When the garden hands you potatoes...

...make potato pizza!

We discovered some baby potatoes from last summer's potato crop when we were turning over the soil in our garden yesterday afternoon.  They were too perfect to just throw into something, so we made a potato pizza with homemade pizza dough with lots of fresh rosemary (from the herb garden), and then added some caramelized onions and a little cheese to hold it all in place.  Gropius couldn't resist the butter/radish appetizer once he read this month's issue of Sunset magazine.

So, we enjoyed pizza, pineapple margaritas and the Oscars last night.  How about you?

Bundt Cake

So, on Thurs evening, Gropius cooked lentils and made homemade pasta for dinner while I baked a cake for him to take to work the next day for a potluck luncheon.  After looking at our pantry (because we didn't want to have to go to the grocery store), we decided on a hazelnut variation of Dorie Greenspan's Walnut Mocha Bundt cake.  I had some hazelnut flour in the freezer, so after making an espresso for the mocha part, we were good to go!

Lulu wanted to help, so I let her pour the flour into the bowl, stir the dry ingredients, etc.  She wanted a cake of her own and even brought out her mini-bundt pan from the IKEA toy cooking set and I thought, "Why not?"  I buttered and floured her cake pan and we poured a little of the batter into hers, too.  And what do you know--it worked!  The end product looked more a fancy donut than a bundt cake (due to its size) but Lulu thought it was very cool.

I was really pleased with how the cake turned out, too. It was delicious! (of course I had to sample a piece!)

Zimtherzen

Technically, these cookies are supposed to be called Zimtsterne because they are supposed to be star-shaped, but I figured with Valentine's Day right around the corner, I'd put my own twist on them.

I can't lie--the dough was kinda b*tchy to deal with until I got the hang of it and I was hampered by no wax paper (had to make do with parchment).  But they are gluten free and taste even better the next day. Who knows--if Lulu proves to be a big fan, I may have to make some in shamrock shapes for St Patrick's Day?

Sweet Potato Pizza

Gropius and made an adventurous pizza earlier this week--with sweet potato! My inspiration was a recipe from the latest issue of Food and Wine magazine, but we did our own riff.  A nice green salad, a stiff drink, and some TV rounded out our meal.

Instead of mashing the sweet potato to replace the sauce, I thinly sliced the potato to layer on top instead and tossed it with some olive oil and fresh rosemary from the garden. We didn't have mozzarella cheese (which was a surprise) and ended up using cheddar. 

Rather than buying pizza dough at Whole Foods on the way to pick up Lulu, she helped me make pizza dough once we got home. Nothing says fun like using a food processor to make your own whole wheat pizza dough! She pulled up her step-stool and helped me measure flour and add yeast and water. I think she's got quite a future in the kitchen!

Picture-worthy meals.

Warning:  catch-up (ketchup?) post ahead.

Gropius and I have enjoyed a few good meals lately--last night's fondue with homemade bread was particularly tasty, but unfortunately, NO PICTURES FOR YOU! (insert Seinfeldian Soup Nazi voice here)

In the past couple of weeks though:
He roasted a tasty, small pork loin roast in the oven that we served with tiny, perfect, multi-colored potatoes, and shredded brussel sprouts (my preferred method).

And this past weekend, we enjoyed a spanish-inspired risotto with manchego and chorizo and a green salad.  Unfortunately, the close-up photo resulted in a not-so-tasty looking meal, but the first one I took isn't bad.

Backe, backe Kuchen!

the proud baker herself

pointing out the finer pts of her bread

Lulu baked her own cake today. Well, technically, she assisted, but she assisted quite a bit and was quite adamant that she could DO IT, Mama! So, I chopped up a couple of pears that were just this side of being tossed out and measured out the dry/wet ingredients which Lulu poured into the bowl and mixed together. Then, she spooned the batter out into the loaf pan I had prepared in the meantime and we popped our pear-walnut tea bread into the oven.

She was so excited to see the end product of her hard work--I think we might have a baker on our hands!

a close-up of the end product--very tasty!

Dido sez...

Merry Christmas, @#$#*!