Cami's S'more Nut Bars

These were really good. I think they were almost everything I had hoped for. The graham cracker crust was honestly the best I've ever made. It seemed to hold together better than those I've made in the past. I guess adding brown sugar is the secret. Any time I need to make a graham cracker crust, I'm going to use this recipe.

I really like the chocolate. I think it is the perfectly smooth consistency and just the right amount of bitterness. I love dark chocolate though. Thanks to Melissa's suggestion I added more marshmallows. I think I added 12 or 13 and could have added 1 or 2 more I think. I liked the marshmallow chunks but I can see how gooey marshmallows would be good as well. In order to do that I think I would add the marshmallows to the chocolate before you add the boiling cream so they melt a little. Maybe next time I'll try that.

These cut very nicely and would be great for a picnic or potluck. They would also make a nice ending to a lunch date.

S'more Nut Bars

I decided on the recipe because for as long as I can remember I have loved S'mores. I just love the gooey marshmallows paired with the melting chocolate it is to die for. So, when I saw this recipe I knew I had to do it. I made this yesterday and I liked it, but it was not exactly what I imagined. It did not have the gooey marshmallow with the melting chocolate so right there I was a little disappointed. I think a more accurate name would be "Rocky Road Bars".

I have a few comments. Since I don't really like peanuts I changed it to walnuts and it was great you could probably do any nut of choice. I actually added a little salt to the recipe since my nuts were not lightly salted, but I think I could have done without. Also, I thought the dark chocolate was a little over powering and I love milk chocolate so in the future I would make it with just milk chocolate. Finally, I think in the future I would have either cut up more marshmallows or cut them smaller, because there were times when I had a few bites of just chocolate and I think it needs the marshmallow to cut the intensity of the chocolate. Overall I would make it again with a few modifications.

*I am having some camera problems so I will add pictures soon


And now for Cami's questionnaire:

Q: When did you start baking / cooking?
A: I have always baked I can remember pretty much every Sunday as a child baking something new. When I moved away from home and lived with roommates I stopped baking and thanks to this group I am back baking again. I forgot how much I enjoyed it. I started cooking once I had Lucas because I was at home and I had extra time. I could use a lot of help in the cooking area, but I have been enjoying it the more I try.

Q: What is your favorite kitchen tool?
A: I really love these measuring cups that are made for liquids I have four in total and the smallest measurement is 1 tbls up to 4 cups. I use them everyday.

Q: Do you have a favorite spice? If so, what is it?
A: Probably salt, it is hard to decide.

Q: What is your favorite book?
A: My favorite book for years has been Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

Q: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
A: My sister lives in Qatar so it would probably be there.

Q: If you had to change your first name right now, what would you change it to?
A: I always wanted my middle name so I guess Lynne.

Q: Where do you currently live?
A: Chicago

Q: Where are you from?
A: Mobile, AL

Q: If you could eat one thing for every meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A: Cheeseburger and french fries with a Dr. pepper

Melanie W.'s Split Pea Soup

To be honest, I wasn't in love with this recipe. At least, I wasn't in love with the way mine turned out. Josh liked it a lot though. First of all, I couldn't find smoked port hock, so like Cami, I also used regular raw pork. I'm not even sure it was a hock, but I'm pretty sure it was a similar cut. I also chose not to add any ham. Anyway, the flavor from the pork and the pork bone ruined it for me. I'm not sure why because I usually like meat, but I'm thinking it might have tasted better with the smoked pork? Not really sure. I think I would have preferred to just use ham instead, or skip the meat altogether.

What I did like is the variety of veggies in the soup! It seemed very healthy. I did add potatoes and also added more peas as was recommended, but I wish I had added even more. It definitely didn't end up as thick as I was envisioning. I even poured off some water before pureeing and it still seemed too thin. I was happy to find marjoram here (though no bay leaves). I think it was my first time using marjoram and I liked the smell of it.

I'll keep this in my list of recipes, and next time I'll make a few modifications and then I'm sure I'll be happy with it!

