12 days til Christmas- are you freaking out?I am not freaking out...yet... :)I have bought ONE present for Christmas...and it's sitting in a Target bag closed shut waiting to be wrapped. I had bought some gifts for my mom & mother in law, but ended up returning them. So I am back at square one.Sunday I'm meeting some friends in NY for the day, so I'm hoping to just do one giant swoop (with the rest of those 50,000,000 tourists)...we'll see.I don't know why I'm not in the Christmas mood this year, and honestly you Connecticut folks might want to slap me, but this northerner desperately wants some snow on the ground (and NO I haven't forgotten our lovely Halloween snowfall!) Honestly, I am thinking more about Christmas food. Desserts, cookies, family traditions, appetizers for parties, anything Christmas+food equals.Gift giving is not my thing. Trust me, I have given you all gifts many times over in my mind. When I shop, I usually see something I would like to give... but I don't end up buying it because it doesn't seem like a good enough gift! It feels like I'm just buying "stuff"...and that's not how I want to show my love for those I'm buying for. As I have gotten older, I have started to make food for Christmas gifts...concentrating most on treats I'm guessing my gift recipients would never make themselves.Last year (and probably 15 pounds ago due to it!) I made these truffles for the gifts along with a few other things (to be revealed later!). It was days of testing different ganache, going through quite a bit of cream, and scooping/ dipping hundreds of tiny chocolate balls that resulted in a whole lot of love and chocolate.Hopefully these are gifts to you...special things you and I will only  (dare?) make this time of year. Hooray...the holiday's are here!Side note: Also, as you may have noticed I take pictures of everything...unfortunately, these are the only a few photos I could find from Christmas last year. See below, you'll understand my confusion...no truffles but a man in full snowsuit riding a bike and some potato chip sunglasses.

tuxedo truffles

The inside of these tiny bites of glory is a soft, delicious, smooth ganache. You can choose to "dress" them in a hard chocolate coating or roll them in powdery delicious dark chocolate cocoa powder. Mmm...enjoy.

makes 24 truffles depending on your scooper size..I use a smaller one

ingredients1/3 cup of cream1 bag white chocolate chips1 tablespoon unsalted butter1/2 bag of dark chocolate chips1. take a small sauce pan in heat the cream over very low heat2. put your white chocolate chips in a bowl (I prefer glass I don't know why)3. once the cream is hot, pour over chocolate chips & wisk until chocolate has melted.4. Add butter and wisk until it's smooth and beautiful.5. refrigerate your ganache for 1-2 hours or until firm.6. While you're waiting (or when your ready to scoop the truffles), put a silicone mat or parchment paper on a baking sheet to get ready for the next step.7. Use your favorite scooping tool (this is mine) and scoop out as many little ganache balls as you can get out of the white chocolate. If you don't have a scoop, you can use a spoon. Roll the ball between your palms to make them perfectly round. Do this quickly though, as the heat of your hands can melt the chocolate and then you have a mess (!) Refrigerate on the lined baking sheet one more hour to harden (or my favorite, stick the pan out on the porch or in the garage...hey..it's cold out there!)8. Put dark chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl, and microwave in 20 second increments (stirring inbetween) until melted. Stop microwaving when there are a few chunks left in the chocolate and stir until they melt along with it. It makes the chocolate look nicer in the end.9. Dip each ball in the melted chocolate (2 forks make it easier to fish out dipped chocolate balls). If you like to get fancy, immediately roll in cocoa powder after dipping in the melted chocolate (I prefer Hershey's dark chocolate cocoa powder...but any kind you'd like). OR you can roll in anything that sounds tasty! (coconut, chopped hazelnuts, sprinkles, rainbows)10. You can place them back on the parchment or on a cooling rack to harden.11. Wait 10 minutes before eating them all to regain your composure to devour them ALL. And to let the chocolate set. :)

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, I am getting more excited every day....maybe about the three day work week, maybe about seeing my friends, maybe about the food...so much to look forward to this week!Times when we've been in Chicago, we have shared a thanksgiving table with some dear friends, Mabrie & Jason (and a few others!). This year we're heading to W. New York to the Burgetts to give thanks with a part of our "Chicago family".I can't really name any one reason why I really like thanksgiving...actually I'm more of a Christmas morning girl. That is the food holiday I have been dreaming about.Getting up early (more like being shook awake by my sisters), everyone in their pj's sitting around the tree waiting as each family member pulls themselves away from the covers and gets a cup of coffee before joining us. Our dog would have usually found her chew bone by now. Snow is falling, it's cloudy.Now fast forward to the Christmas I am dreaming up this year. Andrew and I will be home in Connecticut on Christmas morning. On our rustic dining table I have taper candles lit in my hurricane glasses, greenery on the table, braided cardamom bread (with pill sugar...very important in my dream for some reason!).  Coffee in our Swedish kettle, mimosa's, our colored lit tree & us sitting in the living room in Christmas pajamas, an egg dish, some sausage, and my warm brioche buns with honey butter for the morning & herb butter for the afternoon snacking.These buns...ahhhh are the buns you dream of. My sister growing up was the "bun" girl, at all holidays she ate buns (at times only buns?). I made these a few years ago, and I can't remember how many she ate (mostly because we were ALL eating them at record speed). But I hope that you enjoy these buns for thanksgiving this year, for parties in between, and your dream christmas morning.

warm brioche buns

from cooking light, november 10makes 24 rollsYou will need two things: a muffin tin, and about 45 minutes on november 23th.Ingredients1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons if you use the jar like me)1/3 cup warm 1% low-fat milk3 1/2 cups flour1/3 cup sugar1/2 teaspoon salt4 large eggs, lightly beaten8 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubesCooking spray1 tablespoon water1 large egg white

Preparation

Dissolve yeast in warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; let stand 5 minutes.Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.Add flour, sugar, salt, and eggs to milk mixture; beat with a stand mixer at low speed until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl with spatula as needed.Remove paddle attachment; insert dough hook.Mix dough at low speed 5 minutes or until soft and elastic and dough just begins to pull away from sides of bowl.Cut 6 1/2 tablespoons butter into large cubes; add half of butter to dough, mixing at medium speed to blend.Add remaining half of butter to dough; mix at medium speed until incorporated. Mix dough on medium speed 4 minutes or until smooth and elastic.Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)After dough has doubled, punch dough down; form into a ball.Return dough to bowl; cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.---The next day (or 8 hours later), uncover dough; let stand 90 minutes or until dough is at room temperature.Divide dough into 4 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), cut dough into 6 equal pieces.Roll each piece into a 1 1/2-inch ball.Repeat procedure with remaining 3 dough portions to make 24 rolls total.Place rolls in muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.Preheat oven to 350°.Combine 1 tablespoon water and egg white; stir with a whisk. Gently brush rolls with egg mixture.Bake at 350° for 14 minutes or until golden.Place pans on wire racks.Place remaining butter in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave at HIGH 20 seconds or until butter melts. Brush butter onto rolls(please please please make these!! you will not regret it!)

I'm happy to report we are settling in! I feel about 60-80% settled...and the percentage will definitely increase when a certain husband will take a certain mattress out of a certain dining room. :) Seriously, we have been in our place almost two months and it's beginning to feel like home. The more times I run my neighborhood loop, walk Main Street, and pull in the driveway; the more it feels good to call Middletown home.

How are things going you ask? Good I guess! Fall is slowly creeping upon us here in New England, and every day the leaves are looking more golden than green. This morning it was 55 degrees...I'm wearing a long sleeve shirt & vest today! (with sandals of course). Pictures are finding their place on our walls, I'm discovering new running routes, and our everyday activities are turning more into a routine. Sundays are a little nuts...it was nice to move here during the summer when the Youth have their break from Sunday/Wednesday activities, but after the fall kick off Sundays haven't been the same! Andrew gets up and gets out the door to church at about 8:15am and I join him for the 11am service. We get home about 1:00pm, have lunch, and chill. He goes back to church at 4 or 5pm for youth group and gets home about 9pm. Yes, WOW! What a work day! Needless to say, he loves it...which makes me so happy to see.

