a peek behind Lark Studio...

Free pancakes!

Free is good! Tomorrow is National Pancake Day at IHOP. From their website:

Join IHOP to celebrate National Pancake Day on Tuesday, February 23, 2010. From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., we'll give you one free short stack (three) of our famous buttermilk pancakes.* All we ask is that you consider making a donation to support local children's hospitals through Children's Miracle Network, or other local charities.

So, who's joining me for breakfast?

Thrifting Extravaganza!

I often tweet about my thrifting finds around Richmond. Last month a few friends who are also into thrifting had had it with me. They wanted in on the places so we made a plan to have a big thrifting extravaganza on yesterday. Unfortunately cold & flu season, a sprained ankle and some fabulous international travel dwiddled the group down to just three of us - but we still had a blast!

The Loot - photo by Dawn Anderson

Kelly, Nicole and I hit my favorite spots on the Southside and I scored some great supplies for Lark Studio. Then we had the best fish & chips and luxe desserts for lunch, then hit Kelly's hot spots in Lakeside. It was really fun shopping with the girls and I vow to do it more often!

Chocolate pudding courtesy of Sine Irish Pub

Apple Cobbler courtesy of Sine Irish Pub

Entertaining at breakfast

Anyone who knows me knows I love Ina Garten aka the Barefoot Contessa. To ease some of the work that is involved with entertaining guests in your home, say for dinner or a large meal, she often suggests having folks over for breakfast. I love breakfast foods and tomorrow I get to host six of my craftiest friends for a meal before we head out on a thrifting extravaganza (more on that tomorrow!)

My go to recipe for entertaining is a one pot wonder - the breakfast casserole. It's basically all the things you'd eat for breakfast in one dish. I have no idea where I got this recipe from but I've had it for at least 10 years and have made it dozens of times. In addition to saving you from slaving over several pans on the stove this dish is made the night before! All you do in the morning is pop it into the oven and viola! - breakfast is served. Tomorrow I will be splitting the recipe to make a vegetarian version. I'm heading to my local grocery store now to round up the ingredients for the casserole, grab some fresh fruit to serve along side and finally get some coffee so I can use my french press which still has the tags on it. Perhaps I'll pull down some china for ladies as well!

Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. ciabatta bread, cut into cubes
• Cooking spray
• 1 lb. turkey breakfast sausag
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 (8 oz.) carton egg substitute
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes or until toasted.
3. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with spray. Add sausage to pan; cook 6 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.
4. Combine sausage, bread, and onions in a large bowl. Combine milk, cheese, eggs, and egg substitute in a bowl stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to bread mixture, tossing to coat bread. Spoon mixture into a 2 quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 350 F.
6. Uncover casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Sprinkle with parsley; serve immediately.

Committed - so there will be lots of bread

A few weeks ago I re-committed to the pledge of not throwing away food. Previously some weeks would see me throwing out tens of dollars worth of food purchased but not cooked or consumed before it perished. No more. I have promised myself to get creative and cook/freeze/consume everything that I buy to eat or at least make sure someone does. With that in mind - I had to find use for both over ripe bananas and almost wilted carrots tonight. Viola - Carrot Banana Bread!

Carrot Banana Bread
Courtesy of AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine oil and sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; gradually add to the creamed mixture alternately with bananas. Stir in carrots and pecans. Transfer to a greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

A yummy healthy muffin? Yep, it is possible!

I have decided to severely cut down on eating processed foods.  My friend over at House of Lukaya suggested I have a cooking day - a day where I cook several things that can refridgerate/freeze so I have ready made, homemade meals later in the week.  That's what I'm doing today.

As always, I am purusing my Cooking Light Annual Recipe books.  Cooking Light (the magazine) puts all of the years recipes into one hard bound book.  I got my first one the year I got married and have been a faithful buyer of this periodical every year.  Even years, like this one, where I have the magazine subscription!

