As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of Ina Garten. Her recipes are un-complicated, tasty and fun to make. So you can imagine how excited I was when Ginny informed me that Ina has a new cookbook out! I am now the proud owner of Ina’s latest: Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics. This cookbook is one of her best: it’s just loaded with great recipes, lots of photos and many of Ina’s notes and tips. I think her notes make this book especially interesting to read and the recipes tempting to try.

This week I made Ina’s Chive Risotto Cakes. And, true to form - they are very good! They include nine ingredients: Kosher salt, Arborio rice, Greek yogurt*, eggs, chives, Italian Fontina cheese, pepper, olive oil and panko* and they can be assembled ahead and sauteed just before serving (I love the make-ahead recipes, keep ‘em coming, Ina!)

* Greek yogurt is rich and thick, and flavored with honey.

* Panko is a course, light breadcrumb used in Japanese cooking. I find them in the Asian section of my local grocery. They will give any food a nice crunchy texture.

Simple ingredients combine to make a pleasing meal.

These were delicious - great for a light dinner or lunch.

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* Jenn’s Notes *

The rice mixture needs to cool for at least two hours before being made into patties and sauteed. Ina suggests two hours or overnight - which makes this a great make-ahead meal.

When the rice is boiled it may look over cooked - don’t worry! The Arborio will still be firm.

I thought my cooled rice mixture looked “loose”, like it might be too moist, but I was happy to find that the mixture held together once it was in the hot saute pan and the patties could be gently turned.

I ran out of panko about half way through cooking - so I substituted regular store bought plain breadcrumbs that I seasoned with a little salt, to coat the remaining patties - this worked just as well.

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If you’re looking for a new cookbook to spice up your kitchen (haha) - I highly recommend Ina’s newest. It’s so straightforward and many of the recipes can be assembled ahead. She’s even included a list of foods that can be served with drinks (like for a get-together with friends) that don’t require any cooking at all.

I look forward to trying many more recipes from this book!

Now, are you in the mood for even more comfort food?

Ginny is serving up homemade pot pies - let’s go see!

Jenn : )

One day, Ginny said to Jenn: “Let’s do a cooking blog post.”

A flurry of emails later, Two Spoonfuls was born!

We are two creative gals who became friends through our mutual love of fabric and sewing. Now, we’re bringing our energy and style into the kitchen, trying new recipes, re-vamping old favorites and sharing them with you.

We’ll use familiar ingredients to create dishes that are flavorful and easy to prepare, while adding our own helpful tips, bits of kitchen wisdom, and a little food history too. The recipes we share will be practical, with easy gourmet touches.

Look for Two Spoonfuls recipe recommendations: always in time for a weekend, to share with your family and friends.

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Welcome everyone, to our first Two Spoonfuls post!

With Thanksgiving fast approaching and lots of pumpkiny goodness all around us, I’ve chosen Pumpkin Bread Pudding as my first recipe to explore. This recipe is from Ian Knauer and can be found on the Epicurious website.

Most of the ingredients for this recipe - you probably already have in your pantry.

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs plus 1 yolk

salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground allspice, ground cloves

5 cups cubed day-old baguette

3/4 stick unsalted butter

This recipe makes 6 servings and is very easy!

Simply mix up everything except butter and bread, toss the bread in melted butter and mix into the custard.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until set and golden…

And ENJOY!

You can drizzle on maple syrup, add a dollop of icecream, or just eat as is (like I did).

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* Jenn’s Notes *

I really liked this recipe - it was very tasty and easy to make.

Also - the house smells fantastic while this is baking in the oven.

At the Epicurious website, there were a couple suggestions that people had for this recipe. I made note of the suggestions, but decided to try the recipe as it is written before I started changing things. Now that I’ve made this, here is what I found:

* This recipe is mild in the seasoning. You could increase the amount of spices if you like that strong pumpkin pie kind of flavor.

* In my opinion tossing the bread in the amount of butter called for was unnecessary. When I make this again, I’ll start by cutting back to 1/2 cup.

* This would be a great recipe to add to! If you’re like me, then there’s a half box of raisins in the back of your refrigerator, yearning to see daylight. Go ahead and toss a half cup or so into the mix! Chopped crystallized ginger would be nice, too.

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Did You Know?

* Bread pudding is basically a custard (milk and eggs combined with heat) with the addition of bread and seasonings.

* According to Wikipedia: “In the United Kingdom, ‘custard’ generally refers to a dessert topping made from cornflour rather than eggs, either bought ready-made, or made by adding hot milk to a powdered form.” “Since true custards are made with eggs, in the UK there is a distinction made between the true “egg-custard”, found in custard tarts, and “ordinary” custard, the popular corn-flour variety.”

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this first Two Spoonfuls post

You can click here *Pumpkin Bread Pudding* for the complete recipe.

I look forward to hearing from you, especially if you decide to give this tasty dish a try!

We’re aiming to share our Two Spoonfuls posts every other Friday,

I’ll still be doing my usual work-in-progress posts, too!

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Now let’s see what Ginny’s been up to over in her kitchen…

Click here to find out!

*Two Spoonfuls*

Jenn : )

Last night I finished my most recent special order: this wool scissors case for one of my fabulous Etsy customers.
I have three of the five taskets I made in my shop. I may cut some fabric today to make another - since I keep finding new places in my studio where I could use one.

But for the most part, today I am taking a break from the sewing machine (poor thing needs to cool down a bit!) and catching up on some domestic chores. For one - cleaning the kitchen. Doing some laundry. And definitely cleaning up my studio. Since my studio space is small-ish, it becomes cluttered very quickly so I end up re-organizing every time I finish a project.

And tonight I’m going to make Josh a home cooked meal for a change! It has been a while since I’ve fed the poor guy - so I’ve looked through my Barefoot Contessa cookbooks and found a great roast chicken recipe. And for dessert - chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. I think he’ll like that! : )

Cheers!

Jenn