A weekend of culinary madness

It feels like it’s been nothing but cook cook cook all weekend. Which isn’t bad. It’s just an observation. Here’s a list of items made:

• Tuna casserole
  I don’t know why I did this, but on Friday I had an overwhelming urge to make tuna casserole. I’ve never done it before. Hell, I don’t think I’ve even eaten it before. But something was driving me to make it and who am I to argue? Naturally, I couldn’t make your standard tuna casserole. First off, it used whole wheat pasta (which apparently prevents the use of egg noodles as they don’t appear to exist in a whole wheat version, at least not at the Whole Foods in Petaluma). Secondly, I used canned potato leek soup rather than the traditional cream of mushroom. Fungi? Intentionally placed into my food? I’ll pass, thankyouverymuch. Overall, it turned out quite well. A little on the dry side (perhaps two cans of soup next time), but it was tasty and warm and that’s what the doctor ordered.
• Butternut Squash
  Baked. Straight up. Pure and simple. For use in breakfast muffins (see below).

• Dulce de Leche
  Take a can (or two, in this case) of sweetened condensed milk. Remove label. Place in pot. Cover with water. Simmer for three hours (keeping water level above top of can). Let cool completely. Open. Enjoy. Actually, don’t enjoy quite yet as the divine caramelly goodness is for dessert on Sunday. Oh, and if anyone ever tells you that there’s nothing scary at all about boiling a can of thick liquid, you go right ahead and spit in their eye as the liar that they are. It’s completely freaky boiling a container (or two) which could literally go ballistic at any moment. But with a little care and attention it all ends happily.

• Apple Pie
  I made a pie last week and, yes, it was pretty good. But not good enough. So this week I’ve tried again. So far, it seems promising. We’ll see how it actually went this evening at dessert. Oh, and by the way, the dulce de leche is for drizzling over the pie. Yeah, I know. It’s insult to injury. But still, it hurts soooo good.
• Tagine of chicken with preserved lemons and olives
  The main course for dinner tonight. I’ve never made this dish before (so, naturally, I’m feeding it to others), but judging from the smells coming from the kitchen I think it’ll be only very fantastic. I even made the preserved lemons myself (back in March).
• Beet salad with anise seed vinagrette
  What’s in that bag on the bottom shelf of the fridge? Oh. Beets. Drat. I’d forgotten about those. Do beets go with tagine? Do they even have beets in Morocco? Do I care? We’re having beets tonight before I forget about them again. Thankfully I already know that my guests like beets.
• Breakfast muffins
  The bi-weekly ritual of making breakfast muffins for the next two weeks. This week, they’ll be butternut squash and spice muffins. As you can see, I’ve been a little occupied this weekend and have yet to get to making this one. But it’s either make them or go without breakfast tomorrow, so you can be assured that I’ll wedge it in there somewhere.

Whew! Yes, I enjoy doing it but there’s no denying that cooking this much takes a lot outta a gal. And the washing up that it generates… Any volunteers to come be my kitchen lackey, washing all the dishes and I dirty them? No experience necessary.