Peanut Butter-Chocolate Cookies

It is officially the weekend!  No time for blogging.  We are off to Theresa and Tony's new house with friends for the night.  Sarah (previously Ruby) made these really awesome cookies that are perfect if you have some mini-snickers bars left over from Halloween.  And a picture of Olive cuz she is the cutest.  Enjoy the weekend!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Cookies

ingredients

• 1-3/4  cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2  cup sugar
• 1/2  teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon salt
• 1/2  cup butter
• 1/2  cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4  cup honey
• 1  tablespoon milk
• 24  miniature chocolate-covered caramel-topped nougat bars with peanuts

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Cut in butter and the 1/2 cup peanut butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat in honey and milk until well combined.

2. Pat 1 tablespoon of the dough into a 2-inch circle. Place 1 piece of candy in the center of the circle. Shape the dough around candy to form a 1-1/2-inch ball. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining cookie dough and candy bars. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on wire rack. Makes 24 cookies.

master your metabolism

The other day I flipped through a copy of Jillian Michael’s new book, Master Your Metabolism.  I didn’t buy it, which is good considering 1. I’m a sucker, 2. I’m a HUGE sucker for diet/workout crap, 3. I love the Biggest Loser.  But I continued to be intrigued by it.  Since that day, I have read the introductory chapter on Amazon along with all the reviews and gone back to the book store to flip through it again.  I still managed not to buy it (hooray for willpower! it was $26, what a rip) and I am determined to get it from the library as soon as I return the home magazines that are $12 overdue causing a hold on my account.  

Through my “research”, I have picked up on the overall gist of this book, which is basically that metabolism is governed by hormones and with all the crazy processed crap Americans eat, most of our hormones/metabolisms have been completely thrown out of whack.  On top of this, Jillian (and Oprah) has a thyroid problem and she discusses what foods can help/hurt different thyroid conditions and signs and symptoms to determine if you may have a thyroid condition (I don’t think I do).

Ok, so Jill’s solution to this problem is essentially to rid your body of all these additives and toxins, begin to eat as organically as possible and follow a “diet” that is similar to South Beach or Weight Watcher’s old Core Plan, i.e. 3 meals and one snack a day consisting of lean proteins, lots of veggies, fruits, small portion of whole grains, and non-fat dairy.  And staying away from artificial sweeteners and processed foods as much as possible cuz they will cause your metabolism to work against you.  These changes will balance your hormones and get your metabolism working the way it is supposed to work.  

I can totally get behind this because, really, it’s just common sense.  I mean, I would much rather eat a small amount of real butter than whatever chemicals are in spray butter.  Jill claims that by following this lifestyle she is able to eat about 2,000 calories a day, exercise about 5 hours a week, and maintain her amazing physique without much thought. Who wouldn’t want that??  It really isn’t too different from Guiliana Rancic’s meal plan on her blog that I wrote about awhile back.  You may notice I get on these diet kicks about every 6 months, but I’m over it.  I want to get into a routine that sticks.

Changes I am ready to implement: drinking only organic coffee and wine; taking a daily multi-vitamin; avoiding diet pop and sweeteners, eating a big breakfast, working out several times a week.

I will let you know more once I actually read the book and start following its guidelines more carefully.  If anyone out there has read it, please share your thoughts!!

Day 4 and I am already scraping the bottom of the barrel

I am currently watching Modern Family.  It is fantastic.  You need to be watching this show.  If you haven't been, don't worry, you can catch up on Hulu, and trust me it will be worth it. You also need to be watching Glee, but the stupid world series is interrupting my tv schedule.  Yeah I said it, I don't give two junks about baseball.  Or any sports for that matter.  So that's my Wednesday tv schedule.  On Thursdays there are also two fantastic new shows - Community and Flashforward.  And I missed V last night, but I might start watching that too.  Thank you tv people for such good new shows this year.

Here is an Olive update.  She is the most adorable tiny kitty in the world.  She went to the vet on Monday and she is all healthy!  And she has started sleeping on my pillow above my head which I love.  She is also getting really playful and crazy.  This morning when I was brushing my teeth in my bath robe she snuck up behind me and jumped and hung from the back of my robe.  Katie doesn't even like animals and she LOVES Olive.

Oh yeah, my sister's name is Katie.  I had previously referred to her as Little Potato but I am tired of using aliases and I can't remember them all and I don't want to come up with news ones. So from here on out I will be revealing the actual names of anyone I mention.  I don't think this will compromise anyone's privacy, but if you prefer a fake name let me know.

