On August 25th, my blog, Not Just Vanilla will be 6 months old. As I am preparing to hit to a new milestone I keep thinking up new ideas to improve my blog. Do I step out of the box enough? Do I need to change or adapt anything? What would you like to see?

There is one thing I have been thinking about adapting, it is just not enough for me to give out a recipe and a few good pictures or show you my trip to Nantucket and only choose 5 pictures out of thousands . So welcome to Traveling with Not Just Vanilla! This will be a place that I will be able to show many more pictures and stories of travels.

From Lobsters to Meatloaf

Thats right, no more lobsters. The only lobsters we have in indiana are little yucky ones at the grocery store. So meatloaf is what I come home to. No more days on the beach, no mores tan/sun burn, no more sand or surf.  Vacation is over.
I really liked Nantucket, it was not at all what I expected. I hated to leave, but leaving on the little itty bitty plane was better than expected, by far...just ask my brother.  With paper bag in hand, I boarded the 9 seater with out tears, with out total hysterics, without drugs. I did not use my bag and I actually was able to look around (not behind me) and take some pictures. I still was so claustrophobic and getting into the plane took a few minutes and a little extra breathing.

Coming home is always nice even if you weren't ready to leave. But I am so busy now that I am home, I am working on a Not Just Vanilla surprise.  However, the question I always ask myself is... when coming home after a vacation, what do you make for dinner? I ate seafood. Lobster and shrimp, clams and lobster rolls. So now that I am back in the land of meat and potatoes, what am I going to make for dinner?
When I have no ideas, I take to my freezer and my dry ingredient stash, meatloaf is for dinner!  I really love meatloaf. Its rich and very fulfilling. The recipe I use  makes 1 large loaf and it is chocked full of spice. Most meatloaf I have tried has been dry and tasteless, needing ketchup or gravy, but this recipe is a combination of a few of my favorite flavors and my mom's recipe. It is not dry, but moist, nutty, rich, and very flavorful. I know there really is a season for heavy duty  comfort food, but don't you always need some comfort. I cook what I want, not for the season and not necessarily for the weather. If I want to go from clams and lobster to meatloaf and french fries, I will.
The secret ingredient in this great meatloaf is healthy, hearty, and very tasty. If you are trying to hide healthy food into your dinner, this is a great recipe to try.

Damn the Weather
Damn I am Back from Vacation
Meatloaf

This recipe is easy to do and you can change  or add in some of your favorite ingredient if you wish. Sometimes I make it with roasted onions and garlic  or lamb.  Enjoy!

2 cup oatmeal, I use old fashioned Quaker Oats, crushed in a food processor for about 1 minute until they are powder like
2 eggs
2 tablespoons ketchup or tomato paste
3/4 cup ketchup: set aside for the end
1 tablespoon Lipton's onion soup mix
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt
pepper
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 lb. ground sausage or ground turkey

Mix together everything but the meat and additional 3/4 cup of ketchup. I whisk all the wet ingredients into all of the dry ingredients. Add in the meats and using your hands, mix the meat and the spices together lightly.  If you over mix the meat if will toughen up. Spray cooking spray into a large loaf pan and put the meatloaf into the pan, try to flatten the bits on top with a damp hand so they do not burn. Bake at 375˚ for 25 to 35 minutes. About 10 minutes before the meatloaf is done, spread the ketchup onto the top of the meatloaf and return it to the oven. I love this part, the ketchup changes and gets glossy. Don't let it burn. Enjoy this meatloaf hot or cold or on the beach.  Yum!

Nantucket Day 1... Will Travel for Lobster

We made it to Nantucket! After hours traveling in a cab, a train, and then the nice big airplane, we had to endure 45 minutes of this 9 seater plane. It was not fun nor was did it give you the sense of calm comfort that I like to have when flying. As I mentioned, I am horribly claustrophobic... so knowing that i was going to get on this itty bitty baby of a plane, wow, this is the crazy stuff nightmares are born of; I had been made aware how small this plane would be weeks ago, so I had a lot to look forward too.

Of course, on a small plane like this the rules are different than a normal (large) plane. First they must know your weight, no lying about it! Also you are seated not with your travel partner, but by how they blance the weight. With my bag stored in the left wing, gripping tightly to my brown starbucks bag, my phone and my camera, I boarded this small, tight, itty bitty plane in tears and some hysterical breathing. I know that I am safer in the sky, most of the time, but that is not what gets me though wishing that we were able to get the hell of the little plane! I sat behind the pilot, and Josh sat in front, shotgun. In a last ditch effort, I handed Josh my camera, I knew I wouldn't be able to get any pictures taken since I was breathing into a paper bag, so this picture of Josh was taken by me after we landed and most people were off the plane.

