Heptadecagon

If you live anywhere near me, you know it's cold outside. And when it's cold, I seem to find comfort in a bit of warm food. So you might wonder why I'm posting a cobbler recipe now, in the early part of December. No, I haven't made this recipe recently. In fact, I've never made it. But a colleague did, and I'm posting it so that I can remind myself how to find that bit of warmth I need right now. This peach cobbler was delicious and I'm thinking that this warm fruity dessert (with a dash of cinnamon if I add it) would be a wonderful addition to a cold December night by the Christmas tree. Crust Topping: 1 cup flour 1 cup sugar (my colleague cut it to 1/2 cup and it was sweet enough) 1 tsp baking powder 1 egg, beaten Filling: 2 T flour 3/4 cup sugar 4 to 5 cups fresh or frozen peaches  or blackberries 1 stick unsalted butter, melted 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 2. Combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder in a medium bowl. 3. Make a wel...

I've been running around a lot lately, mostly to events, work, meetings, and such. I always feel as though I'm running behind, actually, and if I get to where I need to be on time (which used to be late for me), I almost congratulate myself. We have so much going on these days that I find myself reaching for the small comforts: an cup of warm coffee, a chocolate chip cookie, and yesterday, broccoli casserole. Strange, but true, but when I tell you what goes in this casserole and how to make it, you'll realize it truly is a comfort food. And comfort foods are allowed to be firmly entrenched in the strange category. Ingredients: 1 16 oz package chopped frozen broccoli (two 10 oz packages are fine, too) 2 cans cream of mushroom soup 1/2 cup of butter 1/2 bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix Steps: 1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. 2. Add the broccoli and cook just until thawed. 3. Add the soup and the stuffing mix and stir. 4. Place into buttered casserole ...

After almost 16 years of marriage, over 14 of those with children, I'm pretty tired of cooking. I'm tired of the act of cooking, the decisions that go into cooking, and the list of recipes I have in my repertoire. Yes, I could ask the kids to cook--one child for each day of the week--and that would help cut down my responsibility in some ways. But in other ways, it would make more work for myself. So, I'm at an impasse. While I decide what I want to do about cooking in this family, I'm trying quick and easy recipes on nights when we have leftovers in the fridge in the event the kids don't like what I'm making. (Yes, sometimes I cater to my kids. Other times, I don't give them a choice about what they're eating.) The other night, I decided to throw some ravioli in the pot for Tim and me since the kids had pizza and veggies to eat. As I boiled the water, I decided that regular red sauce was too mundane, so I looked for a creamy garlic sauce. Now, I...

Many times I post a recipe here because I want to save that recipe. That's what I'm doing today. I looked up "Easy Banana Muffins" because I really didn't want to use my same old muffin recipe and I had, as usual, a ton of bananas. Well the recipe I found was a hit with the kids. And anyone who has kids knows that if a recipe is deemed more than acceptable, you stick with it. So I'll be putting this recipe into the "what to do with old bananas" rotation. (If you want to see the original recipe, you can find it here .) Ingredients: 3 large bananas 1/2 cup white sugar 1 egg (slightly beaten) 1/2 cup melted butter 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional, but I used it) 1 cup milk chocolate chips What to do: Mash the bananas and add the sugar and the egg. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon ...