For Thanksgiving, we spent the day and evening with Micaela and her family.  I racked my brain (and perused Pinterest) to find some good ideas for appetizers. I decided that cheese is always good. So, I made some goat cheese ‘truffles’, inspired by an appetizer i’d tried at 1313 Main, a wonderful wine bar in Downtown Napa. It’s  very simple, and so tasty!

Note: all pics were snapped with my iPhone. I should’ve used my regular camera, but I hate to get food hands on it! LOL

Ingredients: Holiday grapes, Chevre cheese, pistachios (I bought pistachios, and used the tenderizer to smash ‘em good) I spread out a piece of wax paper to keep the cleanup to a minimum.

It’s time consuming, but you have to cover the grapes with the Chevre cheese.  I used a spoon to apply the initial bit, then rolled them around to make them even.

Then, roll around the ‘truffles’ in the crushed pistachios.

epic, tasty win.

For my 2nd appetizer, I found a pretty treat on Pinterest.

Ingredients: Water crackers,  brie, cranberries, sugar, maple syrup (I used Grade A amber), and honey (mint was used for garnish, I forgot it whoops) Follow the recipe as given HERE, but I used honey instead of chutney

stirring the fresh cranberries with the warmed maple syrup

After sitting overnight in the fridge, I sugared them, and let them dry for an hour.

so tasty on their own, BTW.

Assembled as follows: cracker, brie, drizzle of honey, 3-4 cranberries.

Finito, and I might have eaten like 5 of these. Whuuut.

What delectables made it to your Thanksgiving table? Any treats you want to make for the December holidays?

A couple of weeks ago, my office had a baby shower luncheon for a few employees that are expecting babies in the next month. It was a potluck luncheon, so I offered to make cupcakes (I’m known in the office for good desserts).

I ended up making two flavors: my chocolate covered strawberry (seen HERE), and a lemon-lime variation I made up as I went along. It turned out to be the BEST lemon butter cream I’ve ever had (and I am saying a lot there – I love lemon desserts!). I was so happy, and am sorry but not really to say that I ate quite a bit of butter cream with a spoon.

The cake batter was a basic white cake, but instead of adding the full amount of water, I substituted a smidgen of Odwalla Summertime Lime, and then a squeeze of fresh lime juice. It turned out light, with just the right amount of sweetness.

Anyway, the butter cream is pretty basic; all ingredients that I already had on hand: unsalted butter (some say full salt butter, but i really don’t like it – all preference), 2 lemons (zest and juice), powdered sugar.

Soften 1 stick of unsalted butter, and whip it in your mixer (beat it up, don’t be afraid). Slowly add the powdered sugar in (i ended up using about 3 1/2 cups). Add 2 tablespoons hot water (1 at a time)  and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.  I then added in 2 tablespoons of lemon zest to round out the flavor. If you like it creamier, you can add in a teaspoon of whole milk.

Look at the peaks! It turned out thick and creamy.

I have definitely perfected my chocolate butter cream – less powdered sugar, more Scharffen Berger unsweetened chocolate.. Diggin’ it. I added a few candy pearls to pretty it up.

For fun, I added some leftover zest and sugar as decoration.

Now I want to make another batch.

The holidays are beginning (anyone else totally freaked out that Thanksgiving is the day after tomorrow?! Where the heck did November GO?), which means it’s time to start compiling the recipe list for Christmas treats.  I’ve been spending a lot of time on Pinterest (internet crack), and have found so many great ideas for appetizers and desserts! I can’t wait to try them out.

Last week, I read a post over at Hello Miss Chelsea that featured a tasty treat!

Pretzels and chocolate are one of life’s perfect couplings – salty, crunchy, sweet…

I pretty much HAD to make them. So, I snagged the Snyder’s Snaps (regular, not the Butter) and Hershey’s Hugs and followed the super-simple steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees
• Line up the snaps on a cookie sheet, and place the unwrapped Hugs on them.
• Place in oven for 2 minutes – don’t go over this time! You don’t want them to melt completely
• Take ‘em out, and place the remaining Snaps over them to create choco-prezt sandwiches.

After the success, I felt a little cocky. So I decided to mix it up a bit

This time, I used the Nestle Chocolate & Mint chips, and mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

SO FLIPPING DELICIOUS! Thank you a million times for bringing this to my attention, Miss Chelsea!