As for me, work is also picking up. Fall in ministry=busy! Last month I had a revelation to "simplify"! As you can see from my pictures, it was a busy summer of weddings, a trip to the UP, and Jasmer babies! As my trips wound down; I toned down the amount of things I was volunteering for, suspended my NYC marathon registration until 2012 and went "ahhhhhh!". This is what I have really been needing: a season to be renewed, refreshed & rest!

I guess many of you don't really know that yes, I have a job! I am the Office Manager for the East Coast Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. I handle all administration for our office, as well as brainstorm the direction of our communication methods (website, design, etc). My office that is the umbrella for all the Covenant churches in the East Coast from Maine to Washington DC. So, my job is a new kind of "busy": there are no city-wide service days to plan and no toy stores to brainstorm for as Christmas approaches. While I do miss being "in the trenches" of ministry, administration and communication design is my gifting! And I get to do both of those things here! I also have been doing a lot of freelance graphic work at home (hence why my blog has been so neglected). It's a good creative outlet for me outside of work. So...that's the long and short of what I do.

Last weekend we had some friends over for dinner...this is something I have been dying to do but just have been too busy. I like to get to know people over food.

pollo el pastor
1 pound chicken tenders or breasts
1-2 canned chipotles in adobo sauce
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin

What you need:
Glass bowl
Fry pan
If you don't have a fry pan that can go from stovetop to oven, you'll want a small sheet pan.
Tin foil
Cooking spray

1. Open the can of chilies and mince 1-2 depending on your spice preference. I find 1 gives the flavor I want, but two gives them the kick of spice.

2. Combine chicken, chilies, olive oil and spices in bowl and cover. Place in fridge to marinate for at least 30 mins or longer.

3. Preheat oven to 325 when your ready to start cooking.

4. Spray pan and set on high heat. (We are just going to sear the meat to lock in the juices so don't worry about burning.)

5. Place each piece of chicken you have in the hot pan. Sear for 1 minute on each side.

6. Cover the pan with foil (use oven mits...hot!) and place in the oven for 25 minutes. (if your using a sheet pan, line the pan with foil for easy clean and cover chicken with foil too).

7. Remove foil and cook for 5 minutes longer.

8. Remove chicken from the oven and cover with foil on a cutting board to rest for 10 minutes.

9. Slice and dice the chicken. Return to the pan on medium heat. Add the pineapple with juice and sauté until juice is evaporated.

10. Toss with fresh chopped cilantro and lime juice. Eat on warm corn tortillas topped with diced onion, queso fresco, more chopped cilantro, and lime chaloula hot sauce.

Saturday- we prepared for Hurricane Irene.Part of me was all like "THIS IS MY FIRST HURRICANE!!"Part of me was like "ahhhh these is my first hurricane."As I started to write this post, I was anticipating the lights flickering off, our marathon of "50 best documentaries to see before you die" to end, and the rain to really pick up. I have to say, this little Yooper girl knows how to handle midwest thunderstorms and even a "Snonami"

 But a hurricane? No clue. We stayed up until 2:30am in anticipation. What we got wasn't a hurricane. It was a 500 mile wide thunderstorm and a Sunday morning free of church and responsibilities.And then Sunday morning, we went out and explored...while it was still raining with 50 mph wind gusts...but if you have ever walked between the Hancock Building and Watertower Place on a cold, windy, Chicago day...you have felt worst wind gusts then Irene produced...trust me!So what did I do instead of hide from Irene? I cooked (and cleaned a lot)!I made a giant pot of my potato leek chowder.I made banana bread.I made donuts.I made chocolate sauce to dip the donuts in.If you are Gluten Free, well then this is your lucky day! I'm going to share with you this absolutely delicious banana bread recipe from Babycakes NYC. And there is also a surprise...I dare you to make the chocolate dipping sauce and drizzle it over the banana bread to make it THE most decedent, home-style treat.

