Snow Days and Hummus

This week has been a little crazy. I had 2.5 school days. There were supposed to be 5. And of those 2.5 days, about 1 was normal. It made for a hectic week in some ways, a relaxing week in others. My plan book is a mess.

So, Tuesday was early release because of snowstorm #1. That meant driving home right about when the snow was the worst and getting stuck behind a plow going 15-20 mph. Oh fun. Then, thankfully because of snowstorm #2, school was cancelled on Wednesday. My apartmentmates and I ate pancakes together because we all had a snowday -- our first meal together!

SLI and I made snickerdoodles (from a mix, but they tasted good! I am a little sad to see that snickerdoodle mixes now exist, because they used to be my favorite cookies that HAD to be homemade . . . now they can be from a mix.) But they were good and after we made those, we watched movies. A good use of a snow day.

Then, on Thursday, toward the end of the day, the roof of one of the schools in my district collapsed -- thankfully it didn't go through into any classrooms, and the students weren't there anyway, but still. Scary stuff. That meant although Friday was sunny and beautiful, it was technically a snow day.

Ok, enough about my student teaching adventures. I didn't celebrate Friday with any cooking because I came home and then decided that the best use of my time was working on lesson plans.

Today was a different story. Because I had worked yesterday, I had time to bake and cook today. While it rains/sleets. Part of me says at least it's not snow, as my car will soon be lost in the snow, but ice is way worse than snow. Way worse. But anyway, hummus.

I love hummus. And I decided to make it, partially for me (because hummus is basically its own food group in my diet) and partially because I am going to a Super Bowl party with my boyfriend, NES, this weekend.

My grandmother gave me her hummus recipe a while ago, but I hadn't made it. So I did today.

Hummus

From my grandmother, Mimi

5 cloves fresh garlic

2 Tbsp oil

2 cups canned chickpeas, rinsed (1 can is about 1 1/2 cups, and I ended up using more anyway, so get two cans!)

1/2-1 yellow or red roasted pepper (or a jarred red pepper, rinsed)

1/4 cup Tahini paste

1/4 cup lime juice

(1 1/2 tsp hot sauce -- optional)

1 tsp Kosher salt

1/8 cup olive oil

Mix garlic cloves with 2 Tbsp oil.

Spread in a pan and roast for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

In a food processor, place garlic, chickpeas, roasted pepper, Tahini paste, lime juice and Kosher salt (and hot sauce, if using).

Blend until it forms a thick smooth paste forms. Slowly add olive oil while the food processor is running. Adjust seasonings, if necessary.

When I was looking online for hummus recipes, someone online said that making your own hummus is a lot cheaper than buying it. I don't know if I believe it or not, but it really is easy.

Mine ended up salty, so I added more pepper and chickpeas until it wasn't as salty. I have a bunch of Tahini, peppers and lime juice left over, so I guess I'll be making more sometime soon.

Tahini is really kind of strange. It's kind of like salty, weird peanut butter. It's a little thinner, but you get the idea. The jar suggested that it could be used as a peanut butter substitute. I probably wouldn't . . . I consider peanut butter to be a kind of sweet food (don't ask how I ended up with that definition of sweet) and this isn't sweet at all. It's very . . . yeah. I can't even describe it. I don't like the taste of it by itself, because I don't like sesame seeds all that much, but somehow it makes the hummus. Don't ask me how that works.

Also, I found both the Tahini and the peppers in the Greek section of the international aisle of the grocery store.

Oh, and expect your house to smell like garlic in a kind of crazy way when you pull it out of the oven. I'm pretty sure I smell like garlic just from making hummus and being in the kitchen while it was roasting.