firstly, it's totally and completely revised because:

a...i had only 1 c of Bisquick

b...i read it so fast i missed the "let rise for 1 hr" part

c...this is the sort of thing i tend to do

Thanks Tam! it's still deeeelish!

Tam's Foccacia (my revisions in red)

3/4 c warm water

1 packet (2 tbsp) yeast

2 3/4 c Bisquick Baking Mix (1 c Bisquick, 1 3/4 c flour)

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp parsley

1/3 c chopped red onion

3 cloves garlic, chopped

4 tbsp olive oil (Tam has TEASPOONS)

1/4 c Parmesan cheese

1) saute onions and garlic till soft

2) stir together water, yeast, oil, onions, garlic and spices

(Tam has only 1/4 c onion and 3 TSP of oil here)

3) place dough on surface sprinkled with with Bisquik...roll to coat and knead 20 times till smooth

4) lightly spray baking sheet with oil. Pat dough out to a 10 in circle...poke with fingers so small indents are over surface...Sprinkle remaining onions, parmesean and oil over top

5) COVER AND LET RISE 1 HOUR

6) bake in a preheated 400*F oven for 15-17 mins till golden brown on top

7) let cool on rack, serve warm or cooled completely

WONDERFUL!!! and if i would have followed Tam's original instructions, it would have been even better!

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before i say anything, i tell you all that i LOVE to watch Rachael in any of her 3-4 shows...she is so funny, and i believe that she is very real in all her on-screen shenanigans...and i don't blame her for "cashing in" on her fame. She has worked hard for many years and deserves some back now.

BUT...i bought the premier issue of her new bi-monthly magazine and well...she's alot more fun on TV than on paper. I found that with a few of her cookbooks also. She's very much a visual person (so am i) and i felt that , while the magazine itself has TONS of reipes (74 to be exact), some good tips, etc, it's really just another foodie mag. Now, as a severe foodie, i'll read anything that has an old chewed up piece of gum on the front cover (there MUST be a use for  that somewhere!) and i usually don't "do" the celeb mags, but since i really like Rachael (whose wedding videos were on ET last night, and i cried!) i thought i'd grab it.

Another downer (IMO) is the recipes themselves. Many of them are way too fussy for an everyday thing...okay, she JUST got married and has no kids yet...and she will usually say on the shows that if you don't have xyz, you can use abc or whatever...but sometimes there's just no way us normal non-TV poersonalities can be buying Truffle Oil or some other such thing...and you KNOW that if there's Truffle Oil inthe recipe, there ain't no subbing that with something else. Or there's just WAY too many ingrediants to get ready in 30 minutes, when you have been teaching, laundering, shaving chins, etc all day long...again, i REALLY like her shows and most of her 30 minute meals i have found doable (even if my pickyune family wouldn't eat any of it)

So, it's pretty. It has a really cool pull out menu/grocery list for 7 days (only one meal per day though) and amazingly not too many ads. It was $3.99, and was my splurge for the week (along with 3 cartons of Ben and Jerry's, but again, i digress) But unless i see some recipes that i really like while standing in the check out line (OH COME ON NOW!!! we all do it!) i don't think i'll be a regular buyer...and i really think that as an avid viewer, i should have been invited to  the Italian Castle she got married at...i'm a tad insulted

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this is a great easy dough, makes nice breadstix too...since Annie asked for it

enough for 2 large round pizzas or one round and one rectangle (for those of us with only one round pan) or a bazillion breadstix

2 pks yeast (about 4 tbsp)

1 3/4 c warm water

2 tbsp honey

1 c white flour (you can use whole wheat in the recipe, but the sponge works best with all white)

mix this together and let sponge (get all puffy) for about 10 mins while you get together the following:

5-6 c flour, white, whole wheat or any combo you prefer

1/4 c olive oil

tbsp salt

about 1 1/2 tbsp each of following:

basil

parsley

oregano

add oil, salt , spices and 1 cup flour to the sponge and mix

well...add the flour by cupful till a good dough forms then turn it out and knead it for about 7 mins, till it's just wonderful (all you bread makers know what i mean ) nice and soft and not wet

oil 2 glass bowls, split the dough in half and let rise about an hour

preheat oven to 450*F

for pizza:

lightly oil the pan(s) you are using, unless you are blessed with stones

plop the dough out of the bowl right into the middle of the pan(s)

carefully spread it out to the edges of the pan(s) using hands and fingers only...don't roll! this is a wonderfully soft dough and will behave! let them rise a little while oven is heating

bake nekked crusts for 10 mins

lightly coat again with olive oil (if you have a sprayer, this is a great time to use it)

top with sauce cheese, hamsters, whatever you like

bake another 10-12 mins, till cheese is bubbly and slightly brown

breadstix:

flatten dough out on a board...cut into as many small hunks as you can get, then roll each hunk into a snake...place on lightly oiled cookie sheet fairly close together...may need 10 cookie sheets

let rise, covered with a dish towel, while oven heats to 450*F

bake about 15 mins, depending on amount of crunch you desire

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i promised.....someone!  that i would post a chili recipe today, sorry i can't remember who it was (is this a sign that i read way too many blogs??????)

