Magnifico Meatball Pie

Good afternoon Friends.

It's been a few days since my last post. I believe I'm still recovering from the canning of last weekend, not to mention having a crazy, hectic work week.  So, I'm enjoying a well deserved 3 day weekend but thought I'd let everyone know how the Magnifico Meatball Pie experiment went.

AWESOME!!  This recipe, which was borrowed for BH&G 2010 Special Publication "Italian", was an absolute work of art.  The recipe included a recipe for homemade meatballs, which I am not ashamed to admit I've never made.  So I was excited to try out this recipe that called for chopped toasted pine nuts and finely chopped golden raisins in the actual meatballs.  The meatballs also included ground pork and mild Italian sausage.  My observation...though very flavorful..I prefer meatballs that are a combo of beef and pork.  I wasn't the biggest fan of the texture of the meatballs, though my son and husband disagreed.  They LOVED them :)

The pie, once fully assembled and baked, was as if spaghetti carbonara, spaghetti and meatballs and lasagna came together into one dish.   It was comfort at it's finest.  Though a lot of work I would defintely make this one again.  The second day leftovers were even better.

I'll post the recipe soon.  Until then hopefully some photos will do.  Until next time!

Here is the link to the recipe!

http://community.southernliving.com/archive/index.php/t-3406.html

Yes...I Did Make It Out Alive!

My oh my oh my.  That's all that I have to say.  Okay...come on!  I actually DO have more than that to say..I'm not one to run short of words. 

If you read my first blog post than you know that I was up until the wee hours of Sunday morning.  By the wee hours I mean 5:00 a.m.  Not partying hard...not streaking naked down the street (not that ANYONE would want to see that).  No...this wild and crazy chickie was canning.  Yep...CANNING!  Making a couple of different tomato based sauces to get my family through the upcoming year.  Now I do not want to freak any of you out by making you think that this is some horrific project to undertake.  It takes time...yes...it does.  The important thing to remember is to start EARLY in the day.  Not at 5:00 p.m.  That was our mistake this time around.  This was not my first time at the canning rodeo..and I definitely knew better.  I just couldn't help myself. I intended to get one sauce completed on Saturday and the second sauce completed on Sunday.  Well...Saturday OBVIOUSLY blended into Sunday..but that's fine.  The end result is the same (though I still appear to be carrying Samonsites around under my eyes). We now have 22 jars of tomato basil sauce and 13 jars of roasted garlic and pepper sauce and I couldn't be happier.

Well, we have tons going on this week.  I'm hoping to make a Magnifico Meatball Pie for dinner tonight.  This is not an original recipe of mine..nope.  This is a recipe that I found in one of my old BH&G Special Publications.  I believe from 2010.  The recipe is an interesting take on spaghetti and meatballs layered in a spring form pan.  I'll update everyone on how that goes and will post pics as well.  The hubby also took some pics during the canning process.  We'll be sure to get some of those on here as well.  Here is one montage of our process.  Yes, I did manage to smile through most of this ordeal.

To quote a cooking icon and one of my idols "Bon Appetit!"

.....And Away We Go!!

Well my friends.  Here we go.  My first post! 

I LOVE to cook and bake.  When I'm not performing the ever so glamorous duties of a full time claims adjuster you can find me in the kitchen.  Through my blog I plan to share with you my Adventures in the Kitchen.  I'll share my trials and tribulations as I try out new recipes while baking and cooking.  I'll also try to post photos as we go along as well.

Tonight...has been a night.  By tonight I mean last night and this morning.  It's 2:57 a.m. as I type this post.  This weekend is dedicated to canning.  This is the fourth year that my husband and I have canned.  We tried pickling all types of veggies.  We've made jellies and jams.  My favorite thing however, is sauce.  We've tried several..some have worked well...some not so well.  We finally discovered and continue to make two sauces.  Tomato basil simmer sauce (TBSS) and roasted pepper and garlic sauce (RPGS).  Both are amazing.  The TBSS is a great basic marinara.  We've used it for chicken parm and simple pasta dishes.  The RPGS is a much bolder sauce.  LOTS of garlic and sweet bell peppers.

Back to tonight.  It is now 3:22 a.m. and my husband and I are watching "Bridesmaids" with the hopes that it will keep us awake while we are waiting for our sauce to process.  Due to many things beyond our control we did not start our canning process until after 5 this evening.  After hours of washing, blanching, peeling, cutting and food processing 50 pounds of tomatoes (UGH!) we started two massive pots of sauces simmering at about.....12:30 A.M!  So..he were are...after 3 a.m. waiting for the processing to finish.  The good news is...we're almost done.  The bad news we'll be starting up again in the morning.  One more day of sauce making and processing.  The best news....fab starter sauces for the next year :)  The lack of sleep tonight will be well worth it in the long run.

Well..that's it for today.  Please stick with me..I promise the blog will grow as we go along :)  Keep cooking!