air bubble blog

french nachos

2009-07-21T20:40:00.005-05:00

much to david's surprise, yesterday for dinner i made poutine. he said that it sounded like something i would never ever make ("french fries with gravy and cheese"). but hey, i had potatoes, and i searched on epicurious for potato recipes, and this got rave reviews. i used red potatoes from the farmer's market (the recipe calls for russet but hey, what's the fun in following a recipe to the T?). david mastered the fries, although i screwed it up a little by salting them, because along with my gravy and cheese, the dish was a bit too salty--still good though. the recipe did say to lightly salt the fries, but i would recommend to not salt them. i used fresh cheese curds for the market...oh so good they were! you could just hear them squeak in your mouth as you chewed. it doesn't get much fresher than that. for the demi-glace, i read that you can use half espagnole sauce and half broth, so i did that. i did a quick version of the espagnole--sauteed carrot and garlic in butter (my onions were rotten so i just used some onion powder), added flour to make a roux, then added crushed tomatoes (instead of puree, it's what i had) and chicken broth (again, what i had instead of beef). once it was to the desireed consistency (and not after 45 minutes of reducing), i took it off the heat. then to make the gravy, i sauteed the shallot and dried thyme in butter, added the red wine and reduced it. once reduced, i added the "demi-glace" (chicken broth mixed with espagnole sauce), then added a small bit of cornstarch slurry to thicken. i seasoned it with salt and pepper but didn't add the extra butter in at the end. then, i removed all of the solids so i had a nice, smooth gravy. we put the fries on a baking sheet, dropped cheese curds over, drizzled the gravy over, and heated it in the oven till the cheese was slightly melted. the recipe says to put the gravy on when you are serving it, but it was taking awhile for the curds to melt so we decided to put the gravy on so the fries wouldn't get hard and dry (good thinking david). sure, we didn't do exactly what the recipe told us to do, so it probably wasn't exactly how the french do it, but it was the weeknight college kid version of it (reduce time and use ingredients that you have!). overall, it was a pretty tasty and fun meal, and david deemed them "french nachos." it seems fitting doesn't it?

tonight for dinner i made some really delicious sandwiches. i made fresh white bread in the bread maker today. i put pesto on both pieces of bread, then layered tomatoes, ham, provolone, and salami. mmmm so good. david loved it--"now that is a sandwich," he said. we think it would have been good with fresh mozz or feta too, instead of the provolone.

after dinner, david took me on a surprise date for ice cream. we went to izzy's ice cream in saint paul. it's cool there because you choose which ice cream you want, and then you get an "izzy" on top, which is a mini scoop of a different flavor of your choice. i thought it was something different you don't see at every ice cream shop! i got cake batter ice cream (soo good--it tasted like i was eating a cone full of frosting haha) with an izzy of oreo ice cream (it was awesome because talk about having a little bit of ice cream with your oreos). i got mine in a waffle cone, and when the girl handed it to me, the bottom broke, so she gave me another cone...which i gave to david so that he could try the waffle cone! yay free stuff. david got strawberry cheesecake ice cream with a four berry izzy in a cake cone--and then inside of a waffle cone!

and here are the chocolate chip banana muffins i made the other day. they turned out really good. they're not too banana-y but are the perfect combination of banana and chocolate.

well, that's about it on the food front. i'm hoping the weather will be a little less bipolar tomorrow. today it was raining when i woke up, sunny a bit later, cloudy again, sunny, then it started to get cloudy again. but i went for a run, and a little ways out i saw a big streak of lightening, soo i turned right back around. i decided going for a shorter run was better than getting struck by lightning. but that's just me.

what's cookin' tomorrow: chicken with spicy tomato sauce

you better check to see if the pigs are flying...

2009-07-19T14:24:00.012-05:00

....because i am blogging. :O

And I guess i don't really have a good excuse for not blogging all summer...since I haven't been that busy. Although I haven't been cooking dinners that are too interesting. David and I have started to get bored of food--we had gotten into a pattern of eating the same things. So, I have started to plan different menus now, with new meals to try. Hopefully I will keep you updated on them.

But let's backtrack a bit...

This summer I have pretty much just been working, doing my internship--which I am loving--, and hanging out. I have been enjoying the farmer's market very much. the Minneapolis Farmer's Market is by far the best market I have ever been to (of course, I think I have only been to New Berlin and West Allis besides ours here). It is such a cultural experience and it's a fun place to go to, especially on the weekend (they are open everyday 6am-1pm)--you can get prepared food for breakfast or lunch, listen to local music, buy fresh organic produce, meat, and dairy, peruse the handmade pottery and clothing, and much much more. The typical deal for fruit and veggies is $2 a tray or 3/$5--you really can't pass up local organic produce like that.

Here is some sort of stir fry I made a few weeks ago...I think it was green peppers, broccoli, beef, green beans, mushrooms, and peanuts over brown rice.

July 3rd was our friend Charles' birthday, so he, his girlfriend, David, and I went out to dinner to Dixie's on Grand--a deliciously southern restaurant. The Saint Louis Ribs are the best item on the menu--that pork just falls right off the bone. The baking powder biscuits are scrumptious, especially when accompanied by honey. This time I decided to try something new, so I had the Tex-Mex Chicken Nachos s (crispy tortilla chips, topped with smoked chicken, Pecos Red River chili and nacho cheese). I was pretty disappointed. Both the chips and chicken lacked adequate flavor, and there was just some shredded cheese melted over the top (I need cheese covering every chip!!). The chili, which was served on the side thankfully, was way too spicy for my sensitive taste buds. I was lucky, though that my sweet boyfriend shared his ribs with me so I got to have some yummy food.

After dinner we went back to my apartment and had cake that I had made earlier that day. I made a three-layer chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream frosting between the layers and on top (butter, powdered sugar, milk, raspberry preserves), and vanilla buttercream frosting on the sides (butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla). It was delicious! I know it was a success because David is not a cake person, and he loved it. I had extra frosting left, so when we had finished the cake (days later), I made chocolate cupcakes (with the same recipe as the cake), and David got the ones with raspberry frosting and I the ones with the vanilla--it works out that we have different frosting preferences. :) (It also works out that he isn't a huge frosting fan, so when we had the cake, I got to eat his vanilla frosting.) (Oh and PS--for the recipe for the cake, I left the chocolate chips out, and obviously didn't make that frosting. )

For dinner one day the following week, we had cornish hens with roasted vegetables. I basically just rubbed the hens with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika and added them to a dish with broccoli, yukon gold potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes (that had been seasoned with, I think, savory, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram). I filled the dish about 1/2 to 3/4 full with chicken broth and roasted it. It was pretty good and a nice change. Whenver I see or think of cornish hens, I always remember the time when Jen and Adrianne made cornish hens for the family for dinner. I think that was quite a few years ago though.

