Desserts, Meals, and More!

This first one is actually something Mark was in charge of. I had a girls weekend away at the beginning of August. During one of my calls home to check on the boys, I asked Mark what he was up to, to which he responded that he was "looking at recipes online"! I was just sure he was teasing me. It turns out, he bought the ingredients and made these Buffalo Wings on his own! In fact this is the second batch he made a few nights later for me to try. They were really good! He grilled the wings, made the sauce (Frank*s hot sauce and melted butter mixed with black pepper) and then tossed them in it. I was so impressed with his recipe scouting skills! :)

There is a good chance that these sausages might not look too appetizing to you. Especially if you don't care for bell peppers. Let me tell you, they were GOOD! I was wanting to replicate an appetizer we had in Chicago and this was pretty close. Mmmm. Italian Sausage, Peppers, and Onions.

We have more basil than I know what to do with. It is literally as high as my shoulders. And we have three plants!! So several times this summer we've had pesto! I sauteed some raw shrimp (even the frozen kind is a splurge for us) in garlic and olive oil and then tossed that in pesto and served it on pasta! We also like to have pesto-grilled chicken with pasta. I use and tweak a pesto recipe Andrea's mom gave me: 2 cups basil leaves, a couple cloves garlic, 1/3 cup pecans or walnuts (because they're cheaper than pinenuts), 1/2 cup parmesean cheese, and olive oil added til the desired consistency. I think that's everything. Hey, if you're interested in 2 cups of basil, let me know! You can come and pick a bucket!

This one is here for Mark. I really only make his favorite meal about twice a year. He usually really likes everything I make, but this is home cookin' to him! Salisbury Steak. I had never heard of it before I met him. Yes, it's pretty much meatballs covered in gravy with mashed potatoes. It's yummy but not at the top of the low-fat foods list. :) I surprised him with it last week and he said, "Take a picture of THIS for your blog!" So I did.

fThis was Mark's birthday dessert. It was a good compromise. He loves light, fruit-filled desserts, and I prefer rich desserts. This is a Berry Cheese Torte. I found it in my Taste of H*ome magazine. You can find it online, but I can't link to it, because you have to have a 'subscription' to view this particular recipe. I'd be glad to email it to you, though! Crust: N*illa Wafers and gingerbread cookies. Filling: thin cheesecake layer. Topping: Strawberries and Blueberries with gelatin to told it together. It was really good and looked beautiful!! Probably a recipe to tuck away til next summer when you can get fresh blueberries cheaper! Let me know if you want this recipe!

After we went to see J*ulie and J*ulia, I felt totally inspired to rush home and bake or cook something. This chocolate banana bread was the product of that inspiration! I pulled out a cookbook I got for Christmas, Dorie Green*span's Baking, From My Ho*me to Yours. It's a great cookbook. (the author actually used to write cookbooks for/with Julia Chi*ld) This bread was more like a dessert for me, although I did eat it for breakfast. It's more of an 'eat with a fork' type bread. Almost pound-cake-like kind of density. I thought it was delicious. Slight banana flavor, dark chocolate chunks....good stuff with a glass of milk or cup of coffee. It's called Cocoa Nana Bread, and here's the recipe found someplace else online.

And finally; a layered cake! I was really excited to have friends over Tuesday night. Hosting is always a good excuse to make dessert, in my opinion. I got a fun dessert decorator contraption for Christmas that I still hadn't used. So that's why there are silly little uneven flower things on it. This cake is a coffee flavored cake, with coffee flavored butter cream icing. I found it on Pio*neer Woman's blog. It was really good. Very very moist. You'd think a non-coffee lover wouldn't care for this, but a non-coffee drinker friend of ours actually loved it! We still have half a cake left if anybody wants a slice! Oh, the title of the post I found it in was "Coffee Cake. Literally."