click the banner and "Menu Plan Monday" for more menu planning ideas
Salisbury Steaks with Mushroom Sauce
Cauliflower Soup & Melt Sandwiches- I didn't get to this last week.
Crockpot BBQ Ribs- Didn't make these last week either!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Menu Plan Monday- November 23, 2009
Last week was fine, but I had a lot of leftovers so I didn't get to a couple of things. I'm only going to plan three recipes this week and have enough leftovers incase we need them, but not so many that they can't be eaten before they go off!
Salisbury Steaks with Mushroom Sauce
Cauliflower Soup & Melt Sandwiches- I didn't get to this last week.
Crockpot BBQ Ribs- Didn't make these last week either!
Salisbury Steaks with Mushroom Sauce
Cauliflower Soup & Melt Sandwiches- I didn't get to this last week.
Crockpot BBQ Ribs- Didn't make these last week either!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Fragmented Freewrites- November 20, 2009
Is it really already Friday? I wasn't really participating in the world on Tuesday and Wednesday so it feels like it should only be mid-week! Make sure to check out everyones fragments by clicking on the FF link at the bottom of the post. Thanks, as always, to Mrs4444 for being such a gracious host to such a bunch of hooligans!
- I can't be the only one not going gaga over the new Twilight series movie, can I? I was so not impressed with the books and the thought of having to experience it in film sorta makes me want to gag.
- I'm going to dinner with a group of friends tomorrow in Utrecht. I'm pretty stoked! I know the company will be good, so hopefully the food will be good as well. It's crazy expensive to eat out here.
- My mother in law sent over a huge load of food to put in the freezer yesterday, for which I am very thankful. I was also very thankful that I'd been working on going through what was already in the freezer the past couple of weeks so I had ROOM for the food she sent!
- I cried at my therapy appointment this week and left feeling better about a couple of things than I had in ages.
- How is it that my glasses get so filthy? I mean, it's not like I smash dirt on the lenses or anything, but the way they look sometimes you'd think that I spent a lot of time grinding that dirt in.
- On Sunday, we're having a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving to show off "how it's done" to some people who haven't had the experience before. It should be interesting also to see how other families do it (our host is doing her family's traditional menu).
- Saturday next week, we'll be having the NAWC Thanksgiving Dinner. My mother in law also found some turkey for cheap in Germany and invited us over. I'm so psyched. Turkey is so expensive here so this is a mega-wild-fantastic treat.
- I'm getting my cute little pink camera back tomorrow. I feel giddy! I've been using my old Canon, which I LOOOOVED. But, I've been spoiled. It doesn't fit into my pocket like my little Nikon. And the zoom on my Nikon? Holy moley! It will be great to have it back, sans the broken battery door.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
More Q & A!
Time for another answer to the Ask Me Anything questions!
Brainella asked: If there was one kitchen appliance you could buy (say someone would just GIVE it to you), what would it be and why?
You know the story about "If you give a mouse a cookie... he'll ask for a glass of milk... and then he'll probably ask for a straw... and when he's done he'll need a napkin..." and on and on and on? Well, some of the kitchen appliances I might like would cause this sort of chain reaction! Sometimes I would really like a real oven but If I got a real oven, I'd need a bigger kitchen, which really would necessitate a new house. I suppose you get the picture! Honestly though, my little combi oven is pretty perfect for 98% of the things I'd want to do and the other 2% isn't worth having to move into a bigger house with a bigger mortgage!
I'd also really LOVE to have a bigger freezer. Everytime we go to IKEA and look at their fridges I curse at them for having a model bigger than ours that has a bigger FRIDGE section but not a bigger FREEZER section. I don't need more room in the fridge! Gimme freezer space! Since they don't make a fridge like I'd want, we'd need a stand-alone and my apartment doesn't really have space for a stand alone freezer. Unless we hung an elaborate platform and pully system from the ceiling. I'm not sure how that would affect the resale value of the property though, so I think I'll stay away from drilling giant holes into the ceiling for now.
So if I'm shooting for something realistic, I'd probably say a red KitchenAid. Though, at the prices they cost here I'm not sure how realistic that is either! If I did get one though, I'd get the grinder attachment. Then I'd buy a turkey farm so I could make ground turkey. Oh, and sausages. Really good breakfast sausages!
P.S. I still have 11 days to go on NaBloPoMo and I'm so not interesting enough to come up with content on my own, so PLEEEEEEEASE ask me more questions on the post linked below!
