Puffy Pears

Last night I had pears in my kitchen waiting to be eaten. So I jumped on pinterest for some inspiration and decided to make this:

Basically poached pears wrapped in puff pastry with honey syrup.

They were delicious, easy to make and tasted like winter.

I highly recommend them ♥

I ♥ Barefoot Contessa

I may be a little late on the bandwagon but my latest obsession is trying to cook like Ina Garten. I have been fond of her for a long time but this pregnancy I have really had the urge to cook, bake and eat delicious foods. I found the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks on a slight sale about a month ago and bought every single one. Often all I do during Adelaide's nap time is study the amazingness that is found in her books. I have tried out several of her recipes, and Rick agrees that every one has been delicious (although he is still uncertain if that justifies buying all of her not-so-inexpensive books and the often not-so-inexpensive ingredients). We ate most all of the dishes I have made so far before I remembered to get a picture, but I did manage to get one of this fruit tart:

I was really proud of myself and thought it turned out pretty :)

And it tasted even better than it looked.

I ♥ Justin's Butter

I haven't been blogging lately because I have been too busy eating this:

Seriously, it is so delicious. It's like Nutella but way better- it has one third the sugar, no hydrogenated oils or dairy and actually tastes like hazelnuts. I plan to try it in banana crepes soon but for now I'll just keep eating it by the spoonful.

Pie in a Jar

A while ago my sister sent me a link on how to make Pies in a Jar from Our Best Bites Blog. I thought they were so adorable and we even ended up making them in a night class with some ladies from church. They are not difficult and the best part is you can store them in your freezer until you feel liking baking them for yourself or a friend.

Here is one of the apple pies I made. I highly recommend this delicious project!

Enchilada Love

These Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas are so delicious! I made them tonight for our little family and they were a big hit. I even made a double batch and froze half for next week. I am trying to be more organized and am attempting to make two meals a week that I can double and freeze, that way I only have to actually cook five meals per week from scratch. So far it is working out great :) Anyways, I highly recommend this recipe from Whole Foods... I am loving their recipes lately.

Orange Fries

I cannot get enough sweet potato or yam fries lately. Adelaide and I both love them. I think Rick would too but there is never any left for him by the time he gets home. Oops.

Ingredients:

Sweet Potatoes or Yams

olive oil

salt

pepper

brown sugar

paprika

I think what I like most about these is how easy they are. All you do is peel and cut them into pretty equal sized wedges (otherwise the small pieces will burn and the big pieces won't be as crisp as you'd like). Then you drizzle olive oil on them and sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika and brown sugar to taste. Toss it together and place on a baking pan or dish and place in a 400 degree preheated oven. I check them every ten minutes and stir them until they are crisp and done. I've noticed that using a baking sheet makes for more crispy and less soggy fries.

Enjoy!

What they look like before you pop them in the oven.

Finished! This batch I didn't want too crispy- if I had left them in a little longer they could have browned more.

Child approved!

Good Recipe Finds

Last night we had some friends from Rick's program over for dinner and it was a great time. The more we host dinner parties the more I realize that I really love making dinner for other people. I get excited like a week in advance and try to think of what menu I could pull together.

Last Night's Menu:

Stuffed Pasta Shells

I doubled the recipe

Garlic Bread

I used a ciabatta loaf

Blackberry Ginger Tartlets with Marscapone Cream

I meant to take pictures of the dishes but forgot and then everything was gone. But these recipes were really good so I wanted to save them on here to reference later.

1st Popsicle

Yesterday Adelaide had her very first Popsicle. I didn't grab the camera in time but when she first got a hold of it she held the cold part in her hand and started biting on the stick instead. Eventually she figured it out and seemed to enjoy it. :)

Baked Pears

I have never baked a pear before in my life, but let me tell you that these stuffed pears are so delicious! I originally saw this idea in one of my vegetarian cookbooks but then I found a recipe I like even more on the blog Live Laugh Eat. I only changed her recipe slightly:

Ingredients:

3 pears

4 oz goat cheese

5 dried figs

1 T honey

1/4 C chopped pecans

dash of cinnamon

sparkling cider

Directions:

preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the goat cheese, figs, pecans, honey and cinnamon in a bowl.

Cut the pears lengthwise and cut out the cores.

