Social Weekend - Cookbook Challenge and a little time to work on Autumn quilt

Two Separate Girlfriend Visits!

As I had last wrote, I have this recipe, Onion and Goat Cheese Tartlets collected from 2003!  I believe I cut it from the Washington Post Newspaper - but I never made it until Friday night.

 I explained to my friend about the cookbook challenge and she voted YES!  It's a keeper and I couldn't agree more!  I forgot to snap a picture before uncorking the wine - then it was forgotten!   So straight onto the recipe...

Onion and Goat Cheese Tartlets

by Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven from their book "The Way We Cook"

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 Tbsp sugar

1 large white or yellow onion (about 2 1/2 cups) cut into thin circles

One 9 to 10 inch puff pastry sheet, thawed and opened flat

2 - 3 oz crumbled goat cheese (with or without herbs)*

2 Tbsp herbes de Provence *

4 strips of cooked and crumbled bacon (optional)

*I used goat cheese with herbs and omitted the herbes de Provence and I skipped the bacon.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly grease a large trimmed baking sheet or line with parchment paper.  In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the butter until it's almost melted and then add the sugar, stirring to combine. Add the sliced onion, stir to coat evenly and cook for 15 to 20 mins, stirring occasionally until golden brown.  Transfer to a colander to drain, discarding any liquid and set aside.  

Place the thawed puff pastry sheet on a cutting board and cut pastry into rectangles - yielding 6 to 10 pieces.  Transfer to baking sheet and distribute onions on top of pastry -leaving an outside margin.  Top with crumbled goat cheese and sprinkle with herbs.

Bake for 20 mins or until pastry has browned on edges.  (If using the bacon, bake for 15 mins then sprinkle on cooked bacon and bake for 5 mins)

Serve immediately

This was fast and easy! And my friend felt she couldn't stop eating them -that's good!

Social weekend and recipe part two!

I have been friends with Amy for our entire lives!  Our parents were best friends so on it goes!  Her sister lives me so when she's in town we all get together for dinner and I am in charge of bringing dessert.

I found this recipe at the doctors office - and no! I didn't aachoo and rip it out! It was current so I purchased the Southern Living magazine - and this recipe is worth it! First of all, it's pretty much a dump and run kind of recipe

And it makes two cakes!

So you have two to give as gifts over the holidays or, as in this case, you have one to take and one to give!

When the cakes come out of the oven, drizzle the top with melted white and dark chocolate chips!

Yum!  When you see the ingredient list - don't forget it makes two!

Triple Chocolate Coffee Cake from Southern Living Magazine

1 (18 oz) package of devil's food cake mix

1 (3.9 oz ) package of chocolate instant pudding mix

2 cups sour cream

1 cup butter softened

5 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups semisweet chocolate morsels, divided 

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Beat first 6 ingredients at low speed for 30 seconds or just until moistened; beat at medium speed 2 mins.  Stir in 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips; por batter evenly into 2 greased and floured 9 inch square cake pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 mins - cool completely on a wire rack.

Microwave white chocolate morsels in a glass bowl on High for 30-60 seconds until morsels are melted; stirring at least once.  Drizzle evenly on top of both cakes; repeat with remaining semi sweet morsels.  Sprinkle cakes with pecans. 

Creative Output - Autumn quilt is coming a long!

I could use 13 inch setting squares and half square setting triangles and 

sew the rows on the diagonal

it would have my trees standing up but this setting is hard and I think I'd run the risk of not having my trees in rows horizontally.

But...if I cut that 13 inch setting square into four triangles - I can turn the triangle tree block into a square!

The tree block is 12 inches - the background block is 13 inches cut into 4 triangles

 Sew to the tree triangle and 

You have a square!  This will be so much easier to sew together into rows for a quilt top as a square

Once I get all the blocks squared into blocks it should sew together easily!  I hope so anyway...

Sew on and sew on!

Pam

A Little Creative Output Every Day - even just a little

Creative Output - company coming!

I am expecting a long time friend over tonight for cocktails - we only manage to do this once a year!  So today was cleaning my house.  I have also have my friend in town - she and I have been friends since the day we were born - really!

So it's time to clean the house front to back! 

Having said that, it's only all good if I keep my promise to myself and try some creativity too.  I have a journal

It's not for "dear diary" but for when I get a good book idea (I am working on being a children's book author)

I keep a journal for creative ideas, inspiration, story ideas.  My teaching days at the nursery school are Tuesday and Thursday, so my journal is called Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

This is my watercolor of a nectarine with a note in the leaves.  The leaf talks about the lovely gift from my husband of a share in our local farm stand.  Once a week I can fill of basket up with fruit and veggies from our local farms.  Lovely!

  Table Decoration!

This was my mothers favorite vase, she always pulled it out in the fall.   Even though it's waterproof - I tested the old thing!  I thought for my mini carnations a concealed container was in order, to keep the flowers from from flopping out

a small can! 

After finding the right size in the pantry, I emptied the contents into a baggie, peeled off the label and washed it out.  It is the perfect size!  Cutting down the flowers to size, letting them flop over the sides a bit, really did the trick!

You can't see the can at all!

I mean when I was done!

The swan looks like a beauty queen!

Or a float in the Rose Bowl parade!

Cookbook Challenge!

Onion and Goat Cheese Tartlets are going to be our cocktail main snack.  I snipped this out of the Washington Post a long time ago - time to give it a go!  I'll report how it went tomorrow.  Puff pastry, caramelized onions and goat cheese - what's not to love!

Pam

Two from the Cookbook Challenge/Fall quilt blocks are done!

One Winner for the Cookbook - One Not So Much

In an attempt to wean down my cookbook collection 

I tried two casseroles.  Just like I want a "go to" recipe for the crock pot, I'd like a couple of casserole go to's as well.

I pulled off the shelf You've Got It Made by Diane Phillips Deliciously easy meals to make now and bake later and The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever by Beatrice Ojakangas.

I chose Sausage Stuffed Shells to make ahead of time and cook up later that evening.  It can even be frozen for up to two months.  Being a hurry, I just jotted down what I needed and headed out.  When I started looking into my cart, I thought this might be on the rich side.Was it ever!  This is a company worthy recipe!  It was so good!  I added a layer of spinach leaves into each shell for a little added goodness!

That's a layer of creamy cheese sauce on the bottom!

I think the spinach leaves were a good idea!

The recipe says to run the cooked sausage through a blender with some of the cheese sauce, I did not want to do that - so I just added the sausage mixture on top of each spinach leaf.

I cooked up some onions and green peppers with the sausage even though the recipe didn't call for it.

I messed with it again!  

The cookbook had a "Quick Marinara Sauce recipe to use, I just didn't have time for that.  I had time for this

and that turned the sausage and veggies into a shell stuffing sauce!

This jarred sauce is tasty!  Also filled with peppers!  When I had it all ready to cook - I stored it in the fridge for later that evening

Because everything was cooked ahead of time, it took only 30 minutes from fridge to table - after coming to room temperature - which I called the teenagers to do for me on my way home.  

This recipe is a keeper!  It was so decadent - I think it's going to be Christmas Eve when I make it again.  Actually, that sounds like a good plan to have this in the freezer for such a busy family day!

(I forgot to take a picture of it at dinner time again! Believe me, this totally holiday worthy!)

Sausage Stuffed Shells  from You've Got it Made by Diane Phillips

serves 10-12

One 12 oz package of large pasta shells

2-3 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings (I used hot instead) 

1 small onion chopped (my addition)

1 green pepper, chopped (my addition)

baby spinach leaves (my addition)

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

3 Tbsp unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2/cups beef broth

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1 1/2 cups marinara sauce

Make it Now

1.   Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the shells for 5 mins.  Drain and toss shells with olive oil to prevent sticking - set aside.

2.  Coat the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with non stick cooking spray.

3.  In a large skillet over medium high heat cook the peppers and onions until just tender.  Add the sausage, breaking into small pieces and cooking through and no longer pink - about 5-7 mins.  Drain off fat.  Add marinara sauce and stir until well incorporated.

4.  In a medium size saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour and cook until white bubbles form on the surface.  Cook the mixture for 2-3 mins until smooth and thick.  Gradually stir in the broth and bring to a boil.  Stir in the cream and 1/2 cup of the cheese.  Let cool, then spread 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of prepared dish.

**This is where the instructions say to add 2 cups of the cheese sauce to a blender and add the sausage meat and blend until finely ground.  Because of my added vegetables, I didn't want to do this!  instead 

5.  Place a spinach leaf or two or three to each shell and place in the pan.  Then spoon into each shell sausage and veggie sauce mixture.  Pour cheese sauce on top of stuffed shells and cover with remaining grated cheese.  Let cool, then cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 2 months.

Bake it Now

1.  Defrost the casserole in the refrigerator overnight,  if necessary.

2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and let the casserole come to room temperature for about 30 mins.

3.  Bake until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is golden brown on top, about 30-35 mins.  Serve hot.

The second cookbook I pulled from the collection was The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever by Beatrice Ojakangas and I chose to make Rosemary Chicken and Rice - not good.  It smelled wonderful when cooking with the Rosemary but the rice was gummy and the recipe had me slather the chicken with mayonnaise and breadcrumbs which made the chicken seem gummy too!

The kids worked their way through it, but I am not going share the recipe because it failed the challenge!

I am going to give this book another chance because of the first section of the book.

It's all about making your own sauces - which not only taste better but have healthier ingredients.  I know I just used a jarred sauce in the previous recipe but - we do what we can!

Mushroom, cheese, white, tomato - all sauces that will be most likely better from homemade than from the jar.  The author includes chicken, vegetable and beef broth how to's, basic pastry, roasted peppers and homemade taco seasoning!  I am making that next, or the mushroom sauce.  Or both!

Creative Output - The Fall Quilt

I got all 12 Tree of Life blocks done!!!  I really wanted to get this quilt done by the end of September, but I might have to be happy with Halloween.  Or Thanksgiving aaaaah!

I've got the block's up on "design wall" which I put up when I need it in the playroom.  Essentially it's a giant piece of flannel, so the fabric sticks to it with out pins, so you can move blocks around easily until it looks just right.  It's always a good idea hang up your quilt blocks and take a step back - how does it look?

When we were choosing a new paint color for the front door, I put up the paint swatches we liked on door with tape and walked away.  Coming home at different times of the day really helped narrow it down to just one - it looked so different than when it was in the store!

Traditionally, Tree of Life quilt blocks are lying on their side - but I want my trees to stand up!  So now to figure how to sew in the background to make that happen. 

Sew on and sew on!

Pam