Pot & Cover

the pies & Madi's tree....love the massive pliers on the table...typical "Eaton" Thanksgiving was actually really pretty pleasant this year...and I was a little surprised.  I'd made it clear that I would participate in bringing something, but pizza would honestly be fine, so whatever!  Well, sweet Mikey took the bull by the horns, cleaned up the house (parents), and he and Amanda shopped, Matt (Amanda's bro) smoked the turkey, which was the best turkey I've ever had!  Mikey made a huge pot of gravy, mashed taters, dressing, we brought ham and pilaf...and Mikey bought a few pies, key lime, pecan, pumpkin and then made a Zabaglione, which was so delicious.  Madi had her tree centerpiece, Logan his first Thanksgiving meal and dad made it home for a few hours to eat with us later.  Overall a great day with family and delicious food...very Thankful for that.  Uncle Erich even gave Logan a bath after his "bath" in Thankgiving food. "Daddy, t

Well, we're in the new apt...third floor move...very tiring, but thankfully had awesome friends help us move!  We ate frozen pizza, sandwiches (which were so delicious), baked taters & rotissiere chix, take out...and I can't remember what else...but anything not to have to cook...which was really all me...cause Scott would have cooked...but it just seemed overwhelming after all the hustle and bustle to move to have hustle and bustle in the kitchen...so this was our first real meal...our favorite store bought marinara, bertolli basil & tomato, with a sauteed onion, fresh basil and the meat from about half a rotissiere chix.  It was so delicious.  I'd bought ground beef to use, but realized we still had chix in the fridge...also had a little fresh garlic bread.  YUMMY.  Madi was over to spend the nite and we made a gingerbread Christmas tree too...so fun.

We had two huge taters and Scott was thinking something already prepared and ez...gettn no arguements from me...so he got the ribs from Market Street, shredded the meat, added a little Tony Roma's bbq sauce and we topped perfectly baked, tender taters with the meat.  Delicious!  and so simple.  We've done this again recently with rotissiere chix meat with bbq sauce and it was even better.  The perfect baked tater: 400 degree oven washed, poked, oiled and salt & peppered tater.  place taters on a piece of foil, then directly on the oven rack.  for really large taters, set the timer for at least 1hr 15 min...maybe 1 hr for slightly smaller taters.  I love it when the skin gets all crispy, but the inside is soft and fluffy.  poke with a knife to check tenderness...nothings more dissapointing than a pretty, yet hard tater.  Top with soft, melting butter, s&p, sour cream, cheese and bacon! YUM...we finished the meal with the few bites left of our fruit tart from earlie

I have made two batches of pesto from our summer basil...but our move was upon us, as well as the cold weather looming, so it was time to harvest the remaining basil.  It's more than a week later and its still perky and fresh in its vase of water...but I've realized something I didn't know...that when you have that much freshly cut basil indoors it smells too strong...a little musky...so its now on the porch.  This was my best basil year yet...I we enjoyed every green leaf...and will enjoy the pesto all winter. 

It was football nite...Cowboys were playing and steaks were on the grill.  We had S&J over for dinner, and the menu Scott had chosen was filets with blue cheese, baked taters with all the fixn's, cucumber, tomato & avocado salad with balsamic...and our sweet guests brought the sweets, a beautiful tart from La Madeline...YUM.  The food was great, the game I recall not so much, the guests the best...there was also a little Mama Mia...OH and our sweet Tex too...a wonderful nite of friends, music, food and football.

Shrimp was on the radar again, and I had seen an episode of the Barefoot Contessa where she baked shrimp scampi with a herb bread crust...so we tried it.  The recipe and video are on food network.  It was good, but a little salty and not good enough to make twice...  It was ez tho and still definately good enough for happy tummies this nite.  Research :)

another fish fry test with very good fresh tarter sauce Scott's latest trial run with beer batter...don't remember exactly what we were doing this nite...I think another run thru of fish n chips beer batter style inspired by the fun show on food network with Chef Anne Burrell..."brown food tastes good!" Scott is very good at frying, and improving and testing recipes all the time.  We have been unimpressed with the beer batters often and prefer his herb panko crust.  Also trying the double fry method for the fries again...only to be reminded that his way of doing it seems to please us both much more...fry thin tater strips in hot oil till golden brown, which sometimes takes a while, but has thus far yielded a fry that is a cross between a perfect fry and a perfect potato chip, in flavor and texture.  They have yet to be trumped in my book.  Anyway, for an appetizer, he fried a few shrimp, which were beautiful, but on this test run the oil was a little hot and they

This was a few days after the marvelous mushroom bacon mac n cheese, which is making my mouth water just writing those words.  As I write this it is the day after Thanksgiving, Scott just left for the grocery store for dinner ingredients (we ate at my parents with my brothers etc, and all the left overs were GONE!)  I figured it was time to catch up before the month rolled over....and now I'm getting really hungry!  Well one of us had the idea to use the left over cheese from the mac n cheese, as well as the bacon and 'shrooms.  We mixed all the ingredients together for the filling, the cheeses, sauteed 'shrooms, crisped bacon and a little of the cheese sauce.  Scott got very fresh corn tortillas, which we lightly fried (I think), but equally they can be heated in a little damp paper towel in the microwave, layered a little sauce on the bottom of the stoneware baking dish, then rolled the enchiladas, topped with sauce and baked about 30-45 min in a 375 oven, if I remembe

Scott had seen Ina Garten make her lobster mac n cheese on tv the other day...he had it on his mind when I asked him to shop for a friend today...we decided to do a bacon, mushroom, chix version.  This is the best mac n cheese I've ever eaten.  He stopped by Central Market to look for the cavatappi pasta...De Cecco makes a great pasta in my opinon, Ina's too...but this cut is hard to find...but of course CM had it.  Then he stopped by Market Street for the cheese...Gruyere & a 2 yr old white cheddar and some baby bella mushrooms.  It was a little more labor intensive than he originally expected, but so worth it.  I got to spectate much of it since little Lo was with us...eating a teething biscuit in his Bumbo chair on the counter.  We had so much fun together today.  Crazy Mac and Cheese (this is a 1/2 recipe...and it was enough to generously feed four)1 10 oz mushrooms halved (baby bellas tonite), pre sauteed, nice and crusty brown in a little oil. 1 cup shredded cooke

Its November 1st, 2009...how is that possible?!  Scott is cooking chix in the kitchen, I'm in the bedroom typing and it smells so good.  There are golf ball size brussel sprouts roasting in a 400 degree HOT oven, and fries at the ready.  We celebrated Halloween with family/the kiddos last nite and the kids, Logan (10mo) & Madi (5years) spent the nite.  They are so precious and we both fall in love with them more every moment.  Madi's daddy said she could pick 10 pieces of candy to eat...so she thoughtfully did so, next to me in bed, after her bath.  It took her 15 minutes to eat 5 milk duds cause they were so sticky.  She had so much fun...and now I've learned she also snores.  Uncle Scott went to get donuts this morning.  Madi called him Uncle Donut...then we all played on the bed together.  Logan is so fascinated with his big sister...she can make him laugh like no one else.  She just looks at him and he giggles...no joke.  Side note: the house smelled like brussel