New Format, Good Eats.

We're in the grove now, I think. 

Working. 

 (This is my "I'm so happy to be grading" face)

Having fun.

 At CocoKey Indoor Water Park with Grandma.  She took us to celebrate Jax's 5th birthday!

 Happy Birthday Jax!

 Aren't we cute?

Getting ready for Halloween.

 My favorite witch, ghost and cowboy.

And me as Carmen Miranda.   

Eating. 
(I think that, since I have nowhere near the time to post every day, I'll just do a round up of what we ate during the week from now on.  Of course, that makes the posts incredibly long, but we'll live with it.)

Roast Chicken with Lemon and Thyme and Roasted Potatoes

I used this epicurious recipe with these changes:
*I mixed about a tsp of honey with about 3 tbsp butter and some lemon zest and placed it under the skin before roasting.
*I skipped the lemons on the top.
*I quartered 6 medium red potatoes and a large onion and placed them around the chicken before cooking.  

I served with rice pilaf and frozen peas.

I forgot to get an "after picture" but, aside from the lemons, I swear it looked just like this:

Pumpkin Pancakes with Buttered Walnuts

I used this Martha Stewart Recipe and it was awesome.  No changes.  I did double it. The only thing that I added was this:
chop 1/4 c. walnuts
saute over medium heat in about 3 tbsp butter (preferably salted) until fragrant. 
Serve atop the pancakes with maple syrup.

Prosciutto and Brie Sandwiches with Fig and Eggplant Jam

Ok, so I made the fig and eggplant jam last summer and had it frozen, and I can't remember exactly how I made it.  So if you want to make this sandwich (and I highly recommend that), you can make

Prosciutto and Brie Sandwiches with Apricot Thyme Jam
(serves 2)

1/2 baguette, sliced in half and then halved again in the other direction
1/4 lb prosciutto
4 oz brie, sliced
4 tbsp apricot jam, mixed with 1/4 tsp thyme leaves and a pinch of salt

Spread each of the four quarters with the jam mixture, then top with 2 slices of prosciutto, and then a quarter of the brie.  Bake at 375 for about 8 minutes, or until the cheese is slightly melty.

I served with roasted broccoli, a small salad, and the dijon version of these wicked good potato chips.

This was a very good "eat after the kids go to bed" quick and grown-up dinner.

Spaghetti Pizza
For when you want pizza, but want it fast.

1 box of spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 cups of tomato sauce
8 oz mozzarella cheese
pizza toppings of your choice (we used pepperoni)

Mix the egg and the Italian seasoning, and toss the egg mix with the pasta until it's evenly coated.
Spread the pasta in a large, greased pizza dish, or 2 8X11 glass pans.  Spread it until it's close to flat and press it down with a plate. 

Tossed with egg and ready to be cooked.

 Generously spray it with cooking spray and broil it until the top is browned, about 10 minutes.

Yummy and browned.

Remove from the oven and top with the tomato sauce, cheese, and pizza toppings.  Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes.  Slice as you would a pizza.

I said "shoot, I forgot to take a picture."  

Pete said, "Say it was so good it came out of the oven partially eaten."

Cupcakes
Ok, this isn't really a recipe so much as a hint.
If you want seriously kick-ass chocolate cake or cupcakes, use the King Arthur Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix.  It's worth the extra couple of dollars.  It always gets raves.  Even though we're not gluten free around here, it's far and away the best cake mix out there.
And then you can top it with this decidedly un-gluten-free frosting.  I don't even like frosting, and I ate this by the spoonful.  It's worth the cooking and cooling time.  Seriously. 

Yes, covered up in bad lighting these look like deviled eggs.  

But they were mini chocolate cupcakes with white-yellow-and-orange frosting 

(to look like candy corn). 

All in all, life goes apace.  At this present moment, I refuse to worry about the upcoming hurricane/tropical storm/heavy rain thing that's bearing down upon us.  I'm going so far as to charge all of my devices, and I bought a new book for the Nook.  Anyone read The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window?  Sounds interesting.  I almost got Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore.  What about that one?

