December 7, 2009

Meatballs, Stuffed Shells and a Horsie Blanket Update

So I'm getting ready for a baby shower this weekend and I've been testing recipes, much to the delight of the family. Have hit on several absolute keepers that I would highly recommend.

First, Pioneer Woman's Comfort Meatballs. They are just plain delicious, simple to make and the sauce that goes over them is mouth-watering.

My photo is not the best, but I can guarantee they taste incredible. I have her lovely cookbook but have included the link for this recipe from her website.



Next, the Stuffed Shells from my "Cook Yourself Thin" cookbook. This one is more work and more time intensive because you're cooking with a lot of fresh ingredients like garlic, onion, zucchini and spinach. You sauté a pound of fresh spinach, drain it, squeeze the excess water out and then chop it before mixing it with the ricotta and other ingredients.

Of course, hubby walked by while I was chopping the spinach and I could tell he thought he wasn't going to like this dish. But he loved it -- everyone loved it -- and the results are so worth the effort. And it makes a lot so will feed a crowd. The baking dish shown in the photo is my smaller Pyrex dish. The recipe made another 9" x 13" dish of shells as well. Both of these dishes are delicious reheated, which is always a bonus.

Finally finished knitting and blocking all of the squares for the horsie blanket. Now I'll start seaming the pieces together. It's going to be so cute. I wish you could see the horse's head in the dark brown squares, but they just don't want to photograph well for me. I hope this blankie is something the little guy will drag around with him for years.

6 comments:

Kelli said...

The blanket is awesome -want to see it finished, too. Photo tip: To catch the detail, turn off the overhead light and camera flash and light the blanket from the side (maybe a little from overhead). This is called "modeling light" - you use it to bring out the features on faces that strong direct light would flatten out.

Sara said...

All I can say is:

1. Yum!
2. Lucky kid.
3. The Energy Fairy must be visiting your place and avoiding mine.

jayaycee said...

Okay, I'm going to try that lighting trick with this. Thanks for the tip. I need to pull out the manual and figure out how to turn off the automatic flash. :-)

jayaycee said...

Yum is right. You have to at least try making the meatballs. They are so good! I'm sure you can freeze portions to make nice little quick dinners.

This blanket is an interesting project. I just finished everything last night except sewing in my little label. I figure it took me around 58 hours to complete. I hope he likes it -- and he's not even born yet!

Funny thing about the Energy Fairy ... she comes around when you need her the most! Since we've had company visiting and now the party, she's been a frequent flier at our house lately.

Renaldo Falkenhagen said...

Thanks. I really enjoyed what you wrote here.

jayaycee said...

Haven't had a chance to explore your cooking website yet, but will. Thanks for visiting.