Meal #13 Brie with Strawberry Jelly

On Friday I made a baked brie wrapped in a cresent roll. I cut off all the white paper stuff and then put it into the middle of the cresent roll (rolled out) Then I put strawberry jelly on the top of the brie and raw sugar and cinnimon. I baked it for 25 minutes until golden brown. I didn't take a picture but trust me it was delicous.

Ingrediants used: Jelly

Tiffany

Meal #12 Thai Chicken with Lemon Ginger Rice

After school today a bunch of us were going to watch that new show The History of Us so I stopped by the store for quick munchy options and dinner for the family. I picked up some chicken and brie and headed home. I pondered what to do which my chicken breast as I flipped through my new Rachel Ray cookbook. I decided on a Thai dish because I feel it is hard to mess that up. I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and then browned. I didn't have real rice so Uncle Ben came out and I cooked it in chicken broth, a chunk of ginger and lemon juice/zest. That was probably the best rice I have every made. It picked up all the flavors and was totally complimentary to the chicken. I had threw into a saucepan carrots, celery, onion, spices, chicken broth, half n half and some other stuff. I forget. It simmered and smell appetizing. I served it up to my hubby and he loved it. It was a good quick dinner with not much going on. Joel ate some later and he didn't have any complaints or compliments for that matter. Funny how those two words look kinda the same. I will put pictures up soon!

Tiffany

Meal #11 Cococut Honey Scones

I was in the mood to use one of my new cookbooks today so I picked out my new bread cookbook and started flipping. I came across Currant Scones and thought that might be new and fun. I didn't quite have all the ingredients (like currants...what is that? I think it is related to the raisin which i don't like anyway.) I brainstormed and decided to do coconut and a honey glaze (I credit Bri with that) I kneaded out the dough and then formed two balls. Then made them each about 1 inch thick ( I am horrible at this so I made mine a little thick) Bri and I were going to each make one to see whose came out better. The recipe said to score the top of the thick pancake thingys so that you can cut them easier when done. I am looking at these little triangles thinking "they are the smallest scones I have ever seen, maybe they will grow in the oven". So after cooking them for a bit, I took a peek and ...nope the same size. I don't think I made mine ball flat enough or something. I pulled them out when they looked toasty and brown. We had covered them in the honey glaze which slid off onto the pan mostly. They were not bad at all but I feel like I should call them mini-scones because I am trying to be as honest as possible. Feedback wasnt great...the average was about a 3 or 2.5. I still have them in my house which speaks volumes because it was like a week ago I made them.

Oh, well, they looked pretty.

Tiffany

Meal # 10 Almond Layered Cake

I actually had an occasion for this cake. It was Brody's birthday and it was Monday night which means that at least ten people will be coming for homegroup. That means that more people will try my cake and I will get lots of feedback. So I invited my little Sue Chef Bri over and we whipped up this cake. Well, we didn't whip or blend anything really. We cut the flour mixtured with knives. That was what the directions said. "Cut up butter into chunks and then using a pastry blender (I don't have one) or two knives, cut the butter into the flour until it looks like meal" I though, "Like A meal?" I was unsure so I did like it said and I felt very silly. I had done this method before and it works as well as using a spoon to eat steak. It took a bit of convincing on Bri's part to make me do it again and I really think it made my cake heavier than fluffier.I made Bri do most of the "cutting".

I wanted to make a layered cake so I used my new spring form pans. One slightly smaller than the other and I poured the yummy batter into them. I really knew I should have only made one cake because I did not have enough batter but I was stuck on the layered cake idea. My cakes came out beautifully but were only about an inch thick. And far from fluffy. They were heavy like pound cake and very almondy. I kinda liked it but it got mixed reviews.

Brody - 5 (it was his birthday cake. Biased.)
Gabriel- 3.4
Amy - I think it was a 2.7
Josh - 5! He loves pound cake and hates fluffy cake. Winner
Brittani -3
Rachel - 4
Tiffany -3

So the next time I decide to make a layered cake I will double the recipe!