Cami's Split Pea Soup

This is a terrible picture of a delicious soup! I really liked the rich flavor of the soup. I did a few things wrong differently. I couldn't find smoked ham hock so I got regular or non-smoked I guess. I don't know enough about ham hock to know the difference. I also couldn't find green split peas at Treasure Island and since I didn't want to go to another store I bought yellow. It seems like it still turned out. Jason doesn't usually like split pea soup but he liked this. I did add the potatoes and extra ham. I didn't get the meat out of the ham hock. I just removed it once the soup was done. I still think it tastes great and will make it again. Heck, maybe I'll try it the right way!

This Week's Recipe: Easy Split Pea Soup

I used to hate split pea soup. Literally, my mom had to coax me into eating it every time she served it. I'd pinch my nose and swallow hoping that my two bites would be enough to make it go away.

Somewhere along the line my tastes changed.

It could possibly be from this recipe alone. Really, it's quite tasty! I've made this soup countless times and it's never failed me. My family loves it on a chilly day. Serve it up with a crusty bread (I often cheat and buy the 2-loaf pack of whole wheat baguettes from Costco) and some slices of cheddar cheese. I know it's springtime now, but try it out before it starts defrosting too much.

Easy Split Pea Soup
Bon Appétit | May 1996
by Patricia Murray: County Kerry, Ireland

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped peeled carrots
1 1/2 pounds smoked pork hocks
2 teaspoons dried leaf marjoram
1 bay leaf*
1 1/2 cups green split peas
8 cups water
1 potato, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes*
1/2 cup of cooked, cubed ham chunks*

Instructions:
Melt butter in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery and carrots. Sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 8 minutes. Add pork and marjoram; stir 1 minute. Add peas, then water, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Partially cover pot; simmer soup until pork and vegetables are tender peas are falling apart, stirring often, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Transfer hocks to bowl. Puree 5 cups soup in batches in blender. Return to pot. Cut pork off bones. Dice pork; return pork to soup. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Refrigerate until cold, then cover. Rewarm before serving.)

Cook's Notes:
~I added the asterisked ingredients (I like potato and extra ham-- just add after pureeing)
~Needs longer than 1 hour 10 minutes-- probably about 2 hours
~Can be made in a crock pot (just add the potatoes and extra ham the last hour of cooking, after the soup has been pureed)
~I like to add more peas to make it a thicker consistency
~If you have an immersion hand blender, I highly recommend using it! A regular blender works alright, but the hand kind is MUCH easier.

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Cami's questions:

Q: When did you start baking / cooking?
A: I can remember helping my mom in the kitchen from the time I was about 8. I made a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving that year and have been making it for my family every year since. My mom also let me help her make tortillas. I loved eating the dough!

Q: What is your favorite kitchen tool?
A: Heat-resistant spatulas

Q: Do you have a favorite spice? If so, what is it?
A: Garlic and maybe black pepper, too

Q: What is your favorite book?
A: A tough one! I love so many. Maybe "The Hiding Place," or "A Prayer for Owen Meany," or "Harry Potter" ...

Q: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
A: The Greek Islands

Q: If you had to change your first name right now, what would you change it to?
A: I've always thought the name Ophelia was cool...

Q: Where do you currently live?
A: Goleta (Santa Barbara), CA

Q: Where are you from?
A: Van Nuys (The San Fernando Valley), CA

Q: If you could eat one thing for every meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A: Strawberries

Cami's Flourless Chocolate Cake

Let me first explain why my flourless chocolate cake looks like two 4 inch torts stacked with chocolate ganache glaze in between. Well, I made a dessert for someone and sent them home with my springform pan. So, I have 4 inch springform pans that I used instead. I did scale back the baking time to 25 minutes and they came out perfectly.

I loved these. They were so good and rich and chocolatey. Honestly I think it is more the chocolate ganache glaze than the cake. The cake did improve overnight though.

I think you can make it even if you don't have a springform pan. It may stick to the bottom a little but it shouldn't be too bad.

