Another recipe

Cookies this time.
Got this recipe from a friend, not sure where she got it, but it's super easy (and super unhealthy), and it's gluten-free, so Mom can eat it, and dairy-free, so I can eat it. But it does have an egg, so Lindsay, you're out of luck.

1C peanut butter
1C sugar
1 egg

That's it. I've done it with both smooth and chunky peanut butter, and you can add things like vanilla, chocolate chips, coconut, just don't get too eager or you'll upset the balance. I like them with cinnamon. But I like cinnamon in just about anything, so who am I to judge?

Beat the egg, mix it in with the sugar. If you mix the egg in last, it won't blend well and it won't bake well. Trust me. Then add the peanut butter and blend well. Scoop it onto a cookie sheet (or a baking stone like I do) with a spoon (or a cookie scoop). Then you bake it at 350 (i think. maybe 375) until they look done.

Enjoy.

Asparagus

A few people have requested this recipe. Our Thanksgiving was this past weekend, and we had 3 family get-togethers, and while none of them were at our house, we did bring a bit of food. My favorite is roasted veggies, but I can't seem to get asparagus roasted properly. It's always undercooked or burnt to a crisp, so I just started sauteing it. You can add whatever goodies you want, or I imagine that fresh green beans would be even better than asparagus.

2 bunches of asparagus, cut in half and woody ends removed
1 red bell pepper, remove seeds & membrane, cut into thin slices about 1.5" long
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup bacon, diced
1/4 cup roasted garlic, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
salt & pepper to taste

Now I used some of the grease off the bacon for this this time, and it was fantastic, but a good quality olive oil works great too. Heat your oil in a dutch oven or large sauce pan, making sure the bottom gets coated, add red peppers and saute over medium-high heat until they start to blacken a little, then remove to a bowl. In a small skillet, toast pine nuts over medium heat, shaking to make sure that they get toasted evenly. No oil needed. If needed, add a bit more oil to your dutch oven and toss in the asparagus. Saute for a minute then add chicken broth. Turn the heat down and simmer, covered, until the broth reduces to about half. Remove cover and continue simmering until broth is nearly gone. Add everything else, stir, remove from heat. Eat right away before it gets mushy.

No pictures because we ate it all. Sorry. But it's pretty too.

2nd option for asparagus, saute in olive oil, toast pine nuts. In a separate, small saucepan, combine 1/4C honey and 2tbsp balsamic vinegar, heat until bubbly and pour over asparagus. Top with pine nuts. Ditto eating before it gets mushy.

Katie's Easy Bean Soup

2 cans black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 med onion
2 large red bell peppers
1 tsp cumin
3C chicken broth
1pkg bacon, cooked
salt & pepper
sour cream

First thing I did was spread the bacon on my stoneware bar pan and put it in the oven. 425F until it's cooked to your desired crispness. Drain beans and pour into a pot (mine is a 4qt) with cumin and some pepper. Let a little helper stir the beans while you saute the onion and peppers in a bit of olive oil. Just until they get a bit brown. Then dump them into the beans and let her stir some more while you get the chicken broth poured in there. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring more frequently than I did or you'll get clumps. Then I did a little light blending with my immersion blender, but you don't have to if you have more time to wait for it to thicken. (My helper was "hongry".) Chop half the bacon and put it in, simmer 5 more minutes. Salt & pepper to taste.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and more chopped bacon to garnish.

Musings from the frozen north.

I happened to find a cooking show that I didn't know was on. CBC, go figure. So as I eat my kraft dinner, I'm subjected to mouth watering video of a greek community in Montreal. A bakery with a wood oven, fresh melons, grilled seafood, fresh herbs.... Hooray for boxed noodles. I need a good cookbook with recipes from other cultures. Thai, Greek, Indian, whatever. Something with lots of spices and herbs. Yum.

I have to laugh though. We got a phone call early (okay it was like 1030) this morning from my mom. Telling us how cold it is there and they got snow! Okay, the snow is exciting, but it's not cold there. Not a chance. There is currently over a foot of snow on my truck, and it was -30 when we woke up this morning. (that's -20 for you imperialists) It's cold. If the horse didn't need to eat, I wouldn't leave the house, but I have to take him hay. So I cover my mouth with my scarf so my teeth and lungs don't freeze, and march through the yard to bring him some breakfast. For those of you who know the layout of our yard, the hay is next to the garden and I feed the horse a bit behind the propane tank. By the time I got from the house to the hay to the gate, the steam from my breath coming over the scarf had collected on my eyelashes and frozen them.

But Andrew, Katie & I are nice and warm in the house, as is Bailey, Morgan is happy and warm in the garage, and Jose is as warm as ever in his bowl (though I may move him to the table so he's not so close to the windows. Only Charlie has to be outside, and he's tough. And he's got a nice coat. Horses, after all, were designed to live outdoors in all weather.

Oops, almost forgot pictures.

New diaper!
So cute.

Katie's new favorite toy is...

Anything that crinkles.