January flew by and I had a great month. I did some cooking for myself, some cooking for demos, some for customers, some for kids. All good. 

We just got home from vacation yesterday. We have been away since October 29 and we traveled 2600 miles. We drove, yes drove and had a fantastic time. We decided to take the time because we hadn't had a long break in a long time. In the middle of vacation I attended a conference and then we finished vacation.

Well not really. I had a great week of cooking this week. I cooked for a long time customer on Wednesday and a fairly new customer on Thursday. No one was home on Wednesday except Lucky the dog who decided that she'd sun some once she knew I'd let her back in the house. 

I wasn't finished with the blog last night but needed to get some sleep so I could be fresh for today, our last cooking club of the school year. We're making some fresh fruit sorbet, cookies and have some end of club gifts to give out.  Fun!

I've had a weekend away planned for a while and I wasn't sure I'd get to go with the eye surgery, but the doctor said "go" and off I went.  

If you've read this before, you know that I had eye surgery right before Thanksgiving.  I was recovering well, getting back to normal and then on January 28th I found out my retina was detaching again and I was having surgery again!

Wow, what a quick week!  I like to be busy and I was this week, but I also try to not be crazy.

Tuesday I cooked for my new customer and all went well.  Their cats still like me I think even though I locked them in the powder room while I loaded and unloaded the car.  I don't want anyone escaping! 

Wednesday I did not work so I made some dinner for our small group that night.  There are 4 couples that are meeting to discuss a book called Marriage Without Regrets.  Most everyone comes straight from work, so I thought food would be nice. 

I made a big salad based on an Eating Well recipe.  It had chicken, white beans, romaine, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, celery, zucchini and feta.  Served it with a vinaigrette and some flaxseed crackers.  It was very good and light so we'd be ready for the pie.

For dessert I made peanut butter cream pie from Nancie McDermott's Southern Pies cookbook.  Very good!  So far I've made two pies and loved them.  I need to keep going. 

Thursday I cooked for a client and included some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins for autumn.  The recipe makes 24, so I baked one dozen for them, brought the rest of the batter home and made one dozen for us on Friday.  Very good, lots of chocolate. 

Pumpkin Chip Muffins from Taste of Home
makes 24

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 can solid-pack pumpkin (15 ounces)
1 1/2 cups canola oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (12 ounces)

1. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
3. Bake at 400° for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Friday I did get some knitting done and went to Trader Joe's to get car food.  I'm driving to New Orleans for a few days and leaving Monday.  My friend Rosemary will be with me and we'll need car snacks!

My husband and I went out to dinner on Friday night and I wasn't impressed with the meal.  It was a steak house that I've heard raves about, but I really thought we could have had a better meal at home.  I was appreciative of the gift certificate that we used, but was surprised at how basic the food was.

I had crab cakes and mine are much, much tastier.  My husband had steak and he said it was good but the broccoli was rubbery.  We don't have rubbery broccoli at home and we spend much less on a comparable meal.  And we could have had guests for as much as we spent.  It was nice to have a meal out and nice that we had a gift certificate for the meal but also nice to learn that we won't go there again. 

Saturday I went to Macy's to spend some time working for KitchenAid.  I did take 2 muffins for Jon who works in housewares and made sure I had a table so I could demo the pasta press.

Once home I foraged in the refrigerator to make a quiche for dinner.  I had some sausage left from Thursday, some sun-dried tomatoes from Wednesday, some onion, cheese, basil, eggs, and milk.  I also threw in some ricotta I found in the fridge.

Today I am working a couple hours for KitchenAid and then tonight am meeting a friend for dinner.  She is flying in from California to do some work in Warner Robbins, so we'll meet for dinner.  I don't see her very often so that will be nice.

Tomorrow New Orleans!

Last Thursday, after my morning interview, I headed north on 85 to Greenville SC for a baby shower.  My step-daughter is due in early December and was having a "Girls Night Out" shower.  She's having a girl and wants to start her off right! 

We had a good evening of food, friends and cute baby things, I stayed over with my other step-daughter and headed back south on 85 on Friday morning. 

I needed an easy dinner Friday since I wasn't sure when I'd get home, so I foraged in the freezer for chicken soup.  It was delicious, I finished it for lunch just now. 

Saturday I had some hours of work for KitchenAid and we went out for dinner to make things really easy. 

Sunday we went to church, bought a few groceries and headed north on 85 to a niece's wedding in NC.  The wedding was outside, the day was perfect and the food was wonderful.  I expected the food to be wonderful once we got there and discovered that the food was provided by The Purple Onion in Saluda.  My sister-in-law and brother-in-law (bride's parents) own The Purple Onion.

