Nate's Homecoming

So after 12 husbandless days, Nate is finally back in Raleigh! After exchanging Easter baskets (mine was filled with interesting Korean treats; shrimp chips, anyone?), I made Nate a very filling dinner of seared Ribeye steak with whiskey cream sauce, ranch mashed potatoes, rolls I stole from a lunch at work (don't worry, they were the leftovers), vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and blackberry ice cream. Now if all that doesn't make him stick around I don't know what will! Before I proceed, I know initially I was only going to be a vegetarian whilst Nate was out of town, but I actually really like being a vegetarian. I feel healthier, I'm losing more weight, and I'm saving animals; what's not to like?! So that being said, I made Nate a seared Ribeye and before you say "wait a second, you just got through telling me you're no longer eating meat!", I made myself a seared portabella mushroom cap. Happy now?




Seared Ribeye (and Portabella Mushroom Cap) with Whiskey Cream Sauce

5 Tbsp salted butter, divided
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 C whiskey
1/4 C vegetable broth
1/4 C heavy cream, plus more if needed
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Ribeye steak, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 portabella mushroom cap


This original recipe came from Ree Drummond's phenomenal cookbook - The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl (Harper Collins, 2009). This book is chock-full of amazing recipes for everything from breakfast to a dinner party complete with cocktails! I tweaked the recipe to make it vegetarian but I'm sure the original recipe is just as fantastic.


Begin with the delicious sauce. In a deep skillet over medium heat, melt 2 Tbsp butter and cook onions until browned. Turn off the heat and pour in the whiskey and allow to bubble until evaporated. Turn the heat back on to medium and stir in the vegetable broth, 1 Tbsp butter, heavy cream and season. Keep warm until use. My sauce wasn't nearly as thick as I had hoped for so I would probably dial back the vegetable broth next time but the flavors were definitely on point!


Now for the steak and steak-substitute. In your trusty cast iron, melt the remaining butter over medium heat and cook the seasoned mushroom cap for 5 minutes per side. Remove to a side plate. Cook the steak for 4-5 minutes per side for medium-rare; I cooked Nate's for 6 minutes per side to get a little closer to medium. Top steak and mushroom with cream sauce and welcome to heaven!


Ranch Mashed Potatoes


4 russet potatoes, halved lengthwise and widthwise
4 Q water
1/2 C buttermilk
3 Tbsp salted butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp ranch dressing seasoning


Boil potatoes in water until fork tender. This typically takes around 20-30 minutes.


Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until desired consistency. This part was great for working out your biceps or getting out pent up anger. I prefer my potatoes kinda lumpy but if you like smooth potatoes, feel free to work out those bi's a little longer.


Once you've reached potato perfection, mix in buttermilk, butter and seasoning. These potatoes were magnificent! Creamy, ranch-y, tasty! And the extra whiskey sauce goes well with them too.


Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

1 1/2 C cake flour
1 1/2 Tsp baking powder
1/4 Tsp salt
2 large eggs
2/3 C sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
2 Tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C milk


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.


Using your trusty stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, beat together eggs and sugar until foamy. Gradually add in butter and vanilla.


Slowly add in half of the flour until combined. Add in all the milk and the remainder of the flour mixture.


Pour 1/4 C of batter into each cup of a lined muffin tin and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and extracted cleanly.


Top with my signature vanilla buttercream recipe here. The cupcakes were light and airy and the perfect amount of moist (I despise that word but there's really no other way to describe cake, is there?)


I decided to make a special ice cream to celebrate as well, and because I just really love ice cream.


Fresh Blackberry No Churn Ice Cream


24 oz fresh blackberries, washed
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 Tsp lemon juice
2 C heavy cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tsp vanilla extract


Let me begin this recipe by saying, this is a process. This ice cream is totally worth the wait, but you're devoting at least 2 hours to making this ice cream and that's before it even goes in the freezer. Now, it is infinitely easier than using an ice cream maker. There's no rock salt to buy, no bulky instrument taking up counter space, no noise so already it's better but it's not a whole lot faster.


In a blender, puree berries until smooth. Using a fine mesh sieve, remove pulp and seeds from juice over a medium sized bowl.


In a pot over medium heat, cook together berry juice, lemon juice and sugar until thick and syrupy. This took roughly 5-6 minutes for me. Allow the syrup to cool in the fridge for at least an hour. During this time, put a large metal bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer in the fridge to chill. You'll thank me later.


After your refrigeration hour is up, pour 2 C heavy cream into your now cold metal bowl. Using the whisk attachment of your stand or hand mixer, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Having the bowl cold speeds up this process. Slowly beat in the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract. Gently fold the heavy cream mixture into the berry mixture leaving a few swirls for aesthetic purposes.


Pour the mixture into a freezer-safe metal container lined with wax paper. I used a standard sized loaf pan and fit the mixture perfectly. Freeze for at least 6 hours.


The ice cream was fresh, creamy and utterly delicious. Just think of all the other great flavor combos you can now make using the excellent base of heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla?!


Enjoy your Friday, readers! Stay tuned for more great recipes!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip Pizza

Good morning, readers! Happy Monday! I don't know what it looks like where you're at but here in Raleigh sure is dreary. We went from a beautiful and sunny 88 degrees on Saturday to rainy and unpleasant 60 degrees yesterday and today. Sounds lovely, doesn't it?


Yesterday I went to my weekly Cycle and Flow class (45 minutes of cycling, 45 minutes of restorative yoga) and afterwards I was starving! Earlier in the week my new friend Abbey discovered a recipe on Pinterest that I was certainly intrigued by so I figured last night was the perfect opportunity to test it out; plus, what else was I going to be doing on such an indoor-friendly day?


I've said it once and I'll say it again, Pinterest can be great for recipes but it can also result in disasters. I am happy to report this wasn't the case with my recipe but I tweaked it slightly from the original. I made my own pizza dough, because homemade is automatically better, and I doubled the cream cheese, Greek yogurt and artichokes because frankly those are all delicious ingredients and you should use as much of them as possible.


Spinach and Artichoke Dip Pizza

1 pound pizza dough (recipe to follow)
Cooking spray
8 oz light cream cheese at room temperature
5.3 oz plain Greek yogurt
4 oz frozen spinach, defrosted and liquid removed
1 jar or can artichoke quarters, drained
1/2 Tsp red pepper flake
1/2 Tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 C shredded mozzarella cheese, divided


Preheat oven to 450.


In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and Greek yogurt until smooth and creamy. Add in spinach and artichokes, 1/4 C mozzarella and season. Set aside until ready to use.


Spray a pizza stone or baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll your pizza dough onto the baking sheet and top with the dip mixture in a single layer. Top with the remainder of the cheese and bake for 15 minutes.


I prefer the beautifully brown burnt cheese so I also put my pizza under the broiler for 2 minutes.


(Finally) Perfect Pizza Dough


1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 C warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 Tsp sugar
1 Tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 C flour


I have finally made the perfect pizza dough! I thought it wasn't possible but I finally achieved the stretchy, doughy and chewy deliciousness that has long been evading my efforts!


Dissolve yeast in warm water.


In my trusty stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine ingredients until the dough forms a ball around the dough hook.


Now here's what I changed to FINALLY get perfect pizza dough, sprinkle a little flour on enough plastic wrap to completely encase the dough ball. Wrap the dough ball in a perfect little package and place in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight. The dough ball will expand in the fridge and I don't know why this helps but the dough will become easier to manage, less messy to manage and in turn, more delicious.


The pizza was chewy, tasty, cheesy. briny, and just all around delicious! I would definitely call this a Pinterest Win! It also paired perfectly with the Whole Foods Mixed Greens and Caesar salads that Abbey contributed!


Stay tuned for more delicious recipes this week! I'm finally running out of my Black Bean Burgers with Seasoned Fries and Papa Murphy's Gourmet Vegetarian Pizza! Happy Monday, readers!

Reinventing Rachael's Tuna Pan Bagnat...Again

So I know I promised vegetarian recipes and I've yet to deliver so you're probably thinking..."she lies, she's probably just going and grabbing food at some take out place instead of actually cooking." Actually I'm not. I'm actually cooking for myself, just food that I've already blogged about.

You never realize how little you eat until you cook for 1. With Nate still indisposed, I've been eating off the same 3 meals since Sunday: Tuna Pan Bagnat, Black Bean Burgers with Seasoned French Fries, and a Gourmet Vegetarian Pizza from Papa Murphy's Pizza. Even with eating Tuna Pan Bagnat sandwiches for lunch 4 days this week and dinner one night, this morning I still had an almost entirely full bowl in my fridge. It was almost like it was regenerating over night...how is that even possible?!

