Bacon Butternut Squash Risotto

I made this recipe awhile back, back before the holidays, at least before Christmas anyway. I've got a few pictures. Its adapted from Rachael Ray's recipe. The adjustments are turkey bacon and omitting a few ingredients I didn't have, and don't tend to keep around. Mostly its your typical risotto recipe, but you add in pureed roasted butternut squash and you start off with bacon, onion, and garlic in your veggie mix. Its delicious but very rich!

Browned Butter Cookies

Browned butter cookies

These cookies are absolutely fantastic! This is the first time I've been successful at actually baking cookies from scratch! Hooray! I'm making the second batch in a week, because even though they were supposed to be for company over the weekend, they haven't lasted that long. I used dark chocolate chips, makes it so decadent. I highly recommend you give them a shot. They'll be great for holiday parties and hostess gifts!

Red Wine and Pineapple Glazed Ham

Take your ham, and scale your glaze recipe to the size of the ham. For an 8.68 pound ham, I used about a 1/4 cup of red wine, half a jar of pineapple preserves, a drizzle of honey and olive oil, one clove of garlic grated or minced, fresh cracked black pepper, and about a teaspoon of ginger. Whisk together and smother on your ham before baking. Remember to bake at 250 for 15 minutes per pound for a pre-smoked ham. After the slow roast in the oven it was such a subtle flavor compliment to the ham, you can scale up the amounts or make another bowl and thin with the juices and use as a sauce for a more intense flavor. Also, scoring the ham will allow the glaze to permeate the meat a little better.

Censorship Bill

Congress is looking at censoring internet sites, stop them, let your congressmen/women know that you are in every way against such censorship!

americancensorship.org

Homemade Baby Food

Lately I've thrown the kitchen ninja skills at making baby food for the little man. It's pretty cool to make him something nutritious and healthy rather than opening a jar. I do use jarred foods for time and introduction purposes. No sense in making a big batch of something he's allergic to or simply refuses to eat. So far I've been able to make up lots of simple purees (the picture is a selection of those purees), and I'm working on pureed combinations. He's getting ever closer to being fully ready to eat a mushy version of what we're eating. He's even practicing with the spoons! The process is simple, here I've got pictures of making homemade carrot puree, just steam, puree with the cooking liquid, cool, and freeze in ice trays. Simple!

Look at how bright that color is!

Photo Card

Charming Holly Wreath Christmas

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Veggie and Spinach Fettuccine

1 large zucchini, diced
1 large yellow squash. diced
1 8oz container of cherry tomatoes
1 package of spinach fettuccine

Heat olive oil in a skillet, grate in some garlic and add some salt, pepper, and oregano, sauté your veggies. Add in cherry tomatoes and cover till they burst. With your spoon, break them apart and check your seasoning. Meanwhile cook the pasta. If sauce is looking dry, reserve a cup of the starchy cooking water right before draining. Drain pasta and toss all of the pasta with all of the sauce, add starchy cooking water if necessary. Serve with a sprinkle of your favorite cheese on top...yummy!