Family & Friends

This is my family. There is Jeremy and Me, Isabella (9), Jeremiah (4) and Olivia (2) The purpose of this page is to give you a glimpse of the people I blog about regularly.

My incredible, handsome husband. This man is the love of my life. He has so many amazing qualities that I find it hard to choose the words to adequately describe him. He is unlike anyone I have ever met. He is driven, focused, witty, responsible, solid, disciplined, funny, genius, respectable, sharp, complex, charming, thoughtful, contemplative, relaxed, a leader, downright sexy, and just one of those people you want to know and be known by. He also doesn't enjoy praise or compliments or realize how incredible he is so he will probably be slightly embarrassed that I have published this for the whole wide world to see in cyberspace, forever. He is also a self proclaimed "nutrititarian". This is someone who strives to eat as many nutritious, nutrient dense foods like fruit and vegetables, beans and legumes, grains and the like. He's one of those people who adds flax seeds to his morning smoothie, eats sprouts by the handful and three times the amount of salad a normal person would, skins up the ski mountain for fun, and rides his bike over multiple passes for 8 hours straight because he likes the challenge. (He wasn't like this when I married him, but this has been Jeremy for almost 2 years now and I think he's here to stay) He doesn't eat meat, aside from occasional seafood, and really limits dairy. He would most likely not eat any dairy but he is married to me and so, he must eat cheese once and a while. He just must. I should mention that he does eat dessert on occasion and enjoys wine so he's not a total bore, food wise. He is sort of a wet blanket when I make things like pizza or pasta with cream sauce for dinner. Any other person would be ecstatic, yet he playfully and wildly yells how we are killing ourselves by eating this and politely eats a small portion. Then he will scour the fridge for raw bell pepper or something like that in an attempt to cleanse himself from the abuse he has just inflicted on his body. And he thinks I'm dramatic. He loves salad, beets, Zinfandel, and bread pudding. He doesn't much care for sushi or red sauce on spaghetti.

This is Isabella, my oldest daughter. She is smart and intuitive. She is also an incredible athlete and picks up any sport quickly and easily. She is responsible, sassy, and much cooler than I was at her age. She also has an uncanny way of picking up "bad" songs and remembering them, singing them as often as possible. We listen to k-love, the christian station in my car 24/7, yet she sings "Poker Face" as often as she can. :) She is also a sweetheart, very sensitive, tender hearted and tough. Isabella is a mental workout to parent because she is so smart, but man, what an incredible woman she'll be someday! Her favorite foods are soup, chili, pineapple, shrimp, avocado, spaghetti and steak. She hates zucchini and salmon.

Meet Jeremiah. He is funny, and can worm his way into your heart like no other. He is such a delight and has such a good heart that he might get away with more shenanigans than he should. He has never ending energy and is extremly loud but he wants to please and likes all his family to be together. He spends his days complimenting his mommy on her "beautiful lips", when I'm wearing lip gloss, stroking my cheek and overusing "I just love you" in a breathy, very genuine voice. I know! I'm the luckiest, right?!? He loves noodles, soup, shrimp, salmon, grilled cheese, broccoli, raw spinach, hot chocolate and whipped cream, sweets of any kind, pizza and gelato. He hates anything that is hard to chew and sweet potatoes are not his "fravorite".

This is my little Olivia. She is our little ray of sunshine. The first thing you should know is that she has Angleman's Syndrome. The second thing you should know is that the hallmark of kids with this syndrome is they are happy, social and content. That describes our little girl to a tee. She is joyful, likes to tease, and definitely has people she favors. She is learning to communicate properly with different signs and so fourth, but has no problem getting across to you what she wants or needs! She is loving, warm, friendly and engaging. She has taught me so much about love, patience, grace and life and I consider it a blessing and honor to be her mom. She likes most food but especially her fruit smoothies in the mornings, water, roasted butternut squash, pizza and bananas. She tends to not like chili.

