The weekend was not crazy.  Saturday we went to the library, picked up a gift card and went for drinks and dinner with my friends Matthew and Lynda who are also personal chefs.  It was a big birthday for Lynda and Matthew had planned a big day for her with surprises.  He arranged for a spa day for her and then we surprised her at The Grape at Atlantic Station for wine and appetizers.  The wine was good and there was lots to choose from.  The appetizers were good, even great, but the service was very poor.  We were afraid we would have to leave for dinner before appetizers!

We walked over to Dolce Enoteca for dinner.  We had a good dinner, a small wait for our table even with reservations but not long and we had a great time.  We decided that we needed to go out together more often.  We see each other at chapter meetings and sometimes work with each other but rarely have pure social time. 

Sunday was a day of not doing much.  We grocery shopped but spent only $30 since I'm using the pantry and freezer.  Yay!  Monday was a day off for my husband and we just kind of relaxed at home.  I did do some work on menus for classes and customers and then was a little bored.

What could I do?  We had already done the FlyLady mission of the day and a bonus closet decluttering so now what?  I could bake!  I had purchased some fun chips and toffees and other cookie add in things at Christmas and hadn't used them.  I gave my husband a choice, after all he did closet decluttering too, and he chose the Peppermint Brownies.  The tiny peppermint patties are so cute and delicious. 

Perfectly Peppermint Brownies from Hershey's

Yes, it's been a few days since I've written and I have been slightly busy.  First off the food reviews.  I made the Leek, Potato and Spinach soup from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker cookbook on Thursday and it was very good.  And very easy as a slow cooker recipe should be, in my opinion. 

You don't really need a recipe for the soup.  You use 4 medium potatoes, 4 cups of sliced leeks, place in the slow cooker and barely cover with chicken broth or water, I used some of each to use up leftovers in the fridge.  You place the cooker on low for 5 to 7 hours and use the immersion blender to puree, add 2 tablespoons of butter, salt and pepper and you're done with the basic soup.  For the spinach variation you add 2 cups packed, fresh spinach an hour before the soup is done, puree, butter and the book says to add 1 cup of cream. I used a 6 ounce package of baby spinach.   I did not add cream and it was very good.  Not the prettiest green color ever seen, but very tasty. 

I had the soup for dinner Friday and my husband had the beef curry.  Both were excellent heated again. 

Saturday we had Southwestern Hash for breakfast from the Ellie Krieger cookbook. I'll post the recipe here since I found it on the Food Network site and don't have to type it!

Southwestern Hash

1 pound small red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
1 green pepper, diced (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder or other chili powder
3 medium tomatoes diced (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 can no-salt-added black beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
4 eggs
Hot pepper sauce, for serving

 Place the potatoes in a large non-stick skillet. Cover with water, bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and set potatoes aside.

Dry the skillet with a paper towel. Add the oil and heat over a medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook until vegetables have softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the potatoes, garlic, cumin, oregano, and chili powder. Add the tomatoes and beans and simmer for 5 minutes or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in cilantro.

Transfer the hash onto serving plates. With the heat off, wipe out the pan again. Spray it with cooking spray, turn heat on to medium-low and cook the eggs, sunny-side up, or over-easy. Put an egg on top of each mound of hash. Serve with hot sauce.

This recipe serves 4, and we had leftover hash.  I'll probably have it for dinner on "whatever" Tuesday.  It was excellent. 

I went to Bloomingdale's in the afternoon to make some Shrimp Pesto Pizza using the food processor.  Very fast and easy and yummy.  We had a nice crowd for the demo and some happy pizza munchers.  One man bought a food processor "for his wife".  She was there and chose the color, but I believe he might be using it more than she will.

Sunday we had made plans to go to the Decatur Arts Festival so we got groceries at Publix before leaving to have fun.  And went out to breakfast at the ever popular Waffle House.  With prices of groceries getting higher, I've made a few changes with my shopping.  I am using what I have in the freezer and trying to add fresh veggies or salad to whatever is in the freezer.  If something is on sale, I do buy extra and put it in the freezer.  When I plan my menu, I'm basing it more on what I have, what is on sale and what is in season rather than choosong a cookbook and looking for recipes that sound good.

The Decatur Arts Festival was nice and I finally found an engagement gift for my niece.  I didn't want to get something anyone could get from anywhere.  Since we hadn't spent much time at the festival we had time to go to a quilt shop/sewing machine dealer and look at sewing machines.  The owner of the shop is very nice and is a very good salesperson and I have a new machine that scares me a little.  I'll be reading the manual and playing with it today.  More to follow with machine adventures.

