We have had beautiful weather.  Sunny with blue skies.  I love it!  Had a great weekend even though I really didn't get to be outside much.

I made a good, basic dinner Friday night of Chicken Francese, mashed potatoes and spinach.  I am happy to say that my frozen spinach stash in the freezer is gone!  I am also down to only 1 kind of potatoes.  When I shop for clients, sometimes it's less expensive to buy a bag of potatoes instead of 4 or 6 or what I need, so I have potatoes left over.  I love potatoes but it was getting kind of ridiculous at my house.  I now only have some yukon gold.

Saturday morning I cooked with the over 10 year olds and we made Breads of All Kinds.  The class was fun and tasty and the breads were gorgeous.  I'd would like to have taken some pictures but we were pretty busy and then were hungry.

We made Asiago Cheese Bread, Apple Ginger Bread, Almond Chip Scones and Bacon Cheddar Pinwheels.  In the process of all of this we got to make a yeast bread, a quick bread, and two different biscuit type breads.  I don't know which was my favorite, they were all pretty good. 

Asiago Cheese Bread from Family Circle magazine February 2003

3 1/2 cups bread flour (3 1/2 to 3 3/4)
1 envelope yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut up
5 ounces asiago Cheese, shredded
1 large egg

1.    In large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the bread flour, the yeast, salt and pepper.
2.    In small saucepan, heat milk and butter over medium-high heat until butter is melted and temperature is 120° to 130°.
3.    Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the Asiago cheese. Gradually stir in about 2 cups of the flour to make a soft dough.
4.    Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
5.    Oil large bowl; add dough and turn to coat. Cover with clean kitchen towel. Let rise in warm place 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
6.    Coat an 8 x 2-inch round cake pan with nonstick vegetable-oil cooking spray. Punch down dough. Form dough into a 6-inch round; place in prepared cake pan. Cover with towel. Let rise in a warm place, away from drafts, about 45 minutes or until doubled in volume.
7.    Heat oven to 425°.
8.    In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg with a fork. Brush top of dough with beaten egg. Sprinkle top with the remaining 1/4 cup of the Asiago cheese.
9.    Bake in 425° oven for 35 minutes or until the crust is golden and bread sounds hollow when tapped with fingertips. Transfer the bread from the pan to a wire rack; let cool. Serve warm or completely cooled.

Sunday we slept in a little too long and missed church.  I made a Southwestern kind of breakfast using some sausage, half a red bell pepper, 4 green onions, some green salsa, some cheddar and some eggs.  Once that was all scrambled I wrapped it in flour tortillas and had some roasted red potatoes with the wraps.  Great breakfast!   I also used up some things in the vegetable drawer. 

We had errands to run - new cat scratching post, bird food, new towels, groceries and then home to relax, knit, read, just a generally peaceful day. 

Now it's back to work.  I have a Y class tonight, have to take The Bad Cat to the vet, need to do some laundry, need to get some menus done.  The day is sunny, I've been to Jazzercise and I'm ready to go!

Busy and fun day yesterday.  In the morning I took a friend to her follow-up doctor's appointment.  She's on crutches and not able to put pressure on her foot, so needed a ride.  She was a little worried when I told her I always get lost in hospitals, usually get lost in Decatur and occasionally misplace my car in hospital parking lots.  Luckily she knew exactly where we were going. 

Once home I needed to chop up chocolate into tasting size pieces.  Last night was a joint meeting of The Culinary Historians of Atlanta (CHA) and Women Chefs and Restaurateurs (WCR) and the topic was chocolate.   A friend from WCR sent me some chocolate that her company makes.

She works for Guittard in California and they make some delicious chocolate.  She sent 5 different types for the tasting.  Very exciting.  All of the chocolate was 65% cacao to make the comparison more even.



We are fortunate in the Atlanta area that Deb Duchon started the CHA group.  For those of you who watch the show Good Eats, you've probably seen her on the show.  She is the culinary anthropologist.  She's a great speaker, fun and knowledgeable.  She started the meeting with a talk about the history of chocolate.