Breakfast is the biggest challenge for me on cutting out processed foods.  I usually get up with not to many minutes to spare before having to leave for work, so I need something quick.  In January 2008, the magazine did a feature entitled "Body Boosters: How what you eat can improve your health, mind and appearance".  The article focused on recipes that included super-foods and the vitamins and minerals the body needs most.  The recipe for Orange-Cranberry Wheat Germ Muffins caught my attention (orange, cranberry, brown sugar) and I decided to try it.  The wheat germ provides a excellent does of Vitamin E which can benefit eye, heart and brain health.  These muffins were excellent!  The sprinkling of turbinado on the top provided a great crunchy texture.  I would say take the time to do the fresh squeezed orange juice - it makes a world of difference on flavor and doesn't take that much effort.  These muffins are recommended best served warm, but they are delicious at room temperature too!

Orange-Cranberry Wheat Germ Muffins (Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2009)

(Yield: 1 dozen. Serving size: 1 muffin)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)

1/2 cup raw wheat germ

1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (through nutmeg) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture.

Combine brown sugar and next 4 ingredients (through eggs); stir with a whisk.  Add egg mixture to flour mixture; stir just until combined.  Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.  Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.  Bake at 375 degrees for 17 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched in center.

CALORIES 197 (26% from fat); FAT 5.8g (sat 0.6g, mono 3.1g, poly 1.6g); PROTEIN 3.4g; CARB 33.8g; FIBER 1.2g; CHOL 35mg; IRON 1.7mg; SODIUM 149mg; CALC 54mg

Broiled Flank Steak with Warm Tomato Topping

To start with item #9 on the list, I really want to get good at broiling.  Especially broiling steak.  We don't have an outdoor grill at the moment, so the grill pan and the broiler is all I've got and I want to know how to burn with both.

Tonight's dinner was from the Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2009 book I just cracked open and originally appeared in the magazine in January-February last year.  The warm tomato topping seems to be pretty versatile since it is so basic in its ingredients.  I plan to see how good it is tomorrow at room temperature with some chips!  The flank steak turned out a bit to rare for my preference, however I did have the rack in the middle position (I now realized it should have been 4 - 5 inches from the top heating element).  I served the steak with some olive oil, rosemary and garlic Alexia Oven Fries.  Broiled Flank Steak with Warm Tomato topping is a keeper, especially on those nights when you want a little Latin flavor!

(I apologize for no photos - it was that good!)

Broiled Flank Steak with Warm Tomato Topping

(Yield: 4 servings / Serving size: 3 oz meat and about 1/3 cup topping)

1 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, divided

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 (1-pound) flank steak, trimmed

Cooking Spray

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (about 1 tablespoon)

2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Combine 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and red pepper; sprinkle evenly over steak.  Place steak on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; broil 10 minutes or until desired degree of doneness, turning once.  Let rest.  Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices.
3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and jalapeno to pan; cook 1 minute.  Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon cumin, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and tomatoes to pain; cook 3 minutes or until tomatoes begin to soften.  Remove from heat; stir in cilantro.  Serve tomato topping with steak.

Carrot Souffle

I am NOT a fan of cooked carrots.  Never have been.  A few years ago my Step-mother hipped me to the Carrot Souffle at our local Picadilly Cafeteria and I've been hooked ever since.  Normally we just go to Picadilly and order a huge pan of it to take home.  Last year I decided to find a recipe to duplicate the dish and perfect it to my tastes (the one from the Cafeteria can be a bit too sweet).  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Carrot Souffle

(Serves 6 - 8)

2 pounds organic or local carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks

1/32 teaspoon (smidgen) kosher salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar (2/3 cup is good if you use the powdered sugar below)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla

1/8 teaspoon (dash) cinnamon

2 1/2 Tablespoon unbleached flour

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Steam carrots until they are extra soft. (NOTE: you can boil the carrots in salted water if you don't have a steamer basket.) Drain carrots well.  While the carrots are warm, transfer them to a large mixing bowl.  Add salt, granulated sugar, baking powder, vanilla and cinnamon.  Whip with a mixer until smooth.  (NOTE: I don't take mine to baby food stage, I like to see a wee bit of carrot chunk in my souffle.)  Add flour and mix well.  Add eggs to carrot mixture and blend well.  Add butter to carrot mixture and blend well.  Pour mixture into 2 quart souffle dish or into a baking dish about half full (the souffle will rise).  Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes or until top is light brown.  Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar before serving.

