Thanksgiving!

  I hope that you all had a happy Thanksgiving!  We had a blast.  Went to Memphis to visit some friends, eat turkey, and of course... cook!  I love cooking,  and there is nothing more fun than cooking with a friend.
  I made some homemade pecan pie using two local ingredients.  Local sugar cane syrup, and local pecans from my Best Friends backyard.  Super yummy!  I realized that I think the cane syrup may have been some form of molasses... I need to do some research on that.

This week I made three dishes from the "Vegetables Every Day" cookbook.  A sauteed beet recipe that was delicious!  A curried carrot soup that was horrible!  Seriously,  everytime this guy makes a blended veggie soup recipes,  it has leeks,  and I really do not like the taste of leeks.  
  Finally I made a brocolini and garlic recipe that I inhaled.  It was so good!







Linky Love!
1)   All about Brocolini.  I got mine at Target.  I so suggest that you run out right now, get some,  and cook it and eat it.  It is so worth it!
2)  The rolls I made.  They were so pretty,  but did not come out right.  So sad.  But now I feel inspired to make more things in those little jars...
3)  This one is for one of my dear friends of all ways comments on my blog posts!  My dear,  every time I see bacon... I think of you!

That's all for tonight folks! TTYL!

Friday Linky Love and more beets

So this week I decided to make some more beets.   I want to finish the chapter, in fact,  from now on I will be trying to complete chapters to finish the book sooner.  I made three recipes, one of which, I had to really change because I did not have any beet greens.  Which means,  I can share a recipe... but I cannot promise you will like it.

   The rough part of all the beets is,  I like them,  I need to still get used to them.  Beets roasted are so sweet,  not sweet like candy,  but sweet like a sweet potato.   I think it is all just a mental thing.  I grew up eating your standard veggies,  like carrots, celery, and potatoes.   Although, back in the day,  I think everyone liked beets.  Somehow when my generation came around,  beets seemed to take the backseat with brussel sprouts.




Linky Love!
1) A unique way to peel a beets.
2) Different ways to peel beets.
3) One Mama shares her experience on cooking beets.

Friday Linky Love and some Jicama

My little collection of homemade canned goods.

 Well, here's to another week.  I only made one dish out of the cookbook.  Now I really have to have a cooking marathon to make sure I get through this in a year!  Anyways.  First up,  my newest canning adventure.  We have some satsumas growing in our backyard.  I picked a whole bunch of them and made some satsuma marmalade.  My Beloved loves it! :D  I almost started crying after I made it because he loves orange marmalade,  and it just felt to good to harvest my own 'oranges' and then make (and can) by hand my own marmalade,  just for him!  Chef Turbo seems to love it too.

     I only made one dish out of Mr. Bishops book this week.  The star ingredient was a Jicama.  Very interesting,  and I can now proudly say I can use this vegetable if I were ever challenged to cook with it.   It tasted good,  but I wish that it did not have the scallions in it.  They seemed a little over powering.  Oh, BTW,  there were no oranges,  I just added that for extra decoration,  otherwise it would just look like a boring bowl of jicama and carrots.

Jicama and Carrot Salad pp. 183

   I also thought, for photography reasons,  that adding some sesame to it would look more interesting.  It did not add or subtract from the taste.   It just made it look more appealing.  

LINKY LOVE!

1) I read this article the same day I am going to cook a whole chicken!  What wonderful planning!

All about Brining
2) I love Alton Brown,  I also love to brine my turkeys.  Try it this year!  It's so good!
3)  I am going to try and use these this year with these bags I bought at the Williams Sonoma store.

More Plantains... and corn... and a link

So,  tonight I tried to count all the recipes I have made.  I think I got around 96.  Kinda depressing since there are 350 recipes left.  Sigh.  I need to really get cracking!

  This week I wanted to finish plantains (which I did) and I fell in love with that produce even more!  I also made one dish of corn.

  In the video, I start it off with rain.  Why? Because, it finally rained this week,  and we got tons of it.  I also got a new dishwasher.  The old one (which was possibly around 12 years old) was falling apart.  I love my new dishwasher!  I can fit so many more dishes and organize my silverware.  Yes,  I almost organize my dishes too.  It's to help put them away faster.



Linky Love.

