Brussel sprouts!!!!!

When I was planning the menu for my wedding I asked Chandran, then 9 years old, if he had any suggestions for the meal. He promptly replied that we should serve brussel sprouts. I sadly informed him that he and I would be the only people eating them, so we'd have to pick another vegetable. The child was devastated and I'm still trying to make up for the disappointment both for him and I. I do so love a good sprout. This recipe is my mother's and very uncharacteristic of her food choices since it involves sugar. However, as kids, we used to fight over who got to finish the leftovers. And for any parent, getting your kid to not only eat but complain when the last of the brussel sprouts are eaten, victory is sweet. The key to this recipe is truly the simple fact the the brussel sprouts are fresh. Not canned. Not frozen. Fresh. I love it when I can find them still on the stalk, but I will also take sifting through a bin. Someday, I will be brave enough to try and grow my own. And then, it will be heaven!

- 1 lb fresh brussel sprouts
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp. butter, melted

Steam the brussel sprouts until they are tender. (I like mine with a little bit of bite still in them, so I usually judge doneness by color. A good vibrant green is perfect.) Mix together the bread crumbs, salt and sugar. Pour the melted butter over the brussel sprouts and then toss the the crumb mixture. Serve warm.

Quack

A few years ago, I remember reading an article about a family that raised their own chickens and ducks in their back yard. Year long, they had an ample supply of eggs and fresh meat. This interested me. I begged Sweets to let me put a chicken coop in our back yard. We really have the perfect set-up for a coop. Our yard is long, has a 6-foot fence and is shaded toward the back. I had this wonderful vision of Betty and Ethel and Arlene pecking away back there and me serving eggs from them every morning for breakfast. Idyllic, no? Like I said, hubs, he nixed it. I'm not even allowed to speak of this idea he hates it so much! His sister now has a part-time job working for an egg farm in the Wooster area and we've had lovely conversations about chickens and their laying capabilities and I've gotten the chance to sample some of the eggs from the farm. So, I get to kind of live through her chicken experiences and pretend they're mine.
My sister-in-law's mother-in-law (follow that?) has a pond on her family's property and said pond is frequented by ducks. Ever since I read this article, I've been wanting to help Ella get rid of the eggs she finds around the pond. She doesn't need more ducks and I need to try their eggs. Everything I've read about duck eggs states that they taste essentially the same as regular chicken eggs, but are slightly richer. The richness factor is due largely in part to the fact that they have way more cholesterol and lipids than a chicken egg, but imagine how awesome a cake would turn out with eggs like that in them! So anyway, no matter where I've looked, I just haven't been able to get my hands on any eggs. Every now and then, I think that I should try harder because I'd really like to try them, but I don't.

And then... a guy that Sweets works with mentioned that he had all these duck eggs on his property. Would I like to try any? Would I? I eagerly accepted my half dozen box and placed them reverently in the fridge. And then, I panicked. What if I didn't actually like them? What if the fact that I knew they weren't chicken eggs prevented me from enjoying them? Good grief! All that anticipation for this? After a few days of worrying about the experience, I decided that I would turn them into a frittata. For sure, Julia Child would hold my hand through this and I'd be ok. The end result was wonderful. I couldn't really taste a difference and was surprised how filling the dish was. The next day while I ate my leftover duck egg frittata, I congratulated myself for such boldness. Of course, I was a complete wimp the night before, but no one needs to know that... oh wait, I already told you.

Basic Frittata:
- 6 eggs
- half a small onion, diced
- 3 strips of bacon, diced
- 2 Tbsp. chives, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- goat cheese to melt on top of the finished frittata

Saute the onion and bacon in a medium skillet until almost done. Drain and set aside. Using the leftover bacon grease in the skillet, swirl the pan so that it coats the sides and bottom. You can add extra butter or oil if you don't have enough. Beat the eggs thoroughly and add in the chives. Pour the eggs into the skillet (which should still be hot) and allow them to cook long enough to form a bit of a crust on the bottom. Gently push a spatula through the egg, enough to stir it up so that what egg is on top of the crust flows under it and gets cooked. Add in the bacon and onion; sprinkle evenly across the developing frittata. When the eggs are about 90% done, sprinkle the top with goat cheese and place the entire skillet in the oven (preheated to 350 degrees). Bake for about 10 more minutes. The top should be golden brown and the the cheese melted into the eggs. Cut into wedges and serve with a salad.

