apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

After having it and loving it on vacation last month, I'm going to make REAL beef consomme tomorrow, the kind with the egg whites and everything. I made the beef stock earlier in the week, so the hard part is done. I think.

I also picked up some gorgeous beef short ribs at the store today, and I plan on making those tomorrow too, so they can sit overnight until I serve them for dinner on Sunday. My kids better be home for a change or they'll be sorry they missed them!

I had some leftover slow-cooker bolognese so I just made an enormous lasagne!

bulgogi - Korean thinly sliced beef and turning it into a cheese steak!

The last snowstorm made me wish for stew, but since they're now forecasting temps in the upper 50s for the weekend, I'm at a loss.

I have some buttermilk left over from last weekend's pancakes, so I'm going to try buttermilk biscuits for the first time. I have a recipe clipped from Edible Brooklyn last year. Mmm, I love low-effort, high-carb-satisfaction baking...

Made some fresh pasta last week with meatball (beef) bolognaise ragu. what I am cookign this weekend depends on what I pick up at the farmer's market tomorrow morning :-)

Having the boyfriend's mom over for frenchy dinner tomorrow. A mustard tart, endive pear salad, chicken provencal, and chocolate pot de creme.

Sunday I'll be making braised short ribs in Chimay ale, spaetzle, and some dessert involving buckwheat flour, I think.

Tomorrow is bread day--sourdough this week. Dinner with friends tomorrow night; I have no idea what they're making us!

Tomorrow I am making a Spanish Beef Daube from Cooking light and having my sister's family over. It uses saffron and pimenton. I want to serve it over something because you make an pan sauce that will run off the sliced beef so it would be a good thing to savor.

I am thinking of making a brown rice pilaf with slivered almonds, maybe some cumin and tumeric for a nice color. I was thinking of adding raisins, but figure the sweetness may do battle with the Daube sauce. Any suggestions for another Spanish-like touch? I was thinking of tossing in a handful of farro for a little nuggetness.

Having a relaxing weekend with 2 simple dinners, cheesy gnocchi bolognaise on Saturday, mini pizzas (on pita bread base) for Sunday dinner. Plus Nigella's caramel croissant pudding. Yum!

We are going to make some pomegranate sorbet this weekend!

Pesto - before my basil completely takes over my garden

orange juice, olive oil and pine nut cake from Tessa Kiros' "Apple for Jam"

I was planning a roasted veggie quesedilla for last night but was too beat, so we ordered Indian food instead. Quesedillas will have to wait for tonight!

dinner party tonight with one of my best friends and her newish bf on the occasion of his first trip to our home in philly:

1st course
fried haloumi cheese with basil
crusty batard with laudemio olive oil
mixed olives

2nd course
sun-dried tomato soup

3rd course
whole roasted moroccan chicken
spinach fontina noodle torte
mashed potatoes
braised leeks mimosa
romaine salad

4th course
roasted pineapple cream cheese tart

I'm finally giving up my pizza dough phobia and am making dough from scratch and trying a potato and tapenade pizza recipe from Bon Appetit tonight. It's the last day of my week for dinner, but since I'm actually sticking with my resolution to try out baking recipes every Sunday (and turn my coworkers into guinea pigs on Mondays, which they are all too happy to do) I'm making soft pretzels tomorrow.

I'm making fresh pasta tonight, but I'm not sure how to store the leftovers. I know you can freeze ravioli, but what about noodles?

I am currently making Kapusta soup (Slovak sauerkraut soup with pork ribs cooked in the soup) for dinner tonight. I hope to make some homemade rye bread this weekend as well.

100% whole wheat bread with flaxseed and blueberry muffins this morning. Ginger-soy chicken with basmati rice for dinner. Baked sweet potato fries for a snack, seared tofu tomorrow night. www.danglingconvo.blogspot.com.

Some great ideas on this site! Enjoy your weekends.

Just out of the oven - orange raspberry scones.

Two apple tarts (small for two people) are in the oven, one is made with whole wheat pastry flour. One is plain apple, the other has some dried fruit with the apple.

I have one chicken, cut up, marinating with soy sauce, rice wine and garlic and one whole chicken, with a rub, for next week's meals.

Chicken stock on the stove. Twice baked potatoes stuffed with herbs and cheese and two heads of romaine washed and in the veggie drawer for a salad.

We also hit the farmers market and I have cabbage and cauliflower for this week.

a new kitchen backsplash is going up! im so excited:)
and mongolian beef is stewing away, no knead bread rising and I'm going to try to make Pate after being inspired with the chicken liver post as well!hmmm.... unsure about dessert..!

Apple, blackberry and peach cobbler tonight.

I am at my mummy's place so I am eating good home Indian cooking. So thrilling. She is going to teach me her eggplant curry in peanut sauce recipe!! (You can learn it in Raghavan Iyer's new book 660 Curries, who used my mom's recipe! Sorry, shameless plug, I am so proud of her.)

This is a clear out the fridge/pantry weekend so I'm making roasting veggies before they go bad, making broth in the crockpot, and baking.

Whole wheat steakhouse bread in the bread machine. Tastes like the bread you get at a fancy (or not so fancy - a la Outback) steak house.

Steamed asparagus with soy and toasted sesame oil, leftover beef with peppers and onions (from making fajitas), lemon yogurt cake with whichever fruit looks best (strawberries, pears, apples) and the last of the chickpea salad I made earlier in the week.

rotini carbonara and meyer lemon tart yesterday

I made the pretzel knots from the March issue of Bon Appetit:
http://splatgirlcreates.blogspot.com/2009/03/pretzel-knots.html

totally delish

Homemade pita, falafel from a box, roasted eggplant/mushrooms/red onion, hard boiled eggs to bring for lunches with salad during the week

friday - since it was lent i had a tuna fish salad sandwich (yuck)

saturday - i ate a plum for breakfast, a salad for lunch and two hard boiled eggs for dinner (now that i think about it that's not much)

sunday - today was my sisters birthday and the whole family came over from soup to nuts we had:

a relish tray with homemade guacamole
toasted pita points with homemade spicy hummus

2 pork roasts
baked macaroni and cheese
roasted asparagus
roasted butternut squash

the cake was a cheat cheat from the bakers marbled with butter cream frosting

Cut up small potatoes in the bottom of a baking dish. Lay chicken thighs and legs on top. Squeeze a couple of lemons over everything, throw the lemons into the dish too. Salt & pepper. Roast at 400 for 50 minutes. Smells great, tastes better, feeds me lunch all week!