Little Treats Baked In Jars

These little treats are so sweet they make my teeth hurt just thinking about them! If my freezer was bigger, I'd stuff it full of these so I would always have some handy for... um... emergencies. Yes... emergencies!

• Pies-Baked-In-Tiny-Jars at NotMartha
• Tiny-Pies also at NotMartha (These are not baked in jars, but they are two sizes of tiny... and so cute!)
• Pie-In-A-Jar at littlebirdiesecrets
• Cake-In-A-Jar from angrychicken

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

Delicious and delicate Banana Sour Cream Pancakes from the book “Barefoot Contessa Family Style”

My Notes: These were good overall. Didn't have XL eggs, only L. Sub'd 2 L eggs + 1 L eggwhite for the 2 XL eggs. Seemed to work o.k. Would make them again, with one change. Use LESS lemon zest or use ORANGE zest instead for better flavor compatibility. Hubs thought the banana and lemon tasted odd together. They were definitely unlike anything else I've ever tasted. Next time I think I'll try them with orange instead of lemon.

Spinach Rice Casserole

"An easy baked side dish of spinach, rice, and cheese" from cheaphealthygood...

My Notes: Used brown Basmati rice, as that's all we had on hand. Had maybe 15 oz. of spinach left from the big CostCo bag. Picked it over to remove slimy bits and forgot that it wasn't pre-washed. In my panic, I didn't have time to drag out the salad spinner, so there was a lot of water to be drained out before I could add it to the rest of the ingredients. All in all, it went together pretty fast. Noticed that recipe didn't call for black pepper; remedied that. Actually put it all together, stuck it in the fridge, and baked it the following day. Easy and tasty.

Creamed Broccoli with Parmesan

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine by seriouseats.com

My Notes: Used half of a bag of CostCo ready-to-cook broccoli florets, 1/4 cup half-and-half, 3/4 cup whole milk (because that's what we had). Removed garlic cloves prior to adding cooked broccoli to sauce. Used stick blender. Doubled the amount of cheese, oh yeah. Added extra black pepper too. Tasted pretty good. Hubs thought there was too much nutmeg and suggested using half the amount next time. Oh yeah, I also inexplicably threw a small handful of orzo in with the broccoli as it was cooking. Yes, prior to subjecting the whole thing to the stick blender. Don't ask. Turned out o.k. actually; it just didn't look too appetizing (and I won't go into why).

My Notes (Nov/09): Made this for a pot luck. Lots less of the nutmeg. There was a ton of it and I was concerned that nobody but me would like it. Lots of people actually had seconds and there was only a small amount left over. Yea!

Dijon Pork Paillard with Spinach and Flower Salad

Dijon Pork Paillard with Spinach and Flower Salad from SeriousEats.com

Baked Ziti

We had the following dish our friends' house. It was really tasty and everyone ate it up like mad. To simplify this dish further, you can use jarred marinara...

• Baked Ziti with Quick Marinara Sauce from Food Network Kitchens

Overnight Oatmeal

This breakfast contains protein, whole grains and fresh fruit for an easy healthy breakfast. A perfect way to have oatmeal when the weather turns warmer...

• Overnight Oatmeal from wholefoodsmarket.com via: thekitchn.com

More No-Knead Breads

• No-Knead Challah at thekitchn.com
• No-Knead Cheddar & Chile bread found here at thekitchn.com
• No-Knead Foccacia (not really "no-knead" unless you use the dough hook on the KitchenAid) from thepauperedchef.com and (originally) from here.
  

Tassenkuchen

A very pretty bundt-style cake from In The Kitchen With: Andi Kovel on Design*Sponge

Chicken and Pineapple Stir-Fry

A tasty riff on the classic chicken & rice...

Chicken and pineapple stir-fry recipe from SeriousEats.com

"Perfect" Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Melted butter is what makes them better...

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cook’s Illustrated magazine May/June 2009 via thewaythecookiecrumbles blog.

Olive Oil Cakes

made an olive oil cake last year to serve my family when they came to visit. It was pretty easy-going and not too sweet. It went really well with tea and didn't make you feel guilty after eating it. For the life of me, I can't find the recipe. Here are some similar ones that sound pretty darn good...

• Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake at NYT.com
• Almond Citrus Olive Oil Cake from Giada
• Olive Oil Almond Cake from sassyradish.com
• Cornmeal-Olive Oil Cake with Poached Peaches in Rosemary-Honey Syrup from Emeril