We made it to the beautiful island of Nantucket and for the next few days this is where we are living, the Wild Rose Cottage. As the only one in my family who hasn't been here before, everyone has told me about what to expect, what they do everyday, etc. So let me tell you what is what... there is a small town with beautiful shops, the roads are a combination of paved, brick, cobblestone and dirt/sand. The roads and sidewalks are small and very uneven, you have to watch what you are walking on instead of looking around and seeing the sights, everyone has tripped a time or two. It is a larger island that I thought it would be, but everything here is very packed in, tightly. They have a very small year-round population, but a full high school. There are many beautiful beaches, each different from the next. Some have pebbly sand and others have soft, white-ish sand, all of the beaches I have been to have rocks and pebbles but no real shells have been see anywhere but the stores.

This is a picture taken from one of the beaches last year, the same beach we camped out on last night until dark, hoping to get more great pictures. I have been wanting to take pictures like this, but there were no clouds and I don't know what I got yet, I haven't been able to download all of my pictures yet. The one thing I have gotten alot of pictures of is ... wait for it... lobster!

A bad picture but great food! I will be home early on Tuesday, so be ready for lots more pictures and stories of me on the small plane, I still have to live through the return trip on anther itty bitty plane!

Nantucket At Last

I am in Nantucket! After a trip to Chicago, I met up with my brother, Josh and we flew out to the Boston airport, Logan. We continued to Nantucket via Cape Air... a 9 seater plane. I am very claustrophobic, so in this small airplane, I was not very happy! But the 2 lb lobster I had for diner, that made up for the crazy small plane. I will not be blogging while I am here, but I will have lots and lots of pictures and stories and sand and lobsters. I will be back to blogging on Tuesday. Thanks!

A Good Use for Zucchini

Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

Zucchini Bread

Prep: 15 Minutes

Makes 1 large loaf or 2 small

Nonstick cooking spray

1 3/4 cup Zucchini

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-by-5-by-3 inch loaf pan with cooking spray, set aside. Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together sugars, oil, vanilla, and eggs. (oops, don't forget the brown sugar like I did!)

Into a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and salt. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and stir to combine. Stir in grated zucchini.

Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, 45-55 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes; invert onto wire rack, then re invert, top side up. Cool completely before slicing. Yum!

And the Winners Are... #2

George asked for oatmeal raisin cookies, but since it was the Fourth of July, I thought I would give the cookies some flair. Red, white and blue-ish flair to be specific.

This recipe is the same recipe from the May post, Trees and Cookies.

This recipe is so so good, it is my favorite oatmeal cookie. The cookbook I adapted the recipe from was a surprise gift, I don't know who sent it to me, but one day it appeared by my door. This has actually become on of my favorite cookbooks. Cooking with Friends, from the Friend's TV show. This recipe is Phoebe's Fabulous Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies. Every time I bring out the cookbook, I start a Friend's marathon

This recipe is so adaptable, I have made it with all kinds of nuts, fruit, etc. No matter what extra ingredients I add, these cookies are always delicious. You can even go as far to add flavor extracts like almond. Enjoy!

Phoebe's Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Cooking with Friends Cookbook

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cups raisins, soak the raisins in hot water with a splash of vanilla.

1/2 cup craisins

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375

Cream the butter for 1 minute with an electric mixer. Cream the butter and the sugars together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth.

Stir together oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir the dry ingredients together into the batter until just combined. Stir in the raisins, craisins and white chocolate chips. It was very hard to make the balls for the cookies, their is a lot of fruit and white chocolate chip bits that make it hard to keep the cookies together. Its ok, just use a spoon to get the dough to the cookie sheet, then with the craisins, raisins, and white chocolate and batter together, cup them into a ball.

Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto 2 large baking sheets (no need to grease them), I use parchment paper, leaving 2 inches between each ball of dough. Bake until the cookies are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, I only baked them 8 1/2 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for several minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool. Makes about 24 large cookies.

And The Winners Are... #1

Remember back to the end of May when the IMac contest ended? Two winners were announced  Michael, with the name ICook and George with the name Maxie.  The winners were asked to select a cookie for me to make. These cookies were delivered to Michael and George on 4th of July.   I have the winning recipes ready for you all. Michael requested a cookie that tasted like a Reese's cup and George's request was for oatmeal raisin cookies. 

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies for Michael

Adapted from Epicurious, October 2000,

 Chocolate On The Brain

Makes 40-50 cookies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature, plus more for greasing
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12-ounce package) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
• 2 to 2 1/2 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 bag fun-sized Reese's cups
• 1 cup chocolate
• 2 + tablespoons heavy cream

Place an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly rub two cookies sheets with butter, or use nonstick baking sheets. Set aside.

