Another pinterest recipe roundup

Some good, some bad, all made and rated by me......

B made these eggs and spicy beans for dinner last week. Incredibly easy weeknight meal and really, really good. I love the fact that these can be altered for a variety of diets (dairy free, vegetarian) when you have guests who have a more restricted diet. We added a little more red pepper and a little more goat cheese than what was called for. We put in 5 eggs for the three of us. It's pretty much a one skillet meal (besides the cutting board for chopping), so clean up is easy as well. This is definitely going on our weeknight rotation.

Jessica posted  this recipe a few years ago and when I went to make it this winter, the site was gone (it was her other blog). I freaked out and flew onto facebook to find out if she could email it to me. We were headed to a party and I knew this was "the" dessert I wanted to take. I have pinned the trifle I make with the poundcake. It's beyond rich, is utterly delish, and looks so pretty at a party. Don't you just think that trifles just scream elegance and effort? What's awesome about them is that they aren't hard, they just look that way :)

We have made this salad twice in the last three weeks. The first time we also threw some chicken on top. Tonight we added apples and celery for added crunch. It's a fabulous recipe and holds up well (even with the dressing on it) for the next day's lunch. Highly recommended. Also, Madison (the blogger) is a real sweetheart, so add her to your blog roll!

This peach smoothie is just okay. It calls for a teaspoon of nutmeg and that really, really overpowered the taste (and, to be honest, I used less than that). A touch of nutmeg would have been good but what she calls for is just too much.

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I have to bring these cookies to your attention. They are a little involved with the piping into heart shapes but definitely worth it! I've made them the past three years and they get rave reviews every time. The red velvet is delish and cream cheese frosting is always good, right? Annie is always spot on, so if you are ever looking for something to bake, I would always suggest her site first!

For Spencer's class this year, I am going to have him help me make these rice krispie treat pops (scroll down) for his classmates. We're going to make a big, thick pan of rice krispie treats, cut them out with cookie cutters, place them on sticks, and then pipe pink and red frosting on the top around the edge or write words on them like conversation hearts. I still need to pick up the bags and ribbon to go overtop. I'm hoping they'll turn out cute! I'm going to take them to the infant room teachers as well.

For Thanksgiving, I was in charge of the rolls as well as the apple pie. I used this recipe for the rolls. Honestly, they were, by far, the best rolls I've ever made and probably the best I've ever had. They were puffy and buttery and just melted in your mouth. Yes, they are styled after Pillsbury Crescent rolls, but these are 1,000,000,000 times better. Spencer loved helping to roll them up too!

What new recipes have you tried? I'm always looking for good recipes for dinner and love to bake pretty much anything!!

Pinterest recipes

I love Pinterest. I could not ask for a better place to organize my ideas. I think the problem I have with Pinterest is that when you go back to update your board, your followers don't see your updates. This, to me, only becomes a problem with recipes. I want the followers of my food board to know if I liked a recipe, if I hated a recipe, if I tweaked a recipe, etc. I have tried a LOT of my pins (and have deleted the ones we'll never eat again) and wish there was an easier way to let people know that certain ones are really good IRL.

I've decided to post a few of my favorites here, so at least all of you will be able to check out these, knowing that they're tested and delish!!

Gazpacho Chicken Salad- amazing. We've made it 3 times already in the past month. I add one can of cannelini beans (rinsed and drained) and use about half of the tomatoes (we're not huge tomato fans around here). This makes a great dinner and is wonderful for lunches throughout the week. Serve it with Naan or Ciabatta bread and a great white wine. Would also be wonderful for a ladies lunch on a bed of lettuce.

Honey Lime Chicken Skewers and Black bean, corn and avocado salad- Easy weeknight dishes that work well together but also delicious enough to serve to company. You wouldn't even have to do the skewers- just grill the chicken breasts instead of cutting and skewering. You could then serve the chicken over a bed of cilantro lime rice with black beans if you don't want to make the avocado salad (but you should make it- it's so good!). Again, both of these make great leftovers- the chicken is great chopped small and added to the salad.

Penne with vodka cream sauce- B and I make this every Valentine's day. If there were a recipe that shaped our relationship, this would be it. Amazing "date night in" meal. This year, we're going to try it with homemade pasta. I cannot wait!!!!

Baked spaghetti with cream cheese- A great dinner for a cold winter's weeknight. Really easy, very kid friendly, easy to sneak extra veggies into. We added spinach (I will add spinach to practically everything I can) as well as a few chopped bell peppers.

