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Wednesday, June 4, 2008

A Day in the Kitchen

What did I do ALL day on Saturday?





It was our Sunday to bring snacks to fellowship time at church, so I made chocolate chip cookie bars, gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars for my little ones, and brownies. It was also Jeromy's birthday on Friday, but we were celebrating it with my family on Sunday, and he requested a plain cheesecake with oreo cookie crust. We also had a salad potluck at church so I made a green salad with chicken, garbanzo beans, artichoke hearts, roasted asparagus, pecans and dried cranberries with a honey vinaigrette. It was pretty delicious if I do say so myself. Needless to say, I spent the whole day baking and cooking. Jeromy kept the little ones occupied, so I could cook in peace, and it all turned out pretty well. I have never made a cheesecake before and ran into some problems, like the bowl I was trying to mix it all in was too small and cream cheese splattered the ENTIRE kitchen. Even my feet were splatter painted. I also didn't know how high to fill up the pan, and the cake ended up being really tall. It was a ten pound cheesecake (at least!) Jeromy in the end decided that he likes his mom's cheescake better which he remembered was a no-bake kind and would have taken me a fraction of the time. Oh well, it was his birthday gift, so the labor of love was worth it. I will NOT be spending the day in the kitchen next Saturday (hopefully!)

4 comments:

Kristen Borland said...

wow! that's a lot of cooking/baking for one day! that salad sounds delicious. how did you roast the asparagus?

Brianna Heldt said...

mmmmmm all of that sounds and looks delicious!!! i'd love that salad recipe!

i'm curious--how do the gluten free bars taste compared to the others?

and, my mom used to make a no-bake cheesecake that was also really good. cheesecake is a lot of work, but it sure tastes good! yours looks wonderful!

Samantha said...

Kristen, I toss the asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper on a cookie sheet. I put them under the broiler set to high for about 7-10 minutes, turning them once. The thickness of the asparagus dictates how long to cook them. Yummy! My kids love them too.

Brianna, the gluten free bars taste great right out of the oven. The problem with all gluten free stuff is that it gets crumbly once it cools. These bars freeze really well though and can be eaten right out of the freezer to eliminate the crumbliness. To keep myself from eating them all, I make them with eggs for the kids (I can't have eggs, so I can't eat all of the goodies!)

The salad is easy. Just throw in anything you and your family likes with some romaine hearts. The cranberries and pecans make the salad IMO. Use any vinaigrette you like (homemade is always best- I use equal amount of olive oil, vinegar- I use apple cider vinegar and balsamic, basil, garlic, a tsp of grey poupon, squeeze of honey, and a generous amount of season salt to taste. I make my own season salt from sea salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder and keep it in a jar to make dressings or cooking.)

Kristen said...

Ooohhh, thanks for posting the tip on grilled asparagus. I had that once at a BBQ and it was just delicious! I remember it was also dusted with some red chili pepper which added a lil' kick! I never thought to make it at home. I think we'll be having grilled asparagus this weekend. :)