CopyKated Food....mmmmm....

I have a handful of cooking blogs that I like to read.  I'm one of those people who says they like to cook, and every so often, I'll turn out a fantastic meal.  But, for the most part, I secretly get excited when I realize a dinner meal will create some leftovers.  I'd never tell anyone that, face-to-face of course.  Just here.  So, I am ALWAYS on the search for that perfect recipe.  You know the one...the one that you don't have to have written down cause it'll be so easy to remember.  It's always the one you can substitute a few different main ingredients, to make it taste just different enough that everyone thinks it's something different.  And lastly, one that your family just loves and requests again and again.  Honestly, I am still searching for this Holy Grail, but in the meantime, I just recently tried some recipes from these blogs...and they turned out PERFECT and tasted GREAT...those are two big milestones to reach!  So here they are!

I've blogged before how I like Steamy Kitchen's sassy persona.  And, the food photos are to die for because she just has the talent for getting her creations to look so juicy in print.  But the best part, is that her recipes are easy!  I made her Teriyaki Mushroom Sauce with Grilled Salmon.  I made it exactly as described, with her fresh ingredients, and it turned out perfect!  We love to eat salmon, and as an added bonus, I learned that teriyaki sauce is not something that comes in a bottle but is something that you can make, from scratch...very easily!

This next blog, I think I just stumbled onto by accident looking for wives who are overseas.  This ever changing wife is in Turkey with her Air Force hubby.  I like her blog.  Since it's the season for that kind of thing, and I recently had a coffee I needed to bring something to, I blindly baked her Pumpkin Bread and Cinnamon Honey Butter  and whipped up the accompanying honey butter the morning of the coffee (how's that for guts of glory?).  I did like she said, slicing it beforehand and saving the two end pieces for myself...and of course feeding my kids another few slices for breakfast...but the rest DID make it to the coffee.  I came home with an empty basket.  I was a little awestruck.  I think this is the first time I went to a coffee and brought NOTHING back home with me!  So, that night, I snuck downstairs and in the light of the refrigerator, I slathered the last two slices with honey butter and giddily wolfed them down...no one was the wiser, except maybe my waistline and the cat...sigh.

I also recently discovered a fellow American blogging over here in Belgium.  She does share some hilarious stories.  She blogs a lot lately about being pregnant, which I can't relate to right now...but doesn't everyone who is pregnant, so it is truly okay, and she is forgiven:-)    I found some beef-stew-looking meat at the Belgian grocery store labeled Carbonnade and thought of this recipe I had just investigated on her blog that morning (beef + beer)...it must be karma I thought, so I bought the meat and then printed out her recipe.  The author accompanies the recipe with step-by-step photos, which I really liked too, including a photo of her two little ones wreaking havoc in the other room as she cooks (they're cute).  The best part was the heavenly smells wafting through my house all afternoon.  Everyone kept asking what in the world was I cooking and could they stay for dinner.  In the end, my husband said that he didn't like the sweet flavor, and if I ever cooked it again, I'd buy less fatty cuts of meat..too much fat my kids said...and my gravy was lumpy....BUT, it tasted like it was supposed to taste, and I personally thought it was great.  This IS Beef Carbonnade I wanted to shout, and Beef Carbonnade you get in the restaurant tastes EXACTLY like this!  If I ever make it again, I'd make it for company with a smoother gravy (how do you do that with those hunks of bread she puts in there?) and better cuts of meat.  Of course, I also served it with spaetzle cause of the German in me and not fries like most Belgians do.  They eat fries with everything here...YES, they taste fantastic, but you can only eat so many fries I would think!

Do you remember that wonderful smell at the carnival?  No, not that one...the other one of onions, sausage and potato.  I have renamed this next recipe Carnival or State Fair Sausage and Potatoes.  It brings back good memories and was so easy to make!  I threw it all in the baking pan (even mixed it in there) and baked it uncovered in our oven as my family and I sat down to watch a movie over the weekend (yeah, I didn't miss the beginning of a movie for once).  It was a wonderful cozy smell that I confess we still smelled the next morning (so what?)....and we had no leftovers....darn.  Where did I find this recipe?  Over at A Few Short Cuts, where Amanda tells me this recipe only costs just over a $1 per serving...so frugal too!

So, those were the highlights of my week...cooking-wise.  Do you have any to-die-for recipes you found on someone's blog you are willing to share?