Pasta E Fagioli

I arrived home around 7:00 PM last evening from my trip to London feeling so happy to have had the experience and homesick all at the same time. London was absolutely fantastic and more beautiful than I imagined. It was also a very busy 10 days at the convention I was attending.

I am fighting a bit of jet lag and feeling a little blue....I think because I am completely exhausted so I thought that a nice comforting soup would be the best bet for dinner tonight.

Pasta E Fagioli from my latest special edition magazine from Cooks Illustrated. The recipe sounded like it would be light enough for the still warmish temperature and comforting at the same time and I was right.

It is filled with tomatoes, beans, onions (I added the chicken because Peter prefers a heartier soup) and a surprising ingredient....anchovy paste! It really did add a great richness to the soup without a fishy taste. Topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and crisp prosciutto it really hit the spot!

This one is a keeper and has me in the mood to make more soups. I love Autumn, I can not wait for the air to get crisp and cool, it really inspires me to spend more time in the kitchen.

Heading Across the Pond

I miss blogging.....feels like I haven't in a long time....really this is because September has been crazy busy and I have not done any interesting cooking. Everything has been easy, on the fly dishes that I make all the time.

Today I am heading to England for a work convention, I am excited! But this means there will probably not be any more posts in September, October will be different, I have big plans to start cooking up a storm!

Cheerio My Friends!

Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting

I had big plans this weekend to make coconut cream pie but that fell by the wayside when I found this recipe for one of the best looking cupcakes I have ever seen.

The recipe has many steps starting with the bottom crust.

A mixture of crushed graham crackers, sugar and melted butter a pressed into the bottom of the tin and then topped with finely chopped chocolate. This is than baked for about 5 minutes to set the crust and melt the chocolate.

The crust is then topped with the cake batter. The batter is not thick at all, it has the consistency of melted ice cream, which worried me at first but everything turned out well. The batter is topped with the remaining graham crackers and chocolate and then baked.

Next comes the marshmallow frosting. I was a bit nervous about making the frosting but it turned out to be very easy.

I then pipped it on top of the cupcakes (I still need some practice at this) and placed them under the broiler to toast.

The cupcakes are delicious! One thing to note is that the recipe says it makes 2 dozen, when in actuality it could probably make about 4 dozen.

Anxious for Fall and New Cooking Magazines

I have been uber busy recently. Nothing I can complain about, but it has kept me out of the kitchen quite a bit. This weekend (and hopefully next) I plan to change that. I am missing cooking and baking a lot.

Fall is upon us (OK, so it is still hot outside, but a girl can pretend) and I could not be more excited, Fall is my favorite season. The weather is great, the clothes are cozy and best of all it starts the season for all sorts of fantastic foods.

I have two new cooking magazines that I can not wait to make some recipes out of. One is Cooks Illustrated American Classics. I am excited to try the following recipes from this issue.

Crisp Fried Chicken: Who doesn't love fried chicken! I have never attempted it though so it will be a new experience.

Philly Cheesesteak: One of my favorite sandwiches and I think that Peter may like it too.

Coconut Cream Pie: This is one I think I may try this weekend. I really like cream based pies and this recipe looks excellent and the crust is made with animal crackers....very interesting.

The second magazine is a special edition from Cuisine at Home. This is one of those $10 splurges but I love the regular magazine and this issue is filled with Soups, Stews and Chilies which are some of my favorite foods. There are countless recipes in this issue that I would like to try and I am sure I will though out the Fall and Winter seasons. This weekend however, I think I am going to try Kung Pao Shrimp Soup. I already have some shrimp that needs to be used and the recipe seems light enough for the warm weather that is still lingering.

One thing I am worried about with the Kung Pao Shrimp Soup is Sriracha.....what the heck is that!?!?! Looks like it will be Google to the rescue for me on that one, hopefully I will be able to find it in a local grocery store......

BLT's & Copious Amounts of Tomatoes

We have TONS of tomatoes on our one lone tomato plant. Last night I took about 10 over to the Gilby's for dinner, and I just picked about 60 more......I swear, 60! I will be sharing these with my office mates tomorrow as there is no way that Peter and I would be able to eat all of these tomatoes. And, believe it or not there are still plenty to pick once they are ripe!

Tonight, in an attempt to use up some of the tomatoes we had BLT's for dinner. YUMMY!!! This is one of my all time favorite sandwiches and I love how simple and old fashion they are. Just some great bread, mayo, lettuce, bacon & tomatoes. It doesn't get much better than this!