Light Shepards Pie

We have been living in bonus time for the past few months.  The weather in the northeast has been anything but wintery this year and I was loving it.  The sun shone bright and the winds were calm for the Thanksgiving day parade.  Rather than inches of snow for Christmas, a light rain fell.  We hit fifty-five degrees on New Years Eve in the city and it was pleasant enough to stroll the streets of Manhattan with your coat open. 

Yesterday, it seemed like winter had finally won and we were at last in its grip.  The temperature dropped into the single digits overnight and I was not looking forward to my morning commute.  Waiting for the train in the bitter cold is not my idea of a good time.  I decided to brace myself for the wait with knee-high boots, an extra heavy sweater, thick scarf, hat and gloves.  I decided that crazy hair for the day was worth it, just call me Kramer!

Even our offices weren't immune to the cold.  My chemicals all were cold, those with high freezing points were solid blocks in their bottles.  Space heaters were out in full force under desks, sadly I was without one.  I wrapped myself in my scarf and sweater and drank lots of hot chocolate.  I'm okay with winter being outside, but in the office too?  No fair!

Thankfully I had refuge waiting for me at home.  (No, I didn't run home and dive under the blankets.  I actually came home and went to the gym!)  Our apartment is perpetually warm!  It's a big problem in the summer, with the place heating up to nintey degrees easily.  In the colder months though, it's a fabulous thing.  The temperature went down to nine degrees here in New Jersey, but our apartment only fell to a comfortable seventy-two (that's 25 C for all my foreign friends!).

Iceberg Wedge & Blue Cheese Dressing

Welcome to the new year everyone!  I hope the first two days have treated you well.  If my first two days of the year reflect how everyone else spent their first two days, I hope you all enjoyed shopping at Walmart and Target, buying storage containers and hangers! 

Yesterday, boyfriend and I spent the day cleaning and organizing the apartment in preparation for our move to a slightly smaller apartment.  We filled up three huge garbage bags with clothes than no longer fit into our wardrobe and dropped them off at the donation bin.  The huge pile of metal hangers made their way to the recycling bin.  The pile of shoes in the bottom of the coat closet got organized and whittled down. 

Along our cleaning journey, we realized that we had accumulated lots of new clothes for christmas and were in need of hangers.  A series of thoughts brought us to getting in the car and driving to the closest Walmart, only to discover that everyone else in the county decided to go there too.  Were you at the big box store this weekend, because I think just about everyone in the world was in my checkout line.  (Warning - if you take a cart FULL of items into the "Speedy Checkout Line" you're going to get quite a few snide comments)

At the end of the day, our closet was slightly cleaner and our bodies were tired.  There was very little energy remaining to prepare anything for dinner.  Chopping a head of lettuce into four pieces was just about the amount of prep I could handle. 

Iceberg wedge & Blue cheese dressing

Adapted from Williams Sonoma - New York

One Year Ago: Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

I've had a couple of wedge salads in my time and I've always wanted to make it at home.  The dressing always had the same notes, but I didn't have a good base recipe.  This recipe from Williams Sonoma really hit the spot.  Although, to be completely honest with you...  After I photographed the pretty wedges of lettuce, I chopped it up and tossed it into a big bowl.  So much easier to eat, just less pretty to look at!

1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into 4-6 wedges

1/2 cup mayonaisse
1/2 cup light sour cream
juice from 1 lemon
dash of Tabasco
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
4 oz crumbled blue cheese
1 tbsp fresh chive, finely chopped

1/2 cup candied walnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Plate one wedge of lettuce per plate.

In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the salad dressing (mayo through chives).  Spoon a few tablespoons of dressing over each wedge.  Spinkle with cranberries and walnuts.

Wilde Favorites - 2011

The stats of 2011 tell a very sugary tale in the Wilde kitchen.  Four of the five fan favorites from this year were a part of candy challenge 2011, but were they my favorites?  I actually have a whole different set of favorite recipes from this year.  These are things that I have made again and again this year, proving that they are a keeper in this kitchen.  They also prove that I did in fact eat more than just sugar this year...

5. Rosemary Foccacia - This foccacia was made early in the year as a part of my attempt to make it through the Bread Bakers Apprentice challenge.  I didn't finish the cookbook this year, but luckily I made it to the 'F' recipes.  This foccacia, while time consuming, was a lot of fun to make and totally amazing to eat.  Even though this recipe made an entire baking sheet full of focaccia, I ate the entire slab.  The majority of it was made into sharp cheddar paninis and greedily eaten without a napkin.

4. Indian Pizza - I made a bunch of different pizzas this year and this was by far my favorite.  The chicken curry beneath the mild mozzarella made the perfect pairing that made me not want to share any of this.  I tend to make this dish during the summer, otherwise the apartment smells like curry for a week!  Next year I plan to make more strange and delicious pizza flavor combinations.

3. Thanksgiving Potato Pies - This meal was a total winner with everyone that ate it.  Boyfriend and I didn't have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, instead I made these bad boys for us earlier in the week.  They were declared "The best thing you've made, ever."  I want to make them again and again, changing up my potato pie mix-ins.

2. Coconut Joys - Okay, of course one of my top 5 had to be from the candy challenge.  While there were very few challenge recipes that didn't win praise, these were my all-year favorite.  Compared to a Bounty or Mounds bar, they were spot on for the store-bought candies.  I ate the vast majority of these before they even made it to work.

1. Buffalo Mac 'n' Cheese - Something that I first had at S'Mac in New York City, I decided that I wanted to have it all of the time.  The combination of Buffalo sauce and blue cheese makes this dinner absolutely fantastic.  I've made this recipe again and again because I love it and so does boyfriend!  If you're in the mood for something a little Upstate NY, throw this together and enjoy.

There we have it!  My top 5 recipes for 2011, don't they look delicious!  Now you can see that I did indeed eat more than candy this year, although it was a sweet year in many, many ways.  Here's to a great 2012, I look forward to seeing you all there!