CEIMB- Four Cheese Macaroni

This week's recipe was chosen by Beth at Supplicious.  Short post since I'm still very much enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday with my sweet husband and family.  The secret ingredient in this recipe was pureed squash.  Maybe if I hadn't been the one to cook it, I wouldn't have noticed as much, but all I could taste was squash.  I made Ellie's crabcakes with this and they are AMAZING!!!!!

CEIMB- Oven Fried Chicken

This is my first official post for CEIMB! Last week, I joined this club on Thurday, posting day. Last week's recipe- portabella lasagna roll ups- looked so good that I decided to make them Friday night. The roll ups were AMAZING and will definitely be part of my normal recipe rotation!!

This week's recipe was chosen by MacDuff of Lonely Sidecar. One thing I really love about CEIMB is that as of today, there are only 19 members, so I can really read the host's blog and check everyone's site on post day. MacDuff seems like a really cool person- I love people who can write about running 20 miles and enjoying baked good in the same post!! Personally, I have never run 20 consecutive miles, but I have enjoyed several donuts after 5Ks, 10Ks, and one Half Marathon. :-) Oh, and MacDuff enjoys competitive sailing- I don't know anyone who is a competitive sailor (that I know of).

On to the chicken- My husband, Brandon, went to the grocery store for me and bought all the ingredients, including 6 HUGE chicken breasts. They were the biggest breasts I have ever seen. I am seriously worried about all the hormones I have eaten in my lifetime. In Alabama, we have a program called Grow Alabama where you can have locally grown fresh vegetables, fruits and poultry delivered to your house and I am thinking about doing it mainly for the hormone-free chicken.

I thought the chicken was delicious!!! The next time I make it, I will use tenders- hopefully from locally grown chickens.

One other note- along with the chicken, I also made Ellie's Dirty Broccoli. It was okay- not my favorite broccoli recipe, but I ate it- which doesn't really say alot....

Arborio Rice Pudding

This week Isabelle of Les Gourmandises d' Isa chose Arborio Rice Pudding.  I am running so far behind this week, so I made the pudding Monday night and don't get to eat it until tonight, so I don't know whether I like it, but it was very very easy to make- after I finally found Arborio rice at the FOURTH grocery store.  As you see, I made half vanilla and half chocolate.  I used MILK chocolate.  I know this would probably be a sin to Dorie, but I don't like semi-sweet and I want to try this.  It may be way to sweet, but I thought I'd give it a shot.  

I really hope I do like this pudding since it only has four ingredients and I now own enough Arborio rice to make this recipe 16 more times (per the label).

Another??!!

I joined another food blog.  I know- it's crazy and I don't have time, but it is sssoooo much fun!!!  After much consideration, I decided to join Craving Ellie In My Belly (CEIMB).  I made last Thurday's recipe- Portobello lasagna roll-ups tonight, but B left my camera at his office, so no pics yet.  I love love love TWD, but it was a nice change to make a non-sweet for a club.  I am very excited about CEIMB!!!  And, I get to pic the recipe on January 15, 2009!!!  WOO HOO!!

Team Kugelhopf

This week Yolanda from All-Purpose Girl chose Kugelhopf, which I again had to Wikipedia (like Rugelach).  This was my FIRST time to use yeast and I was scared, but with a lot of extra love and attention and some sound advise from Cathy, I was able to get the bread to rise.  Well, me and my oven at the lowest temperature possible.  

I was so so so proud of how well this Kugelhoph dough rose on Saturday that I decided to share it with our Sunday School class at First Baptist Church Trussville.  Our Sunday School teacher, Kelly, is an AMAZING baker.  One of her biggest claims to fame is that someone once ate SIXTEEN of her amazing cupcakes in one sitting.  Needless to say, I was intimidated about taking any baked good to class, much less one I had never made and could not even pronounce correctly.  Since Dorie advises that it is best eaten the day it is baked, I decided to bake it on Sunday morning, which sounded at the time like a great idea.  Well, it wasn't.  My sweet husband is the most patient man I know, but he is not patient on Sunday mornings when I am running late for Sunday School (every Sunday).  In anticipation of the extra baking time I may need, I woke up at 5:00 am to put the dough in the pan to let is rise.  Well, at 8:00 am, the dough still had not risen to "almost the top of the pan."  At first I panicked thinking about all the time I wasted on Saturday, but then I remembered Cathy telling me she put hers in the over to help it rise.  So, I put it in the oven on the lowest temperature for 30 minutes and it looked perfect.  Of course, we were still 10 minutes late for Sunday School, but everyone really enjoyed the Kugelhopf.   It seems that my husband is a lot more patient when the delay is due to a delicious Kugelhopf instead of my third outfit change.  :)  It still wasn't Kelly's Cupcakes, but I was pretty proud of it.... 

Thanks, Peggy, for letting me borrow the pan!!  This Kugelhopf was really a team effort

Rugelach

This weeks recipe was Rugelach, which I had to Wikipedia since I didn't know what Rugelach is :-) Now, I realize that one my favorite bakeries, Edgars, has these all the time for sale.

I almost didn't make this recipe, but my friends Cathy and Julie talked me into it and I am so glad!! I used strawberry jam, chocolate and pecans- no currants. I liked this recipe, but I made it very last minute and didn't feel like I got to fully enjoy the process. Well, that plus the fact that this election is very stressful :-) I don't think I rolled them tightly enough. My husband loved them!

Thanks, Piggy of Piggy's Cooking Journal for the great pick!!