Family suggested ingredients; I pulled it together

I took a pic of this but it looked very unappetizing. Better I think, to just describe:


Boil Farafelle pasta - drain pour into bowl.


Drizzle EVOO over pasta.


Add Gorgonzola, kalamata olives, capers, and fried sage leaves.


Toss and serve. Mmmmm

I give it a C+

The 'no knead' bread experiment was successful enough to be edible. I wasn't thrilled but could see potential. Two problems:


1. It called for instant yeast and I used regular.
2. The second rise-time of 2 hours was too long for me. I started baking at 1 and 1/2 hours.


Next time I will use instant yeast and wait the full 2-hour second rise before baking.

Bread. Hmmm.

I've not had much luck with bread in the past but this snowstorm has me looking for new and different things to do. I heard an interview with this guy on npr a while back. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Blizzard of 2010

Nothing like a blizzard to keep a woman cooking. So far, for the Blizzard of 2010, I count ...


Breakfast burritos
Egg rolls
Chili topped with cheese, green onion, and cilantro
Brownies with ice cream


Eggs Florentine for me; Mark made his own breakfast sandwich
Chicken enchilada casserole with avocado, tomato, and cilantro garnish
Water chestnuts wrapped in bacon for a snack
Tofu stir fry on brown rice


Somewhere in there I ate potato chips and onion dip, hot chocolate with mini marshmallows,and handfuls of grapes, strawberries.


There is so much more I want to make ... brats, chicken noodle soup, pasta ...

Pizza Paris

Trader Joe's pizza dough
Drizzle of EVOO
10 -15 leaves of fresh, chopped oregano
1/2 package of Trader Joe's Quatro Formaggio
Handful of feta cheese
One sliced tomato
Several kalamata olives
A few slices of red onion
Corn meal
Optional: Roasted eggplant
Heat oven to 450 degrees
Sprinkle pizza stone with corn meal
Stretch pizza dough to fit stone
Drizzle  EVOO
Top with onion, then cheese, then olives, and tomato
In oven for 15-20 minutes -- just keep an eye on it
Let sit for a couple minutes before slicing
Top wilh any, or none, of the following:
Roasted eggplant
Crushed red pepper
Dried oregano
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder

From Eat Better America - Pork Tenderloin

This was DELICIOUS! The only change I made was to fry the sage that I used for garnish. It increased the fat and calories, but not by much.

Served it with a salad of spinach, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and Asian Mix Salad topping. Just a little EVOO and Rice Vinegar to dress.

Roast pork tenderloin with rosemary, sweet potatoes and pears for an elegant dinner. From eatbetteramerica.

Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:45 min

1 pork tenderloin (1 to 1 1/4 lb)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried sage leaves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 large dark-orange sweet potato (about 1 lb), peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 firm ripe small pears, unpeeled, each cut into 6 wedges
1 medium sweet onion (halved crosswise), cut into thin wedges
1 tablespoon olive oil Fresh sage leaves, if desired

1. Heat oven to 450°F. Spray 15x10x1-inch pan with cooking spray. Place pork tenderloin in pan. In small bowl, mix rosemary, salt, sage and pepper. Rub half of seasoning mixture on pork.

2. In medium bowl, toss sweet potato, pears and onion with oil until coated. Sprinkle with remaining seasoning mixture; toss. Place vegetables around pork.

3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, stirring vegetables and pears gently once or twice during baking, until pork has slight blush of pink in center and meat thermometer inserted in center reads 160°F, and vegetables are tender. Cut pork into 1/2-inch slices. Serve with vegetables. Garnish with fresh sage leaves.

2010 Food Resolutions

In no particular order:
Get over fear of pressure cooker.
Make my own pasta.
Eat more fish.
Figure out how to waste fewer fresh veggies. (One can only eat so many versions of a veg before it goes bad.)
Take a cooking class. Or two.


7/9/12 - I just revisited this post. Checked off everything except the pressure cooker. Still afraid!