Athens, GA Cupcake Alert

2 AM? Need a cupcake? No problem.

JB's by the 40 Watt will take care of you, and what a convenient location for apres-rock snacking. At $3 each, I was a little reluctant (not because that's an outrageous price for a really big homemade cupcake, but beause I'm really cheap), but they were sooo pretty I thought I'd splurge. It was totally worth it.

The one I got was strawberry cake with strawberry filling, cream cheese icing, all with a lovely strawberry on top. The baker also makes a key lime one that looked really good and a vanilla with blue icing and star sprinkles that I found sorely tempting. She said she also sometimes makes a chocolate peanut butter combo. Next time you're out late and feeling snacky but can't face the comeback sauce, you should give them a try.

Scrambled eggs with spinach, cheese, and potato chips.

Breakfast experiment for 12/10/07

I love eggs with stuff in them. I wanted something different this morning, and the cupboard was a little sparse. This is what resulted.

Scramble 4 eggs in a teensy bit of olive oil with (I do 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites) a tablespoon or so of milk, some garlic powder, a little thyme, and a little sharp cheddar cheese. When about 3/4 done, add some torn up spinach (about a 1/2 c. or so) that's nearly-too-grody-for-salad-but-still-ok-for-cooking and continue cooking until eggs are as done as you like them and spinach is wilted. Add about 2 tbsp of crunched up potato chips (leftover from casserole topping, in my case) just as they finish cooking. Pretty good. We had these with pita toast made with a little olive oil, thyme, and sesame seeds.

Turkey Meatloaf the-recipe-for-which-I-stole-from-my-sister, slightly amended

• 1 lb ground turkey (the minimally to not-so-fatty kind)
• 1 jar fancy/spicy spaghetti sauce *
• 1 handful old fashioned oatmeal (about 1 cup)
• 1 10 oz brick of frozen spinach, thawed and drained/squished to get the water out.
• 1/2 - 3/4 c. feta cheese (unless you look in the fridge and realize that the feta you thought you had is actually moldy because the package must have been slightly opened when you bought it. Argh. In that case, use shredded mozzarella or whatever you've got.)
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

In medium sized mixing bowl, combine half the spaghetti sauce, the oatmeal, the spinach, and the cheese. Mix until uniform, then add the turkey and do the same. Lightly oil a baking pan (something about 9"x13") and sculpt meat pile into an appropriate shape within it. Cover with half the remaining spaghetti sauce. Bake at 375 degrees F'inheit for about 40 mins, then cover with the remaining spaghetti sauce. Bake for another 10 or 20 minutes or until internal temperature is whatever the turkey package says is safe for turkey. If you're like me, and you never do this, you should probably give it a little extra just to make sure. There's a lot of stuff mixed in, so it won't dry out too much. This also does well in the crock pot-- I usually cook it for about 4 hours on high, and when it's done turn the heat to low for a little while and leave the lid a little off so it ends up a little more baked and a little less steamed.

* As sister recommended, I usually use the Newman's Own Sockarooni sauce. It's really good, and also, Paul Newman is a complete badass.
And not an of-course-you-love-him-but-it's-a-little-bittersweet-because-
he's-really-a-Nixon-man badass. Yeah, I'm looking at you, McQueen. Yeah, I said it. You know what happens when we don't stand up to the dead? Zombies.

Something to do with tempeh

Tempeh semi-verde enchiladarole

• 1 pkg tempeh
• med onion
• about 4 cloves garlic
• oregano
• thyme
• cumin
• chili powder (sort of redundant, but anyway)
• 1 can tomatoes and chilies
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 cans pinto beans
• 1 sm. can verde sauce that you had totally forgotten about buying
• corn tortillas (about 12)
• shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar)

Chop onion and garlic. In medium saucepan, saute all of the onion and
about half of the garlic in a little olive oil. While this is cooking,
rinse the beans in a colander to remove bean goo and excess salt.

In half-assed fashion, drain the diced tomatoes and the tomatoes and
chilies. You want a little juice still in there. Add the beans,
tomatoes, and tomatoes and chilies to the sauteed onion. Add spices to
your liking and cook on medium-lowish until simmery-- you want them to
be a little saucy.

(Strictly speaking, this makes more beans than you really need. You can
save about a cup and a half of them for migas or huevos rancheros or
soup or something.)

While the beans cook, dice the tempeh into smallish pieces and saute in
olive oil with the rest of the garlic. When this is lightly browned and
toasty looking, add the verde sauce and cook on low until bubbly and
less saucy (the tempeh will absorb a lot of the liquid). It shouldn't
be dry, though-- it isn't necessary to let it go for more than a few
minutes.

In an oiled casserole dish, layer 3 (or more if you need them)
tortillas, tearing as necessary to cover the bottom of the dish. For
the next layer, use about half of the beans and cover with about 1/2 c.
of cheese. Add another layer of tortillas, then the tempeh with another
half cup or so of cheese. Then another layer of tortillas and the rest
of the beans. Finish with a layer of tortillas and cheese on top. Bake
at 350 for about 25-30 minutes or until everything is gooey and the
edges are a little brown.

Breakfast Corn Dogs

Last night, as a food for science experiment, we ate sausage and blueberry pancake corndogs. I'd be lying if I said they weren't pretty good. There were no non-microwave heating instructions.