Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls

Back in the fall, I had stocked up on pumpkin with big plans to bake a lot of delicious new things with it; but we all know that didn't happen. So when searching for a sweet dish for my Christmas Eve Brunch, this recipe looked yummy and practical. Plus, you can never go wrong with cream cheese icing!

Don't be daunted by what may seem like a complicated preparation - they really take no time at all and if you work carefully with the crescent rolls, you'll have no problem. My icing turned out a little differently than Jenny over at Picky Palate - hers looks a little thinner, which I probably could have remedied by adding a little milk to thin mine out.

Otherwise, I didn't make any changes so here's the link!

Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls

300th Post and Brie-Stuffed Mushrooms

Well, it took me a little longer comparably to get to 300 posts than it did 100 and 200 but I made it! And this is the perfect little appetizer to celebrate it. I love stuffed mushrooms and am always looking for a different way to make them, so when I saw these in my friend Lauren's blog I thought, what's better than Brie?!

Please excuse the photos in this post - they were taken as we were scrambling to put everything on the table at my parents' party. So they were taken in the wrong setting as well as not very pretty. Check out the photos in Lauren's post below instead!

*And special shout out again to my wonderful sister, Meghan, who helped me with this.*

I didn't change anything so I am linking you to the original recipe - the amount in my photos is double the amounts. Enjoy!

Brie-Stuffed Mushrooms

Eggplant Caviar

I have had this recipe from Good Things Catered bookmarked for quite awhile. I love using eggplant in appetizers, and decided my parents' annual holiday party was a good occasion for this one.

My sister and I made this together, and it was super easy. You don't even have to peel or chop the eggplant - just throw the whole thing in the oven to roast and the rest is done in the food processor!

Changes I made: I have an aversion to peeling whole tomatoes (it NEVER works for me) so I substitued a 14.5 ounce can of drained petit diced tomatoes for the two fresh ones in the recipe. We also served this on untoasted baguette slices, but if you like the toasty version, just follow the directions in Katie's original recipe.

Otherwise, everything else was the same as the original recipe found right here:

Eggplant Caviar

Rigatoni Woodsman-Style

So in order to start cooking again, I was looking for some simple dishes on my Google Reader, and came across this recipe on Sarah's blog. It looked like a nice hearty pasta for a cold night; and while it took a little longer than I anticipated, it was delicious and I would make it again!

I made a few adjustments to the amount of certain ingredients. Most notably, I doubled the amount of sausage since I wanted to stretch this into several meals. (Yes, half of this went into the freezer!) I also upped the amount of chicken stock since I did add more sausage - I wanted to make sure there was enough sauce to go around. The result was probablly a thinner sauce than the original, so go back to the 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock if you want a thicker sauce.

Sarah suggests garlic bread to go along with this meal. I agree, and served with a green salad, you have a winter night's feast!

Rigatoni Woodsman-Style

from Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen via A Taste of Home Cooking

1 pound rigatoni
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1 pound sweet Italian sausages, preferably without fennel seeds

2 8-ounce packages sliced mushrooms

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed

kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper

1 3/4 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup ricotta cheese (part skim or whole milk)

1 cup freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and reserve.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wide, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring until translucent and beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Remove the casings from the sausage and crumble into the skillet and stir, until the sausage is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Stir half the mushrooms into the sausage mixture. Add the remaining mushrooms as those in the pan wilt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all the mushrooms are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. If the mushrooms give off liquid, allow time for the juices to boil off before the mushrooms start to brown.

Add the tomatoes and peas into the skillet and bring to a boil. Lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook a minute or two. Stir in the stock and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce is lightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Pour in the cream and bring to a boil.

Spoon the ricotta into the sauce and stir gently to mix. Combine the pasta and sauce into a pot large enough to accommodate everything. Bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stirring gently to coat the pasta with sauce. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup grated cheese. Check the seasonings, adding salt and pepper if necessary.

A nice, hearty sauce:

Christmas Eve Brunch 2009

Abbie wishes everyone a Merry Christmas!

Hello again! I know it's been awhile since I've posted and I am slowly getting my energy and desire back to cook after taking care of a certain someone pictured above :) But I know some of you (hi, Nicole!) have been waiting for new posts so I'm back!

