Garlic Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

You know what I love? The Cheesecake Factory. I know, I know. The Cheesecake Factory is probably the worst food in the world, but who can resist their avocado eggroll appetizer or their delicious cheesecakes? You know what is one of my favorite things from them? Their mashed potatoes. With a little snooping around the internet, I found a little recipe (that I've adjusted) just floating around on a whole bunch of different sites. There seems to be some mixed reviews, but I can honestly say that this mashed potato recipe comes pretty darn close!

Homefries

This morning I made myself a delicious omelette with a side of home fries and three strips of extra thick bacon. I always need a side of homefries with my Sunday morning brunch, but lots of brunch places have bland and boring homefries, and then I'm left disappointed. One of the very few good things about moving to Pittsburgh is Pamela's. Besides having good (and very different) hotcakes, they also have tasty potatoes (menu item lyonnaise potatoes). Definitely a must-try if you are in the area. So my creation this morning was a mix between Pamela's lyonnaise potatoes and a bacon baked potato. Nothing can go wrong with such a beautiful combination!

Oxtail Stew

"Have you ever had oxtails? Most people I know haven't even heard of them, which is really quite a shame. Think braised beef short ribs, but with even more flavor, and you'll get a sense of why those of us who eat oxtail get dreamy eyed when we think about them. Yes oxtails come from a steer's tail, a well exercised muscle, marbled with fat. The segments are vertebrae so they have lots of iron-rich marrow as well. My father, who grew up during the Depression, remembers oxtails as being food for people with little money, because they could be had so cheap. You could get them for pennies a pound. These days, they're somewhat hard to come by and no longer cheap (though you can sometimes get a good deal on them at Costco and Asian markets). As with most tough cuts, oxtail are best slow cooked for several hours. They tend to be fatty, so we like to cook them a day ahead, so we can chill them overnight and scrape off the fat from the top the next day." - Simply Recipes

The above is an excerpt from Simply Recipes' Oxtail Stew recipe. It's a little similar to the one in this recipe, and I thought it was a good introduction to oxtails if you've never heard of them. I decided that I wanted to have some of my mom's cooking, so I called her up for her oxtail stew, which is one of her staple recipes. While I was on the phone with her she told me how Gandalf likes to sleep with her, aw! And Gandalf stole my mom's fish while she was cooking, and my mom had to chase her around the house to get it back. My sister says Gandalf also stole her chicken. In case you forgot who Gandalf is, she's this little kitty cat. Anyways, less cats more food!

Nur's Roasted Young Potatoes

One of my Civil Engineering friend (also Helen's friend, they belong in this H-team thing where they rule the universe or something) is also a food enthusiast...and a Martha Stewart wannabe just like me made some pretty awesome roasted young potatoes. Now, who doesn't love roasted potatoes, especially when they're super cute? Please welcome Nur and her tasty potatoes!

Honey Mint Lamb Chops

I recently bought myself a meat thermometer, and now I am a nonstop meat cooking machine! Before I bought a meat thermometer, I would butcher my meat by over cooking them ALWAYS. Well, not anymore! Okay, to be really honest, I've only used my meat thermometer once, and I'm not really a fan of poking my meat, BUT I have learned how to cook meat properly, so come along and follow me.

Elise's Onion Potato Gratin

Since I have only had potato gratin once before in my life, I'd like to try out different variations of this dish to familiarize myself with it. Last week, it was Kay's potato gratin with bacons. I want to try to make a vegetarian potato gratin, so Elise's onion potato gratin fits the bill.

If you don't know who Elise is, you need to go her food blog Simple Recipes ASAP!. Not only the recipes are wonderful and super easy to make, most of them are family recipes.

Kay's Potato Gratin

I've been following Kay's cooking blog for a while now. This potato gratin recipe is the first one that I have decided to try to make after so many days of oogling at Kay's drool-worthy food photos and recipes. You can find the original recipe for this dish here and then follow my adventure in making it below.

Baked Chicken with Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts

I thought of how to cook this dish all on my own. I said "Baked chicken, pshaw, I don't need a recipe for that, I'm too hip!" And for once in my life, it turned out that I am able to create a dish without a recipe that did not turn out to be a disaster. However, I'm sure during my years of eating and perusing through recipes, I probably have came across this type of baked chicken before. So, I'd like to say that this recipe was inspired by all of those other baked chicken recipes in the world! I love being inspired.