Erin's Favorite Banana Bread Recipe from Babycakes NYC

12 Servings | Weight Watchers Points + 5 points per slice.

1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour (gotta be Bob's, no sub)1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder3/4 teaspoons xanthan gum1/2 teaspoon salt1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/3 cup oil (I used canola)2/3 cup agave nectar1/2 cup rice milk2 tablespoons of good quality vanilla1 1/4 cups mashed bananas

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.2.Brush your loaf pan with oil and set aside.3. In a medium bowl, measure in flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon and whisk.4. Add oil, agave nectar, rice milk and vanilla and then mix again.5. Fold in bananas until nicely distributed.6. Pour batter into loaf pan (only halfway!) and set in the oven.7. After 20 minutes, check on the loaf and continue baking until it passes the toothpick test. (Mine got very brown staying in the oven so long because the center took the longest to bake).8. Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes.*If you have extra batter, you can make them into muffins. I put mine in doughnut tins...but they turned out too moist to be a traditional doughnut texture, but it was still fun.

Sugar Sweetened Chocolate Drizzle Saucefrom Babycakes NYC

Makes enough to cover banana bread loaf. Weight Waters + Points: Add 1 point to each slice of bread.

4 tablespoons of your favorite chocolate chips (I use vegan chocolate chips because they are dairy free)1/2 tablespoon of oil (I used canola)pinch of salt

1. In a double boiler or the microwave, melt chocolate chips 85-90% of the way (you will see some unmelted pieces). Remove from heat and stir until smooth.2. Add oil & salt; stir until combined.3. Drizzle or dip. Let set for 3-4 hours to harden, or dig in immediately for dribbly chocolate.

About a month ago I was skyping with my lovely Chicago sista's, Mabrie & Rachael. Right before we hung up, we were talking about if we could do anything, what would we do? None of us really answered, as babies started crying, husbands got home from work, and we all decided we needed to hang up. Ever since then, this question has remained in my head...and I have been dreaming about what could be next in my life.Not that what is going on in my life isn't awesome right now, but I could see some big things on the horizon if I kept toying with the idea.Also, not that I have time to ponder these things right now, as we just moved into our new place on Saturday, I am in the middle of a few projects at work, and I am of course, have been busying myself with projects I don't have time for.I get in these moods sometimes when things feel uncertain or changing. Example: the last two times I thought about going to grad school were 1)before I graduated undergrad, and 2)as we were leaving seminary a few months ago.I honestly would love to...keep doing what I'm doing AND:keep designing and expand my business.maybe even start a creative design group with my friend Erikka.go to seminary or grad school (for what...I don't know)go to cooking school.open a bakery. (um, I have already found the perfect building in Middletown for a bakery or storefront/office)For the mean time, I need to concentrate on today...or this week. (aka settling our house!).Here is one of my favorite summer recipes for you to enjoy the last month of summer. I love it because it is so fancy tasting, and a very quick dinner. You just have to have everything ready (this is key!)Still unsure? Do you like pizza from those Neapolitan places where the crust is cooked in a wood-burning oven? Then you'll love this, I guarantee it. Bon Apetit.

Grilled Pizza

Weight Watchers Points+ 8 servings: 9 points depending on toppings+crust Serves 8 (1 mini pizza each)

Pizza Dough (Store bought or see my recipe below)Toppings of your liking: see below the recipe for ideas.Oil (any of these: canola/veg/olive) & pastry brush