David's birthday was the 12th, so his family came into town on Thursday and we went to see Cirque du Soleil's Kooza. Since it was in a lot in downtown Saint Paul, we tried to find a place to have dinner beforehand. After wandering around for blocks trying to decide what to eat--we wanted something quick before the show--we decided on Loto. It is a cute little restaurant with a fun, contemporary interior. We all had sandwiches and were on our way to Cirque!!

The show was just incredible. It's something everyone should try to do at some time in their life. The athleticism, strength, flexibility, and focus these people have is amazing. Our favorite act was the two guys on the wheel of death. I think they were everyone else's favorite, too, because they got the biggest applause at the end.

Since David had a big test on the Tuesday after his birthday (Sunday), we celebrated it on Saturday. I took him shopping--Macy's was having a crazy sale--and bought him a new outfit. A hot pair of Calvin Klein jeans ($24.99 front $69.00!!) and a light blue shirt ($3 from $14.50!!). Then later his parents came into town again and we went out to dinner at Maggiano's and then went next door for dessert at the Cheescake Factory. David wanted to try their carrot cake cheesecake because he has a copycat version that is amazing, and he wanted to compare. We agreed, however, that his is by far better.

On David's actual birthday we went to church as the Basilica--we have been going there lately rather than our regular church--and then to the farmer's market, which is just down the street. While David studied all day, I made him an apple pie, banana bread with walnuts, and those aforementioned cupcakes. Needless to say, we have had plenty of sweets to eat and share with friends this week.

The other day I made pesto pasta with chicken for dinner, with my fresh basil from the market. It turned out pretty good, although we think it needed tomatoes (I didn't even think to put them in, duh!) and cheese. I had planned on putting feta in it, but the day before I made a huge salad (David always asks if China or the army is coming over for dinner.....but leftovers make a perfect lunch!) and used up the whole block of feta.

I was supposed to go camping with some of my girlfriends yesterday, but we failed to make a reservation and couldn't get in. So instead, we just grilled hot dogs and smores, ate fruit salad and pasta salad, outside of their apartment. We watched Mamma Mia, which I thought was pretty good.

Today I am going to make chocolate chip banana muffins, because I can never seem to eat all of my bananas before they turn brown. David is at home until tonight so I will probably have pancakes for dinner :)

what's cookin' tomorrow: poutine (french fries with gravy and cheese)

2008-10-28T20:14:00.014-05:00

i know, i know i haven't done this in far too long. *but* school has been ruling my life. so i will just show you some pictures from the past two months. it may look like i've only been eating pizza and pasta but i can assure you that it not the case haha. i just haven't been taking pictures of most things.

back to minnesnooowta

2008-08-31T12:16:00.010-05:00

well, tomorrow is back to school. well, back to minneapolis, and tuesday is back to class. ready? not so much. summer wasn't quite long enough; i think after this past winter, we all deserve twice the amount of summer. and before long, it will be fall and get cool again, then cold, then frigid..and we all know where that ends. oh, in about may. such is life. if cold weather is the worse that it gets, we have it pretty good.

okay let's backtrack here...

i last left you with a next dinner of vietnamese chicken salad. while it turned out okay, i wasn't a huge fan of it. i think it was because of the fish sauce--i can't stand the smell of it (but who loves it, really?), and after cooking with it i could smell and taste it too much in the dish. mom and dad seemed to like it okay though. if i had to pick a favorite part, it would be the nuts. but then again, you are what you eat. (a nut, not vietnamese.)

next i did beef with spicy vinegar sauce--although i just baked the beef in the oven with some of the sauce, then finished up cooking it in some more of the sauce, in a saucepan, on the stove. i served it with caramelized onions with b arbecue sauce, since we have an abundance of onions from the garden. finished it off with some oven fries and steamed green beans, both fresh from the garden.

then it was grilled peaches with p rosciutto and balsamic, which was simple and pretty tasty. i maybe should have reduced the balsamic a little more to make it a little more thick and syrup, but it still turned out alright. in addition we had arugula salad with grilled pears and pistachios. delsih! a nice summer meal. :)

next we had roasted spiced chicken with cinnamon and honey-glazed sweet potatoes. the chicken was alright, i forgot to buy the habenero (and didn't realize we had them in the garden), so it was lacking that kick. the sweet potatoes were pretty good, but didn't quite compare to the ones mom made a few days back with olive oil and sea salt (they were cooked just right, a little crispy and delicious!!). i also made warm roasted mushroom and f eta salad. it was good--i love feta--but wasn't quite feeling the mushrooms that day.

friday for dinner i made dad is pre-run pasta; for his sauce i used tomatoes from the garden. i made him tilapia, breaded with garbanzo fava flour, dried thyme, dried oregano, (salt and pepper). fried it in the skillet with olive oil. mom and i got mac and cheese pizza! as i was rolling out the dough and noticed all of the air bubbles all ready, i knew it was going to be a good one. :) the bottom crust, which is usually a little thinner, turned out a little thicker this time. in addition, of course, to be traditional huge crusts on the edges. mmmm so good!

then yesterday for lunch i made andouille and beef burgers with caramelized onions. well, not quite andouille, we couldn't find it at the store, so we used spicy sausage instead. worked close enough. the burgers had pecans in them, which was different but actually quite good. i think it was my first time being in charge of watching and flipping the burgers on the grill, and i think i did quite well. so juicy and succulent. we had them on pretzel rolls from city market, and i toasted them on the grill as well. success!

tonight is the last supper in wisconsin, till thanksgiving. going over to jen and bryan's, should be delicious as always. then tomorrow morning, it's hit the road jack! we plan on going to good earth for lunch, and i hope to try something other than breakfast food. but it's just so hard, cuz it's so good! won't get to cook much this week, due to moving in and team dinners, etc. but i'll try to keep you in the loop! meet ya back here next weekend! ;)

2008-08-20T13:56:00.006-05:00

well, i go back to school in a week and a half, so i've been getting things ready. i decided to put my spices in mini tupperware containers, because last year i kept them in the little bags they came in (i buy them in bulk from fresh market), but they tend to not seal after a while (and spill all over the place), and the writing on the labels rub off so i'm constantly playing "What's this Spice?" i just wrote the name of the spice right on the tupperware so i should avoid past problems. however, i have a new dilemma: how to store all of these 30 containers? before i just had all the bags in two baskets, but let's face it, tupperware takes up more room. so now i need to figure out just how to store them so they are 1) accessible, 2) easy to see which spices are which, and 3) not taking over my entire kitchen.

mom and dad are sad to see my cooking leaving them for a while, but minneapolis is anxiously awaiting its return. but for now, i've still got some time left in this kitchen. let's see what i've cooked up...

saturday for dinner it was just me, so i felt like having pizza when i got home from work. i made mom's pizza dough, since it does not require rising time. i made a light red sauce and used up some of the cheeses we had--provolone, mozzarella, parmesan, and feta. it was quite tasty.

then, sunday for dinner we had potato and chorizo empanadas, black beans, and a salad i tossed with a pico i quickly made and squeezed some extra lime juice onto. for dessert, i made churros. the empanada dough with dry and difficult to work with. it may have been because i substituted the all-purpose flour with corn flour, so that it would be GF. it's okay, they turned out alright anyways. all in all, it was a successful meal. :)

monday for dinner i just made a chef salad with roasted turkey breast, tomatoes, olives, artichokes, cucumbers, all mixed with red leaf lettuce. you can't go wrong with chef salad.

what's cookin tonight: vietnamese chicken salad

catching up

2008-08-10T14:41:00.010-05:00

alright, i've been too busy lately to get around to this. so, seeing as i've got weeks of dinners to share with you, i'll just post pictures and title them.

grilled tuna steaks with citrus fruit salad

banana-macadamia nut muffins

pizza tart with fresh garden veggies and GF pizza crust

adobo-rubbed pork tenderloin with black bean pico de gallo (mom made)

tilapia with prosciutto and sage (mom made)

arugula salad with pears, oven-dried grapes, and roasted shallot vinaigrette

ice crea m cake

2008-07-16T11:40:00.011-05:00

well, the weather's finally getting hot and summer is flying by. i think i will be back at school before i know it.

on friday for dinner i made two pizzas. a mac and cheese pizza, as promised to hannah because she loves mac and cheese and she loves pizza--so i thought she would love this one. the other was a traditional pizza with italian sausage, tomatoes, artichokes, provolone, and a sweet red sauce. both were loved by all! the mac and cheese wasn't my best mac and cheese pizza ever, but everyone thought it was delicious so that is what matters!

sunday for dinner mom made an awesomely delicious tomato phyllo tart. tomatoes, feta, provolone, fresh basil all on a flaky phyllo crust. it was *soo* good, i couldn't get over it!!

monday for dinner we went chinese-style, with sushi and egg rolls. i made GF egg rolls, which were pretty good, even though they didn't look too much like egg rolls--being a GF dough, it was difficult to roll it out super thin. it just wasn't as elastic as regular egg roll dough either. i baked them and then finished them off with a little oil in a skillet to give them a little color and crisp. i also made foreigner rolls (falang rolls) and veggie sushi. mmmm!

the other day i also made some sweet and salty trail mix bars. puffed rice, mixed dried fruit, sunflower seeds, cashews, and peanuts. pretty tasty, although they don't hold together like store-bought bars. maybe some more honey to hold them together better and pressing them tighter together in the pan would help. i'm happy i halved the recipe, though, because i still filled a 9 x 13 pan; the complete recipe calls for the mix to be put into a 11 x 17 pan and i think even then, that would have been overflowing.

what's cooking tonight: grilled tuna steak and tropical fruit salad, along with banana-macadamia nut muffins.

2008-07-10T19:54:00.011-05:00

oh man, it's been a busy week. we just had our grand re-opening at victoria's secret, so a lot of workin has been going on. but our store is so beautiful! it's the biggest VS in wisconsin and just too fabulous. :)

last wednesday for dinner we had tomato-tarragon soup with croutons. the recipe said to chill it, but it was the type of day where a warm soup was nice. i made a GF baguette for the croutons, and they were very good. the soup was quite thick, so dipping the croutons in it works well. it would make a nice appetizer. however, the recipe did not make very much so i had to quickly come up with something to accompany the dish. mom suggested the leftover ribs from sunday, so i tore the pork of the bones, heated it with the leftover guava barbecue sauce, and made sandwiches on pieces of the baguette. turned out to be a good meal and the soup was really good, i think!

friday we had lunch with the peters for the fourth of july. i had planned to make hamburgers with peach barbecue sauce, however i didn't read the reviews of the sauce before i made it. one said that it tasted like barf. and you know what? it kinda did. so i just made my regular barbecue sauce and used that--which yielded a much better result. i made kaiser rolls where were pretty darn good. i searched for a recipe for GF kaiser rolls, but was unsuccessful. so i decided to throw together some GF flour, cornstarch, water, yeast, salt, and oil in hopes of getting some kaiser rolls. umm...not so successful haha. instead of getting rolls, i got rocks. then, i had a brilliant idea: search for "hamburger buns." duh! that way i found a recipe, and they turned out fabulously. the directions said to make them in muffins rings---which i don't have--so i poured the batter into small pyrex containers. perfect! mom also made an awesome german potato salad and we had corn on the cob, too. mom made lemon bars for dessert.

saturday for dinner i chose to make something from the grand canyon cookbook mom and dad gor for me. i made grand canyon burros, which is basically beef with tomatoes, cumin, other spices, onions, and goodness. i served them with refried beans and corn, and of course tortillas (both flour and corn).

tonight for dinner i made spiced-up, oven-fried chicken and served it with mashed potatoes and corn (love my supersweet corn!). the chicken was good! instead of using a whole chicken, i used chicken breasts. way easy, too--it worked out being a nice dinner to make after work. the only thing that sucks is that cornflakes don't come in small boxes and i only used like 3 cups--and cornflakes aren't my favorite cereal to just eat for breakfast. i might just have to think of something creative to do with them.

tomorrow for dinner is pizza night with the peters!

2008-06-30T12:23:00.008-05:00

last thursday's dinner menu was garlicky grilled chicken, portobello , and radicchio salad. it's basically just brushing with a marinade and grilling all of those three ingredients, and tossing them together with some watercress. the grilled chicken was my favorite part, had a nice taste to it. then the portobello. the radicchio was okay too but it was my first time having it and i think having it grilled may have to be an acquired taste. the watercress, on the other hand, was not the tastiest. i'm not sure if that's just the strange taste watercress always has to it, or if we had bought it a few too many days in advance. it also had a lot of stems, which tended to interfere. so while i probably wouldn't make the recipe again, i would make simply the chicken and/or portobello portion of it, and add another side.

friday i ventured to make the peachtree pork salad again. it was still different from the original recipe because, if you recall, i had already made the vinaigrette with raspberry jam. all in all, it was a pretty easy recipe and tasted good. i liked the raspberries the best, they were so sweet! katie, who was in town for the weekend, wanted to know what kind of chicken was in the salad.

saturday i successfully made my first batch of gnocchi. they were actually really easy to make. i made lemon gnocchi, using potatoes and GF flour. dough doesn't always hold up with GF flour as well as with regular flour, but this came together very nicely. probably because of the potatoes. fresh lemon zest and juice made it smell wondrous while cooking and eating them. the sauce was tasty too, but quite rich; it was basically butter thinned with chicken broth and lemon juice. i served the gnocchi with some fresh oven-roasted green beans. i tossed the beans with chopped fresh basil and rosemary and olive oil. after roasting, i tossed with a little of reduced balsamic. finally, i made cranberry walnut bread, and it tastes really good! it holds together very well, especially for being gluten-free. i'm starting to believe that you can make anything gluten-free and have it turn out just as nice. it's just all about experimenting with and learning about the different substitutions for flour and in what proportions to use them in. it's quite fun, i must admit!

sunday i decided to whip up a loaf of multigrain bread in the breadmaker since we were out of sandwich bread. besides, homemade bread always beats out everything else. for dinner we had a late father's day dinner. guava ribs (from jen and bryan's cuban cookbook) were the main character, where were delish. the barbecue sauce is supposed to contain guava paste, but the mexican market was all out! so jen picked up a jar of guava jelly from the grocery store, and i just simmered the sauce for as long as i could, which helped thicken up the sauce. i also reduced the vinegar to cut down on liquid content. coconut rice with black beans and fried plantains were the supporting actors, and let me tell you, they did a good job. i love coconut rice, and black beans too. oh and plantains haha. basically i just love cuban food, okay? for dessert jen made an assortment of empanadas. mango, chocolate, and guava (and cream cheese of course). and some a combination of two. seeing a guava empanadas require guava paste (and recall there was none to be found), bryan suggested buying guava nectar and reducing it. well, it turned out just like guava paste! the 33-ounce box of nectar didn't turned out much paste at all, but hey, that's what happens when you reduce something. so nice job, team, we made it work!

i work these next two nights, but wednesday for dinner i am planning on chilled tomato-tarragon soup with croutons. i can't decide if i actually want to serve it chilled or warm. the croutons are actually slices of baguette, and i will be making a GF one. the recipe i have calls for a few flours that i don't have and pick n' save doesn't either, so i will either make substitutions or try to find them at a specialty store.

don't let the jam bugs bite

2008-06-25T20:23:00.002-05:00

so monday for dinner we had cashew chard "burritos," but i used napa cabbage instead of swiss chard, so really, they were cashew napa "burritos." lentils, tofu, carrot, and cashews, with some good seasoning--cumin and others. that dish has such a great flavor. mom and i liked it, but it wasn't dad's type of dish.

today for dinner i was supposed to make peachtree pork salad, but when i opened up the jar of peach preserves, there was a little brown bug in it! and mind you, that was a brand new jar that had never been opened. as i looked closer, i noticed that mr. bug was on his back, with little legs moving! how it survived living in a sealed jar, who knows?! all i know was that it was very gross. so then i found a jar of raspberry preserves from the farmer's market. since there were already raspberries in the salad, i figured i could substitute these preserves into the marinade. so, i make the marinade. then i go to get the other salad ingredients, and the raspberries were moldy! we had just got them a few days ago. as mom said, this salad was just not meant to be. so, after me not being able to decide what to have for dinner, mom and i ended up at panera, which was pretty tasty.

right now i'm baking GF banana bread with pecans. tomorrow for dinner i plan on making garlicky grilled chicken, portobello, and radicchio salad. let's hope that doesn't end up failing too!

let's get real here, does the food ever suck?

2008-06-23T14:17:00.008-05:00

so! i think saturday was nice weather, so we grilled out. jen and bryan came over, and figured they'd bring the baby as well. mom made chicken thighs with some sort of hickory-smoked barbecue sauce. we also grilled zucchini and pineapple, and i made grilled sweet potato and scallion salad. it has a balsamic-type vinaigrette with grilled sweet potatoes and scallions. it was tasty! for dessert mom made strawberry shortcake with whipped cream. i didn't have any, but it looked as thought it turned out pretty good.

sunday for dinner i made korean bulgogi over jasmine rice. not only did it taste awesome, but it sure did make the house smell great! the dish is basically a thinly sliced beef in a marinade of honey, chili sauce, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. it's then stir-fried and you add bean sprouts and onions to the stir-fry. mmm! i also made a salad with fresh greens from the peters garden, fresh sweet peas, radishes, and scallions from ours, and alfalfa and tomatoes.

today mom and i are babysitting oliver. he took a great 2-1/2 hour nap this morning, and then we just got back from a walk to the park. we put him in the baby swing and he wasn't sure if he was scared or if he liked it. i guess the swing is like twice his height off the ground. i'd be scared too!

what's cooking tonight: cashew chard "burritos." gotta love tofu and cashews all in one!

2008-06-19T19:06:00.011-05:00

wow, it's been ten days since my last post! well, i've been busy. and plus, mom and dad left for vacation starting on tuesday, so i didn't cook anything of note for a few days. but! it all started back up again when david came to visit on thursday night. for dinner i made an awesome pizza with sweet italian sausage, roma tomatoes, marinated artichokes, sauteed red onions, provolone, and a red sauce. i ventured to create a new red sauce (i always use the same one). i sauteed red onion, garlic, and garlic chives, then added a bit of white wine; i added canned whole tomatoes and simmered that for a while. then i pureed it and returned it to the pan, seasoning it as necessary (i think i added sugar, pepper, some more white wine). it was a really tasty and flavorful, yet lighter than my normal, sauce! definitely a keeper.

friday for breakfast we made crispy waffles with salted caramel coulis. oh-my-gosh were they good! and i have to credit jen with the coulis, as she did most of the work (she and bryan surprised stopped by). however, the coulis does get a little rich after a while. we then went to eh mall, and came back for lunch--thursday's leftover pizza. after lunch we went to the art museum, then to alterra on the lake--had to show him my favorite coffee shop. :) we then drove along lake drive so david could see the cool, fancy, old houses. he was totally impressed with them. then, we drove around milwaukee so he could see what it's like. we started searching for a place for dinner and decided on rock bottom brewery. it was a beautiful night out and we got to sit out on the patio, next to the river. for an appetizer we had the asiago cheese dip with with homemade beer bread. *so* good! i had the tuscan smoked chicken salad (chicken, red peppers, carrots, granny smith apples, and candied walnuts on a bed of green); he had the grilled mahi-mahi but wasn't real impressed with it.

saturday morning i had to run 3 miles so david biked along with me. it was a nice morning for it. we then had a late breakfast/brunch of bananas foster french toast. i tell ya, the boy knows how to make french toast! (i was in charge of the bananas foster part) for lunch we met jen and bryan at singha thai. david and i shared the cashew chicken (one of my favs), and i don't remember what jen and bryan had, except that jen's was tasty and bryan's looked like cat food. they also had some spring rolls, which they love but i'm not too crazy about. david and i went to the zoo for the afternoon, and let me tell ya--it takes a lot less time when you're older and don't go with kids! i think we did the whole zoo (minus the farm animals, cuz really, we live in the midwest. farm animals, not that uncommon) in like an hour or hour and a half. for dinner we made pierogi and potstickers (we combined parts of a few planned meals because turns out, we had more meals planned that days haha). david showed off his polishness with blueberry, strawberry, and apple pierogi. the potstickers were good but kind of unsightly. the wrappers got very thin (i think the filling was too wet), but nevertheless they were able to be steamed and eaten.

for breakfast on sunday david made his famous oatmeal that i had been waiting a month for! it was fabulous. david was then supposed to leave to go home after church, but long story short, he ended up staying until monday due to part of 94W being closed (compliments of the crappy weather). we went to family parties for the afternoon, then finished up with dinner at singha thai, once again. he had the pad thai with chicken and tofu (that tasted like cheese)---it was super good. i had the rama beef, beef in a peanut (curry?) sauce with vegetables. mmmm! you can never gone wrong with that place!!

