For some reason, I feel greatly comforted that there is a National Pasta Association. Their web site is at http://www.ilovepasta.org/. Thanks to them, I now know what kind of sauce to use with what kind of pasta. They actually have lots of cool pasta recipes there too. (Site found thanks to Dane Carlson’s Weblog.)

Mom made this tongiht. I used to have a recipe for one that was very similar, but it used more butter (which was also supposed to be melted). This one came out a bit better, and there were no nuts in it because none of us like them in stuff. One thing that is a little annoying is all the chocolate chips sink to the bottom. I wonder if there is a way to keep them from doing that.

Nestle Toll House Coocolate Chip Pie

Makes 8 servings

1 nbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep dish pie shell[1]
2 eggs
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup (6 ounces) NESTLE TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)
Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream (optional)

PREHEAT oven to 325 deg F.

BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

BAKE for 55 to 60 min or until knife inserted halfway between outside edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm with whipped cream.

[1] If using frozen pie shell, use deep-dish style, thawed completely. Bake on baking sheet; increase baking time slightly.

Recipe taken from back of package of chocolate chips.

The results are in and yow! It’s good chili! It’s a tiny bit too
hot, but it tastes really really good. I think if I were to do a
second batch I’d cut down on the cayenne pepper a little bit (but not
much). Yum.

Here’s the recipe This came about after getting a chili recipe from
a friend online. As I was looking around to find out more about chili
I decided to be more daring and try something that was my own original
recipe.

Ingredients

3 strips of bacon
3 lbs of lean meat (diced or ground (but diced is better))
1 small onion, diced
10 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can diced tomatos (drained)
1 tsp ground cumin
6 tbsp chili powder
4 tbsp paprika paprika (for color, but also adds flavor if good
paprika)
1 tsp red pepper (I used ground cayenne pepper)
2 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp flour
6-8 Tbsp corn meal
32 oz of beer

1. Cook bacon in the pot you will be using. I was using a dutch oven.
   Cook it down till it’s almost crispy. Scoop bacon and put aside for
   bacon bits.
2. Add garlic and onion, let cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the
   whole time, till the onions start to soften.
3. Add the meat, saute it till it gets grey, but not really browned,
   add tomatos, and beer, bring everything to a boil then simmer at low
   heat for 30 minutes.
4. Add spices, and simmer for 1 hour.
5. Add honey and simmer for 30 min more.
6. Remove a bit of the hot liquid (or, use
   approximately 1 cup of water) and mix the flour and corn meal until
   blended. Add to chili pot and cook 5 minutes more to determine if more
   water or more thickening is needed. Stir to prevent sticking after
   adding the thickening.
7. Serve with whatever chili condements you like. I personally like
   lots of cheese.

So there goes. Warning for anyone making it, it’s pretty hot. I
recommend a beer with it to help cut the heat some.

My mom made something similar to this on Christmas morning. It was really good, and when looking through some other receipes for stuff like it I found this. This morning a friend of mine had a kind of pot luck brunch and had people bring stuff over. This was perfect (and it came out soooo good).

French Toast Casserole

Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread or Challah
8 large eggs
3 cups whole milk
4 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon each cinnamon and nutmeg

Topping:
2 sticks butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
2 tablespoons corn syrup (or maple syrup)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Grease a 13 by 9 inch pan. Cut bread into 1 inch thick slices and arrange in baking dish, overlapping slices to fit, if necessary.
Combine eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla and spices until blended.
Pour mixture over bread, making all is covered evenly. Cover pan with foil and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350.
Spread topping evenly over bread and bake, uncovered, for 40 – 50 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned.
Can serve with additional maple syrup and bacon or sausage.

Variations: Could also sprinkle the top of the casserole with blueberries before baking or just sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top instead of the topping

Yum. I have a tiny bit leftover too that I think I will have right now.

This recipe came with some sundried tomato sauce I picked up the other day. it looked pretty good so I thought I’d make note of it here so I would remember to try it out this weekend.

Sun-Dried Tomato Penne & Shrimp
8 ounces penne rigate, cooked as package directs
1 pound frozen medium cooked shrimp
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine or water
2/3rd cup Classico Creations Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce and Spread

In a medium skillet, cook shrimp in oil for 2 to 3 minutes or until the shrimp are heated through. Add wine, cook and stir until most of wine has evaporated, about 1 minute. In large bowl, gently toss hot penne, sun-dried tomato sauce and shrimp.