I'm going to read the manual now, wait for a cake to cool so I can take a meal to someone from church and fold my load of laundry.  Lately I've had "help" with the laundry so of course it takes longer!  And there is attitude involved.

It's kind of sad.  The news last night reported a potential "weather event" with snow, sleet, freezing rain, the whole deal.  I was ready.  I've been to Jazzercise 3 times this week, went to the library yesterday, have food in the fridge and freezer. 

We got nothing.  I did hear some rain last night but we're fine this morning.  I guess I should be happy, but with no plans and ready to cocoon inside, I feel that maybe I should go do something.  I'll try and refrain. 

The menu moved a little this week and we had the Zucchini Pie last night.  It was very good, basically a crustless quiche.  It's from my new cookbook, Quick Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin which I ordered after reading a discussion on the Cooking Light bulletin board.  I sometimes find too much I "need" when I read messages on the board.

Zucchini, Tomato and Swiss Cheese Pie

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/4 cur breadcrumbs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 3 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 pound grated or sliced Swiss cheese
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Using 1/2 tablespoon of the butter, grease a pie plate, then sprinkle the bread crumbs over the bottom and sides.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat .  Add the onion and garlic and saute 10 minutes.  Stir in the diced tomatoes and saute 5 minutes.  Raise the heat to high.  Mix in the zucchini, fennel seed, salt and pepper.  Cook until the zucchini is barely tender, about 5 minutes.  (The mixture should begin to stick to the pan.) Remove the pan from the heat and cool 5 minutes.  (The recipe may be prepared in advance to this point and chilled up to 24 hours.  Bring to room temperature before proceeding.)
3. Beat the eggs in a large bowl.  Stir in the milk, then mix in the zucchin mixture.  Pour half into the prepared pie plate, top with the Swiss cheese, then pour on the remaining vegetable mixture.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese all over the top and dot with the remaining butter. 
4. Bake 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown.  Let sit 10 minutes before cutting.
5. Serves 4 We did get 4 servings, so now we have leftovers.  Maybe brunch tomorrow.

Notes:  I followed the recipe almost exactly.  I used 3 plum tomatoes for the tomatoes.  I used seasoned dry breadcrumbs since that is what I had.  I also made the recipe for Provencal Potatoes in the same book per suggestion by the author.  The potatoes were just pan, fried red potatoes sprinkled with garlic and green onion, very, very brown.  Very good. 

Today I hope to do some knitting.  I worked on my quilt so I'd be ready for class this week and I have the top done.  I'll find out about batting and backing at class and will soon have a crib sized quilt.  I'm getting better at sewing, still not perfect but I haven't broken 1 needle on the machine. 

Now it's time for breakfast, maybe it's brunch since it's a little late.  

But it is.  I can't believe it's been that long.  I kept thinking all week - I don't want to blog today because I just did.  But I haven't. 

This was a good week:

• Monday - normal, office work, monthly conference call, Jazzercise, dinner was "whatever" due to meeting husband had
• Tuesday - semi normal, attended networking thing at library where no one else came not even the speaker, Jazzercise, "whatever" for dinner as is normal for Tuesday
• Wednesday - normal, cooked for a client, went to quilt class, husband had a meeting so I went to Bruster's for ice cream for dinner after quilt class
• Thursday - normal, cooked for a client, Jazzercise, dinner with husband of chili and cornbread
• Friday - normal, went to bank, BJs to stock up, laundry, now maybe quilting or knitting, actually maybe unknitting we'll see, dinner will be seafood enchiladas

I haven't made any recipes for us this week because I've been trying to use up fridge and freezer things.  I did make cornbread from the back of the Quaker cornmeal box last night and it was very good, nothing exotic.  I do need to menu plan.  I may go grocery shopping tomorrow.

My husband will be having a boy's day with our son-in-law and grandson.  Michael and Matthew are coming from South Carolina to attend the Monster Truck show.  I highly encouraged a boys only.  My step daughter isn't coming, she's doing something with church, so there was no need for Grandma Carlin to go to see the trucks.  I'll try and survive the quiet with yarn, fabric and maybe even a little wine.

Here are the fabrics for my next quilt.  It is going to be a crib quilt and while I have no babies coming up that I need to gift, I can always donate it to the Blanket Ministry.  I want to do the whole process for this including batting and quilting so I wanted something in a manageable size.

