French Bread Pizza

Recipe: The Best French Bread Pizza // Serious Eats
Bread Recipe: French Baguette // Local Breads

Recipe:

Our French Bread Pizza turned out truly amazing. I started the bread in the morning, and by the afternoon we had some fresh, soft loaves. We didn't have crushed tomatoes, so we whizzed a can of whole peeled tomatoes around in the food processor. The pizza wasn't soggy in the least; our sauce cooked up nicely and we loved the garlic butter base. If I could give this five kitties, I would.

Egg Salad on Italian Baguette

Recipe: Egg Salad with Pickled Celery // Smitten Kitchen
Bread Recipe: Italian Baguette // Local Breads Cookbook from Bread Alone

Rating:

I had a good time baking the bread. It was the first recipe that I've tried from this cookbook, and I'd say it was a success. I didn't use the bread machine! I did use my stand mixer to knead it, though. Even with an extra 10 minutes kneading, I never accomplished the proper "windowpane" elasticity. I moved ahead with the recipe though, because I was afraid of over-kneading it.

After meticulously following all directions, I accidentally baked it for an extra ten minutes. When the smoke alarm wouldn't stop going off, I should have taken the hint. The bottom was burned, so you can see I cut it off.

Deb's egg salad is tasty. I doubled the recipe, because who makes egg salad with only 4 eggs? I need leftovers. Mine had too much mayonnaise because I got tired of measuring. But it's still tasty. I added dry dill and skipped the salt at the end. The mustard, shallots and celery were excellent. A very hard-earned and pleasing lunch!

Lamb Chops

Recipe: Broiled Lamb Chops // How to Cook Everything (pg. 478)
Side Recipe: Roasted Broccoli & Feta Salad

Rating:

This was our first time cooking lamb at home. It had a nice flavor, and was rare in the middle. I cooked the chops on a cast iron skillet on the stovetop, but perhaps I should have broiled them. There wasn't much to the recipe besides adding salt and pepper and cooking at a high temperature for a few minutes.

I liked the feta salad with it -- we made a lemon vinaigrette that went well with the meat but wasn't that good on it's own.

Morning Sticky Buns

Recipe: Morning Sticky Buns // Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook (pg 472)

Rating:

These are a decadent morning treat. However, I would probably skip the caramel topping next time. It's just a little too much over the top sweetness for me. I suppose I prefer a non-sticky cinnamon bun.

We didn't have light corn syrup, and our lousy A&P didn't have any, apparently. Turns out water and (more!!) sugar is a fine substitute. Also, the price of pecans was outrageous, so we used walnuts instead.

I made Seth take half of the buns to work because it would be dangerous to leave me at home with so much delicious bread. The rest will come with us on our mid-week vacation to Atlantic City! How delightful.

Gnocchi of a Different Color

Recipe: Gnocchi of a Different Color // New York Times

Rating:

This gnocchi turned out fine, I just wasn't that wild about it. We made spinach & carrot gnocchis in a garlic sauce. I would have liked to make the beet gnocchis, but I don't expect I'll bother making this again. There are many other potato recipes I like more.

Also, we were really wishing we had a proper food processor for this recipe.

Fanny Farmer Mac & Cheese

Recipe: Macaroni & Cheese // Fanny Farmer Cookbook

Rating:

After Seth made macaroni & cheese for dinner a few weeks ago, I felt the need to try again using a different recipe. This is from the beloved Fanny Farmer Cookbook -- my mom cooked some of my favorite meals from this cookbook when I was growing up (specifically, Chicken Pie Country Style).

I enjoyed this with a bit of ketchup. It's my go-to macaroni & cheese recipe.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Recipe: Roasted Tomato Soup // Serious Eats

Rating:

This is my ideal tomato soup. It's by far the best tomato soup I've ever made at home. The first time I made it, I accidentally used only one can of tomatoes. I have made it again since then, and it's even better with both cans. I think you could easily use milk instead of half and half.

We made the croutons from some bread machine bread. I think it was millet bread--a little extra crunch was welcome!

Sweet 'N Sour Meatballs

Recipe: Sweet 'N Sour Meatballs // Grandma Beverly

Rating:

I liked this recipe very much. There are two things I would change next time I make it: Use less sugar in the sauce (it was a tad too sweet for me), and brown the meatballs before adding them to the sauce (I like the texture of a browned meatball). Overall a tasty winner!