What's Cooking: A Whole Chicken

I made a whole chicken in a crock pot. Woo hoo! It's like the simplest thing ever, but it was still pretty intimidating... it's a whole chicken.

All I had to do was rinse off the chicken and sprinkle paprika and minced garlic on top. Then I cooked it 7 hours on low. When I got home form work it was hot and ready. The meat was literally falling off the bone.

Here's a great how-to that I followed at The Happy Housewife.

We ended up with a ton of meat that made for a wonderful dinner and lots of leftovers. It also taught me not to be scared of cooking things that seem "big."

Photos by moi.

What's Cooking: Parchment-Baked Halibut

So here's a post just for the halibut... sorry. Anyway, I made halibut for the first time and I wasn't impressed. It was expensive and not fantastic compared to salmon or other basic fish. It was simple to cook though.

You place the halibut steak (yeah, I didn't know it was called that either) inside a piece of parchment paper. You fold it over and create a little pocket for each one. Put slices of orange into each pocket and cook for 12 minutes at 400 degrees.

Photos by moi.

One Year Anniversary

In October Flannel Man and I celebrated our one year anniversary. We enjoyed a bottle of wine we bought in Napa Valley and we broke out the frozen top tier of our wedding cake. It's been a great first year and I'm blessed to have him in my life.

The cake was actually surprisingly good. We kept it in a plastic ice cream container in the fridge and it some how kept really well.

Photos by moi.

What's Cooking: Pasta With Bacon and Cauliflower

This recipe was really delicious, but it's super rich. I've never used pecorino in a recipe before. Actually I didn't know what it was before this (it's a type of cheese). It has a really distinct taste that was wonderful with the cauliflower.

The recipe is from Real Simple ...

Ingredients

• 12 ounces spaghetti (3/4 box)

• 6 slices bacon

• 1/3 cup fresh sage leaves

• 1 small head cauliflower (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into small florets

• salt and black pepper

• 3/4 cup grated pecorino (3 ounces)

Directions

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving ¾ cup of the cooking water, and return the pasta to the pot.

2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and crumble.

3. Add the sage to the drippings in the skillet and cook over medium heat, turning once, until crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to the plate with the bacon.

4. Add the cauliflower, ¼ cup water, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper to the drippings in the skillet and cook, covered, for 2 minutes.

5. Uncover and cook, tossing frequently, until golden and tender, 3 to 4 minutes more.

6. Add the reserved pasta water and ½ cup pecorino to the pasta; toss until creamy. Add the cauliflower, sage, and bacon and toss. Sprinkle with remaining pecorino.

Photos by moi

Make Do or Do Without

At what age are you officially suppose to grow up and get real furniture? I’ve been wondering about that lately when I look at our mismatched dining chairs and hand-me-down green table. Don’t get me wrong, I love these pieces, but I’m wondering how long it’s acceptable to scavenge for chairs when we have guests over. Last time we had a dinner party we used a bench as supplemental seating.

We have bookcases from rummage sales, dressers from friends who moved cross-country, etc. The only furniture we have bought at a store is our bed and a couch. Both of those items were from massive sales at Value City furniture and we saved up for awhile before getting them.

Flannel Man and I tend to go off the assumption that if we can’t get it at a yard sale or buy it used from friends and family, then we probably don’t need it. Once we have a bigger family we’ll probably invest in a table with matching chairs (and by invest I mean find it on Craig’s List), but until then I’ll stick with the old saying “use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.”

Photo by moi.

Book Binding

For my one year wedding anniversary gift for my husband I wanted to do something in the vein of the traditional first gift: paper. So, I called in the big guns. One of my good friends got her masters in book binding and she was kind enough to teach me how to make a book.

We started by cutting thick pieces of cardboard for

the front and back covers and the spine.

Next, I cut a pieces of paper to wrap around all three pieces.

I cut off the corners so that the whole thing would have fewer creases.

Using her glue, mixed with water, and a brush,

I glued the paper around each of the cardboard pieces.

Then I picked out a large sheet of marbled

paper to add a second layer to the book.

I cut a strip of thick white paper to give the spine some strength,

then added a brown sheet of paper over the top of that.

This is how the covers and spine look before the paper is added to the inside.

I ripped four sets of signatures of paper for the inside.

Each signature is made up of four pieces of paper

cut to the same size and folded over.

I tore the paper, using a ruler, to give the edges a rougher look.

Using an awl I puntured the spine with four holes in a row in three different spots.

Then I stitched each of the signatures into the book,

looping through the spine twice for each one.

The finished spine had a crisp look. The finished book (shown at the top) turned out beautifully. This is a very simple outline of a complicated process and there's no way mine would have turned out well without my friend's help.

When it was complete I filled the first few pages with some of my favorite memories from our first year of marriage. I'm planning to add to it each year.

Photos by moi.

What's Cooking: Red Potato Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

-1/2 cup Light Ranch Dressing

-1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

-1/4 cup Real Bacon Bits

-2 lb. small red potatoes, quartered

-1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

HEAT oven to 350°F.

1) Mix first 3 ingredients in large bowl. Add potatoes; toss to coat.

2) Spoon into 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; cover.

3) Bake 55 min. or until potatoes are tender, uncovering after 40 min. Sprinkle with parsley.

***I cooked them for closer to 2 hours.

This recipe was delicious, but it took twice the time listed to cook. I also screwed up, because I forgot to quarter the potatoes before I coated them in the cheese and dressing. So cutting them up was much more difficult than it needed to be. They were great warmed up even 5 days later. So if you made the casserole at the beginning of the week you could use it as a side a couple times.

Photos by moi.