Mmmm Mmmmm

Getting back to the Alphabet
We had our "M" dinner the other night. Seems like our dinners are getting a little less elaborate, but that's Ok...we're still working together and we're still practicing writing and that's what counts!


For M Dinner we had
Manicotti
Muffins (Homemade and fantastic!!!)
Mango Ice Cream (Also homemade... see the blackberry ice cream recipe and just use mangos instead!)
Milk




FOR THE MUFFINS: (From Tasty Kitchen)




1-½ cup All-purpose Flour


¾ cups Sugar


½ teaspoons Salt


2 teaspoons Baking Powder


⅓ cups Vegetable Oil


1 whole Egg


⅓ cups Milk


1 cup Blueberries




FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING:


½ cups Sugar


⅓ cups Flour


¼ cups Butter (or Earth Balance) (I thought this was too much..I kept having to add flour to it to make it crumbly. Maybe start with a little less and then go from there!)


1-½ teaspoon Cinnamon


Preparation Instructions


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.


2. To make the muffins, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1-cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with the flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.


3. To make crumb topping: Mix together sugar, cup flour, butter, and cinnamon. Mix with a fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.


4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

When I was in college I had a very limited array of recipes I cooked and ate. I worked at a little place, not far from where I lived, waiting tables. It was one of those smokey places with bright sunshine coming in and all the regulars wore worn out cowboy hats and dirty boots, were perched on their chairs at 6am and  knew your name along with any other detail of your life you were willing to share. I didn't share a lot, but sure did like a good share of their stories. Of course I knew what they ate.  In the back though, was a different scene. My cooks (I called them mine, because if you didn't get along with cooks, your life was miserable!) were completely different than myself. If you know me, you know that I'm kind of on the "preppy" side... in a weird way.  The cooks.....were not.  They were tattooed and pierced and had long hair.  I got along with them immediately, and they got along with me and we had a great time together for those three years.  Well, like I said I didn't cook a lot. So, one day I was complaining a bit about that and one of the cooks handed me this recipe. I've been making it regularly ever since, and it's dear and precious to me, because it was one of the first things I learned how to cook for myself and like.

Manicotti
10 Manicotti noodles
1/3 of a container of Chive and Onion Cream Cheese (I've not found a way not to buy the whole thing, I've also tried different kinds and it's never as good)
1 large bag of mozzarella cheese
1/3 of a jar of marinara sauce (or whatever tomato based sauce you like, I like the garlic basil kinds)


Cook noodles according to the directions. Drain.


Grease cooking pan. Stuff noodles on each end with mozzarella cheese and the cream cheese in the middle. Sometimes, it helps just to cut them open and fold the noodle back over the top.


Spread a layer of marinara over the top. Spread a layer of cheese over the top of that. Bake at 350 until golden brown.

When's the last time you listened to this?


Song: Mmmmmm Mmmmmm, Crash Test Dummies