Fake It at Home!

Diary-
As I stood in front of the stove this evening in my work out attire and sneakers ready for my walk to prep for my St Thomas trip in only 55 DAYS I found myself not walking out of the door. Yes I used the excuse that the storm had really rolled in quick and I was not able to get out- all the time knowing damn well that the ONLY reason was that the creamed spinach I made was way too good to walk away from! :( Oh Diary I was supposed to be getting my fitness on so that I'm lookin all jazzy on the white sand beaches of the tropics... instead I scarfed down way more than a single serving of creamy, cheesy spinach. GREAT....
Anyway here is an easy, quick and CHEAP way to make fancy creamed spinach at home!

Instead of Working Out Creamed Spinach
1 10oz frozen package of spinach leaves ( defrosted and drained )
1 container of garlic and herb aloutte ( found in the dairy section )
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Combine the spinach and aloutte cheese in a saucepan and heat until the cheese is melted, about 3 minutes
Sprinkle with nutmeg and stir until well combined


That's it! So good- tonight I had it with panko crusted tilapia and oven roasted ugly tomatoes...ugly tomatoes aren't ugly- just not a perfect round globe... lesson of the day!
Now I gotta go do some leg lifts or something because you know my butt is not going to wake up early to get my fitness on!

Fig Update

Dear Diary-
Oh Diary I am a fan of the fig! Josh- not so much...but heart figs- not as much as beets but I still like them. Publix had buy one get one free on containers of fresh figs. So I bought a package of Brown Turkey- UGHHHH that reminds me of a random college party at a pool passing around a bottle of Wild Turkey- I digress- I bought Brown Turkey FIGS and Black Mission Figs- figured I'd try them both out. My first dish was a Fig Tart

I used the recipe in Cooking Light http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1911265 I kinda veered though- first off, I used a store bought pie crust- because my new kitchen does not have enough counter space needed to make a real pie crust. I followed the recipe the same except added the cinnamon in with the figs since it didn't make it into the crust. I also used a mixture of the Brown Turkey and Black Mission Figs. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM yum! This was so freaking good! The Greek Yogurt really topped it off and made it something so unexpected!

I also made a tasty Grilled Fig, Chicken and Blue Cheese Salad

I marinated chicken tenderloins in olive oil, garlic slivers, salt and pepper
I sliced the figs in half and let them sit in some sugar for a few minutes
I grilled both the chicken and the figs until cooked thru
I put both on a bed of baby arugula and dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and crumbled blue cheese
This was so good- the warm chicken melted the cheese and the smokey caramelized figs were a perfect component to the peppery arugula
Diary, I think I'll be buying more figs...

Dear Diary-
I'm really getting pumped for my participation in Orlando's Latin Food and Wine Fest. I have no clue if I am going to be cooking or what... guess I need to think up something tasty. My most favorite latin dish is really a side dish- tostones with the special ketchup, mayo and garlic dipping sauce I was taught to make back in high school. So so so good...

Maybe I can come up with a new spin on tostones and make some app... need to practice. This week figs next week latin flavors....
Anyway- here is a little tid bit on the upcoming event- my second Orlando Sentinel mention- so fun! :)
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_food_blog/2009/08/save-the-date-latin-food-and-wine-festival-2009-oct-13.html

Brutus the Birthday Dog

Dear Diary-
Obviously, you know I like to cook... well so does my brother. He has joined my way of planning a weekly menu and cooking each night too. Well the other day was Josh and Chelsea's standard doberman's 2nd birthday. Now this just killed me... look at Brutus' birthday dinner!
ROASTED SALMON WITH MUSTARD GLAZE ON TOP OF OVEN ROASTED SWEET POTATOES.
ON THE SIDE FOR DESERT WAS SLICED GRANNY SMITH APPLES AND ORANGE SECTIONS.
Only Josh...

Fig Fascination

Dear Diary-
I'm all about the figs now. I saw some amazing figs last night in the produce department and now all I can think about is what I can make with figs. I'm for sure going to center next week's menu around those pretty little plump figs. Fig salads, grilled figs, fig sauces, fig desserts, tarts maybe? Gabe is going to be over figs by the time next weekend rolls around!

Latin Food and Wine Fest

Dear Diary-
OMG I'm so pumped to participate in the Latin Food and Wine Fest event! I got a peek at the poster today and I am pumped!

Lesson of the Night: Papillote

Dear Diary-
So I thought I'd start adding some little demos here as I cook dinner when I get home. So here is the first one- holy hell! don't mind my lines on my forehead- jeeze i guess i have 3 options...
1. grow my bangs back out
2. botox
3. stop making faces when i talk

Also disregard the blue painter's tape above the dang stove- still working on the new house!

Anyway here is the first lesson... cooking en papillote...and the final product on a bed of sauteed spinach and topped with kalamata olive and artichoke tapenade with grape tomatoes...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLnhH75-QFs

To be in the NEST

Dear Diary-
I want to work for www.thenest.com-
it is my new goal... that and HSN too I guess. Read below i think i am their missing piece...i must work for them
TheNest.com is the Web’s round-the-clock spot for hip and harried married gals. Log on anytime--in your stilettos or in your slippers--for chic style, sex solutions or recipes on the fly. We also dish all the info you need on “the future,” from buying a house to having a baby. Want to vent? Chat with thousands of other gals--all ready to dish out tried and true advice.

So Diary- I need to ramp up my plan and get motivated and focused- good thing I bought a bulletin board at Target last week. I am going to be their cooking and entertaining expert. HOUSEWIFE 2.0 REPRESENT!

Girls Night

Dear Diary-
I had my first official girls' night at my house last night. I invited over some of my good friends over to our new house for dinner and drinks. We sat around and ate and talked and enjoyed some nice wine. Old friends and new friends and even a friend's little boy all made it over last night. I wished we could have enjoyed my new garden but with like 800% humidity and about 98 degrees that option was out. I think I will save that for like November...so that i don't drown in sweat and frizz out my hair- maybe we can handle the weather then. Anyway my dinner was a hit and I was asked to post the recipe here. So here is the yummy recipe that had a surprise ingredient- clementines. Diary you may ask yourself- clementine? Oh yes this little tasty citrus is a pretty much seedless alternative to oranges. They are sweet like tangerines with a little tang too. They are so easy to squeeze the juice since there are no seeds!



Roasted Veggie and Couscous salad with Clementine Dressing
1/2 Red Onion Sliced
1 Red Pepper Sliced
1 Zucchini cut into long strips
1 Leek slices of white part only
1 small bunch Asparagus
1/2 can drained Chick Peas
Juice of 3 Clementines
Couscous
Olive Oil
1/4 cup of flat leaf Parsley
Slivered Almonds
S&P

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Toss all vegetables in olive oil and salt and pepper
Place all Veggies ( except asparagus )on sheet pan and squeeze the juice of 1 Clementine on top and roast for 25 minutes stirring occasionally until caramelized
Prepare the asparagus the same as the other veggies and put in the oven for 10 minutes to roast
Make couscous according to directions and place on serving platter
Pour veggies and parsley over the couscous and top with slivered almonds, chick peas and juice of remaining Clementines

Emma Weaver is too CUTE!

Dear Diary-
All I have to say is I am in LOVE with Emma Weaver! She is too cute! This is from miss Alicia this morning- she sent out a picture of what her 7am hour looked like this morning. After Emma had fed all her babies, read them all books and worked on a puzzle together... this was the gang watching Mickey Mouse... hehehe :)

Lobster Fest 09

 

Dear Diary-
Catching up here. We got back from Maine a couple of weeks ago- ugh still wish we were there. If only the temps didn't dip so low in the winter and the town shut down- I'd so dig living there! I guess we will just have to settle for visiting in the warm summer months. Anyway- we went and we ate lobster. ohhhhhh the boys had a few more than the girls did but i did have my share that's for sure. We had lobster rolls, lobster dips, steamed lobster, lobster claws at the raw bar- Greg even bought a new new pet lobster named Spike- he later threw him in some boiling water and steamed his beloved pet and ate him- but I think they created some lasting memories before spike met his maker.
All I have to say- and my Dad will agree- lobster just tastes better in Maine. Even if you get fresh Maine lobster here in Florida- it is nowhere near as good!

Lettuce Wraps Still Reign Supreme

 

Dear Diary-
I spoke too soon. Brandon has decided that he still prefers the lettuce wraps as his favorite dinner dish. Gabe agrees that the lettuce wraps are 100 times better. So the wraps made another appearance. Gabe has just suggested that I serve the lettuce wraps with shredded chicken and some " sea cucumbers"- what the hell are sea cucumbers? Oh he meant sea scallops...again i was confused... now we nailed it down- he meant water chestnuts. :) heheheh
Ok so next time I will try them with shredded chicken and water chestnuts for my love...until then here is how i make the standard lettuce wraps that the boys so dearly love.
 

Chicken Tenderloins
Limeaid Concentrate ( little tubes of frozen juice )
Jalapeno Pepper
Sour Cream
Canned Chipotle Peppers in Sauce ( find it in the ethnic foods aisle by the taco stuff )
Bibb Lettuce- the hydroponic type is best that comes in the plastic containers
Grape Tomatoes
Avocado
Corn Kernels
Lime
Shredded Mexican Blend Cheese
Cilantro

Marinate the chicken tenderloins with 4 tbs of limeaid concentrate and chopped jalapeno pepper- at least 4 hours
Combine sour cream with 1 -2 tbs of chipotle pepper sauce and let sit- at least 2 hours
Grill or saute chicken tenderloins
Serve on big platter with all the sides
Use lettuce leaves to make a kind of taco out of everything

SOOOOOO GOOD!

St Thomas

Dear Diary-
73 days and counting until my awesome trip to St Thomas for my Colleen's birthday... i booked my flight today and i am overly excited! I can't wait to sit on the pretty beach, get a good tan, snorkel and eat and drink yummy Caribbean treats!

