Because I don’t have enough useless tools and strange boxed mixes in my kitchen, Williams-Sonoma has gone and tempted me with the notion that I can make Animal Crackers at home. I just don’t think I could possibly be happy until I have a herd of lions, tigers, and bears prancing on my snack plate.

Remember when you were a kid and you’d watch Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and practically hurl during the scene when the snakes and chilled monkey brains were served at the sinister banquet? Well if you’re into movie nostalgia and the nasty bits you might want to check out this auction on eBay for an authentic monkey head prop from the film. It’s got a pretty steep price, but I guess it would be quite the conversation piece to serve ice cream in [link via Cinematical].

Once upon a time, for about 5 days I tried to be a vegetarian. I bought 10 pounds of books on the subject at Barnes and Noble and than proceeded to crave meat like it was my job over the next few days. On the fifth day I made CK take me to Boston Market where I promptly ate a Chicken Pot Pie. While my vegetarian attempt was a complete and utter failure I really do admire people who are able to follow through with it. To that end there’s a really excellent essay over at Slate you may want to check out. It’s a vegetarian’s take on what it’s like to be ostracized and misunderstood by your meat eating acquaintances [link via Herbivoracious].

I’ve been reading John Grisham novels since 7th grade. At that time I was convinced that I was going to be a lawyer. Obviously I was temporarily insane at that time in my life. Recently, one of Grisham’s latest books, Playing for Pizza, has been optioned to be made into a film. The story revolves around a down and out quarterback for the Cleveland Browns who takes a spot on an Italian football team in Parma, Italy. The book is full of incredibly vivid descriptions of the food and wine of the region so I’m sure the movie will have plenty of mouth watering shots of decadent dishes [link via Cinematical].

Proof that you really can have chickens in the suburbs. I guess there’s hope for us all to have “grammy eggs” of our own some day.

I like macaroni and cheese just as much as the next girl, but I definitely have to draw the line at macaroni and cheese in a can [link via Newlywed in Dubai].

I’ve never really been big on recipe cards, frankly what I like to use the most to cook with is my Macbook, but these extremely cheerful, colorful cards are so cute I might just have to invest in a few [link via Crafterbation].

A new cupcake shop has opened in Boston. Sweet is apparently charging $3.25 a piece for a regular cupcake. Obviously I am in the wrong business. Do you think I have enough experience to be a cupcake salesperson? Either way I’ll be heading on over soon to test out the sugary goods. [link via We Are Not Martha].

Top 5 Recipes I’m Dying To Try

Zucchini Faux Pasta with Italian Sausage from Elle at Elle’s New England Kitche
Erin’s special Peanut Butter Nutter Butter Birthday Cake at Two More Seconds
The Brown Sugar Banana Apple Monkey Bars made by Sharon at Culinary Adventures of a New Wife
Tiramisu Macarons from Weeva at Weevalicious Recipe
The serious snack of Peanut Butter Popcorn from Francie at Ramblings of a Frantic Home Cook

My love of potatoes knows no bounds. I’m especially fond of breakfast potatoes. This morning when I woke up and started rummaging around in the refrigerator for something to eat on this bright Sunday morning I was instantly drawn to last nights leftover casserole of scalloped potatoes, zucchini, red peppers and ham. “Eat me Erin! Eat me Erin,” it seemed to call from under its snug Press’n-Seal cover. I somehow managed to resist the cheesy temptation momentarily before I moved on to another, slightly more morning appropriate option. I decided to make sweetly spiced sweet potato latkes and bake them. Baking was the ultimate concession as yesterday morning I shamelessly coaxed CK into picking up a box of munchkins for us to snack on all day.

These latkes are thicker than the baked russet potato version that I made previously, and much more hash-brown like in consistency. Don’t forget to top them with your favorite condiments. I prefer sour cream, light of course — sticking with the whole donut guilt theme, but apple sauce or a fruity yogurt would also be a great addition.

Peel & Prep	Grate (the Easy Way)
Combine Potatoes & Spices	Drop by 1/3-Cupfuls
Flatten	Sweet Potato Latkes on Parade

Baked Sweet Potato Latkes (based on the recipe originally published in Women’s Health Magazine)
Makes 12 Latkes

2 pounds grated sweet potatoes
1 medium onion, grated
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray or use a silpat.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Drop by 1/3-cupfuls onto cookie sheet. Flatten with spatula.

Bake for 25 minutes; flip and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve with light sour cream and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but after spending the last few weeks literally gorging myself on wine, cheese, chocolate, more wine, dip, crackers, wine again, and then some beer I’m starting to feel like I need to promptly go to a spa, a yoga retreat, the gym, and possibly rehab.

So to lighten up my fatty food intake just a smidgen I decided to make a creamy meatless alternative to the traditional stroganoff by substituting substantial portobello and baby bella mushrooms for beef. I also reduced the fat of the dish by using a combination of low-fat sour cream and Fage Non-Fat Yogurt. While this isn’t a perfect “lighten up” meal, it sure beats the heck out of brittle, turnovers, and fettuccine.

Line Up!	Boil, Drain, and Set Aside
Choppity Chop	Cook the Onions and Garlic
Add the Mushrooms	Pour in the Stock; Reduce
Stir	Add the Sour Cream, Yogurt, and Parsley
Toss With Pasta	Mmm…Mushroomy

Mushroom Stroganoff (Inspired by a recipe from AllRecipes.com)
Serves 4

3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced (Note: I used Portobello and Baby Bella)
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock (Note: You may also use vegetable or beef stock)
3/4 cup low-fat sour cream
3/4 cup non-fat yogurt (Note: You can use a combination of low or non-fat Greek yogurt (such as Fage) and light sour cream, or use one exclusively)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley and a lttle extra for garnish
8 ounces Farfalle Pasta (Note: Feel free to use whatever pasta you prefer, or even brown or white rice)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles, and cook according to your desired level of doneness. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook, stirring until softened.

Add the sliced mushrooms, cooking until they are softened and lightly browned.

Next add the stock, soy and Worcestershire sauces. Bring the sauce to a boil, and cook until the mixture has reduced by 1/3.

In a small bowl combine the sour cream and flour and parsley. Add this mixture to the pan and stir. Continue cooking over low heat, just until the sauce thickens. Pour the pasta into the sauce and cook until the dish is evenly heated through. Serve, seasoning with salt and pepper and garnish with additional parsley and a dollop of sour cream.

I love Home Goods, it’s a gigantic store full of my favorite things that are usually relegated to four tiny aisles that you have to fight your way through at T.J. Maxx. Right before our move back to the city I was browsing around the store and I found these adorable pink canisters along with a Nigella Lawson cookbook. While flipping through Nigella Bites I realized just how much I adore her. She’s so incredibly full of life and sparkle and her recipes are homey and comforting. I’ve also been extremely intrigued by many of the Indian dishes that I’ve either read about or watched her cook on television so I finally decided to give one a try.

I Told You They Were Cute

Domestic Goddess Advice

The first item on the agenda was to find paneer for the Muttar Paneer. Thankfully I live practically right on top of Whole Foods now so my quest for this decidedly non American ingredient was a snap. Back in the kitchen I had a pretty harrowing time frying the paneer. Unless you have a splatter guard I wouldn’t recommend using the amount of vegetable oil called for in the recipe. I’d either use a much smaller amount or “dry fry” it. My difficulties may also have arisen from the fact that this is the first time in several years that I’ve cooked with gas heat. I love how hot it is, but my timing is completely off now. Silly electric ovens. After cooking the paneer the rest of the steps are very simple and I really enjoyed the earthy spicy flavor of the end product. Peas may be the main ingredient in this dish, but don’t be fooled as Muttar Paneer is extremely filling and can definitely be eaten as a stand alone meal. Plus it even holds up well when reheated.

Process	Dissolve
Fry (Look Out!)	Set: Pretty Pretty Paneer
Saute	Add Spice
Heat the Peas	Simmer
Dish	Dine

Muttar Paneer (Originally published by Nigella Lawson)

1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 ounces paneer, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 onion, halved
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1-inch piece ginger, roughly chopped
Sprinkling of salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 (10-ounce) packets frozen peas
1 teaspoon tomato puree
1 cup vegetable stock

Heat the oil a large skillet and add the paneer cubes, in 2 batches, and fry until they are golden. Remove the golden cubes to a double thickness of kitchen towel. (It is possible to dry fry the paneer cubes in the pan with no oil, to avoid the oil splashing you. Then continue with the recipe below.)Pour all but about 2 tablespoons of the oil out of the pan. Put the onion, garlic cloves, and ginger into a food processor and blitz to a coarse pulp. Fry gently for about 5 minutes with a sprinkling of salt. Stir in the garam masala and turmeric and cook for another 2 minutes before adding the still frozen peas.

Dissolve the tomato puree in the vegetable stock and pour over the contents of the pan. Stir again and turn the heat down to low, cover with foil or a lid and cook for 15 minutes, tasting to check that the peas are tender. You can cook muttar paneer up to this stage, if you like, uncovering and then reheating gently with the diced, oil-crisped cheese, or proceed directly now.

In which case, take off the foil and add the paneer cubes to warm them through before serving.