Pay It Forward

So here is the deal:
You have to leave me a comment saying you want to pay it forward
Then you snag this picture and post it to your blog with the directions
The first 3 people who leave me a comment saying they are paying forward and actually do will get a present from me in the next year
You won't know when or what just that a special surprise is coming
Once you place this on your blog and 3 people respond by popping it on their blog you will send them each a small surprise in the next year and so on and so forth with each blogger paying it forward to the three that take the picture and put it on their blog
I like the idea, I think it's neat.....now I need to think of something to give away.....how about a cranky teenager? No hmmm smelly yellow lab? No, a nice surprise, well I keep thinking meanwhile if you are willing to take a chance on me coming up with something neat how about you pay it forward?

Life in the Crudites Lane

I wanted to post a quick picture of the crudites my 5 year old son makes for dinner almost every night. He has taken to arranging the vegetables in patterns this one is a flower. The green pepper seeds sprinkled on top were to make it 'pretty'. And the lemon? Was for his dad who loves them.


Dang he is proud of himself, so is his mommy!

Chocolate Cashew Mazurka Bars

This is my entry for the Quaker True Delights "Be Delighted" recipe contest. The prize is a trip for 2 to Chicago and the Outstanding in the Field Dinner being held there. I am excited to enter these Mazurka Bars because cashews are my favorite nut and chocolate, well chocolate goes with everything. I have been intrigued with Mazurka Bars ever since reading "Bread Alone" by Judith R. Hendricks, in which mazurka bars were a featured treat in the bakery, where the book was set. I don't care much for fruit bars and decided to try a chocolate version. I hope you like it.


Chocolate Cashew Mazurka Bars

Filling:
1 1/2 cups Ghirradeli 60% cocoa bittersweet chips

Pastry:
1 1/4 unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup of cold unsalted butter cut in chunks
1/2 cup firmly packed coconut
3/4 cup old fashioned oatmeal-not instant
1/2 cup salted roasted cashew, ground medium fine

preheat oven to 325 degrees
in the bowl of a food processor add the flour, salt, sugar and butter pulse until it resembles course meal
pour into a bowl and stir in the coconut, oatmeal and cashews
place 3 cups of this mix in an 8X8 un-greased pan pat in place with finger tips
cover with wax paper and press the crust firmly down in place
remove wax paper and save
sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the bottom crust being careful to stay 1/2 inch away from the edge
sprinkle remaining crust over the top
cover with wax paper again and press down firmly making the top smooth
remove wax paper
bake in 40-50 minutes until top is semi set
remove from oven and cool for 20 minutes
cut around the edge of the pan then cut in to bars
remove to cooling rack and cool completely

Need some recommendations

I'm laying here in bed, foot up and doped to the max looking around and feeling a bit depressed. I think this always happens when I'm sick. I get acute I-want-to-tackle-the-world-itis. I dream big. Make elaborate plans. Painting, recovering furniture, digging new gardens, food I'm going to attempt and so on and so forth.

Currently I am scowling at my blog layout. I want cute and customized. I want it to be purely mine. Anybody got any good recommendations of blog skin designers? Blogs to look at? Emails for contacts? Websites to investigate? And of course I'd like to know a normal price range because with my foot up and dh on "vacation" taking care of me the money tree just ain't growing it fast enough for us. Yes, I know I use adsense but that will take FOREVER to make a dime (disgusting).

Well I better get back to garden planning and such. Leave me a comment with any good designers you use. Thanks so much!

RESPECT

While I have wanted to write since I was a little girl life has always gotten in the way. Rather my choices have always gotten in the way. Instead of safe college, I chose a lifestyle not quite amenable to writing (read UNHEALTHY & HEADING FOR HELL), then came my first son Hero who saved my life. He kept me from killing myself with an unhealthy life and forced me to grow up and get well. Then I became single with a boy, I ended up working to keep my house and my son and never wrote but in a journal. Next comes the man of my dreams and ahhhh maybe time to write, oh, no wait here comes baby # 2, Union. Boy, do kids sure suck up the time. Just as I am surfacing from little Union along comes #3 Sir-prise. Now definitely there is NO TIME TO WRITE. A new born, a 2 year old and a 13 year old all need me to keep it together and focus on them. Whew. I did. I am still doing, although now the little ones are 3 and 5 and Hero is 16 and everyone can, at least once in a while, hold it together themselves.

