Mi Chiamo Candace...

FIRST IN THE NATION

2012-01-10T21:55:00.000-05:00

My newly adopted home state of New Hampshire is proud to host the "First in the Nation" primary. Tiny Dixville Notch in the northern part of the state begins voting just after midnight. 9 whole votes were cast in that tiny little hamlet. Can you believe that?

It has been a hotbed of activity up here with the candidates. Mitt Romney recently held court at our beloved Village Pizza here in town. Earlier this week, Newt Gingrich toured our largest manufacturer here in town, Sturm Ruger, and held court with a town meeting. Neither of which I attended, by the way. I work in a different town so I didn't know about it until after it had happened. Just yesterday, on my way to work, I passed by a local restaurant that had a handful of men in black dress coats and a couple of photographers outside. Some unknown political candidate holding court, I'm sure. Word on the street says that it was Jon Huntsman in town.

Yes, sirree....New Hampshire has been the place to be!

I have to say that I am not political by any means and I am not excited about any of the people who are running for election at all - Democrat or Republican. Having said that, since this is the first major election since we relocated, I had to get in on the action and exercise my right to vote. The whole process was so interesting.

I wasn't registered to vote here until today. In New Hampshire, you can register at the polls. A current driver's license and proof of my home address was all that I needed to sign up to vote. I filled out a short form and presented my credentials for review and off to get my ballot I went. New Hampshire, unlike Louisiana, does not have a closed primary. While it's technically not open so that anyone, regardless of party affiliation, can vote in either primary. In New Hampshire, if you are an undeclared voter like myself (not affiliated with either party), you can vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary just by stating which ballot you would like to receive. I chose to vote in the Republican primary.

By stating which primary you would like to vote in and receiving and casting your vote, you automatically become affiliated with that party.

But here in the "Live Free or Die" state, they are not going to lock you into being a Democrat or Republican. If you wish to return to an "undeclared" voting status, all you have to do is stop by the booth by the exit door and change your affiliation back - which I did.

There were a few surprises for me on the ballot tonight. Herman Cain and Michelle Bachman were still on there (and people were actually voting for them!) Seriously people! Even I know they are no longer running for President! Why do you waste your vote like that? There was, also, a familiar name that I hadn't heard of in years....

via

Buddy Roemer, former governor of Louisiana

Seriously? Where have I been? At this time, with 57% of the precincts reporting, he has 475 votes. Who are these people voting for him and how did THEY know he was running? I am really out of touch, I guess.

It's very interesting times we live in people. Very interesting indeed...

A SPICY TASTE OF SUMMER IN THE MIDST OF WINTER

2012-01-08T20:55:00.000-05:00

Out of five lemon pepper plants from the summer, I only got one pepper. It appeared this winter on a plant that I had brought into the house. I thought it might be good in a pasta dish with black garlic. I gave it a little taste before adding it to the pasta. After chugging a pint of cold milk from the fridge, my mouth finally cooled off enough that I did not have to go to the hospital. I was concerned there for a moment. I'm really happy that I didn't add it to the pasta. It was smoking hot.

I hope you have enjoyed your weekend. It has been another weekend that has just flown by way too quickly for me. Let's hope the week goes by just as quickly.

Thanks so much for stopping,

This is being linked up here

for Mellow Yellow Monday.

Home/Made Mushroom Lasagna

2011-12-30T22:54:00.000-05:00

Home/Made Mushroom Lasagna recipe courtesy of

The New York Times and Monica Byrne, Home/Made, Brooklyn

David's stepdad treated us to this special lasagna for dinner a few weeks ago and I've been jonesin' for it ever since. It was cheesy and full of the most amazing flavors. I simply have not been able to get it out of my mind. Having a day off from work made today the perfect time to try my hand at satisfying this craving.

It was time consuming; but worth every minute of it. Not only did we get to put the new stove to the test; but, David discovered that the new backsplash that he put up to protect the wall behind the stove makes the most perfect place to hold the recipes as we prepare them. Bonus!

And about the lasagna....

It was awesome.

Goodnight...

Good Morning!

2011-12-24T07:35:00.000-05:00

The sunrise was spectacular this morning. I am so happy that I was up to see it. I only wish that I could have captured its true beauty.

May your day be blessed beyond measure...

Merry Christmas!

And since we've no place to go...

2011-12-23T14:26:00.000-05:00

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

We have had unseasonably mild weather lately and I'm not complaining. It's much easier to get up and out of the house and off to work when the weather is not yucky outside. But it's Christmas and I'm in New England where Christmases should ALWAYS be white.

I have four days off and I was getting kind of worried that we might not have any snow for Christmas this year. We didn't get a lot of snow this morning; but we got enough to make it a little festive outside. It was nice to wake up and drink some coffee and watch it snow knowing that I didn't have to leave the nice, warm house. I have been sort of hoping for a big storm that would keep me inside my little cottage with my family for some much needed down time for the entire weekend; but that's not going to happen. So I will be grateful for the little snow that we have.

2011 has been a very busy and fun year. We have been in New Hampshire for over a year now and I think I can say that I have finally settled in to my new home. We have good health, all that we need and most everything that we want. David and I both have jobs that we love and all of our kids are finally close by for the first time ever. We are so blessed.

Merry Christmas andHappy New Year

from my family to yours!

Much love,

Ummmmm......

2011-12-06T20:30:00.001-05:00

I don't even know how to begin this post. That's probably why I haven't posted anything since November 14th. That's a long time. I know. Life has just intervened.

over and over again.

It is what it is.

I've thought on several different occasions to just do a post and tell you that I'm taking a blogging break; but, seriously, after all the time it has been, I thought you guys had most probably figured that out already. You are smart cookies.

So here I am with a few minutes and I'm just going to ramble for a bit. I hope you don't mind.

Thanksgiving was great. I got two days off which made for a wonderful and much needed long weekend. We went to my in-laws where we enjoyed lots of fantastic food and spent time with family. I love Thanksgiving. The roasted butternut squash risotto with bacon and sage that we contributed was amazing, if I do say so myself. We didn't take any pictures. Can you believe that?

The job is going well. After two months, I can honestly say that I really enjoy it. We moved our office to a new location a month ago and it has been liberating for me. The space is bright and cheerful and I feel more organized and together. I still have a lot to learn; but I feel like I'm in a good place with it all. I'm encouraged.

With the new job though, I haven't done a lot of cooking lately or taken very many photos. I guess I've lost my mojo. I think about cooking.....I think about taking photos.....I think about blogging about what little I cook and/or photograph....and then I get distracted by something else and move on. That's just where I'm at in life right now, I guess. Maybe the new year will bring a renewal of sorts and I can get back into the swing of things.

Christmas is roaring in like a freight train for me this year. I did manage to get the tree up the day after Thanksgiving. We have a huge pre-lit tree that is absolutely gorgeous and absolutely too big for our home. Since we had it, we decided to try to make it work in our little cottage. We carved out a place for it and set it up only to find the branches and the lights to be a tangled mess. Pre-lit trees are a good idea...in theory....but when you don't have a box for it at the end of the season and you wrap it up in plastic and bungee cords, it tends to be in sad shape when you take it out to set it up for the season. Having said that, I determined to take all of the lights off and start over so I tore my hands up in the branches getting the lights off and when I had them all off, I decided that I really wanted white lights instead of the colored ones that came on the tree. Since we were going to have to buy lights anyway, we thought we should buy the LED ones and save some electricity. David and I made a run to the store before the LSU/Alabama game started and got new lights. We are saving electricity alright; but, I'm not sure that I'm sold on the way the LED lights look on the tree yet. I probably should have gotten the "warmer" lights instead of the "cooler" ones; but you live and learn and we're making it work. It's coming down in a couple of weeks anyway. I'm always excited to get the tree up; but, I'm usually even more excited to take it down again.

There are a few presents under there. I'm still not finished shopping yet; but I've made a good start, I think. I won't consider at this time that I only have one more weekend to get it done. Shopping up here is not an easy endeavor. It's a drive to get to stores or the mall. That can be a good thing, I guess, but it's difficult at Christmas.

I'm excited about the holidays this year though. My "baby" flew in last night to stay with us for awhile and we are looking forward to having all of the kids around this year for Christmas. We are settled into our cozy cottage and our sweet little Monkey is getting so big and being so much fun these days. It's going to be fun to do Christmas with her this year. What a joy to experience Christmas with children!

Thanks so much for stopping in and catching up with me. You have all been so sweet to send emails to check on me and I appreciate that more than you know.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Love,

BISCOFF COOKIE DOUGH BALLS

2011-11-14T20:30:00.000-05:00

I've said it before I will say it again.... I love Pinterest. My family is beginning to love Pinterest, as well, since I have been making some of the things that I have been pinning. Like Biscoff Cookie Dough Balls, for example...

I did not wait as long to get on the Biscoff bandwagon as I did for Nutella and I am so happy that I did not wait. That stuff is awesome.......

on toast...

on apples...

in cookies...

on my finger....

so.good.

Run to the store and get a jar of it and make these cookies. You can get the recipe here at The Novice Chef blog. I know some of you will be shocked; but I did not change a thing.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

SCHOOL HOUSE ROLLS

2011-11-13T13:00:00.000-05:00

When I was in school, the "lunch ladies" made the best rolls. I remember the wonderful aroma of those rolls being prepared for lunch. You could seriously smell them all over the school before lunch. Several years ago, David worked at a job that took him to the school cafeterias to support the staff with their IT issues. He got first hand experience with the amazing smell of the rolls and somehow managed to get the recipe from the grateful "lunch ladies". Of course, the original recipe makes 120 rolls and had to be scaled down to a more reasonable amount.

