Friday, February 25, 2011

Inspired by the OTHER country that I love






A delicious, healthy and easy recipe – and the best part, you only use one pot! The green asparagus, red tomatoes and white feta make me think of the colors on the Italian Flag.  I think there are other “Italian Flag” recipes out there but this one is mine.  I made this earlier this week and we gobbled it up.  It’s one of my favorite recipes!

Ginger's "Italian Flag" Pasta

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus (the thinner the better, in my opinion)
4 vine-ripened tomatoes or any other variety (since there isn’t any sauce in this recipe, it’s important for the tomatoes to be big, ripe and juicy) – or – a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
4 oz. container of crumbled feta cheese (I like Atheno’s Garlic and Spice)
1 lb. of bowtie pasta
1/3 c. of Olive Oil
handful of pinenuts
2 cloves of minced garlic
a few dashes of salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (to taste)

* A side note on the asparagus:  when you purchase the asparagus at the store, bring it home and cut off the stems immediately and place the bunch in a container of about 1-inch of water (I use an old salsa jar).  It helps keep them fresh and moist.  I accidentally let my last batch of asparagus soak for almost a week and, by the time I cooked them, they were practically falling apart they were so moist – and delicious enough to eat raw! 

1. Boil the water for the pasta and cook the pasta according to the directions.  While waiting on the pasta, cut the asparagus and tomatoes into 1-inch pieces. 

2. While the pasta is straining, rinse the pot and use to sauté the asparagus and tomatoes.  Add the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, asparagus and tomatoes and sauté for about 5-10 minutes until the asparagus is tender. 

3. Add the pasta and feta cheese to the pot, and stir to combine.  At this point, eyeball it to see if you might need to add another drizzle of olive oil.  (Just depends on how much the pasta “drinks” up the oil)

4. Serve, top with a sprinkling of pinenuts and serve with a glass of Pinot Grigio wine (not necessary but recommended).

Buon Appetito!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Something For Everyone in Atlanta

We decided to take a day-trip to Atlanta over the holiday weekend. We headed out early and arrived in Atlanta in the late morning. 

First stop, breakfast of champions…



Next, we indulged my retail therapy at Cost Plus World Market (a surprise bonus) and then arrived at my personal “Mecca” point: Trader Joe’s. Yes, we drove 118 miles for Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce, Roasted Red Pepper Soup, and Sweet and Spicy Pecans. Needless to say, we totally blew out our food budget for this month but I’m now well-stocked on wine, chocolate and trail mix. Hooray!

For lunch, we headed to the highly-recommended Fat Matt’s Rib Shack (1811 Piedmont Ave. NE, Atlanta). It was almost easy to miss except for the long line of people waiting (almost around the side of the building) and the packed parking lot. Thankfully, the line moved quickly and we had no problems finding a seat. It’s an order-at-the-counter type of place, and was bustling with quite an assorted mix of people. We ordered the pulled pork sandwiches and rib meat “sandwich” (literally a stack of ribs and white bread – nothin’ else) with coleslaw and baked beans.  I loved the pulled pork sandwich and coleslaw and the BBQ sauce was the BEST that I’ve ever tried.  No joke.  It is perfectly sweet and tangy and smoky all at once. I'd put it right up there with that mysteriously magical Chick-fil-a sauce that I love so much! We liked it so much, in fact, that we took home two bottles of it. I’m not sure, but I think this is where the saying “finger-lickin’ good” got its start! The staff was friendly and we loved the live music. It was perfect to eat our southern fare and listen to the Blues from a singer/guitar player with a fresh black eye!  It was great – and we deemed it a “must-see” for anyone who visits Atlanta! 

Notice the line... and the happy customer!

And finally, to appease the true boss of our family, we headed to “consumerism capital” (Hubby’s words, not mine) – the American Girl Store. Sienna has been asking to go and she’s been working hard on her attitude lately so we decided to reward her.  We purchased a doll – she surprised us both and decided on, Josephina, which is a fitting choice since we’re probably headed to El Paso, Texas! – and then the girls (me, Sienna and Josephina) enjoyed a lovely hot chocolate and dessert date at the American Girl Bistro.  In fact, hubby confessed later to spying on us and said we both looked like giddy little girls.  Between all the sprinkles, sugar and pink walls, I couldn’t help but to be happy.  Oh yeah, and Sienna was thrilled, too!


Our tummies – and our wallet – couldn’t handle anymore so we headed home. 
But, I’d say that we all headed home very happy campers!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Fun and Easy Ideas for an Oscar Party


It’s Oscar time!
I love all the glitz and glamour.  All of it – the dresses, the awkward interviews on the red carpet, the unexpected moments during the show, and the heartfelt acceptance speeches.
I like to gather a group together to watch the Academy Awards.  Sometimes I have a large group, other times it’s just two of us (remember two years ago, Suzanne?), one year it was an Oscar-themed tea party (when we were stationed in Italy), but no matter what, the show must go on!

Last year was probably my favorite Oscar Party. 

There was a red carpet.

Thanks to the hubby and kiddos for setting it while I was meeting with my stylist! ;)

There were beautiful ladies in fancy gowns. 


