Free book pile scores

Nine times out of ten the free book piles at work are more like piles of crap but I check them frequently anyways because of that one time out of ten when I find something good that I've been looking for.

Today and yesterday were a Tom Wolfe jackpot (one of the production managers was cleaning out her office).

Make this chicken!

New recipe last night from the Real Simple recipe archives: Chicken with Parmesan, Garlic, and Herb Crust. It's a variation on my old "crumby" chicken standby (a.k.a. Oven Bake). Basically toss some whole wheat bread slices, garlic, grated parmesan, olive oil, and parsley (using fresh parsley made a huge difference in the flavor, and it smells so wonderful) in the food processor. The recipe called for spreading dijon mustard on the chicken breast before patting the breadcrumbs on, but I used spicey Gulden's and it tasted great.

What makes it a good day

a new issue of Real Simple in my mailbox

a good hair day

getting a seat on the subway

a tin of homemade cookies by the printer at work

Weekend recipes

On top of spaghetti
All covered with cheese
I lost my poor meatball
When somebody sneezed

Italian Meatballs
First up on Friday evening were some classic Italian-style meatballs, the first recipe I've made from the Joy of Cooking, which my Mom gave me for Christmas.



Surprisingly? Easier than I expected. No crazy ingredients were involved, and basically you just mush everything together in the bowl with your hands and then form the balls. I prepared them ahead of time earlier in the week and popped them in the freezer so all that was left for the weekend was to dredge them in flour, brown them in a pan, and bake for 10 minutes. The most difficult part was actually the pan-browning since they ended up being more like meatcubes than meatballs. The end result was amazingly delicious and flavorful, plus I have some leftovers for work lunches this week.

Breakfast Scramble
Not to brag, but I am damn good at scramblin' the old eggs, and they are my standby weekend-guest-breakfast dish. To try something a little different, I adapted this recipe from Everyday Food. Leftover scallions from the white bean soup were already in the veggie drawer, and clearly I skipped the whole tofu thing that Martha wanted me to do.



Yum! (and no ketchup required)

Cauliflower Macroni & Cheese (sans cauliflower)
The main draw of this recipe was definitely the drool-inducing photograph of it on the cover of Real Simple. Then I found out that cauliflower was involved and quickly crossed that off the list of ingredients. I've always used the recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook before, and this new one was quite different because no flour goes into it, and they want you to use sour cream. It's also a little healthier, using whole grain pasta and bread slices for the breadcrumb topping. I'm saving most of this for lunches during the week.

Shameless consumerism

Oh now this I must have.



"Amber Waves of Buttery Ice Cream with Roasted Non-Partisan Pecans."