in the kitchen

yes, i actually spent a LITTLE time in my kitchen this week! amazing feeling! i had the duty of making an appetizer to take to my parents house for their little 4th of july gathering. so earlier this week i pulled out my recipe stash and started to go through it. this was also in an effort to find some recipes that i wanted to make prior to hitting the grocery store. i'm trying to organize my meal planning a bit instead of not putting enough effort into it. as my husband would prefer that i stop waiting until 6 pm to think about what i should make for dinner.... anyways... so along my journey through my recipe collection i found a dip recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Dip. i had clipped this recipe from the Post-Gazette one sunday. the recipe is paired with two other recipes that look wonderful, 3-cheese baby burgers with paprika-lemon aioli and muffuleta subs. both are on my list of recipes to try. but the roasted red pepper dip sounded perfect.... easy to make, easy to find ingredients (this needs to be considered with you are grocery shopping with a baby the day prior to a major holiday) and most of all it sounded tasty.

So yesterday morning, i put max down for a nap at 10, pulled my food processor down from the shelf and made this AWESOME dip.
















here's the recipe:
Roasted Red Pepper Dip
1 8 oz package cream cheese, cut up
6 oz feta cheese, crumbled
6 roasted red sweet peppers, drained (i used a 12 oz jar of roasted red peppers in strips and it was just perfect)
1 teaspoon salt (i omitted this, i rarely add salt to anything i make and i figured that with the feta it would be salty enough)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh mint, lightly chopped (i think i added about 3 tablespoons)
pita chips, crackers or toast points (i served it with plain pita chips)
In a food processor, combine cream cheese, feta cheese, roasted peppers, salt and black pepper. Cover and process until combined. Stir in mint. Serve with pita chips, crackers or toast points. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

it was really really good! it turns this pretty pink/orange color with flecks of bright green from the mint. and the MINT, ooh the mint... adds a great dimension that is really fun for your mouth!

if you're looking for an easy to make dip recipe that will be sure to please, this is a great option!

photo to come soon!

max tried to eat the cat

so stinky came up to max today, plopped down on the carpet and max went in for the kill. apparently stinky had the same mode of play in mind because he didn't move, he didn't twitch he did nothing but stay where he plopped so that max could bury his face in stinky's belly, play with stinky's feet and give him the Max Death Grip! funny stuff.... no photos sorry.

as for knitting, i've done a few more ball bands, and i've got one of those on the needles and a baby genius burp cloth from mason dixon knitting. i'm trying to see how large this one comes out so that i can adapt the pattern to be large enough for a kitchen towel. i think that would be a good texture for one. they knit up quickly as well and fairly brainless but still fun.

chris is finished with the semester, this means he's home most of the time doing things from a list that was created from things that have been put off since january. this is a huge adjustment for both of us. i'm not used to being here while he is home in the summer, and he's not used to me being here. it's an adjustment.... one good thing (among many regarding being home during the day), max naps while the sun is at it's best and optimum location for sunning on the deck! i WILL be tan again this summer! it's been a long time since i've had the ability and time to actually get some sun during the day.

ooh, i made some kick ass mac and cheese..... chris had an opening this past sunday so i made some cheese trays. there was a lot of cheese left over, so instead of it rotting away in our fridge i decided to make some mac and cheese.

5-8 oz asiago
5-8 oz smoked gouda
5-8 oz sharp aged cheddar
5-8 oz regular cheddar
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 slightly beaten eggs
1 stick o butter
1 lb of elbow noodles, cook to al dante

butter casserole dish
shred all cheese and toss together

once noodles are cooked, drain and melt the stick o butter in the pot that you boiled the noodles in, once melted add noddles back in, toss to coat. then add milk and all but 1/2 cup of cheese, stir. add beaten egg and combine. transfer to the casserole, top with remaining cheese. and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until edges are bubbly. mmmm good stuff! was really great with a few slices of fresh apple on the side!

ok, this entry was pretty lame.... sorry for all of you devout readers... hopefully i'll have more to write about in a day or so.

first time in the woods in over a year and a really good meal

yesterday chris and i took max for a short hike in at Raccoon State Park - in the wild flower preserve. it was max's first trip to the woods, his first real experience in the Kelty carrier and my first time in the woods in over a year! while i was pregnant with max i was just not able to catch my breath most of the time so that meant that hiking was just not very enjoyable... so last night we kinda make an impromptu decision to pack up max and "the max pack" and drive to a nearby hiking spot for a short hike at dusk. max loved it! and so did i!

here are some photos:
i also made a spectacular dinner on saturday. i was inspired by an italian cooking show on PBS she featured a calamari salad that just sounded so good and a pasta dish with a simple pesto sauce. the pesto sauce was really easy and sounded soooo good so i made it that night.

ingredients:
a few bunches of fresh basil
about two cups or a little less of almonds
olive oil
garlic
red pepper flakes
really ripe cherry tomatoes - i used most of a large container of these from Costco, two small containers would be perfect.
in the food processor, you blend the almonds and most of the basil until it's a crumbly/pasty consistency, then you add garlic and red pepper flakes, olive oil and the cherry tomatoes, blend until it turns this nice light pink color then add the rest of the basil. meanwhile, cook your favorite pasta. once the pasta had been drained, drizzle with olive oil, then toss with the pesto and some Parmesan cheese and serve. oh was this good! no photo of this one this time... we were starved and it was 9 pm and we didn't have much to eat all day... i served this along side chicken breast that i just quickly cooked in a skillet with some seasoning. all very tasty.