Soup's On!

Soup is definitely one of my favorite fall/winter comfort foods. And I just love these soup bowls! If I don't win, I may have to go find some of my own.

My friend's mom is hosting this contest. Head over to see Rhonda at A Home With A Smile to enter yourself in this contest. But stay awhile over there, she has wonderful crafting projects to look at and she finds ordinary stuff at yards sales and makes them extraordinary!

Apple Crisp

Baking has become a huge passion for me. After a rough day at work, coming home to my kitchen and making dinner or baking is relaxing to me. It has become my therapy.

With that in mind, I have been trying to decide if baking/cooking is something I was to pursue as a career of some kind. I love being the behind the scene person or serving people. As we speak, I am waiting for our dinner guests. I can't wait for them to get here so I can serve them the yummy dinner that has been simmering in the slow cooker all day. I had to give up on making a dessert. They really wanted to bring something so my husband told me I had to share.

I'm slightly off topic...I have recently decided I am going to try to sell some of the things that I make. The problem with that is that every recipe I make is someone else's work. After a bit of research I figured out how to make something my own.

Here I present to you the first recipe I have written...Apple Crisp.


I had to start simple. I am really pleased with how it come out and even more proud to call it my own. I debated whether or not to share this news with you as I am not ready to share the actual recipe yet. It still needs some tweaking, as evident by the juice in the bottom of the bowl. But I was so excited about this first step that I had taken that I had to share the news.

I think I hear the door bell! I'm off to greet my dinner guests!

The Come Back!

It is long over due but I think I am ready to make a comeback into the blogging world. I know I have been gone a long time and for various reasons.

With this return to the blogging world is going to come some changes. Some of these changes you will see in the near future but for down I am updating my blog url. I'm sorry to do it because I know it means more work for you. When I created this blog, I really didn't know what I was doing. So the title of my blog does not match my url and my url is not as cool as my title and since I am going public with it (big hint) I want to make them the same.

If you are reading this in Google Reader, please, please, please update your subscriptions. If you are a casual reader of my blog, please update your bookmarks and favorites and please come back soon for some more exciting changes.

My old url: http://lloydsdinnerandamovie.blogspot.com/

New and improved url: http://supplicious.blogspot.com/

TWD: Tribute to Katherine Hepburn Brownies

Not only are we giving a tribute to Katherine Hepburn and her brownies this week we are also giving a tribute to Lisa of Surviving Oz. I am also giving giving my husband a special tribute as today is our 2 year anniversary! But for now back to the brownies...

You will notice at the top of this post a new TWD logo. A while back our TWD admins presented a contest to us, come up with a new logo for our group. Lisa of Surviving Oz was our winner and her reward was selecting our next recipe (and if you know how big our group is, jumping the line on picking a recipe is a BIG deal!)

So, Thank You Lisa for our new logo and this week's recipe!!



I chose to skip the cinnamon and the coffee. I baked them a little bit longer than the recommended 30 minutes as early reviews from fellow bakers had gooey brownies. I took these to a 4th of July BBQ and they were a big hit. We made them into brownie sundaes. Personally I prefer Dorie's French Chocolate Brownies but these are good too!

Hoestess: Lisa of Surviving Oz
Recipe Here!

TWD: Parisian Apple Tartlet

I think this is by far the easiest TWD I have ever made! I'm sure it helped that the recipe called for store bought puff pastry dough (props to those who made their own puff pastry!) I don't think it gets much easier than this. I will definitely be keeping this one in my back pocket for last minute guests.

The only change I made was to add some additional brown sugar right after they came out of the oven for an added sugar crust. We served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Amazing!

Our Hostess: Jessica of My Baking Heart

TWD: Chipster-Topped Brownies

FINALLY!!!

This was my week to pick our Dorie recipe!

I have to say I was very excited. The instant I received the email telling me my week was approaching, I grabbed the book and sat down with my husband. It didn't take us long to pick a recipe once we stumbled upon this brownie recipe. You see my husband has a weakness for chocolate chip cookies and an even bigger weakness for brownies.