 And we had drinks and yummy snacks.
 
Here are my Oscar Party “must-haves”:

-       Send out your invitations and ask your friends to dress “red carpet worthy.”  If you have really cool friends, they will.

-       Buy a long red plastic tablecloth at Target and tape it down to look like a red carpet. 

-       Go with a gold and black theme.  Plates, napkins, decorations.

-       Print the nomination list and ask your guests to predict the winners.  The person with the most correct answers wins a small prize (an idea: make it a movie that has won Best Picture in the past).

-       Or create a quiz that will predict what might happen during the show.  For example, number of winners that get “music’d” off the stage, number of times a presenter will have trouble with the teleprompter, number of names on the longest thank-you list, etc. (these ideas are from the March 2009 issue of Real Simple)

-       Have lots of drinks and finger foods – it’s a long show and people want to munch (ideally without getting their dresses dirty). And really, the show starts with the red carpet pre-show so you could be watching for hours! 
 
What to eat and drink:

Drink

Red Carpet Splash
1 ½ oz Vodka
½ oz Chambord
3 oz Lemonade

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a martini glass.  Garnish with a strawberry or lemon curl. 

Appetizer


Ingredients
1 (250 g) package PHILADELPHIA Brick Cream Cheese, softened
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained, chopped
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup KRAFT 100% Parmesan Grated Cheese

Directions
1.             Spread cream cheese onto bottom of microwaveable 9 inch pie plate.
2.             Combine artichokes, butter and garlic; spoon evenly over cream cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
3.             Microwave on HIGH 1 minute or until heated through.

Dessert

Just found this recipe!  What a cute idea!


Ingredients
1 tub (7 oz.) BAKER'S White Dipping Chocolate, melted
16   fresh strawberries (with stems attached)
1 tub (7 oz.) BAKER'S Milk Chocolate Dipping Chocolate

Directions
1. Dip bottom 3/4 of each berry in white chocolate. Place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm.
2. Melt milk chocolate as directed on package. Dip 1 side of each berry in milk chocolate, then turn to dip other side, leaving "V"-shaped white center. Return to baking sheet.
3. Use toothpick dipped in remaining milk chocolate to draw buttons and bow tie on each berry. Refrigerate until firm.

Have fun!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Savannah - a.k.a. Binge Fest 2011

We walked and ate our way through Savannah one cold and cloudy weekend in January. I’m a Paula Deen fanatic, so a trip to Savannah was a must for me!  Her restaurant, The Lady & Sons, is in the heart of the historical district of Savannah.  Yes, that was my main (only) motivation to go to Savannah. Paula Deen has truly inspired me in the kitchen – and she’s one heck of a lady, too! If you like to read non-fiction, I highly recommend her memoir, “It Ain’t All About the Cookin’.” She’s good stuff, y’all.

We made the road trip to Savannah and arrived on Friday evening. The kids, of course, were beyond cranky and tired so they went to bed immediately. I took one glance out of our hotel window, longingly, and then hid in the bathroom with my People magazine, a granola bar and a mixed drink that the hubby commandeered from the overly talkative barkeeper in the lobby.  Woo hoo!  Happy Hour in the bathroom!  It was worth it because the kids slept well and woke up happy in the morning, allowing us a very long day of walking around, eating and site-seeing.

We woke up very early on Saturday morning (see my previous post on this subject!) and found the most delightful little café called Goose Feathers.  We all loved it, but Sienna still talks about this little café and wants to know when we’ll go back!  And she’s not easily impressed!  We ordered an assortment of yummy treats; the chocolate croissant and pecan cinnamon bun were especially delicious.  

I love these kiddos!

After breakfast, I cued up to make a reservation at The Lady & Sons.  Once I had our lunch reservation, we walked around the historical district, admired the beautiful homes, toured several of the park squares, sat on Forrest Gump’s bench (!!) and then, before we knew it, it was time to eat lunch! 

Let me make this clear: the restaurant lived up to the hype!  I ordered the buffet – to sample a little bit of everything – the fried chicken, okra, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc., were all so delicious.  But, my favorite part of the meal was the fried green tomatoes.  The lightest, tastiest batter you could ever imagine!  Highly recommend those, if you ever stop by! It was so fun to finally taste a butter cake (or a “ooey-gooey cake”) from the original source!  And the banana cream pie was heavenly.  I’ll have to try that recipe sometime soon… 

No, that's not really her.  But I wish it was!

To say the least, we were FULL.  To take a break, we jumped on a horse carriage tour and learned the inside scoop about Savannah.  Did you know it’s the most haunted city in America?  Boooooo!  The horse carriage ride was also a perfect time for the kids (and parents) to nap.  Hope the tour guide wasn’t too insulted that we all napped in the back row! 

Then, you guessed it, time to eat AGAIN!  We ended up at The Pirate House, a real old-world pirate tavern turned touristy restaurant.  It was an odd meal, for many reasons, but the highlight was trying fried pickles.  Yep, that’s right…they even fry pickles!  Those little bad boys were surprisingly good.  I loved the vinegar and salt flavor burst and crunchy-gooey texture. 

