creamy, delicious hummus

as i continue down this fun and exciting path of cooking, next on the list to master:  hummus.  and, again, thanks to a fave blog, i found this super delicious recipe.  the key, according to this blogger, is to add the ingredients in a very specific order.  you blend the tahini and lemon juice in the food processor first.  that creates a smooth and creamy base for the rest of the recipe.  i also added roasted red peppers and some cayenne pepper to give it a kick.  i know i will make this over and over.

delicious!

make some today!  (get some stacy's pita chips for dippage.)

herbed goat cheese

i saw a blog post recently on serious eats about making goat cheese.  i had never really thought of making cheese, but since it sounded so easy, i thought i'd give it a shot. i got the goat's milk and cheesecloth at whole foods, borrowed a candy thermometer from a friend and headed home to start my little science project.  here's how you do it...


first, you heat the goat's milk

once it hits 180 degrees, remove from heat and add lemon juice and wait for it to curdle

be sure to have the cheesecloth ready for the warm, curdled goat's milk

spoon goat's milk into cheesecloth, tie it up onto a wooden spoon and let it drip for 1.5 hours

remove goat cheese from cheesecloth and add garlic, salt + pepper and your choice of chopped herbs

top your favorite crackers or bread with the creamy herbed goodness. 
i dipped big, warm garlic croutons in it.  ridiculous.

next time i make this, i will probably double the recipe, as it only makes a small amount.
be sure to eat it while it's very fresh. it would be excellent on pizza!

italian lemon goodness

limoncello is a very tasty italian drink and i'd been hoping for years to make it.  and, now that i've made it...i'm wondering...what took so long?!  it is delicious and so easy.  you just have to be patient [it takes a minimum four weeks.]  here is the recipe.

make yourself some of this wonderful digestif!

small wonders

i buy fresh eggs every saturday from andy's eggs (fallston, md) at the waverly market.  many of my friends prefer the sunday market under the JFX, but i really like waverly.  it is smaller, i know many of the vendors...and it's year-round, so i can get my weekly milk, eggs, bread, lettuce, etc, even in the dead of winter. 

i get a weekly email from woolsey farm and this week's entry had a message from andy about his recent trip to pick up some pullets (young chickens.)  he suggested their lovely little eggs for the holidays (i saw the words DEVILED EGGS and i was in.)  so, i went this morning and picked up two dozen pullet eggs from him.  they are beautiful.  and delicious.  look how orange-y that yolk is - yum.

go see andy (get there early) and get some for yourself!

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