1. Fire up the grill to medium high heat (if using charcoal, make sure your hotspot is off to the side and not right in the middle)2. Prep your toppings and roll out your dough. If using the recipe below, this makes 2 pizza's or 8 mini pizza's. Do not roll it out TOO thing or it will do one or both of these things: a. rip in half as you are putting it out on the grill or b. crisp up and you will have too crackery of a crust.3. Once grill is nice and hot, bring your dough out to the grill on a cookie sheet. Brush the top side of your dough with oil.5. Take pizza and put it on the grill OILED SIDE DOWN. The oil is so it will not stick to the rack.6. Cover and wait 90 seconds to 2 mins. Check underside of the crust. Cook until light golden brown.7. Oil top (raw) side of dough while bottom is cooking.8. When ready, flip the pizza so the raw side will cook.9. IMMEDIATELY get your sauce, cheese and toppings on the pizza. CLOSE grill to trap heat inside and melt your cheese.10. Cook until cheese is melted. Keep checking the underside of your crust to make sure it doesn't burn.Suggestions for toppingsAlicia's FavoriteMozzarella Cheese, Shredded or in my case: Rice Mozzarella Cheese (I can't remember the brand I like, but there are two at Whole Foods that are shredded and I do NOT like Daiya)Canned Pizza Sauce (if you want to drop some $, go with San Marzano pizza sauce, if you're looking for cheap and delicious, RAGU!)To be completely honest, I would do half just plain cheese and half with meat+mushrooms for Andrew.BBQ ChickenYour favorite BBQ sauce (any will work)1/2 red onion slices (I prefer slices to diced because diced almost "sneak attack" you when you bite in)Rotisserie Chicken (I just buy one, and shred the breasts and save the rest for Andrew's lunch the next day)Mozzarella Cheese (or Rice cheese if you're me)Chicken PestoRotisserie Chicken, shredded off the bone.Pesto SauceMozzarella CheeseTomatoes (choose sundried or sliced fresh)And last but not least; how about a little meat? This is the pizza that my dad makes me get him when we order takeout.Yooper Special (call your cardiologist tomorrow) :)Pizza SauceMozarella CheesePepperoni (I like to get fresh sliced from the deli because they are a lot bigger and you can use less...plus they are fresh and not all dried out)Crumbled Sausage, cooked on the stove first (remove the casing or buy it without)Crumbled Bacon (you can cook your own before or use the microwave kind)Mushrooms (saute them first on the stove so they brown)*What is a Yooper?

Alicia's Favorite Pizza Dough Recipe

Weight Watchers Points+ 8 servings-1 mini pizza each: 5 points for just the crustMakes 2 pizza's or 8 mini pizza's

I have used this recipe for years. While I have tried others, this one works every time. If you can, use my favorite flour: King Arthur Bread Flour. It gives the best rise & makes the best crust!

2 3/4 to 3-1/4 cups King Arthur Bread Flour (using all-purpose flour is not a problem either though!)1 pkg. active dry yeast1/2 tsp. salt1 cup warm water (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F)2 Tbsp. cooking oil or olive oil

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 1-1/4 cups of the flour, the yeast, and salt; add warm water and oil.2. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes.3. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.4.Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total).**5. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes. Divide into 8 dough balls & roll them out!

** Sometimes I just take the paddle attachment off of my Kitchenaid and put the dough hook on for 5 minutes or so. Take the hook out, and let the dough rest for 10 minutes...you're good to go and you don't' have dough all over your hands!

Diptic

I know I have been so absent on my blog lately and I am sorry! I have been zipping here, zipping there, downing cups of Dunkin' Donuts, and craigs-listing my little hiney off because...as of Sunday, my husband Andrew has been offered the position of Youth Pastor at Bethany Covenant Church in Berlin, Connecticut!It is a wonderful church, which amazing kids, parents, volunteers, etc that we are so blessed by already. We thank God for this opportunity, and we are excited to become New Englanders! We are very sad to leave the midwest, but we are trying not to look at it in the way of God is taking us from the midwest, but He is bringing us to Connecticut. Reverse psychology...smart.Anyways: I wanted to post a SHOUT OUT to my soon to be home and tell you all about the news in our lives!Because we've been traveling so much lately back and forth to Connecticut and home to Upper Michigan for my grandfathers funeral, I haven't really been able to cook all that much. But I was reading the new Bon Appetit on the plane a few weeks ago, and they had an entire section on the Lobster Roll. Being new to the idea of fresh lobster, the only one I've had has been at Lenny & Joes near Hammonasset Beach...Connecticut style lightly sauteed in butter and served warm (unlike traditional New England style...served chilled in mayo)I think I might prefer New England style...but you decide.

