Last night, we had a fabulous meal!
Seriously, it was so good.
I am not a genius in the kitchen, by any means.
But I am really good at following instructions...aka, recipes.
Some may say that makes me less of a "chef", because I lack creativity or the desire to experiment and make a perfectly flavorful concoction.
Well, I've got news for those folks. I've never wanted to be a chef, and I don't really like to cook real food (I love baking sweets and breads!).
So, if I need a recipe to thrive in the kitchen, so be it. I feel no shame.
Besides, I've always made up for my lack of ability by working super hard to do "whatever" well.
It's worked out well for me so far.
So, for our dinner last night, I consulted my ever-deepening friendship with Pinterest.
First, I made homemade butter. I shook my jar of heavy cream while watching an episode of Glee (season 2, episode 11...so good!).
After making my homemade butter (you can definitely use store bought butter), I turned to this Country Living recipe to add a bit of fall flare.
Maple butter. Basically, combine butter, maple syrup, and a touch of hot sauce (think Cholula).
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I wish I had these cute, tiny maple leaf cutters.
It's divine. I admit, I did lick clean one of the beaters from my mixer, after the butter was finished.
I know, it's disgusting. But it was so good too. Sinful. I'm aware.
Later on in the evening, after dinner, I made the perfect companions to this maple-y, butter-y delight...
So easy. No rising. No kneading. Just mixing and shaping and baking.
I've had a couple for breakfast already. With butter. Maple butter.
On to the dinner menu.
Caleb, one of our housemates, invited a couple of guys over for dinner. They had been camping out at City Hall for the Occupy Philly movement. They had some pretty interesting stories to tell. They had been at the Occupy WallStreet movement in NYC before heading to Philly. Crazy stuff.
Anyways, back to dinner.
Baked Chicken Nuggets. I skipped the coconut oil and used 2 eggs, beaten, to coat the chicken.
At the last minute, when I found out that we would be having guests, and the food supply seemed like less than enough, I whipped up some **cough** instant **cough** mashed potatoes and frozen peas. Nothing special there.
I was scrambling to fill the tummies of two nineteen year old boys, plus Dustin and Caleb.
Let me just say that the Autumn Chopped Salad was the favorite of the night. Everything was so delicious, but ironically, the salad was the big hit. Go figure. Guys and salad...anything is possible I guess.
Now, if my dad would eat, and love, a salad like that, it would truly be a miracle. (Dad, there's no watery, white, iceberg
lettuce in this, just pure green, romaine goodness. I don't know if you could handle it).
If you guys decide to make the salad I would love to hear how it goes over with your audience. I was totally surprised by the "yum" factor and reaction I got from it.
Also, ya'll should definitely make the maple butter. It would be excellent on toast, pumpkin bread of any kind, or even cornbread!
Go all out!
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the rave
whats in that salad, it looks pretty good!! DAD
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