Winter hibernation

A couple weeks ago I posted a photo of some baked ziti I had made for dinner that night. Lynne asked me if I would share the recipe. Of course!! It's from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook - one of my favorite cookbooks.

Baked Ziti with Tomatoes and Mozzarella

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for oiling the dish
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp minced fresh basil
1/4 tsp sugar
Salt
1 pound ziti (or any short tubular pasta like rigatoni or penne)
8 oz mozzarella, shredded (2 cups)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees - rack in middle position.
2. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil for the ziti.
3. Cook 1 tbsp oil and the garlic in a skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until the garlic is fragrant but not browned - about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes with their juice. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Stir in the basil, sugar and 1/2 tsp salt.
4. When the water is boiling, stir in 1 tbsp salt and the ziti. Cook, stirring often, until the ziti is almost tender but still a little firm to the bite.
5. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the ziti and return it to the pot. Stir in the tomato sauce and toss to coat. Add the reserved pasta cooking water as needed to loosen the sauce.
6. Spread half of the ziti in an oiled 9x13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the mozzarella and half of the Parmesan cheese. Spread the remaining ziti in the dish and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
7. Bake until the cheeses turn golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Note: you can add 1 lb cooked hot or sweet Italian sausage and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes to the skillet with the tomatoes if desired. I use frozen tomatoes in place of the 2 cans of tomatoes called for. And I use more cheese than they call for. :)

Serves 6

I usually make a half recipe and Mark and I easily get 2 generous meals out of it. I've done both the vegetarian and the Italian sausage - both were very, very good. Lynne, if you try it, let me know what you think!

So, I've been very bad at blogging lately! I guess nothing too interesting has been happening here - it seems to be all about the weather - either unseasonably nice days or deep-freeze cold. Hopefully, we've seen the last of the frigid cold for awhile.

I've been trying to organize my storage areas. I don't really understand why I have to do this EVERY year - obviously I haven't quite hit on the right place for everything yet!! One thing I did that I am very pleased with is moving the barrister into the dining room. It makes a great china cabinet! And it takes up less space than the ice box. The ice box moved into the living room - but, of course, not where I had the barrister. Mark was shaking his head, but it was necessary to move 3 large cabinets to make this all work. :)

Right now, I have crystal in the barrister. But, truth be told, I rarely use my beautiful crystal pieces - even when they're staring me in the face. So I'm thinking about packing the crystal away for awhile and filling the barrister with everyday stuff - kind of leaning toward putting pottery in it. I'm sure you'll see photos if I actually do that!!

The other big move I made was to take all of the photos out of this cabinet. You know the ones - the boxes and bags of photos that should be in albums, but, sadly, are not. I decided I needed more space for table linens - and also a place for beach towels. This cabinet worked perfectly. I kept the placemats in the dining room hutch because we use them more often when it's just Mark and me here. I'm excited about having beach towels handy - we can just grab them as we head out the door to the boat or lake. Kind of a strange combination, but it will work great for us.

My biggest organizing project has been in the basement. But I'm not showing photos of that - lol. You'll just have to take my work for it that right now everything seems to have a place on the storage shelves. I'm quite pleased!!

grumpy old men, a loaf of bread, and ziti

This was a corner of our lake last weekend. We've been enjoying some nice temps - and everyone is out taking advantage of it. We regularly see ice fishermen, snowmobilers, and cross-country skiers. The great lazy dogs love having all of this activity to bark at - I think they're saying, "Come open the gate - we'll play with you!"

This was my third loaf of bread. I used parchment paper on the peel and stone, and I think it came out perfect. No burnt cornmeal, nice crust, and the taste is out of this world. My dough has been sitting in the fridge now for a week - and this loaf I definitely noticed a slight sourdough taste. Very nice.

Tonight I made baked ziti with roasted tomatoes from my garden (via the freezer!) and mozzarella. It was divine. For whatever reason, I've been in a cooking and baking mood lately - it can't last, but nice for right now!

a cozy mystery and a cookbook

I just finished a delightful book that Nan at "Letters from a Hill Farm" ( lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com ) recommended awhile ago. "Still Life" by Louise Penny is a cozy mystery. www.suite101.com/article.cfm/detective_fiction/97341 describes cozy mysteries as:

"Traditionally, the cozy was a British novel featuring sweet elderly women and other harmless protagonists. Now, however, cozies take place in every place and time. The genre is gradually broadening as popularity increases. Most cozies are written for women and are a series, probably appealing to women who once thrived on Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden. "

There's more if you want to read it. But this could be an apt description for why I like them. This book is set in a small town outside Montreal, Quebec. It's picturesque, the characters are wonderfully quirky and likeable, and the book has just enough French interspersed to make me feel like my French lessons are paying off. (Don't worry, if you read the book, you'll understand the French whether you have studied it or not!) This is book one of a trilogy - I just requested book two at the library - can't wait to see what happens next!

