The Pintester Movement: Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

So.
I don't read a ton of blogs regularly, but I do read the Pintester and follow her on Facebook. Reading her foibles while crafting and cooking make me giggle.  A lot.  Regularly.  I also enjoy her Cocknails videos where we're treated to a cocktail and manicure.  That always makes J ask, "What are you watching?  She swears a lot."  But it's a whole package.
So, when she announced the Pintester Movement, I jumped on board.  I mean, who doesn't enjoy looking through all the things pinned to your boards wondering what I should make and possibly fail at to be a part of the movement?  Essentially, the movement is to make something from Pinterest and post to Pintester on May 30.  To see what others are doing, click here.
Honestly, the food I pin usually isn't things like "Buy a chocolate bar and Pillsbury grands and make chocolate croissants!" (I bet those would be good).  I click through and look at the recipes to decide whether or not J and I would actually eat what is being offered.  So I combed through and found something for a busy week that I'd wanted to try that was a take-off on an old classic.  It's also in a slow cooker, one of the many backbones of Pinterest culinary prowess.  Here's the pin:

How can you be wrong with that much cheese?
I present to you now Hot Mama Network's Buffalo Chicken Lasagna:

Sweet Treat: Fudgy Brownies

So.
I love sweet things.  I get it from my mother, who does not believe that a meal is truly ended until you've had dessert.  While I have no problem not eating dessert at lunch, I enjoy something after dinner in the evening. 
J and I often have a treat around 9 while watching TV.  Sometimes it's ice cream, sometimes it's cookies, and sometimes I find something in an issue of Everday Food that I decide I need to make to fulfill 6 recipes in a month.
This is a recipe that satisfies both of these requirements.  J and I each ate one for dessert, and this is recipe 3 from EDF May 2005.  3 down!  I may actually make 6 before the end of the month!!
I present to you now from May 2005's Everyday Food Fudgy Brownies:

Grillmistress: New Toy!

So.
J and I got invited to a Customer Appreciation sale at one of the local appliance stores.  Really, We spent a pile of money with them last year on a new washer and dryer for the new house, so they invited us to come and spend more money. 
We obliged, and bought BBQ accessories.  Now we have a reason to grill.  Not that we needed a reason before, but still.  I have yet to take the grill wok for vegetables out of the box, but I opened this bad boy up today:

It's a 3 in 1 rack for grilling roasts, ribs and kebabs.  I think we discovered the problem with it today being a little large for the grill, but the double metal skewers are awesome.
I present to you now in honour of the 2-4 weekend how we christened the skewers:

Planning: May 19 - 25, 2013

So.
I know, it's been quiet around here.  I've been in Quebec City with 40 Grade 8 students for the past week.  J ate things I don't like (canned spinach, anyone?), and I ate out.  I'm looking forward to this week, where I'm cooking at home.
This is also the long weekend here, so I have an extra day to play in the kitchen this week.  As a result, I'm planning a rather ambitious week with lots of Pinterest and a little Magazine Challenge.  So here goes:

Baking:  Snickerdoodle Muffins and Fudgy Brownies
Sunday: Steak Skewers and Parmesan Asparagus Sticks
Monday: Southwest Breakfast Scramble and Buffalo Chicken Lasagne
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Ranch Chicken Foil Packs
Thursday: Sausage and Asparagus Saute over Polenta
Friday: Grilled Sausages on Buns

Looks like a good week, along with something special that we tasted and picked up:

Hello, long weekend!

Teatime Treat: Glazed Lemon Pound Cake

So.
One of the good things about going to Home Church is that I sign up to make snack.  About every 6 weeks, I need to bring something for about 15 people as a snack.  I usually bring dessert.  It's easy and gives me a chance to try new things.
That being said, I love all things lemon.  I learned today that J doesn't like it quite so much.  But he will tolerate whatever I make.  So he's informed me that while it's not his favourite, he will help me eat any cake that is left.  Having tasted this cake, I'm not sure that I really want to share.
When I was growing up, my mother would make a lemon cake in a bundt pan with a snow white icing that was fresh juice and icing sugar.  I always loved the cake and peeling the icing off, bit by bit to eat.  It was sweet, but had a good deal of pucker to it.  The cake was moist and lemony.  I've never asked my mom for the recipe, but I've often thought about making it with that icing.
With the Magazine Challenge, I found a cake that looked like my mom's cake with the glaze made of icing sugar and juice.  Plus, I needed something for home Church!  It was a win all the way around.  Plus, the first 5 days of May are done, and I've already made 2 recipes.  It may happen that I make 6 recipes in one month!
To that end, I present to you now from the May 2005 Everyday Food Glazed Lemon Pound Cake:

Magazine Challenge: Creamy Fettuccine with Asparagus

So.
I love goat cheese.  It always tastes to me like Spring.  Asparagus also makes me think of Spring.  I so want the nice weather right now.  Despite the fact that I'm still coughing from a cold, it's finally getting nice enough to start thinking about eating outside and grilling.
In fact, grilling was what made me decide that I needed to make this recipe.  J and I dusted off the BBQ for the first time of the season the other night to grill salmon.  I thought of this as a perfect foil with the grilled fish.  I was right.  It was lovely.  It made a fantastic lunch the next day too.
I present to you now from the April 2005 edition of Everyday Food Creamy Fettuccine with Asparagus:

Pintertest Kitchen: Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

So.
It's finally Spring here.  I commented to J on the way back from a weekend away that it didn't feel like Spring because there were no buds on the trees.  I was driving home tonight and the trees have popped.  It was sunny and warm.  Our pool has been drained in preparation for a set of stairs to be installed along with a new liner.
Soon, it will be poolside dining time, people.  Things are exciting.
When I saw this pin, I knew I wanted to make it.  J loves blueberries, and I like ice cream.  It was also reason enough to crack out the ice cream maker and celebrate the budding trees.  Poolside dining.  If you can't do that, you might as well eat ice cream.
I present to you now La Famille Noire's Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream:

Magazine Challenge: May Planning

Ugh. 
April kicked my butt.
While I made a list and checked it twice, I have yet to make anything from April's issue.  Sigh.  The best laid plans and all that.  But I will persevere and  get back to April, I'm sure.  There are lots of yummy things to make. 
Frankly, I had a Pinterest kind of month and made lots of new things from there.  So many recipes, so little time!  Tomorrow is the first Thursday of the month, and I have a new thing to share for Pintertest Kitchen, but then I'm hoping to dive a little further into the magazines and get some things MADE!
To this end, I have chosen the 6 recipes out of the May 2005 issue, and in even more exciting news, I have already made one of them!  I also have everything to make another one this weekend for Home Church.  The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and I'm excited about cooking!  It's all good.
Here are the recipes that I hope to share soon:

1. Spinach Pie
2. Beef and Scallion Stirfry
3. Creamy Fettuccine with Asparagus
4. Fudgy Brownies
5. Glazed Lemon Pound Cake
6. Pork Chops with Rhubarb-Cherry Sauce (If I make this, it will be when J's away and my mom's here at the end of the month)
7. Rhubarb Muffins
8. Spicy Cheese Crisps

Looks good, right?  It's not all dessert, but a nice cross section.  June has its own issue, but then there's July/August combined.  I need to get some things made.  We'll see how it goes.