Loosen those belts – the pick for next week’s Martha Mondays, chosen by Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ is Chocolate Marble Quick Bread with Ganache.

Loosen those belts – the pick for next week’s Martha Mondays, chosen by Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ is Chocolate Marble Quick Bread with Ganache.

I’m working on a book called Cookie: A History: From Animal Crackers to Zwieback which will be published later this year by University Press of FL. An important part of the book is the chocolate chip cookie, which was invented by Ruth Wakefield of Toll House Inn fame. As part of my research, I read Ruth’s book with her original recipe (different than the “original” one you get on the Nestle chocolate chip bag). One interesting thing about the recipe is that it says to refrigerate the dough overnight.

A recent NY Times article discussed this method as the secret to making the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. I decided to try it and see what happened. I made the traditional Nestle recipe from the back of the bag, however I don’t use Nestle chips  – I use Ghirardelli chips. I made the dough in secret. If anyone else in this house knew there was chocolate chip cookie dough in the house that wasn’t baked there would a) be a riot and b) be none left to bake once they got their paws on it.  I let my dough sit in the refrigerator 36 hours – the optimum time suggested in the Times piece.

Let me just say that I find chocolate chip cookies to be pretty darn perfect to begin with, so it was really hard to imagine that refrigerating the dough could make them any better. But it was. These were the BEST chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. The cookie attained the the three rings described in the Times piece. The outer ring of the cookie was very crisp. Then there was a ring that was almost toffee-flavored, slightly crunchy and slightly soft. The inner ring was soft. The cookies baked up to a beautiful toffee color.

I’m quite stunned at the how good these were. This method is worth its weight in gold. The only problem, of course, is that chocolate chip cookies are often an impulse bake in this house – someone gets a craving and we make a batch. It would be hard to decide you wanted them, then wait 36 hours! I can definitely do this when I do holiday baking, though.

Next on my list of experiments is to try different flours. When Wakefield was baking, flour had a different protein level and it is believed that influenced the cookie in a big way.

I’m working on a book called Cookie: A History: From Animal Crackers to Zwieback which will be published later this year by University Press of FL. An important part of the book is the chocolate chip cookie, which was invented by Ruth Wakefield of Toll House Inn fame. As part of my research, I read … Read more →

Thanks to Robyn at Robyn’s Nest for today’s pick, healthy mac and cheese.  I was intrigued by this recipe and as soon as I read it, I knew that my friend Ward at Sensei Cooks would love it. Ward has a 6 yr old son named Dylan who loves mac and cheese and Ward routinely sneaks things into it. So this would be perfect for you, Ward!

To make this recipe, you cook butternut squash in milk and chicken broth and then mash it. Boil your noodles and mix the mashed squash, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, ricotta, nutmeg, salt, and pepper into it. Top with bread crumbs and cheese and bake.

It looks like mac and cheese but doesn’t taste the same. It’s not very cheesy at all and the squash flavor dominates. I did not tell the family what this was – just that it was mac and cheese. Mr. MarthaAndMe said he liked it. Dude Martha said it was ok. Teen Martha said “this is weird” and knew something was up. She is the family mac and cheese connossieur. Once I fessed up what was in it, she pushed it away and wanted no part of it. The other two family members weren’t horrifed.

This recipe made a LOT. So I’m freezing a bunch and hoping it reheats ok. As for me, I thought it was ok, but it wasn’t mac and cheese. It was a squash/pasta dish. I don’t think I would make this again, although we will definitely eat up the leftovers. And I might cheat and put a little more cheese on it when I heat it up!

Thanks to Robyn at Robyn’s Nest for today’s pick, healthy mac and cheese.  I was intrigued by this recipe and as soon as I read it, I knew that my friend Ward at Sensei Cooks would love it. Ward has a 6 yr old son named Dylan who loves mac and cheese and Ward routinely … Read more →

When I made this recipe from March Everyday Food, Teen Martha gushed, “I love dips!”

I made this for dinner and we really enjoyed it. It was rather simple to throw together and was a nice different thing to have with dinner. You start by cooking onion (1/2 medium onion) and garlic (3 cloves) in oil. You add in the canned drained artichoke hearts (3 cans) and white wine (1/2 cup)and cook until the wine evaporates. Stir in light cream cheese (4 oz) and fontina (2 1/4 cups), add some parsley and bake for 30 minutes at 400. While that bakes you brush some pita triangles with oil and bake them until they are crisp about 15 minutes. This was warm and yummy. And I felt totally justified eating it since artichokes ARE a vegetable!

When I made this recipe from March Everyday Food, Teen Martha gushed, “I love dips!” I made this for dinner and we really enjoyed it. It was rather simple to throw together and was a nice different thing to have with dinner. You start by cooking onion (1/2 medium onion) and garlic (3 cloves) in … Read more →

If you were watching Martha’s show after New Year’s, you got to hear all about her trip to Thailand. She showed the things she bought and photos of places she visited. I thought I would give you a Martha-esque post about our trip to the Bahamas.

We stayed at the Sheraton Beach Resort on Cable Beach on New Providence Island (outside of Nassau). I highly recommend this resort. It was outside of the insanity of Atlantis and Nassau and had a beautiful beach and three pools. The on-site restaurants were actually pretty good and the room was comfortable.

Two great things about the Bahamas: American money is on par and accepted everywhere, so you don’t need to exchange money when you get there.  Secondly, when you come home, customs happens in the Bahamas airport, so you don’t have to go through the nonsense of retrieving your luggage, going through customs, and checking it again when you arrive in the U.S. This is a big plus!

Because it was cold, cloudy and windy, we didn’t spend a lot of time at the beach, unfortunately. We did spend a lot of time eating! One of the specialties of the Bahamas is conch (pronounced ‘conk’). Conch is often served as a tomato based chowder or “cracked”, which means it is pounded and then deep fried (which makes it very tender). It tastes very mild like a shrimp or scallop. We also ate lots and lots of fish. Grouper is served almost everywhere and is often fried. I also had some snapper, shrimp, lobster, and we had some crawfish, which was good, but a little tough. An island specialty is peas ‘n rice, essentially red beans and rice. The classic island dessert is guava duff, a roulade with guava inside it, served with a vanilla cream sauce. Fabulous!

On our last day, we hit upon the perfect lunch spot – Goodfellow Farms. This organic garden is run by a couple who quit their jobs, sailed off to the Bahamas and settled there. They serve lunch every day and all the produce is homegrown. It was amazing and I highly recommend it.  The Poop Deck at Sandyport was our best dinner. I had the Snapper Sandyport and Mr. MarthaAndMe had a trio of lobster – deep fried, broiled, and shredded with a BBQ sauce. The kids enjoyed coconut shrimp and calamari. Heaven! We also dined at Humidor Churrascaria, a Brazilian BBQ. We are always eat at churrascarias wherever we can find them. If you’ve never been to one, it’s an experience you must have! You start by enjoying a lavish salad bar, which is much more than just salad. Then waiters come around with spears of roasted meat and they cut pieces off at the table for you.

We visited Ardastra Gardens, a zoo with a crazy flamingo show. A man marches the flamingos into a show area and shouts commands at them and they (sometimes) listen. Dude Martha got to go stand with the flamingos.

The gardens also has a parrot feeding exhibit. You go into a large cage, hold out a piece of apple in your hand, and parrots land on you and eat it while you hold it. I admit I screamed when one landed on my arm and one landed on

Teen Martha feeding a parrot

my head! We all got used to it quickly and for the first time I have to say I could understand why people like birds. Their feet were surprisingly soft and they ate rather politely from our hands.

We did spend a few hours at Atlantis, the huge mega-resort on Paradise Island. The prices there are ridiculous. If you want to come and use their pools for the day, it costs $500 for a family of 4. We took a self-guided tour which cost us

Walking through the aquarium tunnel at Atlantis

$130. We got to see all the aquariums, pools, and lobbies of the buildings, as well as access the shops within the resort. It is interesting and I’m glad I got to see it, but it all felt so artificial – similar to Disney. It’s too man-made and fabricated feeling to me. The food prices there are astronomical. We poked our heads in a cheesy little pizza place – $7 a slice or $38 for a cheese pizza. Considering a pizza is about $12 at home, that was insane. All the restaurant costs in the Bahamas are astronomical, but this one really bothered me. We walked out and found cheaper food elsewhere.

We found some Bahamians to be very friendly – particularly if they were trying to sell you something. Others we found to be downright rude, including the concierge at our hotel, who found our questions amusing and answered with one word responses only.

Although all the books say you don’t need a car, we found it essential. There was no traffic and parking was surprisingly easy. Bahamians drive on the left side of the road, but often have American made cars. We rented cars in Great Britain last summer and this was a little easier since you are at least sitting on the correct side of the car, even if you’re driving on the wrong side! A car gives you the freedom of seeing the entire island. One of our favorite drives was to the eastern end of the island where we gawked at the many mansion, including the one owned by Daniel Craig, who plays James Bond. The name of his mansion? 007.

The island is beautiful, with sandy beaches and aquamarine waters that take your breath away.  Enjoy some of the scenery. Tomorrow I’ll share photos of what I bought and what shopping on the island is like.

If you were watching Martha’s show after New Year’s, you got to hear all about her trip to Thailand. She showed the things she bought and photos of places she visited. I thought I would give you a Martha-esque post about our trip to the Bahamas. We stayed at the Sheraton Beach Resort on Cable … Read more →

Hello all! I’m back at the computer after a few days away in the Bahamas. I’ll be posting some photos of the trip in the coming days.

The Martha Mondays project for 3/1 is healthy mac and cheese, chosen by Robyn’s Nest.

Here’s the latest schedule:

3/8 Megans Cookin’

3/15 Sassy Suppers

3/22 Perfecting Pru

4/5 Homemade Iowa Life

4/12 Martha And Me

4/19 Stirrin’ It Up

4/26 – Taking a break this week

5/3 Mum in Bloom

5/10 Tiny Skillet

5/17 At Least Twice a Week

If you would like to be added to the blogroll and would like to participate, just let me know. Thanks to all who have been participating!

Hello all! I’m back at the computer after a few days away in the Bahamas. I’ll be posting some photos of the trip in the coming days. The Martha Mondays project for 3/1 is healthy mac and cheese, chosen by Robyn’s Nest. Here’s the latest schedule: 3/8 Megans Cookin’ 3/15 Sassy Suppers 3/22 Perfecting Pru … Read more →

The March (“Spring”) issue of Everyday Food has arrived! Just the word ‘spring’ gives me hope! There are lots of recipes I want to try in this issue. To get things started, I made the Prosciutto and Mushroom Quesadillas. You cook onion and garlic and mushrooms. To make the quesadillas, you place prosciutto, Gruyere cheese, the mushroom mix, and arugula on the tortillas. I used spinach tortillas. Then you heat them in a skillet to melt the cheese.

These were really, really good. And really, really easy. It felt much more exciting than making a sandwich for dinner. I would definitely make this again. I love the fact that it is a quesadilla, but isn’t Mexican.

The March (“Spring”) issue of Everyday Food has arrived! Just the word ‘spring’ gives me hope! There are lots of recipes I want to try in this issue. To get things started, I made the Prosciutto and Mushroom Quesadillas. You cook onion and garlic and mushrooms. To make the quesadillas, you place prosciutto, Gruyere cheese, … Read more →

I was in the mood for a casserole. February is just too dark and cold sometimes, and you want to curl up with something warm and comforting. Martha has a recipe in Feb Living for Broccoli and Pasta Casseroles. Just the thing, I thought.

You cook your broc and your pasta (I used penne). Then you make a bechamel sauce with onion, milk, flour and ground mustard. Once the sauce thickens, you add ricotta and parmesan cheese to it.

Snore. Yes, it looked good and smelled good, but it was bland. Very bland. As in, when I heat up the leftovers I’m going to have to do something to it to jazz it up. Very disappointing.

I was in the mood for a casserole. February is just too dark and cold sometimes, and you want to curl up with something warm and comforting. Martha has a recipe in Feb Living for Broccoli and Pasta Casseroles. Just the thing, I thought. You cook your broc and your pasta (I used penne). Then … Read more →

Martha has a recipe for shrimp fried rice in Feb Living. I love fried rice, and I like to make it myself so that I know exactly what’s in it! I was excited to try this recipe, but had to make some substitutions. I couldn’t find any lemongrass, which was crushing to me. I also didn’t have any shitakes. So I used baby bella mushrooms and added some baby bok choy. This, in addition to the shrimp, scrambled eggs, garlic, ginger, snow peas, soy sauce (I used tamari) and scallions was a wonderful one dish meal.

This was delicious. Martha says to use only day old rice, but I made my rice fresh, then cooked it in the pan for about 10 minutes to dry it and get it a little crunchy. It worked quite well.

Martha has a recipe for shrimp fried rice in Feb Living. I love fried rice, and I like to make it myself so that I know exactly what’s in it! I was excited to try this recipe, but had to make some substitutions. I couldn’t find any lemongrass, which was crushing to me. I also … Read more →

I find myself poaching a lot of chicken these days. Teen Martha likes to take it in her lunch, so once a week I poach a whole bunch. I stumbled upon the recipe in Feb Everyday Food for Chicken Salad with Scallions and Yogurt, which uses poached chicken and decided to make it for lunch one day. This is extremely simple. You mix celery, scallions, yogurt, basil, salt, pepper, and poached chicken and serve over lettuce.  I enjoyed it, but it was too bland by itself. I ended up adding some salad dressing to give some flavor to the entire dish. I like the idea of using yogurt instead of mayo in chicken salad and that’s something I will definitely do again.

I find myself poaching a lot of chicken these days. Teen Martha likes to take it in her lunch, so once a week I poach a whole bunch. I stumbled upon the recipe in Feb Everyday Food for Chicken Salad with Scallions and Yogurt, which uses poached chicken and decided to make it for lunch … Read more →