the Mighty Spud

Many of you read about my domestic backsliding from Friday's post. For the record, the scissors did make it off my floor and onto the table, but the bathrooms still have yet to be cleaned (ah...there's always tomorrow).

But since I started the conversation about trying just a little harder around home, I thought I would show you some shots from one of my favorite go-to meals when I'm really not in the mood to cook: the mighty spud.

Now, I rarely remember to actually put the potato in the oven when I'm supposed to, so I've developed a handy little procrastinator's trick to making a fluffy, crispy baked potato in a fraction of the time. Here's the trick:

:: take one or two potatoes (forked, of course, lest they explode) and put them in the microwave on high for at least 5 minutes. Conveniently my microwave has a "potato" setting so I just put the spuds in and hit Go.

As you might have learned, however, nuked potatoes are neither fluffy nor crinkled, so after the microwave is finished, I move on to step two: the toaster oven.

:: place the potatoes in the toaster oven on 400 degrees and bake (unfoiled) until the skins are wrinkled (about 10-15 minutes). They turn out just the way a baked potato should, minus all the waiting.

Then come the toppings. Judging by my photo above, you can see that I like cheese, carmelized onions (red is the best!), fresh chives and a little protein. I most frequently use chicken, but this time I sauteed up some deli ham (I was truthfully craving bacon but we didn't have any...).

Aren't they pretty all piled up like that?

For a final and NECESSARY touch I definitely don't forget the dollop of sour cream. I LOVE sour cream. A potato isn't a potato without it.

And yes, I do eat the skins.

Down to the last bite. Extra fiber, you know.

What are you eating this week?

Baby Steps for a Domestic Dropout

For someone with a blog about domestic pursuits, I have to confess that I have been a terrible role model lately. I barely cook. I rarely clean my house. I paid my mortgage payment 3 days late this month. I've gotten into the habit of tossing mail into a basket without even looking at it. I have no idea if we have enough toilet paper to get through the weekend.

In other words, I've been failing "home economics" with the flair of a dropout lately. So...when Monday rolled around earlier this week I decided that I needed to start trying harder. Take baby steps. Maybe reacquaint myself with the vacuum.

And so here is a story of my progress:

Monday: got up early, showered, and was ready for the day by 7:30. Made the bed (a small victory), paid bills, and designated one cleaning chore for the day: the floors.
Later: swept, mopped and vacuumed. Made baked potatoes for dinner (another small victory), and even had time to play frisbee AND do yoga.
Went to bed exhausted but happy.

Tuesday: got up a little later after hitting the snooze for 45 minutes. Still made the bed (hooray!) and picked another chore for the day: cleaning the kitchen.
Later, managed to plan a week's worth of healthy meals, go grocery shopping, clean kitchen AND make it to two evening events. Overall another good day.

Wednesday: husband has to literally drag me out of bed (seriously, he pulls my ankles off the bed), but manage to set a record by making bed again. I designate the bathrooms as my daily chore, and plan to make a healthy artichoke salad for dinner.
Later, accomplish salad but avoid bathrooms. Also, I did not work out or find the will to pick the scissors off my office floor (they'd been laying there since Monday).

Thursday: started day with similar scene involving me being pulled from my ankles out of bed. While making bed (4 days in a row!) I resolved to really clean the bathrooms this time, make another healthy dinner AND fit in a workout.
Later: substitute workout and bathroom cleaning for drinking beer and watching television, but still pull off a healthy dinner and even make leftovers. Scissors, however, are still laying precariously on floor.

Friday: try to pull the "it's Friday--I can sleep in" trick with husband to no avail. Make bed again! Make diligent plans to clean bathrooms before the weekend, spot clean the floors again, and serve a tasty buffalo chicken salad for dinner.
Later: it's too soon to tell, but it's not looking good for the bathrooms or those scissors on the floor...

Wishing you a happy (and domestic) weekend!
--steph

Ham & Cheese and cooking on the fly

I've been running around like a crazy person this week. Last night I managed to rush home from an all-day retreat, cram in some work, and then churn out sixteen handmade scones-from-scratch for a meeting later that night. And I did all of this in an hour-and-a-half.

Then, naturally, once I arrived I learned that I was not, in fact, scheduled to bring the evening snacks at all.

I really could have used that valuable tidbit of time-saving information about two hours earlier.

Yes--it's been that kind of week.
During weeks like this, I admit that I find it difficult to feed those I love, including myself. Which is why I'm so glad that last week I cooked. As in I actually cooked real dinners. I say it like this because it's been awhile. The truth is that for months now we've been following the FFYS ("Fend For YourSelf")food plan. Needless to say, dehydrated potatoes from a box have become a regular staple...
Breaking the mold, though, I did manage to throw together this little ham & cheese number from the most recent Everyday Food magazine (I'd give you the recipe but I can't seem to track it down at the moment...). It starts with some basics, like rice and spinach. And then adds one of my favorite punches of flavor: smoky, golden Gruyere cheese.
After the aforementioned ingredients are mixed, the ham and onions are sauteed together in white wine. We had leftover ham from Easter Sunday, and this seemed like a perfect way to use it up!
Above is the final, cheesy, scrumptious result. Affordable, hearty, and simple to prepare--this is the kind of dish I like.

And best of all, I froze half of it for a later date. Like, say, perhaps a week when I dont' have time to make dinner because I'm churning out scones at the last minute to bring to a group a week before I'm actually supposed to bring them.

Not that that ever happens to me...

Sweet Tooth

I couldn't very well dedicate a week of posts to my favorite things without including a few treats. Because I confess that I do have a bit of a sweet tooth.
Alright...maybe more than a "bit."
My favorite of the treats are probably cupcakes, but it's hard to say for sure. They're so cute and scrumptious. And easy to make.

Then again, so are scones. And cobbler. And cookies.
Overall I'd have to say that I prefer baking to cooking. This probably isn't great for the future of my waistline, but I can't hide who I am. There's just something appealing about flour and sugar and eggs all mixed together. Something that I don't find when...say...mixing chicken with rice and veggies.
This fondness for baked sweets runs in my family. My sister is the one who cleverly told me how to make sure my cookies don't go flat (a problem I've been having) and who knows the secrets of making zucchini bread in the croc pot. And then there's my dad, who always did the baking in the family, from birthday cakes to chocolate candy at Christmas.
Sweet tooths--the whole lot of us.

Now, if you'll excuse me...I'm going to eat some chocolate chip cookies for breakfast.

Do you have a sweet tooth, or were you one of those lucky people born without one? Share by posting your comment below!

**Just one more weekday until my new series (commence loud cheering), Je Ne Sais Quoi! I can't wait!**

Gruesome

I haven't posted any of my baking undertakings lately, and I figured that perhaps it was time once again for some lovely sweets. Fortunately, my sister was visiting and in the mood for cupcakes, and so I had the perfect excuse to dust off my muffin tins.
Now it has come to my attention that perhaps some of you have developed this impression of me as some type of homemaking diva. The type that makes everything from scratch, and always has a batch of warm cookies baking in the oven when someone comes over for a visit.

And it is true that hospitality is a quality of elegant females. And that I prefer to make things from scratch. And that I do often have frozen cookie dough in my freezer. But...I am not exempt from baking disasters.
With the best of intentions, and fresh ingredients, I managed to deliver some of the worst cupcakes I have ever baked. Everything went wrong. Everything.

The middles sunk into sad hollows. The edges turned crispy brown while the centers stayed gooey.
And they were chewy. Not fluffy. Not moist. Not light and airy.

Chewy.What went wrong, you ask? Well...we're not entirely sure, but the baking powder is our leading suspect.

So what did I do about my gruesome cupcakes?

I did what every normal person would do. I threw them away, went to Wal-Mart, and bought a cake mix. A cake mix that I will use later today to redeem this sad, sad baking story.And hope that this time they turn out something like the cupcake above.

What is your worst baking disaster? Make me feel better and share your story here by commenting below!

blueberry skillet

Holiday dinners are all fine and well, but my favorite mealtimes during this season are the breakfasts. I love getting up late and lingering around the kitchen table in my pajamas, eating leftovers and special breakfast dishes.

