Braised Fennel and White Beans (with Potato)

I searched for fennel recipes to use veggies from my CSA and came across this one for Braised Fennel and White Beans.
I followed the recipe except  I added some potatoes (in order for Ebon to eat any of it), braising greens, and I forgot to add the butter and red wine vinegar at the end. I used a vegetable stock that I made. It took a bit longer than I thought (because of the potatoes) but turned out pretty tatsy. I think the butter and vinegar would have added to the flavor.

Pear Crisp

A coworker gave me a bag of pears, so I wanted to figure out how to use them. I searched for different recipes and landed on two. This Pear Crisp recipe and a pear muffin recipe.

I followed the recipe for the pear crisp except for using a smaller dish which was a bit of a mistake because the crisp part didn't stay too crispy. I thought it turned out pretty good. The crumble on top is a little sweet, so I might tone that down the next time. The first bit tasted a bit like apple crisp, but after letting it linger in my mouth a little longer, I could taste the pears. I had my crisp with vanilla ice cream, that was quite yummy!

Chocolate cake- "best ever"

I made this chocolate cake  for Leela's birthday. I and many other people liked it. Ebon, however, still is not satisfied with my chocolate cake making :(.

Peach and Blueberry Cobbler

We had some peaches that had to be used so I asked some friends what I could make with 5+ peaches. Someone sent me this Peach Cobbler Recipe. I thought it had a lot of sugar, but I decided to try it anyway.
Putting it together was pretty easy - no stirring :) I also added some blueberries, probably about 1/2 cup or so, since I didn't think I had quite enough peaches (I removed the skins and pits).
It turned out pretty good. It was sweet enough and all that sugar made the dough/cobbler part nice and crispy. The cinnamon and nutmeg add good flavors. I might add some almond extract to the cobbler part next time, but I would definitely make this again, unless I find an equally tasty replacement that uses less butter and sugar.

Ratatouille - roasted

I made this Ratatouille last night and it turned out great! It was a bit sweet from caramelizing. I played a bit with the proportions in terms of what I had on hand - I didn't use mushrooms. I peeled the eggplant (Japanese) and salted it to let it sweat for about 20 min, after which I rinsed and squeezed out as much liquid as I could. I didn't read the instruction that the basil was supposed to be added after roasting, but I think having it in during roasting added flavor.
I served it with some penne and having some Parmesan cheese was delicious. I will definitely make this again!

Chakalaka

We first tried Chakalaka at a bed and breakfast outside of Cape Town, South Africa. Our host made it for breakfast and served it with flat bread (similar to injera) and scrambled eggs. I've tried to make Chakalaka before, but thought it was a flop flavor-wise.
I used the recipe here as a guide. I put my modified ingredient list below:
3 tbsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
~1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp  curry powder (maharaja curry powder from India)
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
5 large carrots, (unpeeled but scrubbed and topped and tailed) grated
2 tbsp tomato purée
400g can chopped  tomatoes
2 winter savory, leaves only
400g can baked beans
Salt and pepper to taste

I think I added some water so it wasn't too thick. We had this for dinner with bread/toast.
There was quite a bit, so I would probably do a half recipe in the future.
Also, I chopped the onions and peppers but used the food processor for the carrots. I think I'll throw everything in the food processor for chopping next time. Smaller pieces are better for this dish for me.

This time, it must have been the spices, but I thought it turned out great! I'm going to have a hard time finding the right curry powder again, but I'll keep trying!

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

I have been struggling to cook during the week because after we get home from work and daycare pick-up, 1) I have very little energy to decide what to make and actually cook and 2) time is short. By the time I cook something and we eat it, it can be way past Leela's bedtime. I'm trying to plan things ahead of time, so I looked up making baked potatoes in the slow cooker. I found a couple different "recipes" but I went with one that said coat the potatoes in oil, cover in foil and cook on low for 8-10 hours. So I did that in the morning before leaving for work - six potatoes with oil in foil in our crock pot. When I got back at the end of the day, they weren't cooked enough - still a little bit hard. So I'm going to call it a fail.

I don't think I'd want to try a weekday high temperature setting. The recipe for the high setting was to cook for 6 hours so I think the potatoes would get overcooked for our 10+ hours away.