I bought some organic wine today.  Is it true that if you drink organic wine that you don't get a hangover because it doesn't have the sulfites that are in regular wine?  I considered drinking the whole bottle in the name of blog research, but I decided potentially showing up to work with a raging hangover was not a great impression for my second week at the new job.  Especially considering during my first week I may have had swine flu and adopted a cat.   I really know how to make a first impression. 

One Ingredient, Two Ways

Aladdin’s Nan pita breads have recently inspired two easy, fast and delicious dinners at Wildwood.  The flatbreads themselves are awesome drizzled with a little olive oil and then grilled for a minute or so on each side.  They have a hint of sweet and the thick, chewy consistency of naan.  I have been finding them in the deli at Heinen’s, but I think they are available all over the Cleveland area or on their on-line store.   We used the flatbreads to make two very different sandwiches, but they would also be great served with hummus or your favorite dip.

The first dinner came from the 2007 Food and Wine Annual Cookbook.  CC picked up these beautiful strip steaks from Whole Foods, which we decided absolutely could not be wasted in a sandwich.  So even though this recipe is for a steak sandwich, we had an egg salad sandwich, with steak on the side.  And salt and vinegar chips and pickles from Corky and Lenny's to round out the plate.

Steak-and-Egg Salad Sandwiches

4 servings

4 large eggs

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp dry mustard

2 tbsp snipped chives

Dash of worcestershire sauce

Dash of hot sauce

1 celery rib, diced

S&P

Two 1 lb. strip steaks, cut 1 inch thick

4 large pocketless pitas (the nan)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing on the pita

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 bunch watercress

1.  Put the eggs in a medium saucepan filled with cold water and bring to a rapid boil.  Cover and let stand off the heat for 10 minutes.  Drain and fill the pan with cold water, shaking the eggs against the side of the pan to crack them.  Peel the eggs and coarsely chop them.  In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, paprika, dry mustard, chives, worcestershire and hot sauce.  Add the chopped eggs and celery and season with S&P.  2.  Meanwhile, light a grill.  Brush the strip steaks and the pita breads with olive oil.  Grill the pita breads for 30 seconds per side, until they are just heated through and lightly toasted.  Immediately wrap the pita breads in aluminum foil to keep warm and soft.  Season the steaks with S&P and grill them over moderately high heat for about 10 minutes, turning once, for medium rare.  Transfer the grilled steaks to a cutting board and let them rest for 10 minutes.  Thinly slice the steaks across the grain.  3. In a medium bowl, whisk the lemon juice with the 2 tbsp. of olive oil.  Add the watercress to the bowl, season with S&P and toss to coat.  Spread the egg salad over the pitas.  Arrange the sliced steak on one half of each pita bread and top with the watercress.  Fold the pita breads to close and serve the sandwiches  right away.

CC came up with the second dinner on Sunday morning while we were watching Bobby Flay make a greek salad on Grill It.  This time we just put a greek salad on the pita with a little tzatiki and side of olives - so easy, so GOOD.

Greek Salad

Cherry Tomatoes, sliced

1 english cucumber, peeled and sliced

4 cups mixed greens

4 oz. goat’s milk feta

8 oz. tzatziki

Greek dressing

Serve on the flat breads prepared in the same way as the steak and egg salad recipe.

You can find tzatziki in the store, but it will be even better if you make it.  My sister brought me back some tzatziki seasoning from Greece this summer.  I mixed a teaspoon of that with a teaspoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of cider vinegar and a few spoonfuls of greek yogurt.  I use Fage (pronounced fa-YEH, learned that from the package) which I like to eat for breakfast with fresh berries and honey.

I think you can also find greek dressing in the store, but I made mine with a spice mix I picked up at a greek restaurant in Findlay, Ohio.  I had to spend some time in Findlay for work a few years back and we would eat lunch at a place called the Greek Garden (they don’t have a website, but it is the place on Main St) and always get the greek salad.  We asked if they sold the dressing, which they didn’t, but they did offer us a condiment to-go container of the spice mix for fifty cents.  So we got 2 and were on our way.  Well we finished those two fairly quickly cuz the spice was delicious sprinkled on a Subway salad with just olive and vinegar as dressing.  So the next time we were in Findlay for work a few months later I bought like 10 of those little fifty cent containers.  I was working my way through those, when about a year ago I had a friend that was moving away from Findlay.  And since I didn’t foresee going back to Findlay for work anytime soon, I asked her to buy me the largest quantity they would sell.  So now I have a sherbet tub of the spice in my freezer and I  use it all the time to make dressing.  Let me know if you want some.  I mix that with olive oil, vinegar, and S&P (and sometimes lemon juice but not this time) to make a quick and lovely greek dressing.

Minestrone

Autumn is going by too quickly.  I love these cool days and the colors of the season.  My good friend Aileen gave me this recipe for Minestrone Soup last year and it is the perfect meal on a fall afternoon.  I used a fresh hot Italian sausage which gave it a nice little kick, but a sweet Italian would be good as well.  This recipe makes a TON, so use a big dutch over or sauce pot, and be prepared to serve a large group or eat soup everyday for a week.

Minestrone Soup

Combine

1 lb sausage in chunks (cooked)

1 quart water

2 cloves garlic

2 8 oz cans tomato soup

2 tsp salt and pepper

2 tsp sugar

2 large cans tomatoes

4 cups carrots sliced

2 onions (Vidalia work best)

Italian seasoning to taste

1 green pepper

2 cups water

2 tsp bouillon

1 hr before serving

1 can green beans drained

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can mushrooms

½ - 1 cup of elbow macaroni uncooked

1 tsp basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1/3 cup parsley

In a dutch over, brown the sausage and break into small pieces.  Add onions, carrots, garlic and pepper and cook over medium heat 5 minutes.  Add additional ingredients and let simmer  several hours, adding water if needed.  One hour before serving, add remaining ingredients.

Perfect Fall Meal

A hot bowl with grilled cheese and a glass of cider

Thanks Aileen for this great recipe! And congrats on the new job!  I am so excited to be working with you again!

NaBloPoMo

Good morning and Happy Halloween!  Today is the first day of November which also means the first day of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) and my attempt at writing a post a day in November.  I can't promise it will keep interesting, but I can promise there will be at least a post a day.  At the very least, an updated picture of Olive or a funny YouTube video - so much to look forward to!  So check back each day for something.

CC and I were in full Halloween mode last weekend with costume parties on both Friday and Saturday night.  Monday I started my new job and about two hours into the day I felt a sickness setting in.  It felt like a bad chest cold with an achy fever that broke on Wednesday night.  I felt better Thursday and Friday, but sounded worse, with lots of sneezing, hacking, and nose blowing.  It has since subsided leaving only a very annoying cough and me wondering if I have survived Swine-flu or just a bad cold.  

Yesterday (actual Halloween) was our first Trick-or-Treat at Wildwood.  In an hour and a half we went through a whole cauldron of candy for the kids and a whole pot of cider for CC, Ruby, Red and I.  Afterwards, CC and I headed to Gene-O and MarBear's for their annual costume party.  CC gussied up in his Edward Scissorhands get-up for the third time, but I just wasn't in the Gilly mood this weekend.

Edward and Lady Gaga (not me)

I have to give CC props for his costume making abilities.  He always comes up with a creative idea and makes the whole costume himself.  The scissorhands are made from foam-core scissors glued to gloves so that he can still function.  I did his make-up.  He scared a few children with this one.

The Best Hot Spiked Cider

Just in time for Halloween and the harvest season, I present you with the BEST recipe for hot spiked (or not) cider.  This recipe is courtesy of H who serves this each year at her Hallo-wine Party. 

Hot Spiked Cider

Ingredients:
5-1/3 cups water

4 orange spice tea bags

2/3 cup light brown sugar

2-2/3 cups apple cider

2 cups light rum

10-1/2 cinnamon sticks1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon butter

Preparation:
1. Pour water into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and toss in the orange spice tea bags. Cover and let steep 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and stir in sugar, apple cider, rum, and 2 of the cinnamon sticks. Heat just to steaming -- do not boil. 2. Ladle hot cider into 6 mugs and drop 1/2 teaspoon butter into each. Garnish with a cinnamon "swizzle" stick.

Serves: 8

Here are some pictures of H, Rae Rae, and myself (dressed as Gilly) with the cider at this year's party:

H looking gorgeous as Audrey Hepburn

Rae Rae the naughty nurse

A serious moment with Gilly

If you haven't heard of Gilly, here is a hulu link to the SNL skit.  I love Kristen Wiig, here is my favorite sketch of hers.  And here is my Gilly dance at the Hallo-wine party: