Peppernuts!

A favorite holiday tradition - making Peppernuts!!  (also known as pfeffernuesse)  I literally grew up making these delicious, bite-sized Christmas treats - and am excited to continue this traditionin our family.  These treats originated and are very popular in Germany (appropriate for both Patrick and my family origin!), Denmark and the Netherlands (and hey, I studied abroad there)

Anyway, I have very distinct memories growing up and my sister and I chopping Peppernuts, as Mom rolled out the weenie-rolls of dough for us, all as we listened to the YMCA Christmas mix cassette tape (Mom - do you still have this?!  They really need to make this in a CD/mp3 - those songs were all so good - and full of many memories!) 

Many people don't really understand how to eat a peppernut - the best way in my opinion, is to suck on the hard-like candy, soften it up and savor the flavor, until it finally dissolves and you are ready to pop in t he next one.  Careful - they are addictive (and shoot - when you actually make it from scratch, you realize they are not the most healthy----no wonder I always gain that holiday weight..... :))

Over the last couple years - I have recruited Patrick to join in the tradition and he was a great help!! He helped roll out all the dough, and even chopped up a few baking sheets worth.  (I realized in the first couple years how nit-picky I was about the size/width of these peppernuts... my Mom raised us with setting high expectations for the perfect peppernut size, and would hold us to it - I guess I was just passing down the orders :))  Took us most of the morning, as it's quite the process of rolling, chopping, sorting on the baking sheets, baking, scraping off peppernuts, and letting sheets cool.  Anyway, was fun to have Patrick's help, and I'm excited for Will to join in....maybe next year!

Happy Holidays to all!

Turkey Tetrazzini

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  In the holiday spirit - Patrick bought some turkey (post-Thanksgiving weekend) and we had lots leftover, so I was inspired (by the amount of eating out as of late) to make some Turkey Tetrazzini.  I was thinking perhaps my dad and my sister and her fam may join us for dinner - but turns out we had this to ourselves and had a lot leftover!!

Recipe was found on All Receipes.com: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/turkey-tetrazzini-ii/detail.aspx


This was a fairly simple recipe to follow - although I do have a confession.  Perhaps it's because I haven't really made anything in the last month, or perhaps it's pregnancy brain, or perhaps I was just distracted by the fun that was going on in my family room with the kids, but either way, I accidently put in 3 cups of flour, instead of the 3 cups of chicken broth and had a lumpy mess.  Patrick was the one that actually caught this - and advised me to start over :)  So, I gladly did - and really no harm, no foul.  What turned out was a nice dish, that was simple to make.

Taste: 3
Complexity: 2

Chicken Chipotle Tortilla Soup

It's about that time of year, when the leaves start to change, football is on, hooded sweatshirts are worn, and it's the best time of year for some delicious soup!

I must say - I am a pretty picky soup eater.  There are not many kinds that I like - but chicken tortilla is always good!! I have several recipes I have made, include my Aunt Denni's recipe that I love, but one that stands out to Patrick and I is this GREAT recipe from a Newlywed cookbook we got from Marilee as a wedding gift (wonderful, wonderful cookbook - some recipes are pretty detailed/elaborate, but we have yet to make anything from that that isn't so good!)

There really isn't much to this at all!  But, it did the job!  A delicious dinner was served, warmed our tummy's, and did I mention how EASY this is?? It also only takes about 5-10 minutes, so I got enough for another helping later this week, as we wonder every night what should we do for dinner?!

Happy Sunday night - and happy eating!!

Complexity: 1
Taste: 4

Spaghetti Sauce - from Scratch :)

Ok, - so my night to make dinner was approaching quickly, as Patrick is leaving for Wisconsin for the weekend, and I knew tonight was my chance.  I have to admit my craving for pasta while pregnant is a little out of control, and it was between that, and I knew that Will loves spaghetti that I decided for a pretty simple, yet delicious dinner of spaghetti with homeade sauce.

I also got this recipe from Marilee (same time as zucchini bread one arrived) as Will just can't get enough of it when she makes it.  So, I had extra incentive, to make something delicious that will last for the weekend too! 

I got off work a little early to get to the store and buy the ingredients we didn't have on hand.

Then, I got to work.  Now, the very first thing to do was to brown the meat.  I can honestly say (and am only slightly ashamed to admit) that I have only browned meat maybe one other time in my life, and Patrick was likely the one telling me what to do.  Seriously, I know it's not that hard, but I do a really good job of making simple things hard.  Then, cutting up the onion, no problem - although I was hoping it didn't matter how finely I needed to chop up the onion, but I didn't stress much.  I cheated just a tad and used minced garlic vs. fresh chopped garlic - didn't seem to matter too much in the overall flavor. 

Next was the fun task of twisting the tops off of 6 cans of tomato sauce with our cheap/crappy can opener.  Ugh - I really don't like that thing, but we made it - with my wrist/hand only cramping a bit.  Then, it was really just adding the ingredients like: basil, oregano, sugar, chili powder, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce.  All I will say is that my pot was almost overflowing with sauce while simmering!  Pretty funny - it was filled to the top.

Lastly - I filled up the pot with water to boil the noodles (only had to google how many cups are in 5 quarts) - which is 20!  So, I boiled the water, dropped noodles in, threw the boxed rolls in the oven, and opened the bag of lettece and put it in a bowl, and voila!! 

Dinner is served!!

Was great to see Will shovel it in (btw, he LOVES the zucchini bread too - and asks for 'bread' now every morning!)  Something so satisfying about filling up my boys with food I made for them!