Trailhead at "Mountain Time" ( mountaintimeblog.blogspot.com ) requested the recipe for the pot pie I had in my last post. It's from "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook." I bought this cookbook about 3 years ago, and I love it! It has homey, everyday recipes - that always seem to turn out perfect. Everything I've made from it so far has turned into one of our favorites.

CHICKEN POT PIE

Serves 6 to 8

Total time 1 hour 10 minutes

4 tbsp unsalted butter

3 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 ribs celery, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 onion, minced

salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp minced fresh thyme

or 1/2 tsp dried

1/2 c all-purpose flour

1/4 c dry sherry

3 c low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 c heavy cream

2 bay leaves

pepper

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts,

trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (uncooked)

1 c frozen peas

2 tbsp minced fresh parsley

Pie dough or Cream Biscuit dough

Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and 1/4 tsp salt and cook until softened, about 7 minutes.

Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.

Stir in flour. Slowly whisk in the sherry. Stir in the broth, cream and bay leaves.

Simmer until the mixture is thickened, about 10 minutes.

Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Stir the chicken into the sauce and continue to simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Discard bay leaves and stir in the peas and parsley.

Pour the mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish.

If using pie dough, roll it out into a 15x13 inch rectangle and drape over the dish and trim.

If using biscuit dough, cut the dough into eight 3-inch biscuits and lay over the filling.

(Note: the filling must be hot when you put the pastry or biscuits on top or the topping will be gummy.)

Bake until the topping is a golden brown and the filling is bubbly, about 20 minutes.

Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

CREAM BISCUITS

Makes 8

2 c all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 c heavy cream

Heat oven to 450 degrees (if just making biscuits).

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.

Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until the dough forms, about 30 seconds. (Do not overmix)

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Knead the dough briefly until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Pat dough into a 3/4-inch-thick circle. Cut the biscuits into rounds or wedges.

If making biscuits (not pot pie), bake until golden brown - about 15 minutes.

warm wishes

We received this card in the mail from my niece today. It's handmade. Isn't it adorable? Little wooden clothespins holding up paper mittens - I love it!!! I like it so much, I've decided to forgive her for spelling my name wrong on the envelope! :)

We had snow all day yesterday again, so decided chicken pot pie would taste good for dinner last night. I made it with a cream biscuit topping instead of pie crust. We're talking biscuits made from flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and HEAVY CREAM. I cannot tell you how good it was!!! The filling needed more gravy - something to make a note of for next time - but it disappeared almost like it was perfect!

I'm still putting finishing touches on my decorations. I have most surfaces partially done. When I finish this, I'll be heading out to get the little touches I neglected to pick up when we were running errands Monday. Tis the season.

But thought I should start showing you some of the stuff.

We have a barrister bookcase in the living room. I've used it for books, knick-knacks, crystal - and now my Spo*de Christmas china. It makes a nice display and was much easier than emptying out my hutch in the dining room for 6 weeks!! Sorry about all the reflection - small house with tons of windows, means I never get great photos inside!

I have wine glasses in the top section, behind the leaded glass. The second section has glassware, cups & saucers and a crystal cream & sugar. The third section has specialty plates - cookie and candy dishes - and dessert plates.

The fourth section is dinner plates. After deciding to do this, I realized the plates are wider than the shelves in the barrister. So Mark went out to the garage and made me a plate rack so they could stand up. They look a ton better this way. Thanks, Mark!!

The bottom shelf has serving pieces from Christopher Rad*ko. I'm way too cheap to buy more Spo*de and they have similar designs, so...

Many years ago, I had opportunities to buy at Day*ton's (which then became Mar*shall Fie*ld's and now Ma*cy's) with an employee discount. (I volunteered my time every so often - I got an employee discount and a local school was paid cash for the hours I worked - great program for me and the schools! And the store actually - I spent WAY more money than I would have without the discount!!) Anyway, with the discount and sales, I bought 8 place settings and some specialty dishes. I love them, but I doubt I would have ever paid full price for any of it.

Here's a closer look at the plate rack - he did a really super job - and there's room for 12 plates in case I ever use different china or other pieces. It comes out, so still very useful for displaying other pieces too. Really, what a talented guy - and sweetheart!!