ode to my recipe binder(s)

*Disclaimer: I wrote this post awhile ago (as in, while we were still living in the hotel) and it’s been sitting in my drafts queue just waiting for an opportunity to be published. Well, today is that day. I so desperately want to blog, and I NEED to write my Eat This column for the co-op, but life and school and the house have just all been so crazy that I can’t let myself get sucked into an hour-long blogging session. So, enjoy the fruits of my previous labor and hopefully I’ll be up for air a little more by this weekend–Emily and Dan are visiting!

This was supposed to just be a “before” and “after” shot. Except that I didn’t think to actually blog about it until it was already “after.” I mean, who cares about my recipe binder, anyway?

Well. There is a bit of a story here. OK, not really a story. And I only intended to take a picture or two, but I was getting such great shots and having so much fun (yes, recipes really DO excite me that much) that I just kept clicking away. And I hate to waste such great photography (for a dunce with an expensive camera), so here it is. I had thought about calling it “a primer on recipe organization,” but really, it’s just gratuitous pictures of my new recipe binders (basically, I went from one to two). I’ll offer a few tidbits along the way.

This is my new recipe binder. My dear friend from college, Leslie, got it for me for my birthday this year. It’s from Williams-Sonoma and it has a pineapple and my name on it. How perfect is that? I brought it with me to the hotel thinking I would move all my recipes from my old binder to it in all my “free time.” Isn’t it funny that we tend to be most productive and efficient when we have LESS time? I had months before school started to undertake this project, yet I wait until I’m a month in. Go figure.

Anyway, for the last couple years I’ve kept any recipe I loved or wanted to try (magazine clippings, transcribed recipes, etc…) in a binder in page protectors. But, time and organization got away from me little by little, until it got almost too full and pages were thrown in willy-nilly.

So, now armed with TWO binders, I decided to make one my “go-to/tried-and-true” binder to hold all the recipes I’ve actually made and we loved. The old binder became a storehouse of only those recipes still waiting to be tried. I sorted and sorted and threw things away and was ruthless. If we didn’t LOVE it, it went in the trash.

Here’s the NEW binder with our favorites:

Many of the recipes are magazine clippings (that’s my favorite way to have them–I love the color and pictures) and have my comments written on them. I like to keep like items with like. Above is a gazpacho salsa that was a huge hit at a July 4th party, as well as a tiny notepad paper with my neighbor’s salsa recipe on it. She made it with balsamic vinegar and I thought it was very unique.

I even sometimes tear out additional info/pictures if I think it will add to the binder. Above, a double-page spread on guac. LOVE guac!

We have a photocopied page on how to make pretzels from Andrew’s kindergarten class. He still uses it.

This sweet potato and scallions dish is one of Andrew’s favorites, which is stated up in the right hand corner…

I’ve typed up some recipes and added them as well. I’m not one to keep recipes on the computer; I may be uber-organized and woman of the 21st century, but I like hard copies!

The binder Leslie got me even has neat additional pages with lists of seasonal produce, measuring equivalents and blank recipe cards on which to transcribe. It even had a “journaling” section in case I wanted to write about what foods and wines I served at a particular gathering.

Below, the old binder:

It’s green and cute and I got it at Target awhile back. It was bursting at the seams; now, it’s nicely filled with “to try” recipes.

Look what I found! A 3×5 card on which I wrote a list of Andrew’s “favorites” at the time. Ina’s Chicken with 40 Garlic Cloves. BLT pasta (which I don’t make any more because I think it’s gross.) Mustard pork with pepper. Veggie chicken chili.

Here’s one I want to try for next summer–guac with fruit. Intriguing.

Lighten Up versions of mac and cheese and cheesecake. I’m always game for stuff like that! (BTW, since taking these photos, I actually tried the mac recipe on the left–TERRIBLE.)

I was hoping this dressing would be like what comes on your salad at Japanese Steakhouse places–the gingery orange dressing they have. Let’s hope so!

I found this in a Martha Stewart Living magazine in late summer this year. Zucchini bundt cake with candied zucchini pieces on top. OMG. So sad we’ve been in a hotel all summer…

And these. It was a huge spread in Food Network years ago that featured candy bar cupcakes. I had to keep them ALL. (I have yet to make them, but just in case I want to, they are there.)

Cannot wait to actually USE my recipes again!

the rest of the trip

…and getting my head above water!

I took two tests this morning, and miraculously did quite well for having been out of town over the weekend, at least I think so. Rocked the Bio one with a 95% (highest grade of the class!) although I’m irritated because the professor’s questions are unnecessarily tricky. AND I swear he NEVER said that Lysosomes are “suicide bags….”