Brainella asked: If there was one kitchen appliance you could buy (say someone would just GIVE it to you), what would it be and why?
You know the story about "If you give a mouse a cookie... he'll ask for a glass of milk... and then he'll probably ask for a straw... and when he's done he'll need a napkin..." and on and on and on? Well, some of the kitchen appliances I might like would cause this sort of chain reaction! Sometimes I would really like a real oven but If I got a real oven, I'd need a bigger kitchen, which really would necessitate a new house. I suppose you get the picture! Honestly though, my little combi oven is pretty perfect for 98% of the things I'd want to do and the other 2% isn't worth having to move into a bigger house with a bigger mortgage!
I'd also really LOVE to have a bigger freezer. Everytime we go to IKEA and look at their fridges I curse at them for having a model bigger than ours that has a bigger FRIDGE section but not a bigger FREEZER section. I don't need more room in the fridge! Gimme freezer space! Since they don't make a fridge like I'd want, we'd need a stand-alone and my apartment doesn't really have space for a stand alone freezer. Unless we hung an elaborate platform and pully system from the ceiling. I'm not sure how that would affect the resale value of the property though, so I think I'll stay away from drilling giant holes into the ceiling for now.
So if I'm shooting for something realistic, I'd probably say a red KitchenAid. Though, at the prices they cost here I'm not sure how realistic that is either! If I did get one though, I'd get the grinder attachment. Then I'd buy a turkey farm so I could make ground turkey. Oh, and sausages. Really good breakfast sausages!
P.S. I still have 11 days to go on NaBloPoMo and I'm so not interesting enough to come up with content on my own, so PLEEEEEEEASE ask me more questions on the post linked below!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Mini Yorkshire Puddings
I can't believe we're already 12 weeks into the FNCCC. I think this is probably one of my favorites so far! The chef this week is Danny Boome. I chose to make the Mini Yorkshire Puddings with Roast Beef.
I'll be honest, I can't figure out why these are called "puddings." I suspect it's another case of British vs. American English. Kinda like the word "pants." If you're American you wear your pants proudly, and if you're British you can laugh at all the Americans proudly going on about their underwear! Anyhow, onto the recipe!
Mini Yorkshire Pudding with Roast Beef
Courtesy of Danny Boome
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing (All of the comments on the FN website said to use oil for greasing the muffin tins, so that's what I did)
1/2 pound thinly sliced roast beef
1/4 cup prepared horseradish (I used a 1:1 amount of horseradish and sour cream)
Chives, cut 1-inch long for garnish (I used dried chives in my horseradish sauce)
Directions
Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl beat together the eggs, milk and butter. Make a well in the flour and whisk in the wet ingredients gradually until fully combined and smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the batter to rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease (I used about 1/2 tsp of oil in the bottom of each muffin cup) 3 mini nonstick muffin tins. Place the tins in the oven to heat up for at least 10 minutes. Give the batter a quick stir and pour it into each muffin cup filling halfway leaving room for them to rise.
Place in the oven and do not open for 30 minutes (start checking at 20 minutes, the first batch I did was rather well done, even at 25 minutes). They should rise after 30 minutes and be golden all over. Remove from oven. Top with a thin slice of roast beef and a small dollop of horseradish on each pudding (I made a sauce with the sour cream, horseradish and dried chives instead of just plain horseradish). Garnish with sprig of chive. Serve immediately.
The Verdict: I went one step further and made some onion gravy to go along with this. We both thought this was an absolutely fantastic recipe! The serving size says 6-8, but I think you could add some zeros on the ends of those numbers. The batter makes GOBS. I'll probably cut it in thirds next time and still have enough for two days worth. I don't think they'll get as puffy with whole wheat flour, but I think I might try half and half sometime down the line and see how it goes.
I'll be honest, I can't figure out why these are called "puddings." I suspect it's another case of British vs. American English. Kinda like the word "pants." If you're American you wear your pants proudly, and if you're British you can laugh at all the Americans proudly going on about their underwear! Anyhow, onto the recipe!
