Week 6 Meals

Sunday, 2/3 - Superbowl Party - 3-bean veggie chili, cornbread, cheese curds, guacamole, snickerdoodles, German chocolate cake

Monday, 2/4 - Leftovers

Tuesday, 2/5 - Tuna Melts

Wednesday, 2/6 - Vermont Pizza and Herb Fries at The Liberty Tavern

Thursday, 2/7 - Linguine with Chicken Ragu (made with store bought sauce)

Friday, 2/8 - French Onion Soup and Salad or Dinner Out

Saturday, 2/9 - Dinner Out

January's Hits and MIsses

I thought I would share what recipes Ben and I deemed the "keepers" and the "losers" for the month of January. I've linked the recipes for the keepers where I could find them. We found a lot of great new dishes, most coming from Everyday Food Fast (Thanks, Lisanne! We love this cookbook!). There were a few clunkers, too. I've listed them but I won't link the recipes for those. The rest of the meals from the month that I haven't listed below were either things I make on a regular basis with no recipe or we didn't get to make yet.

The Keepers
From Everyday Food Fast:
Sole with Lemon Butter Sauce
Roasted asparagus
Pureed Butternut Squash Soup
Tomato and olive penne
Chicken stirfry wraps
Tostadas salsa verde
Fish Tacos

From surfing the web:
Wild mushroom pizza - Tyler Florence (via AOL)

From Giada's Family Dinners:
Tilapia in citrus bagna cauda
Peppercini shrimp

The Losers

Tagliatelle with Sausage, Ricotta, and Peas from Everyday Italian
Brunswick Stew from Cooking Light
Pasta e Fagioli from Giada's Family Dinners

Week 5 Meals

Doing pretty well with this meal planning biz. There have been only a few nights that I couldn't stick to the plan, but that's either because I had a meeting to go to or Ben had to work really late. I've been buying the ingredients on Sunday for most of the week's meals with maybe a shopping trip mid-week to pick up fish or meat. I think I may even be saving money!

Sunday, 1/27 - Fish Tacos

Monday, 1/28 - Chicken Tikka Maasala with rice

Tuesday, 1/29 - Tortilla Soup with Romaine Salad and Chili Dressing

Wednesday, 1/30 - Filet Mignon with baked potatoes

Thursday, 1/31 - Tagliatelle with Sausage and Ricotta (hold the peas!)

Friday, 2/1 - Pan Fried Shrimp with Green Curry Cashew Sauce or Dinner Out

Saturday, 2/2 - Dinner Out

Menu Planning Week 3, Um, Make that Week 4

I originally planned this meal for the week of January 13-19, but both Ben and I have had a very busy week, so we either ate out or had ready-made meals at home. The only thing I cooked was Pasta e Fagioli and a Ceaser Salad. The soup was OK. A little plain but palatable. The romaine lettuce I bought for the salad was horribly bitter. No amount of cheese or anchovies was going to make it better. I threw out most of it.

I'm going to recycle the menu I planned for this week for next week.

Sunday, 1/20 - In North Carolina visiting family.

Monday, 1/21 - Returning from NC, most likely will eat on the road.

Tuesday, 1/22 - Tostadas Salsa Verde

Wednesday, 1/23 - Tilapia with Citrus Bagna Cauda

Thursday, 1/24 - Tortilla Soup with Chips, Salsa, and Guacamole

Friday, 1/25 - Linguine with Chicken Ragu

Saturday, 1/26 - Dinner out.

New Year, New Plan

One of my goals for the new year is to be more organized and efficient in the kitchen and to start using the hundreds (thousands?) of recipes I've been collecting for the past 10 years, whether they be in cookbook form or magazine clippings. I also want to waste less food since I've been known to buy stuff in the grocery store without having a specific purpose in mind and then find it rotting in the back of the fridge 3 months later. Blech. So, in order to achieve my goals, I've started meal planning again. Hopefully this time I will stick with this goal. With any luck, I will see a nice side-benefit: extra cash in my wallet. I live one block from a grocery store (this is SO NICE!), so I can get the fresh ingredients as I need them instead of hoarding things for when I think I might need them.

In my meal plans, I'm trying to incorporate more vegetables, less meat, at least one recipe from my many clippings per week, and at least one fish/seafood dish, one soup, and one dinner-size salad per week. All new recipes will be assessed by Ben and me and I'll be keeping a list of "keepers" in my recipe box and possibly here on the blog.