He hasn't made them for years; but recently, at the request of my mom, the baker returned and he made a batch of these amazing rolls. I knew that I had to share these with you just in time for Thanksgiving.

School House Rolls

adapted from the "Lunch Ladies" recipe from Lincoln Parish Schools

3 1/2 cups Water

1 Tbsp. Honey

6 1/2 to 7 cups of All Purpose Flour

1 cup Dry Milk

1/2 cup Sugar

2 1/2 tsp. Salt

2 sticks Unsalted Butter*

3 packets of Yeast

Extra butter for the tops of the rolls

Heat water to 110 degrees (hot tap water). Stir honey and one stick of melted butter into the water until thoroughly combined. Add yeast and let it grow (about ten minutes). Add all of the other ingredients to the water and butter mixture and mix until a ball is formed. Transfer the ball into a lightly oiled large bowl. Cover and let rise until double in size.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once the dough has risen, pinch rolls into balls and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Let the rolls rise again, approximately 30 minutes. Brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter and place in the preheated oven. Bake until golden brown, approximately 20 minutes.

* The lunch ladies used shortening instead of butter in the rolls. We don't like to use shortening so David used butter in place of the shortening this time. The rolls are delicious either way; however, I think the rolls made with the shortening have a slight edge.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

BISCOFF PEANUT BUTTER FLOURLESS COOKIES

2011-11-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

I have never been a huge peanut butter cookie fan. My mom made them a lot when I was growing up because they were my Dad's favorite. I always begged her to let me have some of the raw cookie dough because to me, the raw dough was always better than the baked cookie.

Leave it to Pinterest and the newly discovered Biscoff Spread to change my mind...

These were the best peanut butter cookies ever...

Biscoff Peanut Butter Flourless Cookies

adapted from a recipe found here at The Kitchn

1/2 cup Biscoff Spread

1/2 cup peanut butter *

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
white sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees° F. Combine all ingredients except for white sugar in a bowl and mix well. Roll the dough into balls and roll in the white sugar before placing on a parchment lined or silpat lined baking sheet. Using a fork, flatten slightly in a criss-cross pattern. Bake 10 minutes and cool on the baking sheet before removing.

* I used Smucker's Reduced Fat Natural Creamy Peanut Butter

So good.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Massaged Kale Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Wheat Berries and Goat Cheese

2011-11-08T08:19:00.001-05:00

In my opinion, roasted sweet potatoes are some of the best things in life. They are especially tasty when you roast them with Smoky Paprika Chipotle Seasoning.

And when you combine them with kale that has been massaged with avocado, salt and fresh lime juice, add some cooked wheat berries and top it with crumbled goat cheese, you get a salad that you simply must tell your friends about.

It was so good and so good for you.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

This post is being linked up here
with the Hearth and Soul Hop.

VANILLA LATTE COOKIES

2011-11-06T21:00:00.000-05:00

Another cookie recipe courtesy of Pinterest...

Vanilla Latte Cookies

Adapted from Sugarcrafter

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp. espresso powder*

3 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon**

2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. In a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Reduce the mixer speed and add the powdered sugar, espresso, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly. Add the flour and beat until combined. Roll the dough into 1″ balls and place them 2″ apart on the baking sheet. Press the cookies slightly to flatten. Bake about 12 minutes or until the edges are set. Transfer to a wire rack to let cool.

* We used the finely ground coffee that gathers at the top of the coffee grinder box.
** I used Roasted Saigon Cinnamon. Awesome stuff.

The original recipe says that you can store the cookies at room temperature for up to 3 days in an airtight storage container. There is absolutely no way that they would last that long in this house. You can, also, freeze for up to 3 months. That will be the only way that I could keep any here. They were seriously so good.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

THE MORNING AFTER...

2011-10-30T11:13:00.000-04:00

That's not a snow bank on the bottom right of this photo. It's one of our cars.

According to WMUR, anywhere from 3 to 25 inches of snow fell in New Hampshire with this storm. Over 300,000 people are without electricity according to the utility companies.

We were blessed. We got a lot of snow; but nothing like other parts of the state. Our snow event is over here; but it continues to our north. We are even seeing the sun shine out there right now.

It's really pretty; but it's way too early. I still have outside things that I want to do.

It's supposed to warm up this week into the 50's and that's a good thing.

We have plenty of snow to melt.

Just ask David.

Doesn't he look like he was having fun?

He was so good to get out there and shovel for us and take some photos for me while I stayed inside and drank coffee and decided what to cook today. This was not his favorite weekend activity, as you can see.

For the record, I was safe.

There was no way that he was going to throw that snowball at me inside the house. I was holding the camera and I cook.

Enjoy your Sunday,

LET IT SNOW...LET IT SNOW....LET IT SNOW!

2011-10-30T00:47:00.000-04:00

Winter has arrived in force.

The snow storm on Thursday was just a teaser. A couple of inches is nothing to compare to what we are getting this weekend. It is being called "historic" and I believe it.

David said that he doesn't remember when it has ever snowed before Halloween. I'm sure this isn't the first time; but it's the first that he can remember.

Fall was just here last week. I saw it. There was still some color on some of the trees this afternoon when I took these photos; but at the rate that it's snowing right now, it's safe to say that Fall 2011 is over.

See what a difference a month makes?

It was beautiful while it lasted.

I submitted the Red Barn photo to Yankee Magazine for the 2011 Fall Foliage Contest and they accepted my entry. There are so many wonderful photos on their website that I know that mine will not be featured in next year's Foliage Edition; but I'm still excited to see my photo on their website. You can even send it as an E-Card here.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Brrrrr!

FROSTY FRIDAY...

2011-10-28T08:24:00.002-04:00

Thank God it's Friday...

REMEMBER THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH KALE-O-KOPITA?

2011-10-27T00:30:00.000-04:00

I couldn't stop until I tried them again. This time I tried them with roasted sweet potatoes, black beans and Cabot Chipotle Cheddar Cheese. The photo isn't wonderful; but, trust me....

They were fantastic. By the way....have you had this?

It's awesome!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

PIONEER WOMAN'S SPICY SHREDDED PORK

2011-10-26T00:30:00.000-04:00

I have been blessed with the best.

My sweet friend, Glenda, from Louisiana sent a care package to us last month. Just because...

Inside was the sweetest card, the most fantastic beer bread and Pioneer Woman's Cookbook. Do you have it? I'm a cookbook hoarder; but, I didn't have that one. I was definitely missing out. There are so many yummy dishes in there. Thanks so much, Glenda! I have made a promise to myself that I will not buy another cookbook until I start using the ones that I have and I'm beginning with this one.

The recipe that started it all off for me was the Spicy Pulled Pork. I found the recipe online here called Spicy Shredded Pork. The name of the recipe in the book is different; but, the recipe was the same.

So I grabbed a Pork Shoulder at the market...

And an onion, garlic cloves, Spicy Paprika and Chipotle Seasoning, Cumin Seeds, Oregano, Brown Sugar, White Wine Vinegar, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper...

which I processed all together in my food processor and rubbed on every square inch of that pork...

Pioneer Woman added water to her baking dish; but you know me.....I can't leave well enough alone. I thought a bottle of Dos Equis would make it even better. I was right. We had to smell that pork cooking all day long and it smelled amazing.

When the pork was done, we spread some corn chips on a baking sheet, covered them with shredded pork, pinto beans, monterey jack cheese and Cabot Jalapeno Cheddar. We baked them for 10 minutes in a 450 degree oven and when the came out, sprinkled them with chopped cilantro. Mmmmmmm!

The perfect Sunday night dinner...

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Winning Reflection...

2011-10-25T00:30:00.000-04:00

Recently I shared with you here that I entered one of my favorite photos from the summer into a photo contest that Johanna Grace at phos-graphé was hosting.

I won!

I received a beautiful pair of earrings made by Molly at A Bit O'Shine.

I've worn them a few times already and I love them.

Thanks, Johanna!

Thanks, Molly!

The holidays are getting closer. Why not check out Molly's shop here for a unique gift for someone you love! She has so many beautiful creations there.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Week - End

2011-10-23T15:02:00.000-04:00

To start things off, I want to send a big thank you out to those of you who commented on my last pity party post with love and encouragement and for those who promised prayers. I have felt them this past week and I appreciate them more than you know. If you feel it in your heart to continue lifting me up, I would be grateful.

I really didn't intend for the post to sound the way that it did; but I wrote honestly about my feelings at the time. I am glad you allowed me to open my heart and share them so openly with you. It was the good, the bad and the ugly and I just threw it out there and it felt good to release it. I had let it build up inside until I couldn't hold it any longer. I like to keep things light and happy around here and most of the time, that is the tone of my life. Having said that, my life is definitely not perfect and I never intend to portray it that way. I have ups and downs just like everyone else and from time to time, I have to vent. I am thankful that I can just write my way through them via this blog.

On a good note, I am settling in somewhat and adjusting to the new job. I don't love it yet; but I, also, don't hate it. Nothing that I am doing is rocket science; but, I still have a lot to learn. I do work with some pretty awesome people. They are all very sweet and funny and obviously care about one another. That's huge! They have gone out of their way to help me get settled in there and make me feel welcome and part of the team. I am so thankful for that. They seem to love their jobs so I expect that, at some point when the majority of the learning process is over, I'm going to enjoy what I do, as well.

