I can't believe it's been over two months since I've posted on our blog.
We've spent quite a bit of time since October celebrating the birth of our granddaughter, Phoebe Harper Rabbitt. That's certainly the main reason we haven't had the energy or time to have much fun in the kitchen. That doesn't mean we haven't been cooking and having guests in Norwood - but our Marion weekends have been few and far between this fall. I decorated the library with over 6 trees for Christmas, we had overnight guests, a goodbye dinner for a good friend, and a wonderful Christmas party in Marion to attend.
And so, we will have spent a wonderfully long and overdue vacation (December 20 - January 1) at 7 Wildflower Lane with family and friends but we've relied on our favorites like Spinach Salad, Ricotta Bread, Seafood Chowder, Kentucky Bourbon Cake and Pumpkin Cake - with some homemade macaroni and cheese and Gerry's lasagne (with ground bison - delicious!) to get us by for lunches and extra dinners.
Our Christmas dinner entree for 9 of us was Cornish Game Hens - stuffed with cranberries, brown sugar, diced apples, garlic and rosemary and then grilled for 45 minutes outside in the backyard. Yummy and lots left over for hen salad - a bit of chopped celery, lemon sea salt, tarragon flakes, pepper and mayonnaise - served in Boston Bibb lettuce leaves.
At the end of the week, looking for a different bread to make (with no bread flour or ricotta cheese in the house!), I made a beer bread that was delicious. A friend of a friend posted a link on Facebook and I was inspired.
Ingredients:
3 cups organic all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
12 ounces beer (I used Smithwick's)
Mix the dry ingredients with the cheese. Add the beer and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Brush with a glaze of egg and water. Slathered in our Wildflower Lane honey butter, the bread was yummy served warm.
