Olive Oil Pumpkin Bread

I was recently lent an issue of Fine Cooking magazine - and immediately decided that I had to make every single recipe in it. I haven't made them all yet, but I started out with this one that really spoke to me. Ellie Krieger is a nutritionist who hosts a show on the Food Network. I've always loved her healthier recipes, so this one for olive oil pumpkin bread made my mouth water!

Garlic Scapes

Garlic scapes? You're probably asking yourself, like I did... "what on earth?!?" On Saturday mornings at Klem's in Spencer, there is a cute little farmer's market - don't you just love buying local in season produce?! Makes me feel, well, healthy.

Devilish Eggs

I hard cook my eggs by covering them with cold water, bringing them up to a boil and then covering them and taking them off the heat. I let them sit like that for 12 minutes and then rinse with cold water.

After they are cool, slice them lengthwise and scoop out the yolks. Mash them with a splash of rice wine vinegar, a splash of w'shire, and a 2:1 ratio of mayo to dijon. Season with salt and pepper. Place the yolk mixture into a plastic baggie and cut the bottom corner to use it like a pastry bag to fill the eggs that are waiting to be deviled! Top them off with a sprinkle of smoked Spanish paprika and you have a classic appetizer that will be gone before the Superbowl even begins! Tastes better chilled in the fridge for a coupla hours!

Shoyu Chicken

In the fleeting moments I get to myself while the twins are delving into MegaBloks, stickers, or spinning around and falling down, I sometimes spy a recipe on TV that inspires me. I was flipping around the food and decor channels, and saw a sticky Asian chicken dish on Ask Aida. (I don't really get the concept of this show...why do people email or call her, only to wait for weeks or months to have their food-related question answered. Can't they just Google it and get their response instantaneously? Is this their 15 seconds of fame?)

Anyways, I missed what all the ingredients were, so I just looked up her recipe online. I didn't have any mirin, but I didn't sweat it. I just added a few dashes of w'shire sauce as well as some dry sherry and that was that. My one misstep was not slowly whisking in the cornstarch slurry. I ended up with a very sticky and yummy, yet clumpy sauce.

One other trick I learned...you can freeze ginger! Always nice to have some on hand!