Now I have time. Writing combined with my love of cooking and cook books helped me create a great blog that I love to write in. And the funny thing? No one I tell about it will even LOOK at it. It seems to be that only the people who don't personally know me will actually read it. I have 1 follower who knows me, the rest are cyber supporters. It's weird, I'm finally doing what I have always wanted to do, and I get no respect from people who actually know me. Really, if I mention I'm a blogger people actually snicker about that. As if 'what do you know and why would anybody listen to you'. I'm not going to quit. I'm not going to quit hoping that people will stop feeding their kids crappy food. I am not going to stop hoping gardening and self sufficiency will make a resurgence. I am not going to quit writing about real, good and honest food. I wouldn't be respecting myself if I did. Respect starts with me.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I had a half of a market bunch of kale kicking around in my fridge after my BSI entry last week, waiting for a recipe. The Sunday before my surgery I decided to stuff some chicken breasts as a last hurrah in cooking before being bed bound for a week (or so). That's where the kale comes in to play and play it did. With feta cheese happily tucked inside chicken breasts and a crunchy coating. OK see now that is just NOT FAIR I'm stuck in bed with nothing to eat and I've made my stomach growl. Hmmph!

Kale and Feta Suffed Chicken Breasts

5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons of feta
5 tablespoons wilted kale - for me this 1/2 a market bunch center ribs removed, torn in to bite sized pieces then wilted

2 beaten eggs

in a shallow pan or bowl combine:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic granules
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper


cut a small pocket in each breast
stuff each breast with 1/5 of the kale and feta mix
close and secure with a toothpick or 2

when they are all stuffed dredge them well in the beaten eggs and roll in
the flour mix, shake of the extra
place on a lightly greased baking sheet
bake a 375 for 25-35 minutes until they are cooked through and and crispy brown

If you have to have a mr. misto oil spritzer go ahead and give them a quick blast with it before baking and the crust will be even more divine!

Enjoy!

I'm Not Cooking

and I wish I was. Not that my dh is having trouble, I just really love to cook and create. So I thought I would list the meals I have semi-prepared for him since I can't actually stand and cook.
-Meatloaf w/mashed potatoes and green beans
-Parmesan Chicken Fingers over buttered pasta and crudites
-Falafel patties w/ cucumber sauce, and greek salad
-Barbecued pork chops, baked potatoes, roasted corn and crudites
-Hamburgers on buns, homemade french fries
-Pigs in blankets,tater tots and green salad
-Enchiladas, refried beans, crudites
-2 Roasting Chickens

Mostly these meals are prepared and frozen or are just easily whipped together from ingredients I've gathered. I'm sure you noticed the crudites for several meals? My 5 yo just learned to peel carrots and carefully slice them with a pampered chef spreader. Those handy little tools are sharp enough to cut a carrot but not quite sharp enough to cut you. The most they will do is give you a scrape. My son dearly loves to clean and cut vegetables for a lovely crudites plate. We generously 'let' help out. *wink*

So I guess I'll continue to lay around eating painkillers and bonbons. In other news who put bubble wrap under on the floor under my crutch? Jeebus I almost gave myself a heart attack!!

Sweet Giveaway

Want to win some awesome little chocolates? Go see Mara at "What's For Dinner?" she is giving away a cute can of Sweetriot Raw Cocoa Nibs. Even if you don't like chocolate (weirdo) go read Mara's blog, she is a fantastic writer and just a real neat girl. Good Luck!!

