Cork Trivet

Yesterday {& into last night} I made a cork trivet!


I have lots of wine corks that I have saved. I usually write the occasion or names of who I'm drinking with on the cork and toss it into the glass stemware shown to the right. ----->


I have accumulated quite a few over the years and it is about time that I create something with them! It's just too bad that so many wine bottles are twist off or have faux corks.


It took me a little while to figure out the best way to put this together, but now that I know what I'm doing, I think it will be easier second go-around! What do you think?

This is a smaller trivet. I plan on making more that are different sizes and shapes! 

I also plan on making coasters. :)

*This trivet could be part of the prize for Best Tacky Christmas Sweater*

Carrot Soup

Last night I made Carrot Soup. It is a recipe I got from Dad and have always really liked, but I knew I could Love it... So, tonight I improved it!

For starters, I used the chicken broth that I made from scratch {when I was making the Chicken Noodle Soup}. When making this recipe I always add white wine to the total amount of broth called for... this time I used a bit more.

I have always heard terms like "Cooking Wine" or heard people say something along the lines of, "If you're not going to drink it (because you don't like it), just use in your cooking." Don't Do This!!

If you don't want to drink it out of a glass, why would you want to eat it with a spoon?

As the old saying goes "I love cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food I'm cooking."

After simmering the soup for about a half hour, I transferred it, in batches, to my food processor. This is where I changed the cooking technique a bit. The original soup recipe would blend the soup and continue on to add the remaining ingredients. I always found the texture a bit too "gritty" and I wanted to smooth the soup out and bring it to its full potential. So I pushed the soup through a sieve.

Then I added the remaining ingredients and let the soup sit, so that the flavors could marry. My Dad suggested putting Cayenne Pepper in. It was definitely a good tip! It gave it a small amount of heat and brought out the soups flavors without hindering the overall taste. A+.

While the soup married together, I cut a loaf of italian bread into cubes and made homemade croutons. I don't think I've bought store bought croutons for years! They are so simple to make and you can personalize them every time to contain the flavors you desire.

This soup is typically topped with toasted sesame seeds, chopped chives, homemade croutons & sour cream. But I replaced the sour cream with Greek Yogurt. The Greek Yogurt brought a zing! to the silky, smooth, rich carrot soup. Pushing the soup through the sieve made a world of difference!

Perfection. 

Now this is my kind of soup. 

Halloween Weekend @ The Birches

Josh and I spent Halloween weekend at the cottage with Clint & Mark. We all had a really good time; the weather was perfect and the food was delicious!

 Saturday morning I made a frittata similar to the one I made for Ash & Adam, Frittata with Asparagus, Roasted Red Peppers and Goat Cheese. With a side of bacon and fresh fruit.

 Along with the view, it was certainly the best way to start the day. 

After breakfast, I made us all bloody marys and we watched some college football. 

MSU did not play as we had hoped...

For dinner, I made Turkey Burgers stuffed with Fresh Mozzarella & Roasted Red Peppers & topped with Avocado Spread & Chopped Cilantro. & Garlic Fries on the side.

They turned out so good! I made the boys their burgers first and while I was in the kitchen cooking mine, all I could hear was moaning and various comments from all of them. Here are a few:

"Explosion of Goodness" --Mark

"Best Burger I've ever had." --Clint

"Symphony of taste in my mouth." --Mark

"You never disappoint me." -- Josh

"I'm not the type of guy to have a cigarette after a meal, but this meal warranted one." -- Mark

"Did you see how fast Mark ate? He is the most critical person I know when it comes to food. The way he just ate was the highest compliment anyone could receive." --Clint

I think they liked them. :) They did not stop talking about this dinner. They talked about it for the rest of the night, into the next morning and on the drive home. 

I loved that they loved it so much! - That is the best part of cooking!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Josh has been asking me to make him a homemade chicken noodle soup for quite some time now, and I finally did it. I'm not the biggest fan of chicken noodle soup - It is not my first choice when it comes to soup selections - but he has been asking for a long time, and I finally decided to dive into the challenge. Most chicken noodle soups are broth-y and mild in flavor... Josh asked for a thick, creamy chicken noodle soup. So lets get started.

I decided that if I am going to make chicken noodle soup, I should make the broth from scratch. So, I found a recipe for both the broth and soup... and then tweaked the soup recipe a bit. The recipe called for a 3 1/2 lb chicken. However, I bought a 7 lb chicken and decided to double the broth recipe. The 7 lb chicken + vegetables, didn't fit in one pot, so I cut the chicken in half. After running the knife through the vegetables a couple times, divided & tossed them into the two pots.

In each pot, I added fresh thyme & basil leaves and a teaspoon of black peppercorns. I placed both pots on the stove over medium-high heat and added cold water to each. I slowly brought the pots to a boil, then lowered the heat with them slightly covered for an hour and half. 

Meanwhile, I chopped the vegetables that would be going in to the chicken noodle soup: onions, carrots, celery, minced garlic & a chopped jalapeño {an addition I added to give it heat, which I know Josh likes} Then put the vegetables in a bowl along with fresh thyme and bay leaf.

Then I chilled the wine. I decided on a Sauvignon Blanc & this bottle caught my eye... Gato Negro. I thought it was perfect choice for an October evening with a bowl of hot chicken noodle soup.

I had plenty of time to spare, so I called my Mom and we yapped for a little while. It was nice catching up, while the pots on the stove gave off a wonderful smell that warmed the house.



When the chicken was done cooking, I took it out of the broth and placed it on a cutting board. The chicken was falling off the bones - oh! so very tender! Then I strained the broth from the vegetable solids. The broth turned out really good.

I did the same for the second pot, only after I strained the broth, I placed the bowl of broth into the sink, which I had filled with cold water, and whisked the broth to cool it. Then I transferred the cooled broth to containers and popped them in the fridge.

On to the soup! My vegetables are already chopped and ready to go. So, I drizzled olive oil in a soup pot and tossed in the vegetables and let them cook for about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, I took some of the vegetables that were used in the broth and blended them with half of the broth in a blender. Josh had requested a creamy soup, so I figured this would thicken the soup up a bit. When 6 minutes was up, I poured in the vegetable blend and the remaining broth and brought it to a boil. To finish off the soup, I added the noodles and later folded in the chicken. {I used more then the recipe called for, because Josh said he wanted a lot of chicken}

{I took a bowl of soup and bread over to my Dad}

As a side for the soup, I sliced a couple pieces of italian bread, seasoned them with italian-garlic seasoning and mozzarella cheese and tossed them in the oven to bake.

 The soup was very thick and I would almost consider it a stew. After all the time I put into this soup, I was looking forward to sitting down with a bowl. First bite... sheer disappointment...bland. When I thought back to my process, I realized I was not seasoning as I cooked. {I know better!} I didn't even finish my bowl. Josh also thought the soup was bland... but he did have two bowls and finished mine....So, it couldn't have been terrible, right?

So, now I have to decide if I will try chicken noodle soup again. I'm not a fan in general, as I've said, and Josh isn't much help in telling me what he wants in a chicken noodle soup... sigh... I'm so disappointed.

Homemade Potato Chips?

Sunday afternoon I wanted a simple lunch of Egg Salad Sandwiches & Potato Chips. Unfortunately, we didn't have any potato chips in the house. I love potato chips! Once I got the idea in my head, I had to have them with my lunch. I had two choices: Run out to the store and buy a bag, or take a whirl at making them myself.

When I make my fries, I liked to bake them rather than fry them. So, I decided to give baked potato chips a try. I have never made potato chips before, nor have I even seen a recipe on how to make them. But, I decided, I'll give it a try.

