There was still a little spillage, but nothing that bad. I love making pizza!


The other night I made a batch of Spaghetti Carbonara. Nice! Totally unhealthy. No redeeming dietary value!!! But it's pretty cheap when you consider the ingredients. You will probably have bacon and eggs on hand. Maybe cream, or milk. The fresh Parmigiana might be the one thing you need. Overall, a very tasty dish.


I also made a fat batch of Indian Butter Chicken. I love this dish. It's super easy and full of lots of great flavor. However, this time I used too much jalapeno. I couldn't quite shake the amount of spice. Woo! If you make this, do yourself a favor and make at least a double batch and freeze half of it. It holds really well and all you need to do it heat it up and throw in some cubed chicken, let it simmer and when the chicken is cooked through, you're ready! Nice option for dinner when you don't really feel like cooking.