"Snow" Day

Today is a snow day. More specifically an 'inclement weather' day. 

It was a little touch-and-go around 6:58am when I checked my work e-mails and didn't see any office closure notifications. Then I checked the school district website: closed! That used to be the only criterion for office closures but somehow the closure of government offices in the city in which our office is located (Dallas) is now included on that list of pre-requisites. 

Dallas' government offices never close for bad weather (which likely accounts, in part, for the perpetual grumpy demeanor of all government employees; yes, this is a stereotype, but it is also a fact). So our office remained open for business - but we were urged to use our 'best judgment' and 'choose safety' as we decided whether or not to brave the accident-riddled roads and slick pavements. I had a choice to make: Go to work through ice and sleet and snow and gusting blades of ice? OR Stay home and warm and wait it out like a smart, evolved, life-preserving being? The latter, please!

Alas, the company came through and closed the office officially. Dallas finally announced (around 8:45am) the closure of its court system for Tuesday. 

Bear in mind 'treacherous' and 'gusting' are relative terms. Wisconsinites would likely scoff and smirk condescendingly at our softness.

can you see the icicles??

For now I'm sipping my third giant mug of coffee this morning and enjoying the slow progression of a day with minimal and pleasant expectations. 

(I started my coffee pot and noticed after a couple of minutes that no coffee was being made; the coffee pot decided it was done making coffee for me after 6 years of loyal service. So I turned to my reliable and non-electric French Press.)

It's not that I'm especially tired or caffeine-starved; mostly I just want to have something warm in my hands - whenever I glance outside to see icicles dangling from my patio and little snow flakes coursing sporadically through the air, it makes for a cozy contrast. The sun decided to peek out for 3 seconds just now and make the snow flakes look more like silvery glitter darting around my backyard. Kevin would say they are fairies. <3

I've decided my to-do list for today is as follows (subject to change/whims):

1. Morning yoga. I never do yoga in the mornings - on a Tuesday, most especially - and so I plan on taking advantage of this very quiet morning to stretch and salute the day and let my brain know that I want it to engage and be happy and centered today. Stress be damned; I am striving so hard to ignore its skill at destroying my happiness and contentedness - one day I will forget what all the stress was about and simply recall having been happy or unhappy. I really don't want to look back on my life and feel I was pointlessly disappointed and needlessly let down by completely unmemorable and unimportant rifts and strifes with people who pass in and out of my life like little flecks of snow on the grass.

2. Watch the last episode of 'The Office' Season 6. Kevin finished it last night after I simply had to go to bed. I knew I'd have to get up earlier to allow for the atrocious weather and road conditions which I have thankfully been saved from after all. At least I have been up since around 7 this morning. I'm so glad I didn't go back to bed, however tempting that was, for sure.

3. A little housecleaning. Dishes, laundry, maybe a touch of ironing (at least that's warm!) and some Swiffer-ing.

4. Cooking! I think a big pot of something yummy like potato soup or chili would suit the day.

5. Hmm ... I guess that's all. *smile*

My Vegan Baking Beginnings - ChocOatChip Cookies

This month I am venturing into the unknown and mysterious world of vegan baking. This is not especially easy, as a lifetime of Southern-American kitchen exposure tells me that baked goods MUST have fats. Butter! Eggs! White sugar! And preferably chocolate of some kind. 

The South's own kitchen mascot and her favorite ingredient:

There isn't much wrong with these ingredients except that some of them are from animals, they are fattening and full of cholesterol. Cookies and scones (and surely any other type of baked item) will turn out just as delicious without them.

I can't say it's the easiest thing in the world transitioning from fattening cookies to not-quite-so-fattening cookies, since egg replacers and vegetable oil behave rather differently than room-temperature butter and a couple whisked eggs. But it's worth stepping out of my comfort zone. And no one at my office who tried one of the choc-oat-chip cookies I baked could guess there were no eggs, butter or cow milk to be found in the tasty morsels. Try it! The animals (and your heart) will thank you.

My first vegan recipe ...

So-Close-To-Vegan Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies:

I tried really hard but these are not 100% vegan since there is dairy in the semi-sweet chocolate chips; I don't have any vegan chocolate chips around (carob and the like) so I used what I had. It was a good way to test the recipe at least, and I found that the cookies baked up wonderfully. They don't brown quite like they would if you had traditional dairy ingredients, but the prep and baking times are the same ... oh, except for that hour I saved NOT waiting for butter to soften.

