Pumpkin or sweet potato muffins (p. 635) and Pumpkin bread (p. 628)

I was hungry for muffins after the delicious blueberry muffins that I made in January. They were delicious and heated up really well. I didn't have any blueberries but I did have a can of pumpkin that I picked up on sale at Wal-Greens (strange, I know). I decided to make Pumpkin or sweet potato muffins (p. 635).

Easy start, with a couple more ingredients than the blueberry muffins--I mixed flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in one bowl and eggs, cream, brown sugar, butter, pumpkin, pecans, and vanilla. Quite a few ingredients!





The flour mixture was quickly mixed into the wet ingredients--the batter shouldn't be overbeaten and should still be lumpy.



The batter was then ladled into the muffin pan--this time I used a cookie scoop and it was perfect (easy!).



They weren't quite as pretty as the blueberry muffins but they looked okay.




The pumpkin muffins were good! Moist, tasty, and the pumpkin wasn't overpowering. They didn't have that pumpkin pie taste that most pumpkin-based baked goods seem to have (and I don't like pumpkin pie). Unfortunately, Josh doesn't like pumpkin, so these didn't all get eaten before they went stale.


I wanted to use all the pumpkin because I knew the excess would rot in the fridge (although I do have an awesome pumpkin crepe cake with maple cream recipe that I actually developed myself!) so I decided to make a second pumpkin dish--Pumpkin bread (p. 628). I did realize that my day of pumpkin was incredibly out of season but that's probably why the pumpkin was on sale.

Flour, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves were mixed in one bowl while milk and vanilla were mixed in another bowl (cup in this case).



Butter and brown sugar were mixed until fluffy, two eggs were added, and then one cup of pumpkin...uh oh...

There wasn't an entire cup of pumpkin left--and I certainly didn't have any more in the cupboard. I figured there wasn't much I could do and steamrolled on, adding the pumpkin I did have to the mix.



The flour mixture was mixed in, with some raisins and pecans, and the dough was poured into a loaf pan.



It was baked for about an hour (until the ubiquitous toothpick came out clean):




The bread was tasty and hearty--much like banana or zucchini bread. My favorite thing about these heavy breads is that I can eat a slice or two for lunch and I'm full. The lessor amounts of pumpkin didn't seem to make much of a difference although I'm sure it would have been more moist with it.

Stovetop macaroni and cheese (p. 325)

I searched through TJOC for a quick recipe that I had all the ingredients for and stumbled upon Stovetop macaroni and cheese (p. 325). I had previously made baked macaroni and cheese and it was good, so I was optimistic about the recipe. The first step was easy--boil two cups of elbow macaroni in salted water, drain, and add a half cup of butter. Elbow macaroni always reminds me of preschool craft projects rather than dinner, but I suppose it's appropriate for mac and cheese (a dish I think is one of the most truly American meal--what do you think?).





I readied my ingredients ( my mise en place, if you will)--evaporated milk, cheddar cheese, beaten eggs, dry mustard dissolved in hot water, salt, and ground red pepper. Since they are all added at once, I really recommend getting everything prepped ahead of time--shredding all that cheese takes a surprisingly long time.





All of those ingredients are mixed into the pasta and it's cooked until the sauce is smooth. This took forever--I was afraid the cheese was never going to melt. A finer shred of cheese would probably be helpful because it would melt a lot faster.



After stirring for what seemed like hours, the cheese melted.




It was good! Easy (not quite as easy as Kraft but without the creepy fluroscent orange color) and with a sharp, authenic sharp cheddar tang. Creamy! I would definately make it again although I would probably test out other cheese combinations.

I'm posting multiple blogs today so make sure to check!

Crispy potato skins (p. 79)

I had been meaning to make Crispy potato skins (p. 79)--I adore potato skins and although I've never made them, they seemed simple. The first step was to bake four baking potatoes (I used Yukon Golds which are all-purpose because I think they have the best flavor, but Russets or Idahos would work well too). When they cooled, I cut them open (and then hollowed them out).



A mixture of melted butter, chili powder, and garlic was mixed together. It was an unappetizing color.




The butter mixture was brushed on skins and baked for a half hour. There was enough butter that it pooled--I thought that was a good sign (I really like butter).




They were already smelling delicious when they came out of the oven (the first time).



Bacon and cheese (I used Colby Jack) were sprinkled on the top.



And the skins were baked for another five minutes.



They were DELICIOUS! Don't make them unless you are willing to eat them all though--because you will gorge yourself on them. Potatoes, butter, garlic, bacon, AND cheese? Those are some of my favorite foods. Potato skins, baba ghanosh, veggies with blue cheese dressing, tortilla chips (with salsa), and potato chips with sour cream dip would be awesome for a football game, Super Bowl party, or any other appetizer event.



And Happy Birthday to Jennifer at Pieknits! Go check out her blog at www.pieknits.com , especially if you are a knitter. She occasionally posts recipes, too, and they are usually unique (saffron cookies) and always awesome.