Danielle Heit. We met in a college art history class in 2002. She invited me to go with her to the local high school's dance showcase performance and the rest is history. She was easy to be friends with. We had both just moved to a new town (well, she was born here, moved away and moved back) and needed someone to hang out with. It was a good scenario for friendship. I have come to know Danielle as an extreme extrovert and someone who loves to be around people and events and part of community. It is essential to her being. We are not extremely alike, but we sure have a lot in common. Well, the way we grew up was polar opposite, but now we have a lot to relate to. Oh, and our husbands are partners in business, I forgot to mention that. Danielle is strong willed, trendy, fun, compassionate, social, loyal and will do just about anything for a friend. She used to do interior design and now stays home with her kids, Will and Anabelle. She's a very involved and caring mother. Danielle and I both like good food and we see each other a few times a week, so I blog about her a lot. She enjoy's champagne, fondue, tapas, coconut and cheese...A girl after my own heart. Find her here. She likes most food but dislikes butternut squash curry. This is a recent development.

Melissa Fielding. Melissa is easy to be friends with as well. Again, she is not much like me and doesn't even really like to cook, gasp. I actually gave her cooking lessons a few years back! Ha ha, just who do I think I am anyway? Well, she can now roast a chicken with the best of them, so that's good. She is also the best massage therapist in town, hands down! She is candid and doesn't have much of a filter with what she says. For this reason, she can be downright hilarious and amusing. She is also very responsible, prompt, reliable and dependable. She sort of puts on a front of being a bit ditsy, and part of her is, in an endearing way, but mostly it's just a front. She is also an extreme lightweight. Give the girl a glass of wine and half way through she is bursting out with laughter and yells instead of talks. She doesn't let a lot of things bother her and if they do, she hashes it out, throws a fit and then decidedly lets it go like it never happened. It's wonderful really. Her daughter Taylor is very good friends with my daughter and they go to school together. Melissa likes most all foods and is not very picky. She would show the same enthusiasm over a prime, perfectly cooked filet mignon as she would a tray of simple roasted vegetables. I can't think of any particular food she doesn't like. Her son Reece, is another matter entirely.

Kel Elwood. Her picture is bigger than everyone else's but I'm not sure why. This friendship is new in comparison to the others but it doesn't make it any less special in my book. I don't know her incredibly, incredibly well but this is what I get. I liked Kel from the moment I met her. She has an easy way about her. She is confident, unconcerned with frivolous issues, friendly, smart, a go-getter and loves to evangelize to strangers. That's what she told me anyway one of the first times we hung out. I totally believe her. She said "you can make them food and I'll evangelize". She makes me laugh. She sort of reminds me of Katherine Hepburn personality wise. She uses phrases like "good Lord" and "what the what?" all the time. She is just herself. All the time. She does not change and adapt to her environment like I do, she is just quintessentially, Kel. She used to live as a missionary in China with her husband and has a lot of world experience. She is also very willing to help people out with a "no big deal" attitude. She helped me a ton with my site, computer issues, problem solved, gave me tips on using my camera, took photos of me and for me and still thinks nothing of it. She is a very talented photographer. Find her here. She likes homemade pizza, breakfast for dinner and good cheese but can't stand cilantro (crazy talk if you ask me) or raw tomatoes. I agree with the tomato thing.

Infused Water

I absolutely adore infused water. I think my first encounter with it might have been at Waterside Spa. I went for a pedicure and upon arrival I was greeted with a clear plastic cup filled with cucumber scented water. It was a revelation and I felt as though I couldn't get enough. Although I did cut myself off after two glasses because I was very pregnant and fearful that I might have to use the bathroom mid-treatment. Since then I have had that cucumber water at Waterside a few more times, but I've noticed they don't offer it as readily as before.

