Egg Casserole

My family came to Waco this weekend! It was so great to all be together again. They came to watch Sing, which is really good this year (SAE's year for Pigskin?). One of the traditions that we've started every time my family comes in is doing a Sunday Brunch before they head back home.

This time Cameron, Ryan, Deboard, Annie, Jeff, Kenci, and my family all got together to eat with my family. We had kolaches from West (maybe the best kolaches I've ever had!), pumpkin muffins that my mom made, danishes, fruit juice, and the recipe for this blog... Egg Casserole!

Egg Casserole 
 
I think my favorite meal of the day is breakfast. I could eat breakfast from every meal of the day... Or maybe sushi, or ice cream... Well anyway, breakfast food is one of my favorites!

My mom used to make this egg casserole all the time for us growing up. I remember one time she added the chives and parsley too early and it turned into a green-egg casserole.

Ingredients:

• 12 eggs
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp chives, chopped
• 1 tsp parsley, chopped
• 12 strips of bacon, crumbled
• 5 tsp milk (5 tsp for every 12 eggs)
• 1 pkg Jimmy Dean sausage, cooked and crumbled (hot, medium, whatever)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Additional Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms 
• 1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup thin-sliced green onions 
• 2-3 jalapenos
• If it seems like too make ingredients, add more eggs!

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Scramble the 12 eggs, 5 tsp of milk, salt, and pepper together. You want the eggs soft, but not runny. At the very end, fold in the chives and parsley. Mix in cooked sausage and any other extra ingredient.

Evenly butter a baking pan and distribute the egg/sausage evenly in the pan. Combine the cheese and sour cream and top the egg mixture and sprinkle the bacon on top. Tent with foil on top of egg casserole and bake for 20-30 minutes.

My favorite Valentine's dinner

Cameron and I had a great Valentine's Day. I hope everyone else did too! It snowed almost 6 inches... which is crazy for Dallas. We drove around his neighborhood and looked at all the different snowmen people made. I guess since Dallas doesn't get that much snow, everyone took advantage of it and made tons of snowmen. 

Oklahoma has been getting a ton of snow. My mom sent me a picture of my parent's backyard covered in snow!

So Mary Ilene has gotten a ton of school off this month, Ford got class canceled on Friday, Cameron got work off.... And I have gotten NO class canceled... This does not seem fair.

Anyway, my Valentine's weekend was cold, but so fun. I spent all weekend cooking (which was amazing). My Valentine's dinner was the best. Cameron and I went to Central Market on Friday and spent about two hours looking at all of the food, and it was during their Chocolate Festival, so I ate a lot of samples.

For dinner I used my cookbook Reata for all the recipes. While we were at Central Market they were having a 'Valentine's Sale' on their filets. So we got two really nice filets for a great price!

On the menu:

• Pan-seared pepper-crusted tenderloin with port wine glaze
• Garlic and jalapeno mashed potatoes (Cameron loves jalapenos... So I try to put them into a lot of dished we make together)
• BERRY CREME BRULEE (I was SO excited to make this, and it's so easy!) 

 

Pan-Seared Pepper-Crusted Tenderloin With Port Wine Glaze

This is a must that you have to try! In the cookbook it says that this recipe is Reata's best selling dish and once you've tried it, nothing else will do. I am going to have to agree. I literally covered my meat in this glaze. At first, I just had a little bit on my plate, but it brings out all the flavors of the meat and I will definitely make this one again, and soon!

Ingredients:

• 2 (8-10 oz) beef tenderloins, well trimmed
• 4 Tbl cracked black pepper, or coarsley gound
• Kosher salt
• 203 Tbl oil, for sauteing
• Port Wine Glaze (recipe listed below)

(The recipe was for 6 servings, so since it was just the two of us, we divided all the portions by 3, and got what is listed above.)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Generously coat both sides of each tenderloin with the cracked pepper. Season each side with salt. Heat a dry saute pan to smoking hot. Add the oil 1-2 Tbl at a time. When the oil is hot, add the crusted tenderloin and sear for about 3 minutes. This is really important, because a good, hot sear holds in the juices. Turn the steak and sear 3 minutes more on the other side. Repeat for all the steaks.