Since Chuck and I have been married, we have hosted Christmas Eve brunch at our house for our immediate families. It's a nice little tradition that I hope continues for a long time. This year I have planned the menu around things I can make in advance along with favorite dishes that I serve every year.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Christmas Eve Brunch 2009

• Classic Quiche with Diced Ham
• Two-Cheese Spinach Quiche
• Crispy Shredded Potato Gratin
• Bacon (of course)
• Colleen's Chicken Salad served with rolls
• Green Salad with Mixed Fruit
• Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Breakfast Rolls (from Picky Palate)
• Cappuccino Mini Chip Muffins (from Dinners for a Year and Beyond)

Welcome Abigail Claire!

The Cooking This and That household welcomed our beautiful little girl last week! We are beyond happy and so in love with her. Now to figure out how to cook at the same time...

Abigail (Abbie) Claire

born Friday, November 6th at 5:39PM

9 lbs. 0 oz., 21 inches

Freezer Friendly Meals (and a brief hiatus)

Over the past few weeks I have been referring again and again to different meals I am making to freeze so we have something other than take-out to eat after the baby comes. I figured some of you may want a comprehensive list of everything that is in my freezer so here you are, along with links to the recipes! After looking at the list and the picture above, I am pretty proud of myself and hope that these meals last until I have some energy back to cook!

This post will most likely be my last until after the baby is born - I am all cooked out and we are really just focusing on bringing Baby Cooking This and That home! But soon after that is the holiday season so you can be assured I will be back with plenty of yummy things (I already have a whole pile of pumpkin recipes and Christmas cookies I want to make this year!).

So enjoy the next few weeks, keep checking back, and I'll be back soon!

Freezer-Friendly Meals

• Turkey Lasagna
• Chicken Taco Soup
• Baked Ziti
• Pork Ragout
• Firecracker Enchiladas
• Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese
• 6-Hour Chili
• Zippy Turkey Bake
• Slow Cooker Barbecue-Beef
• Baked Shells with Pesto, Mozzarella, and Meat Sauce
• Oriental Beef and Noodles
• Turkey Tortilla Bake

Baked Goods

• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
• Banana Bread
• Fall Harvest Bread

Slow Cooker Barbecue-Beef Sandwiches

Chuck and I were divided on whether or not we liked this recipe. I really enjoyed it - anything that requires very little prep and ends up as tender, shredded meat in a homemade barbecue sauce is a winner in my book. Unfortunately, I think Chuck had his favorite, pulled pork, in the back of his mind and didn't like this as much.

Still, I recommend this as a quick weeknight meal (well, quick in the prep part, long on the cooking!) if your family likes sandwiches. I made the whole recipe and don't think that it would serve 10 people, maybe 8. Also, if you don't have dark brown sugar and don't want to buy it, light brown sugar works just fine.

I didn't change anything else, so here is the link!

Slow Cooker Barbecue-Beef Sandwiches

Turkey Lasagna

If you are looking for a "gourmet" lasagna, this is the one for you! Ina Garten's recipe is one of my absolute favorites; and although a little expensive with the different types of cheeses, it's totally worth it! The creamy goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, and hearty meat sauce combine to make one delicious pasta dish.

I also enjoy how you don't actually have to boil the lasagna noodles - Ina instructs you just to place them in a bowl of very hot tap water for 20 minutes. Which works great for me - usually when I boil them I end up breaking them somehow.

The only change I make to this recipe is to use a 1 1/3 pound package of ground turkey instead of turkey sausage, so I will link you to it directly below. Of course I manage to make this into two full dinners, it is easily divided into two 8x8 baking dishes. If you do that, just break the lasagna noodles in half before placing them in the hot water, it will make it easier to layer them in the final product.

Enjoy!

Turkey Lasagna

Trust me, it's delicious, I just can't photograph it well!

Pork Ragout

This dish is an old fave I got from my friend Rita. It is basically a one-pot meal (plus pasta) that is easy and comforting to make on a weeknight. The only thing that takes a little bit of time is browning all of the pork, but once that's done, you're all set!

The key here is to make everything roughly the same size - the cubed pork, the chopped onion, and the bell pepper pieces. Then it makes a very uniform sauce and you can get each flavor in every bite.

Normally I halve this recipe to serve Chuck and myself plus some leftovers, but I made the whole recipe this past time and of course froze some. Stay tuned for a later post on what's in my overstuffed freezer!

Pork Ragout

from Rita

Makes 4-6 servings

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

6 boneless, skinless pork chops, trimmed and cubed

2 (14-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1 large sweet onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 red bell peppers, coarsely chopped

splash of balsamic vinegar

chopped basil

1 package egg noodles, prepared as package directs.