Monogolian beef- I don't really like Chinese food, so I wasn't expecting much from this dish; however, B loves it, so I made it to make him happy. It was much better than I expected, and it will definitely go into our regular rotation. I served it with stir-fried veggies and put the beef and the veggies over white rice. I did think it was a little too sweet, so I will cut back on the sugar next time. I'm sure it's much healthier than any restaurants version of Mongolian Beef!!

Slow Cooker Tiki Masala- This recipe (and the butter chicken recipe in the post) are our favorites that I have pinned so far. They are both better than any Indian food here in GR, and I love that they're crockpot recipes. I use boneless skinless chicken breasts in both recipes as it cuts down on the grease and the fat. Spencer loves both, too, so I would consider them kid friendly. I throw a bunch of peas into the Tiki Masala for color and nutrition!

Grilled brussel sprouts- If you haven't tried brussel sprouts in awhile, give them a try. They really are quite good if done well. Prior to this recipe we had never grilled them. We always roasted them with balsalmic. I didn't skewer them as we forgot to soak the skewers while we were at work, so we just did them in the grill basket instead. Worked like a charm.

Dairy free double chocolate granola bars- . I found out that our local grocery store does sell the Enjoy Life brand of dairy free chocolate chips and this has pretty much changed my world. I have made these granola bars twice in the past two weeks and take one of these every day in my lunch as my treat. If you aren't dairy free, just use whatever chocolate chips you like, but definitely still make these. I don't use the other weird flaxseed cereal, I have just crushed up frosted mini wheats instead, but I would also sub corn flakes, wheat chex, crispix, rice krispies, or another plain cereal. B loves these, and he is the first to criticize "fake" things that I make when I am dairy free. Trust me, you will be glad these are in your freezer/fridge when you need an easy snack that is full of fiber and delicious! The granola is amazing on it's own, and, if I could, I would eat it with vanilla yogurt every single morning!!

Bananas, peanut butter, and nilla wafer sniacks- I made these for a church picnic this spring and the kids liked them a lot. I thought they were just okay. I had hoped they would be better. If you do make them for a birthday party or playdate, know that they cannot sit longer than a few hours without getting the nilla wafers mushy from the banana. Definitely not something you can make the night before.

Buckeye bark- I adore chocolate and peanut butter so I thought these would be my favorite thing ever. I definitely do not think they are as good as regular buckeyes (though they were a lot easier than rolling out the balls). B liked it and the friends we gave our Christmas goodie packages too said they really liked it, but I didn't love it and I'm not sure if I would make it again. I have too many other favorite sweets to make something that is just "okay" in my opinion.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes- You NEED to make these. Not even a question. Your husband/boyfriend/fiancee/girlfriend/roommate will love you, and your children will think you are the best mommy ever. We made them for a Friday night in one night last winter and just about died at the deliciousness. These would be a wond erful Saturday after Thanksgiving breakfast when the whole family is together and you are getting into the holiday spirit. I think they would also be lovely as a birthday morning surprise. I promise you that you and everyone you serve them to will love them. PROMISE!!

Frozen banana "ice cream"- This is currently my dessert of choice since I can't eat real ice cream right now. I do bananas, peanut butter, cocoa powder and vanilla- it's fabulous and quite a bit less fattening than regular ice cream even with the peanut butter. You can definitely still taste banana pretty strongly, so if you aren't a banana person, don't bother trying this. I also add a bit of almond milk during the food processing process to make it creamier.

Carmelitas- Hands down, the BEST recipe I have pinned. I have gotten repeated requests to make these again and again and again. In fact, they're so good that I've already blogged about them! I cannot tell you the joy I felt when one of our church friends brought over dinner for us two weeks after Peter was born and she brought a whole container of these. I literally called B at work screaming with joy that Alyssa had brought us carmelitas. Just watch the faces of people you serve these too- I promise they'll be just as excited as I was!!

I hope this run down gives you a few new recipes to try! Please let me know if you do. Also, if you have pinned recipes that you love, please let me know. I am always looking for new ideas!!  Happy cooking!

Carmelitas

Sunday night we had 7 adults over for dinner.  It was a delish dinner- brisket, pulled pork, cornbread, cabbage salad, mac and cheese, and green beans.  Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal immensely.  The best part came afterwards.............