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for homemade ice cream! 

Cheers!

I tried to convince myself that the we might have cancelled the amount of calories consumed with the amount of walking we did during the day but that’s probably wishful thinking.  Oh well.  When in Savannah...

Besides all the yummy food, I really loved that we could walk everywhere.  The area is easy to navigate because it’s on a grid system and the locals were friendly and helpful. It was a wonderful trip for us – the city has such a unique charm and we enjoyed too many delicious treats!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine's Day Goodies Galore


Last weekend, the kids and I had so much fun putting together heart-shaped sugar cookies decorated with dark chocolate frosting and dark chocolate M&M’s®. I really enjoy baking with the kids; it’s one of my favorite bonding times with them.  Anyway, it was easy because we used a package of sugar cookie mix that we had leftover from the holiday season and homemade chocolate frosting that I had in the freezer.  (I had made the frosting for cupcakes last month and split the batch – half to use now, half to use later.) The cookies looked so festive and the dark chocolate frosting made them an extra decadent treat.  Seriously, this frosting is for the most die-hard chocolate lover.  Vanilla girls, need not apply. 

Martha Stewart’s Dark Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients
Makes about 5 cups  (that’s a lot of frosting, even for a piggy like me!)
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiling water
  • 2 1/4 cups (4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 pounds best-quality semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions
  1. Combine cocoa and the boiling water, stirring until cocoa has dissolved. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add melted and cooled chocolate, beating until combined and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 5 days, or frozen up to 1 month, in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Dark Chocolate Frosting - Martha Stewart Recipes



For our dessert on Valentine’s Day, I decided to make candy-coated pretzels.  A little less fancy than our normal Valentine’s Day fare, but I decided on them for the following reasons: 

1) Last weekend, hubby and I decided that I must take a break from baking. Otherwise, our waistlines will begin to suffer the consequences.

2) We’ve been craving pretzel M&Ms and snacking on them almost every night.

3) On some random impulse, I bought a ton of CandiQuik® at the store last month. I’ve been looking at it wondering what I’m going to do with it; I’ve never used it before and am not really sure what to make with it.  I guess I could have looked up a recipe but that seemed to easy to me.  I was going to have to figure this one out on my own! 

Ginger’s Candy-Coated Pretzels

1 package of Vanilla CandiQuik
1 package of thick pretzel rods
1 bag of miniature Butterfinger®
1 bag of M&M’s
1 cup of sprinkles

1) Put the Butterfingers and M&M’s in two separate Ziploc bags and smash away. Lay the crumbles and sprinkles on separate parchment paper lined plates.

2) Melt the CandiQuik according to the directions.

3) Dip, roll and/or pour the CandiQuik over ¾ of the pretzel and let the initial excess drip off. Then roll the pretzel rods in one of the candy crumbles or sprinkles.  Place on parchment lined baking sheets to dry and harden.

Side note: this was a messy project and CandiQuik takes some coaxing to come off once it has dried. And you can also make these with strawberries, instead of pretzels.  



We’ll be pairing them with ChocoVine – a chocolate and red wine drink. Should be interesting! 

And of course, you need music! Here are a few songs on my Valentine’s Day playlist:

Making Out – No Doubt
Hey Stephen – Taylor Swift
The First Taste – Fiona Apple
Your Body is a Wonderland – John Mayer
Warm Whispers – Missy Higgins
Paperweight – Joshua Radin

Hope you have a special day with your loved ones! 

Saturday, February 12, 2011

What I cook for breakfast when the kiddos wake up at an ungodly hour on Saturday morning

For some unknown reason, my kids will not sleep in on Saturday morning.  Every Friday night I tuck them into bed hoping and praying that they will sleep to a normal time, somewhere around a practical 7:35 am.  Instead, they creep into my room around 5:15 am EVERY SATURDAY MORNING!  Given that I'm not a morning person and that it's my one day to sleep in, I am not a happy camper!  But I've figured out a way to be productive and happy when I'm awake before the rest of world....

(Ginger's side note: Thank you, Lord, for yummy food!)

Servings: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 5 min
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients 

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 teaspoon sugar
2   large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1   banana, peeled and thinly sliced
2 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup peanut butter
8   slices of white bread
1/2 cup granola
1 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
maple syrup

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the granola in a shallow bowl; set aside. 

Spread each slice of bread with peanut butter. Drizzle honey evenly over peanut butter. Divide the banana slices among four slices of the bread; top with the remaining bread, peanut butter sides down. Remove the crusts and tightly pinch the edges of each sandwich together to seal. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Soak each sandwich in the egg mixture for 5 seconds. Roll the edges of each sandwich in granola. 

In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Add the sandwiches, working in batches if necessary; cook about 2 minutes per side or until golden. Transfer the sandwiches to a baking sheet; bake for 10 minutes. Serve immediately with maple syrup.  



Add sausage or strawberries or both on the side.  And of course, I enjoy two cups of coffee while making it and one cup while I'm eating it. 

It's my favorite breakfast treat and boosts my mood every time! (Just make sure you have all the ingredients you need by Friday night!)