The hits just keep on coming...

My pots and pans have been dirtied, washed, and dried only to be dirtied, washed, and dried again.  I have already made three recipes this week, and I wanted to go ahead and share them with you while I have the chance.

First, Couscous Cakes.  A bit out of the ordinary for Giada, but tasty.  Since couscous is so quick to make, the whole recipe took mere minutes.  I did have to procure some ground coriander, and with it and some fresh cilantro and lemon zest, the cake has nice flavor.  One issue, though, is how well the cakes actually hold together, both in the molding and cooking process.  I'm not sure if it needed more egg or a couple of extra dusts of flour, but the mixture did not bind well.  Regardless, it's a good dish, and topped with some chopped mango, it's a great dish.  (I have a love/hate relationship with mango--love its taste, hate to cut it.  I might need to break down and buy and mango slicer doo-hickey.)

Next, let's go for some bourbon.  Yup.  Bourbon.  I had a raspberry blackberry bread pudding at Foster's Market the other weekend, and since eating that plate of oh-my-goodness-this-is-so-amazingly-delicious, I wanted to make it myself.  Foster's has a recipe feature on their website, but the closest thing I could find to what I'd had that day was Bourbon Cherry Bread Pudding.  I did not go with the sour cherries as instructed, but opted for a bag of frozen mixed berries from Trader Joe's.  To be upfront and honest, I must tell you that this recipe is not for the faint of fat and calories.  Wow.  It calls for all kinds of sugar and heavy cream, and while I don't really care too much about that stuff, I felt overwhelmed by the amount of heavy cream required, so made mine with 2 parts whole milk and 1 part cream.  I also am not too sure about the amounts in general.  While I loved the taste of the bread all sopped up in cream and sugar, I would like a little more fruit, a little less bread.  So...if you're looking to do this one, try using only 1 to 1 1/2 French baguettes, take out a couple of eggs and maybe a 1/2 cup of milk, and add another 1/2 cup or more of fruit.  A final modification I'd make is the amount of bourbon; I like it, don't get me wrong, but I don't know that it needs to be quite so strong.  Overall, though, I am really pleased with this dessert.  It's rich and flavorful, a wonderful way to use day-old bread and whatever fruit you want to eat, especially if you are interested in an alternative to a cobbler or a crisp.

Last night I made Giada's Ravioli with Arugula, Tomatoes, and Pancetta, a dish deceptively elegant, for it was really simple.  I have come to love arugula with its spicy, peppery notes, so stumbling upon this recipe sounded like a good idea as soon as I saw its name.  The ingredient list is super short, which is always a friendly gesture to me.  Although the lingering smell of cooked pancetta invaded even my bedroom closet, I was happy with this dish.  Bright, clean flavor with great color. 

Eating more than five...

Perhaps some of you can relate to a certain plight from my childhood, a plight I'd like to call "The Rule of Five."  Like most, I was not a fan of many green veggies in my youth.  Though I would eat broccoli till the cows came home, green beans, peas, and lima beans never sounded good, never tasted good, and certainly never smelled good.  Well, my mother (and probably your mother) knows how to get a kid to eat the veggies: she would simply say "If you want anything else (second helping of something you do like, dessert, etc.), you have to eat five."  Five.  Five perfectly measured green veggies.  Five green beans, five peas, five lima beans, five.  My sister and I were a bit dramatic about following this rule; we would try to hide the offensive veggie in another food, wash it down with milk without chewing (even pinching our nose while we drank), and so on.  Basically, we did anything we could to avoid actually tasting the vegetable because if we did, we would surely die.  I told you...dramatic.

Well, the infamous Giada has helped me overcome the drama with her Pea Pesto Crostini.  The picture in the book absolutely sold me, and since I have come to like green beans (the jury is still very much out on the lima beans), I thought I should throw caution to the wind and make this appetizer.  Full of flavor and bursting with freshness, this two-bite treat will surprise even the most skeptical of palates.  I served these yesterday at a game/appetizer party, and the plate was emptied by the end of the night.  One girl even said that she did not eat peas, but that this tidbit wasn't half bad!  And goodness, it's just pretty.  Beautiful color on a plate.  What I appreciate most is how easy it is, and while I am ok with the peas, I actually would like to try the same technique with shelled edamame, my green veggie of choice.  I'll let you know if I try it.  And though my picture isn't quite as lovely as the one in the book, it does show you that striking color.  You do eat with your eyes first...hungry?

This week holds some fun possibilities in the kitchen, from a berry bread pudding (made with a bit of bourbon...trip to the liquor store needed) to couscous cakes.  Check back soon!

Oh, and I must share a couple of pics from Carolina's graduation this morning.  Gorgeous weather, blue-clad creatures, and a keynote address from John Grisham.  I didn't even go to this school, and I found myself  tearing up will the Clef Hangers sang "Carolina in My Mind."  This place is special.  Enough said.

And yes...Happy Mother's Day to all you fearless mothers out there!

John Grisham saying "The most difficult task facing a writer is to find a voice." Indeed.

Blue-clad creatures (Desmond Tutu's nickname for the grads of '09 has stuck with me)

The Bell Tower

with Annie and Alison

"Say nice things about me 'cause I'm gone..."

