For tonight's theme at Supper Club, each member had to bring one dish using a vegetable or fruit from summer's bounty. We ended up with a great table full of all sorts of fresh salads, vegetables and side dishes and, believe me, no one went home hungry. Instead, we went home with our take-out containers filled with goodies for The Husbands. Dessert continued the theme, featuring great fruits from the summer harvest, and surprisingly enough, I think this is the first Supper Club that did not have a chocolate dessert included - imagine that!

One of the things that I like about Supper Club (aside from the obvious camaraderie we all share) is that it really stretches us to try new things, new recipes that we would normally pass right over. For example, I am not a big cold soup fan, yet Christie made this amazing Cold Zucchini Soup that was to-die-for. I will definitely be making it soon, and it's a perfect starter to an evening of summer entertaining at home. Salmon also doesn't do anything for me. My mom makes this great creamy rice and salmon dish, and that's pretty much the only way I like it. But Julie made these Wasabi Salmon Burgers that were really moist, flavorful and delicious.

For me, and I'm sure at least Julie will chime in with her own opinions, I think the highlights were the Cold Zucchini Soup, Scallion Potato Pancakes (creaminess of potatoes and sour cream cut slightly with the saltiness of capers - delish) and the Chinese Salad. These will definitely be going into my home's rotation.

Here's the complete rundown of what we had:

Scallion Potato Pancakes and Smoked Salmon Sandwiches
Peach and Cucumber Salsa
Chinese Salad
Miriam Ungerer's Cold Zucchini Soup
Mango Tango Black Bean Salsa
Strawberry Pie
Marie's Summer Marval (an alcoholic version of Pink Lemonade)
Lemon Drop liqueur
Italian Tuna Rice Salad
Eggplant Pilaf with Pistachios and cinnamon
Chive and Pine Nut Dip with Sourdough Toasts
Italian Dip with Crostini
Rhubarb and Peach Crisp
Strawberry Tiramisu
Affy Tapple Salad
Wasabi Salmon Burgers
Fig and Olive Tapenade
Provencal Vegetable Gratin

OK, off to bed. Tune in tomorrow to find out what the first Taste of Canada in the blogging world is all about. In the meantime, check out these pics.


Scallion Potato Pancakes and Smoked Salmon Sandwiches


Strawberry Pie


Fig and Olive Tapenade


Chinese Salad


Wasabi Salmon Burgers


Provencal Vegetable Gratin

For regular visitors, you'll probably notice I've done some work on my web site. Although I keep my links and posts up to date, I haven't done much work to the basic site template since I started. In the blogging community, there's been a lot of discussion lately on everyone's site design, so I decided it was high time to start defining my "look" past the basic template we all started with. That said, I still have minor tweaking to go, so bear with me. In the meantime, hope you like the new look.

Had company tonight and menu went as planned. I made a Tomato, Mozzarella and Bread Salad to start. Real simple to make. Using fresh ingredients, you really don't need a lot to mask the good flavors. Fresh tomatoes and basil need little dressing up. I just added cubed French bread and mozzarella, Spanish olive oil (I love the color of it), balsamic vinegar, sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Dessert was Chocolate Hazelnut Fondue. A big Nutella fan, I never knew that melting Nutella provides the perfect fondue (thanks for the tip, Julie!). I put the Nutella in the fondue pot when I started cooking dinner, to give it time to slowly melt on its own. By the time we were ready for dessert, it was the perfect consistency. I served it with cubed poundcake and strawberries. A perfect, no-stress meal.

Had the Crustless Cheddar-Spinach Quiche today as part of our office lunch. I'd make it again, but next time, would nix the low-fat cheese and use the full-fat stuff instead. Low fat cheese just doesn't melt as well, and as it's forming the crust, something less rubbery would be better, WW points be darned.

Supper Club is tomorrow, and the theme is Summer's Bounty, with one dish from everyone having to be along those lines. I'm bringing Lemon Drop Liqueur, which has been steeping for the past 6 weeks, the Italian Dip I tried the other day and lastly, Strawberry Tiramisu (my theme dish). I decided not to overdo it and am only bringing 3 offerings tomorrow, as opposed to my usual 5+. Just a part of my new "relax and don't take on too much" approach. So far so good.

All for tonight. Tune in tomorrow to find out the Supper Club roundup. Until then...

A tired dinner guest

Tonight was leftover night ... a mish-mash of leftovers, made up of Chinese food, Black & Blue Burgers, pasta salad, homemade pizza and more. I managed to clear a little bit of free space in the fridge, and that's a good thing, especially with Supper Club coming up.

My turn to bring lunch tomorrow. I made a Crustless Cheddar-Spinach Quiche and Light Pimiento Cheese-Stuffed Celery. I cheated with dessert and bought Starbucks frozen mocha bars. For anyone following WW, the celery is 1 point, the Starbucks bars 2, and the quiche 5 (and that's for a 1/4 of the pie!). Both the quiche and celery are new recipes, so hopefully they're good ones.

Made a Paula Deen recipe tonight (Brown Sugar Squares) that actually resulted in my first dud from Paula. I was making them for Nicholas to bring into school tomorrow, but they're just not up to par. Not very sweet and not really any distinctive flavors, so I think they're going in the trash.

Tomorrow night, company's coming. Making Lemon Spaghetti for a main course, and I think a Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil salad for starter. Dessert still to be determined. Tune in tomorrow to find out what's on tap for Supper Club.

Until then...


Crustless Spinach-Cheddar Quiche

2 teaspoons canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 (10 ounce) package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained (I used fresh)
1-1/2 cups (about 6 oz) light shredded Cheddar cheese
6 large egg whites
1 large egg
1/3 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375. Coat 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray and set aside. In a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add spinach and stir until moisture has evaporated, about 3 minutes longer. Sprinkle cheese evenly in prepared pie plate. Top with spinach mixture. In medium bowl, whisk together egg whites, egg, cottage cheese, red pepper, salt and nutmeg. Pour egg mixture evenly over spinach. Bake 30-40 minutes or until set. Let stand for 5 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve. (4 servings)

OK, first off ... last night's dinner. As I mentioned, I'm busy working on my entry for the Burger Competition coming up. The burger I'm working on is a Black & Blue Burger topped with Avocado Butter. Tinkered with the recipe last night, and am pretty close to the final version. It's thick, juicy, flavorful and most importantly, a secret until the entry gets submitted. With the burgers, I made a Caesar Potato Salad. A very pretty, colorful salad, but unfortunately with The Husband not liking potato salad (which, of course, I forgot!), I ended up with an awful lot of potato salad for myself.