Complexity: 1.5
Taste: 4

Zucchini Bread - Recipe from Marilee

Welcome to my spin-off blog!  The purpose of this blog will be to document my trials (and I'm sure MANY errors) in cooking and baking. This blog was inspired by Patrick - who told me that 'you always say you want another hobby' - and you like writing - and will challenge you to try more cooking/baking and give you more confidence.  (All true babe, but seriously, what a clever/sly way of making your wife cook more so you don't always have to do it all the time anymore!! He knows I have the desire, but not always the willingness to just experiment - so I think he kinda played into it, but it worked!!) (no really, thanks babe for inspiring me, and pushing me to do this - I'm excited about it and hope I can cook our family some meals that we can grow up loving---food is the way to any man's heart - and I've got two guys in this house that I love, and love making them happy!)  So, you are really looking at an amateur in the kitchen - I didn't grow up doing this and was just easy to throw in a microwave dinner, or make a sandwich or cereal, etc.  It wasn't until Patrick and I were getting married that I  started getting the desire to cook.  I was surprised that I found there is just something about cooking for the man you love that made me feel like a sexy wife - or made me feel like a real woman. So,  I have done what I consider a fair share of 'experiments' in the kitchen since we have been married for 3 years - and luckily, Patrick is not picky at all, and is always very sweet whenever I make something that doesn't always taste the best.

So here are my goals:

• Try new recipes - cooking and baking (I already LOVE baking - need to work on my cooking especially)
• Gain CONFIDENCE in the kitchen - and test my patience and perseverance :)
• Take pictures and keep an easy log of foods that we like
• Someday, pass down these recipes to my kids, grand kids, etc.
• Will also post about fun eating adventures we experience out in Kansas City - one of our favorite things to do is try out new restaurants in KC - although it's less than it used to be - this is the best kind of date night out for us - and I want to start documenting/sharing my love for food in this city!

Rules:

• I can NOT ask Patrick any questions (this is something I do ALL the time, and drives him absolutely crazy---and also makes me completely rely on him and does not make me feel any more confident about doing it myself)
• I will make the food (as much as possible) all from scratch - ok, maybe as I get started I may use a few things 'pre-made', but will do my best!
• Try making something new once a week (again, this may not always happen, but we'll start with it and may have to re-evaulate this rule)



Here we go!! Night #1 - Zucchini Bread

- Zucchini bread has always been a favorite - and you would think - you really can't mess it up, right?!  Well, I have to say, I made a few loaves before we went down to the lake a few weeks ago, and it was dry and not very good.  So, yes - that's what you are working with here people. I found that recipe looking it up on All Recipes.com - one of my favorite recipe websites - the recipes are usually fairly simple to make and delicious (if you do it right)

Anyway, so I got this recipe from my mother-in-law, Marilee - who is one of the best cooks/bakers that I know!  Her food is always so delicious - and she definitely cooks with love!  She is one of my kitchen inspirations, so it's fitting that I used her recipe for my first post.



Recipe from Marilee - my Mother in Law

 

Ingredients laid out - check; Confidence up - check....

Ok - so here we go!!

- I start getting the ingredients in a bowl and whisking them together  (this is easy!! I can do this!! You got this Sarah....all going through my head.  Then my first Major Kitchen Decision/Dilemma #1:.....uh oh, I get out our loaf pans and then are 10" - and the recipe says use 8.5' x 4.5' - what the heck?? What should I do?  My instinct was to totally ask Patrick what he thought I should do - should I call this off tonight, and go to store tomorrow so I can follow the instructions PERFECTLY - there is no room for error!! Should I look it up and see what to do??  I end up just thinking - ok, I have 3 mini loaf pans - I will use those and then use one of my bigger pans as well, and hope at least the mini or large size turns out

- I keep going - I am using the KitchenAid from my Grandma Mack.  Seriously, cooking/baking can be so sentimental - when my Grandma passed away - it was such an honor to get her KitchenAid, b/c I know, and experienced so many of the wonderful things she used to bake!  I am excited to post more of her recipes and I love making the foods that I grew up with eating from her.  Reminds me of her - and I feel more connected to her and know she is looking down on me smiling when I bake!

- Everything is going smoothly - until I realize, my zucchini from Marilee is still frozen. (yes, I realize how spoiled I am that the zucchini is already all cut up, measured out, and home grown from Marilee's garden! - Huge advantage, and still why did I not remember to let it thaw?!)  Crap!  I know I should have let this thaw out way earlier, but didn't think of it until now.  Ok, I got this - no asking Patrick, I'm going to ask google.  So, I found some sweet person that had posted specific directions on thawing out zucchini for bread, and she also admits that she didn't think of it ahead of time, and it was fine to put in microwave for a few minutes and just pour the juice in with it too. So, that's what I did (and if this doesn't turn out, I blame it either on that, or the pan sizes!)


Action shot - I might have told Patrick that he should take this of me for my new blog, I promise I won't always have a cheesy picture of me cooking - (and thank you Katie Denton for the cute apron you gave me as a wedding gift!)

 - Now, I'm almost done - and the batter is looking SO good! One of the best parts of baking is taking a little lick from the spoon/spatula of the batter---but NOOO.... I'm 14 weeks pregnant, and no eating batter when pregnant (raw eggs or something like that)  Anyway, I held out and remembered that someday I can eat batter again.

-So, now I'm ready to put these bad boys in the oven!  I put the small loaf pans in for 30 minutes, and the larger size calls for 50 minutes in the recipe, so I stick to that.

And here is the finished product!!

They look great!! (Turn your head to the right - I could not figure out why this keeps loading off to the side)

So, on a scale of 1-5:

Complexity: 2.5
Taste: 3.5