Family Weekend!

So I am still without my camera cord, (and also I didn't take any pictures this weekend) but I'm just going to write about what I cooked this weekend, when my cousins Kate and Potter were visiting, and my sister was hanging out too. The purpose of the weekend was to watch copious hours of the TV show Community, which just came out on DVD, and we all love. (Well, Kate and Potter and I loved it. Jackie hadn't watched it at all. But that would all change....)  So I made a weekend's worth of College- themed things.  (well, and also tasty things- i don't know if corn chowder and pumpkin pancakes are college themed)


Dinner on Friday Night: (pizza and beer night!)
Roasted butternut squash and chicken apple sausage Pizza.  with mozzarella, tomatoes, and chopped rosemary.  After it was out of the oven, I drizzled it with some balsamic vinegar reduction.

I also made garlic cheesy bread, in the style like you would get from a Papa John's or Domino's,   We washed that down with the beer that Kate and Potter brought.

Saturday Morning:
Pumpkin Pancakes!  These were dense and moist pancakes that were pretty good- with lots of nutmeg and cinnamon.  (Woo, Fall flavors!)

Saturday Lunch: Corn chowder
My standard corn chowder recipe, this time supplemented with the Prosciutto that I had left over from Glee Tuesday, for some extra porky goodness.

Saturday Dinner: 
Sweet potato oven fries- which, got a little on the mush side, but were still very tasty.
Panko and Parmesan chicken fingers, with a variety of dipping sauces- curry ketchup,  Siracha, honey mustard, homemade barbecue sauce,  and regular ketchup.
Spinach- you know, for being nominally healthy and to cut the protein and carbs that were entering our system.

This was washed down with PAN, an invention of Kate and Potter's college friends, which includes mixing vodka with lemons and sugar, and letting it sit in a pan for a while with ice.  mmmmmm, college-y.

Saturday Dessert:
Salted Caramel Brownies with ice cream and Salted Caramel Sauce.  I made brownies, and there was a layer of salted caramel sauce in the center.   Right before serving, I heated them up, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, and poured some hot caramel sauce over the whole thing.  It was the most delicious sugar bomb ever.

Sunday breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with parmesan cheese,  and potato hash.  salty potatoes,  creamy cheesy eggs,  some siracha on top. I could have that breakfast every morning.

After that, we headed down to the Baltimore Book Festival, and meandered around for awhile. When we came back to my apartment, Kate and Potter peaced out to drive home, and  Jack left too, with the vegetarian chilli I made for her for Sunday dinner, and the breakfast burritos that I had frozen for her.

It was an awesome weekend! I can't wait until they all come back again.

Sunday Night Dinner: Coconut Pudding

I had not planned anything for dessert last Sunday night, and when Jackie and I were finished with our soup, we both kind of wanted something sweet. I didn't have time to bake cookies, or do anything intense- We were going to work the box office for Hedwig and the Angry Inch that night.  So I rummaged around in my cabinets, and found a box of Trader Joe's Instant Vanilla Pudding, a can of light coconut milk, and some dark chocolate.

I have made the coconut pudding before, in Chincoteague,  where I served it with toasted coconut (OMG DELICIOUS)  but it is also good in this version, with some chopped dark chocolate sprinkled on top.  It is also good with banana. The best thing about this recipe? I almost always have all the ingredients for it- these are all staple items for me.

I've also made this recipe swapping out all of the milk for coconut milk- and I find it doesn't set up as well.

Coconut Pudding

1pkg trader Joe's Instant Vanilla Pudding
1 cup milk
1 cup light coconut milk

some chopped dark chocolate, banana, or toasted coconut for garnish.

Directions: make pudding according to directions in package. After it has the rest in the fridge for five minutes, stir, and pour into individual containers.  garnish, and serve.  (Try not to eat all of them in one sitting)

Sunday Night Dinner: Moroccan Chickpea Soup

 Cake that I made to celebrate first week of classes! (somewhat self explanatory) Please ignore the crappy piping.

So my sister moved to Baltimore a few weeks ago, and because she's a penniless grad student, and I'm the most awesome sister on the face of the planet, I have instituted Sunday Night Family Dinners. So once a week, I'm going to cook her dinner, and make enough leftovers that she gets to take some home. The first week I made chicken and dumplings, Last week I made turkey chili, and yesterday I made Moroccan chickpea soup. It's a recipe that is easily adopted to be vegan, or vegetarian (if you swap out the chicken broth for veggie broth) and it is hearty and tasty. 

I also made her a batch of cous cous, which is one of her favorites, and I will post a recipe for sometime soon. 


She's also on a healthy eating kick, so I've been trying to make things that are on the healthier side. If you have any (relatively inexpensive, healthy dishes that make a lot of leftovers, send them on on over!



This recipe is adapted from a Dave Lieberman recipe from Food Network. I've bumped up the spices, and added more tomatoes, but I largely stuck to the recipe for this one.

 These are my leftovers. mmm, soup.

Moroccan Chickpea Soup


1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
1 large onion, medium diced
6 to 8 cloves garlic, pressed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 heaping teaspoon sweet paprika
1 (28 oz.) can chopped tomatoes
3 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
1 quart vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
(5-ounce) package pre-washed baby spinach




Directions: in a big pot, turn heat to medium high and add olive oil. Saute onions and garlic until onions are translucent. Add spices and toast for about 2 minutes in the pot, stirring frequently (it is at about this time your house will begin to smell amazing)  Then add tomatoes, Chickpeas, broth and salt to taste.  Bring to a simmer, and  Simmer for 45 minutes.  If you feel so inclined, take your potato masher (or immersion blender, or large bottomed glass) and mash up some of the chickpeas to add texture. About 3 minutes before serving, put spinach in, put lid on pot, and let it wilt.  before serving, grind a bunch of black pepper in it.

Serve! 

(up this week: Curry chicken salad sandwiches, butternut squash soup, and baked apples)