Here's last week's menu (not exactly as planned, but pretty close):

New Year's Day, 1/1 = Sole with Lemon Butter, Roasted Asparagus with Prosecco (Sparkling Wine)

Wednesday, 1/2 = Leftover Sole, Butternut Squash Soup with Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc

Thursday, 1/3 = Leftover Soup, Bread Salad

Friday, 1/4 = Tomato and Olive Penne with Lemoncello Martinis

Saturday, 1/5 = Leftover Pasta and Leftover Soup

Here's this week's plan:

Sunday, 1/6 = Chicken Stir Fry Wraps, Brownies with Fresh Strawberries

Monday, 1/7 = Tuna Pasta Salad made with fresh herbs and veggies

Tuesday, 1/8 = Mushroom Pizza with Cycles Gladiator Dry Rose

Wednesday, 1/9 = Leftover Pizza and Spinach Salad

Thursday, 1/10 = Brunswick Stew, cheese and crackers

Friday, 1/11 = Leftovers, Tostadas Salsa Verde, or Dinner Out

Saturday, 1/12 = Dinner Out

A Day of Food Meme

Saw this on Lisanne's blog...

1. How do you like your eggs? Scrambled, over-easy, or hard-boiled.

2. How do you take your coffee/tea? I take my coffee in France! :P Believe it or not, I actually drank espresso and cafe au lait while on vacation. I started doing it in order to keep up with my coffee fiend husband, much to his surprise, but then I really started to like it. I haven't had any since we got home, though, partly because I'm afraid it won't taste as good and partly because drinking it out of a cardboard cup from Star*bucks leaves something to desire...mainly a nice, cozy cafe in Nice with coffee served in a porceline cup. As for tea, I like to drink it iced with either a little sugar and lemon or as an Arnold Palmer (half tea, half lemonade). I'll drink it hot on rare occasions.

3. Favorite breakfast food: Bacon, egg, and cheese on wheat toast or French toast with berries and crisp bacon.

4. Peanut butter - smooth or crunchy? I like crunchy but had to get used to eating smooth when Ben and I got together. Lucky for me, he's recently discovered fresh ground peanut butter at Whole Foods, so I'm back to eating crunchy again.

5. What kind of dressing on your salad? Blue cheese has been my favorite since I was a little girl. These days I also really like vinaigrettes, especially balsamic or raspberry.

6. Coke or Pepsi? Coke, please, the Classic kind (with sugar, not corn syrup, if possible). Lately I've gotten into Vanilla Coke Zero to cut calories. Doesn't taste as bad as regular diet.

7. You’re feeling lazy, what do you make? Tuna quesadillas.

8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order? If I'm by myself, I get a Hawaiian pizza. If I'm with Ben, some sort of chicken pizza with vegetables.

9. You feel like cooking. What do you make? I'd probably try one of the thousands of recipes I've clipped out of magazines over the years (I have a serious recipe collection issue) or something that looks good in the latest Cooking Light magazine (like the daube recipe in September's issue).

10. Do any foods bring back good memories? I miss my mom's cooking, so anything I think of that she made regularly always makes me smile: clam linguini, meatloaf with red sauce, potato donuts, fresh pasta, chicken and noodles, escargot (actually, my dad would make them for New Year's Day...I haven't had any in years), beer batter fish (even better if it was fish we caught with my grandpa), white cake with lemon curd filling (my mom and dad's wedding cake and what we used to have for special occasions when I was little...it was also one of the layers on my wedding cake)...I could go on forever. Of course, now I can add all of the great food we had in Europe...mussels, salad nicoise, daube, French ice cream...mmmmm!

11. Do any foods bring back bad memories? I really can't think of any. Probably because I equate food with good times and happiness. I lose my appetite when I'm stressed out or during sad times.

12. Do any foods remind you of someone? See #10. Especially the escargot and cherries jubilee my dad would make for the holidays...he was quite the gourmet chef.

13. Is there a food you refuse to eat? Liver and most other organ meats and leavings (ears, snouts, feet and any combination of such things). I also don't eat rabbit, veal, and lamb (the lamb mainly because I got food poisoning from a popular Irish restaurant in college not once, not twice, but three times from eating lamb burgers and roast leg of lamb).

14. What was your favorite food as a child? I've already listed a bunch of my mom's food, but the ones I really remember loving as a kid are her chicken and noodles and her beef vegetable soup. Also had a thing for peppermint stick ice cream and orange sherbet.

15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like? Radishes, onions, sweet potatoes, and most fish (definitely would have been grossed out by sushi back then)

16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate? Liverwurst (but I've always hated liver, don't know why I liked liverwurst), Lunch*ables, and some of the sickening sweet candies (Spree...yuck!).

17. Favorite fruit and vegetable: Strawberries and green peas.

18. Favorite junk food: Pickles, chips, jelly beans, cookies, brownies, chocolate.

19. Favorite between meal snack: Yogurt, fruit, and lately string cheese.

20. Do you have any weird food habits? I used to eat carrots dipped in peanut butter in college (for breakfast, washed down with a mixture of orange juice and Mountain Dew...made my parents so proud, I'm sure), but I don't think I have any weird habits now. Others may disagree with me, though.

21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on? Turkey wrap sandwiches.

22 . You’re off your diet. Now what would you like? Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and green bean casserole with a slice of chocolate pecan pie (which upon completing would send me back on a diet).

23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai? Spicy enough that my sinuses clear, which is pretty spicy. I hate when ethnic restaurants "dumb-down" the spices for American palates. When the menu says spicy, it had better make my nose run!

24. Can I get you a drink? I could go for a Cape Cod or a greyhound right now. Wouldn't turn down a dirty martini or a margarita on the rocks with salt, though, if you offered me one right now.

25. Red wine or white? I generally perfer reds, but in the warm summer months I like a nice glass of white, or better yet, a glass of rose preferably at a French cafe. :)

26. Favorite dessert? My mom's white cake with lemon curd filling, anything with copious amounts of chocolate and fresh berries,

27. The perfect nightcap? A nice glass of ice water or an Emergen-C. Exciting stuff, no?

Condiment Meme

1. What do you like on a hot dog? Generally, I like mustard, ketchup, and onions. On occasion, I like indulging with a Chicago dog (mustard, onion, sweet pickle relish, dill pickle spear, tomato slices, hot peppers, and a dash of celery salt on a poppy seed bun).
2. What do you like on a hamburger? I like the works with American or cheddar cheese. If I'm going to a place like Ted's Montana Grill, I'll get the C.O.B. (cheddar, grilled onions, and bacon) with BBQ sauce on the side. Yum!
3. What do you like on a baked potato? Butter, sour cream or bleu cheese dressing (it's good!), salt and pepper.
4. What do you like on a slice of toast? Chunky peanut butter and my mom's jelly.
5. What do you like in a cup of coffee or tea? I'm not a huge fan of hot drinks. I don't drink coffee. If I drink hot tea, I usually have it plain or with a little cream or lemon. I like iced tea and will either have it as half and half (half tea, half lemonade), with just a squeeze of lemon or a little bit of sugar, or just plain. No sweet tea for me. Yuck!

Wine Tasting Notes

Our apartment complex hosted a wine tasting last night. The wines were provided by The Curious Grape (the store that's down the street from our place). The event was a great way to meet neighbors in the complex and to try varieties of wine that I wouldn't necessarily try on my own (the theme was "old world wines vs. new world reds"). The presenters from the store matched the wines with some cheeses and chocolates, which was a very nice way to sample different cheeses and see how much wine can enhance food (and vice versa). Below are the notes I took of the different wines that we tried so that I know which ones to look for in the store in the future. The first four are white wines and the last four are red wines.

Non-Vintage Venegazzu' Prosecco - An Italian sparkling wine, referred to as "frizzane" (lightly sparkling, as opposed to "spumante" which is fully sparkling). I really liked this wine. It was soft and not nearly as sweet as asti spumante, but not bitter dry like a traditional brut. It would be a nice wine to serve with dinner when celebrating a special occasion.

Cheese pairing = Paive Vecchio - Italian cheese similar to Asiago but had a nutty finish. Very good.

2005 Gramona Penedes Gessami - Spanish wine made with Muscat grapes. Very light. Too me it was too light and I found it similar to drinking water with a wedge of citrus. Would probably be good for inexperienced or new wine drinkers, but I don't think many of my oenophile friends would like it.

Cheese pairing = Marygold - A semi-hard goat cheese with marigold flowers. Was not my favorite cheese and I found that the marigolds did not add much in terms of flavor or dimension.

2005 Les Temps Perdus Chablis - A French Chardonnay from northern Burgundy. I found it really bland and could not pick out any specific flavor. This wine was my least favorite of the evening.

Cheese pairing = Cravanzina - Soft ripened Italian cheese from sheep and cows' milk. To me it was flavorless and I would have preferred brie.

