What’s Cookin’: February 2021

Here’s a fun fact: Long before I became a photographer, I had an entire list of things I wanted to be. Somewhere in there, I wanted to be a chef and even applied for a culinary school in Oregon. Of course, there were all kinds of reasons that kept me from leaving the area, so I never pursued the chef lifestyle.

When I got married the first time, we were $20 food budget in NorCal BROKE. Boxed alfredo became our “fancy dinner” and 99% of things were eaten from a box or can. It wasn’t until after my divorce and being diagnosed with a preservative allergy that I ever routinely cracked a cook book.

COVID & Cooking Goals

With the almost year long shutdown and quickly tiring of food served through a window into my car, something had to happen. I’d fallen in love (like most people) with the Gaines family on Fixer Upper. So when Joanna released her cookbooks, I’d snatched them up. Last summer I cracked open the Magnolia Table Volume 1 for her banana bread recipe. From there, I went into a tail spin cooking my way through the books.

I decided this year, I’d make it all the way through both volumes of Magnolia Table. So far, I’ve cooked about half a dozen or so of her meals. I technically started in January, but didn’t start photographing things until this month. Therefore, I’m rolling the two into one. (Rolling? Get it? Haha!).

January 20 – Lucy’s Peanut Butter Brownies (Vol. 2: Page 277)

If you want a rich, decadent brownie that’s piled high with peanut butter and frosting: This is going to be your go to. However, don’t be fooled thinking this brownie is a quick afternoon goodie. It took me about 2 hours total from start to finish. But that wait time was SO worth it.

January 31 – Bobo’s Classic Gravy (Vol. 1: Page 21)

Disclaimer: I’m a gravy SNOB when it comes to a good thick sausage gravy. I’ve been bugging my mom for years to write down her recipe. Unfortunately she doesn’t have one. She just makes it from scratch “sorta the same way” every time. So I was really excited to try this recipe with fingers crossed it would be as good as my mom’s.

The bad news: it wasn’t. BUT it came REALLY CLOSE. I’d personally add some paprika and chili powder, because it lacked a little flavor even with the extra pepper I put in it. It’ll definitely be made again in the future; next time with the biscuits from volume one.

January 31 – Mrs. Gail’s Chicken & Fettuccine Alfredo (Vol. 1: Page 218)

Remember my story above about the boxed alfredo? You can bet I haven’t TOUCHED alfredo since we could afford real food in 2008. However, Jake loves alfredo and mentioned he wanted it for dinner. I may have wrinkled my nose, but I searched the cookbooks anyway. We’d gotten the kitchenaid pasta attachments for our wedding, and the kids love getting to make fresh pasta with me.

This alfredo is a game changer. The thick, deliciously cheesy sauce sticks to everything: the noodles, the chicken, and even the plate. Evan may have licked his plate clean once the noodles were gone. Heck, I think Jake did too. My alfredo hating heart has forever been changed by this one recipe… and I may have made it again in February too.

February 8 – Weeknight Salmon (Vol. 2: Page 235)

We bought a half steer last year, and used some of the meat to trade friends for other bulk buys they’d gotten. One such trade resulted in a decent amount of salmon fillets (or non-fish as Gracie calls it). Having inventoried our freezer, I searched for salmon recipes. The weeknight salmon with baby new potatoes and fresh dill was a perfect (and quick!) meal for our family. We’ve actually made the potatoes more than once this month. The only child who wasn’t a fan was Gracie, and she ended up snagging some spaghetti-os instead.

The salmon was incredible and the butter in the recipe kept it from drying out. Unfortunately, Jake was unable to find fresh dill so I substituted dry dill and it worked out just fine.

February 9 – Steak Tacos with Mexican Crema (Vol. 2: Page 248) and Homemade Tortillas (Vol. 2: Page 31)

Just like the homemade pasta, my kids had an absolute BLAST making homemade tortillas. I now have a tortilla press on my list of things I need to buy and we’re probably never going back to store bought tortillas again. (Don’t tell Jake, but the whole lot of store bought we had frozen… may have ended up in the trash this week). Emi and Gracie actually took over the cooking on this one, and I got kicked out of the kitchen. The end result was a beautifully tasty family dinner that was cooked by the whole family. It may not have ended up anything like the original recipe but it was delicious. And a memory I never want to forget.

