I received a MOMOFUKU cookbook for Christmas from my youngest daughter. Momofuku is a Milk Bar Bakery in NYC  and is known for it’s unique approach to baking and desserts. We’ll be visiting NYC in March and I’m so excited to go to this bakery with my daughter.

I rarely follow recipes (but I love cookbooks) and honestly I rarely bake. I certainly do not need to eat baked goods and even when our girls were young, they weren’t huge sweet eaters and dessert was not a daily indulgence. I’d say that given the choice, ice cream or baked item, my family would have chosen ice cream. Don’t get me wrong, I love sweets and bakery items, I just know that making them at home and having them around is not good for the waistline (or hips or butt).

However, once in a while, I’m in the mood to bake, and that day was yesterday………

Knowing my love of corn, I went straight for the CORN COOKIES!

YUMMY! Buttery with a slight corn flavor! I know it sounds weird, but it works, trust me! The look and texture of them reminded me slightly of a Snickerdoodle, without the cinnamon sugar of course.

The recipe called to use a large cookie scoop, but since mine was smaller I knew it would mean adjusting the baking time. I wish I had reduced the time by another minute for a softer chewier cookie. Oh well, next time.

The nutritional values are not listed in the cookbook, so I found a website (www.sparkrecipes.com) and it will calculate the nutritional value for you. I don’t know if this is completely accurate, but I’m sure it’s close. Sadly, I won’t be eating many of these cookies

I’ve linked up over at Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust. Make sure and check out Michelle’s blog, I guarantee you’ll love it!

Adapting Char’s recipe into my own made for a great meal! Don’t you just love crock pot meals? A little prep in the morning and dinner is ready at the end of the day.

Here’s my simple version:

Slice the sausage and saute (in a little olive oil) until just carmelized. When done, scoop out w/slotted spoon and put in crock pot.

Chop lots of veggies (I used 2 carrots, 3 celery stalks, 5-6 garlic cloves, 1/2 large red onion, and 1/2 each red, yellow and orange bell pepper). Saute in same pan you cooked the sausage in. Add salt & pepper and saute until just tender. Scoop into crock pot.

Add 2-3 cans of beans to crock pot and “just a little” of the Crab & Shrimp Boil.

Cook on low all day.

Serve over rice (I used brown), a caesar salad and cornbread. YUMMY!!

It was so good, that last night my husband said to me (and remember we’ve been married 30+ years), “I didn’t marry you because you’re a good cook, but I sure am glad you’re a good cook. You’ve done it again, dinner is delicious!”

Crock pot applesauce.

Easy.

Simple.

Healthy.

Between my trip out to Gizdich ranch and a bag full of apples from a client, I had plenty of apples. I really wanted to do some baking, but knew that I didn’t need to be consuming pies, strudels, tarts or cakes, so I decided on applesauce. Plus my middle daughter request me make some and well, they usually get what they want

I had a variety of apple types: pinova, mutsu and pippins and maybe one more, but I don’t remember which type. After washing and preparing the apples with the handy dandy peeler/corer/slicer I loaded them into the crock pot. It was so full I had to weigh down the lid at the beginning until they cooked down a bit. I added 1 cup of Gizdich Apple Juice (made only from apples), 2 cinnamon sticks and 1/4 cup sugar. I cooked on high until the apples were mushy, then using a large wooden spoon mashed them to the desired consistency. I like chunky applesauce. I froze a couple of containers for us, then canned 6 pints. Since I’d never done canning, I listened carefully for the “pop” of the lid to make sure they sealed.

We had some with dinner and it was delicious!

I have another batch cooking today.

I’m going to add some fresh cranberries to this batch.

And, I still have enough apples for either one more batch, but I’m thinking a cran-apple strudel. Who wants to come over for dessert??

I love crock pot meals this time of year.

These are the basic ingredients, although I usually use a dark beer in place of the Dr. Pepper. I didn’t have any and I’ve used Root Beer before, so why not Dr. Pepper.

I season the meat (I used a boneless pork butt)  liberally with salt, pepper and garlic, them place the meat and sliced onions into the crock pot. Pour a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce and about 12 oz of dark beer or soda over top. Cook on high till it easily falls apart.

How about this fancy crock pot of mine?!? I keep thinking I should get a new one, but this one is big and works great! It’s just looking a little sad and dated.

When the meat is done, remove from crock pot and “pull” or shred it. Don’t forget to scoop out some of the onions and sauce too!!

Traditionally I’d made pulled pork sandwiches on toasted buttered Hoagie Rolls. But since we had some left over cornbread muffins, I just served it plain with a little simple side of slaw. I realized when I took this picture that it really wasn’t a very pretty plate of food, but it was tasty and I have a full tummy!

Give it a try this holiday season and worry about the calories later.

This recipe was so good, I thought I’d share it over on 30 Handmade Days and play along in her weekly Pity Party.

I was in TJ’s today and inspired when I saw they had some black figs. What a perfect little afternoon treat!  Shhh, don’t tell anyone, I’m not sure it’s on my “diet.”

You’ve got to love anything that is so good and only has four ingredients.

Next time I would time the time to find the perfect bread. This was the best option I could find without going to another store. I wish it were a bit denser. But this was still good.

This would make a perfect light lunch with a salad, a great appetizer and of course, I already know it made a great little snack!

I have been absolutely craving Caprese salad lately! I can’t get enough of it! Just look at the freshness of these ingredients. This is the best mozzarella, it is super creamy, flavorful and salty. It puts the plastic container mozzarella balls to shame. I buy this at Nob Hill in S.V.

And these ingredients for the Kale salad look pretty amazing also. I always make homemade croutons and made the breadcrumbs out of those. So delicious!

And don’t forget to make your table pretty. Tonight I was lucky enough to have some beautiful roses, freshly hand-picked from my garden.

I love freshly grated parmesan, so I used that on the salad instead of the pre-grated kind. I think it has much more flavor.

And, dinner is served! I don’t think I need to tell you how delicious this meal was!! And, we didn’t even miss not having a potato or rice or garlic bread.

I found this cool little plug-in to share my recipes. I love that you can now print the recipe. Easy Breasy!

Kale salad recipe found on Pinterest and adapted from True Food Kitchen

This is delicious summer salad that I’m sure you’re bound to love!

Here is the recipe that I “loosely” followed. If you need to take a short cut, I’ve heard that Trader Joe’s sells a bag of Roasted Corn kernels in the freezer section. But, really, it is worth it to take the time to grill the corn yourself. It is so flavorful and who doesn’t prefer fresh over frozen?

Recipe found on Pinterest and adapted from Jehan Can Cook.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious