Roasted Fennel, Red Grape and Walnut Salad

For me, a successful day is made up tiny personal victories.

I won when I pressed snooze only 3 times (opting to skip my morning workout, honestly I don't even know why I try...) and woke up early enough to take a long shower, watch the Today show, check out Savannah Guthrie's outfit, and lounge in bed in my bathrobe for a hot minute.

I wore a new white blouse to work and managed not to spill coffee on myself. Win!

Definitely a win when I resisted all temptation to flop on the couch and settle in for a 5 hour Homeland marathon after work and instead pressed play on the Insanity DVD.

Minor loss when I dropped both my coffee and spinach/banana smoothie all over the floor walking into work. (It seriously looked like a crime scene.)

But definitely a win that I resisted the urge to irrationally cry like a 4 year old

I managed to not to eat one of the Birthday Cake Oreos that Luke brought into our house like a jerk.

And I would most definitely call this salad of roasted fennel, red grapes, walnuts, fennel and a quick red wine vinaigrette a win!

Win, win, win.

This is my absolute favorite salad. It's a great winter salad for when there is a serious lack of good, fresh produce.

These flavors work together perfectly-- the anise flavor of the fennel, the saltiness from the feta, and the sweetness of the grapes. It all just works.

I even had enough to bring a little for lunch the next day, slightly easing the post-traumatic stress disorder from the Great Coffee and Smoothie Massacre of 2013.

Roasted Fennel and Red Grape Salad

recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis - she adds pancetta to her salad as well, which would be amazing. I just didn't have any on hand. I did have walnuts, feta and red grapes which is how this came about.

Ingredients:

1 bulb fennel, halved and cut into 1/2-inch wedges

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup of red seedless grapes

1/4 cup of chopped toasted walnuts

5 ounces (about 6 to 7 cups) mixed salad greens

Red Wine Vinaigrette, recipe follows

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or foil if you are out like I sometimes am). Put the fennel, garlic, brown sugar, olive oil, salt and pepper into a sealed Tupperware and shake until mixed. Pour the mixture on the baking sheet and bake until caramelized, about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes add the grapes to the pan and roast until they burst, about 10 minutes or less. (And if you forgot to toast your walnuts, throw those in too while you're at it.)

 

Cool the fennel and grapes slightly then add that and the feta cheese on top of the mixed greens in a large bowl. Toss together with the red wine vinaigrette and serve. (You probably don't need all of the vinaigrette, so add a little and check it out first. I halved the recipe last time)

 

Red Wine Vinaigrette:

• 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Mix all ingredients in a sealed jar or Tupperware. Shake thoroughly until blended. (Giada does this in a blender, I was feeling lazy and decided the jar method works just as effectively. Just make sure to shake like a lunatic)

Chili, 2 Ways

Is there anything more perfect than making a big batch of chili on a chilly Sunday?

Trick question.

Making two  batches of chili on a chilly Sunday.

I have two favorite chili recipes:

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili (top) and a slightly adapted version of the Pioneer Woman's Simple Perfect Chili (bottom)

Luke prefers the one with meat in it (he's such a man) so I often just make the vegetarian chili for myself and for several lunches thereafter.

They are both amazing and if you can't decide which one sounds better, make them both! It is the most delicious way you can multitask on a Sunday afternoon.

Turkey Chili

slightly adapted from the Pioneer Woman - my changes are in red.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground turkey
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• One 16-ounce can tomato sauce
• One can of water
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I add a little more)
• 1/4 cup masa harina (corn flour, found in the Mexican food section of many supermarkets)
• One 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• One 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• Shredded Cheddar, for serving
• Chopped onions, for serving
• Tortilla chips, for serving
• Lime wedges, for serving

Directions

Place the ground turkey in a large pot and throw in the garlic. Cook over medium heat until browned. Drain off the excess fat, and then pour in the tomato sauce, one can of water, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and cayenne. Stir together well, cover, and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.If the mixture becomes overly dry, add 1/2 cup water at a time as needed.*
After an hour, place the masa harina in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup water and stir together with a fork. Dump the masa mixture into the chili. Stir together well, and then taste and adjust the seasonings. Add more masa paste and /or water to get the chili to your preferred consistency, or to add more corn flavor. Add the beans and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with shredded Cheddar, chopped onions, tortilla chips and lime wedges.

*I double the amount of tomato sauce and add 1 can of water because I thought the mixture was too dry to simmer for a whole hour without scorching my pan and the meat. I've made this numerous times and think I nailed the right formula!

Insanity!

So this has nothing to do with beer (do any of my posts?!) but I had to share my latest endeavor in hopes of staying committed because there are days when I REALLY want to quit.

Donut Crazy

I've gone donut crazy all up in here. Revisiting those Pumpkin Pecan Donuts the other day has totally got me thinking about other flavor ideas to try out. That shouldn't be a problem, I have about 800 baked donut recipes pinned on Pinterest. (My friend, Jenn, even called me out once for pinning an obscene amount of donut receipes late one night... I couldn't sleep!!)

The real problem is that I am getting married is less than 3 months and really shouldn't be giving into these donut fantasies.

Oh well!

I recently tried Rogue's newest Voodoo Doughnut series of Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Banana Ale.

 I loved it. But I  mean, I'm going to love any beer that has all my favorite flavors going on and comes in a pink bottle.

I could really taste all the flavors-- the chocolate flavor from the malts and the banana flavor was just right, not too strong.

But this beer has got me thinking of all types of chocolate, peanut butter and banana donut possibilities..... stay tuned.

Baked Pumpkin Pecan Doughnut

Is it doughnut or donut? Can we please just decide?.. because it gives me a little bit of anxiety every time I have to decide which spelling to use. Same with gray and grey. Ugh, I need a donut... or a doughnut.

 

 These pumpkin donuts are a little unseasonable but I had to share.(My friend, Jamie, who has a firm rule of no consuming anything pumpkin-related until September 1st will be apalled by this post) BUT I am a little but obsessed with my donut pan and just realized I never shared these little gems when I first made them.

The recipe I used was from Shutterbean. I'm obsessed with her blog, and with her hilarious podcast with Joy the Baker. I'veEvenCalledInAndHadMyCallPlayedOnThePodcast. (said really fast, in hopes you guys missed that last part. Totally nerdy.)

But anyhow, these donuts are so amazing. I think I ate all but the one I let Luke eat. The frosting was so good. The kind you make and have to instantly put the extra in the sink so you don't accidentally consume the entire bowl with a spoon. (not speaking out of experience  or anything...) I think you can even see my finger swipe in the picture below. guilty.

Nothing To Do But Smile

Happy Friday! and for no reason at all, here is a picture of my pup, Dexter.

I always get a rush of excitement come Friday morning in anticipation of the upcoming weekend. I love the endless possibilities and plans I can make in 2 whole days off. While set weekend plans are a great way to look forward to an upcoming weekend, I also really love those weekends with nothing planned. As of lately, those types of weekends are the best for knocking things off my wedding to do list, which is what I plan to do this weekend.

Call me a nerd, but I'm big on lists. Grocery lists, wedding planning lists, house project lists, items of clothing I want to purchase lists-- you name it, I probably have a list for it. The most fun and probably nost nerdy list I make are my weekend to do lists. I think they are a great way to anticipate the upcoming weekend and be sure you are spending it doing the things that will make you the most happy. Some of my weekend to do lists don't even include anything productive, just things I want to make sure to do. For example, I can recall one to do do list last summer that included trying the new blood orange flavor at Pink Berry (I can even remember internally laughing at myself for how silly that was to actually schedule on a to do list. and I don't even think I ever did it.....!), take Dexter for a long walk downtown, and check out the farmer's market.

 

Latley, my lists have always included wedding projects. This weekend I am focusing on cooking a really great dinner for my future husband, deep cleaning our house, purging a ton of old clothes (this is the hardest thing ever for me!), and  finishing a sandwich board of sorts to welcome guests to our wedding. I am hoping it comes out looking like this idea I found online.

 

 

via


 

 

Here is the work-in-progress. I will post soon how I traced the letters onto the sign and hopefully post the final project if i'm able to tackle everything on my to do list this weekend!

 

 

Have a great weekend!



Seared Sea Scallops with Prosecco Risotto

I've mentioned before, I love cooking for my future husband. Impressing him with my feats in the kitchen and his reactions makes it so worthwhile. I think he is pleasantly surprised with how my cooking stress level has lessened and my skill level has evolved. I used to freak out a little (ok a lot..) when trying to cook for Luke and got really stressed whenever he would try and help. I am now pretty carefree when it comes to experimenting in the kitchen and even let him help!

Another thing that has been evolving in our kitchen is Luke's eating habbits! He used to hate seafood, but litle by little has begun enjoying it more. He loves scallops, so I was not surprised when he requested scallops for dinner on what we now call Seafood Sunday.

I even felt ambitious enough to whip up a prosecco risotto to serve along with the scallops.
I found this recipe but ommitted the prosciutto garnish. The lemon zest on top was delicious and like the author of the blog, am in the prosecco-league so used that instead of champagne.

I was a little nervous to cook scallops, as I've hear searing them perfectly was a bit of a challenge. Several google searches later, I felt I had the technique down - (make sure they are completely dried and the pan is screaming hot!)

{Of course right as my scallops were perfectly prepped and my pan perfectly hot and was about to drop in the first scallop (in clock-wise order, to be able to perfectly flip them), our neighbor knocked on our door. I freaked out a little inside, then realized I was insane and took a quick break}

The meal came out so well and was even more enjoyable eaten outside with the leftover prosecco  - Luke even said it would cost $22 at a restaurant!

S'mores Pie

I have an insane obsession with all-things s'mores. I was even proposed to via a s'more. My beautiful ring was carefully hidden in a s'more when Luke proposed, and I still wanted to eat it, in spite of its shellac. My next door neighbors always, always have a box of good old s'mores poptarts in the cabinet, that I without fail eat a sleeve every time I'm over there (they even got me a box as part of a housewarming gift!) And of course, I love a s'more carefully crafted alongside the firepit of our house.

The obsession evolves with this pie.

The recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs - How Sweet It Is. Her recipes are so outrageously delicious and creative (BBQ Spiced Salmon with Pineapple Jalapeño Salsa and Roasted Strawberry, Brie + Chocolate Grilled Cheeeeeeeese oh my word), and this one was no exception.



 

It is so good and I have made it 3 times this summer, and have passed along the recipe to many of my friends and family.

The s'mores pie is so easy to make and is the perfect summer BBQ treat.

Chai Peach Oatmeal

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day. I love intermixing both sweet and savory breakfasts into my daily breakfasts.  My weekly breakfasts must be healthy, easily thrown together, and keep me full until lunchtime. I love constantly changing out my breakfasts, to keep things from getting too dull, but I've been eating this particular breakfast for almost 2 weeks straight-- it's that good.

Chai Peach Oatmeal. It's absolutely delicious. Made with steel cut oats, and cooked with equal parts chai tea and milk, topped with frozen peaches and a drizzle of maple syrup. It's absolutely phenomenal and a huge portion of food and still low calorie (which I LOVE). 

Chai Peach Oatmeal

(recipe adapted slightly from Fitness Magazine)

Steep 1 chai tea bag in 1/2 cup of boiling water for 3 minutes. Combine the tea with 1/2 cup low-fat milk and 1/2 cup quick-cooking steel cut oats in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes (Keep checking on it, I've caused quite the mess by letting it boil over and explode out of the bowl). Stir, top with a few shakes of cinnamon, thawed peaches and a drizzle of 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup.

*Total breakfast is about 280 calories

Tomorrow I'll share with you my alternatively savory breakfast- which has been on constant rotation with this one and equally as habit-forming.

Frozen Yogurt Sundaes, On a Tuesday

Get together with your friends on a Tuesday. There's no need to wait until the weekend. Have a glass or two of wine and get off the stupid diet for a minute. Trust me on this one,  you need it! The work week can be looong. Stop working for the weekend. Have some fun on a Tuesday night. You’ve earned it. It will make your week more fun and the weekend not seem so far away. And have yourself an ice cream sundae that you can feel good about.

This dessert will totally make you feel good about yourself. It would tell you things like you look nice today and not tell you that you look tired (which we all know is code for you look like crap!)  No way. This dessert is simple and lovely and perfect to round out a night of decadence.

It includes low-fat frozen yogurt (healthy!), bananas (healthy!), homemade 2 ingredient hot fudge (totally healthy!), and toasted almonds (yup healthy! See?!)

My friends came over on a random Tuesday for wine and appetizers and of course we had the usual staples: wine, cheese and crackers, ridiculous girl talk, and an obscene amount of goat cheese and red pepper jelly (one of our faves. that and spinach & artichoke dip. All I’m saying is, it’s not a pretty sight watching us consume either of these)

I wanted to make a simple treat for these lady friends of mine, and I remembered this recipe I’d seen in Real Simple magazine. Enjoy. I did. And then for about 4 consecutive nights in a row….

Frozen Yogurt Sundaes

Recipe from RealSimple.com -  4 servings

¼ cup granulated sugar

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 pint low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt (I like Hood)

2 bananas, sliced

¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted

In a small saucepan combine the sugar and cocoa powder, whisk in ¼ cup of water. Turn on heat and bring to a boil. Once it begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer, whisking until slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes.  Let cool a little, it will thicken even more. Scoop out the frozen yogurt into dishes and top with sliced bananas, hot fudge and almonds.

Cooking Lessons in Life & Twice Baked Potatoes

A funny thing happens when you move out into your own house with your fiancé. You have to learn how to cook. I sometimes say to Luke that this is not the 1950s and I’m not required to cook for him every night.



But truthfully, it’s a nice thing to cook for your significant other. It makes me feel good when I can feed him a good meal and impress him. So  I’m learning. Albeit very slowly.



Growing up with a father who is an amazing Italian cook, my cooking experience never truly developed. Now that Luke and I are living together, I always want to prepare great dinners for us and am just learning the true lesson in being a great cook.



To just have fun with it!



I love baking, because of how scientific and exact it is. Baking is all about measurements and following the recipe exactly. Cooking- truly good cooking- comes from guessing and experimenting and winging it.



Ron, my father, has mastered this art. He'll watch 2 minutes of cooking show and produce the most amazing stuffed quahogs you'll ever taste. His sauce recipe is perfection after years of making it- from his army days (which is why he always makes a ton of it, or anything for that matter) to cooking every night for my mom, sister and I.


To Ron, cooking is carefree and something he has an innate ability for. He loves cooking huuuuuuge batches of food, and loading up our plates against our (unconvincing) pleas that that’s enough!!!! (somehow we always manage to clean our plates). He makes these big batches of meatballs, sauce, eggplant parmesan, chicken cacciatore and corn chowder and feeds everyone he knows—the golf pro at his country club, my mom’s co-worker-- you name it. He loves people to enjoy his food and even since I’ve moved out, I’m still fed quite well by Ron--  Tupperwares of sauce and freshly gathered clams from Duxbury Bay. It’s the truest form of comfort food to me.


In my ongoing pursuit of becoming a more carefree cook, I have been trying more to just glance at a recipe for ideas and wing the rest. Sure there's the risk that it could come out awfuuuuul. But I think this lesson applies to a lot in life. To not think too much (*something I definitely am guilty of) and just go with your gut.


Luke loves twice baked potatoes, even choosing them as a side at our wedding. His mom has always made them and in an effort to keep him from getting too homesick for his mom’s cooking, I decided to make them for him. My experience with twice baked potatoes is limited to the frozen ones (how good are those though?!)

I found a few recipes online and whipped these up. I didn’t follow a recipe exactly, or  measure anything for that matter so here are the ingredients. And go ahead, throw caution to the wind and just wing it too, you daredevil!



Twice Baked Broccoli Potatoes

2 Russet Potatoes, scrubbed clean

Shredded Cheese (I used Stop & Shop Mac and Cheese Blend)

Frozen Broccoli, defrosted and chopped up

Low Fat Milk

Butter (I used margarine, as it’s all my poorly stocked kitchen had)

Garlic Powder

Salt & Pepper


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Poke the potatoes with a fork a couple of times around and microwave until softened, turning a few times throughout. (I used my microwaves potato setting) Slice the potatoes in half and carefully scoop out the flesh, leaving a very thin part of the potato attached to the skin. (Don’t worry if they begin to fall apart. I freaked for a minute, but then it was ok. phew) Combine the scooped out potatoes, a splash of milk (add a little now and more as you stir them), a handful of cheese (as much as you like), a couple pads of butter, the chopped up broccoli, a few shakes of garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Mash it all up and add more milk until you get the right consistency of mashed potatoes. Scoop it all into the potato skins, press down, and top with more cheese and baked for 25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden. Serve with a steak.

Cody Carrot Cake Porter

While at work the other day, I came across this Carrot Cake Porter from Cody Brewing Company in the system. I freaked- it was all over - I needed to try this beer. My love of carrot cake and porters took over and I was completely intrigued. After harassing asking a few people at work about how to get a bottle to try, my nice co-worker emailed a rep from the brewery who agreed to bring down a bottle for me. See?? Harassing just nicely asking always pays off!

Only 50 cases were released statewide, so I was happy to get my hands on one. I sampled the beer with Luke and my fellow adventurous-beer loving friend, Jamie. We all thought it was great! A dark color, we all noticed hints of cinnamon and chocolate. We all agreed it was reminiscent of a pumpkin ale, with notes carrot (of course) and spices. I also found out 60 pounds of carrots were used in each barrel!

Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

When your morning starts by dropping your English muffin face down (always. why?! there must be some scientific explanation here) on the kitchen floor at work. The good news is: your day can only get better!

And indeed it did. Largely in part by these sweet potato fries. Sweet potato fries are my life. I could eat these all day. And the good news is, they're healthy. (Compared to your standard french fries, which of course there is no comparison, but these are a close substitute!) Luke was playing hockey so I had the kitchen to myself, leisurely cooking while sipping sauvignon blanc.

One of the shortcomings to every other batch of sweet potato fries I've made is the lack of crispiness. I did some online research and came across for crispier fries and found  this recipe, where I learned the trick of tossing the fries in cornstarch before baking. They still weren't as crispy as I would have liked, but I did skimp on soaking the fries in water before baking (in that I didn't - I was hungry!)

I added garlic powder, rosemary, cinnamon, salt and pepper to the cornstarch before tossing them in a seal Tupperware container in small batches, adding more cornstarch and spices as needed. Be sure not to coat them too much, as it won't all cook off when baking.  They were delicious but my quest for the perfect sweet potato fries isn't over.

Honey Garlic Balsamic Chicken

I find myself thinking about food allllllllll theeeeeeee timeeeeeee. Especially at the gym. I often day dream while running on the treadmill about what I'm going to consume when I get home. I often browse through magazines and snap pictures of recipes with my iPhone while on the treadmill too. People must think I'm nuts!

After the gym, I didn't feel like stopping for anything on the way home so I thought about what we had in our fridge and dreamed up pan seared chicken with a lemony honey garlic sauce. Luke was playing hockey so I wanted to make something that would be good to heat up when he got home as well. (who's a better fiance than me?)

I googled my food dream and found this perfect, easy recipe from Baked Bree - Honey Garlic Balsamic Chicken. It was divine (and I don't throw around the word divine too often). While patting the chicken dry, my father called up and said he had picked Chinese food for dinner (my family lives about a mile and a half down the street). I almost aborted this chicken, but I'm so glad I didn't!

 

Please note the following substitutions I made due to not having them.

• water for the chicken stock
• lemon juice from a bottle over fresh
• garlic from a jar instead of fresh garlic

& it was still fantastic! I ate the chicken with sweet potato fries in front of the TV with a glass of wine. Colonel Clink - that was nice! (I heard Phil Dunphey say that on Modern Family...)

Bridesmaid Proposal

We got engaged this last September, and we just booked our wedding for June 2013 so now that the wedding was booked, it was time to pop the question to my gals! You would think I was making an actual proposal! For some reason, I was so nervous to ask my best friends to be bridesmaids and I knew I wanted to do something extra special rather than simply calling them up.  I decided on a bridesmaid brunch where I would ask the girls on top of a donut.

 I wanted to surprise them with the bridesmaid proposal, so I invited all the girls to my house for a casual Sunday brunch. On the menu was baked french toast, Strawberry Buttermilk donuts, fruit salad, vegan pineapple muffins, asparagus quiche, raspberry tea cake, and my favorite- a mimosa bar.

I always get flustered when planning anything, as I always want it to be totally perfect. I need to work on relaxing more. I think I could learn a lot from my idol, Ina Garten. She makes entertaining look so relaxed and breezy. I always remember her advice in not trying to make everything from scratch.

ohhhh Ina. let me live with you in the Hamptons. please?

I made these donuts with my new donut pan from Crate & Barrel. {I was so excited when I first got it,  I whipped these donuts up at 1 in the morning the night I got the donut pan. That was a particularly craaaazy Friday night, let me tell you!}

I baked up the strawberry donuts the night before the brunch and made toppers to stick in them, asking my sister to be my maid of honor, and 6 friends to be bridesmaids. One lives out in San Diego, so with the help of her sweet boyfriend, I was able to Face Time with her and ask her along with the other girls. I also invited my mom and my fiance's mom.

It was actually super awkard when I asked the girls. I had hoped to do it right away, but I got nervous (whyyy?) and waited until after we ate. I came out with the big tray and just put it on the table and started crying (whyyyy?)  and couldn't even ask them. I had no idea it would be that emotional. But they all said yes nd it was cute. I'm glad I asked them in a fun way and made a party of it. It was a lovely day filled with my favorite meal (brunch food is the best) and mimosas, of course. Everyone had fun, except for Dexter who I think was a little sad he wasn't asked to be a bridesmaid.

Bananas Foster Upside Down Cake & Pale Ale

My first beer and dessert pairing was Bananas Foster Cake and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.What a combination this was. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is an obvious first choice for my first beer tasting. It's an American Pale Ale and is a great "gateway" beer into the wide world of craft beers. Easy to drink and very enjoyable, it paired wonderfully with the bananas foster cake.

 

A light, buttery cake baked on top of bananas, toasted pecans and a hit of rum. I used this recipe, and it turned out better than I thought I was capable of.

  

thoroughly impressing myself.

I served this cake when my fiance's family came over for dinner. They all loved it, and it even tasted great a few days later, warmed up with some vanilla ice cream.

i couldn't help myself