david did end up leaving on monday morning (despite my efforts to get him to stay oh you know, the whole summer haha). for dinner i made corn on the cob (with corn from david's mom--it's the best) and sun-dried tomato burgers with balsamic-glazed onions (both with the help of mom doing the grilling). the burgers were good, especially because the balsamic with real stuff from modena (compliments of the boy).

tuesday's dinner with chicken salad with peanut-lime vinaigrette. mom simmered some chicken with vegetables to get our cooked chicken. i left out mayonnaise, and topped it with salted peanuts instead, and it turned out well. however, the recipe made a ton of vinaigrette, so i would definitely recommend halving or quartering that portion of the recipe.

for dinner tonight, i made island pork tenderloin salad. it was super fab. the pork was very tender and moist, and the glaze was good, too--it would be good by itself, not only just on a salad. oh and i left out the avocados cuz yuck! :p phew.

i think that's it. i work tomorrow and saturday so won't be cooking, and i haven't decided on sunday's dinner yet. i think i'll work on that now!

smoke in the water

2008-06-09T10:22:00.005-05:00

let's see...last wednesday was barbecue pulled pork salad. it was delish. corn, black beans, tomatoes, the pork, and cornbread croutons (made from the leftover cornmeal pancakes by breaking them into pieces and tossing them in melted butter and honey), all on a bed of mixed greens (spinach, red leaf lettuce, and some baby lettuce from jen and bryan's garden).

THEN, saturday we planned to smoke some pork in jen and bryan's electric smoker. jen, oliver, and i decided to hit the mall for a bit before dinner. all was going well until a crazy storm began and boston had us on lock-down. they made us all go into one corner of the store and stay there for like an hour, until the tornado warning had passed. funny thing is, though, while talking to mom on the phone a while into this whole event, she said said the news said there was no longer a tornado warning, only thunderstorm warnings. boston store also announced that a tornado had touched down in elm grove, but again, nothing reported on the news. so idk where they were getting all their info from, but we *may* have been kept there unnecessarily long. it was great for their women's clothes and shoe department business, though. well, we were finally released and we went home. there we found out that the smoker had shorted out or something in the storm, and so the meat hadn't been cooking and wasn't nearly done. just when we were out of ideas for dinner, mom realized she had some sausages in the fridge she could cook up. thus, she saved the day (once again)! so, we served the sausages with golden sweet cornbread that i had made to go with the pork, which was delicious as always (good job jen for discovering that recipe ;) ). we boiled the ears of corn rather than grilling, and the sliced apples, which i had originally intended for the smoker, were baked in the oven. i tossed the apples with brown sugar and cinnamon and dotted them with butter, and baked them in foil. for dessert we had rhubarb pie with a gluten-free crust and fresh rhubarb from the peters garden. all in all, it turned out alright. not as planned, but we still managed. :p

so on sunday, we sliced the pork and heated it up for dinner and served it with barbecue sauce. it was really good. i made some mashed potatoes, and also served the leftover cornbread and some leftover coconut lemon squares.

today i was supposed to go to work, but my boss karen called me and is not able to get into the office. our office is right near the fox river in waukesha, and due to all the rain, the water level rose so high and the streets are all flooded, and you can't get in them. sooo, hopefully that gets cleaned up soon.

oh, it's always an adventure!

breakfast for dinner

2008-06-04T13:28:00.004-05:00

it's foggy and cold out. booo!

i think i forgot to share the pecan roulade i made last friday. i got the recipe from my gluten-free cookbook. it's basically a chocolate buttercream frosting rolled inside a chocolate and pecan sponge cake. both the frosting and the cake called for rum, but i didn't want to use it (especially in the frosting, since that didn't get cooked). so i just used milk instead (all the while fully knowing that milk is not a traditional substitute for rum :p), and hey, it worked out just fine. it broken a little while rolling it, though.

monday night for dinner i ventured to make cornmeal pancakes, a dish that i've always wanted to try but, while dining out, never wins against the other scrumptious-looking pancakes. i substituted corn flour for all-purpose flour, so that they would be gluten-free. also, when reading the recipe beforehand, i thought that 2 cups of buttermilk (in this case, vinegar in lactose-free milk) seemed a bit much. the batter was quite runny, so i ended up adding some more corn flour. maybe it was the lactose-free milk, but it could be that the batter does not need that much milk. from what i had read, they are often served with just regular pancake syrup. i tried to think of alternative, and contemplated topping them with a black bean, tomato, and scallion salsa. but, i figured i would just do them the traditional way. because i like syurp. and you know what? they were actually pretty awesome! the bottoms of the pancakes stuck to the bottom of the pan (even though i was using cooking spray), and it took me a while to surpass this obstacle. so, the first couple batches looked more like crumbs and pieces of pancakes (although still tasty); the second half of took more of a pancake form.

what's cookin tonight:: barbecue pulled pork salad. i think i will turn some of the leftover pancakes into cornbread croutons to top it off.

2008-06-02T13:33:00.003-05:00

so, saturday night for dinner i had planned chicken fajitas with crunchy lime cabbage and avocado. i had to go into work, so i missed dinner, but mom made it. i guess they turned out quite delicious. i had the leftovers on a salad on sunday. and it twas tasty!

on sunday i decided i needed to make coconut lemon squares, a recipe from my gluten-free cookbook. they actually turned out quite nicely. the crust on the bottom wasn't as crumbly as gluten-free crusts and doughs usually tend to be. they look pretty fantastic, and i saw a bar or two missing from the pan today but have not yet heard the verdict. i'm sure they are awful. :p

for dinner i made cashew chicken, a tried and true recipe. i added green peppers, cremini mushrooms, and broccoli to the mix. i served it with white rice. delicious! it's finally 80 degrees out, and i was able to go running in a tank top and shorts this morning and was hot! summer has come! (i hope it's here to stay..) i started running again yesterday after a 3-week break. i only had to run 1 mile yesterday but i was kind of sore this morning. then, after running 2 miles then lifting (which i hadn't done in a month, and some exercises longer ago than that), i am pretty sore. you know, when it's kind of difficult to walk regularly? :p can't wait for what soreness tomorrow will bring haha.

what's cookin tonight: cornmeal pancakes! i've always wanted to try them. :)

really, who follows recipes?

2008-05-30T09:33:00.004-05:00

so! on wednesday night i ventured to make tofu parmigiana. after reading the reviews, i decided to freeze the tofu in the morning and then, when i was ready to use it, placed it in a bowl and poured boiling water over it. this was supposed to give it a more chicken-like, and less tofu-like, texture. the final product was still obviously softer than chicken, but it did give it a less tofu-like texture. so i would recommend doing that. i had to omit the parmesan from the breading since ours turned out to be moldy. after slightly patting dry the tofu i coated it with the breading, and it didn't stick perfectly so i sprayed with pam then coated again. this helped. i then tried to bake them (rather than fry) but i didn't have the time that it was going to take to get them crispy, so after a while i ended up just frying them with pam. for the red sauce, the recipe called for only 8 ounces of tomato sauce, but i ended up using the whole 15-ounce can, and i'm glad i did..that was just the right amount of sauce. i used a combination of fresh and block-style shredded mozzarella. for dad's, i knew his cheese wouldn't melt perfectly (seeing as that it's "veggie shreds"), so i gave it a sprinkle of olive oil. i think it helped! dad asked if it was regular cheese; it tasted a little better than that stuff normally does, and it looked a lot better/melted a lot better. i think the dish turned out great..salted just perfectly! i served it with steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini, and the leftover pasta from sunday. i really loved it. i think i'll have the last piece for lunch today.

then there was dessert. i found a recipe for gluten-free vanilla cupcakes. the recipe called for 4 eggs, but i only had one. yet i was determined to make the cupcakes. so, i looked up substitutes for eggs and found you could use 1/4 cup applesauce for each egg. so, i figured i would half the recipe, and i found a single-serving size of regular applesauce in the pantry--perfect! well, the all-to-familiar happened. i forgot to half the dry ingredients! and, to further complicate things, while adding the dry ingredients, i discovered i did not have enough GF flour. so, i found GF biscuit and baking mix. this was going to work! i combined the flour and mix. i also added additional baking powder, due to the loss of power from 3 eggs. then, i needed another container of applesauce since i now needed 3/4 cup rather than just 1/4. we only had mango peach or cinnamon. hmm...fruit, vanilla, and chocolate or cinnamon, vanilla, and chocolate? in the spirit of summer, i chose the mango peach. after mixing the batter, it seemed a little thick, so i kept adding lactose-free milk until it was the right consistency. boy, this was such a mish-mash of ingredients! but i was determined to make cupcakes and NOT got the grocery store! well, the cupcakes came out looking okay, but they quickly fell and had slight indents in their centers. i decided to make dark chocolate frosting to top them off. now i just had to wait nervously till mom and dad got home to taste-test them.

well, mission completed! they really like them, they were nice and moist. dad apparently couldn't get enough of them; when i woke up the next morning, half of the cupcakes were missing. now there are only 2 or 3 left. well, just goes to show that recipes are no more than general suggestions! ;)

other than that, haven't been cooking much this week. we had leftovers twice because our fridge was jam-packed full. i'll be on my own for dinner tonight since mom and dad will be having dinner with friends. mom brought home leftovers from bravo last night, so i think i might have to take care of those.

this morning i ventured to make pecan roulade. i'm making the dessert for mom and dad to take to dinner tonight. it's cooling right now, then i just have to frost and roll it up.

i work this afternoon and possibly tomorrow night. if i don't work tomorrow night, for dinner it is chicken fajitas with crunchy lime cabbage and avocados. yum!

so uh, coconut milk doesn't come from cows?

2008-05-28T08:35:00.009-05:00

well, friday's dinner was pork chops with wild mushrooms and caramelized onions. i served it wish mashed potatoes and steamed green beans. it turned out pretty good. that's all i really have to say about that haha.

saturday was lovely weather for our grill-out dinner. we had zesty grilled tilapia, coconut mango rice, grilled zucchini, and corn on the cob. i made dad his own mango rice, coconut milk-less, because he can't have dairy, right? WRONG. apparently, coconut milk, seeing as it comes from a coconut, does not contain dairy. who knew?! (apparently everyone BUT me) :p
it all tasted pretty good. i love coconut rice. for dessert i made lemon bars. they went over pretty well.

for sunday's dinner, dad had requested some sort of pasta dish because he had the Hare & Tortoise 5-mile race on Monday. So i whipped up penne with chicken and sundried tomatoes. it was pretty good, the balsamic added an interesting flavor. i tossed in some almonds at the end; i think walnuts or pine nuts would work, too.

Monday we had some family over for a Memorial Day cook out. We decided to do grilled pizzas along with some grilled meats. we did a grilled veggie pizza (red sauce, zucchini, tomatoes, black olives, green peppers, goat cheese, and some fresh chives). this one was good, but i don't like goat cheese. mom loves it though, so she was happy! the second was a steak and arugula pizza (red sauce, arugula, flat iron steak i had cooked in a skillet, and provolone). i love creamy provolone, so i thought it was pretty good. the final pizza boasted olive oil and garlic as a base, topped with sundried tomatoes, marinated artichokes, sweet italian sausage, fresh mozzarella, and a bit of fresh rosemary. twas tasty! overall, the pizzas turned out pretty good. i had started to worry earlier in the day that my dough wasn't rising like crazy, but it ended up doing it's thing slowly but surely. we toasted the pizza dough in a skillet like flatbread, then topped and grilled. some of the crust did get a little too crispy on the grill, though. we also grilled turkey legs and brats.

i also made spicy cashew dip and served it wish fresh veggies and crackers. it was actually pretty good. i'm embarrassed to say who it comes from, so i'll let you discover that on your own. hey, everyone deserves a chance, right? ;)

for dessert i was all set to make a delicious fruit crisp, but david usually makes it (at least the topping), so i wasn't 100% on all of the adjustments we'd made to the recipe. i gave it a shot, and failed. the topping just didn't come together like it should've. i guess that's permanently his department now. we also had the fixins' for smores. however the grilled weren't still hot enough when we were ready to make them, so i think everyone just found their own way to put a sandwich together (microwave, used the semi-hot grill, etc.). all in all, it was a beautiful day and delicious food!

as for the weather, i'd say it's being pretty nervy. it was like 50 degrees yesterday, 48 right now, and uh, hello, IT'S ALMOST JUNE! not cool. as for today, i might work. i might hit the mall (if i work, go a little early), because while cleaning the kitchen yesterday, i found some great coupons to limited & express. i just can't let them go to waste. oh ya! i cleaned the kitchen. now i have much more space to work in (okay, now i have space to work in). :)

what's cooking tonight: tofu parmigiana, some type of vegetable, and for dessert, some experimental GF cupcakes.

2008-05-23T10:23:00.006-05:00

yo! well, it seems to be warming up..not the 70 or 80 degree weather that i would hope for, but at least it's not snow. it's supposed to be pretty nice on saturday, which is perfect since we're grilling out for dinner. i'm thoroughly enjoying a break from school, sleeping in past 9 (unheard of!) on the days i don't work.

on wednesday we had quinoa cakes with zucchini-tomato ragu (i changed it a little after reading the reviews, the original recipe was quinoa cakes with eggplant-tomato ragu and smoked mozzarella). they were pretty good! of course, they turned out to be more like crumbles of quinoa with ragu, as they did not hold together very well while flipping them. i also made a salad with spinach and other mixed greens, artichoke, black olives, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

last night was curried beef pot pie...twas a hit! oliver couldn't get enough of it! ;) so the original recipe called for a frozen puff pastry...and for the pie to be made in a casserole dish with the pastry on top. clearly i changed it. made my own crush (DUH!) and made them like regular pies in dishes (why would i put crust just on top when you can have it on the bottom too??). however, i forgot to add my mango chutney to the filling before assembling the pies, so we just had it on the side. (that recipe i used more as a guide--i only needed a quarter cup so i just decided how much mango i wanted to use and then added the rest of the ingredients relative to that amount). i made two pies, one with our flour-full crust one one with dad's gluten-free flour. it was a nice spin on your traditional pot pie.

today, the quest to clean, organize, and declutter my room continues. maybe i can finally start getting clothes into my closets and begin to remember why my floor looks like.

what's cooking tonight: pork chops with wild mushrooms and caramelized onions, steamed green beans, and mashed potatoes. i plan on it not sucking. :P

for all you out there

2008-05-18T19:20:00.020-05:00

okay, i know it's been like 2-3 weeks since my last post...but i've been busy with finals, yo! gimme a break :P so i've got a lot of updates, i'll just list what i can cuz i don't really remember everything!

sloppy joes and mac & cheese...(but i have to admit, store-bought kaiser rolls because i lacked the time to make real ones)

lunch with nina and alyssa...our first try at sushi! we made vegetarian sushi (cucumbers, carrots, and zucchini, and soy sauce on the side for dipping), foreigner rolls/falang rolls (peanut butter and banana rolled inside rice, and honey on the side for dipping), and miso soup. once we figured out how to properly make the sticky rice, it was pretty easy and fun :)

and then it was david's turn to try his hand at cannelloni. he always wondered why i never want to make it. i said it's a very involved process and takes a while.. so, on the day of the meal, he said we'd eat at 6:30. he strolled in around 5:30. three hours later....here is the result, along with the comment "I hate making cannelloni!" I have to say, he did a pretty good job. Not as good as mine, definitely some improvements can be made, but not bad! ;)

that's a pretty manly apron & bow -->

then there was mojo's chick en and dumplings...which was fabulous, but the picture is blurry..
for dessert there was caramel apple flatbread. we added a little icing drizzled on top.

and then the school year was over! on thursday before david left for big tens, he came over for a very early morning breakfast...high-rise apple pancake! (although in the picture, it had already fallen) with syrup, it tasted like french toast. and it was nice and light...so my belly wasn't too full when i went back to sleep for a few hours after he left :P

and now i'm home! on saturday night, i made hamburgers and sliced potatoes on the grill (but i of course didn't do the actual grilling--that was mom's department :p), along with a salad. then, today the peters' came over for a belated mother's day brunch, and i made bananas foster french toast, gluten-free blueberry pancakes (although that recipe calls for brown rice flour and i just used all-purpose GF flour), and mom put together a fruit salad with blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, pineapple, and bananas. it was an AWESOME lunch!! (...pictures to come...)

for dinner, i made chicken with roasted lemon and rosemary sauce. it was really good--a zingy lemon sauce over chicken and potatoes. mom really liked it--she's got a passion for lemons and rosemary. :P

what's the deal, spring?

2008-04-29T09:57:00.003-05:00

so on saturday, when mom was about halfway to minneapolis, i found out that my meet was canceled. so we just hung out for the day! we went to lunch at panera, it was pretty tasty. then we went on a hunt for the midtown global market--and got totally lost (as we always seem to do haha) on the way. we thought it was more of a big indoor market with ethnic groceries/ingredients, and there was some but not too much different from what you might find in your grocery store. it was mostly small food vendors selling prepared food--mostly people from latin america trying to get started in america. so it was interesting, but kinda disappointing because it wasn't what thought it was. once we got home i beat mom in 4 games of war (i'm just a natural at it, i guess :p), then mom, david, and i went to kahn's for dinner. it's a mongolian barbecue place where you choose your meat and veggies and sauce and then they stir-fry it for you on a big grill top (kind of like hibachi)..oh and they put peanuts in the mix for you if you want. it was pretty awesome. before you even began with the stir fry, they bring each person a plate of appetizers out, including hot and our soup, cabbage and ginger something or other, a plain fried wonton, and a chicken wing..and accompanying sauces. they also serve baozi (unlimited haha!)...steamed chinese buns with a sweet inside. they were SO good..kind of doughy and fabulous. i want to try to make them.

sunday morning we went to good earth restaurant for ten grain pancakes, which are amazing. then i worked on building a luminaire all day with a friend (a stupid project for lighting. um, we're designers..not engineers?). david and i went to romano's macaroni grill for dinner, where i had the spinach feta pesto pizza. that helped numb my frustration from that stupid light project. david had the chicken cannelloni, just so he'd have a greater appreciation for how good mine is haha.

moral of the story, food makes me verry happy haha.

what's cookin tonight: sloppy joes and mac & cheese. oh, to be a kid again! :p

it's snowing.

2008-04-26T08:11:00.008-05:00

so yes, it is april 26...nearly may, and as i look out my window this morning, it's snowing--and sticking. that, along with the 30 degree weather, will provide the ideal weather conditions for my track meet today. :P oh well, hopefully it won't be too bad, as i make my official debut as a 800 meter runner! i'm excited to try the new race. mom's coming up to watch and spend the night here. :)

so tuesday we had some friends over for dinner, and i made mac and cheese pizza and stuffed-crust meatball pizza. the mac and cheese pizza was adapted from mesa pizza, the pizza place in dinkytown. they serve a whole slew of wacky pizzas. i've never had their's, but i hear mine topped their's. ;) for dessert i made apple pie a la mode.

yesterday i made fat-free banana bread! there was minimal sugar, too. it turned out pretty good, but i think next time i'll adapt it a bit--i added a little salt (the recipe didn't call for any) because mom's recipe has it, maybe next time i'll put a bit more in. i might try adding cinnamon and maybe nutmeg, too. i also added walnuts. the batter was a little thick, so i had to add some water. but overall, definitely worth it. :)

and here is the cheese pizza i made for our potluck a few weeks back..

what's cooking tonight: mom's here, so we're going to go out for dinner. we'll see what we're in the mood for!

catching up

2008-04-22T08:40:00.010-05:00

oh, it's been a few days. the weather has been fabulous and i think spring is here to stay. it's so nice to be running in 70 degree weather, you know without 3 layers of clothes on?

on thursday for dinner we ventured to make a peanut butter and jelly pizza. i put the peanut butter, then cherry preserves on the crust and baked it. it was good, but it all melted down a lot (especially the preserves), so i think next time i'll put the peanut butter on halfway through baking and then the jelly after it's out of the oven for good. we might even try pb & j pizzas based off of PB Loco's sandwiches.

on friday i made milk chocolate-peanut butter sandwich cookies for david to take to his meet. i hear they were one of my best. for dinner we were going to go to an indian restaurant we've been wanting to try, but instead were craving sweet and sour chicken from village wok, a chinese restaurant in stadium village.

saturday we went with our friend to clean up along the river, a volunteer event for earth day. it was fun, but a long walk there and back and were pretty tired for the rest of the day. for lunch we went to big bowl, and did their "create your own stir fry." you choose your meat and sauce, then they give you a bowl, and you go up to the veggie bar and fill up your bowl with all the veggies your hear desires. then they make the stir fry and bring it to you--it was pretty good! then we did some errands and shopping, and in the name of spring, i got a cute sundress and earrings from kohl's. for dinner i made chicken pot pie. mmmm!

sunday morning i met david for a short run, then he made his delicious oatmeal for breakast (with brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts). for dinner we grilled out with a bunch of friends. i made hamburgers and kaiser rolls, potatoes (like mom's on the grill), and corn on the cob. we also grilled some smoked polish sausage that david's uncle made fresh. that was really good. for dessert i made caramel-walnut upside down banana cake, and served it with ice cream. it was a big hit!

last night for dinner i made mac and cheese with jumbo pasta shells and shredded cheddar, just as mom used to make. it was pretty good--a perfect childhood memory :)

what's cookin tonight: mac and cheese pizza and meatball pizza..we have a few friends coming over for dinner. fresh apple pie for dessert.

hot stuff

2008-04-17T08:43:00.003-05:00

tuesday's dinner..not me. :P we had oven fried tilapia with remoulade (this recipe calls for catfish, and i used a different remoulade recipe), which was pretty good. the remoulade definitely had a kick to it--i think i went a little crazy with the hot sauce! i also steamed some mixed vegetables (carrots, wax beans, green beans) mom had sent me from market day. i made some crusty rolls, which were good, but rose way more than i had intended, so they all ran together in the pan and were kind of dense in some parts because of it. so next time i'll account for that and space them further apart.
it was 68 degrees yesterday! it was *perfect* weather for an outdoor workout. i think we will all appreciate the warm weather this spring/summer much more than in the past, due to what it seemed like the never-ending winter! and, today marks T-one week until grey's comes back and the farmer's market begins again!

what's cookin tonight: peanut butter and jelly pizza! i thought, hey i like pizza, and i like pb&j, why not combine the two? and then i actually googled the idea and it has been done before. but i'm going to make up my own recipe. let ya know how it goes ;)

it's all gone!

2008-04-15T11:20:00.002-05:00

sadly, our leftovers from our delish cuban meal are a thing of the past. but the good news is that it looks as though spring has finally come! it's supposed to get up to nearly 70 today, but the wind is pretty rough. let's hope it doesn't just decide to snow tomorrow or something like that. i wouldn't put it past 'em.

what's cookin tonight: oven-fried tilapia with remoulade, steamed vegetables, and i think a good crusty loaf of bread would top it off perfectly if i have time!

oh..my..god.

2008-04-14T12:57:00.008-05:00

so last night we had cuban pork roast and coconut rice with black beans and fried plantains. it was soo freaking awesome. the pork marinated all day and then roasted for nearly 2 hours. it was cooked just right, was so moist and succulent. the coconut rice was a great new flavor, too. it cooked pretty quickly, so if you need to let it simmer while preparing other dishes, you might add more than the 2 cups each coconut milk and water..i ended up adding water as necessary while i was waiting for everything else to finish up. the black beans were fabulous too. the recipe called for 4 cups dried beans, but i halved the recipe and used already-cooked beans. so i used two cans of black beans and then only 3 cups of chicken stock..perfect amounts :) the plantains turned out great too, david loved them but they were pretty sweet--a little too much for me to handle. everything was so perfectly seasoned and went great together. after we finished eating all we could say was, oh my god, how awesome was that!

last week we had my favorite, empanadas with raspberry coulis and refried pinto beans. for dessert we had fruit crisp with apples, strawberries, blueberries, and cranberries. we've been trying different ways to make the dish healthier, and david finally was able to omit the butter from the topping by using vanilla yogurt. we'd tried that before but this time it worked best. the filling, on the other hand, burned a bit. david learned ground ginger is not to be used in the same amounts as whole, fresh ginger. and that's all we'll say about that. :P

what's cookin' tonight: probably just the leftovers from last night (i have half a pork roast left), then a trip to the grocery store.

crumbs of dinners past

2008-04-13T14:13:00.020-05:00

above: this is from jill's surprise birthday "cocktail" party. clockwise from top right: vegetarian
stromboli, stromboli, breadsticks, stuffed
mushrooms, ultimate meatballs al forno

top: pesto, spinach, feta, and tomato pizza
bottom: pumpkin pizza (pumpkin as the sauce, provolone, and topped with toasted pine nuts)

top: traditional pizza (red sauce, sausage, green peppers, onions, provolone)
bottom: famous apple pie

above: roasted garlic and chicken pizza with a white sauce (the sauce is a romano sauce i use in my cannelloni)

above: my record-breaking meatball pizza, for my highest crust ever.

southwest taco pizza: jalapeno cherry salsa (adrianne got it from michigan), ground beef taco meat, black beans, corn, cheddar cheese

stuffed pizza with a whole wheat crust
(inside was sausage, green peppers, onions, and roasted red pepper sauce)

below: spinach and feta pizza with pesto, tomatoes, and chicken
(i broiled the chicken with dried basil and rosemary).

below: roast beef with wild mushroom sauce
and portobello mushrooms with parmesan whipped potatoes

hello, blog

2008-04-13T13:30:00.005-05:00

well, this is my first blog, and it's about time, as i've been hoarding pictures of my food for the past many months..and i finally have a home for them :) i revel in the sight of my food, as most cooks do, and as much as i love enjoying the meal, i spend probably about half of the time just inspecting my food and talking about how pretty it is...especially when it's pizza or something of the sort. i can barely keep from counting the number and size of the air bubbles :P

last night a bunch of us got together for a potluck: round two. i made a cheese pizza with my secret red sauce and colby jack. i cut it up into little squares so everyone could try it. needless to say, it didn't last very long. there was a lot of food--pasta with red sauce and melted mozzarella, pasta with spinach and cheese, a bean salad (garbanzos, kidney beans, green beans, wax beans), a salad with broccoli and cabbage, bean and potato soup, corn, mini pumpkin muffins, strawberry muffins, hard-boiled eggs, brownies, brownie cookies, marble cheesecake, and chocolate milk. it was a pretty good turnout. next weekend, if the weather is nice, we hope to all go to the park and have a cookout. what a better way to reel in spring? (and really, reel in. we're tryin real hard but it's putting up a fight!)

forgot to mention, i sent carrot cake cookies to arizona with david for his meet, and the guys *loved* them. they were supposed to be "inside out carrot cake cookies," with cream cheese frosting between two cookies, but didn't have cream cheese, so they were just by themselves. elizabeth said they're the best cookies she's ever had.

what's cookin tonight: cuban roast pork, and coconut rice with black beans and fried plantains. i know, if you leave now, you might be able to make it in time for dinner at 7.