We learned about Columbus, the Mayans, the Aztecs and then some about Europe once the chocolate was taken back.  For a long time it was consumed in liquid form only.  One slide that I found interesting is the next one.  Yes it is blurry since I shot while seated in the audience. 



In case it's too blurry to read, it says that chocolate was consumed mainly by noblewomen, it was considered healthy and it was a good vehicle for poisoning someone.  How multi purpose!

Once the talk was over and questions were answered it was time to taste.  We had volunteers to serve the chocolate and a tasting wheel courtesy of Guittard.  All chocolate was labeled and attendees had forms to write their comments on the chocolate.  We had a total of 10 types. 





So go, buy some chocolate, have a tasting.  You can order the Guittard from the company,  www.eguittard.com.  It's a fun thing to do on a Friday night.  Maybe make a pot of soup, invite some friends, taste chocolate, have a casual meal.  My personal favorites were from Peru and Venezuela. 

Some catching up to do although not much exciting has been happening.  I had a good cook day on Friday with new customers and came home to a house empty of humans.  My husband was on a retreat until Sunday!  I love to be by myself and had no classes scheduled for Saturday.

I took a short nap on Friday afternoon, did some knitting and some reading.  I was asleep early and awake at 5:30.  The cats tried to wake me at 3 by running over my head in some kind of race across the bed but I went back to sleep.

I decided on no Jazzercise for Saturday and to have a day in the house.  I did my devotion reading, my journaling, had some tea, got some laundry in and cleaned and washed the refrigerator.  I'm not very exciting on my days in!

I have been knitting and I have a baby hat finished, sewed the sweater together on Saturday and have one bootie done.  I'll take a picture of the ensemble when all are complete.

I tried to blog on Saturday but got an error when I tried to get to the page to enter info.  Since my tech support is my husband and he was on a retreat and would not be using a phone, I decided I needed a computer free weekend too.  I did talk with a couple friends on the phone but didn't do much in the way of email or facebook.

Saturday night I had a great dinner of seared tuna.  Sunday I got up early, went to church, the grocery store, made a meal for a family at church who had a new baby, delivered the meal and got ready to go to a meeting.  I knew when my husband did get home that as soon as he sat down he would be asleep so I didn't feel bad about leaving him Sunday night.

I attended a staff meeting at Cook's Warehouse where we learned about new products from vendors and found something that I love! I've mentioned before that I like to organize and found spice containers that I love.  The website is www.tablefare.com and you can buy them at The Cook's Warehouse. 

The vendor gave out starter sets so now I'm hooked on the containers. 

Today is looking kind of grey.  I need to take a friend to a follow up doctor visit this morning, break up some chocolate to be used at a chocolate tasting tonight and maybe make the other baby bootie.

My tech support fixed the blog issue last night.  Something about the blog looking for a date of 2009 and the browser giving a date of 2010 and the blog refused to accept that.  I don't know, but it's fixed and I can get back to the computer.

So it's still February but wow, it is flying by.  I've been pretty busy which I much prefer and what started out as a slow month with business has changed for the better. 

The new cat is still a baby and will calm down.  That's what I keep telling myself.  It's either that or she's just bad.  In all my years of having pets that included dogs, cats, most recently a Great Dane and cats, I have never had a problem leaving things on the counter in the kitchen.  Until now.

Darling little Layla, weighing less than 5 pounds, has eaten through a bag of hamburger buns.  She took some tomatoes off of the counter, out of the bowl, I found one in the kitchen,  one in the dining room and there is still one missing. Maybe 2 missing. 

She had a nibble of pound cake of Friday, tried for some bread over the weekend and is lucky she's cute.  Tonight I placed my new glasses on the dresser to take a shower after Jazzercise.  The phone rang when I got out of the shower and as I talked I went to get my glasses.  Not there.  Of course I thought I left them at the computer - no, maybe the nightstand near the phone - no, maybe they went under the bed - no, maybe under the dresser - no.  I start all over - office, phone, dresser - no.  I finally look behind my nightstand and yes they were there.  They are very light and darling Layla likes to stand on the edge of the dresser to pounce on unsuspecting cats below, I guess the glasses were in the way. 