Dish can be served as a sweet vegetable side or even dessert.

(Adapted from Diana Rattray at About.com and trial and error)

Making it work in the kitchen with market finds

Unfortunately, I didn't snap any photos of my Saturday market finds I got from the South of the James Market and they have already been mostly put to use.  I did score some super sweet fresh corn, golden zucchini, green tomatoes, and some locally made fresh pumpkin ravioli shown here all done up with a simple brown butter sauce with sage and parmesan cheese:

The DH does not like pumpkin (how can anyone not like pumpkin?) so his dinner was the making it work for the week.  This weekend I found a container of sun dried tomatoes waaaay in the back of the fridge.  They were still good, so in keeping with my new motto, I had to make them work.  There were some pre-cooked frozen shrimp as well as some fresh broccoli florets I saved from going into the trash this weekend.  The dish?  Spaghetti with fresh garlic, sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil (from my own, very first thing I've ever grown plant!) shrimp and broccoli.  Okay - I need a new, shorter title for that.

Sun dried tomato pasta with shrimp and broccoli

8 oz. sun dried tomatoes in oil (I didn't quite have 8 oz., but it still worked)

1 lb. pasta (spaghetti, angel hair or whatever you have on hand)

2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced

2 - 3 tbsp. olive oil (I used the oil from the tomatoes)

1 lb. shrimp 

Broccoli

3 tbsp. fresh herb, chopped (basil, parsley or whatever you like with your pasta)

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

Cook the shrimp accordingly, set aside. Cook the broccoli, set aside. Make the pasta according to the manufacturer's directions.  Towards the end of the cooking time for the pasta, chop the sun dried tomatoes. Mince the garlic. In a skillet, saute the garlic in oil. Add the tomatoes, broccoli and shrimp. Saute briefly and turn off the heat.  Drain the pasta. Toss hot pasta with the tomatoe mixture. Top with Parmesan cheese. Garnish with fresh herbs. Serve hot and enjoy!

Making it work in the kitchen

Ahh...4 day weekends are great.  Time to relax, clean up and clean out!  I decided to do a good kitchen cleaning today which included cleaning out the refrigerator.  Normally, that would mean just pitching what was bad or just unwanted. I'm usually pretty disgusted at how much food I throw away on the regular.  But I've decided to stop; to use what I have and make it work instead of throwing it away.

First up, a can of chipotles in adobo I've had in my fridge for I don't know how long.  Thank goodness this stuff can last a looong time without going bad.  I still have quite a few chipotles left, so if you have any recipes for how to use them up please let me know.

Caramelized Onions in Adobo

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 sweet onion, sliced
• 1 pinch sugar
• Salt & pepper (to taste) 
• 1 tablespoon* adobo sauce

Directions:

1. Heat the oil over medium high heat.
2. Add onions and reduce the heat to medium-low.
3. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelized, 20 - 30 minutes.
4. Add the salt and pepper to taste, sugar and adobo sauce stir well to combine.

*If you don't know how spicy your adobo sauce is (like me since it had been sitting for a while), I would suggest adding the adobo sauce 1 teaspoon at a time to taste.  Remember - you want flavor not fire!

Adobo onions, cheddar cheese, veggie burger

This is funny!

If you are looking for some crafty funny today - this is it!  I discovered The Craft Whore's videos thanks to the Craftychica some time ago and came across this one today.  Enjoy your own craft and cocktail!