Fig and Goat Cheese Bundles
I haven’t slept for about a week. No, the children haven’t been keeping me up with horrendous stomach flu. No, my new thyroid medication isn’t making me crazy (not a word from you hubby!!). And thank goodness, it has not been the wind for a change. You know what it is? I mailed in all of my paperwork to our accountant for our taxes. I checked all of my numbers over and over and couldn’t find one single penny more to deduct so with stomach acid creeping into my throat, I mailed it. And then I started frowning more, and my laugh lines softened because I was too busy scowling. A few days later, an e-mail from the accountant with a question. Before even opening the e-mail my stomach was doing queasy flips. Just a simple question about the paperwork followed with a, “We are working on it and will get back to you soon!”
For the weekend, we went camping at Lake Casitas with a great group of friends. Good food, good friends, and cocktails made me forget about the dreaded call for a few days. We had such a great time hiking, playing outside, playing inside the three trailers, and enjoying conversation around the firepit – with s’mores of course.
Curried Chicken Sliders
Pay no attention to the little Meatball Slider next to the Curry Slider. He will be the star of his own post. I figure it’s a “he” since, you know…he has balls.
This past weekend I spent a whole day with my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law. We had lunch, tackled some wedding stuff (for the S.I.L.), had pedicures, taste tested cupcakes and window shopped for hoochie dresses for Vegas. Yeah, you heard me right. We shopped for totally trashy dresses for our upcoming trip to Vegas…with my mother-in-law. And I mean sequined-gaudy-barely-covering-your-butt dresses.
Avocado Eggrolls
Way back when in Once Upon a Time time, I used to work for this small restaurant you have probably never heard of called The Cheesecake Factory. Before I started working there, Hubby and I were obsessed with their Avocado Eggrolls. After my second day working there, I dryheaved carrying them out to tables. You know how burnt out you can get on certain food after awhile? And I wasn’t even eating them. It was the smell that did it! Damn you, olfactory senses!!
Anyway, within a few weeks, I was burnt out on 200 seperate menu items. That being said, enough time has passed since my darker days as a server at the place that shall not be named. And now I’m craving them again. No, not that kind of craving. (better not be) So after some thinking and google-ing, I mastered the recipe. Here it is peeps!
Hubby’s note: Avocado + Fried + Cashew Sauce = Happy Hubby. The Cashew sauce is amazing. If I could figure out a way to get it through the IV tube into my arm, I might try it.
Remy’s Ratatouille Fondue
A fellow mommy-blogger and high school friend of my hubby’s, Nikki Bull Pollard (http://myfootinmymouth.blogspot.com/), is currently working on an article about family movie nights and asked me to contribute some food pairings with the movies. Which I am SOOO honored to do because Nikki’s blog is an overwhelmingly successful blog that absolutely cracks me up and she also contributes to www.ksl.com. The two movies she asked me to pair with are the fabulously entertaining movie, Ratatouille (which I secretly love to watch with Buggies and Pixie because it is all about cooking!) and the movie Enchanted, which stars McDreamy and that adorable Amy Adams.
Roasted Garlic
Here’s the deal. Garlic is amazing. If you don’t think so, you haven’t had it made for you the right way. Roasted garlic is one of our favorite starter appetizers. We love serving it with some crusty French bread. Spread it across the bread, sprinkle it with some kosher salt and black pepper and take a bite. It’s beyond delicious. Take it one step further by drizzling some white truffle oil over it. Or even placing a slice of avocado on top of the garlic and then drizzling with oil, salt and pepper. Mix it up peeps! Make it the way you like it – as long as you make this garlic.
Grandma Josie’s Chile (Salsa)
Ofrasina (Josie) Avila-Preciado was born in 1930 in Michoacan, Mexico. She was one of fourteen children. As a baby, she was smuggled into the United States under her aunt’s dress. She put her roots down here in California, got married, and started a family of her own. Her son Steve is my best friend Jessica’s father. Grandma Josie was one of the most selfless ladies to have ever lived. She loved her children and worked everyday to provide everything for them. One of those things she provided, was of course food. And Josie loved to cook. She would cook all day for her family and passed many of her recipes on to them.
She had a heart of gold and if she liked you, you were blessed. If she didn’t like you, well let’s just say I’d advise you change your name and move to Canada. Grandma Josie passed away in 2002 but her life continues to always be celebrated. The stories about Josie still make her family laugh, cry and relive her life all over again. It is my great honor to post the recipe (with her family’s blessing of course) for Josie’s amazing “salsa.” Please make this as soon as you possibly can. It has become a favorite in my family as well but it will always carry Josie’s name on it.
Hubby’s Note: My wife has been known to put this salsa out when I have the guys over to watch a game or for poker night. Any one of my friends that has had it once, will inivitably ask for it the next time they are over. It’s so fresh tasting. It’s the perfect mix of spicy and sweet and fresh. The only thing that improves it is a dollop of Guac on the chip right along side it. Thankfully, I’m always asked to be the taste tester while it’s being made. Does it need more of this? Of that? No honey, it needs more tortilla chips in my hands to eat it with.
Summer Skewers with Balsamic Syrup
We recently had a few friends over for an impromptu backyard BBQ. Ryan was dying to smoke a pork shoulder and I wanted chocolate sheet cake. That’s half a party right there isn’t it? I think so! Well, I wanted to make something light and refreshing as an appetizer. I was google-ing, searching recipe books, looking at our BBQ app on my phone – I was desperate for some inspiration! I had a watermelon, mini heirloom tomatoes and basil in my house. What to do…what to do. What I did was make these fabulously refreshing skewers. I layered the watermelon, basil, and tomatoes on skewers and served them up with a balsamic/sugar reduction. I made a few too many so I took them to my in-laws house the next day and my mother-in-law swooned. I know it’s “kind of” fall already but here in California, we have Indian summers that last well into October. Make these quick before watermelon is out of season and we have to wear close-toed shoes again.
Oh! And scroll to the end to see a picture of our four kids eating their corn. Silly little monkeys…..
Burrata Cheese Crostini with Basil Oil
Have you had it? Have you cried from happiness of eating this cheese? The first time I had it was before the Sex in the City 2 movie. My girlfriends and I met in our party dresses for cocktails and appetizers before heading over to see the SITC girls head to Abu Dhabi. We went to Farfalla in Westlake Village. I LOVE eating out with my girls because we usually order a ton of different things and share. And they like all of the things that my sweet hubby doesn’t. We ordered burrata cheese over a crostini drizzled with a basil oil. GASP! It was delicious. The cheese was creamy, the bread was warm and soaked in butter and the basil oil gave the perfect punch of flavor. Of course I had to recreate it. And it was kinda super easy.
Italian Quesadillas
I’m not gonna lie. It takes some planning to keep new recipes coming every few days. And my past two weeks have been crazy so my posts have dwindled for just a moment. But I’m proud to say that I’ve been stockpiling. I’ve got some ammunition that I’m ready to release people! That being said, I had a very ambitious night where I decided to make six (SIX!!!) new recipes for a casual dinner party. And of course because I hadn’t spent a few days in my kitchen and I’m pretty sure my Kitchenaid hummed to life on its own, I needed to cook. I was also craving mushrooms and because Ryan won’t eat mushrooms, I thought I could add them to an appetizer and get my fix. That’s one of my favorite things about entertaining friends, we outnumber my picky husband so I can make some really yummy dishes!
Oh! And these are vegetarian 😉
Hubby’s Note: Yes. I’m picky. But I’m really cute. So…I’ve got that going for me…which is nice.