Put the butter, peanut butter and the sugars in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer or a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, cocoa powder and vanilla and beat again. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and beat on low speed until well blended. Add the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips mix thoroughly.

Using a teaspoon as a guide, scoop a portion of the dough and, with your hands, roll each portion into a ball (Note: Rolling the dough into balls was very hard, I used a small ice cream scoop). Place the balls on each cookie sheet, 3 cookies per row in 5 rows. (Optional: Flatten the balls with the heel of your hand or the tines of a fork so that they spread to about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.) I left the cookies in a ball, with slightly damp fingers Bake each batch, one cookie sheet at a time, for about 10 minutes. The cookies will be firm to the touch and just beginning to brown.

Remove from the oven and cool on the sheet for about 3 minutes. Then transfer them with a spatula to a cooling rack. Let the cookiesheets cool for 1 or 2 minutes more before reusing so the dough doesn't melt.


Unwrap 10 Reese's cups  to start, more may be needed, and with a knife, divide the Reese's cups into 1/2 and if you would like, 1/4. I thought 1/2 looked to big.


In a double boiler, place 1 cup chocolate semi sweet chips and heavy cream. When the ganache is melted, pour into a plastic squeeze bottle. Place the cooled cookies back onto a cookie sheet covered with wax or parchment paper.  Slowly drizzle the warm chocolate onto a cookie. Take 1 small piece of a cut Reese's cup and put a dollop of warm chocolate onto the bottom or the side, top the decorated cookie with the Reese's cup.  Continue to do this until all the cookies have been topped with chocolate and Reese's cups. Cover and allow to cool.  If you don't eat the rest of the Reese's cups, I suggest you decorate the cookie platter with some.  Yum!  

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A Quick and Easy Dinner and Packing for Nantucket

Photo from my dad,   Nantucket

This week has seriously flown by... I can't believe it. It seems that everyday lasts so long, but in the blink of an eye, the week has come to an end. I have had a busy week, but all will change on Friday.  

 My brother and I are meeting up in Chicago on Thursday and on Friday we are flying out to meet my parents in Nantucket.  Everyone else has been out to Nantucket, except me.  I am always working or whatever, but this will be the first year everyone will be on the beach together, at least for a few days. Hopefully, a few days on the beach, fresh seafood and a whole island to get great pictures of... well, everything.  Now, I just have to pack.  Yuck. I hate packing!

So with packing to do and no time for dinner and a dish washer that hasn't been working, for a while; like months on end... I needed a quick, easy dinner that was not going to leave a huge mess for me to clean up. My tiny kitchen already has clean (drying) dishes covering all but 1 small bit of counter and my stove.  What I needed was a one pot wonder!  Well, 1 pot wonders always tend to be 3 or 4 pots, and a pan or two, etc... But this one pot wonder, really is only  2 pots, thats ok with me! 

Fettucine Alfredo
Recipe adapted from Emeril Lagasse, Food Network
Episode: Favorite Italian Pasta Sauces


Note:  This recipe is fast and easy with little clean-up. When ever I find a recipe on a sight like Food Network, I look at the comments of people who have already made that recipe. The comments I found that most people thought more cream should be added, 1 cup more that Emeril's recipe, so instead of 1 cup more (equaling 2 cups) I added 1   1/2 cups cream.  Enjoy!


1 pound dried fettucine
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1  1/2 cup heavy cream
1  1/4 cup finely grated parmigano-Reggiano
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, sliced


Cook the fettucine in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente. (When you boil water for pasta, I add between 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons kosher or sea salt. When you taste the water it should taste really salty. Just by salting the water correctly you will add so much more flavor than if you just salted the pasta once it is cooked.) Drain in a colander and stir in a few drops of olive oil, reserving  1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. 


While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add in the olive oil to keep the butter from burning.  Slowly add in the cream  and bring to a boil. Cook until sauce has reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.  Grate the parmigiano-reggiano and set aside. Pour the 1/4 cup of the pasta water into the pasta and set over medium heat. Slowly mix 1/2 of the cream mixture with the pasta and 1/2 of the cheese. If needed, pour in the remainder of the pasta water with the rest of the cream and cheese.  Slowly mix, gently mix and add in the basil, pepper and salt to taste.  I liked this dish last night, but it is really so much better today. I recommend making this a day ahead. Yum!

P.S. I know the pictures of the pasta don't even come close to show you how good it is and how good it looks. Sorry, white pasta and cheese, not so photogenic.

Nantucket, here I come!