Roasted Garlic and Reflections

Hi folks. I have a quick recipe for you. Before I get to that I'd like to take a minute to say thanks to everyone who supports me and my crazy blog. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. You tolerate my ramblings, my nonsensical rants, my weird posting schedule, my veering off topic, my ugly pictures, and my strange sarcastic sense of wit. I finally found a place, other than mommyland, where I fit in. It's amazing to be able to talk to people who are as passionate about food as I am. You have welcomed me into your homes and hearts, for that I am ever grateful. After being an at home Mom for 23 years it is so nice to have something to call my own, a place where I can pursue my own passion, my own dreams. The fact that you all seem to be enjoying the ride with me blows my mind every day. I giggle to the family some days about the fact that I have fans. I mean it all seems so weird and surreal sometimes. I am loving the blogging community and enjoy my time with you all immensely. I had no idea I would love the writing aspect of it so much. I really am having a total blast most days. It's just such a joy to be sharing my world with people who are interested in it. So to you, my fans *insert giggle here*, I adore you and love you oodles and bunches for letting me be me, and still coming back for more day in and day out. I completely realize that was a run-on sentence and broke every grammar rule known to man but it's 4 am and I am getting loopy. Plus it irritates my son who's a creative writing/English lit student so that's a bonus. Irritating my children is also a huge passion of mine.

I hope you all have the most special Christmas ever. Spend time with those you love and live in the moment. Life is short, you have to seize every chance for joy you can. Don't sweat the small stuff folks, in the grand scheme of things it's all just small stuff. Relationships matter, stuff is just stuff. I hope you all spend time with those you love and remember what's really important this time of year.

I shall post some pics for you on Christmas day. Look forward to seeing how everyone else celebrated and what every whipped up. We're having honey bee ham. Honestly it's like heaven with honey drizzled over it. Pure joy!

Now on to a quick and easy recipe. I have posted roasted garlic before but this recipe is a bit different. Hope you like it. I am using it for mashed potatoes on Christmas. Yum yum! I also used some on a baguette the day I made it. Super duper yum!

Roasted Garlic Dutch Oven Style:

Ingredients:

Whole heads of garlic (I used 5 normal sized ones and a huge one. More is better with garlic!)
Olive oil (lots, don't hold back)
1/2 to 1 cup of chicken stock
Salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the tops off your garlic. Leave the whole thing intact though, don't pull out the cloves.

Now place how many you want in a non stick spray dutch oven. Cut side up.

Drizzle the top with oil olive. I find more is better. The less is more thing doesn't apply to olive oil.

Sprinkle the top with some salt. Himalayan sea salt is nice.

Carefully pour in the chicken stock, making sure not to pour over the top of the garlic. Pour off to the side so you don't ruin the olive oil salty goodness.

Place the lid on the dutch oven.

Pop it in your oven for 35-45 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the size of your garlic. Start checking at 30 minutes is my suggestion. If you need more stock feel free to add more.

Remove from oven.

You can remove it by sticking a knife in or if you're a nutball like me you can just grab the whole bulb and squeeze it until all the cloves pop out. It is so fun to do.

Serve on bread, use in taters, or if you're a nutball like me you can just pop pieces right in your mouth like grown up candy. Yum yum!

Can you say OMG! This stuff rocks! I like it almost as much as pistachios and you all know the Lunatic loves some pistachios. Also FYI, buy a dutch oven. Not only do they cook like a dream they clean up in a snap. Just ask my son who does all my dishes. I am notorious for putting things back in the sink for him if I deem them "unclean". That can mean one teeny tiny little fleck of something. I mean come on now, who would not put it back if it had a small fleck. That's just bio hazard and will not be tolerated in this dojo! Anyhow, buy a dutch oven cuz they rock. And have some kids cuz they do dishes. Brilliant little nuggets of wisdom from your Lunatic. Peace out!

Toodles and smoochies.xx