I started getting a little nervous when the reviews from bakers who bake our recipes way in advance starting coming in about the cooking time being off and getting gooey middles. I took the advice of one baker who suggested baking the brownie layer for 15 minutes while mixing the cookie layer. It definitely helped to bake the brownie layer first. In the end, my total baking time was 60 minutes and an additional 15 for the brownie layer. I did placed some foil over the top for the last 15 minutes so my cookie layer didn't burn. I also didn't try to spread the cookie layer out, I just let it spread on its own while it baked.

At first I was slightly disappointed because my chocolate chips seemed to sink into my brownie layer leaving me with a brownie with a golden colored top. My disappointment didn't last long once I tasted them. Amazing! I personally still would have preferred more of a cookie layer but these were still great!

Thanks to all who baked with me this week!


Chipster-Topped Brownies
Dorie Greenspan, Baking: From my Home to Yours

Ingredients

For the Brownie Layer:
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 2/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

For the Cookie Layer:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store bought chocolate chip

Getting Ready
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9x13 inch baking pan, line it with wax paper or parchment paper and butter the paper. Put the pan on a baking sheet.

To Make the Brownie Batter:
Put both chocolates and the butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stirring occasionally, heat just until the ingredients are melted, shiny and smooth. If the mixture get too hot, the butter will separate from the chocolates. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until pale, thick and creamy. Beat in the salt and vanilla extract. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the melted chocolate and butter, mixing only until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then, still on low speed, add flour, mixing only until it disappears into the batter. Using the spatula, fold in the walnuts, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Set aside.

To Make the Cookie Dough:
Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Working with the stand mixer in the cleaned bowl or with the hand mixer in another large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. One at a time, add the egg and the yolk, beating for 1 minutes after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the dough. Still on low, mix in the chopped chocolate. Drop the cookie dough by spoonfuls over the brownie batter and, using a spatula and a light touch, spread it evenly over the batter.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the cookie top is deep gold brown and firm and a thin knife inserted into the brownie layer comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocolate. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

When the brownies are completely cook, carefully run a knife between the sides of the pan and the brownies, then invert them onto another rack, remove the paper and turn the right side up onto a cutting board. Cut into bars about 2 inches x 1 inch. (You can cut larger bars if you're serving cookie lovers with Texas-size appetites.)

Makes 24 servings.

Serving: Ice cream, whipped cream and creme fraiche are all great accompaniments, as is a generous drizzle of chocolate sauce.

Storing: Wrapped well or packed in an airtight container, the bars can be kept at room temperature for 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

Playing Around: The cookie top can be varied easily be swapping peanut butter, butterscotch or white chocolate chips for the chopped chocolate. You could even use all of them.

TWD: Fresh Mango Bread

I had a hard time motivating myself to make this week's recipe. It just didn't seem to appeal to me and I really don't know why.

The hardest part was peeling and coring the mangos. I am very thankful for my mango corer! My mangos had great color and weren't green and yet were still a bit green underneath. I wish I had double peeled them and got rid of some of the tougher skin. I bought 2 mangos for fear I wouldn't have 2 cups with just one. I ended up with about 3 1/2 cups. I added the extra mango just for the fun of it. I skipped the raisins and the lime zest.

I made the full recipe and actually ended up with a loaf of bread and 12 muffins! My husband loved it and took the bread to his rehearsal (as usual!).

The bread reminded me of a spice cake. The texture and flavor of the bread actually reminded me of a rhubarb cake that my mom made when I was little and I loved it. I'm glad I made the bread but I think I will stick with my mom's rhubarb cake (the rhubarb is easier to cut!)


This week's hostess was Kelly of Baking with the Boys. You can find the recipe on her blog.

PS. Come back next week for Chipster-Topped Brownies and I'm next week's hostess!!!!

