Sunday Supper

Dear Secret Blogiary,

Sometimes there just isn't enough time in the day to make a proper Sunday supper. Today was one of those days. Between all the household chores and a house full of guests (the kind that I don't feed), there was just barely enough time to make our weekly treat. Dinner was a late, rushed and virtually pre-packaged meal.

So I present: Chicken Alfredo from not really scratch and a totally from scratch Busy Day Chocolate cake with Oozey Chocolate Glaze.

From this:

  To this:

And then right in the pan with just a little salt and pepper.

Whole Wheat spaghetti.

From-a-jar Alfredo

(to be perfectly honest, I have never mastered the art of Alfredo from scratch anyway)

  

  

In goes the sauce and the chicken.

Yummy. Quick. Mostly healthy.

(notice a lack of veggies?)

And best of all the two biggest picky eaters I know gobble it up!

Ahh... and then the cake. I use the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book from the late 70's. Which just proves that good recipes are timeless like Little Black Dresses and Martinis.

I was quite busy so I did not remember to capture the build, but the final result is oh so pretty.

For the glaze:

Two squares semi-sweet baker's chocolate...

...all chopped up.

3/4 cup powdered sugar and 1.5 tsp butter.

Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat...

Remove from heat then add powdered sugar and mix it all up.

Add about 2 tbs of hot water (more or less depending on desired consistency)

Slather it all over the cake.

Talk about pretty and shiny!

I added sugar crystals for decoration.

Moist and picture perfect!

And of course, quickly devour because *Someone* might have finished his piece while you were taking pictures and start eyeing your piece!!

Sunday Supper

Dear Secret Blogiary,

As envious as I am of other food blogs like The Pioneer Woman and Bakerella I thought I'd try my own hand at it. After spending far too much time in the kitchen for a simple meal, I've come to the conclusion that if I do this more, it will probably only happen on Sunday when I have the time to play with my food and the camera.

So here is my first ever Sunday Supper:

Sweet Potato and Ham Soup and Homemade Applesauce

First the sweet potatoes: three large ones will do



Bake at 400 for 45 minutes or until soft. Let them cool slightly and then strip peel them.

See how the skin just falls away?

See all that good caramelazation that took place in the oven?

In batches, puree sweet potatoes with 3 14.5 ounce cans of chicken stock (I use low sodium)

Pour into pan (I ended up using my crock pot because I was using my only large stock pot to make the applesauce)

Bring to a simmer and then add 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. Stir and simmer some more. Then add some ham cubes.

Simmer some more and then add about half a cup of heavy cream.

Don't measure.

Really don't. Do this part to taste.

I always end up adding more than a half cup.

Stir and simmer for about 5 minutes and then remove from heat.

Oh. Yum.

This is a perfect soup for autumn.

Creamy, filling, with just a touch of heat from the cayenne.

Perfect.

And then onto dessert.  

Although really, can applesauce really be considered dessert?

According to Big Sis and Little Sis, this is the best dessert ever!

I start with a mix of apples.

Today, I used Gala, Granny and Red Delicious

(sometimes, I get daring and add in pears, too!)

Peel 'em.

Core 'em.

Coarse chop 'em.

Mix 'em with cinnamon, sugar and 1/4 cup water

(nope, I didn't measure these out either)

Cover and cook 'em over medium heat until they start to bubble.

Stir then turn the heat to low, cover, and let simmer, occasionally stirring.

Until you end up with this:

Admittedly, these are not very complicated recipes. But they are oh so good.

The applesauce is particularly versatile. Mister W likes to eat his over vanilla ice cream - like apple pie ala mode with out the crust. Big Sis loves to dip graham crackers in hers. Little Sis eats it as is. I've also used it to replace oil in certain recipes and in a spice cake. You can also cook this down even further if you are opposed to chunky style.