(photo from Lulu the Baker)

This frickin phenomenal desssert.  Caramel, chocolate, oatmeal, brown sugar, butter- pure, pure, pure awesomeness.  Are there a few changes I would make?  Sure.  I would cut the caramel to 3/4s of what it calls for and I would increase the chocolate by 1/3.  But, overall, these are one of the best, easiest, most delicious desserts that I have made in a long time.  They are very rich, so you can cut them pretty small and serve a lot of people even with an 8x8 pan. 

If you are looking for a great Super Bowl dessert, a dessert to take to new parents, or a fun new dessert for your hubby, I would highly recommend these!!

Weekend in the kitchen

B and I spent all weekend in the kitchen making amazing food, and I seriously didn't take one photo.  What was I thinking???  I wish I had some for you, but instead, I'm just going to have to write about it all instead.

Saturday our goals were to bake most of the day, pick up one Christmas gift for our niece, and watch the MSU/Wisconsin game.  We definitely accomplished all those things (don't you just LOVE a productive day?).  We made peppermint bark brownies, eggnog poundcake, buckeye bark, and soft ginger cookies with lemon glaze.  We also threw together "nuts and bolts" (our family's version of chex mix) and made apple compote.  We really wanted to have Christmas tins put together for all of our dinner guests, and we wanted a variety of things to put inside.  Between B and I, we were able to sample all of the above, and, I hope our guests will agree, it all tasted delicious!!

Today after church, we started on the meal for our Christmas dinner party (we hosted 3 other couples whom we just adore).  We served the baked brie with apple compote (from Annie's Eats), Smitten Kitchen's short ribs with swiss chard and pearl onions (I cannot rave about these enough.  They're time consuming but worth every single bite!!), mashed potates, and eggnog trifle.  Everyone seemed to leave the table full and happy. 

The best part?  Hanging out with delightful people that we just don't see enough of!!!  It was so, so, so nice.  Spencer was a little shy at the beginning but then loved showing off the "balls" (aka ornaments) to all our guests and climbing the stairs to turn the dining room light off and on.  It was a wonderful evening!!!  Another great part? We have a few cookies, brownies, and pieces of eggnog pound cake left, but most of it went out the door.  Enough for a few bites over the week but definitely not enough to gorge ourselves on.  Unfortunately, we didn't give away enough nuts and bolts, and this lady has been craving nothing but salt lately!! 

Did any of you make anything exciting in the kitchen this weekend?  Any fantastic Christmas cookies I should make next weekend? 

Quick weeknight fall dinner

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it for dinner this week as the picture couldn't be more delicious looking.  I think B would agree, it was awesome!!  For a quick and easy weeknight dinner, it really can't be beat.  We made cheddar biscuits to go with it, though it would be equally good with a great storebought or homemade focacia bread. 

I did tweak the recipe a bit.  I added another can of tomatoes, another can of white beans, a little extra crushed red pepper, and 16 oz of frozen tortellini rather than the dried (it's just what we already had at home).  I wanted it to be a little heartier (8oz of chicken broth is a LOT!).  I also had a ton of spinach on hand so used that as my leafy green. 

Definitely put this on your weeknight rotation.  You'll love it!!!! 

(We're trying another Pinterest recipe tomorrow night- Tiki Masala.  If it's good, I'll let you know!)

A fabulous grilled dinner!!

We've been wanting to try grilled pizza for awhile, but thought it would be too complicated, too much work, and not worth the time we'd have to put into it.

Boy were we wrong!!  I followed these two recipes, and they were perfect!  If you've never made your own crust, it is easy and so, so, so much better than any store bought crust ever could be. 

They may not have been perfectly round, but they were perfectly delicious!  I can't wait to make them again with different toppings.  I'd love to try one with grilled veggies as well as a bbq chicken.  The crispiness of the crust and the little bit of char made it seem so much "summerier" than a regular pizza.

 

If you haven't tried grilling pizza before, I would highly recommend it.

So would this little guy!!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Spinach is delicious!!

Spinach is a great vegetable.  It's loaded with vits A, C, E, B12, B6, and K.  It also has a high iron and calcium content.  Definitely a food that I would consider a "super food".  I try to use it in a lot of different meals around our house.  I'll use it instead of lettuce on a sandwich, I'll throw it into lasagna or my homemade spaghetti sauce, I'll put it in soups, etc.  I'm always looking for new ways to use it and I figured some of you might be too!

In case you are part of a CSA or are getting spinach from your local farmer's market, or if you just love spinach as much as I do, here are a few recipes I thought I'd share.

Holy moly, This Green Monster smoothie has become the BIGGEST hit at our house.  I've had it for breakfast every morning this week and SYT absolutely adores it in his sippy cup (diluted with some water).  It's incredibly healthy (I don't even add the honey as I think it's plenty sweet without it and none of us need the extra sugar), it's easy for babies to drink, and it's quite filling.  Spencer has decided that he is completely not interested in drinking at all (like literally, we are currently counting how many sips of water he takes a day and he won't even put a milk sippy cup to his lips), so the fact that he will drink this is awesome.  I know he can't have more than 4 oz a day of juice, but at least I know he is getting something seriously healthy when I give him this and, because I dilute it for him, he ends up taking 8 oz of something throughout the day which is better than the days of trying to get only one oz into him!  I would definitely urge everyone to try this- it's seriously that good!

This lemon and herb pasta salad recipe from Rachel Ray was one of the side dishes we served at Spencer's birthday party and quite a few of the guests asked for the recipe.  It is so good, really easy (it's Rachel Ray, so you know it's not going to be too time consuming), and perfect for summertime menus!  Instead of adding the arugula, I add spinach.  I think it adds a better flavor and is more nutritious.  I also make it the night before as I think it needs time for the flavors to meld together and add the eggs right before serving b/c they break apart so easily and they're much prettier when they stay together.

Have you tried either of the recipes above?  Do you have any other favorite recipes I need to try that have spinach as an ingredient?  Any tips for getting Spencer to drink anything besides the green monster smoothie?

Have a delicious Friday!!

Dinner Club Help

Ladies,

We have dinner club this Saturday night and I need your help!!  The theme this month is Soup Spectacular, so the four "guest" couples are bringing the soups and the host couple is providing the appetizers and dessert.  I love, love, love soup, but I am currently stuck and need some advice.

Over New Years we did a wonderful baked potato soup and minestrone soup for our guests that were here.  Both are delish, but someone has done a baked potato soup before, and one of the dinner club couples came to our New Years Day party, so they just had the minestrone.  I also am trying to stay away from chili because I'm sure someone else will do it (we're usually one of the more creative couples in the group). 

We've thought about white chicken chili (I have a great recipe for it, but is it too much like chili?), tomato soup (could be considered boring), or a simple chicken and rice.  Do you guys have any soups that you love?  Anything interesting or different?  Or do any of the above sound great?  I will take any suggestions you all have, and I'll let you know what we decide (and I'll post the recipe after the weekend).

Thanks so much!

Eggnog Trifle

Please tell me you are going somewhere where you are required to bring a holiday dessert in the next two weeks.  If so, get thee to a grocery store to pick up the ingrediants for this dish.  It's beyond delish!!!

Jessica  posted about this (amazing on it's own) Eggnog Pound Cake, and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to attempt this one.  It just screams holiday.  Well, I made a double batch and since I had more than I needed, I decided to experiment a bit for a dinner party we were having.  Ummmmm.....so this was my first dessert without a recipe, and, thank goodness, it worked!!

So, if you're interested, make the loaves as described above, buy yourself a trifle bowl, and let's go!

Slice the Eggnog pound cake in half lengthwise, and then slice into one inch strips.  Layer the first set of strips into the bottom of the trifle bowl. 

Fold together one container of marscapone cheese, one cup of eggnog, and powdered sugar until you get the level of sweetness you desire (I ended up doing over 2 cups).  Place in the fridge for 2 hours to help it thicken up again.

Take a quality semi-sweet chocolate bar (I used Ghiradelli, but Valharona would be wonderful too) and use a vegetable peeler to shave it down into chocolate curls. 

After the eggnog mixture is chilled, layer that onto the poundcake, then do a layer of the chocolate curls.  Do this all over again with poundcake first, then the eggnog.  I then whipped a small container of heavy whipping cream with sugar and did a layer of that and then added the chocolate curls to the top.  You could easily just add cool whip if you wanted. 

I served this for guests (a little scary since I hadn't tasted it at all!), and it went over so well!!  I'm sorry I don't have it written down in true recipe form, but it's really not all that complicated, and if you have any questions about it, let me know!  I'd be glad to answer questions.  It is seriously delish!  The Eggnog pound cake has such a good flavor and is very moist on its own, but in this form, it's even better!!!

Recipe Touchdown!!