I still haven't found too many opportunities to take photos lately except for a few here and there around the house which I'm sharing with you here today. I did take my camera with me to work several days last week hoping to get some shots of the changing leaves along the way. I have to tell you that the foliage was absolutely stunning; but there was not a good place to stop along the way to get any shots. New Hampshire needs more "shoulders" along the roads. I really wish that I could have gotten some pictures to show you. Spectacular. The winds have been blowing like crazy though and what was once beautiful foliage has become "fallage" and the trees, for the most part, are now bare.

With the trees mostly bare now and the ground covered with leaves, I am reminded of my childhood and the joy that came when this season finally arrived in Louisiana. Playing outside after school and on the weekends....the rustle of leaves beneath my feet....the joy of jumping in the leaves and building forts and houses with piles of raked up leaves...

And it brings a smile to my face...

Thanks, David, for capturing these fun pics of Monkey this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Yada Yada Yada...

2011-10-17T07:04:00.000-04:00

It feels like forever since I have shared anything with you here on the blog. Summer has gone and Autumn is already on its way out. It's so hard to believe that we are cruising through October so quickly.

Life has certainly been interesting for us the last year. In the midst of the craziness of my life and everything that has been happening lately, I've been reflecting a lot about all that has happened since last October. This time last year I was summing my life up here with the word "packing". We were feverishly working on packing up our things and getting ready to move out of our home into a temporary place in anticipation of closing on the sale of our home. We were not sure what God had in store for us at that time; but, I can tell you on this end of it that it's been quite a ride.

The desire of my husband's heart was to move back home. I wanted that too....for him...and also for me. We both longed for change. We both wanted the opportunity of having all of our kids together in the same place with us. We longed to get to know our beautiful new granddaughter. We had no idea how that would ever happen; but God had other plans. He opened doors in our life that we would have never dreamed possible and did them so quickly that I think our head was spinning for months after it all happened. When we sold our home and things quickly fell into place for us to relocate to New Hampshire, I really didn't have any idea what this new life up here would be like. In the last year, all of that and so much more has been accomplished. We had all of the kids together at Christmas for the first time in a long time, hibernated through the winter and acclimated to this new environment. We have gotten to know our granddaughter and have been blessed with many opportunities to spend time with her. Connor got the opportunity to spend the summer with everyone and to get to know his niece. That would have never been possible had we not relocated.

When we sold our home and things quickly fell into place for us to relocate to New Hampshire, I really didn't have any idea what this new life up here would be like. I had dreams, of course, but really I had no idea how they would play out.

Driving away from Louisiana in that moving truck, I remember such a feeling of excitement. It was quite an adventure to pack up the things we most wanted to keep in our lives and leave everything else behind to start over someplace else. I really looked forward to having some free time to explore my creative side with photography, cooking and blogging. For the most part, I have gotten to experience that over the last year. It has been fun.

Life is changing again though as I have started a new job. The wind has kind of been taken out of my sails with these new changes as any creativity that I might have had seems to have just disappeared. I have had no inspiration for cooking. I have had very little inspiration for photography even with the beautiful changing leaves outside. Even the leaves do not seem quite as vibrant as I expected them to this year. In recent days, I have tried to sit down a few times in front of this computer to share something with you.....anything really...without success.

I am struggling to find balance and peace. I pray I find it soon.

Commenting Update...

2011-10-08T07:07:00.000-04:00

It's fixed!

I came across a blog post here at Elizabeth & Co. yesterday afternoon that had a suggestion on how to fix my commenting issue and it seems to have worked beautifully! Thanks, Sharon!

If any of you are experiencing the same problem with commenting that I shared yesterday, this is what I did to fix it.....

In Internet Explorer....

Click on Tools on your toolbar.

Click on Internet Options.

Click on the Privacy Tab.

Click on Sites.

Add "www.blogger.com" and click Allow.

Do the same thing with "www.blogspot.com".

Click Okay and you should be good to go.

Needless to say, I am thrilled that this has been resolved. It is so frustrating when issues arise that prevent me from commenting on your blogs. I did not want to switch browsers. It's not that I am completely in love with Internet Explorer; but, I have tried Chrome and Firefox and they each came with their own issues. Internet Explorer seems to work best for me and now that the commenting issues seem to be resolved, I can rest easily.

We are off to take my parents to the airport this morning and we are getting to spend the day with Monkey. I think we are going to take her shopping. Oh Boy~!

Have a beautiful Saturday,

A quick update....

2011-10-07T10:33:00.000-04:00

Sometimes life is very frustrating and sometimes that frustration is all Google's fault. Yup. Google, you are not being nice to me lately.

My mom and stepdad have been visiting this week from Houston so I have been enjoying my time with them and I have been trying to take a few minutes here and there to keep up with your blogs. I am having some serious problems commenting again. I take the time to post a comment on your blog and it either immediately disappears without posting or I get some sort of error regarding cookies which I haven't been able to figure out. I've checked my settings and they seem to be fine. Just so you know, I am reading and trying to comment; but I'm not having much success.

Despite all of the rainy and cold weather that we've had this week and the one day without electricity that we experienced thanks to a line being down in a remote location in the area, we have managed to see the seacoast...

And have some chowda...

And experience some of the local wild life...

And see some of my favorite places...

And see a little foliage...

And spend some good time together eating, laughing and just being together. All in all, it has been a good week.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Butternut Squash Kale-o-Kopita....Sorta

2011-09-29T10:01:00.000-04:00

Even though the temps around here have been very warm and muggy lately, it is really starting to look like fall around here. It has been fun watching the trees in my backyard slowly start to show out. This is our first year here in our new home and I suspected that this little stand of trees were going to provide some beautiful colors in the fall. I think i was right. I don't know if this is the most beautiful fall that I've seen in New Hampshire; but it's like bad pizza, ya know? It's all good. We are expecting cooler temps over the weekend and some cloudy days so I'm hoping that the colors will really start to show out going forward.

I am a huge spanokopita fan. The phyllo dough...the spinach....the cheese. I love it. My sweet husband made a wonderful version of it for my birthday this year. Spanokopita, Sorta. Seriously. That was the name of it. It was a recipe that we found in Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals 2 cookbook. The spanokopitas were rolled like a burrito instead of triangles. They were so good.

When I saw a Kale and Butternut Squash Pie featured here on Proud Italian Cook, I thought why not roll the ingredients up in the phyllo dough and get all of the crispy flavor of the phyllo dough in each bite.

So I cut the squash up into small pieces, tossed them with olive oil, salt and fresh cracked black pepper and roasted them on a cookie sheet at 400° for about an hour until they were tender and caramelized. The time is not exact so watch them carefully to make sure they get caramelized to your liking. We like our roasted veggies to have a nice, crispy caramelization around here. You may have different tastes. I could just seriously eat the whole pan just like this. No other ingredients would be required for me to enjoy this as a meal. Thankfully, I exercised restraint.

Once the squash was all nice and roasted, I placed the pieces in a large bowl to cool. After they had cooled for a few minutes, I tossed in parmigiano-regiano cheese and crumbled feta cheese and gently stirred to combine.

While the squash was roasting, I sautéed diced pancetta, onion, minced garlic, chopped sage, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of cracked black pepper, stirring frequently, until onion was softened, about 7 minutes. I added some chopped kale and water and cooked, covered, stirring occasionally, until the kale was tender, about 6 minutes. When the mixture was done, I set it aside until cool. Once the mixture was cool, I mixed it into the bowl of squash and cheese, being careful to drain the kale of as much juice as possible as I was spooning it out.

It's kind of irritating when you have a brand new box of phyllo dough and you pull it out to use it and find that it's too dry. It's so dry that it cracks and splits. That kind of makes something that is not easy to work with under the best circumstances even harder. I perservered though and used it anyway. I took a sheet or sometimes two (just go with it and don't be intimidated!), brushed melted butter on half of it or tried to, at least and folded the sheet in half. Did I mention that this particular box of dough was really hard to work with? They are not all like that if you remember to keep the dough covered when you aren't working with it. In any case, don't let phyllo dough intimidate you. When it was being particularly troublesome, I overlapped them and just extended the length and width. Really, it's not that big of a deal so just do what feels right when you are working with it. It will be fine.

I scooped some of the mixture down the center of the dough in the shape of a log, folded in each of the short sides, and rolled and wrapped the long sides upwards until I reached the edge of the dough. I brushed the end with butter and rolled it completely up...like a Mediterranean burrito....and placed seam side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. I'm sorry that I didn't get photos of this whole process; but, it was hard enough rolling them. Photos were out of the question. If I have totally confused you (sorry about that!!) and would like a little more instruction, I rolled these kind of like I rolled the baked eggrolls that I blogged about here. The only difference is that the eggrolls were rolled on the diagonal. However, you can get them rolled up will be fine. Some of mine split as I was rolling them and the stuffing started coming out of them. They were a mess. No fear though. I just grabbed another phyllo sheet and wrapped it around the whole roll however I could to contain the goodness. That will just give you another layer of crispy to go with the yummy inside filling.

They look kind of pitiful on the baking sheet. You can see some of the splits in the top of the rolls. No worries. I baked them in a 400° oven for 15 minutes until they were lightly golden.

The uncooperative phyllo dough did not harm the taste of these babies at all. The pancetta, the kale, the sweet butternut squash combined with the parmesan and tangy feta....all wrapped in the crispy phyllo dough was absolutely amazing.