What other combinations would work?

My cherry tomatoes on Friday….

And same tomatoes on Monday:

How awesome is that?!

I made a watermelon salad on Monday night, and used fresh mint from our garden:

watermelon, mint, and feta with a mere splash of balsamic vinegar

I love planting! It is so exciting to see our garden flourish. We joke now that we’re headed to “the farm” when we go to the back to clip herbs, or pick tomatoes and strawberries. I want to plant more! We’ve tilled the side of our yard, and have begun planning out our fall and winter gardens.

For our anniversary, I decided to go low-key and make dinner at home.  I had a lot of fun preparing this meal! I went with the basics: pizza and salad.

The salad: Strawberries, tangerines, almonds, and baby spinach tossed in a homemade champagne vinaigrette that I seriously made up as I was doing it. Luckily, it was perfect!

Dressing:
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 Tbsp cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp champagne (we were drinking a bottle of  2007 Schramsberg Blanc de Noir!)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Stir ingredients together, and toss with salad. Delicious!!

The Pizza:

This was my first time using the Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat pizza dough, which comes in individual bags in the refrigerated section. You let it rest on a lightly floured surface for 20 minutes, then roll out to desired shape/size. Add a smidgen of EVOO to your rolling pin (or your fingers, if you decide to hand-shape); it adds a smooth flavor to the dough.

Instead of using a sauce, I covered the dough in sun-dried tomatoes that had been soaked in olive oil:

Then, add baby arugula (remove stems first).

Final flavor: crumbled gorgonzola!

I rolled in the sides of the dough to create more of a crusty-edge, but this isn’t necessary.

You can bake or grill this pizza; we opted for the oven. After 10 minutes at 450 degrees, we had a perfect homemade pizza!

Let me tell you: I loved this pizza. I can’t wait to make more. I might try making my own dough,but we’ll see if I can handle it. For now, the TJ dough is fab!

For giggles…

I decided to make my own Sangria this weekend, instead of buying the Stirrings Red Sangria mix and adding wine.

It turned out beautifully!

Here’s what I put into it:

1 bottle of  D’Aquino Chianti (purchased at Trader Joe’s)
1/2 carton of Trader Joe’s Strawberry Kiwi juice (100% pasteurized juice – apple, white grape, strawberry and kiwi)
3 jiggers of Charbay Blood Orange infused vodka
1 large navel orange, sliced
3 large strawberries, sliced
8 oz of sparkling water with lemon

Stir wine, juice, and vodka together in pitcher, and add the sliced fruit. Let chill in refrigerator for several hours. Just before serving, add the sparkling water for a bit of fizz.

This serves 7-8 people.

Super good!

Do you have any delicious drink recipes to share?

Looking for more blogs to become addicted to?! Go to Life of Meg and take part in Mingle Monday!

This week is half over! Thank goodness… Here’s some random notes from the week so far:

OMG wheee!! I finished our taxes. I can’t wait for our refund to arrive! *Happy dance, cha-cha-cha!*

I’ve been trying to keep myself peppy at work. I’m trying to squeeze in 2-3 days worth of paperwork into 1 day so that I can avoid working overtime, because overtime means less time with Marco. I might have to work late tomorrow, because I have a dentist appointment Friday and am taking off early.

My workouts have been going well. I usually use the elliptical, then weight machines. After that I’m on the BOSU balance trainer for stretching, hand weights, and sit ups.

I also discovered an AWESOME post-workout meal. 1 piece of  Flatout flatbread light (90 calories), 1 Wholly Guacamole 100 calorie pack (perfect portion!), slice of tomato, salsa if you want some spice. Roll up and enjoy!  Low calorie count, healthy fats, whole grains and a serving of fruit! It’s filling and delicious.

Last piece of news: Detectives Goren and Eames are back for the final season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent!! YES! Episodes start up in May. I am so happy they are back – the show wasn’t the same without them. I like Jeff Goldblum, but it gave the show a completely different vibe. Det. Goren brought the awesome.

Hope your week is going well – we’re almost there, lovelies!

After our leisurely morning and afternoon at home, we drove down to Livermore for a celebration with my in-laws. We had lots of fun, and SO MUCH good food!

