Another Fave

Today wraps up my month with The Food You Crave, and it felt wrong not to cook and mention one of my long-standing favorite dishes out of it: Macaroni and Four Cheeses (pg 168). The four cheeses in question are cheddar, Monterey Jack (which I usually replace with more cheddar), ricotta, and parmesan. The healthy thing I like about this mac and cheese is that it includes frozen pureed butternut squash that you can buy at the supermarket. This is the dish my cousin cooked once when she had me over for dinner, which was so good that it prompted me to go home and order the book for myself.

 If you're looking for a really creamy mac and cheese, this may not be the dish for you. I think it's plenty tasty and it definitely satisfies any mac and cheese craving that I have, but it is a bit dry and a bit gritty from the ricotta. The first time I served this, Matt didn't know there was squash in it. He's a pretty avid fan of this meal. Historically, I've had no trouble getting Charlie to eat it. This time around, he shoveled in a few bites, and then suddenly looked disgusted, spit his mouthful out, and wouldn't eat any more. Don't know what that was about.

"If you loved me you'd give me cheese. Please? Pretty please?" I couldn't resist that face. She got the cheese.

Conclusion: Love it. Especially the parmesan breadcrumb bits on top. Mmmm.

About two weeks ago, I made a mug of Vanilla Hot Cocoa (pg 305) and promptly forgot all about it. It was boring. If I'm going to bother with hot chocolate, I want it to be really chocolatey, and this was not.

Conclusion: Just okay. I won't be making this again

Friday was one of those days where I just needed a cookie. Really, any cookie would have done just fine, but when I flipped through Dorie Greenspan's Baking, the title Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters (pg 73) sprang from the page. Resistance was futile.

I was surprised at how little peanut butter flavor came through. I was a little shy on my cup, but I don't think it was enough to make the difference. If I'm going to spend the calories on peanut butter, I want it to taste like peanut butter. Cinnamon was the dominant flavor. I love the three-cookies-in-one concept and the chewiness that held up, even a few days later, so next time I make them, I'll try adding more peanut butter.

I made an embarrassingly large dent in that plate, but I brought what was left to a friend's for lunch on Sunday. I left with a clean plate.

Conclusion: Liked it. Would like it more with more peanut butter or no peanut butter at all.