TWD: Tiramisu Cake

I have to say that I was not excited for this week's recipe. Tiramisu is just not my dessert of choice. You must be asking yourself how anyone could not like tiramisu. Well, someone who doesn't like coffee, that's who! I love the aroma of coffee (which is good, since J loves coffee!) but I just never developed a taste for it.

I really struggled with whether or not to make this cake. I have missed the past two weeks due to life in general. So, missing this week would not have gone over very well. J and I have also been trying really hard to eat healthier and shed some unwanted pounds. I thought I had come up with a master plan to make the cake and send it away until...

I dropped an egg shell piece into the moving mixer.

It was an accident. J scolded me by saying isn't that why you are supposed to break it into a bowl first. Yes, that it true. However, I'm sure I probably haven't learned my lesson either!

In the end I made the whole cake intending to cut a little piece off for me sans the coffee. I remembered to cut the bottom corner but not the top. I give you my tiny piece of tiramisu cake without the coffee. It was good. I can honestly say I don't feel like I'm missing out by not eating anymore.


J loved it and wished it had more coffee. I just made a pot of regular coffee instead of the espresso coffee extract and liquor. I also made it in a square pan because I was too lazy to deal with 2 round cake pans.

Despite my procrastination, I am glad I made the cake!

For the recipe, please visit this week's hostess, Megan of My Baking Adventures

TWD: 15 Minute Mage: Chocolate Amaretti Torte

If you are a regular reader of this blog, get ready for some chocolate. TWD is going to be baking up some fabulous chocolate recipes this month! And I have the inside scoop to next month because I am one of the hostesses next month!

Anyway, to start off our run of chocolate recipes, we have the chocolate amaretti torte. Its a chocolaty fudge brownie but classier! The base of the cake uses the Italian almond cookie called amaretti. Open the bag and take a big sniff, the fragrance is amazing!

The cookies are finely chopped with additional almonds. Add butter, sugar, eggs and some melted chocolate and you have your cake. A chocolate glaze is added and to top it off an almond flavored whipped cream!


This cake was a huge hit with my family when I served it after our Easter dinner. It was so easy, it might become a regular tradition. And who wouldn't love being able to hop on a subway train, get off in Little Italy, pick up some amaretti cookies and head home to bake!

Thanks to Holly at Phe/MOM/enon for a great selection!

CEiMB: Salmon with Sweet & Spicy Rub

This week's recipe was a super easy one! Mix a couple spices together, rub it onto the fish and cook! This week's recipe also tasted fabulous!!

You are probably wondering where the salmon is for which this post is titled? There wasn't any salmon in the freezer only tilapia! My husband and I both loved the rub on the fish and because it is so quick and easy will probably use it often and on more than just fish, such as chicken or pork.

The best part of this recipe and Craving Ellie, is that I think, no I'm pretty positive that my husband enjoys eating fish. If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know this is a big accomplishment! I first introduced him to salmon, then we tried Ellie's fish tacos and now this rub!

Thanks to Pam of Lobster & Fishsticks for this week's selection!

TWD: Banana Cream Pie

What do you do when you are a member of a weekly baking group, baking for only 2 people, both of whom are trying to shed a few pounds??? Portion Control!

I was really excited to make my first ever banana cream pie. My mother-in-law makes one that I absolutely love. But bananas don't age well at all. With that in mind, I knew a whole pie was out of the question. Suddenly the light went off! Tartlettes!!!

It worked out perfectly! I made a whole recipe of pie dough and froze half. Rolled the other half into balls and pressed them into my muffin pan. Half the pie recipe made 6 little tartlettes.

The cream part of this recipe was a bit of a problem for me but I made it through. I used skim milk instead of whole milk. I only made half the recipe and in the end even that was too much. We skip the whipped cream topping to save the calories too! The cream was super thick for me. After cooling it in the fridge, I put it in my mixer and slowly added more milk until it was creamy.

My husband and I both loved these!

Head over to Amy at Sing for Your Supper for the recipe.

Beef Brisket

I promise that this piece of beef tastes a LOT better than what is looks like in this picture! You may remember a previous beef brisket recipe. Since there are only 2 of us here, I had cut the meat in half and stuck it in the freezer for future use. Well, the future has arrived for the second half to be used. Jake found a great recipe from allrecipes.com. Our changes are noted below.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef-Style Brisket

Ingredients

1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 bay leaves, crumbled
8 whole black peppercorns, crushed
1 tablespoon pickling salt (we used sea salt)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon celery seed (omitted)
1 (4 pound) beef brisket
1 cup water
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (omitted)
1/2 small head cabbage, sliced into strips (omitted)

Directions

Stir together the onion, garlic, mustard, vinegar, bay leaves, peppercorns, salt, parsley, and celery seed in a bowl. Cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours. (We

Rub the brisket with the mixture, wrap tightly, and refrigerate overnight.

To cook the brisket, place it into a slow cooker along with the water. Cover, and cook on low for 5 hours. Add the carrots, and cabbage, and continue cooking until the brisket is tender, about 3 hours more.

We omitted the overnight part and the slow cooker part of this recipe entirely! We mixed up the rub, rubbed it on the beef and put it in the oven for about an hour (it was a small piece!) We served it with a side of curry couscous!

Curry Couscous

This is a twist on a recipe from a Weight Watchers menu. The original recipe uses rice. We decided to use leftover couscous. I wasn't a big fan but my husband loved it! I don't know why, maybe it was just the texture of leftover couscous.

Curry Couscous

couscous
dried fruit (I think ours was raisins, apricots and cherries)

Rehydrate the fruit with just a little hot water. Add to couscous including water. Heat through, adding a little butter, 3/4 teaspoon of curry powder and a pinch of salt.

Apple Cinnamon Caramel Topping

French Toast with an Apple Cinnamon Caramel Topping!
Yummy!

I don't have a recipe for this as my husband made dinner for me once again. From my bird's eye view on the couch, I believe it was made like this:

Cook the diced apples in a pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with a little salt and sweat out the apples a little. Add some sugar and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves. Cook until softened and the sugar is caramelized a little. Place on top of french toast (made traditionally) and drizzle with your favorite caramel sauce.

German Chocolate Cake

For the past 2 years my husband had requested German Chocolate Cake for his birthday. Being the loving wife that I am, he requested and I happily baked!

2008 was my first time making the cake ever and it tasted fantastic. It just didn't come out of the pans very well. I have learned a bit since last year and didn't have any broken cake pieces (at least not large ones, a few crumbs though).

2009 was better than 2008. I still have trouble with layered cakes. This year I made only one change and that was cutting the recipe in half. This cake is so good, we could eat the entire thing ourselves. Since there are only 2 of us and we have a weekly Dorie recipe in the house, I made a smaller birthday cake this year.

Next year I'm hoping the third time will be a charm!

2009

2008: The good side

2008: The bad side

I use the recipe on the inside of the Baker's German Sweet Chocolate box. It is excellent!

Wegmans

This is my favorite grocery store ever. Sadly, the closest one to my home is an hour away and not convienent very often. But when I do get the chance to go, it reminds me of home. If you've been there you know that is more than just a grocery store.

thursday

Its 11:15pm and I don't know what to write.

I am emotionally drained this week. I've been trying to put me thoughts in order but it just doesn't seem to be happening yet. I'm praying for some peace and clarity after tomorrow.

What should be the most exciting time in her life suddenly became the darkest, how do you make sense of that? 17 years later, having gone through the most exciting time in my life, I can still feel the pain like its yesterday.

What I do know without a doubt is that God is with me all the time. He will heal all pain and He has the ultimate plan for my life and hers.

So, tomorrow will be a celebration of life even through the tears.

Tulips

Today tulips make me smile.


credit: Laroque photocredit.com

photographer: Elizabeth Lloyd

credit: Canadian Tulip Festival

photographer: Delia Anderson


photographer: Delia Anderson

TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

I'm at a bit of a loss for words tonight.

