Monday, September 28, 2009

souffle and cupcakes

Sunday night I decided to try a spinach souffle for the first time and I was thrilled with how it turned out. Look how pretty! Ken likes to eat steak and I have been making an effort to buy steak more often. With it, sometimes he likes those little Stouffer's spinach souffles they sell in the frozen foods aisle, and while they are pretty good, I decided I'd really rather make a homemade one. The thing about souffle (I found out) is that it takes 3 steps: cooking a white sauce on the stove, separating eggs, and getting out the mixer and whipping the egg whites (then folding it all together and baking it in the oven--so I guess that's 4 steps). That's a lot for someone who rarely makes side dishes, but I was so happy with the results. This looked and tasted delicious. (I followed the recipe in How to Cook Everything. Love that Mark Bittman).
I also roasted tomatoes for the first time. We still have so many coming in from the garden. These are a little under-roasted, but I put another batch in for roasting slowly overnight (at the lowest oven setting) and those were quite condensed and yummy. So this morning I had roasted tomatoes with my daily poached egg and it gave me a lot of energy throughout the day. The magic of fruits and veggies . . .
Also, you know how leftover baked goods always taste better the next day? I very much enjoyed a cupcake and a half this evening and I thought it worth mentioning that I used this recipe for the chocolate cupcakes. They have a sandy/velvety texture and a dark chocolate flavor that I find very appealing. And I so liked making these from scratch--they rose up and had pretty domed cracked tops, unlike cake mix cupcakes which always seem to fall.
And finally, Rain found a link for the game some of you were asking about. It's here (scroll down, it's at the bottom of the page, "Pair Discovery"). This photo shows how Dieter set up the next game--all the "hole" tiles are very far apart from the solid ones! I like seeing what he does when left to his own devices . . .

5 comments:

Joy said...

The souffle looks delicious! We'll be checking out that game. :)

Jessica said...

I really will have to get that cookbook out of the library --that souffle looks like a tasty autumn treat!

Jennifer said...

The souffle looks great, I have heard so many good things about that cookbook, I think I am going to have to try to see if I can get it at my library.

Kate said...

oh those cupcakes look divine!!

Anne Marie said...

being that a Tree Grows In Brooklyn is one of my all-time favorite books, I instantly had a connection with you!

great blog you have here....full of fun and food and love and family (things that encompass my life as well)

very nice to meet you.......