a necessary change

i'm doing something i should have done long ago. i'm consolidating - - something i need to learn to do more of. i will now be posting foodie goodness on my other blog. please join me. and if you are only interested in awesome food all day, every day - - go here.

soup

no recipe
no story
just soup.

see, i'm not totally neglecting you!

andrew's resolution

okay. so monday, jan. 5th is actually the start of my new year. i realized it was going to be too difficult to start everything on the 1st, as it was right before the weekend. it's hard to start resolutions like diet and exercise right before the weekend. especially when part of your plan for the weekend is to eat sausage rolls. luckily for me, one of andrew's resolutions is to learn to cook. in all actuality, he is already quite a good cook. i think he is just looking to expand his repertoire to include more than stir fry and lasagna. this weekend he made one of his favorite snacks from australia. the sausage roll. the crispy, delicious, tummy-happiness-causing sausage rolls. if you have not included, "go on a diet," as one of your resolutions. i highly recommend these. and if you have included "go on a diet," you might want to rethink it (i know i am).

here is a recipe that andrew put together for you, please pardon us both if it lacks detail (i.e. "milk")

sausage rolls

1 egg
milk
1 pound ground sausage
2 sheets puff pastry
2 slices of bread


mix the egg and a splash of milk in a bowl
cut the crusts off of the bread and soak the crustless slices in water for a minute or two.
cut each pastry sheet into quarters so that you have 8 in all
then remove bread from water and squeeze out as much water as possible
with your hands, mix bread evenly into the sausage.
roll out 8 equal size balls of sausage mixture and place onto a pastry sheet. then roll them up in each square like a pastry cigarette (his words)
pinch the edge closed and paint them each with the egg/milk mixture
put them on a tray and place in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until they look done (golden brown - - my words).

i would maybe just add some salt and pepper, but this isn't my recipe.

oh, and i made some cumin ketchup to go with it.

rough recipe - - as i had ingested several beers by the time i made it.

cumin ketchup (or catsup - - what's the difference?)

3 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon worcesterchire sauce
salt & pepper

mix well and enjoy with sausage rolls or turkey meatloaf.

ps. i know my postings have been a bit, well, sparse. i am going to try to do my best to at least post something every monday and then go from there. how does that sound?

thanks, ina!

well the stuffing was a huge success. i used this recipe, and switched out the sausage for pancetta. mostly because i didn't have sausage, but i had pancetta. i was kind of scared, since i usually hate stuffing . . . especially the kind with the huge cubes of bread. i had always kind of lumped it in my mind with things like waldorf salad (yuck) and jello with floaty fruit in it. well, that is no longer the case. i will now lump it my mind with things that are awesome like french fries and nutella on strawberries.

happy thanksgiving

just set the table. my folks will be here in a few hours. i have already realized that i forgot a bunch of ingredients and i don't really know how to make a proper stuffing. this should be fun.

a question.

is there really anything better than peanut butter? this morning, i can think of nothing i would rather have than a heaping spoonful of peanut butter. yum!

he likes soup, or so he says

well many of you know the battle that is waged in the gotch household almost every day . . . jen vs. andrew in THE BATTLE OF SOUP (dah dah dah daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah). it has been a losing battle on my end for about 4 years running. you know how he has his list of foods he hates (wet meat, pulpy juice, cherries, pickles, and on and on)? well soup always seems to find it's way to the top of the list. this is a problem for me, since i am a soup lover. i love to eat soup, i love to make soup and when i feel that first bit of cold in the autumn air (which in l.a. means when it drops below 70 degrees), i want soup. and yesterday, for some odd reason, he agreed to a pot of soup. i think it is mostly because i told him it had peanut butter in it, and peanut butter is at the top of his "foods i love" list right after hamburgers. so after a short trip to the market, some chopping of vegetables, and warming of bread, soup was served. and it was good, real, real good. andrew ate every last drop, only quizzing me a few times about the ingredients. i was reluctant to tell him there was salsa in it, because he doesn't like cooked tomatoes or tomato soup. it didn't seem to phase him. he even ate the garbanzo beans, and he hates beans, except green beans. later that night, when the truth was rising to the surface, he confided in me that next time, he could do without the beans. i reminded him that he loves humus, but that was not enough. "it's a texture thing, not a taste thing" he calmly replied. either way, i feel like some progress was made here last night. there is even talk of more soup next week. i'll keep you posted. here's the recipe if you are interested.