Butternut Squash Kale-o-kopita...Sorta

Adapted from Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2 and from Proud Italian Cook and a recipe found here at Epicurious

Olive Oil

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded & cut into small pieces (about 3 ½ cups)

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 oz. finely chopped pancetta

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 ½ teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage

1 ½ lbs. kale, stems and center ribs discarded & leaves coarsely chopped (16 cups)

¼ cup water

Phyllo sheets, thawed, if frozen

½ cup freshly shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano

½ cup Feta Cheese, crumbled

3 tbsp. butter, melted (it may take a little more depending on how thickly you paint it on the phyllo dough.)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Peel, seed and cut the squash up into small pieces and place in a large bowl. Drizzle the pieces with olive oil, salt and freshly cracked black pepper and toss to coat. Spread the pieces out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for about an hour until they were tender and caramelized to your liking. Once the butternut squash is done, place in a large bowl to cool and set aside. When cool, add the shredded parmigiano-reggiano and feta cheese and gently toss to combine.

While the squash was roasting, dice pancetta and onion. Mince garlic. Chop the sage. Place all of those ingredients in a pan with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of cracked black pepper, Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 7 minutes. Add the chopped kale and water and gently toss to mix. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender, about 6 minutes. When done, remove from heat and allow to cool. Once this has cooled down for a few minutes, spoon the mixture into bowl with the butternut squash and cheese, being careful to drain any water as you spoon it out and mix gently but thoroughly with the squash and cheese.

On a large work surface, lay out one sheet of phyllo. Paint half of the sheet with a little melted butter. Fold sheet in half to make almost a square. Spoon the filling into a log shape in the center of the dough. Fold the short sides of the dough up and in to touch the filling. Start with one long side and bring up and over to the filling, rolling and wrapping the mixture inside until you get almost to the end. Paint the final edge with a little melted butter and continue rolling up. Place seam side down on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Repeat until all filling has been used.

Once rolled, bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven until lightly golden.

This was a fun adventure with phyllo dough. Next up, I think I'm going to experiment with chipotle roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, onions and goat cheese and I may even do that today.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a beautiful day!

This recipe is being shared here for
Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday, here for Friday Potluck
and here for Stir, Stitch and Straighten Sunday.

Greek Meatloaf

2011-09-26T20:02:00.005-04:00

It all started with a blog post about Keftedes (Greek Meatballs) that I saw here on elly says opa! Sounds familiar, doesn't it? It happens alot. I added them to the menu plan and bought the ingredients that I needed to make them last week.

On the afternoon that I had planned to make them, I just didn't have it in me to make the meatballs and pan fry them. Elly cautioned that I shouldn't even think about baking these babies. So, as a "most of the time rule follower", I thought "No problem!" and the idea of meatloaf came to my rescue.

It's hard for me to make meatloaf look good in photos; but I have to tell you that this one was fantastic. It was not, in the least bit, dry.

the onion....the garlic....the oregano

so.good.

It went perfectly with the Greek Potato Salad (which I got from Elly, as well) and the fresh green beans from my mother-in-law's garden. It is definitely going to be a regular in our house going forward.

Greek Meatloaf

Adapted from a recipe found here at elly says opa!

1 slice of bread

milk

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 an onion, finely diced or grated

2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed

3 tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped

1 heaping tsp. dried oregano

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 tsp. salt

freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350° F. Place the bread into a shallow dish and pour milk on top to cover. Set the dish aside while you assemble the rest of the ingredients to give the bread time to soak up the milk.

Into a large bowl, add the ground beef, egg, onion, garlic, fresh oregano, dried oregano, parsley, salt & pepper. Squeeze the bread and discard the milk keeping just the soggy bread and add that to the meat mixture. Mix everything together being careful not to overmix. (I always use my clean hands.) Shape meat mixture and place into loaf pan. Bake for approximately one hour until a meat thermometer placed in the center of the meatloaf registers 160° F.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

This recipe is being shared

here for Mangia Monday.

When a picture speaks louder than words...

2011-09-25T10:52:00.000-04:00

Autumn in New England...

No words necessary.

Have a beautiful day,

This post is being linked up here

for Mellow Yellow Monday.

REFLECTIONS...

2011-09-20T09:39:00.000-04:00

While navigating through the interwebs this morning responding to comments and emails from my recent postings, I happened upon a lovely blog here , phos-graphé, that is hosted by Johanna Grace (pronounced "jo-ha-nauh" ~ Isn't that a beautiful??), a "writer of light".

writer of light

i.love.that.

I have taken some time to look through her blogs (she has two) and find that they are a reflection of her beautiful personality. This particular blog features photography. She definitely has a gift.

She is, also, very generous and at the present time, she is holding a photography contest. When I read the description of the one entitled Sky, meet Earth, a contest about reflections, I remembered a photo that I took in Vermont back in July. While contests are fun and she is giving away a gorgeous pair of earrings, for me, this gives me the opportunity to share one of my favorite photos and memories of the summer.

It was a beautiful sunny day that I spent with family and my friend, Glenda, who was visiting for the first time from Louisiana. Everyone had gone into the Simon Pearce gallery and I was attracted to the building and the flowers out front. The white building with the tall, skinny black door and the purple flowers full of bumble bees drew me completely in. I love how the sky is reflected in the glass. This is another photo that will remind me of summer when the cold wind is blowing and the snow is falling this winter. I will remember the laughter shared with people that I love. I will remember how the sun felt on my face even though I might have complained about being hot once or twice that day. I will remember my precious flip flops. I may miss them the most. :)

If you have a photo with a reflection of earth or sky, please consider entering. If you just like to view photography and beautiful blogs written and hosted by beautiful people, take a moment and visit Johanna Grace. You will be happy that you did.

Thanks so much for stopping by! It's a cold and rainy day here in New Hampshire so I'm going to take the time to catch up on emails and comments. Tomorrow promises to be sunny and warm so I absolutely will need to be outside enjoying it. Have a beautiful day!

RUBY TUESDAY - SUNAPEE HARBOR

2011-09-19T20:46:00.000-04:00

Summer went quickly this year.

I don't think I have been sorry to see a
summer go since I was a child.

We made a lot of good memories in New England this summer. Some I have been able to share with you. Some I have in reserve. Soon....when the snow is falling, I will look back through the photos taken of happy times and I am sure that I will reminisce about them here with you. Until then, I am going to make some more memories to keep me warm until the ice is out on Lake Sunapee, 2012.

Thanks for stopping by!

This post is being linked up here

with Work of the Poet for Ruby Tuesday.

MAPLE ROASTED BANANA NUT MUFFINS

2011-09-18T21:03:00.000-04:00

...the bananas that I got on sale because they were just past their prime

...the roasted bananas that members of the blogging community have been tempting me with

...the quart of maple syrup that Ben so graciously sent me (Thanks, Ben!)

...my husband's love for all things "banana nut"....bread, muffins....he's not picky

...a day alone in the house to do whatever I wanted & because I spent it missing my husband's company

Every one of those reasons played into the birth of these muffins yesterday. Thankfully the local grocery story doesn't sell their bananas quickly enough so I find them very often marked down. Yay me! I love a good deal. I originally bought the bananas to freeze for smoothies; but, because my freezer is full of slow roasted tomatoes and basil pesto and kale and because I couldn't get "roasted bananas" and the maple syrup off my mind, I thought it might be nice to surprise David with his favorite muffins - kicked up.

So....roasting the bananas was easy. I just did a quick "Dairy Queen Banana Split cut" on them. Thank God for those life skills I learned as a teen, right?

I dotted them with butter, drizzled some of that yummy Ben's Grade B maple syrup over them and placed them in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. You should have smelled this house while they were cooking. oh.my. Amazing....

While the bananas were getting happy in the oven, I toasted some walnuts in a dry skillet. Bananas and walnuts just go together, I think.

Once the bananas had cooled down, they were ready to be mashed up and used in my favorite banana muffin recipe that I shared with you here.

The recipe calls for mixing the mashed bananas with sugar, egg and butter. I had some delicious butter and maple syrup left in the bottom of the baking dish and I could not let that go to waste.

I poured it into a measuring cup and melted about 3 tablespoons more butter in the microwave to make the required 1/3 cup butter called for in the recipe.

So into the bowl with the mashed bananas it goes along with 1 egg, slightly beaten, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Because I had used the maple syrup in the recipe this time, I omitted the white sugar completely.

In a separate bowl, I had mixed together baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour and combined it with the wet ingredients until thoroughly mixed. After adding the toasted nuts, I spooned them into pans lined with cupcake liners and placed into the oven for 20-25 minutes. The original recipe usually makes 12 muffins. I didn't fill mine up like I normally do and so I got 18 out of it. Good thing that I did because..... oh.my.goodness.

I will never make banana muffins any other way.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have an awesome week.

This post is being linked up here

with the Hearth and Soul Hop,
here with Let's Do Brunch and here
with Seasonal Inspiration at Crumbs and Chaos.

The Weekend in Black and White

2011-09-17T21:58:00.000-04:00

We went to the New England coast this past weekend and winding our way back home through rural Maine, this caught my eye. It was so unexpected that it demanded that we turn around and photograph it. I got a lot of great photos of our fun trip to the coast; but this turned out to be one of my favorites.

I'm linking this photo with The Weekend in Black and White. If you enjoy black and white photography, please visit Dragonstar here for this fun weekly linkup. There are always so many beautiful photographs from photographers worldwide. They never fail to amaze and inspire me.

I am, also, linking this photo up here for A Photo Challenge by Allie and Mikayla. My photo does not even come close to the quality of photos featured here; but, it is a photo that I'm proud of nevertheless. If you have a moment to hop over and take a peek, you will not be disappointed.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great week!

