The Cooking Vent: eating good

Showing posts with label eating good. Show all posts

Dreaming... (and a yummy Italian salad)

>> Sunday, August 28, 2011

I'm dreaming of Italy....

(via)

Cinque Terre, the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, so many wonderful things to see and do...

(via)

A cooking class, taxi rides in boats, hiking, reading, shopping, eating..... lots and lots of eating....

As the trip is getting closer (just a month away!!!), I'm getting so excited. Anyone been? Have any good recommendations of must see places or eats?

In anticipation, Archie and I spent a few hours at an "Italia Festa" in our local Little Italy. It was very Americanized, but it was fun to anticipate a bit about what's to come!

So many colors, so much food, delish!

Fried Zuchinni Rounds - made fresh!

The hubs got 'sausage and peppers' - looks disgusting to me, but hey, to each his own.

Yum Yum!

He's a handsome guy!

Sfingi - crazy good little Italian doughnuts. Fried dough - what more can I say.

We are going with some friends to Italy, and we've made it a tradition, that when we get together to plan anything, we MUST have an Italian meal. It only seems right.

The last time we got together, I made this delicious salad! Heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella, and a kalamata olive vinaigrette. It's topped with a healthy dose of chopped basil which add such a fantastic touch .

Beautiful Heirloom Tomatoes

This recipe is simple and quick, and perfect for those last of the summer beautiful red and juicy tomatoes. My friend Erin made this wonderful salad for me and was kind enough to pass on the recipe - so I have no idea where it originates from since she was kind enough to jot it down on a yellow steno. :)

Heirloom Tomato & Mozzarella Salad with Kalamata Olive Dressing (From: Erin)

Ingredients:

For dressing -

3/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup kalamata olives

5 tablespoons red wine vinegar

For Salad -

5 ounces fresh mixed greens

3 pounds heirloom tomatoes

1 pound fresh mozzarella

1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

Preparation:

1. Place kalamata olives and red wine vinegar in food processor or blender. Begin to process and drizzle in olive oil until completely blended/emulsified. Set aside.

2. Chop tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Line lettuce on large serving platter, then layer with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Drizzle vinaigrette on top. I drizzled a bit, and served the rest on the side so everyone could decide how much they wanted. Serve, and enjoy!

Fresh Green Bean & Fingerling Potato Salad & A Few of My Current Loves

>> Sunday, July 31, 2011

A few of my favorite things right now:

1. The idea that fall is just a few weeks away! I'm so ready for fall.... particularly fall in California.

2. "So You Think You Can Dance" - One of the fun parts about summer! My favorites right now are Melanie and Caitlyn - I'm a week behind - so nobody tell me any recent results.

3. Toms - They are super cute, go with everything, comfortable, and best of all - they go towards a really good cause. The fact that they give a pair of shoes to someone in need when you buy a pair makes it truly awesome! These are my newest pair.... they called them "mustard yellow cords" on the web page. I renamed them "grasshopper green".

4. Estate Sales - They.... are... brilliant! I have been looking for a cute vintage bistro set for our back patio for a while, and couldn't find one that wasn't an arm and a leg. Well, just hop on over to your nearest estate sale - on the last day of the sale of course - and what do you know! Cute bistro set, table cloth and fun vintage milk glass dessert plates. And for an AMAZING deal. Way cheaper than I had found anywhere, and they even kept telling me a cheaper price. Think they might have given us stuff if we'd stayed a little longer! (Pardon the picture - it was taken with my iphone).

5. Printable recipes attached to my blog!! Thanks so much for all the feed back on my last post! I'm sorry it has taken me so long to respond to all of your kind words! It gives me hope that you are using the recipes! :) So, in light of the amazing responses I got... I've added a print recipe feature. I'm going to be playing around with it some to see what works best, so tell me how you like it, and what I can do differently to make it work for you all. For now, the print recipe link is directly under the recipe name below!!! Enjoy!

6. This Potato Salad - Full of flavor! You can have it hot or cold! Microwaveable!!! The whole recipe takes less than 10 minutes. Fantastic! Super yummy and healthy. Hope you love it too.

Fresh Green Bean & Fingerling Potato Salad (From: Better Homes & Gardens):

Print Recipe

ingredients:

1 lb fingerling or new potatoes, halved

1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

1/4 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 shallot, chopped

2 Tbsp. white or red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. fresh parsley

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup pitted Nicoise or kalamata olives, halved

preparation:

1. Place halved potatoes into a 2-quart microwave-safe casserole dish. Top with green beans. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover and place in the microwave for 7-9 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring once. Drain.

2. For vinaigrette, in a screw-top jar or cruet, combine oil, chopped shallot, vinegar, parsley, Dijon mustard, pepper and the 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cover and shake well until fully combined.

3. In a small bowl, combine green bean and potato mixture, vinaigrette, and olives; toss gently to coat. Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve immediately or chill completely and serve cold. Makes 4 servings.

Changes and Celebrations

>> Sunday, March 6, 2011

It's amazing how one little moment in time can make such an infinite change in someone's life. One of my closest and dearest friends, Aimee, gave birth to twins on Friday!! Two beautiful boys that are absolutely amazing!

{Meeting Noah}

{Archie's going to make such a good dad!}

{So absolutely amazed by him!}

What a difference they have to look forward to. We are so excited for them. It was so fun getting to be there at the hospital with her for a bit. I've gotten to meet one of the boys, but the other is needing to be monitored for a while in the nursery, so I will get to meet him soon.