Makes 4 Servings

When I made this I ended up using some really yummy sausage instead of the shrimp (since the person I was making it for didn’t like shrimp). It came out wonderfully.

Here’s a recipe from Dane Carlson (I’m reprinting it here so I have a record of it):

Roland’s Teriyaki Glaze Pork Ribs: By popular demand, I’m sharing with you my secret Hawaiian recipe for teriyaki glaze pork ribs… a delightful island treat. Cook it over an outdoor grill, watch yourneighbors make a beeline for your back yard… 🙂

Roland’s famous Hawaiian pork ribs in teriyaki glaze:

Couple big slabs pork ribs

Glaze sauce

• 1 cup soy sauce (Hawaiians say “Aloha Brand” soy sauce is best – can be found at Safeway)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 heaping tablespoons crushed or grated ginger (mo betta if you peel the skin)
• 3 big fingers of garlic, minced
• 1.5 cups brown sugar (C&H preferably to support the workers on the ‘aina)
• 2 tablespoons cooking sherry wine
• 3 cloves star anise (they sell in asian stores, kinda pricey but an important element)

Combine all sauce ingrients in a small pot, bring to boil then quickly turn to simmer, let the full flavors of the exotic ingredients meld, gingerly, full of love and aloha. (This might be a good time to put on a Don Ho album and down a couple of Mai Tai’s!)

MEANWHILE, fill a big pot w/water and set to rumbling boil. Cut the ribs down to manageable portions and drop into boiling water. Let boil for an hour, oruntil the meat is tender. After boiling, remove from hot water and drain. Baste with brush with the sauce. Don’t over coat with sauce cuz it will burn on the open barbeque fire… the sugar content is very flamable.

Cook on open barbecue, a low flame (let flame mellow first so its not jumping at your meat) for not more than 10 minutes or so – the meat is already cooked, the barbecue should just add a nice crisp and smoke flavoring to it. Baste with sauce using brush at least 2x during cooking time.

Finally, take majority of the sauce and thicken. Use 1 teaspoon of cornstarch mixed into about 1/2 cup of water as a thickening agent… slowly stir this into your reheated sauce – only adding as much as you need to thicken sauce. (Heat the sauce to high – nearly boiling, then quickly reduce to simmer — watch it thicken with the cornstarch…)

Remove ribs from barbecue, place in serving dish, add sauce as a glaze atop ribs, garnish with diced green onions (scallions)…

Remove and eat… 🙂

[From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]

Thanks for posting this! I can’t wait for a chance to try it out (mmmm Ribs)!

Okay, this is one of the cooler Google related things I’ve heard of:

Megnut’s mom, who once was guest host on Meg’s blog, has invented a new idea — googlecooking. Meg says “My mother types whatever ingredients she has on hand into Google and then picks the most appealing recipe returned in the results.” Smart! [Scripting News]

Hmm, I wonder what I should make this weekend.

Boing Boing has a great link to a guide to making summer sorbet in an interesting (and pretty easy looking) way. From the site

today i’m making my special sorbet in a sack. armed with just a couple of plastic bags and some rock salt i will transform this fruit juice into a refreshing sorbet in just minutes. its the perfect snack after a busy day of play, work or adventuring!

It must be seen to fully enjoyed though, as it’s being prepared by a stuffed animal. Unfortunately for some folks, it’s a Monkey.

From Epicurious, the Gourmet Magazine website, we have a recipe for: Salted Water for Boiling. The comments are great too.

(This one came out perfectly the first time I tried it).

Here’s one of my favorite recipes.  I love making this for breakfast.  I think it’s perfect served with some sausage too. An additional note that this has to be made in a cast iron skillet. This is a great recipe to help season your skillet too!

2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
dash of salt
4 tablespoons butter

1. Set oven to 450 degrees F and put a large (12″ or so) skillet in to heat.
2. In a bowl, beat the eggs, flour, milk and salt together. (Mix in all together at once or it won’t .   The more air you beat into the batter the higher it will rise in the oven)
3. When the oven is hot, toss the butter into the skillet and let it melt.
4. Pour batter into the skillet and return it to the oven.
5. Bake 12-15 min or until the pancake is ed and golden.
6. Cut in half and serve immediately with warm maple syrup (and whatever else you want)