I don't own a mandolin, but luckily my Dad does. After slicing the potatoes I seasoned them with a little oil and vinegar and sea salt. Then I laid them on a cookie sheet in a single layer., and popped them in the oven.

They didn't seem to cook very evenly in the oven and the vinegar flavor didn't jump out the way I had hoped. The flavor was good, but... not the best potato chips I've had. I think I'm going to have to review some recipes for potato chips and rethink my technique. I have a feeling that once I master a potato chip recipe, I may be making them multiple times a week!

With a side of my potato chips, I made egg salad sandwiches on toasted wheat bread. With the soft texture of the egg, I always toast the bread for the crunchy contrast.

* Bananas vs Book *

I'm sitting here with a book that I need to finish before book club tonight but I'm preoccupied by these bananas on my counter that are going "bad". I need to read the rest of this book; I have had plenty of time to finish it, so arriving without having read it, is not an option.

But I can't stop obsessing about these bananas. They having been calling out to me ~ antagonizing me. "We'll be bad by tomorrow and you'll have to throw us out! Ha! Ha! Ha.!"  Evil Bananas.

Look at these jerks! 
It's like I have a family of giraffes in my kitchen! And they need to go!

I need to re-create these "bad" bananas into something good, because they are driving me crazy and throwing them out would clearly be a defeat.

So here I am, with banana-walnut-chocolate chip bread in the oven... 

and NOW I can finish this book.

Who knew bananas could be so distracting?

*~* Update *~*

Perfect Saturday.... 

Wrapped in a blanket with a cup of tea and banana-walnut-chocolate chip bread.

The banana bread turned out so good!! So flavorful!

Light & Airy but also dense - 

it's a baked masterpiece. 

Take a look!

Home From Vacation

...& Nothing in the Fridge

Last night I opened the fridge to find... a red pepper. 

Really? I have nothing else? I really need to go grocery shopping...

But, it's dinner time and I don't feel like running out to the grocery store or ordering take-out. In the freezer I found two small chicken breasts and a package of frozen (obviously) spinach and in the cupboard a box of spiral pasta & chicken broth. Looks like I found dinner. :) Whole Wheat Spiral Pasta tossed in a Light Demi Glaze Sauce with Chicken & Chopped Spinach & Topped with Diced Roasted Red Peppers. Pretty fancy for a dinner created via scavenger hunt, huh?

While I was walking into the kitchen to prepare the meal, Josh asked me if I would make him another Gin & Tonic. But first, I grabbed the spinach to thaw it out. At that moment, Josh walked into the kitchen and said, "Unless you're putting spinach in my drink, I'm not quite sure what it's doing in your hand." I could not stop laughing! He seems to get a little goofy when I'm cooking. I like to think it is because he is so excited about what I'm cooking, that he gets a little giddy.

He kept me company while I cooked & when I mentioned that I was only using half of the box of pasta {there are only two of us, making the whole box is not necessary}, he couldn't understand why. So, he decided to count the noodles. {Pause for reaction.} I'm still not sure why... Maybe to make sure that I used exactly half and not a noodle less? He gave up on his project in the end. But it was entertaining while it lasted.

I roasted & chopped the red pepper ~ thawed & chopped the spinach ~ thawed & cut the chicken into bite size pieces. After I had everything prepped, I cooked the chicken and boiled the pasta. Then I reduced chicken broth with lemon juice. Then tossed in the spinach, pasta & chicken... and why not a pad of butter! To finish it off I topped the pasta with the roasted red pepper.

While I was plating the pasta 

and taking a couple pictures, 

I turned around and... 

he's eating out of the pan.

Apparently, I was taking too long.

Josh's Review, "This is really good. I would eat this again."

Success!

{taking a bow}

There was enough left over for Josh to take to work for lunch, so he put it in a container and popped it in the fridge. ... However, a few hours later, he took it out of the fridge and ate it before going to bed.

M: "Don't you want to save that for your lunch tomorrow?" 


J: "Nope."