Not only do I get excited to find I have all the ingredients on hand to whip up a batch of cookies, it's even more thrilling to find I can make something other than your basic standards. I ran across this recipe and thought they sounded interesting and quite possibly pretty good. Fortunately, I was not run astray and was delighted to find something I will make time and again. Not only are they quick and easy to whip up, but you can even vary them using lemon or maybe adding a hint of vanilla and omitting the citrus and seeds. These particular cookies taste like a sugar cookie with a hint of orange and the slight nuttiness of poppy seeds.
This recipe was found, naturally, at the Simple Recipes blog. As you'll see it was only yesterday's post.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup of sugar
- 1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon of orange zest
- 1 1/4 cup of flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds
Preparation
1 Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2 Add the egg and the orange zest, beat for thirty seconds, scraping down the bowl part way through to ensure even mixing.
3 In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly sift it into the butter mixture until just combined. Fold in the poppy seeds.
4 Place heaping teaspoonfuls on a non stick baking sheet, allowing them space as they will spread as they bake.
5 Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes or until just turning golden around the edges. Remove from oven. Let sit on the baking sheet for a minute or two to let the cookies solidify a bit, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!Oh, and I have to say I'm thrilled with how perfectly round they are and I didn't even try!
This weekend I discovered my next "home"! I cruised up to Sandpoint, ID to visit one of my best friends and fell in love with the town. They have everything we do here in Bozeman (skiing, hiking, biking, exploring), plus a huge lake providing endless opportunities for recreation. Anyway, this gal and I have been friends for over 10 years and while we don't see each other all that often, we always pick up where we left off.
Even though I was actually there for less than 48 hours, we certainly packed in our fair share of fun. Between hiking (and getting lost), 4-wheeling and cycling along the shores of Lake Pend Oreille, I came home absolutely exhausted. The abundance of rain recently, followed by an outburst of sunshine has made everything unbelievably green and colorful! While there were numerous photo ops, I just wasn't very satisfied with my results.
That about sums up the weekend. I wasn't happy with my pictures of the lake, but might post one anyway.
Don't let the name worry you, Haricot Vert are merely long french green beans. I made this recipe last Sunday night while my husband smoked a rack of what was easily the most amazing ribs I may have ever eaten. He used his beloved Big Green Egg and basted them with Zeke's BBQ sauce (at World Market). We both agreed that this dinner was one of the top five we've ever cooked. This little side dish is super easy to prepare, quick and pretty healthy. The two of us have very different tastes in food (him - spicy, bold flavors/me - comfort food and sweets), so it's always great to find something we both agree on, like this. It's actually great cold too so you can have it as leftovers if, on the off chance, you don't finish them. Unlike us...
This was found at SmittenKitchen (another favorite site). The picture there is fantastic! Mine on the other hand, let's just say I'm still learning...
Haricot Vert with Shallots
1/2 pound of haricot vert, trimmed and tailed
2 teaspoon butter
1 small shallot, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons diced tomato
Wedge of lemon
Bring a pot of well-salted water to boil. Boil haricot vert for 3.5 minutes (yes, that's three and a half). Plunge them into an ice bath and drain the beans.
In your empty pot (might as well save a dish) melt two teaspoons of butter over medium heat. Add the shallot and saute them until they’re just translucent, not browned–about one to two minutes. Add the drained and cooled haricot vert back into the pot and reheat them in the butter and shallots. Season with salt and pepper. Spread haricot vert and shallot onto a plate, throw the diced tomato over them and squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over the dish. Serve immediately.
After a long week of work, there is something rewarding about a weekend to do anything you want or nothing at all. We manage to fill our weekends quite full, so finding myself sitting on the couch with nothing to do on a Saturday is wonderful! Last night, my mom had a "wedding party" to gather a few of us girls and remember our big days. It was a nice night and quite fun to look at dresses and reminisce over pictures and stories. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites.
We built a "shotski" for the wedding party to toast with!
There is some sort of true pleasure in finding I have all the necessary ingredients on hand to whip up a batch of cookies on a moments notice. Nevermind the fact that I "stock" for this purpose, but we'll leave that alone. I recently decided to whip up a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies to take with us camping for Memorial Day weekend. Knowing I could easily find a decent recipe in my seldom used Joy of Cooking cookbook, I summoned the inner (and not so hidden) computer geek in me and scanned my favorite foodie sites for a new recipe. Turns out the one I found is not so "new", but the resulting cookie was absolutely fabulous and went over very well with all our camping companions. I found the recipe on Simply Recipes (again... love that site!!) and only added a bit of nutmeg since I love what I call the "pumpkin pie" spices - nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, etc.
