What's up with me

No recipe today, but one to come. Jasper says "Hi."

Just out of the oven and cooling on the counter: A lemon poppy seed loaf from Cooking Light. Recipe to come. It's really good.

Will be cooking for dinner tonight: Well, I'll be working. But today I made Mark Bittman's egg noodles with soy broth. It's quick and easy and the broth is addictive. I used spaghetti noodles and it was perfect. I also added a splash of sesame oil.

Currently drinking: Water.

Playing on the iPod right now: I'm listening to 'The Break-Up' from "30 Rock" Season 1. "I cried like a big, dumb homo." So wrong, but so funny.

Currently checked out from the library: Um ... I'm having issues with the library right now. They say I returned a damaged book. That is crap.

Currently reading: The Southern Vampire Mysteries Book 1. These are the books from which HBO's True Blood is based. I said I wasn't going to get sucked (pun intended) into the books because I enjoy not knowing what's going to happen, but I am weak and I caved.

Would like to buy: Honestly? Nothing at the moment. I got my ice cream maker, so I'm good.

Laughing about: 'The Wonder Years.' Winnie Cooper got married and a coworker and I were talking about how much we loved that show and she said there was a boy in her class who looked like Paul and we were laughing about that.

Currently knitting: Don't knit.

Anxiously awaiting: Making hummus and baba ganouj tomorrow.

Needs: More dresses. It's going to be a dressy spring and summer.

Crazy Future Aspirations: To own a bistro/bookstore/coffee/tea shop.

Playing on the iPod now: Didn't I just say '30 Rock?'

Attempting to Learn: How to make cheese. Ricotta and paneer.

Must Resist: Life is about moderation, right?

What’s Keeping Me Busy: Work. The fun never ends.

Hyped Up About: There's a big trip on the horizon this year.

Waiting For: Work to end so that I can go home and finish my book.

Craving: Hummus and baba ganouj.

Playing on the iPod now: Dude. Seriously.

If I had magical powers: I would fly fly fly.

Looking forward to: Cherries. I generally hate summer, but I love the fruit.

Party menu

You asked for them, so here are the recipes that I served at dinner. If you weren't at dinner: I had a dinner and served some food :)

For the turkey and the macaroni and cheese, I followed the basic recipe with some additions/substitutions of my own, but the tiramisu recipe, I followed by the letter. Just make sure you have enough ladyfingers.

Ginger, soy and whiskey grilled turkey (chicken) from Steamy Kitchen. She used chicken, I used turkey tenderloins. I found the tenderloins, two to a package, in the meat section near the fresh ground turkey breasts. If you can't find them, you can also use fresh turkey breasts, chicken, pork, salmon. Anything would work with this marinade. I grilled them, turning every five minutes, until the internal temperature reached 160-165. This probably took about 20 minutes.

Macaroni and cheese from epicurious. I made a few tweaks to this one. I halved this recipe and it still served seven ramekins full (1/2 cup) with an additional pan full of leftovers. The recipe is for a ton of mac and cheese, so unless you're feeding a football team, I suggest halving it.

For the asparagus, I just rubbed it with olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar and grilled it for about 5 minutes. Easy as pie.

The Tiramisu is from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I followed the recipe exactly. I used brandy because I didn't have Marsala wine, and I didn't make it in a 9x13 pan, because I didn't have enough ladyfingers or my ladyfingers were too skinny. Either/or. Buy a big pack of the fat ones and you should be OK. The only thing I'd do differently next time, and I will make this again, would be to halve the coffee/brandy mix because you're going to end up with leftovers. But if you want to drink brandy-laced coffee, that's fine, too.

So there you go!

Macaroni and cheese
For topping
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cups panko (coarse Japanese bread crumbs)
1 cup coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (1 1/2 cups)

For macaroni and sauce
1/2 stick unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2.5 cups milk (I used 1%)
3 coarsely grated Cheddar (I used a sharp yellow cheddar and a sharp white cheddar)
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 cup goat cheese
3/4 pound elbow macaroni (which is a little more than half a box. I didn't really measure it, but 3/4 sounds right)

Make topping:
Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.

Melt butter, then stir together with panko and topping cheeses in a bowl until combined well.

Make macaroni:
You know how to cook macaroni. Drain it and then use the pot to make the sauce.

Make sauce:
Melt butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes, then whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, then simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Stir in cheeses, 1 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until smooth.

Add the macaroni to the cheese sauce. Stir and pour into a prepared pan.

Sprinkle topping evenly over macaroni and bake until golden and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.

Tortilla soup

I've been eating this soup for four days because this recipe makes a ton of it, but it's so good that I'm not sick of it yet.

My recipe is based on about 18 that I read. It comes closest to the America's Test Kitchen recipe that I wrote down about four years ago, but for some reason I can't find that recipe now, and they charge for an online memebership. So whatevs.

Make the recipe as I did or add you own ingredients. Go crazy. It's highly adaptable and very, very good.

Ronni's Tortilla Soup
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika*
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon annatto/achiote powder**
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 to 1 cup corn
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
A cup of shredded, rotissere chicken

Toppings:
Shredded cheese
Fresh cilantro
Lime
Avocado
Tortilla chips

In a large saucepan, combine the first six ingredients and cook until the onion is soft. About 3 to 5 minutes.
Add garlic. Cook one minute.
Add tomato paste. Cook one minute.
Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, corn and chicken to the pan. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve with your choice of toppings, but be sure to at least use tortilla chips, cilantro and lime juice.

* I like the smokey flavor this lends to the soup, but if you don't have smoked, that's fine. Some kind of red pepper flakes or chipotle would be good, too, just adjust to your level of heat.
** If you don't have this, leave it out. It's not super important, but it's good.

Yogurt cake

Why didn't I know this cake existed?

You know those times where you're sitting at home and your sweet tooth hits you so hard that it's like a physical reaction and you have to have something sweet RIGHT NOW OR YOU WILL DIE? (I know it's not just me.)

I felt like crap this past weekend. It was a cold. I ate wonton soup for three days straight. And this cake. The sweet tooth hit me Friday night and I needed something fast. This cake is perfect. If you're like me and always have yogurt in the house, you can make this any time. It's so easy and so quick and tastes so damn good that I can't believe I've never made it before. I added lemon juice and zest to the basic recipe, but, really, it's perfect. It also would be great in the summer with some fresh strawberries or blueberries (yum!). A simple glaze of lemon juice and powdered sugar is a nice addition.

French Yogurt Cake
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup oil (I used an olive oil/canola oil mix)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray pan (I used a bundt pan, but a loaf pan or round pan would work just as well) with cooking spray.
Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until combined. Transfer batter to pan and bake 20-25 minutes until a toothpick or knife comes out clean. Let cool for at least 10 minutes and serve.