So I woke up this morning and finally decided - I can't see this bowl of Tuna Pan Bagnat filling in my fridge any longer or I will scream so I did what any logical, semi-hungover person would do: mix it with eggs and top with cheese. As an aside, have you ever noticed that you can make literally any food becomes breakfast food with the addition of eggs? Leftover steak? Add eggs. Leftover taco meat? Add eggs. Leftover vegetables? Mix those with some eggs!

My initial idea was to make a Tuna Pan Bagnat frittata and began all the preparations; heating the oven, quickly heating up the filling in a skillet, adding eggs and then I realized that I had prepared all the filling and eggs in a non-oven safe skillet so there went that plan so instead: BEHOLD! A very flat omlette-esque Tuna Pan Bagnat.

Tuna Pan Bagnat Omelette-Thing?

2 Tbsp olive oil
Leftover Tuna Pan Bagnat Filling (recipe here)
2 eggs
2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 Tsp paprika
1/2 Tsp garlic powder
1/2 C mozzarella cheese

In a deep skillet over medium heat, heat up the heaping bowl of Tuna Pan Bagnat Filling you undoubtedly still have in your fridge with the olive oil until warmed through.

In a small bowl, beat together eggs, whipping cream and spices. Pour evenly over Tuna Pan Bagnat Filling and allow to set for 5 minutes. Top with mozzarella cheese and cover with a lid to allow to melt. 

The omlette-thing turned out delicious, it was perfect for my post-hangover weekend breakfast mood. I think feta or Parmesan cheese would be a great substitution for the mozzarella cheese.

I still have 3/4 of the of my skillets' worth of omlette-thing but hey, at least there's no longer a bowl of Tuna Pan Bagnat in my fridge anymore! All about the silver lining, right? Stay tuned for more vegetarian recipes that I have every intention of making and blogging about in the very near future. Have a lovely weekend, readers! 

Reinventing Rachael's Tuna Pan Bagnat

Happy Easter, readers! I hope you were able to spend this Sunday with your family and if you're not religious I hope you enjoyed beautiful weather wherever you live!

This morning I invited a friend over for lemon poppy seed waffles, a simple fruit salad and of course, an awful lot of mimosas! It was a lovely morning! After a lovely morning of getting loaded (just kidding), I deep cleaned the apartment and planted some wildflowers and parsley.

If you know me, you know I am picky about leftovers. The only leftover item I will eat without complaint is pizza. Pizza is spectacular in any and all manners - cold, hot, veggies, cheese, meat - it's all incredible. Anyway, so I took a major step in adulthood today: I ate leftovers. However instead of eating my Tuna Pan Bagnat from last night as is, I transformed it into something even better: GRILLED CHEESE. Isn't it amazing that anything can be made into grilled cheese? It's one of the simplest dishes but truly one of the greats.

Tuna Pan Bagnat Grilled Cheese

Follow recipe from the link above.
1 Tbsp butter
2 slices wheat bread
1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

In a small skillet over medium heat, butter one side of each slice of bread. Place one slice of bread butter-side down in the skillet and allow to slowly heat.

Sprinkle 1/4 C of cheese on the bread and allow to begin melting. Throw a heaping portion of Tuna Pan Bagnat on top of the slightly melted cheese and top with the remaining 1/4 C of cheese. Cover the skillet with a lid to melt and flip the sandwich over after 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown.

This sandwich was delicious! I may even wager to say it was better the second time around after being given an evening to marinate in all the fantastic briny juices.

Good luck on Monday morning, readers! Look out for some new recipes this week!

Rachael's Tuna Pan Bagnat

Here we are: it's 9:24 on Saturday night and I'm cuddled up on my couch with my cats, a glass of gin and tonic, and watching Gilmore Girls. Where's my husband you ask? Well, check out his new blog to find out! Sneaky me, huh?

Anyway, so tonight instead of going out and getting food, I decided to cook some of the $80.00 food I bought. According to Google, Pan Bagnat is a sandwich popularized in the streets of Nice, France. I'm not sure if these ingredients are traditionally French...or Provincial but the sandwich was pretty good.

Rachael's Tuna Pan Bagnat

1 Italian Bread loaf
1/2 C Kalamata olives, halved
2 cans tuna in oil, drained
1 can sardines, drained and chopped
3 Tbsp capers, drained
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 C sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
 1/2 C fresh parsley, chopped
3 sprigs rosemary, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Coarse black pepper, to taste
3 Tbsp olive oil
Optional: salt

Allow me to preface this by saying I hate canned meats. I find them vile, metallic, and usually smell and resemble dog or cat food. Are you hungry yet? No? I can't possibly imagine why. Anyway, so given my reservations about canned meats, I was quite nervous about using canned fish for this recipe. It did turn out surprisingly good. Well, when I added enough vinegar to get rid of the fish taste.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and toast up the loaf of bread whole for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the loaf to cool before cutting the bread in half lengthwise and setting aside.

In a bowl, combine drained tuna (broken apart with a fork), drained and chopped sardines, and basically everything else and toss. Do a taste check and then load up the filling into the Italian loaf and cut the loaf into sandwich-appropriate sizes and eat.

Like I said, I added as many flavors to mask the fishy, metallic and generally unpleasant flavors associated with canned meats.

While Nate is away I decided to have an exclusively vegetarian diet. It is cheaper, it's better for the environment and will make me feel healthier so look ahead for vegetarian recipes! Enjoy your Saturday night, readers! Hopefully you're less pathetic than I.

Beer Battered Fish

One thing I've learned is that I'm horrible at frying things. My batter never sticks to whatever it's supposed to but certainly sticks to the bottom of the Dutch oven I'm using to fry in, my kitchen ends up smelling like stale grease and everything takes way too long to fry everything.

Last night I tried my hand at fried fish and it looked absolutely horrific but tasted slightly alright.

Beer Battered Fried Fish

2 lb Tilapia fillets
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 Tsp sugar
1 bottle beer
1 Tsp hot sauce
Canola oil, for frying

Pour 3 inches of oil in a Dutch oven and heat to 350 degrees.

Season both sides of the fish with salt and pepper.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, 1 Tsp salt, beer and hot sauce.

Dip fish in beer batter and allow to sit for 5 minutes while the oil comes to temperature.

Allow the excess batter to drip off the fish before gently lowering fish into the oil using tongs. Fry fish for 4 minutes per side or until golden brown. Remove fish to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt.

We had a disgusting amount of batter leftover so we attempted to make onion rings. The batter didn't stick to the onions, it stuck to the bottom of the Dutch oven and was ugly as sin to look at. They tasted delicious though.

I served these sorry-excuses for fried fish with some frozen seasoned french fries (the less-cool cousin of the waffle fries I had for lunch).

Once again, I make horrific kitchen mistakes so you don't have to. I wouldn't try this fish if I were you. I am clearly inept.

Corbett's Burger and Soda Bar

Yesterday Nate and I spent the whole day together! It was wonderful! We woke up bright and early, ate a delicious breakfast at Cup A Joe; a fantastic local coffee chain with excellent coffee, delicious breakfast items and baked goods and a laid back atmosphere. Going there on Saturday mornings has become our weekend tradition.

After breakfast we spent the day shopping for pants, shopping for books and finally dropping off the mountain of items accumulating in our closet at Goodwill for donation. After all this money-spending and donating we worked up quite the appetite. After discussing the fact that Nate and I have eaten strictly vegetarian for the entire week, we decided burgers sounded fantastic. Luckily I Googled "burgers near me" and was rewarded with Corbett's Burger and Soda Bar, conveniently located directly behind the Goodwill.

Corbett's Burger and Soda Bar, located at 126 Kilmayne Dr, Cary, NC 27511, is very easy to miss. It's in the very small corner of a strip mall smack between a Big Lots and a dry cleaners.

Due to the diversity of the restaurants I eat at, I decided to reevaluate my rating system: instead of assigning a numbered ranking, I will instead simply recommend or not recommend. 

Corbett's Burger and Soda Bar

Decor: There are three tables outside and about 20 seats inside the restaurant. The walls are adorned with glass soda bottles, vintage Coca-Cola signs and pictures of burger counters of old.

Food appearance: The food is served on plastic trays, burgers are wrapped in foil, fries are served in wax bags or paper boats and milkshakes are served in plastic cups. No fuss or frills but delicious food nonetheless.

Food taste: The burgers are hand-formed and cooked over an open flame. The french fries, which are waffle fries - clearly the most superior of the french fry family, are cooked fresh and hot and seasoned with seasoned salt. The milkshakes are hand-spun and come in a variety of flavors. I will dock them a little bit for using vanilla soft serve and adding flavoring to it but I'm sure they're fantastic regardless (we were too full to enjoy a milkshake). It wouldn't be called a "soda bar" without bottled sodas. Corbett's has coolers filled with "over 250 bottles of soda"! They have every bottled soda you could ever imagine! Everything from bottled Coca-Colas and Cheerwine to Jelly Belly Sour Apple and Lemon Seltzer. I ordered the Spicy Burger (Ghost pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, jalapenos, and house made "sodalicious" hot sauce). The burger was cooked to an perfect medium-rare, the flavors of the burger were spicy and delicious and I ate the whole thing in under 5 minutes. I'm only a little ashamed to admit that last part. Nate ordered the Pimento Cheese Burger (pimento cheese, lettuce, tomato) and the cheese was the perfect gooey addition to the burger.

Service: The employees were friendly, helpful and cheerful. It was refreshing to see the high school employees be genuinely cheerful.

Cleanliness: The restaurant was clean, the employees would walk around periodically and collect empty trays off of tables and pick up any leftover trash. The place was darn near spotless!

I would definitely recommend this fantastic burger bar if you're ever near the Cary, NC area. Get yourself a juicy flame-grilled burger, a big bag of seasoned waffle fries, a hand-mixed shake and thank me when you're done!

Wedge Salad with Smoky Salmon

Happy Wednesday, readers! Woohoo! It's the middle of the week, hopefully you're as busy as I am and your week is just soaring by (if not, I'm so sorry for reminding you that there are still 2 days of work after today...my bad).


I am feeling just excellent today despite waking up 20 minutes early to go to work 30 minutes earlier. I feel so energized and chipper this morning (or maybe it's the caffeine from the coffee and green tea I drank today). I woke up and realized I've lost 15 pounds in 12 weeks! I am 7.5 pounds from my goal weight, I am only 2.5 pounds heavier than I was at my wedding (pretty tempted to throw the dress back on just for fun), and I just feel healthier. It's truly a fantastic feeling. I honestly think a large part of my weight loss can be attributed to my push for a more vegetable-friendly lifestyle. Now I know what you're thinking, "great, now she's going to be one of those people who can't wait for an opportunity to tell you how she's vegetarian and you should be too." And no, I'm not. I hate those people just as much as you do. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. I'm just thrilled about my progress so I wanted to share with you, my loyal fans!


Anyway, last night after a hard 3 miler, I wanted to make something fresh and light. I settled on a wedge salad with smoky salmon. This recipe was inspired by Daphne Oz' The Happy Cook cookbook. I say "inspired" because I don't know why but this woman under seasons EVERYTHING. What does this woman have against flavor? I love spices and flavor and salt. Man do I love me some salt.


Wedge Salad with Smoky Salmon

1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into quarters and cored
1 avocado, diced
12 grape tomatoes, halved
2 4 oz salmon fillets
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp Hungarian paprika
3-4 Tsp salt, divided
Fresh cracked black pepper
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 C buttermilk
3 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tsp garlic powder
1 Tsp Emeril's seasoning (or any type of seasoning mix, really)
1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
1 Tbsp fresh chopped chive
1 Tbsp tarragon (my fresh tarragon went the same way as my Italian bread so I used dried)
1 lime, quartered (for serving)


For the salad:


Quarter your lettuce, diced your avocado, half your tomatoes and set aside until you're ready for assembly.


For the dressing:


In a nifty Mason jar (so much easier for storage), combine buttermilk, yogurt, vinegar, lemon juice, 1 Tsp salt, lots of fresh cracked pepper, garlic powder, Emeril's seasoning, parsley, chive and tarragon. The dressing is similar to a ranch so adjust seasonings until the flavor is right for you. Set aside.


For the salmon:


Season fillets with salt and pepper on the face-up side. Create a glaze by mixing together the olive oil, 1 Tsp salt, freshly cracked pepper and paprika and coat the face-up side of the salmon and sides with it.


Place the salmon on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil for 4-5 minutes, or until firm in the center.


Remove the broiled salmon from the oven and coat with 1 Tbsp maple syrup per fillet. Broil for another 3 minutes. The house will smell divine from the mix of smoky paprika and sweet syrup.


Remove the fillets from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Once cooled, flake the salmon into good-sized chunks using two forks.


