Fennel Cucumber Salsa

1 english cucumber, diced (we used regular)
1 large fennel bulb, diced
1 avocado, diced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 C pickled banana peppers, diced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 T. honey
3 T. lemon juice
S & P to taste

Combine everything. Let sit 20 minutes before serving to let flavors meld together. Absolutely delicious!

French Toast Casserole

OK, so NOT healthy, but YUMMMMMmmmmm!

1 loaf french bread, torn up (if using a lighter french loaf, use less liquid below)
1/2 C melted butter
cinnamon
8 eggs
4 egg yolks
3/4 C sugar
2 C milk
3 C heavy cream or half&half
1 T. Vanilla
1 tsp nutmeg

Topping:
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C melted butter
2 T maple syrup

Grease 9 X13 pan. Put bread in bowl. Pour over melted butter and stir to make sure every piece gets buttered. Sprinkle cinnamon to taste on top. Beat eggs, egg yolks, and sugar together until light yellow in color. Add milk, cream, vanilla and nutmeg and mix well. Pour over bread and stir to make sure all the bread has been coated. Cover and place in fridge over night. In morning preheat oven to 350 F. Combine melted butter, brown sugar, and syrup. Pour evenly over bread. Bake about 40 minutes until puffed and golden.

We had this at a breakfast and i could NOT stop eating it! It was sooo good! We made a healthier modified version at home (of course--at Nate's urging!) and it was fine too. Yum.

NYTimes Soup Article

Hi guys --

I probably should experiment with these before posting, but the article sold us on the recipes before we even tasted the end results. Supposedly, these are "the last 4 soup recipes you'll ever need." Creamy, Brothy, Earthy, Hearty, with infinite variations. We're going to give it a try. If anyone else tries any of these, let us know what you think!

Jennie

Grandma Wooly's Beef Barbecue

So, I've been wanting to make a pulled pork or barbecued beef recipe for a little while now and found this one in Cooks Country--it's a magazine put out by America's Test Kitchen. It's easy AND I got to use my new dutch oven for it. It's very simple and I thought it might be a little bland, but we both really liked it--very tasty.

1 T pickling spice

2 pounds boneless beef chuck-eye roast, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

Salt and Pepper

2 T vegetable oil

2 1/2 c water

1 1/2 c ketchup

1 T cider vinegar

1 tsp dry mustard

8 hamburger buns, toasted

1. Brown Beef

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Tie picking spice in cheesecloth to make a sachet (or borrow a coffee filter from a friend--that's what we did). Pat beef dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 T oil in large Dutch oven over med-high heat until just smoking. Cook half of beef, turning occasionally, until well browned all over, abt 8 min. Transfer to large bowl. repeat with remaining oil and beef.

2. Braise Beef

Stir water into pot, scraping up any browned bits. Add beef, along with any accumulated juices, to pot and bring to boil. Transfer pot to oven and cook covered, stirring occasionally, until meat it nearly tender, about 1 hour. Stir ketchup, vinegar, and mustard into pot. Add picking spice sachet and continue to cook, covered, until meat is fork-tender, about 1 hour longer.

3. Shed and Serve

Discard sachet. Using slotted spoon, transfer beef to plate. When cool enough to handle, shred beef into bite-sized pieces. Return beef to pot and stir until coated with sauce and warmed. Season with salt and pepper. Serve on hamburger buns