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A Life From Scratch.

A Life You Adore Around A Table You Love.

Archives for October 2011

Boo!

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Trick or Treat? Let’s go with something sweet to eat.

Spider Cookies
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Ingredients
  1. 28 caramels
  2. 3 TBS of butter
  3. 4 TBS of water
  4. 3 oz of cho mein noodles
  5. 1 cup roasted peanuts.
  6. 6 ounces semi sweet chocolate
Instructions
  1. For the candy part melt together 28 caramels, 3 TBS of butter, and 2 TBS of water in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth.
  2. Add in 3 oz of cho mein noodles along with 1 cup roasted peanuts. Drop onto cookie sheet, about 2 TBS for each cookie.
  3. For the chocolate coating, melt together 6 ounces semi sweet chocolate along with 2 TBS water on high for 45 seconds. Stir until smooth and drizzle on top of the 'spiders.'
  4. Let them hang out on the counter for their 'legs' to set. Refrigerate any you don't gobble up right away to stay fresh longer.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Spooooooooky,
Courtney

P.S. My Wild Thing!

An expected pairing.

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There have been a few changes in our household over the past two weeks. I’m not quite sure what took over me (ok, yes I do – the general season of Fall), but I decided to do a bit of updating. Moving things around here, updating a piece there, a new punchy fabric to sit on, as well as a completely new dining room and finally completing L’s room. Big sigh. I get why people hire designers. But it’s over, and I’m in love.

My sense of style and design always seems to be shifting but I have to say I’m currently stuck on the pairing of the unexpected. The surprise that items shouldn’t go but they do, there is just something that seems so fresh about the juxtaposition of it all. M seemed a bit hesitant as he started to see items roll in and matching items roll out…’Courtney, those don’t go.’ They will, once I’m done. I promise.

So, I found it only fitting for our first meal in the new dining room to be a completely expected and traditional pairing to calm down M’s nerves. What goes better together than grilled cheese and tomato soup? Not much. I thought it would be fun to kick up that pairing to a gourmet roasted garlic and tomato soup with toasted buttered baguettes and sharp cheddar baked on top. Sort of like a french onion soup would be served – baked, hot, browned, and bubbling away. Helloooo. We dined on our grilled cheese and tomato soup under our sparkley chandelier. The end results? The soup (and room!) were a hit. Whew.

Scroll below for the perfectly paired recipe and some snapshots of the updates.

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
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Soup Ingredients
  1. 3 pounds of halved Roma tomatoes
  2. olive oil
  3. salt and pepper
  4. 4 whole garlic cloves
  5. 4 cups of chicken stock
  6. 1 tsp freshly minced thyme
  7. a sprinkle of red pepper flakes
Topping Ingredients
  1. a fresh French baguette
  2. butter
  3. sharp cheddar
Instructions
  1. To make the soup: Roast 3 pounds of halved Roma tomatoes tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a 400 degree oven. Also throw in 4 whole garlic cloves wrapped in foil. Let everything go for an hour.
  2. Remove from oven and cool down a bit. Pulse the tomatoes and garlic in a food processor or blender - until you reach just a slightly chunky consistency. Pour into a pot on the stove and stir in 4 cups of chicken stock, 1 tsp freshly minced thyme, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil then simmer for 25 minutes.
  3. To make the topping: Slice a fresh French baguette into thin slices, toast, then butter on both sides. Ladle soup into ovenproof bowls, top with pieces of the baguette and shred some sharp cheddar on the top.
  4. Into a 375 degree oven they go for 10 minutes. If the top of the bread/cheese combo isn't as browned as you'd like, flip on your broiler for a minute or so.
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Adapted from Bon Appetit
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Yes, this is a pairing I’d never change. Ever.
Courtney

A fall Sunday dinner.

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It’s been a long week – I feel like I keep saying that and I’m wondering when it’s going to be a normal week. I’m longing for lazy, slow, and bored. Which is what I carved out half of my Sunday to be. I got home from errands at 1:00, put on my favorite jeggings, warm socks, and cozy cardigan that makes me feel like I’m being hugged at all times and refused to go back outside. I almost wanted to lock the doors and pull the drapes but I then I realized I don’t have drapes. Darn.