This is the recipe I tried and I was very pleased. Instead of refined/white sugar, I used some brown and turbinado sugars; I didn't have any on hand but I would like to use sucanat or something else even less refined next time ... I am still working on transitioning my kitchen to a healthier place - I definitely have some shopping to do.

Here are a few photos from my baking experience:

Sugars and oil mixed together. This time, some vegetable oil replaces the typical 2 sticks of butter.

Here is what I used to replace the dairy eggs and milk (you can find out more about each of these items here and here):

 

Finely milled oats from The Peach Basket in Fredericksburg, TX - Kevin thought they would be nice for baking. =)

Ready for the oven ...

I had to take a peak 1/2 way through ... yep, they still look like cookies. ;)

All done and cooled, ready to be stored (eaten!)

Thinking about Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of those sadly overlooked holidays.

Take my neighbor, for example. She put her Hallowen decorations up - including a lighted, inflatable Jack-O-Lantern-Scare-Crow-on-a-Harley (fact) proudly standing guard on her front lawn. She is one of 'those' people; perhaps she didn't celebrate Halloween as a kid and is making up for it now, tenfold? When I was growing up, Halloween - erm, Reformation Day - was the one night annually that we, ignoring our usual alert and vigilant crime-detterance, intentionally left our porch lights off, shut ourselves into the living room and watched 'Martin Luther' (1953).

The day after Halloween is when many people traditionally turn to Thanksgiving: planning a menu and figuring out what side of the family you will grin and bear for the day, thinking of cinnamon rolls and coffee while watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade and that lovely feeling as you realize Christmas is just around the corner. No. Not my neighbor. November 1st, I come home from work (and it's dark around 6:15pm since Daylight Savings has kicked in): her house is aglow with flickering, colorful Christmas lights, her cactus draped in a white strand, her roofline twittering in full-color, her porch festooned in strands of snowflakes. She completely skipped Thanksgiving! Who does that?


When I was a kid, Thanksgiving was a good holiday in my house. No sadly-disappointed expectations of gifts (even when we get what we want, it's not quite as electrifying as imagined; I blame Hollywood!), no decorations to tear down and if it didn't snow, you really didn't care. The food is the centerpiece on Thanksgiving. Maybe this is partially to blame for my food addiction, even now. Mom's spread was over the top and more delicious than words can convey. Hers is the best Thanksgiving meal I have ever had. What is sad though is that I haven't had it in 6 years. I really miss it.

I really miss my mom's great cooking. Her turkey and homemade turkey gravy - lots of it (I hate going to people's houses and there is one boatful of gravy for like, 10 people. Doesn't each person get their own boatful of gravy? Btw, I love that boat and gravy are friends here...mmm). Her cornbread dressing with celery and sage and lots of garlic; her wild rice dressing with mushrooms, green bean casserole (after many years, she updated the delicious traditional green bean casserole with fresh beans and carmelized onions), sweet potato casserole, jello salad (not like any jello salad you have ever had so don't judge!), corn casserole and most years canned cranberries (apparently, the comparative qualities of canned vs homemade is a topic of debate). There is something magical though about a slice of gelatinous cranberry 'sauce' on a turkey sandwich with mayo the day after Thanksgiving. Homemade is lovely, but it just doesn't compare.


I miss the warm kitchen on Thanksgiving morning and knowing mom was up early, at least for a few minutes, to put the massive bird in the oven. I miss the din of the parade and then football in the TV room, our simple table and mom's French Countryside dishes (I love how the raised sides held in our huge platefuls of food - some plates are just too flat for Thanksgiving feasting!). My dad is a piemaking pro and he would always make his famous (yes, famous) Lemon Meringue and Coconut Cream Pies. They were divine. I remember in the old house we would put them in the laundry room on top of the drier, one in a vintage Tupperware pie carrier and the other covered in a lime green plastic bowl; it was cooler in there during the winter months and kept the pies but without being too cold in the fridge (you have to respect the meringue!). Dad's homemade crust and flour on the countertop, mom's Frugal Gourmet apron, our very old carving knive buzzing over the brown turkey (all of us vying for the crunchiest pieces of skin!), casserole dishes everywhere. Good times.

However bizarre my little family is, there will never ever be a Thanksgiving that will compare until I can eat my mom's Thanksgiving dinner again.


I'm thankful this year for my good husband, our new home, our health, and the small things.