2005 Bastgen Kestener Palinshofberg Riesling Spatlese -I tend not to like overly sweet wines, but this German Riesling was very nice. Sweet but not sickening. Lemony flavored. I probably wouldn't buy this for myself but I would buy it for my sister-in-law and some friends that love the sweet stuff.

Cheese pairing = Cornelia - Another semi-hard goat cheese, this time blended with coriander seeds. I found it slightly nutty. Definitely more flavorful that the marigold cheese.

2002 Graham Beck Old Road Pinotage - This unique South African wine is a cross between a Pinot Noir and a Cinsault. It was mild yet smoky. It had a hint of spice but not peppery like a Zinfandel. Not very dry. Would make a nice table wine for any day of the week.

Cheese pairing = Maple Smoked Cheddar - My favorite cheese of the evening. Reminded me of breakfast at a homey B & B.

2004 Susana Balbo "Crios" Syrah/Bonarda - Argentinian wine. Smooth, creamy. Not spicy. Had floral hints, which I'm not used to tasting in a red wine. Also not very dry.

Cheese pairing = Crucolo - Semi soft cheese made with unpasteurized cow's milk. Flavorful. Seems heavy. Definitely better than the other semi soft cheese that we sampled.

2004 Four Vines Maverick - A delicious California Zinfandel that had a touch of Syrah. My favorite red of the evening. It was peppery and fruity (think blackberries). Just the right level of dryness for my palate.

Chocolate pairing = Michel Cluizel "Los Ancones" - I love chocolate and rarely find any that I won't eat. This was no exception. A dark chocolate with a touch of berry flavor. Smooth finish.

2005 Winner's Tank Shiraz - An Australian wine with a rating of 91 points from a Wine Advocate. Not as dry as most Shiraz. I tasted citrus. Paired really well with the chocolate.

Chocolate pairing = Cocolove 65% Rich Dark Chocolate - Our guide described this chocolate as "tangy". I didn't find it tangy but I thought it tasted smoky and smooth. It was a sexy chocolate.

Chicken Jerusalem

One of the restaurants I used to work at in college served this at banquets. It was delicious. This recipe is a modified version of several that I found on the web. Serves two but can be doubled.

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp butter
1/3 to 1/2 cup flour in a shallow dish
salt and pepper to season flour
1/2 tsp fresh chopped garlic
1 cup button mushrooms
1/2 cup quartered artichokes
3/4 cup of sherry
1/3 cup of heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Trim the chicken pieces and lightly pound to even half inch thick pieces. Cut each piece in half. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Dredge chicken in seasoned flour. Saute in butter until cooked. Remove chicken from pan. Add to pan garlic, mushrooms, and artichokes; saute for 5 minutes. Add sherry and heavy cream. Cook carefully at medium high heat until reduced by half. Reduce heat and add chicken back into pan and warm in sauce for about 1 minute. Serve with rice pilaf.

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

This was surprisingly good and slightly spicy. No need to add any salt, either. The recipe is from Cooking Light. Instead of green peppers, I used red. I also used chunky salsa instead of diced tomatoes since I was out of canned tomatoes. Tasty!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound ground round or ground chuck
2 cups chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 (14 oz) can less-sodium beef broth
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (10.75 oz) can tomato soup, undiluted
1.5 cups hot cooked white rice

Directions:

Heat a small Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add chopped bell pepper and onion; cook 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in black pepper, broth, diced tomatoes, and tomato soup; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 45 minutes.

Spoon 1/4 cup hot white rice into each of 6 bowls; top with 1 cup of soup. Makes 6 servings.

Shrimp Ceviche

Ingredients:

24 large shrimp, cooked
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 large tomato, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
2 tablespoons cilantro
2 tablespoons ketchup
6 drops hot sauce

Directions:

Remove shells from shrimp. Gently combine everything together and chill. May be chilled up to 3 hours, but take care since the acidity of the lime juice can cause the shrimp to become “overcooked” after extended periods of time.

Divide into 4 servings as an appetizer or into 2 servings for a light meal. For extra flair, serve in martini or parfait glasses or brightly colored dishes. Garnish w/ tortilla chips, avocado slices, and/or lettuce.

Note: sea scallops may be substituted for the shrimp or a mix of both can be used. You can add more or less tomato, onion, and/or cilantro, depending on your tastes.

Aunt June's Potato Salad

This might be a little late for summer, but we're experiencing summer temps here this week. My aunt's recipe, which is always a hit at picnics and cookouts.