Something about baking 500 muffins (don’t ask), spontaneously redoing my dining room and a few other pieces in the home, along with 7 drinks Friday night, including 3 martinis (again, don’t ask – I don’t remember) just sort of threw off my kitchen routine. That is never a good thing for me. The first thing I did when I woke up today (almost sober – yea!) was sit with my cookbooks and plan out my meals for the week and then it was off on my broomstick to Whole Foods. It is literally my version of heaven and I practically waltzed around the store with visions of my oven perfectly browning the skin of a lemony olive oil rubbed chicken breast. Yes, we were having a hearty Sunday dinner. Baked chicken. Brown rice to soak up all the juices. And M’s favorite garlicy roasted green beans. Something tells me I’m going to need seconds. Hold the martinis.

Sunday Baked Chicken
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Ingredients
  1. 1/3 cup of olive oil
  2. 9 cloves (yes, 9!) of minced garlic
  3. 1/3 cup of dry white wine,
  4. the zest and juice of 1 lemon
  5. small palmful of dried oregano
  6. small palmful of fresh minced rosemary (or thyme, whatever you have)
  7. a generous amount of salt and pepper.
  8. 4 bone in chickens breasts
  9. salt and pepper
  10. one large lemon
Instructions
  1. Preheat that oven to 400 degrees.
  2. You'll need to start by making the sauce. Heat up 1/3 cup of olive oil over medium low heat. Once warm, add in 9 cloves (yes, 9!) of minced garlic for just a minute or so. Remove from the heat.
  3. Mix in 1/3 cup of dry white wine, the zest and juice of 1 lemon, small palmful of dried oregano, small palmful of fresh minced rosemary (or thyme, whatever you have), and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
  4. Pour sauce into a 9X12 dish. Pat 4 bone in chickens breasts completely dry and put on top of the sauce, skin side up. Brush generously with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  5. Cut up one large lemon into 8 chunks and place throughout the chicken.
  6. Bake for 40 minutes and remove from the oven. If the skin isn't as brown and crispy as you prefer, flip on your broiler and stick it back in for a minute or so. Remove, cover with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

This completely hit the spot.
Courtney

A ‘Wild Rompus’ + a Fall Salad

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It’s been too long since I’ve written. That’s a culmination of a few things. 1. I was a hair tired from the Sunday extravaganza and pretty much just needed a day to focus on the brilliance of a fully checked off to do list and 2. My internet has been down in my home for 3 days straight. Nothing makes me crankier and even as I write this I’m writing in a draft format completely unconnected to my blog and it’s bothering me. Comcast is on their way (hooray!) so hopefully this can go up tonight. And lastly 3. My back needed a slight break from all the cooking. Those 30 year old bones are creeping up on me.

Well, L’s party was a success. And I judge that by two things. 1. L’s face during the party (completely enthralled) and 2. The lack of leftovers.

Ok I’ll admit one of the reason I always go a bit overboard with the food is to enjoy the leftovers for a day (or two) after the event. The big pot of black bean soup that was bubbling away all day, well, I dreamed of having a warm bowl at work for lunch the next day and an easy prep for dinner that night – just heat it up. That didn’t happen. There was *maybe* enough for one bowl and I saved that for M as he didn’t get any at the party.

Another thing that was going faster than I could keep up with was the ‘fall salad.’ This one is a make again. Perfect for the season and I had about 5 requests during the party for the recipe so I knew it had to go up – asap!

So, enjoy pictures from the ‘Wild Rompus’ as well as the perfect salad to carry you through November.

Fall Salad
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Ingredients
  1. 1 bag of mixed greens
  2. 1 bag of arugula
  3. handful cranberries
  4. handful almonds - I found cinnamon roasted ones from Caputos that were out of this world
  5. 2 cups of roasted butternut squash - TJ's sells it all ready cut into chunks so just dice it up, toss with olive oil, salt & pepper and roast @ 425 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes
Instructions
  1. To make your vinaigrette whisk together 1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup of olive oil, generous amount of salt and pepper and a palmful of snipped chives.
  2. Toss everything together right before serving.
Adapted from DinnerALoveStory
Adapted from DinnerALoveStory
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

He’s 5…!
Courtney

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