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute pork in hot oil until browned, remove from pan. Add onion, garlic, and red pepper to drippings in pan and saute 10 minutes. Add diced tomatoes, splash of balsamic, basil and stir to combine. Add pork back to mixture and simmer all until pork is tender and cooked through.

Serve immediately over prepared egg noodles.

Apple Cake with Toffee Crust

This cake was delicious, time-consuming to make, but delicious! A gooey cake studded with apples and a toffee crust, topped with caramelized apples, butterscotch sauce, and vanilla ice cream. Like I said right before we ate it, "This is the epitome of a fall dessert!"

I must warn you though that I had trouble deciding on a pan since I don't have a springform tube pan. I finally settled on my angel food cake pan with removeable bottom, and it worked out ok. However, this is a heavy cake, so it did break a little bit as I was removing it from the pan so make sure to grease and flour your pan thoroughly. Not a problem though, I just put it back together on the plate!

If you decide to make this, leave yourself a lot of time. There are a lot of components, along with a long cooling time before you can remove the cake from the pan. I made the recipe exactly as directed; but I do suggest halving the butterscotch sauce (it is referred to as both butterscotch and toffee sauce in the same recipe) and doubling the amount of caramelized apples, especially if you are serving this to a crowd and will be eating most of it in one sitting.

After the glaze and cooling but before the sauce and ice cream:

Here's the link from Food & Wine:

Apple Cake with Toffee Crust

Baked Shells with Pesto, Mozzarella, and Meat Sauce

If you know me at all you know I am a sucker for any sort of baked pasta. So of course while searching for some more freezer meals, this one popped out at me immediately. All great flavors that Chuck really likes and it looked pretty easy.

The measurements were a little fussy so I changed them in order to make enough food to make two complete dinners. Both Chuck and I agreed that this needed a little more tomato taste, so when I make this again I may try adding an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce. I am not going to write it into the actual recipe until I try it though - let me know if you attempt it that way! If you like the way pesto tastes, you can definitely increase that amount as well. There was a nice subtle flavor but definitely room for more!

Baked Shells with Pesto, Mozzarella, and Meat Sauce

amounts adapted from Food & Wine

Makes about 8 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 package (usually about 1.25 pounds) ground beef

28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 cup store-bought or homemade pesto

1 pound medium pasta shells

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella

6 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat either a 15 x 10 baking dish or two 8 x 8 baking dishes with cooking spray.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally until it starts to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes. Drain off any excess fat.

Add the tomatoes and salt to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook until most of the liquid evaporates, about 10-12 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and stir in pesto.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente as directed on package, about 7-8 minutes. Drain and toss with the sauce.

If using a 15 x 10 dish: Put half of the pasta mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with one cup mozzarella and 3 tablespoons of the Parmesan. Repeat with the remaining pasta, mozzarella, and Parmesan.

If using two 8 x 8 dishes: Put 1/4 of the pasta mixture in each of the prepared dishes. Top each with 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1 1/2 tablespoons Parmesan. Repeat layers in each dish.

Bake until bubbling and slightly browned on top, about 15 minutes.

Spinach Salad with Smoked Chicken, Apple, Walnuts, and Bacon

Except I left out the walnuts. And grilled the chicken instead of using a smoked one. And used turkey bacon instead. But it was still great! Chuck likes what he calls "meat salads" for dinner, and I made quite a few of them over the summer. I knew the frequency of these salads would decrease once the weather got cooler so when I saw these fall flavors, I knew it would be perfect for an October dinner!

I will write you the recipe below as I made it for us, but also check out the link with the original ingredients and amounts. I had no clue where I would find smoked chicken, and the grilled was just as good. I used the turkey bacon to feel a little healthier, and when I make this again I will try and find a nice sharp cheddar cheese to add to the salad.

When making this for just the two of us, I assemble the salads individually, but if you were serving this to a crowd, toss everything together and leave for a few minutes so the flavors meld together.

Spinach Salad with Smoked Chicken, Apple, Walnuts, and Bacon
adapted from Food & Wine
Makes 2 servings

6 tablespoons walnuts, chopped (optional)
4 slices turkey bacon
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
scant 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound smoked (or grilled) and sliced boneless chicken breast
1/2 of a 6-ounce bag baby spinach, washed and dried
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 small tart apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

If using walnuts, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Toast the walnuts until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Let cool.

Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels and then chop or crumble.

Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in small bowl. Whisk in the olive oil.

Combine the spinach, walnuts, bacon, onion, apple, and chicken in individual serving bowls. Toss with desired amount of dressing and serve immediately.

Princess Brownies

I have no idea why these are called Princess Brownies; all I know is that my mom has been making them as long as I remember. They are super easy to make since they use a brownie mix, but they taste delicious every time.

If you like chocolate and you like cheesecake, you will love these! They are great for the upcoming holidays as well!

Princess Brownies

from Jo's Kitchen

Makes 24 brownies

1 package brownie mix, your choice

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 13 x 9 glass baking dish with cooking spray for baking.

Prepare brownie mix in large bowl as directed on box. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar; mix well with hand mixer. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Spread 1/2 of the brownie batter over the bottom of prepared baking dish. Cover with cream cheese mixture. Spoon on remaining brownie batter. Cut through with butter knife to marbelize.

Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into 24 bars.

Greek Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto

As you may know, I love to make and eat risotto, but sometimes it's a little tough during the week to find the time to make what can sometimes be a labor-intensive dish. When I really think about it though, the time spent standing there stirring the rice and broth around pretty much equals any other sort of nice meal I would make anyway, so I should really make it more often (or at least until I have a crying infant needing my attention)!

This one did not disappoint. Even Chuck, who is not wild about feta, enjoyed this because there were a lot of other flavors in there - the shrimp, asparagus, dill, and lemon. Everything combined to make a satisfying meal.

I didn't change anything about the original recipe except to use all chicken broth instead of water for some of it. I halved the recipe for Chuck and I and we ate it all in one sitting!

Here's the link:

Greek Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto

Oriental Beef and Noodles

More meals to freeze and this one was super simple. It was made in the slow cooker; something I don't normally do on a workday because I leave too early and our dinner is usually dried out by the time we eat at night, 12 hours later. But this recipe called for cooking on low 9-10 hours, which I could manage.

Not a pretty dish, but we really liked this for an easy dinner. It is not for those watching their salt intake though, unless you can find a low-sodium stir fry sauce (I could not), but tasty nonetheless. It uses beef stew meat, which can obviously be tough and chewy, but after so long in the slow cooker it was practically shredding on our forks. Yum!

Oriental Beef and Noodles
adapted from Cook Once, Eat Twice Slow Cooker Recipes
Makes 4-6 servings

1 (16 ounce) package frozen stir fry vegetables
2 - 2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1" cubes
1 (12 ounce) bottle stir-fry sauce, any flavor
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles, broken
1/4 cup green onions, chopped

Coat a 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Place frozen vegetables in the bottom and top with stew meat. In a medium bowl, stir together stir-fry sauce, water, and red pepper. Pour over stew meat and vegetables in cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or on high for 4 1/2-5 hours (I recommend low, it will help to break the meat down more).

At the end of cooking time, discard spice packets from ramen noodles. Stir noodles and green onions into meat mixture. Cover and let stand 10 minutes more. Stir before serving. This can be kept on warm for 1-2 hours.

Zippy Turkey Bake

The time has finally come for me to start making meals that I can freeze and then use after the baby is born. We love casseroles in our house, so it's a fairly easy task. I got this recipe from a cookbook my mom had and played with the amounts of ingredients so that I could get two dinner-sized dishes out of it - one to eat now and one to freeze.

It turned out very well for a weeknight supper. I used ground turkey instead of ground beef, but you could use either (I didn't think Zippy Meat Bake had quite the right ring to it though). Chuck and I both enjoyed this slightly spicy, creamy, cheesy dish with just the right amount of hearty vegetables.

Zippy Turkey Bake
adapted from Taste of Home
Makes 6-8 servings

1 1/3 pound package lean ground turkey
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
3 medium zucchini or yellow squash, halved vertically and sliced
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 cups rice, cooked (I measured out 3 cups uncooked rice, not 3 cups cooked rice)
2 (4-ounce) cans diced green chilies
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 9 or two 8 x 8 baking dishes.

Cook turkey over medium heat in large skillet, drain. Add butter, zucchini, mushrooms, and green onions; cook and stir until vegetables are tender. Drain if necessary. Stir in chili powder, salt, and garlic powder. Remove from heat.

If the skillet is big enough, add rice, green chilies, sour cream, and 1 cup shredded cheese to turkey mixture and stir to combine. If not, add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix.