{Elijah right after birth... can't wait to meet him}

It's so crazy to me how they went in on Friday morning, and within 15 minutes she had 2 beautiful babies (I know I'm excluding the time in the womb, but you know what I mean). What a glorious change in a small family!

So, here's to celebrations. Celebrations of the new life of two precious little boys that are so incredibly blessed to have such amazing parents! And trying not to think of the idea of them moving away in 4 months!

{So blessed to have such amazing friends!}

On a completely unrelated note... how about some popcorn! :) This is such an easy snack, and somewhat on the healthy side (minus the butter, but there's really not much compared to the amount of popcorn)... it's a nice treat when you want something sweet, but don't want to blow the diet! I think I had the idea that homemade popcorn was hard - not true! You don't even have to have a popcorn maker - just a large pot!

** Post update - I have made this with real maple syrup and the results tasted just as good!

Honey Buttered Popcorn (Adapted from: Tasty Kitchens)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3/4 cup white popcorn kernals (uncooked)

1/8 - 1/4 tsp. fleur de sel salt (you can certainly substitute regular salt)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

In a small sauce pan place honey, vanilla, and butter together on low heat. Leave on low and allow to melt together.

2. In a large pot place the 2 tablespoons of oil. Place two kernels of popcorn in the pan with the oil and place on medium heat with the lid on.

Allow to heat until you hear the kernels pop open - that's how you know the oil is hot enough to place in the rest of the popcorn. Once open, pour in the kernels.

Place the lid on and shake frequently. Isn't my hubby a nice helper! :)

Remove lid when popping has stopped to 1-2 seconds between pops - otherwise it WILL burn! You should have glorious looking popcorn that looks like this!

Go ahead and give a good sprinkle of fleur de sel, and then drizzle with the honey butter mixture. Mix it all up, and enjoy your yummy creation! SO much better than movie theatre popcorn!

Saved For a Rainy Day

>> Monday, July 26, 2010

I decided to take part in my friend Carissa's Miscellany Monday, because it would be a great way to get back in the swing of things. So here's Miscellany Monday on Tuesday!

I'm sorry that I have been completely absent for about the last month. It has been QUITE the month! I might not have any readers left due to this crazy absence! Is anyone there?? :)

1. We did in fact go to Vegas over July 4th weekend, and had the most spectacular time with some amazing friends! Since they are locals, they showed us everything from different hotels, how to get free tickets to awesome concerts at Mandalay Bay, going to where they film Pawn Stars, seeing a new Cirque De Soliel "Elvis" show, amazing restaurants, and of course some awesome home-cooked food as well. My friend Derek likes to cook as well, so him and I chatted, cooked, and recipe looked, and my husband and his girlfriend made fun of us and ate free samples! :)

Breakfast at Hash House a go-go! Yes, we did split it, and yes, that was still a lot of food!

At the Venetian. It's so gorgeous, it makes you feel like you actually might be in Venice!

I'm in heaven! A chocolate fountain from floor to ceiling!!!

Just a little fun, posing for the camera on our hike!

2. My aunt passed away 2 weeks ago on Saturday. It was very unexpected, and was very hard on the family. I made a very impromptu trip back to the East Coast to be with my family and remember my aunt. The circumstances were horrific and shocking, but the time together with my family was sweet and priceless. I was there for three days (was only supposed to be two, but I had a flight cancellation of course), and got some amazing one-on-one time with just my family and these cute patoots! :) I have the cutest nephews and niece alive!!! Just excuse the HORRIBLE picture quality. In the rush of things I forgot my camera, so this is just taken with my Blackberry camera.

This is Bryson. He's so sweet! And he got to show me his mad skateboarding skills!

This is Ava Marie, She's playing peek-a-boo and doesn't like having her picture taken! :)

This is Gavin - he's my cuddlebug! :) He likes to sit in my lap for a long time!

I don't have one of Landon... he was movin around too much. :)

3. While I was in Charleston I got to meet some of my good friend's Katie and Tron's new baby girl, Selah. She is exquisite!!! So precious, but just as precious was seeing some of my best friend's being parents! They are so awesome! Check out how beautiful she is.

4. I ran my first 10k yesterday! It felt so good. Something I've been wanting to do for a while, and I finished the whole thing. My biggest goal was to not stop and walk at all, and I did it. I even ran way faster than I had been training to run. I had a blast! Next up, a half marathon!

Forgive the horrible picture, once again, I forgot my camera, so I used the BB, and I had just finished a 10k for crying out loud! :)

5. I made these a long time ago, and saved the recipe/pictures for a rainy day. Well, today's my rainy day, because it's been so busy, that I haven't done hardly any cooking.

I always find it so hard to find a good recipe for a chocolate chip cookie. They are always too cakey or fall too flat, or taste too much like flour. But this recipe definitely beats them all. And surprisingly enough, it comes from Cooking Light. I wouldn't say the recipe is good for you, but it does a better job of cutting down the calories than most chocolate chip cookie recipes!

I always make the full batch, but only make about 4 at a time to bake, wrap the rest of the dough in plastic wrap, put it in the freezer, and then pull it out when we want some. It lasts for months this way, and I don't feel bad about eating a whole batch of cookie dough.