Remember the Family Reunion Cookbook I’ve been wanting to dig into? Well, I finally did. Of course, my first recipe needed to be one of my Grandma’s.

As I’ve looked through the book, some of the recipes are definitely written by home cooks and were written prior to spell check..but that’s what makes it fun. Some of them make me laugh. For example, one of the “corrected” pages talks about stirring in the “pugging” (pudding). Haha! I’m sure many of my recipes have a few mistakes as well. I’m actually scared to post this in case I’ve made a mistake. 🙂

The same goes for Grandma’s Romaine Salad with Egg Mustard Dressing recipe. Her recipe call for ⅓ bacon drippings. I’m not sure if it’s ⅓ of a cup, ⅓ of what I get from cooking the bacon, or ⅓ of something else. I made up my own amount while trying to keep the fat down.

This is similar to a Bacon Dressing for a Spinach Salad but stronger vinegar flavor and a bit lighter. Both Andy and I loved it and agreed it should be made often.

I hope you enjoy Grandma’s recipe!

INGREDIENTS
3 hard cooked eggs
1 ½ tsp dry mustard
1 bunch romaine (I used romaine and spinach)
4 slices bacon, crumbled
2 tsp. bacon drippings
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 C croutons (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. Separate hard cooked eggs into white and yolks.
2. Coarsely chop whites.
3. Mash yolks and mix with mustard, vinegar and sugar until smooth.
4. Combine bacon, onions, egg whites, and bacon drippings.
5. Toss all ingredients with romaine.
6. Top with croutons.

On another note, I received a very cool blog award from Vicky at Avocado Pesto. Thanks Vicky! Vicky is not only an awesome food blogger who finds and creates very unique recipes (esp. some international cuisines), but she’s my co-worker. She was a big part of the reason to get my blog going. I don’t know how she finds time to blog, have a full time job AND help run a catering business.

Here are the rules:

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you.
3. Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.
4. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserves to be noticed. (Sorry if someone has more than 200 followers. I used Google Reader Subscribers and Facebook followers as my reference.)
5. Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog.

Sweet Morris – A fellow Project Pastry Queen-er. Jen is a mom of four who finds time to cook some great meals!

A Gilt Nutmeg – Another fellow Project Pastry Queen-er and another Emily. She posts a good mix of gourmet recipes and good ol’ classics like Trailer Trash Queso. Plus, I love her logo.

Ommy Noms – Lauren has great recipes and is currently working on her 28 by 28 — a project to complete 28 different recipes by her 28th birthday. She’s got a few I’m looking forward to like Pad Thai and Ketchup from scratch.

Charmingly Modern – A fellow pregnant momma! Amanda covers everything from DIY projects and organization to fashion and pregnancy. She’s currently doing Project: Food Budget to try and keep weekly grocery bills under control. I’m anxious to learn some tips!

Wifely Perfection – A stay-at-home wife (jealous) who is very goal driven. She shares recipes, DIY projects, ways to save money, and workouts.

Thanks again to Vicky!

We made a big move from a two-bedroom condo to a four-bedroom single family home this past weekend. Somehow, we managed to fill the house with just the items we had in the condo. Where the heck did we store it all?

For the moving weekend, I needed something easy to make that would help feed a hungry crowd of those helping us move. I saw a recipe for Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats and thought they looked so yummy and not mention easy.

Easy, right?

I melted the butter then added the marshmallows. To my disappointment and surprise, they wouldn’t melt. What? I’ve never heard of such a thing. All they did was puff up and absorb the butter. Very weird.

Of course, I couldn’t throw away warm, puffy marshmallows tossed in butter so I saved them, deciding I could find a use for them. (By the way, I did and will be sharing the recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treat Brownies soon. OMG!!!)

I had to take a trip to the grocery store anyway, so I bought new marshmallows. Perhaps, they wouldn’t melt because they were a generic brand. No idea but it was worth a shot. Brand name it is. But I get to the store and they only have generic brands. Wasn’t this supposed to be a quick and easy recipe? Ugh. I bought the more expensive brand (10 whole cents more) and hoped they would work.

Success! And, boy were they good.

