New things #20150914

Guess what, friends? I. Made. A. Delicious. Thing. Here is what I did.

1. Go to the Selby Avenue Jazzfest.
2. Run into your friend’s mom, who happens to be a champion pie baker. This is key.
3. Recall that you’re out of your fancy cinnamon, and ask Google if the spice shop is still open as you are leaving.
4. It is open! And beautifully remodeled!
5. Buy fancy cinnamon (and new nutmeg because yours is all clumpy), grab a recipe card for German Apple Cake.
6. Upon arriving home, promptly loose recipe card for German Apple Cake.
7. Ask Google. Find same/similar German Apple Cake recipe.
8. Try to restrain yourself and precisely follow the recipe. Fail and add 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1/8 tsp ground (powdered) ginger.
9. Use tried-and-true-blend of half Pink Lady and half Granny Smith apples. Make the handy-peeler-slicer-thingie to do most of the apple work for you, then dice them up.
10. Bake for 55 minutes.
11. Resist eating til mostly cooled.
12. Be awed by the deliciousness. Make 6 year old try it. Be flabbergasted that he STILL “doesn’t prefer” cooked fruit. At least I’ve taught him to be polite about it.

I didn’t take a picture because cell phone pics at night with horrible light do no favors to anyone. But do go check out Megan’s pretty pictures!

Guess what else, friends? I am once again bored with my usual cooking routine. Related to this, is that other people’s sandwiches taste better and I’m pretty sure their dinners do too. Perhaps I need to start some kind of meal-plan-swap with friends. It would be more work- I’d actually have to document what I have in my pantry and what type of time I’m willing to spend- but it may be a good idea. Perhaps I could start with a “surprise chicken recipe from X friend” kinda thing.

So to try and mix things up a bit, I’m going to actually try new things this week. I’m motivated for the moment, so from my vast vault of Pinspiration, here is this week’s meal plan.

• Monday Spicy steaks again, because I just can’t get enough and I still had some sirloin in the freezer. Start with Wee Willy’s steak formula, add black pepper, ground ginger, turmeric, cumin, and bit more crushed red pepper. Sides will be yukon gold hasselback potatoes (with butter, Parmesan, Garlic, onions, etc), and brussels sprouts. Here’s hoping it will be like a steak house right at home.
• Tuesday Chicken broccoli alfredo over rice/quinoa. Zero pasta involved, and for the first time in my life, I’m making quinoa. Thanks to a few key tips from The Kitchn. I’m not expecting my boys to be wild about it, so there will be plain old rice for seconds after they clean their plates.
• Wednesday Black bean and butternut squash quesadillas. I’ve pinned these at least 2-3 times, so it’s high time to make them. Guac and salsa on the side.
• Thursday is by far my least favorite day to cook. I’m usually *so* over it at this point. For now, the plan is to do a chicken garlic/ginger/spicy/soy stir fry type thing. Including the veggies I can throw at it. If I find other inspiration between now and then, this will be the one that changes.
• Friday Wedding! Woooo hoooo!
• Saturday Something easy for dinner, and brownies for dessert. I repeat: brownies!
• Sunday This will be brunch day since the boys are over Saturday night. I’ll take a poll on Saturday for the menu and get the necessary ingredients.

That’ll do it. All menu items are subject to change upon a whim. Next up: researching yucca recipes. Yay for new starches!