Day 359 - Traditional treat

The most I had to do to finish Christmas preparations was to bake one of our favorite holiday goodies, a rum cake. As it came out of the oven, above...

... and the finished (poked with a bazillion holes) glazed product. Sooooo good!

Day 349 - I blew it...

I don't screw-up often in the kitchen, but I managed it majorly today. Check out my regular blog for my tale of woe (and a recipe link too, Laurie.)

You might think this doesn't look too bad, but ...

...it's supposed to be a nice, yellowy gold... not a tarnished, brown one! ;)

P.S. It actually tasted pretty good, not as bad as it looks. I'll try it again sometime.

Day 348 - Holiday baking

Now that I have the missing ingredients needed for a holiday eggnog loaf I want to try, all I have to do is bake it!

Day 332 - Sweet ending

One of our traditional holiday desserts is Watergate salad, a mix of mini marshmallows, crushed pineapple, pistachio pudding, nuts, and Cool Whip. It's decadently sweet and outrageously calorie-laden, but oh, soooooo good!

Day 331 - Pre-prep the day before the day...

I got smart this year and planned ahead for more and better gravy/soup base. Bought some turkey wings (they were ginormous!!) which I roasted until nice and brown and then simmered into a delicious stock.

p.s. oh my! the gravy was wonderful!!

Day 330 - Gobble gobble

Since it's just the two of us this year, our Li'l Butterball will be more than enough. I see lots of turkey leftovers in our future!

Day 298 - Decadence

I.Love.This.Stuff. Totally love it. From Macaroni Grill, it's called Lemon Passion... a lemon cake soaked in sweet cream then topped with lemon mousse and whipped cream and served with tres leche sauce. Pure decadence. :)

Day 282 - Simple sauce

Ever have one of those nights when you want some pasta but just don't feel like messing with spaghetti and meatballs or even a meat sauce?? Try this ridiculously simple but tasty tomato sauce from Marcella Hazan.*

All it takes is 2 cups of good canned Italian tomatoes w/juice (San Marzano are recommended), a medium onion, peeled and cut in half, 5 tablespoons of butter (not margarine,) and a bit of salt if you like. Put it all in an uncovered pot, bring to a boil, let simmer for 45 minutes or so, remove the onion, and there you have it... a pure and simple red-orange sauce for your pasta. Oh, and serve with generous amount of paremsan reggiano. :)

*Marcella Hazan is a noted Italian cookbook writer and authority on Italian cuisine.

Day 270 - Baking day

This chilly, rainy day seemed made for staying inside and catching up on some baking for the freezer. Needing to use up more apples, pumpkin apple bread was tops on my list. Instead of traditional loaves, I thought mini muffins and loaves would be fun.

Day 262 - Mini measures

Still in my stock-the-freezer mode, a new mini loaf pan will come in right handy for the single portion breads, meat loaf, and other stuff I'm making. My muffin tins have served me well, but little loaves will be more fun. :)

Day 244 - Peach shadow

After freezing another peck of peaches, I fooled around with light and shadows with the leftover one that Lew wants on his breakfast tomorrow. :)

Day 242 - "One bad apple...

...don't spoil the whole bunch, girl"*

*Lyrics from the 1971 hit tune by the Osmonds.

Day 241 - Spilled the beans

I could get into this still life stuff - :)

Day 238 - When life hands you lemons...

Stick 'em in a bowl on your kitchen table, take a picture... and call it a still life! ;)

Day 237 - Just peachy

In my first attempt at freezing them, we peeled, sliced, and prepared the peaches. We ended up with about 7 pints, but I'm not sure how many are actually going to make it into the freezer because... oh.my.goodness - these things are delicious! I ate almost as much as we were putting in the bags!

Seriously considering going back and getting some more... :)

Day 235 - Bonny bounty

Lew came home with a bounty of goodies from our local orchard yesterday. Looks like it's time to roast some peppers, make some apple and peach delights, freeze the rest, and gobble up that ginormous cantalope!

Day 226 - Movie junk food

You have to munch while you're watching movies, right? 'Course you do! Soooo, Christopher wanted popcorn and soda, Michael wanted chips and soda, and me? Oh, I just settled for a plain ol' dusty banana split (two scoops, extra whipped cream... and yeah, that extra cherry.)

Oh.my.God!! I knooooow I'm going to put on 10 pounds this week... but I'm sure going to enjoy doing it! ;)

Day 173 - As hot as it gets

Karin was right - we just have to coordinate our weather better! With the exception of that heat wave we had about a week or so ago, the weather has been anything but hot. Soooo, out of ideas, almost forgetting to take one at all, and nearly out of time, I raided the kitchen cupboards for today's photo. This is as hot as it got today.

Day 157 - The pause that refreshes

With the temperature climbing upwards to almost 90 today, and the humidity climbing right up there with it, we stopped by the Frederick Ice Cream Co. to enjoy a refreshing ice cream cone. Lew had a German chocolate cake cone and mine was a p'nutty cone - butter pecan ice cream with various nuts, chunks of chocolate, and caramel mixed in. Yumm-ee!

You may remember the chicly attired bear that greets you at the entrance; keeping current with seasonal trends, the dapper dude is now ready to beat the heat in his fashionable shorts/swim trunks.

Looking up over the door, you'll also spot an oversized model ice cream cone.

Day 150 - Dinner is served

*sigh* I so hate to resort to dinner pictures, but it was either this or another bird photo... at least this one's different. ;)

Oh, by the way, it's a Chicken Spaghetti casserole. It was pretty good and makes a good bit - had enough for tonight's casserole and two more in the freezer. If you're interested in the recipe, I got it from The Pioneer Woman Cooks - fun site!