Been on a Veggie Burger Kick

My first attempt at potato salad - not bad, although it's really difficult to find recipes for 1-2 servings, if I made 1/2 a pound of potato salad, who on earth will I feed it to?? My cat doesn't like potato salad and I certainly don't need a half pound of it!!

All Things Mini

I was in the mini-crust-making mood last week, and made 4 mini crusts, two of which became mini pot pies, one became a mini cherry pie, and I'm not certain yet what I'll do with the last frozen one I have.

Mini veggie pot pie with potato topping

Mini cherry pie

Article on Health Effects of Beer

Here's a great article on why beer may be the healthiest alcoholic beverage, right up there with a glass of red wine.

Mmmm!

This recipe for cheesecake sounds amazing! Maybe I'll make it for my "birthday cake" next month!
I think I'm going to make some pie crust today for mini tarts. I've been craving some tomato mozzarella quiche lately and now that I have mini tart pans, I can make individual sizes. Since I'm usually only cooking/baking for myself, the more I can cut down on leftovers, the better.

50%

Well yesterday I went on a baking frenzy, by the end of which my kitchen appeared to have been hit by a bomb made of flour and shredded carrots. I made lowfat carrot cake, my recipe is usually delicious, but with the few changes I made, it just wasn't the same. Then I made whole wheat bagels, and set them in the fridge to proof overnight.

This morning the bagels were boiled and baked, and they tasted good, but were absolutely huge. I could have made twice the amount of slightly smaller bagels. I bought myself some Wild Alaskan Salmon, but the brand I bought was fairly cheap, and when the red color transferred onto my fingers and cream cheese, I knew it'd be dyed. Yuck.

At least my cheesemaking kit came in the mail yesterday, which means I can try my hand at making mozzarella when I feel up to attempting to enter my kitchen again. At the moment, before I can do anything, I need to tackle the humongous pile of dishes I accumulated while under the influence of the baking gods yesterday... UGH.

Rosemary Sourdough Bagels

Well my bagels look great, but I learned that my sourdough starter is not vigorous to carry a recipe on it's own. They are extremely dense. I should have tossed in a small amount of instant yeast for oomph. Now I know!
I ordered myself some goodies since I had an Amazon giftcard to burn. I got a mozzarella and ricotta cheese-making kit, and a cake decorating kit with nozzles, icing bags, and coloring for the icing. I am excited to get both and give them a whirl!

Homemade Granola

A friend from class brought homemade granola and shared with us how easy it was to make. Naturally, I immediately wanted to try my hand at it. I didn't have enough to make the recipe on KAF's website, it seemed like too much for a trial batch anyhow. I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com, my other standby. I loosely followed it, adding walnuts, flaxseeds, a dash of nutmeg, and using sesame oil because I didn't have any canola, olive didn't sound good in it, and sesame seemed like it'd add an interesting dimension.

The verdict? Besides the fact that I let it go a little to long - giving it a very very golden brown color (just this side of burned really), it smells heavenly. While I've only tried a few bites while it cools, I think it's going to be a yummy recipe to expand upon as I make it again. Now, do I add in cranberries, or chocolate chips... or dare I say it, both?!
In other news, I also have a batch of rosemary sourdough bagels rising. They'll be boiled/baked tomorrow. Mmmm! Pictures to come!

Homemade Hamburger Buns

The picture sure doesn't do this delicious veggie burger justice. Homemade buns are the best thing ever!

Pickled fiddleheads are a nice accompaniment.