INGREDIENTS
3 Tbsp. butter
1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
½ C yellow cake mix (the dry cake mix, not prepared into a batter!)
6 cups crispy rice cereal
½ C sprinkles

DIRECTIONS
1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
2. Add marshmallows and stir until they are mostly melted.
3. Stir in cake mix until combined and marshmallows are melted.
4. Stir in cereal until fully combined.
5. Add half of the sprinkles and mix.
6. Press into a baking dish 9” x 13” baking dish and top with remaining sprinkles.
7. Once set (about 30 min), cut into squares.

NOTES

Adapted from gimme some oven.

We did a little test with a few old wives tales to see if it could predict if we are having a boy or girl.

Soooooo…it was WRONG!

We’re having a BOY!!! Watch the video for a recap of the day.

We almost didn’t find out. The little man would not cooperate. The ultrasound tech, Zoe (she was awesome) started showing us the pictures and talked us through everything she was seeing. His head was facing my back when she started and he was moving like crazy and flipping from front to back. When she went for the legs, the umbilical cord was in the way. Then, the little bugger found a little comfy nook and WOULD NOT move. The tech kept trying to get him to move and even had me lying on my left side for a bit. He wouldn’t budge. She kept going for in between the legs. The next time, his hand was covering everything. More than an hour later, she got the little man to spread his legs and said “that right there is a boy.” He was making her work so hard to check everything out, she was having to ignore protocol and do the appointment out of order. She was having so much trouble, she asked that we come back in 2-4 weeks to finish the measurements.

After the appointment, Andy and I went to brunch. We both admitted we were a little disappointed it wasn’t a girl. Funny though, we both said we wanted a boy leading up to the day. We think we’d have had the same feeling whether is was a boy or a girl.

We went out to dinner with our families (minus Andy’s sick dad and my brother) and had the waitress bring out a big bunch of blue balloons. We ended up picking the loudest restaurant — good thing we brought a visual! My brother couldn’t be there so we surprised him at his work. We definitely got some interesting looks walking into a fancy restaurant in jeans and carrying balloons.

Next…a name for the little guy!

Recipe related posts are going to be lacking for at least another week. We move this coming weekend and the recipes I’m coming up with leave a lot to be desired. I’m trying to clean out the cupboards, fridge and freezer. So far this week we’ve had:

Thai Peanut Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich – dipped in honey mustard

Fancy Ramen – that would be instant ramen with peas and corn added

Leftover steak dinner sauteed in honey mustard – Andy’s creation

Nonfat/plain Greek yogurt with leftover Mixed Berry Syrup – this one really was good!

You probably won’t find these recipes in any of these cookbooks. I snapped a picture to share with you. These are my most used cookbooks that stay on the counter book-ended by my 4″ x 6″ and 5″ x 7″ recipe boxes.

On Cooking – Culinary school book. It’s very well organized and is a great reference tool. It also has some of the best classic recipes.

The Pastry Queen – I use it almost every week for Project Pastry Queen

The Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles – Love this one! It’s a Cook’s Illustrated cookbook that has my never-fail pasta recipe and TONS of sauces.

Abs Diet – lots of delicious, healthy recipes and yummy shakes

Brown notebook – This is Andy’s wine journal (looking forward to filling this again!)

Paula Deen & Friends – Not even sure why it’s on the counter. I haven’t cooked a single recipe from it. The recipes do look really good.

Better Homes & Gardens – classic and basic recipes, and also a good reference

Joy of Cooking – who doesn’t love this one?

But really what I wanted to show you is this. This is what I do when I get a new cookbook — put the little sticky paper tabs to mark the recipes I want to try. (I still need to do this with The Homesick Texan — from the picture above.)

Back in December my dad was out in Washington visiting his dad, sister, and brother. While they were there, they were helping my Grandpa clean out the house. Since I’ve been deemed “the cook” of the family, they let me pick out some of my Grandmother’s old cookbooks. This is just a few of them.

Notice a pattern? We mark our cookbooks the same way. I thought it was pretty neat.

