Lame excuses

Well, I was away from here a bit longer than I expected.  I went to my parents for a few days, and thought I would blog while I was gone, but I didn't, but I have stories.

I made baked kale while I was there.  It was yummy.  I couldn't sit and eat a whole serving at one time, but my kids shoveled it in their mouths as fast as they could.  Ciera had a choking moment because she actually overstuffed her mouth.  It will be a great way to get greens into their diet.  Essentially all you do it buy a bunch of kale, wash it, strip it off the stems, tear it into bite sized portions, toss it with a couple of tablespoons of oil and a teaspoon of salt.  Put it in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until crispy.  My biggest problem with it was actually the texture.  It was chip like, but it wasn't.  It seemed a bit stringy.  I think I didn't get it cooked enough, or crispy enough.  Taste wise, it was like when I roast asparagus, and the tips get roasted and toasted and crispy.  Yum, my favorite way to experience asparagus.

I made angel food cupcakes while I was at my moms.  I am becoming an expert at this recipe, and since I used to be a angel food failure, it makes me happy.  I think I will actually make it tomorrow, just to have it.  My mom thought it was fantastic, and actually had no criticism on it, which is rare, and good.

I also made my triple lemon cupcakes.  For this, I got the reaction that they weren't sweet enough, weren't filled enough, and were too "lemony".  To which I say, "huh?"  How can a lemon cupcake be too lemony?  I don't plan on making it sweeter, it has the perfect pucker factor to balance out the sweetness.  So far my mom has been my only critic with a negative response to these cupcakes.  Of course, she also thought my black bottom cupcakes needed to have frosting, so I can't take her thoughts on baking very seriously.

Today I came home, YAY, and made BBQ chicken, and yes, I used shake and bake.  I actually really like their BBQ.  I modify the powder with extra brown sugar, etc, but still, it's awesome in my opinion.  I also roasted some veggies and tossed them with some penne and Philly's new Cooking Cremes.  I won a house party on houseparty.com and was asked to host a party using their cremes.  While me and my guests all agreed that it was something to use when you were in a huge hurry, we all agreed that it was something that we wouldn't keep around or use all the time.  So far we have only used the garlic and the italian herb.  We will be using the southwest soon.  Needless to say, it was good enough to use in a pinch, but homemade still is better.

And that has been what I have been up to.  More recipes and pictures to come late.