Why dirty a pie plate? Save time, make a crostata!

My morning started out really great, with a plan. Well, I think we all know how that turns out; the best laid plans…

Here was the plan: make coffee, make breakfast, take Talula to the park and walk. Coffee got made; move on to breakfast—the breakfast plan was to make these spinach pinwheel pastries from the back of the puff pastry box. The puff pastry had been in the refrigerator too long; it didn't look too good. But I’d already grated the cheese and mixed it with onion powder (the recipe called for green onions— didn't have any), defrosted and squeezed dry the spinach and cracked the egg and beat it. So I had to be like Winnie-the-pooh and think, think, think.  What to do with all these ingredients so not to waste them?  Make a quiche!

I’m not into perfect pie, it’s a beautiful thing when someone else does it, I simply can not do it, but a crostata I can make!

I threw all the ingredients for pie crust into the food processor, made the crust and put the cheese/spinach mixture in the middle, crimped the edges and them poured in the egg and milk mixture that went from one egg to five. Then I baked in 350° oven for 30 minutes. It came out great!

Now, I’m pretty sure I’m not the first person to make a quiche crostata, but for thinking on the fly, so I didn't waste food, I think I did good.

Florentine Crostata

(Also, I think the lesson here would be to check and make sure all you ingredients are edible before you start).

Time To Make Cookies

I walked by the cookie jar today and it was empty; it's been empty for a few days.  So, I thought it was a good time to make cookies.  I make these delicious cookies that are filled with so many yummy flavors that they have become my favorite cookie. I call them my Orange Chocolate Chip Cranberry Pecan cookies, now I know that's a mouth-full, but, really, so are the cookies. They're not huge, I don't like to make huge cookies, but I think they are just perfect. Here is the recipe:

Orange Chocolate Chip Cranberry Pecan Cookies

Orange Chocolate Chip Cranberry Pecan Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter softened

½ cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Zest from 1 orange

2 cups chocolate chips

2 cups Craisons

2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine chocolate chips, Craisons, chopped pecans in a bowl and mix.

Combine dry ingredients:  flour, baking soda, salt. Then add zest to dry ingredients, mix in with fork or whisk.

Cream butter and sugars until fluffy; add eggs one at a time beating well after each egg. Add vanilla extract, beat in.

Add ½ dry ingredients to butter mixture, beat at low speed until combined. Add the rest of dry ingredients, mix at low speed until combined.

Now add ½ of the chocolate chip mixture at a time and mix until combined.

This mixture will be thick and may try to climb out of your mixing bowl.

Line two half sheet pans (or cookie sheets) with parchment. Using a small ice cream scoop(the one I use is 1 1/2") drop onto sheet pans about 2 inches apart.

Bake 12 minutes. 
Remove cookies from oven.

 Let cool on sheet pans for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool.

 Cool completely. Now fill the cookie jar!

This recipe makes about 5 dozen 2 inch fat cookies!

Treadmill Time

Wow! I fell asleep so early last night (7:30) that I woke up early (2:30). I hemmed and hawed in my bed for a while, but I was wide awake. I decided this morning would be the morning I got my butt back on the treadmill, and I did! Only 20 minutes this morning, but I feel great about it because I thought I might be able to do only 5. Now to just stick with it.
It took a long time to find the right time to exercise; now I know that in the morning before I'm exhausted from work is the best time for me. I used to think about exercising all day at work and by the time I got home it was the last thing I wanted to do.
Time to go to work! It's going to be a good day.

Stay-cation

These are the last two days of my stay-cation   We worked in the yard this morning; trying to get it ready for winter planting. I trimmed the unruly boysenberry; I've let it go so long it's impossible to tell which canes need to go and which ones I should keep, so I cut the entire thing back to about two feet. Next spring I'll take a more pro-active stance on caring for the vine. I should dig it up and replant, but this way I'll get some boysenberries. We went out this summer and picked some wild blackberries and made jelly. This was the summer I learned to can fruit and jam properly, so I really want some boysenberries next year.