What I remember most from visiting Grandma’s is her food. There was always way too much and it was always good. She made a lot of recipes from scratch but she also had a ton of recipes made from cans and boxes. Her pantry was always stocked with the latest Costco deal.

I haven’t had a chance to delve into the cookbooks yet but I’ve promised myself I’d start on them once we move. I’m very excited about the one on the bottom with the metal rings. It’s our family reunion cookbook and I don’t think it’s been updated in more than 20 years. That’s going to be a fun one!

What do you do with a new cookbook? Do you actually get around to making the recipes?

February 12

The belly is making progress. Yay! Even a few people that know me said they could see it. There was definitely a lot more stretching in the belly region this week. Sadly, we didn’t get around to taking pictures this week. For the 20 Weeks post, I’ll be sure to have some.

Things I’ve learned during pregnancy (so far):

• The good
  • I’m more and less self-conscious about my body. Less, because I realize I was doing pretty good pre-pregnancy. More, because the bit of weight I’ve gained with almost no bump just makes me feel fat. Either way, there’s a life growing inside me and that’s pretty amazing!
  • If I don’t feel like working out, that’s ok. My goal is no zeros (some sort of activity every day)  so even if I don’t get to the gym, a short walk or a few squats is good for both the baby and me. And, a bit more shut-eye isn’t so bad either.
  • Pregnancy is a good excuse for just about everything! 😉
  • My original small ‘girls’ are nice, comfortable, and fit easier into clothes.
• The Bad:
  • Not everyone gets the pregnancy glow. Some get dry skin, breakouts, and dull, dry hair. Yeah, that’s me…thanks baby. Maybe it’s still coming?
  • Not everyone can do the hairband trick with their pants. The few pounds I’ve gained went to my hips and thighs so my jeans no longer fit around them even if I don’t button them. I also think my hip joints have already widened because I find it hard to believe 4 pounds can make that much of a difference.
  • Energy levels should increase in the 2nd trimester? I’m still waiting. Okay, it’s not as bad as it was but there are still some days I can’t make if off the couch once I’m home from work. Playing on the internet even takes too much energy.
  • My brain is mush. Pregnancy Brain? A myth or not, my head is in a constant state of fog and trying to clear it up has proven impossible.

Big day tomorrow!!! We find out the sex of the little one. What’s your guess? Boy or girl? Will the baby cooperate? Please cooperate, little one.

Mushrooms anyone? If you’re a mushroom fan, you’ll love this soup. It’s a hearty mushroom soup with a touch of cream. Perfect for this cold snap we’re having in the DC area.

Even better on the second day. Andy’s dad and brother want to open a restaurant. A restaurant serving second-day soup. Has a nice ring to it, right? While it may not be the best way to entice patrons, they’re so right. Think about it – how much better does soup taste next day?

Same goes for today’s Wild Mushrooms Soup post. It was good the first day, but by the second day, oh my!

Since it’s my week to host Project Pastry Queen, I want the recipe to be the same as the cookbook, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t tweak it a bit.

• First, lesson learned (again) – read the entire recipe before beginning. If I had read through the entire recipe, I would have realized we weren’t going to blend the soup and would have cut the mushrooms into much smaller, bite-sized pieces.
• Second, even if I had cut the mushrooms smaller, I would still like to blend some of the soup. I put half of the soup into another pot and used my emersion blender to make a very thick broth to add back to the yummy chunks of mushrooms.
• Finally, next time I may add garlic along with the onions. Garlic never hurts anything.

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the butter over medium heat in large sauté pan. Add the onion and cook until medium soft and transparent.
2. Add all the mushrooms and cook on medium heat about 10 minutes, until they give up their liquid and the absorb it.
3. Remove the sauté pan from the heat and stir in the flour, 1 Tbls at a time.
4. Return the pan to low heat and gradually pour in the broth, stirring constantly.
5. Add the white pepper, nutmeg, lemon juice, and sherry. Simmer the soup over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
6. Add the cream and stir until the soup is hot.
7. Add the cayenne and season with salt, if needed.
8. Transfer to serving bowls and garnish with chives.

NOTES

4 servings.

Recipe from Rebecca Rather’s The Pastry Queen.