Stinky Cheese Potatoes

I am sure I have mentioned my love of stinky cheese before now,

but here we go again!

2Groovydude named this dish, because he hates it, when he smells it cooking.

I love it!

Kids!

Believe it or not, this is another recipe from a book.

Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Sweet-Revenge-Diane-Mott-Davidson/?isbn=9780060527334?AA=index_RecentBooks_25347

She calls the potatoes:

Prudent Potatoes au Gratin

I like Stinky Cheese Potatoes better.

This is the secret move in this recipe.

Caramelized onions.

You know how I love the caramelization.

Then the next best part, Stinky Cheese!

Gruyere

Fontina

Parmesan

Mmmm, smell the stink, I mean wonderful aroma.

It depends on whether it is me sniffing or 2Groovydude.

Butter it.

Slice potatoes very thin.

These are red potatoes that I would never buy or use.

Daddio bought them and I now love them.

Supposedly they are less starchy than other potatoes?

What I heard.

Layer potatoes and onions in buttered dish.

I really wanted to salt and pepper here, but wait until later.

Layer cheeses and fresh sage.

Sage, another product from Daddio's garden.

Combine heavy cream and salt and pepper in mixing bowl,

then gently pour all over.

Don't splash around, so the cheese will stay in place.

Bake until the cheese turns crusty and brown.

Oh, how I love cheese!

I was going for a layer shot here, as I was eating left-over cheese goodness for breakfast.

Oh, yeah, it is a breakfast food also.

For me anyway.

Try this one out for sure.

Yummy!

I'm thinking this would be great with Easter ham.

Mmmmm!

(Stinky Cheese Potatoes)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Prudent Potatoes au Gratin

from Sweet Revenge by Dianne Mott Davidson

1/2 T. unsalted butter

1 T. olive oil

1 large yellow onion, trimmed, peeled

   and very thinly sliced, about 2 cups

4 lbs. russet potatoes, (I used Red)

1/2 lb. Gruyere cheese, grated

1/2 lb. Comte or Fontina cheese, grated

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 T. finely chopped fresh sage

1 t. coarse sea salt or kosher salt

1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper

2 cups heavy cream

Butter a 9-by13-inch glass baking pan.

In a large sauce pan, melt the butter with the oil over medium-low heat, then add the onion.  Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the onion is very limp and has caramelized w/o burning, 15 to 20 minutes.  Be sure to cook until the onion has completely changed color.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Scrub the potatoes under running water, then peel them.  Slice very thinly.  Toss together the grated cheeses.  Place a layer of sliced potatoes in the prepared pan, followed by a scattering of the cooked onions.  Sprinkle on a layer of cheese, then sprinkle on some of the sage.  Continue to layer until you have used up the potatoes, onions, cheese, and sage.  End with a layer of cheese.

Stir the salt and pepper into the heavy cream and pour it slowly all over the potato mixture so as not to disturb the cheese topping.  Bake in the middle of the oven for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the potatoes are very tender and the top is golden brown.

Makes 8 to 12 servings

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Okay, that is the recipe straight out of the book.  Here's what I did different. 

I left the peels on the potatoes.  I like peels. 

I also just mixed the chopped sage in with the cheese to save a step.  I also used 1/2 and 1/2 instead of heavy cream and they are just as delicious. 

I have used both and the cream makes a thicker dish, but no taste difference.

Spring has got me Sprung!

Don't you just love a good Boston fern?

I know I do.

They make me happy.

I bought two the other day with these really cool hanging planters.

Yea, ferns!

But, oh yeah, we were talking about spring.

It is making me sick.

Allergies, you know?

I was coping for a couple of weeks and this week I crashed under the pressure.

The pressure in my head, the mucus.

Sorry, that is probably a little too descriptive for some, but

at this point, I'm laying it all out there.

The watery, itchy eyes, the stuffy nose and oh, my gosh, the sneezing!

Probably some snoring.

But that has not stopped my desire to add more blooms to the landscape.

Here is my front porch planting for this year.

Sorry, I cannot identify anything but the Dusty Miller and

Hen and chicks.

But I am showing it to you because of the Hen and Chicks.

I bought those for obvious reasons.   

Another reason is, that when everything else dies later in the season,

because I forgot to water them, the Hen and Chicks will survive. 

Succulents are so interesting.

Succulents don't need much water.

Ah, ha!

Back porch creation.

No succulents, because I remember to water the back porch plants.

Lucky plants.

Petunias, Dusty Miller, and the spiky thing in the back.

Okay, so I can't remember plant names unless I've planted them one hundred times.

In a hundred years, I will have them all down.

I walk into a plant store and it's all, "Oh, I like the pink and yellow ones!"

Sorry, to all you plant people out there.

(It's okay, the ones on the front porch are just going to die anyway.)

My little contribution to the pollen/allergy issue.

Go, flowering plants!

Raisin Bran Muffins

I really like to read murder mysteries.

What does that have to do with muffins?

Well, I just happened to find a recipe for muffins in a book I was reading by Phil Craig.

You just never know what you are going to find.

It's amazing!

They sounded really good, therefore I must try.

Sometimes I forget to get the camera going when I am

so excited about a new recipe.

All ingredients pretty much added at this point.

See recipe below.

Stir.

Remember my handy scoop?

I love a kitchen utensil that gets used.

