BIZZY BAKES

This is a dessert week for the WwDH bakers.  We made  Chocolate, Banana, and Coconut Muffins.  I skipped the coconut because my grandchildren were visiting and they don't like coconut.  Instead, chocolate chips made a major difference to them. These were easy to make and my little granddaughter loves them.  She took one bite and gave a sigh of satisfaction.  The older grandkids enjoyed them as well. Check out the other Donna Hay members and  H earth and Soul Hop       Tuesday’s Table            What' d You Do  This Weekend               see their cupcakes.

For me, this is one of the best recipes, we have had, so far.  The Eggplant, Ricotta and Parmesan Bake was chosen by Margaret for our Wednesday with Donna Hay group.  I knew originally when I saw the ingredients, I would love this.  It is my kind of dish.  Even if you are not a fan of eggplant, it is well disguised and I think most people who like a cheesy kind of dish, would enjoy it. The ingredients include eggplant, ricotta, parmesan, eggs, cream and basil.  They seem to be made for each other.  I finished this by myself over several days.  You can find the recipe here .  You can see what others have done with this recipe here.    Foodie Friends Friday                  Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge      This is How We Roll

When cooking some recipes, I marvel at their simplicity.  I marvel additionally when I taste a super result.  This is one of those recipes.  One sweet potato adorned with sesame oil and vegetable oil (I used olive oil), topped with sea salt and baked in a 400 degree oven results in a terrific side dish. This is  Margaret's pick for this week's Wednesdays with Donna Hay.  Bless her, this was a quick treat.  If it took 5 minutes preparation time, I would call it an exaggeration. Donna has pages of her books (in this case - New Food Fast - page 134) that have tons of quick recipes that work.  They are appetizing and a dream when in a hurry. Check our page, Wednesdays with Donna Hay , and see the results of the other charming cooks. Linked to Tuesday's table           Waste Not Want Not Wednesday           Lou Lou Girls                  ...

This week was my turn to select a recipe and I chose a Maple Glazed Chicken.  I have cooked chicken with honey and/or maple syrup before and it was always good.  I made this weeks ago to beat the Passover rush.  It amazes me how quickly these weeks before Passover go by.  There is so much to do and we tend to jump from one phase to another and still run our lives as usual.  Looking back each year, I wonder how it is done.  Yet, no matter what, it appears we pull it off.  We have had deaths in the family a week before Pesach and we finished in time.  We had children getting married close to Pesach and we thankfully pulled it off.   You will find the recipe online as well as a video showing Donna making it.  To see what others have done with their chicken, check Wednesdays with Donna Hay. Our group welcomes new members so if you are a fan of Donna's and would like to join us, just jump right in. Linked to:   Waste Not Want...

Kayte chose Chicken Poached in Coconut Curry . I had thought about selecting this one also. I am a fan of chicken and coconut, only in certain forms. I do not like a cake with lots of coconut coating the frosting but I love using coconut milk in recipes or added shredded coconut to fruit salads. Chicken is good in almost any form with almost any seasonings. I did most of my cooking for Wednesdays with Donna Hay and Eating with Ellie ahead of time because of the oncoming Jewish holiday of Passover (Pesach). Ask any Jewish woman who keeps this holiday strictly how she feels the weeks before the holiday and I am betting , she will say, "Tired!!!!!!". I enjoy the work but I am exhausted and the blog has to take a backseat to other parts of my life. I did want to keep up as best as I could with the two groups mentioned ahead and I cooked whatever was possible ahead of time. I made this Chicken Poached in Coconut Curry, weeks ago and I don't remember the details bu...

Cauliflower, Caramelised Onion and Fontina Thank you Gaye for selecting this week's WwDH recipe.  I could not get enough of it.  It is a different way of making cauliflower but one I plan to repeat many times. I did not have Fontina and subbed in a smoked cheese which worked beautifully.  I made caramelized onions and differed from the recipe by  layering the cauliflower, onions, cream and cheese.  It was rich in flavor.   This is another, easy to make recipe, from Donna Hay.   Go on over to Wednesdays With Donna Hay page and see what the other cooks are making.  Please feel free to join us and find yourself some delicious recipes which are easy to make.

This week, was my turn to pick a recipe for our Donna Hay group, Wednesdays with Donna Hay.  My husband loves blueberry muffins and with the title of Too Easy Blueberry Muffins, how could I resist, making this my selection. In all honesty, I am not sure how this is easier than other blueberry muffins.  Sometimes, I add nutmeg to mine or nuts but generally, any kind of muffin takes little effort to make.  As Donna proclaimed, this also was a simple recipe. Today is a Jewish fast day preceding the holiday of Purim so I have not tasted the muffins but they look good enough to eat and I plan to have one when the fast is over. If you are a blueberry fan or simply like Donna Hay, join us by making the recipe and sharing your link HERE! You will also find the links for other participants. Next week, we will be making Sarah's choice a Breakfast Parfait. Sounds intriguing.