But I will say that this cake went over extremely well with 2 people who either do not like cooked fruit or do not like blueberries at all! I can say that I will be making this one again!

Our recipe this week was chosen by Sihan. A few bakers chose other fruits and/or made muffins instead of cake, check the TWD blogroll to see what the other bakers came up with!

Quick Pizza Dough

Pizza dough

Source: Judy's Gross Eats

(with whole-wheat flour}

1 package active dry yeast

2/3 c. lukewarm water (105-115°F)

2 t. sugar

½ t. salt

1 T. olive oil

1 ½ c. all-purpose flour

1 c. whole wheat flour (I sometimes use all-purpose flour)

Dissolve yeast in warm water (with a pinch of sugar) in the processor bowl. Add sugar, salt, oil, and all the AP flour. Process with the metal blade for 15 seconds. Let rise for 30 minutes in the processor bowl. Add whole wheat (or AP) flour and process until a ball forms on the blades.

Remove dough and knead on floured surface for 1 minute. Roll out into a large circle or rectangle to the desired thickness, about 1/8 to ¼ “ thick. Pinch up a rim around the edge.

Top with your favorite pizza toppings.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

First Day of Spring in NYC

Today's post will be brought to you in pictures; how I spent the first day of spring in NYC!

March Madness

Its a basketball weekend!! The only problem is my husband despises all sports and my childhood best friend is in town visiting us for the week and she too is not a sports fan! Thankfully its only the first weekend of games. I did sneak in a few games in between activities this evening, haha! I also have 2 more weekends in which to get my basketball fill.

My family and I have a tradition in our house. We each fill out a bracket and see who the family winner is. We only win bragging rights but its is a fun tradition. Surprisingly I actually convinced my husband to fill out a bracket. We'll see how he does! PS. He picked the teams based on how he liked the name of the team :)

Happy March Madness everyone! :)

CEiMB: Nutty Granola

This is terribly long overdue but here it is anyway. An old Craving Ellie recipe from several weeks ago. I didn't make it at the time but really wanted to. In fact when it was my turn to chose a recipe, this is one of the recipes I considered.

I am finally getting this up because each time its been made and there have been several, my husband has eaten it all before I could get a picture. Granola is one of his favorites! Needless to say he has loved this recipe. It is so incredibly easy to make and very yummy!

TWD: French Yogurt Cake

Its Tuesday again folks! That's right another delicious baked treat :) I couldn't wait to share this recipe with you. I baked mine early this week. I wanted to make sure I had time to fit in in before my weekend trip.
It worked out perfectly because I was able to take it home with me and share with my family. We sat down for dinner and as we were finishing, I jumped up and said, "I brought dessert!" They loved it. And there aren't too many lemon lovers including my husband and I but Dorie is slowly winning us over.
The next morning I was craving a piece of the cake, only to find out that someone had a midnight snack and finished it!


I didn't use the glaze because I wanted it to travel well without making a mess. I will try it next time and there will be a next time! It was so easy to whip up and smelled so good while it was baking.
Many thanks to Lilana for this weeks selection. You will need to visit her blog for the recipe!

Also, Tuesdays With Dorie had a special St. Patrick's Day treat. The membership was open for today only. You have till midnight tonight to send in and email to jump on the bandwagon before the membership door will be closed again!

Happy Baking! :)

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili
Source" Slow Cookers for Dummies"

Ingredients

3 Tablespoon olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 15 oz cans white kidney beans, drained and rinsed with cold water
3 cups low sodium chicken stock
minced cilantro leaves (optional)
sharp cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions

Lightly spray 4 to 6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray.

Heat 2 T olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken breasts and cook until no longer pink on outside, about 5-6 minutes. Remove and place in slow cooker.

Add remaining 1 T olive oil to skillet and cook onion, garlic, jalapeno pepper, oregano and cumin, 7-8 minutes or until soft. Place in slow cooker.

