Best Brussels Sprouts Ever!

So, I'm back in true Fits & Starts fashion. I segued away to a week in homage to Corgan's first birthday, and now I return to the good ol' randomness.  Here is a fantabulous recipe that we eat all the time.  Enjoy.

You will notice that we in the Bankey house love our veggies.  There must be something fresh and green at every meal!  Our favorites are roasted asparagus, broccollini, bok choy, and brussel sprouts, and we pretty much do the same thing to all of them, and they are scrumptious.  Corgan is quickly following suit in her love for all things veg.  She even went to town on a raw bell pepper the other day :)

My future foodie!

Best Brussels Sprouts Ever

Brussels Sprouts

Pine Nuts

Olive Oil

Cavender's Greek Seasoning (not pictured)

Trim the ends of your cleaned brussels sprouts (who knew it was with an 's'? I've been saying brussel sprouts my whole life!), then cut them in half lengthwise. Save any leaves that fall off!  We even pull off a few extra leaves, and you'll see why later.  Toss in about 1/2 cup of pine nuts, and mix with enough olive oil to coat.  Spread the sprouts out on a cookie sheet, then season with the Cavender's.  You can also use Adobo or any other seasoning mix you like.  They would probably be good with just salt and pepper, too, but we are serious about our Cavender's use in this household.  

There's the Cavender's!

Place the sprouts on the middle rack of a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Stir them around about half way through.  You want to keep them in until you start getting nummy brown bits all over the place. 

The inside of the sprouts should be perfectly soft, while the outside (and all those flaked off leaves) will have a nutty crunch.  You will never turn your nose up at brussels sprouts again.  Stay tuned for the recipe for the frittata.

Black Eyed Peas and New Year's Wishes

Is it possible for 2012 to be as freakishly awesome as 2011 was?  I'm sitting here watching my almost-one-year-old fling blueberries and strawberries all over the kitchen at 7:00 AM on my day off, and I can't help but reflect on what a joy the past year has been.  2011 brought us the best gift of all, our daughter; a long-term goal, we bought our first house; and positive moves at both our jobs.

2012, the challenge has been extended...do you accept?  Can you possible be better than the best year ever? We will see.  To help you along, we in the Bankey household have taken the extra precaution of ingesting black eyed peas.  All in the name of 'good luck' for you.  Yes, we spiced them up.  Yes, they were good.  Yes, we thoroughly enjoyed them. Now it's your turn to make it a great year.  2012, you're on!

Here is Corgan eating her New Year's black eyed pea.  She loves black beans and red beans, but for some reason isn't a huge fan of the one that can look back at you.  She ended up eating half of it, and since she's so tiny, this should cover her in the good luck arena for the year.  Here's to hoping.

After Corgan went to sleep (at 6:25 PM!), Stuart and I started cooking our New Year's Day meal.  We made rib eyes, sauteed spinach with garlic and lemon, and serrano spiced black eyed peas. Nummers!  What Stuart will never tell you is that he can cook.  He tricked me for the first few years we were dating into thinking that he couldn't cook anything worth eating.  His first meal in his first apartment was microwaved, buttered hominy from a can.  It was all a ruse! He can cook people!

What doesn't say 'Happy New Year' like giant honkin' slabs of red meat?

Everything sizzlin' away on the stove.  Yes, we know we should've done the steaks on the grill, but we were too lazy to buy propane.  You can get mad at me later.

End result: a scrumptious meal with a great bottle of wine, and yes that is homemade tarragon compound butter topping the steak.  It was a great way to bring in the New Year, and to celebrate the great year that we just completed.

Meeting Santa

Merry Christmas to all!  What a wonderful morning: it's Corgan's first Christmas, both the Bankey and Piedfort families are on their way over to celebrate the season, share a scrumptious meal, and open gifts we gave each other.  Instead of writing a full blog, here are the adorable pictures that Corgan took with Santa for the very first time.  We had to wait at Bass Pro for almost an hour and a half, she didn't fuss once (who would in Bass Pro?), and took the most beautiful Santa photos!  People were literally gasping at how well she did.  I was, and am, one proud Mama!

Re-Starting at Fits & Starts

Sooo...after a long hiatus, Fits & Starts is restarting.  Don't really know why, but I've had a big urge to begin blogging again.  I write newsletters and update websites for a living, but having my own is a lot more fun (even though I'm the luckiest person on the planet to have the job that I do!).  Since the last time I've blogged, my husband and I have moved twice, bought our first house, got promoted, moved offices, and had the most perfect child in the world.  We've been busy. 

Lately I've been on Pinterest a lot (ultimate time-suck), and I keep getting steered toward these awesome blogs for recipes, crafts, home decorating, and child-raising (I use this instead of child-rearing, because that just sounds weird).  I decided that I would revive Fits & Starts and continue journaling about life at the Bankey household.  I'll include recipes, crafts, home decorating, and child-raising.  Basically, anything I feel like putting in here :)

As a quick introduction:

Corgan Lee Bankey at 11 Months

Stuart, my wonderful husband with Corgan at 6 months

Me, Haley, with Corgan at 6 months