Taste & See

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Mission’s conference at Immanuel.  What a great time to make a meal using recipes contributed by our missionaries!  So that is exactly what I did.  (Yes, this post is long overdue.)

Menu

Tuscan Tomato Soup (p. 53)

Couscous Salad with Grapes & Feta (p. 37)

Indian Curry (p. 157)

Brownies (p. 289)

The first thing I did was make the brownies.  I did this early in the afternoon while my children were napping.  The last time I attempted to make brownies from scratch was while I was in graduate school.  My friend Beth had come over for the afternoon, and we really wanted brownies; so we attempted to make them using our common sense.  They were edible, especially to two hungry college girls, but nothing you would want to serve to company.  I was very curious as to how the brownies from the cook book would turn out.  I did not put nuts in them.  I have to admit here, time has faded my memory of exactly how they tasted.  They were definitely not like boxed brownies—not the same texture—a little more cake-like, and not quite as sweet (which is not necessarily a bad thing)!  I do remember that they were good and gobbled up by my family.  (Hmmm. . .maybe I should go make some right now to refresh my memory on what they are like.)

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Spur of the moment.  That's what tonight's supper was.  Well, not really.  I actually pulled chicken out to thaw yesterday knowing I would use it for tonight's supper.  But the chicken was the only thing I had planned.  My son had been begging for cookies with M&M's in them and I remembered seeing a recipe in the cookbook that used M&M's, so I figured we could make those today.  While caring for a sick little girl, the last thing on my mind was a well-balanced meal (or pictures, for that matter, so no pictures this time).  So the menu ended up looking like this:

Menu

Poppy Chicken (p. 161)

Tossed Salad (no recipe)

Monster Cookies (p. 306)

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Writer’s block.  I can’t figure out how to start this entry.  Nothing profound or clever is coming to mind.  The reason for this may be partially due to the fact that I didn’t get to eat any of what I made.  I was making a meal for a couple who just had a baby and decided it would be a good opportunity to make more recipes from the cookbook.  I can’t tell you how they turned out as far as taste, but they smelled and looked good!

Menu

• Pineapple Casserole (p. 65, top one)
• Green Beans with Tomatoes (p.77)
• Ruth’s Chris Potatoes (p. 80)
• World’s Best Pork Loin (p.165)
• Storebought Mini Boule

The easiest recipe was the Ruth’s Christ Potatoes, but that was because I had made it for our family the day before and made enough for both meals at that one time.  So, I guess I did eat one thing I made. . .and it was quite delicious.

The pork was very simple to prepare and smelled fantastic.  I almost cut some off to taste it, but I showed restraint and saved it all for my friends.  I love that this recipe is  prepared and cooked inside aluminum foil as it made clean-up super easy.  This would be a good dish to fix on a Sunday morning, especially if your oven can be timed to turn on at a certain time.

The pineapple casserole was also easy to make.  I lined my baking dish with foil so that I could lift and transfer the casserole to a disposable container.  I have started using disposable containers when I take meals to people so they don’t have to worry about washing and returning extra dishes.  I know many of you do that already, as I have experienced your generosity and fabulous cooking!  But back to the casserole.  The recipe says to mix pineapple, 5 T. sugar, flour, sugar, etc.  However, it should read “mix pineapple, 5 T. juice, flour, sugar”, etc.  After it baked and cooled, I lifted it out and put it into a different container.  It worked beautifully.

The last thing I prepared were the green beans.  The mixture looked quite lovely and colorful.  It is always a pleasant change to have a fresh, new way to prepare a standard food.  I wrote instructions on how to heat up the food on the lids of the containers.  Hopefully, they were able to enjoy the foods almost as if they were right out of the oven.  I have seen the couple since, and they look fine, so at least I know I didn’t poison them.  And for those of you who are so faithful in serving others through meal preparation, thank you!  Your labor of love does not go to waste---(there is a pun in there somewhere. . .)!

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Writer’s block.  I can’t figure out how to start this entry.  Nothing profound or clever is coming to mind.  The reason for this may be partially due to the fact that I didn’t get to eat any of what I made.  I was making a meal for a couple who just had a baby and decided it would be a good opportunity to make more recipes from the cookbook.  I can’t tell you how they turned out as far as taste, but they smelled and looked good!

• Pineapple Casserole (p. 65, top one)
• Green Beans with Tomatoes (p.77)
• Ruth’s Chris Potatoes (p. 80)
• World’s Best Pork Loin (p.165)
• Storebought Mini Boule

The easiest recipe was the Ruth’s Christ Potatoes, but that was because I had made it for our family the day before and made enough for both meals at that one time.  So, I guess I did eat one thing I made. . .and it was quite delicious.

The pork was very simple to prepare and smelled fantastic.  I almost cut some off to taste it, but I showed restraint and saved it all for my friends.  I love that this recipe is  prepared and cooked inside aluminum foil as it made clean-up super easy.  This would be a good dish to fix on a Sunday morning, especially if your oven can be timed to turn on at a certain time.