After Dinner Thoughts

Well now, that was tasty. I was happy to finally have dinner ready; I felt like I was two hours behind all day. Part of that was because I got up two hours later than usual. I guess all the traveling I did this past week caught up with me. I was at ILEAD U in Springfield Monday through Thursday. Then, Friday I drove up to the Chicago suburbs for a celebration dinner that evening. I got up and drove back to the St Louis area Saturday morning. When I got home, I had just enough time to get ready for the Mayor's Halloween Ball; had a lot of fun at that party but got home later than normal. So, like I said, I think it all caught up with me this morning when I didn't get out of bed until late morning.

Even with that I was able to get dinner made and on the table. Mom was a huge help to me by putting the cake together while I prepared for the trick or treaters. Both the chili and the cake were very good. I decided to make the Black Forest Cake and that was a wise decision.

We had a very happy Halloween. I hope you did too!

A Halloween Theme: Sweet Potato & Black Beans Chili

It's been quite a while since I've made Sweet Potato & Black Beans Chili. My friend Amanda first turned me on to this recipe a few years ago. I thought of it because I want a crock pot dish on Halloween, and because it's orange and black (plus it is truly delicious). It's really good with corn chips (I recommend Tostito Scoops).

For dessert I think we need something red and black - vampire colors. So, I might make either a Black Forest Cake or a Chocolate Strawberry Layer Cake. I'll be sure to let you know which dessert we have and how it all turns out.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

After Dinner Thoughts

WOW! That was one delicious dinner! And, even better, each of the recipes was incredibly easy to prepare. I will definitely make all three again. While the garbanzo salad and spinach pie were truly delectable, the cake was absolutely fabulous and I highly recommend it!

I made the salad Saturday afternoon, which allowed the flavors to meld nicely. Sunday morning I made the cake before we went out for breakfast. Then, after breakfast I came home and mixed the ingredients for the spinach pie and put them in the refrigerator. After the regular cleaning out the basement at our parents house, I put the pie ingredients into the pie pan and baked it. That worked great. I also warmed some pasta sauce for the spinach pie.

My week's going to be pretty busy; I don't know when I'll be able to post next Sunday's recipes. Enjoy the photos and have a great week.

Sicilian Spinach Pie

I'm back! Skipped Sunday dinners in September; instead we spent Sundays cleaning out mom & dad's basement. We're not quite done, but I think I can start cooking on Sundays again.

Michael found the recipe for Sicilian Spinach Pie in the St Louis Post Dispatch and cut it out. It doesn't take much for me to realize when he wants something. So, I'll make the pie this weekend. I'm thinking about putting it all together, refrigerating it, then just popping it in the oven on Sunday (we'll be back in that basement this Sunday). I'll let you know if that's what I decide to do.

For a side I'm going to make a Garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) salad. I've been trying to find a fresh sounding recipe, but haven't found exactly what I'm looking for. So, I'm going to go with a mash up - a cross between this Garbanzo Bean Salad recipe and this 5-minute Greek Garbanzo Bean Salad recipe. I want to use the garbanzo beans, apple, walnuts, onion, and celery from the first recipe and the parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper from the second recipe.

Now I have to figure out something for dessert because we certainly can't skip dessert! I think I might try this Lemon Ginger Peach cake I found online.

I'll let you know how it all turns out.