and JenIG, if you see this, just pass it to Coie

**disclaimer**

you can make this either meatless or beanless...just bulk up on peppers if you choose that

Chili
1 large onion, chopped
1 green and 1 red bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled
(rough measures follow)
1/4 to 1/2 cup chili powder, depending on your heat tolerance
a good handful (about 3 tbsp) oregano
same for Adobo, with the blue top
about 1 1/2 tsp salt (cut if you like, but make sure you add a tiny bit)
about 1/2-3/4 tsp crushed black pepper
2 bay leaves
(SECRET INGREDIENT) 1/2 tsp-3/4 tsp cinnamon

(extra secret ingredient) 1 tsp cocoa powder (NOT NESQUICK, real baking cocoa!)
2 lbs ground beef (can use less, but this much makes it hardy)
1 double size can, or 2 15 oz cans kidney beans (or whatever bean turns you on!)
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

in a large deep pot, cook till nice and soft, the onions and peppers and garlic
then add your beef and cook till just brown, then add the spices, and let them cook in for about 3-5 mins
add the tomatoes and beans, give it a good old stir and let it cook to death!
I LIKE to cook mine for 3-5 hrs, but i'll settle for 1 & 1/2 if i have to compromise

serve with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and corn bread

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okay, i picked myself up off the floor after reading about Jen's brocolli soup, bestest in the Northern South hemisphere...and i told her, NOT That i felt she couldn't make one herself, but she needed my lasanga. As i live in NorthEastern PA (that IS an actual place) and nowhere near the esteeemed state of TN, i'll post my recipe here and Jen can follow it and claim that she indeed made lasagna (or Coie can )

firstly, we need a batch of marinara:

3 28 oz cans of tomato puree

1 large onion chopped

3-5 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped (never too much garlic)

olive oil

salt

pepper

basil

parsley

oregano

in a big ole dutch oven type pot, heat about 2 tbsp of olive oil, then saute the onions and garlic till opaque (that means don't brown them)

add the 3 cans of puree and abaout 1 can of water, depending how thick you personally like your marinara...this varies greatly among Italians, so i won't comment (THICK) which is better...

add the spices to your taste, which is susually about 1-2 tbsp of each herb and about 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper, but who measures except Jen anyhow? Stir it all together, and when it starts bubbling, turn it down to a high simmer and let it cook....well, at least 2 hrs, but again, that's another one of those Italian things and again i won't comment (3-4 hrs) how long is better...do stir it about every 45 minutes with a hunk of crusty Italian bread close by to taste test it

now, after you have dutifully cleaned the kitchen from all the splatters of puree, you can start getting the lasanga fixings ready to put together...you'll need:

1 box lasagna noodles (unless you are a TRUE Italian and make your own pasta, in which case, why are you reading this? go play with your pasta machine!)

2 lb container of ricotta cheese

2-3 eggs

1/2 c of grated Parmesean cheese

1/4 c dried parsley

8 oz of mozzerella cheese, grated (pssst! buy it already shredded in a bag!)

salt and pepper to taste (see above in the sauce recipe)

now, here's the big controversy...you DON'T need to cook the noodles! you don't even need to PAR BOIL them! but, if you insist on cooking them, well, go right ahead, just don't  tell me  that you did, alright? we can still be friends...

mix up the ricotta, Parmesaen, eggs, parsley, mozzerealla, S&P

so, in a nice deep 9x13 pan, start layering, first with about 2 ladels full of sauce, then 3 or 4 noodles, more sauce, a layer of cheese (this is also where , if you want to, add some cooked ground beef, sausage, hamster, whatever) and start again with the noodles, sauce, cheese. final layer of noodles, topped with lots of sauce, then sprinkle some extra Parmesean on top (and mozzerella if you happen to have bought more than one bag of it)

bake it on 375*F (i don't live in Europe so i don't have any metric knowledge whatsoever) for an hour...take it out of the oven while you bake a nice store bought garlic bread-in-a-bag thingie, this gives it time to set (and don't get me started on why no one in NEPA seems to know what REAL Italian bread is) so when you try to scoop out that first pipin' hot slice of lasagna, it doesn't all goop out on your plate (although, we always ate it no matter what, because Italians love their lasagna, it's even good cold for breakfast)

so i hope that sooner or later JenIg's family will be enjoying a piping hot lasagna, free from glass shards and burned steamed brocolli...it may not survive a nuke, but it's darn good on a cool day!

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