Tuesday, April 27, 2010

30!


Yep, I did a self photo shoot for my 30th bday. I'm vain, what can I say. And you should see my shirt. It's my "what? 30? me? um, no!"

Some girlfriends and I had a celebration at Amanda's Fonda. We celebrated a birthday, 2 promotions and said goodbye to a dear friend. It was quite an occasion!


Grace and Liz (Liz is the one who left us. She's back in TX. But wait, Grace is leaving, too. Going to grad school. I'm happy for them, but hello, why do people keep leaving me?!)


Stace (who got a promotion at work) and Grace


Me and Stace


Megs, Stace, me, Grace and Liz


Megs (she got a promotion, too!) Me and Stace


Silly girls


Liz listening to her Hoops and Yoyo card.


Yep. 30.


This is how mother nature wished me happy birthday. A blizzard. Nice.



My coworkers decorated my cube!


Mom and I went to the Melting Pot. It was delicious and so special!


My birthday table. Balloons, cards and presents!


Jeff made me a cake AND sang to me!



AND got me tulips :)



We also went and painted pottery and had dinner at a really cool Mediterranean place complete with belly dancer. I also get to continue my celebration this weekend when the girls from Denver come down to have dinner. All in all, (minus the crazy snow) it was a wonderful day and weekend! YAY 30!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Recipe Review: Southwest Eggrolls and Oreo Cheesecake

BAKED SOUTHWEST EGGROLLS (from Annie's Eats blog)

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained (I used "mexican style beans" and I think they were pinto, flavored)
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (I used canned corn, flavored with chili powder and season-all, and only in half of the eggrolls as Jeff isn't a big fan of corn)
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend (white cheddar for me)
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chile's, drained
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 total)



Directions:

In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers. Mix well to blend. Lay an egg roll wrapper out on a work surface so that one of the corners is pointing toward you and place ¼ cup of the filling in the center. Fold the tip closest to you up over the filling, roll a bit, then take the points pointing outward and fold them in toward the center. Continue rolling into an egg roll shape until a small part of the remaining point is still free. Dip a finger in water or beaten egg and lightly brush on the edges of the free corner. Finish rolling and press to seal closed. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking. Serve warm with salsa (recipe below).

Yes.Please. These were SO GOOD! Four thumbs up for sure! And the are as easy as combine, mix, roll and bake. Awesome!





SALSA DELISH

(variation of salsa from this blog http://annies-eats.com/2009/01/25/my-favorite-salsa-ever/)

Ingredients:

2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and very coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, halved
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes
1 (28 0z.) can diced tomatoes (drained or not, depending on how much liquid you want in your salsa)
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. cumin
1/2 sweet yellow onion, coarsely chopped (nope!)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
juice of one lime




Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the jalapenos and garlic. Process until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add all other ingredients to the food processor. Pulse in very brief pulses until the vegetables have reached the size you desire (it does not take many pulses so don’t overdo it). Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

I love this salsa because, A) it's pretty, duh. B) it doesn't have onions! and C) it's truly fresh. It was a little sweeter than I expected and I'm not sure why. Maybe the red wine vinegar. The cilantro is an excellent touch and I would probably add even more next time. This won't last long in our house!

Intermission before dessert...


Clarence was either helping with the laundry or needing to be fluffed :)





...and now for dessert...

OREO CHEESECAKE

Crust
about 25 crushed oreos mixed with 1/2 stick melted butter, pressed into spring form pan

Filling:
2 lbs. cream cheese
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 c. chopped Oreos
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 extra lg. eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp. vanilla

To make the filling mix the cream cheese, sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla and heavy whipping cream together. Fold the chopped Oreos into the filling. Pour into the crust. Bake for 15 minutes at 425°F. Turn the oven down to 325°F and bake for 50 minutes more. Remove from oven, let cool.

Frosting
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. whipping cream
1 Tbsp honey

Melt chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Cool slightly. Whisk in whipping cream and vanilla and honey. Glaze top and sides of chocolate with frosting mixture. Place in refrigerator at least 4 hours. Serve and enjoy!






I think I might not actually love cheesecake. But as far as cheesecakes go, I'm pretty pleased :) I'll consider it an early birthday cake to myself!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Recipe Review-Mushroom Edition!

