Food Fun

I've been trying to cook and bake more lately (which many of you know is not something I always enjoy). Perhaps I can get in the "groove" of it before going back to school this fall because I don't want Claire growing up thinking that spaghetti, refried bean tortillas, and cereal are regularly accepted meals.

One of my victories as of late has been baking bread. I grew up with the smell of homemade bread greeting me at the door after school. I know how to bake bread. I just don't take the time to do it...until now. Lindsay introduced me to this fabulous no-knead bread that the dough can stay in the fridge for up to 14 days, baking it into crusty deliciousness in small loaves....so tasty. So Scott thinks that I'm the best thing ever this last week because of the homemade bread. Score one for me :)

Last Thursday Scott asked for homemade bread, so I was looking for a new soup recipe to make for dinner because crusty bread is best with soup on an overcast day, right? In my recipe binder is a recipe for Sweet Potato Peanut Bisque. I'm fairly certain Scott printed this out some random time because it's not the type of soup I would gravitate towards. I was in the mood to try something different, though, had sweet potatoes (which rarely happens), and thought Scott would be impressed with my adventurous cooking.

As I dished up the soup, I noticed the recipe indicated that bowls could be garnished with peanuts. "I have peanuts!" I thought excitedly (because usually I completely ignore garnishing instructions because they often involved some fresh herb that I never have on hand). So I dug in the back of my cupboard to find the can of crushed peanuts (leftovers from a "make your own ice cream sundae" party I had once, I think...the fact that I couldn't remember exactly should have been a warning flag to me, but alas...) and sprinkled a handful on top of each bowl.

"How do you like the soup?" I looked across the table at Scott, waiting for an answer. "Be honest, I don't care if you don't like it."

"It's good. What do you think?"

"Well, to be honest, nothing I'm going to crave, but not bad," I replied as I took another bite. But that was a bit of a lie. I didn't really like how it tasted. Something yucky that I couldn't put my finger on. Perhaps the unusual mix of ingredients, I thought.

"You know," Scott mused while finishing another spoonful, "something doesn't taste quite right. I think it's these peanuts. How old are these peanuts?"

Uh oh. I didn't think it was a good thing that I couldn't remember. I am known for keeping food around longer than I should. Expiration dates are often merely suggestions to me, and I regularly employ the sniff test when deciding if something is still good or not.

"Ummm..." I picked up the can of nuts off the kitchen cupboard, searching for the expiration date. When I found it I started to laugh.

"What?" Scott reached for the can. I pointed to the date. "2005? Are you trying to kill me? That's six years!"

Needless to say, we both had a good laugh as we dumped our first bowls of soup down the drain and dished up fresh servings, minus the rotten peanut garnish.

Want to come to dinner at out house? :)