Chocolate chip cookie (p. 766) and Bread pudding (p. 822)

The Chocolate chip cookie (p. 766) recipe is an old TJOC standby, orginally in the wartime 1943 edition. I have a terrific chocolate chip cookie recipe that takes me about ten minutes (not including the cook time) because I make it so often--it uses shortening because I like soft cookies. TJOC's recipe looked pretty simple. Like most cookie recipes, I mixed flour and baking soda (more flour, less baking soda, since I'm at high altitude) in one bowl and butter, sugar, and brown sugar in another bowl.

The flour mixture was then added to the butter mixture:




An egg, some salt, and vanilla were added:





And then I added the chocolate chips. I would normally add pecans but Josh doesn't like nuts in his cookies (insane!) so I held off (this time).



They only take about eight minutes.



They were soft and had a great consistency but had a strange off-flavor. I don't think it was due to the recipe, I think my vanilla might have had a strange taste. It was disappointing though--all that work and the cookies weren't very good. I figure I will make them again--I'm sure the problem was due to me and not to TJOC.


I have mentioned before that I'm usually not very excited about TJOC recipes of which I already have a terrific version on hand. There isn't a huge list of these--Bolognase sauce, rice pudding, chocolate chip cookies, and maybe a handful of other things. Bread pudding is absolutely on the list.

When my parents were young and in college, they were very poor. Somehow they had a supply of cheap, day-old bakery goods on a regular basis. My parents would make bread pudding out of the leftover donuts. When I was an undergrad, I stumbled upon a bread pudding recipe of my own and it was a staple item in my kitchen--an easy way to use up bread, eggs, and milk that might be nearing their expiration dates (and it's terrific both hot and cold). TJOC has three bread pudding recipes and two of them are quite a bit different from what I used to make (one is chocolate and one is New Orleans-style) but I decided to make the one that was the most similar--Bread pudding (p. 822).

To begin, I sprinkled dried cranberries (I like them a lot better than raisens) over about a pound of bread that had the crusts removed and had been cut into cubes (use a serrated bread knife--otherwise cutting bread slices is a nightmare).


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Eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a tiny bit of salt were whisked together. I measured the milk into my giant measuring glass and then just added everything else to it--less dishes.



The liquid was then poured over the bread, the bread was pushed down with a spoon, and it was let sit for a half hour.





It did make a difference--the bread started to break down by the time it went in the oven.



About an hour later the bread pudding was done:



It was really good and very attractive--I would make this for company, especially since it can be made a few days in advance. Is it as good as my stock recipe? Surprisingly, yes. It heated up amazingly and was delicious. I will definately make it again. What do you consider your "stock recipes"?

Baked ham II (p. 507), Scalloped cauliflower (p. 267), Broccoli cheese casserole (p. 261) and Mornay sauce (cheese sauce) II (p. 551)

Why I decided to make a ham in the middle of the week is anyone's guess. Josh picked up a spiral-sliced ham that was extravagantly on sale at the grocery store (I hope there are more hams on sale after Easter!) and it had been in the refrigerator for a while--it really needed to be cooked. It probably could have made it to the weekend but I was leaving town on Sunday and really wanted to eat some ham!

I'm going to count the ham I made as Baked ham II (p. 507) even though I didn't totally stick the recipe.

My ham:




I feel I can count this recipe because I made the glaze. Brown sugar, mustard, and cider vinegar--it seems like a really strange combination but my love of vinegar in food is steadily rising so I was on board.




The ham was taken out of the oven and glazed when it had about thirty minutes left on the time. By this point it smelled amazing.




It took a few hours but the ham was finally done. The time is where I differed from TJOC--I figured that the TJOC recipe wasn't spiral ham specific so I used the time recommendations on the ham wrapper (which required considerably less time). Either way, it's already cooked, all I was doing was (essentially) heating it up.



I drained the ham glaze from the bottom of the roasting pan to pour on the ham slices.



How was it? DELICIOUS! So good it required capital letters. And it fed both of us, on and off, for a week. The ham was great hot and cold and I ate it by itself and in sandwiches. I want another spiral sliced ham! I be honest, I'm getting hungry for ham as I write this....

The first side dish I decided to make was Scalloped cauliflower (p. 267), a recipe that has been on my "to make" list for quite a while. Josh and I both love cauliflower but I kept putting the recipe off because I didn't want to make the white sauce that the was required.

Simple start--steam cauliflower:



Another error occurred here--the recipe requires two cups of white sauce. 'No problem' I thought as I made a batch. After I was about half done I noticed that the white sauce recipe only produced ONE cup--not two, so I had to start again. Frustrating! When I finally finished the white sauce, I poured it on top of the casserole, and sprinkled breadcrumbs and Parmesan on the top.



Into the oven it went:



Tasty! The cheesy/cauliflower combo was delicious, the breadcrumbs were terrific on top, and it heated up well.


I thought that Broccoli cheese casserole (p. 261) would be another excellent side dish for the ham. A lot of people tell me that they don't like TJOC because they think it refers back to other recipes far too often. The newest edition doesn't do that frequently but the old editions certainly do. The broccoli cheese casserole recipe went back to the old days--it only had four "ingredients" but three of the four required you to find and make other recipes.