Ingredients:

*4 medium or 6 small red potatoes (about 1¼ pounds)
*1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
*1/2 cup sour cream
*2 tablespoons milk
*1½ teaspoons yellow mustard
*1 or 2 hard boiled eggs, thinly sliced or diced
*1/4 cup green onion, sliced
*salt and pepper to taste
*paprika (optional)

Directions:

Wash potatoes. Cook potatoes, covered, in boiling water for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Drain water and cool.

Peel potatoes, if desired, and slice or dice. Place in a large serving bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, and mustard. Pour mixture over potatoes and toss gently until potatoes are coated.

Fold in eggs. Add green onions an hour before serving so that they don’t overpower the salad. Add salt and pepper. Keep refrigerated until serving. If desired, sprinkle the top of the salad with some paprika to add a little color.
Makes 6-8 servings.

Clam Linguini

This is my mom's awesome recipe. She doesn't technically follow it and claims she never makes it the same way twice, but this is a great guide. Tweak it to your liking.

Ingredients:

*1 lb linguini
*1/4 cup olive oil
*1/4 cup butter
*3 cloves garlic, minced
*2 cans minced clams, juice reserved
*1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
*2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
*salt and pepper to taste
*1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large pot with boiling salted water, cook linguini until al dente. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook oil, butter, and garlic until garlic is translucent, approximately 1 minute. Add clams, reserved juice, parsley, basil, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil. Simmer 3 minutes on low. Toss pasta with clam sauce and garnish with cheese. Makes 4 servings.

*To make red sauce, add 2 diced tomatoes when adding clams and spices.

50 Foods

This is my version of the "50 Foods You Must Eat Before You Die" from the BBC that has been floating around the Internet lately. I've had about 80% of what's on the list. It is definitely British-centric in design. Someone should write a more universal version. I can't believe escargot didn't make this list!

1. Fresh fish - Yes. Even have had ones that I caught myself!
2. Lobster - Yes. One of my favorite memories is eating fresh Maine lobster on our honeymoon.
3. Steak - Yes. Medium-rare, please!
4. Thai food - Yes.
5. Chinese food - Yes.
6. Ice cream - Yes. Could go for a Pralines 'n Cream/World Class Chocolate sundae right now.
7. Pizza - Of course. Make mine Hawaiian
8. Crab - Yes. Given a choice, I'll take crab over lobster most days.
9. Curry - Yes.
10. Prawns - Yes. They are really big shrimp and make a great lobster substitute.
11. Moreton Bay Bugs (AKA Bay Lobster or Slipper Lobster) - No.
12. Clam chowder - Yes.
13. Barbecues - Yes. And I've discovered Southern BBQ is way different than Midwestern BBQ.
14. Pancakes - Yes.
15. Pasta - Yes! On the menu for dinner tonight.
16. Mussels - Yes.
17. Cheesecake - Yes.
18. Lamb - Yes. Not a fan after getting food poisoning twice. Now it always tastes bad to me.
19. Cream tea- No. Would like to try it some day.
20. Alligator- Yes. Tried it fried the night of my senior prom. Tastes like chicken.
21. Oysters -Yes. Yum!
22. Kangaroo - No.
23. Chocolate - Many, many, many times.
24. Sandwiches- Yes. Had a beef dip sandwich for lunch.
25. Greek - Yes. Although it is very hard to find good Greek around here.
26. Burgers - Yes! Unlike steaks, I like mine medium-well to well.
27. Mexican food - Yes! Real Mexican in Mexico, too, not just the Americanized crap.
28. Squid- Yes.
29. American diner breakfast - Ah, nothing like a good greasy spoon diner.
30. Salmon- Yes. I like it smoked and in lox and sushi, but don't care for it cooked.
31. Venison - Yes. I grew up eating more venison than beef. Miss having it.
32. Guinea pig - No. And I don't plan on it. I don't eat rabbits, either.
33. Shark - Yes. Only a few times due to the mercury issue with predatory fish.
34. Sushi - Spicy tuna rolls are my favorite!
35. Paella - Yes.
36. Barramundi - Possibly. I might have eaten had it as white seabass.
37. Reindeer - No, but I've had elk. Imagine it is a lot like venison.
38. Kebab - Yes.
39. Scallops- My favorite shellfish!
40. Australian meat pie - No. I don't like pot pies.
41. Mango - Had a mango daiquiri last week. So good!
42. Durian fruit - No. And after watching the Travel Channel, I never will try it.
43. Octopus- Yes. I've had it in sushi and I don't like it. Chewy and the suckers weird me out.
44. Ribs - Yes.
45. Roast beef - Yes. AKA as roast beast in our house.
46. Tapas - Yes.
47. Jerk chicken/pork- Yes.
48. Haggis - No. I don't like organ meats, so I doubt I would try it.
49. Caviar- Yes. It doesn't live up to the hype, although I like flying fish roe on my sushi.
50. Cornish Pasty- No, but I have had empanadas, samosas, pierogi (Polish), piroshkies (Russian), and calzones, which are all turnover-like dishes.