Baker Tiff

Meal # 9 BBQ Pulled Pork

I began making this meal Friday night and it wasn't eaten until Sunday afternoon. I called my mom and asked her what I should do with this big piece of pork I had gotten. She advised I just toss it in old faithful (the crocky pot) with a whole bottle of bbq sauce and leave it for a couple of hours. I was nervous about this so I sawed the hunk of pork in half and decided if I messed up, I would only mess up half. Besides I wanted to make a yummy pot roast with the other half. So around 5:00pm I plopped the half brick of meat in the cp and dumped some BBQ sauce in there and put it on low. This was not a good or smart time for me to do this. I ended up setting my alarm for 6:30am (Saturday morning) to pull that blasted pork apart and make sure it wasn't burning. I crawled back in bed cursing my cooking obsession. I eventually woke up around 9 as we were heading to a fabulous book fair (where I was to obtain new cookbooks to support my habit) I looked in the abyss and wasn't quite pleased so I set it on warm and left for another 6 or 7 hours. I was beginning to think it would turn to mush but alas, it did not! It was perfectly yummy! I came home late Saturday night and put it into a Pyrex dish and stuck it in the fridge. Sunday afternoon, we had a few key players over to vote on this scrumptious looking pulled pork. I also made homemade coleslaw with a locally grown cabbage from my good friend Brent the cabbage man. We added some salt and vinegar chips and it was a classic feel good American meal.

Bri - 4
Gabriel - 4.65
Laura - 4
Tiff - 4

Average was a solid 4!

I felt very southern and a little red necked when it was all over with. I don't know which was more fun this very southern dish or my classy French souffle. At the moment, you can call me Bobby Sue from the hills of Alabama.

Bobby Sue
"You can never cook pork to much!" Deep thoughts by Bobby Sue

Meal # 8 Blueberry Sauce with Cheesecake

This wasn't actually a meal if you are wondering but I did make this to cross off blueberries, orange juice and vanilla. It was such a pretty recipe. The blueberries when warmed seep out this beautiful blue-purple color. We used it on the cheese cake and also on pancakes the next morning. It was even good the next day!I first put the blueberries, water, oj, sugar and vanilla in a sauce pan. That alone was kinda cool looking. It looked like little blue heads poking out of the ocean. Then when it began to boil the blue-purple spread throughout the mixture. To thicken it up, I added cornstarch and a bit more water. I think I put a little too much because it was a bit lumpy. I drizzled it over the cinnamon cheesecake and served up the following people:

Gabriel - 5 (of course)
Brody - 4
Jeff - 3.7 (on pancakes the next morning)
Tiff - 4

Overall - not bad! The cheesecake was my favorite one yet, because I don't really like cheese cake. They don't really go together for me and the texture of most cheesecakes makes me want to puke. My very own cheesecake did not, I enjoyed it immensely. Maybe it is like when you have your own kids. They won't gross you out as much as other people's kids do. Their vomit and spit-up is okay because it's yours and you made the thing leaking it. That was me and my baby called cheesecake.

Mother of a Cheesecake

Meal # 7 Boeuf Bourguignon

Ah, Boeuf Bourguignon. My second French dish. My Frenchy friends the Bernals would be so happy to know that I tapping my inner French. It was quite an extensive meal and here is a summary of what I did to prepare this famous dish. I patted, defrosted, cut, sliced, seared, sauteed, diced, fried, chopped, baked, simmered, poured, measured, drank wine, lite my food on fire and dropped a match in my stew. Not in any particular order that is. I started cooking at 5:00 and ate at 9:30. My poor husband ate a brat to stave off starvation. I told him that it would be worth the wait. This was also my big meal that all my friends came over to try. Lastly, it was a celebration dinner of the Amato's one month anniversary! All rolled into one dutch oven made by my food idol Paula Deen. Just using her cookware makes things saltier. So the only real exciting part of this dish was the fact that I used 3/4 bottle of wine (and it should have been a whole bottle but I poured myself a glass before I read the directions) in this tasty stew. I was a little nervous serving up the church folk because it reeked of alcohol. Plus I added Brandy and lit it on fire. I was kinda scared because I felt like my eyebrows are placed nicely on my face and my hair had a lot of product in it. Joel was brave enough to help and of course there is a video that my team shot. Thanks Gabriel!

All in all. It was my best meal yet. I am still contemplating living in France and eating wine and cheese all day. I still have to convince the better half. I fed an army with this meal which I liked too. A couple of people low balled me and I will try to win them over with another lovely dish. :)

Ingredients used from list - wine, garlic, mushrooms

How many stars?
Alicia - 4
Amy - 4
Bri - 3.5
Brit - 4.4
Gabe 5.5 (thanks babe)
Jeff - 3.9
Jenny - 5
Joel - 4.25
Keith - 4.5
Amanda - 3.7
Caleb - 4.8
Bruce - 4
Andy - 3.5

Me? 4.7 It was magnificent! The sauce/broth/wine concoction was literally out of this world. Many felt differently about the pearl onions but otherwise every enjoyed
it.

Check out the video and pictures of my #1 meal yet!

The Wino Tiffany