Lobster Roll

Connecticut Style

Weight Watchers Points+ 4 servings: 7 points (with the low cal bun option)

1 1/2 Tbsp light butter, melted4 roll(s) reduced-calorie hot dog bun(s), split open or if you're on the east coast, use New England Style...see my note below.1 lbs uncooked lobster meat (about 2-3 tails fresh or frozen&thawed)2 Tbsp regular butter¼ tsp salt¼ black pepper, freshly ground2 tsp fresh lemon juice½ medium lemon, quartered

1. Brush melted butter on inside of each split hot dog bun; set aside.2. To remove meat from lobster tails, turn tails upside down and make a slit with a sharp knife in the underside of shell from top to tail. Hold shell with both hands and crack shell backwards so you can pull lobster meat out of shell in one piece, starting at top and working it out of the tail.3. Slice raw lobster into bite-sized pieces.4. Heat skillet over a medium-low heat; add butter, salt and pepper. When butter has melted, sauté lobster until pink, about 4 minutes. Remove lobster to a plate and deglaze pan with lemon juice; remove sauce from skillet and set aside.5. Carefully wipe skillet clean; set over medium heat. Toast hot dog buns, buttered-side down, until golden brown.6. Lay each toasted bun open on a plate and fill with lobster. Pour deglazed sauce over rolls and serve with lemon wedges. Yields 1 lobster roll per serving.New England/Maine Style

Weight Watchers Points+ 4 servings: 8 points

1 pound cooked lobster meat, torn into bite-size pieces6 tablespoons mayonnaise (or miracle whip if you're on WW)Kosher salt & pepper2 tablespoon butter, room temperature (1/2 tbs per bun)4 hot dog rolls (again, if you're on WW you should use low cal, but New England style is fun too)1 head of butter lettuce, thinly sliced

1. Place 4 tbs of mayo in a bowl with the lobster...slowly mash the meat (especially the claw meat) into the mayo...this will give it a nice moist and smooth consistency. Mix in remaining tablespoon of mayo, salt & pepper to taste...chill until ready to serve.2. Butter outside surfaces of hot dog rolls. Heat medium skillet over medium-high heat. Place rolls, 1 buttered side down, in skillet; cook until browned slightly, about 2 minutes per side. Open rolls. Fill with lettuce, then lobster mixture, and serve.*For all you Midwestern folks like me...New England style hotdog buns (seen in the picture above): It’s basically a hot dog bun with white sides that’s split at the top, instead of the side. This way you can toast both sides and have it stand perfectly upright when stuffed with lobster. You’ll want to butter both sides of each bun and grill for 2 minutes per side, until golden brown.

"So the eating in is going well!"*Blank Stare* or a well meaning "Oh, not you?!" is the reaction I get from most of my friends and coworkers who find that this foodie has taken a hiatius from my (sometimes almost) daily trips to Whole Foods, Butterfly, Sultans...I could go on.Although I have to say it's been hard that most of our lunch conversation this week has been "Let's go around and share your favorite coffee shop in Chicago" or favorite bar, favorite thai, favorite burger joint...ah!!! Temptation!!So yes, it's going well. I have officially lost 1.2 lbs so far (hey...it's something!) so the scale is being nice to me again. Phew.The first 11 days of 2011 have brought us a few delicious recipes.Carrot Ginger SoupFajita'sOrange ChickenRoasted Vegetables with Maple Brussels Sproutsand our favorite Pizza RecipeI'm going to share the Carrot Ginger Soup recipe today, because I brought it to our staff potluck and it was a hit!But not before I tell you about how important this week is.If you didn't know, my husband is a Graduate Student at North Park Theological Seminary where he is pursuing his Masters in Christian Formation. Fancy, eh? He's graduating in May, so this week is what I like to call "the beginning of the end". We will be working for the Evangelical Covenant Church, and this is the week we start interviewing with the Superintendents of each conference in the country.Our theme for this year is "No Expectations" (I don't know how many times I've said that to myself and others these past two weeks...lots!) so of course...we are not expecting to stay here in our beloved Chicago, or even the midwest (scary!!).So if you make this soup, and while you're eating it and thinking about how great you think this blog is and the joy this soup brought into your life (hehe too much?) think of us, send us your good thoughts and prayers.Also, my lovely husband got me an immersion blender. Yay. I think he was just sick of washing the blender and everywhere I dripped after making soup.

