You Say Goodbye...

2013 is coming to a close.  It has been a whirlwind year - filled with some important goodbyes.  Yet every goodbye is followed up by a new hello.

Our goodbyes this year:

• Command of Delta Battery 1 - 5 FA
• Our First House - and the mortgage and all that jazz!
• Family Readiness Group Leader
• Webmaster of the Fort Riley Our Community Spouse Club
• Kansas
• Our fantastic wonderful friends (many of whom also moved)

Our hellos this year:

• The Foreign Area Officer functional area
• New Stomping Grounds in CA
• India - culture, history, food!
• Graduate School life at the Naval Post Graduate School
• Making new friends
• Thomas Jacob (This is my favorite hello this year!)

I hope your 2013 has been satisfying!

Cheesy Gnocchi Casserole

I know I have been a bit quiet lately.  We have had some visitors and the end of the first quarter of graduate school is taking some adjusting.  I shall regale you with a new recipe that I have tried.  This one comes from the Food Network.  I bookmarked it one day while I was trolling through posts on Google+.

Cheesy Gnocchi Casserole with Ham and Peas

from The Food Network

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
One 8-ounce piece deli ham, diced
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
One 17.5-ounce package potato gnocchi
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shredded Swiss or Gruyere cheese

Steps

1.  Preheat the broiler to high heat.
2.  Melt the butter in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 3 minutes.
3.  Add the ham and thyme and continue to cook until the ham is lightly browned.
4.  Add the chicken broth and 3/4 cup water and bring to a simmer.
5.  Add the gnocchi, stir well, cover and cook until the gnocchi is slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
6.  Uncover and stir in the peas, cream, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
7.  Sprinkle the cheese over the top and broil until golden and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Serve.

The Final Product

This turned out pretty tasty and was fairly easy to put together.  Some notes - I had a bit more that 17.5 oz of potato gnocchi - I think I had two 10 oz packages.  So I don't think they cooked as evenly as they should have.  Unfortunately the "cream" sauce that was supposed to form never really did.  It was definitely more soupy than creamy.  It might be user - I thought my chicken broth and water was at a simmer but maybe it never made it there.  Not a bad first run for it.  I would definitely do it again and incorporate some of the reviews others had made on the dish: use a hot italian sausage instead of ham, try some different veggies (broccoli, carrots), use a mixture of cheeses besides just swiss, and I may try using an alfredo sauce to get more creamy texture.  Definitely a quick weeknight meal!

Thanksgiving

As we sat down to our Thanksgiving feast, the hubby and I discussed Thanksgivings past.  We had one at his parent's home and several with a very good friend in Kansas.  I have not had to make the entire meal by myself in a very long time.  With two boys who have not had stellar behavior as of late, we decided to keep our affair at home.  With that, I decided to try a new recipe.  Normally, I have done my birds (on occasions other than Thanksgiving) in a roaster oven which is a fantastic tool.  As it was only the 4 of us, (well 3 of us because Thomas is not eating solids yet) I made the call to not cook a full bird.  I decided on turkey breast roasts instead - in the slow cooker!

Bacon Turkey Breast

from Crockin' For the Holidays

Ingredients

1 bone-in turkey breast (or at least 5 pounds with or without skin)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/8 - 1/4 tsp pepper
1 can turkey gravy
2 1/2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 - 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 tsp rubbed sage

Steps

1.  Rub turkey with garlic, salt, and pepper.
2.  Place in slow cooker.
3.  Mix gravy, flour, Worcestershire sauce, bacon, and sage together.  Pour over turkey.
4.  Cook on LOW for 8 hours.

The Final Product

The entire meal was yummy.  Son number 1 would probably tell you the biscuits were the best part.  The turkey turned out really well.  Next time I might only cook for 7 hours as it was not as moist as I like.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't dry when it came out - just after it was cut it lost a bunch of juiciness.  You can not quite tell from the picture but I complemented our turkey with a green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and biscuits.  Even better, everything came out at just about the same time.  It made me feel great.  It also got me thinking to a couple of years down the road - will I be able to put together a yummy feast in India?  I guess I will find out in a few years.  This Thanksgiving post is not complete without my two hams: