recipe here

I am headed off to volunteer at The Meatball Madness, hosted by Giada deLaurentiis tonight – and could not be more excited. Not because of the meatballs (not a fan), but because I love Giada! Her fabulous show on the Food Network is a favorite of mine for sure. It is an event that is a part of the New York Wine and Food Festival line up this year. Morning viewers got a taste of more to come tonight on The Today Show this morning, where Giada put her skills to the test in a meatball (I really cannot stand this word-I almost feel hesitant to post, HA!) challenge. Should be fun. I’d bring you back a load of pictures recapping the night, but photography is NOT allowed. Sad. 

*image +

Start with LOTS of asparagus. Snap the end off, leaving just the tips. Bend the end, and where it naturally snaps=the perfect amount of “stalky” end gone! In small batches, blanch the asparagus in a large fry pan filled with about 1/4″ of water – about 6-7 minutes. Remove from pan and season with salt and pepper, set aside.

Spoon four containers of chive and onion flavored cream cheese into a small bowl – let it soften at room temperature.

Add four small (or one large) red pepper, thinly diced.

about 10 slices of crumbled bacon, and a pinch of red pepper to season.

Mix all of those ingredients into the cream cheese until well blended. This mixture in and of itself is tasting worthy…for real!

Next step buy LOTS of crescent rolls. They make seamless sheets now, but the grocery store was out.

Unroll the crescent dough onto a non-stick surface, and spread with the cream cheese mixture. Add A LOT, do not be stingy…this is the good unhealthy stuff that makes people eat the vegetables. Kind of contradicting the idea of making a healthy appetizer, right?

Next, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and cut the dough into thin slices.

roll on asparagus tip per slice of crescent dough.

As you go place the individual appetizers on an un-greased cookies sheet.

and after you’ve rolled all of them up 200 of these babies in my case, bake at 325 degrees for about 8 minutes. Watch them carefully, you want the crescents to just be slightly brown on top.

and TA DA…all toasty and golden brown with a SPARK of deliciousness!

Bon Appetit!

Unfortunately work consumes the day. Lots of line drawing in revit and autocad. This leads to lots of clicks in photoshop and illustrator. Then somehow I forget which program I am using and try to use autocad commands in photoshop. Just FYI that doesn’t work, and makes things go where you do not want them to. Oh so frustrating. Then I just turn on happy music on my ipod and life gets happier. (Erika-why can they not be like you, and we play “happy music” out-loud”?) Yes, those clicks and frustration lead to really creative projects. I Agree. It is a good not great fix for the need to express creativity, but there is just something about the word computer that doesn’t cut it for me. You get where I am going with this?? It is just so much more satisfying to be hands-on; cutting, tearing; making, and experiencing texture. The haptic quality, sense of touch, is just plain goodness. Really for me, design is about communication, and I love to communicate. One of many ways to convey “something”. It is like a silent way of talking. We need that sometimes!

So, where I was going with the whole cooking thing at the beginning. I think it is somewhat therapeutic to me. Weird? I dunno? Mixing things to make really yummy things is just plain FUN! Then when it turns out really pretty and tasty (people really like it), it makes the whole act even better. It is like a “fast-pace” design project, with a relatively quick completion. No waiting around for subs, samples, painters, backordered materials, or questions.

For now, I have work to do on my computer. But I will be back soon with some new recipes I want to share.

and upon walking in the lobby of the hotel, we were welcomed with warm glasses of hot cider and a GI-normous gingerbread house that took over 30 hours to construct. 

But the best part was when I heard that this man was in his restaurant Spago. Yeap that is Wolfgang Puck himself. I swiftly turned around on one foot and directed myself to meet him. I walked in, headed toward the booth where he sat with his cookbooks, and chatted with him for a few. He was a delightful man. Those of you who know me, know what I am a cooking affetionado, but not a celebrity stalker. I really could care less. But getting to meet Mr. Puck was crazy awesome in my book, especially since I was not setting out to meet him. It was a total surprise, and a good one at that.

So as Mr. Puck would say, “Happy Cooking”. I will be back soon with lots of snowy white pictures!

even for the kids.

and embellished with a little crafty decor, which I informed my aunt that I MADE. She responded, “When?”. I reply, “two weeks ago”. She says, “Oh, I thought you were going to say grade school.” I would…make a rather “elementary” craft, and find it rather FUN! Yeap, all 30 of these darn little things I meticulously punched out and stuck together! Those googlie eyes had me sold at first sight!

Now back on track…the utensils are tied together with bows (the only plastic part of our Thanksgiving).

the grocery shopping is done.

and ready to be baked, chopped, sautéed, mixed, etc.

recipe #1: missisippi mud (my cousin John’s favorite…made just for him!)

layer 1: butter.

chopped pecans

mixed together with flour in a big bowl.

then spread with care in a 9×13 casserole

baked, and transformed into a lovely crust like this:

Layer 2: the goodness! cool whip + powder sugar + vanilla extract + cream cheese

Layer 3: a big size box of instant chocolate pudding, made according to package directions

NOW assemble Layer 1 + 2 + 3 and top with the rest of the CoolWhip

and made pretty with Hershey chocolate shavings on TOP!

recipe # 2 & #3: pumpkin pie & buttermilk pie

recipe #4: pumpkin cookies

with brown butter frosting, appropriately colored for the season! The frosting consists of evaporated milk, powder sugar, and MORE butter!! Imagine that!!

recipe #5: not really made for taste, but for FUN :::::: PILGRIM HATS!! I cannot claim this idea as a product of my own creativity, so I will appropriately direct all creative credit HERE.

Oh AND just FYI, we are NOT just having a Thanksgiving of sweets. Some healthy things too; like these potatoes made like this. And this just might be one of my all time favorite recipes.

and of course: turkey, dressing, squash casserole, green beans, sweet potatoes (ewww..not a fan!), and LOTS of homemade yeast courtesy of SAMs Club rolls!

What are your special plans, and what are you cooking for Thanksgiving???

• Preheat oven 325 degrees F.
• Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy.
• Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter.
• Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell.
• Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.

via Bakerella

I came across this last night when I ran in Winn-Dixie to get some fruit. This is a true 4th of July celebration MUST (half-kidding). I thought maybe this would inspire some of you to give it a shot, try to create your own “hambuger cake” for your July 4th party this weekend. If anyone comes up with something super creative (meaning you blow my socks off), I might just have to REWARD you!! Meaning a little surprise…YES!! Get your creative juices flowing, head to the kitchen, and see what you can come up with!

And before I go, thought you might like to know that Duncan Hines finally got it…We DO NOT always want to have to make 24 cupcakes, but we are given no choice.

We have to make a whole box of batter, and:

A. bake all 24 cupcakes
(or)
B. bake what we want, and dispose of the rest (dispose meaning TRASH it or EAT it)
(or)
C. come up with other alternatives

BUT not anymore…they now sell 1/2 box mixes that make a dozen perfect, cute, yummy, CUPCAKES!!

Thank you Duncan Hines!

Come with me and lets smell the roses of a fabulous weekend…

I really liked these too, but if we’d bought everything I “LIKED” then I would of done major, I MEAN MAJOR, damage! 

Bryan found two awesome (awesome looking and awesome priced) mirrors, a set of 6 chairs, and some other things. 

The only downside was Andrea had to ride squished in the back with all of the “stuff”. Can you tell she didn’t mind at all?? She’s a trooper! And I must mention I am not sure how we fit all of this in the back of my car. It was like putting a puzzle together.

But we still hadn’t had enough. We went mattress shopping too! These two are pretty cool… while I am not b/c I embarrass us all while taking pictures in the home department at Bloomingdales. But I had to get a shot of them on the MOST EXPENSIVE mattress I have ever seen. 

I DID NOT KNOW THAT THEY MADE A MATTRESS THAT HAD A PRICE TAG ON IT THIS EXPENSIVE…

YES!!! Your eyes are not going bad, $21,566.00!!!!!!!!!!!

We did find a mattress Bryan liked, and no it was not this one. Though it sure is a good thing they deliver because otherwise we’d of had it strapped on the top of the car (or drag behind?)

It was a    L   O   N    G    day, but we had A LOT of fun together! And to top it off we came home to a surprise from my grandfather:

Sqaush and string beans from our farm!! 

Have you ever seen so many green beans at one time? And I snapped ALL OF THEM, ALL BY MYSELF!! It took me over an hour, and so YES…we will be eating green beans for at least a week I am afraid! 

Two 1.5 gallon tupperware containers of snapped beans! YUM! 

Along with this YUM to the TUM fresh summer squash. I am thinking squash casserole tonight. My all time favorite, and we usually only have it at Thanksgiving.