Day: August 7, 2012

First chapter, Meme

First Chapter, First Paragraph, Tuesday Intros #1

Tara

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So here’s a new-to-me meme. Diane over at Bibliophile by the Sea hosts it I’ve seen this one before but for whatever reason never joined up. But this week I’m reading a book that really sucked me in on the first page.

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Donald Ellyson tried to scream, but nothing happened. He had done a lot of reprehensible things in his fifty-five years, but this was not how he had expected to die – his throat sliced and hot blood running down the front of his parka. This was supposed to be the discovery of his life, the one that would legitimize him and land him at the top of the academic heap. But the moment of his greatest triumph had suddenly become the last moment he would ever know. And for what? Did his benefactors actually think he was going to stiff them?

Recipes

RECIPE: Spiral Stromboli

Tara

In an effort to expand my blogging, I am going to start sharing some great recipes that I find and try. Cooking is something I enjoy immensely. And it’s also something that I am doing more of now that Garrett is here. We are trying to save as much money as possible and eating out was one area where we made a cut. Plus I don’t want to be one of “those people” – you know, the parents who has a child screaming bloody murder in a restaurant driving everyone around them insane whereas they somehow ignore it. Sorry if you are one of “those people,” I just don’t want to have attention drawn to me.

So here’s a recipe I made recently:

Spiral Stromboli (makes 4 servings)

  • 1 tube refrigerated French bread
  • 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/4lb thinly sliced deli ham
  • 1/4lb thinly sliced deli salami
  • 1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers or 1 jar diced pimientos, drained
  • 1 tablespoon butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

  1. Unroll the dough and pat into a 14″ X 12″ rectangle. Sprinkle with mozzarella and cheddar cheese to within 1/2″ of edges; top with meat and red peppers. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a short side; seal seam and tuck ends under.
  2. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Brush with butter; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Slice with a serrated knife.

Recipe Source: Taste of Home

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Personal Review: I had trouble with the dough unrolling into the rectangle. I think next time I make this recipe I will use refrigerated pizza dough just for more ease. I’m also considering adding some pizza sauce, but it doesn’t need it at all. I also omitted the red peppers or pimientos and instead substituted pepperoni. Another thing that I experienced was the bread being doughy in the middle, completely uncooked actually. (You can even see it in the picture if you look close enough). I baked it for 25 minutes and it was quite thick, so increasing the baking time will probably fix that issue.

Overall, this was an extremely easy and quick meal to prepare. It was also yummy. This will be making its way into our recipe rotation quite often in the future.