Massaged Kale Salad

2011-09-14T21:38:00.000-04:00

There has been something about the sound of a massaged kale salad that I haven't been able to get out of my thoughts. Does that ever happen to you? You see something online or in a book or magazine and it invades your thoughts until you try it. That happens to me often. I can't be the only one.

One trip to the "kale farm" aka my mother-in-law's back yard last week and I was inspired to give it a try. I thought the tender leaves that she has growing in her backyard would be perfect for a salad. Shannon at Tri to Cook had posted a recipe here for a massaged kale salad earlier in the summer and I had enough of the ingredients to give it a shot. I didn't have the edamame so I left that out. I, also, didn't have a ripe mango so I substituted a nice, juicy nectarine. That worked great. The sweet nectarine paired so well with the creamy avocado, the tang of the lemon and the saltiness of the roasted sunflower seeds.

I can definitely see this salad happening again in our future. In fact for lunch today, I massaged a small handful with some with olive oil, sea salt and lemon and added it to a pita along with tomato and goat cheese. It was an absolutely fantastic vegetarian lunch. If you haven't tried massaged kale, I encourage you to visit Shannon's blog, get the recipe and give it a try. While you are there, check out some of the other yummy dishes that she has featured. This is the not the first time that I've tried her food. Not only has everything tasted fantastic; but, it is all very healthy, as well!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are enjoying a fantastic week!

WEEKEND IN BLACK AND WHITE

2011-09-09T23:59:00.000-04:00

On a recent excursion to one of my favorite places, I took the opportunity to snap some photos of a really old firetruck that was on display. I thought that black and white really made them pop. I hope you enjoy them.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Enjoy your weekend!

THE POTATO HAM GALETTE WAS UPSTAGED...

2011-09-08T22:31:00.000-04:00

by the one that I made tonight.

The potato and ham galette that I shared with you last night was delicious. It was warm and comforting and oh so tasty. David loved it. I loved it. But....

You knew that was coming, right?

I warned you at the end of the post last night that I was thinking about how I would change it up the next time that I made it. The thinking about it didn't end at bedtime. Oh no. Apparently I dreamed about it all night because when I woke up this morning, I was still thinking about it. In fact, I thought about it all day.

The first thing that I wanted to change was the sauce. The sauce last night was thin. I wanted a thick and creamy sauce. I, also, wanted some spice and by spice, I mean heat. You know how we are around here.

Thankfully, David had gone into a potato slicing frenzy last night and had sliced way too many potatoes for last night's galette. I had leftovers that begged to be used. So I sautéed some chopped bacon, reserving a tablespoon of the drippings. To those drippings, I sautéed chopped shallots, garlic and a jalapeño, which was not spicy at all, by the way. You just never know with peppers. Once they were browned nicely, I added a tablespoon of flour, and made a light golden roux. Wine would have been my liquid of choice to add next but I didn't have any so I added some water first and stirred to make a gravy. I reduced the heat to low and added a cup of half and half, 3 ounces of goat cheese, a tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary, a teaspoon of nutmeg, salt, pepper and because the jalapeno wasn't hot, I added some cayenne. That did the trick.

Let the layering begin....

...sauce, potatoes, bacon, grated sharp and romano cheese and repeat. I ended it with sauce and topped the whole thing with grated cheese. I covered it loosely with foil, popped into a 425 degree oven for an hour, uncovered it and popped it back into the oven for an additional 15 minutes to get toasty.

Tonight, I can rest.

This was the dish I had dreamed about.

Have a great weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Potato and Ham Galette with Sage and Fontina

2011-09-08T00:06:00.002-04:00

My husband adores potatoes. I mean, who doesn't, really? I think David enjoys them more than most people do though. At least it seems that way. When I asked him to look at my Pinterest boards with me to help me plan some meals for the week, one of the things that drew his attention was the photo of a Potato and Canadian Bacon Galette with Sage and Gruyere that I had pinned from Feast on the Cheap. Mary Anne and Mariel are a mother/daughter duo who have a beautiful website full of yummy budget conscious dishes. You can view the original post here. Yummy foods that are budget friendly? Who wouldn't love that, right?

David cut the potatoes on the mandoline while I chopped the ham.

and the shallots...

and the garlic...

Although the original recipe didn't include sautéing the shallots and garlic, I just love the way they taste when cooked like that so I went ahead and sautéed them.

I mixed the ham, shallots, garlic and half and half with some fresh minced sage....

and freshly ground nutmeg....

I dipped some of the potato slices in the half and half mixture, placed them in a single layer in the bottom of a pie plate and spooned some of the ham and half and half over the top of them.

Another layer of potatoes....more of the ham mixture.....and a final layer of potatoes on top of that....

Everything is better when topped with cheese, right? I didn't have Gruyere even though I'm sure that would have been amazing. I had Fontina.

The recipe said to bake this, lightly covered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, take the foil off and bake for another 15 minutes. I should have tested the potatoes before I put the galette back in uncovered because they were not done. I raised the temp to 375 degrees and put the galette back in uncovered for another 35 minutes.

With a few minor tweaks to the baking time and perhaps trying other combinations of ingredients, this recipe is a keeper. My potato loving husband loved it. I loved it. It really was delicious. My mind is full of all sorts of ideas on how make this again with different meats and cheeses and perhaps something spicy like roasted poblanos.

This recipe is being shared here

with Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY FROM HAMPTON BEACH

2011-09-07T10:45:00.000-04:00

I've never worn a hoodie on the beach in June.

awesome ♥

BACON RUBBED BARBECUE CHICKEN

2011-09-05T00:33:00.001-04:00

When I saw chicken rubbed down with pureed bacon and spices here, I knew I had to make it. We have often placed cooked bacon strips on top of chicken and covered them with cheese and we have stuffed pieces of chicken and wrapped them in bacon; but, I have never pureed bacon and spread it on anything.

The recipe featured served as an idea for me as I didn't have the spices called for and cutting the chicken into kabobs seemed like a lot of trouble. I had spent the morning in Vermont with my sister-in-law and my afternoon was spent playing with Miss Monkey so getting dinner on the table as quickly and easily as possible was my goal. I really don't think I had skewers for kabobs anyway and besides, I made a recipe like it was written ~~once~~ recently. That should count for something, right? I sprinkled the chicken with salt and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes while I checked out your blogs. Once the chicken was ready, I grabbed the Smoky Paprika Chipotle Seasoning, Sugar and the package of bacon.

The smoky paprika chipotle seasoning was mixed with the sugar and...

The bacon was pureed in my mini chopper. It took a few turns to get it all chopped up; but my little mini chopper did the trick.

It certainly didn't look very appetizing; but, I knew that it was going to be delicious. I spread the bacon on both sides of the chicken and sprinkled them with the spices.

Once the chicken was coated, I placed them on the grill until they were almost up to temp.

While the chicken was getting happy on the grill, I grabbed the ingredients for the barbecue sauce.....Ketchup, Dijon Mustard, Molasses, Apple Cider Vinegar, Sriracha, Brown Sugar and Onion. Mixed all together in a saucepan and simmered over medium heat until it was reduced to about a cup, it became the most amazing barbecue sauce.

I set aside about a half of a cup and used the rest to brush on the chicken while it was still on the grill. This recipe was fantastic. It is definitely going to be something that we make time and again. The chicken was unbelievably moist and full of flavor. David's reaction was the true measure of this recipe. He is not normally a huge barbecue fan; however, he loved this one. His comment was that if we could make barbecue sauce this good, why would we ever buy it. I have to say that I agree. With a side of curry rice and some steamed broccoli, it was our favorite meal last week. Summer is on its way out; but, please don't let it end without giving this recipe a try. You can get the recipe by visiting Elly Says Opa! here. You are going to love it.

This post is being linked up

here for Make a Food "e" Friend,

here for Mangia Mondays and here
for Makin' You Crave Mondays.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful week!

KOREAN PANCAKES

2011-09-01T08:55:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, all of our food had a pretty distinct Mexican appearance. If it wasn't completely Mexican in flavor, it was some sort of Fusion food rolled into a tortilla. We still love that kind of food so much and enjoy it regularly. However, somewhere along the way, we began to try other cuisines. Now, our love is being spread throughout the world as we try one new recipe after another.

Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Indian, Caribbean...the spicier the better we say. I'm quite sure it all started when I started reading all of your wonderful blogs. At that point, a whole new world was opened up for me.

When I saw the recipe for Korean Pancakes recently on Dinner: A Love Story, I knew it was destined to make it to our table. I had shrimp in the freezer and had harvested some zucchini from the garden so the timing was perfect.

I know that those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile will be shocked; but, I made the pancakes and the dipping sauce exactly as it was written.

I know...I know.

It was totally out of character for me.

I just didn't have any ideas on how to change it.

The pancakes were absolutely delicious particularly with the dipping sauce and a dash of Sriracha on top. Having said that, I think the next time that I make them...and there WILL be a next time....that I will add something spicy to the pancakes themselves. We enjoy our food more on the spicy side so unless we serve these to guests, I think that I will add some Sriracha, minced garlic (because I add that to everything) and more salt (bad habit) to the mixture before I cook the pancakes.

I think these would make fantastic "Asian Tortillas". I can see these wrapped around some "Asian glazed" grilled chicken and stir fried veggies.

If you enjoy Asian flavors and are looking for a wonderful way to use some of that zucchini from the garden, this is your dish for you. Hop on over to Dinner: A Love Story to get this recipe and look around at all of the many other yummy goodies featured there. You will be glad you did!

This post is being linked up here

for Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday.