Spoon the filling into the pears and place in a baking dish. Pour apple cider into the pan so it creates a shallow bath. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

I served it on its own platter alongside a spinach salad with poppyseed dressing and it was a big hit... Even Rick liked it and he normally hates goat cheese.

Best Juice Ever

Rick gave me a juicer two years ago for Christmas and although I was initially super excited about it, I haven't used it much since we moved to Colorado. I am suddenly motivated to use it again and that is partly because of this delicious recipe I spotted online. I have adapted it slightly and here is what I used to make the best juice of my life:

Ingredients:

1 large apple

2 carrot sticks

2 oranges

1 lime

1 mango

1 inch cube of fresh ginger

Directions:

Cut everything small enough to fit into your juicer, scrub the carrots, peel the oranges, lime and mango, and cut a little cube of ginger. Throw it all into the juicer and enjoy!

I think I especially like this juice because it's cold outside and this feels like a little tropical getaway in liquid form.

Latest Love from Costco

Cannot stop eating these. And yes, I realize that even though they claim to be somewhat healthy, they are not so much.

Say Cheese

I recently read Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and absolutely loved it. One of the many things she inspired me to try was to make my own cheese. So I ordered myself a mozzarella cheese-making kit recently and gave it a shot. It is really tasty and I'm excited to keep making more!

I know it is not perfectly smooth and beautiful, but I'm new to this.

Taffy Time

Adelaide is so quick these days, if I am not paying attention to her every single second she gets into some mischief.

Today she found some favor bags from her birthday and enjoyed her first salt water taffy. Can't believe she can get those wrappers off all by herself.

Guilty but unashamed:)

Red Vine Lovers

Rick loves Red Vines to an unhealthy degree. In my weird imagination I picture a doctor being very surprised and perturbed by the results of Rick's blood test... "The findings are quite unusual, it seems like your blood is made up primarily of Red 40. How can this be? We will have to do some further testing" Obviously my daydream shows my complete ignorance of all things medical, but anyways...

We buy bulk on a quite regular basis and I know for a fact that he can eat an entire container in less than a week because I don't participate. I'm not a fan of the flavor or texture and especially the ingredients list. I wouldn't allow Adelaide to try them for the longest time, but I suppose I have loosened up a bit lately and now Rick is permitted to share.

And of course, Adelaide loves them.

(As evidenced by smears of red on her face and longing expression for more.)

Like father like daughter I suppose:)

Have Your Cake and Eat it Too

For Adelaide's birthday I made my Grandma's Milk Chocolate Cake.

I kept Adelaide occupied and happy during the baking process by letting her lick the whipped cream covered spatula.

I decided to make the cake with four layers

(because this allows for more whipped cream filling!)

The chocolate frosting is delicious.

Adelaide just blew out her first candle!

Milk Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

2 C Sifted Cake Flour

1 2/3 C Sugar

4 t Baking Powder

1 t Salt

5 T Cocoa

2/3 C Soft Shortening

1 1/3 C Evaporated Milk

1 1/2 t Vanilla

3 Eggs

Directions:

Sift all dry ingredients together. Beat shortening, evaporated milk and vanilla for 2 minutes. Mix dry and wet ingredients together. Add eggs and beat for 2 minutes. Pour into pan(s) and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until done. Be careful not to over bake. Let cool for ten minutes. Put homemade whipping cream between layers and frost with chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Frosting Recipe

4 Cups Powdered Sugar

1 t Vanilla

1/4 C Butter

1/3 C Cocoa

1/4 C Milk

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Add more milk if necessary to reach desired consistency.

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Pasta

If you like butternut squash then you will love this pasta! It is probably more of a winter dish realistically but oh well...

Ingredients:

4 T Unsalted Butter

1/2 C Chopped White Onion

Salt and Pepper

1 lb 12 oz Butternut Squash (unprepared weight)

Pinch of Nutmeg

12 oz Dried Pasta

3/4 C Cream

4 T Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese (plus extra for serving)

2 T Chopped Fresh Parsley (plus extra for garnish)

Directions:

1. Heat butter over low heat. Add onions. Sprinkle with salt. Cover and cook stirring frequently for 25 to 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, peel and chop the squash.

3. Place chopped squash in the pan with butter and onions. Season with nutmeg. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes.

4. Add pasta to lightly salted boiling water and cook until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain thoroughly reserving 2/3 cup cooking liquid.

5. Stir in cream, grated Parmesan cheese and parsely into the squash sauce and season with salt and pepper. If the mixture seems to thick, add some or all of the reserved cooking liquid and stir.

6. Mix pasta and sauce together and toss for one minute. Serve immediately and garnish with chopped parsley with extra Parmesan cheese for sprinkling.

7. Enjoy!

Pizza Love

I worked at a pizza parlor in high school and thought that having access to delicious pizza every week would make me sick of it. But no, I still love it like crazy.

We used to have pizza nights in San Diego but had to discontinue the tradition during summer because we didn't have adequate air conditioning in our apartment. Our A/C here works great, so we are back into the loveliness of pizza making with friends!

Whole wheat dough balls and lots of veggies!

(This morning we made omelets with the leftover toppings).

Everyone makes their own individual masterpiece.

Rick was in charge of the oven.

Delicious!

We made nutella & banana pizzas for dessert.

sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Miss Dakota obviously loved them!

How cute are her pigtails?!

And look at Jack's smile! Precious.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Today we are going to a BBQ with some friends and I made a special 4th of July cheesecake for the occasion. I used a cheesecake recipe from my Grandma Walton, and it is the BEST! And thank you Martha Stewart, for inspiring the decor.

A couple people have asked for the recipe, so here it is:

Ingredients:

Crust

1 1/2 Cup Graham Crackers (Crushed)

3 T. Sugar

1/3 Cup Butter

Filling

11 oz. Cream Cheese

3/4 Cup Sugar

2 eggs

Topping:

1 Cup Sour Cream

3 T. Sugar

1/2 t. Vanilla

4th of July Toppings:

Raspberries

Blueberries

Vanilla Frosting

Directions:

1. Combine the crust ingredients and press into pan. I normally use a round pie tin pan, but for this particular one I did a rectangular pan and doubled the recipe. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

2. Beat cream cheese until smooth, then add the sugar, add one egg, and then the other egg. (and if you doubled it add another egg, and then the last egg). Once smooth pour over the crust and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes after it is done baking.

3. Mix the sour cream, sugar and vanilla. (I usually double this, even if I did not double the rest of the recipe... so if you did double the recipe I would maybe triple this part... it is the best part in my opinion.) Carefully, very carefully, pour this over the rest of the cheesecake and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

4. Let cool and then refrigerate. I usually let it cool and set overnight.

5. Arrange blueberries in the top left corner and the raspberries in stripes. Then pipe the frosting however you want to make stripes and stars.

I have never done this cheesecake before with fruit/frosting topping. I liked the fruit, but wasn't a big fan of the frosting- it detracted from the cheesecake in my opinion. Normally, I serve the cheesecake plain with optional homemade berry sauce.

I hope you enjoy, this was my Grandma's recipe (minus the 4th of July additions) and is a family favorite!

Summer Salad

While I was in North Carolina I browsed through many Cooking Light magazines and I was so excited to try out their Grilled Chicken and Spinach with Spicy Pineapple Salad recipe. I made it last night and it was delicious!

In case you want to try it out here is the ingredients list:

1 lb. skinless boneless chicken breast

1 t chili powder

1/2 t salt

cooking spray

1 1/4 C (1 inch) cubed fresh pineapple

2 T chopped fresh cilantro

2 T fresh OJ

4 t apple cider vinegar

1/2 t minced habanero pepper

1 large garlic clove

1/4 cup EVOO

3/4 C julienne cut peeled jicama

2/3 C thinly sliced red bell pepper

1/2 C thinly sliced red onion

1 5oz package fresh baby spinach (~8 cups)

You can find the directions here:

Both Rick and I really liked this recipe... it is very summery with just enough heat. Enjoy!

A little bite of Australia

When I studied abroad in Australia for a semester I fell in love with the food there, in particular the desserts. In fact, I gained fifteen pounds during my stay. The treat I blame the most: Tim Tam cookies. You bite off two corners of the cookie and then sip milk or hot chocolate through the cookie which softens the inside before you eat it. The Aussies call it a Tim Tam Slam if you can eat a hot chocolate saturated Tim Tam in one big mouthful. Delicious. I was delighted but scared when I learned that you can buy them at World Market.

Kristine getting excited to try it out.

Aren't these little glasses my grandma has perfect for this?!?

My aunt Sue was not sure about this.

but she went for it.

If you have never tried Tim Tam's before- I highly recommend them!