Add white kidney beans and broth to slow cooker. Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours or until the chicken breasts are very tender and shred easily.

Shred chicken breasts using 2 forks. To thicken chili, mash some of the beans against the side of the pot with a fork.

If desired, garnish with cilantro and cheese. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

Makes 6 servings.

My Wedding Day

1) When was your wedding day?
July 7, 2007

2.) What day of the week was it?
Saturday

3) Did you get married in a church?
Yes...North Central Assembly of God

4) How many in your wedding party?
20
My side-2 matrons, 1 maid, 5 bridesmaids, 1 jr bridesmaid and 1 flower girl
His side-1 best man, 2 groomsmaids, 5 groomsmen, 1 jr groomsman, 1 ring bearer

5) How many guests were invited to your wedding
745, I think total attendance was like 425

6) How long did you wait to tie the knot after your proposal?
10 months

7) Did you register for gifts?
Yes, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Target and Pampered Chef

8) Who did you hire as your photographer & videographer?
DigiPro Photography <-----Best Money Spent, If you live in the Central NY area, He's amazing!!

9) Did you have a DJ or a band?
Not really, we had a friend work the sound system for dinner music and his uncle was emcee

10) Did the father walk the bride down the aisle?
We lit a candle in my dad's memory and my brother walked me down the aisle

11) What color were the bridesmaid dresses & groomsmen vests?
Pink and Black

12) Who was the Maid Of Honor? The Best Man?
Kristina and Delia (my best friends) were my matrons and Krista (my sister) was my maid of honor; Josh (Jake's best friend) was the best man

13) Did the bride have a bridal shower?
Yes, I had 3

14) What type of limo did you get?
We borrowed a white Cadillac Escalade from the dealership I worked for at the time and a family friend was our chauffeur

15) Where did you go for your Bachelorette/Bachelor Party?
I actually had 2. A couple weeks before the wedding with some close friends, we went to dinner and back toa friends house for presents and games. The night before the wedding with my girls, we went to see a movie (License to Wed!) and back to a friend's house to hang out.

16) What type of wedding gown/tux did you two wear?
I wore a white Symphony gown with a sweetheart neckline and a rhinestone pin. Jake for a black tux with black pin stripe

17) How was the weather?
It was perfect, sunny and beautiful

18) Where did you go on your Honeymoon?
Disney World!

19) What was your favorite part of your wedding day?
I loved the whole day and would live it all again in a heartbeat (minus the planning!) I think the best part was marrying my best friend!

20) How long have you been married?
1 year and and 8 months

21) What was the most memorable "bridezilla" moment?
3 days before the wedding, I flipped out at while decorating/setting up the church, Jake had to "set me straight" and after that I was no longer involved in the set up of the church and wasn't allowed near the gym till after it was done.

22) What was your most memorable wedding-related mental breakdown?
Inviting over 700 people caused many mental breakdowns

23) What is the one thing you would change about your day?
I would have eloped! (just kidding but I can't think of anything I would have had the power to change)

24) What was your song?
The Next Ten Minutes from the The Last Five Years Musical

25) Who had the greatest dance moves at the event?
Since Jake and I had the one and only dance, then we were the best!

My Weekend!

I'm at a loss tonight for a post but I'm having a fabulous weekend.
My husband and I are visiting our families back home. We got in Friday evening and I decided to crash a friend's party. Several of my friend's were going to be there and none of them knew that I was going to be in town. It was totaaly worth keeping the secret. The look of surprise of their faces was priceless!
The surprise was then on me when my childhood best friend announced to us that she is now pregnant! I was in shock but it was so great to be there in person for the big announcement :) We of course went out to celebrate. I miss having quality girl time and didn't want our night to end but I am thankful for the time I did have with them!
Today we had nice relaxing morning then we went to spend the afternoon with my favorite little girl, my niece! I loved every minute of the time with her and the time with my one and only sister. Then, we went to dinner with my husband's family.
I can't wait to see what fun tomorrow has in store.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

Ravioli Casserole

This recipe is super easy. I hunted down a few before I started cooking. In the end, I didn't have enough ingredients to make any of them. If you have ever made lasagna this is basically this same thing but much easier!


