Who You Calling Honey Honey?!

I got just because flowers today.

*swoons*

Today in all of my good domestic apartment-girlfriend glory, I not only dusted every surface and pledged the heck out of the bedroom furniture but I also succeeded in making a delicious, relatively healthy dinner that required cooking two things at once! Go me! Dinner consisted of a salad with healthy toppings (i.e. no yolk for Mr. Lawyer's hardboiled egg), my yummy maple baked squash, a guinea pig recipe of Apple-Honey Chicken and heart healthy red wine! The chicken came out pretty well. I used thighs instead of drumsticks and halved the sauce recipe although as noted I did add more honey to sweetened it up because it started out a little bit too vinegary/tart. The chicken had a nice crisp skin and the sauce was a nice balance of sweet/tart/spicy. The only thing that would hold me back from making this again is the fact that the cooking method was a wee bit smokey and the place still smells like chicken!

Apple-Honey Chicken

(Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients:
12 skin-on chicken drumsticks (or thighs)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups apple juice
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons honey (I used about an extra tablespoon more)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons sesame seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Set a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Put the drumsticks on the rack and season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Bake 30 minutes; flip the drumsticks and continue baking until golden and crisp, about 30 more minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make the sauce: Bring the apple juice, vinegar, soy sauce, honey, lemon zest, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt to a boil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the sauce is syrupy and coats the back of a spoon, 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside until the chicken is done.
3. Stir the sesame seeds into the sauce, if using, and warm over medium heat, if necessary. Transfer the chicken to a large bowl. Add the sauce and butter and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the chicken to a platter and drizzle with any remaining sauce from the bowl.

Veggie Thunder!

So Mr. Lawyer had his annual physical the other week. Needless to say he will not be receiving any more "bacon wrapped bacon". In an attempt at a healthier lifestyle and inspired by Melissa's Veggies Salsa we had some veggie tortillas tonight. He also hit the gym tonight but we'll see how long that lasts. In light (or darkness!) of the current apocalypse thunderstorm that is swirling above our heads I present to you Veggie Thunder Tortillas!

Veggie Thunder Tortillas!

(from the kitchen of Jenni)

Ingredients:
Tortillas
Veggies of your choice: This time around it was zucchini, yellow squash, corn, onion, pepper, black beans, jalapeno and tomatillos
Toppings of your choice: This time there was guacamole, sour cream and Cabot Cheese (I can't give up my cheese!)
A thunderstorm, preferably of epic proportions
Directions:
1. Prepare your veggies to the desired size (uniform size assists in even cooking time)
2. Saute everything in a pan.
3. Assemble your tortilla!

Our naming inspiration: THUNDERSTORM OF DOOOOOM!

Brown Sugar Booooberry Cookies!

Hannah picked a bunch of blueberries the other day and asked me for recipe suggestions. This one has been sitting on the top of my "To Bake List" for a couple of weeks now. I finally made them today to celebrate Mr. Lawyer's new job! Woo!

These cookies were pretty amazing. Sweet but not too sweet and not in a sugary way but in a nice fruity way. It was a great alternative to blueberry muffins. I will definitely be keeping this recipe and I can't wait to have some for breakfast!

Brown Sugar Blueberry Cookies

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon milk
3/4 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:
1. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combine, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon with the mixer on low speed. Mix until dough comes together. Add in milk. If dough is still crumbly, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together. Fold in blueberries. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Remove dough from fridge and roll into 1 1/2 inch balls. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. 

Rainy Day Bread

It was a nice rainy day which was perfect for hot chocolate and making bread! I was recently gifted a copy of Mary Gubser's Quick Breads, Soups and Stews that Melissa found at the library book sale and it's quite the little gem. I'm excited about a lot of recipes but decided to start off with the basic white bread recipe which promised me "an excellent crusty bread with a handsome crust." And that is exactly what came out of my oven! It was a nice loaf of homemade bread, had a good texture and density, and the crust was pretty handsome! 

It accompanied some of my meatballs from the freezer, a nice salad and some New York State wine for a very yummy dinner. The yellow pepper in the salad and basil for the pasta both came from our little balcony garden. 

Basic White Bread

(From Mary Gubser's Quick Breads, Soups and Stews)

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter/margarine, melted
1 package quick-rising dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
Directions:
1. In a food processor add flour and salt, pulse to combine.
2. Mix milk, honey and butter in a small bowl. In a second bowl add water and yeast, stir till dissolved.
3. With the food processor running add in the yeast mixture followed by the milk mixture. Mix for 20 seconds. Remove dough and knead by hand for 1 minute. Round into a ball, cover in plastic wrap and a towl. Let proof for 30 minutes. Knead down for 1-2 minutes, cover and let rest 10 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400. Spray loaf pan with vegetable spray. Form dough into a loaf and bake for 30-35 mintues. Remove from oven and turn bread out onto a wire rack to cool.

