The Stinky White Broccoli

I have often overlooked cauliflower as the stinky white broccoli type vegetable.  Despite it's snowy white appearance, I never choose it on a veggie tray.  However after hearing that roasted cauliflower is just 'so delicious' even for those that don't have a natural love affair with it, and seeing a recipe for a macaroni and cauliflower cheese bake (not to mention the cauliflower dying a slow death in the fridge), I went for it.
I shook up a recipe from Jamie Oliver, mixed it with the way my mother in law makes cheesy potatoes at Easter, and viola.

Here's how it goes....

Cut up a head of cauliflower, lay it out on a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, roast at 375 for 30mnts or so....until golden.

In a large bowl mix together approximately 8oz. cheddar, 4oz parmesan (although I only had about 2 so used about 1/4 cup mozzarella too), a handful of chopped parsley, a box of (under al dente because it will continue to cook while baking and you don't want soggy pasta...eeeww.) cooked macaroni, and 2/3 to 1 cup sour cream. 

Once the cauliflower is roasted, stir that in too. If at this point it looks a little too sticky, add a bit more sour cream and a tablespoon or two of milk if desired.  Because your pasta is under al dente it needs moisture when baking, so you don't want it too sticky or dry.

Pour into a buttered 9x13, place in 375 oven covered with aluminum foil for 20 minutes.  Uncover and continue baking until bubbly and golden.

It was yummy.
Next, roasted cauliflower, naked......with some bacon.  Everything tastes better with bacon.

Oh Honeycomb

With the eldest gone for the weekend, 'daddy and the girls' went on adventure after adventure.  Saturday entailed three local festivals filled with cardboard swords, enchanted forests, brass bands, food trucks, local brews (of the yeast and root kind), and an evening of crawfish, meatballs, and Bannock with honey butter.  

Sunday was restful....in that we only did some catch up grocery shopping, checked on our two gardens, and went to the farmer's market.  And that brings me to what I want to share--honeycomb.  Ever tried it?  The actual comb. 

First let me say that buying real local honey is amazing.  It's nothing like the kind that you find at generic grocery store X from some generic company Y--that quite possibly imports it from China.  And I have heard that it is better to use honey with children (obviously over the age of 1) that comes from local beekeepers as the bees have been in contact with local vegetation which is something that the young persons body is 'used to'. 

So back to the market. We needed some honey to sweeten the rhubarb that our 6 year old wanted (rhubarb in August you say?  I know, I was skeptical too.) The woman at the honey stand asked if we had ever tried honeycomb.  We had not, and needed some guidance. 

So last night we gave it a whirl.  A water cracker, blue cheese, and a small 'slice' of honeycomb.  My 'dear' was a little iffy, seeing as he is not so big on sweets (for shame) I wasn't surprised. So I made him another one heavier on the blue which he found much more satisfying.  

It is pretty amazing how much honey is actually in there!  It looks so solid, and is very dense and heavy.  And when you slice off just a small piece, the honey just oozes out. Sweet oozing honey.  So good.

He also mentioned that there was no loss in texture when eating honeycomb, which I agree-but enjoy.  We then tried it with goat cheese which was yummy too.  

Then breakfast came and it was placed on peanut butter toast much to my delight.

The little ladies and I even stopped for a donut while out and about and I might have smeared a bit on a plain donut when we got home.

Now I might just have to look up a recipe for bannock because that was really yummy too--and I can use more honey.