Mustard & Brown Sugar Salmon

I went to Arby's today, bought one of their Market sandwiches and felt guilty for spending the 5 whole dollars. Things are tight right now and something just didn't seem right to "splurge" on a $5 lunch. I'm probably being too tight.
So tonight I made Sparky Mustard & Brown Sugar-Rubbed Salmon. It was pretty good, but not my favorite. Because the dish called for it to be cooked in a frying pan with olive oil, I cooked it outside on the grill. (Sure do love that side burner.)

Sparky read another article this week touting the benefits of Omega-3 oils and when I said salmon was on sale at the grocery store, you could see her mouth start to water. She suggested we have salmon 4 times this week. (I doubt it.)

I stopped by Sunflower Market for some grapefruit on sale and they also had a good price on spinach (another Sparky favorite) and so we had steamed spinach along with fried rice I made with some leftover rice.

Not a bad meal.

I wonder if Sparky would like a salmon sandwich for lunch today?

New Header Photo

As I mentioned yesterday, it snowed, creating a good day to sit inside and cook ebelskivers for Sparky.
But today the sun came out to show off the 6-inches mother nature blessed us with. Before church I seized upon the opportunity to shoot a new photo of Timp - with lots of snow now.
For those of you who missed the old header photo, here it is.

A lot browner way back then, since it was taken during early fall when the snows had not yet covered the Indian princess resting on the top of Timp.

A Danish Valentine?

I'm not sure if the Danes celebrate it or not, but in celebration of Valentines Day, I got up and made Sparky Danish pancakes, called Ebelskivers. W-S had been promoting a new ebelskiver pan they recently introduced, and since we had a cast iron version from way back then, I decided it would make the best early morning treat for my lover. (Although I admit it took me a few minutes to locate the pan in the back of the cupboard, and then I had to wash off the accumulated dust.) With it snowing outside and while Sparky slept on this cold Saturday morning, it was a fun diversion from the usual hot oatmeal.

Yesterday, I had found a recipe on the Internet for blueberry-filled ebelskivers and since I had some blueberries in the fridge it was only a natural. However, halfway through the process I ran out and had to substitute strawberry jam, which worked out just as good. In the end I even made some plain ones. Nice and chewy, they were a fun Valentines treat. And I even got a kiss from Sparky for my efforts. Woe!!

Ain't That Old!

I am a little frustrated with this blogging thing. (Granted I've only been doing it less than a week.) I'm not the most computer literate; I don't write code, etc. Still I can generally figure out things. But I'm not finding this blogging to be intuitive; specifically how to make my header photo fit within the confines of the blog space -- ugh!
It would also be fun to put in multiple pictures in a montage, but I don't know how unless I have to do it in Photoshop or something comparable. I've talked with Wort and Brenda about it and neither of them knew how to fix it, at least easily enough to explain it to me over the phone. They're going to call in the big guns (professional bloggers) and get some instructions and hopefully get some help in my direction. Hopefully, I'll be able to delete this posting soon and not embarrass myself.
TIME PASSES - 10 MINUTES
Well, I went back into Photoshop Elements and re-sized the photo a few times and got it to fit within the confines of the header. But I still find that to be intuitive!
This Header Photo of mighty Mt. Timpanogos was taken from the 2nd floor bedroom window of our house, earlier this fall. Timp is now more fully snowed-in and I should probably update the photo to show it in all its beauty.

Pasta e Fagioli

People have contacted me asking what the Pasta e Fagioli soup looked like and if I had any pictures. So I went back and found a picture I had taken from the first batch of soup I made a couple weeks ago. It's really a pretty soup with its red tomatoes, cream-colored, italian beans and green beans. The best part of the soup is that Sparky loves it, which is a real compliment. Although Sparky often doesn't say otherwise but when she goes back for seconds, it's a good sign.

Quick Homemade Biscuits

Tonight I made Quick Homemade Biscuits from the Cooks Illustrated Best 30-Minute Recipes book. (This is a cookbook that Kym gave me for Christmas 2008 from which I have made a few soups so far.) The recipes are supposed to be made in 30-minutes, which I am finding a bit challenging. It's probably me but I find you really have to hustle to get these recipes done in 30 minutes. For example the soups I have made from the book took me about 30 minutes just to prepare the ingredients and then another 30 minutes to put them all together.

This biscuit recipe, as it's name implies, is quick and easy. But probably the best part about it is that the biscuits are not the typical crumbly biscuits. These small breads hold together and yet they have some "bite" to them. I am also surprise at how they puffed up during baking in the oven.

They were great with the pasta e fagioli soup I made the night before, also from the same cookbook. Here's the recipe:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sal

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1. Heat Oven to 450 degrees, placing rack on upper-middle position.

2. Make Dough: Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in cream with wooden spoon until dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and gather into ball. Knead dough briefly until smooth, about 30 seconds.

3. Cut Biscuits: Pat dough out 3/4-inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter or inverted glass to punch out rounds.

4. Bake: Place biscuits on parchment paper-lined baking sheet (or use Silpat). Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

In The Beginning

So, several people have been after me to start a blog. I'm not sure how it's going to work, and/or if I'll be able to maintain it in a timely manner, or if anyone will be interested. Keeping it updated and of worth using somebody's computer memory, somewhere will be a challenge.
But tonight Kym persuaded me to start and post some of the pictures of the foods I have made recently (instead of just sending them to her and her sister).
So with that, we begin.