Assemble your salad with a wedge, avocado, tomato and salmon with a good drizzle of the ranch-esque dressing and top it all off with some fresh cracked pepper and a squeeze of lime. This salad was as delicious as it was pretty! And man was it filling! Nate and I had a quarter of the lettuce each and we were utterly stuffed! There was still about 1/2 C salmon, 2 lettuce quarters leftover, 6 tomato halves and a significant amount of dressing leftover.


Hang in there, readers!

Sauteed Mushrooms on Toast (or Biscuits)

Monday nights are hard! You come home from the first day of the week and feel like an absolute zombie, at least I do. I spend the day brooding because it's no longer the weekend and I have to get through FOUR MORE DAYS until it's the weekend again. It's truly the worst. So when I'm making dinner on Monday nights I want easy. I want simple. I want quick. This recipe inspired by What's Cooking Vegetarian by Jenny Stacey, also called Creative Cooking Vegetarian was just the trick!


I personally love mushrooms. Those little fungis are really fun guys! See what I did there? But really, I enjoy the texture, the meatiness and the flavor they can add to a dish. I also know, however that not everyone shares my affinity for mushrooms and that's ok too. Just know you're totally limiting yourself from a world of meaty meat-alternative and therefore I pity you.


Sautéed Mushrooms on *Toast

6 Tbsp butter, divided
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 pints assorted mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (baby bellas and buttons were on sale)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
4 dashes hot pepper sauce (optional)
*6 slices thick crusty bread (or 2 slices whole wheat sandwich bread and 3 buttermilk biscuits, halved)


In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Saute garlic until fragrant and add the mushrooms in stages. Every time I'm cooking mushrooms I have Julie Powell's voice (well Amy Adams as Julie Powell's voice) telling me "don't crowd the mushrooms otherwise they won't brown," excellent advice right? Who wants slightly browned and mushy looking mushrooms? Not me and you shouldn't either. Cook the mushrooms over medium heat until all slices are browned and softened. Add another 2 Tbsp butter halfway through the cooking process.


Season with salt and pepper and the delicious hot pepper sauce. It adds a nice smoky and slightly spiced element to the mushrooms. I highly recommend it. Toss in the chopped parsley and drop the heat to low.


Use the remaining 2 Tbsp butter to slather on the bread. If, like me, you allowed your beautiful loaf of Italian bread to look like a middle school science experiment, wheat sandwich bread or buttermilk biscuits (recipe to follow) work as well. Toast your carb choice under the broiler for 5 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.


Top the bread with a heaping spoonful of mushrooms and dig in!


I was given some constructive criticism by a new friend and reader, Abbey (which I really appreciate); she wanted to know how many servings I get out of recipes. Why didn't I think of including that in the first place? Why doesn't anyone else provide me with helpful suggestions? Do I have any readers apart from Mama Hart, my husband, Abbey and my aunt? Hello...? Are you out there...?


This recipe yielded enough 'shrooms for Nate to have 3 toasts, myself to have 2 toasts and there was still enough leftover for him to take 3 toasts for lunch today.


I made some quick-cooked asparagus to eat alongside these magnificent mushrooms.


Now for the buttermilk biscuit recipe! This past weekend Nate went backpacking/camping with some friends of his. I'm not one for hiking around with the bugs and nature only to sleep on the ground with more bugs and nature. Anyway, since I know how absolutely uncomfortable camping can be, I wanted to do something nice for Nate. So I decided to make some buttermilk biscuits.


Buttermilk Biscuits


1 1/2 sticks salted butter, partially frozen
4 C flour
1 Tsp baking soda
3 Tsp baking powder
2 Tsp salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
1 1/2 C buttermilk
1 egg
1 Tbsp water


Slice butter into Tbsp pieces and put in freezer for at least 30 minutes.


In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter until mixture looks like coarse sand. Add the buttermilk and continue cutting until dough comes together.


Dump mixture onto a floured surface and gently form dough into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick.


Using a floured dough cutter, cut biscuits and place onto an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat.


Chill biscuits for 20 minutes.


Preheat oven to 475.


Make an egg wash using the egg and water. Gently brush on top of each biscuit.


Bake the biscuits for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on the tops.


These biscuits are buttery, flaky and delicious! They are everything a biscuit should be and frankly the perfect substitute for the crusty bread I allowed to slowly rot on top of my microwave.


Enjoy your Tuesday, readers! We're chugging right along!