Week 4 that turned into Week 5

Whoops.  I may have chosen to fly to Vegas instead of working on Week 5.  My bad.
However, Jeremiah and I had a ton of fun.  I introduced him to In-N-Out Burger - which may have changed his life.
For those who haven't had the opportunity to ooh and ahh over an In-N-Out Burger, get on a plane, fly south and west (think California), and run - don't walk- to the nearest restaurant.  Order a double double animal style.  Thank me later.

As promised, the next adventure into the cookbook is Bacon-Corn Muffins.  This was a really easy recipe.  Just a few ingredients whipped together and baked in muffin cups for 20 minutes.  The hardest part was cooking the bacon and not eating it before it made it into the muffins. 

I made up a batch of my favorite White Chicken Chili to go with the Bacon-Corn Muffins.  Not going to lie.  That stuff is super duper good, and would make anything taste amazing.  The Bacon-Corn Muffins were pretty good because of the amazing chili.

However, let's be serious.  5 slices of bacon for 12 muffins.  Who are we kidding?  That was not nearly enough bacon.  We are Americans!  Give us more bacon!

Second, they were a bit overcooked so a little dry.  Naturally, this is my fault....but I was trying to make the muffins, make the chili, and entertain a toddler while my husband helped by keeping me up-to-date on the Vikes score. 

All in all, Vegas was awesome and the muffins were decent.  Next week we will not be choosing a recipe at random.  In honor of the Schlender Christmas we are hosting at our house next week, I will attempt to make New England Clam Chowder - a tradition at the Schlender Family Christmas.  So, we will skip ahead to the soups and come back to cakes the following week.

Weeks 1 thru 3

You see, I love chemistry.  Following recipes is just a yummy form of chemistry.  One night, Jeremiah and I were trying to figure out what to make for dinner when it occurred to me: lets try a new recipe from the cookbook! I have tons of cookbooks. (I'm sure as a testament to the fact that all my family members know what a horrible cook I am and have given numerous cookbooks as gifts.)

Then the idea was born.  Let's make one new recipe every week!  We will pick a recipe each week at random.  The cookbook has many sections - and we will go through each section one by one.  I have no idea what I'll do when I get to the canning section.

So week one....Appetizers!  Three columns of appetizers....Jeremiah picked column two....and then he picked a number.....Oyster's Rockefeller.  What a place to start.

I pretty much thought they were disgusting.  Oysters are meant to be eaten raw.  Slid down your throat...not chewed.  And certainly not chewed with cooked spinach - which tastes a lot like rotten seaweed.  Jeremiah, of course, loved them.

In week 2 (which considering my new disdain for Oysters Rockefeller I'm surprised happened), we had a bonus recipe!  Our friends Tony and Sara invited us over for Tony's Birthday and the Vikings Game.  When I asked what I could bring, Sara decided to choose a recipe at random from the appetizer section.  Trail Mix!  Super easy and super yummy!

Granola, chocolate covered acai berries, M&Ms, pomegranate and cherry craisins.  Num Num.

Week 2 part 2:  Beans, Rice and Grains!  Somehow Jeremiah randomly picked Spinach Gnocchi.  Seriously?  Spinach again?  Ewwww.
Turns out, this stuff is a side dish for poultry or beef.  I have chicken.  Chicken I can do.  I have left over spinach from the oysters....perhaps I could make some sort of spinach cream sauce for the chicken and put the gnocchi on top......

Yeah.  Like that.
The chicken was awesome.  I attribute that to the fact that spinach was only wilted, not cooked.  It was missing that rotten seaweed taste.  The spinach gnocchi, however was not.  Yucker doodles.  Jeremiah loved it.  (I see a pattern here.)  We decided the gnocchi would be just as good without the spinach, so I'm spared.
The cream sauce for the chicken was amazing.  Mainly it was heavy cream and mozzarella cheese....how can you go wrong.  Find it here:  Spinach Cream Sauce

Week 3:  Thanksgiving Week
Week 3 is beverages!  This, at least, will be easier.  It's Thanksgiving week and I'm going to be busy hosting my family.  Jeremiah's parents, my parents, and my sister and brother-in-law will be converging on my home for the day and then we will trim the Christmas tree after we gorge ourselves on pie. 
What better way to end the day then with Jeremiah's random beverage choice:  Hot Mocha.  Everyone had some, and everyone loved it.

And my Thanksgiving fine china.  How fun is that? 

So there we go, my first "get caught up" post.  Near as I can figure, it will take me 20 years to get through this process.  I hope you join us as we learn, experiment, and grow together.

Next week:  Breads!

KC