I think I failed you all with love for linkys.  I did not do as much research this week.  But I have one link!
How to render chicken fat!  Almost for free!! :D
http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2010/10/rendering-chicken-fat.html#more

Plaintains and LINKY LOVE!

This week, I decided that we were going to learn how to cook plantains.   I have had them before in Jamaica (and enjoyed them),  but I have never eaten them successfully here in the States.  Mr. Bishop had some great recipes.  First we made the "sauteed plantains".  The kids and I could not put them down.  Then I made the "Baked Plantains",  but I was the only one who enjoyed them.  I am ok with that!
I still have two more yuca recipes to complete,  and I made the "Yuca Soup".  I did not care for it.  I am not a big vegetable soup lover.
  Other things made?  I made a the "Buttermilk Pancakes" from this gals e-book and loved them!  I also made fruit leather from this other gal's e-book,  and the kids loved them and gave them a new name... 'fruit skin'.  I invented a new recipe using the dough from my "Joy of Cooking" croissant recipe.  I browned some ground beef with garlic,  shredded some cheese, and put them in the dough and squished them together.  Next time I will shape them in nice shapes and cover them in butter so they will not look so weird.  Ok... now for the pictures...





<3<3 LINKY LOVE <3<3
Sadly,  no one has told me if they wrote a blog post about their favorite kitchen tools.  So,  I only have a small number of links to share with you today.  If you are interested in doing this challenge... let me know in the comments below!

1) COMFORT FOOD!
2) I just bought some apples to make these...
3) In Love!  I want some.  :D  I think I am going to get some of the 'asparagus' and fill it with the grains I use and display them in my cabinets. 

Yummy Yuca and Linky Love!

 This week I was trying to cook through the Yuca chapter.  It only had 4 recipes.  But life this week caught up with me,  and I only made two recipes.   They were both really good.  Chef Turbo really like the fritters,  and he got to help make them too.  I was terrified to make the Yuca because I heard that it was poisonous.  I am still not sure how it is bad,  but I followed the directions to a tee and did not waver.  All I do know is,  peel your Yuca, take the core out, and cook it.
  This week I tried to make some pita bread and I failed.  It turned into flat bread.  So sad!  I'll try again some other time.
  I made some "cow shaped" pasta.  Only because I was tired of spaghetti and the cow was the only cookie cutter I could find.
The pictures of the food I made this week....



<3 Linky Love! <3

Whole Foods for the Holidays going on at Keeper of the Home.  I love reading her blog and I am looking forward to all the posts that her blogging friends will be doing!  Join in on the fun!




I bought a new e-book (which is on sale you know...) it's a great way to take baby steps on eat real food.  It will change your life!  I already read through the book (I'm trying my first recipe tomorrow) and it was encouraging and helpful as I am a newbie on eating real food.

Cooking with my Kid is one of my favorite blogs to read,  they posted this recipe and I cannot wait to try it!

I'm also loving putting "food on my face" thanks to Crunch Betty!  Looking forward to trying this next..

That's it for today my dearest readers.  I'm thinking next week I would like to do something fun... what is your favorite tool(s) in the kitchen?  Take a picture of it and write about it.  Be prepared to share your link!  Better yet, email me { kstone (at) stonecafecreations } your link before Friday,  and I will include it in my Linky Love!  We'll have a "Favorite Tools Friday Linky Love Special!"

Snow peas, butternut squash, and some linky love!

This week I made two recipes! I made a Sesame Stir Fried Snow Peas and a Oven Roasted Butternut Squash.  Both were really good.  I enjoyed them greatly!  Here is a picture of the snow peas,  one of the photos I loved the most this week...

Here is the video with some of the photos from this week.  Not thrilled with them all,  but I am kind of going through a little "mid year crisis" with my food photography right now.  I'll get back into the swing of things soon. Also,  I still have not perfected my recipe yet.  This week turned hectic,  but I will (or should) have some time this week... we shall see!!



But one thing that is not a crisis is
LINKY LOVE! 
 (I need a superhero song for that.... or you can imagine that in your head).

1) I <3 Mac and cheese.  I also love gnocchi!  What a great mix!! It speaks to the Italian side of me.

2) Dinner rolls in a jar,  awesome thanksgiving idea!

since it's fall,  I'm still on a pumpkin kick,  and so is everyone else, since I just keep running into great things to do with pumpkin!