Mini Yorkshire Pudding with Roast Beef
Courtesy of Danny Boome
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing (All of the comments on the FN website said to use oil for greasing the muffin tins, so that's what I did)
1/2 pound thinly sliced roast beef
1/4 cup prepared horseradish (I used a 1:1 amount of horseradish and sour cream)
Chives, cut 1-inch long for garnish (I used dried chives in my horseradish sauce)
Directions
Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl beat together the eggs, milk and butter. Make a well in the flour and whisk in the wet ingredients gradually until fully combined and smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the batter to rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease (I used about 1/2 tsp of oil in the bottom of each muffin cup) 3 mini nonstick muffin tins. Place the tins in the oven to heat up for at least 10 minutes. Give the batter a quick stir and pour it into each muffin cup filling halfway leaving room for them to rise.
Place in the oven and do not open for 30 minutes (start checking at 20 minutes, the first batch I did was rather well done, even at 25 minutes). They should rise after 30 minutes and be golden all over. Remove from oven. Top with a thin slice of roast beef and a small dollop of horseradish on each pudding (I made a sauce with the sour cream, horseradish and dried chives instead of just plain horseradish). Garnish with sprig of chive. Serve immediately.
The Verdict: I went one step further and made some onion gravy to go along with this. We both thought this was an absolutely fantastic recipe! The serving size says 6-8, but I think you could add some zeros on the ends of those numbers. The batter makes GOBS. I'll probably cut it in thirds next time and still have enough for two days worth. I don't think they'll get as puffy with whole wheat flour, but I think I might try half and half sometime down the line and see how it goes.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Get out!
To the bug that has decided to take up residence in my body:
I didn't invite you, but you decided to come in and make yourself comfy. I wish I could say that I appreciated your gifts of a stuffed up head and all over body aches but I really don't. I really wish you would leave. Quickly. Please clean up all your crap and get outta here!!!
Your unwilling host,
mub
I didn't invite you, but you decided to come in and make yourself comfy. I wish I could say that I appreciated your gifts of a stuffed up head and all over body aches but I really don't. I really wish you would leave. Quickly. Please clean up all your crap and get outta here!!!
Your unwilling host,
mub
Monday, November 16, 2009
New Mirrors for the Hall
My mother-in-law has been giving me some crafty goodies over the past little while. Sometimes I have a good project in mind right away, and other things I have to put away and mull over for awhile. This was one of those "mull over for awhile" projects, but this weekend I had a stroke of inspiration!
I plan on hanging them in my hallway, but I haven't figured out a good arrangement for them yet.
It's just clothespin halves, some hot glue, silver paint, and mirrors!
I plan on hanging them in my hallway, but I haven't figured out a good arrangement for them yet.
It's just clothespin halves, some hot glue, silver paint, and mirrors!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Menu Plan Monday- November 16, 2009
Minus not getting to the Paprika Fish from last week (because I lost the recipe and was too lazy to find it), I did pretty well. The white asparagus and blue cheese tart* wasn't bad, but I'd chop up the asparagus next time since it was really hard to serve. I decided to add the Eggs a la Paloma to the "make again" folder. Next time I won't bother cooking the eggs separately because that was time consuming and it is an otherwise quick to prepare meal. I made a couple of weekend meals that weren't on the menu but we liked enough to make again too. I call that success!
*Recipe is in Dutch but if you'd like me to translate it into English let me know and I'll e-mail it to you.
I'm hopeful that I won't need to buy many groceries this week as I'm plodding through clearing out the freezer!
Monday is Martijn's dinner group, so I'm just going to have leftovers (and a clean kitchen to mess up on Tuesday!).
Mini Yorkshire Pudding- This is my FNCCC recipe for this week. I hope it doesn't turn into a disaster!
Cauliflower Soup & Melt Sandwiches of some variety
Bourbon Chicken and Fried Rice
Crockpot BBQ Ribs
Going out to eat with friends! I'm looking forward to this bigtime.
*Recipe is in Dutch but if you'd like me to translate it into English let me know and I'll e-mail it to you.
click the banner and "Menu Plan Monday" for more menu planning ideas
I'm hopeful that I won't need to buy many groceries this week as I'm plodding through clearing out the freezer!
Monday is Martijn's dinner group, so I'm just going to have leftovers (and a clean kitchen to mess up on Tuesday!).
Mini Yorkshire Pudding- This is my FNCCC recipe for this week. I hope it doesn't turn into a disaster!
Cauliflower Soup & Melt Sandwiches of some variety
Bourbon Chicken and Fried Rice
Crockpot BBQ Ribs
Going out to eat with friends! I'm looking forward to this bigtime.
