Stuffed Potato Au Gratin, kind of

Today was fairly productive: I went to the gym, I did laundry, and read a few of the magazines I needed to catch up on. One of them, Bon Appetit, gaveme an idea. There was a recipe for some meat or sausage and potato gratin, layering the potatoes and cheese, and pouring over top a broth/wine and flour concoction,

I had been planning on making mashed potatoes tonight, to use up the four good sized russet potatoes I have had waiting for me. I checked my fridge - sure enough, half a red onion and 8oz of baby bella mushrooms. So, I gathered things together, along with a bag of MorningStar Meal Starters recipe crumbles and 5 small garlic cloves. I sliced the mushrooms, diced the onions and garlic, and put them in a bowl with the veggie crumbles and mixed well. I added oregano, salt & pepper, parsley, and a touch of paprika.

I sliced the potatoes and placed them in a layer along the bottom of a 9x11 pan/casserole dish. Then, a layer of the mushroom/onion/crumble mixture. Then, I poured about half a can of petite diced tomatoes. Then, a layer of shredded soy cheese - Soy-Sation Cheddar-Jack-Mozzarella in this case. Repeat until all the potatoes, mixture and tomatoes are used.

The next thing I did was to make a roux - melted margarine and flour - to which I added about 2 cups of soy milk. I then poured this over the potatoes and added a final layer of shredded soy cheese. Covered with foil, into the oven at 350 degress farenheit, and set the kitchen timer for 45 minutes. So, we'll see how it turns out. At that point, take the foil off and cook for another 40 to 50 minutes.

For those of you curious as to what exactly the gratin is in potatoes au gratin, I looked it up on Wikipedia. This is what they say, "Gratin is a widely used culinary technique in food preparation in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crust, often using breadcrumbs, grated cheese, egg and/or butter. Gratin originated in French cuisine and is usually prepared in a shallow dish of some kind. A gratin is baked or broiled to form a golden crust on top and is traditionally served in its baking dish." Here's the link, if you want more : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratin


There is nothing new to report on the dating front. No word from C, but there weren't sparks there anyways, so I'm not too disappointed. S has slowed his texting, and even when given explicit dates to ask me out, he bailed. Here is the text-versation:

S: I saved ur paper 4 whenevr u hve a nite off
Me: I am off all day thurs & fri & sunday
S: Sweeeeeeeeeetness . . . .let me know. .
Me: I just gave you the options. you let me know
S: O yeah thats cool . . . Ill let u know then. . :)

All of that was on monday. Then, come thursday, S texts this: If ud like 2 . . .Come by my abode 2nite . . Let me know

I don't know about you, but that's not my idea of going out. Also, if I'm not important enough to make plans in advance with, then don't bother. I won't be your last-minute back-up plan.

Well, that's all for now . . .

in any case. . .

slainte . . .

Mulu :>))