So this week was my week for Goody Club....a Wednesday rotation of dessert-bringing amongst members of different labs. It's enough to satisfy even a sweet-tooth like mine. I worked on these Samoas, a home-made version of the strangely addictive Girl Scout cookie. For those of you who haven't had one recently (tsk tsk) it is essentially a basic butter cookie cut into a doughnut shape, topped with caramel-covered coconut, and dipped/drizzled with chocolate. They're like the cookie cousin to Amanda's crack muffins.



I'm not gonna lie, these cookies took a lot of work. I had to gerry-rig a cookie cutter that was 1.5 inches across, and make a whole in the center (I ended up with the cap from my can of PAM and the top from my vanilla extract). Then after baking the cookies, the coconut had to be toasted for 20 minutes. Then the topping had to be made, and applied to cool cookies(no easy task, it was super sticky, and kept burning my fingers), and the cookies had to be both dipped and drizzled with chocolate. Well, they didn't *have* to be, but I always bake with flourish.




Of course, all of the attention they required was worth it, because these cookies are straight-up delicious. I know A is considering making this recipe for J, so here's my thoughts on improvements--I wish I had used better quality chocolate. I used store-brand chocolate chips (I wasn't going to get the good stuff just to give it away to a bunch of science nerds!), but the chocolate really is a dominant force when you first taste of the cookie. The caramel and coconut notes come in a second or so later. The recipe called for dark chocolate (yum!) but I just used semi-sweet. I thought the regular Kraft soft caramels worked fine, but if you can find another better quality soft caramel, its probably worth investing there as well. And make sure you have 2 hours or so to devote to making this cookie, because it needs it. If you wanted to be smart about it, you could toast the coconut and bake the cookies one night, then let them cool overnight and do the caramel/chocolate flourishing the next day.

You can find a link for this recipe, as well as other homemade Girl Scout knockoffs (yay for Thin Mints!) here.

The people at "Schmap" found one of my pictures of Discovery Park on Flickr and asked if it might be included on their website, which is essentially a photo-documented map of the city.

http://www.schmap.com/seattle/sights_interbay/#p=21032&i=21032_55.jpg

I didn't get paid for it, obviously, but my name and photography is on the map, and that's sorta fun.

:)

I broke out the stick/immersion blender that Jason got me for Christmas this afternoon! I wanted to to whip together some butternut squash soup that I've been meaning to make for awhile (Literally, awhile-- using the squash I bought back in...oh...November sometime. Luckily, they keep like potatoes ;-)

The blender worked wonderfully, it took me about 2 or so minutes to break the squash down into a nice puree. And cleanup was a cinch, since I didn't have to dirty any additional dishes, other than the small bottom of the blender, which I rinsed easily at the sink.

The resulting puree was pretty sweet, probably from the squash and the carrots (check out all that beta carotene!). I added a little curry powder and turmeric to balance the flavors, and put a dollop of sour cream on it as a garnish. And to think I wanted to make a healthy soup! Not only is squash super cheap this time of year, the squash (and carrots) are packed full of vitamins, and the soup as a whole is super low in fat--if you can resist the garnishing! The soup was also pretty rich, so a small bowl was satisfying.


To make:

I cut the squash in half, scooped out the seeds, and brushed it with a little olive oil. I roasted it for half an hour or so (400 degree oven, you could probably use higher), and dropped a couple cloves of garlic down into the scooped out part to roast as well. While that was going, I sauteed some onion and carrots in butter and a dash of olive oil, then added 2 cups chicken stock and 2 cups water into the pot to bring to a simmer. I skinned the squash halves and cubed the flesh, and threw them into the simmering water. After about a half an hour, the flesh got nice and tender. You can use any sort of blender at this point (although you might want to let it cool for use in a traditional blender) to make a nice puree, then thin as needed with additional water or stock, and season to taste. I felt like mine needed quite a bit of salt and a nice kick of cayenne, but a lot of the recipes I saw called for a variety of different seasonings, including thyme/sage, or even cinnamon.

This is the recipe Mom has been asking for since she was out here visiting us...it's from our "Easy Dinners, Healthy Recipes" cookbook.

Slimmed Skillet-Style Lasagna

Start to Finish: 35 mins
Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:
8 ounces uncooked ground turkey sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups bottled spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
2 cups dried wide noodles (vegetable bow-ties work well too)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese (2 ounces)

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, cook sausage and onion until sausage is browned, breaking up sausage during cooking. Drain off fat. Stir in spaghetti sauce and the water. Bring to boiling. Stir in uncooked noodles and zucchini. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 12 minutes or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, Parmesan or Romano cheese, and parsley.

3. Drop cheese mixture into 6 mounds over the sausage-noodle mixture in the skillet. Sprinkle mounds with mozzarella cheese. Cover and cook on low heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until cheese mixture is heated through. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition facts per serving: 235 calories, 8 g total fat, 38 mg cholesterol, 418 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 18 g protein.

(Sorry for the year-long delay in sending the recipe, Mom!)

Jaden, from Steamy Kitchen, is having a pretty cool christmas giveaway. Check it out and leave a comment on her blog for a chance to win :)

http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2008/12/11/holiday-giveaway/comment-page-7/#comment-60476

The menu included:
Roast herb marinated turkey breast
Dill & Garlic mashed redskin potatoes
Sweet potato casserole
Butternut squash & apples
Stuffing
Steamed snow peas
Fresh cranberry sauce
Warm rolls

The feast (the cranberry sauce is missing, since we forgot about it in the fridge for the first night)...