And so this year I thought I would add another morning entree to my holiday cooking repertoire: Blueberry Breakfast Skillet (isn't it pretty?).
Do you remember when I stocked up on blueberries this past summer and froze them in cup-size portions? I reasoned that someday, in the midst of cold winter weather, I would want to eat some of those delightful summer berries. And I was right.
While the blueberries defrosted in my cast iron skillet amidst sugar, cinnamon, and some tapioca, I whipped up the crust in my handy food processor. God bless the person who invented the food processor! They make dough-making a cinch.
And here it is, all ready to be rolled out. This buttery pastry is definitely on the sticky side, so make sure you have flour close at hand if you decide to make this dish. I had to start the rolling step over more than once before I got it right...
Transferring it to the blueberry-filled-skillet was also a bit of a challenge. The recipe recommends the aid of a rimless baking sheet, but I didn't have the patience for that. My transfer motto? Move quick. Very, very quick.
And here, friends, is the result. Hot and bubbly from the oven, it is sure to impress your overnight guests or hungry kiddos on Christmas morning.
To make this blueberry skillet breakfast for yourself and family this holiday season, click here for the free recipe from Sunset Magazine!

Note: I did make a few modifications to the recipe: I used half shortening and half butter in the pastry crust, blueberries instead of huckleberry, and I added a cap-ful of almond extract to the filling.

And, to be unabashedly self promoting, those lovely napkins you see beside the skillet are from my Winter Napkins pattern... I'm just saying...

Enjoy!

Chocolate AND Coffee??

It simply isn't the holiday season without some homemade cookies, right?

Four...five...six batches of homemade cookies. Plus cookie parties. And cookie exchanges. And bottles of Pepto.

So in the spirit of things, I thought I'd bake these little beauties this week.

I started where all good things begin: with chocolate. Dark, Ghiradelli chocolate to be exact. I always keep some on hand, just in case.
Just in case I need to melt it down into creamy perfection using my version of a double boiler.
And then whip it into a batter of cocoa, brown sugar, butter, eggs, and coffee. That's right--coffee. Four teaspoons of instant to be precise. Good enough to lick right off of the beater, I tell you.

Now, I've never made this chocolate coffee cookie recipe before, so I was a bit surprised to find that after the usual cookie-making steps, I was instructed to flatten out the dough and freeze it until firm. Fortunately it was about 20 degrees outside, so I had no problems with the freezing part. I just put the dough right out on the patio table for about 20 minutes, and Presto! Firm as my backside was before I ate these cookies.

Then came the rolling and sugar-ing. Isn't that a pretty mountain of treats?

And aren't they nice little soldiers, all lined up and ready for the oven?

Twelve minutes or so and here they are, all warm and petite, looking so cozy on my plate next to a tall glass of ice-cold milk. With the bittersweet and dark chocolates, plus the coffee, they are rich but not too sweet, which makes them a great grown-up cookie.

Not that I eat them like a responsible grown-up, of course. I've already had 5.

Try them for yourself this season (click here)!

Happy Friday!

I've Died...(part 2)

...and gone to turkey heaven. Again.

As I mentioned yesterday, my husband and I are deeply committed to cooking the perfect holiday turkey. This year we think we may have found it....

But before I unveil the finished bird, let's review. First there was the 24-hour brine.

And then the butterflying technique whereby the turkey is cut in half and laid out flat.

One additional intermediary step that I unfortunately forgot to snap photos of is the herbed-butter rub. This is where you create an intoxicating blend of herbs (the trifecta again: rosemary, sage and thyme), garlic, salt and pepper, and mix it into a buttery spread.

Then you rub the buttered mix in between the skin and meat of the turkey. This makes the turkey taste divine. Trust me. Divine.

And finally it is ready for the grill. As I said yesterday, this is the first year we have grilled our bird. And it is unquestionably the only way we'll cook our turkeys in the future.

It was that good.

That good, people.

The charcoal briquets were laid into the bottom of an old propane grill we had along with a drip pan and hickory chips (ummm...hickory...), and the turkey was laid out directly over the grate.

I only wish you could smell it.

And here, my friends, is the final result. It is a golden masterpiece if I do say so.

It took about two hours on the grill to get up to 165 degrees (the temp needed to avoid nasty things like food poisoning), and then another 10 minutes to rest.

And the flavor. Oh the flavor. The smoky goodness hits you first, followed by the more subtle hint of herbs. And both the white and dark meats were so juicy.

Let me just say that there were lots of high-fives and self-congratulations at the Hillberry house.

And of course some very hungry dogs hoping to get lucky.

They know a good turkey when they smell one.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the sides, like the artichoke parmesan stuffing I tried, and of course homemade apple pie!

in case you want to try:
recipe for grilled butterflied turkey from Sunset Magazine