1 soon-to-expire box of unsweetened baking chocolate

PLUS

the last 4 eggs in the carton?

Another reason to put off those New Years resolutions.

I forgot about their amazingness for a while because my memory is the size of a bean. But recently they wandered back into my memory and I’ve been stuffing the heck out of peppers recently as a means of using up ingredients. I’ve strayed from the R.S. version, but mine are also real simple — and real quick. I’m impatient. The 20 minutes or so before dinnertime are not my prettiest.

Last night I made stuffed peppers using a leftover block of cheddar, brown rice, the dregs of a jar of sauce, sausage we’ve had since Christmas, and the other half of an onion that’s been wrapped in the fridge waiting for use.

Start with the basics: preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put on 1/2 a cup of brown rice to cook on the stove. Take 2 green bell peppers, seed them, halve them and place them in a microwave-safe pie dish (i.e. no metal, please). Cover them tightly with plastic wrap and microwave for five minutes. **They will be HOT when they come out of the microwave, so use oven mitts and watch for steam! (I may or may not have forgotten this useful tip which is why I remind you now. Bean brain, remember?)

Mince a clove of garlic, chop half an onion, and cook them with a little olive oil over medium heat. While they cook, dice up some sausage. I used half of what you see in the photo above — adjust to your preferences, or even eliminate altogether if you don’t eat meat. You could very successfully substitute sauteed mushrooms, no doubt.

Saute the sausage with the onions and garlic for a few minutes.

Add 1.5 cups sauce to the mixture. My favorite thing about this dish is that you don’t have to worry about seasoning it much if you use pre-seasoned pasta sauce. Sometimes I’m lazy.

When the rice is done cooking, add that to the pan, too.

Stuff each pepper half with the saucy mixture.

Grate a little cheddahhh right on top.

And pop ‘em in the oven for 10 minutes or so, until the cheese is all nice and melty.

Oh yeah.

I see no reason why you can’t douse the whole thing in hot sauce, as is my way. But a little salt and pepper will do you fine, too.

Last week my sister and I stumbled upon something on Our Best Bites that took immediate priority over everything else in our respective lives. My sister and I were roommates for a few days while the Boyfriend was out of town for training. The predictable girl stuff ensued: lots of chitchat and hanging out, plus a smattering of shopping at Target. But the very best thing about living with the little sister again was someone to share my unabashed excitement for making Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies.

Don’t be shy — go make these immediately. We won’t tell your boss why you called in sick.

Yesterday I dragged the younger Page all the way to Saratoga for a visit.

Holy wow.

Plum Dandy’s is a completely do-it-yourself frozen yogurt bar. You pick from 8 daily flavors of fat-free tart yogurt, fill up your bowl as much as you please, then top with anything from blackberries to gummi bears to flax seeds to carob chips to hot fudge.

It was a big day.

March 23 is looking soooo good all of a sudden.

Okay, maybe this rule only applies to me. And my sister. Who celebrated a very snowy birthday last weekend with lots of yummy eats.

We met up in New York for some sisterly birthday celebrations, which entailed walking, talking, and eating. All day long.

Most of the day was spent tooling around Soho and the Village, but my sister absolutely insisted that we go uptown for Absolute Bagels. I’m not one to turn down a good bagel, so I agreed.  

We split a plain bagel topped with Tofutti (non-dairy “cream cheese”), which turned out to be tasty and not a bad compromise for you lactose intolerant folks out there. If you’re around Broadway and 108th (or go to Columbia University), I, in all of my intimate knowledge of the bagelries of New York, recommend Absolute Bagels. Personally I’m just gonna buy some Tofutti next time I make homemade bagels.

I had wanted to take my sister to Crumb for some birthday cupcakes, but they were closed. (For being the city that never sleeps, New York sure feels pretty drowsy on Sunday evenings). We were saved by finding a Magnolia Bakery stand in the dining concourse at Grand Central.  

I bought us each two cupcakes. The birthday girl tried red velvet with whipped vanilla frosting and a pretty purple-topped white cupcake.

I went with the Hummingbird (banana and pecan cupcake with cream cheese frosting) and a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting.  

