Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Quinoa

Today was the first day of physical therapy. It's amazing how in 2 weeks my leg has shriveled to downright puny. My therapist and I had a long discussion on what I could and couldn't do and although I'm sure she thinks I'm chomping on the bit to get back to athletic life, she also says that a metric century (62 mile bicycle ride) in November is a "realistic goal". Yippee! Being the third knee surgery I was pretty scared she was going to tell me that rehab was going to be more conservative. But all my random leg lifts on the couch have apparently done me good and she said that she's pleased with my strength and happy with my range of motion. I can now bend my knee a whole 96 degrees. That's better than I thought I could do! So between chapters of the Cider House Rules I'm flopping around like a fish out of water doing my exercises. I will be strong again!

But what does this have to do with food? Not a whole lot. I'm still eating food the ladies in town are making. I really have to get the recipe for the cube steak that came over on the weekend. It's seriously yummy. But today's recipe I made a while back and is really really healthy. It even contains a food my mother considers as one of my special fancy foods. Quinoa.

Quinoa isn't a new food. It's actually an ancient food from South America. The leaves are edible, but good luck finding them in a grocery store out here in North Central Ohio. Or really I'm not sure where you can find them. Maybe in New York City. Or probably South America. Anyway, I digress. Quinoa, pronounced keenwa, is a pseudocereal because it's not a grass. The ancient Incas called it the "mother of all grains". We eat the seed part of quinoa and it's a complete protein, meaning it has a balanced distribution of all the amino acids. This makes it a very good meal for vegetarians. Quinoa also is gluten free, which is important to a whole lot of people. (thank you wikipedia)

Quinoa also comes in different colors. The white kind is most readily available in larger supermarkets. The red kind tastes a little nuttier than the white kind. Quinoa is also very easy and quick to cook, but they should be rinsed several times before cooking to remove their natural coating of saponin. If the quinoa isn't rinsed the saponin can make it taste soapy and that's no good.

This Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Qunioa recipe I found on Epicurious.com and it really makes a tasty dish. For people who need meat, this makes an excellent side dish. I ate it for lunches as a nutritious and tasty meal all in itself. It's the kind of dish I feel good eating, because it's so tasty and yet I know I'm doing something excellent for my body. Like growing my muscles.

Oh and those 62 mile bike rides are really more like a string of 6, 10 mile bike rides (yes, plus 2 miles) with rest stops with Gatorade, fruit, and Snickers bars in between. And you get all day to do it. Well a large portion of the day. They're a lot of fun and really not that difficult to do. Usually if you get a flat tire or something, other bikers will stop to help you and there's a support vehicle that keeps circling the route. The American Diabetes Association, in most states, has a Tour de Cure every summer that has a 62 mile (100km) option that I did once near Grand Rapids, Michigan with the Queen Geek and had a tremendous amount of fun. They do also have shorter routes too. These bike rides are a great way to support a terrific organization, spend a healthy afternoon, and eat Snickers bars guilt free. What I'll do for a guilt free Snickers bar....

Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Quinoa

from Bon Appetit

4 cups water

2 cups quinoa, rinsed well, drained

2 Tbsp dried currants

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into small cubes

2 medium zucchini, trimmed, cut into small cubes

1 Tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine first 4 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add carrots; saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini; saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in paprika and cinnamon. Add quinoa to skillet; toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper.

Cupcake Shipping part 3 and Success!

First let me point you in the direction of the lovely (and I really mean lovely) Marti of Standing Still. Marti is a fantastic potter and you can buy her stuff here. She also has a terrifically witty blog and great long red hair. She also has a really fun countdown until the current administration is over and we get to have a new president who can't possibly be as bad as the one we've got now.

The lovely Marti lives in Minnesota. And Minnesota has been pummeled with snow. Seriously it could still be snowing there now. Winter has an even firmer grip on Minnesota than on Northern Ohio. So one day when I was just doing nothing because it was too yucky to go outside, very cold rain or something like that, a feeble cry came out of Minnesota. Please. Send. Cupcakes. How could I resist?

Now Marti's son, who is really a cool kid, happens to be even pickier about fruit than I am, likes dark chocolate and doesn't like nuts and so on. So I made him my version of Mexican Chocolate cupcakes. I should say I was talking to Super G and she suggested it and she's lived in Mexico for a little bit, so I'm taking her word on what exactly Mexican Chocolate is. Basically it's dark chocolate with cinnamon and a little cayenne. At least that's what MY Mexican Chocolate is.

I topped those off with a matching dark chocolate ganache and put them in the newest version of the cupcake shipping prototype.

How did I update the old cupcake shipping system? Well instead of an 8oz clear plastic cup, I went with a 7oz paper cup. It's more Earth friendly, at least in my head it is. And the smaller cup meant that it would hit the slipless point quicker thus cutting down on the amount of movement of the frozen cupcake in the inverted cup. Like so. (I am a math geek, not an artist.)

The slipless point is important because once the cupcake hits the slipless point then the cupcake if inverted (the cup would then be right side up) would not be able to slip further into the cup, thus damaging the frosting. So through my shipping exploits, I have learned that a firmer cupcake works better for shipping. Freezing is imperative to maintain freshness and moisture in the cupcakes. The Ziploc bag definitely confines the cupcake to the cup, is more reliable than cling wrap for this purpose and helps to maintain freshness. Also the smaller paper cup protects the sides and the tops of the cupcake better. I also learned not to send cupcakes to family members. They don't take photos.

Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

1 cup milk at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 18 muffin tin cups with paper liners.

Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne together in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla extract. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down the bowl in between. Add the flour mixture in 4 additions alternating with the milk. Begin and end with the flour. Beat briefly after each addition until incorporated. Scrape the bowl frequently. Once everything is combined beat for 1 minute on medium speed.

Evenly distribute among prepared muffin cups and bake for 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center has only a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Cool completely.

Mexican Chocolate Ganache

1 cup heavy cream

1 (12oz) bag Special Dark chocolate chips

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 pinch cayenne

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Put the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the heavy cream until just barely simmering. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate chips and let sit for 1 minute. Stir until all the chocolate chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the cinnamon and cayenne. Let the chocolate mixture cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and beat with a handheld mixer until it is at a spreadable consistency.

Frost the cupcakes and add some festive sprinkles.

So there you go.

Success at last.

Bring on the Soup!

So one of the interesting things about this recovery from knee surgery, other than Jane Eyre is a pretty good book even if it is a billion pages long and makes me think in long and flowery sentences in my head, is that I am being barraged by soup. I don't really mind. I'm fairly certain the Brain doesn't mind either. Actually it's not just soup, but soup has definitely made a strong showing.

First we had my mother in law's chicken noodle soup. It was very yummy. Then she made us her corn chowder soup which was really really really good. And she brought these delicious corn sticks from this brand new cookbook I'm really chomping at the bit to tell you about, but you have to wait until I'm up and cooking first. Sorry. Trust me it's worth the wait. Then my mother in law left for South Carolina to visit with my very lovely brother in law and sister in law who I'm excited to go see this summer. However, my "nurse on call" who happens to be a really fun lady who's best friends with my mother in law, kept up the flow of soup and brought us some delicious chicken soup and some really yummy cobbler. She also dropped by this afternoon with some chocolate chip cookies for me. I've been told we're getting a pot of beef barley soup over the weekend too.

I'm going to have to get a move on with the physical therapy or I'm going to end up like Jaba the Butt. Although the cookies came at an opportune time because I'm just about out of medicinal chocolate. And the cobbler, while way more delicious than cobbler has any right to be, does not fit well in a pocket and thus makes it hard to carry around on crutches. Well and keep the pants clean-ish.

One thing I can say about small town living. Each one of these women make better soup than me. But you know what I can make?

Macaroni and Cheese. I'm not talking the Kraft Mac 'n Cheese that along with Van de Kamp Fish Fillets was a staple throughout the Fridays of Lent of my childhood. I'm talking about the gooey rich deliciousness of homemade macaroni and cheese. The luscious bite of the sharp cheddar. The garlicky breadcrumbs. The smooth smooth cheesy-ness of it all. The stuff I never make just for us, because of that dreadfully malodorous lactose problem. Yeah, but I know it's good because whenever I have an occasion where the other ladies are making their delicious soups, I make macaroni and cheese. And I save a tiny little casserole dish just for me. What do you take people who are layed up for a while?

As a little update. I saw the doc today and although I still can't drive, I'm starting physical therapy and I'm allowed to bend my leg more. Well, allowed is probably not the right word. I can bend it about 50 degrees and now the lockout is set for 90 degrees. If you want to imagine what my life is like, I spend most of my time laying on my back on the couch with my leg on 6 pillows reading books. This would be bliss, except sometimes my leg hurts pretty bad, and I'm really tired of laying on my back on the couch. It's at those moments when I attempt to bend my leg the amount it's supposed to go and I try fun stuff like leg lifts. I'm actually getting pretty good at those. I don't see the doctor again for another 3 weeks, but I'm hoping if I try really hard, maybe I'll at least be off the crutches by then.

Macaroni and Cheese with Garlic Bread Crumbs

from Gourmet

For Bread Crumbs:

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, crushed

2 cups bread crumbs

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 Tbsp dry mustard

1 lb macaroni

2 lb extra sharp cheddar, grated

Make bread crumbs:

Heat butter and oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until melted. Toss in garlic and bread crumbs, stirring until crumbs are golden. Transfer to paper towels to drain and season with salt.

Make Macaroni:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt butter in a 3-4 quart saucepan over moderate heat. Add flour and cook, whisking 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, cream and mustard and simmer, whisking occasionally for 3 minutes.

Cook macaroni in a 6 to 7 quart pot of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain in a colander and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in white sauce, cheese and salt to taste.

Pour macaroni mixture into a 13x9x2 inch casserole dish. You can either pile it high, or also spoon some in a small casserole dish big enough to fit the excess. Sprinkle the garlic bread crumbs on top of both casserole dishes. Bake the casseroles in the middle of the oven until bubbly. About 30 minutes for the big one and much less for the little one.

Cupcake Shipping part 2

My sister Super G, is a high school math teacher in Brooklyn. She calls frequently and most often if she's upset it's because of her job. See apparently there are a lot of politics involved in our school systems. Just listening to my sister's trials and tribulations makes me think that all high school teachers should get an hour at the bar with reduced drink prices. You know, like Ladies Night, or Happy Hour. I mean she really puts up with a LOT.

One night she called and was telling me about this student. Now this student happens not to like women, non-Jamaican people, or learning. Whatever. He can like what he wants. Except then he starts picking a fight with this other little girl because she's not Jamaican. So my sister sends the girl out of the room and the boy student with the list of dislikes just kept going. SO she sent him to the dean. The dean proceeded to send the boy back. I don't think the dean likes to do her job. But that's beside the story. So this boy was returned to class and proceeded to invade my sister's personal space and yell at her. My sister is a great teacher because she did NOT 1) Punch this idiot in the nose. It would have been my first choice and thus I'm not a teacher. 2) Laugh at the boy and ridicule him in a manner to relieve him of some of his feelings of self importance. or 3) Walk over to her desk and pull out a fifth of bourbon and drink it straight from the bottle. My sister is a much better teacher than I ever could be.

Once she calmed down and told me about the incident and she said that at least she wasn't teaching this boy every day, I decided to include her in the cupcake shipping project. She was pretty excited about it. I also called my brother B and asked if he would like to participate in the cupcake shipping project. He lives in Portland, Oregon. SO I packaged up two sets of delicious Jamaican Me Crazy cupcakes and sent them off.

Super G had trouble getting them from the post office because I made a silly mistake in addressing them to her. But she said that one of the cupcakes had been smooshed (I did that in the packing), one was perfect, and the remaining two were all right. She didn't take pictures because her husband had the camera. I don't think he got any cupcakes. I haven't heard from my brother about his cupcakes. And frankly I keep forgetting to ask.

Oh and I forgot to point out in my last shipping cupcakes post that the reason the frosting is protected in an upside down disposable cup is because the cup gets narrower as it reaches the bottom. So the cup will no longer be wide enough to allow the cupcake far enough towards the bottom to squish the frosting, if it were turned upside down.

Jamaican Me Crazy Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cup cake flour
grated zest of 1 orange
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp rum flavoring
1/2 c. shredded sweetened coconut

Combine flour with soda, salt, and zest, set aside. Add lemon juice and buttermilk to bananas and set aside.

Cream the butter and add the sugar gradually. Beat well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the rum flavoring. Alternate adding dry ingredients with banana mixture. Starting and finishing with the dry ingredients. Fold in coconut. Spoon into paper lined cupcake tins and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until they test done. Let cool on racks before frosting.

Frosting:
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp rum
2 Tbsp milk

Beat butter and powdered sugar together. Add rum. Then add enough milk so that frosting is spreading consistency.

Apple Cardamom Cupcake with Caramel Frosting

So being this is what my pantry looks like.

It doesn't look to bad until you look down and realize the steep steep basement stairs are right there. And then you realize to get a can of tuna you have to do some kind of wild monkey wriggling to get to it. And that's just not possible right now.

SO while the Brain endures making me my meals let me bring to your attention a delicious cupcake I made this fall.

This is what I call my Apple Cardamom Cupcake with Caramel Frosting. I actually made it shortly before I decided to start having a blog of my own. I only took a picture because I wanted my best friend T. to know what it looks like. OK, then I had to make them again to bring to DC for the hotel room that my sister Super G and I shared for my brother J's wedding.

So here's the Apple Cardamom Cupcake recipe. It's directly copied off Vanilla Garlic. They were such lovely and delicious cupcakes that I didn't change a thing about them. I suggest they are made exactly as so really because they truly are that good. Make sure you go and check out Vanilla Garlic because he has tons and tons of interesting, delicious, unusual cupcake recipes. It's really spectacular. And I think he manages to find the stupidest people on earth who make really bizarre comments to him. Garrett usually manages to give me a giggle.

Apple Cardamom Cupcakes

Makes 22 cupcakes / 350F oven

What You'll Need...

4 cups chopped apples (varieties that are good for baking - i.e. granny smith, gravenstein, Fuji)2/3 cups vegetable oil

2 cups of sugar

4 egg whites

3 cups of all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons of cardamom

1/2 teaspoon of ginger

What You'll Do...

1) Chop the apples and combine them with the sugar and let them macerate for one hour. Next add the oil and stir.

2) Preheat over to 350 degrees F (165 C).

3) Slightly beat egg whites just until a light foam appears. Combine them with the oil and apple mixture.

4) Sift the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices together. Stir into the apple mixture, and then place into cupcake papers about 3/4ths full.

5) Bake for 15 minutes undisturbed, then rotate the pan and cook for another 3-7 minutes, testing with a toothpick for doneness. Careful, as if the toothpick goes into an apple it will not come out clean, but cupcake may be done.

Then for the frosting I used Peabody's frosting from her Oh Lordy Good Pumpkin Butterscotch Cake. Really the cake as written is unbelievably delicious. Honest. I might try walking just to get a piece right now. OK, maybe first make the cake and then make more frosting for these cupcakes. Really she's got loads of distracting and yummy baked goods over there, but as usual I'm now distracted. Now go check out Culinary Concoctions by Peabody and see all her yummies. Back? Good. Anyhow, I made the frosting again as the perfect accompaniment to Garret's cupcakes. So here's that recipe and again, don't change it a bit from the original. So delicious I could just eat it with a spoon...

Brown Sugar Icing

2 cups tightly packed brown sugar

1 cup heavy cream

½ pound unsalted butter, cut into 8 1-ounce pieces

¼ tsp cream of tartar

Heat brown sugar, heavy cream, 2 1-ounce pieces of butter, and ¼ tsp cream of tartar in a 3 quart saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently while bringing the mixture to a boil. Allow the mixture to continue boiling while stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Transfer the bubble hot mixture to a 3-quart stainless steel bowl and allow to stand at room temperature for 1 hour before proceeding. Place the cooled mixture int the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Then beat on medium for 2 minutes, while adding the remaining 6 pieces of butter, one at a time, until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to high and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on high for an additional 1 minute until light and fully. Transfer 1 cup of icing to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip, and place in the refrigerator until needed.

Perfect Party Cake!

It's that time of the month again. Daring Baker Challenge time! Hoooray! This month's Daring Baker Challenge was Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake and was picked out by Morven at Food Art and Random Thoughts. When I first saw the recipe I thought, well this isn't very challenging. I can make a cake. I'm actually pretty good at buttercream frosting. And I can deal with the amount of fruit in jam. But then I noticed that I would have to cut the cakes in half. So AHA! It was going to be a challenge after all.

I remembered a photo from an old Betty Crocker cookbook of my mother's that had toothpicks along the outside of the cake and they used the toothpicks as a guide to cutting the cake. I was pretty impressed. That worked out pretty good. Well it worked pretty good for about 1 1/2 cakes. The last half cake wasn't so hot. I also realized it was a challenge to spread frosting on top of jam. I will have to experiment more to get this just right. But overall this wasn't too difficult.

So what did it taste like? Well I was expecting a pretty boring cake to be perfectly honest. But this is no ordinary boring cake. This was a light fluffy super lemony cake! We gobbled it up after Easter dinner. Even the leftovers were fantastic. This was indeed a perfect party cake.

Make sure you check out the other Daring Bakers here.

For the Cake:

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

4 large egg whites

1 ½ cups sugar

grated lemon zest from 1 whole lemon

1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream:

1 cup sugar

4 large egg whites

3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing:

2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable

Getting Ready

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out cleanTransfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.Remove the bowl from the heat.Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake

Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.Spread it with one third of the preserves.Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.

Serving

The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing

The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Some Fun Stuff

So, I'm still not cooking, but I have some interesting stuff to share with you.

The first, and I should have pointed this out a while ago when I first found out, is that I am not the only Shazam in the kitchen. I'm not even the first. There's Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen. She and I both visit this particularly funny blog from Massachusetts. At first I didn't tell you about her, because I was stupid and I wanted to be the ONLY Shazam. And then I realized that she had the name first and I was embarrassed. And now that I've become a somewhat habitual lurker on her site, I'm even more embarrassed I didn't spread word of her because she's really really funny. So please go check out Calamity Shazaam. I promise she's worth it.

Then I thought I'd also share with you the Potato Song, which, maybe it's the drugs or maybe it's the artistry, fascinated me so much that I had to play it twice. This lovely piece of performance was found on Amanda's blog, Mrs. W's Kitchen. You should also check out what she can do to deviled eggs!


Then this lovely bit of fun is from Batter-Splattered, another blog I lurk on. You can find out what type of donut you are. This is me...

You Are a Glazed Donut

Okay, you know that you're plain - and you're cool with that. You prefer not to let anything distract from your sweetness. Your appeal is understated yet universal. Everyone dig you. And in a pinch, you'll probably get eaten.

What Donut Are You?

Seriously. I'm drooling on myself now. Could be the drugs. Or it could be all the marvelous types of fish and recipes to go with them she's got on her blog. It makes me wish we could even fish for the humble Lake Erie Perch or Walleye right now.

And finally, go check out my lovely friend Lisa's blog because not only is she just fabulous, but she's got the roundup for the WCC challenge going. And there are some fantastic looking foods to make in your pressure cooker, slow cooker, or dutch oven right now.