so it's that time again.
when people start putting up christmas decorations before thanksgiving has even arrived.
let's all take a deep breath. because i love this time of year...the calm before the storm.
there's been some serious goodness lately. i got to see
bloody bloody andrew jackson on broadway, which i'd been looking forward to forever. it was great; so creative and smart. it made me miss the process of creating theater, but i know i will always be able to see great theater regardless if it is part of my career or not. i also got to see my friend, dave, be amazing in this
play which just closed. if you find high school acapella groups hilarious (and you clearly don't have a funny bone in your body if you don't) go see this play if it is ever remounted. you will laugh your ass off for an hour and a half...without intermission.
my friend, caissie, was in town this past week. i hadn't seen her since i went to london in june where she had been starring in
hair. she is on her way back to london this very moment to star in the new musical production of
ghost (yep, as in the one with demi moore & patrick swayze and that hot hot pottery scene!) before she took off again, i was lucky enough to get my best girl friends in the world together for dinner at
the stanton social. some had never met each other before, so it was kind of a big deal for me. i don't usually post pictures i'm in or of people in general, but i have to make an exception this time.
i have the most amazing friends, and i'm feeling very lucky and grateful about that.
mark and i are having some friends over next weekend for a little house warming, so i thought i'd test out some recipe ideas tonight for our party and for thanksgiving. my mom will be in town for the holiday and i'm going to cook up a feast!
tonight i came up with the idea of making lasagna muffins, which sounds disgusting, but it's really just little mini lasagnas cooked into cupcake molds. i cooked the noodles then tore them into small sections and layered them with ricotta and tomato sauce inside the liners. it went okay..i think it might be too messy for a party.
they tasted good and looked cute, but i can just picture those layers going everywhere. yikes.
i also made stuffed mushrooms, which turned out really well.
i made a filling that combined lentils, rosemary, mushroom stock, savory crackers, and chestnuts. i got the chestnuts canned in water so they were really soft and easy to cook with. turns out chestnuts have no fat in them and add a great flavor. i combined all the ingredients and filled the baby bella mushrooms with the puree and roasted them in the oven for about 20 minutes. i first sauteed the mushrooms with a little balsamic and olive oil to bring out their flavor. they were great, so i think i'm definitely going to serve them on saturday.
i've also been playing around with a pumpkin dessert which is really just pumpkin pie mix, egg whites and condensed milk all blended together and baked in the over for 45 minutes. i'm calling it a custard, but it should really be called super easy delicious pumpkin food because it is effortless and with non fat condensed milk it really is a healthy alternative to pie...not that i'm hating on pie. just saying.
looks gross but tasted awesome. if i had had a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream, i promise i would have added it.
i will be back soon with more holiday recipes. happy almost tofurkey day!
