It's Friday!  I have a few things to do, but a little of everything which I like.  This week overall was a variety week after having camp  every day last week.

This week I had my class at the Y on Monday night, I so enjoy my monthly class at the Y.  Tuesday I was going to clean but I managed to avoid that totally and did some relaxing.  Wednesday I had a library cooking program in Fayetteville.  The program was sold out (it was free but signup required) with about 28 kids from age 4 to 12. 

The library summer theme this year is "Make a Splash at the Library" which is not a favorite of the librarians since books and water should not mix.  My program was Water, Water Everywhere and I made fish (lives in the water), zucchini (contains water) and lemonade (made with water).  The kids helped me cook and everyone sampled.  I have no pictures because an hour long program + kids helping + tasting for all does not equal pictures. 

Thursday I had a personal chef customer.  It was a little strange because usually I see my customer and don't see the kids.  My customer started a new job recently so I just got to say goodbye to her and the kids are off school so I got to see them.  I had a good day of cooking and in addition to the meals I left them a treat of fresh fruit. 

Today is starting out well.  I like to get to my desk about 6 when I'm not working but didn't get here until 7.  I decided to pick up a row of knitting while I was rested and I also did one row.  About 7 more rows and the baby sweater is done!

I checked email at my desk, emptied the dishwasher and made a meal for my Loving Meals MInistry.  The family has three young children and the mom is on bed rest due to have twins.  They need food!  I made Chicken Piccata with Mushrooms big enough to avoid.  It's a lighter recipe from Eating Well.

Chicken Piccata with Pasta and Mushrooms from Eating Well January/February 2008
serves 4

• 6 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 chicken cutlets, (3/4-1 pound total), trimmed
• 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 10-ounce package mushrooms, sliced
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
• 2 teaspoons butter

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until just tender, 4 to 6 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and rinse.
2. Meanwhile, whisk 5 teaspoons flour and broth in a small bowl until smooth. Place the remaining flour in a shallow dish. Season chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper and dredge both sides in the flour. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned and no longer pink in the middle, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate; cover and keep warm.
3. Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until they release their juices and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add garlic and wine to the pan and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved broth-flour mixture, lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in parsley, capers, butter and the reserved mushrooms. Measure out 1/2 cup of the mushroom sauce. Toss the pasta in the pan with the remaining sauce. Serve the pasta topped with the chicken and the reserved sauce.

Now I have a load of laundry in, I need to dust a little, maybe vacuum, make a menu for us for next week, get to the bank.  Next week is another session of kid's cooking camp.  So much fun but I need easy meals for that week so I can make sure I don't avoid Jazzercise. 

I have a training session with KitchenAid this morning so need to be ready to watch online at 10:00.  Going away party tonight so no need for dinner for us!

I just spent a week teaching people to cook and heating up food that I cooked previously, but not cooking much from start to finish.  Kind of strange but I knew I'd need quick meals last week.

I taught cooking class at The Cook's Warehouse to 12 young adults last week.  Each day they cooked a meal and I enjoyed what they made for lunch.  And I enjoyed for dinner what I had stored in the freezer.

Menu planning is the best plan for me.  Monday night I planned a quick roast pork tenderloin with sauteed spinach and frozen macaroni and cheese from Trader Joe's.  Tuesday night was leftover chicken soup for just me.  Wednesday was pizza from the freezer,  one that I had made with sausage, pesto, roasted red pepper and mozzarella, also a salad.  Thursday night was chicken curry from the freezer with rice and sauteed zucchini. 

Friday I had planned to roast some chicken with stuffing from the freezer but didn't do well on thawing chicken so we went out for dinner last night.  Roast chicken and stuffing with fresh broccoli tonight with leftovers planned for tomorrow since I am working a couple hours Sunday night. 

I love to cook and I enjoy eating but I knew last week was busy for me and each day after class I had a couple hours of  work to do for the next day of class.  I also wanted to make sure I went to Jazzercise so I would feel good and I needed to keep up with laundry. 

The only way to get it all in without any stress was to plan my meals for the week.  Last week was great.  I did get to Jazzercise 3 times and we had good meals each night. 

Next week is not a cooking class week so I've planned my menu and will make some meals that take a little more time. Not too much more though, I have a good busy week ahead!

The sun is shining and we have blue skies again.  So pretty.  Still a little cold but it's sunny and that makes it all better. 

I've had a good week after the snow day.  I got some knitting done and finished the first baby clothes.  My niece also officially announced to everyone that she is having a baby so now I can send her the clothes.  My sister had told me earlier because she was too excited to keep it secret.  I think they turned out well and are pretty in the green, yellow and white since we don't know what the baby will be yet.  I mailed them yesterday and she should receive the package Monday.





On Wednesday I met with a customer that wanted some help with meal planning.  We talked about how to start and planned a strategy.  We also toured the refrigerator and freezer and planned meals that used what was there to avoid waste.  I had a great time and she was happy to have some help. 

I also met with some people from an apartment complex that want to offer monthly cooking classes for entertainment to their residents.  I wanted to see the kitchen to make sure I could cook and entertain.  The kitchen is good.  It's big, good range, ovens and large refrigerator.  We'll see what happens with that. 

Yesterday was the errand day that I avoided on the snow day.  I went to the bread store and the Natural Foods Warehouse.  I forgot the bank and post office so that will be on today's list. 

I also met with a couple who received a gift certificate for Christmas.  The husband's mom purchased it so her son, his wife and their daughter could have a cooking class.  We got some ideas for the menu, they're going to invite 3 friends and after their cooking class they'll eat the meal with their friends.  That will be fun. 

I made lots of pasta dishes last week, I must have been having pasta cravings when I menu planned, so this week feels like some lighter meals.  I love pasta but do also crave some great salads and soups and that looks like this week's plan. 

Off to the post office, bank, then personal meal planning.  A chef has to eat too!

This year is flying by!  I can't believe it's March already but since it's the best month in the year, I'm ready!  It looks like it might be coming in like a lion, there is a potential for snow here again tomorrow.

Today it is sunny with blue skies.  It was cold this morning on the way to 7:15 Jazzercise, but it was pretty early too. 

We had a bunch of changes with menu planning last week and ended up with chicken almost all week from what I roasted last Monday.  I had on the menu plan to go out for dinner on Friday and we stuck with that and moved the other days out. 

We headed to The Art Institute for dinner which has always been good, but there are some changes now.  Good changes.  They've added to the menu many small plates and they all sound good.  I had the seared scallop and it was perfect!  We had a good, relaxing dinner, different from chicken all week.

Saturday I taught at The Cook's Warehouse and had a fun time as I always do.  This time I had the 3 to 5 year olds, a full class, and the theme was Warm Up Winter.  We had Chicken Tomato Chowder, Corn Oatmeal Muffins and Warm Cider.  The kids did a good job as always and were ready to sit down and rest and eat at the end of class.  The class is 2 hours long and the kids are great. 

After class I needed to pick up some yarn at Knitch and did that on the way home.  Once home I admit I took a pretty long nap.  I woke up refreshed, did some knitting and made us a good dinner of pasta with sausage.  No chicken. 

Sunday was a normal day of church, grocery shopping and dinner that took a little more time.  I did a timeline so we could eat around 6.  Generally we eat a  late breakfast and then dinner on the weekends. 

I wanted to try Thai Chicken Pizza.  It had been on the menu for the previous Wednesday, but my husband and I decided to take a class at church Wednesday night and pizza was not a good plan for that night.  I actually started the dough on Saturday by making a starter.  On Sunday I used the starter and made the dough beginning about 2:30.  I had to turn the dough every 30 minutes but I spent the afternoon knitting.

The pizza turned out perfectly.  Well worth the time.  It wasn't hard, just needed some time.  The recipe is from King Arthur flour and I followed it exactly.  The recipe made 2 pizzas so I baked them both and I'll wrap and freeze one today for a quick meal later on. 


Thai Chicken Pizza from King Arthur Flour

Overnight Starter

• 1 cup King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
• small pinch of instant yeast
• 1/2 cup cool tap water

Dough

• all of the overnight starter
• 1 1/4 cups cool water
• 2 1/2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast

Thai Chicken Topping

• 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1/3 cup Thai Fish Sauce (available in the international food section of your grocery store)
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon Thai chili garlic paste
• 1/2 cup Thai spicy peanut sauce
• 1 small bunch scallions, chopped
• 1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese, or pizza cheese blend
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

The evening before you want to make the pizza, you are going to make an overnight starter. In a medium bowl mix the flour and yeast. Stir in the cold water until all is well blended. The mixture will be slightly sticky. If it seems too thick or dry add another tablespoon of water to adjust the consistency. If it seems soupy, add another tablespoon of flour. Lightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 12-15 hours. It will puff slightly and develop flavor and structure.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, place all of the overnight starter. Add the cool water and stir to break up the starter. Add the remaining flour, salt and yeast. Mix the dough on Speed 2 for 5 minutes. This dough is a wet dough, don't be tempted to add more flour.