What We Ate in Maine

Everything.  We ate everything in Maine.  


Get all the Murphy boys and their families together and I think there are about 400 people total.  Okay, maybe my estimates aren't the most accurate, but when you toss in the visiting friends and put everyone all together, I don't think that I'm that far off.  And there was much fun to be had.  And there was lots of eating.

we also had beautiful sunsets, great times on the beach, adventures in minigolf and Old Orchard amusement park, and fun times with the Murphy ladies.  

But we're talking food here.

We ate at Congdon's Donuts which have the best donuts ever, and their bacon isn't too bad either.


We ate delicious meals prepared by the various and sundry Murphy families - chicken noodle casserole that actually tasted like chicken and noodles and vegetables (yum!), American chop suey which was as good as always, chicken parm for a crowd over pasta, BBQ chicken and marinated steak that I went back for more than once.  I made tacos that, not to toot my own horn, were pretty tasty.


The last night we ate s'mores, and then, realizing that there was Lobster Tracks ice cream left, we ate that too.  


I am not getting on the scale for many weeks.


And one night many of the grown ups ate lobster.  Or as I like to call it, cockroach of the sea.  Guess who didn't eat lobster?


Since, in spite of our best eating efforts, there were many a leftover, I made leftover pizza for those of us who were going to take a pass on the bottom dwellers.  And I made cheese pizza for the kids.

The pizza that got a little burnt is not pictured.  Not to worry, it was still eaten.

Leftover BBQ Chicken Pizza
1 package pizza dough (I'll get my homemade recipe on here someday)
1 leftover breast of BBQ chicken, sliced thin
about 1/2 cup leftover grilled vegetables (we had peppers and onions) diced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
BBQ sauce* for drizzling (I think I used about 1/2 cup, but just have the bottle handy)


Preheat the oven to 425


Let the store bought dough rest on the counter for at least an hour.  It really needs to come to room temp before it's willing to be stretched.  Once it is pliable, grease a pizza pan (I used 12 inch, but 14 inch would have been fine), stretch the dough to fill the pan, and then let it rest again.  It will probably contract.  Give it about 10 minutes, stretch it again to the edges, then lightly brush with olive oil all over (or spray with olive oil cooking spray).


Drizzle a few lines of BBQ sauce in a zig zag pattern on the dough, then layer 1/3 of the cheddar and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese on top of the BBQ sauce.


Place the sliced chicken on top of the cheese, and zig zag a few more lines of BBQ sauce.  Top with 1/3 of the cheddar and 1/3 of the mozzarella.


Finally, sprinkle the chopped veggies on top, put a little more BBQ sauce in the spaces that don't have any, and top with the rest of the cheese.


Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is browned (I always lift up a corner of the crust and check the bottom.  It should look lightly browned as well).


*As far as I'm concerned KC Masterpiece is the best BBQ sauce out there.  I understand that some people wrongly prefer Sweet Baby Rays.  I'm sure whatever you use will be fine. But if you're on the fence, go with KC Masterpiece.

Leftover Steak and Gorgonzola Pizza

This was really good.  Worth making an extra steak if you're grilling.


1 package pizza dough
about 2 cups leftover marinated grilled steak sliced thin and cut into bite sized pieces (probably about a 12 oz steak, but it would depend on your cut of meat)
2 cups baby spinach, sliced into ribbons OR 2 cups arugula
3/4 c crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella


Do that thing with the pizza dough that I described above until it's ready to be topped.


Put the spinach or arugula over the center of the pizza dough (in lieu of sauce) and either coat with a light coating of olive oil or spray with olive oil cooking spray.


Top the greens with about 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.


Place the cut steak on top of the mozzarella, and then top that with the remaining mozzarella and the gorgonzola.


Bake for about 20 minutes, making sure the crust is browned all over.  

Dammit.  Now I want pizza.

Coming tomorrow...waffles, apples, and maple buttermilk syrup.