For my contribution to the feast, I brought along two wheels of double-cream Brie that I’d covered in Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough.  I sprinkled the dough with pecans and brown sugar. Baked at 350 for 10 minutes (just enough to turn golden), drizzled organic honey over the warm dough and served with the Keebler Club crackers. Totally delicious! I ate far too much of it.

In addition to that, there was prime rib (not for me, obviously! LOL), mashed potatoes, a great pear salad, and jell-o salad (butter-pretzel crust, cream cheese with whipped cream, and strawberry jell-o, layered). For dessert, we had cookies, rum cake, pecan pie…and even more!

Dad and Debi gave Tim a new drill (his old one JUST died, it was perfect timing!). I received some beautiful silver earrings (which I put on immediately), a cute headband, and a copy of An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin (WIN!). Marco received lots of books and toys from his Grandma Debi and his Great-Grandma Judy. Spoiled!

Merry Christmas <3

Marco and Aunt Chloe

Me and Cameron

We drove home in comfy, relaxed silence (Marco slept the whole way), and snuggled into bed late. It was a wonderful Christmas! I can’t wait for next year, when Marco is walking around!

Interesting week! I spent most of it snacking on this crumb coffee cake that I made Sunday morning. I made the low-fat version, but I think next time I’ll use the full amount of butter in the cake batter (I used plenty in the crumb topping, heh heh). It was good, but could be better. I snapped pics with my iPhone:

We’ve been watching the World Series as well, and Game 1 and 2 were fantastic! I am so excited with how well the Giants are playing (okay, and how not-so-good the Rangers are playing, ha ha). Marco likes baseball, and was enjoying himself watching the first few innings (but then had to go to bed).

Marco turned 5 months old this week, so I took some pictures of him to document the milestone.

More pics here.

Ooh my my giveaway prizes arrived from Kami! It was fun to receive something from Canada – I never get mail from outside of the U.S.

She snuck in one of her rose rings for me; I was bummed when they went out of stock in her etsy shop. I love this ring!

FYI: Kami just announced her pregnancy! Go to her blog and congratulate her on this momentous occasion.

What else…hmm…I work tonight, but I have the whole weekend off. Tim and I have fun plans for Halloween weekend. Marco will look so rad in his Darth Vader costume.

May the force be with you!!

I found a recipe in October’s Food & Wine magazine for Eton Mess, a dessert often found in Windsor, England. It sounded good, so I went ahead and tried it out.

It’s a really simple dish, not too sweet and very tasty! I left out the pistachios, and started with vanilla meringues purchased at Trader Joe’s, instead of making my own as the recipe suggested.  I love fresh meringues – the bit of crunch and sweetness, and zero fat!

Anyway, here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 C Heavy Whipping Cream
3/4 C Confectioner’s sugar
1/4 C thinly sliced mint leaves
2 pints Raspberries
3 Vanilla meringues (as I said, you can make your own – but this dessert was perfect with the Trader Joe’s version)
1 vanilla bean pod (I used 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract, as I did not have a bean pod on hand)

In mixing bowl, whip the cream into soft peaks. Add the vanilla extract and 1/2 C of the confectioner’s sugar to mix, and blend to thick peaks.

In separate bowl, mash about half the raspberries with remaining 1/4 of sugar. Leave the remaining berries whole. Fold mashed berries into whipped cream mixture.

Coarsely crumble 2 of the meringues, and stir into cream, along with the mint.

Spoon into cups/bowls, top with remaining berries and crumble the last meringue over the top. Enjoy!!

If you want to add the pistachios, take 1/2 C shelled and chopped pistachios, and sprinkle over top of dessert.

This week I also undertook to making up some butternut squash for Marco. The Beaba Babycooker finally made its debut! This thing is awesome, and super-easy to use. I put the squash into the steam basket, filled the steamer with the appropriate amount of water (handy chart included) and it steamed itself to perfect tenderness (automatic shut-off when finished!).

Then I just dumped the squash directly into the blender part (along with the cooking water) and blended it for 10 seconds.

Voila! The perfect puree for Marco! It tasted so good; I hope Marco likes it. Might have to use some of the extra for a soup.

Have you entered my giveaway yet?! Winner will chosen at random and announced on Monday, October 25th!! Go HERE to enter!