...Can I tell you I made biscuits? From scratch... biscuits... and a big mess...
Well hello there strangers... I must sincerely apologize for my absolute abandonment of this blog over the past few weeks. I have been under-the-weather in an annoying sinus, sleep for hours kind of way and just about the only thing I've really wanted to do is cook. And prowl for fabric, but I'll keep that for another post.
So let's catch up... the cooking. Here at our house Rob cooks most of our meals, I acquire the others. I used to cook, I vaguely remember actually liking to cook but when you have a chef as inspired (or motivated) as my guy, you don't argue... you keep quiet and do the dishes. Rob's work schedule has picked up in recent weeks and I've been feeling the need to take some of the cooking load. I've been inspired by some of the culinary adventures here, here and here at the blogs I've come to love. First up was Ina Garten's Chicken Stew with Biscuits, really, really tasty. We added mushrooms, and I made the biggest mess the kitchen on Gehring Road has ever seen...
...seriously...but it was oh, so tasty. And an hour clean up (we are dishwasher-less) is a small price to pay for comfort food of epic proportions. I was able to bring some to my ailing Great Aunt Tootsie (how has Aunt Tootsie not made the blog yet?) who has a houseguest (my mother) and they loved this dish as much as we did. Oh, and did I tell you I made biscuits?
I also purchased Ree Drummand's The Pionner Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl and made her lasagna. The meat-sauce recipe for this is also really tasty, and I didn't take pictures of the finished product... we were eating, you understand. This lasagna was cooked on a night that Rob had an especially bad day at work, and I was oh so glad to be at the dinner helm.
Rob thinks I bought the book for the lovely pictures of cowboys... I didn't, but will be turning to this book for many other dinners in the future, the lasagna was full of flavor and easy... and I had time to clean the dishes while cooking... and yes, it does seem that Ree is an accidental country girl after my own heart.
It feels very good to return to this space... I feel a bit recharged, and as vacation is upon us, I'm hoping to extend that feeling into this week. The plan is organization, sewing, and hopefully sharing with you some of our experiences along the way. I hope you have some time this weekend, this week or very soon to do the things you love the most. Happy Valentine's Day to all... and especially my partner in crime dishwashing all things who makes it feel like Valentine's everyday - even the nasty bad ones.