The Weekend Update

This weekend has been so lazy. I have slept entirely TOO much, but enjoyed it in the moment. This evening I have a headache though; interesting how wonderful, luxurious sleep backfires when you indulge a bit too much. The last 2 days have gone quickly, too; I guess that's another side effect of sleeping 1/2 the day. ;)

Saturday I slept in and woke up to a late breakfast and coffee. Kevin and I spent some time in the yard in the afternoon then went on a couple errands including a stop at Garden Ridge where we found a curtain rod for the new curtains I got at Target last week. We still have the white curtains up that the previous owner used but I thought something colorful would be nice. The grommet top will be easy to push them open and closed. Now I just need to get some hold backs; I'm thinking something with beads - maybe something I can make myself. =) Saturday night, I pulled out the Christmas decorations and put the tree up. I usually don't decorate til after Thanksgiving but I think I was too excited about seeing the tree in our new house for the first time. I love it! As if our living room wasn't cozy already, it's now extra cozy. Plus I acquired a few new ornaments this year and I love admiring them on the glowing branches. Of course the soft and unbreakable ornaments are on the bottom branches so my curious cats can play with the tree without breaking any of my favorites.

Kevin informed me I am no good at fluffing branches, so he decided to help me out. ;)

One of my new owl collectibles - a sparkling gold owl ornament for my tree. Isn't he handsome?? I knew he would look wonderful glowing against the lights on the tree.

Sunday I slept even later. Not surprising since we stayed up til the wee hours playing games on Saturday night. I had some Cheerios with a banana and we spent the afternoon watching 'Avengers', napping (!), and playing games together. This evening I made a big pot of sausage and vegetable soup with homemade cornbread that was the perfect dinner on a cool(ish) evening. Kevin hasn't been feeling too well and he asked for soup: the perfect feel better food! I just threw the soup together with items I had in my kitchen; here is the recipe in case anyone is interested in replicating it.

Sausage and Vegetable Soup

12 c water on high heat

Add and bring to a boil:

1/2 white onion, diced

3 ribs celery, diced

3 medium/large red potatoes, diced small

4-5 sausages - I used bratwursts, prepackaged and cut in half (I cut them into bite-sized rings before serving)

Cook this for a while until the vegetables start to soften and add:

1/2 c corn (I used frozen)

1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes with liquid

5 cloves garlic, minced

Simmer everything til the vegetables are completely soft. Remove the sausages and cut into bite-sized pieces; return to the soup and turn off the heat. Leave the pot on the warm burner and add about 1/4 head of cabbage (green or red) and cover to let the cabbage wilt. I seasoned with generous pinches of Kosher salt; then added dried parsley, oregano and paprika.

Cornbread

Whisk together:

1 c cornmeal

1 c all-purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

Then add:

1 egg

1 c milk

1/3 c vegetable oil

Mix until smooth and pour into greased 8x8 pan. Bake in preheated oven (400 degrees) for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

My First Rice Pilaf

My mom used to make this great rice pilaf; fluffy rice with peas and tiny shrimp and ... I'm not sure what else. But I remember my dad really liked it. He and my brother had favorite things they always requested her to make: dad had his German's Chocolate Cake for his birthday and my brother had stuffed peppers. I never had anything like that. I have never had a niche, gastronomically speaking (or otherwise). I just ... love food.

Anyway, I haven't had pilaf in forever and I decided to try some tonight with my herbed chicken. I started some chicken (boneless, skinless) in the oven after seasoning it: Kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper, (a tiny dusting of) granulated garlic, paprika and parsley with a drizzle of olive oil on top.

I guess I never thought about the 'trick' for keeping the grains of rice from gumming together in pilaf like they tend to when you just boil rice on the stove. Apparently it just takes a little time in the hot pan before adding the liquid (I used chicken broth) to sort of toast the grains. I don't make Rice-A-Roni all that often so this step isn't top of mind when it comes to preparing a rice dish. The rice turned out wonderfully: individual, fluffy grains and not a hint of gum! I am very pleased with my effort!

To start, I melted 2 tablespoons of butter and added 1/2 an onion, diced, to a warm pan over medium heat; then I added 2 ribs of diced celery and let them soften for a couple minutes. I poured in 1-1/3 cups of white rice (though I'm sure brown or Jasmine would be just as good) and let it toast for about 2 minutes, stirring to make sure all the rice had time at the bottom of the pot. Add the broth (2-1/2 cups) and 1/4 cup of golden raisins (mmm); let it steam with a lid on til all the broth is absorbed. I stirred it just a couple times because I always worry my rice is going to stick. When I boil rice the usual way, I sometimes add a drizzle of olive oil to the water which seems to help. While the rice cooked, I toasted about 1/4 cup of pine nuts in a dry saute pan (not the non-stick variety) over low heat for just a few minutes and then set them aside. Once the rice is done, add the pine nuts and a handful of course-chopped basil (fresh) and some salt and pepper. It made the perfect accompaniment to my baked chicken.

Do you know of a great pilaf? I'm always up for a new recipe. =)

Another week has passed ...

The weeks fly by faster this time of year. Not sure if it's the fact we are pulled in three times as many directions with the holidays and familial requirements; obscene amounts of gifting and baking and traveling; getting sick; going to parties; and generally trying to stay sane. Whatever combination of elements, the Fall and Winter months feel harried and short and they pass by with so much 'ado' over what turns out to be nothing and so quickly forgotten.

That new DVD player for $3 at Wal-Mart (starting at 5am, limited quantities of course; and mind you don't trample someone to death on the way to aisle 12!) quickly loses its shine and those new toys find a place in the pile of rarely touched items that accrue and accrue in playrooms and bedrooms, pushed aside for the newer model.

Just reminds me how important it is to not get caught up in the hubbub and the madness. Enjoy the wonderful foods and the good times with the people you care about; the bright Christmas tree and 'It's a Wonderful Life' and hot cocoa, a cat curled up in a frosty window. Enjoy them just as you would the first warm day of Spring and the first nip in the air that tells you Fall is on the way; just as you would any small but hugely significant thing that passes by quickly but with potentially great effect. Enjoy them, but don't get caught up in the insignificant parts.

Life is the small things. People say 'don't sweat the small stuff' but life is just that: a sequence of small things that make up who we are as individuals. So ... sweat the small stuff. Make the most of it. Savor the small things and the short moments and the turns of countenance; a kiss or a smile, a laugh with a friend, finding common ground, a piece of chocolate, or spending the evening with your favorite person.

I realize more the older I get that there are too many lovely things that pass us by if we are fixated on the negative things or the toxic people or the 'what if's'. Cross the bridge when you come to it and make the best of it. Try to remember what you did right and change what you think you can to make it better the next time around.

I see, too, that research and knowledge and observation are some of the more fulfilling practices in life. Read and learn - there is always something new to discover. I can feel myself changing and improving with all the articles I read and words I learn and new things I discover that I didn't even know existed before. How could anyone ever be bored?

Just a few of the small things from my week ... 

My curious cat, Smiley. I love the look in his apple green eyes.

A mystery herb that decided to sprout again after weeks of ... nothing. I brought it inside to the dining room window since it's getting a little too cold outside for herbs now.

Old-fashioned Scrabble in a pretty wooden box. Kevin and I sometimes play games together in the evenings.

Inspired by my friend, I have a 'thing' for collecting pretty napkins. They are so inexpensive but make a simple lunch or tea and cookies that much more pleasant ...

Breaking off a little piece of hazelnut milk chocolate.

A pot of rice pilaf simmering on the stove.

My warm, cozy house on a cool Fall night, my three favorite people (Kevin and the cats ;), a nice dinner and Friday night...

Happy weekend. =)

My week in photos

I realize that I take a lot of photos. Most of them are random and sometimes superfluous. I don't really need 12 photos of my cookie baking process, for example. But I have noticed that I end up with at least one 'good' photo every day. So I thought I could (at least in very surface terms) chronicle my days and weeks in photography. Not especially fascinating, but still somewhat interesting (at least to me and my 2 blog followers ;).

Monday

I had a nice Monday overall. Spent some time discussing our office expansion with the administrative staff and started training the new temp. Kevin fell off a ladder trying to retrieve what we learned was a doll that had been thrown onto our roof over the weekend by the kids next door.

Not quite sure how this happened but it certainly didn't fail to startle me at nearly midnight, thudding onto my roof.

Tuesday

I had a gray and foggy commute this morning and a very (very) busy day at work. I think I will have very very busy days for a long time; it's just the way it seems to go this time of year, and even more so this year. We have a lot going on all at once. Kevin and I went to Chili's for dinner and then went to Aldi for some grocery shopping. We watched the latest episode of 'Dexter' before bed.

Not an unattractive downtown. And yes, I'm driving and taking photos at the same time.

Wednesday

Hump day was more than crazy. I feel sometimes it wouldn't hurt to have a cot at the office; it would make it easier to stay as late as I sometimes need to and not have to drive back and forth. It's probably *not* a good sign that I am even considering that idea though. I had lunch today with my friend Michael whose birthday is tomorrow. We had chicken and mashed potatoes and peas for dinner and I made some potato soup with the leftover mashed potatoes. I baked some sugar cookies and Kevin spent some time with a friend. I bought a few things online at Metrostyle using a great discount.

Still warm from the oven as I pour a glass of milk.

Thursday

I can't even remember what I did at work today but it was a lot! The new space downstairs is coming together well and the cubicles are set up. Now all we need to do is encourage everyone to pack before it's down to the wire. We have big red crates and dollies all over the office and huge computer carts blocking the halls. I came home this evening a tidied a little and had my good friend Bonnie over for yoga. It was enlightening and so therapeutic; we plan on doing this together a couple times a week and I'm SO excited. Oh, and my neighbor is apparently excited about Christmas; her decor went from Halloween straight to Christmas, blinky lights and all.

Friday

Woke up feeling spectacular today. I credit the yoga. Good thing, too, because it was a long day. I showed those expense reports who is boss and completed 5 of them, including making minor corrections to 2 others. I helped like, 7 people throughout the day and decided however stressful that can be, at least I know people can rely on me; that's a good feeling. I didn't leave work til 7pm because I was helping one of my Officers pack his office. I think I knew that at least one person would procrastinate and not pack til the last minute, but we made the most of it - working together we got it all packed and moved (or put in the shred bins - there was more to shred than there was to keep!) in an hour and a half. I was so tired. Got home and freshened up a bit and went for dinner with Kevin at Rancho la Sandia, "our" Mexican place up the street. They recognize us now. ;) Live music, enchiladas and a margarita was a great way to relax.

Pumpkin Bread: Take 2

A new day. A new recipe. And a delicious loaf of pumpkin bread, at last. Good ole Martha came through for me. The only changes I made were to replace the Ginger with Cinnamon and Allspice and to decrease the sugar.

Preheat oven to 375.

Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl ...

2-1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 t baking powder

1 t salt

2 T cinnamon

1 t allspice

Mix sugar and wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients ...

1 c brown sugar, packed

1/2 c granulated sugar (recipe called for 1 c)

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree (plain pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)

3 eggs

12 T butter, melted and slightly cooled

Once all the ingredients are combined, pour into a greased bread pan (I had enough batter leftover for 6 muffin tins) and bake for 55 minutes til toothpick comes out clean (muffins were done in about 25 minutes). Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a cooling rack.

A cute way to serve this is on a cake pedestal with a small pumpkin in the center and then surround it with halved slices of the bread. The cake stand I used is blue (you can see the base of it in the photo below) -- it contrasted nicely with the warm orange tones of the bread and the baby pumpkin.

Time for the season's first batch of pumpkin bread!

The poll on my blog has officially closed. The tied-for-first winners as your 'favorite thing about Fall' is 'pulling out your cold-weather wardrobe' and 'the smells and flavors of the season'. Seeing that it's currently 70 degrees here in big D, my cold-weather wardrobe will have to hang out in storage a little longer. But the warmth won't stop me from baking some pumpkin spice bread to coax the cool weather into coming back - and sticking around this time!

I borrowed the recipe from my own personal foodie crush, Alton Brown. I cannot go wrong following his lead in the kitchen. I followed the recipe almost exactly, but I nearly doubled my Vanilla, bumped up the Cinnamon, and sprinkled in some Allspice. Also, the recipe calls for 3 cups of fresh pumpkin, but I used a can which is about 3-1/2 cups (not to mention easier and faster than carving and baking a fresh pumpkin). My last modification was to decrease the sugar from 1-1/2 to 1 cup.

NOTE: Allspice is native to Central America and southern Mexico and is NOT a combination of multiple other spices. It's a berry, harvested unripe, sun-dried and then ground into the powder form usually used in cooking and baking applications.

Pumpkin Spice Bread 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine the following dry ingredients:

2 c All-Purpose Flour

2 t Cinnamon (I think I used about 1 T)

1 t Baking Powder

1/4 t Baking Soda

1/2 t Salt

Mix the following ingredients in a separate bowl, then pour and mix into the above dry ingredients:

1 c Sugar (the called-for 1-1/2 cups sounded like a lot to me, so I used only 1 cup; I tasted the batter after everything was mixed together and it was sweet enough for my taste and didn't overwhelm the pumpkin and spice flavors)

3/4 c Vegetable Oil

3 Eggs, whisked

2 t Vanilla (again, I doubled this - Alton only called for 1 t)

Prepared batter, before adding the pumpkin.

