Thanksgiving Part Two: Dinner and the Aftermath

Dec
01

Posted by: Maggie

Thanksgiving went by pretty quickly this year with very little down time. We had dinner at my mom’s, but were assigned to bring three dishes (we also brought the chocolate chip cookies I made with Eleanor that morning).

Josh and I started cooking at home around noon. Josh made brussels sprouts in a garlic butter sauce, soooo delicious! I made a vegetarian stuffing and a vegetarian gravy. Both turned out pretty good. The stuffing was Trader Joe’s boxed stuffing. Quick, easy and delicious. For the gravy, I found a recipe online, it was pretty good, except I made it ahead and it thickened up so much that when I reheated it at my mom’s I had to thin it out a lot and I didn’t bring the seasonings with me so it was a tad bit bland, but still not bad.

There was so much going on, and I was helping to get food onto the table and chase Eleanor, so I didn’t get to take any pictures until after dinner. I know, no food pictures, sorry!

But here is Eleanor being adorable, resting with her Uncle Emmett after an exhausting day:

The cookies Eleanor and I made:

Tasty homemade cider, (I think my brother Elliott and his girlfriend Lilly made it):

And of course you need Brandy for that cider:

Pumpkin cookies my mom made:

And that was Thanksgiving! I’m disappointed that I didn’t get any family photos, Josh, Eleanor, I looked cute in the sweaters I bought us just for the occasion! Oh well, I’ll do better at the rest of the festivities this month!

Comments: 0
Categories: Celebrations, Eleanor Stories, Family Stories, Holidays
Tags: Family Stories, food, Holidays, love, Thanksgiving

Cranky Cooking: Pumpkin Chocolate Brownies

Nov
25

Posted by: Maggie

I mentioned that I’m no good at baking. Well, that doesn’t stop me from trying! Over and over again. I don’t like to be bad at anything and I don’t really like to accept when I’m not good at something that I want to be good at. So, I keep baking. I also think it’s kinda fun, even if my baked goods never quite turn out right.

I also am not really a fan of sweets. They’re just not really my thing. I mean, I recognize that they taste good, but I don’t ever crave them. What I do love is ice cream and will take ice cream instead of any other sweet or really any other food when I have the choice. So I don’t do baked sweets very often, because I’m not interested in eating them.

I did have the occasion however, to bake for other people recently, which I am always happy to do. Andrew & Amy came over for a scary movie night back in October. And, knowing that the two of them like sweets I decided to try a new fun seasonal recipe.

I found this recipe for Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies from Martha (we’re on a first name basis). I think they turned out okay. I thought I should have baked them a little longer, but Andrew & Amy said they were good. Andrew ate two. They were definitely fun to make. Here are my baking photos (please ignore the state of my pot, we have a serious hard-water problem at our apartment):

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Categories: Cranky Cooking
Tags: baking, brownies. pumpkin chocolate brownies, cooking, food

Cranky Cooking: Sweet Potato Risotto

Nov
24

Posted by: Maggie

Even more cooking week…

This recipe is one of my favorites. It takes kind of a lot of time (about 45 minutes to 1 hour), but is pretty simple and so delicious. Definitely worth taking the time. I don’t remember where I originally got the recipe, but I’ve made it so many times that I’ve memorized the recipe so I can share it with you here.

Here’s what you’ll need:

One medium yellow onion
2-4 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt & pepper
2-4 small sweet potatoes
1 cup of Dry White Wine
1 cup of Arborio Rice
3-4 cups of water or vegetable stock (stock will make it more flavorful, but water works well too)
Parmesan (optional)

First put your water or stock in a pot and simmer. You’ll want it warm for later.

Next dice the onion and garlic.

Then cut your sweet potatoes into one inch cubes.

You can peel them first, but I think that takes too much time, so I just slice the sides off.

Warm your olive oil in a large saute pan then throw in your onions, garlic.

Add in some salt & pepper. I use about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Once your onions and garlic have started to clarify add your sweet potatoes and saute them for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the rice and saute for about a minute.

Pour in the cup of white wine. My favorite part! Cause, you know, one for you, one for me!

Let that cook, stirring occasionally until the wine is mostly absorbed.

It should look like this:

Then add about 1/2-3/4 cup of water or stock at a time. I just use a ladleful.

After each ladle, let the water/stock absorb while stirring occasionally. After three or so ladles you can start tasting after each ladle is absorbed it to see if it’s ready. You’ll want it to be a little firm, but not crunchy. If it gets mushy you’ve added to much water/stock.

This makes about 2-3 full entree size portions, or about 4 side portions. We usually eat it with a salad or a green veggie on the side, sometimes with soup.

It’s pretty rich tasting, but if you want it a little richer and creamier you can add a little grated Parmesan. It adds a little something extra special. Super delicious!