"Dalmatian" Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a one-year-old's first birthday party. I dyed the frosting pink in honor of the little girl's big day. The recipe is from Betty Crocker.

2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups miniature or regular semisweet chocolate chips
1 package devil's food cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
Vanilla frosting (I made my own, you can use pre-made)


1 . Heat oven to 350ºF. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
2 . Beat cream cheese, sugar and 1 egg in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips; set aside.
3 . Beat cake mix, water, oil and 3 eggs in large bowl on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.
4 . Divide batter among muffin cups (1/4 cup in each). Top each with 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture.
5 . Bake 21 to 26 minutes or until tops spring back when touched lightly. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove from pan; cool completely, about 30 minutes.
6 . Frost tops with frosting. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate any remaining cupcakes.

Freezing Strawberries - Sugar Pack Method

1 quart strawberries
1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar
1 quart sized freezer bag

Gently rinse and remove tops of strawberries. Allow strawberries to dry on a drain board or in a sieve. Slice strawberries and place in bowl. Gently stir in sugar until sugar completely dissolves and berries are completely covered. Place in freezer bag, allowing about 1 inch of head space. Recipe can be doubled, tripled, etc.

-Method a result of reading various Internet sites and cookbooks.

Strawberry Sauce

3 cups sliced fresh berries
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Place half of the berries in a blender container or food processor bowl. Cover and blend or process until berries are smooth.

In a medium saucepan stir together sugar and cornstarch. Add berry puree. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature before serving. Makes about 1 cup sauce.

-Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

You Put the Lime in the Coconut

Dinner on Monday night was Thai green curry over rice with pina coladas.

For the curry:
1/2 pound large shrimp, shells removed
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
1/2 large red bell pepper, juillenned
1/4 pound green beans, cleaned
One jar of Trader Joe's Thai green curry simmer sauce

Stir fried beans and peppers for 5 minutes, removed from pan. Stir fried shrimp and green onions until shrimp became pink, about 4 minutes. Added simmer sauce and covered with lid. Simmered for 10 minutes. Served over cooked white rice.

For the pina coladas:
Ice
Fresh pineapple
Pineapple juice
Coconut milk
Coconut rum

I don't know the exact measurements because I adjusted as I blended the ingredients together. I made way too much since I used the whole can of coconut milk...will be drinking again tonight!

Cinnamon Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Pie

From Cooking Light...

Ingredients

Filling:
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 (15-ounce) can unsweetened pumpkin (or 2 cups fresh mashed pumpkin)
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

Crust (this time the recipe called for pre-made dough):
1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury)
Cooking spray

Streusel:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 ounces)
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup regular oats
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2 to 3 teaspoons water

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°.

To prepare filling, combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk.

To prepare crust, roll dough to an 11-inch circle. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Fold edges under; flute.

To prepare streusel, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through 1/8 teaspoon ginger) in a bowl. Cut in butter with a fork or fingertips until crumbly. Sprinkle with water, tossing with a fork just until lightly moistened.

Pour pumpkin mixture into crust; sprinkle with streusel. Place pie on a baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on a wire rack.

Caramel Apple Crumb Pie

from Cooking Light...

Ingredients

Crust:
1 Pillsbury pre-made crust (yes, I cheated, if you want the crust recipe, go to Cooking Light)

Filling:
1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
9 cups sliced peeled Granny Smith apple (about 2 3/4 pounds)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Topping:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup fat-free caramel sundae syrup

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°.

To prepare crust, fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Fold edges under; flute. Line bottom of dough with a piece of foil; arrange pie weights (or dried beans) on foil. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until the edge is lightly browned. Remove pie weights and foil; cool on a wire rack.

To prepare filling, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and cinnamon. Add sugar mixture and apples to skillet; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in 3 tablespoons flour and lemon juice. Spoon into prepared crust.

To prepare topping, lightly spoon 1/4 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a bowl; cut in 2 tablespoons butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Drizzle syrup over apple mixture; sprinkle topping over syrup. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until apples are tender. Cool on a wire rack.