Dinner tonight was Chinese take-out. We had someone coming over to meet with us tonight at 6 pm, so no way was dinner going to get made, tabled, eaten and cleaned up before he got here. To save my sanity, a call to the "man with the chicken and rice" (as Nicholas calls him) was made. Of course, no sooner did food get delivered, our appointment calls and reschedules for Wednesday. Ugh!


Dinner Tonight

I did, however, make one homemade thing to add to the take-out ... Italian Dip with Crostini as a starter. Delicious and so, so simple, you gotta try this one.

The Next FoodTV Network Star had its finale last night, with Dan and Steve winning their very own FoodTV Network show, debuting in September. I gotta say, I didn't see them being a frontrunner in the beginning, but with their slant on "entertaining," I'll definitely be tuning in. I'm sorry Hans didn't get it. Although I favored Susannah early on, I agree with the judges that Hans grew the most in the competition, taking all their criticisms to heart, and really applying them. I'm hoping that the exposure he got on the competition will net him something wonderful.
OK, off to work on my beleaguered computer. It's pretty much back up and running, just a question of replacing missing software and tweaking it to get it back to where it was. If you haven't backed up your stuff recently, DO IT. The irony is that I bought an external hard drive a few weeks ago to hook up, and just haven't gotten around to it yet. I ended up losing six months worth of files and such, so you can bet I'm backing up regularly now!

Make sure to tune in this week ... it's going to be a busy one, office lunch and company on Wednesday, Supper Club Thursday, and who knows what else?

Until next time...

Italian Dip with Crostini
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup Fontina cheese, grated
1/4 cup chopped fresh spinach
3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (I used basil and oregano)

Mix all together and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over the top and cracked black pepper. Serve with crostini for dipping.


Italian Dip

Went to the Farmer's Market and picked up some great produce and colorful flowers, all at a fraction of what the items would cost elsewhere, and the fact that I'm supporting local farmers is a definite plus. No pictures -- sorry. Computer is being worked on right now, so hopefully will be back up tonight. In the meantime, just close your eyes and use your imagination. I got 4 basil plants, a bunch of lavender for my mom, zinnias, fresh dill, herbed olives, peasant bread and the juiciest tomatoes I've ever seen. The car smelled amazing on the way home.

Sutter Home is sponsoring a Build a Better Burger Contest, and I'm planning on entering. With Sundays designated as "Grilling Day," I'll have plenty of time to perfect my recipe. A few other bloggers are entering, so competition will be fierce. No details on my entry -- shhh, top secret.

Hopefully, I'll post more later tonight, in the meantime, Happy 1st Anniversary to my sister and brother-in-law! Enjoy your special day ... hard to believe it's been a year already since we were all enjoying wedding festivities in Maine.

Got a few errands done today, went to a flea market and we got a new mattress delivered. We had a high mattress before, but this one is even higher -- very "Princess and the Pea."

It reached 92 degrees today, and I didn't want to heat up the kitchen cooking dinner. To keep it light and easy, I made a Summery Pasta Salad. It was a snap to pull together and combined many of Nicholas' favorite flavors ... Salami, Mozzarella and Kalamata olives. He ate every speck of his dinner. I'll put up the recipe for you tomorrow. Still no computer at home, and I forgot to bring the recipe with me. Dessert was every simpler -- fresh strawberries and plums. Plums are definitely my favorite summer fruit. Growing up, I'd eat so many, I get sick. Now, I have a little more restraint ... most days.

Hopefully getting the computer fixed tomorrow; a friend is going to stop by and work on it. Right now, it looks like I've lost everything, so I'm hoping his genius skills will resurrect some of what was there. The irony is that I bought an external hard drive 2 weeks ago to back up everything, and just haven't hooked it up yet. You can bet that will be a priority this week! Until then, I'm holding my breath.

We have designated Sunday as "grilling day" for the Summer and Fall seasons at our house. Once Winter comes, it will be a "slow cooking day" ... you know, those kind of perfect Sunday recipes that take all day to quietly cook away on the stove. When my Dad was growing up, in his household, there were designated days for certain food, i.e., Spaghetti night was on Sundays, one night was Franks and Beans night, etc. In some respects, it certainly makes meal-planning easier, focusing on certain food groups when planning out the week makes finding recipes simpler. I'm going to start working on a plan like that, and our Sunday designation as Grilling/Slow Cooking Day is a start.

Planning on entering a cooking contest, and Sunday Grilling Night is going to be perfect for testing out my planned entry. Tune in tomorrow to find out what hits the grill.

Until then...

We had our Date Night tonight, instead of our usual Thursday outing. With it being the weekend, and crowds being what they are, that crosses a whole bunch of restaurants off our list. Just don't want to wait an hour or more to be seated, you know? The Husband suggested Fuddruckers, and it didn't take much convincing. Even though the restaurant was packed and we had to make our own parking space (my family will tell you I'm good at that!), our food was ready in a heartbeat. No sooner did we sit down, our little buzzer started vibrating. That's my kind of service. I got my usual sloppy burger, topped with bacon, cheese sauce, mayo and ketchup, with everything oozing through my fingers as I ate. I love those kind of burgers. :)

Self Magazine recently named the "unhealthiest cities" in the US and surprisingly enough, New Jersey had two of the top three. Great. Jersey City was first on the list, with more than double the amount of fast food and pizza places per capita than the winner of the "healthiest city" - Salinas, CA. Second in line was Atlantic City, where women typically "eat only about two fruit and vegetable servings per day." Ouch. Toledo, OH was number 3, with their famous Hungarian hot dogs at Tony Packo's Cafe (served with fried green pickles or chili cheese fries on the side) not helping their case. Healthiest cities (the top 3) were Salinas, CA; Hickory-Morganton, NC and Boulder-Longmont, CO. Interesting piece.

Got a new cookbook today, Delicious Dips by Diane Morgan. The cover picture is gorgeous, and being a big "dip fan," I'm looking forward to delving into this one.

All for tonight. Having MAJOR computer problems at home that will have me reinstalling ALL of my software tonight. Think of me at 2 am, since I'm likely to be up. Had to go back into the office just to get this post up.

Until tomorrow...

Had company for dinner tonight, but wanted to keep things nice and simple. I made a few homemade pizzas, including one for dessert. Every one was a keeper, each more delicious than the next. Gotta love those kind of nights!

The main course pizzas were a Caramelized Onion and Crispy Pancetta Pizza and a Spicy Sausage Pizza. Nicholas helped me make the pizzas, and actually ate both, surprisingly enough. In fact, he liked them so much, he made me promise to save some of each for his babysitter tomorrow night. The Caramelized Onion and Crispy Pancetta one was light, slightly sweet and very flavorful. The Spicy Sausage one was a very overloaded pizza (in a good way) with spicy sausage, mozzarella, diced tomatoes and fresh basil. Delish! The sausage is mixed with white wine and spices making it pack a real punch. We had a hard time deciding which one we liked better.

Lastly, for dessert, I made a Fruit Tart that was summery, sugary and easy to make. This would have been a perfect entry for last week's Sugar High Friday. Another great night weather-wise for porch eating, we're making sure to take advantage of it while we still can.

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already - this week went fast! Tune in tomorrow to see what's on tap for the weekend...


Caramelized Onions and Crispy Pancetta Pizza


Fruit Tart

Sweetnicks Spicy Sausage Pizza
Spicy Sausage
2 pounds ground pork
1/2 cup white wine
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1-1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, crushed

Rest of Pizza:
1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
Cooking spray
5 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (about 3/4 of an 8 oz bag)
4 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained well
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients for spicy sausage in a large bowl. Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain. Preheat oven to 450°.
Unroll dough onto large baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Pat the dough out. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border, and top with sausage, basil, and tomatoes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and pepper. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until cheese melts.

Sweetnicks Caramelized-Onion and Crispy Pancetta Pizza
1 tube refrigerated pizza dough
1 teaspoon olive oil
8 ounces pancetta (Italian-style bacon) or Canadian bacon, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded fontina cheese, divided
4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Cracked black pepper

Unroll dough onto large baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Pat the dough out. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add pancetta, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add onions, thyme, salt, and white pepper; cook 20 minutes or until onions are browned, stirring frequently. Preheat oven to 475°. Brush the pizza dough with 1-1/2 teaspoons oil; top with half of onion mixture. Sprinkle cheese over pizza and top with remaining onion mixture. Bake at 475° for 9 minutes or until crust is crisp. Sprinkle with black pepper.

Fruit Tart
1 (18-ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam, melted
3/4 cup lemon curd
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup sliced strawberries
2 plums, sliced
2 teaspoons sugar

Preheat oven to 350°. Press dough into a 12-inch pizza pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. Preheat broiler. Spread jam over crust. Spread lemon curd over jam; arrange raspberries, strawberry slices, and plum slices on top. Sprinkle sugar over fruit; broil 3 minutes.

Came home tonight with plans of making Linguine with Clam Sauce and Steamers to start. The Husband called me this afternoon to tell me he's making dinner. Boy am I lucky! He made his second "house specialty" - yellow rice with green olives and a special sauce. He roasted some chicken on the side - delicious! I ended up making the steamers anyway, with Nicholas helping me each step of the way. One of the first clams that The Husband had was deemed "funky," so we ended up throwing them all away. A shame, but not worth getting sick over a bad batch of clams. They do look nice though!


Steamers

The Chinese Chicken Salad that I made for the office lunch today was delicious. The recipe is below - I hope you'll try it. It's perfect for these warmer days we're having.

Sixty Minutes had a segment on the famed chef Thomas Keller tonight. He seems to demand the same exacting perfectionism of both himself and his staff that Gordon Ramsey and Charlie Trotter do, only Thomas Keller does it in a much quieter way. The attention to detail in his kitchen, his restaurant and his staff training is amazing; he even employs a special trainer for the chefs, who teaches them how to move, walk, talk, alter their tone, use sweeping motions when serving, etc. Although his meals tend to be on the expensive side (and with a two month wait!), you certainly seem to be getting what you pay for, and as Ruth Reichl said in the piece, you're not simply getting food, you're getting an "experience." I love when TV shows let you in on the behind-the-scenes stuff - very interesting. Thomas Keller has the word "finesse" spelled out in large letters on his kitchen wall, complete with the definition. Guess that sums it all up.

Until tomorrow...

Sweetnicks Chinese Chicken Salad

Dressing:
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon tamari sauce
4 green onions, finely chopped
1-1/2 tablespoons ginger paste
2 teaspoons maple syrup

In a small bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients together, or combine in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously. For the salad, combine shredded rotisserie chicken, mixed salad greens, shredded cabbage (use coleslaw mix in produce section), sliced cucumber, and thinly sliced red onion. Pour dressing over the salad and thoroughly mix to ensure everything is evenly coated with dressing. Add salt to taste and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over top. Devour.

There's something about a sleeping baby ... even if he's not a "baby" anymore. I love watching him sleep. He usually is smiling or laughing while he's sleeping - too cute. And eyelashes ... way longer than mine, it figures a boy gets the long eyelashes.



OK, enough about my baby, onto food!

Had a rough day today, so The Husband offered to cook. Who am I to say no? Spent some time in the doctor's office this afternoon -- suffice it to say that you should NEVER use a q-tip inside your ear. I knew that, but figured if I was careful, all would be ok, right? Not. Temporarily lost my hearing in one ear. All is fine now, but the q-tips went right in the garbage when I got home.

The Husband makes delicious Cuban Black Beans and Rice and since yesterday Nicholas was asking for black beans, he was a pretty happy camper tonight. The Husband has perfected the spices that go into it; if I could just get him to write the proportions down, he'd be able to duplicate it every time. He also grilled some steaks and I cut up some watermelon to complete the meal. The weather was absolutely gorgeous today, so we ate on the porch tonight. Perfect.


The Husband's Dinner

After dinner, I made a batch of the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies for Nicholas to bring into school tomorrow. One of his teachers put in a request for chocolate, and I'm happy to oblige. If you bake these cookies for 8-9 minutes, they'll result in wonderfully gooey, soft cookies that are absolutely delicious.

My turn to make lunch for the office tomorrow. I made a Chinese Chicken Salad -- haven't had it yet, but if it's good, I'll give y'all the recipe tomorrow. Until then...

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
16 oz. chocolate chips

Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended. Combine flour, soda and salt in a small bowl and slowly add to the butter mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoons onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes for soft gooey cookies, or up to 14 minutes for crispier cookies. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Yield about 40 cookies.

I'm slowly making my way back into the kitchen and cooking. I think I had a little burn-out on top of the bronchitis, so I'm making a conscious effort to scale back a bit, in all areas.

Tonight was a nice easy meal, and delicious all around. The Husband is a big fan of chicken wings, and really, what man isn't? Like some sort of rite of passage ... must watch football, must like chicken wings. Probably in their Man Manual somewhere. I made Sesame Chicken Wings with a side of Coconut Rice. The wings were super simple to make, and were quite tasty. Not being a wing-fan myself, I only had 1, and The Husband finished the rest of the 2 pounds himself. I really like the Coconut Rice, and have made it before. The Husband? Not so much, so things balanced out nicely. For dessert, I made Brown Sugar Bananas over ice cream. The Husband was pretty happy with that. I first made these some 7-8 years ago and lost the recipe soon after. Although I knew the basic ingredients, I couldn't duplicate it close enough ... until today. This time, I'm putting the recipe in a safe place!