Carrot Ginger Soup

Weight Watchers Points+ 6 servings: 3 pointsadapted from Food Network & Maxine Bonneau

I swapped out heavy cream for evaporated milk to lighten up on the calories. Also, I love serving this dish with baked polenta cakes (the polenta in a tube just sliced and baked) and edemame.

2 tbs sweet cream butter (look for lite butter)1 large white or spanish onion peeled & rough chopped or 2 medium onions2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced6 cups fat free/low sodium chicken or vegetable stock (if you want the recipe to be vegetarian)2 tbs grated ginger (or 1/4 tsp ground powder ginger)1 cup fat free evaporated milksalt and pepperSour CreamParsley for garnish

1. Heat butter in 6-quart pan (or I use my large Le Crueset french oven)2. Rough chop onions and add to butter (don't worry about chopping perfect...you're going to be pureeing this all in the end). I also like to throw about a teaspoon of salt on the onions to get them good and tasty.3. Peel your carrots and again, just roughly slice them into similar size pieces. Grate your ginger now too.4. When the onions have gotten limp or softened (I found with the spanish onion they just got soft and sweet and smelled like onion rings...yum) add the 6 cups of stock, sliced carrots, and the ginger. Stir together.5. Cover and bring to a boil.6. Lower the heat and simmer until the carrots are soft. Remove from heat.If you do not have an immersion blender, read 7. If you do own one, read 7.1 7. If you have a regular blender, carefully transfer soup to the blender only filling it up half way. Take the little cap out of the lid to vent and put a towel over the hole so you don't have an orange kitchen. Blend away my friend. Repeat in batches if necessary.7.1 If you have an immersion blender, CAREFULLY blend until soup is pureed and smooth. Try not to splash yourself with this molten hot concoction like I did. Ouchie.8. Add 1 cup evaporated milk so it's nice and creamy.9. Season with pepper if you'd like, and 2 tsp+ kosher salt.I really like to put a dab of sour cream in my bowl and pour the soup over, remember to add in the additional points.

it's 2011 it's 2011 it's 2011!!!!!!!!!!!! i want to scream it from the roof tops! this year has seemed so far off in my mind for so long, and it's finally here, and for some weird reason it feels so good.one of our new resolutions was to majorly cut back on our eating out expense. Hence, the restart of my food blog...with a twist. I am currently on the Weight Watchers program, so no more Julia Child butter fests or quarts of heavy cream. Hopefully I'll be able to post my recipes and my results.Now for the eating out bit: we haven't eaten out since December 30th, 2009 and it was at one of our favorite restaurants. Boy...we did ourselves in. Then of course we had to top the end of the year off with fried wings (they had buffalo wild wings sauce on them!!!), homemade french onion dip, and an assortment of cocktails and my favorite Chicago's own Goose Island Matilda....with fun friends and a nice round of Wits and Wagers before midnight. Ya. Total that all up to a nice 8 pound weight gain (don't forget to add in all the caramel, truffles, and toffee I made as gifts aka snacked on while making for Christmas).My experience so far this year (5 days in!) has consisted of Garlicky White Bean dip, Potato Leek soup, Mushroom Parmesian Crostini's, General Tso's chicken, and more. Tonight was Taco Wednesday, but unfortunatly Andrew had to work last minute, so the fiesta has just been for uno, me plus my Ina Garten cookbook I just picked up from the library.Tacos I made were pretty standard....hard shell, grassfed ground beef, topped with the food equivalent of GOLD (corn salsa from Trader Joes...run don't walk to one right now and purchase).But my new go to sweet treat is Black Bean Brownies. Now, I used a regular size cake pan, so they are really thick this time = more points+ used. But usually I use the biggest size pyrex I have and they are about 2-3 points+.Get ready here is the recipe. Lots of ingredients.

Dark Chocolate Black Bean Brownies

Weight Watchers Points+ in a 9x13 cake pan: 5 points

What you get is really nice cakey but still fudgey brownies with no fat or oil added. Try mixing in some espresso powder or a Starbucks Via for a flavor enhancer!

