Shuffle Off to Buffalo

Tonight's Dinner: Buffalo Turkey Burgers (RR365, #260)

Backstory: We're in Christmas Countdown Mode. Supervised a playdate at our house. Ran a few errands, compulsively searched the house for the cross stitched stockings, still missing as of 10:04pm. We may try the storage unit tomorrow, but otherwise it's pillow cases for everyone. Shit. Made Gingerbread (from Epicurious) with Beanette, to bake and decorate tomorrow. Took a nap and trudged into the kitchen to make a pretty easy and really quite delightful "junky" dinner.

Preparation: Could not be easier. I was nervous that the turkey being so lean (a little vegetable oil added to the mixture, but still) would make the burgers dry, but they were fine. Not juicy like a burger, but the buffalo style sauce and blue cheese really helped. What's not to love about Frank's Red Hot with butter. Mmmm.

Results: With all the holiday stress, I didn't plan this week to get such high marks. My goal was just to muddle through so that I can do my "real" cooking for the holidays. Everyone was happy with this meal.

Rerun Potential: Very Likely. Would eat another right now, in fact.

Best Laid Plans: Absolutely nothing planned for supper tomorrow. Will be cooking up a storm, though. Lasagna for Xmas night, Coffee Cake for Xmas morning, and possibly more desserts for our non-traditional Boxing Day Mexican Fiesta.

[RR365 = Rachel Ray's 365: No Repeats]

Blue Ribbon Mum

Tonight's Dinner: BBQ Sloppy Chicken Pan Pizza (RR365, #71)

Backstory: Out for playdate dropoff and appointments all day. More errands in the afternoon, too. The little coffee beans were self-entertaining, so cooking time was fairly stress-free. Mister Jones and I are contemplating some exciting-but-scary life changes, so having a recipe to follow allowed me to let my mind wander.

Preparation: Fairly easy, very straightforward. Got the chopping squared away first. Added all kinds of extra goodness in the form of Penzeys Spices: chipotle pepper in the cornbread "pizza dough" and BBQ of the Americas in the ground chicken. Mister Jones wasn't around to complain about the brown sugar in the mixture, either. (Aside: I think he's out buying Xmas gifts.)

Results: The kids loved it, and made kid-sounding titles like NumberOneBlueRibbonCornbreadPizzaMum'sBest. Very cute. With all my above-mentioned additives, it came out quite spicy, and I complimented the kids on their refined palates.

Rerun Potential: High. Good when in need of an ego-boost from the younger set.

Best Laid Plans: Tomorrow's Supper is Tonight's Supper, leftover.

[RR365 = Rachel Ray's 365: No Repeats]

Blog? What Blog?

Uh, yes it has been four months a while since I've posted! I blame writer's block, procrastination, laziness or a combination of the above.

It's been said that No One Cares What You Had For Lunch but I'm sure everyone is just dying to know what I made for dinner. And since I've been blathering on about Rachel Ray to everyone who will listen, I thought I'd pull a Julie Powell and blog about my success (mostly) with Rachel Ray's recipes. In doing so, I might slip in a few updates from my life.

Tonight's Dinner: Tomato-Basil Pasta Nests (RR365, #242)

Backstory: Day 4 of Holiday Vacation for the kids, I have a cold, and my Peapod delivery is set for tonight, so I'm in forage mode. DH arrived home to take the kids out for errands, so as a delightful surprise I cooked and dined solo. <---- I never, ever, get to have dinner alone, so it's a treat!

Preparation: This is about as easy as dinner gets. I had done a Costco run earlier, so picked up some garlic bread and the required pesto, the only things I needed that weren't on hand. I cheated and used vermicelli instead of angel hair, so this wasn't particularly "nesty". Otherwise it was an easy sauce (onions, garlic, tomatoes, fresh basil, pesto, parmesan) and was pretty good. I'd say a couple of notches above jar sauce, to be sure.

Rerun Potential: Medium

Best Laid Plans: Tomorrow's Supper (w/ leftovers for Thursday) will BBQ Sloppy Chicken Pan Pizza (RR365, #71), and Friday is: Buffalo Turkey Burgers (RR365, #260).

[RR365 = Rachel Ray's 365: No Repeats]