White Button Mushrooms Stuffed with Brie Cheese



Ingredients:

1 package white button mushrooms, washed and stems removed
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
4 whole green onions (nope!), sliced
Splash of white wine
1 slice (wedge) brie cheese

Directions:

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in large saucepan. Add mushroom caps and toss to coat in butter. Sprinkle lightly with salt and cook for 1 minute. Remove mushrooms from pan and place cap side down in baking dish. In same saucepan throw in garlic, parsley, onion (nope!). Sprinkle lightly with salt and splash wine. Stir around until wine evaporates, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Cut rind off of brie and cut into pieces to fit each mushroom cap. Place inside and top mushrooms with parley/garlic mixture. Place in oven for 15 minutes until brie is melted. Serve and enjoy!

All thumbs up! We loved these and ate them as a side with our pizza. I also added chopped walnuts which added a nice flavor and good crunch. YES!











ROASTED PORTOBELLO SANDWICH with Mozzarella and Braised Cooking Greens



Ingredients:

4 large portobello mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped with a small handful of parsley leaves
sea salt freshly ground pepper
3/4 pound small braising greens, trimmed and washed, or 2 bunches of spinach, stems removed, leaves well washed
2 pinches of hot red pepper flakes
4 slices bread
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced and set on paper towels to drain

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove stems from the mushrooms, wipe off the caps, and then scrape out the gills with a spoon. Drizzle the inside of the caps with half the oil and sprinkle on all but a teaspoon of the chopped garlic and the parsley. Season with a few pinches of salt and some pepper, then transfer to a shallow baking pan and bake until the mushrooms are hot and starting to sizzle, 8 - 10 minutes.


(mushroom on the left has been scraped)

2. Heat the remaining oil in a skillet; add the greens and saute with the reserved parsley-garlic mixture and pepper flakes to wilt. Season with salt. If the greens need more cooking, add a few tablespoons water to the pan and cook until tender. Cook off all the liquid before adding the greens to the mushrooms.









3. Toast the bread or muffins. Divide cheese among the mushroom caps, cover with the greens, and bake until the cheese is soft and warm, 5-7 minutes. Remove and set each mushroom on it's waiting toast and serve.

4 thumbs up! We both love mushrooms and the flavor here was yummy! I keep forgetting that I don't really like cooked spinach, though, so I would have left out the greens next time. Pretty easy and good,though :)

Oh, and we had fresh green beans cooked in a skillet with butter, soy sauce, fresh orange and lemon juice, garlic and salt.









MUSHROOM GOUGERE



Ingredients:

Choux Pastry
1/2 cup strong white bread flour (I can't find bread flour anywhere, so I used regular all purpose flour and it seemed to work just fine.)
pinch of salt
4 tbsp butter, plus extra for greasing
2/3 cup water
2 eggs
2 oz Emmental cheese, grated (please note, this is expensive cheese, HOWEVER, you might feel silly if you say that to the lady at whole foods, thinking it's 16.99, when in fact, it's 16.99/lb, and the little block you're holding is 3.50.)

Filling
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion (nope!)
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
2/3 cup vegetable stock
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper

Directions:
preheat the oven to 400 degrees. To make the pastry, sift the flour with salt onto a sheet of waxed paper. (I don't have a sifter, so I just skipped this step and added the flour and salt as is.) Melt the butter with the water in a pan over medium heat, but do not let the mixture boil. Add the flour all at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and comes away from the side of the pan.Remove from the heat, let cool for 10 minutes, then gradually beat in the eggs until smooth and glossy. Beat in the cheese. Grease a round ovenproof dish and spoon the pastry around the side.





To make the filling, heat the oil in a large, heave-bottom skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook (nope!) stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Gradually stir in the stock. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and cook for 3 minutes, or until thickened. Set aside 2 tbsp of the walnuts. Stir the remainder into the mushroom mixture with the parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.









Spoon the filling into the center of the dish and sprinkle over the remaining walnuts. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until the pastry is risen and golden. Serve immediately.



17 thumbs up! Just from Jeff! He loved this and was so sweet with all his compliments about it. I thought it was good, to, but liked the filling much more than the pastry.


What was left...

An open letter to the school district

 So the plan for school this year, at the K-5 level, was pretty complicated to begin. (the plan was made after lots of meeting and planning ...