It’s Friday! Is anyone else happy about that, or is it just me? I’m giving you two great recipes today. One is a “bake” and one is a “cook”. Sort of.  Both are delicious and quick.

I’m heading back up to Indiana on Sunday to speak at two classes at College Girl/College Guy’s school on Monday. One is for an E-Commerce class and the other is for a Computer Systems class. I did this last year and had a lot of fun doing it.  (Plus, I get the added benefit of seeing my two favorite kids again!) I’ll be back in to Loopy on Wednesday, which means no blog on Monday. Feel free to email Susan (susan AT theloopyewe DOT com) or give us a call if you need anything while I’m gone. Thank goodness for the Elves – they’ll be here and will continue to get your orders out in a timely manner. They’re the best!

On to the recipes – The Cauliflower recipe is from Elves Anna and Mary. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie? Well, I told you’d I’d make it and let you know. And I’m letting you know. YUM!

Creamy Cauliflower Gratin

1 large head cauliflower
4 tablespoons butter (divided)
2 tablespoons flour
2 heavy cups of whipping cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
6 ounces fontina, gruyere, or white cheddar cheese shredded
2 cups bread crumbs

Cut cauliflower into florets.  Place in 9×13 microwave safe dish.  Add 3 tablespoons of water.  Cover  loosely and microwave on high for 8-10 minutes., stirring halfway through, until crisp-tender.  Drain and set aside.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and whisk in flour until smooth.,  Gradually whip in cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Microwave on high for 4-6 minutes, whisking every 2 minutes, until thick and smooth.  Stir in cheese until melted.

Put cauliflower in 9X13 greased pan and pour sauce over.    Microwave remaining butter and toss with bread crumbs.  Sprinkle over cauliflower.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.

Note – you can make ahead and freeze, but just don’t add bread crumbs until just before baking.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie from Leigh Anne

1/4 lb. butter (1 stick), melted and cooled
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, well beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup walnuts or pecans (I left these out)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
(0r use the mint flavored chips, for a different flav0r)
9″ unbaked pie shell

Mix all ingredients and pour into the pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. (Watch the top. If it starts to brown too quickly, put a piece of foil over it while it finishes baking.)

Serve warm with ice cream.

Thanks to  Seanna Lea for posting about Smitten Kitchen in her blog comments from Wednesday. I’ve added that to my list of great recipe sites, too. Anyone have any others we all need to know about? Feel free to leave them in the comments.

Have a great weekend and get lots of knitting done!

Sheri workingonasockinanewDyeDreamsyarnbaseandIreallylikeit

Besides being a knitter or crocheter, are you a Cook or a Baker? The definition for Cook is “one who cooks” (that’s so helpful.).  The definition for the process is: “1. To prepare, as food, by boiling, roasting, baking, broiling, etc.; to make suitable for eating, by the agency of fire or heat.” And Baker? “One who bakes.” And: “1. To prepare, as food, by cooking in a dry heat, either in an oven or under coals, or on heated stone or metal; as, to bake bread, meat, apples. Note: Baking is the term usually applied to that method of cooking which exhausts the moisture in food more than roasting or broiling; but the distinction of meaning between roasting and baking is not always observed.”  (Obviously Loopy’s dietary needs are simple – no cooking or baking necessary.)

I always thought of cooking as the daily meal kinds of things, and baking as the breads and dessert kinds of things. At any rate, I keep finding good recipes that I am ready to try, so I must be gearing up to get back into more regular meal preparations. Many of you know that we are experiencing the Empty Nest Syndrome for the first time this year, and one of the things that has suffered is the baking/cooking. (Hereafter known as B/C). It’s just hard to get excited about preparing meals for just the two of us, especially when we both get home around 6 pm. (That’s another reason why I am a fan of crockpots.) I have two blogs that I love, for recipes. The first is done by a gal who committed to crockpotting her family meals for an entire year last year. There are some great options on her site, and I’m trying her Buffalo Wing Soup next. I’ll let you know how it goes. The other blog I love for recipes is done by my friend Leigh Anne in Portland. She not only has great recipes, but she also has a gift for “staging” (unlike me) and every photo she takes to go with the recipe, makes you want to whip it right up. I’m thinking I need to try her Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie soon.  And while both sites have what I would consider “cooking” and “baking” recipes, I tend to go to the crockpot blog when I want meals and to Leigh Anne’s blog when I want desserts and sweets.   Check them out – I know you’ll find some great new recipes.

Here at Loopy Central, we are buried in 400 Sock Club boxes today (the great majority of them going out the door in a few minutes – thanks to all of you who paid so promptly!).  We decided that things were running “amok” – such a crazy day.  But then I looked “amok” up on dictionary.com (because apparently it’s a day for definitions) and this is what it said: “Noun: A psychic disturbance characterized by depression followed by a manic urge to murder.” Or you can spell it the other way: amuck and you get “in a frenzy to do violence or kill.”  So we’re no longer talking about things running amok/amuck.  Things are just fine here.  Busy, crazy, but fine. Really.

Sheri whothinksB/Cwouldn’tbesobadifitdidn’tinvolvegroceryshoppingfirst

Good News: I had a great birthday weekend!  Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments and well wishes in emails, on the blog, on Ravelry, and on Facebook. I don’t think I have ever been wished a Happy Birthday so many times. (And it did the trick – it was a nice day!)
Bad News: All of that birthday celebrating meant not a lot of Loopy work got done over the weekend. Ok, not ANY Loopy work got done over the weekend. Consequently, today has been overloaded with To-Do’s.

Good News: We always have chocolate available here at The Loopy Ewe. Some of you have been here and seen the big wooden bowl of Loopy kisses, which is always filled.
Bad News: Not all of the chocolate that appears here is real. No matter how cute it is. (Oh, but seriously – don’t you just want to bite off those bunny ears? I wish it was real chocolate…)

Good News: We have most of the Sock Club boxes all packed up and ready to ship out, so watch for your email invoices in the next couple of days, if you’re in the Sock Club. There are so many boxes that we’re making a new wall divider here at The Loopy Ewe.
Bad News: All of the spots in our Sock Club are filled up for this year. (I know you knew that.  But I needed a “Bad” to go along with that “Good”.)

Good News: I did get the Sneak Up Snuck Up just now.  This week, check out: new 3 AM bags, Namaste Buddy Cases ( including our favorite Eggplant color), Dream in Color Smooshy, Fleece Artist 2/6 and Trail Socks, Wendy’s latest pattern (Catriona Knee Socks), Marie Mayhew’s latest pattern (Woolly Bunnies), Born to Knit patterns, and new Knitting Girl and Knitting Nerd Decals for your car.
Bad news: This company doesn’t have any Knitting Guy decals available. At this point.

Good News: This cute red Mini Cooper comes with it, when you purchase the $3 Knitting Nerd or Knitting Girl decal!
Bad News: Just kidding. I wanted to see if you were paying attention.

Good News: The work day is almost done, which means I’m heading home soon. And there are leftovers in the fridge, which means I don’t have to make dinner tonight. I love nights like that. Fortunately, WH is ok with that, too.
Bad News: I had to have a few Loopy kisses to tide me over in the meantime. I wonder if it’s possible to get a bowl full of fake Loopy kisses?

Sheri didyourweekendproduceanygoodnews/badnews?