She's resting now so she can scurry over my head when I go to sleep tonight. 

The life of a personal chef can be interesting.  I had a new client interview last night and since I expect to get lost occasionally, was early to the appointment.  I stopped the car in a shopping center parking lot to wait 15 minutes.  Did the car start at 7:15?  No, the battery seemed to be dead.  I called my husband to warn him that I would need car assistance from him or AAA.

I called the new potential customer to say "hi, can you come and pick me up for the interview?"  They were very nice, picked me up, we went to their house only a couple minutes away and I am cooking for them next Friday. 

Of course it was then 9pm, wonderful husband did get the car started and we made it home.  Of course I had a new client interview this morning at 7:30 and a car with a dead battery.  Not to fear, I took the other car, husband got a battery and my car was ready for the day at 9 am when I got home.  And yes, I am cooking for the other new client on Wednesday!  And they didn't have to pick me up.

Tonight we had a great dinner.  I made it for two of us, didn't use that much cheese or meat but other than that followed the recipe.
 

Seared Rib-Eye Steak with Arugula and Roasted Pepper Salad from Giada De Laurentiis

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons for cooking steaks
2 (1-inch-thick) rib-eye steaks (about 1 pound each)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups arugula, washed and spun dry
11/2 cups roasted peppers, rinsed and pat dry
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Small block Parmesan (about 8 ounces)

In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season steaks with salt and pepper. When pan starts to smoke, carefully add steaks. Allow the steaks to cook for about 6 minutes on side, without moving or piercing the meat. This will help create a good, crusty sear. If steak starts to brown too quickly, reduce heat to medium. When steaks are brown, flip and sear the other side for 6 minutes for medium rare. Cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium well. Remove meat to a large plate and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Decoratively line a large platter with arugula. Tear the roasted peppers into large pieces and scatter over the arugula. In a small bowl, whisk the 1/4 cup-extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and any meat juices that may have collected on the plate from the steaks. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice the steaks across the grain and on a bias into 1 1/2-inch thick pieces. Lay the slices on top of the salad and drizzle with dressing. Using a vegetable peeler, shave about 8 pieces of Parmesan over the dish.

We're supposed to get some snow tomorrow and I hope we don't get too much.  I usually like snow but need to go to the cake store tomorrow to get something I can find no where else.  Hope for clear roads in the morning!
        

I had a pretty good week this week.  Lots of variety which I like.  I had a pretty normal office day on Monday.  I did menus, got bank stuff all ready, did the paperwork for my business license renewal and did not clean.  Tuesday was errand day. 

I actually did the business license renewal early, even though it's right after tax check writing.  I'm not due on renewal until March, but I just got crazy and sent it in.  And could feel a little better about not cleaning.  But still did not clean.

Wednesday I cooked for one of my long term clients.  She rarely changes the menu and likes almost anything.  There was some traffic trauma getting there in the morning.  I heard that 400 had all four lanes closed as I was trying to make my way to 400.  Not good.  I turned around and resigned myself to getting there later which is not a big deal since I don't have an actual starting time in my job.  I have a great job!

The day went well, no kitchen traumas and I was home pretty early.  I attended a meeting of The Culinary Historians that same night at Le Cordon Bleu.  Several of us ate in the student run restaurant while we met and discussed the book Food History.  Very interesting and fun night and my dinner was delicious.  If you're on Facebook look for Culinary Historians of Atlanta and join.  We have some great events coming up.

I was going to blog yesterday, but it was my husband's birthday and I didn't want to talk about his surprise cake in case he had time to read the blog.  I got up and went to 7:15 Jazzercise so I could get home and bake uninterrupted.  I had decided to make a German Chocolate cake.  The cake took some time so I first baked the layers, 3 layers, then while they cooled went to return library books.  I had to cool them in the laundry room since we have the bad, new cat who goes everywhere.  Luckily she is cute.

I got home and started making the icing and heard birds screaming outside.  There is usually no bird activity in the afternoon so I looked out to see what was going on and saw that huge blackbirds were screaming at an owl.  An owl!  I love owls.