Not Just A Snack

Dear Diary-
Brace yourself Diary- you may ask what I'm smoking with this crazy suggestion but I promise I'm clear headed and it's a tasty hint. Ok you ready....here we go. So Gabe is out to Lee and Ricks for some perfect raw oysters with the boys so I put my planned stuffed peppers on hold for tomorrow night. Therefore after work I swung by the wine shop and picked up a bottle of chilled white wine and came home to make a super yummy tex mex salad. I had some left over veggies in the fridge and sauteed up some eggplant, yellow squash, red onions, grape tomatoes and seasoned up with some cumin, cayenne pepper and fresh lime juice. Topped with sliced avocado, cilantro- and here it is... POPCORN. Yes Diary you heard me right, popcorn. It's not just a snack- it makes one heck of a tasty crouton alternative! Don't get me wrong popcorn topped with Parmesan cheese and spices and a nice ice cold glass of milk is my favorite bedtime snack- but wow popcorn is fantastic on salads! Random...perhpas- unexpectedly good...for sure.
 

Brandon's New Top Pick

Dear Diary-
UGHHH FRIDAY DIARY! I am so pumped- and can't wait til the end of the day to enjoy a nice weekend. I need to do a hard core grocery shopping run this weekend because I have cleaned out our new stainless and it's looking pretty bare. I used up pretty much the last of my rations last night on a winner of a dinner. Our favorite dinner guest, Brandon, came over last night for dinner and of course he came over with his payment- bottle of red wine. He also helped moved a few things for me so he earned his dinner. Diary, seeing that Brandon is a frequent dinner guest he has his list of favorite dinners form his favorite cook ( that's me )I was really happy about his review of last night's dinner. It actually made it's way to the top of Brandon's favorite dinners made by Jen list.
It has officially knocked off the lettuce wraps. So here is the easy and tasty recipe... I served it with sauteed summer squash and zucchini and Gabe's left over Mac & Cheese minus the fake cheese pack- we had feta instead...

Mediterranean Cornish Hens
2 cornish hens
1/2 cup kalamata olives
hand full of capers
5 garlic cloves
1/2 lemon
1 white onion sliced
5 sprigs of thyme
Sea Salt
Cayenne Pepper
Olive Oil
Butter
Flour

Season Cornish hens with sea salt and cayenne pepper on both sides and inside cavity
Truss the legs together and place in shallow baking dish.
Toss the olives, capers, whole garlic cloves, onion and thyme with olive oil and juice of one lemon and pour over the hens.
Bake in the oven at 350 for one hour.
Baste often with butter- this makes the little hens so crispy!

Take hens out of dish to rest and place baking dish on the stove top over medium heat. Sprinkle 1 tbs of flour into the pan drippings and whisk until smooth and slightly thickened.
Top hens with pan sauce and serve with veggies and your favorite starch

Try it out... if Brandon say's it a winner I'm sure Diary's friends will like it too!

Airbrushed with pageant hair

Dear Diary-
AHHHH I had so much fun yesterday! I was an on air guest yesterday at HSN! :)Oh it was a long long day- I was up at 6am and left at 7pm. But the day was so much fun. I worked with the food stylist for my little demo table, i had this ear piece smashed into my ear- not that I could hear anything or maybe i just blocked it out. Oh and I had my hair and make up done. It was the first time I had airbrushed makeup put on my face- and it freaked me out! For some reason I refused to breathe! The make up lady was like Jen just relax it's ok. But I could not handle it! I ran out of breath each time she did this! Anyway, it looked great and then Stacey- I think that was the makeup lady's name...she did my hair. WOW I felt like I was in the running to be Miss Texas. I had full on pageant hair! I was scared... but I guess you need it that big to make an impact on TV...who knows! :)
Soooo I peeled and chopped away. And then I had an audition too to be an on air regular... I think I rocked it! I had them laughing and they loved my kalamata olive tapenade... recipe below. I talked about cooking techniques and what a tapenade was... the flavors and how I got into the cooking world and how I live my life and where I want to go. Before my last spot Diary I got to meet a big wig over there that said she was impressed with my first segment and that she was hearing a lot of good buzz around the HSN campus about me! She said that she wanted to talk further and work with me more. Ohhhhh man yesterday could have been a huge turning point for me and my life's path. I'm pumped and jazzed... fingers crossed I get back to be airbrushed and have my hair teased again soon!
Check out my HSN debut below!
http://www.hsn.com/infomercial/viatek-veggie-peel-and-chopper-combo_p-5540361_xp.aspx?web_id=5540361&ocm=sekw

Kalamata Tapenade
1 jar of kalamata olives pitted and drained of juice
1 small jar of capers drained of juice
2 garlic cloves
1 tbs thyme
2 anchovy fillets

Combine all ingredients in food processor and mix until well incorporated yet still a little chunky.
Serve on toast rounds

Sweet Sweet Lobster

 

Dear Diary-
More entry to come later...but I'm so sad to be back in Orlando. I wish I was still in Maine eating sweet sweet lobster. And at only 4.80 a pound it was a steal!