Smitten Sunday

For my birthday I received the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook.

Almost everyone who has ever surfed the internet for a recipe has ended up on Smitten Kitchen at one time or another.  She has recipes for everything.

As I flipped through the book I immediately flagged a dozen recipes to try as soon as possible.  Sunday dinners are going to be so fun in the New Year.

Before the holiday season kicks into full gear I decided to sneak in one more cozy dinner for two while I still had the chance.  Last weekend I took over Michael’s kitchen and tackled two recipes from the book.

The Mini Meatloaves with Browned Butter Mashed Potatoes were just as good as the name suggests.  I loved that there were no ‘odd’ or ‘special’ ingredients…just normal things we generally keep in our pantries or can easily grab from the supermarket.  The meatloaf was so moist and flavourful…and made excellent leftovers.  And how could browned butter mashed potatoes be anything but ah-mazing?  You know we gobbled those down.

I served the meal with sauteed Brussels sprouts.  A comfort food marriage.

For a Sunday night treat I chose the Whole Lemon Bars because Michael loves anything lemony.  These came together so fast and easy (would have been even easier if I’d had a food processor there instead of a blender!) and are a great adaptation of a traditional lemon bar.

The crust is crisp and sugar-cookie like, while the top is fresh, tart and creamy.  Can’t ask for much more from a lemon bar now can we?

You can see here how Michael just couldn’t wait to dig in.

This entire Smitten Kitchen meal will be finding it’s way into regular rotation.  We were both particularly pleased with our Sunday dinner.  Yum!