I've also started on my cape and it's been going okay.  I'm not happy with my increases I don't think, so I may have to take out a few rows and try again.  I do drive myself nuts sometimes.  I took these pictures of the pictures in the pattern book.

I'm going to menu plan now and try and use some new recipes so I can post some in the blog.  I did just receive 4 new vegetarian and vegan cookbooks that I'd ordered so may be using some of the recipes from there.  And still trying to use the freezer some. 

I hope you had a good Christmas, we did.  We started Christmas Eve serving at the 5:00 service.  I went to the nursery to watch babies and my husband had parking lot duty.  We finished about 6:30 and headed home to make dinner.

I had planned on enchiladas and black beans and rice.  I like to have seafood for Christmas Eve.  The enchiladas were very good and hopefully freeze well because the recipe made too much for just us.  I don't know where I found the recipe, I didn't get the source and can't find it again.  Frustrating!

Enchiladas del Mar

• 1/2 pound tomatillo
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 12 large shrimp, cleaned
• 1/4 cup shallot, minced
• 6 ounces bay scallops
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 1/3 cups heavy cream
• 1 pound crabmeat
• 12 whole corn tortillas
• 3 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
• 6 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 whole avocado, sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• salsa verde

1. Char tomatillos over gas flame or in broiler until black in spots.  Transfer to blender and process to coarse puree. 
2. Heat oil in skillet over high heat.  Add shrimp and shallot until shrimp begin to turn pink, about 1 1/2 minutes.
3. Add garlic, stir 30 seconds.  Add scallops and wine, cook until wine is almost evaporated, about 2 minutes.
4. Transfer shrimp mixture to medium bowl. 
5. Add cream and tomatillo puree to same skillet, simmer until mixture thickens and measures 1 2/3 cups, about 10 minutes.
6. Add crab and shrimp to skillet.  Season with salt and pepper.
7. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
8. Heat griddle or large skillet over medium high heat.  Working in batches, add tortillas to dry skillet and heat just until soft, about 30 seconds per side.
9. Plpace tortillas on work surface.
10. Place 1/4 cup of cheese on each, sprinkle with goat cheese.
11. Roll up and place seam side down in 13x9 baking dish.  Spoon warm sauce over tortillas.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese. 
12. Bake until heated through, about 10 minutes.  Top with avocado slices, cilantro and pass the salsa.

Notes:  I made two casseroles and one is in the freezer.  I had salsa, but didn't think any was needed, we didn't use it. 

We relaxed after dinner and because I only had one glass of wine with dinner, we were awake and able to go to church for 11:00 Christmas Eve service. 

Monday morning we opened packages and received some very nice gifts.  We had breakfast, Rachael Ray's Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes, and were happy to be staying home warm and dry.  We had a little freezing rain in the morning.  Not much though.

For Christmas dinner I had a simple, but good, meal of Roasted Beef Tenderloin, Potato Casserole and Fresh Green Beans.  Very delicious. 

Yesterday we headed to Greenville, South Carolina to visit family.  My husband's daughters and their husbands live there and also our grandson.  We went to Beth and Michael's for lunch with Chrissy and Chuck joining us.  Matthew was very excited to show us his crash car race set and his Leapster. 

We had some packages for him and I made the quilt for him.  I have pictures before we wrapped it and with Matthew getting ready to take his nap.  He loves race cars and was very happy to have a soft race car quilt.  Also a picture of Beth, Matthew and me with Leapster. 

We had a great day, good lunch with good company.  We spent a lot of time outside chatting while Matthew and the neighborhood kids rode new bikes, scooters,  and tractors.  We got home about 9, had a snack and went to sleep.

I woke up at 4 this morning and will probably nap later.  Once the sun comes up, I have a great view of the sunrise through my office window.  This is yesterday morning.

Today I plan to do some cleaning and organizing.  I may work on my quilt class homework.  Of course a load of laundry. 

I have a couple pictures to finish of the animals with their gifts from my niece Cristine.  She got them dog treats and mouse toys. 

I'm not a big fan of cookie making.  I like to eat cookies, but I'm happier making bar cookies, or something that can be cut into pieces rather than having to make them individually.

While I was browsing the book that had the happy reindeer, I saw cookies that looked very good.  They are called S'More Thumbprint Cookies.  They're from the Pillsbury Holiday Cookies December 2007/January 2008.  Pictures of every recipe in the book. 

We needed to get one more gift yesterday and I was afraid we'd have to go to the mall and brave the crowds.  We were very lucky though and found what we needed at Target.  We got home quickly and had no stress.  I heard the cookie recipe calling.