I've done my own infusions at home as well, in the summer, usually just in my own glass which is a pain because you have to wait for each cup to develop all the flavors every time you fill it. For some reason it never occurred to me that I could make batches of the stuff in pitchers to be kept in the refrigerator ready whenever I was. I have Kirstie Alley, of all people to thank for that brilliant thought. I was reading an article last summer (or maybe it was the summer before?) It was after she had lost all the weight from Jenny Craig, shortly after Valerie Bertinelli took her place as spokeswoman for the company. She was saying how she hated drinking water because it was so tasteless and the only way she could bring herself to do it was to make pitchers full of fruit infused water. (Bingo!). That day, the journalist noted that she poured from a pitcher filled with orange slices and cherries.

Orange slices and cherries were exotic to me, to put in water anyway. I usually opted for springs of mint and or lemon slices, but putting other out of the box type fruit in water sounded so luxurious. And of course it made much more sense to use a pitcher. Prodyne even makes a special pitcher specifically for infusing called "Fruit infusion pitcher". It has a special compartment that runs through it that you can put all your fruit/herbs in so that fruit matter doesn't pour out into your glass or clog the spout when you are pouring. Simple but ingenious.

I have placed my order, and my pitcher should be arriving in the next week. I couldn't wait for that though, so I am sitting with a glass full of water, 2 mint springs, 2 cucumber slices and 1 lemon slice. Ahhh, it's light, it's fresh, it's delicately scented, It's just wonderful. It's so much better than squeezing lemon juice into your drink. Lemon slices, not squeezed, impart a lovely delicate floral flavor married with the mint and cucumber. It's kind of like drinking a cocktail.;)

Some great combinations I've seen or read about include:

-sliced cucumber, sliced lemon, and mint sprigs
-cherries (maybe cut down the middle so the flavor gets into the water) and sliced oranges
-fresh lavender and rosemary
-raspberries and lime slices
-orange and lemon slices
-mint and blackberries
-strawberries and orange slices
-fresh lavender and orange slices
-basil, grapefruit and oranges

But you can really add anything your little heart desires.

If you are not interested in making your own water, but you like the idea, look up "metro mint water" It comes in plastic bottles and although they are much more pungent than making your own, they are really good. The company has different flavors such as cherry, spearmint, peppermint, orange, and my personal favorite, chocolate mint. Yes, chocolate mint water. You would have to try it. It's soooooo good.

Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

Tonight for dinner I made wild mushroom cakes with homemade avacado pesto and roasted red pepper coulis. They were awesome if I do say so myself and vegetarian I might add. Iv'e been eating like a nut case lately. Salads, berries and nuts, Iv'e practically been oozing health and it feels great. However, cooking tonight's "healthy" dinner I was truly appauled at how much oil and butter the recipe called for. You have to saute tons of wild mushrooms in the stuff and you know those little things soak it up like sponges. It was painful to not add more oil to them. They were making a shrill squeaky noise in the dry pan as they browned and i could have avoided it had i just put in more oil. but I stayed strong and didn't. On top of that, when he cakes are done and formed, you coat them in bread crumbs and brown them in even more oil. It was sort of discusting, there must have been 10 tablespoons of oil or butter in the dish when it was all done. I would have never thought about that before, but that is like over 1,000 calories. No wonder they were delicious.

Isabella on the other hand did not think they were delicious. She spent the whole dinner choking down a few bites between faces of disgust and anguish. I had decided that we needed some cookies prior to dinner since all we were consuming in essence was mushrooms, various vegetables and herbs and had mixed up a batch of oatmeal. Oatmeal because a) they are Jeremy's favorite b) I had a new recipe I wanted to try and c) because I was using real oatmeal so I could tell myself they were not so bad for me. After dinner we left Isabella to wallow in her misery at the table since she had to sit there until she was finished and I did dishes and put the cookie in the oven. Jeremy went to the garage to install Jeremiah's new car seat. I cannot tell you how many horrified faces Isa shot me through her stint at the table. I didn't feel bad though, mostly because there was nothing in those mushroom cakes that she didn't like. So she sat and gagged and poured lime juice on her food to try and drown out the taste. I told her she had better hurry because she was not going to get dessert if she wasn't done by the time the cookies were. She wasn't. I tried to stall to give her extra time but she just didn't care. Finally, after the cookies were out and just warm, I gave her 30 seconds more to finish. She did, but she was mad about it and in her anger refused the cookie. Big mistake. That's all I have to say because quite honestly these cookies were heaven.

