Tonight's dinner, from The Co-op Advantage (the co-op's monthly specials flyer). So. Good. We had it with brown rice and veggies with dip. Both kids loved the chicken - Arlo inhaled his and Grace declared it "Sweet!".

Tandoori Chicken Skewers

Serves: 6
Prep time: 20 minutes + 2 hours marinating
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

6 4oz boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2 strips or cubes

Marinade
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. plain yogurt
1 TB canola oil
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
3/4 tsp. peeled chopped fresh ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Preparation

Place all marinade ingredients in food processor and puree until smooth. Combine marinade and chicken pieces in ziploc bag, making sure all pieces are coated. Squeeze out all air and refrigerate for 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Remove chicken from bag and thread onto skewers. Broil for 6 minutes/side or bake at 375° for 15 minutes.

Dipping Sauce
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/2 c. chopped peeled & seeded cucumber
2.5 TB chopped cilantro
3 tsp chopped green onion
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cumin

Combine all ingredients and season to taste with salt. Cover and chill until needed.

I'm not sure why I had a pound of rye berries in the pantry, but I now have two quart jars full of rye flour. Guess I'll be making rye bread today and trying to suppress the memory of the nasty migraine I had after eating pumpernickel rye bread in cooking school (only 10.5 years ago or so...). I've got my trusty copy of King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking here, hopefully I'll find something that sounds good and for which I have the ingredients.

Meanwhile, I'm simply thrilled with the feeling that there's an elephant sitting on my chest. Luckily(?) it only seems to be noticeable when I'm sitting or lying down, so if I stay on my feet all day I should be fine. Ha.

There's also a butternut squash in the oven. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I needed to make a little room on the pantry counter. I still have another butternut, a buttercup, several delicata, and two sugar pumpkins as well, so it's not like this freed up a ton of space, but every inch in my kitchen makes a difference.

I really want a new kitchen.

Time for sudafed and cookbook perusal.

Have I mentioned how much I love The Wayback Machine? Awesome, awesome, awesome. I went looking for this cookie recipe that I had on my old site and whoop, there it is. I think I would bake these a bit less than 15 minutes, because I remember they had a tendency to become rock-hard within hours. Guess I'll have to experiment a bit.

Molasses-Ginger Cookies

Makes approximately 5 dozen cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger *(you can use grated fresh ginger in the same quantity for a great fresh flavor)
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 325° F and lightly grease two baking sheets

Mix together all dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in molasses and then eggs, one at a time. Add in dry ingredients in parts and mix well.

Place about 1/2 cup sugar in a small, shallow bowl. (Turbinado sugar adds a nice crunch and flavor in this step). Form dough into 1 1/2" balls and roll in sugar (I like to use a #40 scoop on this, too). Place on baking sheets with plenty of space between them. Flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake 15 minutes, until puffed and golden, rotating sheets halfway through. The cookies will be done when they've fallen a little and look crackled on top. Cool on racks.

Because kitchenwitch asked and I needed the incentive to dig the book out:

Slightly adapted from The Complete Book of Baking published by Pillsbury (awesome cookbook!):

Peanut Blossoms

3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. peanut butter
2 TB. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
extra white sugar to roll cookies
48 Hershey's Kisses

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, cream together butter and peanut butter, then add white & brown sugars, mix to incorporate. Mix in egg, milk, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flours, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter/sugar mixture and stir just until combined.

Portion into 1" balls (I use a #40 disher for this - best kitchen tool ever, aside from the Kitchenaid Mixer), then roll in white sugar. Place dough balls 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets, then bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Bring pans out of oven and immediately top each cookie with a chocolate kiss. Remove from pans to cooling racks.

Notes: The original recipe calls for 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour, but I divide it roughly in half between the AP and WW flours, adding more WW because I like the flavor. Original also calls for shortening (EW!) instead of butter. No thanks. Crunchy peanut butter adds a nice crunchiness to the cookies, too.