Adventures in the Kitchen: By Molly

I don't really feel like talking ABOT right now, so back to one of my favorite things to do and one of the things that I CANNOT do while on deployment.

Dan and I were blessed with many wonderful kitchen/cooking/baking gifts from our family & friends as wedding gifts. We are so grateful for all of the meals, holidays, and traditions that these tools will allow us to have and cherish. I made it my mission in the limited time that I was home to put as many of them to use as possible. Unfortunately, the Navy stole me away faster than I would have liked and thus only made it through about 1/10 of said tools. Fortunately, I remembered to take pictures of the results of the first, last and only meal I would make for my husband for at least the next 1/2 a year.

The one thing I was most glad to get a chance to try out was the cookbook that my wonderful in-laws made for us as a wedding gift. For those of you who were not there, it was a collection of dozens of recipes that have traveled with their family through generations and across the world. From holidays to Sunday Brunch and dozens of other meals and recipes and menus, the cookbook tells a story of the Laufer family traditions. We are SO excited for all of the work that everyone put into the cookbook and I am delighted to try out the recipes for myself. So, the first meal I made was one of Dan's favorite, Stuffed Peppers. I had a question about the recipe and we couldn't get Liora on the phone so I had to make a minor change by baking them (vs cooking them stovetop in the tomato sauce). I also cooked the meat before stuffing the peppers (I won't do that again because I can see how it would be better letting the meat bake in the peppers, that was another question I had but I didn't want to risk doing it the wrong way and having uncooked meat), and I added a bit of fresh parmesan cheese to the top (this was a great addition).  Dan thought the peppers were delicious and I think the next time I do them, I will have it down pat. It was really special to be able to make one recipe from a cookbook that I know will get infinite use! I served the meal with garlicky green beans, another Dan favorite :)

One of the benefits to our apartment in Little Italy is the never ending supply of three key ingredients in one of my FAVORITE salads of all times: fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatos, and fresh basil at (mostly) reasonable prices- you can't find fresh mozz this cheap anywhere- $2 for a huge fresh blob of it! We definitely eat Caprese salads way more than your average person and with meals that it normally does not compliment. Whatever- life's too short to care about matching salads!

Then I broke out my new hand mixer, my new angel food cake pan and some new mixing bowls and whipped up an angel food cake. Ah-Ha!- new uses for old things (as seen in Real Simple), a great way to cool your Angel Food Cake and ensure that the bottom begins to come loose and not stick? Turning the cake upside down on a wine bottle. When you're done, take the cake off the bottle and serve wine with cake :)  For the occasion (using as many new things at one time), I displayed the cake on our new cake stand on our new bar/buffet table.

While the cake baked and cooled, I mixed raspberries and strawberries and whipped up (no pun intended), some fresh whipped cream (using the tried and true Laufer bowl-upside down test to ensure it was ready), being careful not to cause one of my sister-in-law Tammy's worst kitchen nightmares- turning whipped cream into butter!

We finished off the great meal with the assembled dessert:

The next morning, after getting home from checking in to work, I pulled our our new waffle maker (thank you, Molly & Kenny V!) and made some waffles. We're still working with the temperature setting/cooking time and I'm still learning exactly how Dan likes is waffles cooked but the result was excellent and I can hardly WAIT for more homemade meals like this. So thank you family and friends: the Laufers for creating such a wonderful cookbook and raising a son who likes to eat pretty much anything I cook, my mom for instilling the love for and the science and perfection of baking and our family and friends for giving us everything we need for these meals, and many more to come. I can hardly wait to return and for many homemade meals, visitors, holidays and traditions :)