I had to leave the icing that I was supposed to be stirring constantly to go out and chase the birds.  The owl just looked at me and stayed where he was.  Once the black birds left the owl was joined by a big hawk but the hawk left pretty soon after I snapped a picture of him. 

Still trying to not burn icing I had to try and get pictures of the owl.  I don't live in a rural, undeveloped area.  I do however love animals so maybe the word is getting out.  I snapped a couple pictures but it was rainy and grey yesterday so they don't show well.  Also the owl looked pretty much like the branch.  The owl stayed all afternoon and took off about 5 pm.  You can just see the eyes here.



The icing for the cake turned out pretty well and the cake was delicious.  So glad.  It would have been hard to say "Happy Birthday!  I had a lovely cake planned but the icing burned while I was owl watching off the deck." 



Today is another birthday.  I am teaching a pizza class at Maggie's house this afternoon.  Her mom let her invite some friends to help celebrate her turning 11.   We'll also be making cupcakes with blue glitter since blue is Maggie's favorite color.  Lots of fun and a great party for the kids. 

Happy New Year!  We are not party people and did not see the new year in.  We had a delicious dinner of leftover smoked mojo chicken that we made into tortillas with sour cream, cheese and I whipped up a little guacamole.  I had some lime flavored Perrier with dinner. 

We watched Rear Window on tv, it was over at 8:00!  Nothing else really on the tv, so I continued working through my library books.  I'm not sure exactly when I fell asleep but it was before 11.

This morning we woke at 5, the cats now expect a morning treat so there is a swarming when the lights go on.  I throw out treats and then read the paper and have tea.  I was in the habit of reading a daily devotion and writing in my journal, but I got away from that.  I miss starting the day that way, so I started this morning.  After the treats. 

I was starting to fall asleep again about 6:30 and would have gone back to sleep for a morning nap, but we had dinner to start.  This is the second use of the Big Green Egg!  Today's meal is pulled pork and since we worked out a timeline on Thursday, I knew we had to start dinner at 7:00 am.  Remember, I was a project manager in a former worklife. 

So into the shower instead of under the covers.  Got the pork out of the refrigerator to sit for a while, started the charcoal and got dinner on at 8:00 am.  It was too early for breakfast so I planned my menu for next week.

I'm not one to make resolutions but I really need to use up pantry, fridge and freezer items.  My grocery list is short.  Currently I have 4 items on it - cat food, poblano pepper, tomatoes for salad, salad.  That's it.  That will take us to Saturday when we're meeting family for dinner out.  And I have to be careful if we go to Costco.  No food!

So far the Big Green Egg is wonderful. The sun is shining, hopefully no frozen anything from the sky or even wet anything, so we should be on track for dinner.  We're having pulled pork sandwiches, sauteed spinach and applesauce from the freezer.



Yes, it was dark outside when we started dinner. 



Now might be the time for that nap. 

It's the final day of the year and looking back, the year had high points and low points.  I know many people are saying this, but I can't believe we're looking at 2010 after just imagining what 2000 would be like!

I have lots to be thankful for - health, my business, family, church, friends, cats.  Looking back at last December, it was a pretty scary time and I was very unsure how my business would survive and how things would go.  I tried to relax and have faith that all would work out as it should, I'm just human though and sometimes it was easier than other times to believe.

Overall though life is good.  I even got a t-shirt for Christmas with that sentiment!  I made it through the year and am looking forward to 2010 to see what happens there. 

We do not go out on New Year's Eve.  Every so often we might do dinner out, but we're in early if we do.  No plans for going anywhere today.  It's grey and wet outside and inside warm, dry, with books and couches. 

I made Quiche Lorraine for breakfast today and it was delicious.  My husband asked if I had planned it or if it was just from stuff laying around and truly it was from stuff laying around.  That should make it perfectly clear to me that I need to do no more shopping and eat from the pantry, fridge and freezer! 

A couple weeks ago we got our Big Green Egg and it's been living in the living room since then.  It took up a lot of space, but we were busy and had to plan when we could get it out to the deck.  Tuesday was "Get the Egg out of the living room day".