Sesame Chicken Wings with Coconut Rice


Brown Sugar Bananas over Ice Cream (not easy to take a picture of vanilla ice cream)

Life in Flow has posted the round-up of all the entries for this past Sugar High Friday - a whopping 57 entries of different tart recipes. All I can say is "WOW!" You're sure to find some great inspiration in the entries, so check it out when you get a chance.

Until next time...

Brown Sugar Bananas
1/4 cup butter
4 medium bananas, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced bananas and next 2 ingredients. Saute mixture 5 minutes or until the sugar melts. Spoon over vanilla ice cream and top with whipped cream and toasted coconut.

Coconut Rice
3/4 cup light coconut milk (2 tablespoons reserved)
1-1/2 cups water
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup basmati rice
1/2 teaspoon dried basil - or 2 teaspoons fresh

Bring coconut milk (reserve 2 tablespoons), water, garlic and salt to a boil. Add rice. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. When rice is done, stir in the reserved coconut milk and basil. Serve.

Sesame Chicken Wings
1/3 cup bottled teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons tamari sauce
4 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
2 pounds chicken wing drummettes
3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

In a large Ziploc bag, combine the teriyaki sauce, tamari sauce and sesame seeds. Add chicken. Seal bag and turn to coat. Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes to 24 hours. Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to the baking sheet. Discard extra marinade. Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a small bowl, combine BBQ sauce, honey and sesame oil. Brush chicken with half of the sauce; bake for 10 minutes more, turning and brushing with sauce after 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Hope everyone that celebrates Father's Day had a wonderful one. We celebrated the day with dinner at my parents' house. With everyone being sick, it ended up being a Costco-inspired meal, with dessert and salad from there. They really DO have delicious stuff though - check out the dessert!



An Oprah episode awhile back highlighted her first trip to Costco, and it was interesting to get a behind-the-scenes look at how their kitchen works, and how much work they put into the items they make there. Although their store eventually closes, their kitchen barely does, with the staff there nearly round-the-clock. It was nice to see the care they put into buying the ingredients and coming up with the product line.

The main course was Spaghetti Arrlechino (sp?). My mom got this recipe when we lived in Italy some 25 years ago. The American transplants were looking for ways to keep themselves busy during their time there and convinced a local restaurant chef to come over and give them cooking lessons weekly. Neat, huh? This dish is one of the ones he taught them, and continues to be a family favorite.

Watched Home Shopping Network last week, for the first time in y-e-a-r-s. Of course, as luck would have it, I happened to turn it on when they were having their kitchen segment. I've been wanting a deep fryer for awhile now, and finally took the plunge. I bought their Bravetti Deep Flash Fryer. I thought the price ($39.99) was cheap enough for me to buy it and get my fried food fix.

All for now ... off to hang out with my family. Until tomorrow...

Ran a few errands today, and got some relaxing in as well. It's been a good two weeks since I've been to the bookstore, and I was experiencing some serious signs of withdrawal - I couldn't take it anymore! Dashed into Barnes & Noble and picked up a bunch of new magazines:


My Haul Today

Not bad, eh? The Sunset one and the Cooking Light one are not really "magazines," though they keep them with the magazines. They're $10 and are more like slim paperback books. The Strawberry Shortcake on the cover of Waitrose's Food Illustrated looks scrumptious, as does the steak and homemade fries on Cuisine at Home.

In addition to Barnes & Noble, I also got the chance to run into a smaller, local bookstore, where, showing great restraint, I bought one cookbook, Dungeness Crabs and Blackberry Cobblers: The Northwest Heritage Cookbook. I'm not a big fan of cookbooks devoid of pictures. I like to at least have a few pictures to get an idea of what the results are going to look like. This one does not have ONE SINGLE recipe picture in it, but the recipes looked so good, I bought it anyway. Lots of history and culture throughout the book, it is bound to be an interesting one.

For dinner tonight, I made Herbed Goat Cheese and Tomato Crostini. So very simple to make and was really delicious.

Herbed Goat Cheese and Tomato Crostini

Lastly, to tackle the newest meme floating around the blogging world.

1. Total number of cookbooks I’ve owned:Have over 1,000 now, with no signs of stopping.

2. Last cookbook(s) I bought: The one I bought today, Dungeness Crabs and Blackberry Cobblers.

3. Last cookbook I read:A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop. The Garlic Mushroom Quesadillas of his are EXCELLENT!

4. Five cookbooks that mean a lot to me:
a. Memories of a Cuban Kitchen, The Husband's go-to cookbook when he has a hankering for Cuban food;
b. Tapas from Penelope Casas - the recipes have never failed me and I love the little bit of history she gives with each one;
c. Jamie Oliver's newest cookbook, Jamie's Dinner - he's bringing the focus on fast meals you can make that are still healthy, and bringing about change to school lunch programs.
d. The Barefoot Contessa books -- have yet to have a dud from Ina
e. My tried-and-true file ... filled with memories and great recipes

5. Which 5 people would you most like to see fill this out in their blog?
Susan at Taste Everything Once, Linda at Kayaksoup, Chef Joanna, Tara at Joyful Cooking and last, but not least, Katie at Sharp Cookie (she seems to be on hiatus, maybe this will bring her back). Have fun y'all!

Yep, it's that time again. Sugar High Friday has reared its head, this time hosted by Life in Flow, the host of Food Porn Watch, a great roundup of all the food blogs. The theme is Tarts and I present to you my Banana Cream Tart. Actually, this is the first time I've used my tart pan, which I've had for nearly a year!


Banana Cream Tart

Between my Mom, sister and I, all the spouses are out of town (Moscow, Greece and the Jersey Shore!), so we opted to get take-out from a local restaurant for dinner, and made it a Blockbuster night. Dinner was Lobster Bisque soup and Calamari Salad, and we all shared Hummus with Pita Wedges and Onion Straws. Everything was delicious, and I'm still full! Lobster Bisque is one of my favorites, and they had the perfect amount of sherry in it. We saw Hitch with Will Smith and Eva Mendes -- cute movie and good soundtrack.

The Husband has the kids down the shore, and I have the house to myself. Boy is it quiet! Although it will be nice to take advantage of the peace and catch up on some stuff, I miss them already!

Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness tagged me for a cookbook meme that's floating around the blogging world. Tune in tomorrow to get the dirt.

Until then...

... and then it's finally Friday. I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready! The Husband is taking Nicholas and my stepdaughter down to the shore for the weekend. I opted to stay home so I could rest more in an effort to finally rid myself of the bronchitis. A house all to myself for the weekend - not sure I'll be able to handle so much peace and quiet!

No cooking tonight -- just take-out at my parents' house. Spanakopita and Greek Salad for me and a Rib-Eye for The Husband. After taking the week off from cooking, I'm hoping to start getting back into it this weekend. Just lacking energy and motivation this week. It happens to the best of us.

Digital Dish is the first book to compile food writing specifically from food bloggers. I ordered my very own copy a few weeks ago and plan to delve into it a bit this weekend (along with finishing up Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires). If you're interested in Digital Dish, you can get more information on Tomatilla's site (click on the icon on the left side of her web site). The book includes recipes, stories and pictures from food bloggers around the world. I was surprised to find out that it doesn't include anything from Chocolate and Zucchini, considered by many to be the most "famous" food blogger. Nevertheless, it's an interesting read.

New magazine alert! It's called Weekend. My Mom noticed an ad for it in the current issue of O Magazine (Oprah's magazine), and I stopped at 7-11 on the way home to see if I could find it. Pay dirt! It's look, style and content are very similar to Real Simple, a magazine I happen to like. A bunch of recipes/cooking articles in this premiere issue, including One-Pan Pasta (five simple dinners that are sauced, tossed and served from a single pan), Salads that Sizzle (Light up the grill, just add greens and toss a perfect summer dinner), and Dinner on the Beach (Planning an outdoor party? Think Paella and the fun will follow). There's also a piece on making great summer pitcher drinks and an article on finding weekend cooking classes best suited to your level of skill. For non-foodies, there's also plenty inspiration on other topics as well. Some headlines include What to Do this Weekend, Shopping List (How to get the best new stuff for your home, your garden and your life), organization tips, getaways, outlet road trips, bike riding, Chicago night life and much more. I'm hooked.

Until next time...

So I've been blogging now for about 4 months now, and written about a pretty nice number of recipes. Have you made any? I'd love to hear some feedback, if you've tried any out. Talk back to me!

Tonight, The Husband picked up take-out from a local seafood place that we like. I got my usual Fried Oyster dinner, and he got Mussels Marinara over Pasta, sharing the pasta with Nicholas. The Husband also ordered their Steamers appetizer. We've never had it there before, but I can assure you, we'll be getting it again. A wonderful, flavorful broth, it came with a small serving of melted butter to add to it - delicious!

Made some danish for Nicholas to bring into school tomorrow. Officially called Sex in a Pan, the recipe as written is below. I honestly don't see how the original creator got one can of Pillsbury crescent roll dough to stretch enough to cover the entire bottom of a 13x9 pan. It's just not possible. Next time, I'll just make it in a smaller pan. Stretching the second can of dough for the top was a challenge too, and I ended up using a third can to just do some piece work. Overall, though, I still liked the recipe enough to play with it again.

Cook Sister! has the entries up from the last EoMEoTE (End of Month Eggs on Toast Extravaganza #7) and you can view all the entries here. She really outdid herself this time with the round-up, providing each of us with our very own limerick.

All for tonight...

Sex in a Pan
2 cans cresent dinner rolls
2 (8oz.) cream cheese, softened
3 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg (separated)
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup sugar
cinnamon

Flatten 1 pkg. cresent rolls in an ungreased 13x9 pan. Combine 3/4 cup sugar, softened cream cheese, lemon juice, vanilla and egg yolk. Mix until creamy. Spread over flattened cresent rolls. Unroll other cresent roll and lay over that mixture, trying to cover the first layer the best you can. Mix egg white and 1/3 cup sugar and pour over second layer of rolls. Spread with spatula to cover and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Ugh ... not ALL my fault, and not ALL of dinner. Wasn't really hungry and still not feeling so hot (but a bit better, Chef JoAnna - thanks for caring!!), I took a Schwans meal out of the freezer for dinner (just needs heating up). We had a landscaper come and give us an estimate on getting some work done and the French fry portion of dinner promptly smoldered away in the oven while we were outside (20 minutes goes by fast!). I still liked the fries, The Husband? Not so much. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. That's the good thing about cooking (or in this case, heating), you always get a clean slate the next day.

Anyways, I had a recipe for Salt, Vinegar and Cayenne fries, which happens to use frozen fries, so I made that tonight. So even without real "cooking," I still managed to eek out a new recipe. Not all the fries were burnt, and I would definitely use this recipe again. Very simple and punches up the flavor a bit.

Speaking of getting things delivered (and we were the other day), have you heard about Schwans? It's a food delivery service. They have all sorts of stuff, and come right to your door every other week. I like having a few of their meals on hand for those days where you don't want take-out or fast food and just aren't up to cooking, like tonight. Their pizzas are pretty good, as are their ice creams (The Husband loves the Apple Pie A la Mode cups), and heck, you can't beat the convenience.

Until next time...

Salt, Vinegar and Cayenne Fries
1 lb bag of frozen fries
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
vinegar (white, malt or cider) for sprinkling
olive oil for drizzling

Cook fries to package directions on a cookie sheet. Combine salt and cayenne. Remove fries and toss with spicy salt, seasoning to your taste. Sprinkle with vinegar and drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately.

Weekend pretty much sucked. It was nice to get away for a few days and spend time down the shore with my family, but I was also the sickest that I had been all week. Couldn't take it anymore and went to a different doctor on the way home yesterday. Turns out my bad cold turned into bronchitis, and worse yet, it was brought on/aggravated by the medication my normal doctor gave me. Color me: NOT HAPPY. But now I have some new antiobiotics and am hoping to start feeling a bit better in the next few days. In the meantime, I might be a bit sporadic here this week ... just trying to rest.

The Husband has been great, taking care of Nicholas and feeding us all. He made steaks last night, with salad, although I really wasn't up to eating. Feeling a smidge better today, I made some of my Rich and Creamy Mushroom Soup and Lemon Spaghetti. I could get it done in about fifteen minutes, which was about all I can handle right now. I got nice comfort food, and the boys got some yummy pasta.

The Lemon Spaghetti is a Giada recipe, and is a great recipe to have on hand for those last minute what-will-I-make-for-dinner panics. You'll invariably always have the ingredients on hand and it'll be on the table in under 15 minutes.

The Soup is everything it should be ... creamy, hearty, rich and velvety. Perfect for us sniffling, hacking folks. Unfortunately, for my vegetarian friends, it doesn't taste the same subbing vegetable broth. I've tried it that way, and it's a completely different end result.