Pasta with Pumpkin and Sage Butter - Adapted from Donna Hay This week, our Donna Hay group made a simple pasta dish, selected by Margaret .  I did not have pumpkin but I did have butternut squash which I subbed in.  I also did not have fresh sage but I did have some dried sage to take its place. I am not sure how I would rate this dish.  We enjoyed it and I would make it again but it would not go on my must haves.  I think, I would have liked another element, caramelized onions of a green vegetable.   This only had butter, sage, pasta, Parmesan and squash and other than browning the butter and cooking the pasta, it went together with ease and did not take long at all.  I did not have to cook the squash; I bought a bag of frozen cubes and that really made this a snap. Please go on over to the Wednesday with Donna Hay page and see what everyone else did with this dish and whey they thought of it. Weekend Potluck       See Ya ...

This title tells what I made but not what the group made.  The correct dish is  White Fish with Pine Nut Brown Butte r .  Ok, mine is  fish and has the butter but my changes were major.   When I ran out of pine nuts, a few months ago, I did not replace them because of the price.  That is where the almonds come in; they are my replacement in this recipe.  I was planning on picking up white fish in the store but it has been so cold, I opted out of facing the ice and freezing temperature and settled for salmon which was already, in the house. I admit, I am not at all sorry, because I love salmon and almonds are as good as pine nuts, in my opinion.  This quick dish was delightful.  It was mild flavored and on spinach, it seemed perfect. The ingredients were few, butter, almonds, lemon juice, salmon and spinach.  I added a little water when I put the spinach in the pan, for the last two minutes.   It came together easily a...

Hey, Hey Donna Hay.....we are back with this lovely eggplant with tomato, basil and parmesan rissoto.  Sound good?  Well, it is. Margaret  chose this recipe and it is from one of Donna Hay's books,   New Food Fast. Hubby wasn't thrilled with eggplant and would have been happier eating only the risotto. I had no idea, he is not a fan of eggplant.  I love it, made in certain ways and  I make if often.  He has never said a word.  I am pretty sure, it does not fall into the same category as asparagus which he simply despises.  I think that it is more a "take it or leave it" dish. This was not my favorite way of making eggplant either so this dish is probably not going to be seen again.  I think, if you like risotto, this is worth a try.  The sauce was broth, wine and tomato puree and I liked that very much.  Lots of basil and a little black pepper and Parmesan seasoned the dish. The dish is a three pot dish, one for the ...

Tonight is a soup night for our Donna hay Group, chosen by Gaye.  For the rest of the gals, it is Chinese barbecue pork soup and for me it is Chinese Barbecue Chicken Soup with Noodles.  This turned out to be another easy recipe since it started with already cooked chicken broth, which we added some ingredients to, to give it a unique flavor.  I didn't like the ginger, we added but it not strong enough to ruin a good soup. I had to sub in for the green vegetables, meat and noodles but it still worked beautifully.  I cut large chunks of chicken as shown in the photo in Donna book, and ended up needing a knife to cut them smaller with.  Next time, I would cut them smaller. Please check out the other members and see how their soups turned out. Gaye     Kayte      Sarah       and       Margaret Thanks Gaye, this is a winner in our family. Linked to:    Foodie Friday      ...

Chicken Pad Thai for our WwDH group was a delicious treat.  Thanks Margaret. It seemed a lot went wrong, for me, with this recipe.  First, I looked it up online instead of in the book, only to find later, the recipe is different.  I stayed with the online recipe borrowing a few ingredients from the original recipe from Modern Classics 1, chosen by Margaret.  It is not that different.  Some of the vegetables are different and the sauce definitely has differing ingredients.  Mine was ketchup and chicken stock which I used and added lime juice and soy sauce.  It turned out to be, only by luck, a good sauce. Problem # 2 was that the eggs got stuck to the pan and I had to scrape them off in bits and pieces instead of as strips.  That did not change the taste though.  The third problem was in slicing the chicken, in some strange way, I missed cutting some pieces thin enough and had to do a recut, at the last minutes. Despite all this, we h...

This week, Margaret selected a Vegetable Stir Fry to my delight.  We have had too much meat the past month with the Jewish holidays in full force. Another easy dish (you must be sick of being saying this) with flavor.  A little soy sauce, sugar and black pepper plus red chilis and basil (which I forgot) gave personality to this dish.  Tons of veggies make it a healthy choice.   This could be made with different vegetables and I am sure, still be good. Do check out our cooks and see what they thought of this dish. Gaye                          Sarah                    Margaret Linked to:   Weekend Potluck           Best of the Week       Weekend Retreat     Saturday Night Fever                        Happ...

