But… I am still going to keep posting pics when I am inspired to do so.

Nice onion!

Macaroni cauliflower cheese bake

I had been eyeing a recipe in Natural Health Magazine from way back in November. I dog-eared the page, and since it’s been in the bathroom… I’ve been seeing it a lot. Enough said about my tiny pregnancy bladder. I looked on the Natural Health website, but it’s not there. However, I found it here (recipe is at the bottom of the page). It’s the dark chocolate chile cake. The only omission I made was the pumpkin puree in the whipped cream. I didn’t want to buy a can of puree, only to use 1 tablespoon. Plus, I added a couple of shakes of cayenne pepper to the cake batter to give it a little kick (although Mike claims it could have been spicier).

Just revel in its chocolatey goodness! Mmmmm.

Given my experience with baking debacles (of which I’ve had MANY), this cake came out perfectly! I will definitely be making it again.

Coff-ay in my press-pot makes me happy...

I thought it might be fun to carry around the little Kodak V1073 we got from Vanessa’s last job (ew) the battery life is bad, and it doesn’t’ use batteries but it takes some really nice pictures for a tiny little camera! I make no promises… okay, I promise to post one photo a day. Until I run out of stuff on my desk. ;)

I started-off making the curry in the afternoon, since this was a big undertaking. Seriously, I’m going from making toast and grilling in the summer to all-out ethnic dishes from all over the world! I toasted-up the nuts and then threw everything into the new food processor to blend it up. After a small disaster with the spatula (you should read the directions that come with your food processor) … lets just say I was lucky to find the small piece of spatula in the curry that it hacked-off.

Curry... now with NO ground spatula!

Later in the evening we started-in on the meal proper. Vanessa started in on the three-part process of making the rice. Yeah, you heard me… THREE steps for RICE. The recipe was pretty easy to put together. Here’s me with our new cutting board and knife. I wasn’t aware that you ever use the stem of the cilantro, I always see the leaves in salsa so figured the rest was crap.

Choppin' Cilantro!

One thing I enjoy about Jamie’s book is that it usually has pretty clear directions along with some pictures of key moments in the process. This was the first time I had to try and remove meat from the bone without it having been with my teeth after its been cooked. It was tricky, but I did OK.

Step 12, try not to go yummmmm over and over.

I’ve never used a dutch oven before and I have to say I really liked it. You don’t’ have to worry about spills and sputters so much because of the high-sides.

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

In the end we had some pretty good looking grub that actually looked like the picture!

Needs an Alice in Wonderland like tag: Mix me!

I found that as with Tex-Mex, this dish is way better all mixed-up to get the yogurt flavor and the rice texture around evenly. Yum!

So as Vanessa said, I’m moving over here for my blogging fix, so hello!

So I picked up the new Jamie Oliver “Food Revolution” book. I have always had a mini crush on Jamie Oliver, so his was the natural choice… never mind that the book has good reviews! :) Just kidding. As we started reading the book we realized that our kitchen was lacking in one major area: good-quality, nonstick pans. We have an awesome pot set, but they’re stainless and sometimes you just need a good nonstick pan (think omelets… chili cheese omelets… mmm)! We picked up a couple of pans and I just have to say: Holy crap, what a difference good nonstick makes. Since this weekend we’ve tried two of Jamie’s recipes so far, and we’re looking forward to trying more. The first recipe was a very tasty asian chicken noodle bowl, but it gave Mike horrendous breath. (Not sure what it did to mine: Mike has had a cold and couldn’t smell.) The second was a creamy pasta with peas and bacon which I can definitely see becoming a Loftus meal staple. We totally should have taken pictures… I dropped the ball on that one, sorry.

The reason I mention the new interest in cooking is twofold. First, I think we’ve gotten lazy in our eating habits. I don’t exactly love to cook, but I realize how important our nutrition is to our overall well being. And eating out at Wegmans or relying on prepared meals isn’t doing our bodies any favors. Second, one of the things I value is family mealtime. Sure, when it’s just the two of us having dinner, we can catch meals whenever, however we want. But when this baby comes into the world I want him to experience dinner with the family as a regular occurrence. We’ve all heard about the importance of family meals (or maybe you haven’t), but I want to make it a staple in our house. Which means I’m going to have to turn meal-planning and -preparation into a habit, and what better time to start than now! Oh man, I’m going to need a lot of help!

This tiny dish contains the last bits of the THIRD batch of candied pecans I made. I think I made at least 7lb of nuts in total this year! They made fantastic gifts and just about everybody asked for the recipe. I can’t take full credit for it because I found it on allrecipes.com, but I added a little bit of my own twist. Instead of plain old white sugar, I used organic sugar. It has a slight molassesey flavor to it that I like. I also added a splash of vanilla to the egg white mixture because vanilla is awesome. All other directions were the same.

1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1 pound pecan halves
1 cup *organic sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
*1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I guessed on this measurement)

Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Grease one baking sheet.
In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white, water and vanilla until frothy. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Remove the nuts, and toss them in the sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet. Bake at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.

I leave you with a photo of the “Humping Santa” as I affectionately called him. He appears to be doing something highly inappropriate to that snowman, or maybe I just have a sick mind. Hope your holidays were wonderful! See you again in the new year. :)

1. Make and pack the pecans
2. Wrap the kids’ presents
3. Find something to give my parents
4. Do some laundry (we’re out of socks/underwear)
5. Pack
6. Find my sanity

Factoring in that I have a reunion happy-hour thing with some old co-workers at 5, and then Sayokan at 8, I’m pretty much screwed. We’re supposed to leave after I get home from work tomorrow at 1. I highly doubt that’s going to happen. Plus, I dragged out my Christmas tree and decorations last night, and they will continue to sit on my den floor until next week when I have a moment to breathe. Did I mention I love Christmas!? I just have to keep thinking, “SERENITY NOW!” It’ll be my mantra from now until after New Year’s. Guess I really shouldn’t be sitting on my ass typing a blog post right now…

What about you guys? Are you feeling stretched too thin this Holiday season?

My biggest flop to date has been the incorporation of the brain mold… the first year I made a crab dip, and while those who ventured to try it thought it was delicious (it was!), I fear the shape and color kept most people from tasting it. Therefore, it was a huge waste of money and effort.

Last year, I made a jello martian brain from this recipe. It tasted pretty good, but for reasons I’m not quite sure, it was hardly touched. I’m guessing there were lots more-appetizing items on the table than a neon green brain.

This year I have a few ideas on the burner, but with only 3 days remaining before the party, I need to decide what I’m doing, stat! My friend Steph sent me a link to Not Quite Nigella the foodie blog of Lorraine Elliott. She made an awesome, gross-looking Bloody Brain Pannacotta. I might be able to handle that! It’s great to see people who are as into Halloween as I am, but use their particular talents to make it their own. I don’t claim to be any great whiz in the kitchen, but she really rocks it, and with a Halloween twist.

Check out some more of her gruesome gruel:
Blood Clot & Brain Cupcakes
NQN’s ghastly, ghoulish Halloween party!

So let me ask you, my 5 readers, if you would try a realistic-looking brain.

I made Mike an apple pie for his birthday last week, and ended up with two extra apples, so I bought a few more apples and made a crisp! Oh my is it ever good… I used this recipe because it looked marginally healthy (with the exception of the 6 tablespoons of butter). Also, I’m getting in the habit of using Xylitol in my cooking when sugar is needed. It’s a yummier, healthier version of sugar substitutes, albeit a little expensive. (Just don’t eat too much of it, or you might get the trots. The sugar alcohols act as a mild laxative in some people.) I’m just not a big Splenda fan, since I think it tastes like chemicals. Anyhoo, I modified the recipe just a tad by adding some ground ginger to the apple mix, which adds just a little spiciness that I like.

It looked sooo good, I had to have a little taste! Unfortunately, I think I may not have used enough sweetener in the apple filling because the final result is a little tart… But I much rather prefer too tart over too sweet. We can just add a dollop of ice cream or topping. Mmmmm…