Dinner Club met last night and the theme was tailgating.  B and I decided to bring regular and tomatillo salsa since we have a plethora of tomatoes and tomatillos in the garden right now.  I thought our first batch of tomatillow salsa was better, but this one seemed to go over well too.  I also really, really wanted to bake something (it's hard to bake regularly when you can't eat much of what you make!), so I decided to make my favorite King Arthur brownie recipe and then used their buttercream frostings (chocolate and vanilla) to make the brownie pictured above!  Didn't it turn out so well?  I love the way it looks, and according to the group and the husby, it was quite delish as well!

Below is the recipe for the brownies and the frosting.  The brownies are my favorite brownies I have made (and I've tried a LOT of recipes).  This was my first experience with making buttercream frosting, and since it's pretty much all dairy, I couldn't try it, but it got rave reviews from the dinner club and from work (I took a pan in to them today too!)

King Arthur Brownie Recipe

6 oz unsweetened baking chocolate

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

5 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup light corn syrup (Karo syrup)

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

In a medium sized saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter together over low heat.  Set aside to cool slightly

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla, salt, sugar, and orn syrup together until light and fluffy, which takes a few minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375; lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

Stir the flour mixture into the chocolate and butter mixture.  Fold the chocolate batter into the egg mixture, stirring to combine. 

Spread the batter in the pan.  For an extra glossy top, brush with one tablespoon of milk.  Bake the brownies for 35 minutes; the top should be crisp, but a toothpick inserted in the center will come out coated with chocolate.  Remove the brownies from the oven and let them cool for several hours before cutting into squares.

Vanilla Buttercream (for the green corners and the piping)

5 1/3 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

1/8 tsp salt

4 to 5 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 to 1/3 cup milk or cream

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, shortening and salt until fluffy.  Add about half the confectioners sugar and beat slowly until well blended.  Add the vanilla and half the milk and beat until fluffy.  Continue mixing the sugar and milk alternately until they've been completely incorporated and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.

Chocolate Buttercream (for the football)

1/2 cup unsweetened, bittersweet, or semisweet chocolate, chopped

4 tablespoons butter

1/8 tsp salt

4 to 5 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

2 tsp vanilla

6 tablespoons milk or cream

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and using medium power in the microwave, melt the chocolate about three quarters of the way.  Remove from the heat or microwave and stir the chocolate until it's completely smooth.  Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and salt until fluffy.  Add about half of the confectioners sugar and beat slowly until well blended.  Add the vanilla and half the milk and beat until fluffy.  Add the melted chocolate and mix until thoroughly blended.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining sugar and milk alternately until they've been completely incorporated.  Beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, adjusting the consistency with sugar or milk as needed.

If you're headed to a tailgate or over to someone's house to watch the game, definitely give this recipe a try!  It's a cute way to jazz up a great brownie recipe, and the football could be personalized for any team!  Oh, and this would be adorable for a little boy's birthday party!!!!

Summer salad

A few weeks ago I mentioned that we had one of our dinner club dinners and the theme was "Farm Fresh".  We were in charge of the salad, so we headed down to the farmers market to see what was available.  We knew we needed a salad that would work with a homemade raspberry vinagrette as we have raspberry bushes in our backyard and we wanted to feature them in the salad somehow.

The farmer's market had TONS of peaches, and we decided grilling the peaches would take away enough of the sweetness to make the salad just perfect.  The purple strips you see are a purple pepper- tastes the same as a red or yellow, just a different color and perhaps a little less tender. 

We also added a cucumber scored with a fork to make it pretty, candied pecans (so easy!), green leaf lettuce, and feta. 

(close up of the grilled peach and pecans)

The salad received rave reviews and almost everyone went back for seconds.  We were really pleased with the taste and the presentation!

If you ever want to add grilled peaches to your salad, I would highly recommend getting freestone peaches.  Ours ended up being the clingstone variety, and it was NOT a fun experience trying to get them into decent looking slices.

Let me know if you want the recipe for the vinagrette.  It's muy delicioso!

Lobster party- appetizer

Seriously, this is WAY yummy and way healthy.  And still so incredibly pretty on a plate. 

Recipe:

Cucumber (fresh from the garden)

Watermelon (we used yellow, pink would be just as cute)

Feta (the block kind, not the crumbled kind)

Mint

Cracked black pepper

Peel the cuke, score with fork and slice.  Place on skewer.  Chunk the watermelon, place on skewer.  Cut the feta into squares, place on skewer.  Be careful with the feta as it is soft and will crumble easily.  Mince the mint and sprinkle over top.  Grind some pepper over top.  Serve on a white tray with extra mint for garnish.  Done! 

I got a ton of compliments on this- you will too!

B's Guest Post: SKIPPERS!

Hey ladies, B here.  You know, Spencer's dad and all around husband of the year, right?

AET has asked me to write a guest post about the greatest adult beverage in the history of the whole planet of Earth.  It's summer time, the weather is getting nice, and in harbor towns all over the Great Lakes, people are looking forward to their annual perch fries, cookouts, and various other parties.  And there is no better drink to get you groovin' to Van Morrison tunes on the beach than the classic "Skipper!" 

More formally, this cocktail is known as the "Skip 'n Go Naked," because that's exactly what you'll want to do after a few of these bad boys.  In our family, it's commonly referred to as the "Skipper."  It's a tradition to take these with us to the beach of Little Traverse Bay in Harbor Springs, MI for the annual Lobster Party at my aunt and uncle's cottage.

It's bubbly, it's refreshing, it's cold, it tastes like limes, and here's how you make it:

Before the Party:

- Prepare one can of frozen Lime-Ade per package directions.  Minute Made makes one, but you can pretty much use any brand.
- Add Lime-Ade to a large pitcher or other durable transportation vessel, you're going to need to bring this to the beach with you and pour from it
- Add an entire bottle of light rum, like Bacardi.  The pitcher should essentially have 1 part rum for every 1 part Lime-Ade.  Don't worry, if it sounds like this is too boozy, we'll dumb it down later....a little
- Buy a case of light beer.  It doesn't need to be low-calorie, but you definitely don't want anything too dark, thick, or wheat-y.  Perhaps since our Up North paradise is so close to Canada, we usually use Labbatt Blue or Blue Light.
- Buy a sleeve of Solo cups and a big bag of ice, enough to share

At the Party:

- Designate a "mixing cup."  We usually mark it with hockey tape or a sharpie marker.  If you use a Sharpie, make sure to mark it before you get the cup wet, or the marker will smudge.  Yeah, we're pretty experienced in this.
- Grab your cup. 
- Add ice as high as you like it
- Fill your own cup half way with the Lime-Ade/Rum mixture
- Top off your cup with beer
- Pour the entire contents quickly into the Mixing Cup and quickly back into your own glass to get a homogeneous mixture.
- Prepare to have your mind blown.

Make sure you have plenty of supplies.  People are going to see what a raging good time you're having and they're going to want one too.  Even your uncle who drinks nothing but Dewar's will have two of them before dinner.  I speak from experience.

Here's a quick pic of my cousin and me holding our Skippers at the Lobster Party two summers ago.  This photo was taken exactly one week before he served as my Best Man and AEO became AET! 

And before you ask- yes, those are pants with Lobsters embroidered all over them.  AET may not have mentioned it on this blog, but she's the world champion eBay-er, and she found these for me a few years ago.  They get one or two uses a year, and they're fantastic.  And since I've lose a little weight in the last couple of years, they actually fit now!

Summer Recipes you MUST try!!

Here are a few summer recipes that all of you must try.  I don't care if you are completely inadequate in the kitchen- you can definitely make all of these without any effort.  And they are definitely worth the time and energy.  I promise!!  Plus, all of them are recipes that translate well for summer soirees, so take them with you next time you are asked to bring something besides wine!

Fruit Salsa (or as we call it Fralsa) and Cinnamon Chips
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced
8 ounces raspberries
1 pound strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups cinnamon sugar

Directions
1.In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.

2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

3.Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.

4.Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.
 
From www.allrecipes.com
 
Lemon and Herb Pasta Salad
Ingredients:

1 pound bowtie pasta
Grated peel and juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cups torn arugula (I used spinach b/c it's what I had on hand)
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

Directions:
1.In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water.

2.Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the lemon peel, lemon juice and olive oil; season with salt and pepper.

3.In a large bowl, mix together the pasta, bell pepper, arugula, eggs, parmesan, pine nuts and dill. Add the lemon dressing and toss.

From Rachael Ray

Summer Berry Trifle

1 3/4 c fresh blueberries
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 frozen loaf pound cake, thawed
1 4 oz package white chocolate instant pudding mix
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c sour cream
1 1/2 c fresh raspberries
1 c fresh blackberries

Mash 1/4 c of the blueberries in a small bowl.  Stir in 2 tablespoons of the condensed milk.