Remove the dough hook, loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature to rise. This dough will need folds to help develop structure. Every 30 minutes for 2 hours (a total of 3 folds), you will be folding the dough over on itself in the bowl. 1) Dip your hands in a bowl of cool water. This will help prevent the dough from sticking to you. 2) Grasp the dough on one side and lift it slightly, pulling to fold it over the rest of the dough. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the fold. Turn the bowl and repeat again. Re-cover the bowl and set aside for another 30 minutes. Remember, you will fold the dough a total of 3 times over the course of the 2 hour rise, plus the final turn out for shaping.

Cut the chicken breast into large chunks. Place in a medium non-reactive bowl and add the fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar and chili garlic paste. Mix well and refrigerate, covered, for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight. This can be done at the same time as the overnight starter, if desired.

To cook the chicken for topping, heat a saute pan over medium high heat. Add the chicken and about half of the marinade. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink inside and the liquid has reduced and coats the chicken. The chicken should still be quite moist at this point. Set aside to cool slightly, then chop into small bite sized pieces. Why chop after cooking? Larger pieces keep the chicken moist during cooking, so it doesn't dry out on the pizza.

Preheat the oven to 450°F for 30-45 minutes. Remove half of the dough to a sheet of parchment or to a well floured surface. Wet you hands with cool water and gently press the dough into a circle, about 10 inches in diameter. If the dough resists stretching, let it rest for a few minutes, then shape again. Keep your fingertips wet to prevent sticking and tearing of the dough.

For each pizza top with half of the Thai peanut sauce, half of the chopped scallions, half of the chicken and half of the pizza cheese. Bake the pizza for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Remove from the oven, top with fresh chopped cilantro and serve. Ice cold Singha Thai beer is a plus!

I've been less busy than normal this month and I am trying to enjoy my time, not go crazy.  Sometimes I'm good with that, sometimes I'm crazy. 

I did get a lot of work done on menus that were due for my Cook's Warehouse classes all through the summer.  And I could relax while I did them and not try to fit them in around other work. 

I also started organizing tax stuff.  Since I work for myself and contract out to several different companies, I get several 1099s and I have to make sure the 1099 matches what I have in my records.  So far, so good.  I found some mistakes I made on input and I found one mistake on a form but they were easy to fix and I had time to fix them. 

I've been knitting.  I haven't done any crafty things since before the summer.  I was very busy last summer, then had the wedding, then conference, then holidays.  I let my time for knitting and quilting go away and I've been recovering that.  I need to keep the crafty things, I enjoy them. 

I've been cooking and getting a grip on the freezer and the pantry.  We have too much, I want to make sure we don't waste anything!  I've had time to make sure I can make a menu plan, check what I already have and then only buy what we absolutely need.  And cat food. 

Last night I made a recipe that I've made before but I had notes in the cookbook  that it was excellent.  And it used shrimp that I had in the freezer and tomatoes from the pantry.  The only change I made was to use my immersion blender instead of the food processor. 

Scampi on Couscous by Giada DeLaurentiis

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed, plus 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 (8 ounce) cans chopped tomatoes in their juice
• 1 (8ounce) bottle clam juice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup water
  
• 2 cups plain couscous
• 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

In a large pot, heat 1/4 cup olive oil. When almost smoking, add onion, carrot and 1 clove smashed garlic and saute until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes and their juice, clam juice and white wine. Bring to a boil and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes, uncovered. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Carefully pour tomato mixture in the bowl of a food processor and puree. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if needed - you want to end up with a broth. Check for seasoning.

Return broth to the pot. Add 1 cup of water and 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add 2 cups couscous. Cover pot and remove from heat. Let rest for 10 minutes, allowing the couscous to absorb all the liquid. Fluff with a fork and season with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, add the remaining 1/4 cup oil and the 2 cloves of minced garlic. Heat the oil, making sure not to burn the garlic. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp and stirring occasionally, cook the shrimp until they start to turn pink, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp or they will become tough. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, red pepper and chopped parsley. Check for seasoning.