I have a busy week ahead–article writing, grocery shopping, lots of cooking and baking, Andrew’s birthday, finishing up the house, prepping for Emily and Dan’s arrival, and another test and quiz–WHEW! After my interview for said article this afternoon, I’ve been experiencing a brain-dump of sorts and just surfing online. Once I post all this, I think I’ll be mentally ready to take on the week!

First things first: our b&b. It was called the Oliver Phelps and I realized I’d never taken a picture of the outside. It was amazing.

After breakfast Saturday morning, we headed out to walk around the little “downtown” area and do some shopping. Sara recommended this store to me when she saw we were headed to Canandaigua. It was very neat, although I have to add a little disclaimer here: we’re UBER-lucky to have not one, but TWO specialty olive oil and vinegar stores here on Main Street in East Aurora. One is a chain, Primo Olivo, and the other is a local place called Tuscany on Main. We’re fans and have been into Tuscany multiple times. I did, however, leave F. Oliver’s with a bottle of Honeyed Ginger balsamic vinegar and a bottle of Tuscan Garden olive oil. Can’t wait to use them!

After candle stores, gift stores, a chocolate shop and, believe it or not, a bazillion antique/thrift-type stores (Andrew wanted to go in!), we decided it was time for lunch.

It’s a chain but it got high reviews on TripAdvisor, so we popped in. What in the world made Andrew think he needed 16 inches of Philly Steak, I’m not sure, but whatever. The smallest I could order was 8 inches, and since cheese is a MAIN ingredient of Philly CHEESE Steaks, there was no way were splitting one.

I ended up leaving 75% of my bread behind. I didn’t need it, anyway. Andrew polished BOTH of his right off. The verdict on the steaks from a somewhat-native Philadelphian? Very good.

We drove around a bit, willing our lunches to digest, before walking around the tip of the lake. It was a bit breezy, but we couldn’t have asked for better weather.

We stopped into the Christkindl Market. A big disappointment, there. There were some neat vendors with quality, unique items, but for the most part, it was those “dipping oils” and “scented soaps” kind of stuff. No thank you.

By that time it was late afternoon, and since our dinner reservation wasn’t until 8 p.m. we were looking for something to do. That’s what happens to us “high-speed” vacationers; we get bored. Give us an itinerary, no matter how loudly we complain!

Because it’s the off-season now, lots of places were closing around that time, so we had to sell out and take a study break at Starbucks. Oh well. The free WiFi kept Andrew occupied while I studied, which apparently paid off!

We knew we wanted to go to this authentic German place for dinner, but when I called for reservations, all they had left was 8 p.m. I grumbled but took it. The place is owned by two native Germans, so I figured it was worth it.

We started with a beer for him and a Jager for me, which was half beer and half hard cider. AWESOME. Don’t I look weird when I have dark lipstick on??

We also started with snails in a red wine sauce baked in a puff pastry that looked like a football. Andrew may not like cheese, but who else do you know who picks snails off the menu for an appetizer?

He got the sausage platter and I chose something a bit more unique–a piece of beef round rolled around bacon and pickled and cooked. We both got spaetzle, too.

And of course, I forgot to photograph the apple streudel we split. Oops. Photographic proof we ate it all.

The next morning, after breakfast and checking out, we went on a drive over to the other lake to see what was there. On the way we stopped at Red Jacket Orchard store, which was a fantastic find! I hauled out jars of specialty mustards, honey, dressings and cider like no one’s business! I’m thinking a “Holly’s goodies from Canandaigua” post is in order…

After being thoroughly disappointed with Geneva (not that it was bad, but Sunday morning isn’t exactly the best time to go, either), we headed back and ended up at Simple Crepes, somewhere I’d been salivating about since researching the trip.

I’m a “variety” kind of girl when it comes to food, so I went with the brunch buffet, which includes a ‘made-to-order’ crepe station as well as oatmeal creme brulee. OMG. Must make oatmeal creme brulee at home ASAP. It was amazing.

Andrew got the caramel apple crepe, along with a regular one, too. I was surprised he didn’t go with his favorite, Nutella.

My tasting plate, filled with brunch yumminess!

After filling our bellies, which was kind of my plan, we headed to the New York Wine and Culinary Center for our wine pairing class!

Neither of us had ever done anything like that before, and it was so fun! It really deserves a post on its own, but I’m pressed for time now (in general and currently–Andrew is on his way home NOW), so this will have to suffice. Basically, we got to taste 6 different wines with 6 different flavors, for a total of 36 tastes! And that was after we learned how to properly sniff/swirl/taste wine, which was probably my favorite part.

Basically, Andrew and I favored either a Chardonnay or a Riesling with almost every flavor, and opposite of each other every time! So, as long as we have either or both on the table, we should be fine… It was neat to see how the flavor of the food changes the wine. In fact, for awhile now I’d thought I didn’t like buttery Chardonnays, but in fact, it was what I chose most often with food! And both of us love Reislings anyway; we just have to make sure to get a semi-dry so that it won’t be too sweet.

So, we learned a lot! It was a lot of fun and I would highly recommend it!

On the way home, we stopped to get me some ice cream. What a nice end to the trip!

Now, back to REAL life and REAL eating!

see, cauliflower isn’t so bad…

I’ll admit, I was a little wary serving something with cauliflower in it… The last time I did, Andrew and I got into a screaming match over whether I HAD or HAD NOT made vegetable korma (with cauliflower) knowing he’d hate it. (Truth: I never make anything I know he’ll abhor. I do, however, make things that include ingredients he doesn’t care for. In all honesty, I didn’t like the vegetable korma, either.)

I (finally!) made kale chips. Andrew LOVED them. LOVED. I have to admit, I didn’t. I think it was a texture thing. They got so crisp that they kind of disintegrated as you bit into them, which I didn’t like. If that isn’t the texture I’m going for, someone let me know!

(BTW, I’m whipping this up at 5 a.m. before I head the gym…Hadrian decided it was time to get up at 4 a.m. and after making Andrew take him out–hey, he had three more hours to sleep compared to my ONE–I decided to cut my losses and just get up. That, and Odie was making too much noise licking plastic…)

I reheated the second loaf of sourdough in the over. No, we didn’t go through a whole one last night, but after lunches today, there wasn’t much left! I made the BEST muenster and mushroom grilled sandwich yesterday for lunch 🙂

And…the grand finale: Baked Italian-Style Cauliflower, found in Cooking Light this month. I’m telling you, it was fate. I needed a recipe with beef, so I looked that up in the index (isn’t it neat magazines have indexes?) and wouldn’t you know, I just happened to have leftover cauliflower on hand, too. I find there are some dishes I make that require some ‘advance planning’ to use up all the ingredients, mostly with cabbage. I mean, just one cabbage produces SO MUCH (often I only need half or a quarter of one) and usually I need one of each COLOR, so when I meal-plan now, I think ahead and pick meals that I can re-use leftovers. So, when I make coleslaw, I often make this one dish of slightly sweet/hot sauteed red cabbage to serve with pork.

Anyway, back to dinner. I loved it! And Andrew thought it was pretty good, too. I have to admit, I’m not sure I’m going to save the recipe; the binder is reserved for AWESOME meals only (I just have too many to try to keep ALL of the decent ones–and post on recipe binders coming soon!) but it’s not hard to remember this. Basically, steam some cauliflower, top with spaghetti sauce cooked with a little bit of beef, onion and garlic (it was supposed to have olives, but I left those out until the end and added them to my half, as well as mushrooms I had on hand, too), then top with breadcrumbs and cheese. Broil four minutes. I thought it was incredibly flavorful and an awesome (and healthy!) way to eat cauliflower. It made four servings; 300 calories each. (Can you see I only put cheese on MY half?? I’m such a nice wife.)

I opened a Shiraz from my last trip to Trader Joe’s. This was the perfect meal for red.

And this is the olive oil Andrew has fallen head over heels for. I chose it last time I was at Wegmans because it’s nice but not ‘break the bank’ nice. And I know Ina used olive oil made from California olives, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. Andrew noticed right away as he uses it to dip with herbs for bread, which made me happy. Score one for me! (He says he’s a “supertaster,” which does exist–we learned about it in psych of all classes–but I don’t agree. While he does have a knack for guessing particular flavors, supertasters often find things like broccoli too bitter, which he doesn’t. I think he’s just picky.)

Our pretty table 🙂 However, all this table-photographing makes me feel like Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee and her ‘tablescapes.’ Ahh, gag me with a spoon. I hate that show…

I even went all-out and lit some tea lights. Note to self: dust next time!

Here’s the recipe–it was under “Budget Cooking,” which I think is a great idea for a monthly magazine. Only $2.50 per serving. See, you can eat healthily, use REAL food and not break the bank. I’m sure if you search Cooking Light for the recipe you’ll find it–I’m pressed for time so I need to wrap this up! BTW, Cooking Light is doing a year-long series (that just started this month) on the ‘Best 100 Cookbooks’ for their 15th (or is it 25th?) anniversary. I like the magazine enough, anyway (I grabbed this month’s after seeing their ginger pumpkin pie on the cover), so I subscribed… I LOVE cookbooks and I knew I wouldn’t remember to buy it off the newsstand–not to mention it’s $5 a pop!–so I got it for $1 each instead. 🙂 I didn’t want to miss their cookbook reviews!

And the kale chips–Kath makes them all the time, and Susy is a big fan, too, so I had to give them a try. Susy gave me Tyler Florence’s Family Meal cookbook (below) and I treasure it. Every time I look at it I think of her. Miss you!