We had delicious appetizers, grilled vegetables, cheeses, crackers, breads.  We then had the main course - pork tenderloin, salmon, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, salad, rolls, green beans, probably more that I am forgetting.  Then of course the cake, or in this case chocolate or carrot cake cupcakes.  Very good! 

We stayed in either NC or SC last night and then it was south on 85 this morning. 

I've been working at my desk, getting ready for my Tuesday client, a client meeting Tuesday night, my Wednesday client and some reports for KitchenAid.

I unpacked while my soup heated and now I hear that laundry needs to be folded!  Life is good!

What a wonderful weekend!  My weekend actually was Sunday and Monday since my husband worked a lot on Friday and Saturday, and I worked a little on Saturday.

I have been cooking for us however and Saturday made another recipe from the newest issue of Cuisine at Home.  It was a recipe for 2 so no leftovers and it was excellent.  In order to give you the exact name of the recipe I would have to go downstairs and that's not happening now.  And the recipe is not online.  I'm telling you, you need to get this magazine.  Get a subscription, it's great.

Anyway, chicken breast was poached in broth with thyme.  Once that was done you added tomatillos, garlic and onion to the same saute pan.  That simmered some, then you mashed it, shredded the chicken and added the chicken to the sauce.  I then made individual casseroles layering cheese, chicken, corn tortillas (2 per dish) topped both with some red bell pepper, baked and then topped with fresh cilantro and the pickled red onions that I made too.   Delicious. 

Sunday we went to church, quick trip to the grocery store, home for breakfast, quick trip for me to do some work for KitchenAid and then we headed to Le Cordon Bleu to attend The Herbs of Shakespeare.  We listened to Geri Lauffer talk about how Shakespeare referenced herbs in his work and sometimes the double meanings of the herbs.

After the talk we sampled some dishes made from cookbooks from the 1600s.

Sallet of all kinds of herbs



Lumbardy Tarts with Swiss Chard, Wafers and Pear Preserves



Sallet of Cold Capon Roasted



Dyschefull of Snow



A very interesting day.  If you'd like to attend fun events like this, just check out Culinary Historians of Atlanta on Facebook.  Next month we're talking about relishes. 

For dinner Sunday I went pretty traditional with chicken and rice.  I had a recipe torn from a Donna Hay magazine that says Autumn.  No idea what year, I only have one page. I had to make some changes, I'll put my changes in parentheses.

Oven Risotto with Chicken and Fetta
serves 6

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tablespoons thyme leaves
2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
4 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon olive oil, extra
6 chicken breast fillets, trimmed
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
2 cups baby spinach leaves
5 1/4 ounce fetta cheese, crumbles

Heat a small frying pan over high heat.  Add the oil, onion, garlic and thyme and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  Place in a 12 cup capacity ovenproof baking dish.  (I used Le Creuset, sauteed the onion, garlic in that.  Not using 2 pans.)  Add the rice and stock, cover with a lid or aluminum foil and cook for 40 to 45 minutes. (No, no oven temperature.  I looked for another oven risotto recipe, it said 425, I used that but I'd use 400 degrees the next time and it should take about 40 minutes.  I had to add some broth.) While the risotto is cooking, heat a medium non-stick frying pan over high heat.  (I used stainless steel.)  Add the extra oil and cook the chicken for 4 minutes on each side or until golden and cooked through.  (I cooked them in batches and sprinkled them with salt and pepper first.)  Set aside.  Remove the risotto from the oven and stir through the parmesan, spinach and fetta.  Serve the risotto with the chicken. 

I copied the recipe as written, in the paragraph style which I don't really like.  The dinner ended up to be pretty tasty and we have leftovers for tonight!

Today my husband took off work and we went to Jazzercise at 7:15.  Back home I did have some work to do for my new personal chef client tomorrow.  We then did some shopping at the outlets on 400 and then kept going to Amicalola Falls State Park and we had a picnic lunch.  Lots of rain this morning but it left while we were shopping. 



After lunch we headed to Ellijay to get our apples.  We ended up with 1/2 bushel of Jona Gold, 1/2 bushel of Golden Delicious and 1/2 bushel of Stayman at R and A Orchards.  And of course fried pies for dessert!  Friday is applesauce day at my house.  Lots of apples to make applesauce for the freezer.  I'll mix the three types together and add cinnamon and maybe a little sugar.  Maybe not. 

So now we are having a big storm but we're home safe and sound and can relax with the cats.  Such a good weekend!