Basic fresh pasta dough for reference. We’ve been going up to the local Italian place up the street for fresh pasta on Tuesdays so I decided to try it myself, this in not the first attempt by any means. This time it came out best. I’m thinking it may be that I actually use my hands for mixing the flour into the eggs. I could feel better and have more control and know when enough flour was enough. I didn’t use all the flour from the mound, but most. Came out great, kids loved, wife loved.

Made this great tasting banana bread the other day and just had to log it here for easy access. There are always a couple bananas in the bunch that try to make it into the trash. Not on my watch! Ate a little for a late night snack then wrapped it up for breakfast with some coffee.

This dressing has an Asian flavor and comes across less heavy as our normal American creamy salad dressings. I love it and have made it several several times. The girls both like it too. Do try!

Our dog Dotty went through a period of a couple days where every time she went outside she came back in smelling horrible. Like she found the smelliest pile of leaves and dirt to roll around in and rub her cute little head in. So she spent a lot of time here in the sink getting bathed.

I’ve seen kale chips at the front checkout of Whole Foods several times and really wanted to try them. They cost like $5 for a small bag and to me that’s way excessive. This is one of those things where I look at it like, I could make those for next to nothing and easily, no way am I buying those. Yet at the same time I want to buy a bag for comparison alone. In the end J was no fan, Z was ok with them giving them a weak thumbs up and I just think I left them in the oven a bit too long. I stepped away for a second and that’s all it took. So keep an eye on them once the 15 minute mark hits.

I love the rich purples in vegetables. This kale is beautiful.

I have tried making homemade pizza many a time. It usually takes a lot of time or a lot of kneading or special flours (tipo 00) or all of the above. I’ve yet to try this one which I will soon, I’ve heard great things. But I just need something that is quick and simple that I can be munching on within the hour. Fortunately I like thin cracker-like crust so when I ran across this recipe for homemade matzo I instantly thought pizza. The girls usually end up eating (filling up) before I can even finish other pizzas but not this time. J and I really enjoyed it, Z is weird and only likes pizzas of the frozen persuasion.

I made these roasted tomatoes a few days before just to use them before they went bad. 250 degrees for as many hours as it takes, about three. Don’t forget to olive oil, sea salt and pepper them first! They were perfect on those little pizzas. I ended up topping the pizzas with some fresh oregano too but didn’t get a pic of that.

I was watching Chopped the other day and a girl (who had a horrible attitude and I hope lost) made a gravy that she said her mom or grandma used to make, I can’t remember which but it’s really not important. Anyway, she said it was equal parts butter and flour and enough milk to get your desired thickness. Oh, and salt and lots of pepper. I love simple easy to remember staple recipes and I LOVE a good white gravy so I couldn’t wait to give it a try. It turned out fantastic! J and Z both liked it and I love it when that happens. It’s definitely not vegan but it’s meatless, hearty, and scratches that itch.

If you have any left over biscuits they are great as a snack with some honey.

A classic cheddar perfect for crackers, nice and sharp just like I like it. J has always been a cheddar girl and this one had her singing. You can see in the photo how it crumbles in parts when you cut it, loved it. One thing I don’t like about though is it’s yellow color which for me is unnecessarily added.

Back in the day my mom and I would mow lawns over the summers for extra money. My brother did it before me and the job was eventually handed down though there were times where we all three worked together. It was awesome for me as a kid because we would split the money 50/50 and at 20-40 bucks a lawn with and average of ten or more lawns it was like $150 to $250 every couple weeks and for a 12 year old that’s MONEY! So every other Saturday we would mow from morning until dark. The properties were for a bank that I’m assuming repossessed after folks fell short on their loans and most were in the shady parts of town. But nestled in one of those not so pristine areas was a place called Buds. Buds had about five little tables and an old diner style bar. Even the bar was small with only 4-6 stools and where we always sat. Right behind the bar was Bud and his grill. You could almost stand up on your stool lean over the bar and flip the burgers yourself. There were only two menu items that I recollect from Buds. Tiny hamburgers (which my Mom would order like 15 or 20 with grilled onions only) and chili. The hamburgers (there was no trendy name like sliders) were so small they were literally one or two bites tops. I would steal a couple/few from my Mom but the chili was where my heart was. It was this super meaty chili with maybe a couple beans. The awesomeness was in how small the beef was ground. Yeah you guessed it, tiny. Never any big chunks just the finest ground beef you’ve ever seen and oh so, oh so flavorful. Buds became a Saturday lunch favorite with my Mom and I. Not sure how she came across Buds, I think my Grandma may have gotten her hair done somewhere around there but I know she had been there before because she knew how to order those tiny burgers? Since then Buds has closed down and even if it were still there I’m not sure if it would live up to my memories.

So I was going to make chili this past weekend. My usual is bean heavy and vegetarian but I had some ground beef I needed to use up. I called up Moms to ask what she remembered about Buds chili because it was obviously the direction I wanted to take it. I figured she would have a better recollection of it since childhood memories are sometimes a little vague. She came back with “It was all meat and grease”. Her advice was to get some 70% meat and start there, lol. I went with an organic grass fed 80%. The chili turned out wonderfully. It was a cross between Buds (texture wise) and Wendy’s (taste wise) which is a very good thing in my book. Another childhood memory of mine is my grandparents taking me to Wendy’s for chili and they always would vocalize that Wendy’s had “the best” chili. Sad to say but I fully agree still to this day.

The measurements below are just what I’m remembering from over a week later but should be pretty damn close. Flavor to your own liking, the key is very fine beef, very few beans and some liquid.

I’m gonna have my Mom take a pic of Buds old storefront but until then the google map shot above shows the block where Buds used to be.

Z was sent home with a recipe a few days ago for a “Nevada Cookie”. The deal was that the parents make the dough, a basic sugar cookie, and send it with their kid to school the next day. On day one they cut and bake it. On day two they decorate it whilst learning about the state of Nevada, fun. She brought it home today and it looked super cool and was tasty too. Nice family effort on this one.

Never knew the nuclear test site was so close to Vegas. Grrrrreat.

Great Christmas ornament for the photo junkie.
Great Christmas present for your Lego head.

J asked me “What’s millet?”. I said “It’s a grain or something, I don’t really know but I’ll pick some up”. I’d run across it many times in cookbooks and passed by it a million times in the bins at Whole Foods but never had enough interest to try it, until now. This recipe came from the first page I googled and it turned out decently ok. I think I’ll do some digging around in my cookbooks next and hopefully get a better handle on these beautiful little spheres. They themselves are a nice new medium to work with. I may even grind some up into a flour (or buy some millet flour) and make some pancakes or something.

J ate it all, Z liked the first bite then didn’t want any more but then later asked me to put it in her lunch for tomorrow, go figure. J thought there was way to much vinegar. Maybe our normal salad dressing would be better next time. 1 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 T. spring water, 1 t. honey or more *wink*, 3 T. olive oil and some herbs/spices if I’m not felling lazy. Mix everything together except the oil. Then add oil slowly while stirring to emulsify. Great for leafy green salads.

The Treehotel looks crazy. Recipe after the jump.