today's cooking adventures.

So, I tried two new recipes today.  Sadly, neither of them came from cookbooks in the house.  But on the plus side, they were both delicious!

The first was dinner.  It was my first attempt as risotto and it was a success. I went with the basic recipe from about.com
The only personal touches I added were freshly grated Parmesan.  (I like good fresh cheese...I didn't want to use a handful of the powdery stuff.)  It called for a quart of chicken stock...I heated up some extra because it took a few additional ladles to get to the point where the rice didn't have at tough bite.  The stock I used was called 'tuscan' chicken stock. It had basil and oregano seasonings in it.  (It was the only one they had at the discount grocery...and at $1 per quart it was a good find.)

I topped it with some seared scallops....yum.

Dessert was a Mardi Gras King Cake...I was in the mood for one the other day and my friend Corey sent me a link to a simple recipe at allrecipes.com

Here it is before the second rise:

And here's the tasty goodness after the glaze and colored sugar.  I did have to make my own purple, since I couldn't find any.  It came out more grey than purple....but I think you get the idea of the Mardi Gras colors.  

 Smile cake: it's your close up!

And after the first slice....it was still warm when I cut it...

I highly recommend it with a cold glass of milk...but I'm sure it will be just as tasty with a cup of coffee in the morning.  It works for breakfast, right?

It was a good eating day.  And now it's time for bed.

Until the next post . . .