Thai Chicken Curry

Okay -- so I'm going to give you the recipe as published on www.thaitable.com, and then I'll explain what I did differently, which was quite a bit. If you ever make this, you can decide what changes you want to make.

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1/2 lb eggplant
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 cups water
4-5 kaffir lime leaves
3-5 sprigs Thai basil

Directions:
Cut eggplant into bite-size pieces. Wash basil leaves. Cut uncooked chicken into bite-size pieces.

Pour half of the coconut milk into large pot over low to medium-low heat. Add curry paste. Break up paste and mix with coconut milk, stirring constantly. Low heat if there is too much splattering. Add uncooked chicken and coat with curry sauce. Add eggplant when chicken starts to turn white. Add rest of coconut milk, water, and fish sauce. Let it boil until eggplant pieces turn dark and tender. Pull center stem off of lime leaves and add them to curry. Add basil leaves just before you serve and make sure leaves are submerged quickly to preserve the color.

Serve hot with rice or rice noodles.

********
So here's what I did differently.

1. Ingredient changes: the grocery store didn't have eggplant, so I used bell pepper and mushroom. I didn't use lime leaves, although I did buy a regular lime and and squeezed some of the lime juice into the pot. I also used regular basil.

2. I cooked the pre-cooked the chicken. The thought of all the ingredients stewing together with the raw chicken kind of grossed me out. With that said, I don't think the cooked chicken absorbed the flavor of the curry as well as raw chicken would have. Your call.

3. I added a lot less water -- maybe only 1-2 cups. I would add water cautiously, adding less at first and then more if you want the curry thinner.

4. I added some sugar because I'm used to thai curry being sweet.

To be clear, this recipe is not quite as good as restaurant curry, but it's an easy and good alternative to make at home!

Homage to Grandma June!

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

These are the delicious mashed potatoes from Mom's cooking class.

Servings: 12

Ingredients:

3 lbs Idaho potatoes

2 Tbsp Kosher salt

1 bay leaf

½ cup yellow onion, diced ¼”

½ cup milk

1 cup butter

1 cup roasted garlic **

      1 cup fresh, peeled garlic

      1 cup olive oil

1. Peel and cut potatoes into quarters.  Place cleaned quartered potatoes and 2 Tbsp of kosher salt, bay leaf, and diced yellow onion into a 4-qt stock pot.  Cover potatoes by one inch with cold water, place over high heat.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, continue to cook until potatoes are fork tender.  Approx 22 minutes total cooking time.

2. In a 1-qt. sauce pot, add: milk, butter, and roasted garlic.  Bring to simmer.

3. Drain potatoes as soon as they are done; if you let them over cook or sit in water too long, your potatoes will be soupy or glue-like depending on your choice of potatoes.  When completely drained, return potatoes to large pot.

4. Add a third of the warm liquid mix to potatoes.  Mash potatoes.  Add remaining liquid.  Continue to mix until liquid is completely incorporated.  Taste and check seasoning, adding more kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper if needed.  Serve.

**TO ROAST GARLIC:

1. Place 1-cup of peeled garlic cloves in a 1-qt sauce pot with a 1-cup of olive oil.  Cover pot with a lid and place in a 300F oven for 60-70 minutes or until garlic is soft and golden brown.

Note: This dish can be made ahead of time and re-heated in a microwave oven or conventional oven at 375F for 35-45 minutes (or until hot all the way through; to check for “hot all the way through”- stick a stainless steel knife tip directly into center of the pan.  Immediately remove.  Tough the tip of the knife to your skin just under your lower lip.  If the knife blade is hot to the touch, your product is “hot all the way through”).

Cranberry-Carrot Muffins

Good to make with leftovers!
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp gingr
1/2 (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup pureed, cooked carrots
zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup cranberry relish/sauce (homemade or out of can; I just simmered water, sugar, cranberries, and orange marmalade -- Lily's homemade orange marmalade -- for my cranberry sauce)

Directions:
Preheat over to 375. Line or grease 12-muffin tin.

In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmet, and ginger

In large bowl, cream butter on medium speed until lightened. With speed on low, slowly add sugar. Increase speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly and scraping down sides with spatula. Add carrot puree and orange zest and beat until well combined. With mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat. Gently fold cranberry sauce into batter with spatula until evenly distributed.

