MEAL OF THE MONTH: SEPTEMBER

Roasted Cauliflower Soup With Bacon & Thyme

2 heads cauliflower
1/4 cup olive oil
1 quart chicken broth
1 pint half and half
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
10 slices apple wood smoked bacon (or 3 slices country ham) minced & cooked
Pinh of white paper
kosher salt

Heat your oven to 400 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or foil lightly misted with cooking spray.

Cut out and discard the core of each head of cauliflower and then cut off the heads into large florets.

Drizzle florets with olive oil and toss to evenly coat.  Next, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of salt and toss again.

Arrange florets in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes.  Flip the florets and roast for an additional 30 minutes until deeply caramelized and golden.

Transfer roasted florets to blender and add 2 cups of broth.  Puree and then add half and half.  Puree for an additional 3 minutes or until smooth.  At this point the puree will be very thick.  With the blender running, add the remaining both, thyme, and white pepper.  Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly.

The soup can be transferred to a saucepan and gently heated.  It can also be refrigerated and reheated easily.  The flavor is best when allowed to rest overnight.


Gluten-Free Nutella Cheesecake Pots
(This recipe is in grams so use a kitchen scale)
Makes 6-8 ramekins.

Crust:

150g gluten-free graham crackers
50-60g butter, melted

Cheesecake:

390g cream cheese, room temperature
50g light brown sugar
90g Nutella
40g chocolate chips

In a food processor, pulse the butter and graham cracker until they form crumbs.

Scoop spoonfuls of the crust mixture into small ramekins or mugs.  Press down lightly, but not as much as you would a normal cheesecake.

Clean food processor thoroughly.

Next, pulse together the cream cheese, sugar, and Nutella until smooth.  Take a taste and add additional Nutella if you wish.

Add chocolate chips and pulse until ground into fine bits.

Divide the cheese cake between the ramekins.  Cover and chill for six hours or until set.

Remove from fridge and let set on the counter for 20 minutes before serving.

(Thanks to The Gluten Free Scallywag for this epic recipe.)

It's that good!

Roll The Tape, Timmy!

Here are a few EXCITING new uses for tape!!!

1) Electrical tape comes in a variety of colors these days, so when your are having guests over use your collection to tag drink cups to avoid awkward mix ups!

2) When you tighten your belt does the tail hang low? If it does, try some double sided "fashion" tape to keep it in place.

3) Protect your plaster!  When hanging your next family photo or piece of artwork place a piece of scotch tape on the spot where the nail will be driven.  It will prevent cracking and chipping.

4) Did you eat your Triscuits over your keyboard and now it is full of crumbs and stuff?  Try sliding a long piece of transparent tape between the rows of keys.  The sticky side will pick up dust and food particles in a jiff!

5) Does your luggage look like everyone else's at the airport?  Help make baggage claim easier by adding a unique strip of colorful or patterned duct tape to your bags to help them stick out!

6) Next time you have spare screws left over from assembling your latest IKEA find, try storing them between layers of clear packing tape.  You can even label your packets to make finding them in the future easier!

Bonus Random Tip:  Connie was trying to pour the glitter from our glitter station back into its respective containers.  It took her a week to organize the particles into color groups and she didn't want to mess up her work.  The office was fresh out of funnels that day so Wendell (always willing to be Connie's mindless slave) quickly folded over and rolled a piece of aluminum foil from our foil station into a gleaming, silver funnel!  Connie was thrilled and the next three months of glitter sorting was avoided.  Thank you Wendell!  We know what a snit Connie gets in when she is assigned glitter sorting duties.