 Once all the above ingredients are combined, fold in ...

3 c Pumpkin (You can get canned Pumpkin or canned Pumpkin Pie Mix; get the plain Pumpkin)

Love having this in my kitchen again. =)

Loaf and bundt pans ready for the oven.

Pour batter into prepared (read: sprayed with non-stick spray such as Pam or buttered and floured) loaf pan, muffin tin, bundt pan, etc. (The recipe made enough batter for me to fill a regular loaf and almost-fill a bundt pan - I think the bundt might make a nice snack for the co-workers tomorrow!) Bake for about 1 hour, 15 minutes or until (say it with me!) a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for a few minutes then turn out to a cooling rack.

Bundt loaf ...

... and traditional loaf, cooling on the kitchen table.

I enjoy pumpkin bread shmeared with a little cream cheese, but it's also good toasted with a little butter, or a drizzle of honey, or plain or eaten with a cup of tea. However you like it, just enjoy lots of it and experiment with your recipe, too. I thought about trying my recipe out with some chopped pecans, dried cranberries or raisins.

Feel free to share your favorite recipe or ideas for yummy add-ins to a basic pumpkin bread recipe. Thanks for reading!

PS - Speaking of pumpkins, isn't this Pumpkin Dutch Oven fantastic? Too bad it's $150 and wouldn't be used for more than a few months a year (unless you are a die hard pumpkin fan).

Only two recipes into this blog and 'comfort food' is already the name of the game, folks.

Tonight,  

Tuna Noodle Casserole 

takes center stage. But this time it's better; no canned soup here, no pre-packaged cheese. Instead: homemade cheese sauce with fresh milk and the always authentic and richly-aromatic Parmesan cheese grated right in. A splash of white wine, even? Yessir! And yet it's still so easy! Yay! That's the best kind of dinner after a nutty Monday at my office.

Here are the simple steps toward tunay noodly goodness!

Gather the following:

1 small onion, diced

8 oz white mushrooms, chopped medium/small (NOTE: don't wash your 'shrooms. Ever. If there are spots of dirt that concern you, just wipe them clean with a cloth or a paper towel. Washing mushrooms actually degrades their quality and breaks them down, swelling them up with water - ick. Need proof?)

2-ish pats of butter

1 T olive oil

fresh chopped onion and 'shrooms!

Combine these in a large skillet; I used a big, non-stick skillet that was T-Fal and sparkly blue. Cook over medium/high heat til the onions and mushrooms are nice and soft.

While this is happening, boil a pot of water and cook a bag of egg noodles (my bag was 12 oz), drain, drizzle with some olive oil and set aside.

Add the following in this order to the onion/mushroom goodness:

1/2 cup of white wine (my 1/2 cup was rather generous!). Drier is better, but I used Pinot Grigio which isn't super dry but it isn't fruity either (somewhere in between) - let the wine cook off for about 3 or 4 minutes, during which time it is perfect acceptable to pour yourself a glass and drink up!
 

where have you been all day, my friend?

6 T all-purpose flour to coat the vegetables (mine clumped up a bit cuz this IS a lot of flour ... it rights itself in the end so no worries: 2 tablespoons of flour to every cup of milk)

3 c milk (I used 2% but I am pretty sure it won't matter much what kind you use so long as it isn't hazelnut or soy or chocolate) - stir the milk in after all the flour has been incorporated and stir occasionally until the milk starts to bubble a little around the edges, still using a medium/high flame. Let it thicken a little then add ...

2 cans chunk light tuna, broken up

1 bag (or a little less) frozen green peas - just eye ball it

The original and always delicious Parmesan

1/4-cup-ish freshly grated Parm - the real deal is great in this setting (not the contents of your pre-grated plastic container - tsk tsk) since the relative-mildness of the other ingredients allow the flavor of the Parm to stand out nicely.

Incorporate everything, letting the cheese melt a little, then pour over your ready-and-waiting pot of egg noodles. Mix everything up and throw (well, maybe that's not the right word. "Spoon", perhaps is a little more graceful) the whole thing into a casserole. Top it off with some crushed saltines OR some buttered breadcrumbs (I admit, the breadcrumbs sound better but I only had saltines on hand tonight), a little more Parm, and then into a 400-degree oven it goes for about 10 minutes till bubbly and JUST browning around the top.

can you say delish? mmm ... I can. But I'll chew and swallow first.

Yum, yum and yum and a big fat bon apetit, folks. THAT makes for a happy Monday night.