LuAnn's meatballs

No picture from me either, but I thought these were really tasty. This was my first time making meatballs. I've never been very interested in them because like Danielle, I'm not into ground meat...and I can't see what's in them. But I like the fact that these had a variety of fruits and veggies in the sauce and meat. I was thinking that the carrots, peppers and onions were going to go into the balls so I chopped them really fine. I actually chopped the carrots and onions and half of the green peppers in my mini food processor. If I realized they were going into the sauce I would have left them in bigger pieces. But the sauce was still really tasty.

I let the meatballs cook in the sauce for 25-30 minutes because my meat was defrosted just enough for me to stir it. Since I didn't have room in the pot to put in any rice I put my precooked sushi rice in a 9x13 dish, poured the meatballs and sauce on top and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes...uncovered so the sauce would thin. It turned out just right.

I'm wondering how this could be frozen. I think if I cooked the meatballs for 15 minutes in the sauce and then put it into a casserole dish with the rice. Then I would freeze it and when ready to eat I'd let it defrost for an hour and then put it in the oven for 20 minutes or so. Thoughts?

I'm also wondering if I could add some nutrients by using a small can of tomato sauce and a small can of tomato paste...I've heard tomato paste is the healthiest form of tomatoes...even more so than the tomato itself. Can anyone verify that? I might also consider adding some pureed spinach to the meatballs (this idea inspired by Jessica Seinfeld). More thoughts?

P.S. I have to note that I made this dinner and it was ready at 6:30 even though Jeff had class until 6. This was a major breakthrough for me. I chopped most of the veggies earlier in the day (this was Danielle's suggestion for me when I said how hard it was to make dinner with 2 kids awake and getting hungry) so it didn't take much to put it together at dinner time. Danielle...you should be so proud...this was the 2nd day in a row that we had a real balanced meal from scratch. Today we'll eat leftovers! Maybe I can do this.

*I thought I'd add a picture of my little helper since I have no picture of the food. I was so absorbed in scooping and dropping those meatballs into the sauce that I honestly had no idea he had emptied the entire drawer onto the floor and he was less than a foot away.

Cami's Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Yummy. I really liked this. I've never used ground chicken before and found it pretty easy to use and rather tasty. I liked how the flavors mixed together. I also liked how many of the ingredients I seemed to have on hand. My sweet and sour seems a little less saucy than others, but it was very good. I would make this again, for sure.

Danielle's Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Sorry, no picture again. I have a feeling I'm not going to be very good at getting pictures of the meal recipes. I like to eat as soon as it's done!

Anyway, so I accidentally skipped the last step in the recipe that says to stir the rice into the sauce. My brother was helping me make it, and he just said, "Oh, there's rice with it." And I said, "Oh yeah! Rice!" and started making some instant rice separately. So my sauce was also too runny. But oh well.

I thought it was tasty, but I don't know that I'll make it again. I'm not a big fan of ground meat of any sort. But I'll keep it in mind for an easy, fairly quick meal that can feed a lot of people.

Melanie W.'s Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Mine actually turned out to be sweet and sour beef meatballs. I couldn't find any ground chicken, or even ground turkey, though I know I had seen it before. Oh well. Other things I had to modify: no tomato sauce here, so I used canned diced tomatoes and blended them up. No crushed pineapple here, so I got sliced pineapple and also blended it up. Worked fine! And I used regular rice instead of instant, because again...don't have it here.

I really liked this recipe! I don't make meatballs very often, even though I like them. I guess becuase they're sort of messy to make. I also don't like all the grease that cooks into many meatball recipes. Here in Ecuador, I was able to buy super super lean ground beef for super cheap, so I didn't feel like I was eating a ton of grease!

I think my food would have turned out a little bit better if I'd been able to use instant rice because it would have helped soak up some of the juices as it cooked. Instead, I just cooked my regular rice separately and poured the meatball sauce on top of the rice. The sauce ended up being a little too runny this way. But it was still delicious, and I think I would definitely make this recipe again! Thanks for the recipe Melanie!