pinwheels

I love making pinwheels. sometimes they're a pain, but when they come out right, they're delicious. mexican pinwheels are a great appetizer if you ever need them for a cocktail party, especially if you need heavy hor d'oeuvres. I was enchanted with a recipe I found in my bisquick cookbook and finally attempted it. As you'll see, I had to modify it. slightly. :)

Breakfast Pinwheels
Pinwheels
2 1/4 cups original bisquick mix
1/2 c milk
1 T butter/margarine, softened
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 c finely chopped walnuts
1/2 c dried currants
1 T butter or margarine, melted

Glaze
3/4 c powdered sugar
1/4 t vanilla
1 T milk

1. Heat oven to 400F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix and 1/2 c milk until soft dough forms. Place dough on surface generously sprinkled with Bisquick mix; roll in mix to coat. Knead 5 times.
2. Press or roll dough into 11x8 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1 T butter. In small bowl, mix granulated sugar, cinnamon, walnuts, and currants; sprinkle over top of dough; press in slightly. Starting with 11 inch side, roll up dought tightly; seal edge. Cut into 3/4 inch slices. Place slices on cookie sheet. Brush slices with 1 T melted butter.
3. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet; cool 10 minutes. In small bowl, mix all glaze ingredients, adding milk, 1T at a time, until glaze is thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle glaze over pinwheels. Serve warm.

So I followed the instructions for the bisquick bit, but then i changed the ingredients inside. This is actually a recipe that has been annotated since the beginning of my ownership of my cookbook with a post-it note from my mom saying "? cherries or jam instead of cinnamon" under which I wrote in "preserves" and underlined that emphatically. Me being me, I didn't even follow my annotation. I used cherry pie filling and that ended up being to heavy to roll up successfully. I managed, but I definitely cooked it in a jelly roll format instead of the pinwheels, which ended up working out okay, though a little undercooked in the middle while started to be more than golden brown on the edges. I've fixed that with reheating in the toaster oven, but lesson learned: cherries are too heavy. preserves would be perfect.

And you really do have to seriously coat whatever surface you're rolling this out on with flour/bisquick.

Since I used cherries, I also tipped a little more vanilla into my glaze which made it seriously vanilla-y. I love to flavor and smell of vanilla though, so that worked out okay. (As a sidenote, this glaze does not work well on an aforementioned recipe for pumpkin bread...the bread is too heavy to combat the light glaze) Also, cherry and vanilla is a flavor combination made in heaven.

In short, I used cherry pie filling because it was what I had in my cabinet and I was just trying out what I had without a new trip to the dreaded grocery store. I like my attempt but see its flaws. Either way, it was (and since I froze some of it, still is) delicious...it's how I started off my New Year, actually. :)

the possibilities for filling are endless!

numbers...don't mean anything?

CNN is abounding today with interesting articles about food and weight. I will not link you to the shocking calorie counts in some entrees because I think we're all sensible enough to realize what food is healthy for us and that some foods are more indulgent than others (which is what the restaurants points out and is incredibly valid--when I go out to eat, it's probably not going to be a calorie-skimpy meal).

I did however see this article (http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/16/health/weight-study/index.html?hpt=hp_bn12) about how people with a BMI in the 'overweight' range, which is 25-30, are 'actually' pretty healthy people. Which is great, in my opinion, because that's where a lot of people truly are. Now, I know plenty of people in the obese range who definitely do need to get healthy, so there is a line where weight does matter and the numbers do matter, but I think it's an interesting perspective. It goes along with what I've said in previous posts: being healthy and fit matters more than the numbers.

Also, I nearly LOL'd the other day when my preceptor called me small. It was apparently in reference to a question someone asked about my glove size, but as a woman who is well over average height and around average weight, "small" is not a descriptor applied to me that frequently.

It's all about perspective.

shepherd's pie

Vegetarian shepherd's pie was one of the first entrees that I cooked on my own without a recipe. "Real" shepherd's pie was a delightful specialty of mine...one of the few times you would see me at a stove, working on multiple burners, making a rather big mess of dishes, but it was totally worth it in the end. Which was always interesting in retrospect, because i didn't even make the mashed potatoes from scratch or the gravy or any of it really. It was almost all from cans or boxes, but somehow I worked magic when it came out and was delicious.

I first tried vegetarian versions very simply--no crust, a can of mixed vegetables, whatever gravy i could find without yeast in it, and mashed potatoes on top. very simple (and I daresay even Rachel on Friends could get this version correct). I hadn't made it in awhile but the other night, I was staring at the cabinets trying to figure out what I could eat that would be good. And filling. And healthy.

I had herb flavored mashed potatoes and enough butter and milk to make that. Always have a can of mixed vegetables. And indeed, I had black pepper gravy mix. Instead of going sans crust, I pulled up a recipe for a pie crust made from Bisquick cause y'all know I always have some of that on hand. Things started to get iffy there because the particular recipe i pulled up required 4 tablespoons of butter and I was running short. but there was enough.

And while it wasn't too different from any version I'd made in the past, it was those little adjustments in flavor that made it quite the delicious dish. The crust was deliciously buttery (probably Paula Deen buttery, but I'm not worried about the state of my arteries), the black pepper gravy just spicy enough, and the herbs in the potatoes made it smell great and also added their own spice.

I was a little awed by how simple it was to make this dish go from bland to special. How many times had I made it before with regular potatoes and not realized the potential from a few spices? And the crust! just the right touch of flavor amongst all the others. That is the joy of a good shepherd's pie.

(as a side note, google does not like amongst as a word. hmph.)

So I was thinking for my non-vegetarian friends--I would have never thought to try a black pepper or even sausage gravy with a regular beef shepherd's pie, but it could have potential. Try it!

happy new year!

When I worked at Barnes and Noble, there was always a new display for New Year's called "New Year, New You." It was inevitably filled with self-help and dieting books, but I've always found the display title appropriate. Not that we should all have a "new us" every year, but it's a time to take stock and see what we can do better. I hope that's what most adults feel like in the new year.

That's certainly how I feel about the new year. I was thinking back last night on the past year. A lot happened in my personal life certainly; and some months were far more busy and filled with events than others. There are discrete events that I will remember for 2012 (halfway through school marked with a big test, California trip with some lovely friends, car accident ON moving day--and oh hey, that was ALL in June!) but there is a rather obvious overarching theme for me for 2012: massive diet changes.

January 4th is the first day I went completely allergen free. Three days later, I had enough energy to go to the gym for the first time in awhile and I remember Danielle commenting that I even looked better. I soon made the decision to go completely pescetarian (though there were times when I broke that rule!). I was frustrated enough to throw food across my kitchen--an enjoyable though thankless task because I still had to clean it up. It was soon my first birthday with a cake; my birthday also marked the beginning of the I-get-to-pick-the-restaurant era. No longer are my friends unable to decide to go where to go, "oh, you pick" doesn't happen because I get to pick. That was also a hallmark of this past year--every time I went to lunch/dinner/drinks with old friends, having to explain why no, I don't want to share that appetizer. Travelling was a big eye opener--be it cross country or simply a day trip. I tried foods this year that I've never tried before and some of them were terrible decisions and others have become staples in my new diet. The year culminated recently with my first vegetarian Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was delighted to find soy milk that was egg-free Egg Nog (it is also healthier than regular egg nog!).

Either way, I was thinking about resolutions for 2013. Things I want to do more of this year. So what else did I turn to? My food choices. I decided I want to try to cook more this year--I did a good job early last year of searching out new recipes and adding them to my weekly lunch/dinner schedule to replace all the things I took out, but I've really settled into that and haven't added anything new in for awhile. I also want to try to experiment with more flavors. I don't want to feel boxed in by what recipes say or what is the 'usual' flavor combinations...maybe it's all the different cooking shows that makes this more acceptable, but I want to try to combine different things and see how that goes.

And of course...it would be nice to lose weight/be in better shape. and find love. and all those other "New Year, New You" themes...but doesn't that go without saying?