Crispy Sage Potatoes with Fried Eggs - adapted from Donna Hay This recipe got my attention right away.  I love potatoes and I love eggs and together, they are doubly good.  I am being repetitive but this is yet another easy recipe from Donna Hay.  She has a way of putting food together that tastes good.  It is not fancy but it works. Check out the other Donna cooks and see what they have made. Gaye               Sarah             Margaret Linked to  Totally Talented Tuesday            Waste Not Want Not Wednesday               Fresh Foods Wednesdays       What's Cooking Wednesday       Wonderfully Creative Wednesdays  

This week the Wednesday With Donna Hay group had a real treat.  We made Apple, Date and Cinnamon Muffins with Maple Oats.  Hubby is already asking me to make them again and I just made a batch.  The maple syrup added a nice touch and made these really classy.  The oats worked well in the batter.  Apples and dates are a winning combination.  This is a fabulous muffin. I am enjoying cooking Donna Hay recipes.  They have turned out well across the board, are easy to make and have ingredients, usually in my cupboard.  If you like Donna, join us in our weekly endeavors. Check out the other Donna cooks and see what they have made. Gaye Sarah and Margaret , You can find the recipe here. Linked to:  Fresh Foods Wednesdays What's Cooking Wednesday Wonderfully Creative Wednesdays Allergy Free Wednesday Whimsy Wednesday Creative Munster Showcase Your Talent Thursday Full Plate Thursdays

****I have decided to move my Donna Hay posts here from My Sweet and Savory since I have put it to sleep.  I love my Donna recipes and want to share them with you.  There will be several new posts brought over and I do hope you make some of them.  Donna produces good recipes.*** I was right about this being an easy recipe although, the recipes, we have made in our group, have been generally easy to make.  This was an oven dish, through and through.  I baked the sauce and of course the bread was toasted in the oven.  Instead of drizzling olive oil, I sprayed with cooking oil (olive).    The cheese did not melt, nor brown, easily so I upped the heat to 500 degrees for 1 minute and that did the trick. This would have been good with garlic bread and actually, it could translate into a pasta sauce.  I did add just a smidge of sugar to the sauce.  It needed something and I was hoping that something was sugar.  It was.  Since ...

I couldn't do it!  I thought about it.  I tried to make it come true but bottom line, I could not accomplish the simple feat of putting MINT into pea soup.  I am sure it is delicious but we don't like mint in savory dishes. My favorite ice cream is Mint Chocolate Chip and mint belongs there but in my head, it does not belong in my soup.   As the two gremlins fought internally, you know that mint lost.  As you can see, I used chives but no way is there a connection between mint and chives.  The chives are from my garden which automatically makes them a winner. Other than this, I only used a little salt in the recipe which was basically peas, potatoes, broth and cream.  I thought, added Parmesan would have given it more of the flavor I was looking for but it was still good.  Next time, I would add just a little cheese., ******Please check out the other WWDH cooks and see what they are sharing with us.*******  Kayte     ...

This week, WWDH brings you my choice, these potato stacks.  I was intrigued when I came across the recipe and more intrigued as I placed them into muffin tins and later watched the paper dissolve. In a way, this was a more difficult recipe than usual because it was time consuming.  Slice the onions and cook.  Slice the potatoes.  Layer in papered tins.  Bake twice, once covered, once uncovered.  When it was all over, it had consumed quite a bit of time. I have not tasted one yet so I can't give it a rating of any kind.  We have a Jewish holiday coming up and I decided to serve it then.  I will just have to come back after Shevuos (holiday) and let you know. Below is Donna's recipe which I followed pretty closely.  I used vegetable broth instead of chicken stock.  I also used my mandolin to slice the potatoes and that made them perfect for this recipe.  I was able to get about five thin slices between the two onion rings. M...

Margaret has a new fan - my husband.  She selected this week's recipe for our WWDH, Wednesday with Donna hay group.  Hubby took a bite and I thought I had better hide the rest of these muffins.  He liked the texture and flavor.  He has never mentioned texture before.  So, kudos to Margaret and Donna Hay. This recipe is found on online right here. We are a known "muffin family" and I am always ready to bake muffins but I don't always get such accolades.  I think the combination of the oats, yogurt and blueberries gave it the extra boost.  I do recommend this recipe.  It is not only good but easy to make.  I used one bowl and it is measuring, mixing and baking --- nothing complicated. I made these gluten-free by subbing in a mixture of tapioca flour, brown rice flour and potato starch.  (could have added guar gum). Please stop by the rest of our members sites and see their creations.      Kayte   ...

could not wait until we made this soup.  First of all, we love soup, almost any kind will do.  Secondly, a creamy soup always wins in this house.  To top it off, including Spring veggies is a bonus.  I did leave out the asparagus since Hubby has had an aversion to them, since childhood.  Kayte selected this wonderful recipe and it comes from Modern Classics 1, page 18.  It called for only salt, pepper and parsley and I think it would benefit from another spice or two.  Otherwise, it was delicious. It amazes me, week after week, how easy it is to make Donna Hay's recipes, yet how good most of them are.  This soup took time to chop the vegetables and that is it.  The cooking of the soup was thickening the liquid with flour and butter and adding the cheese and vegetables plus spices.  In a few minutes, we had our soup. Prep time is where I find the pressure of cooking even though I find dicing and slicing restful.  It is a bless...