Evenly divice batter among into muffin tin and (optional) sprinkle a little sugar over the top of each. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes.

*** I got this from Food Network. Some of the comments suggested using sweet potato instead of carrots, adding extra whole cranberries, and sprinkling nuts on top. I have some pumpkin right now, so I may try this again with pumpkin. ***

Frustrated Cook

Allow me to break from the culinary for a moment. I am currently frustrated by two things:

1. I cannot leave comments. Everytime I try to leave a comment, it asks me to sign in again, and then it tells me, I'm not authorized to comment under my own profile. . . grrr.

2. When I type an entry, it frequently reverts to being double (or triple) spaced. I've even removed all the spaces and resaved the entry, and the extra spaces keep reappearing.
Remedies anyone?

Potato Leek Soup

This is a modified version of the recipe mom uses, which I believe is a slightly modified version of a recipe from a magazine.

Ingredients:

8 medium leeks

8 medium potatoes, chopped

8 carrots, chopped

4 cups chicken stock

salt

pepper

parsley

thyme

garlic powder

onion powder

2 cups skim milk

1 cup cream

Directions:

Cut leaves off of leeks and discard. Cut leeks lengthwise, and then chop into 1/2 inch wide pieces. Rinse thoroughly.
In pot, combine leeks, potatoes, carrots, chicken stock, and spices. Heat to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add milk and cream and heat thoroughly.
For extra creamy soup, remove some of the large pieces of vegetable and put aside. Blend or puree remaining soup, then add pieces of vegetable back into puree.
*** This makes a pretty full pot of soup. You could easily half this recipe. Also, for richer soup soup, use more cream/less milk; for lighter soup, use more milk/less cream. Also, use spices according to your liking. ***

Cranberry Salsa

In food processor combine:
12 oz bag of cranberries
1/4 cup chopped green onion, about 4-6
1 bunch of cilantro (I got a bunch of cilantro at the store, and probably used 1/3 of it. I guess it depends what size of a bunch you buy and your taste preference)

In a separate bowl combine:
1 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup, you could probably even use less)
Juice of two limes
1/4 -1/2 tsp cumin powder depending on taste. 

Mix everything together and chill for an hour. Serve over cream cheese or just with chips. Also would be yummy as a side sauce with turkey, pork or chicken.


Compliments to the chef

Mom's enchiladas

3 cups shredded chicken

2 cups (8 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with peppers

1/2 cup sour cream (plus more... see below)

1 (4.5-oz) can chopped green chilies, drained

1/3 cup cilantro

8 (8-in) tortillas

vegetable cooking spray

1 (8-oz) container sour cream (you could definitely use less)

taco sauce

toppings: diced tomato, chopped avocado, chopped green onions, olives, chopped cilantro, cheese

1. Stir first 5 ingredients together

2. Spoon chicken mixture evenly over each tortilla and roll up

3. Arrange in a lightly greased 13x9 baking dish

4. Coat tortillas with vegetable cooking spray

5. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown

6. Stir together sour cream and taco sauce, about a 1:1 ratio, or to your liking

7. Spoon over hot enchiladas and sprinkle with toppings

CHEF'S Notes... lol jk. Just "notes": 

-We used no cilantro in this recipe because we didn't have any, and it was still tasty.  

-We also added sautéed corn the chicken mixture which was a good addition.   

-Also, the first time I made this, I must've stuffed the tortillas a lot because I only got 6.  The second time, I must've skimped on the innards, because I  made more than 8...just in case you care. 

Costco-esque Chocolate Muffins

My verdict: Very tasty and chocolatey.  I haven't had a Costco muffin in a long time, so I can't vouch for it tasting like that... but I think it's very possible.  I made this to go with dinner one night, but I feel like it's almost too dessert-y for that.  I froze some of the leftovers so maybe I'll use them for an after-dinner snack one day.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cups cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 cup milk (I used skim)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2-1 cup chocolate chips

In a small bowl, remove two tablespoons of flour from the 2 1/4 cups (now 2 cups and 2 tablespoons remains) and mix with the chocolate chips. Set aside

In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a different bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips/flour mixture.