I went to make Ina Garten's Oatmeal cookies from her newest cookbook, Back to Basics (she considers herself an oatmeal cookie aficionado). But mid-mixing I realized I didn't have any baking powder like the recipe called for, but I did have baking soda so I googled how to substitute one for the other. Turns out you should use about half the amount of baking soda as you would baking powder to make the measurements right. Also, Jeremy doesn't like raisins that the recipe calls for, so I left them out but added shredded coconut which it doesn't call for. Basically you can add whatever you want be it pecans, walnuts, raisins, coconut or chocolate chips, just make sure the total amount of extras you add equal how much the recipe puts in. Does that make sense? So if the recipe called for 1 cup raisins and 1 cup pecans, the total amount of anything you would want to add it would be 2 cups. It is really funny that I am writing that actually because it is true but I always eyeball instead of measure the add in's. So I guess, if you are good at eyeing quantities then I give you my blessing to do so. If you are not then please measure. If you add too much it changes the batter and it doesn't bake up the same way and that would really be a shame because this cookie is perfect. It calls for both brown and white sugar, so it is crispy around the edges and chewy in the middle (white sugar usually =crunchy; while brown sugar will make for more of a chewy cookie) and buttery and slightly salty all the way through. A knockout!

Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

adapted from "Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics", with my changes

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal (not instant)

1 1/2 cups raisins (or chocolate chips or a combo of both)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.

combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together into a medium bowl (or a piece of foil if you are lazy like me...one less dish to wash) With the mixer on low add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the oats, raisins, and pecans and mix until just combined. Spoon out the batter and form into 2 inch balls and put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or use a silpat) Flatten each cookie slightly with your hands. bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. transfer the cookies to a baking rack to cool completely.

Makes about 24 cookies

If you like chewier cookies like me, let them cool slightly on the baking pan instead of removing them. I prefer these cookies warm.

You will not be sorry. And also, in case you were wondering Jeremy has figured that each cookie has about 3/4 tablespoon of butter. He has problems. :)

Healthy Lifestyle Talk/Salad Ideas, grrr

I'm just going to get right down to it. there is no need to preface the information I am about to give you. Just know that it is shocking and you will probably be mad. I was. Heck, I still am. Mad that I didn't know this before and also mad that I do know it now (Ignorace is bliss!) One thing to note is that the things I am talking about today when I use the word "healthy" are used in terms of wellness. Cancer free, heart disease free sort of healthy NOT just weight loss. The following is the truth:
1) Not all oatmeal is good for you
In fact you must buy the steel cut oats, irish oatmeal or the quaker kind that take absolutely forever to cook for it to be healthy. Most instant oatmeal's are so refined that it's same as eating white bread. Worse, if you buy the instant packets, the kind with the flavoring and all that there is so much sugar and bad carbs that you might as well eat chocolate cake for breakfast. No lie. Your body processes pasta and white bread and the bad oatmeal the same way it does baked goods. It turns into pure sugar and carb. I don't know about you, but if I am going to get fat I'd much rather be eating chocolate cake than oatmeal.

2) All animal protein (meat and dairy, INCLUDING FISH) is not very good for you
I know, I know, fish? It depends on where it comes from. Long Island has one of the densest breast cancer problems and they think it is becuase they eat all the fresh seafood, which is actually farmed and/or the water is polluted or something like that and in turn becomes toxic. It actually helps build up bad cells in your body that promote cancer growth. Now, I am not suggesting all fish is bad, just know where it comes from. Wild Alaska Salmon is awesome. Know your facts about your fish. Chicken and turkey are just as bad for you as red meat as far as cancer (breast, prostate, skin, stomach...etc) and heart disease are concerned. Broccoli has WAY, WAY WAY more protein than steak. Dairy makes you fat. And since they are animal based those foods, again, do nothing to help your body ward off disease and actually aid in it's breeding.

3) Every calorie you consume come from either carbohydrate, protein or fat.
your body needs carbohydrates and fat, but from a good source (avacado, corn, etc) Obvisiously you want to pack as many nutrients into every calorie consumed. that only come from eating healthily. Bad fat from refined sugar (pasta, white bread and rice included) butter and oil get stored/deposited on the body minutes after consuming them. they can actaully take a biopsy of fat from your thigh and tell you where it came from, be it oil or what. That is scary and gross.

4)We need to STUFF ourselves with health, literally
Did you know that we should be consuming 2 HUGE salads a day at least? Romaine and spinach and other leafy greeens eaten raw are the BEST protection from cancer and heart attacks. they only help significantly if we are consuming them in huge quantities. In fact, you should strive to eat a whole head of romaine accompanied with veggies and preferably beans when you eat a salad. There is no such thing as eating to many vegeatbles or fruits. Hogwash is what I say to people who clamin our bodies can only absorb a certain amount of nutrients at a time. Where are they getting this information? Many of the tests they use to back those theorys are up are medically ridiculous. Know where and how those studies were done and by whom. The american cancer association and doctors and scientists and everyone for that matter agree on a couple things. Eating mass amounts of vegetables daily (fresh or lightly cooked or frozen...not canned) and fruit of all kinds, even if you are not vegetarian or dairy free is the number one way to prevent cancer and heart disease. Eat at least 3 fruits a day (it's really not that hard) and try to eat salad as often as possible (with minimal dressing) Cancer and heart disease is 99% preventable by what we put into our bodies. It doiesn't even matter if you are predisposed or not genetically.

5) Olive oil is NOT good for you. period.
Olive oil is fat. plain and simple. in fact olive oil contains more calories per volume than butter. I know, shocker huh? 1 tablespoon of olive oil is 120 calories. (calories from pure fat!) The average american eats about 4 leaves of lettuce in a salad and dumps about 3-4 tablespoons of dressing on it. (I don't do this, sounds pretty excessive if you ask me, but this is the statistic) That's 360-480 calories from fat on your salad, with basically minimal nutrition from the salad itself. Might as well j ust ditch the greens and drink straight from the salad dressing bottle. I would still use olive oil for sauteing, but not as much as before, believe me!

6)The USDA originally was financed by the meat and dairy industry and backed by nutritional scientists on the payroll the meat and dairy industry as well. Nuff said. How many times did you mother tell you to drink a full glass of milk at dinner because it was "healthy". Not so much. Lots o' fat and sugar though, and cancer promoting for that matter. It's not their fault though. This was drilled into them over and over back in the day.

7) Lots of your predisposition to certain cancers has to do with how fast you matured as a girl.
Back in the 1800's, the average age for a girl to get her period was 18 years old. It steadily declined over time to get to the age of 12 as in modern day. Why? A woman matures faster when she is eating a diet rich in processed, fatty foods. The faster you mature, the faster your body begins to die. The healthier you eat, the slower your body matures.


Ok so enough of all of that, I could go on and if you want to learn more about these truths I reccommend you read "Eat to live" by Joel Fuhrman MD. Fascinating stuff. Fascinating but frusterating!!! I'll just tell you, last night I had a seared tuna salad with dressing on the side and today after my breakfast of steel cut oatmeal with almonds, cinnamon, strawberries a touch of brown sugar and SOY MILK instead of my beloved cream, I ordered a "vegetarian" taco salad from qdoba with extra black beans, no cheese, no sour cream, instead of my usual chicken version WITH cheese and sour cream. Damn you Dr. Fuhrman, damn you vegetarians of the world, damn you scientists and cancer and heart disease!!!!! damn, damn, damn. Why can't you just keeps your traps shut and let us believe that meat and scrambled eggs make you strong! I could go on and on becuase I am truly hot pissed. I am a foodie, dang it, not a hippie! If you know me very well, then you know what my answer to what my biggest pet peeeve is...vegetarians. I hate them but have learned to tolerate them. Vegans on the other hand make me sick. Don't they know that the best thing in the entire world worth experiencing could very well be a perfect roasted prime rib with au jus and Piave cheese as a starter with processed brioche bread pudding for dessert? As dumb as they are for missing out on that deliciousness, I have to say that now I actually, dare I say, understand them. Maybe even appreciate them. Maybe. I will never eat the same, that's for sure. Once you acquire this information, how could you? Fear not friends, I am not going to become a looney tunes veggie (sorry Kaylee, Cristina, Brittany, Luanne and Jeremy) But, I most likely will stuff myself with fresh fruit, salad and beans. I will probably make at least 2 vegetarian meals a week, skip the cream and take the soy milk with my oats and pass on the crumbles of blue cheese and or bacon on my salad. Eat more seafood (not the toxic kind, hopefully) cook more collards and spinach, eat less dessert and excersize more. I will probably have a salad night once a week where we gorge on the stuff with healthy dressing. I will also most likely develop healthier versions of the things I already love to eat. However, I will NOT compromise flavor. And, I will still enjoy chunks of my beloved piave cheese, a great ribeye, and pasta. Just not as often. This is progress for me. And progress is good. It might even give me a little side project as there are some pretty nasty healthy foods out there.

I just read about a dressing they want us to put on salads in an effort to be healthier, it consists of frozen blueberries, blended with dates and raspberry vinegar. It might be fine, but it sounds wrong. too bland...too, something. Unless of course it was being served on top of frisee with blackberries, walnuts and either goat cheese or smoked gouda, in that case it might be divine. I think for the salads I usually make though, I would prefer a mashed up avacado with tons of lemon juice and some salt, or maybe I could throw in some of a good seasons italian dressing seasoning packet; salad does need flavor. Or I could whisk up lots of lemon juice, a bit of honey, dijon mustard and lots of salt, like my Aunt Kellie does to put over a garden romaine. Or I could add a touch of oil to a basic balsamic with some s&p. I think plain lemon juice works as a dressing if you have enough of it, let it sit for at least few minutes after dressing it and you season the salad well with lots of vegetables (carrot, celery, jicama, cherry tomato, avacado, cucumber, beets and sprouts) and seasoning like fresh cilantro, sesame seeds, sea salt, pepper, dried dill, dried minced garlic and the like. Those are the types of salad I love and wouldn't mind eating HUGE gigantic, enormous amounts of for my health.

