Punkin Pie

I had major pumpkin pie cravings in October, by Thanksgiving... they were gone. :/

Tortellini Pesto Appetizer

What a fun and east appetizer idea! Tortellini on skewers served with a pesto dipping sauce.

Appetizers

I'm putting together a progressive dinner in a few weeks and I opted in for the appetizer course. Right now I'm considering some or all of the following....

1. Strawberry and Basil Bruchetta with Goat Cheese 2. Balsamic Watermelon Bites 3. Prosciutto wrapped Pears with Blue Cheese 4. Boccocini Caprese

Which ones would you most like to try?

Honey, Prociutto and Cheese

{here}

Fruit Bruchetta

Fruit Bruchetta with goat cheese and fresh herbs.

My mouth is watering.

Toast!

Found here.

Small and Simple

I've been mulling over my personal philosophies on food lately.

It started with this whole cheese snobbery thing... Husband and I decided to educate ourselves about cheese and the more we learned the easier it became to discern and appreciate quality and artistry in food making... And the less tolerant we became of cheap tactics and shoddy workmanship.

We also realized quickly that well made food was something to sit and savor, rather than gulp down in three bites at a stop light on the way to work. (Guilty.) As we tried to create opportunities to sit and savor and enjoy our new hobby as cheese enthusiasts, we also realized that when it comes to quality food, a little goes a long way.

High quality food can be expensive and the time to sit and savor is hard to come by. There is a part of me that would like to more thoroughly dedicate my time to seeking out, preparing and enjoying the art of great food. There is also a part of me that finds such a pursuit utterly impractical, grabs a cliff bar and a diet dr pepper and walks out the door with keys in hand.

Can you imagine though? Growing your own basil and tomatoes, buying fantastic, fresh mozzarella from your local cheese market, and assembling the perfectly proportioned, completely satisfying, epicurean experience like the one pictured above?

Where can I go to live this dream? I need a ranch house in a rural-ish area with access to charming local markets.

I've got it: We're going to Napa.

Santa Hat Brownie Bites

Too clever, too cute.

This is the lunch of my dreams

I want all of it, including that fork-tine-parmesan label. Seriously, how cool is that.

Honey toast with bleu cheese and bacon

Ooo. I gotta try this.

Ferry Building Marketplace

Now, I'd just like to say that there was more to this vacation than food, but Northern California is the mecca of the artisan food world and it would just be a crime not to take advantage of that.

Therefore, our first stop in San Francisco was the Ferrry Building Marketplace. It was kind of like Oxbow, except bigger and louder. And with macarons.

Husband and I were very impressed with the amazing selection and service at Cowgirl Creamery. We made some significant additions to our cheese stash and went home very very happy.

The other highlight of the Marketplace was Miette. I finally tried macarons and I was blown away. Soft yet crispy little magical bits of deliciousness. We tried pistacchio, chocolate lavender, vanilla and hazelnut.

Me too

{image via GoldRush}

Antioxidant Orchard Salad

I've been reorienting my food choices lately to focus on vegetables and fruits. I'm also taking a break from soda, sugar, caffeine, butter, oil and bread, just to prove to myself that I have indomitable will-power. Turns out I do, good for me. It's been tough, but I feel great.

This salad is one of my new favorite things. Anything with berries is the best of both worlds in my mind (the two worlds being "tasty food world" and "healthy food world.")

Antioxidant Orchard Salad
1-2 heads of Romaine lettuce, (a bit of spinach is good too)
1/3 cucumber, sliced, then quartered
1 cup red grapes, sliced length-wise
1 cup blueberries
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 stick of celery, sliced thin
Handful of sliced almonds

Top with fat free vinaigrette. Balsamic is my favorite.

Fancy Pear Pizza

We had some dough sitting in the fridge, so I invented a pizza last night. It was inspired by my memories of the Pear and Gorgonzola pizza at CPK.

It was delicious.

Fancy Pear Pizza

Pizza dough

Olive oil

1 can of pears

1/4 - 1/3 c. hazlenut pieces

1/2 of a yellow onion, sliced thin

1/3- 1/2 c. gorgonzola cheese, grated

1/3 c. mozzarella cheese, grated
Drizzle of honey

1. Preheat your oven to 425. Stretch out your pizza dough on a  cookie sheet and drizzle a bit of olive oil on the surface and then brush it around so that it is a light even coating.

2. Toss your onions in a small pan with another light drizzle of olive oil and stir around over medium heat until they are soft and mostly transparent. While the onions are cooking, open your can of pears and cut the pear halves into thin slices, then spread the pear slices out on the pizza dough. When your onions are ready, remove them from the pan and spread them evenly over the pizza as well.

3. Toss your hazlenut pieces into the pan where you cooked the onion and stir them around over medium heat for a minute or two. Don't let them sit for too long or leave the heat up too high or they'll burn. When they start to brown a little and smell fragrant, remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle the hazzlenuts over the pizza as well.

4. Sprinkle the mozzarell and gorgonzola cheeses over the top of the pizza. The gorgonzola has a strong taste, so you'll have to play with the proportions to find out what your preference is.

5. Drizzle some honey across the top of it all and then into the oven it goes. After 10 minutes, give the pan a 180 so that the pizza cooks evenly. Give it 8-10 minutes more and then pull it out a serve with salad.

Mmm.

LA Weekend

My amazing weekend started a little early when my sister came into town on Thursday night and we got manicures and pedicures. It's been awhile for me and I don't think I've ever enjoyed a pedicure that much. Plus, I'm loving the OPI Russian Navy color that I got.



















Friday night, IKF and I stayed in and I got to try all of the recipes I've been itching to get to this week while he worked on a paper. I test drove the Apple Dumpling recipe, which got rave reviews. SO easy! SO delicious! I also tried a new Candy Cookie recipe that I'll post shortly. My Sunday School class couldn't get enough of the peanut butter cups in peanut butter cookies.

Afterwards we watched the FIRST Harry Potter movie, thus beginning our Harry Potter Movie Marathon leading up to the release of the next movie in November. I couldn't get over how cute Harry, Ron and Hermione were back then!

Saturday was the best, however. The inlaws organized a trip to the LA Temple and then the traditional dinner at Junior's afterwards. It was my first time in the giant, gorgeous, Los Angeles Temple. Going their and then eating at the famous deli afterwards felt like a right of passage. Plus I love my inlaws, we have a really good time together.

I got the potato pancakes. Dip them in sour cream and applesauce and you're in heaven. It had me missing Veselka like crazy though.

Sunday was church, naps and family! Aaaaaaand more baking. Because, that's what I do. Mom had all the right ingredients, so after a rousing game or two of Blockus3D, we pulled out the old stand-by: Chocolate Cover Cherry Cake. A few people opted to try the apple dunplings instead and were well pleased.

How was your weekend? Do anything different?

Next weekend I've got my fingers crossed for camping....

Fry Goodness

A European Breakfast

The way breakfast should be. Simple. Fresh. Yummy.

French Toast Muffins

I've been iching for an excuse to try these muffins and this morning was it.

They turned out fabulous! Like, can't-stop-eating-them-and-our-whole-house-smells-like-syrup delicious. I doubled the recipe to be sure I had enough for my entire Toastmasters Club, and a double recipe made 2 dozen regular muffins and one dozen mini muffins.

You simply must try this recipe.

French Toast Muffins

French Toast Topping

- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 egg,slightly beaten
- 6 slices cinnamon bread, crusts trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Muffins
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon maple extract
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 375°F

2. Combine all French toast topping ingredients in medium bowl; set aside,.

3. Combine 1 cup milk, melted butter, 1 egg and maple flavoring in another medium bowl. Combine all remaining muffin ingredients in large bowl. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture just until mixed.

4. Spoon batter into greased 12-cup muffin pan. Spoon French toast topping evenly over batter; press down slightly. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

5. Immediately brush muffins with maple-flavored syrup. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Sprinkle over glazed muffins. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan. Serve warm.

Chicken Marinara

Last night IKF and I made the easiest dinner ever, and I mean EVER. We had anticipated two guests for dinner at precisely 5 pm, which is exactly the time I normally leave the office, not the time that I am usually home from the office. So... if we do that math.. that's... negative 20 mins to get dinner ready. Thus, food had to be ready before I left for work. IKF would get home at 4:30 and have precisely 15 mins to spruce up the pre-prepared fare before going to pick up our dinner guests.

I always say that constraint breeds creativity and these constraints bred a super-tasty (and did I mention easy?) dinner.

Enter the Crock Pot! (Swiftly becoming my favorite invention in the world.)

Place as many boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the bottom of the crockpot as you have people.

Dump a jar of marinara on top (We use Butonini Italian Sausage something or other, because it was in the cupboard already). Set to low, walk away for 8 hours.

**8 hours later**

Boil water, add pasta (we used farfalle and rotini, again, because that was what was in the cupboard).

Call your wife and have her pick up a bag of salad and a loaf of french bread from the grocery store across the street.

Throw the salad in a bowl, add your left over craisins and almond slivers from the cupboard with a dash of blue cheese dressing. Or fat free italian. If you're cool like that.

Pasta goes on plate, chicken goes on top. Voila! Dinner!

Tear of hunks of french bread and dip them in olive oil and balsamic vinegar as you enjoy your salad and chicken pasta.

Hmm. I really need to start taking pictures of the food that I post about. But, as mentioned before, this was all accomplished in a time warp, and flash photography was not allowed.

Sushi Trucks

I truly, sincerely and deeply despise sushi. But that doesn't mean I didn't get a kick out of these sushi trucks!