Monday, February 22, 2010

Recipe Repertoire

The other day I got a wild hair and decided to try a new dessert recipe. That same day my coworker and friend, Jennifer handed me a recipe for homemade granola from a blog she recently discovered. So over the weekend I tried both recipes and enjoyed both. And I had a realization. When we got married we got lots of new cookbooks and recipes. And we also got lots of shiny new kitchen gadgets that needed a little more breaking in. So I committed to trying at least one to two new recipes each week.

So far here's my list so far:

Pineapple Pie
I wanted to make dessert for Valentine's day and this stood out to me for some reason. The pie was very easy to make and delicious. The meringue topping? Not as easy and I didn't get the texture quite right. It tasted good but was more of a marshmellow consistency than meringue. Better luck next time!

Homemade Granola
MMMMM. Nom Nom Nom Nom. This was pretty easy to make and DELICIOUS. Matt already requested a round two. Definitely give this recipe a try! I used cocoa roasted almonds instead of the cinnamon roasted almonds and recommend you do the same. Just writing about it is making me crave the granola on top of vanilla yogurt!

Meatloaf
Mmmm. Also good! This was my first attempt at meatloaf and I really wasn't sure if I really even like meatloaf. Matt and I made a discovery and a secret non-ingredient that made this recipe a hit in the Hoag household. The non-ingredient? Onions. Yep, the recipe called for them. Did I include them? Heck no. We both dislike onions and agreed that meatloaf sans onions will be a recipe standby. I used the recipe out of this cookbook that I got because my dear friend Brenna recommended it to me several years ago. I filed away that recommendation until I got married and swiftly registered for it and thankfully recieved it!

Baked granola
Also a hit in the Hoag household...though it wasn't a homerun. It was good but not to die for. I plan on playing around with the recipe a little next time around.

Pasta with boursin, asparagus and pine nuts
Mmmm. This isn't exactly a new recipe. Brenna made it when I visited one time and it is actually when she recommended the cookbook I mentioned earlier. I've made this dish before but didn't follow the recipe exactly. I think the last few times I made it I omitted the dill. This time I included the dill and it made all the difference.

I've already tried out a new recipe for this week and it was yummy but you'll have to wait to hear all about it! I didn't take any pictures but realize I should probably start snapping pics of all this tasty goodness so you can drool a little. :)

2 comments:

Hoag said...

My belly appreciates all the hard work in the kitchen! Love you baby!

Anonymous said...

I pop over here every once in a while and I LOVE your recipes. It's fabulous your so adventurous with trying out new recipes and then share what you like best. Thanks for your hard work!

Kara