Until next time...

Sweetnicks' Rich and Creamy Mushroom Soup
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp tarragon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 T butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cans beef broth
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp lemon juice
dash hot pepper sauce
salt and pepper

In dutch oven, saute mushrooms, onion, garlic, tarragon, nutmeg in butter until vegetables are tender. Stir in flour until it's smooth. Gradually add broth; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and slowly add sour cream. Whisk to fully include sour cream. Cook and stir until smooth. Stir in half-and-half and milk. Add lemon juice, hot pepper sauce and salt and pepper. Heat through, but do not boil. Yields: 4-6 servings

Giada DeLaurentiis' Lemon Spaghetti
1 pound spaghetti
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.

Ever see the movie, The Net, with Sandra Bullock? Remember the opening sequence where she ordered a pizza online? That was back before such things were possible, let alone fathomable. But the time has come.

You can pretty much order anything online these days and have it delivered to your door. We have a milkman that comes every week -- yup, they still exist! You can get groceries, DVDs, library books delivered. Yup, I said library books. A lot of libraries across the country have gone digital, letting you reserve and renew books online. And get this, some will even deliver your books to your front door! How cool is that?! Of course, mine doesn't do this ... yet, but I now have the next best thing.

Books Free is a lot like NetFlix. You pay a small monthly fee, and they will ship you books from a list that you compile. You read them and return them (free shipping both ways). Once they get them back, they ship you the next book(s) on your list. I was pretty enthusiastic when I heard about this, especially given the fact that I just shelled out $9 in late fees at our local library! With Books Free, there are no late fees. Keep the books as long as you want. If you want to buy the book (because it turns out to be THAT good), you can even do so at a discounted price. Thought you guys might be interested in checking it out. Besides cooking, they offer all sorts of other genres from self-help to suspense, and everything in between; but, of course, you know I went straight to the cooking section. I signed up and am going to try it out for a few months and see how it goes. And Jessica, if you're reading this, they even have one of YOUR "cookbooks" available. Not too shabby, considering they only have 232 cookbooks!

Didn't do any cooking tonight -- just a clean-out-the-fridge kind of night, so no new recipes to report.

The UPS Man cometh and brought me goodies from Amazon, one of which was Amanda's Hesser's "Cooking for Mr. Latte." I know, I'm probably the last person on earth who hasn't read this yet, but it's slated to be my weekend reading, along with finishing Ruth Reichl's, "Garlic and Sapphires."

Going down the shore for the weekend, so there won't be any new entries for Friday or Saturday, but I'll be back on Sunday with a few new recipes I plan to make over the weekend. Nicholas is very excited to be going down the shore to "Grandma and Grandpa's Water House" (the easiest way to differentiate their "shore house" from their "regular house"). The Husband took Nicholas out shopping tonight to get him his very own fishing pole, so there might be a cute picture for you Sunday night.

Until then, please keep my blogging friend from White Trash BBQ in your thoughts. His wife, Johanna, was severely burned a few days ago doing something we all love to do ... cooking. It could have happened to any one of us - count your blessings.

Until Sunday ... happy cooking!

P.S. The Books Free site brings to mind a question ... what fun things do you get delivered to your house? Am I missing out on something? Do tell!

Hey all - I'm taking the night off tonight. I'm tired, it's been a long day, I still am feeling pretty sick and I have an early morning tomorrow. I haven't had a night off from my blogging in over 3 months, so hopefully y'all won't be too hard on me. Take this time and catch up on old posts, if you have missed some, and print out a few recipes to make for the upcoming weekend. In the meantime, I'll be back tomorrow night - I promise. :)

Even not feeling up to par, you know there's only so long I can go without cooking. Interesting thing, your subconscious. Tonight's dinner was another comfort food dish, and I didn't plan it that way. Flipping through some recipes, this one just spoke to me. I guess your mind really does know what your body wants.

Tonight for dinner, I made Crispy Chicken with Basil and Sweet Tomatoes. I served it over Buttered Rice. Buttered Rice is the way my Mom made rice for us growing up and I consider it another "comfort food" for me ... The Husband had never even heard of putting butter on rice, and with him growing up in a Cuban household where rice appears nearly nightly, I thought that funny. Anyways... I digress. The original recipe for tonight's dish is a Jamie Oliver one that I modified (recipe below includes my changes). It was incredibly simple to make and delicious down to the last morsel. A great meal to make for dinner on a lazy Sunday; with almost no time to pull it together, you'll have it baking away in 10 minutes flat.

One thing I love about Jamie Oliver, once you get past the dizzying speed at which he moves, is that he really cares. He cares about what kids are putting into their bodies, hence the theme of his newest cookbook, Jamie's Dinners. He's seeking to educate everyone on how to serve their children better food, driving home the point that getting dinner on the table fast doesn't necessarily mean "fast food." The recipes in his new book are geared to getting dinner on the table in lightning speed, but still keeping it healthy, or naked, in all its goodness and glory. He's also working with schools to create better lunch programs for the kids, filled with healthier choices. Gotta love that.

Tomorrow's my turn to bring lunch for the office. I made Citrus-Shrimp Salad, which is served over a bed of romaine lettuce. Dessert is Cherry Salad. The Citrus-Shrimp Salad, for WW followers, is only 2 points, and the dessert 3.

Tune in tomorrow to find out what goodies I got from Amazon today. Until then...

Still feeling crappy today, but got some meds from the doc, so crossing my fingers that some codeine-laced cough syrup is going to work its magic. So as you could guess, I wasn't in a cooking mood tonight. It didn't help that The Husband got home late, and I had No Plan. It's like getting up in the morning - if you haven't planned what you're going to wear before you get up, it'll take you much longer to get dressed. Similarly, if you don't have a plan for dinner by 5 pm, it will take you twice as long, guaranteed, to come up with a menu.

As I was browsing the take-out menus, The Husband offered to cook burgers on the grill. A quick and easy meal that keeps the money in my pocket and me resting on the couch, how can a girl resist? Ten minutes later, dinner was served. Happened to have some Cambozola cheese (one of my favorites!) in the refrigerator, so I melted some on a toasted roll, with a slice of avocado, and I was set. In case you haven't experienced Cambozola yet, do try it. Developed in Germany in the 1970s, Cambozola is a cheese that is a combination of French Camembert and Italian Gorgonzola. It's a stronger cheese, with the creaminess of the Camembert making it more palatable for those that don't like their cheese too strong.

Another episode of Hell's Kitchen is on tonight. If you haven't caught it yet, tune in to see what kind of hell Gordon's unleashing on his "victims." Also on TV, Food TV Network's special, "The Next FoodTV Network Star" premiered last night with back-to-back new episodes. Quite an interesting group of finalists they've assembled, everything from professional and personal chefs and caterers, to a mom who lost 89 pounds by changing her diet and a cooking school instructor. The challenges are unique, and I gotta say, if you watched the show and saw the egg challenge, all I kept thinking is that my Tomato & Egg Pizza (see my EotMEot #7 entry) would have rocked! The show also gives a small behind-the-scenes glimpse on what goes on at the Food TV Network studios, which I enjoyed. They're repeating the premiere episode on Thursday night at 9 pm, in case you missed the first run. My money's on Susannah.

And lastly, one more topic. If you're a cookbook-addict like I am, you may be interested in checking out Zooba. It's like a book club, but with a twist. No commitment to buy a minimum amount of books, and you can quit whenever you want. You choose a bunch of books from their lists and add them to your queue. Once a month, they will send you the next book on your list, yours to keep. All books are $9.95/each and are shipped free. Because they have a pretty good selection of just-released books, the fact that you're getting them for under $10, with shipping included, is quite a deal. Although they cover other genres besides cooking, you know my list is filled with mostly cookbooks. You can also order additional books at any other time, for the same $9.95/each + free shipping price. Not bad, eh?

OK, off to take my cough syrup ... if I took it any sooner, I'd have been fast asleep by now. Tune in tomorrow to find out what I'm making for my Wednesday office lunch. Until then...

Gorgeous weather today, but boy was it ever HOT! It's going to be a l-o-n-g summer! I'm not a big fan of heat, and I've long since decided that my "perfect" temperature range is 58-68. Today, it reached 85. Ugh.

Went to the Farmer's Market and it wasn't there -- this one was supposed to start in June, so not sure what's going on. Was majorly bummed because I was really looking forward to picking up some fresh vegetables. In another month or so, a couple more in the area open up, so at least I have that to look forward to.

Made it to the Street Fair and loaded up with food from our favorite vendor. She has this sauce (appropriately called "Magic Sauce") that she puts on everything, and it is definitely the key to the deliciousness of her food. Luckily we only get her food a few times a year, because, uh, probably not the healthiest thing in the world.

Pretty much rested all afternoon, but that hasn't helped too much yet -- just waiting for the meds to kick in. Until then, I'm a sniffly, hacking mess. Lovely, I know.

For dinner tonight, I made the BLT Salad that was scheduled for yesterday, Caramelized Garlic Chicken, and dessert was Blueberry Crumble. Both the salad and the chicken were good and tasty, just not WOWs for me. And you know ... I'm only saving the WOW recipes, otherwise I'll never get through all the clippings and cookbooks I have left to try! The Blueberry Crumble recipe, however, was delicious! Just a great, tummy-warming food, especially now that blueberries are in season. It's a recipe from David Lieberman -- hope you enjoy it!

Tune in tomorrow to see what's on tap for this week. Until then...

Blueberry Pecan Crumble
For the topping:
4 ounces pecan pieces (about 1 cup)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups rolled (old-fashioned) oats
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
A couple pinches salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter cut into small pieces

For the berries:
2 pints fresh blueberries
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. For the topping: Put all topping ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your hands until mixture sticks together in small clumps. Pour the blueberries into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Squeeze the lemon juice over the berries, sprinkle the sugar and flour over them and toss until the berries are coated with sugar. Scatter the topping over the berries in an even layer. Bake until the topping is golden brown and the berry juice is bubbling up through the topping, about 45 to 50 minutes.

Woke up this morning hit with a massive cold, mostly residing in my chest and making it really painful to cough (which I'm doing a lot of, of course) and talk. Nicholas has had it all week, and well, he DOES like to share.

So, did a bunch of errands this morning, and then came home and napped off and on with Nicholas all afternoon. I really fought the urge to call and order take-out for dinner, and The Husband even offered to cook some burgers on the grill, but since I already had my meal planned out, and had gotten everything I needed, I got up and made dinner.

Dinner went as planned, except I didn't make the salad. I did, however, make homemade croutons for it, but when I went to get the buttermilk for the dressing ... well, let's just say it wasn't with us any longer. Buttermilk usually lasts quite awhile -- not this one. So, although The Husband was all ready for a big salad (although he shuns all vegetables, him and Nicholas LOVE salad), it's on tap for tomorrow.

I gotta tell you, making the Tortellini with Ham and Peas, I really didn't have high hopes for it. I mean, c'mon, with the sauce only being chicken broth, how good could it be? Well, it was REALLY good, in a comfort food sort of way, which worked out perfectly with me being sick. The Husband even ate the peas! The recipe really could not be simpler, and I hope you'll try it.

The Salt and Pepper Shrimp were another hit for us. I actually didn't have any of the shrimp myself since I just wasn't up for it, but it left all this wonderful sauce behind, perfect for mopping up with a baguette. Now since it's called Salt and Pepper Shrimp, the sauce was salty, but oh so good! I finished it all myself.

Both dishes will definitely be repeated in our household.

Going to a local street fair tomorrow and pretty psyched about it. There's a vendor there that makes amazing Filipino food and we are kind of her groupies, making sure to attend the various fairs she goes to during the Summer and Fall. I met her a good 8-9 years ago when I was organizing a food court, and am really glad I did. Can't wait to have her food.

Also, depending on how I'm feeling tomorrow, I'm going to try and go to a local Farmer's Market.

Tune in tomorrow to see what's for dinner. Who knows? Not even me! :) Until then...

Salt and Pepper Shrimp
1/2 teaspoon Five Spice Powder
2 tablespoons fine sea salt
4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
vegetable oil
approximately 1 lb raw shrimp, peeled, tails intact
baguette

Place the five-spice powder in a bowl with the sea salt and ground black pepper. Mix together. Add the shrimp and toss to coat thoroughly. Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan. When hot, add the shrimp in batches and fry until just changed in color. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Serve with baguette for mopping up the sauce.

Tortellini with Prosciutto and Peas
1 box frozen green peas
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon butter (more to serve)
1/2 lb of prosciutto, diced (ask the deli to cut it in one piece for you)
2 cups chicken broth
Parmesan cheese
Tortellini, cooked

Defrost the peas. Cut onion in half and finely slices. Fry onion in 1 tablespoon of butter on low heat until softened and starting to slightly brown (about 5-6 minutes). Add the prosciutto and chicken broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat, add the cooked tortellini and peas and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until the peas are heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide between 4 warmed bowls and add a little piece of butter to each. Serve with parmesan cheese.

Nope, didn't cook tonight. Last weekend, when we were at the Art Show, we passed by some sidewalk seating of a restaurant and one of the patrons had an amazing looking BLT. I've been dying to have it ever since. Ran in tonight to get take-out and ordered the BLT. "Oh, we're not serving that now, that's only for lunch." Let me tell you how bummed I was! How can you not be able to make a BLT for dinner? Bacon, lettuce and tomato ... really. Am I missing something? Apparently so.

Anyways, since we were already there, it was easier to just find something else on the menu, and I ended up halfheartedly ordering the Magic Mushroom Burger. Not quite sure what's "magic" about it: charbroiled burger with white cheddar cheese and mushrooms. Burger was good, but I think it could have had a little more flavor (I gotta say, I make great burgers!) and I think the roll should have been toasted. It was one of those HUGE rolls that was just too much bread. So, anyways, the burger was $9! I'm sorry, if McDonald's can make a burger for a buck, I think $9 is a little too far gone of that. OK, it's a nicer restaurant than McDonalds ... so I can handle $6, even $7 or $7.50. But $9? It just wasn't worth it. Now, the french fries, on the other hand, were an entirely different matter. I usually don't care for waffle fries, but ate every last one of this batch. They were perfectly done -- crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Good to the last bite. I'll, of course, go back to the restaurant to try getting the BLT at LUNCH time, but until then, we'll be passing on the $9 burgers, thankyouverymuch. I won't even go into what I think of the three puny slices of plum tomatoes on top of it.


Magic Mushroom Burger

Cooking a full meal tomorrow ... BLT Salad with Buttermilk Dressing, Salt and Pepper Shrimp and Tortellini with Ham and Peas. Haven't decided on dessert yet, so you'll just have to tune in to find out what I end up making. Until then ... fingers crossed and lots of good karma wishes for three very special people taking an important exam tomorrow. Good luck guys!

With various errands needing to get done, The Husband and I ended up going our separate ways tonight in a "divide and conquer" approach. I had dinner by my lonesome at Panera, and if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll know what I order to drink -- my IC Mocha! Love, love, love that stuff. And I have finally found a sandwich I like at Panera, their Portobello & Mozzarella Panini. It's garlic roasted portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, fresh mozzarella and chopped basil, grilled hot on Rosemary & Onion focaccia. So, so delicious, and coupled with their Broccoli Cheddar Soup, it really hit the spot.

Afterwards, I made a stop at Barnes & Noble to see if they had any new magazines that I couldn't live without, and, of course, they did. Chow is a new food magazine that came out a couple of months ago. I was drawn to the new issue (July/August 2005), particularly their article is "Basic Repertoire," which lists basic dish categories that you should have in your repertoire to entertain "anyone, everyone, anytime." I have them all covered, except for one. According to Chow, your repertoire should include:

1. A good piece of meat or fish dish
2. The one-pot meal
3. An upscale casserole
4. Something roasted
5. Something braised
6. An almost-30-minute meal
7. A vinaigrette
8. A homey dessert

Food is like fashion: you may have an overstuffed closet but nothing to wear. Don't be distracted by all the recipes that somehow still don't add up to a real meal. You don't need to master a bunch of dishes. You need a solid core of fundamentals - a style. Then, once you're familiar with a small number of classics, you can customize them according to the season, the fashion, or your own weird whimsy.

I think that's a great place to start. You need to have a core group of Tried-and-Trues that you can rely on, particularly when you have last minute guests. You need a go-to menu that will never fail to satisfy, and one that lets you relax and enjoy your company, instead of wondering if the dish will come out.

Their "Basic Repertoire" is a regular feature. "In each issue, Chow will ask a different chef to explain the dishes that he or she relies on most to entertain at home. Sometimes the style may lean toward Asian flavors, other times Italian. But they'll all fit into these eight categories. You'll be able to choose from among all the recipes to create your own Basic Repertoire - your own kitchen style."

The recipes they're covering in this issue are the "basics of the Basics, crowd pleasers, complicated enough to keep you interested, yet simple enough to keep you sane." And possibly enough for me to send in my subscription card. :) I think it's a great idea, and look forward to seeing it develop.

Tune in tomorrow to find out what the weekend has in store ... until then, talk back to me. Let me know what you like about the blog. What brings you here? What do you want to see more of? Less of? Is there a good balance? Look forward to hearing your thoughts ... remember, Sweetnicks is for you, as much as it is for me.

Where does the time go? I can't believe it's June already! My parents offered to watch Nicholas tonight so The Husband and I could have a belated Anniversary Dinner. Not your typical anniversary restaurant, I'm sure, we decided to grab a bite to eat at Fuddruckers. What can I say? I'm a cheap date! A chain restaurant, yes, but the burgers are delicious! Only thing that would make them more perfect is if they had that charbroiled taste you get from a Burger King burger. Fuddruckers has a great fixins' bar where you can load up your burger with pickles, diced or sliced onions, sliced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, fresh pico de gallo, BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese sauce, ketchup, horseradish, honey mustard and more. I love big sloppy burgers - the sloppier the better. Halfway through the meal, The Husband looked over at me and asked what the heck was going on in my plate, seeing the big drippy mess I had. Anyways, it was good eatin'!

After that, I convinced him that we NEEDED to go to a new bookstore that just opened up. It's one of those larger stores that sell remainder books, so you know I had fun there! Surprisingly enough, my non-cookbook selections outweighed the cookbook ones. Food-related selections were:

The Best Quick Breads from Beth Hensperger - $5.99! Sweet Maria's Cake Kitchen by Maria Bruscino Sanchez and lastly If You Can Stand the Heat. Another $5.99 bargain, it's filled with stories from chefs and restauranteurs.

If anyone has Beth's or Maria's books and has a Tried-and-True recipe from it, drop me a line.

Eat Chicken just announced the winners from the National Chicken Cooking Contest, and Camilla Saulsbury took the Grand Prize for her Mahogany Broiled Chicken with Smoky Lime Sweet Potatoes with Cilantro Chimichurri. She's a Ph.D. that wins cooking contests in her spare time. You can get recipes of all the winners on the Eat Chicken site, as well as purchase a $3 cookbook from them. Did a quick google search on the winner, Camilla, and found that she actually has two cookbooks of her own published (Cookie Dough Delights and a new release, Brownie Mix Bliss), with a third on the way. Sounds like she knows her stuff.

Speaking of contests, I'm bummed that I missed the deadline for the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest. My mind blanked and I didn't realize until today that the deadline was YESTERDAY. Well, at least I'll be all ready for next year. Know anyone that entered this year? Which category?

OK, all for tonight. Tune in tomorrow to find out where we're feasting on our Date Night. Until then...