PUMPKIN RECIPES
1) http://www.amanda.fakeginger.com/?p=1377

2) http://bakedbree.com/slow-cooker-pumpkin-butter

3) http://www.cookingwithmykid.com/recipes/pumpkin-spice-smoothie/

4) http://www.cookingwithmykid.com/recipes/baked-pumpkin-oatmeal/

100th Post... do I get a prize?

I'm not going to get a prize for 100 posts,  but some comments would be nice :D.  Leave a comment telling me who you are,  if you have a blog,  and what your favorite vegetable is. 

    You would think that since I was not blogging this week,  I had tons of extra time to make some of Mr. Bishop's wonderful recipes,  but I was a slacker.  I only made one.
"Steamed Cauliflower with Buttered Walnuts and Parsley" pp.90  It was supper yummy.

Here is a video sideshow of everything that I experimented with this week...  which will then lead me to...

LINKY LOVE!
Last week we talked about making dried orange zest… here is another use for orange peels…. candied!  Even… chocolate covered!  I wonder if it could be Nutella covered?? 

This blog might just be what I need… no wait… this is what I need to make it feel like fall!  Thanks City Sisters for writing this post!  Cider Donuts
**My friend and I got together today to make some of these,  since we did not have donuts pans,  they turned into Cider Muffins.  Still good!  Pictures are in the slide show**

Like humus?  Try this variant!


Looks too good not to eat... some oatmeal pudding!



The sugared grapes are an inspiration to me... I want to do that someday!

I tried some persimmons this week because they are in season and at our vegetable/fruit market.  Watch this video...

My exploration into Graham Crackers.  There is a reason.  BTW,  I made some this week,  and the picture is in the slide show... you may know that already.

1) Kitty eating graham cracker
2) Who invented the graham cracker
3)  Some awesome inspiration… graham crackers don't need to be square!
**I made this recipe this week.  I went all Whole Wheat!  But they turned into molasses cookies because I thought it should have only molasses in them.  Silly me,  there is a reason why Honey Grahams are called Honey Grahams!** (and then there is a post by the same gal,  who I have posted here before… on goldfish crackers!  )
4) I knew it was a good idea to brush the graham cracker crust with chocolate!  Woot!
5)  Definition of Graham Cracker

Arugula Salad and LINKY LOVE!

Arugula and Mango Salad with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. PP.12

Welcome to another edition of
LINKY LOVE FRIDAY!

This is mostly a fall themed linky love!
1) Got orange rinds?  Make orange zest powder!  I still have to finish mine :D
2) Got plums? Spiced Plum Galette
3) Got pie craving?  Make a pie crust!
4) Want sour dough bread?  Make it yourself!
5) Got apples?  How about a crazy pumpkin pie? 
6) Still got apples?  Do it aussi style!

NEWS

So,  my life has changed.  That has to be expected since I have been doing this since April,  and change always happens... right?  If not,  your life might be boring.  Spice it up!  Anyways...
I need to slow down on the blogging front, so here is the plan,  I'm going to post on Wed and Fridays.  I'll still do wordless wed.  On Fridays there will be a video (without me talking unless I really have time to write a script) that will recap all the recipes I made that week and any other cooking adventure we have.  Two posts a week!  No worries though... Fridays we will still have our linky love!  Because I LOVE TO SHARE LINKS!  I love to share information, and I find tons of information throughout the week! Keep reading!  Let me know you are reading by leaving a comment below.  It will make my day.  Thanks! 

Duxelle

I love mushrooms.  I really, really do.  I was craving some and I noticed that Mr. Bishop had a meal (not a side dish) made... with mushrooms.  Super coolness.  This one was called "Roasted Chicken Breasts with Duxelles (pp. 219)".

Yay for aluminum foil!

   Now what was really cool was,  I saw the final episode of Masterchef and David Miller was talking about making a Duxelle,  I was so excited because I was going to make some today! If a Masterchef is going to make some,  then I was going to truly make something advanced.
   Now, I had some problems with the dish.  I  did not have the right kind of chicken breasts. So I had to improvise. In came "aluminum foil".  I figured since I did not have any split chicken breasts,  that if I wrapped it tightly in aluminum foil it might produce the same results.  I pounded the chicken flat with a tenderizer,  then put some butter on the chicken and then the Duxelles.   I then wrapped the chicken up like sushi and then put the aluminum foil tightly around that.   The results were not as flavorful as I had expected.  I wonder if I cooked my mushrooms at too high of a temperature or something.  I lost some flavor along the way.  But the aromas were great.  I think I still have lots to learn about Duxelles as a flavor enhancer,  but I am so willing to try this again.