Turn mixture into baking dishes. Sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until heated through and slightly bubbly.

Pumpkin Raisin Oat Muffins

For those of us that love to bake, the first hint of fall weather (or really, just the word September) often starts brings about the strong desire to bake with pumpkin. And with the recent rumors of a pumpkin shortage, I ran out to the store and picked up some cans of the pumpkin puree - I need to go back soon to stockpile it! So when I saw these healthy muffins on my friend Jenn's blog, I decided they would be a good starting point for all things pumpkin.

Jenn suggests using yogurt instead of butter to make these a bit healthier, but I had some applesauce in my fridge already so I used that instead. Various taste-testers approved these and said you could barely notice that there was no butter! I often think I can taste a small difference, but for a mid-morning snack, they are perfect and you feel good eating them.

Pumpkin Raisin Oat Muffins

slightly adapted from Jenn and Food, Perfect Together

Makes 12 muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted or 1/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease and flour or line a 12-cup muffin tin.

Whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin, milk, egg, and butter/applesauce. Make a well in the dry mixture and gradually stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture, just until all ingredients are moistened. Fold in the raisins.

Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling about 3/4 of the way. Bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Cheesy Tomato Sausage Skillet

One of my favorite things to make on a weeknight is an easy pasta dish that can then be used as leftovers for Chuck's lunch the next day. And the quicker and easier it is, the better! This recipe is from my friend Brooke's food blog, and I changed it a bit since chicken is already on the menu this week.

I was pleased with how this came out, my recipe below reflects a little tweaking in the herbs and spices department, and I had to use Parmesan cheese because I forgot to buy the mozzarella! Using the hot Italian sausage gives the dish a little kick - we really enjoyed this!

Cheesy Tomato Sausage Skillet

slightly adapted from ...and a cookie for dessert

Makes 3-4 servings

8 ounces ziti or penne pasta

8 ounces hot Italian sausage

1 can Healthy Request cream of chicken soup

1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 1/2 cups skim milk

1 tablespoon dried basil

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella or freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta as directed until al dente. Drain and keep warm.

Heat a large skillet over mediun-high heat. Remove casings from sausage and crumble into pan. Cook until browned and cooked through. Reduce heat to medium; add soup, tomatoes, milk, and seasonings. Stir in cooked pasta. Cook about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until bubbly and heated through (sauce should slightly thicken).

Sprinkle with cheese and remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Serve with more cheese if desired.

Cake Batter Ice Cream

If you are one of those people who loves to lick the spoon after you have mixed up cake batter, then this ice cream is for you! One bite of this and you can taste the deliciousness that is the sweet, doughy cake batter - all without raw eggs!

I followed the recipe almost exactly, taking the tip to use fat-free half and half but keeping the whole milk. The milk is really what makes the difference - don't skimp on that and you can use low-fat or fat-free with the cream. Instead of putting the sprinkles in the batter, I topped the finished product with white chocolate chips and rainbow nonpareils - yum!

Here is the link right to where I found the recipe on Sweet Tea in Texas:

Cake Batter Ice Cream

Emeril's Macaroni Salad

Happy Labor Day everyone! As I sit here trying to mentally psych myself up to return to work tomorrow (only for 18 school days though!), I of course have to share with you the pasta salad I made to bring to my parents' today.

I was looking for something a little different, and when I saw this had goat cheese as well as prosciutto and olives in it, I knew it had to be a good flavor combination. I actually added 8 more ounces of pasta than the recipe called for since I was bringing it for a crowd; but didn't increase the other ingredients, so it looks a little sparse. If you make it according to the recipe, it will be chock full of good stuff.

The dressing had a nice flavor with the hint of Dijon mustard, and went nicely with all add-ins. The only other change I made was to use grape tomatoes instead of a whole one, so I will just link you right to the recipe. Hope everyone has a great day at work tomorrow!

Emeril's Macaroni Salad

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Whenever we go out to get ice cream, Chuck always chooses mint chocolate chip, so I really wanted to try and make it at home. This recipe was very good - Chuck loved that it uses mini chocolate chips so there is chocolate in every bite, rather than just every so often.

Obviously I didn't use the green food coloring, and I tried to make it a little lower in fat by using skim milk and light cream, which didn't work so well. The taste was still very good but it's definitely not as creamy as it should be. When I make this again I will just follow the original recipe!

I don't recommend that you change anything from the original so I will just link you to Food alla Puttanesca, where I found it!

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream