Christmas Party

There was lots of food at our Christmas Party! 

I couldn't seem to keep up with keeping the platters full! Our guests loved the food and I received many nice compliments. I'm so glad everyone liked everything. I had a few people suggest to me that I should start a catering/party planning company. :) 

Our camera is not working very well, so we didn't get the pictures we wanted of all of our guests. Also, I didn't get a picture of what the table looked like completed, or a picture of the table with the Chili & fixings... but here is a preview of the rest of the dishes. :)

^ Sweet Bacon Chicken Wraps ^

^ Veggie Tray ^

^ Crabmeat Puffs ^

^ Fruit Tray ^

^ Chicken Wings Served with a Blue Cheese Dressing ^

^ Cheese Platter ^

^ Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil ^

^ Herb Coated Goat Cheese ^

^ Chicken Wonton Cups ^

^ Banana & Chocolate Chip Bread ^

^ Oreo Truffles ^

^ Individual Orange & Chocolate Cheesecakes ^

  ^ Mini Red Velvet Chocolate Coated Cupcakes ^

 ^ Best Tacky Sweater Prize (Winner: My Dad, Clay) ^
[It was not rigged! We had our guests vote for the winner]

Thank you to everyone who came.

** If you are hosting an event - 
please consider me for your catering needs!! :) **

Butternut Squash Soup

I've made this Butternut Squash Soup before... and I feel that the idea always sounds better than the actual dish itself. It is a very thick and dense soup with an earthy flavor. While the recipe is quite easy, soups are always time consuming. The longer a soup sits and the flavors meld together, the better the flavor.

I changed the initial recipe that I have just a little bit. I roasted the butternut squash before adding it to the soup to add another level of depth. I also added some cayenne pepper and pushed it through sieve to give it a smooth texture. 

For the toppings, I took the seeds from the butternut squash, cleaned them and dried them overnight. Having the seeds dry overnight, also gave the soup time to marry and develop it's flavor. The next day, I cooked the seeds in a little olive oil and salt and pepper. I also chopped some sage and cooked it in a little butter until it was slightly crispy. When serving the soup, I topped it with Greek Yogurt, the cooked seeds and sage. 

The soup was tasty. :) Definitely gets better with age. 

Egg Scramble with Tomatoes, Avocado & Goat Cheese

 Yesterday morning I created an Egg Scramble with Fresh Tomatoes, Avocado & Goat Cheese. What a wonderful way to start the day. The dish's colors were so beautiful; yellow, red, green, white! I couldn't wait to dig in. 

This dish wasn't only appealing to the eye. The eggs were cooked perfectly, thanks to my lessons from Julia. The eggs were fluffy and savory, the fresh tomatoes brought a fresh dynamic, the goat cheese brought a nice contrast with its tang, and the avocado added to the overall creamy texture. This egg scramble literally melted in my mouth. 

Since I was only cooking for one, I wasn't going to use a whole avocado. Avocados brown very quickly, but I didn't want to waste a perfectly good half of an avocado. So, I decided to try and save it... I kept the core inside the half I planned to save, sprinkled lemon juice over the open flesh, and placed it in a plastic bag. I placed it in the fridge and hoped it would keep it's green.

This morning, I wanted to make Josh the same egg scramble wrapped in a tortilla shell. But would I have to use a new avocado? Or did the avocado I saved stay green and not turn brown?

<---- It stayed fresh!

Josh decided he only wanted avocado and not tomato or goat cheese... and I was too tired to try to convince him.

Two Egg Scramble-Avocado Wraps To Go.

Tacos w. Cucumber-Acocado Salsa

Last night, Josh requested tacos for dinner. And I wanted something a little healthier. So I came up with a compromise. I made Tacos with Ground Turkey, Cucumber-Avocado Salsa & Greek Yogurt with a side of Spanish Rice with Freshly Chopped Tomatoes. {Instead of the traditional ground beef, I used ground turkey. Instead of the traditional lettuce & cheese, I made a cucumber-avocado salsa. & Instead of sour cream, I used greek yogurt.}

For the Cucumber-Avocado Salsa, I mixed together chopped cucumber, jalapeños, cilantro & avocado and the juice of one lime with a little s&p. It was a burst of freshness with the cucumber offering a snap and the avocado giving a creamy contrast.

I used a box of Spanish Rice, but used Fresh Tomatoes! The box called for an option of canned tomatoes, but why use canned, when you have fresh readily available?

After the rice and ground turkey were finished cooking, I started to assemble our tacos. 

 The cucumber-avocado salsa was so fresh and delicious! I wanted to pull out a bag of Tostitos Chips and dig into the salsa... if only we had chips. Every ingredient brought the taco to a new level, with the savory ground turkey, the crunchy, creamy, fresh salsa and the tangy greek yogurt.

This was an experiment that ended well. :)

A Fair Price

Yesterday I went to the produce market and bought a bunch of delicious vegetables and some fruit. I don't know about you, but I love shopping for produce! Everything is so fresh and smells incredible! I was pretty happy with myself after this shopping trip. Well, to be honest, I'm always pretty happy with myself after a trip to the Joe Randazzo's. After washing up most of my produce, I couldn't believe how much I got for my dollar. That's another thing to love about produce shopping!

8 bananas (4 not pictured, because they are now banana bread!)
7 roma tomatoes
4 red peppers
4 zucchini

4 limes
4 red onions
4 avocados
3 spanish onions
3 garlic cloves
2 cucumbers
2 heads of lettuce

2 bags of spinach

2 cartons of grape tomatoes

2 bunches of cilantro

1 bunch of parsley

1 carton of strawberries

1 bag of green grapes

1 bag of carrots

1 bag of celery

1 box of spanish rice

1/2 gallon of apple cider

_______________________

Total Cost $27.13

I think this is pretty good. :)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

As soon as I walked in the door, before I even unpacked the groceries, I whipped together Banana Walnut Bread & slid it in the oven. I just couldn't wait! 

& It turned out perfect! 

It slipped out of the pan with the greatest of ease!

It was beautiful.

I sliced the entire loaf, wrapped it up and popped it in the fridge. 

Banana Walnut Bread

Repeat Offender & Bananas Foster

 Earlier in the week, I gave Libby the down low on my amazing turkey burgers and have been craving them ever since. 

So Tuesday night, I made Josh and I a couple burgers with wedge fries.

You just can't go wrong with these burgers!

For dessert I whipped up Bananas Foster. This is the dish that changed Josh's mind about bananas. I remember the first time I made it, we were living in our apartment. Josh wasn't too excited to have a dessert made with bananas. He tried to inform me that he didn't like bananas and that he would just have vanilla ice cream. But, I knew better. I knew that once he took a bite with the warm, buttery, sugary, sweet banana and cold vanilla ice cream, that he would change his mind. ...And he did.

After melting the butter and adding cinnamon and brown sugar, I tossed in the bananas and let them bathe in the goodness for a bit. Then, I lit that bitch on fire! {It is somewhat difficult to light things on fire and take a picture...so I'm sorry there is no picture. Next time I will have Josh be my photographer.}

 I scooped vanilla ice cream on a plate (Josh said he wanted 5 scoops of ice cream...) and poured the hot bananas & sugary sauce along side it.

It doesn't look very pretty, but it tasted fantastic.
I want to find a way to make this dish a little more appealing to the eye...so I guess we'll just have to have this dessert more often. :)

Cork Trivet

Yesterday {& into last night} I made a cork trivet!


I have lots of wine corks that I have saved. I usually write the occasion or names of who I'm drinking with on the cork and toss it into the glass stemware shown to the right. ----->


I have accumulated quite a few over the years and it is about time that I create something with them! It's just too bad that so many wine bottles are twist off or have faux corks.


It took me a little while to figure out the best way to put this together, but now that I know what I'm doing, I think it will be easier second go-around! What do you think?

This is a smaller trivet. I plan on making more that are different sizes and shapes! 

I also plan on making coasters. :)

*This trivet could be part of the prize for Best Tacky Christmas Sweater*

Carrot Soup

Last night I made Carrot Soup. It is a recipe I got from Dad and have always really liked, but I knew I could Love it... So, tonight I improved it!

For starters, I used the chicken broth that I made from scratch {when I was making the Chicken Noodle Soup}. When making this recipe I always add white wine to the total amount of broth called for... this time I used a bit more.

I have always heard terms like "Cooking Wine" or heard people say something along the lines of, "If you're not going to drink it (because you don't like it), just use in your cooking." Don't Do This!!

If you don't want to drink it out of a glass, why would you want to eat it with a spoon?

As the old saying goes "I love cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food I'm cooking."

After simmering the soup for about a half hour, I transferred it, in batches, to my food processor. This is where I changed the cooking technique a bit. The original soup recipe would blend the soup and continue on to add the remaining ingredients. I always found the texture a bit too "gritty" and I wanted to smooth the soup out and bring it to its full potential. So I pushed the soup through a sieve.

Then I added the remaining ingredients and let the soup sit, so that the flavors could marry. My Dad suggested putting Cayenne Pepper in. It was definitely a good tip! It gave it a small amount of heat and brought out the soups flavors without hindering the overall taste. A+.

While the soup married together, I cut a loaf of italian bread into cubes and made homemade croutons. I don't think I've bought store bought croutons for years! They are so simple to make and you can personalize them every time to contain the flavors you desire.

This soup is typically topped with toasted sesame seeds, chopped chives, homemade croutons & sour cream. But I replaced the sour cream with Greek Yogurt. The Greek Yogurt brought a zing! to the silky, smooth, rich carrot soup. Pushing the soup through the sieve made a world of difference!

Perfection. 

Now this is my kind of soup. 

Halloween Weekend @ The Birches

Josh and I spent Halloween weekend at the cottage with Clint & Mark. We all had a really good time; the weather was perfect and the food was delicious!

 Saturday morning I made a frittata similar to the one I made for Ash & Adam, Frittata with Asparagus, Roasted Red Peppers and Goat Cheese. With a side of bacon and fresh fruit.

 Along with the view, it was certainly the best way to start the day. 

After breakfast, I made us all bloody marys and we watched some college football. 

MSU did not play as we had hoped...

For dinner, I made Turkey Burgers stuffed with Fresh Mozzarella & Roasted Red Peppers & topped with Avocado Spread & Chopped Cilantro. & Garlic Fries on the side.

They turned out so good! I made the boys their burgers first and while I was in the kitchen cooking mine, all I could hear was moaning and various comments from all of them. Here are a few:

"Explosion of Goodness" --Mark

"Best Burger I've ever had." --Clint

"Symphony of taste in my mouth." --Mark

"You never disappoint me." -- Josh

"I'm not the type of guy to have a cigarette after a meal, but this meal warranted one." -- Mark

"Did you see how fast Mark ate? He is the most critical person I know when it comes to food. The way he just ate was the highest compliment anyone could receive." --Clint

I think they liked them. :) They did not stop talking about this dinner. They talked about it for the rest of the night, into the next morning and on the drive home. 

I loved that they loved it so much! - That is the best part of cooking!