Conchiglie with yogurt, peas and chili

We made a delicious pasta recipe from the cookbook Jerusalem (via the blog Orangette). The pasta sauce is a puree of yogurt, garlic, and peas. When I was driving home from the dump today, I passed a guy selling fresh fiddleheads out of the back of his truck. I got a pound of them and steamed them back at home. We mixed the steamed fiddleheads into the pasta, and it was great! The dish is garnished with pine nuts toasted in spicy oil. I will definitely make this again.

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Shumai

We made these pork and shrimp shumai from the May 2016 issue of Food and Wine. Very tasty! The pork flavor overwhelmed the shrimp. Next time we will try using more shrimp and less pork. Otherwise, they were great!

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Kung Pao Tofu

Delicious and easy recipe from Viet World Kitchen

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Happy Birthday, Presidents!

Cherry pie to honor George Washington.

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Chocolate beet cake

Frosting is colored using minced beets. The cake itself contains about 1/2 cup of beets. Recipe is from the blog Joy the Baker. Not the greatest chocolate cake every, but tastes good. There is no flavor of beets. If I made it again, I would use 3 cups of sugar in the frosting instead of 4 cups. The frosting was very sweet. The recipe says to grate the beets, but it's easier to mince them with a knife or in a food processor.

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Homemade eggnog

This is our first time making homemade eggnog. It turned out very well. Cooks illustrated says that it is only 8% alcohol, but it tastes stronger.

The November 2013 issue of Cooks Illustrated has a discussion of making eggnog. It explained that you can make eggnog by combining eggs and sugar with a high concentration of alcohol and aging for three weeks. After three weeks, strain out the egg solids, then add milk and cream. Top with nutmeg. 

Left: Aged eggnog base. Right: strained eggnog base with milk and cream added

Homemade Eggnog

1. Stir together:

• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 ½ cups bourbon
• ½ cup cognac
• 1/3 cup dark rum

2. Add:

• 1 ½ cups sugar

3. Refrigerate 3 weeks in an airtight container
4. Pour through a fine sieve to remove egg solids

3    5. Add 6 cups whole milk and 1 cup cream

6. To vary the recipe, use 1 ½ ounces of 80 proof liquor for every egg. Leave out the dairy until serving

We only strained half the aged egg mixture, and we added half the milk and cream.

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Twice baked potatoes

This recipe is from norecipes.com. Very tasty!

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Stuffed eggplant

This is a delicious stuffed eggplant dish from the cookbook Red White and Greens by Faith Willinger. You cut an incision in each eggplant and then fill it with a mixture of capers, garlic, parsley, and cheese. The eggplants are cooked in a large nonstick skillet for 5-8 minutes on each side.

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Eggs benedict

Eggs Benedict with homemade English muffins and homemade Hollandaise sauce.

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Lemon Meringue Pie

We made the lemon meringue pie recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It turned out great.

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