Ingredients
- 1 cup shortening
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs well beaten
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 3 cups oats (I used "quick" oats)
- 1 cup raisins (optional)
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (use 1/2 cup if using raisins) (optional)
Preparation
1 Cream shortening and sugars, add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
2 Sift flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to first mixture and mix well. Add raisins and nuts. Add oats last.
3 Spoon out by rounded tablespoonfuls on to greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350°F. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
One of our other hobbies is "Jeepin'!" We recently just purchased our first Jeep and no longer have to rely on our friends for a spot in their rigs. This was the first time out with ours and we had a great time. We really enjoyed our Memorial Day weekend with 3 days of camping and a total of 4 Jeep runs through the hills. It was also a fun time for me to practice with the camera.
On Sunday, a couple friends met up with us just for the day. Unfortunately in this picture, ours is behind the tree. I just couldn't seem to get it out of my way, or photoshop it out for that matter!
Lined up...
"Experts Only" Well, I suppose my great aspirations to maintain this fantastic "food, photography and whatever else strikes me" blog has not been well played. I suppose it's fine right now since no one even knows I exist. Regardless, I've decided which recipe to use as my first.
This recipe was first discovered by a friend of mine who also loves the Simply Recipes blog (truly addictive). Three girls and I get together on a biweekly basis to cook dinner and share favorite recipes. Every time we meet each person has a different part of the meal - appetizer and drink, side, main or dessert. It is always a great meal as everyone has a certain "taste" for different types of cuisine. We ultimately end the evening satisfied and truly stuffed, relishing girl time and good food. That being said, the gal that had main dish last time made this Mexican Lasagna and we all loved it. I even made it for a Cinco de Mayo gathering a week later to rave reviews. Everyone went back for seconds! I have made some modifications to the recipe to make it a bit easier, but if you'd like to do everything from scratch, you can view the original recipe here.
For the Mexican lover, this dish is truly comfort food. You won't find lasagna noodles and ricotta cheese here, but you will find a combination of everything that makes great tacos, enchiladas and tostadas in one easy to prepare and share dish. I set it out and let people create their own, topping it with shredded lettuce, sour cream, homemade guacamole and cilantro.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lbs ground turkey or ground beef
- Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- Salt
- 2 14-oz can refried beans
- 1 can green chilis
- 1 24 oz jar salsa (I used Pace, but you can try about anything)
- 12 corn tortillas
- 2 cups coarsely grated Monterey Jack cheese (about 8 oz)
- 2 cups coarsely grated mild cheddar cheese (about 8 oz)
Extras
- Sour cream
- Guacamole
- Cilantro
- Iceberg lettuce
Preparation
1 Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly oil a 13x9x3-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.
2 Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large cast iron frying pan on medium high heat. Add the ground meat, breaking it up as you add it. Sprinkle with salt. Sprinkle on the chile powder, cayenne, cumin, and coriander. (Tip - mix the spices together in small bowl ahead of time, you can avoid the hassle with containers at this point) Increase the heat to high. Add another 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Do not stir the meat unnecessarily. Allow it to brown on one side, and then stir it so the other side can be browned. As soon as the meat is browned, remove the pan from the burner. The meat will continue to cook in the heat of the cast iron pan. Once you are sure that the meat is cooked through, use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan to a bowl. Set aside.
3 While the meat is cooking, warm the refried beans in a saucepan. When the are warmed and stirring consistency, add green chilis. Keep heat at low so they stay warm.
4 Brush both sides of the tortillas with olive oil and place on baking sheet (about 4 at a time depending on size of baking sheet). Warm in oven for 5-6 minutes until slightly softened. Repeat until all tortillas have been done.
5 In baking dish arrange 4 tortillas in one layer, overlapping slightly (tortillas will not cover bottom completely). Spread half of bean mixture evenly over tortillas in dish and top with half of meat mixture. Sprinkle one third cheese over the meat and spread half of the salsa over the cheese. (Note: I started this process right after first 4 tortillas were done in the oven, I let the second batch go while I spread the other ingredients)
Repeat layering of tortillas, beans, meat, cheese, and salsa and top with remaining 4 tortillas. Sprinkle remaining cheese over tortillas. Bake casserole on the middle rack in the oven for 35 minutes, until the casserole is heated through and the cheese is completely melted and bubbling. Let the casserole stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Serves 8. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, chopped cilantro, and thinly sliced iceberg lettuce.