Sticky Chicken

Who out there loves Asian food? I hope a few hands just raised in front of their computers. I am a big fan of Chinese food, not so much Japanese and only sometimes interested in Thai. Since I grew up vegetarian in the late 80s, early 90s there weren't a whole lot of food choices on the Ohio restaurant scene. On the rare ocassion that we went out to eat, we went Chinese 98% of the time. On any given menu, you'll find many vegetarian options that are plentiful and filling. Unfortuanely, at that time, each dish was also rife with MSG. For an all-natural mama like mine, this wasn't optimal. So she and Dad learned how to make egg rolls, stir frys and chop suey. Chinese food is comforting to me... when I'm sick, I often crave the chicken fried rice. In fact, to prove my point, I should mention that while dealing with the worst of my morning sickness, I ate a lot of said rice. Thank God Mrs. Lee puts lots of peas and carrots in theirs or I would feel guilty about consuming so many orders during the first 5 months! Currently, I am working on a few posts on Chinese foods for you eating pleasure. Today, I bring you the delight of soy sauce and honey marinated chicken.

Sticky Honey Chicken
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger (or 1 tsp. dry powder)
- 4 chicken breasts (the boneless, skinless version)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 cup frozen peas, optional

Peel and dice the garlic. If you are using fresh ginger, you can mix it with the garlic and then mash it into oblivion to make a paste. Combine this with the soy sauce, chicken broth and pepper flakes. Add the chicken and marinate for a few hours (I was most impressed with the flavor if done over night). Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a skillet on medium heat and place the chicken breasts in, reserving the marinade. Cook for 10 minutes, turning to avoid over-browning the chicken. Pour in the remaining marinade and bring to a boil. Add in the honey and cover. Cook until the chicken is done. Serve over rice and accompanied with egg rolls.

Treats!!!

I know that Halloween is tomorrow and everyone is thinking about all the treats they will bring home in their goodie bags. But what about the dogs? How many of you dress your pets up and take them out too? The first year we had our dogs, I dressed them up. Vito went as a bumblebee and Nunzio as a lady bug. Vito didn't mind the attention, but Nunzio got her antennae off her head and ate them before we were out of the driveway. We haven't trick or treated since.

Dog treats are really very simple to make. Any more, I don't purchase ones from the store except when the ones for chewing are on sale. Both of my dogs love when I bake them things and I have a fun time experimenting with flavors. I started doing this when everyone was freaked out over the tainted dog food a while back and found that a little bit of flour and milk can really go a long way.

One batch of cookies/treats makes close to 75 if you are using a small cookie cutter. I like to use my seasonal cutters (from my cake decorating classes) to make them. At the holidays, I take a big batch to the humane shelter and give some away to friends as well. And here's a tip: if you have a friend who recently had a baby and also has a dog, bring something for the dog when you go visit. Not only does it endear you to the dog and his/her owner, but it makes the dog feel less like he's lost his place in the home with the arrival of the baby. I am forever grateful to those who brought treats for my dogs after the birth of the Cheflet!

Basic Banana treats:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 mashed banana
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup milk

Mix all the ingredients together until you have an elasticy dough. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut out your treats. Bake at 375 for half an hour. Allow to cool before storing in an air-tight container.

Perfect potatoes

Sweets made these potatoes to go with our burgers on Sunday. They were wonderful! Try them... you'll thank me!

- 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp oil

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Season the potatoes and add to the heat. Cook until beginning to become tender, then cover with a lid to steam for 10-15 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees. (Baking time is dependent on how crispy and browned you want your potatoes.)

Quiche Lorraine

**my apologies for the incredibly crummy photo, but I was in a huge hurry to eat!**

I am a huge fan of the quiche. I didn't really realize it until about a year ago, but I really, really like it! My mother used to make a quiche every other week or so when I was growing up. Once I was helping regularly in the kitchen, I took over this dish. This dish is the reason why I became so paranoid about making pie crust. In fact, I hated making crust so much that I tried crustless quiche recipes and have made a crust out of biscuits to avoid the task! Today, I'm totally ok with making a crust and really enjoy experimenting with the fillings. My mother used to make it with tofu and I now make it with goat cheese. My favorite filling has to be asparagus, but tonight, I made your basic quiche Lorraine. And tweaked it. I added caramelized onions and fresh chives. I have no self control. I totally meant to follow Julia's recipe to the "t", but couldn't. The result was wonderful. Someday I'll have to make it her way, though.

Quiche Lorraine:
- 1 pie shell, partially baked
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 6-8 slices of bacon
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 Tbsp. chives
- salt and pepper to taste

Julia's directions call for you to lightly brown the bacon and layer it on the bottom of the crust. I prefer my fillings to mixed throughout. I diced the onions and cut the bacon up into small pieces. I fried the bacon first and used the drippings to caramelize the onions. In the meantime, I whisked together the eggs, cream, salt, pepper and chives. Once the bacon and onions had cooled a bit, I added them to the mixture. I then baked it at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Julia's recipe says 30, but I felt the center was a bit too wiggly for my taste. Prep for this is super easy and the filling combinations are endless. To me, this is a wonderful comfort food; one that I look forward to coming home to.

And the award goes too....

1.) Thank and post URL to the blog that gave the award. Abbie gave me this award for my blogging... even though I've been somewhat irregular! ;) Thanks for the understanding and encouragement to keep posting!

2.) Pass the award along to 6 brilliantly over the top blogs (blogs you love!) Alert them so they know to receive the award.

Sweet Peas and Pumpkins: I love this blog and it gives me so much to look forward to as the Cheflet grows up!

Lilly's Home Journal: I've known Lilly since I was a little girl and so it is fun to see her post about her life (and food) now... a few states away!

London Footnotes: Long gone are the days of sunning ourselves poolside in Oklahoma, and now Sharona continues on with her super exciting life and is such a dear to share the photos!

With a Little Luc: I love reading about what Tiff is up to... she lives in Ohio (which is nice to recognize some of the places she talks about) and has the most adorable little boy (mine excepted, of course). She used to blog here and I often use that as a reference since our boys are growing at about the same rate.

Jake & Christy: An awesome blog written in such a natural light. Baby Piper and the Cheflet are only 2 days apart...

A Reservation for Six: Love it! Great stories, pictures and advice!

3.) Copy and paste this quiz… Change the answers, ONE word only!!

1-Where is your cell phone? Charger

2- Your hair? Short!

3-Your mother? Missed

4-Your father? Policeman

5-Your favorite food? Cheese

6-Your favorite drink? Water

7-Your dream last night? None

8-Your dream/goal? Perfection (*wink*)

9-What room are you in? Office

10-Your hobby? Food!!!

11-Your fear? Alligators

12-Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home

13-Where were you last night? Home

14-Something that you aren’t? Sleepy

15-Muffin? Blueberry

16-Wish list item? Boots

17-Where did you grow up? Ohio

18-Last thing you did? Coughed

19-What are you wearing? Black

20-Your TV? Off

21-Your pets? Loud

22-Friends? Wonderful

23- Your life? Pleasant

24-Your mood? Calm

25-Missing someone? No

26-Vehicle? Clean

27-Something you aren’t wearing? Earrings

28-Your favorite store? Barnes

29-Favorite color? Red

30-When was the last time you laughed? morning

31-Last time you cried? Friday

32-Your best friend? Best

33-One place you go to over and over? Kitchen

34-One person who emails you regularly? Mindy

35-Favorite place to eat? Home

Variations on a theme

On Facebook the other day, a friend posted that she had just had from pumpkin bread fresh from the oven. I needed some right then. Of course, it took me a few days to get around to making it, but when I did.... 5 loaves, my friends! Now. What I need to tell you is that, I've been experimenting a lot these last few weeks. Some ideas are keepers, some are not. The brownie recipe that is in the works isn't quite there. This bread, however, is. Try it each and every way. You'll love it!

Pumpkin bread:
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/3 cups brown sugar
- 6 Tbsp. butter, softened
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup wheat germ
- 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ginger
- 1 tsp. nutmeg

Begin by beating together the butter and eggs on medium speed in the bowl of a mixer. Add the sugar until blended and then add the pumpkin. Whisk together all the dry ingredients and then slowly add them to the bowl. Stream in the milk and vanilla until all is mixed thoroughly. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Variations
Butternut Squash bread: exchange the pumpkin puree for butternut squash and cut the cinnamon to only 1 1/2 tsp. Bake as directed above.
Ginger-Pear bread: exchange the pumpkin for 1 cup of over-ripe pears, mashed lightly with a spoon. Increase the ginger to 2 tsp. and grate in a little fresh if you'd like. Cut the cinnamon and nutmeg measurements in half. Bake at 350 for an hour.