Won't you join us?

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm off to learn to sew today!

CARNITAS!

2011-08-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

For the MOST AMAZING taco filling ever,

you have to make these carnitas.

Seriously. so. good.
Crispy on the outside...full of flavor on the inside.

They are even delicious in Sausage Veggie Chowda.

Visit Heather at girlichef here for the recipe.

The whole site is full of amazing food.

This post is being linked up
here for Ruby Tuesday.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hello Irene! Sausage Veggie Chowda

2011-08-29T13:23:00.001-04:00

What can I say?

We love food around here.

When it's rainy and cool, there is nothing better than a steaming bowl of chowda. This one delivered. It all started with a post about German Sausage Chowder that I read here at Cooking Creation, a blog that I've only recently discovered.   If you haven't been over to visit Celeste at this blog, you need to hop over there and say hello to her. She has some really yummy food featured over there.

Not only did her chowder sound good to me, it looked even better. The photo was "pin worthy" (Have you checked Pinterest out yet? If you would like an invite, send me a message with your email address and I will hook you up.)   Sadly, I knew that I would never be able to make it the way that Celeste did because her version contains cabbage. I would have loved it; however, other than the occasional eggroll or coleslaw, my husband won't eat cabbage. Because of his cabbage aversion, I was going to have to modify it into some sort of chowda inspired by the hers.   The sausage part really intrigued me. I don't know what kind she used; but, I had some turkey kielbasa in the fridge that worked for me. I, also, had some leftover roasted cauliflower and roasted asparagus that begged to be put in there too. Cauliflower kind of has that "cabbage-y" smell to it and my husband doesn't feel the same way about it as he does cabbage so we were good there.

By the way, have you ever roasted cauliflower? A drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt over the top and into a 450 degree oven until golden brown and tender, turning occasionally and you will have the most amazing cauliflower ever. Seriously. It's so easy and so good that way.  We do asparagus the same way. Love it.

Anyway...moving on...I knew the cauliflower would add a level of flavor to the soup that wouldn't be there otherwise and make a nice substitute for cabbage.  The leftover asparagus was begging to be used. I didn't have much of it; but chopped up and thrown into the chowda, it added another level of flavor when you were fortunate enough to get a bite of them.

I had a handful of sad little baby carrots and celery that I diced up and threw in along with a minced fresh jalapeno, some chopped red potatoes, and a very small little portion of leftover carnitas (which I need to tell you about soon!). I used frozen corn in my chowda along with a cup of Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar Cheese and a cup of freshly grated Romano Cheese (because that's what I had!).   My fresh lemon thyme made an excellent seasoning along with the cayenne pepper. I left out the parsley altogether because I was too lazy to climb behind the zucchini to harvest it; but, we did crown the top of each bowl with some chopped green onions. Delicious!

I hope wherever you are that you weren't affected by the wrath of Irene. If you were, my thoughts and prayers are with you. At our home, we had a few leaves off the trees and maybe a limb or two. All in all we had a beautifully, rainy and cool day with no problems. David and I snuggled on the couch (sorry if that's too much information) and watched a Mad Men marathon.

Have you seen that show?

I know, I know...

We have been living in a cave. We had not seen it before and started the series from the beginning on Netflix. It's basically a "soap"; but, I am intrigued by the time period and it is sadly interesting to see how wrongly women and the African American race were viewed and treated back then. This was before I was born so I missed it. In some ways, things have changed and in some ways, I know that they really haven't. Even though there have been some improvements over the years, sadly, there have not been enough. That's another blog post though and one that I doubt I will ever write. I try to keep it much lighter on here. Moving on....David and I are such geeks. I think our favorite part is seeing all of the retro props that they have on there. Awesome.

So about Irene....

Even though we made it through unscathed here at mi casa, the town that I live in didn't. It could have been MUCH worse; but we did experience some flooding in town and in the surrounding communities. The Sugar River is expected to crest this afternoon so I'm praying that it won't be too bad for those living near it. We got out and about yesterday to see what was going on and I thought I would share a few photos with you.

I wish we had thought to have brought our Flip because these photos do not do these scenes justice. You really should have heard the sound of that water rushing by to get the full effect. Everyone was down there with their cameras in hand. It was quite the event.

Even Monkey had to get in on the action. She's been watching her Mommy carefully, can you tell? She's almost ready for one of her own.

In my opinion, those people were way too close to that water. I could see it quite well from where I was standing. I felt it completely unnecessary to get a closer view.

And personally, I think that the people in the next photo had some serious risk issues. The water was right at their feet. I told my mother-in-law that perhaps we should photograph them just in case they didn't make it. Morbid, I know; but, it was scary, people. Seriously. We read about tragedies like this every day where people dare to go where they shouldn't. If these two guys are, by chance, reading this (doubtful),

I.was. scared. for. your. lives.

I'm so happy that I'm not your mother.

At one point, they were just sitting on that rock. Not a place to get comfy in my opinion!

David and I were down at this very place last spring and I posted some photos of what it looked like at that time here. If you scroll down to the photo of our Kelly Moore bag sitting on the rocks, that photo and the next one were taken at this place. Those rocks were not visible yesterday. They were under the torrent of water rushing through. Sobering.

The town experienced some flooding, as well, with the storm. The water had to go somewhere, right? The park where we take Monkey to play got some water. It was rising the whole time that we were there. My stepdaughter got a photo of this sign when we arrived and then snapped another one later and compared them. You could tell by looking at the photos that it had been slowly rising. There was a definite difference and we were not there very long.

Have camera. Will travel.

Thankfully the playground was not underwater and hopefully it won't be after the river crests today. Miss Monkey got a chance to ham it up on the hippo and we were able get 47 a few pictures, of which, I will only make you look at one.

The town, itself, suffered some flooding which made it necessary to close some of the streets in town.

Including one section of one of the main roads leading out of town. That section includes the McDonald's and the Dunkin. Thankfully, if the residents can take other routes, they can get their Dunkin fixes in ~~about 100~~ several other locations nearby. New England runs on Dunkin, ya know?

If they would only learn to make a Chai Tea Latte, I might run on Dunkin too.

So that concludes this episode of "Life, as I know it". I am seriously not loving Blogger today as this is the second of these posts that I've had to compose today. Apparently, my clicking on "save" earlier this morning did no good and nothing was saved. Grrrr! I just did preview a few minutes ago and this post looks nothing like it should. What is up with that? I wasn't going to rant about my Google issues and I'm still not; but I'm going to leave you with this. If you get an Anonymous comment on your blog from me, it is because it won't let me post a comment otherwise. Sometimes it works fine....sometimes it doesn't. I try to post my name and my blog site in the comment NOT TO BE ANNOYING or to make you think, I'm asking for a return visit. I'm doing that so that you know that it's me commenting. Seriously, it is getting a little old. I apologize for any confusion. I am thinking that I'm going to save the necessities on this laptop, wipe it clean and start fresh. Maybe some of it is my computer and compatibility issues. I don't know. I'm grasping at straws here. A fresh start can't hurt though.

Thanks so much for visiting and sticking with me through this post. Please remember to keep the victims of Irene in your thoughts and prayers. We made it through okay; but it will be a long time recovering for some. I'm going to see if I can repair this post into something that looks reasonable and publish it and then I'm going to do a few things before Miss Monkey comes to play this afternoon. Did I tell you that I'm loving living up here? Getting to be closer to some of the kids and getting to know that precious little girl has been priceless. That's what it's all about, you know?

Have a beautiful day!

ACROSS FROM THE BARN....

2011-08-24T08:55:00.000-04:00

is this....

Anybody?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

IT'S CONFESSION TIME....

2011-08-23T07:10:00.000-04:00

Some of you already know; but, for those of you that do not.....

My last post here was a mistake.

Yep....a mistake.

See, I was trying to decide if I would post that photo in black and white or if I preferred it in color. They both looked good to me and I really couldn't decide. Instead of "previewing" it, I "viewed" it and guess what?

It published.

I had planned to just leave it be for a little while and come back to it later hoping that the decision would be easier. Imagine my surprise when I was scrolling through my Google Reader and found a post at Mi Chiamo Candace. Not only was there a published post; but, there was already a comment by the time that I saw it. I decided to just leave it as a true Wordless Wednesday and share the one in color this week in honor of Ruby Tuesday.

While out driving around Sunapee, New Hampshire a couple of weekends ago, we stumbled upon this barn. I know that I've driven by this barn on a number of occasions. On this particular day, the lighting must have been just perfect as it immediately caught my attention.

So which do you prefer?

Color or Black and White?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2011-08-17T09:44:00.000-04:00

Maple Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

2011-08-16T14:22:00.002-04:00

Pure.Maple.Syrup.

There is just something special about it.

Not having grown up in New England, I was sadly missing this experience in my life until I moved up here last year. The south has Ribbon Cane Syrup which is fantastic in its own right. I love it mixed with soft butter and spread on a biscuit; but, maple syrup is just amazing.

When Ben's Sugar Shack announced on their Facebook page that they were holding a contest for recipes using their maple syrup, I was on it. That is what you do when you are a blogger, right?

My Spicy Maple Dijon Vinaigrette that I told you about here was a winning entry for a pint of their delicious syrup. I received my pint of Grade B (my choice) of syrup last week and started thinking about what I would make with it next. I originally thought that I would make a version of the White Bean Blondies that I made here using maple syrup and walnuts instead of chocolate chips. I just couldn't seem to get the beans soaked with everything going on lately so that idea hasn't worked out. Yet.

My next idea was Old Fashioned Southern Tea Cakes made with maple syrup and I actually made some of them. Sadly, I didn't get any photos and even sadder, while they were hands down the best tea cakes that I've ever had, they did not have enough maple flavor for me. I had envisioned something even better. I will keep trying though because my stepdaughter loved them. She told me that they could be her birthday cake substitute. Noted!

So the past few days, I've been thinking about what would come next. After french toast this past weekend, I knew that I only had a limited amount of syrup left to experiment with. I had been playing with the idea of making some no bake cookies like the ones that my mom made when I was growing up. You know the ones....cocoa, oatmeal, peanut butter. My mom called them "mounds" which was pretty accurate since that's pretty much what you they look like. Mounds of goodness...

Surely they could be made without the chocolate and peanut butter, right? Wouldn't maple flavored mounds taste good too?

I had to take some creative liberties with this recipe due to the ingredients or I should say "lack thereof" in my pantry. It will seem kind of odd when you read it; but trust me on this one....

They are a cross between maple sugar candy (if you are from the north), pralines (if you are from the south) and an oatmeal cookie. Unlike the tea cakes, the maple syrup shines through.

3/4 cup Old Fashioned Oats

1 packet Weight Control Maple & Brown Sugar Flavored Instant Oatmeal

2 packets High Fiber Maple & Brown Sugar Flavored Instant Oatmeal

4 packets Original Instant Oatmeal

1 cup Flaked Coconut

1 tablespoon Vanilla

3/4 cup Ben's NH Grade B Maple Syrup

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 stick Butter

1/2 cup Milk

In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut and vanilla. Set aside. In a heavy saucepan over high heat, bring the syrup, sugars, butter and milk to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and pour over the oatmeal mixture. Mix thoroughly. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a sheet of waxed paper and let cool completely. The cookies will harden as they cool.

Note: I am sure you could use only regular oatmeal instead of using any instant oatmeal. The total amount of oatmeal measured about 4 1/4 cups. I originally planned to do that; however, I didn't have but the 3/4 cup of regular oatmeal so I had to improvise. I usually don't like to use processed food and buy it very sparingly. I did have the instant oatmeal packets laying around in the pantry so I took this opportunity to use them up. I, personally, think that they helped with the maple flavoring. I am very sensitive to artificial flavorings and so is David. These cookies had none of that artificial flavor. I will use them again. You may feel free to use your discretion with this.

This post is being linked up with

Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Make a Food-"e" Friend,
and Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful day!

MYM Sunflower...

2011-08-14T21:12:00.000-04:00

This post is being linked up here for Mellow Yellow Monday.

My mother-in-law has the prettiest sunflowers growing in her side yard garden. I love how the neighbor's blue Thunderbird formed the perfect backdrop for this photo.

It has been quite a summer around our house and it seems to be drawing to a close. My "baby" left today headed south on the next adventure of his life. After a week with his dad, he will start college.

Our summer has been full of activities with family and friends and now it is time for us to move into the next phase of our life. There are still so many things to do around our home. We I have kind of put it all on hold to enjoy the summer. The time has come for us me to get organized and do some things that we I have neglected to do since we moved into our home in May. I know that it probably seems like I have been taking a break all summer as I have been posting so sporadically. I guess in a way that is true. I certainly haven't posted with the regularity that I have in the past. There has been too much going on and it has been hard to keep up with it all and share it here on my blog. My posting will probably continue to be sporadic, at best, until I can get into a new routine around here.

I really appreciate each and every one of you. You have continually taken the time to stop by and say hello over the summer. Your comments and love mean more than you know. I hope that when I get things a bit more organized around here and establish some sort of routine that I can come back and share more consistently of our life here in New England. I hope you have had a fantastic summer and that you are taking the time to enjoy each and every precious moment. Time just keeps flying by.

Have a great week!

My first time...

2011-08-10T08:27:00.000-04:00

...to grow broccoli was successful.

It has never tasted so good.

Have a beautiful day!

"Award Winning" Spicy Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

2011-08-03T21:47:00.004-04:00

I didn't win anything this past Maple Monday when Ben's Sugar Shack held their weekly giveaway on their Facebook Page. Did you see that post here?

I was so hoping to win some delicious Maple Syrup.

When I saw here that Ben was holding a recipe contest for the chance to win some Maple Syrup, I was pretty excited. Maybe this would be my chance to win! All that I had to do was come up with a recipe and email it to Ben along with a photo. Easy peasy, right? I sure hoped so!

A few minutes in the kitchen using some of the best dressing recipes that I've tried over the last six months and combining them together with some of the best ingredients that I had available and it worked. It was delicious!

I was notified just a little while ago that my recipe won!

So excited!

I couldn't wait to share this with you on here. Thanks so much, Ben! Your awesome maple syrup was the star of the show.

Spicy Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

1/2 cup Avocado Oil with Chili*
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup Ben's Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp. Garlic, minced
1/4 cup Canola Oil

Place avocado oil, cider vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard and garlic into a food processor and pulse until blended. With the food processor running, slowly add the canola oil until emulsified.

*Note: If you cannot find the Avocado Oil with chili, you can substitute plain Avocado Oil and add ground cayenne pepper to taste or if you don't like it spicy, you can replace the Avocado Oil with Chili with something mild like plain Avocado Oil or Olive Oil or even use all Canola Oil. It's pretty versatile.

I served this dressing drizzled over some freshly picked lettuce from my garden. I added some chopped pear, dried cranberries and toasted walnuts to complete the salad. Tomorrow night, the vinaigrette will serve as a marinade for some grilled pork chops. I expect them to be even better than the salad.

This is not the end of the contests on Ben's Facebook Page. Oh, not at all! Maple Mondays have just gotten underway and the recipe contest has no deadline for submissions. You all have a chance to win some wonderful of Ben's Award Winning Maple Syrup and other goodies. The cotton candy and maple candies are crazy good, as well! All you have to do is "like" Ben's Sugar Shack on Facebook "here". Once you have done that, you can win one of two ways:

1. Watch Ben's Facebook page every Monday for your chance to win Maple Monday.

2. Submit your recipe and photo to Ben@BensMapleSyrup.com. All recipe submissions must include a photo. There is no limit to the number of recipes that you can submit. For each winning recipe, you will receive a pint of syrup!!

So what are you waiting for?!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I wish you all the best on winning!

This post is being shared here with
Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday and
here with This Chick Cooks.

Full of Words and Photos Wednesday

2011-08-03T10:51:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share with you some of the random shots that we took at the beach Sunday morning. David and I both had cameras and we were both experimenting with overexposing and underexposing the sunset so we have hundreds of photos. We I am a such a novice at photography that my shots are literally accidents most of the time. So some of these photos are his and some of them are mine; but, as he said...."We are Mi chiamo Candace...". So there ya go...

This is the first time that I've really played with the settings on the camera at all. It was fun and it was just the beginning. Like I said, they are completely random and not in any particular order. They are just a few of the ones that I thought turned out particularly well.

The colors were just amazing. This one with the pinks, blues and purples is more true to the light that was shown that morning.

I love this one of David's silhouette with his tripod on the beach. I probably love it, not because it's such a great photo, but because it is my best friend doing something that he enjoys while we were making a beautiful memory together. Sappy, I know...

I don't think I have ever seen a live starfish before. Because of the low tide, they were in abundance on the rocks. So cool...

I love this photo of David's reflection in the sand. He noticed the shot first with my reflection so he gets the credit for it. His reflection is much nicer than mine so he gets featured, as well.

I have no idea what these are. Anyone?

I know this was photo heavy today. I hope you have enjoyed them. My posts have been sporadic, at best, this summer. It has been a busy one for us. Add all of the changes that have gone on in our life since last October and you will find us me looking for "normal"....whatever that is.

Connor leaves for college in a couple of weeks so I'm going to be taking the rest of his time here and trying to make every day count. Hopefully, I can distract myself from "my baby is going to college" with getting into a routine and getting organized once he has gone on to his new life. I have lots of planned posts.....planned in my mind, that is....and maybe I can translate those into actual blog posts going forward. We'll see. For now, I'm off to create something wonderful with maple syrup.

Before I forget....

If you are looking for something fun to do tonight, Renee at Eat.Live.Blog is hosting a Crockpot Twitter Party (#crockpotwed) tonight, Wednesday, August 3rd at 6:00 PM EST. Check out the announcement here on Renee's blog for more information. Looks like a bunch of fun and I hope that I can pop in for at least a few minutes. I've never participated in a Twitter party before so I'm looking forward to seeing what it is all about.

And one other thing on my mind that I want to throw out there to you before I close today's post...

I am looking for someone to guest post from time to time. If you are interested, I would love to hear from you. Just pop me a note at...

michiamocandace@gmail.com

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a fantastic Wednesday!

Getting up at 3 a.m. is worth it sometimes

2011-07-31T13:24:00.000-04:00

because you get to see something like this...

Sunrise over Hampton Beach, New Hampshire

It was worth the drive to the coast just to witness this. We made a memory and took roughly 400 photos. Now, I need a nap. Before I head off for some much needed shut-eye, I'm going to link up with Sunday Snapshot over at NiHaoYall.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a beautiful day!

Sweet & Spicy Sriracha Chicken and the Wonder of Pinterest

2011-07-29T12:23:00.002-04:00

So I'm not sure how I first stumbled upon this recipe....

But I'm pretty sure that my need to make it first started with this....

Source: janedeereblog.blogspot.com via Candace on Pinterest

I mean...

Doesn't that look good?