These are very good and even better cold than warm which surprised me since S'Mores are always warm. Beware, these are easy and tasty.

S'More Thumbprint Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs, (16 cracker squares)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 120 miniature marshmallows (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 60 rectangles milk chocolate (from four 1.55 ounce bars)

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla, beat until blended.  Add flour, crackercrumbs and salt; on low speed, beat about 1 minute or until stiff dough forms.
3. Shape dough by heaping teaspoonfuls into 60 balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart.  With thumb, make indentation in center of each.
4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are firm and edges are just beginning to brown.  Lightly press 2 marshmallows in center of each cookie;bake 2 to 3 minutes longer.  Top marshmallows on each cookie with 1 rectangle of chocolate;let stand 2 to 3 minutes.  With tip of knife, gently spread chocolate over marshmallows.  Let stand until chocolate is set.
5. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
6. Note: I only got 4 dozen cookies and mine are not huge.  Also I used parchment paper on the cookie sheets, just in case.

Yesterday afer shopping and cookies, we pretty much relaxed.  We went to the wine store so we're set for wine. 

Today was church, De Kalb Famers Market, I finished the quilt!  Yesterday I got the last row on.  Today with the help of my husband I got the back fabric on and it's stitched up.  I have to hand sew the small opening and I'd like to wash it, but it is finished in time!  I'll get pictures.

The back was the most diffcult because I can't visualize a finished product from a pattern or directions.  I have to see it.  I have trouble with maps, they don't make sense.  It's the same with blueprints, sewing pieces of knitting together, geometry was a nightmare for me. Luckily my husband's mind works differently than mine and he helped with the back piece. 

Have a great Christmas.  We've both volunteered to serve at an early service tomorrow.  He will be in the parking lot and I will be in the nursery.  We'll have dinner and then go back to the late service.

I had a good time shopping this weekend.  Since my husband was at the retreat, I went alone which may not have been a great idea.  I bought things that I wanted, didn't need.

Friday I went to Trader Joe's.  I can recommend the Pumpkin Ice Cream, the Candy Cane Joe Joes and the Peppermint Melt Aways.  I told you - bad.  The Melt Aways are in a nice box that would make a nice gift.  I also got some of the dark chocolate covered mints, emergency macaroni and cheese for the freezer, a turkey and a few other small items. 

Saturday was Costco day.  I didn't do too badly with wants versus needs there.  We hadn't been for a while so I had some basics that needed stocking.  I did not however need the two new cookbooks that I bought.  One was the new Alice Waters (I haven't even looked at that yet) and one was The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. 

I've skimmed through the Test Kitchen Cookbook and used it Sunday to make chili and cornbread.  Both recipes are excellent.  This is a great cookbook for anybody, beginner to experienced because there are lots of tips on ingredients and equipment, good pictures of techniques and good, basic recipes.

All-American Beef Chili from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

• Serves: 8
• Prep time: 2 hours (includes 1 hour 30 minutes simmering time)

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 pounds (85 percent lean) ground beef
• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans dark red kidney beans, rinsed
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree

1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering.  Add the onions, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 7 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook for 15 seconds.
2. Add the beef and increase the heat to medium high.  Cook, breaking up the beef with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the beans, diced tomatoes with their juice, tomato puree, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.   Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes.
3. Remove the lid and continue to simmer until the beef is tender, about 45 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.
4. Make Ahead: The chili can be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen up to 1 month.  Reheat over low heat, adding water or broth to adjust the consistency. 

 I followed the recipe exactly and it was great.  I'll use this as my chili recipe from now on.  I was afraid the cayenne would be too hot, I like hot but not blistering, but it was perfect.  I didn't add additional salt or pepper before serving. 

I am making good progress on the quilt.  I have 3 of 9 rows done.  I need to take some time to cut some more material maybe sometime today and get some more squares sewn together.  I am happy with the look, I don't want to post pictures until after Christmas in case somone looks at this and would know I'm making it.  The pattern leaves no doubt as to the recipient. 

Today I am scheduled to go to Le Cordon Bleu to speak with students about the life of a personal chef.  I've spoken there before since one of my personal chef friends is an instructor there and I know a couple other instructors through Women Chefs and Restaurateurs.  It's fun, usually lots of questions from the students.  Sara left an email last night that said there are 46 students signed up to hear me talk! 

I guess I should get ready for this afternoon.  I like to take something to hand out.  I'll need to figure out what for that many people.