Fill lined cupcake pans 2/3 full with batter.Bake at 325 degrees for 18-24 minutes. Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on wire racks. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Gnocchi with Sage-Butter Sauce

Ingredients:
2 (12-oz) packages potato gnocchi
1/4 cup butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp dried sage (or about 2 tsp fresh sage)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook gnocchi as directed.
2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and cook until the garlic has softened and is beginning to turn golden brown, about 4 minutes. 
3. Stir in the sage and salt for a few seconds, then add the cooked gnocchi. Toss gently with 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and the pepper. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese to serve.

whoopie pie

1 pkg devil's food cake mix

2 beaten eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup flour

Mix all ingredients until well blended.  Dough will be stiff.  Roll into 1/2 inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet.  Flatten the cookie ball out.  Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes...do not over bake!

Filling:

4 oz. cream cheese softened

2 Tbsp butter softened

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients in bowl.  Fill cookies with a spoonful of frosting and enjoy.

(I know some frosting recipes make WAY too much... this amount of frosting is actually very proportionate and made a good amount.)

Dad's Rosemary Bread

hah... as you can see, mine didn't turn out perfect.  For some reason they didn't rise very well.  But...they still tasted good.  And I'm sure you other ladies, who have more culinary talent, could make this work just like it does when Dad makes it. 

1 Tbsp dry yeast

1 Tbsp sugar

1 cup warm water

2 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp chopped rosemary

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

1. Add sugar and yeast to the warm water.  Let it sit until the yeast gets bubbly (probably no more than 10 minutes).

2. Mix flour, salt, and 1 Tbsp of rosemary.  Add water mixture into flour mixture and mix.

3. Knead for 10 minutes.

4. Put dough ball in a well-greased bowl.  The dough should not be super doughy.  Coat with dough with olive oil and cover with a dish towel.  Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

5. When doubled, punch down the dough and work it a little.

6. Cut into roll size pieces (or a loaf size, whatever you're making).  Grease cookie sheet and place dough balls onto it.

7. Coat each dough ball with melted butter, and then sprinkle with remaining 1 Tbsp rosemary.

8. Place in a warm place for about 45 minutes, until dough has doubled.

9. Sprinkle heavily with kosher salt.

10. Cook in preheated oven at 450F for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Bean-and-Tortellini Zuppa

This is one of my favorite soups.... fyi.

1/4 cup finely chopped carrots

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 Tbsp olive oil

1, 15-oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1, 15-oz can diced tomatoes

1 small zucchini

2, 14-oz cans low-sodium chicken broth

9 oz pkg cheese tortellini

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

(also tastes good with celery and spinach added)

1. Sautee carrots, onion, and garlic in oil until softened.

2. Add all other ingredients.  Mix and bring to a boil.

3. When it is boiling, add tortellini.  Cook until tortellini are soft.

4. Enjoy

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

Recipe from: AllRecipes.com- http://allrecipes.com/recipe/to-die-for-blueberry-muffins/detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Add vanilla. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Notes:

~I used frozen blueberries, which I de-thawed before mixing in (I didn't de-thaw them so much that there was tons of liquid after).

~I used a different crumb topping, based off of reviews:

"try this fail proof one I use that has less butter (perfect amount if doubling recipe): 2/3C brown sugar, 1/4C flour, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 2T butter. Use fork to mix and has nice coarse texture."

I halved this, and still had A TON.  I am just saving it for now, for next time I make muffins of banana bread of something.

S'more Bars

A pro pic:: Our pic.  You get the idea.

Notes: 
1.) 5 regular Hershey's milk chocolate bars = 215 grams of chocolate
2.) When you have to spread the fluff onto the chocolate, use a metal spoon dipped in cold water.  It is MUCH easier.
3.) It may be easier to flatten the top layer of dough, and then placing on top of the fluff.  Or roll it, cut into strips, and lay on top.

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
215 grams chocolate, chopped
2 cups marshmallow fluff (half of a 16-oz container)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Great an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  In a small bowl, which together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt.  Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

Divide dough in half and press half of the dough in an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the chocolate over the dough, no more than 1/4 inch thick.  Spread chocolate with marshmallow fluff.

Place the remaining dough in a single layer on the top of the fluff.  See notes for tips on the best way of doing this.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until lightly golden.  Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Found this... makes enough to fit a 13x9 dish... just in cash you need more.  All directions and cooking temp/time are the same.

3/4 cup of butter (1 1/2 sticks) room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar*

2 large eggs*

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 2/3 cup all purpose flour

2 cups graham cracker crumbs*

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 giant sized milk chocolate bars (I used Hershey’s)

1 7.5 oz jar of marshmallow fluff (or more if you want a thicker layer of marshmallow)

*Healthy Swaps: I used 3/4 cup of sugar as opposed to 1 full cup, egg whites instead of whole eggs (2 egg whites per egg called for), and I crushed Low Fat graham crackers for my graham cracker crumbs.

Cookies n' Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients:

18 chocolate sandwich cookies (I used more, 25-30ish plus cookies I put on top)

1 pkg white cake mix w/ pudding

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

2 cups heavy whipping cream

sugar or powdered sugar (not included in original recipe, but I added it)

Directions:

1. Place chocolate sandwich cookies in food processor and process until you have crumbs. You should have 2 1/4 cups crumbs. If not, process more cookies until you have correct amount. Set aside.

2. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the over to 350. Grease cupcake tins or line with cupcake liners.

3. Place cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop and scrape down sides of bowl with spatula, Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down sides again if needed. Batter should look well combined. Fold in 1 cup of cookie crumbs until well distributed. Divide batter evenly (you'll probably get 20-24 cupcakes).

4. Place a clean, large mixing bowl and clean electric mixer beaters in fridge while cupcakes bake.

5. Bake cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18-22 minutes. Remove tins from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tin and cool completely before frosting, at least 30 minutes.

6. Prepare whipped cream: Remove chilled bowl and beaters from fridge. Pour cream into bowl (I added a few heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar; add sugar to taste if you like) and beat with electric mixer on high speed until forms stiff peaks, 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes. Gently fold in 1 cup of remaining cookie crumbs, distributing them well. Chill whipped cream until cupcakes have cooked completely.

7. Frost cupcakes. Sprinkle cupcakes with any extra cookie crumbs.

Tupelo Rice of Santa Barbara

1 pkg of Zatarain's yellow rice, prepared as directed
about 1 cup of corn
1 can of kidney beans (or other bean)
several handfuls or so of fresh spinach
2 tomatoes
1 large yellow onion
oil, salt, pepper, garlic for sauteing
fresh parsley

1. Cook rice according to package.
2. Saute corn in a bit of oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic, until it gets a little brown.  Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Follow step 2 for the remaining items.
4. Combine all ingredients together and gently mix.  Sprinkle with Parmesan, Romano, or mozzarella cheese.
5. Garnish with fresh parsley

*Make note that you can add other ingredients to your liking, such as sauteed zucchini

A Slight Variation on Homemade Samoas

So, Mom gets credit for the main concept here. But, basically, you take a Lorna Doone shortbread cookie, smush some caramel on top of it, and then dip in chocolate. Mom usually sprinkles toasted coconut on top (hence the likeness to Samoas), but I changed things up, sprinkling chopped pecans on some, and drizzling others with white chocolate.

Banana Bread (from Flour's Bakery in Boston)

Ingredients:

1 2/3 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon (I used 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1 c + 2 tbsp sugar
2 eggs (I used egg beaters)
1/2 c oil (I used 1/4 oil, 1/4 c ground flax)
2 tbsp sour cream (I used light)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 c walnuts

Directions:

Set oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan.

Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Put aside.

Beat sugar and eggs with which until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Drizzle in oil (and flax). Add mash bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and nuts. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

So the directions look long, but it's probably lengthier than it needs to be.  This is really simple.  Slightly time-consuming in that you have to fill each little dough square and pinch it closed, but simple.  And they're really good.  The garlic seasoning makes it taste realllly good (we didn't have marjoram, so I just left it out, and still worked.)

Pizza Dough                                          Garlic Seasoning

1 Tbsp. sugar                                          1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 Tbsp. yeast                                          1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. salt                                             1 Tbsp. garlic powder

3-4 1/2 c. flour                                         1 tsp. basil

                                                              1 tsp. marjoram

                                                              1 tsp. parsley

In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.

Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.

Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Remove from bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle and cut into 2x2 inch squares with a pizza cutter.

Fill each square with whatever pizza toppings you want. (We used shredded mozzarella, mozzarella balls, tomato, sun dried tomato.) 

But DON'T put the marinara sauce inside, that will be for dipping after they're baked!

Pull the corners of each pizza dough square into the center, pinch and place into a
greased pie pan seam side down.

Once the pan is full, brush the tops with olive oil or butter and sprinkle with garlic seasoning.

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 425 degrees or until the tops of the rolls start to turn a golden brown.
Dip in marinara sauce and ENJOY!

1 1/2 c. warm water                                 1/4 c. powdered Parmesan cheese

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Yup.  They turned out quite delicious.  I will make this again for sure.  The chicken had a bit of a sweet taste to it because of the honey, and all the flavors blended together quite nicely.  

I'm not sure the amount you're supposed to put in each tortilla, but the way I did it, we ended up with 6 (very filling) enchiladas.  For the shredded chicken, I just bought a rotisserie chicken, and used that.  My one difficulty was finding Green Enchilada Sauce, which I finally found it at Whole Foods.  Mom said they sell it at Kroger though, so hopefully you won't have any trouble finding it.

Something not on the recipe, but that is probably obvious, that you can do: I sprinkled with fresh diced tomatoes, as well as shredded lettuce (from my garden, yeah!).  I think next time I will add some olives too. 

We ate it with brown rice, cooked with some diced tomatoes in it.  

6 tablespoons honey

5 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon chili powder

4 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

1 can black beans, rinsed

tortillas

green enchilada sauce

shredded cheddar cheese

1. mix honey, lime juice, chili powder, and chicken together and marinate for at least 1 hour. 

2. cover bottom of baking dish with a small amount of enchilada sauce.  assemble enchilada by placing a heaping spoonful of chicken, a spoonful of beans and cheese in tortillas.  roll up and place in baking dish.  top with remaining sauce and cheese.  

3. bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes or until warmed through and cheese is melted.

mango without a pit????

Granola Bars

I've tried lots of recipes for this and they all were super average, but this recipe is soooooo good. You can replace the nuts with other nuts, just keep the dry to wet ratio the same. Also you can use all maple syrup or all honey, just depends what you have.

2 1/2 cups oats
 1 cup rice crispies
3/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup peanuts, crushed
 1/4 cup walnuts
3/8 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
 1/4 cup maple syrup
 1 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
dried fruit/raisins/etc...

1 - Preheat oven to 375. Combine all dry ingredients (oats through walnuts) in a 9x13 pan and place in oven for about 10-15 minutes, stirring every couple minutes to get everything evenly toasted.
2 - In a large pot or skillet combine the rest of the ingredients (brown sugar through vanilla extract). Cook over a medium heat and let simmer while constantly stirring.
3 - Add in the toasted stuff and mix really well so everything is evenly coated. Add in dried fruits as you are mixing.
4 - Put mixture in a 9x13 pan and pat down realy well with a rubber spatula. Let cool for an hour or so, then flip pan over on a cutting board and cut into bars.

creamy ravioli with squash, lemon, and chives

I made this for dinner, and will make it again.  The lemon zest made this recipe, for sure.  Gave it a nice, fresh taste!

From Real Simple Magazine

Serves 4

16-18 oz cheese ravioli
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
3 summer squash (green or yellow; about 1 1/2 lbs), thinly sliced
Kosher salt and black pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup grated percorino or Parmesan (2 oz) plus more for serving
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
*Don't forget to save some pasta water

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water; drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 3-4 minutes.  Add the squash and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper to the skillet.  Cook, tossing often, until the vegetables are just beginning to soften, 4-5 minutes.  Add the cream and lemon zest and cook until the vegetables are tender and the cream is slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the squash mixture, percorino, 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water, and 1/2 tsp salt to the pasta and toss gently to coat (add more cooking water if the pasta seems dry).  Serve sprinkled with the chives and additional percorino.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

This is a pretty good cookie recipe.  It tastes like an oatmeal cookie with a hint of cinnamon, but still has the chocolate cookie taste.  

This recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen... I think.  After eating some dough, I had to guess.  

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.