Roasted Fennel Bulb, Motherfuckers! Deal With It!

Fennel is misunderstood. Because the fronds, stalks and seeds have that anise-like black licorice flavor, people who dislike that flavor avoid fennel like the plague. Obviously, these people are wrong and bad, and they should feel bad. Roasted fennel has a mild, earthy, nutty flavor that's really unique, and even people who hate that black licorice flavor *coughcoughDavecoughcough* really love it. Fennel is one of the main spices used in sausage, so roasted fennel often reminds people of delicious sausage.

Toasted Mochi Cakes with Red Bean Filling

Mochi is a glutinous rice cake. That maybe didn't win you over. Let me start again: mochi is a delicious glutinous rice cake. Does that sound better? How about if I tell you it's super easy to make?

Black Bean Soup: Awesome

Well, it's fall, and we're broke right now, so that means black bean soup. It's super cheap, healthy, and delicious. It's best if you have a food processor or blender, but will be just fine without. 

Hey! Let's Make Brussels Sprout Hash With Bacon (Or Without Bacon, Whatevs)!!

We sure do love Brussels sprouts here in the Piepan household. Which is awesome, because I guess they're super healthy. Google told me that they're filled with thiamin, riboflavin, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin A, C, K, B6, folate, potassium and manganese. I don't know what half of that shit is, but it's probably great. Anyway, they taste awesome, and look like little cabbages, which is a major plus. So, sometimes when we get an amazingly healthy ingredient, such as B sprouts, we do the natural thing and cook it in a ton of bacon. Honestly, the tastes pair so well, it's natural. If you are vegan, or veg, or don't eat red meat/don't like bacon, don't skip this recipe! It's just as good without the bacon, I promise.

Stir Fry with Noodles and Random Shit

So, this was a throw-together meal. We had some left over udon  from making these, some asparagus, and some ham from Local Pig that was juuuust about to go bad. We added some ingredients that we always keep around (mushrooms, garlic, ginger, edamame, radishes, and green onions).  Let me stress that stir fry is one of those things that was pretty much designed to use up what you've got sitting around. I have a pretty loosey-goosey approach to recipes in general, mainly that I almost never follow them ever, and I'm always adding stuff (coughcough*garlic*coughcough) and subbing out stuff that I actually have for other stuff that I very really don't. This way, I never have to make a special trip to the store to make something. My inability to follow a recipe thoroughly is the reason that I am the worst at baking, and I leave all that measuring and specificity to Dave, whose precise measuring in contrast to my eyeballing makes him seem like some kind of a bread-making wizard, when maybe it all just comes down to following directions.