Sunday, June 5, 2011

Sunday already! When you work from home and are not very busy, it's hard to keep track of your days! My last entry was Thursday, so I will attempt to catch up on my blog.

I made ravioli Thursday evening. It goes quickly when you use won ton wrappers. I made a basic spinach/ricotta filling: take 2 garlic cloves and one 10-oz package of frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed dry) and put them in a food processor. Pulse until both are finely chopped. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 tbsp of olive oil, add the spinach-garlic mixture and sauté, seasoning with salt and pepper and nutmeg to taste, until the liquid evaporates. About 1-2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, stir in 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese and 2 tbsp of Parmesan cheese. Adjust the seasonings as needed. Stir in one large egg into the warm filling. Lay six won ton wrappers on a clean counter, place a scant tablespoon of the filling in the middle of the wrapper. Wet the edges around the filling with your finger, which you dipped in water (have a small bowl of water standing by), then top with another won ton wrapper. Set them aside on a wire rack while you make the rest. This is enough filling for 24 ravioli and takes an entire 12-oz package of won ton wrappers. Bring water to boil in a large sauté pan (this is easier than using a sauce pan when it comes to getting the ravioli out of the pan). When the water reaches a boil, turn the heat down so as to keep the water at a slow simmer, not a rolling boil or your pasta will break apart. Cook the pasta 3-4 minutes or until the pasta becomes translucent. Remove the ravioli with a solid spoon so you get a little of the pasta water with your ravioli as you put them on a plate or in a bowl. At this point, you can simply drizzle the raviioli with a portion of olive oil or butter, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and pepper. Serve immediately. Or you can add the sauce of your choice. Yum!

Friday I made Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies. I tried a new recipe from Ina Garten from the Food Network. They turned out well: nice
flavor, chewy, not too sweet (that's what I like anyway). Friday afternoon, I met my friend Andy Carey for coffee at Walden's Coffeehouse.
He introduced me to the new owners, which was nice. I wonder where they get their pastries, lol?

Friday dinner was we barbequed steak on the grill, had roasted potatoes and asparagus. Yum!

Saturday I spent on the computer. It rained and was generally a dreary day. I picked out a few recipes to try. Jordan wants a pie, he says I never make pie and he loves pie. So I am going to make Grandma's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (not my grandma, someone else's grandma!)
and trying Ina Garten's Shortbread cookies. But not on Saturday, I need to buy a few baking supplies. And Janell says Walmart has 16-oz
packages of strawberries for $1! I'll do my shopping Sunday. Leftovers for dinner Saturday. That's ok, makes me think about new ways to
prepare what I've already done!

Sunday we woke up to rain, again! Jordan made breakfast, then I worked on the computer some more. Janell and I went to Target so I could return some blinds, then we checked out Pier One-it's back in town and no longer a franchaise. Then we had lunch at Red Robin-which always makes me think of my nephew, Dylan. He LOVES their Mac&Cheese. I did make the shortbread cookies. They taste good, but as Ric would say, "Lorna Dunn's are better" (or in my case, Walker's). I am trying to come up with a cookie business that will help supplement my income. I still enjoy baking the best!

I did go to Walmart (Janell went home, she had a headache) and sure enough, they had beautiful strawberries for $1!! I bought the rest of my supplies and headed back home. I am making ribollita for dinner. Soup sounded good on a mostly rainy day. Today is Michael's birthday-Happy birthday, my friend! I am making a Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake for him. We both had the same recipe from YEARS ago but didn't realize it until he gave me a copy, saying this was the birthday cake he wanted. The base of the cake is suppose to be a chocolate genoise or sponge cake, but when I looked at the recipe, there was no chocolate in the genoise ingredients!! Imagine my surprise, cause I looked at this recipe several times and this was the first time I had noticed this faux pax! I did, however, find a chocolate genoise recipe that was exactly the same but the new recipe had cocoa powder in it. That saved the day! I'll make the pie tonight and the cake tomorrow. It's suppose to rain again tomorrow. A good day to bake I guess!