A few thousand more words

I get bogged down with the pressure of blogging. I cook something. I take photos. I sit down or don't sit down but suddenly somehow it's 11:30, I've gotten completely wrapped up in a Law & Order, SVU mini-marathon on TBS or an hour of Diners, Drive-ins & Dives on Food Network, or the like.... and I've failed. Yet again. To blog.
Jesse offered me a less ambitious goal for the new year's resolution. 3 blogs a week. I can handle 3 blogs a week. IT's way less pressure than 7 blogs a week, way more likely I'll keep up with it. If nothing else, I can do what I'm about to do and just post a crap-ton of pictures.

Flashback!!!!
December 23. Big Plate o'Yum.
Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, exchanging Christmas gifts with Jesse, making candy, wrapping gifts, etc etc.






Where else would you find a young, pretty 20-something on the first Friday night of 2009??
Of Course!
In her apartment....










...baking cookies on a whim. Trust me on this one: don't substitute shortening for butter. Even if you just bought butter and don't want to use up 2 sticks in one go. Use the butter. Becuase shortening is easy, it's friendly, it's always at room temperature.... and 30 minutes later, your cookies are hard as a rock and you're disappointed. Plus, they don't get all brown and yummy.

Continuing the trend of ugly but delicious food....
Java pot roast from Crockpot365. If you try this recipe, definitely use salt. Season the meat. Don't use balsamic. Just because it says "vinegar" on the bottle does NOT mean it's the same thing. I'd recommend using wine if you don't have Red Wine Vinegar. But the balsamic definitely left an extra *twang* that you're not always looking for to go along with a half-package of cream cheese.





And then, there were two great loves in my life....
My brand new (ok, ok fine.... refurbished) Cuisinart Food Processor that also has a blender caraffe!!!!!! (the other one is Jesse, so we're clear) which enabled me to make......
SPINACH PESTO!!!! Glee!!!
I am honestly ridiculously excited for the oncoming pesto-ness. Pesto with basil, with parsley, with spinach, arugula, piscachios, walnuts, hazlenuts, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes --joy. Plus, I can make milkshakes and my own mayonnaise (yes, I know using the blender would be cheating....) all sorts of amazing things.


Which brings us to tonight, when I made tomato soup and panini...all comforty-like...
True story: halving canned tomatoes and roasting them at 325 for half an hour ish really DOES make them taste better!! And if the sugar in the juices doesn't burn your parchment paper, you could probably roast them longer and it would make it even better. Not that I know anything about the juices of the canned tomatoes burning the parchment paper. Nope, not this expert cook. certainly not.

Alright. Round one complete. Next time.... round 2. Hopefully figuring out how to post recipes and pictures without getting all bogged down and stuff. Or at least ingredients. Procedures..... something..... I hope. :)