A Real Simple Thanksgiving

Yesterday was a Thanksgiving filled with the warmth and love that I often associate with Christmases long past. I didn't want it to end so I even slept at Mom & Dad's last night so I could maintain the magic as long as possible. It was an unexpected sweetness which I have learned in life are by far the best kinds of days. Nothing spectacular happened...nothing amazing...I was just reminded of how much I love my family.

As to the real simple side of things, I remember a Chicago day long ago when I was introduced to the magazine Real Simple. I had a roommate during Mission Year who had it delivered to our apartment. When the roomies questioned her about it's contents her reply was "Well, it's real. Real simple. You know?" (Which we, of course, did not know). I think that's what drew me to it years later when I had long returned to New England...I was amused by the house joke, but as I opened it's pages I discovered the awesomeness that is that magazine. It has amazing recipes (which of course are my favorite part of it!) but they also have organization and practical fashion tips and things. So, when I got my free trial November issue in the mail I had my sticky notes ready to pick out my contributions to Thanksgiving dinner.

My appetizer was stuffed mushrooms with spinach, garlic, gruyere cheese, and gluten-free breadcrumbs. I was going to take a picture but they were a hot commodity and I didn't snap one in time!

My side was sweet potatoes with parmesan cheese, toasted pecans and thyme. Mmmm...

Dessert was a flourless chocolate torte. It was so rich and yummy, I made sure to leave that one at my parent's house in order to save myself from the overindulgence :) photo of torte courtesy of my beautiful photographer cousin Missy Boudreau

All in all, a very real and simply warm Thanksgiving.

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/stuffed-mushrooms-spinach-00000000044913/index.html

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/sweet-potatoes-pecans-00000000044529/index.html

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/flourless-chocolate-cake-00000000044848/index.html

Leftovers and frosting guns....

A big bowl o'rice--

That's what I was left with after my grandmother's birthday party this weekend. A big mixing bowl full of wild and basmati rice. So naturally, this week's challenge: How many ways can you use rice without getting bored or spending more money?

This is the account rice meal Number 1:                 Coconut Rice and Beans

            I took some coconut oil and cooked up some green onions, minced garlic, and baby bella mushrooms. Then I added a drained can of black beans and cooked for about 5 minutes or so, seasoning with garlic powder, sesame seeds, and Mrs. Dash.

In another pan, I added a half a can of light coconut milk, and added the already cooked rice, cooking until the liquid had been absorbed into the rice.

I served it along with some blue corn tortilla chips and mango peach salsa.

I know it doesn't look like much, but it was good hearty comfort food and my guests seemed pleased!

For Dessert:   GF Pumpkin Cupcakes!!


You may remember me speaking of the little accordian frosters I had used to decorate the cake for the baby shower. Well, they had an unfortunate accident last week involving an accidental knock into the sink, running water, and the garbage disposal. :( When I went to Pampered Chef to buy some new ones...I saw something even better:

a frosting gun with interchangable, removable tips!!!

Naturally, I couldn't wait to use it, so in addition the rice I brought to Grandma's birthday, I also brought pumpkin cupcakes. The cupcakes were super easy. I just used some GF yellow cake mix ( I bought mine at Ocean State Job Lot really cheap), and replaced the water with a can of pumpkin. The frosting is your basic cream cheese and powdered sugar. I know it looks like I used all the same tips here, but I tried out different star shapes, and experimented with the little basket weave. I'm sure I will get better at it over time, but I was so excited about how these came out that I saved a few and served them for dessert last night!

Peter, peter, pumpkin eater

That squirrel (we'll call him Peter) was at it again. I think that was the start of it. I had bought a pumpkin to decorate for my sister-in-law's baby shower and I had it for less than a week before the brazen little beast found it and started nibbling away. He ate my chives last summer, he's taken to eating my wooden rocker chair, and now--the pumpkin. Peter isn't afraid of anything. I'll go out there and shoo him away, and I can almost hear the expletives in his little brain, "yeah ok lady...." My dog Jake really wants to get him, and often will wait at the sliding glass door just hoping for a chance. One of these days, I might "forget" to leave the glass closed and let Jake take care of business.

But anyway, back to the pumpkin. He ate a half-dollar sized surface nibble out of the pumpkin and was working his way onto the stem. That stupid pumpkin had cost me $10 and believe me when I say I wasn't about to let the squirrel have it! That's when I decided I would cut off the piece he had eaten and cook up the rest. No one warned me what I was in for. Two and a half hours later, as I hunched over the floor (since I had to move there since after the first hour at the counter, I knew there had to be a better plan) I was still cutting and peeling and dicing. Above is a photo of the cutting mid-stage.

I consoled myself with the delicous pumpkin seeds I would soon have and woke up Sunday to make them bright and early. I was still in some endo pain, but figured what better than pumpkin seeds to make it all better? I love them salty, but not super salty so I decided a teaspoon of brown sugar mixed with 3/4 tsp of salt might do the trick. It did. They came out wonderful and I enjoyed eating every bite of my pumpkin seed breakfast.

Until...the nausea began. I kid you not, pumpkin seeds can do some damage to the esophagus. I didn't know a cyst had ruptured making me ill. Had I known this, I think pumpkin seeds would have been the last thing I'd have eaten. Despite this, maybe I'll try my recipe again sometime. They were good going down at least.

I decided I'd lay off the pumpkin for a few days and the cubed pieces sat in my fridge. Last night, when I realized I needed something for lunch today I decided I wou.ld make the Pumpkin Leek soup (http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pumpkin-leek-soup-10000001664015/index.html)   I'd had my eye on for a while. I had to read the recipe carefully since I have never cooked leeks before since I probably would have cut up the green part. Apparently you use the white and light green parts. The soup made a tasty lunch and I think those little leek pieces have a little bit of a spicy kick.

As exciting as this pumpkin adventure has been, I think next time I might just sacrifice my pumpkin to Peter and use the can.

Comfort food

Sometimes, there's nothing in the world better than some simple comfort food. That is usually synonymous with warm and cheesy if you are a mouse like me. Today I had 10 parent conferences...by the end, I'm not even sure what I was saying so I am really glad I had prepared good notes for myself! I dragged myself home around 5:45 and wanted some comfort food right quick so I thought back to my childhood favorites, and settled on the tuna melt. In order to make a tuna melt just right, you must season the tuna just so (my favorites are celery salt and onion powder and a little chopped up celery), toast the bread alone once, and then re-toast it with the tuna and American cheese. It's pretty rare that I have gluten-free bread on hand since I don't eat it often enough to encourage myself to bake it, but a friend gave me some on Sunday so I was excited to get to use it. As I took the first bite my insides sighed "Ahh", and for a few moments all was right with the world once more...I am finishing my night curled up with a good book, decaf chai, and a blanket.  He provides such sweet rest for the weary...

Keen- wha?

After explaining to my guests that quinoa (keenwa) is actually the thing we all think at first is kwee-no-a and it is a grain--we sat down to eat the meal I had prepared in advance last night. I'm a newbie to quinoa myself, and since the little bag of it has been sitting in my cabinet for months, I thought it was high time to put it to use. I can't take credit for this recipe, but I can attest that it is pretty great. It had a pretty light and summery taste, but the thing I learned about quinoa tonight is that it makes you FULL! I also learned that quinoa looks weird. I have a fairly old camera with not alot of tricks so all the close-ups I tried to take came out all blurry but quinoa ends up looking like little risotto balls with curly-cue hairs. Fear not, it does not in any way taste hair-like! It's flavor is a little like brown rice, but less nutty than brown rice can be. This recipe here has some grated carrots, apples, green onions, and dried cranberries with a homemade apple honey mustard dressing. I let it sit overnight, and I think it was a hit because people went back for more. The verdict: I will definitely be trying quinoa again!
The recipe can be found at http://www.cookingquinoa.net/. The one I made is called Tangy Quinoa Salad with Cider Vinagrette. Thanks Wendy!!