1 family size box Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix1 can black beans

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.2. Puree black beans in a food processor until smooth (dump the whole can in there...do not drain!)3. Combine dry mix and beans in a kitchenaid or by hand until smooth.4. Spray pan with cooking spray (I used 9x13).5. Put mixture in pan.6. Bake for 35 minutes, checking at 30mins to see if they're done depending on your oven.

Well I am almost finished up with The Art of Eating In and am almost over with a busy few weeks. I have been traveling so much, and our weeks have been jam packed. Andrew is almost done with school for this semester, and then he starts coming to work at my lovely place of employment.I was really intrigued by this No-Knead bread recipe, especially since I don't have a bread machine, and we have been spending so much money on a loaf of french bread here and there. I decided to try to give it a crack. It's very simple.Mix the ingredients and let it sit 12-18 hours.Leaving the bread for the evening. Good night!It looks like this when it's ready to go!Flour a work surface, and fold the dough over itself a few times. Place on a floured cotton towel (not terry cloth) and place another cotton towel over it. Let rise for 2 hours or until it's bigger.Place into a cast-iron pot or pyrex pan and bake at 450 for 25 minutes. and VOILA.Tasty, crispy, soft on the inside bread.

No Knead Bread Recipe

Ingredients

3 cups flour (I used bread flour)1/4 tsp Dry Active Yeast1 1/4 tsp salt1 5/8 cup of water (2tbs=1/8 cup, so 10 tbs+1cup water)Mix the ingredients until well blended. Let sit 12-18 hours covered in the bowl with plastic wrap. The dough will be ready when little bubbles form on the top.Flour your work surface and "Fold" the bread over itself (basically after I got it out of the bowl, I just folded the ball in half...you can be fancy and fold both ends in on each other in a "tri-fold" type way).Flour (more generously than before...but don't over do it) a cotton towel and place the bread with the "seam" side down (where the fold is...you'll be able to tell there will be a defined line) on the floured towel. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise 2 hours. You should be able to poke it and it not bounce back very quickly when it's ready.In the mean time, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place your cast iron pot into the oven to warm it up as the oven heats. When the dough is ready, place your hand under the towel and carefully plop the dough seam-side up into the pot. It will be messy with the flour everywhere but that's okay. Shake the pot back and forth to even out the bread if needed.Place the cover on the pot and bake for 35-40 minutes, then take the cover off and bake for an additional 10-15 or until crust is golden.Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!Hopefully I will be making a couple more variations of this bread as my creativity and ingredients allow! I'm looking do to a cinnamon bread next..my favorite!

This is a pretty early morning post for me. But I can't help but want to write about my great day yesterday. Andrew and I have been through a very busy past 6 months, culminating with a bunch of really intense past couple of weeks. With summer closing in on my calendar, I feel the need for all the spring time essentials including spring cleaning.Yesterday I took a personal day to clean out my soul and our kitchen. We had dishes from many meals ago ghat had been ignored so it was time to tackle that.To close my day I had dinner with Baking Baileys in an effort to clean out both of our fridges since we will be evacuating Chicago to celebrate Easter.I found this BBQ recipe to go along with out sweet potato fries to try to pull together our random dinner. I am not one of those die hard "just the right taste" BBQ sauce people, so this was my first attempt At making a condiment that on the contrary my husband is obsessed with.I'm sure if you wanted more kick than Zing, you could add some Hot sauce to it. Again I'm not a BBQ connoisseur so please feel free to suggest some tasty additions!

Balsamic BBQ Sauce by Giada De Laurentiis from the book Giada's Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 cup balsamic vinegar

• 3/4 cup ketchup

• 1/3 cup brown sugar

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 4 chicken breasts, grilled and seasoned with salt and pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until all the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by 1/3, about 15 to 20 minutes.Lightly coat the chicken with some of the BBQ sauce using a pastry brush while still on the grill or in the pan. Place the remaining BBQ sauce, still in the small saucepan, over low heat or on the edge of a gas or charcoal grill and allow to gently simmer while the meat cooks.