Devils On Horseback Appetizer and Our New Years Party

Well, the title of this blog is not actually accurate. I don't know if Jeremy and me hanging out at Brian and Danielle's house for 3 hours eating food on New Years Eve qualifies as a party. Although Danielle's sister Natalie and her boyfriend Jake were there for a bit, so then again maybe it was. Anyhow, we sat around and ate the night away, mostly. Drinking on the other hand, not so much. Jeremy and I have been on a health kick with it being the new year and all and have not been doing much drinking lately. So when Brian asked Jeremy how much champagne he should pick up and Jeremy replied "I'm only having a sip" Brian took that to mean 1 bottle would probably be sufficient. Danielle on the other hand who happened to be doing some dishes when we walked in almost sprayed Jeremy with the faucet hose for being such a kill joy. We might have started the night off on the wrong foot (and ended it that way, with being in bed by 10pm, ringing in the new year and the start of the new millennium for that matter, asleep) but in-between those two events at least the food was fabulous! Danielle and I had decided to serve appetizers instead of a main course and we divided the prep. Danielle was in charge of these delightful little bites that don't even really have a name, although Katie Lee, formally Katie Lee Joel, makes a version like Danielle's called "devils on horseback". Whatever they are, they are divine! More about them in a minute. She also made shrimp cocktail complete with homemade cocktail sauce and a cheese platter. For my part I was making crostini with goat cheese, roasted red peppers, drizzled with truffle honey that I had bought at The Homesteader a couple days before, Tzatziki dip with toasted pita triangles and carrot sticks and herb stuffed mushrooms. The stuffed mushrooms were a bit bland in my opinion, I'm sorry to report, despite my attempts to make them quirky and memorable. I sauteed the chopped stems in butter, added salt, pepper, mined garlic and thyme and added some white wine. Then I took it off the heat and added some Italian bread crumbs, chopped parsley and mint, slivered almonds and very finely chopped golden raisins, a bit more olive oil and showered it with parmesan cheese, filled the caps, drizzled them with olive oil and baked at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Now, I'm sure you know that the mint, almonds and raisins are NOT common ingredients to stuff in a mushroom. However, that was my attempt at making them special. I thought the chewy tangy sweet of the raisin would be interesting along with the herbs and that the almond would give it texture and a bit if a soft crunch. Well it might have worked it different quantities, but it fell flat. Boooooring. But, all that interesting, exotic food texture, chewiness and crunch I didn't find in my mushrooms I found in Danielle's little "devils on horseback" appetizer. They are basically and almond wrapped in a dried apricot, wrapped in bacon and served with a apricot soy chutney of sorts. It's that classic sweet and salty that gets you at first and the chewiness of the apricot and the crunch of both the bacon and the almond dipped in the sweet and sour sauce that brings it home. Here is the recipe:

Devils on Horseback Appetizer

30 dried apricots

30 whole almonds

15 pieces of raw bacon

1 cup apricot preserves

5-6 Tablespoons soy sauce

Cut each bacon slice in half crosswise and set aside. Roll over the dried apricots with a rolling pin in an attempt to make them a bit thinner and bigger (better to fully wrap the almond) then place an almond in the center of each apricot and one by one, wrap the apricot around the almond and the half a piece of bacon around the apricot. Place the finished bite seam side down so the bacon doesn't unravel on a baking tray and continue until all pieces are done. Bake the tray at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and cooked through. Meanwhile, heat the apricot preserves in a sauce pan over medium low heat, add the soy sauce and heat until hot and well combined. You can more or less of the soy sauce depending on your taste. Serve everything warm

These really are a crowd pleaser. 30 pieces will serve about 8 people for an appetizer. The rule of thumb is 3-4 pieces of any given appetizer per person if you are having 5-6 different apps.

Happy New Year everyone!

