I love making coffee cakes so when I saw the recipe for The Best Coffee Cake Ever posted by the Pioneer Woman I knew I had to try it. The cake part is really nice, almost like a pound cake, but the topping did not meld with the cake as PW's pictures showed on her blog. I did use a 9x13 pan which is what the recipe calls for or larger so if I ever make this again I will definitely use a much bigger pan. The neighbour sure was happy to get a chunk of this cake.
Last September we filled two buckets with our very own cherry tomatoes and so glad we did. Now we are craving a fresh tomato sauce and all it takes is a pan full of tomatoes, garlic (which is local), parsley, and don't forget the chillies.
Simmer until nice and bubbly and the cherry tomatoes have cooked down. It's always nice when someone volunteers (Thanks, Maura) to remove all the tomato skins from the pan.
We poured the sauce over our very own egg noodles that we made on Saturday; I know it's January but I thought it was summer it was so good.
For a change from our usual Sunday morning pancake routine, I baked up a pan of Breakfast Puffs, supposedly an Amish recipe. These are so good that if you close your eyes and bite into the cake-like puff you will think you are having apple pie. The secret-lots of cinnamon.
Lasagna starts with a good sauce; Mr. Cowboy was kind enough to make a double batch for me yesterday so that the flavours had a chance to intensify.
For the dough you need 10-12 fresh farm eggs so that the layers puff up while they are baking.
And, of course, you need a good Italian pasta machine, not an electric one, to roll out the sheets of dough to almost paper thickness.
Lasagna needs lots of sauce and lots of cheese; it's as simple as that.
The layering goes quite quickly with everyone pitching in; Maura was in charge of the sauce and Mr.Cowboy handled the cheese. I had the job of cooking the pasta and laying each boiling hot sheet into the pan.
Sprinkle lots of cheese on the top and
bake at 350 until hot and bubbly and the cheese is nice and golden.
There was a lot of leftover pasta sheets so we made some spaghettini for next week and we froze another box of sheets for another day.
It's a simple recipe; stuff a chicken with a lemon and fresh thyme, generously sprinkle salt and pepper all over and slather the bird with olive oil. Place on top of a bed of onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and roast for two hours. Half way during cooking, baste the chicken and add the potatoes.
What you end up with is juicy chicken and tender, flavourful veggies. A great Sunday night dinner.
Drinks and kareoke at the pub. Then dinner at a little bistro. Dancing, the casino, and a movie. A walk along the river in the fog. Coffee and a nightcap before heading home.
This all sounds good but we decided to stay in and enjoy drinks before dinner while Mr. Cowboy whipped up his version of Jamie Oliver's Risotto. Watched an old movie, a really old movie. Bowl of popcorn. Should have gone for that walk in the fog.
If you're going to make a mess in the kitchen, it might as well be a big one. I tried three new recipes and they were all keepers. Using raspberries from last summer I made a buttery raspberry lemon cake; it calls for lemon curd so I used store bought.
I am a sucker for any cookie recipe that has the word espresso in it so I made chocolate espresso oatmeal cookies which are great with coffee. Go figure!
And to use up some of the sugar baby pumpkins I froze last fall I made sour cream pumpkin bars. These are chock-full of pecans and whole wheat flour which gives them a very nice crunch.
What to do with turkey left-overs? Mr. Cowboy made a brilliant Turkey Pot Pie full of chunks of turkey, lots of veggies including mushrooms which the Princess berated us for including, enveloped by the crispiest pie crust ever. Yes, we served it with homemade cranberry sauce!
You know it's going to happen to everyone; it's a fact of life. But it still hurts.
What do you get when you boil up all the turkey bones and carcass? The best risotto ever!
The weather outside is frightful... so we decided to make spicy Italian sausages.These are a lot of work and they won't be ready for weeks but they are worth it.
When someone gives you a pail of apples, you have to make an apple pie.
Fried bread with raisins covered in sugar. These are called zeppole and it wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't make a batch.