I am a true lover of cream cheese frosting, so the Hummingbird was the winner of the cupcake competition. It was like a moist slice of banana bread covered with cake frosting! So good.

We shared, just like Mom always told us. Even so we ended up with leftovers when we parted ways in Grand Central. Yum!

By the end of this post you will note that, even though I spent the day in fabulous New York with my fabulous sister, I have pictures of neither. To this I say: a beloved sister and a pretty city are forever; cupcakes and bagels are fleeting.

At any rate, here’s a charming photo of the two of us from yesteryear:

Then again, this was the sight that met my eyes when I walked through the door this evening:

That would be a slice of cheesecake from the one and only Cheesecake Machismo. How do I feel about Cheesecake Machismo? I would like to fill my bathtub full of their cheesecake and soak it in through my pores. I’m hoping one day they will hire me to be their personal cheesecake tester. Just hearing the word “cheesecake” bring me unabashed joy. Cheese? Wonderful. Cake? Yes, please. Cheesecake? WELL, IF YOU INSIST.

I suppose I should stop my drooling for a moment to mention that this phantom cheesecake was purchased and set ever-so-sweetly upon my desk by the one and only Boyfriend. I sent him a text earlier detailing the fact that I was having a crummy day full of gray skies and blue emotions. (I believe the text went something like “shmeh.”) And because he is wonderful he bought me cheesecake. Bliss.

The cheesecake was a good buffer to the other thing I came home to:

That, dear friends, is a large pot. Normally I would use such a pot to boil up a large vat of pasta, sprinkle it with a little cheese and pepper, and call it dinner. But on this day, we are using this pot to collect the rain that is falling from our living room ceiling.

Drop by drop…

This is the fourth or fifth leak we’ve had in the apartment since we moved in last spring. We’re all delighted, as you can imagine.

It’s been raining all day along in Albany. But yesterday it was doing a little something like this:

Albany finally got its snow.

Nearly everything was cancelled, so The Boyfriend, Roommate, and I clambered into the Roommate’s minivan and ventured to the Gateway Diner for a late breakfast. Speaking of why you’re fat:

When one’s city is blanketed in snow, one is left with no choice but to consume copious amounts of breakfast foods to cope with the pending hibernation/starvation of a snow day. You understand.

I can only hope spring will be here soon, at which point I will stop eating like a bear.

(P.S. I know the layout of this particular post is all distorted.  I have no idea why.  WordPress and Ecto are both being whiny children today.)

It appears ice cream is no longer a judgment-free food. I spotted this while helping myself to a creamy post-dinner treat:

“Not A Light Food?” Yes, I know already. You think some sort of warning label is going to stop me from Heath Bar delights? Nay. I’m paying you to be delicious, ice cream, not to chime in with comments about my dietary choices. Thanks.

Specifically, I’ve been dreaming about this cake:

That would be the pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting I had at Scratch Bakery Cafe last week.

Yum.

I finally recreated my own.  It’s a little healthier, yes.  But it is still cake.  The recipe is basic and easy:

Pumpkin Cake

• 1 box yellow or white cake mix
• 1 c. canned pumpkin (not the pie filling, just the plain pumpkin!)
• 1/2 c. sour cream or plain yogurt

Mix it all together.  Pour it into a greased cake pan. Bake according to the box’s instructions.

I used our jack-o-lantern cake pan.  It’s still pumpkin season, people.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. package of non-fat cream cheese
• 1 (ish) c. confectioner’s sugar (I just sort of dumped a heap of it into the bowl and mixed away. Adjust the amount to your taste.)
• 1 t. vanilla extract

Mix it all together.  The end.

I will take this opportunity to note that I am INCAPABLE of using powdered sugar without getting it all over myself.  As I type this my jeans are slightly whiter than before this culinary fiasco began.  Confectioner’s sugar just does not want to be confined to a silly bowl.  Hopefully you fare better than I did.  Godspeed.

Anyway, this cake is not birthday cake sweet, but it is midnight snack perfect.  And it’s another step on my journey to consume all of my vegetables in the form of baked goods.