Savory Leek Bread Pudding

Smitten Kitchen's recipe

Applesauce

apples
water
cinnamon (optional)

Chop apples. Put in a saucepan with some water over medium heat on stove. Cover. When apples start sticking turn down to low and stir regularly. Make sure there's enough water, but not much is needed because the apples release their water. When the applesauce is the desired consistency (Dad likes his chunky), add cinnamon to taste. Serve hot or cold. Good luck waiting until it's cold.

Rice Pudding

2 cups uncooked rice, cooked
3 cups milk
1 egg
3 T cream or creamer or half-and-half
2 T butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t cinnamon to taste

Use leftover rice or cook the rice ahead of time. Put rice and milk in a medium saucepan on low heat. Beat the egg with the cream, and mix into the rice. Stir well. Add butter, sugar, and vanilla. Stir over medium-low heat until the rice pudding is the desired consistency. Stir in cinnamon. 4 servings.

Seared carrots

Carrots
Olive oil
Rosemary
Thyme
Other herbs & spices
Salt
Pepper

Wash and slice carrots. Make sure they are as dry as possible to help prevent the oil from splattering. Finely chop herbs.

Pour as thin a layer of olive oil as possible in a cast iron or not-nonstick pan. Heat the pan to medium-medium/high heat on the stove, add the herbs and spices, and then add the carrots. Do not use your hand to drop the carrots in or the oil may splash or splatter on your hand. Make sure all the carrots have a surface in contact with the bottom of the pan ( don't crowd the pan!), and then resist the urge to check or stir the carrots for a few minutes. You want the hot pan to brown the carrots. After several minutes flip the pieces over and do the other side. Remove when cooked to the desirable consistency, and drain any excess oil with a paper towel. Enjoy as soon as possible!

Cranberry French Toast, Lorraine (Napa Wine Tasting)

l loaf cinnamon - raisin bread
6 eggs
1 1/2 c milk
1 c half and half
1 can whole cranberry sauce

Topping:
1/2 stick butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c chopped walnuts

Put slices in a 9x13 pan.  Mix liquid ingredients, pour over bread and cover.  Refrigerate overnight.
Mix topping ingredients.  Spread cranberry sauce over bread and crumble topping over all.
Bake 350 degrees for about 50 mins.

Chicken Pot Pie

Make beer can chicken a few nights before. Bake the potato while you're at it. Then make chicken stock. Then make pot pie.

2 pie crusts
2-3 cups of chicken stock (vegetable for vegetarian)
1 potato, baked
1 small sweet potato, baked
2 large carrots
several sprigs of celery
1/2 onion
1/2 can of corn
1/2 14 oz can of artichoke hearts
other veggies of your choosing: mushrooms, tomatoes, asparagus, etc.
herbs
salt and pepper
shredded chicken (optional)
1 egg white

Chop up everything but the pie crusts into bite-size pieces, and place in crock-pot with chicken stock. Cook on low for about 12 hours. In a cup, mix some of the hot stock with flour or cornstarch to thicken. I wasn't happy with the thickening from just flour, and did a second round with corn starch, which was perfect. Turn the slow cooker to high for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Prep the pie crust and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill the pie crust with the filling, and cover with the top crust. Brush with egg, and bake until golden brown.

Makes 1 pie, plus a little filling leftover. Good with biscuits the next day.

Pear Pie

2 Trader Joe's pie crusts, or pie crusts of your own making
5-6 pears
1/2 cup turbinado raw sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4-1/2 t cinnamon
1/8 t cloves
1-2 T sweet wine (Riesling)

Prepare the pie crust. Preheat the oven to 350.

Cube the pears and mix with the dry ingredients. Pour the wine into the pie crust and add the pear mixture on top. Arrange the top crust however you like. Mine was supposed to be a lattice, but the crust was too defrosted, so it ended up being more of a modern cubist arrangement.

Bake until golden brown (well over an hour). Allow to cool at least to the point where it won't scorch your mouth. Eat with whipped cream and Mrs. Robinson's butterscotch caramel. Die.