12.13.2010 
A = My foot/knee/thigh-prints in our very snowy patio area
B = Door imprint
A = Our abandoned-in-the-not-so-plowed-road car
B = My footprints, as I carried a 20+ pound baby plus carrier up the driveway and into the house
C = Our snow-covered driveway: snow much deeper than it looks, trust me
Snow in Odds & Ends 12.11.2010 This post written by the original Ebby.
Hooray for the humble breakfast sandwich. Hooray for the way it warms up a winter morning and gives me a break from my oatmeal. And hooray for its ease of preparation on busy weekdays.
There are dozens of ways to go about the process. Find a bread. Good choices include bagels or bagel thins, English muffins, and hearty slices from just about any kind of loaf, including whole grain, cinnamon raisin or onion cheddar. Then find a meat. I like ham, but bacon and sausage work well too. Leftover steak? Go for it! Pile on the cheese: cheddar, mozzarella, pepper jack, Swiss, Velveeta...whatever floats your boat! And finally, the egg. I love a runny yolk, but scrambled eggs work as well. And a dashing of Tabasco gives me a better jolt than coffee!
Toast your bread while your egg and meat cook. Then layer everything up, adding other condiments to your liking. Mustard sometimes makes an appearance on my sandwich, and cranberry sauce around the holidays is delish. It can be a new experiment every time!
Amazing how a little old egg sandwich can make a Monday morning so much fun.
12.11.2010 
Mushroom, oh Mushroom, how I love thee
Never will I understand the unreasonably
Unjust assaults that are spewed in your name
Calling you "fungus" and "slimy" and "lame"
Please know that I love you in every way
Stuffed, sautéed, steamed, roasted and plain
Those who speak ill of you have not a clue
The way you enhance foods and have good flavor, too
I love you, dear Mushroom, without you I'd be
Living a life of mushroomless misery
So there! I have poetically shared my love for The Mushroom. Aren't I a nerd.
If you wish to saute a batch of mushrooms (as opposed to writing poetry about them), here is what you will need to do. It's simple!
Melt a couple tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat. I much prefer using butter over oil because I think it makes the mushrooms tastier. But really, you can use either. Whichever one you use, make sure it gets nice and hot without burning it.
Add 8 ounces of fresh, sliced, washed mushrooms to the skillet and toss them around with a spoon or a hard spatula. Make sure the butter coats all surfaces. Stir constantly.
Depending on the type of mushroom and the thickness of the slices, this will take anywhere between 3 and 7 minutes. When they are a golden brown color, I like to turn the heat up to high and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute longer. This gives their edges a hint of crispness, which I find delicious.
I personally have a hard time sauteeing mushrooms without eating most of the batch. I must exercise supreme self-control if I want more than 80% of them to make it into whatever bigger dish I am making.
12.10.2010 
I would put jalapenos into everything if I never shared food with others. I love a little extra zing in my food. Or a lot of extra zing, depending on what I am eating.
I brought this corn dish to Thanksgiving dinner this year, along with a non-spicy option. It went over well! Most people (kids excluded) at least tried it. A few people said they loved it and much preferred it over the non-spicy version. I absolutely adore this recipe. It is my favorite way to eat corn, aside from maybe sweet corn on the cob doused in butter and salt.
In a medium saucepan, combine:
One 32-oz. package frozen corn
One 8-oz. package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 diced jalapeno peppers (or more, or less, depending on how spicy you and your guests like it)
Cook over medium heat until heated through, stirring constantly.
Be sure to warn people about the heat before they dig in!
12.9.2010 
Hummus will forever remind me of my second pregnancy. I feasted on the stuff daily. I would sit in my little bedrest spot on the couch and eat half of a container of the Sabre roasted pine nut variety, scooping it out with pieces of flatbread. Of course, I could have eaten a lot of things during that time. Ok, I did eat a lot of things during that time.
Having recently been given a food processor as a gift (thank you, Husband!), I am on a mission to create some delicious hummus concoctions of my own. First I want to attempt a few tried and true recipes to get a feel for what ingredients I enjoy the most. I grabbed this recipe out of a holiday cooking magazine and made a few alterations. I love hummus and I love edamame, so I was eager to see how it turned out.
I loved it! My husband loved it! My three-year-old wouldn't try it because it was green. He prefers the non-green variety.
Thinly slice 2 green onions, keeping green parts separate from white parts. Set aside.
Gather the following ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley sprigs
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp chopped fresh lemongrass or 1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
1 Tbsp canola oil
3 cloves garlic, quartered
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Cook the contents of a 10-oz. package of frozen shelled sweet soybeans (edamame) according to the package directions, except omit the salt.
Drain the edamame and rinse with cold water. Reserve a few edamame for garnish.
In a food processor, combine white parts of green onions, the remaining cooked edamame, parsley, water, lemon juice, lemongrass, oil, garlic, ginger and salt.
Cover and process until nearly smooth. Stir in green onion parts.
Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Garnish with reserved edamame and red pepper.
I found that this was most delicious with vegetable dippers such as radishes, red peppers, carrots and celery. Pita wedges also went great with it.
As my three-year-old says, "Yummus hummus!"
