Time to Recap

It has been a few weeks, I know. I am sorry, instead of blogging, I have been eating and entertaining, and trying new recipes, and doing all sorts of fun food related activity, I just haven't been blogging. I have been too full to type.

Let's see, I will start with 2 weeks ago. Wow. It was a busy weekend. On Friday evening, I brought dinner to a friends house, she had surgery the day before and certainly didn't feel like cooking. So I prepared an easy Friday Night fare--Pulled Pork Tacos. Great choice for a Friday night because they cook themselves in the crock pot. When I got home from work all I needed to do was slice a few tomatoes and grab the container of guacamole in the fridge. How easy was that?

On Saturday, we went to a pot-luck style dinner at our neighbors. I was in charge of the main course, it was kinda a lot of pressure, but I finally decided on an old standby--Calzones. I have been making these for years, I buy the ball of pizza dough at the foodstore and fill it with all sorts of tasty combinations. This time I made two, one Hawaiian Style with carmelized onions, ham and pineapple and the other I filled with roasted peppers, italian sausage and spinach. I serve these with a bowl of warm pasta sauce and a bottle of ranch dressing. Calzones are a great meal when you need to feed several people because they make a ton and you can be creative with the fillings.

Finally on Sunday, we had my running partner Emily and her family over to watch the 'Skins game and eat chili and cornbread. The cornbread is Barefoots, and is amazing. I follow it exactly but I typically need to bake mine longer than what the recipe suggests. Dessert was a sweet standby too, Paula's Gooey Butter Cake, if you haven't made this before you must. The recipe is fool proof and I haven't met anyone who doesn't LOVE it. I added some peanut butter chips and chocolate chips to the topping....because everything is better with chocolate.

So then I find myself with a bare kitchen (because I cooked everything that I had) and it is the week of Thanksgiving! What is a girl to do except go to the Food Store the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. On Wednesday I hosted my 'rents and my favorite Aunt Nancy and my favorite Uncle Alex for dinner. Since I had to work on Wednesday, I kept the menu pretty simple. To snack on before the meal I bought some cheeses (Piave and Aged Gouda), olives, a soprassata, and some fresh bread. For dinner I bought Pork Loin Stuffed with Apple Stuffing, gravy (I add a bit of apple cider vinegar and some real maple syrup to make it compliment the pork better), polenta, and the best cauliflower recipe in the world. To end the evening, I served the easiest Pear and Cranberry Tart ever. Look how pretty it is.

All you do is slice 2 bosc pears throw them in a saute pan with a little butter, a little brown sugar, and a handful of dried cranberries, heat through then pile it on a thawed sheet of puff pasty. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and dessert is served. The tart is delish with whipped cream or ice cream, but I like it plain the best.

I know that I have blogged about my Favorite Aunt Nancy's food creations in the past, but she really out did herself this time. Look at the little treat she brought--have you seen a cuter santa cookie?



I hope that all of you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have enjoyed good friends, family and food.