domestic goddess…

so ive quit my job, and im moving to california!!
no joke. gonna live like jayne mansfield in a plush pink bathroom…
im going to start attending cal state fullerton in order to study cultural anthropology.
yes!
but in the mean time, my mind is free to wander and consider delicious things….and then have the time to actually MAKE those things!!
so heres a quick list of tasty things ive made recently…
also note that i didnt actually take pictures of anything. whoops…
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natalie dee
for thanksgiving, i made this ginger-honey pumpkin pie from epicurious. i also made the candied pecans from this recipe to put on top. however i made them into CURRIED candied pecans, delicious.
notes: somehow, the pie itself was a bit wet….i dont know how to fix that. i also put WAY more fresh ginger than called for and it was delicous!
–the curried candied pecans…i made them, and just poured the whole sugar mess out of the pan and onto the pie, so that it formed a big praline on top…if i were to do it again, id seperate out the nuts on parchment paper per the recipe suggestion.
comments: “how could i ever eat normal pumpkin pie again?!”- jessica
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for the hell of it, i made these: mrs. beans famous nutmeg ginger apple snaps from fantastic mr. fox
……they were alright.
a) i think it turns out i dont like nutmeg.
b) they were kinda too cakey, but good with ice cream.
the next day they were better, snappier and crispier. but then the next day, the apples were sorta rubbery and blugh.
also, i burnt out the hand mixer trying to beat this dough together. whoops.
but my sweet tooth boyfriend thought they were awesome.
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then i stumbled upon this west african peanut butter soup recipe .
i stayed completely faithful to the recipe and there was wayyyy too much peanut butter…
we also used quinoa instead of rice because quinoa is a complete complex protein! BALLIN‘
verdict: too much peanut butter not enough tomato.
we remedied this at dinner by serving it with lime which added kind of an exotic flair.
leftover idea!: made buckwheat soba noodles and then just used the soup as a sauce. YUM!
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giuseppe arcimboldo, ca 1573
nashville has been recieving a heavy dose of wintry mix lately, so i made a big pot of my mom’s veggie chili. she had made it up herself so she had a little trouble writing out a recipe for me, but here tis:

veggie chili for 5:

just use whole vegetables and double everything if there are more people

1/2 eggplant or a small one
1/2 onion
lots of garlic – 4-5 cloves
2 fat carrots
1 small zuke
1 small yellow squash
package of mushrooms
green bell pepper
1 big yellow waxy potato
1 big sweet potato
12 oz (ish) can of red kidney beans
12 oz (ish) can of black beans
12 oz (ish) can of garbanzo beans
a big can (16? 20? oz) about 4″ across – peeled whole tomatoes
Contadina makes the best tomato products
12 oz can of tomato sauce – not paste. Contadina makes the best tomato products
smallish (8 OZ?) can of corn
2 pkgs of French’s Chili-O (buy it! It’s yum)
some cinnamon, salt ground pepper
EVOO

ok – peel and cube the potato and sweet potato and cook in some boiling salted water
about 15 min. to start to soften. Drain and set aside.
–so chop up the garlic, onion and peel the eggplant and cube it, chop
all the veggies into delectable bite sized pieces.
–saute-the eggplant in a LOT of olive oil as it soaks it all up. You’ve got to brown it. Set aside out of the pan.
–More olive oil, saute the garlic and onion. Set aside w/the eggplant.
–More olive oil, saute the carrots, green pepper, zuke and squash just to brown them. Don’t let them get mushy. Set aside w/the other stuff.
–More olive oil, saute the shrooms. Set aside w/the other stuff.
–Get a BIG POT and dump in the beans and corn with their juice, the tomatoes and sauce.
–Put a little bit of water in the frying pan and deglaze all the good veggie juices and dump that in too.
–Dump all the veggies in and the Chili-o. You might need to add a little water. Or beer. Or wine. Or V-8. Or whatever.
–If you have some leftovers that seem appropriate add them.
–Cook on low for a coupla hours. The longer the better. Also you can turn it off for a while if it is too hot. NO BOILING. Bubbling is slightly undesirable.
Make some cornbread at the last minute and serve it hot.
Sour cream, Greek yogurt, grated cheese, guacamole are all also delish.
Don’t put tabasco or Sriracha or anything real hot in it because it will get hotter as it cooks. Just let people put it on theirs.
xoxox

my room mate elle insisted on fritos rather than corn bread and that was fantastic, like frito pie!
also the cinnamon takes it over the top. so so goood
so in our house, when we want heat, we turn to banjamin’s ghost pepper elixir!
the ghost pepper is the hottest pepper in the world! but ben’s sauce and dry rub are spicy and flavorful, not just “tasteless heat“. i need to figure out some kind of portable shaker to keep in my purse because i am seriously addicted.

josh anderson