Braised Brussels Sprouts and Homemade Ricotta

I haven’t deviated from my stand-by recipes much lately because we’re busy and soup or burritos is something I can make (and have made) in my sleep.  So over the holidays,  I tried this recipe for braised Brussels sprouts in cream.  Sounds restaurant worthy doesn’t it?

It was good, addictively good.  Who gorges themselves on Brussel sprouts?  I do, folks.  I ate almost a whole bag of frozen sprouts all by myself, stopping short of polishing them off because I knew I should force my children to eat vegetables.   They were so good that it is the only time my children have willingly consumed shrunken cabbage, and they were from the freezer section!  My children are not fools.

My next excuse to feel smug in the kitchen was trying homemade ricotta for a Christmas lasagna.  It was so ridiculously easy: 4 cups milk, 1/3 cup cream, 1 cup buttermilk heated until curds form.  The only real task involved is fishing out the curds with a slotted spoon.  It really did taste better than supermarket types and I finally had a reason to use cheesecloth.   (That sounds so earthy.)