Cut the pound cake into halves horizontally.  Spread the blueberry mixture on the cut side of the bottom half.  Plae the top half over the blueberry mixture.  Cut the cake lengthwise into 4 strips.  Cut the cake crosswise into 1 inch thick pieces.

Beat the remaining condensed milk, pudding mix, and milk in a mixing bowl until smooth.  Fold in the sour cream.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the pudding mixture. 

Layer the pound cake pieces, remaining pudding mixture, remaining blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries 1/2 at a time in a trifle bowl.  Spoon the reserved pudding mixture over the top.

Chill, covered, for at least 2 hours in the fridge. 

(I did not reserve the pudding mixture as I wanted the top to be all fresh fruit- I thought it was prettier this way.)

From Always Superb JL of Minneapolis/St Paul Cookbook (thanks QBS!)


Enjoy!  I promise that you will love all of them :)

Yumm-o!!!

B and I decided to try this recipe out of our Rachel Ray 365 recipe book tonight.  It was delicious.  Perfect for a nice spring or warm summer day.  I know some of you must be in the mood for a new dinner recipe, and this one is definitely worth a look!!  I think this is something you could definitely serve to guests as well.  Especially with grilled Romaine on the outside of a white platter with the salad in the middle.  Grilled Romaine looks so elegant and different. 

Tex-Mex Grilled Chicken Caesar
2 T chili powder
1 teas. Ground cumin
½ cup EVOO
1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast
5 garlic cloves, 1 clove cracked from skin, 4 cloves finely chopped
3 cups cubed sourdough bread (half of a round loaf)
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
3 anchovy fillets, drained, finely chopped (we used small amt of anchovy paste)
½ teas. Crushed red pepper flakes
1 ripe avocado
Zest and juice of 2 limes
1 T Dijon mustard
2 teas. Worcestershire sauce
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
Coarse black pepper
2 large romaine lettuce hearts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and preheat a grill pan or outdoor grill on high.

In a shallow dish, combine 1 T chili powder, the cumin, 2 t of the EVOO and some salt. Add the chicken cutlets and coat in the seasoning. Transfer the cutlets to the grill and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove from the grill and slice into very thin strips.
While the chicken is grilling, rub the inside of a salad bowl with the cracked clove of garlic. Set aside. Then place the cubed bread in a clean bowl with the garlic clove and drizzle about 3 T of EVOO and the remaining T of chili powder over the cubed bread. Toss with about ½ cup of the grated cheese and toss to coat thoroughly. Spread the croutons evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crisp and golden, 10 to 15 minutes.

To make the dressing, place the remaining ¼ cup of EVOO in a small pan with the anchovies, red pepper flakes, and the finely chopped garlic. Stir together over very low heat until the anchovies melt. Remove from the heat and cool.  (If using anchovy paste, you do not need to do over heat)

To prepare the avocado, cut all around the circumference of the ripe avocado, lengthwise and down to the pit. Twist and separate the halved fruit. Remove the pit with a spoon, then scoop the flesh out in one piece from both halves and cut into bite-size pieces.

In the bottom of the reserved salad bowl, combine the lime zest and juice, mustard, Worcestershire, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Whisk in the cooled EVOO with the anchovies and garlic. Add the romaine to the bowl, followed by the croutons, avocado, and the remaining ½ cup grated cheese. Toss the salad to coat, adjust the salt and pepper. Top with sliced chicken.

Enjoy friends!!!!!!!!!

A fancy feast for 2010

I wanted to share with you a wonderful menu that B and I made at home for New Year's Eve this year.  Even if you don't consider yourself a cook, this is a pretty foolproof menu (as long as you can follow directions!).  It's a great meal for birthdays, Valentine's Day, anniversary celebrations, or any other important day that you want to commemorate.  I promise, it's delish and worth the time to set the table with your best dishes, light some candles, play some of your favorite music and enjoy the time at home together!

Filet with Balsamic Glaze
Roasted New Potatoes with Greens
Steamed Broccoli or Asparagus
A full-bodied red wine (I prefer Pinot Noir or Cab with this heavy of a steak dish)
Apple Turnovers with ice cream and caramel sauce
or
Molten Chocolate Cakes

While this is definitely not an everyday, weeknight meal, I hope that some of you will bookmark this and whip it up the next time you are planning a nice stay at home dinner (after the little ones are asleep!). 