First, I steamed broccoli and added it to a greased casserole dish that had been sprinkled with bread crumbs.




The casserole requires Mornay sauce (cheese sauce) II (p. 551). Mornay sauce is a really simple cheese sauce that is in a ton of recipes. The mornay recipe says that Swiss, Cheddar, Gorgonzola, Roquefort, or Stilton could be used--well, Stilton would certainly make an impression on your guests but I'm not sure if it would be a good one. Cheddar was specified in the casserole recipe, so that's what I used.

To begin, I made a white sauce.



I wasn't sure if I was supposed to make the entire white sauce recipe through the seasoning or what exactly to do--since the mornay sauce was seasoned separately, I waited. Four ounces of grated cheese are mixed in and the sauce is seasoned. Then you stir, stir, stir until all the cheese melts--which took WAY longer than I expected. It was very frustrating.



When it was finished, I poured the sauce over the broccoli. The broccoli and sauce were supposed to be tossed together before going in the dish but I missed that line so they weren't

It was cooked until bubbling and browned.



It was tasty! Broccoli and cheese are such a delicious combination. If I was to make this recipe again I would add lemon juice to the steamed broccoli because it became a strange grayish/green color that wouldn't be impressive to dinner guests. Even so, it was good and heated up really well.

Tortilla chips (p. 94)

I was hungry and needed a snack so I decided to make Tortilla chips (p. 94). I feel that if the recipe is something that I can easily (and cheaply) pick up at the grocery store, the homemade version needs to be either really easy or incredibly good or both, to be worth making.

The recipe was easy--cut corn tortillas into quarters (or eigths, if you like smaller chips like I do). Place them (gently) in hot oil. These would be even easier in a deep fat fryer, but I don't have mine set up currently.




Turn them once, cook a little more, and blot them on a paper towel.




Before I knew it I had a huge pile of nicely browned chips. They were really good--make sure to remember to salt them. This would be a terrific use of broken tortilla shells. The tortilla chips passed the test--they were easy and delicious, so I will definitely make them again. Has anyone else made chips from scratch before?

Baked manicotti or jumbo shells (p. 339), Meat and spinach filling (p. 338), Cheese filling (p. 337), and Garlic bread (p. 641)

I am still absolutely amazingly behind in my blogs. I think I've made about thirty dishes since I last blogged so I need to catch up! Make sure to check back every day.

I like to make big meals on Sunday. It's relaxing to cook and great to have leftovers to eat all week. I decided to make one of the more complex recipes (as in, it has quite a few steps)--a double recipe of Baked manicotti or jumbo shells (p. 339) using two fillings. Although I grew up with an Italian mother, she never made manicotti (she did very very occasionally make jumbo shellos) but I do like them.

I boiled the manicotti and heated the tomato sauce (mom's delicious sauce). Two packages of manicotti give you more pasta than you need, which is great if half the shells are broken (which they often are).

The first filling I made was Meat and spinach filling (p. 338). The recipe is fairly close to my grandmother's secret ravioli filling (no, I won't tell you the differences), so I was feeling confident that it was going to be delicious. I was also really excited to use the herb shears that Josh got me for Christmas.



The first step of the recipe was to toast some breadcrumbs. Toasting the breadcrumbs adds a lot of flavor--and it's easy.



The mix is easy--pureed, cooked spinach (I used frozen), ground pork, a couple eggs, the bread crumbs, grated Parmesan, dried basil, some garlic, and parsley. The mixture was fairly easy to stuff into the manicotti--I used my fingers because the spoon kept splitting the sides of the shell.





I also made Cheese filling (p. 337). It's an easy recipe--beat some ricotta until fluffy, add some eggs, parsley and Parmesan, and done!





I tried to stuff the cheese filling in with a spoon--no luck, it kept splitting the shells. I tried my fingers--no long, it wasn't thick enough. Instead I decided to pipe the filling into the manicotti--perfect! I spooned all of the cheese into a Ziploc bag, cut off the corner, and filled the shells. Easy and neat!



The filled manicotti were then lined up in a baking dish. I poured a bunch of mom's sauce over the top, and then sprinkled mozzerella and Parmesan on the top. And into the oven it went!





It took about forty minutes and was ready.



How was it? Very very tasty. Both types were delicious. I really recommend making a double batch because they are a hassle to make and fill--might as well make a lot. They heated up terrifically. Make sure not to overcook the pasta or you would have absolute mush by the end.

And what is perfect with pasta? Garlic bread (p. 641)! And even better--the garlic bread was on the randomized list. This is one of those super easy recipe. I sliced a loaf of French bread--but not totally through, so it stayed in a loaf.



Butter (an entire stick of butter) and garlic (I used much more garlic than it recommended) were mixed together and brushed on the bread (and on top of the bread).



Into the oven for twenty minutes--




Incredibly delicious. Wow! I love garlic bread and this recipe reminded me why. I know there is nothing mind-blowing about the recipe but it sure was good and I will definitely make it again.