It was a nice, sunny day so we dragged the table up from the basement (my husband made the table) and then while I read the directions, my husband assembled the Egg.  All went perfectly!



I planned this week's menu with the Egg in mind, so yesterday was "First use of the Egg" and I planned chicken.  I made a paste from parsley, mint, cilantro, garlic, salt and olive oil and rubbed it over the chicken on Tuesday.  It marinated overnight and we were ready to cook. 

The Egg is pretty easy to use.  We of course weren't sure but followed directions, built the fire and had smoke and a steady temperature.  I chose chicken for the first try since it took fewer hours.

I got the chickens on the grill and set my timer for 2 hours when I would turn them.  Of course I went out often to see that the temp was holding and it was!



Things were going well, a while into the cooking we had some ice pellets coming down, sort of like mini hail, but that stopped and things were cooking.  We ran into a little problem with the freezing rain and the dark though.  I have no problem with cold, none with dark, even a little rain, no big deal.  This was coming down pretty hard and the chickens still had a little time to go.  I pulled them off and finished cooking in the warm, lighted kitchen. 

The chicken was delicious and I made black beans and rice to go with the dinner and there was a mojo sauce for the chicken.  Very good!  We're having leftovers tonight rolled in tortillas. 



This morning I made a rub and massaged a pork butt that is in the fridge getting ready for Egg time tomorrow.  I also made a vinegar barbecue sauce.  We need the pork to cook for about 10 hours, so we made the timeline and all is well.  Hopefully we will have no blizzards or sleet.  I must say though that the Egg maintained perfect temperature. 

I think it might be time to relax with a book and a cat.  They are all sleeping now.  One is on my side of the bed at my pillow, one in the spare room on the bed and one here in the office in the cat climber.  We didn't get any gifts for the cats, but everyone else in the family did.  They have lots of things to play with so they need to nap and be ready!

What a wonderful Christmas!  On Tuesday I had the annual cookie party at a customer's house.  She provides the children and I help them bake and decorate cut out cookies and another treat.  This year we made the peppermint bark hearts and they were a big hit.  My friend Cathy came and helped me since we had about 12 children.  I'm not sure of the actual count since they came and went. 

Wednesday I zipped over to Decatur to deliver a Christmas gift, go to The Little Shop of Stories to buy Christmas gifts and return 2 rolling pins to my friend Cathy.  We dumped all the dirty things in a bin on Tuesday and it slipped our minds about her rolling pins.  I then met my friend Theresa for lunch and we caught up on each others lives.  A very nice lunch. 

Thursday was Christmas Eve!  So fast.  I did a little cleaning in the morning and made Mint Brownie Cupcakes from the Martha Stewart Cupcake cookbook.  They are delicious!  My husband came home early and we decided we needed lunch so out to the freezer for pizza.  We then took a little nap and luckily woke up at 4:03 since we had to leave for church at 4:15!  That was close!

Once at church, I went to the nursery and he went to the parking lot.  I held babies and he helped park cars.  I was warm and dry, he was cold and a little wet.  We went home and started dinner. 

I like to have seafood on Christmas Eve and I had decided on Crab Ricotta Manicotti with a Caesar Salad and Parmesan Bread.  Very good.  We finished dinner about 8:30 or so and were relaxing.  I set an alarm in case we relaxed too much!  We went to church for the 11:00 service which was very nice. 

Friday we didn't do much of anything.  It was wonderful!  I did cook and we ate, but that's pretty much it.  I made Sausage Rolls for breakfast.

Savory Sausage Breakfast Rolls from Cooking Light October 2009

• 1  (11-ounce) can refrigerated French bread dough
• 2  tablespoons  butter, melted
• 2  teaspoons  chopped fresh sage
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 8  ounces  reduced-fat pork sausage, cooked and crumbled (such as Jimmy Dean)
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
• Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Find lengthwise seam in dough. Beginning at seam, gently unroll dough into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a 13 x 8-inch rectangle; brush with butter, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Combine sage, salt, and sausage. Sprinkle sausage mixture evenly over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border; top with cheese. Starting with a long side, roll dough up, jelly-roll fashion; press seam to seal (do not seal ends of roll). Cut 1 (1/2-inch-thick) crosswise slice from each end; discard. Slice roll crosswise into 12 (1/2-inch-thick) pieces; arrange in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 28 minutes or until golden.