Braised Short Ribs

12-9-09- well, the cold spell has not lifted. It's freezing outside, literally. -6 the last couple mornings, so braised short ribs sound wonderful! I am using a recipe given to me by Pat, Kaylee's boyfriend and chef, and I am using short ribs ordered from Mambo's, our restaurant. the meat is much more elegant and plump than what i can find in our tiny town's grocery store, if I can find it there at all (our grocery store is sketchy, dang it Safeway!) I think the key to fall off the bone short ribs is in a few steps. First, you dry the meat off with paper towels, salt and pepper it, then dredge it in flour and sear on all sides in a pan with olive oil over medium low heat. Low and slow! Once they are brown and have a delicious crust all around, i remove them fromt eh pan and place them in a braising dish (I bought mine at walmart for 10 bucks) Then I cut up carrot celery and an onion and add it to the pan with the beef drippings and saute for a couple minutes until onions are translucent. then I pour the veggies on top of the ribs ( by the way, any amount of ribs works in this recipe, you can cook two or 12, no crowding of the pot rule applies here) Next you add your liquid. it could be anything depending on what you want your dish to taste like, just make sure you add enough to cover the ribs 3/4 of the way up. the only rule is to add about a cup or so of some sort of tomato product to your liquid. The acid in the tomato i'm told help to break down the meat and make it tender. Today I have used a combination of chicken and beef stock for the liquid and marinara sauce for the tomato product. A bit of red wine in the liquid is great too. The next step is to braise. Season everything with salt and pepper and put the lid on the braising dish and stick it in a 300 degree oven for at least 6-7 hours. I usually cook mine about 7 hours but you could go up to 8 or 9 I'm sure. The longer it cooks the more tender it becomes. When the ribs are done add some crushed red pepper flakes and oregano to wake the broth up a bit. I serve my short ribs on top of a bed of sauteed veggies and roasted sweet potato chunks. for the veggies, I saute asparagus that has been cut in half vertically and then on a diagonal horizontally with some garlic and olive oil. Then I add some halved cherry tomatoes and saute for another minute. Then I will add some re-hydrated porchini mushrooms ( I can only get the dried mushrooms in my po-dunk store!) but it's ok, because I add about 2 tablesppons of the mushroom liquid that I re-hydrated my mushrooms in to the veggie saute and it is fabulous. Then I add some bite sized roasted sweet potato chucks to the veggie saute. The combo is beautiful! You just serve some of the rib juices over the ribs on top of the veggie saute, top with parsley and it's a showstopper. It's really good to make for a crowd because you can dooall the hard work in the morning and the ribs just cook all day, ready when you are! I bet an Asian version of this would be delicious as well. I would probably just make the liquid be a combination of beef stock, soy sauce, sesame oil and Asian barbecue sauce and top it with cilantro. Yum! I will have to make a mental note.

New Food Blog and 15 bean soup

I originally wrote this first post a couple weeks ago, but have since resolved to make this food blog thing a year long project and so now, for the first two entries, I am back posting. I will be writting reguarly about the food I make this year, and my foodie revelations. This project is mostly a discipline on my part, but hopefully I can use it as a tool to improve my cooking as well as maybe inspiring creativity.

12-6-09- Today I am making a very humble bean soup. This is something I had on a regular basis growing up and honestly thought I would never make again. My Mother used to make bean soup quite a bit growing up and we would eat the leftovers for days and days. Hers consisted of beans, usually just pinto, water and if we were lucky, a ham hock. She would top it off with melted cheddar cheese and a tortilla, if they were around, and voila that was dinner. My version is going to be somewhat different. Isabella my daughter, had her first cheerleading event this morning. When we left the high school it was clear, but by the time lunch time rolled around it was dumping snow. Living in a ski town, the weather can change in minutes. The weather calls for something hearty and I have all the ingredients to make a great 15 bean soup. I had no recipe. I mean it is bean soup and I don't think there is an actual science to it. I basically just drained the previously dried beans from the pot of water they had been soaking in overnight and put them in a crock pot. I added a chopped onion, carrot and 2 celery stalks (cut lengthwise and then chopped) we had a left over yellow bell pepper in the fridge so I cut it up and tossed it in as well. Then I added a can of petite diced tomatoes, a bottle of beer (corona) and filled the rest of the pot up with chicken stock. Next I threw in a smoked pork chop, bay leaf, and galric powder, chili powder and a half a packet of lipton onion soup mix. I have high hopes. I think I will top my bean soup off with parmesan cheese, curl up on the couch and watch a movie. A perfect end to a blustery day.
NOTE: In retrospect, since this day has already passed, I would like to say that it took the beans a while to cook in the crock pot. About 7 hours. But the soup itself was delightful. Oh, and I didn't watch a movie. It sounded good, but my inlaws came by just as dinner was being served and they joined us and we talked. Afterwards, there was no time for a movie. But still a good night.