February 11 – Gaines’ Family Chili (Vol. 1: Page 256)

We might be a bit snobbish about our chili too. This recipe was incredibly easy and quick to make. Perfect for a weeknight meal. The only thing we weren’t super thrilled about was it needed a bit more flavor. This may have been my fault as we don’t eat a lot of processed foods, so we left off the fritos. But a few pinches of paprika and chili powder really gave this meal what we thought it missed. It’s a definite make again with a few tweaks!

February 15 – Cheese Dip (Vol. 2: Page 56)

My mom joined in on the fun and we made February 15th a homeschool cooking class. She brought over her new Pampered Chef Pretzel kit and I set to making the cheese sauce from volume 2. It was so good, I may or may not have ended up eating it with a spoon. And when my internet based broccoli cheese soup flopped, I just dumped the rest of the cheese sauce in it to make it edible. We will be making the cheese sauce again very soon!

February 15 – Braided Loaf (Vol. 2: Page 51)

I’ve made this braided loaf a few times. It’s one of the first recipes I tried out of the cookbooks. I wasn’t super thrilled with it when I served it with soup, but the loaf is PERFECT for Disneyland’s PCH Grill Peanut Butter Banana French Toast. One of these days I’ll share all those things I’ve made too.

February 18 – Braised Short Ribs (Vol. 2: Page 239) and Homemade Gnocchi (Vol. 2: Page 34)

Halfway through making this recipe I was TIRED. Blame it on being 25 weeks pregnant and choosing a recipe that required standing for quite a long time. The ribs themselves weren’t a huge issue, as most of their cook time was just simmering. It was the standing and cutting the gnocchi that got me. I should have sat down. While I was making it, I mentioned to my mom that I wasn’t entirely sure it was worth all the work.

Then I finished the meal and taste tested the gnocchi in some of the beef gravy. Boy was I wrong! I could have eaten the entire pot of gnocchi covered in the gravy and skipped the rest of the meal. I honestly don’t even know if there was any left at the end. My kids weren’t super thrilled, but Jake sure loved this one.

February 19 – Chicken Pot Pie (Vol. 1: Page 197) and homemade pie crust (Vol. 2: Page 23)

This recipe may be my absolute favorite so far. Granted, I have this strange inability to follow a recipe perfectly, and tend to substitute things. In this case, I substituted the canned crescent rolls for Joanna’s scratch made pie crust. The substitution was totally worth it! And better yet, we have enough leftovers for at least two more meals.

Multiple Dates – Afterschool Banana Bread (Vol. 1: Page 69)

We probably made this recipe weekly (or bi-weekly at the very least) because the kids apparently didn’t like bananas anymore. I buy two bunches weekly, but for some reason they just didn’t get eaten this month. The Afterschool Banana Bread always goes fast in our house, and we’ve added chocolate chips on occasion for extra yum. It’s a well loved recipe here.

Multiple Dates – Granola Bars (Vol. 2: Page 313)

In an effort to use up the massive amount of dried cranberries we get in the kids’ lunches, I decided to make some granola bars. They’re incredibly delicious and the perfect hiking snack. My kids weren’t thrilled, but that just means more for me. I would probably add peanut butter to the recipe though, just because I LOVE peanut butter.

Other things we made NOT in the Magnolia Cookbooks

I’ve really been testing my kitchen skills with all of this cooking. I can’t count the number of recipes that called for ingredients I didn’t have and we had to substitute them. I know how I shop and running to the store for one ingredient would have cost me $50-$100 in other “necessities”. So, you’ll see a few other goodies in the gallery like cream of chicken soup, adobo sauce, and I couldn’t leave out my favorite snack: cream cheese, hot pepper jelly and wheat thins.