From Our Kitchen: More Pioneer Woman

I have rarely used a cookbook as much as the one Tricia got me for Christmas this year - Pioneer Woman Cooks. It's good homestyle cooking that is nicely illustrated with pictures of each step.

I recently made Chicken Spaghetti.
It turned out to be similar to one of my favorite chicken casserole recipes that I've been making for years. No wonder it sounded so good!

One thing that was a little different was pimentos in the recipe. Remember one of my last posts about how the date was under-appreciated? Well, I was all excited hoping to say the same thing about pimentos. I mean, first of all, look at them in this cute jar....
...plus, they are the pretty orange filling of one of my all-time favorite snacks: olives. But, that's where the excitement stops. They are just a pretty face. I really thought they'd have more flavor, but was disappointed to find they are pretty neutral. I'm guessing Pioneeer Woman chose to use them in this recipe for color only. Oh well, live & learn, right? (Next time I think I'll use red pepper instead.)

But, they DID look pretty nice here all chopped up with green pepper and onion...
...and peeking out of the final product which by the way was quite delicious!
Maybe a week or so later, I made Simple, Perfect Enchiladas from the same cookbook. I usually make enchiladas with the recipe on the enchilada sauce can (and with chicken), but let me tell you, the few extra steps in this recipe were well worth it. The thicker sauce, the green chilies in the ground beef, and the fresh cilantro on top...mmmmm...

And you know what else made these dishes so tasty? The very lovely baking dish that I cooked them in. Don't you just love it? My sister Stacy carried it in her backpack all the way across the country to give it to me for my birthday. It's from Bennington Potters - one of my favorite places to shop in Burlington. I can't wait to use the matching pie plate I got for Christmas - don't you worry - I'll share the pics of course.

So there you have it. A few more bits of deliciousness coming out of our kitchen these days.