I started with a layer of sauce on the bottom. Then a layer of cooked raviolis (they were leftover from the night before). Then I cut up some leftover turkey meatballs and layered those in. I sprinkled in mozzarella cheese. Repeat! When I layered the last of the mozzarella cheese, I also added Parmesan cheese. I baked this about 30 minutes at 350 or until the raviolis and meatballs are warmed through and the cheese is melted. Serve with garlic toast!

CEiMB: Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cream

This is the husband. Tonight I was in charge of making our "Ellie" recipe. After procuring the necessary provisions from the market, I set about this little task. I was not raised to be a consumer of "fishy" food, but have expanded my pallet in my "old age". These were surprisingly quite delicious. The chipotle sauce (albeit perhaps a little hotter than it should have been) helped give great flavor to this bland fish.

We did top ours with corn (brief story pause: I detest corn. I always have. My mother use to try to make us eat our portion of veggies as kids and clever boy that I was thought, "Hey, if I put my corn in a glass of mile - my fav drink of choice at the time - I can just swallow the corn. Needless to say it made me sick and I really swore off corn from that point forward! But tonight, I ate the corn. I'm learning! Back to blogging:), we also used lettuce - instead of cabbage, and ommited the cilantro.

All-in-all these were a hit, something I imagine we will revisit time and again! For all of you who think fish tacos are "gross", give it a try and find something new to experience in life!


This week's host was Sara from imafoodblog. She is also our new (and fearless) leader of Craving Ellie in My Belly. A big thank you to Natalie for all your hard work as our (previous) leader!

Syracuse Basketball

Orange Out Day at the Carrier Dome 2/14/2009

I am a native to Syracuse, NY, born and raised. Though I don't live there now, I am still a devoted Syracuse University fan, much to the dismay of my friend Julie, who is a devoted Duke fan.

I didn't attend the university (actually I did take a couple summer classes). I still wear my sweatshirts with pride. As I will be doing tonight while watching the Big East tournament. Now that I live so close to Madison Square Garden, maybe one day I will get to attend the tournament in person! Hey, a girl can dream, can't she :)

You will probably be reading some non-food related posts this weekend. I will be traveling back to my beloved Syracuse to visit my family! I can't wait. I also seem to be at a loss for food posts these days. Maybe I didn't have as much material as I thought to fill a 30-day posting challenge. I am not giving up. I actually had the lights off last night and got out of bed to post because I am determined not to fail! I am just going to have to get creative :)

TWD: Lemon Cup Custard

Sorry folks, no TWD here. I have been working like crazy. Long hours, long days and very long weeks! I have literally been crashing on the weekends. My husband and I are funny about textures and I just couldn't see either one of us enjoying this recipe. I just couldn't justify spending time making something that we wouldn't eat.

Please head over to out fabulous host Bridget at The Way the Cookie Crumbles. I guarantee she has fabulous pictures to look at. I truly envy her photography. You should also visit the TWD blogroll to see what other creativity surfaced this week!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

If you read yesterday's post. then you are probably wondering what I did with the pork rub. When my husband I were dating we had a weekly date nite that we affectionately called "movie nite". It was the one night a week solely devoted to us. It was almost always the same night of the week so we had something to look forward to and knew that was our night so nothing else was planned. Since we didn't live together, some weeks it was the only night we actually got to see each other. On a normal movie nite, Jake made dinner and we watched a movie.

On occasion when we didn't know what to have for dinner, we would go to the store together in search of something. One night we stumbled upon this pork rub. Not being big on pork, we decided to try the rub on some baked chicken. We loved it. It has a sweet and savory taste to it, kind of resembling a BBQ flavor but spicier.

One night when we needed a new dinner idea, we put this together and another winning recipe was born!


BBQ Chicken Pizza

pizza dough
chicken
McCormick's Grill Mates Pork Rub
BBQ sauce
mozzerella cheese

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Cook they are almost pink. Sprinkle pork rub seasoning over chicken. Finish cooking chicken until no longer pink, it will cook a little more in the oven.

On a rolled out pizza dough, brush with your favorite BBQ sauce. Layer on the cooked chicken. Top with mozzerella cheese.

Bake until cheese is melted and dough is crispy.

Teaser

I am afraid that today you are going to have to settle for a teaser.

You are probably asking yourself why?
I arrived home tonight at about 9pm after working a 16 hour day.
I couldn't sleep last night because daylight savings time had me all screwed up.
I worked together with my boss today.
I haven't seen my boss in 6 months (he lives in Baltimore, I live in NYC)

But I am dedicated to fulfilling my goal to of NaBloPoMo!

Check back tomorrow to see what I made with this pork rub. I'll give you a hint...it wasn't pork!!

Roast Chicken

Jake and I have found a love for roast chicken. And they are cheap which is an added bonus! I usually just put it in the crock pot stuffed with onion and garlic. This time I wanted something different. I found a recipe for a rub at Kalyn's Kitchen. She was making this rub and bagging it up into Christmas gifts. So, I scaled the recipe way down. I also didn't follow her instructions for use. It came out fabulous and juicy. I then took the rest of the chicken apart today and we had chicken soup with lots of leftovers. I have now turned a roaster chicken into 3 meals.

Just to give you a reference. I bought the chicken at Sam's Club. The roasters come in a 2 pack for $8.42. That's 1 chicken for $4.21. And I am going to get 3 meals out of 1 chicken. That's $1.40 per meal. Now I realize that I add things to the meal but how can you go wrong when the protein for your meal costs $1.40!

Here is what I did:

Roast Chicken Rub

6 Tablespoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoon thyme
2 Tablespoon parsley
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon onion powder
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sage
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon rosemary
1 Tablespoon paprika
1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper (I omitted)

Mix all ingredients together. Store in a air tight container.


Roast Chicken

I mixed 2 Tablespoons of the rub into 1/2 stick of softened butter. I rinsed the chicken and patted it dry. I then trimmed it of excess fat and loosed the skin from the chicken breasts being careful not to break the skin. I salted and peppered the inside cavity of the chicken. I then rubbed the mixture onto the chicken breasts under the skin. I then used the remaining mixture to coat the outside of the skin including the legs and wings.
I laid the chicken on a bed of baby carrots. Added enough chicken stock to fill the baking dish up about half way (2-3 cups)
I cooked the chicken for about 25 minutes at 450. I took the chicken out, turned the oven down to 325. I basted the chicken with the liquid from the bottom of the pan. I returned the chicken to the oven and cooked for about an 1 and 15 minutes until the temperature on a meat thermometer read 165 degrees. I basted the chicken even 20-30 minutes. I covered the chicken with foil towards the end to prevent it from burning while I was waiting for it to come up to temperature.




Chicken Soup

I saved the cooking liquid from the bottom of the pan and ran it through a strainer. I removed all the remaining chicken from the bones. Added carrots, egg noodles and enough water to have a good amount of broth. Let it simmer for 45 minutes.

Happy Birthday Braelyn!

1 year

These days I am surrounded by babies. I counted today and discovered that I have 12 friends that are currently expecting a child. I am super excited for all of them. Today I was uninspired to write about food. As I dug through my pictures nothing struck me until I found these pictures. So, today's post is dedicated to my favorite baby ever, my niece, Braelyn Dawn.

First Day in this World

I love this little girl to pieces. She is cute and adorable and fearless and mischievous and loud and funny and you just can't help but love her. I miss her terribly and wish I could be near her. The time I do get to spend with her is priceless. She turned 1 a week ago. I had to miss the festivities but we are going to celebrate when I see her very soon and I can't wait.

3 months

6 months

9 months

I think she looks like me in this picture :)

"I am a trouble maker but you still love me!"