Reserve the seared steaks in a baking dish. Finish the steaks in the preheated oven for 9-11 minutes (for medium rare). Serve immediately on a bed of about 1/3 cup of the Port Wine Glaze.

For the Port Wine Glaze:

Ingredients:

(I halved the glaze, so times it by 2 if you are making it for a larger crowd)

• 1/4 (750-milliliter) bottle port wine (because the sauce reduces so much, an inexpensive bottle is fine. Although, don't go to Central Market if you are looking for inexpensive wine!)
• 1/6 cup honey
• 1 quart Veal Stock (This is another recipe in this book, but it takes a really long time to make, so just combine half chicken and half beef stock and it works out perfectly!)

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a large stockpot. Cook over high heat for about 1 hour, until the liquid has reduced by about 75 percent and is the consistency of syrup.

Mashed Potatoes

For some reason I thought I already put this recipe up here. I've made it before, but it never made it on the blog. I didn't take a ton of pictures of the process. So you'll just have to make it yourself and see it! This whole recipe serves about 6, but you'll be surprised how much of this you'll eat, plus it's good the next day too!

Ingredients:

• 5 Idaho Potatoes (skins optional)
• Water
• 8 Tbl unsalted butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper

And this is one of those recipes that you pick and add the other flavors. You can add one, two, or as many different combinations as you can think of. (I used jalapenos and garlic)

• 1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
• 5-6 garlic cloves. minced (and roasted if you'd like)
• 2-3 roasted shallots
• 3 jalapenos, seeded and minced
• 1/4 cup horseradish
• 2 cups asaigo cheese
• 1-3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup goat cheese
• etc etc etc!

Directions:

Cut the potatoes in half, the cut each half into quarters. In a large stockpot, bring the water to boil, add the potatoes, and continue boiling over high heat for about 20-25 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain.

The sauce: While the potatoes are boiling, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Lower the heat, slowly add the heavy cream, and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. If you are going to make a flavored potato, this is when you would add the extra seasoning, spice, or sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Continue simmering the cream until it has reduced by about 25 percent, and remove from heat.

Mash the boiled potatoes in the stockpot they were cooked in (saves another dish to clean after). While the potatoes are still warm (this is important for the flavor of the cream to be absorbed), add the hot cream sauce. Thoroughly combine the cream sauce with the potatoes to finish mashing. Serve immediately.

Berry Creme Brulee
 
And now... For the Berry Creme Brulee, one of my favorite desserts! This recipes serves about 6 as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 pint of blackberries (variation: raspberries, blueberries, 1/4 chocolate ganache... we did a combination of blackberries and raspberries)
• 11 egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 quart heavy cream
• 1 Tbl vanilla
• 1/2 cups granulated sugar, for topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Place 3-5 berried in the bottom of each of the 6 individual brulee bowls, or small oven safe serving bowls., and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Ina saucepan, combine the cream and the vanilla, and heat to approximately 160 degrees, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Slowly temper the warm vanilla cream into the egg and sugar mixture, stirring constantly. Make sure you add it gradually and stirring constantly so you don't accidentally scramble your eggs!

Ladle about 1 cup of the mixture into each serving bowl. Place all the bowls into a baking dish that is deep enough to hold the bowls and the water. Fill the baking dish with water halfway up the serving bowls.

 

Bake for about 80 minutes. The custard is done when the an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and the water bath, and let cool slightly.

Sprinkle each serving with sugar. Using a butane torch, slowly and evenly brown the sugar topping, taking care to only caramelize and not scorch. If you're like me, and you don't have a torch (or you bought one and found out that there was no lighter fluid in it) place the sugar-topped custards under the broiler briefly. Watch very closely, because the sugar will turn dark very quickly.

