Monday, March 28, 2011

Pizza Pizza!!

Semi easy dinner tonight... hardest part was slicing the mushrooms :) I had two can of pizza dough in the fridge so I ended up making a white pizza with mushrooms and onions and a traditional pizza, but with aribita sauce and mushrooms and onions.

I sauteed the mushrooms and onions with garlic, red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning. Turned out a lil spicy! ;)

The white pizza has ricotta, mushroom and onion mixture, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.

The traditional Pizza has aribita, mushroom and onion mixture, Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella Cheese.

No measuring tonight... I just threw a lil bit here and a lil bit there... which is how I normally cook... and here is the final products!


Sunday, March 27, 2011

Easy Like Sunday Morning...

I made breakfast this morning... a Raspberry Jalousie with Lemon Glaze and a Cinnamon & Brown Sugar Jalousie... I was going to make pop tarts out of puff pastry but then stumbled acrosss the Jalousie recipes. Both were super easy to make, since I used store bought Puff Pastry :)

Cinnamon & Brown Sugar Jalousie

Pre heat over to 400°

Filling
  1. ½ cup packed brown sugar
  2. 1 tsp cinnamon
  3. 4 tsp flour
Jalouise
  1. Defrost Puff Pastry according to directions on the box.
  2. Cut one pastry sheet in half lengthwise to form 2 rectangles.
  3. Fold 1 rectangle in half lengthwise. Using a sharp knife, cut 9 slits through the folded side to within ½-inch of the opposite edge.
  4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and placed the uncut half of the pastry on the sheet. Sprinkle filling onto the pastry to ½ inches of the edge.
  5. Unfold the cut pastry and place on top of the filling and press the edges to seal.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes.
Raspberry Jalouise with Lemon Glaze

Pre heat over to 400°

Glaze (makes 2 servings)
1 cup powered Sugar
1 ¼ tbsp butter
Lemon Juice

  1. Melt butter and add to the powered sugar.
  2. Add lemon juice until you get the thickness you want.. I used about ¼ of a cup.
  3. Let sit for 15 minutes
Filling
  1. ½ cup of Raspberry Preserves or any other type you prefer.
Jalouise
  1. Defrost Puff Pastry according to directions on the box.
  2. Cut one pastry sheet in half lengthwise to form 2 rectangles.
  3. Fold 1 rectangle in half lengthwise. Using a sharp knife, cut 9 slits through the folded side to within ½-inch of the opposite edge.
  4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and placed the uncut half of the pastry on the sheet. Spread preserves onto the pastry to ½ inches of the edge.
  5. Unfold the cut pastry and place on top of the filling and press the edges to seal.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes.
There you have it! Both were supper yummy and almost gone! ;)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Oven 1 - Tree 0

So the kitchen won tonight...

I had sweet potato fries in the oven and after I flipped them half way through cooking, I went to push the oven rack back in. This is when all hell broke loose...The potholder fell out of my hand... but my hand was still pushing in the oven rack while trying to catch the potholder...

I know some obscenities came out of my mouth and before I knew it Matt came running into the kitchen, the phone starts ringing with my mom on the other end and I have my hand under running water.... Mothers instinct, eh?

So instead of tonight's dinner of Salmon burgers with feta and spinach and sweet potato fries.. I share my battle wound...

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

I thought I would be little festive today and bring in some St. Patty's Day goodies to the office. Last night I made a batch of sugar cookies with Shamrock sprinkles and Peppermint Browines with mini York Peppermint Patties inside.

Well I brought the cookies today, which they were almost gone when I left early for a dentist appointment today... So I'll be bringing the brownies in tomorrow... because they do NOT need to be in my house! :oP

The brownies turned out really good... I used peppermint extract instead of vanilla ontop of the mini peppermint patties... Which I wish I could find in stores... I came across them in Big Lots, which probably explains why I can't find them. they were really tiny peppermint patties. I also found tiny raspberry filled chocolate chips too... If anyone knows if Hershey's still makes both products let me know!!!

We'll time to catch up on Chuck and enjoy my St. Patty's Day Brew that I picked up from my favorite Beer Store.. House of a 1,000 Beers... If you live in the Pittsburgh area, you should check them out!

Oh, and Let's not forget, St Patrick was a Roman living in Britain. His parents were Calpurnicus and Conchessa Romans living in Britan in charge of the colonies....So this means Saint Patrick WAS ITALIAN!!! :)

Friday, March 11, 2011

Leftover Blues....

Tonight is leftover's night... Last night I made dinner for Matt's Grandma for her birthday and tonight were the left overs.. I made Pesto Penne... Super simple, especially for a work night and yummy!

The left overs are not the Blues... My beer of choice is... Wild Blue a blueberry based beer.... It is one of the best blueberry beer's I've has so far... only disappointment is Blue Dawg Brewing is owned by Anheuser-Busch! So much for it being from a micro-brewery.... but that is the big beer for you now... Guess that is what I get for checking them out online... It does make me upset that big beer is pretending to be micro breweries... If you are into documentaries, check out Beer Wars . It's pretty interesting and if you have nextflix, it's on instant play.

Anyways! let's get on to the recipe!



Pesto Penne
1/2 box of Penne
1/2 cup Pesto
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
1/2 cup feta cheese

1. Cook the Penne, when finished drain and return to pot.
2. Stir in Pesto and Roasted Peppers.
3. Add Feta and your done! :)


Well, I'm off to finish my beer and pay a couple bills.. might need another beer after I am done with that! ;)

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Nancy B's Magical Cookie

Last night we had our weekly Saturday Magic Night... Yes, I am a little bit of a geek ;) Normal SMN's include ordering pizza, a few beers and playing Magic until the wee hours of the night.

Last night JT brought a dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies from Nancy B's Bakery in Homestead. Let me say this was the best chocolate chip cookie I've ever had! And yes, better than my own, for all of you who love my baking...

When JT told us he brought cookies and everyone can have one... one of out buddies said, "What good is one cookie going to do me??" Then he looked into the box....

"Holy $^&%!!!" is all we heard coming for the kitchen...This cookie is a three course meal!! So of course I took a picture, with beer caps as a scale for how big it is. ;)














So if you're down the waterfront, check this place out. This cookie is to die for!

Nancy B's Bakery on Urbanspoon