Now for FRIDAY LINKY LOVE!
1) I bought some Asian Pears at the farmers market.  I want to grow my own trees... it's easy!
2) Masterchef casting call!  I am not going to do it... but you might be interested!
3)  Duxelle video #1
4) Duxelle video #2


Have you ever made a Duxelle? Leave a comment and let me know what your experience was like!

For snack... carrot salad and some linky love!

I was supposed to roast some peppers on my grill today,  but it was so hot and stuff,  I just didn't feel like it.  So I grabbed a few carrots and made this dish,  Bistro Carrot Salad pp. __

     It was good,  but it did not sound as good as the recipes I was researching outside of Mr. Bishops cookbook.  They were all talking about adding Dijon Mustard.  Oh,  how I would have traded the mustard for the lemon,  it sounds so good!  Anyways.  The dish was still tasty,  I enjoyed it.

Now for some LINKY LOVE!

1) Speaking of carrots... I ran across this site.  It's about a carrot museum.   That's right,  a museum dedicated to carrots.

2) Two sites about being a Nutella Freak.  I am one,  I love Nutella!  I eat it by the spoonful,  well I did till I went on a "diet" last week. Site one and  Site Two.

3) This pizza sounds so good!  I cannot wait till my diet allows grains again so I can eat it!

4) Not only does she briefly cover what's bad in today's overly processed foods… she goes to my favorite shopping store, MEIJER!  I miss that store so much!  I knew it was Meijer by looking at the shelves (so weird) and then I confirmed it when I saw the sales stickers :D.  I'm such a Meijer geek.








Now to end your reading of this blog post with an Irish Proverb...

Linky Love Friday #8 and Trip pictures

Since I did not cook dinner (My Dad is still here and I am trying to show him some awesome places to eat around town...) I am just going to show you all a slide show of two places I ate at on my trip.  Nothing thrilling,  just something to keep you busy while you visit my site till I can get back to my normal schedule next Monday.




Now for LINKY LOVE FRIDAY!!

Now, I have been watching "Masterchef" and I love that show (except for all the crying that goes on,  that drive me crazy!).  I have been challenged in my abilities to cook just from watching this show.  After the chili episode,  I wanted to know... How do you make chili without chili pepper?!?  I grew up thinking that that is what made chili-- chili.  So I did some research.  Talk about history lesson peeps!  Chili originated in Texas, and they do not use chili powder in that recipe.  That is why they were so shocked that the lady (forgot her name already) made that mistake... enjoy this link and learn :D

http://www.texasescapes.com/CFEckhardt/National-Dish-of-Texas-Chili-Con-Carne-Recipe.htm

I was making cookies today and I did not have brown sugar.  Rushing online to find a subsutuew I thought it would be awesome to have a list inside my door so I do not have to always use the internet.  I have a few links that you all might find useful and maybe you will want to print one of these out and tape it in a place for reference.

1. http://www.recipetips.com/print-tips/t--200/food-substitutions.asp?ProcessPrint=true&Print/Category=knowledge&Print/Id=200&Print/ZoneId=0&Print/Template=http://www.recipetips.com/print-tips/t--200/food-substitutions.asp
2. http://allrecipes.com//HowTo/common-ingredient-substitutions/Detail.aspx
3. members.core.com/~mmj1123/cooks/substituteingredients.pdf  (takes you to a PDF)

Linky Love Friday #7 and Chicken Broth

So, I did not cook tonight.  But it is always good to take a break.  I had to go to the eye doctor to find out what was going on with my eyes.  Apparently,  I now offically need glasses.  I guess I'm getting old!

Anyways,  the good news is that my chicken broth congealed perfectly!  I love it when it gets this thick,  all the good minerals and collegian is in there.   Yes, that is me almost holding the jar upside down.  That is how thick it was.  So happy!

Now for LINKY LOVE FRIDAY!

• Make some of your own fruit strips without a dehydrator! So excited about this.
• momofukufor2 just finished cooking through her cookbook.  So excited for her!
•  I'm exploring Teff, so this was cool to find.
•  My Beloved loves salsa, so I am waiting for this recipe to ferment.  Just started it today (See picture to the right). I only made a half recipe, since I did not purchase enough tomatoes. 

Linky Love Friday #6 and Cheesy Zucchini

     Tonight was dubbed Pizza night,  Chef Turbo was just begging for some pizza.  So I caved in (because I love him so much!).  I still made my fifth and final side dish for the week out of James Bishops cookbook "Vegetables Everyday" .  Tonight we made _____. 
     Chef Turbo got to help out by putting the Parmesan cheese on the zucchini.  He always loves trying to find ways to help in the kitchen,  and this was the perfect job for him.  
     I thought these tasted great.  It seems that the Parmesan takes center stage here in the recipe, because Zucchini is naturally bland,  but I really enjoyed it non the less.








Ok.  Ready for some Linky Love??

1) Cookie Truffles made out of Nutterbutters or Oreos!!
2) How to Roast Beets and clean the beet color off your hands.  (I'll be making beet recipes soon!)
3) A whole website on cooking eggless, and in particular, an apple cake.
4)  And in case you missed my second post this week on eating eggplant,  I wanted to re-mention This Little Green Book.  A really awesome blog.

Linky Love Friday #5?

I am not sure what linky love this is... but for kicks we'll say it's number five.  I've got some plans with the chefs tonight that will be taking the time I normally cook,  sooooo, I leave you all just some links to enjoy today!

1)  I loved this lady's idea so much,  I did it too!  Build your own veggie box!
2) How to crack the coconut question?  This person has a whole post on their experience and a link to an awesome video.
3)  Some awesome cookie and cakes with a science theme! 
4) Sweet potato muffins that sound absolutely delicious! 

Have a great day my readers!  Looking forward to seeing you all again on Monday!

Just a little love...

I've been sick since yesterday,  hence reason why there is no post,  but writing out my linky loves is a lot easier for me to do,  and I can sit.  So here they are! 

1) Great reasons why to make bone broth.   I highly suggest getting rid of the bullion cubes :D

2) More bone broth awesomeness from another perspective.

3) Homemade dips!

4) Homemade refrigerator jam, for the faint in heart when it comes to canning (like myself).  Looks wonderful,  I cannot wait to make some :D.


5)  A lesson learned about using live lobsters.  Great story!

I should be back to normal on Monday!  I'm skipping the farmers market tomorrow to get more rest, so I'll have to find the Tuesday farmers market,  we'll see how that all goes!  Pray that our family gets over this wonderful summer cold bug soon. 

Whole Heads of Roast Garlice with Grilled Bread pp.167

Moldy Garlic
     Sometimes life throws disappointments your way,  but there is always another way,  or just substitutions.  Thankfully I had some garlic in the refrigerator, but I was trying to keep my garlic in the pantry closet in a basket.  Apparently, somehow my garlic was too moist and it became moldy on me.   How do you store your garlic?  Is it store bought or farmers market bought?

Store Garlic Saves the Day
     I have had this in my fridge for a few weeks now.  I decided to use it because it was not growing anything (mold or greenery).  Mr. Bishops directions on how to prepare the garlic, was unusual to me.  I needed to keep enough skin on to keep the cloves from falling off,  and then I needed to cut the tops off for some reason I do not understand.  I have no idea on how to research, or what in the world I did.

Smells
     It smelled weird cooking.  That might have been because this was not a fresh bunch of garlic.  The smell was almost not that pleasant and it freaked me out the first time I smelled it, because that was not what I was expecting.   It all worked.

Results
     IT tasted ok,  but there was not much flavor.  I was supposed to just squeeze these onto the bread,  but I think I took them out too soon.  If only I knew the science behind what was supposed to happen here!  I think it needed more salt too...



 Friday Link Love!
     Things I discovered on the Internet while goofing off this week:
1) Grow your own celery from the celery you bought at the store.  Best done in late winter!
http://providence-acres.blogspot.com/2010/06/regrowing-celery.html
2) Need something refreshing to drink this summer??  Try this!
http://joylicious.net/2010/06/29/southern-stylemango-lemonade/
3) One recipe, 4 uses... tomato sauce!
http://www.simplebites.net/10-uses-for-a-4-ingredient-tomato-sauce/

Final thought:

Are the ice cubes falling out or jumping up??