I am excited to pick my next recipe from this book! Some section titles are: The Delectable Muffin, Cornbread and Spoon Bread, Biscuits and Scones, Seafood Soups, Creamy Soups, Coffee Cakes, and A Perfect Loaf to name a few.

Bits and Pitas

A word about pitas: love. Fresh pitas are amazing for anything. Like homemade pita chips and delicious mini pizzas and let's not forget sandwiches! Which leads us to jalapenos. Have you ever added jalapenos to your tuna fish sandwich which just happens to be on a fresh out of the oven pita and layered with Cabot seriously sharp cheese? Heaven. 

One Step...

"Now you're one step closer to being really Polish" is what I was informed when I was served dinner tonight (except not quite so politically correct). Mr. Lawyer bought some pierogi (or perogi depending on who you ask) from Reading Terminal, grilled up some kielbasa, and heated up some sauerkraut for a very delicious dinner. We'll see if someone ends up sleeping on the couch due to the consequences of combining kielbasa and sauerkraut in a very Polish belly. The candles are already going just as a precaution.
I was underwhelmed by the pierogi, they weren't very flavorful at all. There's a Polish restaurant in Syracuse (out in Solvay), called Eva's that has the most wonderful pierogi and in Dewitt you can buy some from the cute little old Polish ladies during the Orthodox church bake sale (plus the yummy desserts!). Mr. Lawyer and Melissa made some pretty yummy ones for Easter 2010 as well.

Mr. Lawyer's Polish Dinner

(from the kitchen of Mr. Lawyer)

P.S. Mr. Lawyer making pierogi, Easter 2010

Yeah. That's my apron.

Artsty Birthday Cake!

For Mrs. T's birthday I made an Artist Palette cake! I used a regular 9 inch cake pan, trimmed the sides to give it the appropriate shape and used my small biscuit cutter to make the hole. Then came some fun times with the food coloring!

The Harvest!

Now I just need something to do with the teeny tiny lonely golden bell pepper from my itsy bitsy balcony garden.

Bacon on Bacon

The running joke while we were shopping at the Dewitt Wegmans this weekend was "how many pork products can we get in our cart?" The answer is three. How many did we cook with tonight? Two. This was a staple in high school that Dad made all the time and I'm not quite sure why the Dork and I haven't keeled over from a heart attack yet. And for those of you that keep track of these things (Grandma Nancy!), I did use the reduced sodium bacon and serve it up with some Farmer's Market Squash Saute!

Dad's Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

(from the kitchen of Papa Peterson)

Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin
4-5 strips of bacon, cut in half
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
Directions:
1. Sprinkle on the desired amount of salt, pepper and garlic powder.
2. Wrap the tenderloin in bacon. I just use half strips and tuck it underneath.
3. Cook for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.

I'm pretty sure I heard some declarations of undying love in between the very manly sounds of shoveling pork products into one's mouth.

Play like a Peterson!

"Hardcore....and a little dirty." 

A wonderful family motto. Next year Derek and I are making shirts.

Exciting things happened this weekend involving an epic family reunion eating fest, baking in Grandma's kitchen with legit baking equipment and yummy leftovers.

Nancy's Kitchen!

Complete with a stand-mixer older than me and a real double boiler for melting chocolate!

I was responsible for dessert and you never want to experiment in situations like this so I chose two rock solid recipes. Because it was a family reunion I opted for my Rum Cake (which was great with coffee on the dock the following morning) and Uncle Craig requested something chocolate so Double Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies made an appearance. I woke up at the bright and cheery hour of 6 to begin my baking. Everything went well and came out tasting fine with the exception of my horribly burnt rum cake. Psh. Okay so it wasn't black burnt but it's darker than I like so I just threw in some more rum. Plus licking the rum batter bowl at 6:30 made dealing with a burnt cake a little easier (Salmonella be damned Grandma!).

Some lovely cookies and a disfigured rum cake.

And onto a real recipe! (sort of)

The great part about trips to any set of parental units is the fact that you always come home with leftovers. This trip we were lucky enough to score some of Melissa's delicious (and made on a whim!) veggie salsa and random bits of cheese/salami/olives. Because we had all of these random things and we weren't too hungry we decided on a munchie platter for dinner. My personal favorites included Cabot horseradish cheese spread and Wagner's Sled Dog Doppelbock Beer.

The spread.

Melissa's Veggie Salsa

(from the kitchen of Melissa)

Ingredients:

Corn

Zucchini

Yellow Squash

Red Onion

Black Beans

Jalapeno Pepper

Cilantro

Directions:

1. Prepare veggies and mix them all together.

Sidenotes: I'm not sure if there was any salt or pepper to taste or if it was dressed in anything lemon/lime juice or some sort of vinegar....I'll have to check. There was definitely some elbowing for the last couple of bites which I obviously won because I.....played like a Peterson!