Scoop the batter into a greased muffin tin. 

I really like this recipe because it is lumpy.

I also like my mashed potatoes lumpy.

It is a personal preference. 

One tin at a time.

The other thing that is so great about this recipe is:

You do not have to make 24 muffins!

Yeah!

The batter can be stored in the fridge for up to six weeks.

I would not kid you.

That way, you can just make a few muffins and none go to waste.

Love it! 

(I got 24 muffins out of a half recipe. Make the whole recipe and give half to your neighbor.)

Now here is the best part and why they are better than other muffins.

Before baking sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and sugar. 

The recipe calls for regular sugar, but I added brown sugar.

Why?

Because it is soooo good. 

Yummy, wonderful, crunchy, cinnamon-brown sugar topped muffins.

How's that for adjectives?

They really were great.

Make a batch the night before and have some for Saturday or Sunday 

breakfast.  Then have some more a couple of weeks later. 

Fun!

Yum! 

Hope you enjoy!

The recipe is taken directly from the book I mentioned.

A Fatal Vineyard Season

by Philip R. Craig

Phil gets total credit for this one.

Except for the brown sugar, that was my twist.

Notice the other ingredients he suggests at the end.

RAISIN BRAN MUFFINS

5 cups sifted flour

2 t. salt

5 t. baking soda

2 t. cinnamon

2 3/4 cups sugar

ADD:

1 15 oz. package Kellogg's Raisin Bran cereal

MIX WELL WITH:

1 qt. buttermilk or yogurt

4 beaten eggs

1cup cooking oil

ADD:

grated rind of 3 oranges (3 T.)

1 cup chopped nuts

Refrigerate in container with tight lid.  Keeps up to 6 weeks.  Whenever you want fresh muffins, you bake as many as you need.

To bake:  put dough in greased muffin tins, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Thanks Phil for another great recipe!  I have read several of his books and there is always an interesting sounding recipe included. 

Check him out if you are a murder mystery fan.

http://www.philiprcraig.com/

Egg Explosion! (Eggsplosion?)

These pictures are two-fold.

First, look at this really functional egg holder.

It's from Anthropologie.

http://www.anthropologie.com/

Yes, they do have household goodies.

Another reason I love that place.

The second reason is my little chickie's beautiful eggs.

Just look how colorful and fun.

Supermarket eggs are not this fun.

The holder just sits right on the shelf in the fridge.

You can just reach in there and grab one.

It is a nice contrasting blue color for my motley eggs.

I have been waiting for a reason to use the word motley, finally.

My only problem now is that I need another egg holder,

because the girls are laying eggs in abundance.

Since the snow storm they have been popping eggs out like crazy.

(Well, that's descriptive!)

We get anywhere from 4 to 6 eggs a day.

If you are one of our friends, you may have some in your fridge right now.

Lucky you!

So who gets credit for all the lovely eggs?

Meet the crew.

This is Brownie, one of the original ordered chicks.

She is responsible for our favorite green eggs.

Sometimes I don't eat her eggs right away because I like to see them when I

open the fridge door.

Diamond, is the most flamboyant bird with all her spots and colors.

Scout is the meanest, but a good egg layer.

She's just extremely bossy. 

This is probably Biscuit.

Biscuit and Ginger look identical except for slightly different colored heads.

If you've seen one you've seen them both. 

Buffy previously held the title of meanest bird, but she

has mellowed out and is top of the list for consistent layer. 

Scamp in the nesting box.

Well, she wouldn't come out and I was having a hard time getting good pics.

I'm sure she's thinking that she could at least have a private moment while laying my eggs.

Sorry, Scamp. 

Here's a group shot, with Chuckles at the far right.

She moves too fast and I never got a good shot of her.

Just a blur in the background.

She does lay the little tiny cute eggs, though. 

And yes, if you noticed, I lost my little Cluck.

I'm sad, but things happen with chicks.

She actually refused to coop and just disappeared.

I will miss you my little chick-a-dee.

We are down to 8 chicks and yesterday we got 7 eggs.

Way to go, girls!

Don't worry, we have had some casualties, but Daddio has more chicks-a-coming.

Sometime in April we should have a new gaggle of baby girls.

Don't miss it!

Boy Cake

You did not know that there are boy cakes and girls cakes did you?

Boy cakes involve much more preparation and design layout than girl cakes.

Discussion and drawings.

Example:

Father/Son Cake Bake for Cub scouts.

Daddio whipped up the cake and 2Groovydude

was in charge of the "making it look cool."

Daddio observes for accuracy.

More jelly beans!

The plan was not totally original, 2Groovydude found a similar cake on-line.

He added the dirt path idea however, which tasted very, very good.

It was a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder.

The dirt was the best part of the cake.

Everything on the cake was edible.

The trees are upside down ice cream cones.

Pretzels and Tootsie rolls for sticks and logs.

Graham crackers for the tent.

Chocolate covered raisins for rocks.

Jelly beans for glowing fire embers.

And of course, Goldfish crackers for the jumping fish.

Very cool, dude!

Finished product with proud participants.

At the yearly dinner for cub scouts, the cakes are put in a drawing.

The really great thing about this cake,

Ben had the winning ticket.

We got to bring it home and eat it.

It was very good, I have to say.

That's how I knew how great the dirt tasted.

Wow, I'm so proud of my boys and their Boy Cake.