I also made a Cinnamon Crumbcake which we had a little later in the day for a snack.  There was some additional napping but no need for an alarm.

I like to have beef on Christmas and I used some recipes from The Barefoot Contessa - Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Gorgonzola Sauce and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes.  Both very delicious.  I also made Creamed Spinach from a recipe cut out of the newspaper and it was excellent.

Creamed Spinach from Chops Restaurant

• 4 cups (1 quart) whole milk
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, plus additional for garnish
• dash ground black pepper
• 3 pounds fresh spinach
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1. In a medium saucepan, combine milk, onion, salt, nutmeg and pepper.  Simmer over low heat 30 minutes.  Do not allow to boil.
2. While milk and onions are heating, in a large saucepan, bring 2 inches of water to a boil.  Drop in 1 pound pf spinach and blanch for 1 minute.  Using a slotted spoon, remove spinach to a colander to drain.  Repeat with the remaining spinach.  When all spinach is cooked and cooled, squeeze to remove all water and then chop.  Set aside.
   
3. When milk and onions have finished cooking, melt butter over medium heat in saucepan used for blanching spinach.  Add flour and stir constantly for 1 minute.  Slowly add milk and onion mixture.  Continue to heat and stir until sauce thickens.  Taste for seasoning.  Use immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
   
4. To serve, warm sauce, then add spinach and stir to combine and heat thoroughly.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and nutmeg and serve.
   

Not much cooking in store for today.  We had leftover sausage rolls for breakfast and then went to The Center for Puppetry Arts and saw The Shoemaker and the Elves.  It was excellent.  It's there until January 3rd.

We came home and I made some Cookies and Cream Fudge, but used Mint Jo Jo cookies and added a touch of peppermint to the fudge.  I haven't tasted it yet, but it looks pretty. 



No more cooking today.  Had afternoon tea with crumb cake and there are leftovers for dinner tonight!  I may take a short nap and then do a little menu planning. 

I had a busy weekend and of course a busy day today, but all is working according to plan so I'm happy.  I would not say that I am totally without stress because that would just not be true. 

Friday was the start or continuation of busy.  I opened another email from my friend Lynda that was titled "help".  You'd think I'd learn to not open those but she is my friend so I had to look.  The last help was needed at a rainy, rainy 160 person wedding.  This was for a few hours of work helping.  It was unclear what I would be doing so of course I said "sure". 

I left the house at 7:30, it was raining hard again, and went to Publix to deliver the Christmas fudge I make for each department.  It's a fun time.  The oldtimers are excited and the newcomers are happy and confused. 

After that I drove to Matthew and Lynda's kitchen to get to work.  I was early so chatted to Matthew while he worked.  My start time was 9.  At 9 Matthew showed me how to make wraps - cream cheese, sundried tomatoes, sprouts, spinach, parmesan and I made 50 of those.  After that he asked me to make filled wonton triangles and he left to make a food delivery.  He told me to make about 200.  Okay, I was working.  Lynda got back from her deliveries and told me I was fine with the approximately 150 I had made. 

We talked about how horrible the weather was and I reminded them that last time I helped it was flooding.  My next task was to make crab cakes, just however many the batch made.  I came up with 150.  And then I was done.  I went home where it was warm and dry.  We had pizza and salad for dinner.

Saturday I went to Jazzercise then to the mall to work several hours for KitchenAid.  I was thinking and had planned a slow cooker meal so pot roast was ready when I got back.  I also wrapped my client gifts. 

Sunday was church, groceries, breakfast at home and then several hours at the mall for KitchenAid.  When I got home my husband was my driver for client gift delivering.  I had planned simple for dinner with a recipe that I ripped out of the paper.  It was good, easy and that's what I needed.  I used white cheddar.  I served it with spinach.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese from JCT Kitchen Restaurant

1 pound elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons salt
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups grated sharp cheddar
salt and pepper

1. In a large saucepan, bring 1 gallon or water to a boil.  Add macaroni and salt and cook just until the macaroni is done.  Drain, then return the macaroni to the pot and stir in cream and cheddar. 
   
2. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes, then taste and season with salt and pepper.
   
3. If you're not serving right away, the macaroni will absorb the cream, so you'll need more cream to thin it out to the right consistency. 

Today I had to get some supplies for my kid's class tomorrow and I also got a relaxing pedicure.  I got it early and still had some groceries to pick up at Whole Foods for us, so it was flip flops in cold weather for me.  My toes are pretty though. 

Tonight I'll got to Jazzercise and am planning on making a lasagna soup from a new recipe.  Hope it's good.  I will go to Jazzercise at 6.

The cats are getting along great.  Everyone likes each other and there is no hissing and growling.  Lots of running and playing and I have little balls everywhere in the house.  They are even resting together.  This is Sophie with her new sister Layla and then a single photo of Layla.  She's weirder looking than the picture. 



We also have new wildlife on the porch.  We have at least 2 raccoons that are coming and eating from the suet feeders and drinking at the bird baths.  They have no fear, just looked at me when I went out to take pictures. 



They eat quite more than the birds do.  We'll have to see, we might have to take the feeders down at night. 

Monday and Tuesday were my most difficult days and I'm through them!  Monday night class at the Y went well.  There were 14 people in attendance and we had Holiday Flavors - Apple Cranberry Chicken Marsala, Stuffing Cups and Chocolate Mousse. 

Tuesday I went to Jazzercise in the morning again since I had the big party Tuesday night.  This is my 10th year or so doing a party for The Beacon of Hope Women's Center and it always serves as a reminder of why I don't do big parties as part of my business.  The last several years my friend Kevin has helped with shopping, cost, prep and serving and it's nice to have someone else to work with.

We decided we needed to start cooking at 1:00 on Tuesday so we could be done at 4 to change and get to the center.  We finished at 4:15 and felt pretty good.  We had cheese and crackers, beef tenderloin, mashed potato casserole and green beans with mushrooms.  We had a slight mishap with one of the potato containers, but the mess was contained and we had plenty of potatoes.  For next year we need to remember that 4 containers are too many to stack. 

The beef worked out perfectly.  I seared it, roasted it and made a pan sauce.  I might make it for Christmas.  Kevin and I made 15 pounds of beef tenderloin.  We purchased the trimmed fillets at Costco and they were beautiful. 

Roast Fillet Of Beef with Tarragon Sauce unknown source

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds beef tenderloin, trimmed and tied
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup shallots, minced
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup red wine
1 1/4 cups beef broth
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat.  Pat beef dry.  Add beef to skillet and brown on all sides, turning frequently, about 7 minutes, place rack in roasting pan.  Transfer beef to rack.  Roast beef to desired doneness about 25 minutes for rare until meat thermometer reaches 140 degrees.

2.    Meanwhile pour oil from skillet.  Add butter to same skillet and melt over low heat.  Add shallots, saute 1 minute.  Add tarragon, and salt.

3.     Add wine and bring to boil.  Boil uncovered until almost no liquid remains.  Mix in 1 cup stock.  Stir cornstarch with remaining 1/4 cup stock.  Add to mushrooms, bring to boil until thickened.  Cut beef into slices.  Overlap on platter.  Spoon sauce over beef.

Wednesday I had to shop for fudge ingredients and deliver a gift certificate to a client.  She purchased an in-home cooking class for her boyfriend for a Christmas gift.  I didn't want either of us to stress about the mail getting it to her in time so I dropped it by her office.  Personal chef service! 

Today has been busy so far. I started about 6:30 making 16 batches of fudge which is now cooling in 18 foil containers. I also made 6 batches of cocoa blocks, fed the birds with suet and seeds,  did a load of laundry, took the gifts to UPS for shipping, returned library books that are due today and have a conference call at 1:30.  I'll be going to Jazzercise tonight, no time this morning! 

All is going well though and I feel no real stress.  I may need a nap this afternoon but should be on track to take one.