Quick, easy, and delicious dinner

B and I love this recipe from Annie's Eats blog.  My family had chili on Saturday night and they thought this was the perfect accompaniment also.  Since my mom sent us home with one of the loaves (I made 3), B and I decided to use it tonight in a great sandwich recipe.  I thought I'd share it here since we liked it so much!

Make the bread (super, duper easy, I promise)
Slice two pieces for a sandwich
Add ham, cheese, carmelized onions and a pub or honey mustard between the two slices
Grill or use a panini press to warm the sandwich and melt the cheese
Serve with a dill pickle and your favorite veggie on the side

Quick and easy AND your whole family will like it!!  Enjoy!

Holiday Baking

My holiday baking is VERY limited this season with the move, but I am going to have some time this weekend to make a few things.  However, I do not have any of my cookbooks or recipe cards with me.  I know I can peruse a few of my favorite online sites to look for things, but I wondered if any of you had any tried-and-true recipes that I should try.  I have already made my peppermint bark brownies (huge hit every year) and I don't have any of my cookie cutters here for my traditional butter cookies, but any other ideas would be GREAT.  Feel free to just comment that I should email you if you don't want to post the whole thing in the comments or just link me to the recipe online!

Thanks in advance for your help.  I definitely appreciate it (and the recipients of my baking thank you as well!!)

YUM!!!!!!!!

So today I spent the late morning and early afternoon in the kitchen baking up the three desserts we are taking tomorrow night to our "Friends Thanksgiving".  I really wanted to make the apple tart that I blogged about earlier this fall, but with no oven at the place we are having dinner this year, it would have to be served cold, and it's just not as good that way.  Instead I decided to make a traditional apple pie, and it turned out beautifully!!! 

The top caved in slightly during the cooling process, so you can see the slight tear in the crust, but I think it'll get eaten anyway!  I had some leftover crust that I sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and then baked, and this crust is GOOD!!!!  I absolutely cannot wait to dig in tomorrow.

The second dessert is a chocolate pecan pie.  B didn't think that anyone would even be interested in this (he just doesn't get the interest in pecan pie at all), but I figured I'd try it out and see if it's something I'll ever want to make again.  Someone will eat it, right?

The crust on this one is different.  I"m anxious to try a tiny sliver of it to see which crust I like better to know which I would use again in the future.  I was happy with how easily both of these crusts came together, so it certainly won't be a question of which is easier.  A food processor, a refrigerator, a rolling pin- simple!

The third dessert is a pumpkin pie crumble cake.  I'm sure I'd get a much better visual if I could cut into it, so I'll try to remember to get one tomorrow while I'm serving!

It has a yellow cake base, a thick pumpkin layer, and a pecan crumble top.  It certainly smelled delish during the cooking process!!

We also made mini chocolate chip pumpkin loaves for each couple/person to take home with them.  Okay, I shouldn't say we because B did all the hard work on this one, though I did tie the bows!  These are fantastic, and I know everyone will enjoy them for breakfast Monday morning!!

If any of these recipes are extremely successful, I'll post them later this week on the blog.  I don't want to post them now for fear that they won't be good and you'll all blame me for your Thanksgiving fail!!

Today I am thankful for................a fun going away party last night with all our Chicago friends. 

This dear friend and her husband hosted it, and it was wonderful to see everyone one last time before I leave.  It hasn't hit me yet that I'm moving and will not see these people regularly, but I know I'm going to have a serious breakdown in January!  Luckily I'll get to come back in Jan or Feb for the above hostess's baby shower!  She's due two months before me in March.  You can't see it here, but her belly is just darling!!

Pumpkin Fluff

I can't believe I have been so remiss in posting this fantastic fall recipe.  Please forgive me! 

Reasons why you should make this:
1.  Easy as pie to make (5 year olds could make this on their own if someone opens the pumpkin can for them!)
2.  Guests, friends, and family will all love it
3.  It's relatively low in calories (especially if you use non-fat whipped cream)
4.  Once you make it once, you'll make it again and again because you were making it for a party and ended up eating 1/2 the bowl by yourself so you had to make more for the guests because it's just that good!


Pumpkin Fluff
12 oz of frozen whipped topping, thawed (1 1/2 of the small ones or 3/4 of the big tub)
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix (sugar free works)
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Fold all ingrediants together in a mixing bowl.  Serve with Nilla Wafers, graham cracker sticks, or apple slices.

This would be darling if set out inside a scooped out pumpkin that is lined with saran wrap!!

Enjoy!!