In Which We Introduce Monday Menu Mayhem

Greetings, salutations, and the Happiest of New Years!

If you're anything like me, you've spent the last two weeks celebrating, recovering, sleeping, celebrating, and recovering again.  And also, admiring some pretty badass Christmas presents.

But you probably didn't spend two weeks trying to come up with an awesome new regular blog feature that would a) be awesome and b) add to the awesomeness of this blog.  Or I don't know, maybe you did.  Recommendations may be left in the Comments section.

Firstly and foremostly, we have a new look (hooray...?) and you'll notice handy dandy labels at the bottom of all of the posts.  Want to see all of our reviews?  Want to read posts from back in the day when we didn't know what we were doing?  Want to verify that we continue to not know our ass from our elbow?  Look no further.

NOW THEN.  When I'm not reading or writing or running around like a lunatic, I like to cook.  I like to cook a lot.  I got a new KitchenAid, a new All-Clad frying pan, and a new Star Wars apron for Christmas (AHHHHH!) in addition to the joint, couple-y purchase of a Dutch oven with a certain Boy Scout.

Needless to say, there is a lot of cooking in my future.

What I also got though, was the newest Nigella Lawson tome, Nigella Kitchen: Recipes From the Heart of the Home.  I love this book.  I love the obscene way she writes (I mean, really... she writes cooking like Kresley Cole writes sex), I love that she totally contradicts herself (recipe calls for boneless chops, recipe introduction says she herself uses bone-in all the time...), and I love that the recipes are fabulously do-able, without excessively weird ingredients or overly fussy health stipulations.

This is the way I like to cook.

So Boy Scout looks through the book (Since we're at a commitment level where it's what... one-fourth his anyway?  Still mostly mine, but living in his house so... yeah.  "Ours.") and decides that he loves it too.  And that "we" need to make all of the recipes, Julie & Julia style.

And for those wondering, by "we" he means: "mostly you."  Meaning me.

And I think this is not a bad idea.

SO.  Every Monday morning, we shall have a report on the Menu Mayhem that ensued over the weekend or the previous week.  I'll review the recipe, the ease, the deliciousness, and the mayhem.  Because yes.  When I cook, there is mayhem.

What better way to kick off the experiment than on a cold January Sunday, with a recipe that uses both the new frying pan and the new Dutch oven?  I can think of nothing more appropriate.  So into the oven went the Pork and Apple Hotpot, a glorious amalgamation of apples, onions, bacon (which to me always indicates a winning recipe), pork chops, and apple roux-thingy that came out three hours later as the perfect Sunday meal (with leftovers!)

This first time I tried hard to stick to the recipe (not a strong suit of mine unless baking), but next time we have definite additions in mind.  Like mustard in the roux.  And a little cognac "for flavor."  And definitely more sear-age on the pork chops.  Definitely.

OK then.  New feature... featured.  Boy Scout, perhaps you'd like to comment on the leftovers...?