May's Book

For March and April, I took a bit of a hiatus from sticking to one book for a month, but I'm returning to my old ways.  Since I've already made one successful dish from it, why not dedicate Giada at Home to the month of May?  I was so pleased with Giada's Family Dinners that I'm sure her newest book won't disappoint.  I'll keep you posted...really...I'm going to try much harder to be timely.

And then April happened...

It's May 2nd.  I haven't blogged.  You know this, hence why you're here.  No more time wasting...let me take you through the rest of April.

As you've known by reading my dear blog, I've been on a mission to find the perfect banana bread recipe.  I think I finally did it.  This recipe is from the Food Network, but it's the recipe of Cathy Lowe, and I have no clue who she is; I just know that her recipe is ranked 5 stars an impressive 147 times, so I thought, I'll try hers.  Ding!  Winner!  I have made this twice, and each time I've baked one loaf and twelve muffins, with the scrumptious addition of semi-sweet chocolate chips and/or toasted chopped walnuts (approximately 1/2 cup each...feel free to put more, especially the chocolate chips).  Everyone who's tasted has agreed that this is the keeper, and my roommate even tried it, though she did try to be a bit inventive with some substitutions.  Final word: this recipe is yummy, and my banana bread search is over.

When the weather finally decided to be fully spring-like, I decided to venture into the world of herb growing.  I went to the farmer's market and Lowes, and I am now growing my own parsley, thyme, cilantro, rosemary, and basil.  I'm a bit concerned about the basil (my friend Josh says it's because the weather hasn't been hot enough yet), but the others are doing quite well.  I'm excited about having herbs right outside, not needing the grocery store to provide that small amount of parsley...I can simply snip it from my very own herb garden.  My porch is certainly not the Hamptons (though I would happily live in Ina Garten's world!), but it's working just fine for me.  I even decided to grow some flowers--an array of vincas, petunias, and other pretty colored things I don't know the name for.  You'll have to excuse me, for my one brown thumb is just beginning to turn green.

That farmer's market didn't just give me visions of herb gardens.  While talking to the vendor about how to not kill those precious herb plants, I spotted glorious, vibrant red strawberries right next door.  A cute little married couple had boucoups of them, quarts and gallons.  I couldn't resist, so quickly nabbed a gallon bucket and exited the market, fully content with my fresh, local finds.  The strawberries needed to be used and soon, so what else would you make but strawberry shortcake.  Now, I must admit I cheated a bit.  I was going to make my own shortcakes, but because of time and ingredients, I opted to use a box from Trader Joe's, their Vanilla Cake Mix.  So good and so easy.  The strawberry mixture did come from a recipe, one from Cooking Light entitled Old-Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake.  On to the assembly: I spliced the vanilla cake in half, cut each half in little squares, then placed some strawberry yummyness on one half, dolloped that with hand-whipped whipped cream (that's a workout for the arms), then topped with the other half of the cake, followed with one more spoonful of strawberries.  I made this goodie for my small group girls, and the crowd seemed pleased. 

I do plan on making legitimate shortcakes sometime, but that recipe will likely come from Sara Foster, as I recently fell in love with her shortcakes @ Foster's Market the other weekend. Come see me.  We'll go.  You'll fall in love too.

I did some other cooking throughout the month, including two more rounds of Chicken Marsala (seriously, it's amazing...have you tried it yet?), two more rounds of Rosemary Bread, and I even utitlized some of the aforementioned strawberries in a lovely salad recipe from Food Network's Alex Guarnaschelli (the super sassy chef judge on Chopped and Iron Chef America).  If you're looking for a simple, refreshing summer salad, here it is: Arugula and Strawberry Salad.  The only thing I might add to it would be some goat cheese crumbles and perhaps walnuts, but simply following the recipe is completely ok.  It's wonderful.  Sorry...forgot to take a picture!

The month's cooking ventures concluded with the debut of Giada's Pasta Ponza.  The recipe hails from my very own autographed copy of her newest book, Giada at Home.  Since my college small group girls and I decided to throw a surprise bridal shower for Morgan, we wanted to do a little potluck beforehand.  Perfect opportunity to try the new book out. This recipe has only been "out" for a small amount of time and it's already got 5 stars over 75 times!  It's delicious, and it's even garlic-free (I know, that's basically blasphemy for me).  Morgan was glad that part of her gift was a copy of the book, as she ate the pasta and said "good," so I know that she and Bobby will soon enjoy it as a married couple. 

Our meal rounded out with Sarah and Amy's creation of Ree Drummond's Strawberry Shortcake Cake.  Dear goodness.  It was AMAZING.  Just look at that picture.  Seriously.  The Pioneer Woman rocks.  That's all there is to it.

Enjoy the pictures of all of my sweet girls...most are graduating, so to them and all others, Congratulations UNC Class of 2010!  So proud of you.  The Lord has blessed me ABUNDANTLY with each of you. I can't begin to express how much this past year has meant to me.  Walking alongside you has been a joy I never would have expected...it reminds me to ask the Lord to do big things because He has amazed me with you.  How great is our God!