Laura helping out:


Checking the turkey breast:

Hi guys!

It's almost the holidays, and I'm sure many of us will be doing our shopping online. It seems like there are always so many offers for free shipping and discounts this time of year that its hard to keep them straight. Another blogger, Budget Fashionista, recently posted a list of online sites to find coupon codes for various retailers when you need them. I'm copying it here in case you want to check them out!

RetailMeNot.com. With an easy search function, a shopping forum and, oh yeah, loads of coupons to great stores we love, RetailMeNot.com is one of our go-to bookmarked sites.

Rather Be Shopping.com. This site gives you several options to find what you’re looking for, including alphabetical listing of stores, the most current deals, and a section for free shipping (which, especially this time of year, is our favorite).

Yahoo!Deals Coupons. Totally easy to navigate (and totally uncluttered by all those annoying ads), click under “clothing” for current fashion-related deals. You can also check out storewide sales, weekly ads, and save coupons to use later.

CouponMountain.com. We like this site because they feature some of our favorite stores, and gives you lots of different options to find what you’re looking for. You can also submit deals you’ve found to share the wealth . . .

Anycoupons.com. It’s a little overwhelming at first glance, but clicking around we find lots of great deals. Our favorite part is that when we select the store we want, Anycoupons.com frequently lists multiple deals for that store, so we can pick the one (or more) that suits our needs.

Fatwallet.com. Browse for coupons by store for multiple current deals, or by most recent, expiring, free shipping, and right now, holiday deals. There’s also a “compare prices” feature so you can know if you’re getting the best bargain, and a forum where folks post a whole host of other deals as well.

DealCatcher.com. Features both online and printable coupons (which we love) and rebate notices. Subscribe to the RSS Feed to keep abreast of the latest coupons available without overloading your inbox with another newsletter.

CouponWinner.com. We like this site because it’s well-organized and the coupon codes are prominantly displayed in red (so we don’t have to pull out the magnifying glass to locate them). Also, specific categories like “Handbags & Accessories” and “Plus Size Apparel” makes narrowing down our search so much easier. Finally, the CouponScout tool is fab—compare up to five retailers to see who’s got the best deal, in a click or two. Nice.

TheGreenApple.org. This is a specialty site focusing on eco-friendly products, including clothing and apparel—and if that’s a priority to you, you’re well aware of a) the higher pricetags, and b) how hard it is to find coupons or discounts that apply. This site is easy on the eyes and features both on- and off-line coupons.

CouponAlbum.com. Our favorite part of this site is that we can click sub-categories under our main choice (meaning when we’re in women’s apparel, we can narrow down to coupons, then to free shipping. Quick and easy with tons of great stores we shop at anyway.

I just whipped up a batch of pirate marinade, and remembered that I had promised to get this recipe to you guys, although I never did. So I'll post it on here so that you can try it if you like - its one of our favorites!

From the June 2007 Eating Well Magazine - and recommended for extra-firm tofu, salmon, chicken, beef, and our favorite - pork chops (boneless, center cut).

Pirate Marinade
Heat 1/4 cup canola oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 medium chopped onion and 2 tablespoons chopped garlic and cook, stirring, until translucent (~2 minutes). Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce, 1/4 cup red-wine vinegar, 1/4 cup orange juice, 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar, 2 teaspoons ground allspice, 3/4 teaspoon ground pepper, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 5 dashes hot sauce. (Note: these are the values given in the recipe, but I never skimp on the spices, always adding extra allspice and cloves, and usually 15-20 dashes of hot sauce).

Let cool to room temperature. Pour cooled marinade into a shallow dish or 1-gallon ziplock bag and add your protein of choice (1-2 pounds). I usually then let it marinate overnight in the fridge, but probably an hour or two would be enough if you're in a hurry.

No pictures yet, since it's in the fridge now ;-)

As for sides for this meal, something tropical usually goes well. We often make Caribbean beans (S&W brand from a can) over rice or latin quinoa; fried plantains would also be a nice addition.

It was chilly over the weekend--perfect time to make soup! I used a bunch of leeks that I had bought earlier that week, chopped them up and sauteed them with some onion and garlic, then simmered in chicken broth with diced potatoes until the potatoes were soft. It would be best to use a blender to make it nice and smooth at this point, but blender-less as I am, I fished out the potato and leek and used a fork to mash it up manually :) I then added 2 cups of milk, and it was ready to go!

The recipes I saw online cautioned me to use only the white part of the leek, and only white potatoes, because the soup just had to be pristine and perfectly white! I rejected the perfectly white soup (I don't hate) and used some of the green part of the leek, as well as the various colors of potatoes that I had on hand, a fingerling mix of white, red, and purple potatoes. It gave the soup a light greenish color, which wasn't as appetizing as white, but not bad either! Next time I would use more milk or cream to try and thicken it up a little.

It apparently makes a good vicchyssoise, but I ate mine warm, and it was delicious!



Even better with a fresh batch of clover rolls.

Check it out--the NY times recently published an article about Ballard and Fremont, where I spend most of my time out here (when I'm not in the University District!). You might recognize pictures of the Ballard Sunday Market from my previous posts.....

Am I cool, or what?

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/travel/escapes/31american.html?ref=travel