To serve, mound the couscous in the center of a platter and top with the shrimp.

So it's time for Ground Hog Day again already.  It seems like we just celebrated.  I'm not sure what I'm making for a treat for tomorrow, it will have to be something though.

I'm still trying to use up the pantry and the freezer and so far, so good.  We did go out to dinner on Saturday, we tried a new place after we did some shopping.  We went to Six Feet Under.

I had the scallop tacos and they were delicious and my husband went with the fried catfish.  He said his was good too.  I tried a Six Feet Under Lemonade and it was pretty tasty too.  Just one though to relax after a hard day of shopping.

Sunday I made dinner, I used cube steaks that were in the freezer.  I didn't want Chicken Fried Steak so went with another of my standbys for cube steak.  I did of course still have mashed potatoes and some spinach from the freezer.

Cube Steaks Dijon from Bon Appetit March 2003
serves 4

2 12-ounce cube steaks
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1/3 cup dry vermouth (I used chardonnay since I had chardonnay)
1/2 cup whipping cream or half and half (I didn't have enough cream so used a little with half and half)
2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard

Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add steaks in single layer and cook until browned, turning once, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to work surface; cut each steak in half.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and sage; sauté until soft, about 30 seconds. Add vermouth; boil until slightly reduced, about 30 seconds. Stir in cream and mustard. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Divide steaks among plates, spoon sauce over, and serve.

Tonight is more meat and another repeat with Sloppy Joes from Ellie Krieger.  They do contain beans, bell pepper and tomatoes so not just all meat.  We'll also be having the last package of applesauce from the freezer unless I discover a pack or two hidden as I continue to use up things.

I know that Georgia has been in drought conditions for several years and that the rain was a good thing, but we've had a lot now and we need to even back out.  Yesterday was rainy and windy and a perfect day to be in the house. This morning I dragged myself to Jazzercise at 7:15 and when I was done the sun was coming out.  It's sunny with blue skies now!  I feel pretty energized.

I am still trying to work through all of the food in my freezer before buying anything else.  Saturday I pulled out spaghetti sauce so I could have an easy meal for the day.  It seems like it's been a while since we've had spaghetti and meat sauce and it was perfect.

Sunday I pulled out salmon.  I buy bags of salmon and tuna at Costco to have in the freezer and discovered during this freezer cleaning process that I have a lot of salmon and no tuna.  We like both, but it's salmon for now. 

I looked at some cookbooks while menu planning on Friday and decided I am in the mood for pasta and anything that has piccata flavors.  Last night we had Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Lemon, Basil and Salmon and it was very tasty.  We'll be having it again with salmon from the freezer.

Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Lemon, Basil, and Salmon by Giada De Laurentiis

1/2 pound whole-wheat spaghetti
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 (4-ounce) pieces salmon
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons capers
1 lemon, zested
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta and transfer to a large bowl. Add the garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine.
2. Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Add the fish to the pan and cook until medium-rare, about 2 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the fish. Remove the salmon from the pan.
3. Add the basil, capers, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the spaghetti mixture and toss to combine. Set out 4 serving plates or shallow bowls. Place 1/2 cup spinach in each bowl. Top with 1/4 of the pasta. Top each mound of pasta with a piece of salmon. Serve immediately.

The only change I made was to toss the spinach in a large bowl with the garlic, oil, salt and pepper.  I then added the hot pasta to wilt the spinach and then tossed with the basil, capers, etc.  I place pasta in serving bowls and topped with the salmon.  

Friday night was the birthday party and I had a good time.  The girls had fun too.  I taught them to make pizza dough, sauce, cupcakes, frosting, a pink smoothie.  We even had enough pizza for mom, dad and grandma to make their own. 

I've been busy the last few days with work and house things.  I am trying to get back on track with Fly Lady and have been following my missions for the days.  I also try and sneak in a few extra things if I have time.

My husband has been sick since probably Saturday or so and has been in bed, sleeping, watching awful tv and reading some.  I did not have in any plan, anywhere, him sick.  I tried to be nice to him but on Monday when I was ready to change the bed, he was still in the bed.  Problem. 

He did decide to go to the doctor so I zipped in, ripped off the old, put on the new sheets and was able to do my laundry load for that day that included the sheets in with the whites.  Yay!  He came home from the doctor with a prescription for a sinus infection and hardly knew that I was hoping he'd leave for a while!

My other issue was that my menu plan this week was a little light since he was going to a woodworking something on Monday and I had the cooking class at the Y.  No plan for dinner.  Luckily I cooked Sunday and we had leftovers.  Tuesday is always whatever day for me, but there he was, not going to his meeting.  I foraged in the freezer and fridge and found shredded beef, tortillas, cheese, sour cream, salsa and corn.  Dinner. 

Tonight I had a meeting and it was again forage for yourself.  Except I got an email that said the meeting is next week.  I called and checked and it is next week.  Luckily I cooked for a client today and made sausage quiche.  I have some leftover sausage from that, mushrooms, I have cheese, we're having quiche! 

Yesterday was cookie day.  I needed about 10 dozen cookies to take tomorrow to the library performer's meeting.  I made Monster Cookies because the recipe makes a lot.  An awful lot, I got about 15 dozen.  But they are very good!

Monster Cookies from Penzey's Spices

12 large eggs
1 pound butter, at room temperature
2 pounds brown sugar
4 cups sugar
1/4 cup vanilla extract
3 pounds crunchy peanut butter
8 teaspoons baking soda
18 cups quick oats (a 42 ounce drum plus 3 more cups)
1 pound chocolate chips
1 pound M&Ms

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl ( a really large bowl - we had a 13 quart stainless steel bowl that worked fine), cream together eggs, butter, sugars and vanilla.
   
3. Mix in the other ingredients by hand to form a stiff dough.  Make sure the oats are the quick cooking variety, as they make the cookies fluffier than regular oats.
   
4. Bake teaspoons full of dough on a greased cookie sheet for about 10 minutes. 
   
5. Yield: an enormous number of cookies. 
   

I used parchment paper on my cookie sheets and I used a cookie scoop so mine were a little bigger and took about 12 minutes.  My bowl was almost too small.

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. 

Last week was a busy week for me.  I had personal chef clients, I taught 2 days of classes for people wanting to be personal chefs and I was at the mall Saturday and Sunday as a product specialist for KitchenAid.

I cannot eat well without menu planning and I try to do it on Friday to carry me through to Saturday.  We normally grocery shop after church on Sunday.  This schedule works for me.  For meals last week I pulled out Quick Fix Meals by Robin Miller.  The recipes are generally easy, light and pretty good.

One night we had Salmon Chowder with Yukon Gold Potatoes.  I also try and make sure I use what I have in the freezer and for some reason I have a lot of salmon.  We like it though.  This is not a thick chowder, it's a soup. 

Salmon Chowder with Yukon Gold Potatoes by Robin Miller

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 leeks (white part only), rinsed well and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 2 medium-size Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 cups leftover salmon broken into pieces
• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated fat-free milk or lowfat milk
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the tarragon and cook 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the potatoes and broth and bring to a simmer. Partially cover the pan and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the salmon and milk and simmer 2 minutes to heat through. Remove from the heat, season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

I did not have leftover salmon, I had salmon with skin on, so I sprayed a non-stick skillet with cooking spray and cooked the salmon quickly on the stove.  If the salmon had been skinless, I would have cut it in chunks and added it to the soup when I added the potatoes. 

This week is a little slower so I've been trying to make things that take more time. Last Friday I saw that I had planned Salmon en Croute and I was wondering what was wrong with me.  After two days of teaching, that was not going to happen!  We had frozen pizza from Publix!  Your freezer can be your friend.

I made the salmon on Sunday and it was good.  Nothing difficult, just more than I wanted to do on Friday.  I wrapped the salmon in puff pastry, added some spinach to it, sealed and baked.  Great with a green salad. 

We did go to Trader Joe's on Saturday since I received the new flyer in the mail and I saw things that I needed.  Ha!  I did pick up a few things for the freezer and some Maple Cream Cookies that are very good.  Great with a cup of tea.  This is a dangerous store for me but I didn't go too crazy.  They also have a grapefruit soda that I enjoy every so often.  I'm not a big soda drinker.

Today is the library and I need to plan my route for my trip to Washington D.C.  I'm leaving I think next Thursday for my Women Chefs and Restaurateurs conference.  Can't wait!