Hmm, what do you do when you are leaving on vacation in two days and have 10 eggs, Gruyère and a big bundle of asparagus in the fridge? Frittata!

This is one of our favorite weekend breakfasts, except this time we made it for dinner. We had too few eggs (it called for 12) and too much asparagus, but it still turned out tasty as usual. When you bite into a pocket of Gruyère, it's heavenly.

Ingredients	Jonas thinking he's cute by cracking an egg with his teeth. More amusing is the following scene in which he rushes to the sink to spit and wash his mouth out, exclaiming, "That egg touched a chicken's butt!"
Chopped asparagus cooking on the stove	Asparagus, ham and gruyère frittata
Asparagus, ham and gruyère frittata

Recipe source: America's Test Kitchen

Jonas has been watching what he's eating the past few weeks, so today we decided to try a recipe from ATK's light cookbook.

(If you're not familiar with ATK's "schtick," they take popular recipes and experiment with them over and over in order to determine the very best way to prepare it in terms of time, ease of cooking and -- most importantly -- taste. In general, they do not sacrifice taste in favor of healthiness, so although they deigned to publish a light cookbook, the recipes inside should still taste pretty darned good.)

Spaghetti and meatballs is about as simple as it gets. The most arduous part is probably mixing the meat, spinach and herb mixture by hand, especially if you don't let the meat cool to room temperature first (agh! cold hands! cold hands!). After that, it's a snap: fry 'em up, cook the sauce, and there you go.

Julia modeling her new apron	Jonas rolling meatballs
Jonas looking decidedly mischievous	Yummy homemade meatballs, just out of the frying pan
Homemade tomato sauce	Light(er) spaghetti and meatballs with grated parmesan

Recipe source: America's Test Kitchen's The Best Light Recipe cookbook

Julia made these appetizers for a Leap Day library potluck, a recipe out of the book Simple 1-2-3 Appetizers.

Essentially, these are button mushroom caps stuffed with chopped hard-boiled egg, blue cheese, green onions, white wine, and paprika on top, and baked in the oven. They were really tasty when still warm, but I had to serve them somewhat chilled as I had no effective way of heating them halfway through the work day. They were still OK, but the flavors definitely didn't stand out as much.


Lame attempt at presentation points with cherry tomatoes :)

Recipe source: Simple 1-2-3 Appetizers

Julia found this cute recipe while looking for something fun to bring to work for Valentine's Day.

They turned out pretty well. The most important thing is to let them cool long enough that they can be removed neatly from the baking cups. If you start peeling them off too soon, bits of brownie will come away as well.

They were really tasty, too.


Cute heart brownies

Recipe source: Betty Crocker

It was time to try another of ATK's lasagna recipes. (We had tried the skillet lasagna some time ago.) This one went in the oven, and required a few more steps, but was ultimately a delicious success. We served it with a store-bought crusty herb bread.

Lasagna ingredients ready to go!	Julia plopping down ricotta dollops during lasagna assembly
Applying the finishing touches of mozzarella	Served with herb bread

Recipe source: America's Test Kitchen

This was another meal we saw being prepared on ATK and felt compelled to make immediately. The potatoes were simple and a snap. The loaf took considerably longer to prepare and bake, but the results were well worth the wait. Mouth-wateringly good.

This wire cooling rack is prepped and ready to receive a hot, glistening meat loaf	Julia crushing saltine crackers
Red bliss potatoes, halved and ready for the skillet	This will become the meat loaf glaze: ketchup, hot sauce, ground coriander, cider vinegar and brown sugar
Hot, glistening, juicy meat loaf, straight from the oven	Potatoes frying in the skillet

Recipe source: America's Test Kitchen

This shepherd's pie recipe is from Rachael Ray's "365" cookbook (see source below). It turned out pretty good, but it wasn't WOW! I should maybe have used more salt and pepper. I find it hard to believe all this food was considered only 4 servings!

Ingredients lined up in an orderly fashion	Julia frying up the turkey bacon while potatoes are on the boil
Everything into the skillet!	Smoky turkey shepherd's pie, just out of the oven and garnished with chives. The cooked egg mixed into the mashed potatoes is what causes it to brown on top.

Recipe source: Rachael Ray's 365 No Repeats: A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners

Tonight Julia decided to prepare recipe #1, Scramblewiches, from Rachael Ray's book 365: No Repeats -- A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners. It turned out pretty well, although the baguette probably should have been crisped a bit more during its initial visit to the oven. We each ate one, and there are still two left in the fridge for another meal.



The final product


Recipe source: Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats

I first tried this recipe out several years ago and it instantly became a family favorite. It is a sweet, tasty twist on traditional scalloped corn, being something of a scalloped corn/corn bread hybrid.

This morning I made it again to bring to Dad's for Easter.



Recipe source: Allrecipes.com