 

And that was my very favorite Valentine's dinner. With the perfect finish to the meal. I'll put up more recipes of our weekend later, but I thought this was enough recipes for one post!

I thought I would end my post with my gorgeous dozen lilies Cameron gave me for Valentine's Day!

Sweet Cupid Cupcakes & Uganda Pizza

Another Wonderful Wednesday! Tedi came over tonight and shared a couple of her recipes! It's freezing and windy outside, so a perfect time to cook! We made pizza for dinner and since it's so close to Valentine's Day, we made very festive cupcakes decorated like cupid!

Last summer, Tedi and Blair went to Africa and ate Uganda pizza, and so this is where she got this pizza recipe. Since I didn't have a lot of time tonight, because of Pi Phi Misses and Sing, we store bought some parts of this meal. But you can always make it from scratch!

 Uganda Pizza

This pizza was incredible delicious and so simple. It's a twist on the Hawaiian Pizza. My brother LOVES Hawaiian Pizza, but I think this is even better. And on the theme of Valentine's Day... We made a heart shaped pizza!

 Ingredients:

• 2 Bananas
• 1 Pineapple, cored and chopped
• Canadian Bacon
• Ragu Traditional Pasta Sauce
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Oregano
• Garlic Salt
• Premade Pizza Dough (like I said, we didn't have enough time to make it from scratch) 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees (or to the suggested temperature of the pizza dough).

Core and dice the pineapple. First, cut off the top of the pineapple and use a corer to take out the core of the pineapple, then take the core and dice the remaining pineapple... And if you're like Tedi... You can drink the juice left over in the pineapple.

Next, cut the bananas and Canadian bacon into small pieces. Spread the dough into the pan, since ours was heart shaped, it took a little more effort to fit the pizza to the pan. We used a cup as a rolling pin to help evenly spread the dough.

After you smooth out the dough, cover the dough with a layer of the Ragu sauce. Next, put a think layer of mozzarella cheese and then begin to layer the toppings. Tedi and stuffed as many toppings as we could on the pizza. The more the tastier! After you've fit as many toppings on the pizza as you can, add another heavier layer of cheese on top.

To finish it off, sprinkle both the oregano and garlic salt on top of the entire pizza and stick it into the oven for 12 minutes, or however long the dough package indicates.

Tedi and Blair went to Uganda for a mission trip last summer, and during one of the days in one of the towns they came across this pizza, and I'm so glad Tedi shared it with me, because it's a great memory for her, and a delicious and affordable meal for me!

Sweet Cupid Cupcakes

Usually I put recipes on here for the taste, but this time I'm putting the recipe on here for the look.

These are Sweet Cupid Cupcakes, and even though you can make the cupcakes from scratch, we made these chocolate cupcakes from the box (again, lack of time). But we did use milk instead of water, probably not as healthy, but definitely more moist!

If you look through Tedi's pictures on fb you know she likes to decorate cupcakes. I told her she should open a cupcake shop named "Tedi Bear Cupcakes." I think it would be a big hit, especially in Bear Country Waco! But for now, I guess she'll just be a cool accountant that makes festively decorated cupcakes! It was so much fun decorating all of these with her. Annie and Ryan even took a break from studying and came downstairs to decorate a few!

 Ingredients:

• 24 cupcakes (any flavor of your choice, baked from your favorite recipe), we make chocolate cupcakes from the box to save time... And so we could focus on decorating our Cupid's!
• 1 bag of heart shaped candies, one for each cupcake (ex: Dove, Crunch, etc)
• Toothpicks (hold together wings)
• Marshmallows (wings)
• Rice Crispies Cereal (hair)
• Red, Blue, and White gel icing (lips, eyes, and hands)

Cream Cheese Icing:

• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Directions:

Icing: In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip. 

Decorating: After icing the cupcakes, for wings, use kitchen knife to cut two slits into the marshmallow for a feathery look, then insert a toothpick and stick the toothpicks into the cupcake.

Press a handful of crisped rice cereal along the top of the cupcake for Cupid's curly locks, then add a decorators' gel mouth and eyes. Finally, set a candy heart in place and pipe on frosting fingers.

The Best Mac n' Cheese Ever & Lemon Blossoms

I just found out that Giada De Laurentiis uses the same knives as me! Annie and I were watching her show a couple of days ago (stay tuned for some recipes from her) and I noticed that she uses Global knives, the same knives my Grandad got me for Christmas!

Aren't they beautiful!?! He got them at Williams-Sonoma. Along with a knife roll (what chefs carry their knives in, like on Top Chef), and a sharpener.

Well today I finally got to meet the new SAE pledges. They came over today and I decided we would all cook together. This week, since I had never met them before, I did all the cooking. But next week we're making fried chicken!

I made the decision to pre-make all the food 45 minutes before the guys got to my house. So Ryan came home and we made the mac-and-cheese and lemon blossoms in a rush.

The BEST macaroni and cheese EVER

 

I got this recipe from a cookbook I got for Christmas, Reata, Ledendary Texas Cuisine. This is one of the first recipes I've used from this cookbook. But after the success of this recipe, I'll be using a lot more.

I made this recipe with fresh jalapenos, which gave it a spicy kick, but you can also use pickled jalapenos too. Pickled or fresh, the jalapenos and bacon take this dish WAY beyond the normal 'box' version. You can serve this as a side or as the main dish!

 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup asiago cheese, grated (splurge on the cheese!)
• 1/2 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 4 cups elbow macaroni, cooked and drained (I miss read this aaaand I made 4 cups of dried macaroni, which made about 8-10 cups of cooked macaroni! Haha so needless to say, I have a ton of left overs)
• 1/4 cup fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced (about 1 1/2 jalapenos)
• 5 slices of bason, cooked crisp and crumbled
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshley ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs (optional, but delicious, I use Town House Original Crackers, they are buttery and you can crumble them in your hands as you top the mac n' cheese... perfect!)

Directions:

Preheat the oven on the broil setting.

Heat a large pot to medium and add the heavy cream. When the cream begins to bubble around the edges, add the grated asiago and shredded Monterey Jack cheese, stirring constantly until they are completely melted.
Fold the cooked macaroni into the creamy cheese mixture and combine until thoroughly incorporated. Add the diced jalapenos and crispy bacon crumbles. 

At this point, the cheese mixture should be nicely blended and melted to the point of being stringy. In fact, when you pull out your mixing spoon, the cheese should have the consistency of glue. If the mixture appears too wet, add a little more asiago and Monterey Jack, small handfuls at a time. If the mixture seems too dry, add more heavy cream, 2 Tbl at a time.

Season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into a large baking dish and distribute evenly. Top with shredded cheddar and bread crumbs.

Place the baking dish under the broiler. WATCH IT CLOSELY. The casserole is done when the shredded cheese on top begins to bubble and the top layer of macaroni starts to brown around the edges. Serve and enjoy! Feeds around 12ish people!

Looks like everyone liked it!

Lemon Blossoms:

These Lemon Blossoms are fattening, delicious, and miniature... So you can just pop them right in your mouth. Elizabeth got them from Ms. Paula Deen, and I got them from her! She made them for SAE voting meeting, and after inhaling around a dozen, I decided to make them myself!

Ingredients:

• 18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
• 3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze:

• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray, make sure you butter them really well, or they'll stick to the pan. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel 

To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth. 

With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

Sausage Balls

This week for SAE meeting I decided to make sausage balls and orange slices. Something healthy with something not so healthy. The combination of the two smells, oddly, compliment each other. I had some requests for the recipe for my sausage balls (David), so I decided to post it!

They are really easy to make, and all the ingredients only cost me $20 and one batch makes 6 dozen sausage balls.

Sausage Balls

Ingredients:

• 2 packages (2 lbs) hot flavored Jimmy Dean pork sausage
• 1 1/2 cups baking mix (I use pancake mix)
• 16 oz. (4 cups) Sharp Cheddar or Jalapeno Jack Cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped jalapeno (about 3)
• 1/2 cup onion (about 1/2 of one onion)
• 2 tsp minced garlic (1 clove)
• 1 tsp chili powder

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients and roll into 1' inch balls. Line a baking sheet with foil (easier for clean up) and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and eat up! The boys demolished them in about 10 seconds.

I've had a lot of people ask how you follow my blog. On the right column of my blog you'll see "Followers". Just click on the "Follow," sign in and there you go! (Side note: you don't have to have a blog to become a follower). You can be like one of my 7 followers (yes I know, I'm a follower of my own blog, I don't know how that happened, but I am)... And so should you!!!!

Tasty Tomato Soup

I was in Dallas this weekend for Jen's wedding shower, it was so fun. Jen got the most incredible kitchen appliances, utensils, serving bowls, platters, measuring cups, spoons, cookbooks, etc... Needless to say, I was jealous!

Cameron and I went to Williams Sonoma (one of my favorite stores EVER) and it took a while for us to pick out what to get Jen and Craig... We ended up getting this 10-piece set of glass bowls, salt and pepper shakers, and Cameron picked out this hard boil egg timer (you put it in the water with the egg and after a certain amount of time in the water the device, shaped like an egg, tells you when your egg is boiled!).

For lunch on Sunday I made Ford and Cameron some roasted tomato-bread soup, and Mr. and Mrs. Ongena came over just in time to eat with us! But as a side note, this soup is delicious and perfect for a cold drizzly day like Sunday was, but to feed hungry boys, like Cameron and Ford, I would recommend making a salad, or grilled cheese to pair with this yummy soup. I love to dip grilled cheese in tomato soup!

Another great thing about this soup is it doesn't take a lot of ingredients! You might have some of these ingredients lying around, but if you don't its not expensive or time consuming to pick them up at the store.

Roasted Tomato-Bread Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 pound vine-ripened tomatoes, quartered and seeded (about 3 tomatoes)
• 3 tablespoons EVOO, plus more for garnish (the recipe calls for garlic-infused extra-virgin olive oil, but I just had regular EVOO and used garlic salt instead)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (And garlic salt!)
• 1/2 cup finely sliced fresh basil leaves, plus more leaves for garnish
• 1(28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 loaf sourdough baguette (day-old, its a little bit stall and soaks up all the flavor better) or 1/4 loaf country/ french bread, torn into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Put the tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, toss with 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Roast until the tomatoes are softened and the edges are beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the garlic oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the basil and stir for about 30 seconds. 

Add the canned tomatoes with their juice and the water; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the bread and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir the oven-roasted tomatoes and any cooking juices into the saucepan and simmer for another 3 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary, and ladle into serving bowls. Garnish with a drizzle of garlic olive oil and basil leaves.

ENJOY!!!

Scratching the Surface

Another "Wonderful" Wednesday! My favorite part of the week. This week it was Deboard's turn to pick out the menu and she did a great job. This blog is fittingly named because we made everything from scratch, right down to the banana cream pie whipped cream. We pretty much did everything but grow our own bananas.

It's also Ryan's birthday today, so we turned the dessert into her birthday cake (although I couldn't find any candles, so I just stuck a match in the center and Ryan blew it out. I thought Deboard was going to have a heart attack because she was so worried the whole pie would catch on fire.)

I also learned a lot of great tips about cooking. Ryan gave lots of tips while we were cooking, and I hope I can remember all of them as I write this.

