It may sound crazy but food keeps me sane. :)

This is how we dress for dinner... if you are Pieper. :)

For as long as I can remember, I baked.  Cookies, breads regular things...it has always and still does relax me.  I can remember even when all of us girls were at home I would be baking cookies and BOTH sisters would swing through the kitchen and eat my raw cookie dough... I still don't get that... why eat it raw when you can have a crunchy cookie in a matter of minutes...?  I digress...

I really have been trying different things lately.  I am very thankful for a husband who gives his honest opinion and never complains at a failure... I have had a few.  Pieper is very good at trying everything, I would have never done that at her age or even beyond.  Pete takes more after me... after one bite he is done.

Just of few of my favorites right now. Trying to make things healthier...without losing the taste...

My new found friend is kale... we have eaten it everyday this week.  I must say it is so easy to use in just about everything.  The only thing I haven't subjected everyone to is the kale with my basted egg for breakfast, that one is just for me for now.
Kale chips, baked in the oven.  Surprisingly good and Pete ate them up!  Just toss with salt and olive oil and bake for 15 minutes... done. Had them again for St Patrick's day... couldn't be more green! Side note, make sure you cook it until crispy or it tastes like kale, lets be honest not the best flavor... :)
I also am having a crush on pumpkin.  I have had since I made my first batch of pumpkin ricotta waffles.  Now I make pumpkin and caramelized onion pizza, Pumpkin, kale cheese 'pops' ( who wouldn't like it all wrapped up in puff pastry?), pumpkin ravioli. Very yummy!  I feel like there isn't anything that wouldn't taste good with pumpkin.  Yes, I have tried to roast it out of a fresh pumpkin but I admit I am using puree now...way less time consuming...

Not to forget carrots... I have been putting them with fennel and white beans, I could eat this daily. But we have always been a carrot family... I made it with crisp flour tortilla bites for the Academy Awards. (yes, I make a big deal out of the award show... remember I worked for 11 years at a movie theatre...I miss those Academy parties every year...)

Wine in cooking... if you use the right wine it really does make the dish... stew, chicken and risotto especially. Give me wine to deglaze a pan and I am in heaven. Of course then you must also have a glass...
I did try to make sourdough bread... it was sour but not quite right will have to keep trying that one...
I have been having so much fun lately trying to come up with different things I had to share... Mom wants me to start writing some of it down... just got me thinking...

I just want to help you, that is why I am on the counter...He is saying 'you'