Crock Pot Mexican Lasagna

In my insane need to completely organize EVERYTHING (slightly ocd) I have cleaned my entire house, planned/prepped 8 full meals, shopped for a week, done all the laundry, left a complete detailed menu and even washed the windows so everything is in order. I absolutely cannot stand to sit or lay around in a dirty cluttered house and since that is what I will be doing for at least a week I figured I better do it now before I try to do it on crutches and painkillers(woot!) So the night before my surgery I am sitting in my spotless house feeling like something is undone and for the life of me I can't remember what. Oh well I guess it's too late now and whatever it is will just have to wait.
I am preparing a kickass crock pot lasagna to cook while we are at the surgery center. I thought I should pass on the recipe because it is so good. It is nice to come home to a hot meal that is not complete mush and this one holds up well.


Crock Pot Mexican Lasagna

1 pound ground beef 93% lean-turkey will work as well and as always less meat/meatless will do
1 18 ounce can of red enchilada sauce
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 15 ounce can black beans-pinto or kidney are good too
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon cumin-optional

1 9 ounce box Barilla No Cook Flat Lasagna Noodles
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese-more if you like it cheesy

brown the ground beef drain off the fat
reduce the heat, add the sauce, tomatoes, beans, water and spices
simmer for 10 minutes

layer in the crock pot 1/4 of the sauce, cheese, noodles-break in half to fit
repeat
repeat
repeat
end with a cheese layer

Now you may only get 3 layers in your crock pot in that case just make your layers thicker
as long as the layers are pretty evenly distributed all will be good

refrigerate over night or plug in and cook on low 8 hours or high 6 hours*****SEE UPDATED COOKING TIMES

Crock pot size is important this was developed in a 6 quart oval crock pot if you have a smaller one cut the recipe in half or if you have a tall round crock pot you may need to make more layers

If you have not given Barilla No Cook Flat Lasagna noodles a try you really should, they are SO good. Also very fast and easy to use. I think they are the reason this does not turn to absolute mush. Try them!

-------------------------------------------UPDATE----------------------------------------------
I left the lasagna cooking all day in the crock pot on low. It is done but could be more done. I think split cooking temperatures will work best. High for 4 hours and then on low for 2-4 hours. Alternately I think low for 10 hours will work too. Some new crock pots cook at lower temperature because the manufacturers have lowered the overall temperatures to accommodate customer complaints. So again, watch your crock pot and adjust accordingly! Now I'm going to take a pain pill and pass out.

Blogger Bailout!

I found a fellow clickster over at Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom . Besides being witty, funny and sweet Lara is also a button pusher. The movement is gaining momentum people! I love it. So if you see an ad that interests you by all means check it out. Support your fellow bloggers. Have your buttons been pushed? Well then pay it forward! And make sure you snag her cute button too.
If you want to participate leave me a comment and I'll visit to get you started. Also be sure to check out everyone else who is participating and leaving comments! Have fun.

❧ Sautéed Greens ❧

I love greens. There I said it. I truly do love greens, beet, turnip and mustard are fabulous and kale is my absolute favorite. I can't wait for summer to have them in abundance. I have been missing them this winter. After seeing the BSI contest for kale recipes I finally broke down and bought some figuring that spring greens were far enough away that I could justify buying them. Glad I did!
I actually bought arugula, mustard and kale figuring I'd go for the ultimate greens power house dish. Even my kids liked it, now that's saying something. I based my recipe on an Alice Waters recipe for Swiss Chard with parmesean from "The Art of Simple Cooking". It was a tasty and beautiful side dish to fake n bake pork chops, sweet potato rounds and roasted asparagus. Mmmmm, spring is coming and I can't wait!

Sautéed Greens

6 cups of mixed greens roughly 2 cups each arugula, mustard and kale washed and spun dry
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesean cheese, divided

tear the greens into bite size pieces
place a large skillet over medium high heat
when it is heated, toss in the greens and stir until they are semi wilted, remove to a bowl
add the oil, butter and salt, stir together until hot
toss the greens in and most of the cheese reserving some to sprinkle on the finished dish
quickly toss to coat and remove from heat
place it in a serving dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese, serve hot

Ankle Surgery

About 3 years ago fully pregnant with my 3rd son I was waddling out of the grocery store from a late night chocolate run when an errant rock got in my way. Down I went. I for sure thought my ankle was broken but thought enhhh I'll wait till morning to go to the emergency room. I guess I thought the god awful pain would go away miraculously over night. In the morning when I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get around I finally thought "fine whatever I'll go to the doctor". After x-rays and hospitalization for very low blood pressure it turned out, that no, in fact I did not have a broken ankle, just a sprain.