A recommendation for this dinner is make the pie first. Since we started at the same time, we ended up eating dessert at 11:00 pm (which was perfect because it was Ryan's birthday). But the filling has to cool for a couple of hours, so plan on making the pie ahead of time.

Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake

The main course was this pasta bake! I made the mistake of putting the mozzarella into the pasta dish (when the directions say to just layer is on top) but it was still really good, and the whole thing got really cheesy on the inside) so you can just put the mozzarella on the inside or on the top... Or both! 

 Ingredients:

• 8  ounces  uncooked rigatoni (rigatoni is a tubed shaped pasta
  
• 1  Tbl olive oil
• 1  cup finely chopped onion (about 1 medium)
• 1  (10-oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 3  cups cubed cooked chicken breasts (this is about four whole chicken breasts)
  
• 1  (14.5-oz.) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, not drained
  
• 1  (8-oz.) container chive-and-onion cream cheese
• 1/2  tsp salt
• 1/2  tsp pepper
• 1 1/2  cups shredded mozzarella cheese (the more the merrier)
  

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare Rigatoni according to packaging. Tip #1: If you want to know when the pasta is done... Throw it against the wall! If it sticks, it's done! (Although don't be like deboard and rocket launch it towards the wall... Because it will never stick with that method.)

Meanwhile, spread oil on bottom of an 11- x 7-inch baking dish; add the chopped onion in a single layer.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or just until tender. Transfer onion to a large bowl, and set aside.

Drain chopped spinach well, pressing between layers of paper towels. If you are using frozen spinach, like we did, there is a ton of water.

Stir rigatoni, spinach, chicken, and next 4 ingredients into onion in bowl. Spoon mixture into baking dish, and sprinkle evenly with shredded mozzarella cheese. (Or do what I did and just mix the mozzarella in with the pasta.

Bake, covered, at 375 degrees for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 15 more minutes or until bubbly.

Variation: Substitute 3 cups cooked, crumbled hot Italian sausage for 3 cups cubed cooked chicken breasts. Reduce salt to 1/4 tsp, and take out pepper. I thought this would be a great variation to this dish. Since the Italian sausage is already seasoned and very flavorful your don't have to season the pasta with as much salt and no pepper.

ONIONS: Since the recipe didn't specify what type of onion to use, I thought I would do some research on the different variations of onions. I got this information off of BBC's Good Food website:

How to pick out the right onion: Look for firm onions, with no soft spots, damp or mouldy patches. 

• White onion: medium to large in shape, with a white papery skin and evenly white flesh. They have a strong flavour and are good for stuffing or baking; only use raw in salads if you want an assertive onion flavour.
• Yellow/brown onion: a good all-purpose onion, with a light golden skin and yellow flesh.
• Spanish onion: has a similarly colored skin to a yellow/brown onion, but is usually bigger, as well as sweeter and milder. Good for omelettes, salsas and stir-fries.
• Red onion: varies in size, but has a distinctive red/purple skin, and the edge of each of its white rings is tinged with red. The flavor is mild and quite sweet. Good for salads, marinades, salsas and roasts. 

Tomato, Mozzarella, & Avocado Salad

I look bringing a meal together, both the salad and the main course have mozzarella in them. Although the dishes taste very different, I love having that connecting ingredient to tie the meal together. This salad is so light, and could even be eaten alone.

 This recipe if from the cookbook Simple But Perfect Salads, the taste of summer all year round. You will see more of this book in the future, all of the pictures look incredible. 

Inredients:

• 2 ripe beefsteak tomatoes (these are the biggest tomatoes, and have a meaty texture with a sweet, mellow flavor. They are good for salads, grilling or stuffing.)
• 3 1/2 oz/ 100 g mozzarella cheese (coarsely torn into pieces)
• 2 Avocados (Tip #2: When you are making guacamole, put the pit in the guacamole so it'll stay fresher longer)
• Few fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces (unfortunately Waco's ghetto HEB does not carry fresh basil, so we had to omit this ingredient)
• 20 black olives (I love olives, but Ryan doesn't, and she tried a few with the salad and really enjoyed it. It really adds an extra kick to the dish)
• Fresh crusty bread, to serve

For the Dressing: (We doubled this)

• 1 Tbl olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp coarse grain mustard
• salt and pepper

Directions:

Using a sharp knife, cut the tomatoes into thick wedges and place in a large serving dish. Drain the mozzarella cheese and coarsely tear into pieces. Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. Cut the flesh into slices, then arrange the mozzarella cheese and avocados with the tomatoes.

Mix the oil, vinegar, and mustard together in a small bowl, add salt and pepper, then drizzle over the salad.

Sprinkle the basil and olives over the top and serve at once with fresh crusty bread.

And the dessert:

Banana Cream Pie with Graham cracker Crunch

This dessert came from The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook. Pretty much hundreds of different ways to use chocolate chips.

This is like the deluxe version of banana cream pie. You can always go out and buy a graham cracker crust and whipped cream... But making everything from scratch makes it taste that much better.

Ingredients:

Crust and topping:

• 2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (you can buy pre-crumbed graham crackers (found in the baking section) but its a lot more affordable to crunch them yourself!) We used cinnamon flavored graham crackers
• 2 Tbl sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (or one stick) unsalted butter, melted (we ended up using about 1 1/2 sticks)
• 1 cup (8 oz) minature semisweet chocolate chips

Filling:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk (we used 2%... Easier on the belly)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbls all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Whipped Cream Topping:

• 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
• 1 Tbl Powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 bananas, sliced about 1/4 inches thick

Directions:

Make the crust & topping:

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch pie pan and a baking sheet (The baking sheet is for the topping).

In a large bowl, stir the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon together. Mix in the melted butter until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Mix in the chocolate chips. Press 2 1/4 cups of the crust mixture evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan. Put the remaining crust mixture on the baking sheet and press into a circle approximately 8 inches in diameter.

Bake the crust and topping for 6 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes.

Put the 1/2 cup chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl or the top of a double boiler and place it over a saucepan of barely simmering water; the water shoudl not touch the bowl. Stir until the chocolate chips are melted and smooth... We ran out of chocolate chips.. So I broke up a Hershey's bar, put it in a bowl, added a little milk and put it in the microwave until it was all melted and then stirred until everything was well blended... It worked the same and saved time.

Use a small spoon to drizzle the melted chocolate over the topping on the baking sheet. Let the topping sit until the chocolate is firm.

Make the filling:

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over low heat just until it is hot; it should measure about 150 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolk, and sugar until smooth. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot milk into yolk mixture. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to reach into the corners to prevent scorching, until it thickens and ust comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook at gentle boil for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Pour the pastry cream through a fine strainer into a medium bowl. Stir in vanilla. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the pastry cream and use the tip of a knife to poke a few holes in a plastic wrap to let the steam escape. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until cool to the touch (don't try to cheat and put it in the freezer, because it will change the consistancy of the filling). The pastry cream will thicken as it cools.

Make the topping:

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on a medium-high speed, beat the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until firm peaks form. I always use Julia's mixer... But I returned it to her... So Deboard and I took took turn rapidly mixing the cream as fast as we could.

Spread about one-third of the banana slices over the bottom of the crust. Gently stir the remaining banana slices into the cold filling, and spoon the filling over the bananas. Use a thin metal spatula to spread the whipped cream over the filling. Use the edge of a wide metal spatula (or large knife) to cut the crunch into about 1-inch pieces, then use the spatula to lift th chunks of crunch and gently place them on the whipped cream, covering it thickly. Some plain pieces of chocolate may separate from the crumbs as you move them; this is fine. Sprinkle any crumbs over the top.

Serve, or cover carefully and refrigerate for as long as overnight. Serve cold.