And when I read the ingredients, that pretty much sealed the deal for me. I had the Asian Linguini Salad and the sushi on my mind already. I love to make the little drummettes using sriracha; but, it's hard to find them these days in a "free range, antibiotic free, don't feel bad about what may be inside of it kind of chicken" and I thought that this chicken would be the perfect compliment to that meal. Enter some normal sized drumsticks and some boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

This recipe was sweet and oh so spicy. It was the perfect compliment to the Asian Linguini Salad. Since the chicken was so spicy, I was glad that I didn't add spice to the salad. It would have been too much.

If you have followed along with me for any length of time, I know you are going to be shocked by this revelation.....

I pretty much made the recipe as it was listed. I know. It's highly irregular. But seriously....this recipe was perfect. I absolutely couldn't have made it better....except....

Would you believe that I forgot to add the cilantro to the marinade?

Unbelievable.

Who forgets cilantro?

I didn't realize it until the chicken was already getting happy in the bag with the marinade. Too late. I am quite sure that would have made it even better. Cilantro has a way of doing that to everything. I won't forget next time. I hope you won't either.

So without further delay, I am happy to share with you this wonderful recipe. Please take a moment to stop by and see Jane Deere. She has some really yummy things to show you over there. You will be glad you did!

Sweet and Spicy Sriracha Chicken

very slightly adapted from a recipe found here at Jane Deere

4 pounds chicken pieces
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ cup Sriracha Thai hot sauce
¼ cup ketchup
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup honey
1 cup Smucker's Sweet Orange Marmalade
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled & minced
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped (don't forget!)

2 limes, zest and juice
¼ cup rice wine vinegar

In a medium bowl whisk together all marinade ingredients. Pour over chicken pieces and toss with the sauce to coat evenly. Place in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. (I marinated mine overnight!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Pour chicken and all of marinade into baking dish and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring half-way through.

*This can also be done on the grill or smoker. Keep an eye on it and watch for flare ups. (I grilled ours and they were delicious!)

Now to sidetrack for a moment...
Are you using Pinterest?

I have been using it like crazy lately. I find it to be the perfect way to store all of those "must try soon" recipes (among other things!) in a visual format. Before Pinterest, I would bookmark recipes or star them in my Google Reader or email them to myself to store in my "recipe" folder in Gmail. Most of the time, they would get lost among the clutter. Now, I can simply "pin it" to the appropriate board and have a visual reference for the things I want to save out on the Internet. Truly...it's amazing!

If you haven't tried it and would like an invite, just send me an email at...

michiamocandace@gmail.com

and I will send you an invite.

If you are using it, I would love to connect with you there. Just click on the "Follow me on Pinterest" button in my sidebar to see what I've been up to on there. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

This post is being linked up here for Foodie Friday at Little Brick Ranch.

Maple Monday & Your Chance to Win

2011-07-28T11:53:00.001-04:00

You know we love maple syrup around here and

Ben's Sugar Shack has the finest around.

I just have to share with you that beginning this Monday, August 1st, Ben's Sugar Shack is hosting MAPLE MONDAY.

What is Maple Monday?

According to Ben's newsletter....

"Every Monday a randomly chosen Facebook friend will win a maple goodie of the week and have it shipped to you free of charge!"

Seriously!

All you have to do is "like" Ben's Sugar Shack on Facebook here and check the Facebook page every Monday to see if you are a winner.

That's it.

So easy, right?

And what is not to love about Ben's Sugar Shack

and their delicious maple syrup.

To kick things off on Maple Monday, Ben will giving away a pint of maple syrup and a 4-pack of candy. How awesome is that?

So I encourage you to hop on over and show Ben some love for your chance to experience some of New Hampshire's finest maple syrup.

I know I will be looking for my name on Monday.

Thanks, Ben, for this opportunity to win!

Asian Linguini Salad and other stuff...

2011-07-26T11:17:00.005-04:00

I wish I had something really interesting or witty to say this morning. I would love to dazzle you with my witty prose; but, I am afraid that I have nothing much to say. You know what I mean, right? Some days, you just have nothing. Today is one of those days. I have nothing except this food that I need to share with you. I'm pretty much going to let it speak for itself.

I have been wanting to make these dishes for awhile and I have finally gotten around to it. I'm not sure what has happened to me and this blog over the last few months. I guess life has a way of intervening. That's okay though because life is good and we are enjoying our new home in New Hampshire....even with the occasional heat wave. So when the temperatures start rising outside, I start craving salads. The Asian Linguini Salad worked perfectly for that.

I let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours before we ate it and the only complaint that I had about it was that I wish that the linguini noodles had soaked in more of the sauce flavor. Please don't misunderstand me. The sauce was amazing and it tasted delicious on the noodles.   This Louisiana girl just likes really bold flavors and I would have liked to have tasted more of the sauce because it was so good.

I, also, like things spicy. This salad was not spicy at all on its own and if I hadn't served it with some seriously spicy chicken, I would have added some heat to the sauce with some Sriracha or crushed red pepper.   Since the chicken was so spicy, the salad was the perfect cool compliment to it.   I will have to tell you about the chicken in another post. It is definitely worthy to stand on its own.

So without further delay, I will share the salad recipe that I got from Cat Can Cook with you. I am sharing my very slightly adapted version of this recipe. I encourage you to go over and visit Cat and see her original version along with all of the other wonderful recipes that she has featured there. This isn't the first recipe that I've made of hers.

Remember the banana muffins that I featured here?

Seriously... Cat CAN Cook!

Thank you, Mary, for introducing me to Cat!

Asian Linguini Salad

Adapted slightly from Cat Can Cook

16 oz. whole grain linguini, cooked

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 TBSP brown sugar

2 TBSP honey

Squeeze of lime juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 TBSP rice vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

(*more for garnish)

1/2 cup cashew nuts, chopped

(*more for garnish)

1/2 cup snow peas or sugar snap peas, chopped

1 red pepper, diced

1/2 cup carrot, grated

3 or 4 green onions, chopped

In a large bowl combine soy sauce, sugar, honey and lime juice, vinegar, sesame oil and garlic.  Whisk well.  Mix in the cooked noodles and toss to coat. Stir in all vegetables and cashews. Chill for several hours or overnight. Just before serving, top with extra chopped cashews and chopped cilantro.

I, also, got the opportunity to try my hand at making some Spicy Crab Rolls and California-ish rolls using Soy Paper to go along with this meal. They were a little messy!

I won't be joining the staff of a Japanese restaurant any time soon; but I didn't think they were too bad for my first time.

And as you can see, the family loved them....

And dessert was a hit, as well....

Cherry Cornmeal Upside Down Cake

It wasn't nearly as pretty as Joanne's cake. See for yourself and get the recipe here.

But it was absolutely amazing...

Please make this cake.

Do it.

Your family will thank you.

This post is being linked up with Hearth & Soul Hop,
Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table,
and Make a Food-"e" Friend.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Ain't that the truth?!

2011-07-23T12:08:00.000-04:00

I got this in email today and

could totally relate to it.

Can you?

It's my first summer in a long time without air conditioning. I'm cranky....but not dying. I've just been spoiled with central air conditioning.

Down south, it's a necessity

...not a luxury.

I'm glad that the heat doesn't last long here. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to make it through.

I hope wherever you are that you are able to keep cool. Have a beautiful weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Homemade Catalina Dressing & other stuff...

2011-07-22T11:12:00.001-04:00

We normally have Mexican or I should say

"Mexican inspired" food at least once a week around here.

What can I say?

We absolutely love it.

The hot weather has had me thinking of salads lately. My friend was visiting from Louisiana this past week and she showed me Pioneer Woman's Grilled Corn Guacamole. That certainly amped up the cravings.

Oh my.
Have you seen it?

If not, you should click here and take a look.
It is a thing of beauty to say the least.

It is kind of like the Charred Corn Salad that I made here; but Pioneer Woman's salad looks easier to make, I think, and it has more avocado.

How can that be bad, right?

So I've been thinking about grilled corn and guacamole and that leads me to thinking about taco salads and that always takes me back to the one that my Mom always made when I was growing up. It was amazingly good and we definitely did not have it often enough. I'm not sure that we could have had it often enough though. I loved it. It had all the usual taco ingredients plus beans plus Doritos and the ingredient that made it all so special.....

Catalina Dressing

An email from Kitchen Simplicity with a recipe for a Homemade Catalina Dressing just sealed the deal for me. I knew that I had to bring all of these yummy things together for Thursday night's dinner.

I browned and seasoned the ground turkey, picked the fresh lettuce from my garden, grilled the corn, chopped the avocados and was disappointed because they were not so lovely inside and threw quite a bit of them away, made the Catalina Dressing and tossed it all together with some Tostitoes Hint of Lime Chips and it was delicious.

The dressing was once again the star of the show. Every time that I make homemade dressing, I vow never to buy dressing again. Making dressing is sooo easy and it tastes so much better than the store bought stuff. So without further delay, I share with you this wonderful recipe for.....

Catalina Dressing

very slightly adapted from Kitchen Simplicity

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup garlic red wine vinegar

1/4 cup onion, chopped 

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup canola oil

salt and pepper, to taste

Place first 6 ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Add the oil in a steady stream with the machine running until the mixture comes together in an emulsion. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.

This post is being linked up here for Foodie Friday, here for Friday Potluck, here for MomTrends Friday Food, here for Foodie Friday, here for Food Trip Friday, and here for Fresh Food Friday.  

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful weekend!

Black & White Weekend

2011-07-16T00:45:00.000-04:00

This post is being linked up here

with The Weekend in Black and White.

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by!