Halloween!

So, we planned a Halloween party. I made lots of themed snacks, and put together a last-minute costume.

I invited 5 people, and 4 bailed. So it ended up being me, Brandon and Rory hanging out with WAY TOO MUCH FOOD. But it's okay, I needed a laid-back evening. It turned out to be really relaxing.

Photo dump!

I dressed as a 1950's housewife.

We went to the store in the middle of the day, but I didn't break character!

Foods!

Hot spiced apple cider with rum! 

Happy Halloween!

Wherein Amanda Learns that Layered Food is Magic

I figured it out. Any time I make any kind of casserole dish - or anything that needs to be layered and baked in the oven - Brandon freaks out. He either starts with "That's too much effort, let's make something else" or "What?! What sort of magic are you playing at? Mere mortals cannot possibly!" and then his excitement ramps up until the dish is cooked and he spends all week freaking out about how delicious it is.

This happened with shepherd's pie and chicken pot pie, and now he did it again when I decided to make lasagna from scratch.

Yum.

Romantic Dinner

Every now and then Brandon and I decide on a recipe that just begs to be had with a bottle of wine. And so the meal becomes a romantic dinner... at least, in my mind it does. Even if we don't do anything romantic that evening.

I searched through the pile of cooking magazines my mom had sent me for recipes to try and I was able to combine several into what became an extremely successful meal:

-buttermilk biscuits from scratch (by far the most technically difficult baking recipe I've ever put together)
-leeks in a fancy little vinaigrette and topped with a hardboiled egg
-lamb chops broiled and smothered in a rich butter flavored with pesto and sundried tomato


I got the idea to make flavored butter from Bon Appetite, they have a link to the instructions on their website: www.bonappetit.com/go/butter. The lamb chops recipe - although from a totally different magazine - called for butter flavored with pesto and sundried tomato. I cheated slightly and used pre-minced sundried tomatoes in seasoned olive oil.

Okay, this step isn't so lovely... But it tastes amazing!

We had some fresh herbs that needed using up, so I made an herbed butter too.

Another magazine clipping my mother gave me had a buttermilk biscuits recipe. This was, by far, the most technically difficult thing I've ever baked - and it turned out PERFECT. I couldn't be more proud. They are delicious, and pretty, and fluffy... Sorry. I'm just super happy with myself.

Next up are the leeks. I sauteed them lightly in butter and extra-virgin olive oil, then in dry white wine. Then I covered them in chicken broth and stuck the pan in the oven and let it boil down. I removed them from the broth when they were soft and covered them in a white wine vinaigrette with grainy mustard and parsley, and crumbled a hard boiled egg on top. This was another extremely complicated recipe that I never, ever would have come up with on my own. It was well worth the effort. Even Brandon, who does not generally like leeks, said they were the best leeks he had ever had and ate them happily. ^_^

The lamb chops I simply smothered in pepper and broiled, then melted the flavored butter on top. Easy-peasy.

Top it off with a strong, dry red wine and you have a romantic feast.

^_^