So many recipes...so little time.

So as many of you know, I try out at least 1-2 new recipes a week. It keeps things new and interesting for dinners. Plus it keeps me on my toes as far as cooking and techniques. So what I'm posting tonight, I actually made a while back. But I get busy with my projects and it takes David awhile to upload the photos for me. But here's something called Swiss Steak. It's made with a Top Blade Roast (which was impossible to find, I had to track down an actual butcher shop so that was handy in the end) and tomato gravy. The roast is cut up into steaks and slow cooked in a dutch oven over low heat. The meat just falls apart people! I hardly ever eat red meat but I found this delicious. I made some low fat mashed potatoes and a skillet green bean casserole that doesn't involve a can of soup. All thanks to America's Test Kitchen of course!

Mouth watering good!

That time year again

Yay! Fall means pumpkin ale. We have tried a variety of them. Shipyard Pumpkinhead seems to be my favorite. But it can be hard to get, apparently it sells about quickly. It's well worth getting early and stocking up. To me...it takes more like a pumpkin spice ale rather than we just took our regular ale and added some spices. Cottonwood isn't too bad. Neither is Dogfish Head. So live a little and step out of the box. Try a pumpkin ale this fall.

So here's to Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale! It goes great with a lot fall dishes. And well...it's just darn tasty.

Perfect Sweater

I am in love with this sweater. Obsessed really....

It comes in great colors. Not to mention the design is totally cute. Now I just have to find some $$ because I like 4 colors.

It's the Women's EverSoft Jersey Shawl Pullover

American Twist on an Italian Classic

I l-o-v-e Pasta Carbonara. It's one of my most favorite Italian dishes. While leafing through my collection of Cook's Country magazines, I found an interesting recipe for a Carbonara Casserole. Hm...could be interesting. It was awesome! The whole dish is cooked in the same skillet, so there's less dishes for David. Delicious dinner + less washing up = happy husband. :-D

Here it is when pan comes out of the broiler.

And this is my bowl, I kind of mixed it all up so the crumb topping was all through out.

A couple new recipes

Here's a couple of new recipes that I tried this week.

First is Crunchy Buttermilk Baked Chicken by Cook's Country.

This one was very easy. Take chicken, we chose tenders, brine in buttermilk, sour cream, ranch seasoning and salt. Then take toasted homemade breadcrumbs (in my case Ritz Cracker crumbs) and combine with remaining Ranch seasoning. Toss the chicken and bake. The result: tangy, tender chicken.

Next I tried a recipe from their 30-Minute Supper Magazine: Potato Crusted Halibut.

I didn't use Halibut because I realized on our recent trip to the UK I really like Haddock. True the title of the magazine, it only takes 30 minutes. You whip up a sort of tartar sauce using mayo (olive oil mayo in my case), dijon mustard, capers, chives and S&P. Spread a tablespoon of that over the top of each piece of fish, then press in grated potato pieces. You brown the fish in a pan and then finish off in the oven. (for me the hard part was getting the pressed potato coated fish in the pan and have it come out looking pretty...not so much) The leftover mayo sauce is great to serve on the side. The crispy potato topping is like hash browns, then combined with the tangy sauce underneath...tasty! And hey...it got me to eat a fish dinner.

Meet Asta

Well...I finally got my wish and we adopted a dog!

Meet Asta.

We got Asta from a local rescue here in Greensboro a couple of weeks ago. The rescue is actually for Jack Russell Terriers but the lady could not resist when she first saw "Tiger" (yes that was his name). He was in a shelter down in Greenville, SC in what they call their "last chance room". Sad huh? She couldn't just leave him there, so she took him back to her rescue despite the fact that he's some sort of Schnauzer mix. The shelter said he's about 3 years old and his previous owner had passed away. (heart breaking I know).

He's very good inside and house trained. Not usually an early riser, so I can even sneak out for my morning runs without him wanting to go out too. Although normally very quiet, he does let out the occasional bark but nothing constant. Outside on the leash is another story, he's not quite leash trained but we're working on that. We bought the Gentle Leader collar/harness and it really helps train him outside. And I learned today that he growls at the UPS truck. What did "Brown" do to him?

He's the sweetest little thing, who's had a rough life and deserves the loving home that we can offer him.

Finished Pillow

You may remember that I was working on a strawberry needlepoint project. Well, I sent the stitched piece off to be finished into a pillow. I think it turned out great! I'm quite proud of it actually. I can't wait to start one of my other projects.

Tah dah! Nice huh?

And here you can see the sort of velour/velvety fabric on the back.