Fast forward 1 year, to Colony Days, a yearly summer celebration, to me careening around the town square towards some live goats that we had to go see and WHAM! turn my ankle in a small little hole. It hurts, like hell, but I am not going to the doctor because 'fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me' mentality won't let me. OK no one ever said I was the brightest light on the block, right? So that sprain, was actually a real honest to god fracture, that I kept on walking on, running on, hiking on, playing badmitton on and generally doing everything on.

Fast forward 2 more years to me saying hmmm my 'sprained ankle' still hurts. I wonder whats really wrong? Why does it still hurt? And of course it's because it's broken. Or was. Or was and still has a chip floating around in there, somewhere. That's where I am now, looking at surgery to remove said evil chip off my own body. And since I'll be off my feet for a week to 10 days the doctor is going to fix a small bunion, too. Yes, I am a charming creature and you came here especially to hear about my feet.

Birthdays in the time of pneumonia

I always let my family pick their favorite foods for their birthday dinner, they are the 'deciders' for the day, and it works. I have 2 birthdays back to back in February. First my husband and the next day my son and 2 days later it's Valentines day. Its quite a week.

This year I have been sick, sick enough to warrant a trip to the doctor and she said "you have a...cold" What? Pneumonia? Strep? Oh no just a cold. WHAT? I have to be half dead to go to the doctor and all I have is a cold. Pfft. Turns out I really DID have pneumonia but was diagnosed only after: a second visit to the doctor which was precipitated my me sitting in the corner and crying because my kids were so mean to me (delirium, I swear!), bursting in to tears at the sound of my husbands voice and general zombie unkempt behavior(inability to shower included!). Ew. Let me ask you this have you ever dragged yourself in to the doctors office wearing one shoe and 3 coats? No? Hmm am I the only one? Anyhoodle they will get you right on in, they don't want you sitting in the waiting room scaring the little kids. I think I liked the waiting room better, there wasn't anyone trying to stick a miniature toilet brush up my nose to get a flu culture. I didn't know my sinuses went so far back there.

Back to birthday dinners, this year my husband picked curry. I don't mind but the rest of my family turns up their nose at curry, oh they'll eat but not with gusto. Then on my husbands birthday he was sick so we made 'easy for sick people food' AKA breakfast. The next day we went on to have frozen pizza, boneless hot wings (?!?) and tater tots for my sons favorite meal. *sigh* I love my son. I love my son. I love my son. That's my 'oven' dinner for the whole year. There used to be a time when that was high cuisine, thankfully I have moved beyond that spot in my life.

The really big planning was what to feed everyone on Sunday when we would all get together and celebrate birthdays and Valentines and life in general. What to fix? It had to be a carefully chosen dinner that tastes great, presents well and that everyone will eat. We finally all agreed on cheese stuffed shells, our new favorite dinner.
It's a serious trifecta. We all LOVE it. It can be as healthy as you want it to be. The price is not too bad at 3 dollars for a box of 35 big shells and they rest is cheese and sauce, maybe 7 bucks maximum?

Then I was diagnosed with pneumonia and wiped out, we cancelled all plans for parties and dates. BOO! Come Sunday when I actually felt somewhat alive I decided to make the stuffed shells at least just for us. They were delicious as usual and the rest of the family will just have to believe me on that until next time.

This recipe feeds 5 and makes 2 nice packets of leftovers for my son to reheat in the toaster oven. (we don't microwave)

one box of large shells
16 ounce carton of ricotta
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
2 eggs
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 cup frozen spinach,squeezed dry and snipped fine
6 cups of spaghetti sauce -I make my own but you can use store bought if you like

use 2 9X13 pans

prepare the shells according to package directions
meanwhile mix the ricotta, mozzarella, egg, oregano and spinach, set aside
bring the spaghetti sauce to a simmer and reduce to low
when the shells are done drain and rinse
now it's time to prepare the shells
stuff each shell with the cheese mixture and place in a 9X13 pan
if you have cheese leftover divide it between the stuffed shells until it is gone
spoon the sauce around and lightly over the shells evenly
cover the pans with foil, bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes
remove from the oven, remove foil and sprinkle with the reserved cheese
let the shells rest for 10 minutes before serving


I like to mix 2 tablespoons of pesto into the cheese mixture for spicy change. I also
add kale or swiss chard to the cheese mixture when I have it and my family never knows.


Check the sweet jadeite and the slew of homemade valentines too.

Breakfast for dinner PLEASE!!

I saw this little recipe on Just Eat Food and she found it on Dine and Dish who found the original on Recipeczaar. Now if you managed to get through all those links without wanting to KILL me then read on for the quickest, tastiest and (dangit) easiest way to make bacon and eggs. I love breakfast for dinner and this really hit the spot along with hash browns and toast the other night.

Egg Cups (feeds 5 easily)

1 package thick slice bacon (try to find a package with 12 slices in it)
12 eggs

(tada that's it, easy hunh?)

pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

line each muffin cup with a slice of bacon, around the outer edge
crack an egg in each cup
carefully place the pan in the oven and bake for 25 minutes
serve with choice of breakfast foods and hot coffee

I also tried these with scramble eggs in the middle and no one really like them. I couldn't figure out the reason why but thought I should pass that tidbit on to you.

And one final note: I feel better, thanks for all your well wishes and I am finally cooking again!

Valentines Day...Bread?

I have been sick these last 2 weeks and yesterday I found out I had pneumonia. Woot! Right in time for my oldest sons birthday parties and Valentines Day. So we postponed the parties and cancelled any Valentine plans and hunkered down for a long weekend. My poor husband has been in charge of taking care of me, kids and his job. Again poor guy, that's a lot to handle.
Imagine my surprise this morning when I woke up to beautiful homemade breakfast, chocolates and this gorgeous loaf of bread.
Again what a guy! Hope you all have a great day, I'm going back to bed.

Smackdown Week 6: Valentines day sweet treat battle

I have been sick this week. Sick enough that food didn't sound good. What the heck? Now that's just weird! I was attempting to catch up on mount laundry today when my co teacher for preschool called an said "you have to do a Reese's smackdown this week" "Oh yeah" my brain said "smackdown" while my mouth said "oh, great idea!" Truthfully she saved my rear because smackdown was so far down the list of things to do, it wasn't even registering.
We made the peanut butter candies, dipped them in chocolate and left them to cool at her house on Monday for preschool. I totally forgot about them. Apparently she did not forget them, as they innocently cooled in her fridge not knowing they were tempting Wonder Woman ( I call her that because she has 2 sets of twins, all boys and reacts pretty calmly to most situations) with their sweet peanut buttery chocolate siren call. They had to be sentenced to a closed box to keep them safe from nibbling. So the smackdown this week (Thanks Jen) is peanut butter wrecking balls vs Reese's peanut butter cup.

Peanut Butter Balls (AKA wrecking balls when you have 5 year old helpers)
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 softened butter
1 cup powdered sugar

chocolate for dipping
we used chocolate chips about 1 1/2 cups melted together with 2 teaspoons oil but you could use almond bark white or chocolate or a mix have fun!

mix the peanut butter and the butter together until well blended
mix in the sugar until it is well incorporated

roll in small balls and chill well

melt your chocolate
dip the balls in chocolate and set carefully in small candy cups or on a wax covered cookie sheet
chill for up to 2 hours before eating and keep in the fridge

give them to people you love for a sweet treat along with a hand cut valentine heart

Now the smackdown. The homemade peanut butter balls are very simple to make, very inexpensive and so delicious! They are, as Wonder Woman pointed out, not too sweet, which is actually a good thing. We used chunky peanut butter for a crunchy texture and they were highly praised by our little preschool testers. Labeled "mmmm the best" and "gooooood" by everyone they were definitely a winner! We did have one dissenting 5 year old twin but his little voice was drowned out by everyone else. The cost for a batch of 16-24 depending on size was about $1.75.

The Reese's peanut butter cups are also inexpensive coming in at 1.19 for a king size 4 patty package. The store bought have a few additives, they were greasy upon opening and horrifically sweet. So sweet they made my sweet tooth hurt! Of course this didn't keep me from inhaling the last peanut butter cup. (ha! as if)


This is a picture of the 1910 treadle sewing machine I bought for my husbands birthday this week. Thought you guys might enjoy it!

I am still pushing buttons over here! I have hit ads on several blogs and to date I have pushed 17 buttons. Woot! I am aiming for 100 by the end of February. Of course this has been good for me too as several people have clicked on my ads. Let's keep supporting other bloggers.

Minestrone-BIG soup

I have never had a hankering for minestrone. Ever. Until Monday, then, I needed to make Minestrone. Maybe because I was getting sick, I needed a nice hot and healthy soup. Whatever the reason I was in for a real treat. I dug in to my new cookbook (thanks Heather!!!) Alice Waters' "The Art of Simple Food" and discovered quite possibly the best soup I have EVER made.

Minestrone--BIG soup

1/4 cup of olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 stalks celery, diced

1 clove garlic crushed and then chopped
2 tablespoons thyme
2 teaspoons salt
1 bay leaf

3 cups water
2 cups frozen green beans snapped to 1 inch lengths
1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 15 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
1 15 ounce can stewed tomatoes

3 cups cooked pasta, I used penne but any shape will do
1 can cannellini beans drained

leftover pasta water-you might need this to thin out the broth and this gives your soup a nice body

DIRECTIONS
in a heavy duty dutch oven heat the oil over medium heat and add the first 4 ingredients
cook slowly over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, this is the way to make soffritto which is a nice way to give your soup a long simmered taste and depth

before cooking the soffritto
the soffritto after 15 minutes
when the vegetables are cooked and very aromatic add the next 4 ingredients and gently cook for another 5 minutes, stirring often
then add the next 3 ingredients, bring to a boil reduce heat to simmer and simmer 15 minutes
add the next 2 ingredients and simmer 10 minutes longer
reduce heat to low a stir in the beans and pasta to warm through
taste and add salt and pepper to your liking

I served it with a hunk of parmesean cheese, a box grater and warmed bread.
My kids deemed it the best soup EVER. Now that is something.





This is my entry for this weeks Souper Sunday over at Kahakai Kitchen Stop in and check out the awesome soup collection.

Smackdown Week 5 Ranch VS Ranch: The Salad Wars

A few weeks back a friend asked me to make ranch dressing my next smackdown and I am only too happy to oblige her. I was casting about for this weeks smackdown idea when I remembered her request, so Katie this ones for you.

I started this experiment by researching ranch dressing recipes. I tried several sites online and a couple favorite cookbooks and found out there are a lot of ranch dressing recipes in the world! 99% of them require...MSG. MMM nothing like a good old neurotoxin to get your heart pumping right? So the first order of my recipe was "NO MSG" and the second to make the best damned ranch dressing there ever was and banish that packet mix forever.

::Disclaimer- The last time I made ranch dressing from a packet was for Christmas and before that it had been about a year, much to my oldest sons disgust. I like my salad un-adulterated therefore I don't make it much. I also refuse to buy the bottled junk it is so disgustingly sweet.::


The contenders:

Ranch One
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup milk
mix well and wait for the xanthan gum to thicken up



This is the traditional ranch mix that everyone is used to. It was, as usual, good and thick enough to float a spoon on. The five year old liked this one better than my homemade version. After reading up on the MSG and other delicious chemicals in this mix I was hesitant to let anyone try it but I figured once more would be fine. The price was very high at $3.29 for a 2 pack of mix plus milk and mayonnaise. The sodium content for one serving was 10% of your daily intake. Doesn't' seem like a lot right? That means if you eat 2 servings you will have consumed 1/5 of your salt for the day. Besides who really measures out 2 tablespoons anyway? No one I know except people watching their weight. So the taste was good (MSG working away there) but the chemicals, price and sodium really make this one a loser for me.

Ranch two

1 cup buttermilk
1 1/3 cup mayo
1/3 cup of nonfat yogurt
2 teaspoons of dillweed
2 teaspoons of parsley
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
1 small squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of salt--more to taste
1/2 teaspoon of pepper

mix all the ingredients in a bowl with a whisk
taste and adjust salt and pepper to your preference

I was very pleased with this dressing. It was mighty similar to the Hidden Valley Ranch but without the chemicals. In fact my dear husband couldn't decide which was which and finally decided the store bought was mine because it was so thick (xanthan gum for ya'). Ha! He continued tasting trying to figure out what was different but never did. He liked mine better but would like it thicker 'more chewy' was how he put it. So price wise the herbs were bought in bulk so they were very inexpensive about 2 dollars total and I got enough to make 7-8 batches for that price. Plus mayonnaise, yogurt and buttermilk which are not cheap themselves. The sodium was negligible. Taste was great, price was great, no chemicals added and 4 out five in my house LOVED it. The only thing wanting in the homemade was 'more chewy' hunh I'll have to work on that.

Currant Oatmeal Cookies

These were really good cookies and disappeared very quickly at our 'feast of a thousand dumplings' the other night. The original recipe came from Alice Waters' new cookbook "The Art of Simple Food" but I (of course) changed it up because my currants were really my currants from my bushes last year and I had some coconut I wanted to use up. So I made these sweet treats to top off a homage to Chinese New Year dinner that included about 180 hand made dumplings, dry fried green beans and tofu, jook and many other tasty treats. This was my first run in with jook and wow was it good. I'll definitely be trying it for myself and posting the recipe soon but real quick it is basically a rice soup cooked until the rice explodes and then it is a thick full bodied soup. Yum!

OK back to the cookies. An odd combination of chewy and crispy with red currants throughout, they were a real hit. What cookies were left anyway, the first batch stuck to parchment paper but after I chilled the dough and ditched the parchment paper we were in business! So I left them out while I was steaming the dumplings and by the time we wanted cookies they had been snitched to death and one remained. Such is the life a good cook, right?


Currant Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup dried currants reconstituted in warm water and drained
1 cup softend butter
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C brown sugar
3 cups oatmeal
1 cup flour
1 cup coconut
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp boiling water
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

cream the butter and the sugars together
in a separate bowl mix the oatmeal, flour, coconut, salt and cinnamon
in a small dish mix the baking soda and boiling water then add it to the sugar mix
beat the eggs and vanilla in to the sugar mixture
then stir in the flour mix making sure the dough gets well blended
gently stir in the drained currants
refrigerate for at least 30 minutes prior to baking
scoop by tbsp on to a ungreased cookie sheet
bake in 350 degree oven for 11-14 minutes until crispy brown around the edges, the center will still be soft
cool on the cookie sheet then gently remove to a cooling rack for further cooling

I don't know how to store these because they disappeared too fast. I would imagine it goes something like this: cool completely and keep in a sealed container and no your mouth does not count. Enjoy!

The finished product pre-party.

------UPDATE-----So Cate had a good question, were my currants fresh or dried? They were in fact fresh/frozen from last summer. To make them work in this recipe I simply dried them in the oven on low until they were semi dried. Some were crispy (not on purpose, I forgot about them) so I did, in fact, pop them in some warm water to plump them a bit. My reasoning behind drying them was this, I thought they would get crushed to a juicy death in cookie dough if they were thrown in fresh. They were actually just right in the cookies, chewy and tangy. So if you have fresh/frozen currants from you garden or dried store bought currants either version will work just fine in this recipe.