Cranberry Tart

Today I made the Cranberry Sour Apple tart from Once Upon a Tart. I'm not sure if it's because their recipe was better, or the instructions were so complete, but this is the best luck I've had with rolled out anything. Pastry is one of the things in the kitchen that I generally avoid, along with custard, or anything that needs to be beaten in a bowl over simmering water. The only sub I made was to use tart cherries instead of raisins. My daughter loved this - I was able to make a mini tart with the leftover filling and pastry. She loves tart things, including cranberry sauce which this essentially is, or jam. I'll bring this to Iowa for Christmas.

Last night's dinner

I made the cauliflower gratin from Ina Garten. My daughter and I saw her make it on her show recently. I used 50% reduced fat Cabots cheddar instead of the gruyere as it's what I had. The only other change I made was to mix the cheese, breadcrumbs (I used panko), and butter together for the topping. It was yummy, and I ate the leftovers for lunch. I also served sauteed pork chops and peas. What can I say about peas, except they're easy, cheap, and my child eats them.

What to have for dinner?

Today I pulled some Ratatouille out of the freezer that I made this past summer. I used Jack Bishop's recipe from Vegetables Every Day, which I don't remember all the details of. I do remember that he recommended not peeling the eggplant. At the time I wasn't so crazy about the unpeeled eggplant as it was a bit rubbery. My husband thought it was mushrooms. At the time, I thought it was an okay dish and froze the leftovers which have been staring at me for months. Today I pulled out one of the containers and defrosted them and pureed in the blender.......and I have to say it tastes delicious. I think compared to what we were eating at the time, all the fresh veggies, to what we're eating now, that is not-so-fresh, this stuff is amazing. It's like I somehow froze summer and brought it back to life. I'm pretty sure besides eggplant, there are red peppers, onions, zucchini, garlic, fresh herbs in there. The plan is add a can of somewhat drained Muir Glen diced tomatoes, simmer and mix with pasta. If my child eats this I am sure to feel like a genius.

First post!

Why am I doing this? I don't know exactly, but I've been trying to keep track of things that I cook, or want to cook and this seemed like a good place to do it. If anyone but me found it interesting that'd be icing on the cake. Cooking is probably my second favorite thing to do, behind reading. I'm guessing I'll be writing a bit about that as well. I am obsessive about cookbooks, well really, all books. I am a home cook and I cook for myself, my husband, and my 5 year old. I have not ever taken a cooking class as an adult. That's a little about me. I guess I'll begin!