I’ve been having issues with my app for posting lately. I can’t get some pictures to upload and the whole thing freezes/crashes after I hit publish, so I’m not sure if anything gets posted. It’s been frustrating, in large part, because I never remember my password so I have to reset it after ever crash. Sigh. Hopefully this can get fixed soon.

My rosemary bush has taken over the garden. It has just about half the garden space now and it has successfully moved out the oregano and almost killed the sage. I’ve been searching for recipes to use the rosemary, but most involve chicken or lamb, so not things I’m in a hurry to cook. But I did find a a stuffing recipe that looked interesting, filling and tasty. It also happened to use rosemary and since Florida has felt like winter the last few weeks (yes, heat on, sweater weather cold in the mornings and at night) I decided to go for it.

We had our cheese box yesterday so I had Bob cut up the rest of the bread and let it sit out over night. I had a combination of French bread and some homemade beer bread. I liked the idea if mixing the breads.

I cut up a good amount of Brussels sprouts and butternut squash. I chopped an apple and added that to the mix. Coat it all in a little oil, salt and pepper and into the 400 degree oven it went.

Next was three ribs of celery and half a very large onion, both chopped. I cooked them down a little in oil then added the stale bread. Coat everything and let it crisp up. Pour in vegetable broth and let it sit while the vegetables finish roasting.

Mix everything together, add some pecans and dried cranberries and Todd back into the oven (set lower at this point) for about twenty minutes. The results were good. Really, really good. A make again good. And despite stuffing usually served as a side, this worked as a main dish. Lots of flavor, different textures and enough character that neither of us felt like we were missing anything. It also paired very well with a cider we picked up last week.

This was sweeter than I usually go for, but it was also a rounder and fuller cider than normal. It had enough character to pair with the stuffing without getting overshadowed, but it was subtle enough to blend with, not mask, the dish.

I also made french toast this morning. Beet bread french toast to be exact. Left over beer bread it good for so many things.

Lent us coming up this week and I thought about giving up coffee for lent this year. Bob asked me not to. He is pretty sure it would be bad all around if I did, hence why I think it would be good. But I’m going with chocolate instead. No mochas at work, no chocolate granola bars or trail mix with chocolate in them and no brownies. Still not as much of a sacrifice as coffee, but it will do.