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!"