Heaven . . . in my kitchen!

I really love to cook. I'm not talking about the everyday monotonous cooking, the cooking that comes from your pantry in cans, you just can't wait to get on the table, eat and then clean it up to move onto homework or couch time. I'm talking the new recipe with the mysterious twist. Maybe it is a unique pairing of two foods, maybe it is a food that has never been tasted, MAYBE it just has butter in it and therefore must be made. And you have time to enjoy the process, savor the result and postpone the clean up while good conversation flows. Whatever the case, that is the kind of cooking I love.

Which reminds me, have you seen "Julie and Julia"? I'm buying "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" on my next Amazon order and I'm going to de-bone a duck, I will, I will!

Monday was an unexpected day full of . . . empty time. We were supposed to go to Rothenburg to a Christmas Market but Mark was delayed getting home from his Italy trip and the weather didn't cooperate. SO, I pulled out all the recipes I have had tucked away in my back pocket just waiting to be made. Let me just give you a preview of what is in store by giving you a portion of my shopping list: 16 sticks of butter (we are off to a good start); semi sweet, milk, mini chocolate chips; red plum jam; almond butter (thanks mom); all forms of sugar; cream (oh yeah). And the most important ingredient of all: a fridge full of diet coke (to which a drip of madagascar vanilla hits the spot) and 2 new Christmas albums (thank you my friend iTunes, who makes it so easy to spend so much money with just a click of a button).

And just because I need to write this out loud, I started at noon and put the last touches on my orange cookies at 8:00 pm. I took a break here and there by letting the kids lick the spoons, dip their fingers in the goo, but for the most part the oven was on and the mixer was humming. SO. FUN.

Here are the results . . . so pretty!




During one of our breaks we ate dinner which was a work of art in and of itself. I gave Mark a list of things to buy while in Italy and he made me proud. He bought olive oil, balsamic vinegar, asiago cheese, red pepper infused olive oil and parma ham (32 euro per kilo baby, which is why we only have 200 grams to work with ;). When we move back to the states and you come to my house expecting to see all kinds of souvenirs from Europe you will be sorely disappointed because I ate them all! When Mark and I travel we find the most enjoyable thing is to try the local cuisine. I will be able to show you lots and lots of pictures of us with our mouths open, trying all kinds of good eats.

So we made pizza! I even made the dough from scratch, and I believe even my friends Bree and Aaron would have been proud. We layered homemade pizza sauce with mozzarella cheese, parma ham, fresh tomatoes, asiago cheese and topped with Parmesan. Seriously folks, now you have a really good idea why I love this man. He speaks to my heart AND my stomach.

We went to bed fat and happy with smiles on our faces. Other days can be filled with fruits and vegetables and my torturous treadmill. Today was my day for a good dose of calcium intake what with all that dairy and maybe, just maybe the good fat (olive oil) nixed the bad fat (butter and cream). I know this is not true but a gal can dream . . .